Here’s your dose of “What the Fuck Is Going On” news (April 5th, 2017 - April 6th, 2017 Edition)
The U.S. has bombed a Syrian airbase by launching dozens of Tomahawk missiles. This comes after Trump and the administration had previously announced that getting Assad out is not a priority, and that the U.S. will keep out of conflicts that don’t directly deal with the United States’ security interests. This change comes after a gas attack that killed at least 85 people and wounded hundreds. Currently there is an unknown number of casualties after today’s U.S. attack. (source)
Speaking from the Mar-a-Lago resort, here’s Trump’s official statement on the missile attacks.
Steve Bannon has been removed from the National Security Council. However, Bannon will still retain his security clearance and continue to serve in the White House as Trump’s chief strategist. (source)
Citing no evidence, Trump said that former national security adviser, Susan Rice, committed a crime by seeking to learn the identities of Trump associates swept up in surveillance of foreign officials by United States spy agencies. Intelligence officials from both parties have stated that Rice’s actions were no unlawful or unusual. However, Trump is saying that this will be “one of the biggest stories of our time.” (source)
Trump reflected on his first weeks in office by telling reporters “I think we’ve had one of the most successful 13 weeks in the history of the presidency.“ It’s only been 11 weeks. (source)
Republicans in the Senate deployed their “nuclear option” to allow Neil Gorsuch’s nomination to go forward. They changed the Senate rules and fundamentally altered the way the Senate operates. This change will likely lead to ideologically extreme judges to easily pass confirmation since only a majority is required for confirmation now. (source)
Rep. Devin Nunes announced that he will step aside from the Trump-Russia probe. This comes after ethics complaints came flooding in and he became personally investigated for “unauthorized disclosures of classified information in violation of House Rules, law, regulations, or other standards of conduct.” (source)
It’s been revealed that Ivanka Trump quietly reached out to Cecile Richards, the president of Planned Parenthood, not long after Trump’s inauguration. Her purpose was to seek common ground on the issue of abortion and to fully understand what the organization does. However, Ivanka has continued to remain silent on matter regarding abortion, family planning, and Planned Parenthood as the Trump administrations seeks to attack it further. (source)
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plans to slash funding for programs that protect children from dangerous lead exposure. The EPA’s proposed cuts were revealed in a budget memo which showed funding cuts for two lead-based paint programs totaling more than $16 million and the elimination of six dozen full-time employees. This move will hit Black neighborhoods the hardest. (source)
Republicans are still working on amending the failed health care bill to try to bring it back to the floor. However, they are going home on break for the next couple weeks. (source)
Twitter has filed a federal lawsuit to block an order by the government that is demanding it reveal who is behind an anti-Trump account. The account claims to be a federal immigration employee and has been openly opposed to Trump’s immigration policies. (source)
In response to the accusations of nepotism, Trump’s son, Eric, has responded that it’s just a part of life. “Nepotism is kind of a factor of life. We might be here because of nepotism, but we’re not still here because of nepotism. You know, if we didn’t do a good job, if we weren’t competent, believe me, we wouldn’t be in this spot.” Sure, bud. (source)
Trump came to the defense of Fox News host, Bill O'Reilly after reports of sexual assault lawsuits were exposed. Reports showed that O'Reilly had payed off five women who accused him of sexual assault. Over 20 advertisers have pulled from O’Reilly’s show but Trump backed him up by saying “I think he’s a person I know well, he is a good person. I think he shouldn’t have settled; personally I think he shouldn’t have settled, because you should have taken it all the way. I don’t think Bill did anything wrong.” O’Reilly’s rating have gone up after this, btw. (source)
According to documents, supreme court nominee Neil Gorsuch copied authors work in his book and an academic article he published and didn’t cite the source material. (source)
Conservative groups have released a study showing what states will be hurt the hardest by Trump’s proposed border tax. The report predicts harm to Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas - all states Trump won in the 2016 presidential election. California, New Jersey, and Illinois will also be hit hard. The conservative group that released this did so because they are against Trump’s proposed plan. (source)
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