On This Day: April 17

7 posts spanning 2017–2025

2017

• Day 88 Apr 17, 2017

2018

• Day 453 Apr 17, 2018

2019

• Day 818: Attorney General William Barr directed immigration judges to deny some asylum seekers the opportunity to post bail after being detained; Trump vetoed a bipartisan resolution to end American military involvement in the Saudi-led campaign in Yemen; Trump's attorneys and the White House plan to resist congressional requests for information; and Barr and Rod Rosenstein will hold a press conference to discuss the Robert Mueller report at 9:30 am ET Thursday. Apr 17, 2019

2020

• Day 1184: Trump issued broad guidelines for states to consider as they decide whether to relax social distancing measures, but left specific plans to governors days after insisting he had the “total authority” to unilaterally open the country; Trump tweeted support for protesters in Minnesota, Michigan, and Virginia to "LIBERATE" themselves by defying stay-at-home orders; Trump's reelection campaign still plans to hold rallies leading up to November's election, despite public health experts warning that large gatherings should be put on hold; and smugglers sawed into new sections of Trump’s border wall 18 times in one month. Apr 17, 2020

2023

• Day 818: The Supreme Court temporarily preserved access to the abortion pill mifepristone; Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas reported rental income totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars over the last two decades from a firm has not existed since 2006; the $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News was delayed by one day to allow both parties to discuss a possible settlement; House Republicans on the Judiciary Committee hosted a field hearing in New York to attack Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg; and Kevin McCarthy proposed a one-year debt ceiling increase paired with cuts to the budget and new work requirements to receive federal benefits. Apr 17, 2023

2024

• Day 1184: Speaker Mike Johnson defied threats from his Republican colleagues to oust him and scheduled a vote on individual bills to fund Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan; Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would “do everything necessary to defend itself”; for the second time in two weeks, Arizona House Republicans blocked an attempt to repeal the state’s 160-year-old near total ban on abortion, which was reinstated last week by the state Supreme Court; and the Senate dismissed the impeachment case against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Apr 17, 2024

2025

• Day 1549: The Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments over whether Trump can enforce his executive order to end birthright citizenship; a federal appeals court rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to block a judge’s order requiring it to help return Kilmar Abrego Garcia; Trump threatened to fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell, saying his “termination cannot come fast enough” and adding, “If I want him out, he’ll be out of there real fast, believe me”; the House launched a civil rights investigation into Harvard; and Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski admitted that lawmakers are "afraid" to criticize Trump’s trade war, mass federal layoffs, proposed Medicaid cuts, defiance of court orders, illegal deportations, and the dismantling of key government agencies because “retaliation is real.” Apr 17, 2025