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DHS, DOJ Link Terrorism and Immigration in Transparently Bogus Report

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The Trump administration released a report on Tuesday that dubiously tied terrorism to immigration. The analysis, released by the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security, was ordered by President Trump’s Executive Order 13780–the legal basis of the administration’s proposed Muslim ban. “This report reveals an indisputable sobering reality–our immigration system has undermined our national security and public safety,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions claimed in a press release. In their conclusion, the agencies relied on data focusing on convictions in federal courts since the Sept. 11,…

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Specter of Shkreli Looms over Trump HHS Pick, Under Barrage of Criticism for Eli Lily Price Hikes

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President Trump’s second pick to run the Department of Health and Human Services acknowledged that he oversaw the jacking up of drug prices, as as a pharmaceutical executive. Alex Azar deflected criticism from Democrats on Tuesday, while testifying before the Senate Finance Committee. The nominee said high prices were a systemic problem, and that he wasn’t personally responsible for the trend, as the former President of Eli Lily. “I don’t know that there is any drug price of a branded product that has ever gone…

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SCOTUS Declines Hearing for Oregon Christmas Bombing Case Marred by Entrapment, Warrantless Surveillance Claims

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The Supreme Court declined the opportunity to hear a challenge to penetrating internet surveillance powers exposed by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden. Justices turned down the appeal of Mohamed Osman Mohamud in a series of orders issued on Monday. They gave no reason why, as per standard procedure, considering the high number of cases before the court. Mohamud was found guilty of attempting to set off explosives at a Portland, Ore. Christmas tree lighting in November 2010, in the name of Islamist fundamentalism.…

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Wyden: Use Looming Shutdown Fight to Protect Legal Weed

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Lawmakers could use an upcoming spending fight to void Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ latest crackdown on marijuana use. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) reacted on Thursday to Sessions rescinding an Obama-era guidance that relaxed federal enforcement of marijuana laws in states that had legalized recreational use of the substance. In a statement, Wyden called the Attorney General’s move part of an “extremist anti-marijuana crusade.” “Any budget deal Congress considers in the coming days must build on current law to prevent the federal government from intruding in state-legal, voter-supported…

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CHIP to be Spared from GOP Congressional Chaos–Children’s Heath Insurance Program set for Five-Year Extension

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Congress appears poised to finally ensure that millions of kids who rely on the federal government for healthcare won’t have to depend on the legislative process for the rest of President Trump’s first term. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) touted a proposed five-year renewal of the Children’s Health Insurance Program on Thursday morning. CHIP expired in October, as Congressional Republicans scrambled to ram through landmark reductions to the corporate tax rate before the end of the year. “This month, we can set this right”…

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Anti-Immigrant Republicans Rearing Ugly Heads As Dreamer Deadline Looms

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Hardline xenophobic elements within the Trump administration and the Republican Party are beating the drums about immigration, two months before the status of Dreamers is set to expire. Thomas Homan, Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting director, said Tuesday that local officials who don’t fully cooperate with the agency should face criminal prosecution. “We gotta take [sanctuary cities] to court, and we gotta start charging some of these politicians with crimes,” Homan said in a Fox News interview. Homan made remarks the day after California became…

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Shutdown Aversion Deal Offers Children’s Health Insurance Fix for Just Three Months, Unclear if GOP Leaders Have Votes

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A bill that would grant money to the Children’s Health Insurance Program for three months is making its way through Congress, as part of a deal to avert a government shutdown. The proposal would keep CHIP funded until March 31, 2018. The program expired in October and has not been renewed since—to much criticism from Democrats, as Republicans ate up the legislative calendar passing a major permanent tax break for corporations. House Democrats are expected to vote against the deal—a continuing resolution that would keep…

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Congress Punts Until 2018 on Warrantless Surveillance Reform

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A short-term spending resolution to keep the government open through most of January also includes a brief extension of a controversial spying authority. Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act sunsets at the end of the year, threatening to curtail intelligence programs that have come under increased scrutiny since revelations made by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden in 2013. Lawmakers on Capitol Hill had seized on the upcoming expiration date in order to advance reforms to the program that would better protect Americans’ privacy. Certain…

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GOP Passes Enormous Corporate Tax Cut, Undermines Obamacare

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The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved of an overhaul of the US tax code, sending reforms that will overwhelmingly benefit corporations and the wealthy to President Trump’s desk for signature. It was the final congressional hurdle for a piece of legislation that is unpopular with the American people, and defies the GOP’s stated concerns about fiscal responsibility, by adding an additional $1.4 trillion of red ink to the national debt. “Nobody knows the answer to that question because that’s in the future,” Ryan said…

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In Violation of Law, Pentagon Not Allowing Some Anonymous Sexual Harassment Reports

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The US military concurred with a government watchdog that said it should set up anonymous reporting avenues for troops to report sexual harassment—channels that don’t currently exist within the Army and Marine Corps. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) revealed in a report on Monday that the two branches of the armed forces are currently out of compliance with a 2013 law that mandated the creation of a framework to better respond to sexual harassment allegations within the ranks. Section 579 of the 2013 National Defense…

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Forty-Two Senate Dems Dreaming of a Green Shutdown, Vow to Oppose Backdoor Gifts to Industrial Polluters

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Senate Democrats are vowing to filibuster an impending must-pass funding bill, if it includes add-on proposals that would undermine environmental regulations. Forty-two members of the Democratic Senate Caucus say they lodge “strong opposition to any riders” included in proposed funding packages “that would gut bedrock US environmental laws.” The federal government is set–yet again–to run out of money on Friday. Forty lawmakers in the upper chamber can filibuster any bill that would keep the government open. The Democratic Senators cited several House Republican proposals that have already…

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