This Week in Politics - Week of April 3

Post date: Apr 20, 2017 3:29:46 PM

Published 4/20/17

By Nick Robertson, '19

US Navy warships launched 59 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian airbase. The missiles costed nearly $70 million. Photo Courtesy Navy Line

Welcome to This Week in Politics, the recurring column covering the highlights in politics for this week.

Monday, April 3

• • Terror strikes St. Petersburg

    • 11 have been killed in two bombings in the St. Petersburg subway system. The bombings occurred while Russian President Vladimir Putin was in the city; over 50 people were injured.

  • New order loosens internet privacy requirements

    • President Donald Trump signed a bill into law that reverses some internet privacy protections that were put in place under President Barack Obama.

    • Telecommunications companies can now buy, sell and transfer private data more easily.

Tuesday, April 4

• • Justice Department to review police deals

    • Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that Department of Justice would review all of its federal agreements with local police forces. It also pushed for a 90-day delay on its overhaul of the Baltimore Police Department.

  • Egyptian President visits White House

    • President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi has been barred from the White House by the Obama Administration since his rise to power in 2013, following the Arab Spring.

    • Al-Sisi is the head of an autocratic government, and came to power in a military coup. He has been accused of human rights violations against his own dissenting citizens.

      • This new stance reiterates Trump’s focus on terrorism instead of foreign nations’ domestic policy.

  • NCAA lifts North Carolina ban

    • The National Collegiate Athletic Association announced that the ban on tournaments held in North Carolina has been lifted following the repeal of the ‘Bathroom Bill’ last week.

    • The ban reversal is expected to bring millions back to the North Carolina economy in the coming years.

Wednesday, April 5

• • Chemical attacks hit Syria

    • Dozens of civilians in Syria were killed by chemical attacks, likely Sarin gas, launched by the Syrian government.

    • The civilians live in areas of the country controlled by the anti-government rebels.

    • The United Nations called an emergency meeting to address the event.

  • White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon removed from National Security Council (NSC) position

    • Bannon has been removed from his post on the NSC upon request of National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster.

  • Russia bans Jehovah’s Witnesses

    • The Jehovah’s Witnesses, a pacifist Christian church group, has been banned by the Russian government and labeled an “extremist” organization.

    • This has been viewed as a move to increase the popularity of the Eastern Orthodox Church, which competes with the Jehovah’s Witnesses, among other Christian churches.

Thursday, April 6

• • Democrats filibuster, Republicans go nuclear

    • After Democrats initiated a filibuster on the nomination of Neil Gorsuch for the Supreme Court, Senate Republicans changed the rules. Now, a Supreme Court nomination requires only 51 votes instead of a supermajority, effectively guaranteeing Gorsuch’s nomination.

      • The rule change also eliminates the need for compromise, allowing the majority party in the Senate to push the most extreme conservative or liberal judge as they want, as they need no members of other parties to vote ‘yes’ on the candidate for their nomination to pass.

  • Republican Devin Nunes to step aside from House Intelligence Committee (HIC)

    • Nunes (R-CA) announced that he would step down from chair of the HIC during the Trump-Russia investigation.

    • Nunes has been caught in scandal after being discovered sharing information with the White House without conferring with the rest of the committee.

    • The House Intelligence Committee will now be head by Republican Michael Conaway (R-TX).

  • Chinese Prime Minister Xi Jinping visits Trump

    • Jinping visited Trump’s resort in Mar-a-Lago, Florida. The leaders focused on trade and North Korea, whose nuclear ambitions have only increased since the new president has taken office.

  • United States launches missile strike in Syria

    • 59 Tomahawk missiles were launched at a Syrian airbase that launched a chemical attack earlier this week. Fuel depots and other strategic infrastructure at the base was targeted and nearly a dozen Syrian soldiers were killed.

      • Russia and Iran condemned the attack, while many U.S. allies supported the action.

      • Many in Trump’s far-right base were also critical of the attack.

Friday, April 7

• • Terror attack in Stockholm

    • A large truck rammed into a shopping center in Stockholm, Sweden, killing at least four. It has been viewed as a terrorist attack.

  • Neil Gorsuch confirmed

    • Justice Neil Gorsuch was confirmed to the Supreme Court on a 54-46 vote after Senate Republicans “went nuclear”, changing Senate rules to prevent a filibuster and push his confirmation.

    • Gorsuch replaces Justice Antonin Scalia, who died last year, and reaffirms the court’s 5-4 conservative panel.

  • New jobs report shows slow growth

    • The March jobs report from the Department of Labor shows only 98,000 jobs were added, the slowest rate in over a year. Even though growth is slow, the unemployment rate fell from 4.7 percent in February to 4.5 percent.