Category: US Governors

Court gives voting rights a major victory by blocking the North Carolina GOP’s attempted power-grab

Donald Trump has won the presidency after narrowly carrying a few states to put him above 270 electoral votes. But… At his Senate confirmation hearing, Attorney General Jeff Sessions lied under oath that he had never had contact with the… After Democrat Roy Cooper ousted then-GOP Gov. Pat McCrory in 2016, North Carolina’s Republican legislature used their illegally gerrymandered majority to engage in a flagrantly undemocratic power-grab in a lame-duck session right before McCrory left office.

World Briefs: 3-12-17

A Manhattan federal prosecutor who says “absolute independence” was his touchstone for over seven years as he battled public corruption announced he was fired Saturday after he refused a request a day earlier to resign. Preet Bharara, 48, made the announcement on his personal Twitter account after it became widely known hours earlier that he did not intend to step down in response to Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ request that leftover appointees of former President Barack Obama quit.

Breitbart takes aim at GOP healthcare bill

The far-right news website that has long backed President Trump has published a series of articles this week highlighting perceived negative aspects of House GOP leaders’ proposal to repeal and replace ObamaCare. Breitbart been far from supportive of the Affordable Care Act, which the GOP is seeking to repeal and replace.

Mike Pence To Keynote AIPAC Conference

WASHINGTON – Vice President Mike Pence and a bipartisan slate of top members of Congress are scheduled to address AIPAC’s upcoming annual conference. An American Israel Public Affairs Committee official confirmed to JTA that Pence will keynote the conference scheduled for March 26-28 in Washington, D.C. Pence, who enjoyed a long relationship with the pro-Israel lobby as a congressman and later as Indiana governor – but as a local congressman in 2009, told AIPAC that he didn’t know of the three synagogues in his district – spoke last month at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual confab and has taken a lead in condemning recent anti-Semitic incidents.

Pence Promises Kentucky Its Obamacare `Nightmare’ About to End

Vice President Mike Pence said the “nightmare” of Obamacare will soon end as he visited Kentucky in hopes of drumming up some good publicity for a contentious health bill that’s united many conservatives and liberals — as well as doctors, seniors and “Obamacare has failed the people of Kentucky it has failed the people of America and Obamacare must go,” Pence told told an invited audience of about 100 mostly small business owners and Republican backers in Louisville.

Panel voids 3 Texas congressional districts

In a 2-1 ruling, the panel concluded that race, instead of partisan advantage, drove the decisions by the Republican-controlled Legislature to redraw District 23, which is held by U.S. Rep. Will Hurd , R-San Antonio; District 35, which stretches from Austin to San Antonio and is held by Democrat U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett , and District 27, which includes Nueces County. The nearly 200-page ruling invalidates those districts, and could have a filter-down effect on nearby districts if the ruling stands.

Japan bats away U.S. complaint on autos

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga speaks to media during a news conference in this photo taken by Kyodo February 12, 2017. Mandatory credit Kyodo/via Japan rejected U.S. demands for more access to Japan’s car market on Friday, casting doubt over whether it can avoid friction over autos and agriculture imports at high level bilateral talks on economic relations next month.

Huntsman in exile: Did appointment make way for Hatch?

For a second time, a president is sending Jon Huntsman overseas on an assignment that could block his political ambitions. President Donald Trump’s decision to tap the Republican former Utah governor as the US ambassador to Russia puts Huntsman on the sidelines the day before veteran Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch announced his plans Thursday to run for another term in 2018.

Michigan’s indifference toward Flint continues to defy logic

You might have thought the Snyder administration would have learned trying to keep information about Flint hidden doesn’t work. Last week, state officials refused to take part in a scheduled meeting in which a team of university researchers were to present their preliminary findings about a mysterious outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in Flint.

Noel J. Francisco, Trump’s solicitor general pick, fought Obama on recess appointments

President Trump ‘s pick for solicitor general – the government’s chief lawyer to the Supreme Court – has been there before. Noel J. Francisco won a 9-0 spanking of President Obama over his illegal recess appointments, fought the administration to a draw on the Obamacare contraceptive mandate and won the release of former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell after convincing the justices that the corruption charges were bogus.

Gov. Sandoval Signs Letter to Pres. Trump Requesting Emergency Assistance for Northern Nevada

Governor Brian Sandoval today announced he has signed a letter to President Donald Trump respectfully requesting a major disaster declaration for Northern Nevada following the February weather event and sent a formal communication to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for assistance specific to Lemmon Valley in Washoe Valley. “I was grateful for the three-day approval for the funds related to the January event but even at that time, we knew the sustained weather event would likely require a second request from our federal partners,” said Governor Brian Sandoval.

Tim Kaine’s Son Arrested In St. Paul Protest, Charges Possible

The son of a United States Senator and a former vice presidential candidate was one of six people arrested in a violent protest Saturday inside the Minnesota State Capitol. Twenty-four-year-old Linwood “Woody” Kaine, son of Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, was one of a group of protesters who disrupted a rally in support of President Donald Trump.

Gov. Walker visits Jewish community center amid threats

On Wednesday, Gov. Scott Walker visited a Jewish community center in the Milwaukee area which has been evacuated three times in the past five weeks because of bomb threats. The governor toured the community center in Whitefish Bay and pledged support, including extra intelligence resources and manpower, calling the bomb threats “a form of domestic terrorism.”

Source: Jon Huntsman offered job of ambassador to Russia – Wed, 08 Mar 2017 PST

President Donald Trump has offered former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman the position as U.S. ambassador to Russia, a high-profile and sensitive post amid investigations into the contacts between Russian officials and the Trump campaign. Trump made the offer to Huntsman earlier this week, according to a White House official not authorized to discuss the move publicly until it is announced.

Oil Companies Land a Victory in Louisiana Coastal Lawsuit

A federal appeals court on March 3 refused to revive a Louisiana levee board’s lawsuit blaming dozens of oil and gas companies for damage to the state’s fragile coast, a major victory for energy companies and their political supporters who cast the suit as an attack on a vital state industry. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling upheld a federal judge’s 2015 decision in favor of energy companies that argued the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East lacked legal standing to bring its damage claims, which could have cost the oil companies billions of dollars.

Tim Kaine’s youngest son arrested at Trump rally

The youngest son of Virginia senator and former Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine was among five people arrested Saturday after police said they disrupted a pro-Donald Trump rally in St. Paul, Minnesota. No charges were filed against Kaine or the other protesters who were detained due to “insufficient facts to prove felony-level riot,” according to the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office.

More

Republican governors complain that a GOP proposal to replace former President Barack Obama’s health care law would force millions of lower-income earners off insurance rolls or stick states with the cost of keeping them covered. Governors, especially those from political battleground states, were generally cool to the bill put forth in the Republican-controlled U.S. House.

Texas wildfires kill four, blazes also hit nearby states

A cluster of late-winter prairie fires in the Texas Panhandle has killed four people, including three ranch hands racing to herd livestock to safety, while scorching hundreds of thousands of acres of grasslands, officials said on Tuesday. Wildfires stoked by high winds and tinder-dry vegetation also raged across Colorado, Oklahoma and Kansas, prompting thousands of evacuations and destroying numerous structures.

Charles Lane:

The American people support more federal spending on infrastructure such as roads, buildings and waterways – 75 percent are in favor, according to a year-old Gallup poll. And so President Donald Trump’s call for a 10-year, $1 trillion “national rebuilding” plan was one of the few parts of his address to Congress on Tuesday that might have been the same if Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders had won in November.

Democrats may call on business community in anti-“sanctuary” bill fight

As Texas Democrats strategize how to continue pushing back against state-based immigration proposals, they’re considering a tactic often embraced by some far-right members of the Republican Party to assist their efforts. “I would just say that all options are on the table to expose the hypocrisy of only focusing on immigrants and not on Texas businesses that rely heavily on them,” state Rep. Rafael Anchia , D-Dallas, told the Tribune.

New Hampshire delegation: Revised travel ban about politics

New Hampshire’s Democratic congressional delegation said Monday that changes to President Donald Trump’s revised travel ban still left them feeling as if it was more about politics than security. U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan said she supported improving the vetting process but didn’t believe the revised ban would achieve that.

Pence fought against releasing records as governor

Vice President Mike Pence repeatedly stonewalled media requests to view public records when he was Indiana’s governor, including emails about state business distributed from a private AOL account that was hacked last year. Revelations Pence used the account to discuss homeland security and other official matters, first reported Thursday by the Indianapolis Star, are just the latest in a series of transparency battles involving the Republican’s tenure as governor.

10 Things to Know for Monday

President Donald Trump walks to the Oval Office upon arrival at the White House in Washington, Sunday, March 5, 2017, from a trip to Florida. President Donald Trump walks to the Oval Office upon arrival at the White House in Washington, Sunday, March 5, 2017, from a trip to Florida.

Comey wants Justice Department to reject Trump wiretap claim: NYT

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence welcomes FBI Director James Comey watched by Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy and U.S. President Donald Trump during the reception for law enforcement officers and first responders in the Blue Room of the White House in Washington Jan. 22. Comey considers Trump’s accusation that former President Barack Obama tapped his phones to be false, The New York Times reported Sunday. FBI Director James Comey considers President Donald Trump’s explosive accusation that Barack Obama tapped his phones to be false, The New York Times reported Sunday.

Mike Pencea s lighthearted roast – and defense of – the press, annotated

Interpretation of the news based on evidence, including data, as well as anticipating how events might unfold based on past events Vice President Mike Pence was the highest-ranking government official in attendance Saturday night at the Gridiron dinner, an annual gathering of Washington’s top political journalists. As he has with the upcoming White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, President Trump declined his invitation to the Gridiron event.

Republicans in Maine, Utah want Trump to undo monuments

Roxanne Quimby, the founder of Burt’s Bees, poses next to white pine in Portland, Maine. Maine Gov. Paul LePage has asked Republican President Donald Trump to undo Democratic former President Barack Obama’s designation of a national monument and give back the land that was donated for it.

Kansas Governor welcomes ‘valuable’ Indian community8 min ago

Washington, Mar 5 Kansas Governor Sam Brownback has welcomed “valuable” Indian community to the state, stressing that “hateful” actions of one man doesn’t define them in the aftermath of the killing of an Indian engineer. A delegation of Indian-Americans in Kansas along with the Hindu-American Foundation joined the Indian Consul General in Houston, Anupam Ray, in meeting Brownback and Lt Governor Jeff Colyer.

Tea party parallel? Liberals taking aim at their own party

In this Jan. 31, 2017 file photo, demonstrators call out Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer of N.Y. during a protest in his Brooklyn neighborhood in New York. Emboldened by a wave of outrage against President Donald Trump, groups of liberal activists are targeting Democratic incumbents they consider too accommodating to the new administration.

Police search for man who shot Sikh in Seattle suburb

Supporters of President Donald Trump plan to gather at Trump Tower, the White House and scores of other places around the country in marches to show their pride in his presidency. Supporters of President Donald Trump plan to gather at Trump Tower, the White House and scores of other places around the country in marches to show their pride in his presidency.

In brief

Federal officials say more than two dozen aircraft have violated airspace restrictions near President Donald Trump’s estate in Florida. Last month, the Federal Aviation Administration reported 27 violations of the airspace restrictions near Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach.

More patrols of possible bias sites

New Jersey law enforcement officials have increased patrols at houses of worship, community centers, and cemeteries in the wake of recent bias incidents, Gov. Christie’s office said Friday. “We live in a world where hostilities have become part of our everyday lives and are directed at what makes us as New Jerseyans and Americans so unique – our diversity,” Christie said in a statement.

Kansas school funding formula plans vie for legislative approval

Lawmakers have begun sifting through a raft of school finance legislation, with several plans competing for attention in the early stages of a process aimed at producing a new funding formula. Lawmakers have begun sifting through a raft of school finance legislation, with several plans competing for attention in the early stages of a process aimed at producing a new funding formula.