Politics

Presidential Candidate John Delaney Wants To Create a Department of Cybersecurity

On Tuesday, former Maryland representative and 2020 presidential candidate John Delaney announced a plan to create a Department of Cybersecurity that "would be led by a cabinet-level secretary who would be in charge of implementing the United States' cybersecurity strategy," reports The Verge. "The proposal is the first major cybersecurity push from any presidential candidate so far this cycle." From the report: In a press release, Delaney argued that the U.S.'s cyber authorities are spread too ...
Tags: Maryland, White House, Tech, Fbi, United States, Homeland Security, John Delaney, Trump, Delaney, US Cyber Command, Department of Cybersecurity

Prosecutors drop charges against woman accused of assaulting Kellyanne Conway

A Maryland state's attorney's office confirmed Monday it had dropped charges against a woman accused of assaulting White House aide Kellyanne Conway.
Tags: Maryland, White House, Cnn, Kellyanne Conway

Bernie in the Fox's den: Sanders takes anti-Trump pitch straight to 'state TV'

The Democratic frontrunner will speak at a Fox News town hall. He says it’s necessary to speak to Trump voters. Others disagree Bernie Sanders speaks at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. Photograph: Aaron P Bernstein/Reuters Bernie Sanders will finish a four-day tour of Trump Country on Monday, with a town hall on the president’s favorite network: Fox News. It is an unexpected partnership, between a self-described democratic socialist and a media outlet that dedicates primetime...
Tags: News, Maryland, Washington, White House, US, America, Dnc, Fox, Hillary Clinton, New York Times, Howard Schultz, Fox News, Capitol Hill, Starbucks, Rupert Murdoch, Times

Maryland could become the first state to ban plastic foam containers

Last week, the Maryland General Assembly voted 100 to 37 to approve a ban on plastic foam containers. If the bill is approved by Governor Larry Hogan, Maryland will become the first U.S. state to ban such containers because of their harmful impact on human health and the environment. The bill will now go to Republican Governor Larry Hogan for approval. Although Governor Hogan has not yet expressed a position, the bill has enough votes from the House and Senate that it would be able to override ...
Tags: Politics, Design, News, Maryland, Senate, Earth, ESP, Policy, House, Plastic, World Health Organization, Baltimore, Ocean Pollution, Plastic Pollution, Fossil Fuel, State

Roaches And Leaks: Inspections Reveal Shocking Conditions Of US-Funded Housing

NATCHEZ, Miss. (AP) — In this city known for pre-Civil War mansions, a young mother shared a government-funded apartment with her three small children and a legion of cockroaches. They lurked in the medicine cabinet, under the refrigerator, behind a picture on the wall. The mother nudged a bedroom dresser and more roaches skittered away as her 2-year-old son stomped on them. It was home, sweet home for Destiny Johnson and her kids — until she got fed up and moved out last month. Inspectors had c...
Tags: News, Mississippi, Maryland, Obama, Congress, Housing, US, Barack Obama, Ap, Hud, Associated Press, Johnson, District Of Columbia, Illinois, Baltimore, George W Bush

Gardeners Mourn the Closing of Beloved 89-Year-Old Garden Center

Yesterday my long-time favorite garden center announced it’ll close soon. Here’s my tribute to the company and its people on a local blog. I’m reposting it here for the Rant’s broader audience because the closing is part of a very sad national trend. Also, it shows what great independent garden centers are doing for customers and the community and why their disappearance is such a enormous loss. (Sob!)  It’s official. In today’s press release, Behnke Nurseries announced that after 89 years, it w...
Tags: Gardening, Maryland, White House, Germany, Dc, Operations, Rose, Albert, United Methodist Church, Sonja, Larry, Hibbert, Nancy Reagan, Garden Party, Beltsville, Naval Observatory

Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh's 'Healthy Holly' book sales now under state investigation

Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh is now being investigated by the state prosecutor over questions of corruption surrounding sales of her self-published children’s book series, 'Healthy Holly.' JUST IN: Health insurer Kaiser Permanente paid Baltimore Mayor Pugh more than $100,000 for “Healthy Holly” books during a time when it sought a lucrative city contract. https://t.co/eziPrQrSkA — The Baltimore Sun (@baltimoresun) April 1, 2019 "Kaiser Permanente paid Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh more...
Tags: Post, Books, Corruption, Politics, News, Maryland, Abc, Kaiser Permanente, Kaiser, Baltimore, WSJ, Larry Hogan, Holly, Baltimore Sun, Catherine Pugh, Pugh

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner ‘among dozens given security clearance by Trump White House despite grave risks’

Dozens of people in Donald Trump’s administration initially rejected for US security clearance due to “serious disqualifying issues” had the decision overturned by senior administration officials, a whistle-blower has claimed.The individuals include the President’s daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner, according to Reuters. Tricia Newbold, who has worked in the White House for 18 years and who oversaw the issuance of clearances for some senior White House aides, said she had a lis...
Tags: News, Maryland, Congress, White House, US, The New York Times, Donald Trump, Defense Department, Committee, John Kelly, Trump, Jim Jordan, Elijah Cummings, Cummings, John Bolton, Ivanka Trump

Whistleblower: White House reversed dozens of security clearance denials

Veteran security adviser warns Trump administration ignored ‘disqualifying issues’ including foreign influence and conflict of interestA White House whistleblower has told members of Congress that Donald Trump’s administration overturned more than two dozen denials for security clearances, often ignoring the guidance of intelligence officials.Tricia Newbold, a White House security adviser holding nearly two decades of experience with clearances, made the allegations during an interview with the ...
Tags: Maryland, Congress, White House, US news, US politics, US national security, Donald Trump, Trump, Elijah Cummings, Trump Administration, House Oversight and Reform Committee, Tricia Newbold, interestA White House, House Oversight and Reform Committee Continue

GOP Gears Up For Battle As Dems Aim To Eradicate Partisan Gerrymandering

To hear Scott Walker tell it, Republicans are up against the ropes. Last week, the former Wisconsin governor officially became the fundraising chairman for one of the main GOP groups focused on drawing maps for Congress and state legislatures. As Walker put it, his charge at the National Republican Redistricting Trust (NRRT) is to “counter the efforts of the far Left to try and gerrymander their way into permanent control.” “Democrats, led by Barack Obama and Eric Holder, will stop at nothing”...
Tags: News, Maryland, Obama, Congress, Colorado, Eric Holder, Virginia, America, Barack Obama, Chicago, Democrats, Gop, Missouri, Wisconsin, Scott Walker, Gerrymandering

A Buoyant Trump Told Senate Republicans He Wants 2020 To Be About Healthcare

WASHINGTON (AP) — An exuberant President Donald Trump took a victory lap on Capitol Hill, emboldened by the end of the special counsel’s Russia probe, even as Democrats pressed insistently for Robert Mueller’s full report and Justice Department officials said more information could be released in “weeks, not months.” Trump strode into a high-spirited gathering of Senate Republicans on Tuesday, flanked by party leaders, saying the attorney general’s weekend summary of Mueller’s report “could n...
Tags: New York, News, Maryland, Obama, Congress, California, Washington, Mexico, Senate, White House, Russia, Barack Obama, Ap, Democrats, Gop, North Dakota

Jared Kushner uses WhatsApp to talk with foreign leaders, claims Cummings

House Oversight Chairman Elijah Cummings says Abbe Lowell has confirmed that President Donald Trump's son-in-law and White House advisor Jared Kushner has been using the encryptable/disappear-able messaging WhatsApp to communicate with leaders of foreign nations. "Mr. Lowell could not answer whether Mr. Kushner's communications included classified information." Mr. Kushner's attorney disputes the claims in the Cummings letter. Kushner's the tip of the iceberg -- the House attention to this ...
Tags: Security, Post, Politics, News, Maryland, White House, Cnn, Whatsapp, Hillary Clinton, House, National Security, National Security Council, Donald Trump, Trump, Lauren Fox, Elijah Cummings

Trump administration refuses to hand over documents to House oversight investigation

The Trump administration is committing "an unprecedented level of stonewalling, delay and obstruction" in response to congressional requests for documents and witnesses, the chair of the House oversight committee has said. Elijah Cummings, Democratic congressman for Maryland, said he had sent 12 letters to the White House on a range of topics from the "routine" to "relating to our core national security interests". In an op-ed for The Washington Post, Mr Cummings said the subjects included Whi...
Tags: News, Maryland, Washington Post, White House, House, Donald Trump, Trump, Cummings, Elijah Cummings Democratic

Happy birthday! Trump’s youngest son, Barron, turns 13

WASHINGTON (AP) — A teenager is calling the White House home again. President Donald Trump’s youngest child, Barron, turned 13 on Wednesday, the first day of spring break at the Maryland private school where he’s a seventh-grader. Barron and his mother, Melania Trump, are keeping to tradition and spending the break at their Palm Beach, […]
Tags: News, Maryland, Washington, White House, Ap, Nation, Donald Trump, Trump, Melania Trump, Palm Beach, Barron

House oversight chair accuses White House of stonewalling

WASHINGTON (AP) — The chairman of the House oversight committee says the White House is perpetrating “an unprecedented level of stonewalling, delay and obstruction” in response to congressional requests for documents and witnesses. Maryland Democrat Elijah Cummings writes in a Washington Post op-ed that he has sent 12 letters to the White House on a […]
Tags: News, Maryland, Washington Post, Washington, White House, Ap, Nation, House, Elijah Cummings

Beto O'Rourke raises $6.1m in first 24 hours, smashing Bernie Sanders' record

Stunning sum is more than every other Democratic challenger who has disclosed their first-day totals The former Texas congressman, like Sanders and some of his other colleagues, has shunned Pac donations of any kind. Photograph: Kathy Willens/APDemocratic hopeful Beto O’Rourke raised an unprecedented $6.1m during the first 24 hours of his official run for the White House, his campaign announced on Monday.The stunning sum is more than rival Bernie Sanders and every other 2020 Democratic rival wh...
Tags: New York, Texas, News, Minnesota, Maryland, Congress, Colorado, California, Washington, Senate, White House, Iraq, India, US, Barack Obama, Syria

Potential Trump challenger, Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland, will head to NH next month

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan will speak in New Hampshire next month as he weighs a primary challenge to President Donald Trump. The Republican Hogan, who remains popular in liberal leaning Maryland and won re-election last fall, will speak at “Politics & Eggs” on April 23. The program from the New England […]
Tags: News, Maryland, Nation, New Hampshire, Donald Trump, New England, Concord, Larry Hogan, Hogan, Nation & World Politics, Potential Trump

Michael Cohen calls Trump a ‘racist,’ a ‘conman,’ and a ‘cheat’ in front of House committee

By MARY CLARE JALONICK, ERIC TUCKER and MICHAEL R. SISAK WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer told Congress on Wednesday that Trump knew ahead of time that WikiLeaks had emails damaging to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, and he testified that Trump is a “racist,” a “conman” and a “cheat.” Michael Cohen suggested in prepared testimony obtained by The Associated Press that Trump also implicitly told him to lie about a Moscow real estate project. Cohen has pleaded g...
Tags: Twitter, Florida, Politics, New York, News, Maryland, Congress, Washington, Senate, White House, Russia, Sport, Soccer, Hillary Clinton, House, Kim Jong Un

Michael Cohen call Trump a ‘racist,’ a ‘conman,’ and a ‘cheat’ in front of House committee

By MARY CLARE JALONICK, ERIC TUCKER and MICHAEL R. SISAK WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer told Congress on Wednesday that Trump knew ahead of time that WikiLeaks had emails damaging to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, and he testified that Trump is a “racist,” a “conman” and a “cheat.” Michael Cohen suggested in prepared testimony obtained by The Associated Press that Trump also implicitly told him to lie about a Moscow real estate project. Cohen has pleaded g...
Tags: Twitter, Florida, Politics, New York, News, Maryland, Congress, Washington, Senate, White House, Russia, Sport, Soccer, Hillary Clinton, House, Kim Jong Un

WSJ: Kushner Cos. Pays $1.1B For 6,000 Apartments, Firm’s Biggest Deal In Decade

NEW YORK (AP) — The real estate firm run by White House adviser Jared Kushner’s family has pulled off its biggest deal in more than a decade. Kushner Cos. paid $1.1 billion for a portfolio of about 6,000 apartments in Maryland and Virginia that had been owned by Lone Star Funds, according to a story published Friday by The Wall Street Journal. It marks Kushner Cos.’ most expensive purchase since paying $1.8 billion for a Manhattan skyscraper in 2007. The debt taken on in that the 2007 deal str...
Tags: New York, News, Maryland, White House, Virginia, Ap, Manhattan, Associated Press, Donald Trump, Trump, Brookfield Asset Management, Jared Kushner, Matt Shuham, Oval Office With, Kushner Cos, Brookfield Kushner Cos

Report: Kushner family firm pays $1.1B for 6,000 apartments

NEW YORK (AP) — The real estate firm run by White House adviser Jared Kushner’s family has pulled off its biggest deal in more than a decade. Kushner Cos. paid $1.1 billion for a portfolio of about 6,000 apartments in Maryland and Virginia that had been owned by Lone Star Funds, according to a story […]
Tags: Business, New York, News, Maryland, White House, Virginia, Ap, Nation, Kushner, Jared Kushner, Kushner Cos

DOJ: Emoluments Aren’t The Only Reason Why People Love Trump’s Hotels

There’s a lot of different reasons why foreign officials might want to patronize the President’s hotel chain, apart from indirectly paying him, Justice Department attorneys wrote in a Feb. 21 appellate brief. It’s possible, Trump attorneys write, that customers who wish to “curry favor with the President might continue to do so by supporting his family’s business and brand even if he lacked a personal financial interest.” They add that the President removing his stake in his businesses wouldn...
Tags: News, Maryland, Obama, White House, Doj, Justice Department, Trump, Richmond Virginia, Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, Emoluments, Muckraker, Trump Swamp, Josh Kovensky

Trump Undercuts Efforts To Stop Migrant Smugglers Despite Tough Talk

ICE has shifted manpower and money away from more complex investigations to support the administration’s push to arrest, detain and deport undocumented immigrants. In his quest to build a border wall, President Donald Trump has warned of jobs stolen from American workers, suburbs terrorized by criminal aliens, and desperate migrant caravans headed north. Lately, though, he has found a favorite new target in the “ruthless coyotes” and “vicious cartels” that smuggle migrants into the United Stat...
Tags: Asia, Texas, News, Maryland, Obama, Congress, Mexico, White House, Immigration, America, Qatar, Dhs, Fbi, United States, Philippines, Ice

Snow covers White House lawn

Heavy snow continues to fall outside of the White House in Washington D.C. The Nation Weather Service issued winter storm warnings from Nebraska to Maryland.            [Author: USA TODAY]
Tags: Usa, News, Maryland, Washington, White House, Nebraska, Usa Today

Why Autocrats Are Replacing Democrats

Why Autocrats Are Replacing Democrats U.S.A. –-(Ammoland.com)- “If you look at Trump in America or Bolsonaro in Brazil, you see that people now want politicians who are tough enough to do what they promise,” said Spanish businessman Juan Carlos Perez Carreno. The Spaniard was explaining to The New York Times what lay behind the rise of Vox, which the Times calls “Spain's first far-right party since the end of the Franco dictatorship in 1975.” Indeed, the growing impatience of peoples with ele...
Tags: South Korea, Florida, Maryland, Guns, Supreme Court, Congress, North Korea, White House, America, Spain, Colombia, Democrats, House, New York Times, Bill Clinton, Serbia

Save Up to 25 Percent on Weekend Stays in Suburban Maryland With Marriott

You do not have to stay in the District of Columbia to enjoy such sites as the Washington Monument, the Capitol building or the White House; or to visit the Smithsonian Institute or the National Archives. Rather, you can save up to 25 percent off of retail room rates during weekend stays of a minimum of two consecutive nights at your choice of eight different hotel properties in suburban Maryland through Tuesday, April 30, 2019… …but you must... The post Save Up to 25 Percent on Weekend Stays in...
Tags: Travel, Deals, Maryland, Washington, White House, Marriott, District Of Columbia, Promotions, Hotels And Lodging, Discounts And Coupons, Capitol, Smithsonian Institute, Marriott Bonvoy, National Archives Rather

Valley mail carrier’s heat-related death prompts bill to require air conditioning in U.S. Postal Service mail trucks

Seven months after a mail carrier’s heat-related death in Woodland Hills, U.S. Rep. Tony Cárdenas introduced a bill Friday that if enacted would require all U.S. Postal Service delivery vehicles to be equipped with air conditioning within three years. U.S. Postal Service carrier Peggy Frank, 63, was found dead in her non-air-conditioned mail truck on July 6, a day that temperatures soared to 117 degrees. The North Hills resident died of hyperthermia, an abnormally high body temperature caused by...
Tags: Politics, News, Maryland, Congress, Sport, Soccer, Postal Service, Local News, Southern California, Frank, U S Postal Service, Woodland Hills, Jamie Raskin, Musgrove, Los Angeles Daily News, North Hills

Highlights Of The Funding Bill Likely To Pass And Avert Shutdown

WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s not just about President Donald Trump’s border wall. The border security issues that sparked a 35-day government shutdown are but one element of a massive $330 billion-plus spending measure that wraps seven bills into one, funding nine Cabinet agencies, including the departments of Justice, State, Agriculture and Commerce. End-stage fights over unrelated policy provisions produced a deadlock, so efforts to extend soon-to-expire laws like the federal flood insurance prog...
Tags: News, Maryland, Congress, Washington, Kentucky, Oregon, Senate, White House, Ap, Nasa, House, State Department, Nancy Pelosi, Donald Trump, Cabinet, Irs

Border Talks Will Resume With A Pall Of Pessimism After Weekend Breakdown

WASHINGTON (AP) — Budget negotiators will meet Monday to revive talks over border security issues that are central to legislation to prevent key parts of the government from shutting down on Saturday, but an air of pessimism remains after talks broke down over the weekend. They collapsed over Democratic demands to limit the number of migrants authorities can detain, and the two sides remained separated over how much to spend on President Donald Trump’s promised border wall. A Friday midnight ...
Tags: News, Nbc, Maryland, Congress, Abc, Washington, Senate, White House, Ap, Democrats, Gop, House, Donald Trump, Defense Department, Trump, Democratic

Let’s talk: White House throws bipartisan Camp David retreat

WASHINGTON (AP) — Can the presidential retreat that produced the landmark Camp David Mideast peace accord do anything to help bridge the divides in polarized Washington? White House Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney isn’t setting any lofty goals, but he’s invited a bipartisan mix of legislators to the rustic Maryland campus for an informal […]
Tags: News, Maryland, Washington, White House, Ap, Nation, Camp David, Mick Mulvaney, Camp David Mideast