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How Trump and House Democrats Can Work Together on Foreign Affairs

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Following the 2018 midterms, political observers have begun forecasting dramatic battles between the Democratic House and the Trump administration over the next two years.

They predict that between the congressional investigations of the White House, wrangling with Republicans in the Senate, and political showmanship all around, little governing will actually take place. They may well be right, but for those on either side of the aisle interested in passing meaningful policy into law, there are definitely two areas where President Trump and congressional Democrats could work together: national security and foreign policy. . .

A place to start would be addressing the U.S. military’s ongoing involvement in Yemen. Despite bipartisan pushes for extracting our support from the Saudi-perpetuated humanitarian crisis, Trump has been reluctant to pull assistance from an ally. But there are signs that this obstacle might be eroding in the face of the admission that Saudi officials were complicit in the murder of a U.S. resident in Turkey.

American intervention in a small, strategically unimportant country’s civil war is precisely the kind of costly foreign entanglement Trump campaigned against. Steps can be taken by Congress and the administration to limit support to countries involved in the conflict and remove the boot from the throat of the Yemeni people.

There is also room for positive work on the broader war on terrorism, where the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) — written in the impassioned aftermath of the 9/11 attacks — has long needed revisiting. Leaders in both parties have shown interest in reforming or ending the open-ended authorization for a global war on terror and the Trump administration could demonstrate good governance by collaborating in this process. (Read more from “How Trump and House Democrats Can Work Together on Foreign Affairs” HERE)

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Trump Administration Issues Major Decision on American Oil Production

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In what is sure to seem a controversial move to some, the Trump administration proposed Thursday that it is considering permitting drilling in most U.S. continental-shelf waters.

The plan includes drilling in areas such as the Atlantic and Arctic, considered protected areas and staunchly opposed by governors along the east coast and more than 100 U.S. lawmakers, according to The Washington Post.

According to Interior secretary Ryan Zinke, the proposal would exclude oil and gas exploration in only one of 26 planning areas in the Arctic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean.

However, the Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management recently identified 47 potential areas where companies within the industry can buy leases between 2019 and 2024 — the duration when the proposal would begin and end.

Yet, even though those such as The Draft Five Year Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program seem to be on board with the decision, the administration is expecting to face opposition from numerous state officials and environmentalists.

“Nothing is final,” Zinke said during a news conference. “This is a draft program. The states, local communities and congressional delegations will all have a say.”

And many conservatives, including Zinke, state the proposal is consistent with the president’s executive order in April when he made a pledge to widen energy exploration.

Zinke added that there was a clear difference between Trump’s plan and the previous administration’s policies.

The Obama administration, heeding the call of many environmentalists, had considered a five-year plan that would have permitted drilling in the Atlantic but abandoned the proposal by March of 2016 after concerns that the Navy conducted military exercises near those particular areas.

“This is a clear difference between energy weakness and energy dominance,” Zinke said, adding that the current administration would be cautious of environmental safeguards put in place.

However, environmental disasters of the past remain on the minds of many state officials along the east coast, specifically those who oppose drilling in the four planning regions all the way from Maine to the Florida Keys.

During a bipartisan call, both Republicans and Democrats have rejected to the uncertain terms that oil and gas drilling proposals have given.

“I’m not in favor of offshore drilling,” said Republican Maryland Governor Larry Hogan.

And even Henry McMaster, the Republican governor for South Carolina, has expressed concern over the impact to natural resources when drilling is performed.

Yet, Zinke didn’t address the other potential resistance from the Pentagon, but Assistant Secretary Kate McGregor stated that a task force has been implemented between the Interior and Defense departments in order to cool any misunderstanding and deal with the conflicts.

“We believe things can be done safely,” McGregor said. “In fact, in the central Gulf of Mexico planning area, 36 percent of leases are in military planning areas.

“We intend to continue a very strong relationship with DoD.” (For more from the author of “Trump Administration Issues Major Decision on American Oil Production” please click HERE)

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Why Is Trump Accepting the Resignation of an Ex-West Point Professor Who Criticized Obama’s Mother on Social Media?

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William C. Bradford, a Trump administration appointee who heads the Energy Department’s Office of Indian Energy, resigned Thursday after claiming this week inflammatory comments that appeared to have been made by him online were the result of hacking . . .

The account that appeared to be Bradford questioned Obama’s birth certificate and called the former president’s mother “a fourth-rate p&*n actress and w@!re.” . . .

In June, following his appointment to the Department of Energy, The Washington Post reported provocative comments Bradford made on Twitter — including calling Obama a Kenyan and saying that the World War II-era internment of Japanese-Americans was necessary. Bradford apologized for the comments at the time in a statement to the Post, calling them “inexcusable.”

In 2015, Bradford resigned as a professor at West Point after penning an academic paper that argued the US military should target Islamic holy sites as part of the war on terror. (Read more from “Why Is Trump Accepting the Resignation of an Ex-West Point Professor Who Criticized Obama’s Mother on Social Media?” HERE)

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Loser Federal Employee Quits Trump Admin ‘Because the People in Charge Want to Burn It Down’

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A former employee of a federal agency announced Wednesday that the reason for his recent departure was mainly due to his belief that the Trump administration is essentially “burning down” the government.

Noah Kunin originally felt compelled to write following the 2016 presidential election that he was staying on as an engineer for 18F, an agency that is modeled after a startup and operates within the federal government’s General Services Administration (GSA). But roughly eight months later (and six months into President Donald Trump’s tenure) he changed his mind, citing his discomfort with Trump’s conduct.

Specifically, Kunin cited two events as the tipping points.

First was the pre-release of former FBI Director James Comey’s written remarks before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence . . .

The last straw for Kunin was that 18F — along with another larger service he helped create and its sibling organizations — is being reconfigured. He says that, to fully explain the whole ordeal, he would have to write a very lengthy “analytical piece.” Nevertheless, his primary grievance is that the commissioner of a particular agency soon to be higher up on the organizational hierarchy will “become a political position, with a person appointed directly by the White House” (emphasis his). (Read more from “Federal Employee Quits Trump Admin ‘Because the People in Charge Want to Burn It Down'” HERE)

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