Woof.
Here’s all the shit we couldn’t cover today:
- Donald Trump has asked Congress to end the Visa Lottery Program. “The people put in that lottery are not that country’s finest. We know the program presents significant vulnerabilities to our national security. It’s a very unsafe program for our country. And we are not going to allow it to happen,” the president said. He also used the phrase “chain migration” and called for a merit-based immigration system. There was more, but you get the point. [Talking Points Memo]
- Here’s a helpful breakdown of the House Republican tax legislation. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, as its called, looks great if you’re very wealthy. [Washington Post]
- Democrats on the House Oversight Committee have sued the General Services Administration in order to obtain records regarding the GSA’s lease with Trump International Hotels. According to the Times, the lawsuit is “likely to be a key test of Democrats’ ability to force oversight of the Trump administration without control of committees or subpoena power in either chamber of Congress.” [New York Times]
- Donald Trump nominated Jerome H. Powell to serve as the next chair of the Federal Reserve. [Washington Post]
- Sam Clovis, we hardly knew you. [Politico]
- Lamar Smith, we knew you too well. [The Hill]
- On Tuesday, Senator Tim Kaine was one of three Democrats who voted to confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the US Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit. Barrett’s nomination was opposed by 17 women’s groups who urged the Senate not to confirm the anti-abortion law professor who once described Obamacare’s birth control mandate as “an assault on religious liberty.” Today, Kaine published a piece headlined, “Why Men Need to Step Up for Women’s Equality—and How I Plan to Do My Part.” Great. [Esquire]
- Michael Frederick Griffin, the man who murdered Florida abortion doctor Dr. David Gunn in 1993, is up for parole. [Slate]
Here are some tweets the president was allowed to publish:
This has been Barf Bag.