USA News and Discussions

[weatheriscool]

[weatheriscool]

https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/ ... index.html

[weatheriscool]

[weatheriscool]

[weatheriscool]

Trump is planning 100 executive orders starting Day 1 on border, deportations and other priorities

Source: Associated Press

President-elect Donald Trump is preparing more than 100 executive orders starting Day One of the new White House, in what amounts to a shock-and-awe campaign on border security, deportations and a rush of other policy priorities.

Trump told Republican senators about the onslaught ahead during a private meeting on Capitol Hill. Many of the actions are expected to launch on Inauguration Day, Jan. 20, when he takes office. Trump top adviser Stephen Miller outlined for the GOP senators the border security and immigration enforcement measures that are likely to launch soonest. Axios first reported on Trump and his team’s presentation.

“There will be a substantial number,” said Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D.

Allies of the president-elect have been preparing a stack of executive orders that Trump could sign quickly on a wide range of topics – from the U.S.-Mexico border clampdown to energy development to federal Schedule F workforce rules, school gender policies and vaccine mandates, among other day-one promises made during his campaign.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/trump-day-on ... 446fe22710

[weatheriscool]

https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/po ... ue-service

[weatheriscool]

Trump's inauguration ceremony likely moving indoors due to frigid weather forecast

Source: NBC

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration swearing-in ceremony is likely going to move indoors due to a frigid weather forecast in the nation's capital Monday, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Inauguration day is often cold, but Monday looks to be especially so. The high is expected to be roughly 20 degrees, with a low of 6 degrees, and strong winds.

The last time the ceremony was held indoors was Ronald Reagan's second inauguration; the parade was also canceled that year.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald ... rcna188164

[weatheriscool]

Trump pledges a series of Day 1 executive actions to end 'four long years of American decline'

Source: Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump used a raucous rally Sunday on the eve of his inauguration to promise swift Day 1 action remaking the federal government, shifting federal priorities at breakneck speed and ensuring that “the curtain closes on four long years of American decline.”

Supporters filled nearly all of the 20,000-plus-seat Capital One Arena in downtown Washington for a “Make America Great” victory celebration, and cheered as Trump said he’d take quick action on everything from cracking down on the U.S.-Mexico border to promoting oil drilling, reining in the federal workforce and eradicating diversity programs.

“We’re going to give them the best first day, the biggest first week and the most extraordinary first 100 days of any presidency in American history,” said Trump, who also promised to roll back executive actions by his predecessor, outgoing President Joe Biden, “within hours.”

In an unusual move, Trump entered at the arena’s concourse level and deliberately made his way down the stairs before his speech, stopping frequently to pump his fist and pose for pictures with rallygoers. It was even more surreal after he finished speaking, when the Village People took the stage and the president-elect sang — and even briefly danced — along to “YMCA,” an unofficial anthem of his campaign.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/trump-inaugu ... 452d943b74

[caltrek]

Biden Preemptively Pardons Members of January 6 Panel and Other Trump Targets
January 20, 2025

Introduction:

(Common Dreams) In the final hours of his presidency, Joe Biden on Monday issued preemptive pardons to a number of current and former lawmakers and public officials whom President-elect Donald Trump has attacked.

Those pardoned include Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; Mark Milley, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and members of the House select committee that investigated the January 6, 2021 insurrection incited by Trump, who has pledged to pursue retribution against his political opponents.

"The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that any individual engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense," Biden said in a statement. "Our nation owes these public servants a debt of gratitude for their tireless commitment to our country."

"These are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing," the outgoing president continued. "Even when individuals have done nothing wrong—and in fact have done the right thing—and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage reputations and finances."

Biden has made sweeping use of his clemency powers in the final days of his White House term, commuting the sentences of thousands of people convicted for nonviolent drug offenses and almost completely emptying federal death row.

Read more here: https://www.commondreams.org/news/bide ... e-pardons

Extract from Capitol Hill article:

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) chaired the (House select) committee, and Cheney served as second-in-command as vice chair. Other members included then-Reps. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), Elaine Luria (D-Va.) and Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.), current Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) and Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), and now-Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.).

https://thehill.com/homenews/5094948-jo ... ry-sixth/

Edit:

(CNN)...minutes before Trump was to be inaugurated as the nation’s 47th president, Biden also issued pardons for members of his family: his brothers James and Frank, his sister Valerie, and their respective spouses.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... obArticle

[weatheriscool]

Trump executive order will attempt to end birthright citizenship

Source: Washington Post

The U.S. government will no longer recognize the citizenship of children born in the United States to immigrants who lack legal status, one of 10 immigration-related executive orders President-elect Donald Trump plans to sign Monday, an incoming administration official told reporters.

The incoming official did not provide details on how the administration planned to implement a change that scholars say would be illegal. Trump’s order would reinterpret the words “and subject to the jurisdiction thereof” in the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which grants citizenship to all people born on U.S. soil, and redefine the phrase to exclude babies born to parents illegally in the country.

Trump will issue other executive orders that will ramp up deportations, restart border wall construction and send U.S. troops to patrol the 2,000-mile boundary with Mexico, said the incoming official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the incoming administration for a call with reporters.

After Trump is inaugurated, he plans to declare a national emergency at the southern border. Trump will then issue orders to restart the “Remain in Mexico” policy of his first term, designate drug cartels and gangs as foreign terrorist organizations and suspend refugee resettlement in the United States for at least four months, officials said, reading a list of Inauguration Day actions and orders.

--more--

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigrat ... ce=bluesky

[weatheriscool]

Rubio unanimously confirmed as secretary of State, becoming Trump's first Cabinet official

Source: The Hill

01/20/25 6:52 PM ET

The Senate on Monday unanimously confirmed Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fl.) as America’s 72nd secretary of State, putting in place the first member of President Trump’s cabinet on the day of his inauguration.

Rubio’s confirmation vote passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, 99-0. Rubio also was able to cast a vote for himself.

“No one on this body can doubt that Marco Rubio is an intelligent man with remarkable understanding of American foreign policy and a very deep commitment to the American Dream,” Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said in remarks on the Senate floor.

Rubio’s Senate seat will be filled by Florida state Attorney General Ashley Moody.

Read more: https://thehill.com/policy/internationa ... secretary/

[weatheriscool]

Trump authorizes military deployment plan to border in executive order

Source: The Hill

01/20/25 9:09 PM ET

President Trump on Monday night signed an executive order authorizing the U.S. military to draft a plan for sending troops to the southern border. The order authorizes U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM), one of 11 combat command centers, to repel “forms of invasion, including unlawful mass migration, narcotics trafficking, human smuggling and trafficking, and other criminal activities” at the southern border.

“Threats against our Nation’s sovereignty continue today, and it is essential that the Armed Forces staunchly continue to participate in the defense of our territorial integrity and sovereignty,” Trump’s executive order reads.

“The Armed Forces of the United States have played a long and well-established role in securing our borders against threats of invasion, against unlawful forays by foreign nationals into the United States, and against other transnational criminal activities that violate our laws and threaten the peace, harmony, and tranquility of the Nation.”

The Pentagon said in a statement that it was “fully committed to carrying out the orders from our Commander-In-Chief, and is doing so immediately under his leadership.” Trump is requesting a revised mission plan from NORTHCOM within 10 days and that his secretary of Defense receive a level 3 planning requirement, or a detailed plan, within 30 days. And he has ordered a steady planning requirement to maintain border operations.

Read more: https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5097 ... er-troops/

[firestar464]

Leonard Peltier's been released to home confinement

https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/01/20 ... ming-home/

[weatheriscool]

U.S. border agents told to summarily deport migrants without asylum hearings under Trump edict

Source: By Camilo Montoya-Galvez Updated on: January 22, 2025 / 12:30 PM EST / CBS News

Washington — Citing President Trump's extraordinary move to close the American asylum system, U.S. border agents have been instructed to summarily deport migrants crossing into the country illegally without allowing them to request legal protection, according to internal government documents and agency officials.

Just hours after being sworn in, Mr. Trump invoked sweeping presidential authorities to bar the entry of migrants deemed to be participating in an "invasion" of the U.S., as well as those who may pose a public health or national security risk. He cited a provision of immigration law known as 212(f) that allows presidents to suspend the entry of foreigners whose entry is deemed to be "detrimental" to the U.S.

In that same proclamation, Mr. Trump cited his constitutional powers over foreign affairs to empower U.S. immigration officials to "repel, repatriate, or remove any alien engaged in the invasion across the southern border of the United States."

Internal government documents indicate that, as of Tuesday night, the president's "full" 212(f) authority was being implemented across Texas' border with Mexico, making nearly all migrants who arrive at the border subject to quick expulsion. The documents cite the public health-related 212(f) authority that applies to "aliens that traveled through a country with a communicable disease."

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-depo ... -hearings/

[weatheriscool]

Trump enlists attorney general to investigate Biden administration

Source: The Guardian

Fri 24 Jan 2025 08.00 EST
Last modified on Fri 24 Jan 2025 08.02 EST

Donald Trump has tasked the attorney general in two executive orders to conduct far-reaching investigations into the previous administration, using the weight of the justice department to pursue what are effectively politically charged reviews into his personal grievances. The orders the president signed on Monday to end the “weaponization of the federal government” and the “government censorship of speech” in the Biden administration directed the attorney general to review actions over the last four years and prepare a final report.

Incoming administrations always set their priorities in the first days and Trump’s second term is no different from any of his predecessors in that respect. Trump also signed executive orders instructing the department to bring more criminal cases connected to the southern border. The fact that the investigations will be done outside of the White House means they could be less susceptible to political interference by West Wing aides and leaves open the possibility that the investigative work is conducted in part at least by career attorneys at the justice department.

But the weaponization order was particularly unusual in making the incoming attorney general examine alleged misconduct at the justice department – rather than the department’s office of professional responsibility or inspector general – and then to deliver findings to a political appointee at the White House.

The attorney general does not typically prepare reports for the deputy chief of staff for policy, Stephen Miller. Under the justice department’s no-contacts policy, designed to prevent political interference in investigations, the attorney general is only supposed to interact, at a staff level, with the White House counsel or the deputy counsel. Taken together, the various aspects of the weaponization order foreshadow the major role Trump wants the justice department to play in his second term and harness its far-reaching power to enact his agenda.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... department

[firestar464]

"Excluding Indians": Trump admin questions Native Americans' birthright citizenship in court

https://www.salon.com/2025/01/23/exclud ... enship-in/

[weatheriscool]

Schumer blasts Trump over 'chilling purge' of IGs

Source: The Hill

01/25/25 1:03 PM ET

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) condemned President Trump’s move to fire more than a dozen watchdogs at several federal agencies overnight, calling it a “chilling purge.”

“This is a chilling purge, and it’s a preview of the lawless approach Donald Trump and his administration is taking far too often as he is becoming President,” Schumer said on the Senate floor Saturday. “These dismissals are possibly in violation of federal law, which requires Congress to have a 30-day notice of any intent to fire inspectors general,” he added.

The Trump administration fired around 17 inspectors general at various agencies within the departments of State, Defense, Transportation and Energy, among others, late Friday night, as first reported by The Washington Post. The inspectors serve in the watchdog role to investigate allegations regarding abuse of power, fraud and waste within the government.

“These firings are Donald Trump’s way of telling us he is terrified of accountability and is hostile to facts and to transparency,” Schumer said. Some Republicans, including Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) also expressed confusion at Trump’s decision to dismiss the federal workers.

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/510 ... l-firings/

[weatheriscool]

Trump issuing 'emergency 25% tariffs' against Colombia after country turned back deportation flights


Source: CNN Politics

Updated 3:26 PM EST, Sun January 26, 2025

CNN — President Donald Trump on Sunday announced retaliatory tariffs on Colombia after its president said he blocked US military deportation flights, the first instance of Trump using economic pressure to force other nations to fall in line with his mass deportation plans since he took office last week.

Earlier in the day, Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced he had blocked two US military flights carrying migrants heading toward the country and called on the United States to establish better protocols in its treatment of migrants. Petro also left the door open to receiving repatriated migrants traveling on civilian planes.

Following Petro’s announcement, Trump criticized him on social media while announcing a slate of new sanctions and policies targeting Colombia, including a 25% tariff on all imports from the country, a “travel ban” for Colombian citizens, and a revocation of visas for Colombian officials in the US along with “all allies and supporters.”

Trump also ordered stricter inspections of cargo shipments arriving from Colombia, along with banking and finance sanctions and visa sanctions on “all Party Members, Family Members, and Supporters of the Colombian Government.” “These measures are just the beginning. We will not allow the Colombian Government to violate its legal obligations with regard to the acceptance and return of the Criminals they forced into the United States!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/26/politics ... index.html

[Tadasuke]

I now think that especially if people allow Trump, Musk & others on their "team" to work uninterrupted with any time wasters, then good things are gonna really speed up in the coming months and years. Especially in the USA.

Being divisive usually doesn't help. It creates more problems. Even if Trump & Musk tend to divide people as well.

This mentality of "us" vs "them" really needs to die one day. With post-scarcity economy having super awesome technologies, pretty much everyone could be lucky. Even if you like primitivism, then you might also like techno-primitivism or virtual simulations of primitive lifestyle. In post-scarcity techno-utopia hypothetically everyone could win. There would be no losers and winners. Only winners and super winners. Pretty much all problems could be solved with good enough tools.

Altough I am anti anti-abortion laws and I do think that electric vehicles are the future (Elon thinks so too).

[Vakanai]

I now think that especially if people allow Trump, Musk & others on their "team" to work uninterrupted with any time wasters, then good things are gonna really speed up in the coming months and years. Especially in the USA.

Being divisive usually doesn't help. It creates more problems. Even if Trump & Musk tend to divide people as well.

This mentality of "us" vs "them" really needs to die one day. With post-scarcity economy having super awesome technologies, pretty much everyone could be lucky. Even if you like primitivism, then you might also like techno-primitivism or virtual simulations of primitive lifestyle. In post-scarcity techno-utopia hypothetically everyone could win. There would be no losers and winners. Only winners and super winners. Pretty much all problems could be solved with good enough tools.

Altough I am anti anti-abortion laws and I do think that electric vehicles are the future (Elon thinks so too).

If Trump, Musk, and their crony allies are allowed to work uninterrupted then a lot of bad things are going to happen. Gay marriage will be done away with, transgender people will just "not exist" legally (or publicly), employees will have fewer rights and fewer options, American healthcare will still be this sickening morass of for profit insurers denying people care and getting rich at human expense, democracy will be eroded away into even more of an oligarchy than it already is, misinformation lies and propaganda will spread as real journalism is vilified, we'll become more like the dictatorships Trump admires so well and further turn on our old freer allies.

Is all this really worth Musk winning the robot race or "Open" AI (now for profit and not so open) being the first to AGI? Are these the hands you want to entrust the future of humanity to? These people won't deliver us a post scarcity rechno-utopia. These people will deliver us cyberpunk - high tech, low life.