December 26, 2016

Four Cabinet nominations that could blow up in Donald Trump's face

By Amber Phillips December 26 at 8:00 AM



With a 52-to-48 Senate majority next month, Republicans will have power in numbers. But a handful of independent-minded GOP senators could arguably have even more power.

Just three Republicans could derail some of Donald Trump's critical Cabinet-level nominations, which need to be approved by a 51-vote majority of the U.S. Senate. (After Senate Democrats got rid of the filibuster in 2013 for nominations like these, they essentially took away their ability to block Trump's nominations, because a filibuster would have essentially translated into a 60-vote confirmation requirement.)

History suggests it's very rare for senators from the president's own party to block his Cabinet appointments. But it is a possibility for several of Trump's picks.

Here are four of Trump's nominations that could draw support from most Republicans — but resistance from a critical few:

Rex Tillerson: Secretary of state

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Jeff Sessions: Attorney general

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Steven Mnuchin: Treasury secretary

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James Mattis: Defense secretary

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/12/26/four-cabinet-nominations-that-could-blow-up-in-donald-trumps-face/?tid=pm_politics_pop&utm_term=.ec8021f92da6

December 26, 2016

Trump's pick for ambassador to Israel sparks hot debate

Source: Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — If President-elect Donald Trump wanted to show he planned to obliterate President Barack Obama’s approach to Israel, he might have found his man to deliver that message in David Friedman, his pick for U.S. ambassador.

The bankruptcy lawyer and son of an Orthodox rabbi is everything Obama is not: a fervent supporter of Israeli settlements, opponent of Palestinian statehood and unrelenting defender of Israel’s government. So far to the right is Friedman that many Israel supporters worry he could push Israel’s hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be more extreme, scuttling prospects for peace with Palestinians in the process.

The heated debate over Friedman’s selection is playing out just as fresh tensions erupt between the U.S. and Israel.

In a stunning decision Friday, the Obama administration moved to allow the U.N. Security Council to pass a resolution condemning Israeli settlements as illegal. The move to abstain, rather than veto, defied years of U.S. tradition of shielding Israel from such resolutions, and elicited condemnation from Israel, lawmakers of both parties, and especially Trump.

Read more: http://www.salon.com/2016/12/26/trumps-pick-for-ambassador-to-israel-sparks-hot-debate/

December 26, 2016

Rendezvous with destiny: Newt Gingrich's long war against FDR and the New Deal enters its final...

Rendezvous with destiny: Newt Gingrich’s long war against FDR and the New Deal enters its final stage

Don't take Newt lightly: He sees Donald Trump as the final stage of his long campaign to undo the New Deal

HARVEY J. KAYE

Seventy-five years ago this past January, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt went before Congress and the American people to declare that a generation’s “rendezvous with destiny” had come, that the Nazis, fascists and imperialists would strike without warning and Americans had to not only ready themselves for that possibility, but also turn the nation into the “Arsenal of Democracy.”

The president did not speak from fear or seek to incite it. He had faith in Americans. He knew what they had accomplished in fighting the Great Depression. He knew they had not only rejected authoritarianism, but also redeemed the nation’s historic promise by initiating revolutionary changes in American government and public life. He knew they had subjected big business to public account, empowered the federal government to address the needs of working people, organized unions, fought for their rights, broadened and leveled the “We” in “We the People,” established a social security system, expanded the nation’s public infrastructure, improved the environment, built schools and municipal buildings, cultivated the arts and refashioned popular culture and imbued themselves with fresh democratic convictions, hopes and aspirations. Indeed, he knew that while there was much still to be done, they had made the United States both stronger and richer and freer, more equal and more democratic.

Knowing all that, Roosevelt projected a vision of a nation and a world characterized by four fundamental freedoms — freedom of speech and worship, freedom from want and fear — a vision that would guide not only the ensuing war effort, but also the postwar labors that were to make America ever stronger, richer and more democratic. Those labors included enacting the Civil Rights, Voting Rights, Economic Opportunity and Fair Housing acts; expanding Social Security to encompass Medicare and Medicaid; passing immigration reform; instituting environmental, workplace and consumer protections; creating new universities and establishing public endowments for the arts and humanities; and establishing a public broadcasting system.

All that our parents and grandparents achieved, however, is now in jeopardy.

more
http://www.salon.com/2016/12/26/rendezvous-with-destiny-newt-gingrichs-long-war-against-fdr-and-the-new-deal-enters-its-final-stage/

December 26, 2016

Whats the Evidence?: Don Lemon Challenges Israeli Amb. Over Claim Obama Behind UN Resolution

‘What’s the Evidence?’: Don Lemon Challenges Israeli Amb. Over Claim Obama Behind UN Resolution

by Justin Baragona | 10:58 am, December 26th, 2016

During a contentious and heated exchange on CNN this morning, anchor Don Lemon attempted to get Israeli Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer to present evidence that the Obama Administration was involved in orchestrating the recent UN resolution on settlements.

Yesterday, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that they had “ironclad information” that the administration was involved in crafting the resolution, telling CNN they had sources internationally that backed this up. The United States abstained from the vote in the Security Council.

Speaking to Lemon this morning, Dermer claimed that the United Nations “ganged up” on Israel, which is an “old story,” but what made this “outrageous is that the United States was actually behind that gang-up.” Seeing where Dermer was going with this, Lemon asked him if he had any proof.

“Ambassador, what’s the evidence that the United Nations is behind this gang-up? I’ve heard that a lot,” the CNN anchor pressed Dermer.

After the ambassador said they had “clear evidence” and would present it to the Trump administration, Lemon wondered “why not now?”

more
http://www.mediaite.com/online/whats-the-evidence-don-lemon-challenges-israeli-amb-over-claim-obama-behind-un-resolution/

December 26, 2016

A Trump-filled Christmas in editorial cartoons from around the world

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more:
http://www.rawstory.com/2016/12/a-trump-filled-christmas-in-editorial-cartoons-from-around-the-world/

December 26, 2016

Alleged rapist sues Indiana University for 'gender biased, hostile environment against males'

DAVID EDWARDS
26 DEC 2016 AT 12:01 ET

A former Indiana University student who allegedly raped a fellow student in 2015 is suing both his accuser and the school for defamation.

In 2015, 21-year-old Aaron Farrer was accused of raping a drunken student. Although the victim showed police a text in which Farrer apologized, a court said in 2016 that there was insufficient evidence convict him. For his part, Farrer charged that the woman had been “sexually aggressive” toward him.

According to the Indy Star, Farrer filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana this week alleging that his constitutional rights were violated and that he was defamed by the school and his accuser.

“IU engaged in a gender-biased investigation of Farrer, which culminated in Farrer’s unlawful expulsion from IU,” the lawsuit states.

more
http://www.rawstory.com/2016/12/alleged-rapist-sues-indiana-university-for-gender-biased-hostile-environment-against-males/

December 26, 2016

Trump repeating some behaviors he criticized in Clinton

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump spent the past two years attacking rival Hillary Clinton as crooked, corrupt, and weak. But some of those attacks seem to have already slipped into the history books.

From installing Wall Street executives in his Cabinet to avoiding news conferences, the president-elect is adopting some of the same behavior for which he criticized Clinton during their fiery presidential campaign.

Here's a look at what Trump said then — and what he's doing now:

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GOLDMAN SACHS

Then: "I know the guys at Goldman Sachs," Trump said at a South Carolina rally in February, when he was locked in a fierce primary battle with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. "They have total, total control over him. Just like they have total control over Hillary Clinton."

more
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/fa4d63080800456291a70f294c49923f/trump-repeating-some-behaviors-he-criticized-clinton

December 26, 2016

Gingrich Warns of Obama's Final Weeks

December 26, 2016By Taegan Goddard

Newt Gingrich said that he expects a “desperate frenzy” from President Obama, “who in the last few days has banned oil drilling in vast tracts of the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, dismantled a dormant national registry for visitors from countries with active terror groups and issued the most pardons in a single day in U.S. history,” the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.

Said Gingrich: “His legacy is like one of those dolls that, as the air comes out of it, shrinks and shrink and shrinks.”

He added that the “things he’s done this week will be turned around” by Donald Trump within hours of him taking office.

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https://politicalwire.com/2016/12/26/gingrich-warns-obamas-final-weeks/

December 26, 2016

Trump Builds War Room to Defend Cabinet Picks

Source: Political Wire

December 26, 2016
By Taegan Goddard

Politico: “The transition team has recruited dozens of Republican public relations veterans and policy experts to help sell the public and the Senate on Trump’s selections, according to sources close to the transition. Their task will be to convince Americans that the billionaires, generals, donors and CEOs chosen by the president-elect have the expertise to manage the federal government — even if they have no Washington experience.”

“Every nominee has his or her own team of sherpas, or guides, to teach them about the inner workings of their agency, help prep them for confirmation hearings and guide them through the process of filing a mountain of paperwork… Meanwhile, each nominee has been assigned a ‘media sherpa,’ who has been tasked with managing negative stories about nominees, helping to sort out the logistics of meetings with senators and their staffs, and providing background information to reporters.”

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Read more: https://politicalwire.com/2016/12/26/trump-builds-war-room-defend-cabinet-picks/

December 26, 2016

Celine Dion Turns Down Offer to Sing at Trump's Inauguration

THU, 22 DECEMBER 2016 AT 11:17 AM

Celine Dion is the latest on a growing list of stars to turn down an offer to sing at Donald Trump‘s upcoming presidential inauguration.

Steve Wynn, famous for his hotels in Las Vegas, is reportedly helping Trump secure an entertainer for his inauguration and allegedly promised to secure Celine for the event on January 20.

Celine turned down the offer, according to TheWrap. Other stars who have declined the invitation to perform include Garth Brooks, Elton John, and opera singer Andrea Bocelli, who reportedly agreed to perform but then backed out after backlash from fans.

The only performer confirmed thus far is America’s Got Talent‘s Jackie Evancho, who is slated to sing the National Anthem.

http://www.justjared.com/2016/12/22/celine-dion-turns-down-offer-to-sing-at-trumps-inauguration/