Transition sabotage to screw over America
- Thread starter Cuddles
- Start date
because it makes America weak. That or because they hate blacks. Pintofire can shed light on which.
"He's gone in 10 days guys, just let him finish his term, what could he possibly do w/the time he has left?"
https://www.voanews.com/usa/us-returns-cuba-list-state-sponsors-terrorism
US Returns Cuba to List of State Sponsors of Terrorism
The Trump administration redesignated Cuba as a “state sponsor of terrorism” Monday, just nine days before U.S. President Donald Trump leaves office.
The move places new sanctions on Cuba shortly before President-elect Joe Biden takes office and could complicate any efforts by the incoming Biden administration to revive Obama-era detente with Havana.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the designation Monday, citing Cuba’s continued harboring of U.S. fugitives, its refusal to extradite Colombian rebels, as well as its support for Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.
The designation reimposes major restrictions on Cuba, including barring most travel between Cuba and the United States, as well as the transfer of money between the two countries.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...-of-al-qaeda-links-sources-idUSKBN29H034?il=0
Pompeo, in Tuesday speech, to accuse Iran of al Qaeda links: sources
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo plans to use newly declassified U.S. intelligence on Tuesday to publicly accuse Iran of ties to al Qaeda, two people familiar with the matter said, as part of his last-minute offensive against Tehran before handing over to the incoming Biden administration.
With just eight days left in office for President Donald Trump, Pompeo is expected to offer details on allegations that Iran has given safe haven to al Qaeda leaders and support for the group, the sources said, despite some skepticism within the intelligence community and Congress.
It was not immediately clear how much Pompeo intends to reveal in his speech to the National Press Club in Washington on Tuesday. He could cite declassified information on the killing of al Qaeda’s suspected second-in-command in Tehran in August, said the sources, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The New York Times reported in November that Abu Muhammad al-Masri, accused of helping to mastermind the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa, was gunned down by Israeli operatives in Iran. Iran denied the report, saying there were no al Qaeda “terrorists” on its soil.
https://www.axios.com/pompeo-yemen-...all-ba82245d-7976-4abb-b74d-41b9bec4eec5.html
Pompeo's last-minute Yemen move sparks outrage in Congress
The Trump administration is facing a revolt on Capitol Hill over Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's last-minute decision to designate Yemen's Houthi rebels as a terror group despite concerns the move will exacerbate the world's most dire humanitarian crisis.
Behind the scenes: A call the State Department held this morning to brief House and Senate committee staff on the Yemen move devolved into a shouting match and left staffers from both parties shocked by the apparent lack of a plan to ensure that food and aid continue to reach Yemeni civilians, millions of whom are already on the verge of famine.
What they're saying: “People on both sides of the aisle felt very frustrated that this was done in such a haphazard way. I don’t mean to be dramatic, but this could kill people," one congressional aide briefed on the call told Axios.
https://www.voanews.com/usa/us-returns-cuba-list-state-sponsors-terrorism
US Returns Cuba to List of State Sponsors of Terrorism
The Trump administration redesignated Cuba as a “state sponsor of terrorism” Monday, just nine days before U.S. President Donald Trump leaves office.
The move places new sanctions on Cuba shortly before President-elect Joe Biden takes office and could complicate any efforts by the incoming Biden administration to revive Obama-era detente with Havana.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the designation Monday, citing Cuba’s continued harboring of U.S. fugitives, its refusal to extradite Colombian rebels, as well as its support for Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.
The designation reimposes major restrictions on Cuba, including barring most travel between Cuba and the United States, as well as the transfer of money between the two countries.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...-of-al-qaeda-links-sources-idUSKBN29H034?il=0
Pompeo, in Tuesday speech, to accuse Iran of al Qaeda links: sources
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo plans to use newly declassified U.S. intelligence on Tuesday to publicly accuse Iran of ties to al Qaeda, two people familiar with the matter said, as part of his last-minute offensive against Tehran before handing over to the incoming Biden administration.
With just eight days left in office for President Donald Trump, Pompeo is expected to offer details on allegations that Iran has given safe haven to al Qaeda leaders and support for the group, the sources said, despite some skepticism within the intelligence community and Congress.
It was not immediately clear how much Pompeo intends to reveal in his speech to the National Press Club in Washington on Tuesday. He could cite declassified information on the killing of al Qaeda’s suspected second-in-command in Tehran in August, said the sources, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The New York Times reported in November that Abu Muhammad al-Masri, accused of helping to mastermind the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa, was gunned down by Israeli operatives in Iran. Iran denied the report, saying there were no al Qaeda “terrorists” on its soil.
https://www.axios.com/pompeo-yemen-...all-ba82245d-7976-4abb-b74d-41b9bec4eec5.html
Pompeo's last-minute Yemen move sparks outrage in Congress
The Trump administration is facing a revolt on Capitol Hill over Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's last-minute decision to designate Yemen's Houthi rebels as a terror group despite concerns the move will exacerbate the world's most dire humanitarian crisis.
Behind the scenes: A call the State Department held this morning to brief House and Senate committee staff on the Yemen move devolved into a shouting match and left staffers from both parties shocked by the apparent lack of a plan to ensure that food and aid continue to reach Yemeni civilians, millions of whom are already on the verge of famine.
What they're saying: “People on both sides of the aisle felt very frustrated that this was done in such a haphazard way. I don’t mean to be dramatic, but this could kill people," one congressional aide briefed on the call told Axios.
- “The staff on both sides were just flabbergasted that some basic questions on how we were going to protect the people of Yemen were not answered. It almost felt as though they weren’t planning to answer it. I don’t want to say they don’t care, but it was just very troubling," the aide adds, noting that the briefers also struggled to provide a national security rationale for the move.
- At one point on the call, briefers from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) acknowledged that the policy could result in a loss of life, according to the aide.
- "I don't know if it’s the fact that it’s the transition and folks have left, or if they are just desperately trying to push things across before Jan. 20. It just seemed like there was a lack of preparedness on both of these issues," the aide said, referring also to the Trump administration's decision to label Cuba a state sponsor of terrorism, which was discussed on the call as well.
- The administration, and in particular Pompeo, have made little secret of the fact that they are trying to tie President-elect Biden's hands, in particular when it comes to policies toward the Houthis' main patron: Iran.
- The Houthis ousted the Yemeni government in 2014 and still control large swaths of the country after six years of war with a Saudi-led coalition. The people of Yemen are facing what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian disaster, with 80% of the population lacking sufficient food or clean water and millions on the brink of famine.
- Oxfam said in a statement Monday that the move would "block U.S. humanitarian aid, goods, and personnel from entering northern Yemen, where 70% of the population lives, and substantially reduce them throughout the rest of the country," seriously hampering efforts to fight hunger, cholera and COVID-19.
- David Miliband, the CEO of the International Rescue Committee, called Pompeo's step an act of "pure diplomatic vandalism" that would make crucial work in Houthi-held areas "all but impossible" and ultimately cause unnecessary deaths.
- Rep. Michael McCaul and Sen. Jim Risch, the top Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations committees respectively, issued a joint statement warning that the designation will have a "devastating effect" on Yemen's food supply if not accompanied by "the necessary licenses, waivers and appropriate guidance."
- A State Department spokesperson said State would not comment on "internal deliberations or our conversations with Congress." A USAID spokesperson directed Axios to the State Department.
Last edited:
it's only one more week, what damage can be done?
https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc...-lgbtq-nondiscrimination-protections-n1253959
In 'nasty parting shot,' HHS finalizes rule axing LGBTQ nondiscrimination protections
Under the new Health Department rule, taxpayer-funded adoption agencies can refuse to acknowledge same-sex marriages and turn away qualified LGBTQ parents.
With little more than a week left to the Trump administration, the Department of Health and Human Services has finalized a rule permitting social-service providers that receive government funds to discriminate based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Critics claim the new guidance could have wide-ranging implications for agencies that address adoption and foster-parenting, as well as homelessness, HIV prevention, elder care and other public services.
“Even as Trump administration officials abandon ship, HHS has announced yet another dangerous rule that invites discrimination against the very people federal grant programs are meant to help,” Sasha Buchert, senior attorney for the LGBTQ civil rights group Lambda Legal, said.
According to the 77-page release, published Tuesday in the Federal Register, Obama-era requirements that agencies refrain from discrimination on the basis of sex, religion, sexual orientation and gender identity and recognize same-sex marriages as legally valid violate the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
“Given the careful balancing of rights, obligations, and goals in the public-private partnerships in federal grant programs, the Department believes it appropriate to impose only those nondiscrimination requirements required by the Constitution and federal statutes,” the rule states.
Slated to take effect on Feb. 11, the rule change is targeted at child welfare organizations, according to Julie Kruse, director of federal policy for LGBTQ advocacy group Family Equality. Whether private adoption agencies receiving taxpayer money can deny services to same-sex potential parents is at the heart of Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, now before the Supreme Court.
Kruse said both President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have made allowing discrimination in adoption and foster care a priority over the last four years.
At the National Prayer Breakfast in February 2019, Trump bemoaned that St. Vincent Catholic Charities in Michigan was facing legal action “for living by the values of its Catholic faith” and turning away same-sex prospective parents. The president vowed that his administration was “working to ensure that faith-based adoption agencies are able to help vulnerable children find their forever families, while following their deeply held beliefs.”
That same year, HHS issued a waiver allowing a Protestant foster care agency to turn away Jewish foster parents and stopped data collection on LGBTQ youth in adoption and foster care.
In November 2019, HHS Secretary Alex Azar announced the agency would stop enforcing anti-discrimination protections against federal grantees, prompting a lawsuit by Lambda Legal and Democracy Forward on behalf of the LGBTQ social services groups Family Equality, True Colors United and SAGE. HHS has also ordered recipients of federal funding to accept employees’ religiously based refusals to perform job duties, including denying contraception to women and medical treatment to transgender patients.
According to Kruse, Tuesday’s final rule could also allow a homeless shelter to turn away a queer teen and a senior center to refuse to drive an elderly gay man to his doctor’s appointment. She’s confident it will be overturned by the incoming Biden administration, calling it a “nasty parting shot that won’t stand.” But she admits “it does clog up the works; it does delay protections.”
Trump's new religious exemptions for employers an invitation to discriminate, critics say
HHS was among nine federal agencies tasked by the Trump administration to draft guidelines safeguarding “religious freedom,” along with the Departments of Justice, Education, Labor, Agriculture, Housing and Urban Development, Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security and the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Those orders spun out of a White House faith and opportunity initiative launched in 2018 “to remove barriers which have unfairly prevented faith-based organizations from working with or receiving funding from the federal government.”
Georgia Senate race holds far-reaching implications — especially for LGBTQ Americans
The Department of Education issued its final rule last September, determining religious universities and student groups were exempt from sex-discrimination statutes in Title iX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Then-Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos stated the change would “protect First Amendment freedoms on campus and the religious liberty of faith-based institutions.”
Dena Sher, associate vice president of public policy at Americans United for Separation of Church and State, called the DoE guidance “discrimination underwritten by tax dollars and tuition fees,” Inside Higher Ed reported.
HHS’s regulation change was announced the same day the Department of Labor’s own final rule took effect, expanding exemptions to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to any contractors — for-profit or nonprofit — who “hold themselves out to the public as carrying out a religious purpose.”
“Religious organizations should not have to fear that acceptance of a federal contract or subcontract will require them to abandon their religious character or identity,” Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia said in a statement on Dec. 7.
In his LGBTQ policy statement, President-elect Biden promised to reverse the HHS rule "and work to ensure that qualified families are not discriminated against based on sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, sex, marital status, disability, or religion and that child-welfare agencies put the interests of children first, including those who are LGBTQ+.”
And in a statement on Monday, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., vowed to work with the incoming administration “to restore humanity to HHS.”
“From Day One, the Trump administration has been determined to roll back essential protections for LGBTQ+ Americans, religious minorities and other vulnerable communities,” Wyden, a member of the Senate Finance Committee, stated.
“It's no surprise that in its last days the Trump administration has delivered a devastating blow to try and permanently greenlight taxpayer-funded discrimination and put the health and well being of children and families across the nation at grave risk,” he added.
https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc...-lgbtq-nondiscrimination-protections-n1253959
In 'nasty parting shot,' HHS finalizes rule axing LGBTQ nondiscrimination protections
Under the new Health Department rule, taxpayer-funded adoption agencies can refuse to acknowledge same-sex marriages and turn away qualified LGBTQ parents.
With little more than a week left to the Trump administration, the Department of Health and Human Services has finalized a rule permitting social-service providers that receive government funds to discriminate based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Critics claim the new guidance could have wide-ranging implications for agencies that address adoption and foster-parenting, as well as homelessness, HIV prevention, elder care and other public services.
“Even as Trump administration officials abandon ship, HHS has announced yet another dangerous rule that invites discrimination against the very people federal grant programs are meant to help,” Sasha Buchert, senior attorney for the LGBTQ civil rights group Lambda Legal, said.
According to the 77-page release, published Tuesday in the Federal Register, Obama-era requirements that agencies refrain from discrimination on the basis of sex, religion, sexual orientation and gender identity and recognize same-sex marriages as legally valid violate the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
“Given the careful balancing of rights, obligations, and goals in the public-private partnerships in federal grant programs, the Department believes it appropriate to impose only those nondiscrimination requirements required by the Constitution and federal statutes,” the rule states.
Slated to take effect on Feb. 11, the rule change is targeted at child welfare organizations, according to Julie Kruse, director of federal policy for LGBTQ advocacy group Family Equality. Whether private adoption agencies receiving taxpayer money can deny services to same-sex potential parents is at the heart of Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, now before the Supreme Court.
Kruse said both President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have made allowing discrimination in adoption and foster care a priority over the last four years.
At the National Prayer Breakfast in February 2019, Trump bemoaned that St. Vincent Catholic Charities in Michigan was facing legal action “for living by the values of its Catholic faith” and turning away same-sex prospective parents. The president vowed that his administration was “working to ensure that faith-based adoption agencies are able to help vulnerable children find their forever families, while following their deeply held beliefs.”
That same year, HHS issued a waiver allowing a Protestant foster care agency to turn away Jewish foster parents and stopped data collection on LGBTQ youth in adoption and foster care.
In November 2019, HHS Secretary Alex Azar announced the agency would stop enforcing anti-discrimination protections against federal grantees, prompting a lawsuit by Lambda Legal and Democracy Forward on behalf of the LGBTQ social services groups Family Equality, True Colors United and SAGE. HHS has also ordered recipients of federal funding to accept employees’ religiously based refusals to perform job duties, including denying contraception to women and medical treatment to transgender patients.
According to Kruse, Tuesday’s final rule could also allow a homeless shelter to turn away a queer teen and a senior center to refuse to drive an elderly gay man to his doctor’s appointment. She’s confident it will be overturned by the incoming Biden administration, calling it a “nasty parting shot that won’t stand.” But she admits “it does clog up the works; it does delay protections.”
Trump's new religious exemptions for employers an invitation to discriminate, critics say
HHS was among nine federal agencies tasked by the Trump administration to draft guidelines safeguarding “religious freedom,” along with the Departments of Justice, Education, Labor, Agriculture, Housing and Urban Development, Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security and the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Those orders spun out of a White House faith and opportunity initiative launched in 2018 “to remove barriers which have unfairly prevented faith-based organizations from working with or receiving funding from the federal government.”
Georgia Senate race holds far-reaching implications — especially for LGBTQ Americans
The Department of Education issued its final rule last September, determining religious universities and student groups were exempt from sex-discrimination statutes in Title iX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Then-Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos stated the change would “protect First Amendment freedoms on campus and the religious liberty of faith-based institutions.”
Dena Sher, associate vice president of public policy at Americans United for Separation of Church and State, called the DoE guidance “discrimination underwritten by tax dollars and tuition fees,” Inside Higher Ed reported.
HHS’s regulation change was announced the same day the Department of Labor’s own final rule took effect, expanding exemptions to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to any contractors — for-profit or nonprofit — who “hold themselves out to the public as carrying out a religious purpose.”
“Religious organizations should not have to fear that acceptance of a federal contract or subcontract will require them to abandon their religious character or identity,” Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia said in a statement on Dec. 7.
In his LGBTQ policy statement, President-elect Biden promised to reverse the HHS rule "and work to ensure that qualified families are not discriminated against based on sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, sex, marital status, disability, or religion and that child-welfare agencies put the interests of children first, including those who are LGBTQ+.”
And in a statement on Monday, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., vowed to work with the incoming administration “to restore humanity to HHS.”
“From Day One, the Trump administration has been determined to roll back essential protections for LGBTQ+ Americans, religious minorities and other vulnerable communities,” Wyden, a member of the Senate Finance Committee, stated.
“It's no surprise that in its last days the Trump administration has delivered a devastating blow to try and permanently greenlight taxpayer-funded discrimination and put the health and well being of children and families across the nation at grave risk,” he added.
Anybody that thinks Donald Trump can't seriously fuck things up in a week obviously doesn't know Donald Trump.
https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-official-accuses-trump-administration-of-sabotage-pbs-2021-1
Biden official accuses Trump administration of 'sabotage,' following a string of controversial foreign policy decisions in the final days of the presidency
- An unnamed transition official from President-elect Joe Biden's team has said that President Donald Trump's latest foreign policy moves "feel like sabotage," according to PBS NewsHour.
- In the PBS exclusive interview, the official singled out Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for implementing controversial foreign policies in the final days of Trump's presidency.
- He suggested that these decisions' timing was suspicious and was an effort by Pompeo's to "feed his own domestic political ambitions."
- A lawmaker has described Pompeo's recent announcements about US relations with Iran, Taiwan, Cuba, and Yemen as "rushed" and "reckless."
In an exclusive interview with PBS NewsHour, the unnamed official accused Trump's administration — particularly Secretary of State Mike Pompeo — of making decisions that are not wanted by either party.
The Biden official said: "We will manage this but it does start, at some point, to feel like sabotage. Not only do they know we don't want to implement some of these approaches; they don't even want to implement them."
The transition official then implied that the timing of these decisions was suspicious. "Which is why they're doing them now, rather than at any other point in the previous four years," they told PBS.
There was a particular focus on the actions of Pompeo, who last week announced that the State Department would designate Yemen's Houthi rebels as a foreign terrorist organization.
This was a controversial decision that could trigger famine in Yemen that immediately resulted in 50 organizations writing to Biden to overturn the decision, according to Al Jazeera.
The transition official told PBS: "Secretary of State Pompeo is literally risking hundreds of thousands of lives. Most of Yemen is at risk of starvation so that Mike Pompeo can feed his own domestic political ambitions."
They continued: "This is not about any special affinity we have for the Houthis. But the Trump administration's actions are only further harming the people of Yemen, who have already suffered unimaginably. This is childish and silly, and we're not going to let it box us in."
Pompeo has, this month, unveiled several other dramatic changes to US foreign policy.
On January 9, it was announced that the State Department would declare that the rulebook used to help US officials to navigate diplomatic relations with Taiwan "null and void".
Two days later, Pompeo designated Cuba as a "state sponsor of terrorism" — a move that rescinded Obama's lifting of this designation six years prior.
On January 12, the secretary of state declared that Iran was now the "home base" for Al Qaeda. Some lawmakers think this might be an attempt to lay the legal groundwork for a possible war with Iran, according to NBC News.
Last month, several officials told the Daily Beast that Trump had given Pompeo the green light to do as he wished with Iran as long as it didn't risk "starting World War III."
Rep. Gregory Meeks, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, believes that the administration's latest foreign policy moves are "reckless" and "rushed."
He told Insider: "Pompeo is continuing with reckless, politicized foreign-policy decisions rather than focusing on facilitating a smooth and efficient transition."
Meeks continued: "Pompeo's policy announcements this week are more of the same kind of disastrous, rushed missteps that have characterized this administration's catastrophic foreign policy from Day One."
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/19/trump-loyalists-burrowing-biden-460238
The ‘deep state’ of loyalists Trump is leaving behind for Biden
It will be hard for the next administration to root out Trump political appointees that have moved into civil service jobs.
A higher-than-usual number of Trump administration political appointees — some with highly partisan backgrounds — are currently "burrowing" into career positions throughout the federal government, moving from appointed positions into powerful career civil service roles, which come with job protections that will make it difficult for Biden to fire them.
While this happens to some degree in every presidential transition, and some political appointees make for perfectly capable public servants, Biden aides, lawmakers, labor groups and watchdog organizations are sounding the alarm — warning that in addition to standard burrowing,the Trump administration is leaning on a recent executive order to rush through dozens if not hundreds of these so-called “conversions.” The fear is that, once entrenched in these posts, the Trump bureaucrats could work from the inside to stymie Biden's agenda, much of which depends on agency action.
The October executive order — which Biden is expected to swiftly rescind — has allowed federal agencies to help political appointees circumvent the usual merit-based application process for career civil service jobs, while moving career policymakers into a new job category with far fewer legal protections.
Thanks to weak transparency laws, the full impact of both changes may not be known for months.
The ‘deep state’ of loyalists Trump is leaving behind for Biden
It will be hard for the next administration to root out Trump political appointees that have moved into civil service jobs.
A higher-than-usual number of Trump administration political appointees — some with highly partisan backgrounds — are currently "burrowing" into career positions throughout the federal government, moving from appointed positions into powerful career civil service roles, which come with job protections that will make it difficult for Biden to fire them.
While this happens to some degree in every presidential transition, and some political appointees make for perfectly capable public servants, Biden aides, lawmakers, labor groups and watchdog organizations are sounding the alarm — warning that in addition to standard burrowing,the Trump administration is leaning on a recent executive order to rush through dozens if not hundreds of these so-called “conversions.” The fear is that, once entrenched in these posts, the Trump bureaucrats could work from the inside to stymie Biden's agenda, much of which depends on agency action.
The October executive order — which Biden is expected to swiftly rescind — has allowed federal agencies to help political appointees circumvent the usual merit-based application process for career civil service jobs, while moving career policymakers into a new job category with far fewer legal protections.
Thanks to weak transparency laws, the full impact of both changes may not be known for months.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/18/us/politics/travel-ban-coronavirus-usa.html
Trump Orders Lifting of Virus Travel Ban, but Biden Aides Vow to Block Move
The president’s proclamation, which would not take effect until Jan. 26, after Joe Biden assumes office, was part of a flurry of orders that Mr. Biden is likely to reverse.
WASHINGTON — President Trump on Monday ordered an end to the ban on travelers from Europe and Brazil that had been aimed at stopping the spread of the coronavirus to the United States, a move quickly rejected by aides to President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., who said Mr. Biden will maintain the ban when he takes office on Wednesday.
In a proclamation issued late Monday, Mr. Trump said that the travel restrictions, which apply to noncitizens trying to come to the United States after spending time in those areas, would no longer be needed on Jan. 26, the date on which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will start requiring all passengers from abroad to present proof of a negative coronavirus test before boarding a flight.
Mr. Trump wrote that Alex M. Azar II, the secretary of health and human services, had recommended ending the restrictions on travel from most parts of Europe and Brazil, while maintaining restrictions on Iran and China, which Mr. Trump said had not been cooperative.
“I agree with the secretary that this action is the best way to continue protecting Americans from Covid-19 while enabling travel to resume safely,” the president said in the proclamation.
But Jennifer Psaki, the incoming White House press secretary for Mr. Biden, said the new administration would not allow Mr. Trump’s directives to take effect.
“With the pandemic worsening, and more contagious variants emerging around the world, this is not the time to be lifting restrictions on international travel,” Ms. Psaki tweeted shortly after the White House issued Mr. Trump’s proclamation.
“On the advice of our medical team, the administration does not intend to lift these restrictions on 1/26,” she said. “In fact, we plan to strengthen public health measures around international travel in order to further mitigate the spread of Covid-19.”
The proclamation lifting the travel ban was part of a flurry of executive orders Mr. Trump issued on Monday that will most likely be rescinded or reversed by Mr. Biden.
Trump Orders Lifting of Virus Travel Ban, but Biden Aides Vow to Block Move
The president’s proclamation, which would not take effect until Jan. 26, after Joe Biden assumes office, was part of a flurry of orders that Mr. Biden is likely to reverse.
WASHINGTON — President Trump on Monday ordered an end to the ban on travelers from Europe and Brazil that had been aimed at stopping the spread of the coronavirus to the United States, a move quickly rejected by aides to President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., who said Mr. Biden will maintain the ban when he takes office on Wednesday.
In a proclamation issued late Monday, Mr. Trump said that the travel restrictions, which apply to noncitizens trying to come to the United States after spending time in those areas, would no longer be needed on Jan. 26, the date on which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will start requiring all passengers from abroad to present proof of a negative coronavirus test before boarding a flight.
Mr. Trump wrote that Alex M. Azar II, the secretary of health and human services, had recommended ending the restrictions on travel from most parts of Europe and Brazil, while maintaining restrictions on Iran and China, which Mr. Trump said had not been cooperative.
“I agree with the secretary that this action is the best way to continue protecting Americans from Covid-19 while enabling travel to resume safely,” the president said in the proclamation.
But Jennifer Psaki, the incoming White House press secretary for Mr. Biden, said the new administration would not allow Mr. Trump’s directives to take effect.
“With the pandemic worsening, and more contagious variants emerging around the world, this is not the time to be lifting restrictions on international travel,” Ms. Psaki tweeted shortly after the White House issued Mr. Trump’s proclamation.
“On the advice of our medical team, the administration does not intend to lift these restrictions on 1/26,” she said. “In fact, we plan to strengthen public health measures around international travel in order to further mitigate the spread of Covid-19.”
The proclamation lifting the travel ban was part of a flurry of executive orders Mr. Trump issued on Monday that will most likely be rescinded or reversed by Mr. Biden.
https://thehill.com/homenews/admini...-seeks-to-box-in-biden-with-executive-actions
Trump seeks to box-in Biden with executive actions
President Trump has issued a string of last-minute executive actions that appear intended to make life more difficult for the incoming Biden administration.
Separately, the State Department has issued several directives that could be difficult for President-elect Joe Biden to quickly reverse, including adding Cuba to the State Sponsors of Terrorism list and designating the Houthis in Yemen as a terrorist group — a step that has stirred bipartisan outrage.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a last-minute rule limiting the types of studies the agency can weigh when forming its policies, while the Department of Labor released a rule that affects tip pooling for restaurant workers.
Marielena Hincapie, a former co-chair on the Biden-Sanders Unity Task Force, said there are likely between 400 and 1,000 changes made by the Trump administration through various executive actions that Biden will work to undo.
While executive orders or proclamations can in some cases be easily undone or ignored, other regulatory measures that go through the formal rulemaking process may be harder to unwind, and Biden will have to prioritize which Trump policies to target in the early days of his administration while simultaneously combating a raging pandemic, an economic downturn and deep political divisions.
Andrew Rudalevige, a professor at Bowdoin College who specializes in the use of executive power, said Trump issued 69 executive orders in the calendar year 2020, which is the highest number by a single president in a single year since 1980.
Trump has added to the list in recent days with a slew of executive orders on a range of topics. The president issued five of those on Monday, plus a proclamation on travel restrictions.
One executive order contains a list of famous Americans to be recognized in a National Statue Garden that Trump commissioned last year on the Fourth of July in response to “cancel culture.”
Two others were aimed at reforming rulemaking and regulatory reform, while another called for an expansion of concealed carry permits to protect law enforcement officers, judges and prosecutors.
Trump seeks to box-in Biden with executive actions
President Trump has issued a string of last-minute executive actions that appear intended to make life more difficult for the incoming Biden administration.
Separately, the State Department has issued several directives that could be difficult for President-elect Joe Biden to quickly reverse, including adding Cuba to the State Sponsors of Terrorism list and designating the Houthis in Yemen as a terrorist group — a step that has stirred bipartisan outrage.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a last-minute rule limiting the types of studies the agency can weigh when forming its policies, while the Department of Labor released a rule that affects tip pooling for restaurant workers.
Marielena Hincapie, a former co-chair on the Biden-Sanders Unity Task Force, said there are likely between 400 and 1,000 changes made by the Trump administration through various executive actions that Biden will work to undo.
While executive orders or proclamations can in some cases be easily undone or ignored, other regulatory measures that go through the formal rulemaking process may be harder to unwind, and Biden will have to prioritize which Trump policies to target in the early days of his administration while simultaneously combating a raging pandemic, an economic downturn and deep political divisions.
Andrew Rudalevige, a professor at Bowdoin College who specializes in the use of executive power, said Trump issued 69 executive orders in the calendar year 2020, which is the highest number by a single president in a single year since 1980.
Trump has added to the list in recent days with a slew of executive orders on a range of topics. The president issued five of those on Monday, plus a proclamation on travel restrictions.
One executive order contains a list of famous Americans to be recognized in a National Statue Garden that Trump commissioned last year on the Fourth of July in response to “cancel culture.”
Two others were aimed at reforming rulemaking and regulatory reform, while another called for an expansion of concealed carry permits to protect law enforcement officers, judges and prosecutors.
I don't get it.
Why would or what's the purpose for a defeated President on his way out the door to use executive orders after November...
Most likely will be reversed with executive orders by the incoming new President ???
wrbtrader