http://thehill.com/homenews/house/36706 ... s-hindered
Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee may publish a report detailing ways panel Republicans attempted to hinder the Russia probe, according to a senior Democrat on the committee.
In an interview published Tuesday, Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) told Greg Sargent, a liberal columnist for The Washington Post, that Democrats are considering releasing such a minority report. One such example of Republican attempts to hurt the investigation, according to Himes, includes refusing to call certain witnesses.
Meanwhile, Trump continues his incoherent foreign policy of "whatever I personally feel at this moment should be our policy" and "we're going to retaliate against those who don't think as I do."
http://thehill.com/homenews/administrat ... lestinians
President Trump on Tuesday lashed out at the Palestinians and suggested that the U.S. could withhold aid money for them amid anger over Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
[Tweet 1]"It's not only Pakistan that we pay billions of dollars to for nothing, but also many other countries, and others. As an example, we pay the Palestinians HUNDRED OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS a year and get no appreciation or respect. They don’t even want to negotiate a long overdue peace treaty with Israel".. [Tweet 2]."We have taken Jerusalem, the toughest part of the negotiation, off the table, but Israel, for that, would have had to pay more. But with the Palestinians no longer willing to talk peace, why should we make any of these massive future payments to them?"
His tweet doesn't even make sense. Why should the Palestinians be thrilled that "we have taken Jerusalem off the table... but Israel would have had to pay more" ["for that" - presumably for taking Jerusalem as its capitol] ?
http://thehill.com/policy/international ... -jerusalem
The U.S. will hold a reception for countries that did not vote last month to approve a United Nations (U.N.) resolution condemning the Trump administration's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley said Tuesday.
What, are we 5-year-olds now? You said I was stupid and I'm not going to invite you to my party! So there!
http://thehill.com/policy/defense/36709 ... y-confirms
The United States is withholding $255 million in aid from Pakistan over what the Trump administration describes as a failure to sufficiently fight terrorism, U.S. Ambassador the United Nations Nikki Haley confirmed Tuesday.
“The administration is withholding $255 million in assistance to Pakistan,” Haley said at a press conference. “There are clear reasons for this. Pakistan has played a double game for years. They work with us at times, and they also harbor the terrorists that attack our troops in Afghanistan. That game is not acceptable to this administration.”
The withholding of the aid has been expected, particularly after Trump blasted Pakistan in a Monday tweet.
The trouble is, of course, that sometimes we
need the cooperation of countries like this, and previous administrations recognized that sometimes you have to work with what you've got.
A little-known attack by the Trump administration on legal immigration - make the paperwork as onerous as possible and remove flexibility/ judgement calls from the process:
http://thehill.com/opinion/immigration/ ... eds-to-end
Using every tool it can to restrain immigration, the Trump administration has now taken aim at a little-known but vital resource: immigration caseworkers in congressional offices.
An email sent late last month by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced several new requirements, “including a handwritten and notarized signature, even if the immigrant is overseas,” before a congressional office can accept a “privacy release” that allows it to contact federal agencies. This isn’t simply a case of more paperwork clogging up an already backlogged system. This is an unnecessary measure that can put lives at risk.
Finding a convenient local notary in some war-torn countries must be quite a job. Especially for those who are poor.
Trump's ICE nominee says that officials in sanctuary cities should be charged with crimes:
http://thehill.com/homenews/administrat ... be-charged
President Trump's pick to run Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Tuesday called for a crackdown on so-called sanctuary cities
...Homan, who was announced in December as President Trump's pick to permanently run the agency, went on to say that politicians enforcing sanctuary city policies need to be held "personally accountable." "We gotta take [sanctuary cities] to court, and we gotta start charging some of these politicians with crimes," he said.
So it seems that you would have the choice of being charged locally for not enforcing your city's policies or charged by the federal government for enforcing your city's policies....
One of the repercussions of the EPA not doing its job:
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-enviro ... -pollution
Delaware’s state government is threatening to sue the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for not approving four requests to crack down on out-of-state air pollution. The state’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control says that four specific power plants in Pennsylvania and West Virginia are contributing to ozone pollution in Delaware, and that the EPA has a responsibility under the Clean Air Act to force them to better control their pollution.
...Delaware’s official notices of intent to sue, which it said Tuesday that it will send, are required 60 days before it can file the actual lawsuits.
Multiple states have sued the EPA under the Trump administration to get it to take action against out-of-state polluting facilities.
Meanwhile...
http://thehill.com/homenews/administrat ... -next-week
“I will be announcing THE MOST DISHONEST & CORRUPT MEDIA AWARDS OF THE YEAR on Monday at 5:00 o’clock,” Trump tweeted. “Subjects will cover Dishonesty & Bad Reporting in various categories from the Fake News Media. Stay tuned!"
We all know, by now, that to Trump, "fake news media" means any mainstream news that doesn't bow down and worship him. But this tweet is getting into really bizarre territory - I can't imagine any rational adult occupying himself/herself with this sort of nonsense. Much less the damn president of the US, who should be busy with important things.
We've been told repeatedly that Trump's twitter account should be considered as an official government statement. So now the US government is handing out "fake media awards"?
Utterly childish.