National headlines - July 11, 2019
Written by Bryan Schott, Managing Editor
Category: Home Page National Headlines
Immigration raids begin Sunday. A nationwide operation to arrest thousands of undocumented families are set to begin this weekend according to homeland security officials [NYT].
Iran. A British warship forced three Iranian boats to back off after they tried to block a British oil tanker from passing through the Strait of Hormuz [NYT].
Budget crisis. The White House is pushing Congressional leaders to raise the debt limit before the August recess after a report that the Treasury Department is running out of cash faster than previously forecasted [Politicoolitico].
Census. President Donald Trump is expected to announce on Thursday he is taking executive action to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. The Trump administration was blocked from adding the question by the Supreme Court [NBC News].
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled Wednesday a rate cut could be coming to counter President Trump's trade war with China and a global economic slowdown [NYT].
Stocks surged on the possibility of a rate cut. The S&P 500 hit 3,000 for the first time ever [NYT].
Lockheed Martin will keep a Pennsylvania plant open after President Trump urged executives to not move forward with a planned closure that would eliminate around 500 jobs [NYT].
For your radar. President Trump is looking for ways to weaken the dollar ahead of the 2020 election. He's worried a strong dollar could tamp down an economic boom, which would hurt his chances at a second term [CNBC].
Acosta digs in. Labor Secretary Alex Acosta defended his role in a controversial plea deal with Jeffrey Epstein in 2008. Epstein was arrested this week on sex trafficking charges [NYT].
Pricey celebration
President Trump's July 4th celebration has bankrupted a security fund Washington, D.C. uses to protect the nation's capital from terrorist threats and provide security at special events [WaPo].
The total price tag for President Trump's "Salute to America" was nearly $6 million [ABC News].
Trump wins in court. A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by Maryland and the District of Columbia that claimed President Trump was violating the Constitution by profiting from foreign governments through his private businesses [CNN].
Whoa! The Department of Energy was shipping dangerous nuclear waste that was incorrectly labeled as low-level radioactive waste to Nevada between 2013 and 2018 [HuffPo].
Trump's social media summit. The guest list for the Thursday event at the White House includes conspiracy theorists and far-right internet trolls, but no representatives from Facebook or Twitter [NBC News].