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By Johannes Stern 14 February 2017

Frank-Walter Steinmeier (Social Democratic Party, SPD) was elected as the new president of Germany by the Federal Assembly on Sunday. After stepping down as foreign minister in the coalition government headed by Chancellor Angela Merkel (Christian Democratic Union, CDU), Steinmeier will succeed the retiring head of state, Joachim Gauck, in Bellevue Castle.

The election result shows that, despite the large majority achieved by Steinmeier and the many statements congratulating him, the German party system is breaking down under conditions of growing international political and economic instability.

In the first ballot, Steinmeier was elected with 75 percent of the vote, but he received only 931 of the 1,239 valid votes, many fewer than expected. If all the electors of the five parties that officially support Steinmeierthe Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the Christian Social Union (CSU), the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and the Green Partyhad voted for him, he would have received 1,106 votes.

Christoph Butterwegge, a poverty researcher who stood in the election as the Left Party candidate, received more votes than expected. He received a total of 128 votes even though the Left Party only has 95 electors. The candidate of the right-wing extremist Alternative for Germany (AfD), Albrecht Glaser, received 42 votes, at least seven of which came from representatives of other parties. In addition, 103 members of the Federal Assembly abstained.

The election of Steinmeier marks a political turning point. At no time since the end of the Second World War has a president held such a prominent and key position in the state apparatus prior to taking office. The conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung wrote: Steinmeier stands for the political class of this country. One of his predecessors, Horst Khler, who was an outsider, failed because he didnt know anyone in Berlin politics. Steinmeier knows everyone.

More than any other politician of the past 20 years, the SPD politician personifies the rightward shift in German politics. As head of the chancellors office under Merkels predecessor, Gerhard Schrder (SPD), Steinmeier played a significant role in working out the infamous Agenda 2010 and the Hartz laws, which drove millions into bitter poverty. Between 2005 and 2009, and then again between 2013 and 2017, he served as foreign minister of the grand coalition under Merkel. In this role, he prepared the way for the shift in German politics to a more aggressive foreign policy.

Exactly three years ago, at the Munich Security Conference, Steinmeier, Gauck and Defence Minister von der Leyen (Christian Democratic Union, CDU) announced the return of German militarism. Germany must be prepared to intervene earlier, more decisively and substantially in foreign and security policy, said Steinmeier. He pursued this program by supporting the right-wing putsch in Ukraine, the build-up of NATO against Russia, and the military deployments in Mali, Syria and Iraq.

At the same time, the foreign ministry led a so-called review process of German foreign policy under his direction, in order to combat the continual resistance to war and militarism. It published a strategy paper, which advocated the militarization of Europe under German dominance. In countless speeches and articles, Steinmeier himself has repeatedly referred to Germanys new global role.

In his short address after the election, Steinmeier made it clear that he would pursue this project further as president. He said that in stormy times, when the world appears to have gone off the rails, everything depends on the cement that holds society together. Germany is starting to be seen by many people all over the world as an anchor of hope, he claimed. If the foundation topples somewhere else, then we must stand even more firmly on this foundation Lets be bold. Then I will not be anxious about the future, he told the members of the Federal Assembly.

Steinmeier left no room for doubt that by being bold he meant the continued pursuit of war, which will inevitably go along with massive attacks on the working class within the country.

When Johannes Rau stood here, unified Germany saw itself confronted with difficult foreign policy decisions in the Balkans, with new responsibilities in the world, which have grown even greater today and which we have accepted, he said. Today is once again a difficult timebut ladies and gentlemen, this time is ours! We bear responsibility. And if we want to make others bold, then we need to be bold ourselves!

The presidency, which has had a primarily representative function after the experiences of the Weimar Republic, will have to be transformed once again into a political planning and power centre in order to implement these new great power fantasies.

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported that Steinmeier will bring a complete team of his own into Bellevue Castle, with whom he has worked for a long time and to whom he is bound by friendship. This team includes Secretary of State Stephan Steinlein, and previous head of planning in the SPD faction, Oliver Schmolke, as well as the 30-year-old speech writer Wolfgang Silberman, a graduate of Oxford and Harvard, and Thomas Bagger, the previous head of planning in the foreign office.

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Social Democrat Steinmeier is elected president of Germany - World Socialist Web Site

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wants President Trump to abandon his executive order on immigration and start from scratch, following a federal appeals courts decision not to reinstate his travel ban last week.

I think he ought to throw it in the trash, Schumer said on CBS Face the Nation Sunday. I think this executive order is so bad and so poison and its genesis is so bad and terrible that he ought to just throw it in the trashcan.

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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer urges President Trump to abandon the Executive order restricting immigration from seven predominantly Muslim...

The New York Democrat said the order, which pauses the U.S. refugee program and refuses entry into the country to citizens from seven predominantly Muslim nations, doesnt make Americans safer, is unconstitutional, and actually hurts the U.S. economy.

A religious ban just goes against the American grain, Schumer said. We believe in immigrants in this country. And we dont believe in a religious test.

He added that Silicon Valley, which employs numerous immigrants, suffers in the wake of the ban. And the ban also fails to target other terror threats, like lone wolves or weaknesses in the visa waiver program that allows citizens from over 20 partner countries to enter the U.S. easily without the stringent process of obtaining a visa.

Schumer addressed the recent North Korea ballistic missile test as well, saying that the foreign power was testing how far it could push President Trump so soon after his inauguration.

North Korea has shown itself to be an irresponsible nation in every way, he said. And Im sure theyre testing President Trump.

He advised the president to issue a statement with South Korea similar to the one he gave standing with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Saturday evening.

I was glad he issued the statement with the prime minister of Japan. But he also ought to do it quickly with South Korea, Schumer said. South Korea is probably more susceptible to North Koreas virulence than any other country. And there was some doubt cast on the relationship in the campaign by then-Candidate Trump. So do the same thing with South Korea that he did with Japan. And do it quickly.

The Democratic leader advised Mr. Trump to use China to put the pressure on North Korea.

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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says President Trump should partner with South Korea to condemn North Korea missile testing, but notes, the...

They could squeeze North Korea economically, Schumer said, noting that 90 percent of their imports and exports go through China. And I think we have to tell the Chinese that they have to put the wood to North Korea in a much more serious way than theyve done so far.

Schumer weighed in on Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch ahead of his Senate hearing.

He noted Gorsuch had not condemned President Trump for his comments attacking the judiciary branch, saying it showed the judge was not independent enough for a seat on the nations highest bench.

We have a president who is overreaching dramatically, who shows little respect for rule of law, who seems to violate the Constitution in his first three weeks, and intimidates judges who have cases before them. This demands a new standard, a much more independent justice than in the past, Schumer said. I asked him would he publicly condemn what President Trump did with the existing judge, which any judge worth his salt should do. He refused.

You cant behind closed doors whisper to a senator and then not say anything, Schumer added.

The Democrat said that when he questioned Gorsuch specifically on what he would do in hypothetical cases involving religious bans, he received no satisfactory answer.

I said, If there was a law that said all Muslims are banned from the United States -- would that be unconstitutional? That has nothing to do with the case before him or before us. Before the court, Schumer explained. Gorsuchs reported response: He wouldnt answer.

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Top Democrat pushes Trump to throw travel ban "in the trash" - CBS ... - CBS News

When Sen. Jon Tester, a Montana Democrat, vouched for President Trumps pick to be the new interior secretary, there was perhaps more than a little self-interest involved.

Rep. Ryan K. Zinke, a Republican and the administrations secretary nominee, had been expected to challenge Mr. Tester in next years Senate race.

Now, with Mr. Testers backing, Mr. Zinke is likely to leave Congress and join the administration, leaving behind a much thinner Republican bench in the state and giving Mr. Tester a little more job security.

Given the Democrats voting record, he may need more of a margin for error next year.

Mr. Tester has tacked to the left, opposing Republicans and voting against Mr. Trumps nominees more than any other Democrat in a deep-red state one that went for Mr. Trump by 20 percent in November.

I think the biggest question is who the heck is going to run against him among Republicans because everyone thought Zinke was going to run, said David C.W. Parker, a political science professor at Montana State University.

As Republicans look at the Senate map in 2018, Mr. Tester is a target. He won his 2006 and 2012 races by narrow margins, with just 49 percent support each time.

Political handicappers rank Mr. Tester in the second tier of likely Republican pickups, putting him in a slightly stronger position than Democratic Sens. Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, who are viewed as being on shakier ground.

Still, his seat should be considered in play, analysts said.

He will be a tough incumbent, but Trumps performance was strong enough that at least one or two people will take the leap, said Nathan L. Gonzales, of Inside Elections, a nonpartisan group that tracks campaigns.

Mr. Gonzales said Republicans could end up with a better candidate than Ryan Zinke.

On the one hand is a member of Congress who has been elected statewide, but that also makes him a member of Congress and part of Washington and an extremely unpopular chamber, he said. So whoever Republicans get, we at least know they are not going to be tied directly to Congress.

Republicans sound confident that Mr. Tester can be toppled.

Jon Tester is part of the most extreme version of the Democratic Party in Washington, who want to fight President Trump at every turn, said Katie Martin, of the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee. The Washington liberal elite refuses to work to get things done, and Jon Tester is going to have to explain to hardworking Montana voters why he is a part of the problem.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee did not respond to multiple inquiries seeking comment.

Mr. Tester dismissed the idea that Mr. Trumps performance spells doom for him.

Look, Montanans are known for splitting tickets. It is not a concern, he said.

Asked whether Mr. Trump lingers in the back of his mind during votes, Mr. Tester said bluntly, Nope, never, never.

Indeed, while other embattled Democrats have tried to show their bipartisan credentials under Mr. Trump, bucking party leaders to back some congressional Republican or Trump priorities, Mr. Tester has more often sided with Democrats liberal wing.

Last week, he split with the four most embattled Democrats by voting against a Republican-sponsored measure that scrapped a proposed rule aimed at preventing coal-mining debris from getting into streams.

He also voted against confirming Rex Tillerson as secretary of state because of concerns over his ties to Russia and voted against Rep. Mike Pompeos nomination to lead the CIA because of concerns that the Kansas Republican wants to revive and expand some of the worst elements of the Patriot Act, including re-establishing bulk metadata collection.

This type of bulk data collection Mr. Pompeo advocates for fails to protect our right to privacy and potentially treats innocent Americans like hostile actors, he said.

The senator from Montana also sided with the Senates most liberal Democrats to try to block retired Marine Gen. James Mattis from being eligible to run the Defense Department though in the end he, along with most of the rest of those Democrats, did vote to confirm Mr. Mattis.

But Mr. Tester also has irked progressive groups by refusing to bow to demands that lawmakers dismiss Supreme Court nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch, and suggesting that he and Mr. Trump are on the same page when it comes to reducing regulations.

The ranking member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, Mr. Tester has also called on Mr. Trump to shield military veterans from his 90-day federal hiring freeze.

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By backing Trump's Interior pick, Democrat Tester thins Republican field in Montana - Washington Times

SALT LAKE CITY A top Utah Democrat ripped Rep. Jason Chaffetz on Saturday for dismissing Thursday night's raucous town hall meeting as being fueled by paid protesters from out of state, not representative of his 3rd District constituents.

"He's out of touch with reality. He's out of touch with the political reality on the ground," said House Minority Leader Rep. Brian King.

King shared his complaints about Chaffetz after he and four other Democrats from the Utah Legislature attended a town hall forum at Westminster College.

The Salt Lake City Democrat criticized Chaffetz for not acknowledging there's a significant portion of his constituency angry with him for supporting President Donald Trump.

"If he thinks that there have been out-of-state people paid to come in and demonstrate or cause a ruckus or cause a fuss really? What's the basis for that information?" King asked. "You can't say that kind of crap."

He said Chaffetz's response was "offensive on such a fundamental level," by not taking accountability or providing substantial information to back up his claims.

"This is the problem we've got with public officials in this country at this time," King said. "That line comes from Kellyanne Conway. That line comes from Donald Trump. That line comes from Sean Spicer. It's crap and we ought to call it out."

Conway is a counselor to Trump and Spicer is the White House press secretary.

Chaffetz's office declined a request for comment Saturday.

On Friday, Chaffetz said the estimated 1,000-person crowd that filled the auditorium at Brighton High School in Cottonwood Heights Thursday night and an estimated 1,000 more protesting outside was "more of a paid attempt to bully and intimidate" than a reflection of his constituents' feelings.

In response to questions about who would foot the bill to fill the audience with outside agitators, Chaffetz told the Deseret News to "do some reporting" and described how one town hall attendee made it a point to say he was not being paid by a national Democratic organization.

Cottonwood Heights Police Lt. Dan Bartlett said Saturday some town hall attendees did tell officers they had come from out of state, but the majority appeared to be Utahns.

"The majority of people I talked to were from here, from all over Utah," Bartlett said.

When asked if he knew if there any paid protesters, Bartlett said: "Not that we could tell."

Cottonwood Heights police also reported Saturday that a small group of protesters were carrying firearms (allowed under open carry laws) and wearing bandanas over their faces outside of the town hall meeting, attempting to incite the crowd.

"They were telling people, 'We should rush the cops,'" Bartlett said, but he added that the group dispersed when police officers walked over to watch them.

None of them were arrested, he said.

While policy discussion centered on prioritizing education funding, environmental issues, and equal opportunity, the lawmakers also responded to questions from the audience that reflected frustration with the political reality Democrats face in Utah's Republican-controlled Legislature.

"I'm sick of playing defense. I want to play offense," said Salt Lake resident Kristen Butcher. "How do we find concrete, strategic and proactive ways where we can stop being dismissed?"

The Democrats urged more political engagement like Thursday night's protests and the Women's March on the opening day of the 2017 Legislature to force leaders to hear their demands.

That's when Butcher called out from her seat in the audience: "Then we're just dismissed. We're called paid protesters," referring to Chaffetz.

King and the other panelists Salt Lake Democrats Rep. Joel Briscoe, Rep. Lynn Hemingway, Sen. Gene Davis, and Sen. Jani Iwamoto sympathized with Butcher. But Briscoe added: "I don't think (Chaffetz) is winning that argument."

Rep. Marie Poulson, D-Cottonwood Heights, said she believes most of the town hall attendees were Chaffetz's constituents. During a legislative gathering held in Holladay Thursday night, she said many of her constituents said they planned on going to Chaffetz's town hall meeting instead.

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Utah Democrats hit Chaffetz for dismissing town hall crowd as paid protesters - Deseret News

The top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee said presidential counselor Kellyanne Conways public pitch for Ivanka Trumps clothing line was a "blatant" violation of federal ethics rules.

This was a textbook case of violation" of the rules, Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Maryland, told ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos on "This Week" on Sunday. "You cannot go out there as an employee of the government and advertise for [Ivanka] Trump or anybody else and their products. You can't do that.

Conway, a counselor to President Trump, responded in an interview on Fox News on Thursday to a recent decision by some retailers to stop carrying Ivanka Trump's line of clothing and accessories.

"This is just a wonderful line," Conway said. "I own some of it, I fully -- I'm going to give a free commercial here," Conway said. "Go buy it today, everybody. You can find it online."

Cummings and the House Oversight Committee's GOP chair, Jason Chaffetz, sent a joint letter Thursday to the Office of Government Ethics asking them to review Conways comments.

"Conway's statements appear to violate federal ethics regulations," they state in the letter. "In this case, Conway's statements from the White House using her official title could appear to constitute an explicit endorsement and advertisement for Ivanka Trump's personal business activities." The letter asks the office to act promptly to send the committee its recommendation on what appropriate disciplinary action (such as reprimand, suspension, demotion or dismissal) be brought against the office or employee.

Federal ethics rules bar executive branch employees from endorsing products and using their public office for the private gain of friends or family.

Stephanopoulos asked Cummings about White House senior policy adviser Stephen Millers remarks earlier on This Week on Sunday that Conway had given a lighthearted, flippant response thats been blown out of proportion by the media.

Cummings said, "That's just absolutely not true. It was not flippant. As a matter of fact, she said, she made it clear, 'I am going to give some free advertisement today for Ivanka Trump.'"

"It was wrong," the Maryland Democrat said.

Asked by Stephanopoulos what disciplinary action he thinks should take place, Cummings said it is up to the Office of Government Ethics to "see how blatant this was."

"I personally think it was very blatant," the congressman said. "I think it was intentional."

Cummings said the ethics office will "make a recommendation," but that any decision on the matter is up to President Trump.

The problem here, George, is that the person who will mete out the punishment, if you will, will be the president. And it seems as if this may not be a big deal to him, but it is a big deal to me, and it is a big deal to Chairman Chaffetz.

Stephanopoulos also asked Cummings about recent public criticism of another White House senior staff member, National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who, according to ABC News sources, spoke to Moscow's ambassador about U.S. sanctions against Russia prior to President Trump's taking office. The conversation occurred at the time President Obama was hitting Russia with new sanctions for its alleged cyberhacking and interference in the U.S. election.

Flynn's alleged discussion of sanctions with the Russian ambassador raises legal questions about private citizens engaging in diplomacy that could undermine the intent of a sitting president.

Cummings was asked by Stephanopoulos whether he agrees with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi that Flynns security clearance should be revoked pending the conclusion of an investigation into the matter.

"Yes, I think that's an appropriate action," Cummings said on "This Week." But, George, there's something else that needs to be asked. That is, did the president instruct Gen. Flynn to talk to the ambassador? And did he know about it? If he knew about this conversation, when did he know it? That, to me, that is the key question. And we need to find out what that answer is.

Cummings also remarked on Vice President Mike Pence stating publicly in January that Flynn did not discuss sanctions in his conversations with the Russian ambassador.

"Then for Gen. Flynn to be walking that back, that's not good enough," Cummings said. "He is the national security adviser. He is supposed to be the one to make sure that these kinds of things don't happen. And here he is, embroiled in all of this."

I think it's going to be very interesting to see what happens over the next week. I would be very interested to know how the vice president feels after he was basically thrown under the bus, the congressman said.

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Top Democrat on House Oversight panel: Kellyanne Conway made 'blatant' violation of ethics rules - ABC News