Rocky Mountain Voice

Tag: Federal Government

Trump Removes Remaining Election Commission Members Leaving Agency Vacant
Just The News, Approved, National

Trump Removes Remaining Election Commission Members Leaving Agency Vacant

By: Misty Severi | Just the News All three of the remaining commissioners were removed in some way, with the two Democratic commissioners, Thomas Hicks and Benjamin Hovland, notified by email. The Republican commissioner, Christy McCormick, was allowed to resign. President Donald Trump on Thursday night reportedly terminated the members of the Election Assistance ​Commission, which is an independent commission that assists election administration officials nationwide.  All three of the remaining commissioners were removed in some way, according to Reuters, with the two Democratic commissioners, Thomas Hicks and Benjamin Hovland, notified by email. The Republican commissioner, Christy McCormick, was allowed to resign. READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT JUST THE...
Colorado AG Joins Lawsuit Over USPS Mail Ballot Proposal
The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Colorado AG Joins Lawsuit Over USPS Mail Ballot Proposal

By Marissa Ventrelli | The Denver Gazette The Colorado Attorney General’s Office joined 24 state attorneys general in filing a formal complaint against what it called the U.S. Postal Service’s attempt to aid President Donald Trump’s efforts to seize control of elections and restrict mail-in voting. In March, Trump signed an executive order calling for the compilation of a list of individuals in each state who are legally eligible to vote. Under the order, USPS would only be permitted to send mail ballots to individuals on the lists. Last month, a court struck down the executive order, ruling it unconstitutional. However, according to Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, USPS has not withdrawn its proposed rule to implement the order. “This is another...
Otero County’s Wild & Scenic River fight offers a warning for Colorado
Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Otero County’s Wild & Scenic River fight offers a warning for Colorado

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Federal land designations, with Otero County as an example I had a reader share the first link below with me recently. It’s an editorial appearing on the Colorado News Your Way site about a proposed federal land designation, specifically about a Wild & Scenic River designation proposed for the Purgatoire River and Pickett Wire Canyon by the Forest Service as a part of the Cimarron & Comanche National Grasslands revised management plan. Let’s back up a step and quickly talk about federal land designations. The second link below is to a Congress.gov explainer on the topic. You’re welcome to poke around in there for more detail, but for our purposes, it’s enough to know that federal land designations aff...
Supreme Court Unanimously Rejects Federal Gun Ban For Marijuana Users
The Federalist, Approved, National

Supreme Court Unanimously Rejects Federal Gun Ban For Marijuana Users

By: Shawn Fleetwood | The Federalist The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held on Thursday that the federal government’s use of a federal law restricting gun possession for certain unlawful drug users to be “inconsistent with the Second Amendment.” “The Second Amendment protects the right of ‘all Americans’ to keep and bear firearms for self defense,” the court’s “narrow” ruling reads. “Affording the government ‘broad power to designate any group as dangerous and thereby disqualify its members from having a gun’ would risk allowing it to ‘quickly swallow’ the Second Amendment.” Known as U.S. v. Hemani, the case centers around the government’s prosecution of Ali Hemani, a Texas resident who was charged under a provision (18 U.S. Code § 922(g)(3)) ...
Colorado Quietly Repeals Anti-ICE Loyalty Pledge Imposed on Lawyers Following Constitutional Scrutiny
Just The News, Approved, State

Colorado Quietly Repeals Anti-ICE Loyalty Pledge Imposed on Lawyers Following Constitutional Scrutiny

By Greg Piper | Just the News Centennial State quietly eliminates anti-ICE loyalty oath it imposed on lawyers ahead of promised lawsuit. Justice Department still defending constitutionality of settlement gag orders even after SEC, CFTC disavow them. Colorado imposed a loyalty oath on lawyers as a condition of access to the state's court system, pledging they would not assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Some federal agencies required defendants to accept gag orders as a condition of civil settlements, pledging they would not question the government's case, no matter how weak they thought it. These speech mandates, some going back more than 50 years, have come crashing down in recent weeks as The Centennial State opts against further cementing its reputation as ...
DOJ Says Anti-Weaponization Fund Will Not Move Forward
The Daily Signal, Approved, National

DOJ Says Anti-Weaponization Fund Will Not Move Forward

By Fred Lucas | The Daily Signal Amid skepticism from lawmakers—including some Republicans—acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told a House panel Tuesday that the Justice Department has scrapped its planned Anti-Weaponization Fund. The $1.776 billion fund stemmed from a settlement between President Donald Trump and the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax information. Blanche testified before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies, days after a federal judge temporarily blocked the fund. Instead, Blanche said it will never move forward. Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., the ranking Democrat on the subcommittee, asked: “We know that the department has agreed to pause this effort until at least June 12. I wan...
DHS Targets Lawyers Accused Of Filing False Asylum Claims
The Federalist, Approved, National

DHS Targets Lawyers Accused Of Filing False Asylum Claims

By: Breccan F. Thies | The Federalist ‘It is standard practice for immigration attorneys representing illegal aliens to assert that virtually every illegal alien is going to be persecuted or tortured in his or her home country.’ The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is starting to dismantle the legal industrial complex pushing for mass migration by cracking down on immigration lawyers who file fraudulent asylum claims. DHS directed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Tuesday to develop policies to go after the attorneys who aid and abet illegals obtaining legal entry and status in the United States fraudulently, under a law already establishing penalties for document fraud. DHS said that ICE attorneys will have “greater authority to enforce the...
Tulsi Gabbard Announces Departure From DNI Role Effective June 30
Approved, National, The Federalist

Tulsi Gabbard Announces Departure From DNI Role Effective June 30

By: Shawn Fleetwood | The Federalist In a major loss for the country, Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard announced Friday her plans to resign from her post at the end of June. The former congresswoman cited her husband’s recent diagnosis of an “extremely rare form of bone cancer” as the reason for her departure. “Abraham has been my rock throughout our eleven years of marriage — standing steadfast through my deployment to East Africa on a Joint Special Operations mission, multiple political campaigns, and now my service in this role. His strength and love have sustained me through every challenge,” Gabbard wrote in a letter addressed to President Trump. “I cannot in good conscience ask him to face this fight alone while I continue in this demanding and time-consumi...
Caputo Steps Forward As First Test Of Anti Weaponization Fund
Approved, Commentary, National, The Stone Zone

Caputo Steps Forward As First Test Of Anti Weaponization Fund

By Roger Stone | The Stone Zone Michael R. Caputo is not merely a veteran of political warfare. He is a patriot, a communicator of rare skill, a loyal friend, and a man who has paid an obscene personal price for the crime of supporting Donald J. Trump. Mike is also a good personal friend of mine. In fact, when he was a very young man he was at one point my driver. I have known him long enough to know the measure of the man. Beneath the armor of a tough political operative is a devoted husband, a loving father, a man of deep faith, and an American who has endured the machinery of a weaponized government with uncommon courage. Now Michael Caputo has become the first known American to publicly file a claim with the new Anti Weaponization Fund established by the Department of Justice. His cl...
Colorado Nonprofit Steps In As Immigrants Exit Aurora Detention Facility
Approved, Local, The Colorado Sun

Colorado Nonprofit Steps In As Immigrants Exit Aurora Detention Facility

By Jennifer Brown | Colorado Sun Casa de Paz gives people a warm meal, a suitcase, a phone charger and a way home, no matter how far that may be. Sitting on a couch in a one-story house near the immigration detention center in Aurora on a recent rainy weekday, J.R.V. began to retether himself to the life he was ripped from nearly five months ago. At his feet, tan work boots were in a plastic bag with his name written in Sharpie. He had last worn them on a Saturday morning in December when a sheriff’s deputy arrested him as he was driving to a construction site in Florida. They were a reminder of how quickly life changed. J.R.V., 40, spent about three days at the county jail followed by 12 at Alligator Alcatraz, the infamous, new immigrant detention center in the Florida Everglades,...