Here's what's trending in politics in Georgia and around the nation on Thursday.
1. Trump on tax cuts, code reformPresident Donald Trump in a speech Wednesday in Missouri presented his case for simplifying the tax code and cutting the tax bill for businesses and individuals. Trump called for slashing the U.S. corporate tax rate to 15 percent from 35 percent. He also told Missouri voters to throw Sen. Claire McCaskill, (D), out of office in the midterm elections if she did not vote for tax reform.
2. Judge blocks Texas' 'sanctuary cities ban'A federal judge has blocked the implementation of a Texas law that gave local police the power to ask about a person's immigration status during routine law enforcement interactions, The Austin American Statesman is reporting. The legislation, Senate Bill 4, also required police to comply with requests from federal immigration authorities to hold jail inmates suspected of being in the country illegally. It was to take effect on Sept. 1.
3. Lobbyist who met with Trump Jr. testifiesThe Russian-American lobbyist who attended a meeting last year with Donald Trump Jr. has testified before special counsel Robert Mueller's grand jury, according to an Associated Press story. Rinat Akhmetshin, who met with Trump Jr. and others in June of 2016, reportedly testified before the grand jury in the past few weeks.
4. Election Integrity commission gets answers from 36 statesAs of last week, 36 states have responded to the request from the Presidential Advisory Commission on Electoral Integrity for voter data from the 2016 presidential election. Three of those states – Louisiana, New York and Pennsylvania – initially declined to provide information, but have now agreed to the commission's revised request. Vermont, which initially agreed to the request, announced it will not provide the commission with the publicly available information, according to Ballotpedia.
5. Trump's DACA decisionThe president has yet to announce what action his administration will take concerning the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. A group of GOP state lawmakers is threatening to file suit challenging DACA if Trump refuses to dismantle the program. DACA has allowed some 800,000 people brought to the United States illegally when they were children to remain in the country, safe from deportation.
6. Espionage trial for Reality Winner pushed backThe trial for an Georgia woman accused of espionage has been pushed back, according to the Augusta Chronicle. Attorneys for Reality Leigh Winner asked for a continuance because they have not yet received a national security clearance that would allow them to review classified documents that may be used against her at trial. Winner is accused of "willful retention and transmission" of national defense information. A tentative trial date had been set for the week of Oct. 23.
In case you missed itState Supreme Court: Georgia students can argue self-defense to justify school fights
About the Author
