On Monday, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt announced the creation of a new “Office of Continuous Improvement,” meant to boost productivity inside the agency and cut operational waste. The office will expand the agency’s “lean management system,” which encourages employees to focus staff time on “mission-critical work.” According to Politico, the initiative was […]
White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah on Monday blamed Hamas for the scores of Palestinians killed by Israeli soldiers during protests along the border fence in Gaza, as the United States opened its new embassy in Jerusalem. “We’re aware of the reports of continued violence in Gaza today,” Shah said during Monday’s press briefing. […]
Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah cannot explain how the Trump Organization’s involvement in a project in Indonesia partially financed by the Chinese government adheres to the Constitution’s emoluments clause and Trump’s personal promise not to pursue new foreign business deals while he’s president. “The Trump Organization is involved in a project in Indonesia building hotels, […]
A top Interior Department official held meetings last year with staffers at a far-right group where he previously worked, even though the Koch-funded organization was involved in legal actions against the department at the time, the Guardian reported Monday. Douglas Domenech, while serving as a senior adviser to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, met twice in […]
A top Interior Department official held meetings last year with staffers at a far-right group where he previously worked, even though the Koch-funded organization was involved in legal actions against the department at the time, the Guardian reported Monday. Douglas Domenech, while serving as a senior adviser to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, met twice in […]
Failed Republican Senate candidate Don Blankenship isn’t backing off his “Cocaine Mitch” attack, releasing a new ad attacking Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s election night celebration. Blankenship, a former coal baron who was sentenced to prison in 2016 for conspiring to violate federal safety and health laws at a West Virginia mine where 29 workers died in an […]
Failed Republican Senate candidate Don Blankenship isn’t backing off his “Cocaine Mitch” attack, releasing a new ad attacking Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s election night celebration. Blankenship, a former coal baron who was sentenced to prison in 2016 for conspiring to violate federal safety and health laws at a West Virginia mine where 29 workers died in an […]
Environmental advocates and organizations are calling on major industries to move against drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). The groups behind the push to keep oil and gas extraction out of the wildlife refuge include indigenous representatives, national environmental activists, and institutional investors representing more than $2.5 trillion. In a sweeping effort unveiled Monday, […]
An Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo has worsened, with officials there reporting a total of 39 suspected cases between April 4 and May 13, including 19 deaths, the World Health Organization (WHO) stated Monday. Three health care workers are among those who have been infected. The outbreak is currently confined to the Bikoro, Iboko, and […]
The Supreme Court struck down a federal law on Monday that effectively prevented the state of New Jersey from legalizing sports betting. Though the Court’s decision in Murphy v. NCAA produced some disagreement about how much of this federal law needs to be excised, no justice rose to the statute’s defense. Indeed, Murphy was a fairly straightforward application […]
A team at the Department of Education that looked into abuses at for-profit colleges has been significantly dismantled, according to a report from the New York Times on Sunday. According to the Times, who interviewed current and former employees of the department, members of the team, which was created in 2016, have been “marginalized, reassigned […]
Vice President Mike Pence addressed the graduating class this weekend at Michigan’s Hillsdale College, which has been ranked as one of the most LGBTQ-unfriendly campus in the country. It’s the second time Pence has spoken there, belying his efforts to downplay his own anti-LGBTQ record. In his commencement remarks, Pence ironically praised Hillsdale’s history of nondiscrimination […]
The largest proposed coal export terminal in the United States is getting some help from interior states in a legal battle over whether Washington state regulators were wrong to reject two critical permits for the project. Last week, Wyoming, Montana, Kansas, Utah, South Dakota, and Nebraska filed a joint amicus brief in federal court, arguing that […]
The largest proposed coal export terminal in the United States is getting some help from interior states in a legal battle over whether Washington state regulators were wrong to reject two critical permits for the project. Last week, Wyoming, Montana, Kansas, Utah, South Dakota, and Nebraska filed a joint amicus brief in federal court, arguing that […]
In a major victory for populism in Europe, two of Italy’s anti-establishment parties have agreed to form a government by naming a prime minister and presenting a policy program that is expected to include several far-right proposals. The Five-Star Movement (MS5), led by the 31-year-old Luigi Di Maio, has reportedly reached an agreement with the […]
Reporter Jim DeRogatis’ phone rings all the time. It rings in the middle of the night, and it rings first thing in the morning, and it rings on Christmas, and it rings on Thanksgiving. At the other end of the line are the women who say R. Kelly sexually manipulated and abused them when they were […]
Trump administration officials attended the opening ceremony of the controversial new U.S. embassy in Jerusalem on Monday — and invited several extreme Religious Right figures to play a major role in the events. Giving the opening prayer in the world’s only Jewish nation, in a largely Muslim region, was a Dallas Southern Baptist preacher named […]
Trump administration officials attended the opening ceremony of the controversial new U.S. embassy in Jerusalem on Monday — and invited several extreme Religious Right figures to play a major role in the events. Giving the opening prayer in the world’s only Jewish nation, in a largely Muslim region, was a Dallas Southern Baptist preacher named […]
Israeli soldiers killed 52 Palestinians protesting along the border fence in Gaza and injured more than 2,400 on Monday, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. This marks the highest death toll on a single day since the 2014 war. Palestinians throughout Gaza, the West Bank, and Jerusalem were urged to protest President Donald Trump’s controversial and unilateral […]
Israeli soldiers killed 41 Palestinians protesting along the border fence in Gaza and injured more than 1,600 on Monday, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. This marks the highest death toll on a single day since the 2014 war. Palestinians throughout Gaza, the West Bank, and Jerusalem were urged to protest President Donald Trump’s controversial and unilateral […]
Several years ago, a group of students at Texas Tech University fanned out across their Lubbock campus and asked classmates three simple questions: “Who won the Civil War?,” “Who is our Vice President?,” and “Who did we gain our independence from?” Like a skit on a late-night show, the college students’ answers were stunningly uninformed, […]
On Mother’s Day, Michael Avenatti, attorney for Stormy Daniels, posted a cryptic tweet with several images of Trump Tower on December 12, 2016. The photos featured Trump attorney Michael Cohen, who Avenatti is suing on Daniels’ behalf, Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser and several men who are more difficult to identify. Warning ignored. […]
Washington’s European allies could face U.S. sanctions if they fail to get on board with the Trump administration’s efforts to isolate Iran economically, national security adviser John Bolton warned on Sunday. Trump last week unilaterally pulled the United States out of a 2015 international accord that extended to Iran sanctions relief and access to foreign […]
