A political newsletter for normal people
WTF Just Happened Today? is a sane, once-a-day newsletter helping normal people make sense of the news. Curated daily by Matt Kiser and delivered to 200,000+ people every afternoon around 3 pm Pacific.
Day 94: Rest easy.
1/ Jeff Sessions says DREAMers, like “everyone that enters the country unlawfully,” are “subject to being deported.” On Friday, Trump said, “We aren’t looking to do anything right now” about DREAMers and that young people protected under this policy “should rest easy.” (ABC News)
- DHS Secretary John Kelly reaffirmed Trump’s claim that DREAMers could “rest easy” despite heightened fears of deportation. He said that undocumented immigrants would face deportation if they break US law, however. (CBS News)
2/ Sessions: We’ll get the border wall paid for “one way or the other” noting that he does not expect the Mexican government to outright pay for Trump’s border wall. Rather, Trump has threatened to target cash transfers from people within the US to people in Mexico. (CNN)
- Trump’s push for the border wall threatens to cause a government shutdown. Officials are worried that Trump won’t sign a funding bill without money for his wall. (The Guardian)
3/ French election: Macron and Le Pen are projected to advance to the runoff election. Polls closed in France’s bitterly divisive presidential election and early projections suggest Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen have made it through to the second round runoff after securing 24% and 21.8% of the vote, respectively. The centrist and far-right candidates will face each other in presidential runoff on May 7. (CNN)
4/ The Trump administration is pushing for a vote this week in the House to replace Obamacare. Trump tweeted that Obama’s healthcare program is “in serious trouble.” House members, however, return from recess on Tuesday and are expected to concentrate on a must-pass bill to keep the federal government funded beyond April 28. (Bloomberg)
- Paul Ryan promised to keep the government open but makes no promises on health care. (Washington Post)
5/ The White House offers conflicting details of Trump’s tax plan after he tweeted that tax reform and reduction will be announced Wednesday. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin suggested the announcement would pursue a long-term overhaul of the tax code. But, Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney cast doubt on Mnuchin’s statements, saying the White House still hasn’t decided whether to pursue a long-term or short-term overhaul. (Washington Post)
6/ More than 11,000 women in all 50 states plan to run for political office. Several dozen are considering runs to challenge House Republican incumbents.(Washington Post)
7/ North Korea detains a third US citizen. The Korean-American accounting teacher was arrested as he attempted to leave the country. Pyongyang University of Science and Technology says the arrest had nothing to do with his work as a teacher, but speculated that it was due to “some other activities… such as helping an orphanage.” (Reuters)
8/ North Korea is “ready to sink” a US aircraft carrier heading for the peninsula. State media warned that the USS Carl Vinson could be sunk “with a single strike” and threatened to strike Australia with nuclear weapons if it remained an ally of the US. (BBC)
poll/ 42% of Americans approve of Trump’s job performance, the lowest recorded at this stage of a presidency dating back to Dwight Eisenhower. (Washington Post)
poll/ 57% believe the government should do more to solve problems and help people. 39% said the government is doing too many things that are better left to business and individuals. (Wall Street Journal)
poll/ 96% of Trump voters say they’d do it again today. (ABC News)
A political newsletter for normal people
WTF Just Happened Today? is a sane, once-a-day newsletter helping normal people make sense of the news. Curated daily by Matt Kiser and delivered to 200,000+ people every afternoon around 3 pm Pacific.
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