No evidence BLS jobs report was rigged to make Trump look bad
President Trump’s director of the National Economic Council, Kevin Hassett, appeared on NBC’S “Meet the Press” and the Fox program “Fox News Sunday” yesterday in an effort to counteract criticism of Trump’s firing of the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) because he did not like the numbers in the jobs report last week. Hassett could not provide any evidence to support Trump’s claim that the numbers put out by BLS were rigged to make Trump look bad. Trump fired Commissioner Erika McEntarfer on Friday, shortly after the release of a weaker-than-expected jobs report that showed the U.S. economy added just 73,000 jobs in July. The monthly totals for May and June were also revised down by a combined 258,000 jobs. Trump previously praised the BLS statistics when they showed employment was up under his administration.
Democrats make attempt to stop Texas redistricting
In an attempt to block Republicans from aggressively redrawing Texas’ congressional map in their favor, Texas House Democrats left the state yesterday. The Texas Constitution requires two-thirds of state House members to be present to conduct legislative business and the Democrats’ absence denies the Republicans a quorum. The proposed map the Republicans put forward last week could potentially eliminate five Democratic U.S. House seats ahead of the 2026 midterms. Such a partisan change may have significant repercussions in Washington, where House Republicans are entering a challenging midterm landscape with a razor-thin majority.. “We will not be complicit in the destruction of our own communities,” Texas House Democratic Caucus Chair Gene Wu said. Gov. Greg Abbott has threatened to remove any lawmakers who don’t appear Monday afternoon.
Conservatives on U.S. Supreme Court made Texas redistricting try possible
Conservative Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, along with Conservative Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh set the stage six years ago for the effort in Texas to gerrymander congressional districts when they decided in a 5 to 4 vote that federal judges could not review extreme partisan gerrymanders to determine if they violated constitutional rights. The ruling prevented bringing challenges to gerrymandering based on claims that they violate the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech and association and the Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection. Chief Justice Roberts wrote that no constitutional authority exists for judges to oversee the politics of redistricting, nor are there standards for their decisions, that is, to know when state lawmakers have gone too far in what is an inherently political process.
Manhunt continues for Montana bar shooter
A manhunt continues for the person who allegedly opened fire on patrons and staff at a bar in Anaconda, Montana, last Friday morning. The mass shooting — one of at least 256 mass shootings in the U.S. so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive — claimed the lives of four people, including a bartender and two customers. The suspect has been identified as Michael Paul Brown, a 45-year-old military veteran who lived next door to The Owl Bar. He is believed to be armed and dangerous. Officials are offering a $7,500 reward for any information that could lead to his arrest. All of the shooting victims were residents of Anaconda.
Trump Administration wants to end reproductive health care for veterans
The Department of Veterans Affairs wants to end certain health care services for veterans. In a proposed rule, the VA is seeking to revoke access to abortions and abortion counseling for veterans and their beneficiaries, except in cases where “a physician certifies that the life of the mother would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term.” This new rule would roll back a Biden-era move that provided access to abortions when a pregnant veteran’s life or health was at risk if their pregnancy were carried to term, or if the pregnancy was the result of rape or incest — regardless of state laws. To date, 20 states have banned or limited access to the procedure. In states where abortion is limited, higher rates of maternal and infant mortality, as well as greater economic insecurity, have been reported. The VA’s proposed rule is open for public comment for 30 days starting today.
Confusion about Covid vaccination
CNN reports that as Covid-19 transmission ramps up in the U.S., many Americans are confused about the Trump Administration’s latest policies concerning access to vaccines. In recent months, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said that the Covid-19 shot will no longer be recommended for healthy children and pregnant women, replaced a federal vaccine advisory panel and announced plans to examine the well-established federal childhood vaccine schedule. Now, those who want to be vaccinated in the fall are unsure if the vaccine will be available to them and if their insurance will cover the cost. Epidemiologist Caitlin Rivers recommends that Americans who want their annual Covid-19 shot get it sooner rather than later. “The big drawback is, it is not updated yet; the new formulation will be released closer to autumn,” she said, but getting a shot now will offer protection against the summer wave.
