MORNING MESSAGE
Betsy DeVos May Want Quack Science Taught Instead of Real Thing
...recent
revelations in major news outlets should raise alarms about DeVos’s views on
science and how they may influence her decision-making on national education
policy. In her charitable giving, her financial investments, and the rhetoric
she uses to express her intentions as secretary, DeVos has exhibited a
propensity to favor beliefs ground in quack science ... One of those concerns is
the affinity DeVos has long had for organizations that push “intelligent
design,”...
Donald
Trump’s nominee for Labor Secretary—fast-food CEO Andrew Puzder—is out of touch
with the needs of working people. Despite having built his business and fortune
on the backs of hard working Americans, he opposes meaningful increases to the
minimum wage and overtime pay.
DeVOS IN TROUBLE
DeVos
nomination hanging by a thread. Politico: “Republican Sens. Susan Collins
and Lisa Murkowski said Wednesday they will vote against the Education
Department nominee. That could very well mean a 50-50 standoff on the Senate
floor — and Vice President Mike Pence being called in to put DeVos over the top
… [But] if Republicans are able to make sure they don’t have attendance
problems, DeVos is likely to be confirmed on Monday … ‘I have heard from
thousands, truly, thousands of Alaskans who have shared their concerns about
Mrs. DeVos,’ Murkowski said … Both Republicans have expressed concerns about her
support for voucher programs … Republicans said privately that Collins and
Murkowski waited to announce their opposition once the rest of the votes for
DeVos were locked up…”
Republicans
break boycott of Mnuchin and Price votes. Politico: “After Democrats
boycotted committee votes on Trump’s Treasury and health secretary picks for the
second straight day, the GOP unilaterally changed the panel’s rules to approve
both nominees without their votes. Democrats also sat out a committee vote on
Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency nominee, but Republicans vowed to push
past that roadblock as well.”
DEMS STRUGGLE WITH GORSUCH
Questions
whether Dems will mount a filibuster against Gorsuch. The Hill: “…Schumer
stopped short of promising a filibuster against Gorsuch, saying instead that
Trump’s nominee should meet a 60-vote threshold to get on the court … Sen. Jeff
Merkley … began the week promising a filibuster … But no other Democrats have so
far used Merkley’s language [and] appeared to be in no hurry to make
promises.”
Politico
explores the Dem divide on Gorsuch: “[Sen. Claire] McCaskill may be the
least likely of the five [deep red state Dems] to support Gorsuch, given her
fiery style of politics and fierce defense of abortion rights. Sen. Joe Manchin
(D-W.Va.) is on the other end of the spectrum: He decried liberals’ obstruction
and met with Gorsuch on Wednesday … Somewhere in the middle are [Sen. Heidi]
Heitkamp and Sens. Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Jon Tester of Montana …”
Dems
to press whether Gorsuch will be independent of Trump. NYT: “…Democrats
intend to aggressively question whether Judge Gorsuch will hold in check the man
who seeks to elevate him to the nation’s most influential court … top Democrats
believe that simply blocking the nomination without a reasonable rationale would
make it easier for Senate Republicans to justify changing Senate practices to
eliminate the filibuster against Supreme Court nominees.”
DUELING DNC ENDORSEMENTS
The
Nation endorses Ellison for DNC Chair: “The right response to this crisis is
a retooling of the Democratic National Committee to align it more closely with
movements for social and economic justice. The party must make the
inside/outside connection that will strengthen immediate resistance to the Trump
regime, while improving the long-term electoral prospects of Democrats. Keith
Ellison, co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, is prepared to do
just that.”
Several
unions break with AFL-CIO, endorse Tom Perez. The Hill: “A fifth
AFL-CIO-affiliated group broke with the labor giant on Thursday to back former
Labor Secretary Tom Perez … The International Union of Bricklayers and Allied
Craftworkers [credited] Perez fought to implement a rule to limit worker
exposure to a chemical compound … The AFL-CIO as a whole, which represents 55
unions, has endorsed Ellison.”
“Trump’s
Blue-Collar Populism Is Dividing Unions” says Bloomberg: “Donald Trump’s
presidency presents unions with the threat that unified Republican governance
will bring sweeping, hostile changes to laws they hold dear. Labor has responded
with a muddle of denunciation, cautious quiet and, in some cases, even
exultation … most unions insist they’ll support the good Trump tries to do and
oppose the bad. In practice, their dissonant messages reflect long-running
disagreements.”
TRUMP SCRAMBLES ON TRAVEL BAN
Travel
ban now exempts green card holders. Politico: “White House Counsel Don
McGahn issued “authoritative guidance” on Wednesday clarifying that key parts of
Trump’s controversial executive order, which is aimed at citizens of seven
majority-Muslim countries, will no longer cover green card holders … The memo
from the White House counsel appeared to be a face-saving way for the White
House to redraft the executive order without incurring the embarrassment of
actually having Trump sign a new executive order that eliminated the impact on
green card holders.”
“Foreigners
Trapped in the United States by New Policy” reports NYT: “Tens of thousands
of immigrants find themselves effectively trapped in the United States, unable
to travel abroad even for funerals or family health emergencies without risking
losing their legal residency status, as the Trump administration struggles with
the rocky introduction of its travel ban.”
CORPORATIONS WORRY ABOUT CERTAINTY
Corporations
worried Trump threatens stability. Bloomberg: “Tax policy is a complete
mystery … Health-care policy is even more mysterious. Trump has promised to do a
‘big number on Dodd-Frank’ and has issued an executive order requiring agencies
to retire two regulations for each new regulation they implement, but that order
doesn’t seem to apply to Trump’s own remarkable flurry of rules that complicate
the regulation of immigration and business relocation … Many [business leaders]
grouse in private about the impact of Trump’s actions but are afraid to speak
out publicly … President Trump’s first week, of drastic and inconsistent ad hoc
regulation, seems unlikely to inspire any certainty.”
Former
Obama aide Gene Sperlings questions if we can trust government economic numbers
under Trump, in The Atlantic: “…every administration since 1974 had been
cautious about never again allowing the type of ugly political interference that
President Richard Nixon became famous for … Will [Trump] revive the Nixonian
tradition of interfering with federal economic agencies if they announce numbers
that do not please him?”
New
Secretary of State Tillerson about to get his way on Dodd-Frank. Politico:
“Back in 2010, ExxonMobil’s then-CEO, Rex Tillerson, was deeply worried about
Section 1504 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reforms, a bipartisan amendment that
required drilling and mining companies to disclose any payments they make to
foreign governments … [Now] the GOP is preparing to try to kill the disclosure
rule … despite warnings from international aid groups that the move would
provide a wink-and-nod blessing to hidden corporate payments to petro-thugs. The
House is expected to act this afternoon … Senate Republicans will need a mere
majority rather than a filibuster-proof 60 votes to follow suit.”
DAKOTA ACCESS PIPELINE STILL MAY NOT HAPPEN
ABC
explains “Why the Dakota Access Pipeline May Not Proceed Imminently:
“…despite what [Republicans] have said, the Army has indicated the easement may
not be imminent … The U.S. Army said today it has ‘initiated the steps outlined’
in the president’s Jan. 24 directive [but] the easement has not yet been granted
… A status hearing is slated for Monday in federal court in Washington,
D.C….”
More
arrests, reports Mother Jones: “Seventy-six protesters were arrested near
the town of Cannon Ball after setting up a camp on land owned by Energy Transfer
Partners … Protesters near the pipeline’s path have vowed to resist any attempts
to evict them, but their numbers are depleted.”
Progressive
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