Here’s what I missed from last week:

1. At the governor’s meeting, a report was presented stating that the current vision for replacing the ACA could reduce the number of insured Americans and cost states billions of dollars in the long run. Republican Governors are divided on how to address the repeal-and-replace of the ACA.
2. A fourth mosque in 7 weeks was burned. Three have so far been listed as arson; the other is still being investigated.
3. The 10% increase in military spending proposed by Trump (around $54 billion) would result in cuts to domestic programs to make up the difference.
4. When protections were pulled back for transgender students, the White House said it was “a joint decision made … by the Department of Justice and the Department of Education.” This was, in fact, Trump’s decision.

Here’s what happened this past week. I’m sure I didn’t catch everything because I was lulled into complacency on a few slow news days.

1. At least 16 Jewish centers and day schools receive bomb threats in one day, in the 5th wave of similar threats in under 2 months. A St. Louis man is arrested in relation to 8 of the threats. He turns out to be a journalist fired from the Intercept, a left-leaning news site. It also turns out he was doing it in retaliation for a break-up. The remaining 90+ threats are still being investigated.
2. Sean Spicer personally arranges for CIA director Mike Pompeo and Senate Select Intelligence Committee Chair Richard Burr to contact reporters to push back on the stories about Trump team’s communication with Russia, which they did without providing any details.
3. The Justice Department drops its opposition to a voter ID law in Texas that was found by a lower court judge to intentionally discriminate against black and Latino voters.
4. The US is a clear favorite to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup (possibly in conjunction with Mexico and Canada). However, a travel ban would damage our chances of getting the games.
5. The administration considers withdrawing from the UN Human Rights Council. At the same time, Rex Tillerson skips the State Department’s annual announcement on human rights.  Noteworthy because the US has traditionally been a leader in human rights policies.
6. Trump admits that healthcare overhaul is more complicated than he expected.
   
7. Trump accuses Obama of orchestrating the protests over the past month, blames Obama and his allies for the leaks, and implies that the spate of threats and vandalism targeting Jewish centers might be false flags (that is, Jews are doing it themselves for publicity).
8. A short film produced by Shell Oil in 1991 surfaces, indicating that they’ve know since then that man-made climate change is a real thing and needs to be addressed. One paper from 1986 noted the uncertainty of the science behind climate change while warning of the potential danger of ignoring it. Their predictions were “remarkably accurate” according to scientists. This is in addition to investigations that found Exxon has known all along as well, despite both Shell and Exxon lobbying against renewable energy sources and climate policies, and while funding misleading programs about climate change.
9. Sessions claims that marijuana use is linked to increased violence, a claim that has been debunked in recent studies. Oooh. Reefer Madness. Anyway, he says the Justice Department will crack down on marijuana offenses, and coincidentally will also expand the use of private prisons. Hmmm.
   
10. Sessions states he’ll get tough on crime, saying that we’ve become complacent with the steady decline in crime and we need to take the recent uptick seriously.
11. The GOP blocks the release of Trump’s taxes. This from the party who spent eight years demanding the release of Obama’s school transcripts and birth certificate.
12. More than 120 retired generals pen a letter to Congress objecting to the State Department cuts in Trump’s proposed budget, saying that funding is “critical to keeping America safe.” General Mattis also says putting more effort into diplomacy could offset the costs needed for the military.
13. Trump speaks to Congress, giving a high-level overview of his plans. Reviews are mixed, but it seems everyone is impressed that he was able to stick to his script. I’ll fact check the speech in a later post.
14. Trump says he’s open to a pathway to legal status for undocumented immigrants while at the same time highlighting the danger of undocumented immigrants in his speech to Congress.
15. Barack and Michelle Obama sign large book deals with Penguin Random House, and pledge to donate a significant amount of the proceeds to charity.
16. Trump finally speaks out against Kansas shooting that killed an Indian engineer and wounded another. Another person who heroically intervened was also wounded.
17. A Sikh man was shot in Seattle in an apparent hate crime.
18. The House GOP votes against compelling the Justice Department to turn over documents and information on Trump-Russia ties.
19. Trump signs measure reversing an Obama-era regulation that made it harder for severely mentally ill people to get guns.
20. Trump begins the largest rollback of environmental laws and rules since Richard Nixon enacted the Environmental Protection Act.
21. Trump signs an executive order to start the repeal of Obama’s Clean Water Rule. Following the signing ceremony, Scott Pruitt (EPA head) let agricultural companies know that he’d be rolling back EPA regulations.
22. Trump’s budget proposal is expected to include a 25% cut to the EPA’s current budget of $8.1 million.
23. Potential budget cuts to NOAA could impact their network of weather satellites.
24. It comes out that Sessions spoke twice with a Russian ambassador last year, but did not disclose this in his hearings. In fact, during his hearing he wasn’t asked directly whether he met with any Russians, but he offered up the information that he didn’t (…”I did not have communications with the Russians”). Also, in response to a written query from a senator asking whether he met with any Russians, Sessions answered “No.” This leads to a protest at the US Department of Justice and Sessions recuses himself from any investigation into Russian ties.
25. The Trump administration claims Sessions was acting as a Senator when he met with the Russian ambassador, though he paid his expenses for the trip using political funds instead of legislative funds. He also spoke about the Trump campaign during the event.
26. Senior Pentagon officials tell NBC News that the recent raid in Yemen, which killed a Navy SEAL, led to no valuable intelligence, though others have said there were many names learned and they are already acting on this information.
27. A draft of Trump’s new travel ban omits Iraq from the list of banned countries, and makes exceptions for current green card and visa holders.
28. Police chiefs pen a letter to Trump objecting to his push to use them to detain undocumented immigrants, saying it will make their communities less safe.
29. The Senate confirms Ben Carson as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Rick Perry as Secretary of Energy, and Ryan Zinke for the Department of the Interior. Zinke is at least willing to say humans are influencing climate change.
30. Trump’s transition team cancelled “an orientation class that would have prepared political appointees and White House staff for a series of ethical and legal issues” per CNN.
31. Though DACA immigrants are supposed to be exempt from the expanded deportation definitions, several DREAMers are still detained by ICE.
32. It comes out that Vice-President Pence used a private email for official business during his time as governor. And his email was hacked… The lack of Republican response to this indicates one standard for Democrats, and another for Republicans.
33. Add Jared Kushner to the list of Trump associates who met with Russian officials last fall.
34. McMaster rolls back Flynn’s changes at the NSC, leaving in question whether Bannon still has a place there.
35. Bannon is pushing for the US to pull out of the Paris agreement, but Rex Tillerson and Ivanka Trump disagree.
36. Former President Barack Obama is named the 2017 “Profile in Courage” award honoree by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.
    
37. Carter Page says “I do not deny” meeting with the Russian ambassador, contradicting his previous statements that he did not meet with Russians last year.
38. Trump accuses Democrats of slowing down the cabinet confirmation process, though as of this week, his confirmations are equal to Obama’s at this time. Also, several delays have been from the Trump team not getting the required paperwork to the congress and from certain nominees withdrawing.
39. The requirement to use steel made in America for the Keystone pipeline is dropped.
40. Mexico sets up legal assistance in all of their consulates in the US to help Mexicans in this country and to advocate for their rights.
41. According to a New York Times report, “the United States still does not have the ability to effectively counter the North Korean nuclear and missile programs. Those threats are far more resilient than many experts thought… and pose such a danger that Mr. Obama… warned President Trump they were likely to be the most urgent problem he would confront.”
42. The Trump administration temporarily suspends expedited applications for H-1B visas. These visas let graduate students work at US companies in fields requiring a higher level of education. (Reuters)
43. Just when I thought we’d have a quiet weekend…In a series of tweets, Trump accuses Obama of wiretapping his phones at Trump Tower, a very serious charge if true. The White House staff backs up his accusations, but there is no evidence at this time and it is assumed by some that he got the information from a Breitbart article.
44. Trump urged legislators to investigate the above claims. Republicans have said this would likely be part of any investigation into Trump-Russia ties. Democrats, on the other hand, have criticized the tweets and requested evidence to back up the assertions.
45. As has become the norm, there were protests and rallies across the country this week, some pro-Trump, some for the upcoming International Women’s Day, some for calling on Sessions to resign.