WTF Just Happened Today

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

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1/ The Trump administration formally proposed regulation allowing some businesses to discriminate against workers on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, and LGBTQ status by citing religious objections. The rule would apply to any organizations with federal contracts, including corporations, schools, and societies, provided they claim a "religious purpose," but that "this need not be the contractor's only purpose." (BuzzFeed News)

2/ Planned Parenthood will withdraw from the nation's family planning program because of new Trump administration rules that block Title X funds for organizations that provide or refer patients for abortion. Federal funding for abortion is already prohibited in most cases. The new rules, however, target any group involved in providing or counseling patients about abortions, blocking them from receiving Title X funding to pay for other services, such as contraception and health screenings. Planned Parenthood asked for a stay against the new rules. (NPR)

• A Congressional Republican defended banning all abortion with no exceptions for rape or incest. Steve King also argued that if it were not for rape or incest, there wouldn't "be any population of the world left." [Editor's note: Go fuck yourself Steve King.] (Des Moines Register / New York Times / Washington Post / Axios)

3/ Trump claimed – without evidence – that being president will personally cost him $5 billion dollars due to the lawyers defending him in various lawsuits. (NBC News)

• The Secret Service stayed at a Trump hotel in Vancouver while protecting Trump Jr. on a hunting trip to Canada in August 2017. They spent $5,700. The Secret Service also spent $20,000 at the same hotel in February 2017 when Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Tiffany Trump attended the hotel's grand opening. Congress hasn't launched a formal investigation into federal spending at Trump properties, but the House Oversight Committee has focused on the emoluments clause of the Constitution, which forbids presidents from accepting gifts from foreign officials. (Politico)

4/ The Trump administration will shield funding for Ivanka Trump and Pence's programs as the White House looks to cancel billions of dollars in unspent funding already approved by Congress. The White House is expected to propose returning billions of dollars of unspent foreign aid funds to the Treasury in a process known as rescission. The Office of Management and Budget, however, has already ruled out canceling funds for Ivanka's Women's Global Development and Prosperity Initiative, Pence's programs for Christians, Yazidis and other religious minorities in the Middle East, and some global health programs. Republicans and Democrats say the review undermines Congress's authority to a...

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