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Steven Mnuchin, Treasury secretary nominee for President Donald Trump.

WASHINGTON Republicans muscled through committee approval of President Donald Trumps nominees for Treasury and Health on Wednesday, suspending a key Senate rule in the latest escalation of partisan tensions in Congress.

Democrats boycotted a Finance Committee meeting and Republicans responded by temporarily scuttling a rule requiring at least one Democrat to be present for votes. The committee then approved Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., to become Health secretary and financier Steve Mnuchin to be Treasury secretary by a pair of 14-0 votes.

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Democrats had been demanding time to ask more questions about both nominees. Democrats say there were unresolved questions about both nominees financial backgrounds.

Separately, the Senate planned to vote later in the day on Trumps nomination of Rex Tillerson for secretary of state after several Democrats crossed party lines to back the former Exxon Mobil CEO.

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The vote on Tillerson comes as tension builds among congressional Republicans and Democrats over Trumps executive order on immigrants and refugees.

The Senate Judiciary Committee has approved the nomination of Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama to be attorney general.

But Democrats lack the numbers in the Senate to block Tillerson from becoming the nations chief diplomat. Republicans hold a four-seat advantage and during a procedural vote Monday on the nomination, Democrats Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Mark Warner of Virginia cast their ballots for Tillerson. Theyre unlikely to change their minds.

Sen. Angus King, a Maine independent who caucuses with the Democrats, also supported Tillerson. The nomination needs only a simple majority to be confirmed.

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Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he wasnt sure whether Tillerson would steer Trump toward a coherent foreign policy or whether he might be a yes man, enabling the risky, chaotic whims of a demagogue president who is leading us on a march of folly.

The opening days of the Trump administration have seen little of the honeymoon period new presidents usually experience. The chief battleground has been Trumps executive order temporarily blocking refugees worldwide and anyone from seven Muslim-majority nations.

With liberal groups pressing them to fight Trump, Democrats used delaying tactics on Trump nominees on Tuesday. Its one of their limited weapons as the congressional minority to hamper the GOP.

Democrats said there were unresolved questions about the financial backgrounds of Price and Mnuchin.

In confirmed by the full Senate, Price would lead Republican efforts to erase former President Barack Obamas health care overhaul. Democrats cited a newspaper report that officials of an Australian biomed company said Price received a special offer to buy their stock at a reduced cost, despite Prices congressional testimony that the offer was available to all investors.

Democrats also said a bank run by Mnuchin used a process for handling home foreclosures that critics have associated with fraud.

Both men and congressional Republicans said they'd done nothing wrong.

Several other votes were planned Wednesday to get Trump nominees approved by committees, clearing them for confirmation in the full Senate.

The Senate Judiciary Committee intended to vote on Trumps nomination of Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions to serve as attorney general. Democrats scuttled a planned vote Tuesday in the wake of Trumps decision to fire Acting Attorney General Sally Yates. Several Democrats said they had no confidence Sessions would be able to stand up to Trump.

A vote also was planned in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Scott Pruitt, Oklahomas state attorney general in line to lead the Environmental Protection Agency.

In his current position, Pruitt has frequently sued the agency he hopes to lead, including a multistate lawsuit opposing the Obama administrations plan to limit planet-warming carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants.

Like Trump, Pruitt has cast doubt on the extensive body of scientific evidence showing that the planet is warming and man-made carbon emissions are to blame. Pressed by Democrats in his Senate confirmation hearing in January, however, Pruitt said he disagreed with Trumps earlier claims that global warming is a hoax created by the Chinese to harm the economic competitiveness of the United States.

I do not believe climate change is a hoax, Pruitt said.

Trumps pick to head the White House Budget Office, tea party Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C., faced a vote by the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, a critic of Mulvaneys previous stands on Pentagon spending, has yet to commit his support.

Original post:
Senate panel sidesteps Dems to OK Cabinet picks - The Boston Globe

New York Times

Senate Democrats Delay Confirmation of Mnuchin and Price New York Times The Senate Finance Committee's room was empty after Democrats boycotted votes on Tuesday for Representative Tom Price as secretary of health and human services and Steven T. Mnuchin as Treasury secretary. Credit Gabriella Demczuk for The New ... Democrats block confirmation votes for Sessions, Price and MnuchinWashington Post Senate Democrats Block Committee Votes On 2 Trump NomineesNPR Senate Democrats boycotting HHS, Treasury nomineesCNN ABC News -USA TODAY -Reuters all 389 news articles »

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Senate Democrats Delay Confirmation of Mnuchin and Price - New York Times

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Sex and the City actress Kristin Davis, an ambassador to refugee camps in Central Africa, broke down in tears during a TMZ interview over the notion that Donald Trumps immigration ban has killed the dreams and futures of many people across the world who need help.

Davis, who last visited a refugee camp in December, said most people were still struggling with finding their next meals or preparing for the hardship of winter, and werent completely aware of Trumps plans. Still, she said, they remained so hopeful about better futures in America.

Mostly everyone just thinks America is wonderful and in their wildest, wildest dreams they would get to come here, she said before breaking down. And it makes me said to think that that could change.

I love America, she added. I dont want people to think were not kind people.

Davis said its important people stay informed, and understand that refugees are not enemies.

Im worried very, very worried, very upset, Davis said. [Refugees] are the victims. I dont think we should be blaming them, but I have hope that the checks and balances in our government can step forward and rectify the situationI think that everybody standing up is inspiring.

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Next: 'Sex and the City' Stars Hint at New Sequel

Read more:
Kristin Davis Breaks Down Crying Over Trump's Immigration Reform - PopCrush

A petition urging Congress to tackle immigration reform that was started by a dairyman in Marsing is gaining momentum and support from dairymen in other parts of the state, according to industry officials.

Bob Naerebout, executive director of the Idaho Dairymens Association, said the petition is starting to gain signatures online and via mail from dairymen in the Magic Valley, the hub of Idahos milk and cheese production. The petition, started this month, seeks to gather at least 10,000 signatures by Feb. 3, urging Idahos congressional delegation to address immigration reform, specifically the lack of a visa program that would provide year-round labor for the the industry.

I had a lot of dairyman ask why we havent done this before and earlier, Naerebout said.

Story continues below video

The Marsing-based dairyman who started the petition declined to comment and provide his name for this story.

Dairies are not part of the H-2A Temporary Agricultural Workers program, which allows agricultural groups to bring foreign nationals into the country to fill temporary jobs. Other agricultural sectors in Idaho, such as hops growers, have utilized this program.

Naerebout said the the dairy industry isnt necessarily looking to be included in the H-2A program, but seeks a viable visa program that would allow producers to bring in foreign labor to fill what the petition describes as a massive shortage of workers.

The petition also supports providing legal status for those already working at Idaho, though Naerebout clarified the industry is not asking for that status to be defined as citizenship.

Even if the petition drive falls short of its goal of 10,000 signatures, Naerebout said the organization will continue pressing for immigration reform this year.

Well continue to work with other organizations that we work with to make immigration front and center, he said. Our best chance for getting it addressed is this year.

Idaho Dairymen Association President, Tony Vanderhulst, owns a dairy near Wendell, said he supports the petition. He said if dairies dont have enough labor, industries and companies that rely on mile, like cheese and yogurt factories, could feel the impact.

If the dairy industry doesnt have the labor it needs it will affect the Chobanis of the world, he said.

At the moment, his dairy has enough employees, but he said the labor pool is tightening up.

Were sitting okay, but I have friends who are short 3 or 4 people, he said. Winters been rough.

Olivia Weitz is the Canyon County and city of Caldwell reporter. She can be reached at 465-8107 or oweitz@idahopress.com. Follow @oliviaweitz1.

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Immigration reform petition started by Marsing dairyman gaining ... - Idaho Press-Tribune

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California elected officials are leading a courtroom charge to bulldoze the 1958NAACP v. AlabamaSupreme Court decision that guarantees anonymity for non-profit donors who might otherwise be subjected to death threats and other forms of intimidation.

The California attorney generals (CAG) requirement that nonprofit groups disclose donor identities in order to solicit donations in the state threatens more than First Amendment rights. Nonprofit groups filed 10 amicus briefs Friday before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Americans for Prosperity Foundation (AFPF) v.California Attorney General Xavier Becerra.

The California attorney general is callously neglectful of an atmosphere that is now crazed and even violent towards people who dissent from progressive doctrines, who speak out against radical terrorism, and others who may simply be in the wrong place at the wrong time, the amicus brief from American Target Advertising reads. The times are dangerous for dissent and association by conservatives.

The nonprofit community has long viewed NAACP v. Alabama which decided state officials infringed on First Amendment freedom of association rights by demanding NAACP donor identities as a key safeguard. (RELATED: F**k Donald Trump, F**K White People!: 4 People In Custody After Man Kidnapped, Tortured On Facebook Live)

Becerras predecessor, Kamala Harris, now one of Californias U.S. senators, launched the current push by ordering non-profit organizations to hand over IRS 990 schedule B forms with donor names and addresses as a requirement for soliciting donations in the state.AFPF filedits lawsuit in December 2014. (RELATED: California AG Threatens Non-Profit Donors First Amendment Rights)

The U.S. District Court for the District of Central California court sided with AFPF against the CAG, but the relief only applied to AFPF and the state appealed the case to the Ninth Circuit.

New Yorks Attorney General Eric Schneiderman also prohibited non-profit organizations from soliciting donations in that state unless they disclosed donor identities.

Nonprofit groups already have to give the IRS names of donors of more than $5,000, but the information is redacted before state officials receive it.

The heart of the issue is that Democrats dont respect the rights of conservative individuals and groups, said Mark Fitzgibbons, president of corporate and legal affairs for American Target, and author of that organizations brief.

If they have the names of donors to conservative causes and donors to liberal causes, which is none of their business, they know whos for them and whos against them, Fitzgibbons told The Daily Caller News Foundation.

The NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF) recognized that threats to freedom of association are dangerous to all nonprofit organizations and risk individuals safety.

In an increasingly polarized country, where threats and harassment over the Internet and social media have become commonplace, speaking out on contentious issues creates a very real risk of harassment and intimidation by private citizens and by the government itself, the NAACP LDF wrote.

Furthermore, numerous contemporary issues ranging from the Black Lives Matter movement, to gay marriage, to immigration arouse significant passion by people with many divergent beliefs. Thus, now, as much as any time in our nations history, it is necessary for individuals to be able to express and promote their viewpoints through associational affiliations without exposing themselves to a legal, personal or political firestorm.

The Alliance Defending Freedom, the Free Speech Defense Fund, the Pacific Research Institute, Cato Institute, Competitive Enterprise Institute, Proposition 8 Legal Defense Fund, Electronic Privacy Information Center, Pacific Legal Foundation, Philanthropy Roundtable, and Arizona, Alabama, Louisiana, Michigan, Nevada, Texas and Wisconsin also submitted briefs.

But AFPFs case has arguments beyond First Amendment grounds, the American Target brief argues.

The liberal push for donor information violates post-Watergate reforms to the tax code, which prohibit unauthorized access, inspection and disclosure of any confidential tax return information, and establishes penalties for violators.

Unless disclosure of tax return information is expressly authorized under the Internal Revenue Code, it is unlawful, the American Target brief said. The post-Watergate reforms therefore focus as much (if not more) on unauthorized disclosure to, and use by, federal and state officials as the public.

Harris had no right to demand identities in schedule B forms, as those requests must only go through the IRS on a case-by-case basis, and she could face penalties of up to $5,000 or five years behind bars, per Title 26 of the U.S. tax code, according to the brief.

Those reforms include civil and criminal penalties for state attorneys general and their staff, the American Target brief said. Many conservatives hope Congress and the incoming U.S. attorney general will look into this because the Obama administration seemed to give Democrats a pass on breaking laws when conservatives were being targeted for abuse.

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Liberal Push For Disclosure Is Dangerous | The Daily Caller - Daily Caller