ICYMI: Former Law Clerks Herald Supreme Court Nominee Neil Gorsuch's Independence

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Former Law Clerks Herald Supreme Court Nominee Neil Gorsuch’s Independence
​USA Today
By Richard Wolf

One thing you can say about Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch: He inspires loyalty among his former law clerks, no matter their politics.

Every one of them who worked for Gorsuch since he became a judge in 2006 — with the exception of two now clerking at the Supreme Court — signed a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday heralding his independence that “will never waver.”

In their letter, the former law clerks stressed Gorsuch’s strict adherence to the Constitution and the rule of law, regardless of his opinions. “As law clerks who have worked at his side, we know that Judge Gorsuch never resolves a case by the light of his personal view of what the law should be,” they said. “Nor does he ever bend the law to reach a particular result he desires.”

“He has never feared staking out a principled position … even if he had to do so alone,” they wrote. “If confirmed, we are confident that Judge Gorsuch’s independence — grounded in the limited powers granted to the judiciary by the Constitution — will never waver.”

Read USA Today‘s article about the letter here.

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President Trump: Cutting Red Tape for American Businesses

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The American free enterprise system is the greatest engine for economic success in the world, and this week President Donald J. Trump is taking more steps to roll back the burdensome, Obama-era regulations that are crippling our businesses.

Today, President Trump signed legislation (House Joint Resolution 41) eliminating a burdensome regulation that threatened to put domestic extraction companies and their employees at an unfair disadvantage. By halting this regulation, the President has removed a costly impediment to American extraction companies helping their workers succeed.

President Trump has been steadfast in his commitment to reducing the regulatory burdens on everyday Americans, their pocketbooks, and their businesses. He has required that for every new Federal regulation, two existing regulations be eliminated.

“This is one of many that we’ve signed, and we have many more left.  And we’re bringing back jobs big league, we’re bringing them back at the plant level; we’ve bringing them back at the mine level.”

Many members of Congress were in attendance at today’s bill signing, including House Speaker Paul Ryan; Representative Jeb Hensarling, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee; and other members of the House Financial Services Committee.

The Trump Administration is committed to fixing the broken regulatory system, enhancing Americans’ productivity, and unleashing American potential.

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Vice President Pence Casts Historic Vote to Confirm Betsy DeVos

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Betsy DeVos

Friends,

Today, I cast the tie-breaking vote in the Senate to confirm President Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Education: Betsy DeVos.

The vote the President asked me to cast wasn’t just for Betsy – it was also for America’s future.

Our nation’s success depends on the education of our students. In Betsy DeVos, we have one of America’s foremost advocates for educational opportunity and excellence.

For nearly three decades she has devoted her time, her talent, and her treasure to ensure that every child in America has the best shot at a better life. Countless students have benefitted from her efforts to promote an educational marketplace defined by innovation, opportunity, and real, meaningful choice.

The President and I agree that our children’s futures should not be determined by their zip code. Students should not be trapped in a system that puts the status quo ahead of a child’s success.

Betsy DeVos will have great impact as Secretary of Education. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a public school, a private school, a parochial school, a charter school, or any other kind of school – she will help ensure that every student has access to a good school.

We are grateful to Senate Majority Leader McConnell and all the Republican Senators who stood with us on this important vote.

The President is fully committed to this mission. Today’s vote was the first of its kind in our nation’s history, but the real history will be made through our unwavering dedication to America’s children – and to America’s future.

Thank you for all your help and support.

Sincerely,

Michael R. Pence
Vice President of the United States 

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Teresa Pearce responds to NAO report on 100 per cent business rate retention scheme

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Teresa Pearce, Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local
Government,
responding to the National Audit Office report on the 100 per cent
business rate retention scheme, said:

“Today’s report confirms what we have long suspected: the
Government is playing dangerous games with local government finances, and in
turn, is putting our vital public services in jeopardy.

“The NAO have stated that implementing 100 per cent business
rates retention before the Government’s Fair Funding Review has been published
will result in an untested and potentially unfair system being imposed on
already struggling councils. In the context of seven years of brutal and
relentless cuts to local government, that is a risk that councils cannot
afford. That is why Labour has continually called for 100 per cent
business rate retention to be delayed until after the Fair Funding Review is
complete.

“The report also finds that the research has not been
done into whether business rate retention is genuinely driving economic growth,
and the resources do not exist to do so sufficiently. As it stands, this scheme
is ideologically-driven but lacks any solid evidence base. 

“Local government is facing a £5.8billion funding gap by 2020.
There is a national crisis in social care with 1.2million frail elderly people
and one in five vulnerable disabled people being left lonely and isolated. Libraries,
youth centres and Sure Start centres have closed. Child protection services are
creaking, and homelessness is rising. Public services provided by local
councils are the lifeblood of our communities and the Government must think
more carefully before implementing these potentially catastrophic changes.”