Trump Administration Sues California Over Federal Land Sales
By Washington Times. The Trump administration has escalated its legal battle with California announcing Monday that the Department of Justice has sued California over a state law that gives California the power to block the sale of federal land to private parties.
Passed in October, Senate Bill 50 went into effect Jan. 1. It gave state officials the right to purchase any federal land in California before the U.S. government sells it. At the time, California officials said the bill was necessary because of fears President Trump would permit drilling or development on the roughly 46 million acres of land in California owned by the federal government.
Justice Department officials say the law violates the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy and Property clauses. The Supreme Clause puts federal law ahead of state law when there is a conflict and the Property Clause gives Congress the power to sell or transfer federal land.
No other state has a similar statute, Justice Department officials said Monday.
“Once again, the California legislature has enacted an extreme state law attempting to frustrate federal policy,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement announcing the lawsuit. (Read more from “Trump Administration Sues California Over Federal Land Sales” HERE)
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Trump: DOJ Response to Document Requests ‘an Embarrassment to Our Country!’
By Politico. President Donald Trump derided the Justice Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation on Monday for “slow walking” requests for documents by congressional Republicans, calling it “an embarrassment to our country!”
“So sad that the Department of ‘Justice’ and the FBI are slow walking, or even not giving, the unredacted documents requested by Congress,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “An embarrassment to our country!”
House Republicans recently subpoenaed the Justice Department for its records relating to the probe of Hillary Clinton’s private email server, with Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) citing “ongoing delays” in the process as an impetus behind the action. The move comes amid intensifying criticisms among Republican leaders of the Justice Department and FBI’s handling of the Clinton investigation.
Democrats have pushed back against the charges, framing them as politically motivated and unsubstantiated. (Read more from “Trump: DOJ Response to Document Requests ‘an Embarrassment to Our Country!'” HERE)
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