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Monthly archive

December 2017

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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Senate Dems Won’t Get Pre-Christmas DACA Fix, Won’t Shut It Down

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Senate Democrats look incapable of mustering the votes to filibuster a spending deal this week that doesn’t resolve the plight of Dreamers. Some lawmakers in the caucus aren’t willing to use the latest ongoing spending fight to force Congress to guarantee status to Dreamers—roughly 800,000 undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children, given temporary protection from deportation by the Obama administration. The delay is leading to the loss of status for tens of thousands of those who were granted temporary reprieves, party critics…

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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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Though G.O.P. Says Tax Plan Doesn’t Favor the Rich, Paul Ryan Ties Reforms to Welfare Cuts

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Republicans have tried to claim that their tax plan will lead to immediate benefits for all Americans, not just the wealthiest, but House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said the initiative should be tied to cuts on programs tailored for the poor. Touting progress made on tax reform, Ryan claimed on Tuesday that laziness was partially to blame for sluggish economic growth, despite low unemployment rates in recent years. He then called for Congress to tighten the strings on already-meager welfare programs. “Look behind that statistic,”…

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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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Trump Nuclear Deal with Saudi Arabia Would Need Review, Regulator Says

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A nuclear regulatory official stressed that his agency will have the chance to weigh in on the outcome of atomic energy discussions between the Trump administration and Saudi Arabia—talks that have taken on a possible military dimension. Jeffery Baran, a member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said Wednesday that the body must make “certain statutory findings” before recommending the approval of export licenses. “We aren’t at that stage yet,” he said in testimony before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Baran was asked about…

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US Military Outposts Crumbling Under Climate Change, Pentagon Adopts Position of Denial

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A watchdog report released Wednesday criticized the Pentagon for not taking enough precautions to deal with climate change-induced damage at military sites around the world. Although the Department of Defense has previously acknowledged that a warming planet poses a threat to its operations, it hasn’t done the legwork in evaluating those threats on a site-by-site basis, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO). And when finally confronted on the damage climate change is already inflicting on sites around the world, the military is adopting a position…

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FOIA Request for Pruitt Climate Science Denial Deemed Illegitimate by EPA, DOJ

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The Trump administration is refusing to even respond to a public information request on climate science, accusing a public non-profit of trying to trigger an “endless fishing expedition.” Lawyers for the Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency made the claim in response to a lawsuit brought by the group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). The organization had filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act to determine what sort of analysis EPA head Scott Pruitt relied on–when making declarative statements about climate…

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Another Trump Ban Falls, Court Ruling Forces Military to Accept Transgender Troops Beginning Next Year

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A federal judge in Washington ruled against the Trump administration on Monday, paving the way for transgender Americans to sign up for the military next year. Federal District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly shot down the White House’s argument that allowing transgender service would harm the armed forces. Within minutes of her ruling, Pentagon spokesperson Maj. David Eastburn confirmed to reporters that beginning Jan. 1, 2018, transgender individuals would be allowed to enlist in the military. That policy was established under the Obama administration, which had originally…

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