politics

Bessent will lead President-elect Donald Trump’s Treasury Department. Bessent is the first out gay member of Trump’s Cabinet.

Summary

House Ethics Committee Chair Rep. Michael Guest has ended the committee’s investigation into former Rep.

Matt Gaetz after Gaetz withdrew from Trump’s attorney general nomination and announced he would not seek reelection.

Gaetz had faced allegations of paying a minor for sex and drug use, as well as federal investigations into sex trafficking and obstruction, though no charges were filed.

The committee’s report remains unreleased, with further review set for Dec. 5. Florida will hold a special election to fill Gaetz’s vacated congressional seat.

Summary

Donald Trump and his team are attacking media outlets like Politico and The New York Times for reporting that his 2024 election victory over Kamala Harris was narrow, not a “landslide.”

Trump won by 1.6 points and failed to secure a majority of the popular vote, a smaller margin than Hillary Clinton’s over him in 2016.

Despite these facts, Trump and his allies continue to tout his win as “historic” and “dominant,” aiming to bolster his political mandate amid criticisms that his victory was less decisive than claimed.

Earlier this month, the House Energy and Commerce Committee laid out a plan to target environmental justice nonprofits and organizations working to transition the economy away from fossil fuels.

That report preceded a major House vote on Thursday in which Republicans and 15 Democrats passed legislation giving the Treasury Department the power to strip nonprofit news organizations, advocacy groups, and universities of their tax-exempt status.

The Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act was originally proposed last year, ostensibly to prevent U.S. nonprofits from supporting groups like Hamas after widespread protests over Israel’s invasion of Gaza. Nicknamed the “nonprofit killer,” it gives the president unprecedented authority to go after political opponents. Advocacy groups like the American Civil Liberties Union warned of the bill’s potential “to grant the executive branch extraordinary power… based on a unilateral accusation of wrongdoing.”

In the preceding weeks, the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s report focused on the Inflation Reduction Act’s distribution of federal funding, offering a preview of how the new terrorism legislation could be wielded for political purposes. It also highlighted the kinds of organizations that could be targeted, including those that support clean-energy policies like committing investments to renewable energy, phasing out fossil fuel production and use, and expanding public land conservation.

The “nonprofit killer” bill is part of a larger Republican effort to attack what many on the right call “woke capitalism,” including environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives to reduce carbon emissions, embrace more diverse workforces, and other efforts. So far this year, conservative lawmakers and their allies have authored legislation that would rollback shareholder rights seeking to hold corporations accountable, leaned on the Supreme Court to gut environmental law, and used dark money donations to help fuel their agenda.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/22327598

cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/17202407

Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) introduced a bill this week to legally erase transgender people, entitled the “Defining Male and Female Act of 2024.” He claimed that the bill will stop what he called the Biden administration’s attempt to “replace biological sex with dangerous radical gender ideology.”

The bill is a long list of terms and definitions, where words like “father” and “girl” are defined with the words “male” and “female.” Those two words are then defined as “an individual who naturally has, had, will have, or would have, but for a congenital anomaly or intentional or unintentional disruption, the reproductive system that at some point produces, transports and utilizes [sperm or eggs for male or female, respectively] for fertilization.”

Less than two months before being sworn into office, President-elect Donald Trump has yet to sign the presidential transition paperwork that unlocks critical clearances, information and access to White House resources for his transition team.

Political experts say this is worrisome because history shows the period early in a presidency can be a vulnerable time for a new administration, and the point of easing the transition is so a new president’s staff can access government offices early and avoid problems.

Trump, who has rapidly announced senior staff and Cabinet picks over the last 15 days, has still not finalized multiple agreements that are foundational for his team to begin receiving confidential information and briefings across all federal agencies, as well as millions of dollars in transition resources, including office space and staff assistance.

Less than 24 hours after Matt Gaetz announced he was giving up his bid to become the next attorney general, the Northwest Florida Republican made clear that he will not return to Congress in the next session beginning in January.

Republicans are suddenly warming to the US economy. Democrats have become gloomy. The economy itself hasn’t changed much in recent weeks, but something else has: There was a presidential election.

Americans hold complex views on what should happen to undocumented immigrants. As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to ramp up mass deportations, about three-quarters of U.S. adults say they are at least somewhat concerned about the number of immigrants entering the country illegally, and a majority support enforcing mass deportation.

A New York state judge officially postponed President-elect Donald Trump’s sentencing date Friday for the 34 felonies a jury convicted the former president of in May.