More People Affected By Travel Ban Than White House Initially Claimed

Source: Talking Points Memo



By CAITLIN MACNEAL Published JANUARY 31, 2017, 1:28 PM EDT

During a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, the acting commissioner of Customs and Border Patrol, offered very different numbers for the people affected by the executive order barring travel from certain countries than the White House provided to reporters on Monday.

During a press conference Monday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said that only 109 people were impacted by the order at airports over the weekend.

However, Kevin McAleenan, the acting commissioner of the CBP said on Tuesday that the U.S. denied entry to 721 travelers and granted waivers to more than 1,000 people letting them into the U.S. as of Monday. These numbers differ greatly from those Spicer told reporters on Monday.

John Kelly, the secretary of homeland security, attempted to explain the discrepancy to reporters on Tuesday, saying that Spicer was using numbers from "early on" in the implementation of the order. Kelly said that the government can only provide numbers with about 24 hours delay.

Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/white-house-detainee-order-numbers-discrepancy

Judge Neil Gorsuch told he is likely Trump's Supreme Court pick: CNN

Source: Reuters


31 JAN 2017 AT 13:15 ET

Conservative U.S. appeals court judge Neil Gorsuch has been told he is likely President Donald Trumps pick to fill a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court that has been vacant for almost a year, CNN reported on Tuesday, citing an unnamed source.

Gorsuch, 49, who would replace the late Antonin Scalia, is a judge on the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. He was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2006. Some Democrats in the U.S. Senate, which votes on whether to confirm judicial nominees, have already said they would seek to block whoever Trump nominates.

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Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/2017/01/judge-neil-gorsuch-told-he-is-likely-trumps-supreme-court-pick-cnn/

Trump education secretary pick squeaks through committee, may face Senate fight

Source: Reuters



31 JAN 2017 AT 13:13 ET

The deeply divided U.S. Senate Education Committee on Tuesday agreed to send to President Donald Trump’s nominee for U.S. education secretary, billionaire philanthropist Betsy DeVos, to the full chamber for confirmation, but comments ahead of the vote show DeVos faces choppy waters ahead.

The committee chairman, Republican Lamar Alexander, acted as the tie-breaker for advancing the nomination to the next and final step of the confirmation process after all 11 Republicans on the panel voted for Devos and all 11 Democrats voted against her.

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Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/2017/01/trump-education-secretary-pick-squeaks-through-committee-may-face-senate-fight/

Democrats Are Awake Now

Democrats Are Awake Now

January 31, 2017 By Taegan Goddard

Rick Klein: “President Obama is off the bench. Members of Congress are chanting with the protestors. The party has found its cause –blocking the Trump agenda. Just a week ago, talk in Washington was about how Chuck Schumer could be a closer partner to the president than Mitch McConnell. Now, the president is making fun of Schumer’s tears when he appeared alongside people impacted by the travel ban. Add that to the late-night firing of an acting attorney general over an entirely political disagreement and you have a base plus elected officials who are losing any incentive to work with the new president. Democrats can thank the president for showing them the strategy that now seems inevitable for the next four years: stand strong, and stand in his way.”

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https://politicalwire.com/2017/01/31/democrats-awake-now/

Flashback of the Day

How Obama Will Take On Trump

January 31, 2017 By Taegan Goddard

Politico: “Barack Obama and his aides expected to take on President Donald Trump at some point, but they didn’t think it would happen this quickly. Now they’re trying to find the right balance on issues that demand a response, and how to use Obama deliver the selective pushback. Obama and his team are monitoring what’s happening at the White House, and not ruling out the possibility that Obama will challenge Trump more forcefully in the coming months, according to people who’ve been in contact with the former president.”

“It depends on Trump. It also depends, the people close to the former president said Monday, on whether speaking out would just set him up to have no effect and be dismissed, and result in empowering Trump more, which is a very real worry for them.”

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https://politicalwire.com/2017/01/31/obama-will-take-trump/

Rep. Goodlatte Explains Why His Staff Helped On Trump's Executive Order

Source: Talking Points Memo



By LAUREN FOX Published JANUARY 31, 2017, 12:20 PM EDT

During a Republican conference meeting Tuesday morning, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) tried to quell concerns within the conference that his staff had assisted President Donald Trump's administration with drafting an executive order on immigration that even Republican leaders did not know was coming.

Members and staff in the meeting said afterward that Goodlatte walked through the process and explained that he had had staff who served on the transition team when Trump became the nominee.

On Tuesday afternoon, the House Judiciary Committee released a statement praising the work of the staffers.

“My staff on the House Judiciary Committee are some of the best on Capitol Hill. They are experts in their respective fields and I proudly allowed them to provide their expertise to the Trump transition team on immigration law," Goodlatte said. "To be clear, while they gave advice to the new Administration, they did not have decision making authority on the policy. The final decision was made at the highest levels of the Trump Administration, and I support the President’s executive order."

Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/goodlate-explains-why-his-staff-helped-on-trump-s-executive-order

Collins: 'Entirely Inappropriate' For Steve Bannon To Have Seat At NSC

Source: Talking Points Memo


By ESME CRIBB Published JANUARY 31, 2017, 12:28 PM EDT

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) said in an interview published Tuesday that it is "entirely inappropriate" for President Donald Trump's chief strategist Steve Bannon to be a member of the National Security Council principals' committee.

"I am very surprised, disappointed and very much disagree with the president's decision to restructure that important committee," Collins said in an interview with Maine Public Radio.

She said that Bannon "does not have the expertise that the director of National Intelligence or the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have."

"This is entirely inappropriate," Collins said.


Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/susan-collins-entirely-inappropriate-for-steve-bannon-to-be-on-nsc

Dollar plunges after Trump, Navarro signal push to weaken greenback

Source: Reuters



Tue Jan 31, 2017 | 11:06am EST

By Sam Forgione | NEW YORK

The U.S. dollar tumbled against key rivals on Tuesday and was on course for its worst month since March after U.S. President Donald Trump commented on currency devaluation by other countries and his trade adviser remarked on the euro.

Trump, in a meeting with the chief executives of several top drugmakers on Tuesday, said drug companies had outsourced production because of currency devaluation by other countries.

The comments intensified expectations that the new U.S. administration was making moves to talk down the greenback just hours after Trump's top trade adviser, Peter Navarro, told the Financial Times that Germany is using a "grossly undervalued" euro to gain advantage over the United States and its own European Union partners. "Markets are just continuing to react to rhetoric from President Trump and others in the administration pushing back against the strength in the dollar," said Vassili Serebriakov, a currency strategist at Credit Agricole in New York.

The dollar plunged by nearly 1.5 percent against the Japanese yen after the comments, hitting its lowest since Nov. 30 of 112.07 yen JPY=. The euro gained 1 percent against the dollar to $1.0801, its highest since Dec. 8.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-forex-idUSKBN15F013

Trump pushes drugmakers for lower prices, more U.S. production

Source: Reuters



By Roberta Rampton | WASHINGTON

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday called on the pharmaceutical industry to boost U.S. production and lower prices, while also vowing to speed up approval times for new medicines and appoint a new U.S. Food and Drug Administration leader soon.

Shares of five of the six drug companies at the White House meeting with Trump were up more than 1 percent on average following the president's remarks, compared with a 0.5 percent drop in the broad S&P 500. The Nasdaq Biotech Index was up 1.1 percent, reversing earlier losses, and the S&P 500 health care index gained 0.7 percent.

Attending the meeting were the CEOs of Novartis AG, Merck & Co Inc, Johnson & Johnson, Celgene Corp, Eli Lilly & Co and Amgen Inc as well as the head of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America lobbying group.

Trump told the drugmakers that pricing had been "astronomical."

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-pharmaceuticals-novartis-idUSKBN15F13K