As part of the ongoing project to catalog every awful thing the Trump Administration has done as a reference for future political arguments and whatever few posterity survives to see 2020, here’s everything awful the Trump Administration has done this week.
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487. Advanced a bizarre conspiracy theory that Russia is paid Democrats and the FBI to try to take him down with the Russian Dossier
488. In response to criticism over #481, John Kelly said Trump’s critics should “shut up” because they hadn’t be in the military
489. It was revealed that during the 2016 campaign Pence’s chief of staff, Nick Ayers, was classified by the campaign as an unpaid volunteer, however at the same time he was paid as an aide to the Pence campaign, which could qualify as an illegal in-kind contribution
490. Barred three climate science from giving talks on climate change
491. Let funding for CHIP’s lapse and did nothing to resolve the issue
492. Moved to auction off vast swathes of the Gulf of Mexico to oil companies
493. Sided with Wall Street against a rule that would prevent financial institutions from using the fine print in contracts to shield themselves from class action lawsuits and force consumers into mandatory arbitration, providing the tie breaking vote in the Senate to repeal the rule.
494. After shutting down the US refugee program for a 120 day review, implemented strict new vetting and screening procedures on refugees and continued review of 11 countries
495. Betsy Devos and the Department of Education rescinded 72 policy documents that outline the rights of students with disabilities
496. Passed a budget plan that slashes $5 trillion from programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and other social spending measures over the next 10 years
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Lots of big items on for social spending this week, as the Republican congress can’t be bothered to renew funding for CHIP, but can be bothered to pass a budget that slashed trillions of dollars from other health insurance and assistance programs. All the while, a larger fight over tax cut fight looms in the near future.
As always, I don’t expect to catch everything, so let me know if there’s anything you think I’ve missed. The full omnibus is being maintained here.