News on Youtube Jan 4 2019

JUDY WOODRUFF: This has been a day of political pageantry, and real change in the U.S. Congress.

But the partial government shutdown goes on, at 13 days and counting.

Congressional correspondent Lisa Desjardins begins our coverage of this day's events.

LISA DESJARDINS: As instructed by the Constitution, at noon, the new Congress convened, sweeping

in one of the largest turnovers in the Capitol in recent history, with nearly 100 new lawmakers,

a generational shift captured by selfies.

In the House, a change in power as enthusiastic Democrats gained control.

MAN: House Democrats are down with NDP.

LISA DESJARDINS: And NDP, or Nancy D'Alesandro Pelosi, proved her vote-counting ability,

winning back her old job as speaker with 220 votes, three more than she needed for a majority.

In the end, just 12 Democrats voted for others, with three voting present.

Following tradition, Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy introduced Pelosi.

REP.

KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA), House Minority Leader: I extend to you this gavel.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

LISA DESJARDINS: Pelosi pointed to change, starting with the new faces in the chamber.

REP.

NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), Speaker of the House: Our Congress will be refreshed, and our democracy

will be strengthened by their optimism, idealism and patriotism of this transformative freshman

class.

LISA DESJARDINS: As she ushered in a new era of divided government, Pelosi tried to straddle

politics, outlining an agenda for the left, tackling income disparity and climate change,

with a message for the middle.

REP.

NANCY PELOSI: I pledge that this Congress will be transparent, bipartisan and unifying.

LISA DESJARDINS: As the House moved left...

MAN: The Senate will come to order.

LISA DESJARDINS: ... the Senate moved right, with Republicans increasing their majority

to 53 votes.

Seven of nine new senators sworn in are Republicans, including former presidential candidate Mitt

Romney.

It is a divided day for democracy as well, a peaceful transition of power, but as government

has failed at a basic function, keeping itself funded.

The partial government shutdown has frozen or cut pay for hundreds of thousands of workers,

who have no time for the ceremony of a new Congress.

TRESHA TAYLOR, Federal Contractor: I have lost a full, almost a full paycheck's -- a

full paycheck worth of income because of the shutdown already.

LISA DESJARDINS: And you won't get it back?

TRESHA TAYLOR: And I will not get that back.

No.

LISA DESJARDINS: Tresha Taylor is a federal contractor who works for a private company

with a contract at the State Department.

So, both she and her company are out of work during the shutdown and won't get repaid.

We met her yesterday at one of many Washington-area restaurants offering a free meal or drink

to cheer up furloughed workers.

TRESHA TAYLOR: This looks so good.

Happy new year to you, too.

Thank you.

LISA DESJARDINS: So far, she says she's getting by OK by putting off big groceries for her

and her son.

She's worried about rent.

But mostly she's angry at Congress and the White House for seeming to ignore the real

people affected by this fight.

TRESHA TAYLOR: It's not like everyone is making beaucoup bucks in the government and we're

all living large and we have these big houses and things like that.

There are people that have worked for the government for years and they still live paycheck

to paycheck.

So they rely on that money.

Yes, if the government opens, yes, they may get a paycheck next week, but it may be a

month from now.

It may be two months from now.

It may be longer.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: So, happy new year.

Happy new year.

LISA DESJARDINS: Adding to the unusual events, late today, President Trump took to the podium

in the White House press room for the first time, surrounded by Border Patrol and immigration

officers, but he began with a nod to the new speaker.

DONALD TRUMP: I just want to start by congratulating Nancy Pelosi on being elected speaker of the

House.

It's a very, very great achievement.

And, hopefully, we're going to work together, and we're going to get lots of things done.

LISA DESJARDINS: The president went on to say that he needs barrier funding for the

border.

It is a bifurcated moment.

The House and Senate are the most diverse in history, including the first Muslim women

and first Native American women in Congress.

The Capitol has opened to younger lawmakers and more female members than ever before.

But this Congress starts as doors are closed to a quarter of government for federal workers

and for the American public.

And there's no indication of how long that could last.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And Lisa joins me now.

So, Lisa, we know the Democrats have their own ideas about funding.

Tell us a little bit about that.

And with this change in power in the House, is there a shift in thinking about the shutdown?

LISA DESJARDINS: First to the Democrats' plans.

We have talked about this before.

We do expect them to pass two bills tonight, one in the House only.

Democrats would pass a bill that would reopen most of the shut-down government and fund

them for the rest of the year.

A separate bill would fund the Department of Homeland Security for one month with no

wall funding.

And that would just be that temporary funding.

Now, we expect these to pass the House, as I said, but go nowhere in the Senate at this

point.

Also, it's worth pointing out that I have just received a note from Nancy Pelosi's office

that she is expected to come speak to cameras not long from now and to respond, I think,

to some of what President Trump and others on his behalf has said today about the shutdown.

And to answer your bigger question, Judy, what has this new Congress meant for the shutdown

situation, right now, Judy, it feels like it's actually meant that it has gotten worse,

even more than yesterday.

Today, I felt such a sense of everyone giving up control over the situation.

For example, I saw -- I heard Republican -- I confirmed with Republican Senator Shelby,

the head of the Appropriations Committee, he has said that it is possible this shutdown

could go months and months.

When you ask Democrats about that on the House side, some of them got back to me and said,

jokingly, what is the longest shutdown we have ever had?

I said it was 21 days in 1995.

And they laughed.

They said, looks like we're going to get there.

So there's a real sort of nonchalance up here that is really hard to parse with the fact

that real people are having their lives put on hold at the least and some of them overturned

because of this, or having -- facing upheaval.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And as we as we heard from that woman you were speaking with.

So, Lisa, if that's what the Democrats are saying, what about the Republicans?

What are they saying about the shutdown right now?

LISA DESJARDINS: This is interesting.

There's a divide there.

I talked to a Republican, Jim Jordan, who is the only other Republicans you get votes

for speaker today, head of the Freedom Caucus at one point.

He used to be a founder of the Freedom Caucus, and he told me that he doesn't expect the

president to change at all.

He is telling the president keep dug in and to demand the money for the wall.

He thinks this is the moment.

On the other hand, we saw two senators today.

Cory Gardner of Colorado came out and said he would support a bill to reopen most of

government.

And Senator Susan Collins of Maine intimated the same.

She didn't go quite as far.

But she basically got across the idea that she wants to reopen as much of government

as possible.

So Republicans themselves are split, significant that some Republicans are breaking with the

president's strategy right now.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And then, meanwhile, the White House appears to be doubling down.

As you pointed out, the president came out into the press Briefing Room.

He'd never done that before, brought border agents with them.

They issued a -- he tweeted both an -- or I guess did an Instagram post and was tweeting

a video.

How are you reading all that?

LISA DESJARDINS: That's right.

Extraordinary, all of this.

So, first, that Instagram post sort of was a reference to "Game of Thrones" the president

saying a wall is coming.

And that's obviously a feudal society on HBO.

It's kind of a get-tough look, I think, from the president.

But, moreover, let's talk a little bit about what the president said.

At one point, he said that there is the greatest number of people crossing illegally now that

we have ever seen.

Judy, that doesn't comport with the government's own facts.

We know that, in fact, for decades, the numbers have been going down.

And Border Patrol apprehensions have gone down -- went down 80 percent since the year

2000, about 300,000 people in 2017.

So it's important to keep in mind the facts as this political debate seems to be freezing

our politicians from taking any action at the moment.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Absolutely important to keep -- keep track of the facts.

And, Lisa, we're going to have to come back to you later to find out what Speaker Pelosi

had to say.

Lisa, thank you.

For more infomation >> An 'extraordinary' day in Washington as shutdown looms over new Congress - Duration: 8:31.

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For the first time, GOP women join Senate Judiciary Committee The Washington Post - Duration: 2:21.

For the first time, GOP women join Senate Judiciary Committee The Washington Post

For the first time in the history of the Senate, Republican women are joining the Judiciary Committee, a powerful panel that processes nominees for the Supreme Court and engages in contentious debates over abortion and immigration.

Sens. Joni Ernst R Iowa and Marsha Blackburn R Tenn. will be on the committee, Majority Leader Mitch McConnells office announced Thursday. Blackburn was elected to the Senate in November. Ernst was first elected in 2014 and faces reelection in 2020. Both senators oppose abortion rights.

The lack of Republican women on the committee received widespread attention during the contentious confirmation of Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh in the fall. Christine Blasey Ford accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were both in high school. Kavanaugh denied the allegations.

The Judiciary Committee invited Ford to testify under oath. Rather than having the all male GOP senators on the panel ask her personal and sensitive questions, they to do the questioning on their behalf.

Mitchell also questioned Kavanaugh, though Republican senators eventually took over for her.

After Kavanaugh was confirmed, McConnell R Ky. said he hoped Republican women would serve on the committee in the future.

Weve encouraged several of our women senators to go on the committee, and I intend to do that again at the beginning of the next session, said McConnell.

The GOP is also putting a historic number of women on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Blackburn and Sen. Martha McSally R Ariz. , a former Air Force pilot who was the first woman to fly in combat and was appointed to the Senate in December, will join the panel. Ernst and Sen. Deb Fischer R Neb. are also on the committee.

Elsewhere, Sen. Mitt Romney R Utah , who has been critical of Trumps conduct and his policies abroad, was assigned to the Foreign Relations Committee.

As a candidate for president in 2012, Romney the number one geopolitical foe of the United States. Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible coordination with the Trump campaign.

The Foreign Relations Committee is expected to be chaired by Sen. James E. Risch R Idaho , a Trump ally. He replaces Tennessee Republican Bob Corker, a Trump critic who retired from Congress.

Sen. Ben Sasse R Neb. , who has also been critical of Trump, is joining the Select Committee on Intelligence. The panel has been conducting its own probe into Russian interference and has yet to issue a report on its findings.

Sen. Lindsey O. Graham R S.C. , a former Trump critic who has become much more supportive of the president, is expected to helm the Judiciary Committee. In addition to examining Supreme Court picks, the panel also deals with other nominees to the federal bench, as well as to the Justice Department.

The committee will on Jan. 15 and 16 on Trumps attorney general nominee, William P. Barr.

Graham, who has remained critical of some of Trumps foreign policies, will also serve on the Foreign Relations Committee.

Karoun Demirjian and Seung Min Kim contributed to this report.

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For more infomation >> For the first time, GOP women join Senate Judiciary Committee The Washington Post - Duration: 2:21.

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Trump administration considers rollback of anti discrimination rules The Washington Post - Duration: 5:09.

Trump administration considers rollback of anti discrimination rules The Washington Post

The Trump administration is considering a far reaching rollback of civil rights law that would dilute federal rules against discrimination in education, housing and other aspects of American life, people familiar with the discussions said.

A recent internal Justice Department memo directed senior civil rights officials to examine how decades old disparate impact regulations might be changed or removed in their areas of expertise, and what the impact might be, according to people familiar with the matter. Similar action is being considered at the Education Department and is underway at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Under the concept of disparate impact, actions can amount to discrimination if they have an uneven effect even if that was not the intent, and rolling back this approach has been a longtime goal of conservative legal thinkers. Past Republican administrations have done little to erode the concepts application, partly out of concerns that the Supreme Court might disagree, or that such changes would be unpopular and viewed as racist.

Civil rights advocates said diminishing this tool could have sweeping consequences.

Disparate impact is a bedrock principle, said Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Through the courts, weve been able to marshal data and use the disparate impact doctrine as a robust tool for ferreting out discrimination.

In New York, that a large apartment complex in Queens will not rent to anyone with a criminal record, and that this has the effect of discriminating against African American and Latino renters. The suit is pending, relying on disparate impact to make the case.

In Maryland, civil rights groups after the state shifted transportation money from a light rail project that would have helped mostly African American residents of Baltimore. The money instead went to bridge and road projects that served mostly white residents elsewhere in the state. A Transportation Department investigation into the matter was

In education, the Obama administration reached settlements with school systems such as the one in Lodi, Calif., where in student discipline. African American students, for instance, were five times as likely as white peers to receive out of school suspensions for willful defiance or disruption.

In 2014, the Obama administration formally advised school systems they may be guilty of racial discrimination if students of color are punished at higher rates.

When investigators and courts incorporate disparate impact in a review, they are looking at more than the intent of laws or practices. They are also evaluating whether a policys impact varies based on race, ethnicity or other factors. Regulations across the government implementing the 1964 Civil Rights Act and its amendments define discrimination as including this unintentional form of bias.

The Trump administration signaled its hostility to this approach in a report issued last week by the Federal Commission on School Safety, which recommended rescinding the school discipline guidance. In a sharply worded and controversial chapter, the report said the validity of disparate impact analysis cannot be squared with the Supreme Courts holdings. The administration revoked the guidance .

Disparate impact was written into the original regulations that implemented Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which bars discrimination based on race, color or national origin by entities, including schools, that receive federal funding. The school safety report argued that earlier administrations had adopted the concept without regard for what the underlying statute said. It said that interpretation was of questionable validity and dubious, at best.

One person familiar with the administrations planning said the strong language in the school safety panels report really signals the direction that the administration is going in. To that end, the Education Department is considering replacing the original Title VI regulation, this person said. He and others spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to describe internal discussions.

One option under consideration includes clarifying the Title VI regulation to make its use consistent with the Trump administrations legal views. Another option would replace the regulation with a new one, which would require a formal and lengthy process of public notice and comment.

Those options are separate from the Justice Department memo, which was described by a person familiar with the document as a starting point for moving toward removing disparate impact based regulations across the federal government.

In June, the Department of Housing and Urban Development published a notice announcing that it plans to consider revising its 2013 regulation on disparate impact claims in the Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, religion and other factors in sale, rental or financing of housing. The agency signaled that it was reconsidering how the regulations affect the insurance industry, which has challenged them in court.

Data showing that a policy resulted in uneven consequences is not sufficient to prove a discrimination claim. A school or other institution accused of discrimination under the concept of disparate impact can defend itself by showing the policy is justified and that no other method exists to accomplish a goal.

The Supreme Court has recognized disparate impact claims, but in a 2015 housing case, its use was upheld by a narrow 5 to 4 vote, in an opinion written by Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, now retired. Some conservatives have speculated that the new court, with Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh in Kennedys place, might decide the same matter differently.

Much — but not all — of the disparate impact law could be changed by the administration because the concept was incorporated through regulations, which administrations are free to change by following a formal process. A broad based rewrite of regulations could affect areas such as transportation and environmental law, as well as education and housing. But it would be harder to make changes to voting and employment law, experts say, because the concept of disparate impact is overtly written into the underlying statute, not just the regulations.

Supporters of disparate impact analysis say it is a critical tool because finding smoking gun evidence to prove someone intended to discriminate is difficult. And even if the intention wasnt to discriminate, advocates say institutions should be held accountable for discriminatory effects.

Most people dont have access to whats going on in somebodys mind. Even if a decision was intentionally discriminatory, its going to be very difficult to prove, said Ajmel Quereshi, senior counsel with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

But conservatives have long argued that proving discrimination should require proof that someone intended to treat people differently. And they say that if people are being judged by numbers, they may feel pressure to make decisions based on racial quotas.

The disparate impact approach requires decision makers to make decisions with an eye on race. That is exactly what the civil rights laws are supposed to prohibit, said Roger Clegg, president of the Center for Equal Opportunity, a conservative think tank focused on race and ethnicity. He said he has lobbied Trump administration officials to write the idea out of federal regulations.

Disparate impact analysis, he argued, is not necessary to combat true discrimination. He said he also tried to persuade officials in the George W. Bush administration to do the same, without results. The Bushes were very skittish on civil rights issues, he said.

Im sure that my counterparts are saying this is a radical change, Clegg added. Yes, its been used for a long time, but its been controversial for a long time.

For more infomation >> Trump administration considers rollback of anti discrimination rules The Washington Post - Duration: 5:09.

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Democratic attorneys general appeal ruling that invalidated Affordable Care Act The Washington Pos - Duration: 2:06.

The appeal, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, begins the cases path through the judiciary after OConnor agreed last weekend that the law would remain in effect in the meantime.

The appeal by 16 states and the District of Columbia consists of a single paragraph that lays out the legal steps to this stage. But California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, leading the opponents of the decision, and other coalition members heaped barbed words on the ruling, contending it is reckless, ludicrous and based on a flimsy legal theory, as various attorneys general put it.

Becerra, a former House member who voted for the ACA in 2010, said the ruling threatens the entire health care system.

At a White House Cabinet meeting Thursday, President Trump declared, That case from Texas should win in the Supreme Court.

The appeal comes nearly three weeks after OConnor issued a Friday night decision concluding that all of the ACA is invalid because of a recent change in tax law. His reasoning hinges on the fact that a massive tax bill, passed by Congress at the end of 2017, included a provision that eliminates an ACA penalty imposed on Americans who did not comply with the laws requirement that they have health insurance.

The case involves a lawsuit filed a year ago by a score of Republican attorneys general, who argued that without the penalty the ACAs insurance mandate was no longer constitutional, because it no longer grew out of Congresss taxing authority. The suit then argued that the insurance requirement could not be legally separated from the rest of the sprawling statute, and thus all of it was invalid.

OConnor agreed, writing in his opinion that the coverage mandate is essential to and inseverable from the remainder of the ACA.

In their conference call Thursday, the Democratic attorneys general disputed that. It is simply verging on ludicrous to suggest that the issue of taxability cannot be severed from the rest of the ACA, said Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum.

The group of Democratic attorneys general emerged last year as the main defenders of the law when the Trump administration, in an unusual move, announced that it would not defend the ACA against the lawsuit.

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