Feb. 3, 2017 – In a close vote, the House of Representatives voted today to repeal a popular, common-sense Bureau of Management rule limiting methane waste by oil and gas companies on public and tribal lands. This was made possible by the Congressional Review Act, an obscure, last-resort tool used successfully only once in American […]
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Congress votes for corruption by overturning historic transparency law in gift to big oil
Feb. 3, 2017 – Today’s decision by the Republican-led U.S. Senate to overturn a rule designed to stop oil companies striking corrupt deals with foreign governments is a grave threat to U.S. national security and an astonishing gift to big oil, said Global Witness. The news comes just two days after Rex Tillerson, a longstanding […]
Executive Order to Strip Millions of Middle Class Families of Retirement Savings Protections
Feb. 3, 2017 – Americans for Financial Reform (AFR), American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Better Markets, and Consumer Federation of America (CFA) put out the following statement on President Trump’s Memorandum for the Secretary of Labor regarding the Conflict of Interest (Fiduciary Rule). President Trump continues his streak of throwing middle […]
Lawsuit Argues Trump Immigration Ban Unlawfully Targets U.S. Residents Seeking Citizenship and Immigration Status
SEATTLE, WA, Feb. 2, 2017 – Civil and immigrant rights groups asked a federal court last night to lift the unconstitutional ban blocking Muslim immigrants lawfully living in the United States from becoming U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and asylees, among other things. The class action lawsuit challenges provisions of President Trump’s January 27 executive order […]
Trump Executive Order lawsuit: hearing set for Seattle federal court Friday
SEATTLE February 2, 2017 – Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson today announced the filing of an amended complaint in State of Washington v. Trump, the state’s lawsuit challenging key sections of President Trump’s immigration Executive Order as illegal and unconstitutional. The amended complaint filed late Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Western District […]
Malheur Siege Still Shadows Range and Refuges
Washington, DC February 2, 2017 – As the federal criminal trials resume next week for militants who occupied Oregon’s Malheur National Wildlife Refuge last year, federal refuge and range staff overwhelmingly feel their jobs are “more dangerous,” according to survey results released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Significant percentages of these federal […]
Detention Of 5-Year-Old Boy, Reportedly A US Citizen, Among Disturbing Stories Emerging From Muslim Ban
February 1, 2017 – More and more disturbing reports are emerging about some of the individuals and families detained or deported under Donald Trump’s unconstitutional ban targeting Muslims and refugees. Trump has been aided in his efforts by rogue Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents. According to reports, these agents have essentially become a Deportation Force for Trump, after ignoring a New […]
Earthjustice: Republican Leaders Attack Water Protections as Early Priority
WASHINGTON, D.C February 1, 2017 – Today, House of Representatives passed H.J.Res.38 which eviscerates the Stream Protection Rule, a modest clean-water safeguard crafted to protect the health of communities impacted by coal mining. The rule is being targeted under the Congressional Review Act, a seldom-used law that allows recently passed regulations to be rolled back virtually overnight […]
House Repeals Dodd-Frank Transparency Provision, Senate Prepares to Vote by Friday
Washington DC February 1, 2017 – The US House of Representatives repealed a bipartisan transparency initiative that affects the oil, gas and mining sector by a vote of 235-187. The “Cardin-Lugar amendment” of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act requires oil and mining companies to disclose financial activity and payments to governments in the […]
Pascrell Calls on Ways & Means Chair to Request Trump Tax Returns
WASHINGTON, D.C. Feb. 1, 2017– Today, U.S. Representative Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ), a member of the Ways and Means Committee, is calling on Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) to submit a formal request to the Secretary of the Treasury for President Trump’s tax returns for each of the past ten years. “The Presidential […]
New York A.G. Schneiderman Joins Lawsuit Against President Trump’s Immigration Executive Order
NEW YORK, Jan. 31, 2017 – Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman released the following statement: “As I’ve made clear: President Trump’s executive action is unconstitutional, unlawful, and fundamentally un-American. “That is why my office will be filing to join the federal lawsuit against President Trump and his administration. I’m proud to partner with these organizations […]
Virginia Brings Action Against Pres. Trump for Unlawful, Unconstitutional Executive Order on Immigration
RICHMOND, January 31, 2017 – Attorney General Mark R. Herring today brought legal action against President Donald J. Trump and members of his administration for his January 27, 2017 Executive Order banning entry to the United States for individuals from certain countries, even those who are lawful permanent residents or entering the United States on […]
Massachusetts AG Healy Announces Lawsuit Against President Trump’s Executive Order on Immigration
BOSTON, Jan. 31, 2017 – Speaking up for the citizens, academic institutions and businesses in Massachusetts, Attorney General Maura Healey today announced that her office is joining a lawsuit challenging President Trump’s Executive Order on immigration that bans individuals from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. The complaint and motion to intervene, […]
US travel ban: “New policy breaches Washington’s human rights obligations”
GENEVA February 1, 2017 – A group of United Nations human rights experts today said that the Executive Order signed by US President Donald Trump on 27 January 2017 breaches the country’s international human rights obligations, which protect the principles of non-refoulement and non-discrimination based on race, nationality or religion. The Presidential Executive Order bars […]
Congresswomen Reintroduce Bill to Ensure Coverage of Abortion Services for All Women
Jan. 31, 2017 – Congresswomen Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) today reintroduced the Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance (EACH Woman) Act, alongside Pro-Choice Caucus Co-Chairs Congresswomen Diana DeGette (D-CO) and Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and 100 other Members of Congress. The EACH Woman Act is a piece of legislation which would […]
House Moves to Encourage Drilling in National Parks
WASHINGTON January 31, 2017 – Congressman Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) last night introduced H.J. Res. 46, which seeks to repeal updates to the National Park Service’s “9B” rules. The rules require detailed planning and set safety standards for oil and gas drilling inside the more than 40 national parks that have “split estate” ownership, where the […]
House Poised to Repeal Global Anti-Corruption Measure
WASHINGTON, DC, Jan. 31, 2107 – Within the next 24 hours, the US House of Representatives could repeal a bipartisan transparency initiative that affects the oil, gas and mining sector. The “Cardin-Lugar amendment” of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act requires oil and mining companies to disclose financial activity and payments to governments in […]
Feinstein: ‘I Must Vote No’ on Sessions
Washington January 31, 2017 – Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today announced her opposition to the nomination of Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) as attorney general. “It is very difficult to reconcile for me the independence and objectivity necessary for the position of attorney general with the partisanship this nominee has demonstrated,” Feinstein […]
Here Is Some of the Human Misery Caused by President Trump’s Muslim Ban From Those Most Impacted
Jan. 30, 2017 – We’ve collected some of most heartbreaking quotations from people affected by Trump’s executive order. With the sweep of his pen, President Donald Trump caused the U.S. immigration system to go into total disarray and sowed global chaos and confusion on Friday afternoon. The executive order he signed at 4:42 p.m. suspended […]
Full text of Sally Yates’ letter to DOJ staff opposing Donald Trump’s Muslim ban
January 31, 2017 – Editor’s note: This is the letter then-Acting U.S. Attornet General Sally Yates sent to DOJ staff on Monday. She was fired a few hours later. On January 27, 2017, the President signed an Executive Order regarding immigrants and refugees from certain Muslim-majority countries. The order has now been challenged in a […]