Senate Still Wants Trump Tax Return C12-4

Senator Susan Collins is claiming she would consider using a subpoena if Trump doesn't willingly turn over is tax returns. Senator Collins is from Maine, and is on the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is investigating Russia and their involvement in the 2016 elections. This would be the last measure, and the committee is trying other ways at the moment. The House Ways and Means Committee and the Democrats in it tried to get his tax returns from the IRS, using the fact that he could have investments in Russia. The House Republicans blocked this act. We probably won't see his tax returns ever, which breaks normal traditions of the Presidency.


LINK: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/02/23/senate-may-force-trump-to-turn-over-tax-returns.html

Paul Ryan Visits Texas-Mexican Boarder C12-3

On Wednesday, Paul Ryan visited the boarder of Texas and Mexico, viewing where President Trump wants to put a wall. Most of the time he was going in a boat along the Rio Grande, which is the natural boarder between the two. Unlike when President Trump visited during his campaign, he had no media coverage of this visit. He also visited the Texas towns near the boarder, where there was a little protesting. Many Mexican-Americans and supporters of lighter immigration laws once viewed Ryan as a moderate when it came to immigration, and was respected. After his unwavering support of Donald Trump since his presidency as begun, most are disappointed. Several Republican Texas House Representatives have been disappointed with Trumps immigration also.

LINK: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/22/us/politics/paul-ryan-border-mexico-immigration.html?ref=politics

Trump reverses Obama's Transgender Bathroom Guidance, Outrage Sparks C12-2

Last May, President Obama created guidelines to public schools across the nation to allow students to use whichever restroom they identify with by gender. He did this by threatening to stop funding if the nation did not comply with him. It was a huge step forward for the LGBTQ community. However, Wednesday afternoon President Trump decided to bring it a step back, and went back on Obama's act. He stated it as a states issue instead of a federal, and reversed the act. Many of the LGBTQ community are outraged, and it started protesting around DC and the rest of the country. Some people aren't even sure its legal, since it was still being reviewed by a federal judge.



LINK: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-lgbt-idUSKBN161243

Trump cracks down, causing immigration raids C12-1

Trump's new executive order targeting immigrants has been proven very effective on what he campaigned for. Just last week, with the Trump administrations supervising, hundreds of immigrants were deported. In his meeting with the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, he pointed out that the immigrants he was targeting were ones with crime records.

Unlike the Obama administration, who gave a pass to most law abiding immigrants before January of 2014, Trump's executive order can cause immigrants who have lived here for decades to be kicked out of their homes. Many are frustrated and disagree with this, including multiple democratic senators. However, Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, claims that this is just back to normal. He says it was Obama who was the abnormal one with his loose immigration laws, and this is just repercussion to bring the immigration levels back to normal.


Source: http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/trump-immigration-raids-234970

Parents Threatening to Homeschool after DeVos Announced Secretary of Education C11-3

After Senate confirmed Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education, many people have threatened to homeschool their children instead of sending them to public schools. Many people are frustrated because she has no background in the public school field. In fact, in an interview in 2012, DeVos herself was an advocate for homeschooling, saying it was good the parents had the power to control their childrens education. DeVos barely got confirmed through the senate in a narrow vote, and a lot of the population are outraged she has been placed in this position, as most believe she is unqualified to serve with the right viewpoint of most American families.

 

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/devos-backlash-sees-left-threatening-homeschool-kids-which-she-supports-n718041

Sessions Confirmed AG, Senate Floor Got Heated C11-2

Wednesday evening, after a long and dramatic debate on the senate floor, Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama was confirmed into the senate. During the heated debate on the senate floor, Senator Elizabeth Warren was interrupted while reading a letter from Corretta Scott King. It was written to the Senate Judiciary Committee in 1986 about Jeff Sessions and his actions in Alabama against African American citizens and their voting rights. Senator Warren reading this letter was deemed a violation of Senate rules, and she was not allowed to speak the rest of the debate. This was because it was apparently directly pointed against another senator, and so she was silenced. Hillary Clinton, along with many other popular Democrats, tweeted in Warrens support. The vote for Sessions confirmation was 52-47.

Source: http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/senate-confirms-sessions-as-attorney-general-234823

'Rogue' Federal Twitter Accounts - Are They Effective? C11-1

In light of Donald Trumps gag orders on some federal agencies, they have began creating "rogue" twitter accounts. Several accounts are related to the Environmental Protection Agency, which has been most affected over the Trump administrations immediate stop on climate research. There has been some confusion on who runs the accounts, as some said at first they were run by members of the organization and others say they're just run by enthusiasts. The real question is, are they effective? Many seem to think so, as it gets the message across to the public about how the administration is turning its back on science.

Source: http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2017/01/27/512007632/its-not-just-the-park-service-rogue-federal-twitter-accounts-multiply