A Look at the News — 2017.01.13

Elko Daily Free Press – Commentary: Cortez Masto opposes Sessions nomination – Following the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing on the nomination of Senator Jeff Sessions to serve as U.S. Attorney General in the Trump Administration, Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto released the following statement opposing his nomination: “As a former Attorney General and a former federal prosecutor, I take very seriously the important role that our nation’s top law enforcement officer plays in our system of government. That’s why I remain deeply concerned about the President-elect’s choice of Senator Sessions to lead the Department of Justice. I am troubled by the controversial and racially insensitive rhetoric Senator Sessions has used in the past, as well as his far-right positions on issues ranging from immigration and criminal justice reform to civil rights and voting rights. This is not personal – it is about his record and his views. As the next Attorney General, Senator Sessions would have enormous prosecutorial discretion, and his record in public office indicates to me that he often hasn’t recognized the humanity of the people hurt by his extreme positions, whether it’s undocumented immigrants or the African American community or LGBT Americans. After an ugly and divisive election season, many of my constituents in Nevada are fearful about what lies ahead. They deserve an Attorney General who they can trust to vigorously defend their rights and uphold our laws with impartiality. At a time when our nation needs to come together and heal, Senator Sessions is not the right choice to lead the DOJ and I cannot support this nomination.” LINK

RJ – Poll: Cutting Planned Parenthood over abortion issue could carry political cost for Dean Heller – President-elect Donald Trump has praised Planned Parenthood for providing health care, but nonetheless said he supports defunding the group so long as it continues to provide abortions. (Planned Parenthood’s 2014 annual report has said abortion constituted just 3 percent of its services.) Now, those favoring defunding will find a mixed reception in Nevada’s delegation. Reps. Dina Titus, Ruben Kihuen and Jackie Rosen are all no votes, while Rep. Mark Amodei voted in 2015 to defund the organization. In the Senate, newly elected junior Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto has already issued a statement opposing the effort. “Since Republicans also want to slash funding for community health centers, they will have to explain why they want to deny so many American families affordable access to services like cancer screenings, birth control and [sexually transmitted disease] testing,” Cortez Masto said. And Sen. Dean Heller — who before he was elected to Congress said he was pro-choice — has consistently voted to deny sending taxpayer money to the organization. But a new poll shows defunding may be a danger for Heller as he gears up for re-election in 2018. LINK

Nevada Appeal – Jim Hartman: Question 2: Nevada legalizes marijuana – Effective Jan. 1, Nevada made commercial cultivation, sale and possession of recreational marijuana legal. The state had previously decriminalized the drug for small quantity possession, and marijuana was already legally available for medical use. Question 2 passed in spite of opposition from “big name” political leaders and organizations. Republican Governor Brian Sandoval (“categorically opposed”) and Democratic Senator Harry Reid (“very, very dubious”) were noteworthy opponents. Both Senate candidates, Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto and Republican Dr. Joe Heck, opposed Question 2. Likewise, two former Nevada Governors, Republican Robert List and Democrat Richard Bryan, were against it. GOP opponents also included Attorney General Adam Laxalt, Lt. Gov. Mark Hutchison, Reps. Mark Amodei and Crescent Hardy, and Sen. Dean Heller. LINK

Richmond Free Press – Congressional Black Caucus poised for tougher action under new administration – For almost eight years, the members of the Congressional Black Caucus existed in the shadow of the first African-American president. They praised President Obama’s achievements while at the same time pushing him to do more for their constituents who overwhelmingly supported his history-making campaign and administration. But with President Obama set to leave the White House on Friday, Jan. 20, African-American lawmakers in the House of Representatives and the Senate are recalculating and reassessing their place in Washington. And realizing they’re regaining the limelight as the most visible and powerful African-American politicians in the nation’s capital. Also serving on Capitol Hill are the first Indian-American senator; 38 Hispanic lawmakers, including Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, the first Latina senator; and 15 Asian-Americans. LINK

Regeneración – Texas Congressman Compares Russian Hack with Vicente Fernández

WaPo – Nation’s first Latina senator: GOP congressman’s claims of Mexican election influence are ‘immature’ – The nation’s first Latina senator calls a GOP congressman’s claims of Mexican influence on the U.S. elections “pathetic” and “immature.” Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), who is of Mexican descent and took office last week, dismissed Rep. Michael K. Conaway’s comparison of Mexican entertainers who campaigned for Democratic candidates as “foreign influence,” similar to the email hacking that intelligence agencies say was guided by the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin. “There is literally no basis for any comparison between Latino entertainers hitting the campaign trail in Nevada and Vladimir Putin directing cyberwarfare to undermine American democracy,” she said in a statement. “Congressman Conaway’s offensive and immature comments are an insult to so many people in Nevada and across the country who value their Mexican heritage and culture. This is a pathetic attempt to try to diminish the intelligence community’s consensus that Russia meddled in the 2016 election to boost Donald Trump. Congressman Conaway’s comments are unacceptable.” LINK

The Hill – Carson likely to roll back housing equality rule – Ben Carson, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to run the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), signaled Thursday that he might roll back an Obama administration regulation aimed at reducing housing discrimination in cities. Two hours into the hearing, freshman Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) also asked about the Fair Housing Act and the Obama administration regulation that strengthened it. The law is “one of the best pieces in legislation we’ve had,” she said. “LBJ said no one can possibly question it, and I agree,” Carson said, referring to President Lyndon B. Johnson, who signed the Fair Housing Act into law. Would Carson continue enforcing the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule, Cortez Masto asked. “I will be working with the local HUD officials and the community to make sure that fairness is carried out,” he said, remaining noncommittal. LINK

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UPI – Ben Carson says he’d work for all Americans, refuses to vow Trump won’t benefit

 E&E Daily – Lawmakers maneuver to keep waste out of their states – Lawmakers in both chambers of Congress are jockeying to keep nuclear waste out of their states, a fight that zeroes in on the fate of the stalled Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository under the incoming Trump administration. The issue of Yucca also likely surfaced when Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D), Reid’s replacement, met with Trump’s pick to lead DOE, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R). Perry’s confirmation hearing has been set for Thursday before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, a panel on which Cortez Masto sits. LINK

Vanity Fair – Senate Republicans Being Obamacare Repeal without a Replacement Plan – Encouraged, perhaps, by President-Elect Donald Trump’s vague declaration Wednesday that his plan to “repeal and replace” Obamacare would happen “almost simultaneously,” Senate Republicans took the first major step toward dismantling President Barack Obama’s sprawling, signature health-care law. McConnell and Ryan have pushed for a piecemeal approach in part because it lays the groundwork for an “Obamacare cliff,” which would force Democrats to play ball or risk a political nightmare where millions of people could lose their health insurance. But Democrats have indicated they are subscribing to the Pottery Barn rule: “You break it, you own it.” During Thursday’s vote, a number of Democratic senators including Elizabeth Warren, Al Franken, Robert Casey, and Catherine Cortez Masto, among others, protested the decision by dedicating their “Nos” to the individuals who might lose health care in the aftermath of the Obamacare repeal. LINK

RJ – Aria alleges former executive took trade secrets to woo high rollers to Cosmopolitan – Two casino titans on the Strip are waging a battle in federal court that offers a window into the competitive world of luring high rollers to play in casinos. The case hinges on whether a former Aria executive took and used trade secrets and if she’s violating the non-compete clause of the contract she had before leaving the Aria to work at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. Aria is suing a former executive, Mi Morse, and The Cosmopolitan, alleging Morse took Aria’s confidential information before leaving in late 2016 and is now using it to solicit Aria’s most well-heeled customers to gamble at The Cosmopolitan, which is connected by a pedestrian bridge to Aria. The lawsuit was filed Dec. 29, and a hearing unfolded Thursday before U.S. District Judge Richard Boulware. LINK

Desert Valley Times – Council clears way to license RMJ sales – There will be no local referendum for citizens of the city of Mesquite to voice their opinion on recreational marijuana. The Mesquite City Council, in a 3-2 vote, repealed section 2-14-1 (8) of Mesquite’s Municipal Code during Tuesday’s meeting, paving the way for the city to approve business licenses for recreational marijuana dispensaries. Council members George Rapson, Geno Withelder, and Rich Green voted in favor of the repeal, while new council members Dave Ballweg and Brian Wursten voted against the repeal. LINK

Nevada NewsMakers – ‘Job One’ for Assemblywoman Tolles is to make sure GOP education gains of 2015 are not undone in 2017 – When the Republicans had the majority in both houses of the 2015 Nevada Legislature, the GOP was able to push through a menu of education reforms. Democrats, who will be in control of both houses when the 2017 Legislature begins in February, have vowed to undo some of those. So “Job One” at the 2017 session for incoming Assemblywoman Jill Tolles, R-Reno, is to help make sure the Legislature’s work in 2015 is not undone in 2017. “We need to keep the reforms that were put in place,” Tolles said during an interview on Nevada Newsmakers. “There was some mighty, mighty good work done this last session and we need to continue to support those programs to make sure they have time to work and I believe they will.” Atop the list of GOP gems from 2015 that may have a short lifespan under Democratic control is the Education Savings Accounts bill. LINK

Sierra Sun – Strides made in Tahoe-Truckee affordable housing conversation – This past year saw an elevation in the conversation on the issue of affordable housing at Lake Tahoe. With public forums raising awareness, organizations releasing data on an issue that previously was only understood anecdotally and a new multi-agency taskforce in place, the basin is poised for action. In August, the Tahoe Regional Young Professionals assembled a panel of experts for a town hall on affordable housing, and together with hundreds of residents in attendance and tuning in via webcast, a discussion was held on the numerous basin-wide issues tied to affordable housing. Low-wage seasonal work, developmental restrictions due to environmental preservation, second-home owners and vacation rentals, low (and predominately poor quality) housing inventory, high rental and purchasing costs — all of these issues contribute to the problem of affordable housing. LINK

KVVU – NV Democratic lawmakers want McCarran statue removed – One of the most famous senators from Nevada may have his statue removed from the U.S. Capitol. You might not know Sen. Patrick McCarran, but you know his legacy. McCarran was responsible for Las Vegas international airport, changing the future of airports and the airline industry. Despite this, current lawmakers in the Silver State want his statue gone, because they believe his legacy is racism. LINK

The Eureka Sentinel – USDA Rural Development invests $188M in rural Nevada in 2016 – USDA Rural Development invested over $188 million in support of housing, community facilities, water systems and businesses in rural Nevada in FY 2016, with a total of $1.35 billion obligated statewide since 2009. Of that, more than $1 billion was in the form of loan guarantees for rural homebuyers and businesses, which the agency’s director called “light on the taxpayer wallet.” LINK

Fox News Latino – Lawsuit: Mexican veterinarians hired by Idaho farm forced to work as laborers – Six Mexican veterinarians who say they were recruited to work at an Idaho dairy farm claim they were instead forced to work as laborers, milking cows and shoveling manure for about a year. They have filed a federal human trafficking lawsuit against the dairy’s owners and the lawyer who arranged work visas. Cesar Martinez-Rodriguez, Dalia Padilla-Lopez, Mayra Munoz-Lara, Brenda Gastelum-Sierra, Leslie Ortiz-Garcia and Ricardo Neri-Camacho say that their employers exploited their fear, inability to speak English, and unfamiliarity with the American legal system to force them to stay at the dairy from 2014 to 2015. LINK

Fox News Latino – Trump’s transition team meets with main US Hispanic organizations – The transition team of President-elect Donald Trump earlier this week met behind closed doors in Washington with representatives of some of the country’s most important Hispanic organizations, some of those present at the meeting told EFE speaking on condition of anonymity. The meeting occurred on Tuesday morning at Hillsdale College’s Kirby Center, located near the US Congress. Among the organizations attending the meeting were the National Council of La Raza, the League of United Latin American Citizens and the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, some of the groups that during the presidential campaign expressed their support for Trump’s Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton. LINK

El Tiempo Las Vegas – US Eliminates Automatic Residency for Cubans   

            Also Published In:

Telemundo Las Vegas – US Ends “Wet Feet, Dry Feet” Policy

            Telemundo Noticias – What Will Change and Continue for Cubans?

            EFE – Obama Ends Immigration Policy that Benefitted Undocumented Cubans

 Telemundo Las Vegas – Obama Ends Program for Dissident Cuban Doctors

 Univisión Noticias – Bipartisan Group Proposes New Bill to Expand Protection for DREAMers

 Univisión Noticias – FBI Chief to Be Investigated for Clinton Email Case

 Telemundo Noticias – Rubio Insinuates He Will Reestablish Asylum for Cuban Doctors

 La Opinión – Democratic and Republican Legislators Propose 3 Year Extension for DACA Recipients

 La Opinión – A Latina Could Become Second Female Councilwoman in Los Angeles

NYT – Comey Letter on Clinton Email Is Subject of Justice Dept. Inquiry – The Justice Department’s inspector general said Thursday that he would open a broad investigation into how the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, handled the case over Hillary Clinton’s emails, including his decision to discuss it at a news conference and to disclose 11 days before the election that he had new information that could lead him to reopen it. The inspector general, Michael E. Horowitz, will not look into the decision not to prosecute Mrs. Clinton or her aides. But he will review actions Mr. Comey took that Mrs. Clinton and many of her supporters believe cost her the election. LINK

WSJ – Health Care’s Bipartisan Problem: The Sick Are Expensive and Someone Has to Pay

Congress has begun the work of replacing the Affordable Care Act, and that means lawmakers will soon face the thorny dilemma that confronts every effort to overhaul health insurance: Sick people are expensive to cover, and someone has to pay. The 2010 health law, also known as Obamacare, forced insurers to sell coverage to anyone, at the same price, regardless of their risk of incurring big claims. That provision was popular. Not so were rules requiring nearly everyone to have insurance, and higher premiums for healthy people to subsidize the costs of the sick. If policyholders don’t pick up the tab, who will? Letting insurers refuse to sell to individuals with what the industry calls a “pre-existing condition”—in essence, forcing some of the sick to pay for themselves—is something both parties appear to have ruled out. Insurers could charge those patients more or taxpayers could pick up the extra costs, two ideas that are politically fraught. LINK

 WaPo – 6 young children killed in devastating house fire in Baltimore – As flames shot from windows of a home teetering on collapse, Robert Spencer saw his neighbor approach from the glow, her face blackened and burned. He had been awakened Thursday by the sound of shattering glass followed by a whoosh shortly after midnight. “Where are the babies?” Spencer asked Katie Malone as the heat grew more intense. “It’s three of them in the back yard,” she answered quietly, walking toward Spencer as if in slow motion, a numb look on her face. “Where are the other ones at?” Spencer asked. LINK

NYT – Democrats and Allies Wage Fight to Derail Labor Secretary Pick – Democrats on Capitol Hill, together with labor groups and other allies, are waging an unusually aggressive campaign to derail the nomination of Andrew Puzder as labor secretary. Mr. Puzder, chief executive of the company that franchises Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. fast-food restaurants, has been a lightning rod as an outspoken foe of the Obama administration’s overtime regulation and the Affordable Care Act. It is not clear how the Democrats intend to flip any Republican votes in the committee or in the full Senate, as they will need to do to defeat the nomination. But if nothing else, the nomination battle has become a proxy for a larger struggle between labor and industry groups to shape public opinion on issues crucial to both. LINK

NYT –  C-Span Online Broadcast Interrupted by Russian Network – At 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, Representative Maxine Waters was on the floor of the House of Representatives, arguing for the importance of the Securities and Exchange Commission. “At this time,” Ms. Waters, Democrat of California, said, “with a bill that would basically take our cop on the block, the S.E.C., and literally obliterate ——” Alas, politics junkies, news editors and anyone else who was watching the broadcast online did not learn how that sentence ended. Ms. Waters was cut off. Instead, they heard the jangling music of a feed from RT, a state-run Russian television network that has been accused of helping its government interfere in the American election. Some on social media immediately assumed that the interruption, which lasted about 10 minutes, had nefarious implications. C-Span, in a statement, had a simpler explanation: It was probably a technical error. C-Span’s television broadcast continued uninterrupted. LINK

NYT – House Expected to Follow Senate’s Lead on Rush to Repeal Health Law – The House is expected to give final approval on Friday to a measure that would allow Republicans to speedily gut the Affordable Care Act with no threat of a Senate filibuster, a move that would thrust the question of what health law would come next front and center even before President-elect Donald J. Trump takes office. The House vote would come after the Senate narrowly approved the same measure, a budget blueprint, early Thursday morning. Americans woke up Thursday to the realization that a Republican Congress was serious about repealing President Obama’s signature domestic achievement — a move that could leave 20 million Americans unsure of their health coverage and millions more wondering if protections offered by the Affordable Care Act could soon be taken away. “This is a critical step forward, the first step toward bringing relief from this failed law,” Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, said. Democrats said the rush to repeal was the height of legislative irresponsibility and would endanger the health of millions. LINK

NYT –  Editorial: James Mattis: Toughness and Restraint at the Pentagon – James Mattis retired from the Marine Corps in 2013 as a four-star general with a folk-hero reputation, moved west and never imagined serving in government again, he said. But his testimony on Thursday before the Senate Armed Services Committee suggests the most consequential chapter of his career lies ahead. As President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to head the Defense Department, General Mattis has the potential to act as a restraint in an administration led by an impulsive and uninformed leader. General Mattis’s performance at the hearing, in which he answered questions directly and thoughtfully, felt like a brief reprieve from a chaotic presidential transition. It was encouraging that he had no qualms in stating views at odds with positions Mr. Trump campaigned on, including America’s relationship with Russia and the future of the Iran nuclear deal. It’s to Mr. Trump’s credit that he would appoint a strong-minded defense secretary who is likely to challenge assumptions held in the White House. LINK

WaPo – Anxious lawmakers to GOP leaders: What’s the plan to replace Obamacare? – House Republican leaders attempted to quell concerns of a skittish rank and file before a key vote Friday to begin unwinding the Affordable Care Act. The assurances came after lawmakers across the GOP’s ideological divides sounded anxious notes this week about advancing legislation that would repeal Obamacare without firm plans for its replacement. “We just want more specifics,” Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, said Wednesday. “We need to know what we’re going to replace it with.” Meadows said he was personally undecided on his vote Friday and that other caucus members were leaning toward no. Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.), chairman of the moderate Tuesday Group, said members of that caucus have “serious reservations” about starting the process without replacement plans spelled out. “We’d like to have this conversation prior to the repeal vote,” he said. Those jitters hint at a rocky road ahead as Republicans start trying to fulfill a long-standing campaign promise. They have forced GOP leaders to reassure lawmakers that they will not move precipitously and open Republicans to charges they threw the health-care system into chaos. LINK

NYT –  G.O.P. Lawmaker Hints at Investigating Ethics Chief Critical of Trump – The Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee on Thursday issued a stern letter, including a veiled threat of an investigation, to the federal government’s top ethics monitor, who this week had questioned President-elect Donald J. Trump’s commitment to confront his potential conflicts of interest. In an unusual action against the independent Office of Government Ethics, Representative Jason Chaffetz of Utah accused the office’s director, Walter M. Shaub Jr., of “blurring the line between public relations and official ethics guidance.” He cited a bizarre series of Twitter posts that the office made in late November congratulating Mr. Trump for divesting from his business — even though Mr. Trump had made no such commitment. Mr. Chaffetz also said that the office had failed to adequately investigate Hillary Clinton, based on allegations that she had not properly disclosed fees paid for speeches she gave after leaving her post as secretary of state. LINK

NYT – Why Trump’s Obamacare Promise Will Be So Hard to Keep – As a candidate back in July 2015, Donald J. Trump promised that he would repeal Obamacare and replace it with “something terrific.” The Senate voted, 51 to 48, on Thursday morning for a measure setting Congress on the path toward repealing President Obama’s health care law, and Mr. Trump is now a few days from taking office. The public, however, knows little more about his proposal than it did in 2015. In comments to The New York Times on Tuesday and in his news conference on Wednesday, Mr. Trump described when a Republican health reform bill would be released — “very quickly.” But he has yet to give details about the policies it would contain. LINK

NYT – C.I.A. Nominee Says He Won’t Balk at Seeking Russian Intelligence – The first battle that Representative Mike Pompeo prepared to fight was against the Russians, when he commanded a tank platoon in Germany in the twilight of the Cold War. On Thursday, he made clear he was ready to take on America’s old adversary if confirmed as director of the Central Intelligence Agency. But doing so may result in a battle closer to home: Mr. Pompeo and the C.I.A. versus President-elect Donald J. Trump, whose denigration of the nation’s intelligence agencies has opened an extraordinary breach between an incoming president and the spies who will serve him. The question hanging over Mr. Pompeo, and America’s 17 intelligence agencies, is how to handle a president who embraces President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia while the agency tries to keep Russia in check. So far, nothing in the C.I.A.’s 69-year history has prepared it to deal with a president who is as openly derisive of its work as Mr. Trump. LINK

NYT – Latest to Disagree With Donald Trump: His Cabinet Nominees – America should not torture. Russia is a menace. A wall at the Mexican border would not be effective. A blanket ban against Muslims is wrong. Climate change is a threat. Those statements are in direct opposition to some of the most significant declarations that President-elect Donald J. Trump made before his improbable ascension to the White House. They are also the words of his own nominees to lead the nation’s most important government agencies. In their first week of grilling before congressional panels, Mr. Trump’s cabinet nominees broke with him on almost every major policy that has put Mr. Trump outside Republican orthodoxy, particularly in the area of national security. LINK

NYT – Rudy Giuliani’s Cybersecurity Role Reflects Diminished Place in Trump World
For a brief moment, it looked as if America’s mayor just might become America’s diplomat. But for Rudolph W. Giuliani, the bombastic former mayor of New York City, a wild year of being one of President-elect Donald J. Trump’s most passionate surrogates did not, in the end, land him the high-profile administration job he has long coveted. Instead, Mr. Trump announced on Thursday that he would enlist Mr. Giuliani to share his “expertise and insight as a trusted friend” on the issue of cybersecurity. Mr. Giuliani, who has spent the last 16 years as a private security consultant, will “from time to time” assemble meetings between Mr. Trump and corporate executives who face cyberthreats, the transition team said. “We’ve let our defense fall behind,” Mr. Giuliani told reporters on Thursday during a conference call. “Our offense is way ahead of our defense.” LINK

NYT – James Mattis Strikes Far Harsher Tone Than Trump on Russia – James N. Mattis, the retired Marine Corps general, told Congress on Thursday that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia was trying to “break the North Atlantic alliance,” staking out a tougher stance on Russia during a confirmation hearing for defense secretary than his prospective commander in chief did on the campaign trail. “I’m all for engagement, but we also have to recognize reality,” General Mattis told the Senate Armed Services Committee. “There’s a decreasing number of areas where we can engage cooperatively and increasing numbers of areas where we’re going to have to confront Russia.” In a three-hour hearing, General Mattis argued for expanding the armed forces, improving the military’s readiness to go into battle on short notice and reinvigorating the North Atlantic Treaty Organization by maintaining a permanent armed American presence in Baltic nations to deter a Russian attack, among other steps. “My view is that nations with allies thrive and nations without allies don’t,” General Mattis said. LINK

WaPo – Trump names Goldman Sachs executive counselor on economic initiatives – President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday named Dina Powell, a Goldman Sachs executive who served in the George W. Bush administration, to a senior White House role, making Powell the latest alum of the prestigious bank to join Trump’s team. Powell has been advising Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, but in her new position she will be an assistant to Trump and senior counselor for economic initiatives. She will focus on “entrepreneurship, small business growth and the global economic empowerment of women,” according to a statement from Trump’s office. “I am proud to have her serve as a senior counselor in my administration, where I know she will produce great results working with the highly respected team of experts we have assembled,” Trump said. LINK

The Atlantic — Trump Announces Plan That Does Little to Resolve His Conflicts of Interest —  In his first news conference since July, President-elect Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he will turn his business over to his sons, who double as some of his closest political advisors.  LINK

The Hill — Federal ethics chief blasts ‘meaningless’ Trump business plan — Walter Shaub, the Director of the Office of Government Ethics, called Trump’s business move “meaningless.” He added, “We can’t risk the perception that government leaders would use their official positions for professional profit.” LINK

NYT – Obama Ends Exemption for Cubans Who Arrive Without Visas  – President Obama said Thursday that he was terminating the 22-year-old policy that has allowed Cubans who arrived on United States soil without visas to remain in the country and gain legal residency, an unexpected move long sought by the Cuban government. “Effective immediately, Cuban nationals who attempt to enter the United States illegally and do not qualify for humanitarian relief will be subject to removal, consistent with U.S. law and enforcement priorities,” Mr. Obama said in a statement. “By taking this step, we are treating Cuban migrants the same way we treat migrants from other countries.” The move places a finishing touch on Mr. Obama’s efforts as president to end a half-century of hostility between the United States and Cuba and to establish normalized relations and diplomatic ties with a government American presidents have long sought to isolate and punish. LINK

USA Today – Obama ends ‘wet foot, dry foot’ policy for Cubans — President Obama hasannounced an end to the 20-year-old “wet foot, dry foot” policy that allowed most Cuban migrants who reach U.S. soil to stay and become legal permanent residents after one year.  He issued a statement Thursday evening saying the U.S. is working to normalize relations with its one-time foe, and ending this policy was the next logical step.  “Effective immediately, Cuban nationals who attempt to enter the United States illegally and do not qualify for humanitarian relief will be subject to removal,” Obama said. “By taking this step, we are treating Cuban migrants the same way we treat migrants from other countries.” LINK

NYT – Obama Surprises Joe Biden With Presidential Medal of Freedom – President Obama surprised Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Thursday by bestowing the Presidential Medal of Freedom on him, calling Mr. Biden “my brother” in a tearful goodbye in the East Room of the White House. Having called Mr. Biden and his wife, Jill, to the White House for a private farewell, the president instead brought him into a room filled with his friends, family and colleagues to present him with the honor, the nation’s highest. For the first time, Mr. Obama awarded the medal with distinction, an added level of veneration that previous presidents had reserved for recipients like Pope John Paul II and Colin L. Powell, the former secretary of state. “To know Joe Biden is to know love without pretense, service without self-regard, and to live life fully,” Mr. Obama said during the televised ceremony, as Mr. Biden wiped tears from his eyes and dabbed at his nose with a handkerchief. LINK

WaPo – In its final days, the Obama administration is cracking down on companies – The Obama administration in its waning days is taking companies to task in a way that it generally did not in its early years — it is getting corporations to plead guilty and charging executives in connection with crimes. On Friday, the Justice Department is expected to announce that Takata will plead guilty to criminal misconduct related to the installation of faulty air bags in tens of millions of cars, according to people familiar with the matter. The move follows the arrest of a high-ranking Volkswagen executive last weekend and an admission of guilt by the automaker to criminal wrongdoing. Six executives were indicted this week on charges including defrauding the government and violating environmental regulations. On Thursday, the Environmental Protection Agency accused Fiat Chrysler of installing software that enabled 104,000 diesel-engine vehicles to emit far more pollutants than emissions laws allow. The charges echo Volkswagen’s scandal, though the extent of criminal wrongdoing remains unclear. Fiat Chrysler says the software, the use of which was not disclosed to the EPA, meets necessary regulations. In its early years, the Obama presidency was grappling with the collapse of big financial firms, whose behavior almost toppled the global economy. Hardly any executive of a global bank faced criminal charges, though the lack of prosecutions may have been in part because proving criminal intent in the trading of complex financial instruments is difficult, some officials noted. LINK

WaPo – Obama names five new national monuments, including Southern civil rights sites – President Obama declared five new national monuments Thursday, ranging from a Birmingham, Ala., church bombed by segregationists to the coniferous forests of Oregon. He has now used his executive authority more than any other president to protect iconic historic, cultural and ecological sites across the country. Three new monuments in the South, all of which have bipartisan support, exemplify Obama’s push to expand America’s shared national identity through the narrative it tells with its public lands. Two of them, in Birmingham and Anniston, Ala., were sites of violent acts perpetrated against African American children and an interracial group of civil rights activists. The third, in Beaufort, S.C., commemorates the period between the Civil War and the push for segregation in the 1890s when freed slaves worked to establish schools and communities of their own. LINK

NYT – E.P.A. Accuses Fiat Chrysler of Secretly Violating Emissions Standards – The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday accused Fiat Chrysler of installing secret software that allowed more than 100,000 of its diesel vehicles to emit pollutants above legal levels. The case has echoes of one against Volkswagen, which on Wednesday pleaded guilty to criminal conspiracy as part of a widespread emissions-cheating scheme. In both cases, the government focused on software in vehicles that can adjust emissions levels. The accusations against Fiat Chrysler also appeared to be part of a last push by the Obama administration to finish investigations and negotiations involving companies. The emissions breach described by the government “threatens public health by polluting the air we breathe,” said Cynthia Giles, an assistant administrator at the E.P.A. She said the software in question resulted in excess emissions of nitrogen oxides, which have harmful health effects. LINK

WSJ – Forecasters See Upside Risks to Their Economic Outlooks at Highest in More Than Two Years – The election of Donald Trump has economic forecasters thinking hard about something that hasn’t been a problem for a while: upside risks. Each month, The Wall Street Journal’s survey of academic, financial and business economists asks for estimates of gross domestic product, inflation, unemployment and a range of other key economic indicators. Forecasters are also asked to assess whether the risk to their forecast is to the upside or the downside. In other words, what’s more likely: that growth overperforms or disappoints? In the most recent survey, 64% of respondents said the risk was to the upside, the highest in over two years, and a reversal from the mood of recent years, which was focused on potential risks from a global economic slowdown. LINK

WSJ – Justice Department and Baltimore Agree on Plan to Reform Policing – With a week left in President Barack Obama’s tenure, the U.S. Department of Justice struck an agreement with Baltimore aimed at rooting out endemic unconstitutional practices in the city’s Police Department. The 227-page proposed consent decree requires the Police Department to put in place a raft of new policies and training programs, to take steps to ensure that all stops, searches and arrests are constitutional, and to use de-escalation techniques to resolve incidents without force. It spells out in detail when officers can use force and how such actions are to be reported to supervisors. “We have no illusions that change is easy or that it comes about overnight,” U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said at a news conference. Asked about the possibility that President-elect Donald Trump’s administration could undo her agency’s work, she said that because the agreement is court-enforceable, “it will live on.” The pact still requires a judge’s approval. LINK

WSJ – Amazon Touts Job-Creation Plans, Patching Up Rift With Trump – Amazon.com Inc. on Thursday said it plans to create more than 100,000 full-time jobs in the U.S. within the next 18 months, leveraging plans already in the works in part to patch up its contentious relationship with President-elect Donald Trump. The additional jobs would swell Amazon’s U.S. workforce to 280,000, compared with 30,000 in 2011. However, the online retail giant’s rapid growth has kneecapped traditional retailers including Macy’s Inc. and Sears Holdings Corp., which have been closing stores and cutting jobs by the thousands. Amazon said many of the new positions will be at already-announced warehouses under construction in Texas, California, Florida and New Jersey. Others will be in areas such as cloud technology, machine learning and advanced logistics—some of which eliminate jobs, experts say. “Innovation is one of our guiding principles at Amazon, and it’s created hundreds of thousands of American jobs,” said Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos. LINK

WaPo – U.S. government has ‘dismally failed’ to educate Native American children, lawsuit alleges – The federal government has repeatedly acknowledged and even lamented its failure to provide adequate education for Native American children. Now, nine Native children are taking to the courts to force Washington to take action. The children are all members of the Havasupai Nation, whose ancestral homelands are in and around the Grand Canyon. They attend an elementary school that is run by the federal Bureau of Indian Education and is, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday, hardly recognizable as a school at all. Havasupai Elementary School does not teach any subjects other than English and math, according to the complaint; there is no instruction in science, history, social studies, foreign language, or the arts. There aren’t enough textbooks or a functioning library or any after-school sports teams or clubs, according to the complaint. There are so many and such frequent teacher vacancies that students are allegedly taught often by non-certified staff, including the janitor, or they are taught by a series of substitutes who rotate in for two-week stints. The school shuts down altogether for weeks at a time. LINK

NYT – South Korea’s Blacklist of Artists Adds to Outrage Over Presidential Scandal – When the South Korean artist Hong Sung-dam produced a painting that depicted President Park Geun-hye as a scarecrow manipulated by evil forces, including her dictator father, her senior aides discussed how to “punish” Mr. Hong, according to a diary one of them kept. Soon after the painting’s completion in August 2014, the retaliation began as planned in the aide’s diary, which surfaced in November in the investigation into the corruption scandal that has led to Ms. Park’s impeachment trial. First, a pro-government civic group sued Mr. Hong on charges of defaming Ms. Park. Then his work was excluded from the Gwangju Biennale, South Korea’s best-known international arts festival, an act Gwangju’s mayor later admitted was due to government pressure.  The retaliation did not stop there, Mr. Hong said. “Dozens of conservative activists showed up in front of my apartment like a goon squad, shaking my photographs and calling me a ‘Communist painter,’” he said. “I received death threats on the phone.” LINK

NYT – Trump’s Pick on Trade Could Put China in a Difficult Spot – As a top trade official, he limited the Japanese cars and steel coming into the United States. He halted talks with China on a deal that would encourage investment between the two countries. And he tried to give American exporters an edge with special tax breaks. When it comes to problems troubling working-class Americans and manufacturers, Robert Lighthizer, President-elect Donald J. Trump’s nominee for trade representative, has historically blamed the United States’ trading partners, advocating aggressive retaliation for what he regards as widespread abuses of free-trade rules. It is a philosophy that he developed in the 1980s as a deputy United States trade representative and fine-tuned in the decades-long career that followed as the main trade lawyer for the American steel industry. Now he appears ready to train that focus sharply on China. “It seems clear that the U.S. manufacturing crisis is related to our trade with China,” Mr. Lighthizer said in testimony to a congressional commission in 2010. LINK