Monday, April 10
á Neil Gorsuch was sworn in as 113th Supreme
Court justice.
á The
BLM changed the banner image on its website from a vast mountain range to a
massive coal seam in Wyoming — supporting President Donald TrumpÕs
campaign to bring coal jobs back to the U.S.
á Trump proposed a tax reform that
involves eliminating payroll FICA contributions to fund Social Security calling
this Orwellian plan to defund Social Security a middle-class tax cut.
Tuesday, April 11
á Education
Secretary Betsy DeVos reversed Obama administration
directives that were supposed to make it easier for student borrowers to pay
back their loans.
á A coalition of advocacy groups filed a
Freedom of Information Act request to compel the release of TrumpÕs visitor
logs because, unlike the Obama administration, Trump wonÕt disclose them.
á House bill HR1584 introduced to
amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to prohibit the taking,
importation, and exportation of Orcas and Orca products for public display.
Wednesday, April 12
á Putin met with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson after U.S. officials suggested Russia could have
had advance knowledge of the Syrian chemical attack — an assertion Moscow
has denied.
á TillersonÕs meeting with Putin failed to
ease deepening tensions over Syria and WashingtonÕs demands that Moscow abandon
Syria, its main Middle East ally.
á A trend towards more wars continued as the
Trump administration expanded war zones in Yemen, Somalia, and Syria, sent a
strike force toward North Korea, and increased drone strikes.
á Civilian deaths spiked in Syria and Iraq
as the U.S. launched bombing raids.
á The
EPA announced plans to repeal and replace the Clean Water Rule.
á Reflecting the declining
influence of chief strategist Steve Bannon and the
growing power of former Goldman Sachs President Gary Cohn, Trump broke with
several positions he espoused on the campaign trail; he contradicted his past
comments disapproving support for NATO, calling China a Òcurrency manipulator,Ó
criticizing the work of Federal Reserve Board chair Janet Yellen, and
disapproving low interest rates. He recanted his call for closing the
Export-Import Bank, his plan to get rid of the national debt, his ban on officials
becoming lobbyists after they leave the government, and his belief that the
military is a disaster.
Thursday, April 13
á TrumpÕs
former campaign chairman Paul Manafort announced
plans to register as a foreign agent for lobbying work he did on behalf of a
pro-Russian political party in Ukraine.
á The
Trump administration considered ways to speed up the hiring of hundreds of new
Customs and Border Patrol officers.
á Trump
said he has ÒconfidenceÓ in FBI Director Comey, but
it is Ònot too lateÓ to fire him.
á The military dropped the most
powerful non-nuclear bomb ever used in combat. Trump praised the decision to drop the massive bomb as
an example of the Òtotal authorizationÓ he has given his military commanders.
á Trump
privately signed a bill that allows states to withhold Medicaid reimbursements
from organizations that provide abortion services, including Planned
Parenthood.
á to restrict federal funding grants
for localities that refuse to assist immigration officials
Friday, April 14
á A federal judge
ruled that Dakota Access Pipeline builder, Energy Transfer Partners, can
keep some information about spill risks secret.
á Tourism Economics in Wayne, Pennsylvania, said loss of
tourism because of TrumpÕs travel ban is expected to cost $7.4 billion.
á North
Korea warned it was prepared to take the ÒtoughestÓ action unless the U.S. ends
its Òmilitary hysteria.Ó
Saturday, April 15
á North Korea launched a land-based
version of its medium-range, submarine-launched, ballistic missile.
á The
Guardian reported that the Border Patrol is losing agents faster than it can
replace them, delaying TrumpÕs plan to ramp up the force.
Sunday, April 16
á
Federal environmental officials scrambled to
protect Lake Michigan from a chromium spill while the Trump administration
pushed a budget to scuttle efforts to crack down on the pollutant nationwide.
á
Trump
said Òsomeone should look into who paidÓ for April 15
protest rallies around the country urging him to release his tax returns.
á
TrumpÕs
lawyers responded to lawsuits against Trump for inciting violence at his
campaign rallies, saying Trump is immune from suit because he is
President of the U.S. A federal judge already rejected one attempt to have the
lawsuit dismissed earlier this month.
á
TrumpÕs national security adviser, H.R.
McMaster, said the U.S. is exploring Òa range of optionsÓ to respond to an
increasingly provocative North Korea.
á
A
single-payer healthcare bill is reported to have record support in Congress
with 93 co-signers.
á
It
appeared new Justice GorsuchÕs judicial record
might tip the court toward siding with a church challenging MissouriÕs ban on
state funding of religious entities, a closely watched case testing the limits
of religious rights.