So, here is what you missed in the news this past week…
Another Vote
Prime Minister Theresa May promised hard-line Brexit supporters that if her withdrawal proposal was accepted, she would step down as Prime Minister, states by the Times. While gunning for a decision, March 29th came and passed, and PM Theresa May still did not have a course of action to take for Brexit. The Parliament voted on Friday concerning the Prime Minister’s withdrawal deal. Unfortunately for her, the vote was not in her favor. It came out to be 344 to 286. This makes it the third time her deal has been rejected from Parliament. It seems that to ensure that the MP’s see reason, according to the Guardian, PM May is hoping to trigger another general election.
The President’s Freedom?
Congressional leaders await Attorney General Barr’s redacted version of special council Mueller’s report. The Guardian reported that Representative Jerrold Nadler and other Democrats instead demanded that there be complete transparency in the report. NPR stated that Barr denied them and stated that necessary redactions are being made to protect grand jury material, sources and methods, and ongoing investigations. Instead, Barr has added that he is willing to testify before the House and Senate judiciary committees. The House Judiciary Committee Chairman has also appealed of Barr to “request a court order to release any and all grand jury information to the House Judiciary Committee – as has occurred in every similar investigation in the past.”
President Trump has on numerous occasions stated that there had been no collusion with Russia, and it seems like it’s all coming together for the President. According the New Yorker, the President had made his first public appearance since Barr’s summary at campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He was seen to have been ecstatic and announced that “the Russian hoax is finally dead.” The President looked to been “freed from the fear of impeachment and removal from office.” However, while the report highlighted that the President did not collaborate with Russia, it does not free the President from allegedly obstructing justice.
Breaking Laws Again?
President Trump attempted to open vast areas of the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans to oil and gas leasing. U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason leaves intact President Barack Obama’s policies putting the Arctic’s Chukchi Sea and other expansive parts of the Atlantic Ocean off-limits to oil leasing. US News reports that Trump’s play to put offshore Arctic and Atlantic areas back into oil development comes from a 2017 executive order that was part of his “energy dominance” agenda. President Trump’s initiatives jettisoned many environmental and climate-change enterprises from the Obama administration. The previous administration had found that the land was not ideal for drilling; nevertheless, the President’s interior Secretary Ryan Zinke continued to break the law when he arbitrarily reversed the Obama policy without acknowledging the facts. Thus, Judge Gleason ruled in favor of the Obama policy.
Images courtesy of skynews.com, nypost.com, and thehill.com