The past week has seen a flurry of activity–or at least revelatory media reports–in almost all of the federal and congressional investigations into Russia and President Trump. Most notable have been a new wave of reports on former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who has long been a central subject of the Russia…
Search Results
Trump Administration Rejects DHHS Report on Refugee Impact
On Tuesday, September 12, the Trump administration announced that it is considering limiting the number of refugees admitted into the country to less than 50,000 in 2018. Should this consideration come to fruition, it would be the lowest number of refugees admitted into the country since the passage of the Refugee…
United States Denies Chinese Acquisition of American Semiconductor Company
On Wednesday, September 13th, a federal board blocked the 1.3 billion dollar Chinese acquisition of Lattice Semiconductor, an American company based in Oregon. The board cited national security concerns related to the deal, and there has been some evidence of relations between the Chinese…
President Trump Threatens Iran Deal
On September 18th, President Trump announced that the world would know “very soon” about the future of the JCPOA, commonly know as the Iran Deal. This agreement, negotiated by former Secretary of State John Kerry, stalled and prevented the Iranians from achieving nuclear weapons in exchange for removing sanctions…
Sanctuary City Funding Protected in Federal Court
On Friday, September 15, Judge Harry D. Leinenweber, a federal Judge in Illinois, blocked the Justice Department from withholding federal money from sanctuary cities. Specifically, the preliminary injunction issued by Judge Leinenweber bars the DOJ from denying the Edward Bryne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant, or JAG…
The Cassidy-Graham Healthcare Bill
As Republican’s time to pass a healthcare bill under reconciliation runs out, Senators are rushing to gain support for one last repeal and replace bill. Reconciliation, the process that allows a bill to pass the House and Senate with only a majority, expires at the end of the September. Republicans, led by Sen. Bill Cassidy from Louisiana…
Interior’s Review of National Monuments
About four months after Trump’s Executive Order calling for the review of 27 National Monuments, Ryan Zinke, the Secretary of the Interior, has submitted his final report. While Zinke has not recommended the elimination of any monuments, a few have been suggested for resizing, including Bears Ears National Monument, Grand…
Infrastructure Executive Order
Trump promised his voters that he would roll out a trillion-dollar infrastructure project to fix the country’s aging highways. He mentioned this plan when he addressed a joint session of Congress claiming that “Crumbling infrastructure will be replaced with new roads, bridges, tunnels, airports, and railways gleaming across our beautiful…
New Leads in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Investigation
After a lull in coverage roughly coinciding with Congress’ summer recess, the past two weeks have brought a flurry of reporting and speculation about various aspects of the federal and congressional Russia investigations. Special counsel Robert Mueller is again in the spotlight as his investigation progresses and new leads…
Companies Contracted to Build Border Wall Prototypes
On Thursday, August 31, the Trump administration announced its selection of four construction companies contracted to build prototypes of the border wall. Construction of the prototypes will take place in San Diego, where they could remain as permanent fixtures functioning as barriers in the city or be removed and relocated…