California governor further extends int’l outreach on climate action

Governor Jerry Brown of U.S. state of California met Friday in San Francisco visiting German Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks, hours after returning from a climate mission to China, and continued his international outreach on climate action. "China and Germany - two of the most powerful countries in the world - are working with California and with other states to deal with climate change," Brown said, noting that "the current withdrawal from the Paris Agreement by the Washington administration is being overcome and countermanded by people throughout the whole world."

Oldest Trump son fires off 80-plus tweets in support of dad

The president's eldest son, whose Twitter feed can at times be as inflammatory as his father's, was a one-man rapid-response team as the fired FBI director testified before a Senate panel Thursday. He delivered denunciations with the same force that made him an effective, if controversial, campaign surrogate and could signal his own political ambitions.

Firm to receive small business vouchers

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Trump’s OCC Chief Will Stay Away From Big Banks to Avoid Conflicts

The new acting chief of one of Washington's major banking regulators has agreed to stay away from issues involving dozens of former legal clients, including 14 banks that the agency oversees, according to his ethics agreement. Keith Noreika, who represented lenders as a private lawyer, plans to recuse himself from matters related to JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc., firms the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency regulates.  Democratic lawmakers had already questioned whether Noreika's close ties to the industry would prevent him from being an impartial watchdog.

Labor Secretary Defends OFCCP-EEOC Merger

As previously reported, the Trump Administration's proposed budget for fiscal year 2018 includes a plan to merge the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs into the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission . Pragmatically, this would add the OFCCP's broad responsibilities to an already overburdened EEOC, without providing the EEOC any additional funding to accomplish its newly added workload.

Chuck Grassley slams Donald Trump’s efforts to stonewall Democratic watchdogs

In a fight between Donald Trump and Senate Democrats' oversight authority, Republican Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley just took a powerful stand on the side of Democrats. The veteran Iowa Republican is not happy with Trump's gag order on federal agencies, calling a new Department of Justice policy of shutting down oversight requests from Democrats "nonsense."

RNC’s false talking point about Comey came from “alt-right” trolls

The Republican National Committee pushed a false talking point that originated from the "alt-right"/fake news ecosystem to try to discredit former FBI Director James Comey's June 8 testimony to the Senate intelligence committee. During his testimony, Comey said that he believed President Donald Trump fired him due to the FBI's Russia probe, saying, "I know I was fired because of something about the way I was conducting the Russia investigation was in some way putting pressure on him, in some way irritating him, and he decided to fire me because of that."

This map shows which states are vowing to defy Trump and uphold the US’ Paris Agreement goals

Eleven states, plus Washington, DC and Puerto Rico, have vowed to pursue policies that will uphold the US' commitments to the accord. They've joined the Washington governor Jay Inslee, New York's Andrew Cuomo, and California's Jerry Brown announced the formation of the group on June 1, following Trump's announcement about the Paris Agreement.

House votes to roll back post-2008 financial rules

The Republican-led House has moved closer to fulfilling President Donald Trump's goal of doing "a big number" on Dodd-Frank, the landmark banking law created after the 2008 economic crisis that was designed to prevent future meltdowns. But the effort will likely require some major changes to bring about Democratic support in the Senate.

Cuban dissident to receive West New York ‘key to town’

WEST NEW YORK -- A well-known Cuban dissident will be in West New York on Friday to speak out against continued human rights abuses on the island despite the recent thaw in U.S. relations, and to be honored by one of the town's own outspoken critics of the island's authoritarian regime. The dissident, Marta Beatriz Roque Cabello , is a 72-year-old economist and longtime critic of Fidel Castro and his brother Raul.

Comey testimony leaves a question about Sessions unanswered

Ousted FBI Director James Comey provided a lot of answers during his public testimony before a Senate committee , but he left one substantial question unanswered: How did the FBI know Attorney General Jeff Sessions was going to step aside from the investigation into the Trump campaign's Russia ties? The Justice Department responded late Thursday, saying that after consultations with department ethics officials Sessions recused himself because of his involvement in Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, "for that reason, and that reason alone." The department's statement did not directly respond to Comey's comment that he was "aware of facts" that would make Sessions' continued involvement in the Russia probe problematic.

49 victims of Pulse massacre remembered in daylong services

Church bells tolled 49 times, a giant rainbow flag hung from a county government building and the names of the victims of the Pulse nightclub attack were read aloud at various ceremonies Monday as people in Orlando and beyond remembered the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. At 2:02 a.m., survivors, victims' families, club employees and local officials were gathered for a private service at the gay club at the exact time Omar Mateen opened fire a year ago and pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.

Republicans urge Trump on tapes; Sessions to testify Tuesday

Fellow Republicans pressed President Donald Trump on Sunday to come clean about whether he has tapes of private conversations with former FBI Director James Comey and provide them to Congress if he does - or possibly face a subpoena, as a Senate investigation into collusion with Russia or obstruction of justice extended to a Trump Cabinet member. It was a sign of escalating fallout from riveting testimony from Comey last week of undue pressure from Trump, which drew an angry response from the president on Friday that Comey was lying.

Civil righteous: Hillary Clinton urges voting, praises diversity in address to Medgar Evans graduates

Clinton was presented with an honorary degree from Medgar Evers College by City University of New York Chancellor James P. Milliken. Hillary Clinton implored graduates of Medgar Evers College to exercise their right that the university's namesake civil rights activist died to achieve in a commencement address on Thursday at the Barclays Center.

CalSTRS Takes Oppose Position on Financial CHOICE Act

CalSTRS expresses concern about H.R. 10 bill provisions that could reduce SEC oversight and remove critically important investor protections WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. - CalSTRS Chief Executive Officer Jack Ehnes issued the following statement reflecting the Teachers' Retirement Board's decision to oppose H.R. 10 , also known as the Financial CHOICE Act of 2017: "The Financial CHOICE Act is shrouded in rhetoric about fixing the United States economy and lifting the regulatory burden on our financial institutions.

Justice Dept.: Sessions recused from probe due to campaign

Ousted FBI Director James Comey provided a lot of answers during his public testimony before a Senate committee Thursday, but he left one substantial question unanswered: How did the FBI know Attorney General Jeff Sessions was going to step aside from the investigation into the Trump campaign's Russia ties? The Justice Department responded late Thursday, saying that after consultations with department ethics officials Sessions recused himself because of his involvement in Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, "for that reason, and that reason alone." The department's statement did not directly respond to Comey's comment that he was "aware of facts" that would make Sessions' continued involvement in the Russia probe problematic.

Did Russia interfere in the 2016 elections? No doubt, Comey says

The Russian government hacked the computers of the Democratic National Committee, leaked the information they stole and "was behind the cyber intrusion" of American voter files, among much more. In short, Russians interfered in the 2016 presidential election.