On This Day: January 31

7 posts spanning 2017–2025

2017

• Day 12 Jan 31, 2017

2018

• Day 377 Jan 31, 2018

2019

• Day 742: Trump called any plan to avoid a government shutdown a "waste of time" if it doesn't include a border wall; Pelosi promised that "there's not going to be any wall money"; the White House, meanwhile, is working out the details for a potential national emergency declaration to secure Trump's border wall; and Trump pinky-promised that he won't intervene with the Justice Department's decision-making process about whether to release Robert Mueller's report. Jan 31, 2019

2020

• Day 1107: The Senate voted to block new new witnesses in Trump's impeachment trial; Trump directed then national security adviser John Bolton in May to help with his efforts to pressure Ukraine for damaging information on Democrats; closing arguments will be held Monday; Trump will deliver his State of the Union Address on Tuesday; and the Senate will vote at 4 p.m. Wednesday on the two impeachment charges against Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Jan 31, 2020

2022

• Day 377: A bipartisan group of governors told Biden that the country needs to "move away from the pandemic"; the FDA granted full approval to Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine; Biden’s nominee to lead the FDA doesn't have the Senate votes; the EPA will resume enforcing limits on the release of mercury from coal-fired power plants; Trump suggested that he'll pardon the rioters charged in connection with the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol if he is elected president in 2024; and Atlanta’s top prosecutor asked the FBI for security assistance a day after Trump called on his supporters to hold “the biggest protests we’ve ever had” in places where he is being investigated. Jan 31, 2022

2024

• Day 1107: FBI Director Christopher Wray warned that Chinese hackers are preparing to “wreak havoc and cause real-world harm” to critical U.S. infrastructure; the State Department is reportedly exploring the possibility of recognizing a Palestinian state following the end of the Gaza war; the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged at a 22-year-high amid improving consumer confidence and a declining inflation rate; 53% of voters in seven swing-state would be unwilling to vote for Trump if he were found guilty of a crime; 50% of voters said they vote for Biden if the presidential election were held today; and Trump and his MAGA allies have declared a “holy war” on Taylor Swift. Jan 31, 2024

2025

• Day 1473: Trump’s Justice Department fired dozens of federal prosecutors and FBI officials involved in the Jan. 6 investigations; Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker blocked Jan. 6 rioters from state jobs; the Trump administration ordered the removal of HIV, LGBTQ+, and gender identity-related data from the CDC website; Elon Musk’s aides at the Office of Personnel Management blocked career civil servants from accessing key federal employee data systems; Trump announced 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico and 10% tariffs on Chinese goods starting Saturday; the Trump administration emailed air traffic controllers urging them to quit their jobs; Trump ordered the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to release large amounts of water from two California dams; a Louisiana grand jury indicted a New York doctor for prescribing abortion pills to a minor; a federal judge blocked Trump’s attempt to freeze federal aid, ruling that the policy likely violates the Constitution and that the administration’s rescission of the freeze was "in name-only"; and Paramount is in talks with Trump to settle his $10 billion lawsuit against CBS, which accused "60 Minutes" of deceptive editing. Jan 31, 2025