Trump Administration

59 U.S. universities are backing the lawsuit filed by Harvard and MIT against the Trump administration trying to block a directive that would force international students to return to their home countries if all of their classes and coursework were taken remotely.

After Harvard and MIT filed their lawsuit on Wednesday in a federal court in Boston, dozens of other universities, including Duke and Standford and five other Ivy League colleges, submitted a so-call amicus brief.

According to a report by Axios, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows has told several staffers that he had fed suspected leakers with "nuggets of information" to see if they would forward it to the media. Axios reports that Meadows has only caught one person so far, who leaked minor information.

Former US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey Berman will appear before the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday to testify on the circumstances of his dismissal. Berman was fired by Trump at AG William Barr's request in June.

In a move that was considered to pressure universities to reopen, the Trump administration announced a directive on Monday that would force international students to return to their home countries if all of their classes and coursework were taken remotely.

"It appears that it was designed purposefully to place pressure on colleges and universities to open their on-campus classrooms for in-person instruction this fall, without regard to concerns for the health and safety of students, instructors, and others," so Lawrence S. Bacow, President of Harvard University.

In response to the directive, Harvard and M.I.T have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, seeking "a temporary restraining order and preliminary and permanent injunctive relief preventing Defendants from enforcing the policy announced in ICE’s July 6 Directive, or promulgating it as a Final Rule" and "a declaration that the policy announced in the July 6 Directive is unlawful."

A tweet by @NeilYoungNYA retweeted a video of footage of Trump's visit to Mount Rushmore, adding "This is NOT ok with me." He later added a second Tweet, stating "I stand in solidarity with the Lakota Sioux & this is NOT ok with me." Trump played three Neil Young songs during his speech at the Mount Rushmore National Memorial.

"Donald Trump was not authorised to use ‘Rockin’ In The Free World’ in his presidential candidacy announcement," so an official statement from Neil Young's management.

Dr Anthony Fauci warned Congress on Tuesday that, if the country doesn't take any action quickly against the current rise of Covid-19, the situation in the United States "could get very bad."

"We're going in the wrong direction," so Fauci. "We are now having 40-plus thousand new cases a day. I would not be surprised if we go up to 100,000 a day if this does not turn around."

Fauci attributes the surge in new cases to people not following guidelines as well as lifting restrictions too soon and too quickly. He further urges younger people to not think that they are "invulnerable" to the disease.

On Monday, Nancy Pelosi has asked the Trump administration to brief all members of the House on recent reports that Russia offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants to kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Trump has denied he had any knowledge of the Russian bounty operation.

In her letter, Pelosi wrote that both "Congress and the country need answers now" and that "Congress needs to know what the intelligence community knows about this significant threat to American troops and our allies and what options are available to hold Russia accountable."

According to Kayleigh McEnany, White House press secretary, members of the congress will be briefed on Monda,y but it's uncertain whether the brief would be open to all members.

Steven Mnuchin the United States Secretary of the Treasury has announced that family members of dead people who have accidentally gotten the "stimulus check" as Covid-19 support should pay back the money to the financial authorities. In total $1,4 billion have been paid to dead people because the authorities in charge ignored or forgot the official reports on dead people.

Trump administration health officials are testifying about the White House response to the coronavirus before the House Energy and Commerce Committee today. Among the health officials are Dr Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease expert and the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, and Dr Robert Redfield, Director of the C.D.C.

Fauci told the committee that he believed "it will be when and not if" a vaccine would be ready and that he is "cautiously optimistic" that one will be available by the end of 2020 or early 2021. He further warned that "we're now seeing a disturbing surge of infections" but that the coronavirus task force was not asked to slow testing.

A statement by the C.D.C. was released prior to the hearing, warning that "Covid-19 activity will likely continue for some time" and that the virus "could place a tremendous burden on the health care system related to bed occupancy, laboratory testing needs, personal protective equipment and health care worker safety."

Donald Trump announced on Twitter that he has "authorised" the Federal Government to "arrest anyone who vandalizes or destroys any monument, statue or other such Federal property in the U.S."

He further added that the "action is taken effective immediately" and that the offense would be punishable with "up to 10 years in prison."

This move comes after protestors have taken down Confederate statues and monuments while protesting against systemic racism and police brutality.

The former member of the European Parliament and former leader of the UK Independence Party Nigel Farage has attended the Donald Trump Rally in Tulsa. United States congressman Bennie G Thompson who chairs the committee on homeland security has now requested all documents and information on why the politician has been allowed to travel to the United States despite the ban on all travel from the United Kingdom due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Farage had gotten an exception under the "national interest" clause.

Many tech companies have spoken out against Trump's executive order signed on Monday, barring foreigners to seek employment in the United States. Amazon and Facebook both have released statements, with Amazon stating that the ban will "preventing high skilled professionals from entering the country and contributing to America's economic recovery puts American's global competitiveness at risk," so an Amazon spokesperson, and adding that the company will continue to "support efforts that will preserve their ability to strengthen our economy."

Microsoft President Brad Smith said that it was not the time to "cut our nation off from the world's talent or create uncertainty and anxiety" as "immigrants are contributing to this country at a time when we need them most."

Elon Musk took to Twitter where he replied to the New York Times, writing: "Very much disagree with this action. In my experience, these skillsets are net job creators. Visa reform makes sense, but this is too broad."

On Monday, Donald Trump signed an executive order to temporarily suspend new nonimmigrant work visas through 2020, barring foreigners to seek employment in the United States. The order freezes many different work visas, including H1-B (foreign workers in special occupations), H-2B (seasonal nonagricultural workers), J-1 (scholars and professors participating in cultural exchange programs) and L-1 (used to transfer existing employees to offices in the US).

U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth has rejected the Trump administration's request to delay the publication of Bolton's memoir "The Room Where It Happened". Judge Lamberth stated that the government had "failed to establish that an injunction will prevent irreparable harm," therefore he denied the motion and added that "with hundreds of thousands of copies around the globe — many in newsrooms — the damage is done".

Bolton was heavily criticised by Lamberth, who accused him of gambling with "national security of the United States" and further exposing the US to "harm and himself to civil (and potentially criminal) liability".

Shortly after the verdict, Trump took to Twitter where he wrote: "I finally agree with failed political consultant Steve Schmidt, who called Wacko John Bolton 'a despicable man who failed in his duty to protect America.'"

According to the New York Times, AG William Barr announced on Saturday that Donald Trump had fired Geoffrey Berman, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York who investigated several of Donald Trump's associates. Berman had issued a press release Friday night, stating "I have not resigned, and have no intention of resigning, my position," after Barr announced Berman's resignation.

In a statement, Barr wrote that Berman had "chosen public spectacle over public service" and further stating: "Because you have declared that you have no intention of resigning, I have asked the President to remove you as of today, and he has done so."

United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey Berman issued a press release shortly after William Barr announced Berman's resignation. "I learned in a press release from the Attorney General tonight that I was ‘stepping down’ as United States Attorney. I have not resigned, and have no intention of resigning, my position".

Berman has been in the office since 2018 and has investigated several of Donald Trump's associates. His office is investigating Rudy Giuliani and has prosecuted Michael Cohen, Trump's former attorney.

"I will step down when a presidentially appointed nominee is confirmed by the Senate. Until then, our investigations will move forward without delay or interruption. I cherish every day that I work with the men and women of this Office to pursue justice without fear or favor – and intend to ensure that this Office’s important cases continue unimpeded," so Berman in his statement.

In a press release late Friday night, AG William Barr announced the resignation of Geoffrey Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. "With tenacity and savvy, Geoff has done an excellent job leading one of our nation’s most significant U.S. Attorney’s Offices, achieving many successes on consequential civil and criminal matters. I appreciate his service to the Department of Justice and our nation, and I wish him well in the future," so the statement.

According to the statement, Donald Trump "intends to nominate Jay Clayton, currently the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission" for Berman's position and Barr recommends Craig Carpenito, US Attorney for the District of New Jersey, as intermediate SDNY US Attorney while "he Senate is considering Jay Clayton’s nomination", starting July 3.

In "The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir", John Bolton details his time as national security advisor and claims Trump said journalists, who he called "scumbags", should be jailed to force them to expose their sources and that they "should be executed".

The Trump administration has submitted an application to a district court on Wednesday to get an injunction and an emergency restraining order to stop the book from being published.

The Trump administration has filed a lawsuit to prevent the publication of former National Security Adviser John Bolton's new book "The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir". The complaint alleges that the book contains "classified information", with Trump adding that he considers "every conversation with me as president highly classified". Charles Cooper, Bolton's lawyer, said they would "respond in due course".

The memoir is set to be published on June 23 and is recounting Bolton's time at the White House and his experience with "a President for whom getting reelected was the only thing that mattered, even if it meant endangering or weakening the nation".

While the LGBTQ+ community is celebrating Pride Month, the Trump administration eliminated a regulation that prohibits discrimination in health care against transgender patients. The Affordable Care Act, aa Obama-era regulation commonly known as Obamacare, stated in section 1557 that it "prohibits discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability in certain health programs and activities."

Deputy executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality heavily criticized the Trump administration, stating it was "horrendous to not only gut nondiscrimination protections but to gut nondiscrimination protections in the middle of a pandemic," and fears that "this rule opens a door for a medical provider to turn someone away for a Covid-19 test just because they happen to be transgender".