Trump Admin Guts Endangered Species Act to Prioritize Corporate Interests

“Yet again, the Trump administration has sold out our endangered wildlife to the highest bidder,” said one biodiversity advocate after the US Department of Interior, in a Friday news dump, issued two new policy changes that would weaken the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and make it easier for corporate polluters to prioritize their own bottom lines over habitat protection. The US Fish and…
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Health Insurers Walk Back on Pledge to Improve Denials Process

One year after the Trump administration announced that dozens of health insurers had signed a six-part pledge promising to reduce barriers to doctor-recommended care, some insurers now say they won’t implement all the promised initiatives. Meanwhile, patients, their advocates, and clinicians say little has improved. “It has never been this bad for patients,” said U.S. Rep. Greg Murphy (R…
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DHS Chief Threatens to Imprison Election Officials Who Don’t Comply With Trump

US Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on Friday threatened state election officials with prison time if they do not comply with the Trump administration’s “mandatory” changes to how they run their elections. During a press conference, Mullin said that the Trump administration was making so-called “security enhancements” to US elections “mandatory,” adding that any uncooperative…
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Todd Blanche Grilled in Confirmation Hearings Over Trump Ties and Epstein Files

Confirmation hearings are underway for President Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, his personal attorney Todd Blanche. Blanche is mired in a number of controversies, most notably his mishandling of the administration’s release of the Epstein files while serving as deputy attorney general under Pam Bondi. Washington state Representative Pramila Jayapal, who is co-sponsoring a bill to…
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Trump Under Fire for Diverting Disaster Relief Workers to Immigration Policing

Floods, storms, wildfires, and other disasters can strike in every state and district, and members of Congress in both parties have incentives to improve the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the nation’s premier disaster relief outfit. However, current FEMA officials in the Trump administration were notably absent from a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing on…
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Bar Association May Soon Upend Diversity Standards for Accredited Law Schools

Racial justice organizers in the legal profession are gearing up for an American Bar Association (ABA) House of Delegates meeting this August that will decide whether the ABA will officially drop its commitment to promoting diversity in law schools — and reversing the longstanding exclusion of women and people of color from the legal profession. “We’re trying to put pressure on the House of…
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