Daily Archives: July 4, 2017

Late last month, President Trump touted his legislative prowess, boasting, "I will say that never has there been a president with few exceptions, in the case of FDR he had a major Depression to handle who's passed more legislation, who's done more things than what we've done."

And he tweeted about signing 38 bills (he's now up to 41).

The president isn't the only one who's talking about how much legislation has been enacted during his young presidency. On Mr. Trump's 150th day in office, House Intelligence Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes claimed on a radio show KMJ radio that Mr. Trump "got more bills signed into law...this Congress working with this president, than any president previously before at this stage in the game."

As the president conceded in his tweet, there are "a few exceptions." Politifact pointed out that "not only did Roosevelt and Truman sign more bills through 150 days, so did Presidents Jimmy Carter, 48, and Bill Clinton with 41. President George H. W. Bush signed the same number as Trump, 39."

And nearing six months into his presidency, none of those dozens of measures include any of Mr. Trump's major campaign promises. He has not repealed and replaced Obamacare, nor has he delivered the biggest tax cut since Ronald Reagan. He has not secured funding to build a "big, beautiful wall" on the Mexican border -- which would need to have funds appropriated for it (even if Mexico were to agree to pay for it).

The House has passed a version of the health care bill, but the Senate has not yet reached an agreement on a version of its own. It postponed a vote that had been scheduled just before the July 4 recess, and it's not yet evident that Senate Republicans will be able to settle on a plan that 50 of them can agree upon, which is the number they'll need for passage. Should they pass a bill, it would also have to be reconciled with the House version passed in May.

The tax legislation was supposed to follow the passage of the health care bill, and the White House has said it expects to have a bill before Congress by early September.

As for Mr. Trump's oft-mentioned southern border wall, Congress did not include money for the wall it its 2017 budget, and it remains to be seenwhether the wall will ever be funded.

The largest number of bills Mr. Trump has signed -- 15 -- roll back Obama administration regulations.

Here's a list of the bills signed by the president, courtesy of CBS News' in-house presidential tracker, White House correspondent Mark Knoller. The bill text is from Congress.gov.:

1) Jan. 20, 2017: In the Capitol after his swearing-in, the president signed a bill to waive a restriction that would have kept Gen. James Mattis, (USMC ret) from serve as Secretary of Defense. The law prohibits former military personnel from serving as defense secretary within seven years of retirement. Mattis retired in 2013.

2) Jan. 20, 2017: H.R.72. This bill authorizes the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to obtain federal agency records required to discharge the GAO's duties (including audit, evaluation, and investigative duties), including through bringing civil actions to require an agency to produce a record. No provision of the Social Security Act shall be construed to limit, amend, or supersede the GAO's authority to: (1) obtain information or inspect records about an agency's duties, powers, activities, organization, or financial transactions; or (2) obtain other agency records that the GAO requires to discharge its duties.

3) Feb. 14, 2017: H. J. Res. 41: This joint resolution nullifies the "Disclosure of Payments by Resource Extraction Issuers" rule finalized by the Securities and Exchange Commission on July 27, 2016. (The rule, mandated under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, requires resource extraction issuers to disclose payments made to governments for the commercial development of oil, natural gas, or minerals.)

4) Feb. 16, 2017: H.J.Res 38: To repeal Obama Admin rule barring dumping of surface mining waste into streams.

5) Feb. 28, 2017: H.R.321 Inspiring the Next Space Pioneers, Innovators, Researchers, and Explorers (INSPIRE) Women Act. The bill directs NASA "to encourage women and girls to study science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), pursue careers in aerospace," by supporting NASA programs: NASA GIRLS and NASA BOYS, Aspire to Inspire, and Summer Institute in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Research.

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NASA video shows the launch of a Terrier-Improved Malemute suborbital sounding rocket from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The rocket di...

6) Feb. 28, 2017: H.R.255 "Promoting Women in Entrepreneurship Act" authorizes the National Science Foundation" to encourage its entrepreneurial programs to recruit and support women to extend their focus beyond the laboratory and into the commercial world."

7) Feb. 28, 2017: H.J.Res. 40, "nullifies the Social Security Administration's rule implementing the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) Improvement Amendments Act of 2007." The measure blocks an Obama Administration rule providing Social Security information for gun buyer background checks.

8) Feb. 28, 2017: H.R.609 designates the Department of Veterans Affairs health care center in Center Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania, as the "Abie Abraham VA Clinic".

9) Feb. 28, 2017: S.442 - National Aeronautics and Space Administration Transition Authorization Act of 2017, the first NASA budget authorization in six years. The measure calls for a $19.5 billion budget for the agency for fiscal year 2017.

10) Feb 28, 2017: H.J. Res. 37: This joint resolution nullifies the rule finalized by the Department of Defense, the General Services Administration, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on August 25, 2016, relating to revising the Federal Acquisition Regulation to implement Executive Order 13673 concerning contractor compliance with labor laws.

11) H.J. Res. 44: This joint resolution nullifies the rule finalized by the Department of the Interior on December 12, 2016, relating to revising regulations that establish the procedures used to prepare, revise, or amend land use plans pursuant to the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976.

12) H.J. Res. 57: This joint resolution nullifies the rule finalized by the Department of Education on November 29, 2016, relating to accountability and state plans under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.

13) H.J. Res. 58: This joint resolution nullifies the "Teacher Preparation Issues" rule finalized by the Department of Education on October 31, 2016. The rule implements requirements related to assessing the quality of teacher preparation programs under title II (Teacher Quality Enhancement) of the Higher Education Act of 1965.

14) March 28, 2017 S. 305, the "Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act of 2017," which encourages the display of the U.S. flag on March 29, National Vietnam War Veterans Day.

15) March 31, 2017: H.J.Res. 42, which nullifies the Department of Labor's Federal-State Unemployment Compensation Program; Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 Provision on Establishing Appropriate Occupations for Drug Testing of Unemployment Compensation Applicants;

16) March 31, 2017: H.R. 1362, which designates the Department of Veterans Affairs community-based outpatient clinic in Pago Pago, American Samoa, the Faleomavaega Eni Fa'aua'a Hunkin VA Clinic; and

17) March 31, 2017: S.J.Res. 1, which approves the location of a memorial to commemorate and honor the members of the Armed Forces who served on active duty in support of Operation Desert Storm or Operation Desert Shield.

18) April 3, 2017: H.J.Res. 69, which nullifies the Department of the Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service's final rule relating to non-subsistence takings of wildlife on National Wildlife Refuges in Alaska;

19) April 3, 2017: H.J.Res. 83: which nullifies the Department of Labor's rule titled Clarification of Employer's Continuing Obligation to Make and Maintain an Accurate Record of Each Recordable Injury and Illness; and

20) April 3, 2017: H.R. 1228, which provides for the appointment of members of the Board of Directors of the Office of Compliance to replace members whose terms expire during March and May of 2017; and

21) April 3, 2017: S.J.Res. 34, which nullifies the Federal Communications Commission's rule on privacy of customers of broadband and other telecommunications services.

22) April 13, 2017: H.J.Res. 67, which nullifies the Department of Labor's rule on Savings Arrangements Established by Qualified State Political Subdivisions for Non-Governmental Employees. This means that the bill rolls back the HHS regulation that barred states from blocking federal funds to family planning providers that perform abortions. They can now block those funds.

23) April 13, 2017: H.J.Res. 43, which nullifies the Department of Health and Human Services rule prohibiting recipients of Title X grants for the provision of family planning services from excluding a subgrantee from participating for reasons other than its ability to provide Title X services. This bill, along with H.J. Res. 67, were the 12th and 13th bills signed by President Trump to nullify regulations issued in the last months of the Obama administration.

24) April 18, 2017: H.R. 353, the "Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017," which reauthorizes and modifies the Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's: (1) weather research and forecasting programs; and (2) tsunami detection, forecast, warning, research and mitigation programs.

25) April 19, 2017: S. 544, A bill to amend the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 to modify the termination date for the Veterans Choice Program, and for other purposes. Bill eliminates August 7 termination date of the Veterans Choice Program; to modify reimbursement and cost-recovery procedures for care provided under the Program; and to authorize the sharing of certain veterans' medical records with medical service providers outside the Department of Veterans Affairs.

26) April 19, 2017: S.J.Res. 30 reappoints Steve Case as a citizen regent of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution;

27) April 19, 2017: S.J.Res. 35 appoints Michael Govan as a citizen regent of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution; and

28) April 19, 2017: S.J.Res. 36 appoints Roger W. Ferguson as a citizen regent of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution.

29) April 28, 2017: H.J.Res. 99 is the continuing resolution to fund the government with appropriations for fiscal year 2017, and for other purposes.

30) May 05, 2017: H.R. 244: Spending bill to avert government shutdown. It provides fiscal year (FY) 2017 full-year appropriations through September 30, 2017, for all agencies except those covered by division A of the Continuing Appropriations and Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act 2017, and Zika Response and Preparedness Act (Public Law 114-223). Division A provided full-year funding through September 30, 2017, for projects and activities of the Federal Government included in the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017.

31) May 8, 2017: H.R. 534, the "U.S. Wants to Compete for a World Expo Act," which authorizes the Secretary of State to take such actions as necessary for the United States to rejoin the Bureau of International Expositions.

32) May 12, 2017: S. 496, which nullifies the rule issued by the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Administration entitled "Metropolitan Planning Organization Coordination and Planning Area Reform".

33) May 16, 2017: The "Modernizing Government Travel Act" requires the General Services Administration to prescribe regulations to provide for the reimbursement for the use of a transportation network company or innovative mobility technology company by any Federal employee traveling on official business.

34) May 17, 2017: H.J.Res. 66 nullifies the Department of Labor's rule on Savings Arrangements Established by States for Non-Governmental Employees.

35) June 2, 2017: The "Public Safety Officers' Benefits Improvement Act of 2017" was a bipartisan bill that would help speed which modifies eligibility requirements for the Public Safety Officers' Benefits (PSOB) program administered by the Department of Justice; and requires the Department to exercise due diligence, and transparency, to expeditiously adjudicate PSOB claims; and

36) June 2, 2017: The "American Law Enforcement Heroes Act of 2017" authorizes the Department of Justice to award community oriented policing services grants for the purpose of prioritizing the hiring and training of veterans as career law enforcement officers.

37) June 6, 2017: An act naming a federal building and U.S. courthouse the "Fred D. Thompson Federal Building and United States Courthouse."

38) June 6, 2017: The "DHS Stop Asset and Vehicle Excess Act or the DHS SAVE Act," which requires the Under Secretary for Management of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to oversee and manage vehicle fleets throughout DHS; and imposes new requirements on DHS components regarding the management of those fleets.

39) June 14, 2017: The "Follow the Rules Act," which gives whistleblower protections to federal employees who refuse to violate federal rules and regulations. A federal court had issued a ruling protecting federal workers from employer retaliation if they refused to violate federal law, but it did not apply the same safeguards for those who refuse to obey an order that would violate a rule or regulation.

40) June 23, 2017: The VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act, which aims tomake it easier to fire bad employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs, and give more protection to employees who bring misconduct to light. It gives VA Secretary David Shulkin more authority to fire misbehaving or underperforming employees, shorten the appeals process for that firing, and prohibits employees from being paid while they pursue the appeals process. It also includes new protections againstretaliation for workerswho file complaints with the VA general counsel's office, and shortens the process for hiring new employees to fill a workforce shortage at the VA.

41) June 30, 2017: H.R. 1238, the "Securing our Agriculture and Food Act," requires the Assistant Secretary for Health Affairs of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to carry out a program to coordinate DHS efforts related to defending the food, agriculture, and veterinary systems of the United States against terrorism and other threats.

Read more here:

What are the bills Donald Trump has signed? - CBS News

The rules are simple, okay? No threats of violence. No targeted abuse or harassment. No inciting anybody else to engage in targeted abuse or harassment. No hateful conduct.

Now think about Donald Trumps tweeting habits. Is he breaking those rules, which come from Twitters terms of service?

Trump has long been criticized for his impulsiveness, but less than six months into his presidency, alarm over his Twitter conduct has hit fever pitch.

On Sunday morning, Trump tweeted a short video clip showing him pummeling another person outside of a wrestling ringwith the other persons face blocked out by the CNN logo. If thats not a direct threat of violence against the American citizens who work for CNN, its certainly a celebration of violence.

The president is not only aware of the firestorm hes ignited, he appears to be relishing it. My use of social media is not Presidential, Trump tweeted on Saturday. its MODERN DAY PRESIDENTIAL.

These latest messages came came on the heels of a bizarre barrage of tweetsodd even by the presidents standardsthat set off a new round of scrutiny of his use of social media. Beginning on June 29, Trump began tweeting repeated insults at Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, the hosts of the MSNBC talk show, Morning Joe. Trumps treatment of Brzezinski was particularly strange. In addition to calling her dumb, crazy, and low I.Q. in three separate tweets, he claimed that she and Scarborough traveled to Mar-a-Lago for New Years Eve and insisted on seeing Trump while Brzezinski was bleeding badly from a face-lift. (Brzezinski and Scarborough published a rebuke in The Washington Post, calling the presidents claim a lie.)

In true Trump fashion, the president doubled down, calling Scarborough crazy and Brzezinski dumb as a rock.

Does that constitute targeted harassment? And given Trumps huge followingmore than 33.1 million Twitter followers on his primary accountdoes a string of attacks against the same two individuals constitute inciting harassment? We dont comment on individual accounts, for privacy and security reasons, a Twitter spokesperson told me on Saturday. Twitter also declined to tell me whether, when considering the question of a user inciting harassment, it takes into consideration that persons number of followers or public statusa movie star or politician, for example.

Twitters website does offer some clarification on how it assesses abusive behavior. The company says it assesses whether the primary purpose of an account is to harass or send abusive messages; and it looks at whether the reported behavior is one-sided.Setting aside Twitters notoriously bad track record for actually enforcing its own standards on harassment, the question of one-sidedness poses an interesting problem here.

When one of the people involved in a Twitter fight isnt just a public official but also the president of the United States, is it fair to consider anyone hes attacking an equal player in a fight?

We know what Trump would say. This is a man whose 2007 book Never Give Up has multiple chapters dedicated to the subject of fighting with people. Theres Chapter 5 (I Love a Good Fight) and Chapter 29 (You Will Be Attacked For Trying to Change Anything) and Chapter 38 (When Youre Attacked, Bite Back). If Trump doesnt like what a person says about him, he attacks them. Period.

But Trumps Twitter conduct also raises a question about what Twitter is, and what it should be. Often, the service is treated as a new kind of public square, a place for the unfiltered exchange of ideas (and, clearly, hurling of insults). Silicon Valley has rarely stepped in to correct the persistent cultural conflation between the actual right to free speechthat is, the constitutionally protected right that says the government cannot make a law that inhibits peoples freedom of expressionand the idea that people should get to say whatever they want wherever they want to without consequence. (Complicating things further, Twitter must answer to its shareholders, and having the president use its service so routinelyand so bombasticallycertainly keeps the service relevant.)

In reality, though, Twitter is a media company. Just like CNN and The New York Times are media companies. Except, unlike in a traditional model where publishers and readers are distinct groups, everyone can be both on Twitter. So whats a company like Twitter to do when one of its userswho is also the president of the United States, by the wayincessantly publishes attacks against individuals? Nothing, apparently. At least nothing yet. The thornier question is: What should it do? Only rarely would any news organization turn down the opportunity to exclusively print or broadcast a message from the president. (U.S. senators and presidential candidates, however, are another story.) Though its not like the president doesnt have plenty of opportunities for his voice to be amplified. He has said he likes Twitter because its a direct channel to the American people, but he has his own website where he could be live-streaming or blogging, for instance. He is also a constant subject of media attention; his press conferenceswhen the White House permits itare broadcast over cable and network television.

Presidents have historically made good use of new media platforms. Franklin Roosevelts fireside chats may seem quaint to us now, but they were a revolutionary experiment with a nascent media platform when they began in the 1930s. But, as with all things Trump-related, looking to norms and historic conventions can only get you so far. Imagine if Roosevelt had used his radio access to relentlessly criticize individual Americans by name. Trump knows that his critics are disgusted by the way he represents the country on Twitter, and he trusts that his supporters delight in their disgust.

It never stops, and I wouldnt have it any other way, he wrote in The Art of the Deal. I try to learn from the past, but I plan for the future by focusing exclusively on the present. Thats where the fun is. And if it cant be fun, whats the point?

If Twitter were to suspend or even outright ban Trump, his most fervent left-wing critics would surely rejoice. His supporters would likely boycott Twitter. Their outrage could help him keep their support. And in Trumps worldview, this may well look like a win-win.

Originally posted here:

Donald Trump Is Testing Twitter's Harassment Policy - The Atlantic

A majority of AmericansclaimPresident Donald Trump should continue with his often provocative tweets, with a new poll showing more than 75 percentof respondents want him to remain on social media.Thesurvey from The Drudge Report found just 22.3 percentof people would like to see the president step back from social media, while 77.7 percentthink he should continue tweeting.

The poll on the right-wing website asked respondents if they believed Trump should use socials.About524,420 peopleanswered the unofficial poll as of Monday afternoon.

During his election campaign, Trump utilized social media to great effect but provoked criticism for his divisivestatements, with many wondering whether he would relinquish his social media habit once elected. Since moving to the White House, Trump has in fact continued using social media to make announcements, criticize peopleand hit out at the mainstream media, which he frequently refers to as fake news, apparently preferring to reach out to his followers directly rather than engaging with news outlets he dislikes.

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In the past 24 hours, Trump has lashed out at the media on several occasions, stating in a tweet on Sunday: The dishonest media will NEVER keep us from accomplishing our objectives on behalf of our GREAT AMERICAN PEOPLE! #AmericaFirst.

He added in a tweet Monday: At some point the Fake News will be forced to discuss our great jobs numbers, strong economy, success with ISIS, the border & so much else!

The president is also very proud of his social media use, stating during a meeting with Indias prime minister, Narendra Modi, at the White House on June 26 that the pair were both world leaders in social media.

I am proud to announce to the media, to the American people and to the Indian people that Prime Minister Modi and I are world leaders in social media. We're believers, Trump said.

Giving the citizens of our countries the opportunity to hear directly from their elected officials and for us to hear directly from them, Trump added. I guess it's worked very well in both cases.

Continued here:

Most People Actually Want Donald Trump to Keep on Tweeting, Drudge Report Poll Shows - Newsweek

For a minute there, things were looking up for President Donald Trump. By late last week,his approval rating was hovering around 40percent, which isn't great but marked an improvement for the former reality TV star. But then Trump spent the holiday weekend railing against the press andblasting off tweetstormsandthe president's approval rating took a plunge.

Gallup's tracking poll pegged Trump's approval at just 37 percent to start off July, while disapproval stood at 57 percent. Last week, Gallup found the president's approval rating had briefly climbedto 40 percent before the fall-off back into the 30s.

The Gallup poll interviewed 1,500 U.S. adults and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. Trump's 37 percent approval rating is dismal, especially for a president so early in his tenure, when the American peopletypically afford the office a grace period of sorts. Around this point in his first term, for instance, former President Barack Obama had a 60 percent approval rating.

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Things have gotten so bad for Trumpthat far more people support impeaching him than support the job he's doing in the Oval Office. A surveyin recent weeks from Public Policy Pollinga firm that does public surveys as well as polling for Democratic candidatesfound that 47 percent of voters supported impeaching Trump. Americans could,perhaps, feel that way because 49 percent believed the president had obstructed justice in the ongoing investigation into his ties to Russia, according to thePublic Policy Polling survey.

Even Trump's average approval rating is a long ways off from the support for his impeachment. The weighted average from data-focused website FiveThirtyEight pegged his approval rating at just 39.5 percent Monday, while 54.4 percent disapproved. The FiveThirtyEight average adjusts for polls' quality, recency, sample size and partisan lean.

Despite a dismal approval rating, it was more of the same from Trump Monday morning. He redoubled his efforts to trash the press, tweeting,"At some point the Fake News will be forced to discuss our great jobs numbers, strong economy, success with ISIS, the border & so much else!" This followed numerous anti-press tweets over the weekend, including a bizarre post with a video of himwrestling a person with a CNN logo instead of a head. (This doctored video was harvested froma Trumppro wrestling appearance.)

Meanwhile, calls for Trump's impeachment have surged. Dozens of marches against the president took place in towns across the country over the weekend, including one in Los Angeles. California RepresentativeBrad Sherman, a Democrat who has drafted articles of impeachment against the president, delivered remarks at the end of the march.

"We have to act now to protect our country from abuse of power and impulsive, ignorant incompetence," Sherman said, according to the Los Angeles Times.

"Lock him up," the crowd chanted in response.

Link:

Support for Donald Trump's Impeachment Is Way Higher Than His Latest Approval Rating - Newsweek