The policy agenda from the White House today focused on immigration and included two wide-ranging executive orders. On his visit to the Department of Homeland Security, the President signed an order directing the “immediate construction” of a wall on the southern border, which also contained guidance on how the agency should prioritize deportations and on the role of local and state law enforcement in immigration enforcement. He also signed a second order that directed the federal government to withhold funding from “sanctuary cities.” Both orders contained the provision that they should be “implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.”
According to multiple reports, the Trump administration has issued a mandate that scientific studies and data disseminated by the Environmental Protection Agency be reviewed by political staff before being released, directing that agency to refrain from speaking with the media. Multiple official government Twitter accounts including those belonging to the National Park Service, Badlands National Park, and NASA tweeted facts about climate change and language critical of the Trump administration. In this morning’s press briefing, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer denied (13:00) that such orders are coming from the White House or that the administration had directed those accounts to delete or edit their tweets.
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According to multiple reports, the Trump administration has issued a mandate that scientific studies and data disseminated by the Environmental Protection Agency be reviewed by political staff before being released, directing that agency to refrain from speaking with the media. Multiple official government Twitter accounts including those belonging to the National Park Service, Badlands National Park, and NASA tweeted facts about climate change and language critical of the Trump administration. In this morning’s press briefing, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer denied (13:00) that such orders are coming from the White House or that the administration had directed those accounts to delete or edit their tweets.
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