An extraordinary breach has emerged between Donald Trump and the national security establishment, with Trump mocking U.S. intelligence assessments that Russia interfered in the election on his behalf. The findings prompted a blistering attack against the intelligence agencies by Trump. “To have the president-elect...simply reject the fact-based narrative that the intelligence community puts together because it conflicts with his a priori assumptions — wow,” said former NSA/CIA chief Hayden.   read more

Congress offered sanctuary to only a fraction of the Afghan interpreters who have risked their lives to help the military. Last summer, Republicans questioned the cost of 4,000 visas requested by Obama this year. Now, the fate of the visa program will hinge on a government led by President-elect Donald Trump, who has yet to say how he will handle an issue that is championed by the military but would also bring more Muslim immigrants to the U.S.--a prospect Trump has railed against.   read more

AFL-CIO chief Trumka called Puzder “a man whose business record is defined by fighting against working people.” Indeed, Puzder welcomes increased automation because machines are “always polite ... they never take a vacation, they never show up late, there’s never a slip-and-fall or an age, sex or race discrimination case.” Puzder's company runs TV ads that often feature women wearing next to nothing. “I like beautiful women eating burgers in bikinis," he said. "I think it’s very American.”   read more

The choice of Scott Pruitt signals Trump’s determination to dismantle President Obama’s efforts to counter climate change — and much of the EPA itself. Pruitt has been a key architect of the legal battle against Obama’s climate change policies. Trump has criticized the established science of human-caused global warming as a hoax, vowed to “cancel” the multi-nation Paris accord fighting climate change, and attacked Obama’s signature global warming policy, the Clean Power Plan, as a “war on coal.”   read more

While there have been clear successes, other areas have seen little change or even gotten worse. "The data speak for themselves," said CDC chief Dr. Tom Frieden,. "If you look for the goal we set for ourselves, and look at what happened, we didn't achieve it." Despite the mixed grades, some experts applauded CDC efforts, saying the agency had only limited abilities to prevent illness or stop people from doing things that hurt their own health.   read more

The GOP already controls Congress, the White House and more governorships than in a century. But with control of state legislatures, they have power for an unprecedented opportunity: change the Constitution. A convention dominated by delegates from a single party is "alarming," said DLCC's Fiddler. "There are no rules. They can just throw out the whole Constitution if they want to. It's the wildest of Wild West situations."   read more

Donald Trump's move to pack his administration with military brass has prompted worry about an increased militarization of American policy. Former Defense Dept adviser Singh said the law requiring a gap between military service and leading the Pentagon is "to preserve civilian control of the military, a cornerstone of American democracy." VoteVets' Soltz said, "We should never lose sight of the balance in civilian and military roles that has served our nation well for centuries."   read more

Some panel members objected to the report's overall findings, including that the government "should, or inevitably must" continue to rely on private jails. The recommendation comes months after the Justice Dept said it will phase them out. Critics argue that the jails are unsafe for people who face not criminal charges, but rather civil immigration violations and deportation proceedings. Under Donald Trump's deportation plans, immigration detention space is likely to continue to be needed.   read more

“The last time we had a national government that was as hostile to the protection of minority voting rights as we may have with this president was probably near the end of the first Reconstruction” after the Civil War, said prof Karlan. Several potentially decisive rulings on voting appear bound for a Supreme Court whose balance is in Trump’s hands. Voting issues will fall to a Justice Dept whose likely attorney general, Jeff Sessions, is viewed with deep suspicion by civil rights advocates.   read more

Across the nation, in cities like Boston, L.A., Philadelphia and San Francisco, officials plan to defy Trump and act as a kind of bulwark against mass deportations. “I like to compare this to conscientious objector status,” said Oakland Mayor Schaaf. “We are not going to use our resources to enforce what we believe are unjust immigration laws.” But the cost may be steep: Trump has vowed to block all federal funding for cities where local law enforcement agencies do not cooperate with ICE agents.   read more

Legally, Trump's foreign licensing deals could violate the U.S. Constitution. If the deals occur during his presidency and fetch anything above what’s considered fair market value, it would almost certainly violate the Constitution's Emoluments Clause. But how will we know if Trump is violating the clause? Because of limited financial-disclosure requirements, we might not. And Trump has refused to release his tax returns, a significant break from past presidential administrations.   read more

The effort is planned as a nonviolent intervention to defend demonstrators from what the group calls “assault and intimidation at the hands of the militarized police force.” “OK, are you going to treat us veterans who have served our country in the same way as you have those [protesters]?” asked one of the vets. Authorities have used rubber bullets, pepper spray and water cannons against demonstrators, hundreds of whom have been injured, according to protest organizers.   read more

According to testimony, Sessions called a black attorney, Thomas Figures, who worked for him “boy,” and told him to “be careful what you say to white folks.” He also said the ACLU and NAACP were “un-American” and “Communist-inspired” because they “forced civil rights down the throats of people,” but joked that the Ku Klux Klan was “OK...” He opposes civil rights protections for gays, voted to ban same-sex marriage, and is one of only 22 opposed to the Violence Against Women Act reauthorization.   read more

Experts on government ethics are warning President-elect Donald Trump that he'll never shake suspicions of a clash between his private interests and the public good if he doesn't sell off his vast holdings, which include roughly 500 companies in more than a dozen countries. They say just the appearance of conflicts is likely to tie up the new administration in investigations, lawsuits and squabbles, stoked perhaps by angry Oval Office tweets.   read more

"Trump wants to deport 11 million people, and the easiest ones would be us because they already have our information,'' said 23-year-old Paola, who arrived in the U.S. at age 2. ``We need to protect these people,'' said Rep. Chu. "...or risk losing the trust of the most vulnerable in this country.'' Johnson said "it would be an unprecedented moment in U.S. immigration history to use.. voluntarily given information...for a relief program and turn it around to try to engage in mass deportations.''   read more

Aides to Trump have signaled he'll look for a quick exit from the U.S. commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Of all the climate policies he has promised to undo, auto emissions standards could be the most consequential. The sheer volume of auto emissions has made the goals introduced by President Obama, intended to reduce auto pollution, one of the single biggest steps any nation has taken to fight global warming. Those targets are now likely to be scaled back or even scrapped.   read more