Life is political, not because the world cares about how you feel, but because the world reacts to what you do. Timothy Snyder
The Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement is not
a particularly well-known position in our government, however it’s an extremely
important one. This office helps resettle refugees fleeing violence, provides
services to survivors of torture, and oversees a network of providers across
the United States who care for unaccompanied children and young women who
arrive at our nation’s borders.
Scott Lloyd, the man the Trump-Pence
Administration has picked for this role, has chosen to use this office to
advance this Administration’s extreme ideological agenda against women’s health
choices by repeatedly stepping in and attempting to prevent vulnerable women
from making their own health choices and accessing safe, legal abortions.
Instead of allowing women – some of whom are survivors of
sexual abuse – to choose and access the reproductive health care they felt was
best for them, Director Lloyd has put up barriers, worked to prevent women from
speaking with lawyers about their rights, and tried to pressure women into
deciding against an abortion. He directed his office to explore options to
reverse abortions once the medical procedure is underway, which the American
College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has called “unproven and unethical.”
This harmful behavior based in ideology instead of science
or the interest of women’s wellbeing is appalling, and it must be stopped.
Thank you,
Patty
(Patty Murray is the Senior
U.S. Senator from the great state of Washington, working to stand up for the
people and achieve bipartisan solutions to boost jobs, provide affordable
healthcare, and improve the lives of Americans everywhere.)
 |
| WOMEN |
On quotas for women: “Whether I get a job because I am a woman or for
substantive reasons, I don’t really care. At the end of the day, the second you
get the job, you have to prove that you can do it. If a quota for women means
that more women can do it, then that’s good. If someone then calls me a ‘quota
woman’ — in that respect, I’m made of Teflon, that rolls off my shoulders.” [POLITICO
Brussels Playbook, March 16, 2018]
 |
| WHITE HOUSE |
YOU CAN ALWAYS COUNT ON ME: The White
House's plan to introduce legislation that would give DHS and law enforcement
agencies the authority to destroy suspicious drones is getting a mixed reaction
on the Hill. Senate Commerce Chairman John Thune (R-S.D.) told our Stephanie Beasley that he would wait to see what the
White House put out, but noted that FAA is clearly in charge of national
airspace. Sources expect the proposal will borrow from the National Defense
Authorization Act, which gives DoD permission to identify and take down any
drones caught flying over its facilities and operations.
For sure, that's what friends are for: Missouri
Republican Roy Blunt, chairman of Senate Commerce's aviation subcommittee,
said he'd postponed a hearing for later this month on drone uses after the
White House announced its plans. On the House side, Homeland Security
Chairman Michael McCaul, who has supported the idea of giving DHS more drone
authorities, said his staff had been meeting with officials from DHS and
Justice to begin work on a related bill. [Morning
Transportation, March 16, 2018]
TRUMP MEETS WITH API, CEOs: The president's White House meeting with the American
Petroleum Institute revolved around "the important role natural resources
play in our energy sector," White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said.
The guest list for the confab included Exxon CEO Darren Woods, Chevron CEO Mike
Wirth, Shell Oil President Bruce Culpepper, BP America President John Mingé and
API President Jack Gerard, among a host of other executives, Pro's Ben
Lefebvre reports . Vice President Mike Pence was also in
attendance, API spokesman Eric Wohlschlegel said in a press release. Before
heading to the White House, API had convened a two-day meeting at a Trump
hotel. [Morning Energy, March 16, 2018]
 |
| UNIONS |
WATCHDOG: ICE, CBP RUN RISKS WITH HIRING: A
pair of federal immigration agencies intend to use private companies to ramp up
hiring in the coming years - a move that risks onboarding subpar workers,
according to Mia Steinle, an investigator for the Project On Government
Oversight. Steinle laid out the scenario in an online post this week: U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement aims to hire 16,000 new employees and is seeking
contractors to assist with the process. U.S. Customs and Border
Protection plans to hire 5,000 additional Border Patrol agents and already
paid a division of Accenture to help reach that goal.
"ICE and Border Patrol ... will
pay the private companies a flat rate for every new employee hired,"
writes Steinle, "potentially incentivizing the companies to cut corners
and not fully vet every candidate before they're hired. As history has shown,
this can have dangerous - even deadly - consequences." Border Patrol used
private companies to aid hiring in the 2000s, as Steinle notes. "As a
result, the number of Border Patrol employees charged with civil and criminal
misconduct increased by 44 percent in the years following the hiring surge, the
Associated Press reported last year."
CBP told Morning Shift that partnerships with
private companies can lead to a better end result. "The contractor is
incentivized to reduce time to hire & costs, while maintaining CBP's high
standards for front line hiring," the agency said in a written statement.
"CBP maintains control of inherently governmental adjudications." In
its own response, ICE said it's taking "a multi-pronged" approach to
ensure it can meet President Trump's hiring directive. The agency added that
the new hires will be contingent on congressional appropriations. [POLITICO's Morning Shift, March 16, 2018]
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| READ |
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| DONALD J. TRUMP |
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| U.S. MILITARY |
PACOM'S HARRIS AT SASC AMID INF AND CHINA QUESTIONS: U.S.
Pacific Command chief Adm. Harry Harris testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee to update it on
his command's posture and on the Pentagon's fiscal 2019 budget request. Harris,
who is retiring, has also been picked as new U.S. ambassador to Australia,
pending Senate confirmation.
Harris has called out a landmark arms control accord, the
1987 Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, for hamstringing the U.S. in his
theater, writes your Morning D correspondent: "A landmark arms
control treaty that Russia is accused of violating is under even greater
strain, military officials and lawmakers are warning, because China is taking
advantage of not being a party to the pact to introduce the very same kind of
missiles.
"But a public divide has also opened among top Pentagon
officials over whether it really marks a change in the military balance in the
Asia-Pacific requiring American weapons to be modified in response - a
disagreement that could play out on Capitol Hill this week." [POLITICO's Morning Defense, March 15, 2018]
 |
| U.S. AGRICULTURE |
TRUMP SAYS PUMP UP THE CHINA TARIFFS: President
Donald Trump wants to load up on the tariffs. That was the message to U.S Trade
Representative Robert Lighthizer, who presented a tariff proposal that could
end up hitting $30 billion worth of Chinese imports, POLITICO's Adam Behsudi and
Andrew Restuccia first reported.
The expected action against China would be done in response to
allegations of intellectual property theft. Trump told Lighthizer to aim for an
even bigger number for the tariffs and has told aides that he wants to roll
something out as soon as next week.
Farmers could get hit the hardest: Trade
experts think that China will swiftly retaliate, especially against U.S.
farmers who rely on the Chinese market as a major destination for soybeans,
pork and other commodities.
"I think China is going to have to respond. The question
is, are they going to do that in a targeted way, or are they going to escalate
dramatically?" asked Matthew Goodman, a senior adviser and Asian economic
expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
On Monday, the American Soybean Association asked Trump to
"modify, if not reverse, [his] decision to avoid a trade war that could
seriously undermine our industry, which is highly dependent on trade."
China has become the biggest buyer of U.S. soybeans. Last year,
American soybean growers shipped more than half of their total exports to China
- sales that could be largely curbed if China chooses to impose restrictions or
sets its eyes on soybeans from other countries like Brazil. [POLITICO's Morning Agriculture, March 14, 2018]
 |
| SCREEN |
FOX NEWS SITE HIGHLIGHTS WOMEN SEX OFFENDERS: The New York Times's Jonathan Galinsky spots an interesting trend on the
network's website. "Sex crimes committed by women make up a small share of
sexual offenses in the United States, according to the available
evidence," he writes. "But FoxNews.com readers could have been
excused for holding the impression that the nation was in the middle of an
epidemic of female teachers sexually abusing male pupils." [Morning Media,
March 15, 2018]
DENVER POST, CHICAGO TRIBUNE LAYOFFS: The
Washington Post's Margaret Sullivan writes on the devastating layoffs of a
third of the Denver Post's newsroom and how she tried to speak to someone about it from Alden Global Capital,
the hedge fund that owns the paper's parent company. She got no answers from
Alden, who she described as "one of the most ruthless of the corporate
strip-miners seemingly intent on destroying local journalism."
- "The unfathomable idea of losing 30 ppl
from the @denverpost newsroom makes my eyes well with tears every time I think
about it. I am sad for the incredibly talented, hardworking journalists who
have done so much already w/ so little & taught me everything I know along
the way," tweeted reporter Elizabeth Hernandez. "I am sad for
our community who will suffer from a loss of passionate watchdogs who show up.
And I am so sad this thing I have idolized my whole life, that I believe in so
wholeheartedly & see the positive impacts of every day is being destroyed
in front of my eyes."
- "This is devastating," wrote Chicago Tribune reporter Alison Bowen in response to the Denver Post layoffs, only to later
sound the alarm on cuts to her own paper: "Six hours after tweeting this,
layoffs at my own newspaper, the Chicago Tribune," she tweeted. Several journalists corroborated the news, though few
had details of the extent of the cuts. "Nobody has communicated to the
newsroom about what's going on," tweeted staffer Peter Nickeas.
- "Tronc makes layoffs at the Chicago
Tribune today. They just got $500 million from the sale of the L.A. Times, and
we certainly know their executives pay themselves out the wazoo," tweeted Los Angeles Times reporter Matt Pearce. "Where
is that money going?" [Morning Media, March
16, 2018]
 |
| IMMIGRATION |
BECERRA FIRES BACK AT TRUMP ADMIN: California
Attorney General Xavier Becerra defended his state's immigrant-friendly
policies against Trump administration criticism in a Washington Post op-ed
Wednesday. "California laws and policies do not provide 'sanctuary' for
criminals," Becerra writes. "We aggressively go after criminals,
regardless of their immigration status. And we work regularly in tandem with
our federal partners to assist in, for example, combating gangs, human
trafficking and the peddling of drugs."
"What we do not do, though, is
the job of federal immigration agents," he continues. "We're in the
business of public safety, not deportation." [POLITICO's Morning Shift, March 15, 2018]
 |
| HEALTHCARE |
|
PBMs lobbying
against new rebate rules
|
|
Lobbyists with the
pharmacy benefit management industry met with federal officials last month,
warning that Medicare Part D premiums will rise by 22% in 2019 if the government pursues an
idea that would lower what Medicare patients pay for medications at the
pharmacy counter.
Why it
matters: PBMs and other companies that sell
Medicare drug plans dislike the proposal, which would require them to apply
rebates and fees at the point of
sale as a
way to make drugs cheaper, and a final ruling is expected soon. [POLITICO
Pulse, March 15, 2018]
|
BIPARTISAN PUSH FOR 'GAG CLAUSE' PROHIBITIONS -
Senators from both sides of the aisle introduced two bills Thursday intended to
help consumers purchase their drugs for the lowest price possible.
The Patient Right to Know Drug
Prices Act and The Know the Lowest Price Act would forbid health insurers and pharmacy benefit managers
from using "pharmacy gag clauses" that prohibit pharmacists from
proactively telling consumers if their medicine would cost less if they paid
out of pocket rather than using their insurance.
- The
Patient Right to Know Drug Prices Act applies to plans offered through
exchanges and private employers. Sponsors include Sens. Susan Collins
(R-Maine), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), John Barrasso
(R-Wyo.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.).
- The
Know the Lowest Price Act applies to Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) joined with Collins, McCaskill, Stabenow, Barrasso and
Cassidy to sponsor this bill.
- What PBMs are saying: They support the bill: The
nation's largest PBM applauded the move, with CVS Caremark executives saying
they don't use gag clauses in their contracts. The Pharmaceutical Care
Management Association also said it supports patients "paying the lowest
cost at the pharmacy counter, whether it's the cash price or the copay. This is
standard industry practice in both Medicare and the commercial sector."
This
leaves your pharma reporter wondering: if the PBMs and their lobbyists say they
aren't crafting such clauses, does the problem not exist on a widespread level?
And who is responsible for instituting these gag clauses? [POLITICO Pulse, March 16, 2018]
 |
| EDUCATION |
ADVOCATES TURN UP VOLUME ON MESSAGE TO
AZAR: FIRE SCOTT LLOYD -Reproductive health groups and other advocacy
organizations are seizing on Azar's appearance on the Hill today to call,
again, for the HHS secretary to fire the controversial leader of the Office of
Refugee Resettlement.
Lloyd has been sued for his policy of halting
abortions among undocumented minors in his office's care, a legal battle that's
gone all the way to the Supreme Court. Senate HELP Committee ranking member
Patty Murray and other Democrats on Wednesday called for Lloyd to be fired. [POLITICO Pulse, March 15, 2018]
HHS
Secretary Alex Azar heads to the Hill to testify about the budget, and
President Donald Trump is planning a trip to New Hampshire to talk opioids.
But
first: The long-simmering battle over the 340B program takes center stage
today.
SENATE HELP COMMITTEE TO ASK IF 340B NEEDS HELP - A
federal drug discount program "can make a difference to the hospitals and
health centers who couldn't otherwise stretch their resources far enough to
care for [low-income] communities," the top Democrat on the Senate HELP
committee plans to say at today's hearing, the strongest defense of the program
yet by a Congressional leader, POLITICO's David Pittman reports.
While
admitting that transparency and accountability are beneficial, Sen. Patty Murray called CMS's recent 28.5 percent cut in Medicare payments
for certain 340B drugs "unnecessary," adding it doesn't address
skyrocketing drug costs.
- What Lamar
Alexander will
say: According to prepared remarks shared with PULSE, the committee
chairman will ask if changes to the 340B drug discount program are needed to
ensure that it's fulfilling its mission. He'll also seek to clarify what that
mission is.
- How we got here: The
340B program, which requires drugmakers to give steep discounts to hospitals
and clinics that serve large numbers of low-income patients, has been the
subject of intense lobbying. At stake - $6 billion in discounts that hospitals
and drug companies have been battling over.
Witnesses
at this morning's hearing represent PhRMA, public hospitals, community health
centers and hospital pharmacists. [POLITICO Pulse, March 15, 2018]
Did Gilead fail to disclose taxpayers' role in key Hep C
drug patent? That's what a group called Knowledge
Ecology International is
asking, suggesting that Gilead may have failed to disclose that one patent on
its blockbuster Sovaldi was developed with the use of taxpayer funds,
POLITICO's Sarah Karlin-Smith reports. Such disclosure is mandated under the
Bayh-Dole Act, which also gives the government the ability to
"march-in" and break the patent rights if the product isn't available
to the public on reasonable terms.
Many
groups have argued the high prices of drugs like Sovaldi calls for the
government to exercise this right, but NIH has disagreed with this
interpretation.
Knowledge
Ecology International sent a letter to HHS requesting that the government investigate the
matter - and take possession of the patent if Gilead did not properly disclose.
The patent at issue was owned by Pharmasset, which originally developed the Hep
C drug. Gilead later acquired the company. Gilead said its policy is to fully disclose
appropriate grants and contributions. It is reviewing KEI's letter. [POLITICO Pulse, March 15, 2018]
 |
| CYBERSECURITY |
A REPORT IN FOCUS:
A new Microsoft report highlights a number of threat trends the
company says continue to affect computer and cloud systems.
The latest Microsoft Security Intelligence Report says botnets,
a network of private computers infected with malicious software, continue to
infect computer systems around the world.
"Microsoft analyzed over 44,000 malware samples, which
uncovered the botnet's sprawling infrastructure," according to a
Thursday blog post on the findings.
In addition to active botnet use, the report found ransomware
"remains a force to be reckoned with."
Three ransomware outbreaks in 2017 largely affected corporate
networks as well as hospitals, transportation, and traffic systems: WannaCrypt,
Petya/NotPetya, and BadRabbit.
The motivation for money appears to be the driving force of the
cyber hackers behind the attacks, while the region receiving the brunt of the
attacks was Asia.
"The ransomware attacks observed last year were very
destructive and moved at an incredibly rapid pace," the report found.
"Because of the automated propagation techniques, they
infected computers faster than any human could respond and they left most
victims without access to their files indefinitely."
The threats are interrelated: Certain botnet attacks distribute
ransomware, it found.
In addition to these malicious software attacks, cybercriminals
have sought out easy targets, particularly because going after "low
hanging fruit" is less costly in regards to time and effort than it is to
hone in on systems with security measures in place.
The solution? Microsoft proposes standard security practices
like "keeping software and security solutions up-to-date" as well as
raising awareness with employees about the latest phishing approaches that
hackers are using. [Overnight Cybersecurity, March 15, 2018]
 |
| SENATOR BOB CORKER |
"Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Foreign Relations
Committee, is 'hopeful' that his panel can approve a new authorization next
month affecting the Trump administration's war powers, he said on Wednesday.
"Corker told reporters that he foresaw 'a chance of being
successful in April' at winning committee passage of a new Authorization for
the Use of Military Force, underscoring that he couldn't commit to a timetable
to release a measure that has required intensive consultations with colleagues.
'We've been working at it ever since we began this year,' he said.
"His comments come as the Senate prepares to vote as soon
as early next week on a bipartisan resolution that aims to force an end to the
administration's support for a Saudi-led coalition that's engaged in the Yemeni
civil war." [POLITICO's Morning Defense,
March 15, 2018]
NOTE: The news sources here vary. Not all sources have the same credibility, but in an effort to share some different perspectives, they are included here. This compendium itself cannot claim to be unbiased. Please take into consideration where these different perspectives originate in assessing their value. Thank you
NOTE: I have no official connection to any organization from which information is shared.. Occasionally, I post informational material and/or an opportunity to donate or join as a "community service" announcement. These again are shared for their varying perspectives.
Any books listed are random or topic-related to something else in the post. Think of these as a "library bookshelf" to browse. They are shared for informational or entertainment value only, not as being recommended
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