Trump’s tweets are a sideshow: His executive orders are building a corporate state

The destructive toll of Donald Trump's presidency is beginning to emerge, foreshadowing what's likely to come as the White House and congressional Republicans begin to reverse, repeal and replace federal laws and regulations and downsize agencies. While Trump's red-state supporters may be cheering now, they'll soon feel the consequences.

Lawsuit: Trump Cabinet nominee has not turned over records

Attorney Blake Lawrence, left, answers a question about a lawsuit against Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt over public access to official emails, in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017. Looking on are Brady Henderson, center, and Ryan Kiesel, both of the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma.

Texans spar over climate change as House Republicans pledge to make ‘EPA great again’

The political battleground over climate change on Tuesday shifted to the House, where two prominent Texas lawmakers led ever-intensifying sparring over the Environmental Protection Agency. On one side was Rep. Lamar Smith, the San Antonio Republican who crafted the provocative hearing title of "Making EPA Great Again."

Will Trump take on the deficit?

Once more, the Congressional Budget Office has warned that federal deficits will continue to rise until current laws are changed. But so far, President Donald Trump shows no signs of making the deficit a priority or of undertaking the hard bipartisan work that will be required to make the necessary changes.

Proposed casino legislation dictates more bankruptcy, education losses for Illinois

In Illinois, Lincoln's essential premise of "government of the people, by the people and for the people" has been corrupted into "government of the casinos, by the casinos, and for the casinos"-as exemplified by the new casino legislation in Senate Bill 7. In 2015, U.S. Congressional hearings highlighted that much of the Illinois bankruptcy was precipitated by $35 billion to $100 billion in giveaways since 1990 to gambling interests - diverting funds particularly away from essential education funding. For example, the original 10 Illinois casino licenses worth $5 billion were given away for only $25,000 each to political insiders, including one insider who thereafter went to prison.

Scores of EPA workers object to Trump’s pick to lead agency

Hundreds of current and former employees of the Environmental Protection Agency are speaking out against President Donald Trump's pick to head the department. About 300 people, including scores of EPA employees, rallied Monday across the street from the agency's regional headquarters in downtown Chicago to oppose Scott Pruitt's nomination.

Current, former EPA workers urge Congress to reject nominee Pruitt

Hundreds of current and former employees of the Environmental Protection Agency spoke up loudly on Monday, hoping it will persuade the U.S. Senate to reject Scott Pruitt as President Donald Trump 's leader in the agency. Still Oklahoma's attorney general until confirmed, Pruitt is nominated as EPA administrator but his appointment has been met with staunch opposition -- partly due to questions surrounding his stance on global warming.

Senate poised to approve Rowan Wilson to Court of Appeals

"I always hate talking about myself in a positive way," said attorney Rowan Wilson when asked by state Sen. John Bonacic, the Republican chair of the chamber's Judiciary Committee, if he has the temperament to become an associate judge on New York's Court of Appeals. Lucky for Wilson, then, that he had been preceded by representatives of the state Bar Association and the Trial Lawyers association who called him an impressive nominee with experience in both commercial litigation and pro bono work at the Manhattan offices of the prominent law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore.

President Trump Orders Review of DOL Fiduciary Rule and Addresses…

On February 3, 2017, President Trump took actions aimed at alleviating some of the regulatory burdens on the financial services industry. Through a Presidential Memorandum , President Trump ordered the DOL to "examine the Fiduciary Duty Rule to determine whether it may adversely affect the ability of Americans to gain access to retirement information and financial advice" and prepare an updated economic and legal analysis concerning the impact of the rule, while taking into account several enumerated considerations.

Texas Senate advances bill to effectively abolish sanctuary cities

The Texas State Senate gave preliminary approval to a bill Tuesday that would effectively abolish so-called sanctuary cities by requiring local police agencies to enforce immigration laws at the request of federal officials. Under Senate Bill 4, law enforcement in cities, counties and on college campuses would have to hold an arrested person in custody while US Customs and Immigration Enforcement looks into his or her immigration status.

The people must trump bureaucracy

If he didn't understand it previously, Trump certainly has learned his most dangerous political foes are not Democrats in Congress, but the vast federal bureaucracy. Among the new president's first actions was to order a freeze on hiring in the government, with the exception of the military.

Your View: Civic groups oppose sheriff’s immigration decisions

Representatives of the undersigned community, religious, and labor organizations want to see Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson do the following: - Drop the proposal to send prisoners from the Bristol County House of Corrections to build President Trump's wall at the Mexican border. - Rescind his agreement with Immigration Customs and Enforcement that will enable him to enforce federal immigration law to the detriment of residents here under the Department of Homeland Security's 287 program.

Indiana seeks to continue Medicaid expansion program

Gov. Eric Holcomb has requested the renewal of a federal waiver that allows Indiana's Healthy Indiana Plan 2.0 to serve hundreds of thousands of low-income Hoosiers. The request begins an eight-month process with the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services that is expected to go smoothly under President Donald Trump's administration.

NAHB Urges White House to Ensure Streamlined Wetland Permits Remain Available

While the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reissued Clean Water Act streamlined nationwide wetland permits as a final rule on Jan. 6, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus on Jan. 20 issued a memo directing federal agencies to withdraw or postpone recently finalized regulations for at least 60 days. If the NWPs were to get caught up in the web of this regulatory freeze, builders and developers face the potential burden of costly and time-consuming "individual" wetland permits for even the smallest of impacts to wetlands, ponds and streams.

Democrats mock ‘placeholder’ in GOP Obamacare bill

OCTOBER 24: U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone speaks during a hearing on implementation of the Affordable Care Act before the House Energy and Commerce Committee October 24, 2013 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Developers who helped to build the website for people to buy health insurance under Obamacare testified before the panel on what had gone wrong to cause the technical difficulties in accessing the site.