Brief #43---Civil Rights Policy Summary On June 11, 2018, the United States Supreme Court rendered a decision in the case Husted v. A. Phillip Randolph Institute. The case began in 2015 when U.S. Navy veteran Larry Harmon tried to vote in his home state of Ohio but...
The administration decided to implement 25% tariffs on 50 billion USD of Chinese goods, despite Treasury Secretary Mnuchin indicating last week that the “trade war” would be put on hold. The tariffs are meant to address “China’s discriminatory and burdensome trade practices.“ The targeted goods contain “industry significant technology” and are related to the “Made in China 2025 program” – a strategy approved by the Chinese State Council designed to transform China into a “high tech powerhouse” in industries like robotics, Artificial Intelligence, information technology, sensors and energy.
On April 6, 2018, Attorney General Jeff Sessions informed the world, on behalf of the Trump administration, that the government will be adhering to a “Zero Tolerance Policy” with respect to illegal border entry. The policy requires criminal prosecution for every person caught entering the United States without proper inspection.
On May 25, 2018, President Donald J. Trump issued three executive orders concerning employees in the federal sector.
Houston, NASA appears to be having a problem. In 2012, now-president, Donald Trump famously tweeted that, “the concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese” and alleged that the phenomenon of climate change was a conspiracy to undermine American manufacturing.
In 2016, Amazon.com first announced a new facial recognition software item called “Rekognition” and subsequently gave the product to law enforcement in Washington County, Oregon and Orlando, Florida to test.
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech…or the right of the people…to petition the Government for a redress of their grievances.” In the 1983 U.S. Supreme Court case Perry Education Association v. Perry Local Educators’ Association the court categorized government property for purposes of which rules would control speech and expression activities and listed three categories…
Last Thursday, President Trump announced the cancellation of the historic US-North Korea summit, originally slated for June 12th in Singapore. The cited reason was the “open hostility” exhibited by the North Korean government, including the suggestion that a diplomatic failure would lead to a “nuclear to nuclear showdown”.
Update May 21, 2018
In late April, Scott Pruitt had a hearing on Capitol Hill regarding his various ethical controversies. Over the course of the two sessions, Pruitt did admit that he knew about the raises for two of his aides but little else, primarily placing blame on EPA aides and staff.
Earlier this month, Department of the Interior head, Ryan Zinke, a self-declared geologist, faced a senate hearing to address his proposed 2019 budget. However, this hearing may expand to include his numerous scandals.