Tag: Trump administration

President Trump Is Deploying an Additional 2,100 Troops to the Border

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by Jason Hopkins   The Trump administration is beefing up its resources at the U.S.-Mexico border as it continues to deal with a massive influx of illegal immigrants. Acting Defense Secretary Richard Spencer approved Tuesday night the deployment of 1,200 active-duty troops and another 1,000 Texas National Guard personnel to the U.S. southern border, Department of Defense spokesperson Maj. Chris Mitchell said in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation. The Texas National Guard troops will be split up in their duties, with 750 personnel to “provide supplemental holding support to [Customs and Border Protection] at CBP’s temporary adult migrant holding facilities in Donna, Texas, and Tornillo, Texas,” and the other 250 will provide “port of entry (POE) enforcement support at CBP-designated POEs and airports in Texas to enhance border security and improve the flow of commercial traffic,” Mitchell said. “Decisions regarding arming military personnel and related rules for the use of force will be informed by the circumstances of their mission and be made by the Governor of Texas, in consultation with CBP,” Mitchell continued in his statement. The announcement comes after the Department of Defense earlier in July requested the Pentagon to authorized an additional 1,000 Texas…

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22 MS-13 Members Charged in Murders of Seven People Hacked With Machetes

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by Chuck Ross   The Justice Department charged 22 alleged members of MS-13 in connection with seven murders in the Los Angeles area, including one in which a rival gang member was dismembered with a machete. The indictment, which was unsealed Monday, focused on members of a Los Angeles-area subset of MS-13 known as the Fulton clique. Prosecutors called the San Fernando Valley-based gang a “particularly violent subset” of MS-13 that “has recently seen an influx of young immigrants from Central America.” The Trump administration has made MS-13 a major focus of his crackdown on illegal immigration and drug trafficking. The notoriously violent gang originated in El Salvador but has strongholds in numerous American cities. Nick Hanna, the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, said that the Fulton clique was responsible for 24 murders overall in the Los Angeles area over the past two years. Thirty-four members of the gang were indicted in 2017 in connection with three slayings. The latest indictment charges the 22 alleged gang members under Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute. In addition to seven murders, they are accused of attempted murder and trafficking more than $1.2 million in drugs. Happening now: MS-13 members named in…

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Trump Administration Ends Federally Funded Abortion Referrals

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by Mary Margaret Olohan   The Trump administration declared Monday that taxpayer-funded clinics must stop referring women for abortions effective immediately. Family planning clinics that refer women for abortions will be stripped of their Title X funding, according to a measure instigated by President Donald Trump’s administration as reported by CBS News. The Department of Health and Human Services has alerted clinics that they will be enforcing the Trump administration ban, according to CBS. The rules now require that organizations that perform abortions and make abortion referrals will have to do so in separate buildings from those that receive Title X federal funds – a move could potentially cost Planned Parenthood “tens of millions of federal family planning dollars,” according to Politico. “Our doors are still open,” said Planned Parenthood President Leana Wen in a statement. “We will not stop fighting for all those across the country in need of essential care.” “We thank President Trump and Secretary Azar for acting decisively to stop taxpayer funding of the abortion industry, as willed by the American people,” said Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser. “A strong majority of Americans have consistently voiced their opposition to taxpayer funding of abortion –…

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Trump Deregulation Will Boost Household Income by $3,100, Report Finds

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by Fred Lucas   The Trump administration deregulation efforts will raise incomes by about $3,100 per household over the next five to 10 years, and sharply reduce prices for consumers, according to a report released Friday by the White House Council of Economic Advisers. “The deregulatory efforts of the Trump administration have also removed mandates from employers, especially smaller businesses, and have removed burdens that would have eliminated many small bank lenders from the marketplace,” Casey Mulligan, the chief economist for the Council of Economic Advisers, told reporters Friday. “These deregulatory actions are raising real incomes by increasing competition, productivity, and wages.” The Council of Economic Advisers report is titled “The Economic Effects of Federal Deregulation Since January 2017: An Interim Report.” The report takes a sampling of 20 major deregulatory efforts, which it projects alone will save consumers and businesses about $220 billion annually, and increase after-inflation incomes by 1.3%. “Many of the most notable deregulatory efforts in American history, such as the deregulation of airlines and trucking that began during the Carter administration, did not have such large aggregate effects,” the Council of Economic Advisers report says. The aggressive deregulation also cuts consumer prices for prescription drugs, health…

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Trump Administration Ends Contract Supplying Fetal Tissue for Research

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by Rachel del Guidice   The Trump administration has ended the government’s contract with a bioscience company that provided human fetal tissue from elective abortions for testing purposes. The Food and Drug Administration no longer will obtain the fetal tissue from California-based Advanced Bioscience Resources Inc., the Department of Health and Human Services announced Wednesday. The statement announcing the change said HHS was not satisfied with the results of a review it conducted to make sure that the procurements were in keeping with government regulations and with ethical and moral concerns. “The Trump administration has rightfully taken action to separate federal research funding from the abortion industry,” Melanie Israel, a research associate at the DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society at The Heritage Foundation, said in a written statement. At the time the review began, HHS had a contract with the University of California, San Francisco to conduct fetal tissue research and had been reauthorizing the contract with 90-day extensions. “The audit and review helped inform the policy process that led to the administration’s decision to let the contract with UCSF expire and to discontinue intramural research– research conducted within the National Institutes of Health (NIH)–involving the use of…

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More Asylum-Seekers Sue Trump Administration

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  A group of detained asylum-seekers sued the U.S. government Thursday claiming immigration officials in five Southern states are systematically denying them parole. In the second lawsuit of its kind filed against the Trump administration, legal advocacy groups representing 12 plaintiffs are seeking class-action status on behalf of hundreds of asylum seekers being held in detention centers in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee. In addition to Central American migrants, the plaintiffs include a member of a Cameroonian opposition party and Cuban and Venezuelan political dissidents. Migrants who arrive at U.S. ports of entry and ask for refuge in the United States are not eligible for bond hearings in front of a judge, but they can be released from detention on parole for humanitarian reasons under a 2009 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) policy. Denying parole The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Southern Poverty Law Center, claims that in recent months there has been an “unwritten policy and practice of categorically denying parole to asylum-seekers” that violates the government’s “own directive and guidelines.” According to ICE data cited in the complaint, the New Orleans Field Office, which…

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After Trump Rule Change, Minnesota Home Care Workers Can Decide for Themselves Whether to Pay Union Dues

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by Bethany Blankey   Minnesota Personal Care Attendants (PCAs) are speaking out about the Trump administration’s decision to prevent unions from taking hundreds of millions of dollars from their paychecks. The Obama-era rule allowed Medicaid payments to be diverted to government unions, which the Trump administration found violates the Social Security Act. “The rule change means family members and friends who stay home to care for loved ones will keep all of the Medicaid payments intended for them, rather than paying hundreds of dollars to the SEIU,” the state’s fiscal conservative think tank, the Center of the American Experiment, said in a statement. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is one of two of the largest public sector unions in the country that lost more than 90 percent of their fee-paying nonmembers less than one year after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Janus vs. AFSCME. “Currently, the state of Minnesota takes money out of Medicaid support checks meant to improve the quality of life of America’s sick, elderly and disabled, and gives it to the SEIU,” the center explains. The process of unions siphoning money from Medicaid became legal in 2013 after former Gov. Mark Dayton and the majority-DFL…

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Trump Asking Congress for Billions More in Emergency Border Funding

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by Jason Hopkins   The Trump administration Wednesday requested an additional $4.5 billion in emergency border spending from Congress, a request that will likely face pushback from Democratic lawmakers. “The situation becomes more dire each day. The migration flow and the resulting humanitarian crisis is rapidly overwhelming the ability of the Federal Government to respond,” Russ Vought, the acting White House budget director, said in the request, according to The Washington Post. The White House request includes $3.3 billion for humanitarian assistance, $1.1 billion for border operations, and another $377 million for the National Guard and Pentagon to operate on the border. The appeal comes after acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan told Congress on Tuesday his department needed more money to deal with the influx of illegal migrants pouring across the U.S.-Mexico border. “Given the scale of what we are facing, we will exhaust our resources before the end of this fiscal year,” McAleenan said Tuesday before a congressional committee. An unprecedented number of Central American families and unaccompanied minors have been reaching the U.S.-Mexico border, stretching law enforcement’s resources past the breaking point. Many of the rules and regulations, DHS has argued, are geared for single males from…

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Court Sets Hearing on Trump Administration’s Asylum Policy

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A federal appeals court Wednesday scheduled a hearing over whether to stop the Trump administration from forcing asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for their immigration court hearings. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals set a hearing for April 24 in San Francisco over whether a lower court ruling to block the policy should go into effect while the case proceeds. U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg ruled April 8 that the unprecedented policy violated U.S. law and should be halted because it failed to evaluate dangers migrants face in Mexico. He issued an order to stop the policy, but gave the government time to appeal, which it did, claiming the ruling was erroneous and would endanger the public. A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit issued a temporary stay last week — leaving the policy in place — and requested written arguments from the government and immigrant advocates before setting the hearing date, now set for next week. Policy introduced in January The administration introduced its “Migrant Protection Protocols” policy Jan. 29 in San Diego and later expanded it to Calexico, California, and El Paso, Texas. Homeland Security officials have said they planned to sharply expand enforcement along the…

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Marcia Fudge Accuses Betsy DeVos of ‘Picking Winners and Losers’ in Education Budget

Anthony Gockowski

Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH-11) grilled Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos during a recent hearing before the House Education and Labor Committee over her new “Education Freedom Scholarships” incentive. The scholarship program was included in the Trump administration’s federal education budget, but there has been much debate about how exactly the program will work. The Department of Education describes the program as a dollar-for-dollar tax credit for individuals and businesses that donate to state-identified Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGOs). “A private donation isn’t a public resource. Is a donation to a non-profit that you claim on your taxes a public resource?” the Department of Education said on Twitter in response to claims that the new program will use public resources to expand school choice. A private donation isn’t a public resource. Is a donation to a non-profit that you claim on your taxes a public resource? — ED Press Secretary (@EDPressSec) April 4, 2019 “Despite what some may try to tell you, Education Freedom Scholarships are privately funded and do not take any money from public schools,” DeVos herself wrote on Twitter along with a graphic explaining how the scholarships are funded. Despite what some may try to tell you…Education Freedom Scholarships…

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One America News Network’s Neil McCabe Explains Why President Trump Has Said ‘You’re Fired’ So Often This Past Week

Julie Carr

On Tuesday’s Tennessee Star Report with Steve Gill and Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – Gill and Leahy talked to One America News Networks Neil McCabe about the recent Trump Administration firings and why they didn’t last. Further into the segment the men talked about the leaks coming from the White House and the non-committed holdovers from Obama’s administration that are allegedly sabotaging the Trump agenda. Leahy: We are joined now on the line as we are every Tuesday morning at this time by our very good friend Neil McCabe the Washington correspondent from One America News Network. Welcome Neil! McCabe: How you doing men? We’re all very excited about what’s going on in DC this week. (Leahy laughs) Leahy: Has anyone been fired in the last twelve hours? (Laughing) McCabe: You know I think it’s interesting that in the first few years of a presidential administration, doesn’t matter who it is, there’s a lot of people who get white house jobs because they did a great job on the campaign. Leahy: Hmmhm.. McCabe: And they were sort of like loyal soldiers. And then they…

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US Officials Issue Sanctions Warnings to Europe Over Russian Gas

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U.S. officials have warned at an energy conference in Brussels that the Trump administration will take punitive action against European companies that are building the Kremlin-favored Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline, which will deliver energy from Russia to Germany while bypassing Ukraine. Nord Stream 2 (NS2) will largely replace an older pipeline running through Ukraine and Poland that has the backing of the German government. But it is prompting the alarm of Central European governments, increasingly infuriated with Berlin’s dismissal of their concerns. They object to Nord Stream 2 — which will run 1,200 kilometers from Vyborg, Russia, to Lubmin, Germany, and snake under the Baltic Sea — not only because they’ll lose lucrative transit fees from the older pipeline, but because they fear the Kremlin wants to develop NS2 largely for political reasons, not commercial ones. Speaking at the energy conference in the Belgian capital, Nicole Gibson, deputy director of the U.S. State Department’s office for Europe, warned that if European companies resume laying pipe later this year they “risk significant sanctions.” Declining to go into any details about the threatened sanctions, Gibson said Washington doesn’t accept that Nord Stream 2 is a done deal. “Some people say…

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America’s Biggest Medical Association Sues Trump Administration Over Abortion Rule

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by Grace Carr   The American Medical Association and Planned Parenthood filed a Tuesday lawsuit against the Trump administration over its latest move to force abortion clinics to separate abortion from other health care services in order to qualify for Title X funding. The groups argue that the final rule is unconstitutional and violates a congressional mandate requiring health care providers receiving Title X funds to provide complete and unbiased information to patients. They filed their lawsuit in a U.S. District Court in Eugene, Oregon. Title X is a federal grant program that provides individuals with “comprehensive family planning and related preventive health services,” according to HHS. “Because of the administration’s overreach and interference … physicians will be prohibited from having open, frank conversations with their patients about all their health care options,”AMA President Barbara McAneny said, according to The Associated Press. “This blatant violation of patients’ rights under the Code of Medical Ethics is untenable.” The lawsuit follows the Trump administration’s Feb. 22 rule barring Title X funds from supporting programs and organizations that provide abortions or abortion referrals. The rule states that “none of the funds appropriated for Title X may be used in programs where abortion is…

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More Than 20 States Sue Trump Administration Over Title X Abortion Funding ‘Gag’

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by Grace Carr   Twenty states will file a lawsuit Tuesday against the Trump administration over its latest move to force abortion clinics to separate abortion from other health care services in order to qualify for Title X funding. The states will file their suit in a U.S. District Court in Eugene, Oregon, Tuesday. The multi-state suit comes after Democratic California Attorney General Xavier Becerra filed a lawsuit Monday against the Trump administration over its Title X rule in a U.S. District Court in San Francisco, The Washington Post reported Monday. Title X is a federal grant program that provides individuals with “comprehensive family planning and related preventive health services,” according to HHS. The 21 states are seeking an injunction to prevent the Trump administration’s Feb. 22 rule barring Title X funds from supporting programs and organizations that provide abortions or abortion referrals. The rule states that “none of the funds appropriated for Title X may be used in programs where abortion is a method of family planning.” The rule also “requir[es] the physical and financial separation of Title X projects and facilities from programs and facilities where abortion is a method of family planning,” according to the text. The…

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The Census Citizenship Case Will Probably Be Fast-Tracked to the Supreme Court

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by Kevin Daley   The Trump administration will likely leapfrog normal judicial procedure and appeal a federal judge’s decision removing a citizenship question from the 2020 census directly to the Supreme Court. In a sweeping decision running almost 300 pages, U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman concluded that the Commerce Department, which oversees the Census Bureau, violated a federal law called the Administrative Procedure Act by inserting a citizenship question onto the census questionnaire. The issue the government now faces is one of timing: the Census Bureau must finalize the questionnaire in June to ensure printing and distribution proceeds on schedule. Given that time constraint, ordinary appellate process isn’t an option for the government. Though the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allows parties to seek relief on an emergency basis, the Justice Department is unlikely to prevail in that court. What’s more, the Supreme Court has nearly finalized its docket for the current term. The high court hears cases from October to April and disposes of its cases by June. The schedule for a given term is generally set by the end of January. If the Trump administration wants the justices to resolve the census dispute this term, they will…

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Senate DFL Introduces Slate of Identity Politics Bills, Seeks to Loosen Prevention of HIV in Blood Donations

Anthony Gockowski

The Minnesota State Senate plans to introduce 92 new pieces of legislation Monday, several of which are backed by the DFL, and focus on LGBT or race issues. Senate File (SF) 95, for instance, urges President Donald Trump and Congress to direct the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to “revise its current blood or plasma donor deferral policy related to men who have had sex with a man and to women who have had sex with a man who has had sex with another man within the previous 12 months from the most recent contact.” The resolution, co-authored by five DFL senators, argues that the United States is “facing a critical shortage of blood donations,” which could be offset by revising an FDA donor deferral policy that “prohibits approximately 19 million American men and women from donating blood and plasma.” “Advances in HIV donor testing have reduced the risk of HIV transmission from blood transmissions to about one in 1.47 million transfusions,” the bill continues, calling for a revised policy “based on individual assessment of the risk posed by the donor.” SF 107, meanwhile, calls for the establishment of a “Council on LGBTQI Minnesotans,” which would consist of “two members…

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Trump Team Holds China’s Feet to the Fire on Trade Negotiations

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Donald Trump, Xi Jinping

by Jason Hopkins   As the Trump administration continues trade negotiations with China, the U.S. delegation is taking additional steps to make sure the Communist country follows through on its pledges. U.S. and Chinese officials met Monday in the Commerce Ministry in Beijing to begin their two-day trade negotiations. The meeting marks the first face-to-face talks between the two governments since Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump agreed to a tariff truce when they met during G-20 summit. During that G-20 meeting — which took place in the early days of December in Buenos Aires — Xi agreed to a number of concessions in exchange for Trump agreeing to postpone a round of tariffs on Chinese goods. Among many things, the Communist leader pledged to buy more U.S. agricultural and industrial products, allow increased access to Chinese markets, and abide by more cybersecurity and property theft rules. In return, Trump promised to wait 90 days before hiking tariffs to 25 percent on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports — the three-month timeline is indented to give both breathing room to cement a detailed agreement. However, China has a history of not keeping its word. The Communist country has,…

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Enviros Launch Campaign Against Trump’s Pick To Replace Scott Pruitt At EPA

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by Michael Bastach   Environmentalists kicked off the new year with a campaign to derail the nomination of Andrew Wheeler, President Donald Trump’s pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). “Make no mistake — to protect our health, planet, economy, and national security we must #StopWheeler from being permanently confirmed as @EPA administrator,” the Sierra Club tweeted Monday. Make no mistake – to protect our health, planet, economy, and national security we must #StopWheeler from being permanently confirmed as @EPA administrator. https://t.co/CMhvJBHlkY — Sierra Club (@SierraClub) January 7, 2019 The tweet linked to an Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) blog post calling Wheeler “unfit to lead EPA.” “Andrew Wheeler has ramped up Scott Pruitt’s relentless attack on public health and environmental safeguards,” EDF’s Martha Roberts wrote in her Jan. 3 blog post. Wheeler, a former coal industry lobbyist, took over as EPA’s acting administrator in 2018 after former Administrator Scott Pruitt resigned. Wheeler was confirmed by the Senate in April 2018 as EPA’s deputy administrator, making him Pruitt’s number two at the time. Pruitt resigned in July amid a slew of ethics allegations and negative media coverage. Democrats and environmentalists also opposed Pruitt’s pushing Trump’s “energy dominance” agenda. Wheeler, so far, has continued Pruitt’s…

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Court Decides in Favor of the Trump Administration in Curbing Transgenders’ Service in the Military

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US Army

A federal appeals court has ruled in favor of a Trump administration policy of restricting transgender people from serving in the military. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled Friday that a lower court judge was wrong to block the Pentagon from implementing its plan to limit transgender people in the military. The lower-court judge had ruled the Trump policy most likely violated the constitutional rights of transgender recruits and service members. Pentagon pleased with decision However, in ruling for the Trump administration’s position, the appeals court said Friday that the military policy “appears to permit some transgender individuals to serve in the military.” It also said the plan relied on the “considered professional judgment” of “appropriate military officials.” Pentagon spokeswoman Jessica Maxwell told VOA that the Department of Defense was “pleased with the D.C. Circuit’s decision.” “As always, we treat all transgender persons with respect and dignity. It is critical that the department be permitted to formulate personnel policies that it determines are necessary to ensure the most lethal and combat-effective fighting force in the world,” Maxwell said. Friday’s ruling will not allow the Pentagon to implement its policy immediately, because other judges have…

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Ninth Circuit Finally Hands Trump a Big Win Against Youth’s Global Warming Lawsuit

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by Michael Bastasch   The Trump administration’s battle against a global warming lawsuit brought by 21 youths will continue into 2019 after a federal court handed the government a big win over the holiday season. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the Department of Justice (DOJ) in a Dec. 26 ruling largely missed by major media outlets. The court granted DOJ’s petition for interlocutory appeal that decreases the chances of the climate lawsuit going to trial anytime soon. The three-judge Ninth Circuit panel is the very same one that in March 2018 ruled against Trump administration petitions for a writ of mandamus, which allows a higher court to overrule a lower court before a case is decided. Environmentalists handling the case on behalf of youth activists immediately filed a petition asking the District Court of Oregon to restart trial proceedings in light of the appeals court ruling. “The bottom line is, this case is ready for trial, and should not be held up by further appeals,” said Julia Olson, chief legal counsel and executive director of Our Children’s Trust, the activist group handling the climate lawsuit. “The government has used the power of their office and the depth…

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Ellison Names Outspoken Anti-Trump Immigration Lawyer As Second in Command

Anthony Gockowski

Attorney General-elect Keith Ellison (D-MN) announced Friday that he has named John Keller to serve as his chief deputy attorney general. Keller currently oversees the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota, a vehemently anti-Trump non-profit that provides legal services to illegal aliens and refugees. According to a press release from Ellison’s transition team, Keller began working at the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota (ILCM) in 1998 as a staff attorney, and has served as its executive director since 2005. “In that time, he has transformed ILCM from a small, regional legal-services organization with five staff to Minnesota’s leading provider of free, high-quality, and comprehensive legal, policy, and education services with five offices statewide, 32 employees—a majority of whom are from immigrant, refugee, or mixed-family backgrounds—more than 350 trained pro bono attorneys, and a statewide and national reputation,” the press release explains. Keller and the ILCM have become outspoken critics of the Trump administration and its immigration polices, and have repeatedly taken actions to thwart Trump’s agenda in Minnesota. Last December, for instance, Keller helped secure $250,000 in taxpayer funds from Hennepin County to launch a legal defense fund for county residents facing deportation. The fund was criticized by Republican gubernatorial candidate…

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Commentary: Democrats Plan to Bully Out Administration

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by Natalia Castro   Department of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is the just the most recent on a long list of Trump Administration officials who have been pushed out of his confirmed position because of constant bullying from the left. It is clear their goal is to obstruct any progress the Trump Administration makes by launching investigation after investigation into every Trump appointee. The relentless left has made it impossible to be a Trump Administration official unless one has millions of dollars to combat legal investigations. Zinke explained in his resignation statement, “I love working for the President and am incredibly proud of all the good work we’ve accomplished together. However, after 30 years of public service, I cannot justify spending thousands of dollars defending myself and my family against false allegations. It is better for the President and Interior to focus on accomplishments rather than fictitious allegations.” Zinke was recently subject to a Department of Justice probe examining a land deal made with an oil services giant in his hometown which some viewed as a conflict of interest. Zinke has also been accused of misusing taxpayer funds for travel expenditures. Zinke has called these attacks “vicious and politically motivated”…

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Nine States Back Environmentalists Trying to Shutdown Search for Oil in Atlantic

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by Tim Pearce   Nine states are intervening in a lawsuit against the Trump administration for approving oil and gas companies to search for oil and gas deposits in the Atlantic Ocean. Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh announced Thursday the states would join environmental groups in a lawsuit to prevent the Trump administration from allowing seismic testing off the coast of South Carolina. “The National Marine Fisheries Service has issued what are called incidental harassment authorizations. They would, by their own terms, result in harm to hundreds of thousands of whales and dolphins and porpoises,” Frosh said. “The permits eliminate a major obstacle to testing and we content that the authorizations are illegal.” Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina and Virginia accompanied Maryland in intervening in the lawsuit. The NMFS, an agency under the Commerce Department, issued “incidental take” permits Nov. 30 allowing oil and gas companies to conduct the tests. Environmental groups sued the federal government Nov. 11 to prevent the seismic testing, which involves air guns booming in the ocean seconds apart for days at a time. Environmentalists contend the permits violate the Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Marine Mammals Protection Act and other regulations. The federal…

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Envoy Says Trump Willing to ‘Stand Up and Push’ for Global Religious Freedom

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by Rachel del Guidice   President Donald Trump is committed to pushing for greater tolerance of different faiths by governments around the world and dismantling an “iron curtain of religious persecution,” his envoy for religious freedom said in an interview with The Daily Signal. “Most people in the world move by what their faith tells them,” Sam Brownback, the former Kansas governor who is Trump’s international ambassador-at-large for religious freedom, said in the interview. “Much of the world—we’re looking at numbers now—nearly 80 percent live in a religiously restrictive atmosphere, so they don’t have freedom of religion,” he said. But in the United States, Brownback said, “religious freedom is a foundational right, it’s a God-given right,” and “governments don’t have the right to interfere with it.” [ The liberal Left continue to push their radical agenda against American values. The good news is there is a solution. Find out more ] “So we’re going to push on it,” he said. “And the reason it’s so important is it impacts so many people, and so few countries are willing to really stand up and push for it.” Trump nominated the Kansas Republican for the job in July 2017, while he was in his second term…

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Commentary: James (Comey) and the Giant Impeachment

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by Julie Kelly   For those concerned that former FBI Director James Comey is suffering from early dementia, have no fear: His memory returned with a vengeance during a Sunday night interview with MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace. On Friday, under questioning by House Judiciary Committee members, Comey answered, “I don’t know,” “I don’t recall,” or “I don’t remember” nearly 250 times during a six-hour closed-door hearing. His memory lapse included critical details like how the infamous Steele dossier reached his agency; who at the FBI drafted the initiation document to investigate the Trump campaign; who at the FBI had authority to open a counterintelligence probe into a presidential campaign; and his own comments about the tarmac meeting between his boss, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, and former president Bill Clinton. He said he didn’t know what the word “insidious” meant and couldn’t explain the difference between collusion and conspiracy. But perhaps Comey loaded up on ginseng over the weekend because his vague and convenient memory miraculously returned when he was questioned by a fawning Wallace at a 92nd Street Y event just two days later. Tiny details about dates, locations, meeting participants and a funny moment during a briefing with President…

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Trump Administration Seeks to Enforce Trans Soldier Ban in Supreme Court

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by Kevin Daley   In an unusual move, the Department of Justice asked the Supreme Court to let President Donald Trump’s administration enforce its ban on transgender military personnel while it litigates legal challenges to the policy in lower courts. Thursday’s application is the latest in a series of aggressive measures the Trump administration has taken at the Supreme Court. “It is with great reluctance that we seek such emergency relief in this Court,” the government’s filing reads. “Unfortunately this case is part of a growing trend in which federal district courts, at the behest of particular plaintiffs, have issued nationwide injunctions, typically on a preliminary basis, against major policy initiatives.” “Such injunctions previously were rare, but in recent years they have become routine,” the filing adds. “In less than two years, federal courts have issued 25 of them, blocking a wide range of significant policies involving national security, national defense, immigration, and domestic issues.” Two federal appeals courts are currently considering three separate challenges to Trump’s order. The Justice Department broke with normal judicial procedure and asked the Supreme Court to decide on the legality of the trans ban on Nov. 23. A decision on that petition has not…

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Trump’s EPA Moves to Repeal Obama’s De Facto Ban on New Coal Plants

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by Michael Bastasch   The Trump administration proposed rolling back Obama-era regulation that opponents called a de facto ban on building new coal-fired power plants. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will raise carbon dioxide emissions limits for new coal-fired power plants and eliminate the Obama administration’s mandate that new facilities install carbon capture and storage equipment. “Consistent with President Trump’s executive order promoting energy independence, EPA’s proposal would rescind excessive burdens on America’s energy providers and level the playing field so that new energy technologies can be a part of America’s future,” EPA acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler said in a statement. EPA’s plan to modify New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for power plants is part of the Trump administration efforts to unwind the Clean Power Plan — the centerpiece of former President Barack Obama’s global warming agenda. The Obama administration’s 2015 Clean Power Plan forced states to cut CO2 emissions at existing coal plants and made it extremely difficult to build new ones by mandating they install carbon capture and storage (CCS) equipment. What the Obama EPA did was consider CCS the “best system of emission reduction” for new coal plants, despite criticism from power plant operators, unions and Republicans that…

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Democrats Will Use Climate Report Against Trump in Court

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by Michael Bastasch   President Donald Trump can expect Democrats to use the latest National Climate Assessment (NCA) in lawsuits against his administration’s “energy dominance” agenda. “We’ll use every piece of that report that we can,” California Attorney General Xavier Becerra told The Washington Post in an interview Tuesday, referring to lawsuits against the Trump administration. Becerra, a Democrat, has filed nearly two dozen lawsuits to stop the Trump administration from rolling back Obama-era energy and environment policies, including suing to stop the building of a U.S.-Mexico border wall on environmental grounds. California is not alone. The Golden State generally leads coalitions of other Democratic-controlled states to oppose Trump administration policies. Becerra, for example, led a group of 17 states suing to keep the Trump from undoing Obama-era fuel economy standards. Becerra and others see the NCA, released on Nov. 23, as another tool to use in court. The NCA made dire predictions about future global warming, including rising seas, higher temperatures and slower economic growth — though the most headline-grabbing claims relied on extreme climate projections that experts questioned. “It is not a matter of resisting,” Becerra told WaPo. “It is a matter of doing what we are doing. and…

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Commentary: Trump’s Energy Policies Are Paying Off for Workers and Consumers

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by Richard McCarty   With the liberal media busy looking for excuses to attack President Trump and his administration, you might have missed some good news on the energy front. American energy jobs are being created, gas prices are dropping, energy imports are dropping and energy exports are rising. Since Trump took office, there have been thousands of coal mining jobs created; and tens of thousands of oil and gas industry jobs have been created. Many of these jobs pay well. Thanks to Trump, coal’s future is looking brighter. In the early months of the Trump Administration, the Interior Department ended the moratorium on new coal leases on public lands that the Obama Administration had put in place. In FY 2017, coal production on federal lands increased by more than 12 percent. While environmentalists work to shut down reliable coal plants reducing domestic needs for coal, coal exports increased by 61 percent last year as coal shipments to Europe rose and shipments to Asia more than doubled. The domestic natural gas industry is growing rapidly. Last year, for the first time since the Eisenhower era, the U.S. has become a net exporter of natural gas. The U.S. is expected to…

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President Trump’s New Rule Aims to Expand Health Coverage and Lower Costs

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by Robert Moffit   The Trump administration just announced a major regulatory change, effective Jan. 1, 2020, that could significantly expand access to affordable health coverage and increase the choice of health plans, particularly among workers and their families in small businesses. The proposed rule, jointly developed by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Treasury Department, would allow employer-sponsored health reimbursement accounts to fund the purchase of individual health insurance on a tax-free basis. Today, workers and their families can use tax-free health reimbursement accounts to offset medical expenses, such as out-of-pocket medical costs. Under the new rule, workers and their families could use employer contributions to the accounts to buy health insurance on their own. This opportunity is particularly valuable for workers employed by small business owners who cannot afford to offer standard group health insurance, but who could afford to help offset the premium costs of their employees’ individual coverage. Treasury Department officials estimate that the new rule could encourage as many as 800,000 employers to sponsor health reimbursement accounts, or HRAs, to fund individual coverage for more than 10 million workers. This relief is crucial, particularly for workers and their families in small businesses. With…

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Mattis Dismisses Reports He May Be Leaving Trump Administration

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Reuters   U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Tuesday flatly dismissed reports suggesting he may be leaving President Donald Trump’s administration in the coming months, saying flatly: “I wouldn’t take it seriously at all.” “How many times have we been through this, now, just since I’ve been here? It will die down soon, and the people who started the rumor will be allowed to write the next rumor, too,” Mattis told reporters at the Pentagon. “Just the way the town is,” he added. “Keep a sense of humor about it.” The remarks were the most direct by Mattis to date about intensifying rumors about his future as Trump approaches the half-way mark of his four-year term amid speculation about changes to his cabinet after upcoming November mid-term elections. Mattis has become a focus in media stories in recent weeks about the Trump administration, particularly after the release of a book this month by Watergate reporter Bob Woodward that portrayed Mattis privately disparaging Trump to associates. Mattis strongly denied making any such remarks. Trump on Sept. 5 said he defense chief would remain in his job, adding: “He’ll stay right there. We’re very happy with him. We’re having a lot of…

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Lee Douglas Commentary: The Six Reasons I’m Voting for Dr. Mark Green on Election Day

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by Lee Douglass, DDS   Six years ago I quizzed Mark Green about his principles and values.  In November I’ll take all of my family and friends to vote him into Congress for six reasons. 1. Mark is a scientist, doctor, and an economist.  He understands law.  The law of economics says that a mandated minimum wage abolishes entry level jobs for young and unskilled workers and the same law says that services required by government mandate drive up costs…as with Obamacare.  The law of human nature first says that any person or group of persons given power will inevitably misuse their power and tend toward corruption and tyranny.  Secondly, any individual or class of individuals given free stuff or special privileges will both learn to expect and then demand special treatment and free stuff.  Out of respect for natural law, Mark Green will go to Congress with the intent to cut back the power and role of government in American life. We are desperate to have this done, ignoring all of the squealing and whining from those accustomed to expanding their power by increasing government power. 2. A friend asked if Mark Green is ambitious.  I replied, “Are you…

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Attorney General Jeff Sessions Welcomes 44 New US Immigration Judges

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U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions welcomed 44 new immigration judges, the largest class of immigration judges in U.S. history according to the Justice Department. The event took place as the Trump administration struggles to reunite families separated at the border after its “zero tolerance policy” resulted in unprecedented numbers of immigration cases waiting to be heard. The decision to detain children separately as their parents await trial has left about 400 children still separated from their families, according to a court filing — 45 days after a court-mandated deadline for the government to reunite them. There are more than 700,000 immigration cases in the backlog, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a data gathering research organization at Syracuse University. During a welcoming ceremony Monday in Virginia, Sessions said, “Counting you, along with our existing judges, we currently have the most active immigration judges in history.” “But we will not stop there,” he continued. “We will add even more by the end of this calendar year, with a goal of seeing a 50 percent increase in the number of judges since the beginning of the Trump administration.” Though Sessions lauded the large number of incoming immigration judges, he warned them…

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In Minnesota Senate Debate GOP Challenger Blasts Klobuchar for Opposing SCOTUS Nominee Brett Kavanaugh

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Sen. Amy Klobuchar squared off against her Republican challenger State Rep. Jim Newberger at the Minnesota State Fair Friday, sparring over issues of immigration and President Trump’s nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to serve on the United States Supreme Court. Immediately out of the gate, Klobuchar boasted a record of being the lead sponsor on 18 different bills signed into law by President Trump. “You need someone that can find common ground but is also willing to be a check and balance on this administration,” she said, representing a state that is growing increasingly purple as 78 out of its 87 counties went to Trump during the 2016 Election. Newberger, who worked as a paramedic for 30 years before seeking office, argued that it is time for a fresh face in Washington, suggesting that Klobuchar is a prime example of why Congress needs “term limits.” “Eighteen years folks is a long time to be in the swamp,” he said, claiming earlier in the debate that he will be a voice for the “moderate-middle to the conservative right.” “You have not had a voice for almost a decade. Folks, it’s time that you had a voice. It’s time you had a senator…

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White House Chief of Staff John Kelly Commits to Stay Through 2020

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Donald Trump, John Kelly

by Steve Herman   Providing some stability amid a high rate of turnover of key personnel, the White House chief of staff has agreed to stick around for at least a couple of more years. Retired Marine Corps General John Kelly, at the request of President Donald Trump, has committed to staying in his post until the 2020 election, according to a White House official. There had been numerous mainstream media reports that Kelly, frustrated with West Wing disorder and isolated from critical decision-making, would soon depart. Kelly marked one year as chief of staff on Monday, and Trump tweeted congratulations after making note of the anniversary in remarks during a swearing-in ceremony for the new Secretary of Veteran Affairs, Robert Wilkie. “He’s only there because he thinks he can serve the country and he would only stay if he actually thought he was accomplishing something,” said James Jay Carafano, vice president of national security and foreign policy at the Heritage Foundation. Kelly, who previously was in Trump’s cabinet as homeland security secretary, was installed as chief of staff to replace Reince Priebus at a time when the West Wing was beset by internal divisions. “There’s no question it’s infinitely…

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Trump Administration Proposes Privatizing the Postal System

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by Brittany Hunter   Last week, the Trump administration unveiled a proposal to privatize the United States Postal Service (USPS). The plan comes as part of a broader initiative to trim and reorganize the federal government. And given its track record of waste and inefficiency, the USPS is a great place to start cutting the fat. “USPS’s current model is unsustainable. Major changes are needed in how the Postal Service is financed and the level of service Americans should expect from their universal service operator,” the White House’s new proposal reads. The plan goes on to say that the administration plans to “fix” the post office before beginning the process of privatization. “USPS privatization through an initial public offering (IPO) or sale to another entity would require the implementation of significant reforms prior to sale to show a possible path to profitability.” In terms of “fixing” the post office before taking it out of the hands of the government, the Trump administration has proposed reassessing the USPS’s ties with labor unions. This would give the new owners of the post office more freedom to set wages and provide benefits that are economically realistic. The document reads: “Freeing USPS to more fully negotiate…

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President Trump’s Fuel-Efficiency Reality Check Revs Up the American Economy

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by Derrick Hollie   Despite rampant speculation that President Donald Trump’s trade policy might increase some car prices, how his regulatory relief agenda may lower sticker prices and increase safety goes largely ignored. How did this happen? The Trump administration is revising the Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards imposed on automakers during the Obama era. In particular, they are no longer holding manufacturers to a 2025 fleet mandate of 54.5 miles per gallon. When the rollback was first announced, Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao declared it “a win for the American economy.” Then-EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt called it “good for consumers and good for the environment.” While a victory for all consumers, it’s a particularly welcome relief to those in poor and minority communities looking to ascend the socio-economic ladder and get an equal shot at achieving the American Dream. [The liberal Left continue to push their radical agenda against American values. The good news is there is a solution. Find out more ] CAFE standards have been around for 40 years, but green crusaders in the Obama administration put them on steroids. During the Obama presidency, the industry was required to increase fuel efficiency by around nine miles per gallon. In 2012,…

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Amid Investigations, Embattled EPA Chief Scott Pruitt Blames ‘Unrelenting Attacks’ Against Him, His Family In Resignation Letter

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EPA Chief Scott Priutt

by Michael Bastach   Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt cited “unrelenting attacks” against himself and his family in his resignation letter that was delivered to President Donald Trump on Thursday. Pruitt thanked Trump for allowing him to serve at EPA, but says “the unrelenting attacks on me personally, my family, are unprecedented and taken a sizeable toll on all of us,” according to a copy of the letter obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation. Here’s Pruitt’s full letter to Trump: Mr. President, it has been an honor to serve you in the Cabinet as Administrator of the EPA. Truly, your confidence in me has blessed me personally and enabled me to advance your agenda beyond what anyone anticipated at the beginning of your Administration. Your courage, steadfastness and resolute commitment to get results for the American people, both with regard to improved environmental outcomes as well as historical regulatory reform, is in fact occurring at an unprecedented pace and I thank you for the opportunity to serve you and the American people in helping achieve those ends. That is why it is hard for me to advise you I am stepping down as Administrator of the EPA effective…

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REPORT: Trump Administration Will End Obama Era Race-Based University Admission Practices

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The Trump administration is preparing to abolish policies that direct colleges and universities to increase diversity by considering race in college admissions, according to U.S. officials. Media reports say Trump administration officials intend to argue against guidelines issued by president Barack Obama’s administration that offered legal recommendations for schools seeking to consider race as an admissions factor. The development was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. Trump administration officials plan to argue that the guidelines exceed Supreme Court precedent and mislead schools that legal types of affirmative action are easier to attain than the law allows. Anurima Bargava, who led civil rights enforcement in schools during the Obama administration, disagreed with the reported arguments, saying only guidelines were offered to schools that were exploring the continued use of affirmative action legally. “This is a purely political attack that benefits nobody,” she told the Journal. The Trump administration did not immediately respond to the Journal’s request for comment. The Trump administration move comes as the Justice Department investigates whether Harvard University unlawfully discriminates against Asian-American students by holding them to higher admissions standards. The investigation was revived last year after Obama civil rights officials dismissed a similar complaint. In a…

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As a Tax Accountant, I Can Tell You Tax Reform Is Helping Small Businesses

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by Kalena Bruce   As we enter the summer, Republicans and Democrats continue to debate the merits of the tax cuts. Lost in this partisan bickering is the genuine and long-overdue relief the tax cuts offer small businesses. Sadly, the media reporting on small business tax cuts has been heavily politicized, complicating rather than clarifying the issue. Even The New York Times couldn’t get it straight in an article earlier this year, leading to an embarrassing correction. As a certified professional accountant, I’ve already started dealing with the new tax code for small business clients who file returns on a quarterly basis. Here’s what they need to know. The new tax structure lowers tax rates and expands the income thresholds for anyone who pays individual income tax, including small businesses that are structured as pass-throughs. These include sole proprietorships, partnerships, LLCs, and S-Corps. The liberal Left continue to push their radical agenda against American values. The good news is there is a solution. Find out more >> Under the new tax structure, rates fall to 10, 12, 22, 24, 32, 35, and 37 percent from 10, 15, 25, 28, 33, 35, and 40 percent. Income thresholds under these new rates are also expanded. For instance,…

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President Trump Will Sign an Executive Order to Suspend the Separation of Minors from the Illegal Alien Adults Who Accompany Them

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Donald Trump

President Donald Trump said Wednesday he is signing an executive order that would end the policy of separating migrant children from their parents as they illegally crossed the southern border with Mexico into the United States. In perhaps the biggest policy reversal of his 17-month presidency, Trump said, “We want to keep families together. It’s very important. I’ll be signing something in a little while that’s going to do that.” For days, Trump and key officials in his administration had contended that he could not act unilaterally to overturn the policy and that only Congress, through legislation, could ban the break-up of families. The U.S. in the last six weeks has separated more than 2,300 young children from their parents and sent them to detention centers, while charging their parents with illegally entering the country. But the Trump administration has come under withering attack for the policy, with Republican and Democratic officials alike calling it inhumane. Business and religious leaders, four former U.S. first ladies and Trump’s wife, Melania Trump, also voiced sharp criticism of the policy to split up migrant families, many of them escaping poverty and turmoil in Central America, as they illegally crossed U.S. border. Trump told…

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Commentary: The Answer Is Don’t Bring Your Kid Here Illegally

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by CHQ Staff   Have you noticed that every time establishment Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill try to ram through an amnesty for illegal aliens there’s a new immigration “crisis” to add a bit of pathos to their calls for open borders? The latest phony crisis is the plight of child border crossers who are being separated from their parents at the border. As our friend Michael F. Haverluck of OneNewsNow.com put it, Democrats and open borders Republicans are claiming the Trump administration is running concentration camps for children who illegally enter the United States alone or with parents who are being processed by the U.S. government. “We can’t find a solution to this problem without harming children without putting them in concentration camps?” former Obama 2012 Deputy Campaign Manager Stephanie Cutter asked on Live with Stephanie Ruhle, according to TheBlaze. Virulent anti-Trumper, former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, also chimed in on the issue by backing his Democratic colleague and going as far as to imply that President Donald Trump’s immigration policy resembles what was implemented under Nazis during World War II … or by slave holders before the Civil War. “And I would even say, Stephanie,…

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Commentary: 500 Days of Trump and He’s Just Getting Started

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by Jeffery Rendall   Donald Trump isn’t known to brag…but then again, yes, he is. America’s supremely confident commander in chief is quite fond of touting his own accomplishments and most of the time doesn’t appear to notice setbacks. Trump’s perpetually forward-facing orientation represents a refreshing new outlook for a Washington DC swamp infested with creatures (people) who obsess over negatives and failures. Assuming Trump does occasionally acknowledge something bad happening in his orbit, he wasn’t about to do it the other day when speaking on his first 500 days in office. Mallory Shelbourne reported in The Hill, “President Trump on Monday touted his first 500 days in the White House, saying ‘many believe’ he has achieved more than any of his predecessors in that same time frame… “Trump pointed to the GOP tax cuts, ‘lower crime,’ passing the ‘right to try’ bill, his confirmed judicial appointments and his immigration policy as accomplishments. “’Massive Tax & Regulation Cuts, Military & Vets, Lower Crime & Illegal Immigration, Stronger Borders, Judgeships, Best Economy & Jobs EVER, and much more,’ he added.” Trump’s list of achievements shows quite a lot of brevity, uncharacteristic for him. The media invariably nitpicked the list to discover exceptions to Trump’s…

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EXCLUSIVE: Emails Cast Doubt On House Democrats’ Latest Claim Against Scott Pruitt

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Scott Pruitt

by Michael Bastasch   Democrats mischaracterized emails between top Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials to claim Administrator Scott Pruitt wanted “misuse” of taxpayer dollars by creating a new agency office in his hometown. Pruitt directed his staff “to establish a new EPA office in his hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma,” sparking a wave of media coverage that added to the growing list of complaints against Pruitt, House Democrats claimed. “This most recent case of questionable financial management adds to the growing concerns about Administrator Pruitt’s misuse of taxpayers’ funds and potential ethical lapses in judgement,” alleged House Democrats, led by Texas Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson. However, The Daily Caller News Foundation reviewed emails that show Pruitt asked EPA officials to find a place “where he could work” when he was home in Oklahoma, not “questionable financial management” as Democrats suggest. EPA officials asked questions about how Pruitt could periodically work from his hometown, Tulsa, in a way consistent with past administrators, utilizing existing office setups or working with federal officials to find suitable office space, emails show. Pruitt is under fire for alleged overspending and ethical lapses, including flying first class at taxpayers’ expense and renting a room from the wife of a D.C.…

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Knives Out For Kelly: Leaky White House Staffers Target Chief Of Staff

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by Peter Hasson   White House chief of staff John Kelly is on the receiving end of more damaging leaks from unnamed West Wing staffers. NBC News quoted eight current and former White House staffers in a story that described Kelly complaining about President Donald Trump. Kelly frequently portrays himself as saving the country from destruction and has repeatedly called Trump an “idiot,” the anonymous officials claimed. The officials blamed Kelly for low morale in the White House and questioned his judgement. “He says stuff you can’t believe,” one senior White House official told NBC News. “He’ll say it and you think, ‘That is not what you should be saying.’” Kelly dismissed the NBC News report as “total BS” in a statement issued Monday evening. “I spend more time with the President than anyone else and we have an incredibly candid and strong relationship. He always knows where I stand and he and I both know this story is total BS,” Kelly said. “I am committed to the President, his agenda, and our country. This is another pathetic attempt to smear people close to President Trump and distract from the administrations many successes.” The leaks are the latest indication that Kelly may…

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Exclusive Interview: Ben Carson on Draining the Swamp, Fighting Poverty, and Kanye West

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by Genevieve Wood   Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson spoke to The Daily Signal’s Genevieve Wood about his policy goals at HUD, what it’s like to serve under President Trump, and Kanye West’s recent tweets. An edited transcript of their interview is below. Genevieve Wood: Secretary Carson, thank you for talking with the Daily Signal. Ben Carson: Absolutely. My pleasure. Wood: So you’ve been in office now a year and a half almost, right? Carson: Almost. [ The liberal Left continue to push their radical agenda against American values. The good news is there is a solution. Find out more ] Wood: Coming up on it. What have been the biggest challenges for you at HUD? Carson: There have been several challenges, but the biggest challenge is when I first came in there were no assistant secretaries or deputy secretaries, so it was like drinking from a fire hydrant every day. But it worked out OK, and we had some tremendous people—career staff and political appointees—who were able to really step up to the plate and help. But that has worked out extremely well. Probably one of the things that surprised me the most was how disorganized the financial structure was. Wood: Of…

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Commentary: Cleaning House Is Not Enough

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by George Rasley, CHQ Editor   The appointment of Ambassador John Bolton as President Trump’s National Security Advisor and the confirmation of CIA Director and former Representative Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State brought two solid conservatives with great credentials and a commitment to President Trump’s national security policies into his administration. Gone are the ineffective Rex Tillerson, who never seemed to click with Trump and his policy goals, and the near-treasonous H.R. McMaster who, as National Security Advisor, was a Fifth Columnist for maintaining Obama’s disastrous policies on the Iran nuclear deal, the war Islam has declared on the West and Chinese expansionism, to name just three of his more obvious betrayals of Trump’s campaign promises. But what about the staffers and underlings that Tillerson and especially McMaster brought into the Administration? Ever since General Mike Flynn was ousted as President Trump’s National Security Advisor the NSC has slid steadily back toward Obama-like postures toward the war Islam has declared on the West and especially on dealing with Iran. The reason for this slide back to Obama’s policies is the hiring of LTG H.R. McMaster as National Security Advisor, who in turn retained many of Obama’s staff that Flynn…

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Sixteen Months After Inauguration, President Trump Still Waits on the Senate to Confirm Nominees

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by Natalia Castro   The Department of Labor needs an upgrade. As President Donald Trump makes important changes across the executive branch, the Department of Labor has remained a step behind, but it is not necessarily the department’s fault or even Secretary Alexander Acosta. It’s the Senate’s fault. The Senate has stalled the confirmation of Trump’s nominees to executive positions, such as the nominee Deputy Secretary of the Department of Labor, Patrick Pizzella. This has prevented necessary reforms from taking place and slowed the progress of the entire agency. Patrick Pizzella has been the right choice for the Deputy Secretary for a long time. Most recently, Pizzella has served as Acting Chairman of the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA). Pizzella’s board hears cases regarding unfair labor practices, union representation, and arbitration appeals. Pizzella has avoided controversy in all of his positions, so it was no surprise in 2013 when a Democratic-majority Senate led by Harry Reid unanimously confirmed Pizzella to serve on the board by voice vote. But under the Trump Administration, attempts by Senators to disrupt the confirmation process have left Pizzella stalled over and over again, making him a case study on Senate inefficiency. President Trump nominated Pizzella on June 20,…

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