Pentagon Confirms Weekend Drone Strikes Under Trump and More In Politics Today

It’s difficult to stay up-to-date on what’s happening in this country and to break through the clutter, so we’re here to make it easier. Here’s what we at Countable are reading today:

1. "Pentagon confirms weekend drone strikes in Yemen under Trump"

"The Pentagon confirmed Monday that it conducted three drone strikes in Yemen against al Qaeda militants over the weekend. The strikes were the first since President Donald Trump was sworn in to office, but the Pentagon said the strikes did not require authorization from him or Defense Secretary James Mattis. “Those authorities are delegated," Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis said at a briefing.”

"Davis said one strike was conducted in al Bayda, Yemen each day on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The strikes were conducted against al Qaeda's Yemen branch, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Experts have deemed it to be the most dangerous al Qaeda branch.

The strike on Friday killed one al Qaeda operative, while the one on Saturday killed three people and the one on Sunday one person."

Read more at The Hill.

2. "WH spox downplays historic women's marches"

"White House press secretary Sean Spicer downplayed on Monday the massive women's rights marches that took place Saturday in Washington, D.C. and across the United States, saying that protesters were actually "not against anything," let alone Donald Trump. Thousands of marchers attended protests on Saturday along the National Mall in Washington, D.C. as well as in hundreds of other cities across the United States and around the world."

"What is the President's message to the millions of people here in Washington and around the country who were protesting on Saturday?" a reporter asked at Spicer's first formal briefing.

"I think he has a healthy respect for the First Amendment and this is what makes our country so beautiful, is that on one day you can inaugurate a President, on the next day people can occupy the same space to protest something," Spicer said. "But he's also cognizant to the fact that a lot of these people were there to protest an issue of concern to them and not against anything.”

*Read more at Talking Points Memo. *

3. "Trump rejects Pacific trade deal, in blow to Obama’s legacy"

"President Trump formally abandoned the Trans-Pacific Partnership on Monday, pulling away from Asia and scrapping his predecessor’s most significant trade deal on his first full weekday in office, administration officials said."

"Mr. Trump sharply criticized the partnership agreement during last year’s campaign, calling it a bad deal for American workers. Although the deal had not been approved by Congress, the decision to withdraw the American signature at the start of Mr. Trump’s administration is a signal that he plans to follow through on promises to take a more aggressive stance against foreign competitors."

Read more at the New York Times.

4. "GOP senators outline first Obamacare replacement plan"

"The GOP’s first Obamacare replacement proposal landed in the legislative hopper on Monday, as two Republican senators outlined their preferred alternative to the Affordable Care Act.

The move comes amid conflicting signals from Republicans about when and how they will dismantle Obamacare and enact their own health care reform plan."

"The proposal unveiled on Monday, sponsored by Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, could provide a starting point for the Obamacare replacement debate. But the Cassidy-Collins bill also includes several controversial provisions — including at least temporarily keeping all the tax increases included in Obamacare to pay for their alternative — that could be nonstarters within their own party."

Read more at USA Today.

5. "Trump freezes hiring of many federal workers"

"President Trump instituted a government-wide hiring freeze Monday, signing an executive order that he said would affect all employees “except for the military." Trump had pledged to halt government hiring as part of his campaign’s “Contract with the American Voter,” which he framed as part of a larger effort to “clean up corruption and special interest in Washington D.C.” That campaign plan, however, also included exemptions for public safety and public health.”

"The last two major, across-the-board freezes were instituted by Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, who imposed them after taking office. In 1982, the General Accounting Office (now the Government Accountability Office) issued a report concluding that both freezes ended up costing more money than they saved and were “not an effective means of controlling federal employment."

Read more at the Washington Post.

— Erin Wright

(Photo Credit: gregwest98 / Creative Commons)