WASHINGTON March 21, 2017 – In a surprise move, the U.S. government today refused to attend a hearing of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The human rights body, which is part of the Organization of American States, was scheduled this morning to question U.S. officials on the effects of several of President Trump’s executive […]
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AACI Opposes Trump budget cut to NIH by $6 B (19%,), a cut of nearly $1 B to National Cancer Institute
March 20, 2017 – The Association of American Cancer Institutes (AACI) expresses opposition to President Donald Trump’s proposed “skinny budget” for Fiscal Year (FY) 2018. The President’s recommendation would cut funding to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) by $6 billion, or approximately 19 percent, which translates to a cut of nearly $1 billion in […]
AILA: Revised Muslim and Refugee Ban Halted by Federal Courts
WASHINGTON, DC, March 16, 2017 – The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) welcomed the issuance of two temporary restraining orders from the U.S. District Courts in Hawaii and Maryland, halting implementation of key parts of President Trump’s revised Executive Order, issued March 6, 2017, which would temporarily ban Muslims and refugees from travel and admission […]
New State Health Care Scorecard Finds Improvements in Access, Quality Nationwide Following ACA’s Major Coverage Expansions
NEW YORK, NY, March 16, 2017 – Two years after the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) major coverage expansions, fewer Americans lacked health insurance in every state and people benefitted from better quality and safer health care, according to the Commonwealth Fund’s new state health system scorecard. States that expanded Medicaid, such as Arkansas, California, Kentucky, […]
HRC Calls on Tillerson To Rescind Appointment of Extremist Anti-LGBTQ Representatives to Women’s Rights Meeting at UN
WASHINGTON, March 16, 2017 – Today, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) strongly condemned the appointment of two individuals from anti-LGBTQ organizations to the U.S. delegation to the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), which is currently being held at the United Nations in New York. In a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Rex […]
Trump Proposes Slashing Budget for Protecting Wildlife, Public Lands
WASHINGTON, March 16, 2017 – The proposed Trump administration budget released today includes deep cuts to the U.S. Department of the Interior, which protects more than 1,500 endangered species and manages millions of acres of public lands, including national wildlife refuges. The budget proposes to cut overall funding for the Department of the Interior by […]
President’s Budget Puts Clean Water and Rivers at Risk Nationwide
Washington March 16, 2017 – President Trump’s proposed budget cuts to clean drinking water and river restoration efforts would cause serious harm to the nation’s health, economy, and quality of life, American Rivers said today. The President’s budget proposal includes deep cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency, proposing to cut the agency by almost one […]
Report: “Countering Violent Extremism” Programs Provide Surveillance Infrastructure for Islamophobic Administration
March 16, 2017 – The Trump administration is reportedly planning to revamp a controversial program, “Countering Violent Extremism,” to focus solely and explicitly on American Muslims, potentially even renaming it “Countering Islamic Extremism.” But a new report from the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, the most comprehensive look yet at these […]
This Immigration Enforcement Program Has a Troubled History, and Trump Wants to Restart It
March 16, 2017 – Buried inside the interior enforcement Executive Order issued by President Trump in January are the Administration’s plans to revive the 287(g) program. This is concerning because the program has experienced intense criticism over the years, and efforts to ramp up this program should be viewed with extreme caution and skepticism. The […]
Legal Experts React to Nationwide Temporary Restraining Order Against Trump’s Second Muslim Ban
March 15, 2017 – On a press call tonight, legal experts analyzed the latest developments in the litigation against President Trump’s second take on an unconstitutional and un-American Muslim and refugee ban. Tonight, Hawaii U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson froze Trump’s executive order nationwide. We are still awaiting rulings from two other federal cases – […]
U.S. physicians launch campaign to help public understand the damage climate change is doing to people’s health
March 15, 2017 – Today, more than half of the nation’s physicians–including family doctors, pediatricians, obstetricians, allergists, geriatricians and internists–are launching a campaign to help patients, the public and policy makers understand the damage climate change is doing to people’s health and what needs to be done to prepare and protect ourselves. With today’s launch, […]
Extreme Bills in Senate Threaten Public Health
WASHINGTON, March 15, 2017 — The Natural Resources Defense Council, Physicians for Social Responsibility, BlueGreen Alliance, GreenLatinos, NextGen Climate and a broad coalition representing more than 70 groups are urging the Senate to reject a multi-pronged attack on safeguards that protect Americans from dirty air, contaminated water, tainted food, and unsafe products. The Senate Committee […]
Watchdog Organization Files Civil Rights Complaint Alleging Visitation Denials, Restrictions at 14 Immigration Detention Facilities
WASHINGTON, March 15, 2017 – Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement (CIVIC) has filed a federal complaint with the Office for Civil Rights & Civil Liberties within the Department of Homeland Security detailing access denials and restrictions in violation of federal policy at 14 immigration detention facilities in Arizona, California, Virginia, Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania, […]
250 Consumer Groups: Rolling Back MPG Standards Will Roll Over Hard-hit, Hardworking Americans
WASHINGTON, DC, March 15, 2017 – “The Environmental Protection Agency’s rescinding of the Final Determination that kept in place the current fuel-economy standards is an attack on consumer protection standards that help all Americans save money,” said Jack Gillis, Consumer Federation of America’s (CFA) Director of Public Affairs and author of The Car Book. “Hard-hit, […]
Trump Trying to Eliminate the Biggest Tax He Pays: The Alternative Minimum Tax
WASHINGTON, D.C. March 15, 2017—President Trump’s newly reported 2005 federal tax return shows he is trying to eliminate the one tax that affects him far more than any other: the alternative minimum tax. Journalist David Cay Johnston revealed a copy of two pages of Trump’s 2005 tax return on MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show last […]
DCREPORT EXCLUSIVE: Trump Earned $153 Million in 2005; He Paid $36.6 Million in Taxes
March 14, 2017 – In 2005, Donald J. Trump married model Melanija Knavs, his third wife. That year, the real-estate mogul and newly minted TV star earned $153 million dollars, about $3 million a week. That’s far more than all but a tiny sliver of the U.S. population. The newlyweds paid $36.6 million of that […]
Foreign graduate students and postdocs consider leaving the US
March 15, 2017 – On March 6, President Donald Trump signed a second executive order to suspend immigration from six predominately Muslim countries, this time excluding Iraq from the list. According to an article in Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society, the move has prompted foreign graduate students […]
US Saudi Arms Deal Would Fan Flames of Conflict, Says Amnesty International USA
March 14, 2017 – Amnesty International this week urged President Trump not to approve impending arms sales to Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. The deals would arm members of a military coalition that has attacked thousands of civilians in Yemen and violated international humanitarian law. Amnesty International researchers have already found both unexploded U.S. bombs and […]
Jury Returns Convictions in Oregon Refuge Takeover
March 14, 2017 – A year after armed militia and antigovernment extremists took over an Oregon wildlife refuge, the courtroom scorecard stands at two convictions, 11 guilty pleas and seven acquittals. The latest update came late last week when a U.S. District Court jury found occupation organizer Jason Patrick, 43, of Bonaire, Ga., and security […]
CBO: 24 Million People Would Lose Coverage by 2026 Under House Republican Health Plan
March 13, 2017 – Edwin Park is Vice President for Health Policy The House Republican health plan to repeal much of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and radically restructure Medicaid would cause 24 million people to lose coverage by 2026 and drive $880 billion in federal Medicaid cuts over the next ten years, the Congressional […]