Tag Archives: feds

Via press release from the ACLU: The Justice Department filed a brief today with the Supreme Court arguing that businesses that are open to the public have a constitutional right to discriminate against LGBT people. The brief was filed in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, the case in which a Colorado bakery refused to serve a same-sex couple …

Bloomberg reports: Two federal watchdog agencies are taking an active look at the controversial General Services Administration lease for the Trump International Hotel in Washington, Bloomberg BNA has learned. Both the Government Accountability Office and GSA’s Office of Inspector General have opened probes into the lease, officials with both groups confirmed. The GAO since June has been looking into GSA’s …

The Washington Post reports: A Los Angeles-based tech company is resisting a federal demand for more than 1.3 million IP addresses to identify visitors to a website set up to coordinate protests on Inauguration Day — a request whose breadth the company says violates the Constitution. “What we have is a sweeping request for every single file we have” in …

The Washington Post reports: The Commerce Department has removed language from its annual equal opportunity statement barring discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, prompting a protest from lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender activists. In a statement Thursday afternoon, the Commerce Department said the statement “was never intended to change the policy or exclude any protected categories.” “The Department …

Via press release from Secretary of State Rex Tillerson: In recognition of LGBTI Month, the Department of State affirms its solidarity with the human rights defenders and civil society organizations working around the world to uphold the fundamental freedoms of LGBTI persons to live with dignity and freedom. We also recognize that LGBTI persons continue to face the threat of …

Her real actual name is Reality Winner. The Washington Examiner reports: A 25-year-old federal contractor is facing charges she leaked a classified National Security Agency document to a news outlet in May. The charges against Reality Leigh Winner came about an hour after the publication of a story based on an NSA document detailing Russian attempts to hack American voting …

The New York Times reports: Eleven weeks into the Trump presidency, the Secret Service is grappling with how to constrain the rising costs and unexpected strain that have come with protecting a new first family as large, mobile and high-profile as any in modern American history. To keep up, dozens of agents from New York and field offices across the …

The Washington Post reports: President Trump plans to unveil a new White House office on Monday with sweeping authority to overhaul the federal bureaucracy and fulfill key campaign promises — such as reforming care for veterans and fighting opioid addiction — by harvesting ideas from the business world and, potentially, privatizing some government functions. The White House Office of American …

Reuters reports: The victims of a mass shooting at a Florida nightclub in June 2016 will receive nearly $8.5 million for emotional and financial support for victims’ families, those wounded in the attack and responders, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Tuesday. In a statement, the department’s Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) said the funds would be granted …

Talking Points Memo reports: For the last six years, the Justice Department has sided with the citizens and civil rights groups fighting Texas’ voter ID law, which a federal judge at one point found to be intentionally discriminatory against black and Latino voters. But its position changed Monday when the department decided to drop its claim that Republican state lawmakers …

The Daily Dot reports: As the Trump administration rapidly shuts down the lines of communication between federal agencies and the public, an anonymous Twitter account is upholding the ethos of the National Parks Service. @AltUSNatParkSer gained more than 170,000 followers overnight after the Badlands National Park Twitter account made headlines by tweeting and then deleting a series of climate change …

The Washington Post reports: Airplanes belonging to Donald Trump’s businesses will be inspected over the next four years by employees of the Federal Aviation Administration that he will lead. Disputes over Trump’s trademark registrations could be reviewed by judges appointed by his hand-picked commerce secretary. His Department of Housing and Urban Development could reverse its past opposition to a potentially …

So much for “clean diesel.” NBC News reports: Volkswagen will pay a $4.3 billion penalty for diesel emissions rigging, the U.S. Justice Department and several other federal agencies announced on Wednesday. As a result of the criminal investigation into the diesel scandal, regulators also revealed that six executives have been indicted on charges ranging from wire fraud to conspiracy to …

Politico reports: Secretary of State John Kerry is formally apologizing to gay, lesbian and other employees of the State Department who faced past discrimination because of their sexual orientation. The apparently unprecedented apology, issued in a statement Monday, is the latest step that the Obama administration has taken to promote inclusion of the LGBT community in its ranks. It comes …

The Hill reports: The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Thursday released a joint report detailing how federal investigators linked the Russian government to hacks of Democratic Party organizations. The document makes clear reference to the hacks of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, though it does not mention either by …

The Hill reports: Utah’s attorney general says he is preparing a lawsuit against President Obama for his decision to designate a new national monument in the state. Attorney General Sean Reyes (R) on Wednesday said the lawsuit is one of numerous ways that he, Gov. Gary Herbert (R) and the state’s congressional delegation will fight the Bears Ears National Monument. …

The Hill reports: A lawsuit has been filed against the CIA, the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence seeking records pertaining to Russia’s interference in the presidential election. Journalist Jason Leopold and Ryan Shapiro, a Ph.D. candidate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District …

Mashable reports: The United States government has started asking a select number of foreign travelers about their social media accounts. The news came on Thursday via Politico and was confirmed to Mashable by a spokesperson for Customs and Border Protection (CBP) after the new procedure reportedly began earlier in the week. The process dovetails with what has been expected for …

The Washington Post reports: Alarmed that decades of crucial climate measurements could vanish under a hostile Trump administration, scientists have begun a feverish attempt to copy reams of government data onto independent servers in hopes of safeguarding it from any political interference. The efforts include a “guerrilla archiving” event in Toronto, where experts will copy irreplaceable public data, meetings at …

Bloomberg reports: President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team is considering a Silicon Valley investor close to billionaire Peter Thiel to head the Food and Drug Administration, according to people familiar with the matter. Jim O’Neill, the Thiel associate, hasn’t been officially selected, according to the people, who asked to remain anonymous because the decision process is private, and the Trump team …