Jeff Sessions Announces New Funding Requirements For Sanctuary Cities, And Other Trump News From Tuesday
Tuesday. July 25th. Day 186.
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Jeff Sessions Announces New Funding Requirements For Sanctuary Cities: Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Tuesday that to received certain DOJ funding, sanctuary cities (those whose police forces do not enforce federal immigration laws) will be required to alert immigration authorities when someone facing deportation is released from jail and give them access to that jail. The measure is clearly designed to that federal immigration authorities can detain undocumented immigrants before they're released from prison for other offenses.
Trump Continues To Publicly Criticize Jeff Sessions: Rumors are swirling that Trump will get rid of his Attorney General and potentially replace him with a recess appointment as part of a strategy to fire special counsel Rober S. Mueller, who is heading up the Russia investigation. Axios reports that Trump recently called a longtime associate to ask "What would happen if I fired Sessions?" The Associated Press confirms that Trump has spoken to multiple advisers about the prospect. The President took to Twitter on Tuesday morning to publicly criticize sessions for not prosecuting Hillary Clinton:
Trump is reportedly considering Senator Ted Cruz and former NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani to replace Sessions.
Update: Trump slammed Sessions again in a press conference held with Lebanon's Prime Minister Rafic Hariri:
In Speech To Boy Scouts, Trump Breaks With Tradition: In a speech given at the National Scout Jamboree, President Trump broke with presidential tradition and spoke about partisan politics — mocking Hillary Clinton and urging Republicans to repeal and replace Obamacare. In previous years, president's have focused on non-partisan issues.
Comms Director Anthony Scaramucci Threatens To 'Fire Everybody' Over Leaks: The new White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci told reporters on Tuesday that he had the authority to "fire everybody" to address the White House's leak problem. Authority for firing is usually given to the chief of staff, but Scaramucci claims that Trump has granted him that power.
GOP Senators Set To Vote On Sending Health Care Bill To Debate: While the exact bill the Senate will vote on is still unconfirmed, the GOP leadership is expected to force a vote today on the Motion to Proceed for whatever bill they settle on. John McCain's surprise return to DC makes passage more likely, but it's still up in the air. Trump appeared to tweet about the prospect this morning:
On Monday Evening, Trump Appeared To Confirm A Covert CIA Operation On Twitter: Attacking the "Amazon Washington Post," Trump accused the newspaper of lying about his decision to end a CIA program which funded Syrian rebels fighting the Assad regime. The Post reported last week that Trump was phasing out the program, which started under President Obama:
UK Trade Secretary Meets With Trump Administration
UK trade secretary Liam Fox is meeting with Trump administration officials this week, including Wilbur Ross, in an attempt to negotiate trade deals with the US ahead of Brexit. President Trump tweeted this morning about the visit, suggesting that an individual trade deal with the UK will yield better results for the US: