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Sam Sacks has 859 articles published.

Pentagon Counsel Nominee: New AUMF Needed for Tillerson’s Syria Plans

The nominee to be the top lawyer at the Pentagon told senators that a new war authorization would be needed for US forces to remain in Syria after the defeat of the Islamic State (ISIS). Paul Ney made the comments on Thursday, at his confirmation hearing. Ney was tapped by President Trump to be the chief lawyer for the Defense Department. The analysis could complicate war plans laid out by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Last month, Tillerson called for an indefinite US military presence… Keep Reading

McCaskill Blasts Trump DHS for Refusing to Show Senators Critical Muslim Ban Report

Officials from the Department of Homeland Security won’t release an inspector general report to a US Senator, prompting new concerns that the Trump administration is trying to muzzle oversight. The exchange occurred during a roundtable discussion Wednesday between officials from DHS and lawmakers on the Senate Homeland Security Committee. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) raised the department’s recent decision to withhold from lawmakers and the public a watchdog report finding that the Trump administration broke the law while implementing its Muslim travel ban last year. The report… Keep Reading

Mattis Cites Kissinger to Call for New Nukes

The head of the Pentagon was called before Congress to defend the administration’s nuclear policies and plans to develop new weapons capabilities. Lawmakers on the House Armed Services Committee are skeptical of Defense Secretary James Mattis’ initiative to build new lower-yield nuclear weapons capable of being launched from submarines. The details of which were contained in the administration’s Nuclear Posture Review, released last week. Secretary Mattis on Tuesday spun some game theory to the committee in an attempt to justify the expenditure. “It’s to make certain that no… Keep Reading

Bundy Reigns: Feds Still Ignoring Illegal Grazing

The US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is shirking promises it made to crackdown on the misuse of public lands. Released documents show that the agency has completely shelved planned regulations to root out ranchers engaged in illegal cattle grazing on BLM lands. The internal records show that throughout 2017, the agency’s timeline for implementing the new rules on cattle grazing slipped from “ongoing” to “on hold.” The regulations are now missing entirely from BLM’s 2018 regulatory agenda. The Government Accountability Office previously found that BLM… Keep Reading

Pruitt Ignoring Congressional Concerns About Politicization at EPA

The Environmental Protection Agency’s Administrator has been shirking congressional inquiries about politicization within his agency, it was revealed during a hearing Tuesday. Scott Pruitt faced a grilling from Democratic Senators on the Environment and Public Works Committee. He was peppered with questions about his environmental record, his responsiveness to Congress, and prior comments about the President. Pruitt claimed ignorance when asked about a New York Times report last month revealing a no-bid contract awarded to a Republican-supporting firm to monitor EPA employees and their attitudes… Keep Reading

DHS Chief Implements Environmental Lawlessness at Border Wall Site

The Department of Homeland Security will ignore dozens of environmental regulations as it adds to existing walls on the US-Mexico border. According to a decree published in the Federal Register on Monday, DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said wall upgrades in DHS’s El Paso sector wouldn’t have to comply with construction rules under the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Nation Environmental Policy Act, and roughly two dozen other environmental laws. Nielsen cited an Executive Order signed by President Trump last January, which directed her… Keep Reading

Supreme Court Could Kill Gopher Frog

The highest court in the US on Monday announced it would take up a case that pits the well-being of an endangered amphibian against the interests of private developers. Louisiana landowners are asking the Supreme Court to overturn a decision by the US Fish and Wildlife Service that classified 1,500 acres of land as a critical habitat for the dusky gopher frog. The designated tract cuts right through property owned by timber company Weyerhaeuser, which had intended to use the land for residential and commercial development projects.… Keep Reading

Senate Democrats Push Controversial FISA Reauthorization to Finish Line

Liberals’ trepidation about the President of the United States were shelved in the Senate on Thursday, as 21 Democrats voted to renew powerful surveillance powers for the executive branch. In a 65-34 vote, the Senate concurred with a House bill to extend Section 702 of the Foreign Surveillance Intelligence Act for six years with minimal reforms. The legislation now goes to President Trump’s desk for signature. The spying authority gained notoriety following the disclosures of former NSA contractor Edward Snowden in 2013. Section 702 is geared toward… Keep Reading

Private Market Fail–US Indefinitely Reliant on Russian Government for Space Travel

America’s future in space is largely in the hands of private companies whose work continues to be delayed and filled with uncertainty, a government watchdog testified on Wednesday. NASA contractors Boeing and SpaceX were supposed to have commercial crew transport systems ready to be certified for launch by 2017, providing the US with its own manned space flight system for this first time since the Space Shuttle program was retired in 2011. But those time schedules have since shifted. The certification date is now 2019.… Keep Reading

Wyden: Use Looming Shutdown Fight to Protect Legal Weed

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… Keep Reading

Congress Punts Until 2018 on Warrantless Surveillance Reform

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… Keep Reading

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