Acting director of ICE has nomination pulled by White House: report

The Trump administration on Thursday pulled the nomination of Ron Vitiello, acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), to be the agency's permanent leader, three people with knowledge of the move told the Associated Press.
It wasn’t clear why Vitiello’s nomination was pulled. The move initially set off confusion within the Department of Homeland Security, with some officials saying it was an error. He will remain acting director for the foreseeable future, the sources said.
Vitiello has spent more than 30 years in law enforcement, starting in 1985 with the U.S. Border Patrol. He was slated to travel with President Trump to the border Friday, but he is no longer going.
On Thursday, Vitiello told Fox News that ICE was seeking to increase its number of detention beds across the country as the flow of migrants across the U.S.-Mexico border has surged in recent weeks.
“The system’s in a meltdown," Vitiello told "America's Newsroom." “It’s an absolute crisis down there, it has humanitarian aspects, it has border security aspects, this policy can’t continue."
In response to the spike, Trump threatened to close the border entirely by the end of the week before extending his deadline to one year. Since Dec. 21, ICE has set free more than 125,000 people, which Trump called “catch and release.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Beto O'Rourke compares Trump administration rhetoric to Nazi Germany

Mexican Speed Freak?

Democratic 2020 contender Beto O'Rourke on Thursday compared President Trump's rhetoric regarding immigration to that of Nazi Germany.
Speaking to reporters in Iowa, the former congressman — in response to a question about how he would address attacks from Republicans — called out "the rhetoric of a president who not only describes immigrants as rapists and criminals but as animals and an infestation."
O'Rourke continued: "Seeking to ban all Muslims, all people of one religion, what other country on the face of the planet does that kind of thing? Or in our human history? Or in the history of the western world? Because they are somehow deficient or violent or a threat to us? Putting kids in cages, saying that Neonazis and Klansmen and white supremacists are 'very fine people'?"
"Now, I might expect someone to describe another human being as an infestation in the Third Reich," he said. "I would not expect that in the United States of America."
The Texan said that if people "don't call out racism — certainly at the highest levels of power, in this position of trust that the president enjoys — then we are going to continue to get its consequences," and added he will avoid using similar rhetoric because "if we descend into that pettiness and meanness and those personal attacks, I'm not sure that we can win."
O'Rourke, who launched his campaign in mid-March, said Americans need to call out what the Trump administration is doing to "define a better future for this country."
The failed Senate candidate's campaign announced on Wednesday that they've raised $9.4 million in the first 18 days of the campaign.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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McConnell Deploys 'Nuclear Option' to Speed Approval of Trump Nominees

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell deployed the so-called 'nuclear option' Wednesday by changing the Republican-controlled chamber’s rules to speed approval of President Donald Trump’s nominees who have been slow-walked by Democrats.
'It is time for this sorry chapter to end,' said the Kentucky Republican, who noted the new rules will apply to future nominees by the president. 'It’s time to return this body to a more normal and reasonable process for fulfilling its constitutional responsibilities, no matter which party controls the White House.'

Under the new rule approved 51-48, debate time on the Senate floor for lower-level administration nominees will be cut to two hours from 30 hours. The Senate plans to vote later Wednesday to adopt the same rule for U.S. district court judges.
McConnell said the move is needed to allow Trump to staff his government. It will help McConnell fill scores of open judgeships -- a top priority -- without having to use months of the Senate calendar.
The GOP is leaving unchanged the requirement of 30 hours’ debate for Cabinet-level appointments, other senior appointments and higher court nominees.

Democrats called the rule change another power grab by McConnell, who used obstruction tactics numerous times himself when Barack Obama was president. McConnell refused to hold a hearing for Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland and blocked numerous other lower court nominees in the final two years of Obama’s presidency. The Supreme Court seat ultimately went to Trump appointee Neil Gorsuch.
Democrats suggested there isn’t a real problem in confirming presidential nominees. They point to statements by McConnell and Trump bragging about setting records for court confirmations, and to Trump appointees who have either left under ethical clouds or been blocked on the Senate floor.

'It’s going to make it easier to rush unqualified and extreme Trump nominees to the Senate before anybody notices,' said Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon.
McConnell’s blockade of key Obama nominations prompted then-Democratic Leader Harry Reid to deploy the nuclear option to eliminate the 60-vote threshold to advance most nominations. At the time, McConnell was livid. Now, he’s echoing Reid’s arguments about the need to prevent a minority from obstructing a president, and using the same tool Reid used to overturn Senate precedent.

McConnell also used the procedure -- which effectively breaks the Senate rules to change the rules -- in 2017 to eliminate the 60-vote threshold for Supreme Court nominations.
Still, a number of Republicans insist on keeping the legislative filibuster, which allows the minority party to demand a 60-vote threshold to advance a bill. McConnell himself made clear Wednesday he still opposes getting rid of the legislative filibuster.
'The legislative filibuster is central to the nature of the Senate,' McConnell said. 'It always has been and must always be the distinctive quality of this institution.'

Sen. Michael Bennet says he has prostate cancer; Dem's planned 2020 run depends on health

U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., said Wednesday night that he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer as he considers a 2020 Democratic presidential bid. (Associated Press)

U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., a potential 2020 presidential hopeful, said late Wednesday that he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, but still plans on running if he is cancer-free after surgery.
Bennet, 54, said in a statement he was diagnosed late last month. He plans to have surgery to remove his prostate gland in Colorado during the congressional recess, which begins April 11.
“While hearing news like this is never easy, I am fortunate it was detected early, and as a result, my prognosis is good,” Bennet said in a statement.
The prognosis came just as the Colorado Democrat was preparing to officially announce his candidacy.
“The idea was to announce sometime in April,” Bennet told the Colorado Independent. “That was the plan. We hired some staff. We interviewed people for positions in New Hampshire and Iowa. And then I went for the physical. In my last physical, my PSA was high. They did a biopsy, and it was clear. But this time, it was not clear."
Bennet told the Independent that he still plans to run for president if he beats the cancer diagnosis. But if he doesn’t, he said, “I’d have to make another decision.”
“This unanticipated hurdle only reinforces how strongly I feel about contributing to the larger conversation about the future of our country, and I am even more committed to drive that conversation in a positive direction,” Bennet said in his statement.
If the senator does enter the 2020 race for the White House, he’ll be competing against a large field of contenders (it currently stands at 14), including Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Kamala Harris, D-Calif. And there’s already a candidate from Colorado in the race: the state’s former two-term governor – John Hickenlooper, who launched his campaign last month.
Unlike several candidates in the 2020 race, Bennet, considered a moderate, opposes single-payer government health care.
The Democrat has made headlines recently for taking aim at controversial comments by freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., that were widely deemed anti-Semitic, calling them “hateful.”
In an interview with Fox News last month, Bennet said, “My mom and her parents were Polish Jews who survived the Holocaust and almost all the rest of the family was killed.” He explained that “they eventually made their way to America” to escape anti-Semitism.
Bennet also blasted Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas earlier this year on the Senate floor for crying “crocodile tears” over members of the coast guard not getting paid during the government shutdown.
Bennet has served in the Senate since 2009 and is a past chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. He previously served as superintendent of Denver's public schools.
He and his wife Susan Daggett have three daughters, according to Bennet's website.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Dem Stacey Abrams still not conceding defeat, claims GOP stole Georgia election

Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams speaks during the National Action Network Convention in New York City, April 3, 2019. (Associated Press)

Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams questioned the legitimacy of her 2018 loss during an event in New York City on Wednesday, saying she refuses to concede the race to Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, while accusing the GOP of stealing the election.
"Despite the final tally and the inauguration [of Gov. Brian Kemp] and the situation we find ourselves in, I do have a very affirmative statement to make: We won," she told the crowd at the annual convention of the Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network.
Abrams ran as a Democrat and would have been the first African-American woman governor in America had she won. She lost to Kemp by more than 54,000 votes, but has repeatedly refused to concede the outcome.
"Concession needs to say something is right and true and proper," Abrams said, according to the Washington Examiner. "You can't trick me into saying it was right."
During her campaign, Abrams was backed by big-name celebrities and prominent Democrats like Hillary Clinton and former President Barack Obama. The results were mired in controversy because Kemp, who was Georgia’s secretary of state at the time, oversaw the election.
Civil rights groups have accused Kemp of suppressing low-income people and minorities of their voting rights using the state's "exact match" law. The law requires election officials to flag any voter registration application if the identifying information doesn't match the voter's information in existing records.
A group backed by Abrams filed a federal lawsuit in January over the alleged voter suppression. Kemp has denied that he disenfranchised voters for his own benefit.
Abrams' name has been floated as a possible running mate for former Vice President Joe Biden, who is considering a 2020 Democratic White House bid. It has also been rumored that Abrams is considering her own 2020 presidential run.

AOC reminds Trump in tweet about tax return request: 'We didn't ask you'

Disrespecting arrogant little twit.

In a tweet Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez referred to a letter that Democrats wrote to the IRS, requesting six years of President Trump's tax returns. 

In a tweet Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., suggested that House Democrats won't be taking no for an answer in seeking access to President Trump's tax returns.
The freshman congresswoman boiled her view of the situation down to the following mock conversation between Congress and the president:
"Congress: 'We’re going to need a copy of the President’s tax returns from 2013-2018.'
"45: 'No, I’m ‘under audit.'
"Congress: 'We didn’t ask you.' "
After Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report on his Russia investigation found no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, some Democrats have been continuing efforts to investigate the president's business dealings and other actions.
Ocasio-Cortez's tweet referred to the House Ways and Means Committee’s request to the IRS for six years of the president's tax records.
During the election, Trump broke the long-standing tradition of presidential candidates releasing their tax returns, saying they were under audit. He has continued to dodge the issue as president.
Congressional Republicans claim with their IRS request Democrats have "weaponized" the tax law.
The president recently took note of the impact Ocasio-Cortez has made on the Democratic Party since taking office in January.
"The Green New Deal, done by a young bartender, 29 years old," Trump told a crowd of House Republicans at a dinner in Washington on Tuesday, referring to Ocasio-Cortez and her package of proposals for U.S. efforts to combat climate change. "A young bartender, wonderful young woman.”
The president then claimed that longtime Democrats had become "petrified of her."

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