The House Judiciary Committee will start public hearings on the Mueller report on June 10th. The House Oversight Committee will also vote next week to hold Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in contempt of Congress for failing to produce subpoenaed documents related to the Mueller investigation and the 2020 Census investigation.
The House Judiciary Committee opened an antitrust investigation into big tech companies, including Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Apple. According to Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI), who leads the antitrust subcommittee, these will involve depositions, public hearings, and document requests. But where was the federal government when we needed them to bail out Vine?!?!
Fourteen presidential hopefuls addressed the California Democratic Party State Convention this weekend. In addition to criticizing Trump, a few candidates offered subtle and not-so-subtle jabs at Joe Biden, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Mayor Pete Buttigieg. Meanwhile, John Hickenlooper was booed for denouncing socialism and Medicare-for-All. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) was, surprisingly, the only one to address gun violence in the wake of the shooting in Virginia Beach that left 12 dead the day prior.
Increased tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese imports went into effect over the weekend, while China implemented retaliatory tariffs on $60 billion of U.S. imports today. Meanwhile, Commerce Secretary and split pea soup enthusiast Wilbur Ross will meet today with Mexico’s Economy Minister about Trump’s tariff threat against Mexico.
Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao used her connections to help Foremost Group, her family’s shipping firm, according to a New York Times investigation. Chao reportedly requested “alarmingly inappropriate” meetings between the company and Chinese government officials, and asked federal officials to arrange travel to China for at least one of her family members (she ultimately canceled the trip amid ethics concerns). Chao and her husband Mitch McConnell have received “millions of dollars in gifts” from her father, James, who ran Foremost until last year. But maybe when Trump loses Republicans will snap out of it and be good?!?
At least 30 people were killed after Sudan’s military forces opened fire on a pro-democracy protest in the capital on Monday. The protestors backed the military’s removal of the country’s longtime dictator in April, but since then, the military has not returned power to civilians.
Why exactly is a group of House Republicans trying to get white supremacist Rep. Steve King (R-IA) his committee assignments back, after he was stripped of them for being an abhorrent racist? Great question. They need 25 lawmakers to raise the issue formally, but haven’t been able to get support from the rest of their caucus—so far.
A Swiss court ruled that Olympic gold medalist Caster Semenya will no longer be forced to take medication to reduce her testosterone levels in order to compete. Earlier this year, Semenya challenged new rules that tried to require female runners with naturally high levels of testosterone to reduce it with medication in order to continue competing.
The State Department is now requiring visa applicants to submit social media account information for the past five years. If you ain’t verified, you ain’t getting a visa.