As I mentioned last week, Congress is making extensive use of the Congressional Review process to reverse many of Obama’s regulations from last year. As of now, Trump has signed eight resolutions reversing regulations, and Congress passed six more with a couple dozen more yet to be voted on. Paul Ryan says “these things will help get people back to work, and after years of sluggish growth, give a real boost to our economy,” even though the rules being overturned were all enacted last year and have not really had a chance to affect the economy either way.

Trump is also using executive orders to make changes. One thing to remember as far as executive orders go is that many of them only start the process of changing the regulations. The relevant agencies still need to review and revise the regulations, and these things take time. And they’ll like hit legal challenges.

By the way, if you like these roundups, you might also like these two. Both are a bit further left than I am, but I love how the Vice newsletter rounds up the week in one big, long-assed sentence.

• WTFJHT – for daily roundups https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/
• Vice – for weekly roundups https://news.vice.com/story/week-10-in-trumps-america

Russia Investigation:

1. After last week’s questionable activities on the part of Devin Nunes around classified Russia documents, Democrats call for him to step down from the House Intelligence Committee and Senator Schumer says he should be replaced.
2. Jared Kushner volunteers to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee in the Russia probe.
3. According to the DoJ, the Trump administration tried to prevent Sally Yates, the fired acting AG, from testifying to the House Intelligence Committee, citing executive privilege. Yates had previously written the DoJ to be sure she could testify about this in a public hearing. She says her testimony will contradict previous statements made by the administration.
4. Spicer refutes reports that the White House pushed to prevent Sally Yates from testifying in the Russia probe.
5. Nunes subsequently cancels the hearing this week where Yates was supposed to testify. House Democrats on the Intelligence Committee provide a witness list, yet Nunes accuses them of stalling the investigation. It seems by the end of the week that the House investigation is on hold.
6. It turns out Nunes did get his information about incidental surveillance last week from White House staffers Ezra Cohen-Watnick and Michael Ellis, who both work on national security.
7. In a twist of irony, Sean Spicer says in his briefing that it shouldn’t matter who talked to whom. That what’s important is the substance… Huh? I thought the leaks were the important thing in the Russia scandal, not the substance?
8. Mike Flynn says he’ll testify in the Russia probe if he gets full immunity, a request that both the Senate and House Intelligence Committees rejected saying it was too early to justify it.
9. The Senate Intelligence Committee begins their hearings on Russia’s meddling in the elections and ties to the administration. They have at least 20 interviews lined up. (FYI: Richard Burr (Rep.) and Mark Warner (Dem.) head this committee.)
10. A USA Today review of court cases and legal documents shows that Trump’s businesses have been linked to ”at least 10 wealthy former Soviet businessmen with alleged ties to criminal organizations or money laundering.”
11. It turns out that Russia wasn’t just helping Trump during the general election, they were helping during the primaries as well.
12. In the initial Senate hearings, we hear testimony that there were 15,000 operatives around world who were involved in creating and spreading fake news around the election.
13. Mark Warner says there are reports that Russia had upwards of 1,000 hackers working in a facility in Russia to troll social media and create fake news targeting key areas in the U.S. using a network of bots. They used advanced algorithms to directly pinpoint certain demographics with misinformation.
14. The FBI investigation goes back further than we thought. They are looking into whether the Trump campaign or its associates were complicit (knowingly or not) in assisting with the hacks of the DNC and others in early 2016.
15. While no evidence has surfaced to support Trump’s wiretapping claims, it is true that the Obama administration was careful to keep records of the investigation, including an indexed list of the existing documents on the Russian investigation out of concern for what might happen to the documents.
16. Trump continues to tweet about the unproven wiretapping claims and to call the Russia probe fake news.
17. Clinton Watts testifies in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee. If you didn’t listen to it, you should. None of it should be much of a surprise, but the way he ties it together is interesting. Here are a few clips:
    • https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4664397/clint-watts-3302017
    • https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4664379/clinton-watts-senate-intelligence-committee-hearing

Court:

1. Democrats threaten to filibuster the Gorsuch nomination, which Republicans call unprecedented… seeming to forget all about the unprecedented move of blocking Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland for nearly a year due to it being an election year and all.
2. Republicans need eight Democratic senators to support the Gorsuch nomination in order to avoid a filibuster. So far they have two – Senators Joe Manchin (WV) and Heidi Heitkamp (ND). (Update today: Democrats have enough to filibuster).
3. A federal judge says that the lawsuit against Trump for inciting violence at one of his rallies can proceed. Three protestors at a rally were roughed up by Trump supporters, and video shows Trump appearing to egg them on. Trump’s defense claimed freedom of speech, which the judge rejected.

Healthcare:

This is simmering on the back burner for now, but there were a few newsworthy items this week:

1. Negotiations start up again in the House for the repeal of the ACA, but the Senate and the White House are not interested.
2. Paul Ryan says he doesn’t want to work with Democrats on healthcare.
3. Sean Spicer says Trump is absolutely willing to work with Democrats on this.
   
4. After the Freedom Caucus fails to fall in line on the healthcare bill, Trump threatens to go after the them in the 2018 elections if they don’t get behind him.

International:

1. NATO changes the date of their meeting to accommodate Secretary of State Tillerson’s schedule, so he will attend the meeting with NATO foreign ministers after all.
2. Britain formally starts the process of exiting the EU (better known as Brexit), ending a 44-year relationship. The process must be completed within two years.
3. Trump loosens combat rules in Somalia, opening up greater areas to air strikes, putting more civilians at risk, and laying the groundwork for expanded military action against Islam militants in the area. These rules were in place to prevent civilian casualties.
4. On the campaign trail, Trump called NAFTA the “worst trade deal” but now says he will keep major portions in place. He’s wants stricter enforcement of the rules, but indicates there will not be big changes to the agreement.

Legislation:

1. The House introduces a bill to repeal the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. It establishes a voucher program and removes some of the nutritional standards set forth original bill.
2. After a reporter asks Trump about Michael Flynn during a signing event, Trump leaves without signing the executive orders. Pence tries to bring him back for the signing, but Trump ends up signing them later, away from the media.
3. Trump continues to cut back regulations by signing four bills into law this week:
   • The first is a congressional resolution that reverses Obama’s BLM resource management rule aimed at managing and conserving public lands. Obama’s changes were intended to use “science-based, landscape-scale approaches” to issues like wildfires, wildlife habitats, and renewable energy, which some feared would take away too much local control.
   • The second reverses the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces rule, which prevented the government from granting federal contracts to companies with a history of wage, labor, or workplace safety violations.
   • The next two remove requirements for teacher training and for how states execute the Every Student Succeeds Act. This act was a bipartisan law supported by the Chamber of Commerce along with civil rights and business groups.
4. Trump signs executive orders to address the trade deficit and to create trade policies that are more supportive of US companies and consumers. As part of this, he commissioned a 90-day study on trade deficits and abuses.
5. Following last week’s Senate vote, the House also passes the resolution to reverse the FCC internet privacy rules from last year. With the reversal, internet service providers won’t need to get your permission to use or sell your personal info, including your location and your browsing history. Trump is expected to sign it into law, though democrats are urging him not to, citing privacy concerns. Now’s the time to bolster up your internet security and look into setting up a VPN. Anonymous browsing doesn’t work against your ISP; they still know it’s you. Fun fact: Fundraising campaigns raised $250,000 to buy the browsing history of lawmakers who support the bill.
6. Mike Pence casts a vote in the senate to break a 50-50 tie on a rule that would overturn Title X protections and essentially allow states to withhold funds from family planning centers that provide abortions, even if those funds are not used for abortions.
   
7. The Senate votes to reverse a rule that made it easier for states to create retirement plans for workers who do not have a company-sponsored retirement plan. The House already passed this bill, so it is headed to Trump for a signature.
8. The Kansas Senate passes House Bill 2044 to expand Medicaid and take advantage of those provisions in Obamacare. This should extend healthcare insurance coverage to an estimated 150,000 Kansas residents. Governor Sam Brownback vetoes the bill despite evidence that Medicaid works.
9. Iowa is on a roll:
   • Governor Terry Branstad signed legislation not only blocking hikes to the minimum wage, but also bringing back down the minimum wage in localities that had already raised it above the current minimum. In essence, he defined a maximum minimum wage.
   • He also signed a law reducing worker compensation laws.
   • On a strictly party-line vote, a house committee adopted the 20-week abortion ban amendment. A Republican lawmaker catches flack when she says women should carry miscarried fetuses to term.
10. The UN raises concerns about our basic right to protest. Since the election, 19 states have introduced legislation to criminalize peaceful protests, to increase penalties for blocking traffic, and to remove basic protections for protestors.

Travel Ban/Immigration/Discrimination:

1. The judge from Hawaii who was the first to block Trump’s second travel ban decides to extend the blocking order.
2. ICE arrests three people who were beginning the process of becoming citizens by applying for green cards. They kept their appointments despite their fear of being detained. One is a mother of three, married to a US citizen. Of the five, two had no criminal violations and three had minor traffic violations.
3. Two doctors who run a pain management facility in Texas are threatened with deportation after an administrative error lists them as overstaying their visas. They were given 24 hours to leave, though they each had procedures, including surgeries, scheduled with their patients. They were able to obtain a stay.
4. Men dressed in shirts that say “Jewish Defense League” beat a Palestinian-American school teacher with flag poles near the APAIC conference.
5. North Carolina moves to repeal and replace the bathroom rule that stated you must use the restroom according to the gender on your birth certificate, buckling under financial pressure from NCAA boycotts. The deal was a compromise to get more Republicans on board, which included limiting cities’ ability to create any anti-discrimination rules until 2020. Members of the LGBTQ community say it doesn’t go far enough.
   
6. The final version of the 2020 census questionnaire no longer includes questions about gender identity and sexual orientation. A draft version included these questions, which would have been the first time this information would have been included.
7. AG Jeff Sessions says the DoJ will withhold grants for criminal justice programs from sanctuary cities. Mayors of sanctuary cities around the country say they’ll put up a fight in court if federal funds are withdrawn.
8. Seattle sues the administration over the executive order demanding federal funds be withheld from sanctuary cities.
9. The LA County Sheriff comes out against the current bill in the CA state legislature that would make CA a sanctuary state, saying it would make it too hard to deport felons. All CA sheriffs say that when ICE requests that they hold a parolee a few days over their release date (presumably so ICE can come pick them up), they do not comply (for constitutional reasons mostly).

Climate/EPA:

1. Trump signed executive orders that basically halt efforts by the Obama administration to address climate change. The orders instruct the EPA to focus on clean air and water and to stop working on climate change — meanwhile, coal plants can now dump waste into waterways, so I’m not sure where the clean water part comes in.
2. In the wake of the rollbacks, environmental groups already have lawsuits in the works.
3. Staff in the Energy Department are prohibited from using the following phrases in written communications: “climate change,” “emissions reduction,” and “Paris Agreement.”
4. Exxon sends a letter to Trump urging him to stay in the Paris climate accord, stating that it’s an ”effective framework for addressing the risks of climate change.”
5. Trump lifts a moratorium on federal leases for coal mining, though few companies are interested in mining the newly available areas. Though Trump says he’ll bring back coal jobs, more and more power plants are moving to natural gas and 6 coal plants have either closed or plan to close since the election. Coal production has outpaced consumption, on average, since 2000.
6. The House passes the Honest and Open New EPA Science Treatment Act, which prohibits the EPA from using science that isn’t publicly available when creating new regulations. The EPA often uses scientific data that they don’t own and therefore don’t always have the right to release it publicly. This restricts the scientific studies and data they can use.
7. Jeff Immelt, CEO of GE, encourages companies to step up and fill in the void left by Trump gutting EPA regulations. Several companies (from Apple to Walmart), cities, and states say they’ll continue down the climate regulation path set out by Obama despite the rollback of regulations.
8. EPA scientists conclude that the insecticide chlorpyrifos should be banned due to its affect on learning and memory. Scott Pruitt rejects their conclusion. It’s already been banned from household use, but is currently used on around 50 types of crops.

Miscellaneous:

1. The economy is expected to grow more slowly than the 3-4% Trump promised. Economists expect it to grow 2.3% this year and 2.5% next year.
2. A woman hits at least one police car and almost hits several officers in DC Wednesday morning. Terrorism is not suspected.
3. Trump selects Chris Christie to run his drug commission.
4. Felony charges are filed against the two anti-abortion activists who misrepresented themselves as researchers and secretly filmed Planned Parenthood meetings.
5. The entire White House staff, in support of Trump, plans to skip the correspondents dinner.
6. After taking heat for her non-government office in the White House last week, Ivanka will become a government employee after all. TBD what will happen with her business holdings.
7. Some of Trump’s wealthier donors chip in millions for a 10-state ad campaign to bolster his approval ratings and highlight his achievements.
8. Trump groups Democrats and the Freedom Caucus together as his enemy in a tweet: “The Freedom Caucus will hurt the entire Republican agenda if they don’t get on the team, & fast. We must fight them, & Dems, in 2018!”
9. Three people at the inauguration in January claim to have heard George W. Bush remark afterward, “That was some weird shit.”
10. Kushner is placed in charge of the White House Office of American Innovation, a group that will look at business-based solutions to government problems.
11. Trump proclaims April 2017 to be National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month. I hope everyone sees the irony here.
12. The Trump administration released the financial disclosures for White House staff. Notable findings:
    • Bannon made up to $2.3 million last year.
    • Gary Cohn, a former Goldman executive, is worth between $252-$611 million.
    • Ivanka and Jared retain their vast real estate and investment business.
    • Kellyanne Conway made over $800,000 last year.
13. Mike Pence says he doesn’t dine alone with women other than his wife. It may seem a gallant gesture, but it limits the power of women who work with him. For example, he could eat alone and talk government with any one of his male staff members but not any of his female staff members. It harks back to the old boys club, it’s archaic, and it’s built on the premise that men can’t control themselves around women.
14. Republicans indicate that they won’t fight support for Planned Parenthood as part of budget negotiations (but they might do it under reconciliation, which puts their decisions into law).
15. Trump’s infrastructure plans had been put on hold until 2018, but now he wants to work on tax reform and infrastructure at the same time. This is seen as an attempt to get the support of Democrats and avoid the Freedom Caucus.