Friday 9/20
Monday 9/23
Tuesday 9/24
Wednesday 9/25
Thursday 9/26
Friday 9/27
Legislative update
Legislation passed in the House, awaiting Senate
Legislation passed in the Senate, awaiting House
- DJT deploys troops to Saudi Arabia (source).
- Reminder with the news of the rest of the week, ICE is still locking up families seeking asylum (source).
- Automakers side with California on emissions, DoJ launches an investigation against them in retaliation (source).
- USDA reducing oversight of slaughterhouses (source).
Monday 9/23
- DJT confirms that he talked about Biden with Ukrainian president (source).
- Budget deficit highest it's been since 2012 (source).
- White House ends press briefings (source).
- DJT and Modi are BFFs (source).
- Court blocks plan to open Tongass National Forest to logging (source).
Tuesday 9/24
- DJT has been withholding aid to Ukraine that was approved by Congress, so his phone call was straight up extortion (source).
- Dems to launch formal impeachment inquiry (source).
- DHS expands the "stay in Mexico" immigration policy to apply to families (source).
- DJT threatening to withhold highway funds from California because they want clean air (source).
- Senate approves more funding for wall, House does not, government shutdown in play (source).
- That same funding bill does not fund the Bureau of Land Management's proposed move from DC to Colorado (source).
- Change in overpay rules goes into effect making more workers eligible (source).
- Deportees that helped U.S. military face death threats in Iraq (source).
Wednesday 9/25
- White House releases edited transcript from one of the calls between DJT and Ukraine and it does indeed read like a mob boss shakedown (annotated transcript).
- For anyone not clear on how that is an extortion attempt, here is the National F*$%ing Review to walk you through it.
- Of note the phone call asks Ukraine to go through Giuliani rather than the State Dept. - that's not normal (in the transcript above, but more on the Giuliani connection).
- White House mistakenly sends their DJT-Ukraine talking points to the Dems (source).
- House publishes whistleblower complaint that exposed DJT-Ukraine calls (source, full text of complaint).
- Dept. of Justice continues to cover for DJT (source).
- Pence in on the Ukraine phone calls and DJT happy to throw him under the bus (source).
- Senate votes to end DJT's emergency declaration that he's been using to divert military funds towards the wall (source).
- States sue administration over weakening of Endangered Species Act (source).
- Postal Union blinks, revises rates to keep the U.S. in (source).
- U.S. reaches tentative trade deal with Japan (source).
- Just in case you have somehow managed to lose track, there are now 30 different investigations into DJT's activities ongoing (NYTimes sums up).
Thursday 9/26
- DJT threatens to kill potential witnesses (source).
- Analysis on William Barr's involvement with Ukraine extortion scheme (source).
- Data on the impact of DJT's travel ban (source).
- Income inequality at its highest since the data has been collected on it (source).
- Health insurance costs also hit a record high (source).
- Pentagon to deploy missile defense system to Saudi Arabia (source).
- Senate confirms general accused of sexual assault for the Joint Chief of Staffs (source).
- Senate confirms Scalia for Labor Dept. (source).
- Senate kills paid family leave for Federal workers (source).
Friday 9/27
- Administration further cuts number of refugees allowed in country (source).
- Senate report describes the NRA as a Russian asset (source).
Legislative update
- Legislation signed into law
- 1 minor bill
- Legislation awaiting DJT's signature
- Spending bill to avoid shutdown https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/116/hr4378
- Defense funding bill https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/116/s1790
- 2 new minor bills
- 9 total pending bills
- Spending bill to avoid shutdown https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/116/hr4378
- 18 minor bills
- 240 total pending bills
- Resolution cancelling DJT's national emergency declaration https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/116/sjres54
- 2 minor bills
- 77 total pending bills