Tag: US President Donald Trump

NYSE withdraws plans to delist 3 Chinese phone carriers

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The New York Stock Exchange says it is withdrawing plans to remove shares of three Chinese state-owned phone carriers under an order by President Donald Trump. The exchange cited further consultation with US regulators but gave no other details of its decision in a notice issued late Monday.

The NYSE earlier announced plans to remove China Telecom Corp. Ltd., China Mobile Ltd. and China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd. after Trump’s order in November barring Americans from investing in securities issued by companies deemed to be linked to the Chinese military.

Hong Kong-traded shares in the three companies surged Tuesday. China Telecom rose 5.7 percent, China Mobile jumped 5.5 percent and China Unicom surged 6.7 percent. Shares in all three have fallen recently.

The Chinese government has accused Washington of misusing national security as an excuse to hamper competition and has warned that Trump’s order would hurt US and other investors worldwide.

Political analysts expect little change in policy under President-elect Joe Biden due to widespread frustration with Chinas trade and human rights records and accusations of spying and technology theft.

US officials have complained that China’s ruling Communist Party takes advantage of access to American technology and investment to expand its military, already one of the world’s biggest and most heavily armed.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Trump extends visa ban, health coverage policy advances

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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President Donald Trump on Thursday extended pandemic-related bans on green cards and work visas to large groups of applicants through March 31, while a federal appeals court sided with him on a rule that requires new immigrants to have their own health insurance.

The twin developments on the final day of 2020 encapsulated how Trump has made US immigration policy more restrictive without support from Congress. President-elect Joe Biden has promised to undo many of Trump’s actions but it is unclear how quickly and even to what extent.

Federal judges have limited the impact of the pandemic-related visa bans, which were set to expire Thursday. Biden, who is now forced to decide when and whether to lift them after taking office Jan 20, doesn’t specifically address the issue in his immigration platform.

Biden also doesn’t directly address the health-insurance requirement in his platform and a lawyer who sued the over the policy on Thursday urged him to immediately rescind it.

In April, Trump imposed a ban on green cards issued abroad that largely targets family members of people already in the United States. After a surprisingly chilly reception from immigration hawks, the administration went much further in June by adding H-1B visas, which are widely used by American and Indian technology company workers and their families; H-2B visas for nonagricultural seasonal workers; J-1 visas for cultural exchanges; and L-1 visas for managers and other key employees of multinational corporations.

Trump said the measures would protect American jobs in a pandemic-wracked economy, while business groups said they would hamper a recovery.

The effects of COVID-19 on the United States labor market and on the health of American communities is a matter of ongoing national concern, Trump’s proclamation read, highlighting the growing number of cases and states’ restrictions on businesses.

Also Read: Trump leaves mark on immigration policy, some of it lasting

By contrast, the administration’s edict to immediately expel asylum-seekers and others who cross the border illegally from Mexico was justified on grounds of containing the coronavirus, though reporting by The Associated Press and others found that government scientists saw no evidence for it. A temporary ban on non-essential travel across the Mexican and Canadian borders was also done for public health.

In October, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled that the work-visa ban could not be enforced against groups that sued and their members, who represent much of the U.S. economy: the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, the National Retail Federation, technology industry group TechNet and Intrax Inc., which manages cultural exchange programs.

In December, a federal judge in Oakland, California, prevented the green-card ban from taking effect against families of 181 U.S. citizens and legal residents who sued.

In its ruling issued Thursday, a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals panel voted 2-1 to clear the way for Trump’s requirement that immigrants have health insurance. New immigrants must demonstrate they can obtain coverage within 30 days and pay their medical expenses. A federal judge blocked the rule from taking effect almost immediately after it was announced in October 2019.

Judge Daniel P. Collins, a Trump appointee, wrote that the president acted within his authority, relying largely on the Supreme Court’s ruling that upheld Trump’s travel ban on several predominantly Muslim countries. He was joined by Judge Jay Bybee, who was appointed by President George W. Bush.

Judge A. Wallace Tashima, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton, dissented, calling the policy a major overhaul of this nation’s immigration laws without the input of Congress a sweeping and unprecedented exercise of unilateral executive power.

Esther Sung, an attorney for Justice Action Center, an advocacy group that sued to block the rule, said she was disappointed. The ruling makes clear that the Biden administration must move swiftly to rescind all of President Trump’s xenophobic presidential proclamations, including this health care ban, she said.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Trump leaves mark on immigration policy, some of it lasting

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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When President Donald Trump was running for reelection, foreign-born U.S. residents were rushing to get their American citizenship before it might be too late. I didn’t know what would happen if Trump got a second term, said Victoria Abramowska, who became a citizen in Maine this fall, ”after all the crazy things he did already.

Her fears weren’t unfounded. The Trump administration was more hostile to immigration and immigrants than any administration in decades, making it harder for people to visit, live or work in the United States and seeking to reduce the number illegally entering the country.

Many of the administration’s immigration actions can be quickly undone by Joe Biden when he becomes president on Jan. 20. Yet Trump’s legacy on immigration won’t be easily erased.

People were denied the opportunity to apply for asylum and returned to dangerous conditions at home. Children were traumatized by being separated from their families. Trump’s signature border wall went up in environmentally sensitive areas.

The damage inflicted in the meantime on people of all stripes legal immigrants, undocumented immigrants, asylum seekers and more will not be so quickly reversed and in some cases can’t be reversed, said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick of the American Immigration Council. There are people who died because of Trump’s immigration policies.

Perhaps the most counterintuitive legacy of Trump’s immigration crackdown is an apparently unintended one: a surge in foreign residents like Abramowska who rushed to become citizens because they feared the consequences of the crackdown.

Abramowska, a 34-year-old who grew up in Germany but had Polish citizenship, said she worried that Trump could make it harder to become a citizen in the future, complicating her life if she and her US-born husband wanted to move overseas or just travel. I didnt know what kind of roadblocks he could put in the way,” she said.

Trump set the tone early on immigration, dismissing many Mexican border-crossers as murderers and rapists in the June 2015 news conference announcing his candidacy.

Early in his administration, he issued an order that, among other things, banned people from seven predominantly Muslim countries from visiting the country. After a long legal fight, a version of the order was upheld by the Supreme Court in a 5-4 vote.

Also Read: American lawmakers seek immigration overhaul

Trump also quickly imposed a rule denying green cards to immigrants who might need public assistance such as food stamps or Medicaid, which critics said was essentially a wealth test. It also sparked a legal fight and has been placed on hold by a federal court. He railed about groups of migrants coming to the border and dispatched the military, though there were no signs the Border Patrol needed any help.

The administration sought to halt migrants from crossing the southwest border through measures that included and building about 450 miles of wall and forcing people seeking asylum to do so in Mexico or Central America. Once the pandemic started, US Customs and Border Protection began quickly expelling nearly everyone under an emergency authorization. The numbers have started to rise to pre-Trump levels, though some of that is likely from people getting caught repeatedly trying to cross the border illegally.

By one count, Trump made more than 400 immigration policy changes, though he spoke less about the issue at the end of his presidency and focused on law and order instead amid the protests over the killing by police of George Floyd.

Biden can undo many of the executive actions. He has said, for example, that he wants to restore the cap on refugees that Trump reduced to the lowest on record and plans to halt construction on the border wall. He can offer to settle the suits challenging administration policies.

The main priority for the first two years is going to be nothing more than just trying to get the system back to where it was in 2016, David Bier, an immigration policy analyst with the Cato Institute, said of the Biden administration.

It may take longer to deal with the less tangible fallout.

The Trump administration imposed a freeze in June on new green cards for high-tech workers, seasonal workers and managers of multinational corporations. Such actions damage the U.S. image abroad, Bier said.

It has made us less promising as a destination and has diverted people from coming to start businesses here or to start employment, Bier said. They are going to Canada in record numbers. They are going to Australia in record numbers. They are going other places, or they are making other plans.

To some degree, its a matter of certainty, Bier said. The administration’s many changes to immigration policy make it hard for anyone to plan for the future.

If you cant plan and count on the US system existing in some form for years to come, then you dont build your life around something so inconsistent, he said.

That holds for individuals as well.

People would say to me that you should hurry up and get naturalized, you never know what could happen, said Ridhima Bhatia, a 22-year-old recent college graduate from India who became a citizen this month near Washington, D.C.

Also Read: Reversing Trump border policies will take months, says Joe Biden

Bhatia had multiple reasons for becoming a citizen. After living in the U.S. with a green card, she believes a U.S. passport will make it easier for her to travel and will simplify her job search. But her decision to seek citizenship was also a response to the administrations hostility to immigrants, which she felt even in the affluent suburbs of Northern Virginia.

You see a lot of people more comfortable being discriminatory, being more hostile, that I think might have been in part because of President Trump, she said. He set an example, with his speeches, and how he acts.

A surge in new citizens like Bhatia is, perhaps surprisingly, one legacy of the Trump era.

There were more than 830,000 naturalizations last year, the highest since 2008. The total for all four years under Trump is expected to surpass 3.3 million.

The high figure from last year is a result of a larger-than-normal number of applicants at the start of his presidency, when many feared the changes to come, said Randy Capps, director of research at the Migration Policy Institute.

The administration increased the scrutiny of applicants, making the process more time-consuming and difficult, and it recently made the citizenship test longer and harder. But the overall approval rate stayed about the same, about 90%, because the fundamental rules for who qualifies for citizenship did not change, Capps said.

For the most part, the legal immigration system, which is written by Congress, withstood the assaults by the Trump administration, he said.

While Trump may have been the cause of many of those naturalizations, he wasnt the beneficiary. Abramowska used her newfound status to cast her first ballot in an American election. She voted for Biden.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Tibetan govt-in-exile lauds US President Trump for new Tibet policy

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Tibetan Parliament in exile has expressed gratitude to United States President Donald Trump for signing a new Tibet policy. On Sunday, Trump signed the Tibetan Policy and Support Act of 2020 to modify and re-authorise various programmes and provisions related to Tibet.

The bill reaffirms the right of Tibetans to choose a successor to the Dalai Lama and calls for establishing an American consulate in the country.

In a statement issued by the Dharamshala-based Tibetan Parliament in exile, its Speaker Pema Jungney said, ”This act officially endorses that recognition of the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama is the sole authority of the great XIV Dalai Lama, the Tibetan Buddhist leaders and the Tibetan people with no interference from the Chinese government (People’s Republic of China).”

”This act also recognises the importance of the Tibetan Plateau and the threat that climate change poses on Tibet,” the statement said. ”Over the years, the presidents of the United States of America have consistently supported the Tibet cause and we are immensely grateful for your indefatigable support in taking strong measures against China, a government that is economically the most powerful yet having the record of worst human rights violations,” it added.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

US House approves $2,000 coronavirus aid checks sought by Trump

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Democratic-led US House of Representatives voted 275-134 to meet President Donald Trump’s demand for USD 2,000 COVID-19 relief checks on Monday, sending the measure on to an uncertain future in the Republican-controlled Senate. But even as Democrats helped secure approval for what the Republican president sought on stimulus payments, they spearheaded a House vote just a short time later to override his veto of a separate USD 740 billion defense policy bill. The rebuke, in Trump’s final weeks in office, would be the first veto override of his presidency if seconded by the Senate this week.

Trump last week threatened to block a massive pandemic aid and spending package if Congress did not boost stimulus payments from USD 600 to USD 2,000 and cut other spending. He backed down from his demands on Sunday as a possible government shutdown loomed, brought on by the fight with lawmakers.

But Democratic lawmakers have long wanted much bigger relief checks and used the rare point of agreement with Trump to advance the proposal – or at least to put Republicans on record against it – in the vote on Monday, less than a month before Trump leaves office.

SPENDING AND CORONAVIRUS AID PACKAGE

The 275 votes for passage meant the stimulus proposal narrowly exceeded the two-thirds of votes cast needed. A total of 130 Republicans, two independents and two Democrats opposed the increased checks on Monday.

Trump, who lost November’s election to Democratic challenger Joe Biden but has refused to concede defeat, finally signed the USD 2.3 trillion package into law Sunday night after holding it up with a veiled veto threat. But he continued demanding USD 2,000 checks. The USD 2.3 trillion includes USD 1.4 trillion in spending to fund government agencies and USD 892 billion in COVID-19 relief.
It is not clear how the measure to increase aid checks will fare in the Senate, where some Republican lawmakers have complained that the higher amount would add hundreds of billions of dollars to the latest relief bill.

Increasing the checks would cost USD 464 billion, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation, which prepares cost estimates for legislation before Congress.

The Senate is due to convene on Tuesday, and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said he would then seek passage of the higher checks bill in the chamber, where Republicans have the majority. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Sunday made no mention of Senate plans for such a vote, after welcoming Trump’s signing of the relief bill.

Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent who has championed higher direct payments to Americans, threatened to stop the Senate from recessing for the New Year’s holiday until McConnell agrees to allow a vote on the USD 2,000 checks.

The coronavirus pandemic has killed nearly 330,000 people in the United States and led to widespread economic hardship, with millions of families relying on unemployment benefits and COVID-19 relief funds.

Global markets were buoyed after Trump approved the package. Wall Street’s main indexes hit record highs on Monday as Trump’s signing of the aid bill bolstered bets on an economic recovery and drove gains in financial and energy stocks.

PELOSI: ’REPUBLICANS HAVE A CHOICE’

As the floor debate was underway, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said: ”Republicans have a choice, vote for this legislation, or vote to deny the American people the bigger paychecks that they need.”

Democratic Representative Dan Kildee said: ”We would have included much larger payments in the legislation had he (Trump) spoken up sooner. But it’s never too late to do the right thing.”

Asked at the end of an event in Wilmington, Delaware, whether he supported expanding the coronavirus payments to USD 2,000, Biden replied: ”Yes.”
Georgia Republicans Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, who face crucial Senate runoffs next month that will determine who controls the chamber, welcomed Trump’s move, without saying whether the payments should be increased.

Republican Representative Kevin Brady said the bill does nothing to help people get back to work. ”I worry that as we spend another half a trillion dollars so hastily, that we are not targeting this help to the Americans who are struggling the most and need that help,” he said.

The US Treasury Department is anticipating sending the first wave of USD 600 stimulus checks to individuals and households as early as this week, as previously planned, a senior Treasury official said on Monday.

Unemployment benefits being paid out to about 14 million people through pandemic programs lapsed on Saturday but will be restarted now that Trump has signed the bill. The relief package extends a moratorium on evictions that was due to expire on Dec. 31, refreshes support for small-business payrolls, provides funding to help schools re-open and aid for the transport industry and vaccine distribution.

HOUSE OVERRIDES VETO

Also in the hands of the Senate, for a vote expected this week, will be whether to override Trump’s veto of the defense bill. In Monday’s 322-87 House vote, which met the two-thirds majority needed, 66 Republicans sided with Trump’s rejection of the bipartisan bill, underscoring deep divisions in the Republican Party.

Trump, who is angry that some Republicans have acknowledged his loss to Biden, vetoed the defense bill last Wednesday. He said he was against it because he wanted it to overturn liability protections for social media companies unrelated to national security, and opposed a provision to rename military bases named after generals who fought for the pro-slavery Confederacy during the Civil War.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters that Trump’s veto had been ”stupid” and ”small-minded.” ”This was too irrational a move for the Republicans to rationalize,” the Democratic lawmaker said, predicting that the Senate would take similar action.

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Trump signs into law Gandhi-King Scholarly Exchange Initiative

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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US President Donald Trump has signed into law the Gandhi-King Scholarly Exchange Initiative that among other things paves the way for establishing an educational forum between America and India to study the work and legacies of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. Written by civil rights icon John Lewis, who died early this year, and co-sponsored by Indian-American Congressman Ami Bera, the new law authorises USD one million a year through fiscal 2025 for the Gandhi-King Scholarly Exchange Initiative.

It also authorises USD 2 million for just FY 2021 for the Gandhi-King Global Academy, and USD 30 million for 2021 for the US-India Gandhi-King Development Foundation. The new law also authorises the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to establish a US-India development foundation that would leverage the Indian private sector to address development priorities in India.

The development foundation would receive USD 15 million per year from 2022 through 2025 but only if India’s private sector commits to match US government contributions. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that the bill would cost USD51 million over five years. In 2009, late Congressman John Lewis led a congressional delegation visit to India to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Dr King’s pilgrimage to India.

Inspired by his visit, Congressman Lewis created the Gandhi-King Exchange Act to seek to apply the philosophies of Gandhi and Dr King Jr to conflict resolution efforts and current policy challenges. The Act, among other things authorises the State Department, in cooperation with the Indian government, to establish an annual educational forum for scholars from both countries that focuses on the legacies of Gandhi and Dr King Jr.

Also Read: Trump signs pandemic relief package and govt-funding measure, averting a govt shutdown

It also authorises to develop a professional development training initiative on conflict resolution based on the principles of nonviolence; and establish a foundation to address social, environmental and health priorities in India.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Trump signs pandemic relief package and govt-funding measure, averting a govt shutdown

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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President Donald Trump has signed a USD 900 billion pandemic relief package that will deliver long-sought cash to businesses and individuals. It also averts a government shutdown. Trump announced the signing in a statement Sunday night.

The massive bill includes USD 1.4 trillion to fund government agencies through September and contains other end-of-session priorities such as money for cash-starved transit systems and an increase in food stamp benefits. Democrats are promising more aid to come once President-elect Joe Biden takes office, but Republicans are signaling a wait-and-see approach.

The fate of an end-of-year COVID-19 relief and spending bill remained in doubt Sunday as millions lost unemployment aid, the government barreled toward a mid-pandemic shutdown and lawmakers implored President Donald Trump to act.

Trump blindsided members of both parties and upended months of negotiations when he demanded last week that the package — already passed the House and Senate by large margins and believed to have Trump’s support — be revised to include larger relief checks and scaled-back spending. If he continues his opposition, the federal government will run out of money at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday while he spends the holidays golfing in Florida.

On Sunday evening, Trump offered the vaguest of updates, tweeting, “Good news on Covid Relief Bill. Information to follow!” The White House did not respond to questions about what he meant.

In the face of growing economic hardship and spreading disease, lawmakers urged Trump on Sunday to sign the legislation immediately, then have Congress follow up with additional aid. Aside from unemployment benefits and relief payments to families, money for vaccine distribution, businesses, cash-starved public transit systems and more is on the line. Protections against evictions also hang in the balance.

“What the president is doing right now is unbelievably cruel,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. “So many people are hurting. … It is really insane and this president has got to finally … do the right thing for the American people and stop worrying about his ego.”

Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania said he understood that Trump “wants to be remembered for advocating for big checks, but the danger is he’ll be remembered for chaos and misery and erratic behavior if he allows this to expire.”

Toomey added: “So I think the best thing to do, as I said, sign this and then make the case for subsequent legislation.” The same point was echoed by Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican who’s criticized Trump’s pandemic response and his efforts to undo the election results. “I just gave up guessing what he might do next,” he said.

Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois said too much is at stake for Trump to “play this old switcheroo game.” “I don’t get the point,” he said. “I don’t understand what’s being done, why unless it’s just to create chaos and show power and be upset because you lost the election.”

Trump, who spent much of Sunday at his West Palm Beach golf course, has given no indication that he plans to sign the bill as he spends the last days of his presidency in a rage. Indeed, his dissatisfaction with the legislation seems only to have grown in recent days as he has criticized it both privately to club members and publicly on Twitter.

Days ago, Democrats said they would call House lawmakers back to Washington for a vote Monday on Trump’s proposal to send out USD 2,000 relief checks, instead of the USD 600 approved by Congress. But the idea is likely to die in the Republican-controlled Senate, as it did among Republicans in the House during a rare Christmas Eve session. Democrats were also considering a vote Monday on a stopgap measure aimed at keeping the government running until President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated Jan. 20.

Washington has been reeling since Trump turned on the deal, without warning, after it had won sweeping approval in both houses of Congress and after the White House had assured Republican leaders that Trump would support it.

Instead, he assailed the bill’s plan to provide USD 600 COVID-19 relief checks to most Americans — insisting it should be USD 2,000 — and took issue with spending included in an attached USD 1.4 trillion government funding bill to keep the federal government operating through September. And already, his opposition has had consequences, as two federal programs providing unemployment aid expired Saturday.

Lauren Bauer of the Brookings Institution had calculated that at least 11 million people would lose aid immediately as a result of Trump’s failure to sign the legislation; millions more would exhaust other unemployment benefits within weeks.

How and when people are affected by the lapse depends on the state they live in, the program they are relying on and when they applied for benefits.
In some states, people on regular unemployment insurance will continue to receive payments under a program that extends benefits when the jobless rate surpassed a certain threshold, said Andrew Stettner, an unemployment insurance expert and senior fellow at the Century Foundation think tank.

About 9.5 million people, however, had been relying on the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program that expired altogether Saturday. That program made unemployment insurance available to freelancers, gig workers and others normally not eligible. After receiving their last checks, those recipients will not be able to file for more aid, Stettner said.

Fingers have been pointing at administration officials, including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, as lawmakers try to understand whether they were misled about Trump’s position. “Now to be put in a lurch, after the president’s own person negotiated something that the president doesn’t want, it’s just — it’s surprising,” Kinzinger said. “But we will have to find a way out.” Kinzinger spoke on CNN’s “State of the Union,” and Hogan and Sanders on ABC’s “This Week.”

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Explainer: Can anything stop Trump from pardoning his family or even himself?

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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President Donald Trump on Wednesday granted pardons to his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and former adviser Roger Stone, sweeping away the most important convictions from US Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign.

So far, Trump, who has 27 days left in the White House until President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in on Jan. 20, has issued 70 pardons since taking office.

The New York Times reported earlier this month that Trump had talked with his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani about pardoning him, citing two people briefed on the matter. The Times also said that Trump has asked advisers about the possibility of “preemptively” pardoning his three eldest children – Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump.

In 2018, Trump even said he had the “absolute right” to pardon himself – a claim many constitutional law scholars dispute.

Here is an overview of Trump’s pardon power.

CAN A PARDON BE PREEMPTIVE?

Yes.

Most pardons are issued to people who have been prosecuted and sentenced. But pardons can cover conduct that has not resulted in legal proceedings, though they cannot apply to future conduct.

The Supreme Court said in 1866 that the pardon power “extends to every offense known to the law, and may be exercised at any time after its commission, either before legal proceedings are taken or during their pendency, or after conviction and judgment.”

Most famously, former President Richard Nixon was preemptively pardoned by his successor Gerald Ford in 1974 for all crimes he might have committed against the United States while he was in office.

In 1977, President Jimmy Carter preemptively pardoned hundreds of thousands of “draft dodgers” who avoided a government-imposed obligation to serve in the Vietnam War.

ARE THERE LIMITS ON A PRESIDENT’S PARDON POWER?

The pardon power, which comes from the US Constitution, is one of the broadest available to a president. The nation’s founders saw the pardon power as a way to show mercy and serve the public good. The president does not have to give a reason for issuing a pardon. In a 1981 case, the Supreme Court said pardons ”are rarely, if ever, appropriate subjects for judicial review.”
The pardon power, however, is not absolute. Crucially, a pardon only applies to federal crimes.

COULD TRUMP PARDON HIS CHILDREN AND INNER CIRCLE?

It would be legal for Trump to pardon his inner circle, including members of his family.

In 2001, former President Bill Clinton pardoned his brother, Roger, who was convicted for cocaine possession in Arkansas. Clinton pardoned about 450 people, including a Democratic Party donor, Marc Rich, who had earlier fled the country because of tax evasion charges.

HOW BROADLY WORDED CAN A PARDON BE?

It’s unclear.

The pardon Nixon received from Ford was very broad, absolving Nixon for all criminal offenses he committed or may have taken part in during his presidency.

The US Supreme Court has never ruled on whether such a broad pardon is lawful. Some scholars have argued the nation’s founders intended for pardons to be specific, and that there is an implied limit on their scope.

WHAT WOULD TRUMP PARDON HIS CHILDREN OR GIULIANI FOR?

Trump’s children have not been accused of any criminal wrongdoing, and it is unclear what Trump would pardon them for.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, who enforces New York state laws, has been conducting a criminal investigation into Trump and his family company, the Trump Organization. Vance, a Democrat, has suggested in court filings that his probe could focus on bank, tax and insurance fraud, as well as falsification of business records.

It is unclear what stage the investigation is at. No one has been charged with wrongdoing.

Trump, a Republican, has called the Vance probe politically motivated harassment. A presidential pardon, which can only be granted for federal crimes, would not apply to this investigation.

Giuliani’s potential criminal exposure is unclear. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have been investigating his business dealings in Ukraine. Giuliani has denied wrongdoing and denied that he spoke to Trump about a pardon.
“Never had the discussion they falsely attribute to an anonymous source,” Giuliani said on Twitter on Dec. 1, referring to the New York Times report.

CAN PARDON RECIPIENTS ”PLEAD THE FIFTH”?

Under the Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution, individuals can decline to speak to investigators if doing so might lead to self-incrimination. If someone receives a pardon and no longer faces legal jeopardy on the federal level, it may make it more difficult for them to assert this constitutional right.

However, since a presidential pardon applies only to federal crimes, pardon recipients can still lawfully refuse to cooperate if the conduct they have been pardoned for can also be prosecuted as a state crime.

CAN TRUMP PARDON HIMSELF?

There is not a definitive answer. No president has tried it before, so the courts have not weighed in.

“When people ask me if a president can pardon himself, my answer is always, ‘Well, he can try,’” said Brian Kalt, a constitutional law professor at Michigan State University. “The Constitution does not provide a clear answer on this.”

Many legal experts have said a self-pardon would be unconstitutional because it violates the principle that nobody should be the judge in his or her own case.
Trump could try to pardon himself preemptively to cover the possibility of prosecution for federal crimes after he leaves office. No pardon could protect him against prosecution for any crimes by a US state.

For a court to rule on the pardon’s validity, a federal prosecutor would have to charge Trump with a crime and Trump would have to raise the pardon as a defense, Kalt said.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Trump signs into law a legislation to name Houston Post office after slain Sikh police officer

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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US President Donald Trump on Monday signed into law a legislation to name a Texas post office after slain Sikh police officer Sandeep Singh Dhaliwal, who was gunned down in the line of duty during a routine traffic stop in Houston a year ago. Trump signed H R 5317, which designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 315 Addicks Howell Road in Houston, Texas, as the Deputy Sandeep Singh Dhaliwal Post Office Building, the White House said in a statement.

The post office named after Dhaliwal in Houston is only the second US post office to be named after an Indian American. The first one was named after the first Indian American Congressman Dalip Singh Saund in Southern California in 2006. The House of Representatives and the Senate had recently passed the legislation in this regard. In his remarks on the Senate floor, Texas Senator Ted Cruz had said that Dhaliwal was a hero and a trailblazer whose commitment to his faith will inspire generations of Sikhs and other religious minorities to serve in law enforcement.

Dhaliwal, he said, has left a profound legacy on the law enforcement community. On September 27, 2019, Deputy Dhaliwal, 42, was killed in the line of duty in service of his community. Born in India, Dhaliwal moved to Houston along with his parents. In 2015, Dhaliwal of the Harris County Sheriff’s office became the first Sikh American in Texas to receive a policy accommodation to serve while wearing his articles of faith, including his turban and beard.

His father, Pyara Singh had earlier said that his family remains grateful for the outpouring of love and support in this effort to commemorate his son. ”This gesture will memorialise his legacy of service to his beloved Houston, while also reminding us all to uphold his example and celebrate the diversity that makes our and so many other communities strong,” he said after the legislation was passed by the Congress.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Trump presents Legion of Merit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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US President Donald Trump on Monday presented the prestigious Legion of Merit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his leadership in elevating strategic partnership of the two countries and emergence of India as a global power. India’s Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, accepted the award on behalf of the prime minister from the US National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien at the White House.

President Trump ”presented the Legion of Merit to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his leadership in elevating the US-India strategic partnership,” O’Brien said in a tweet.

Modi was presented with the highest degree Chief Commander of the Legion of Merit which is given only to the Head of State or Government. He was given the award in recognition of his steadfast leadership and vision that has accelerated India’s emergence as a global power and elevated the strategic partnership between the United States and India to address global challenges.

O’Brien in another tweet said that Trump also presented the Legion of Merit to Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and the former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The awards were received by their respective ambassadors in Washington DC. President Trump ”awarded the Legion of Merit to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for his leadership and vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific,” he said.

Trump awarded the Legion of Merit to Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison for his leadership in addressing global challenges and promoting collective security, O’Brien tweeted. The United States is the latest country to confer its highest award to the Indian prime minister. Other awards include Order of Abdulaziz Al Saud by Saudi Arabia in 2016, State Order of Ghazi Amir Amanullah Khan (2016), Grand Collar of the State of Palestine Award (2018), Order of Zayed Award by United Arab Emirates (2019), Order of St Andrew by Russia (2019), Order of the Distinguished Rule of Nishan Izzuddin by Maldives (2019).

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow