Month: June 2017

To see where Justice Neil Gorsuch might fit on the Supreme Court, watch the company he keeps.

Gorsuch has already paired up four times with Justice Clarence Thomas – the court’s most conservative member – in separate opinions that dissent from or take issue with the court’s majority rulings.

While the sample size is small, the results show Gorsuch’s commitment to follow the strict text of the law and a willingness to join Thomas in pushing the envelope further than the court’s other conservatives.

Gorsuch was picked by President Donald Trump to be a reliable conservative in the mold of the late Antonin Scalia. But the question after his confirmation hearings was how far to the right he would be.

The early trend of Gorsuch and Thomas acting together has pleased those who hoped Gorsuch would continue Scalia’s legacy and be another intellectual beacon for conservatives.

Ilya Shapiro, a senior fellow at the libertarian Cato Institute, tweeted Friday: “So far, his voting alignment closest to Thomas -excellent!”

The latest instance came Friday when Gorsuch issued his first written dissent in a minor case about a federal employee challenging his dismissal from the U.S. Census Bureau. The dispute was over where Anthony Perry could appeal a case that alleges violations of both federal civil service rules and laws prohibiting discrimination.

The court sided with Perry, ruling 7-2 that he could file his lawsuit in a federal district court instead of first waiting for a federal appeals court to consider part of his case. In dissent, Gorsuch faulted the majority for failing to apply the law as written.

“Anthony Perry asks us to tweak a congressional statute – just a little – so that it might (he says) work a bit more efficiently,” Gorsuch said, joined by Thomas. “No doubt his invitation is well meaning. But it’s one we should decline all the same.”

Later, he added: “If a statute needs repair, there’s a constitutionally prescribed way to do it,” Gorsuch said. “It’s called legislation.”

A day earlier, Gorsuch wrote a separate opinion when the Supreme Court unanimously limited the government’s ability to strip U.S. citizenship from immigrants who lie during the naturalization process. Joined by Thomas, Gorsuch said the majority ruling was correct, but he argued that following “the plain text and structure of the statute” was enough. He said the court went too far in announcing two new tests that would apply to future cases.

In a separate case decided Thursday, the court by a 7-2 vote refused to overturn the murder conviction of a Boston man whose lawyer failed to object when the trial judge closed the courtroom during jury selection. The court said that the error did not appear to affect the outcome of the case, even though it violated the U.S. Constitution’s Sixth Amendment right to a public trial.

Gorsuch agreed with the outcome of the case, but he signed on to a concurring opinion from Thomas that encouraged the court to reconsider whether the right to a public trial even extends to jury selection.

And last month, Gorsuch and Thomas disagreed when the court turned away an appeal from Louisiana Republicans seeking to ease limits on so-called soft money by political parties in federal elections.

A three-judge court in Washington, D.C., had earlier upheld the restrictions. Gorsuch and Thomas were the only justices who wanted the high court to set the case for argument and consider striking down the limits.

Thomas, appointed to the court in 1991, takes pride in his many dissents – often alone – insisting that the justices follow the original meaning of the Constitution even when that means overturning established case law. His absolutist stance has earned praise from conservative supporters. But critics point out that he rarely writes major opinions for the court because his views rarely align with the majority.

Like Gorsuch, Thomas did not wait long in writing his first dissent soon after joining the high court. It came in a 1992 case where a prisoner said his abusive treatment violated the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

The court ruled 7-2 that the prisoner could sue prison officials after he was punched and kicked by guards. But in dissent, Thomas said the Constitution’s framers “simply did not conceive of the Eighth Amendment as protecting inmates from harsh treatment.” He was joined by Scalia.
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First Lady Melania Trump has hired a new chief usher to oversee the White House residence staff, bringing in a high-level employee from the Trump Organization’s Washington hotel to fill the slot.

Timothy Harleth served as the director of rooms at the Trump hotel, and at the White House he will oversee about 90 staff members who run operations at the facility.

“I am so pleased that Timothy will be joining our team,” Trump said in a statement. “He was selected because of his impressive work history and management skills. My husband and I know he will be successful in this vital role within the White House.”

The chief usher serves as manager of the building and assists the president’s family with decorating and logistics in the residential portion.

“I am so honored at the opportunity to serve the first family in their new home,” Harleth said. “I look forward to applying my experience with hospitality, leadership, and political protocol in order to ensure the first family’s needs are met, while also protecting and preserving the rich history of the White House.”

Harleth is filling a position left open earlier this year when the White House let go of Angella Reid, who’d served as chief usher since 2011. She was the first woman to hold the position.

The White House has had a chief usher since the end of the 19th century, when a primary duty was ushering in guests to meet the president and first lady.
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So where, you may ask, is President Donald Trump most comfortable these days?

Well in his previous life as a real estate mogul, you might have guessed he was most at home safely ensconced in Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan, maybe tucking into one of those with well-done steaks with ketchup on the side.

But now as president? How about Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Trump seemed very much at ease during his campaignlike rally in Cedar Rapids on Wednesday. 

“It is always terrific to be able to leave that Washington swamp and spend time with the truly hard working people,” Trump told the crowd. “We call them American patriots. Amazing people.”

Loyal supporters, yet weak polls

Trump’s happy return to his base is understandable given his standing in most public opinion polls.

Five months after taking office, the president’s approval rating hovers near 40 percent, a low mark for a president this early in his term. But numerous surveys also suggest that for the most part, Trump’s core supporters, like those who turned out in Cedar Rapids this week, are hanging with him, and the president was appreciative.

“We have made a journey together like no other, ever, in the history of this country,” Trump said. “We are straightening out through common sense and through a good heart, we are straightening out our country. We are straightening out our country.”

Trump’s rally came the day after Karen Handel gave the president and Republicans in general a boost with her special election victory in Georgia, a race Democrats thought they could win.

Trump boasted to the crowd about “the incredible progress” his administration has already made and once again put the media in his crosshairs.

“These people are being driven crazy. Crazy. I mean they have phony witch hunts going against me. They have everything going. And you know what, all we do is win, win, win.”

​Democrats question strategy

Handel’s victory in Georgia put some Democrats in a funk.

Since Trump became president, Republicans have won four of five special congressional elections. And even though Democrats have lost by smaller margins in what are usually Republican-leaning districts, many have expressed disappointment that a strategy that relies heavily on demonizing Trump does not seem to be working.

“There is tremendous unrest out there and although Democrats did not win today, 2018 is a completely different story,” Representative Joe Crowley of New York, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, said.

But others vowed to keep the focus on Trump.

“Today in the White House we have perhaps the worst and most dangerous president in the history of our country,” Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders said.

Some Democrats believe it is time for a younger generation of Democratic leaders to take over.

“We are a party that stands up for working families and the middle class,” Massachusetts Representative Seth Moulton told the Associated Press. “Yet many of them are not voting for us. So it’s time for change.”

The Democratic losses in special House races despite Trump’s weakness in the polls has sparked some soul-searching.

“I think that there is this larger quandary that the Democratic Party has in terms of it is trying to figure out how to reconcile its centrist and progressive bases,” Emory University analyst Andra Gillespie said. She expects “some really tough conversations” within the party over the next several months.

WATCH: Trump reconnects with his base

Russia probe

For their part, many Republicans are hoping that their special election victories this week in Georgia and South Carolina will help to refocus national attention on their congressional agenda, including a health care overhaul and tax reform.

But the president himself may have gotten in the way of that this week when he settled the question of whether there were any White House tape recordings of his meetings with former FBI Director James Comey.

Trump’s tweet that there were no recordings came on the same day as Senate Republicans made public their health care reform proposal, complicating what they hoped would be a focused rollout of their plan.

The president wants to move past the Russia probe, but it is proving to be difficult.

“I do think it is hard when there is the drip, drip, drip of news against you to stop that,” John Fortier of the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington said. “And so finding some other things to talk about and changes of staff, I think those are things that might help. But this is a serious matter at this point and they will have to deal with this for a while.”
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The Trump administration has authorized the sale of unarmed surveillance drones to India, the manufacturer said Friday, as the two nations’ leaders prepare for their first face-to-face meeting.

India initiated its request to buy 22 Guardian MQ-9B unmanned aircraft for maritime surveillance last year. The deal is estimated to be worth about $2 billion. The offer is still subject to congressional approval.

Modi visits this week

The green light from the administration marks a further deepening in defense ties as India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets with President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday.

Modi’s two-day visit to Washington, which starts Sunday, takes place amid uncertainty over the relationship because of differences on trade and other issues.

So far in his presidency, Trump has focused on outreach to China, India’s strategic rival, as he looks to Beijing to rein in North Korea. But Washington and New Delhi share concerns about China’s rise as a military power.

India reportedly wants the drones for surveillance of the Indian Ocean, waters that China’s navy increasingly traverses after establishing its first overseas base in the Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti. India’s archrival Pakistan would also likely be opposed to the drone sale.

“We are pleased that the U.S. government has cleared the way for the sale of the MQ-9B Guardian to the Indian government,” Linden Blue, CEO of the manufacturer, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, said in a statement. Blue added that it would “significantly enhance India’s sovereign maritime domain awareness in the Indo-Pacific.”

Military sales date to 2008

Since 2008, India has signed more than $15 billion in U.S. defense contracts, including for C-130J and C-17 transport aircraft, P-8I maritime patrol aircraft, Harpoon missiles and Apache and Chinook helicopters.

Ashley Tellis, an expert on South Asia at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said the U.S. decision to offer the Guardian aircraft to India is significant as the U.S. has a standing policy of declining export of such advanced drones other than to allies involved in combined operations with U.S. forces.

There could still be pushback from Congress. While there is bipartisan support for closer U.S.-India security ties, some lawmakers remain wary of the export of U.S. drone technology to non-allies.
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California Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday night blocked parole for Charles Manson follower and convicted killer Bruce Davis.

Brown’s rejection issued late Friday night is the fifth time Davis has been recommended for parole by a state panel only to see it blocked by a governor, and continues Brown’s unflinching pattern of refusing to allow anyone from Manson’s “family” to be freed.

On Feb. 1, the parole panel recommended release for the 74-year-old Davis, who is serving a life sentence for the 1969 slayings of musician Gary Hinman and stuntman Donald “Shorty” Shea. Davis was not involved in the more notorious killings of actress Sharon Tate and six others by Manson’s group.

Brown in his written decision acknowledges the factors that led the board to recommend parole for Davis: His efforts to improve himself, his academic progress, and 25 years with no discipline for misconduct.

But he said these things are “outweighed by negative factors that demonstrate he remains unsuitable for parole.

“These cult murders have left an indelible mark on the public — the Manson Family is still feared to this day,” Brown wrote. “Incredibly heinous and cruel offenses like these constitute the ‘rare circumstances’ in which the crime alone can justify a denial of parole.”

Also, Brown added “his continued minimization of his own violence and his role in the Manson Family further shows that he remains an unreasonable risk to the public.”

The governor’s decision came a week before the deadline.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger also rejected Davis’ parole bid before Brown made a common ritual of it.
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A deadly heat wave that has claimed at least six lives in parts of the American Southwest continues.

While temperatures cooled off Friday in Los Angeles, residents are bracing for a long, hot summer.

Planes were grounded for a time in Phoenix earlier this week, as temperatures in parts of the U.S. Southwest soared to 45 degrees Celsius and higher, from Tucson, Arizona, to Palm Springs, California.

Cooling stations, community centers

People have tried their best to stay cool, using community cooling stations in parks and community centers throughout the region.

An air-conditioned senior center in the Los Angeles suburb of Canoga Park offered companionship and relief from the heat.

Four women relaxed over a game of dominoes, while in another part of the center, a dozen women kept active in a tap-dancing class.

They are fine indoors, center director Karin Haseltine said, but she warned too much activity outside on hot days could be hazardous for both seniors and young children.

Haseltine said many seniors also worry about the cost of air-conditioning. 

“They can’t turn it on because the bill is so expensive,” she said.

Inside the center, where it is cool, seniors were staying active, taking tap dancing classes and doing yoga.

Deaths blamed on heat

Scattered fires have burned throughout the West, and several deaths in Nevada, Arizona and California have been blamed on intense heat.

Animals are in danger, too.

Zoo workers have been hosing down the elephants at the Phoenix Zoo. Authorities also warn parents and pet owners not to leave animals or children in cars, where temperatures can quickly soar to deadly levels.

At an air-conditioned center in Los Angeles, senior volunteer Rosalie said people are making the best of being indoors.

“The don’t have to worry about being uncomfortable, getting ill,” she said, and can have lunch and activities with friends.

Others are doing what they can to stay cool outdoors, from lounging in the shade to splashing in public fountains.

Makeshift hydration stations are offering bottled water. Near-record-high temperatures are expected through early next week, and people say they are prepared for more heat this summer.
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