Top General Says Military Won't Implement Trans Ban Until Trump Takes Official Action, And Other Trump News From Today
Thursday. July 27th. Day 188.
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Top General Says Transgender Ban Not Official Until There's An Actual Policy Change: Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told military leaders that their policy on transgender service members won't change until the president gives a written directive to the Secretary of Defense, and the secretary of defense issues implementation guidance. President Trump tweeted yesterday that transgender people will not be allowed in the military, a one-eighty from where the military was ordered to go under the Obama administration. The chairman expressed clear disapproval of Trump's tweet, saying "In the meantime, we will continue to treat all of our personnel with respect."
Jeff Sessions' Justice Department Weighs In On Gay Rights Case: In an unusual move, the Justice Department weighed in on a gay rights civil dispute case that the US government was not a party of. Lawyers under Attorney General Jeff Sessions filed an amicus brief Wednesday arguing that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not apply to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. In the case, an employee of a skydiving company told a female client he was gay before strapping in with her in an effort to make her more comfortable with the situation. He was fired for the disclosure.
Anthony Scaramucci Could Earn Millions From Investment Firm: Financial disclosures show that White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci earned millions of dollars from SkyBridge Capital, his investment firm, due to his ownership stake. Scaramucci no longer works for the company, but still holds his stake in the company, which is currently being sold to a Chinese conglomerate. The sale is currently under investigation under suspicion that it may threaten national security. If the sale goes through, it will earn Scaramucci millions.
Over Twitter, Scaramucci lashed out over the report, calling it a "leak" and a "felony". Scaramucci seemed to suggest that the he believed Chief of Staff Reince Priubus was to blame, including his Twitter handle in a now deleted tweet saying he was going to contact the FBI to investigate. Scaramucci now says it was to note that senior officials like Reince will be investigating the leaks.
Republicans Urge Trump To Lay Off Of Sessions: President Trump's top advisers have told him to end his campaign against Attorney General Jeff Sessions. According to a New York Times report Reince Priebus and Steve Bannon have urged the president to stop his attacks, as they're causing unnecessary drama and conflict within the party. Republican senators have made public that if Trump attempts to appoint a new attorney general over the recess, that they would block her. The Washington Post reports that Trump has been discussing the possibility of a recess appointment with advisers.
Boy Scout Executive Apologizes For Trump's Jamboree Speech: Michael Surbaugh, Chief Scout Executive for the Boy Scouts of America, published an apology note today on Scoutingwire.com for the "political rhetoric that was inserted into the jamboree," by President Donald Trump. Earlier this week, Trump spoke at the Jamboree, as is tradition for presidents, but departed from an apolitical mold and delivered a typical Trumpian speech. Specifically, Trump spoke about repealing Obamacare.
Trump's Tweets
President Trump tweeted encouraging words this morning to Republican senators, who will vote this afternoon on a series of health care related bills designed to see what compromise on health care could be possible if any.
President Trump seemed to find a beautiful irony in The New York Times calling "Fox and Friends" "the most powerful TV show in America. The quote appeared in an article from July 19th discussing Trump's TV habits. This morning, the show ran an ad in The Times featuring the quote, and the hosts held it up for the viewers to see.
Trump also quoted Fox News' Chief Intelligence Correspondent Catherine Herridge on the Russia investigation:
