Trump’s Cabinet’s Continued Recklessness

Five months into Donald Trump’s term one thing has become abundantly clear: Trump’s administration is focused on making life easier for millionaires and billionaires, like himself and members of his cabinet, over everyone else. Trump’s administration continues to deal in lies and actively push an agenda and engage in tactics that are bad for American families:

 

Mick Mulvaney, Director of Office of Management and Budget: Downplayed serious consequences of the United States defaulting on its debt

 

Washington Examiner: “Mick Mulvaney, President Trump's fiscally conservative budget director, said Wednesday that he favors attaching spending reforms to any increase in the federal debt ceiling, rather than the ‘clean’ hike requested by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.”

 

Washington Examiner: “Mulvaney compared the debt ceiling to a ‘smoke alarm.’ When the ceiling is reached, he said, ‘it's a warning that we've now, once again, spent more than we have. It has traditionally been used to step back and try and maybe assess why we are spending more than we have, and what are we are going to do about it.”

 

Jeff Sessions, Attorney General: The Department of Justice appealed to Supreme Court to reinstate Muslim Ban

 

CBS News: “Late Thursday night, the Justice Department asked the Supreme Court to reinstate its ban on travelers from six majority Muslim countries. Additionally, the Justice Department asked the Supreme Court to allow the federal government to begin enforcing the second version of the ban while the case is being appealed.”

 

Tom Price, Secretary of Health and Human Services: Making moves to dismantle the Affordable Care Act’s birth control mandate

 

Vox:  “The Affordable Care Act requires nearly all employers to offer health insurance that covers access to a wide array of contraceptive methods. The draft proposal, if finalized, would significantly broaden the type of companies and organizations that can request an exemption.”

 

Vox: “Spokespeople for the US Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury departments, the agencies responsible for the rule, did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday night… The new rule would take effect immediately, once it is published by the Trump administration.”

 

Scott Pruitt, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency: Delayed rule to curb greenhouse gas emissions

 

The Hill: “The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has halted an Obama administration rule to cut down on pollution of methane, a greenhouse gas produced at oil and natural gas drilling wells.”

 

Rex Tillerson, Secretary of State: Declined to host Ramadan Event, breaking two decades of bipartisan tradition

 

Reuters: “Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has declined a request to host an event to mark Islam's holy month of Ramadan, two U.S. officials said, apparently breaking with a bipartisan tradition in place with few exceptions for nearly 20 years. Since 1999, Republican and Democratic secretaries of state have nearly always hosted either an iftar dinner to break the day's fast during Ramadan or a reception marking the Eid al-Fitr holiday at the end of the month, at the State Department.”