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People are dying because of our national healthcare policies









DAILY SPECIALS










JOHN F. KELLY  
Chief of Staff



W.H. STAFF 'HAS NO CONFIDENCE' IN KELLY TALKING TO MEDIA: POLITICO's Annie Karni reports on frustration over chief of staff John Kelly's recent interview with NPR, in which he said undocumented immigrants "don't have the skills" to assimilate in the U.S. and suggested it's not cruel to separate parents from their young children. "The staff has no confidence that he can handle any media," one former White House aide told Karni. "They can't figure out how to get him to do any interview without screwing up." [Morning Media, May 14, 2018]



READ







SCREEN






POLITICS










MARIJUANA






JUDICIAL MATTERS



DISCOVERY IN ENTREPRENEUR RULE CASE: The plaintiffs in a lawsuit over the Obama-era international entrepreneur rule filed a discovery motion Wednesday to find out whether the Trump administration complied with a court order to proceed with its implementation.
The administration moved in July 2017 to delay the start date of the rule, which allows certain startup founders to remain in the U.S. for up to five years on "parole." But a federal judge in D.C. ordered that the rule take effect as scheduled, since the administration had not followed proper rulemaking procedures. USCIS Director Francis Cissna said in an early April letter that no parole requests had been approved under the program, which some have dubbed a "startup visa." Later that month, Bloomberg reported that only 10 people had applied for parole through the program. The administration is expected to soon issue a rule to roll it back.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit to preserve the program haven't given up. The National Venture Capital Association said in it discovery motion that it has "grave concerns" about whether the administration has ignored the court's order to allow the program to move forward. The industry group contends it has filed three parole applications through the program, but the applications haven't been adjudicated. Read the motion here. [POLITICO's Morning Shift, May 11, 2018]



ISIS




Shoot-out at high noon in eastern Syria. Someone with artillery tried to attack the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces near the eastern city of Dayr Az Zawr at noon Thursday, CENTCOM said in a statement. As a result, and with little detail, the "SDF responded in self-defense, resulting in the destruction of one artillery piece."
FWIW: CENTCOM said it carried out one airstrike Thursday near Dayr Az-Zawr, and credited the destroyed artillery piece in that strike to Daesh, or ISIS.
ISIS is still making car bombs. And two days before, near the border with Iraq, two airstrikes are said to have destroyed five different car bomb factories near the cities of Abu Kamal and Al Shadaddi.
For the record: ISIS is down to its last two percent of territory it once held in Iraq and Syria, Stars and Stripes reported from the USS Harry Truman — which is "pounding" ISIS in Syria from the carrier's position in the Mediterranean Sea. [The D Brief, May 11, 2018]




In early 2017, veteran venture capital firm CRV decided to raise a dedicated growth equity fund that would be led by General Atlantic vet Brett Rochkind. In short, the bi-coastal firm believed its dedicated to early-stage investing had cost it opportunities, both in terms of follow-on investments for existing portfolio companies and later-stage rounds for select companies where it had passed on the Series A (e.g., Ring).
  • The plan, as we reported, was to raise up to $400 million for the growth equity fund and another $400 million for CRV's 17th flagship fund. The first page of its investor pitch-deck said: "One team, two funds."
  • CRV got over $700 million in total commitments, including $400 million for the early-stage flagship.
  • But the firm changed its mind before calling any capital for either fund. CRV instead worked with LPs to close on $600 million for a single vehicle that includes an allocation of up to $150 million for growth equity.
  • The extra $130 million was effectively given back, which means some investors were pared back and others were knocked out altogether. (some of you might recall that CRV was among several VC firms that returned lots of uncalled capital during the dotcom bust, deciding it had raised more than they could reasonably invest.)
  • Rochkind will step down as a CRV partner, but will remain a senior advisor.
What happened: My understanding is that this was mostly an issue of cultural fit. For example, Rochkind wanted a private equity-type staffing model (i.e., junior analysts) that was anathema to CRV's mentorship-driven process for venture associates. Sources insist that there is no personal animus between CRV and Rochkind, just that the two sides realized that "one team, two funds" was easier said than done.

CRV statement to Axios: "CRV is one of first firms in country to raise a 17th fund and we are incredibly honored by the support from the two audiences that matter most: Entrepreneurs and LPs. The new fund allows us to execute on our continued early-stage focus but with an additional mandate to invest in very selective growth opportunities we believe can drive venture returns." [Axios Pro Rata: Friday, May 11]

• Jeneration Capital Management of Hong Kong is raising $800 million for a new growth equity fund focused on consumer tech investments, per Bloomberg. http://axios.link/6Gaa  [Axios Pro Rata: Friday, May 11]



IMMIGRATION





WAPO's MIKE DEBONIS: "Ryan aims to quash GOP-led rebellion trying to force votes on immigration": "Ryan (R-Wis.) told reporters he would 'like to' take up an immigration bill, one day after 17 Republicans signed a petition that would force votes on a number of immigration bills. A discharge petition is a rarely successful legislative maneuver that overrides the speaker's power to determine what legislation comes to the House floor.
"'Going down a path and having some kind of a spectacle on the floor that just results in a veto doesn't solve the problem,' Ryan said, suggesting that President Trump would reject the bills that the petition would discharge. 'We actually would like to solve this problem, and that is why I think it's important for us to come up with a solution that the president can support.'" https://wapo.st/2jP32aP

-- IF YOU'RE A HOUSE REPUBLICAN or Democrat, for that matter, who wants immigration reform, leadership's cajoling probably sounds pretty hollow, as they've been saying they want to get an immigration bill done for a while and have made no progress whatsoever. [POLITICO Playbook, May 11, 2018]



ICE, DEPORTATION & EXPULSION     





ICE top official Thomas Homan — a vocal advocate for Trump's immigration crackdown — intends to depart next month. [POLITICO's Morning Shift, May 11, 2018]


Vitiello for ICE?: The administration official tells Morning Shift that the White House has considered acting CBP Deputy Commissioner Ron Vitiello to replace Homan as the top ICE official. Vitiello became Border Patrol chief in February 2017 and was tapped for the acting CBP deputy role that April. The idea of a Border Patrol official at ICE might seem a bit odd, but it isn't without precedent. During the Obama administration, Thomas Winkowski made a similar move from CBP to ICE in 2014. [POLITICO's Morning Shift, May 11, 2018]










START YOUR ENGINES: Competing voices will be on full display today when Trump meets with automakers that will plead their case on fuel efficiency standards. The goal for the manufacturers: Beat back the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's strict plan and persuade the White House to reach a compromise with California. Top executives from Ford, General Motors and Toyota, as well as the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and the Global Automakers, will warn that NHTSA's plan would lead to a market split, creating uncertainty across the country.

Wait, what's going on? DOT, which found itself in the backseat during the Obama administration, has switched roles with EPA under Trump. The department has been driving the internal debate over what to do about the Obama-era rules carmakers have said are too onerous for them to meet, Pro Energy's Eric Wolff reports. The most aggressive options — and the one automakers are trying to avoid — would freeze fuel efficiency standards at 2020 levels and revoke California's authority to set its own greenhouse gas limits on tailpipe emissions. If that were to move forward, the administration would find itself in a legal battle with California and a host of states, which have prevailed in court in the past. [POLITICO's Morning Transportation, May 11. 2018]



HHS





HHS IS DIVIDED OVER NATIVE AMERICAN WORK REQUIREMENTS, PUNTS IT TO THE STATES — The Office of General Counsel, which decided that the tribes shouldn't get an exemption from Medicaid work requirements because it would constitute an illegal racial preference, hasn't budged on that decision.
However, the lawyers' perspective isn't shared by the agency's leaders, POLITICO's Dan Diamond and Rachana Pradhan scooped last night. CMS Administrator Seema Verma — who has championed Medicaid work requirements and has granted them in four states — is "fine" with giving the tribes an exemption, according to three people who have spoken with her.

... While Verma and other leaders have told the tribes that they should work with states to get exemptions, that hasn't resolved the contentious question at the center of the dispute: Are the tribes sovereign governments, as detailed in the Constitution and upheld by the Supreme Court, or are they racial groups as HHS lawyers have argued? [POLITICO Pulse, May 11, 2018]



CYBERSECURITY




PRO-ENCRYPTION BILL LAUDED — Privacy and civil liberty groups hailed a bipartisan group of House lawmakers for resurrecting legislation that would prevent tech companies from building "backdoors" into their devices. As first reported Thursday in MC, the members introduced a tweaked version of the Secure Data Act , which would prevent courts from issuing orders to break encryptions. The new measure "will help ensure that in a time of heightened threats to national and digital security, users and businesses are able to rely on strong encryption without the risk of imposed vulnerabilities," Ed Black, the president and CEO of the Computer and Communications Industry Association, said in a statement.

The bipartisan bill "could not come at a better time," according to Robyn Greene, the policy counsel and government affairs lead for the Open Technology Institute at the think tank New America. "Despite reports that tools giving law enforcement access to the contents of encrypted devices are increasingly available and affordable, the FBI and DOJ are unrelenting in their attacks on strong encryption." [POLITICO's Morning Cybersecurity, May 11, 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 commercial or business interest information shared is purely informational, not an endorsement.  I have no connection with any such commercial or business interest.

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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