Trump Signs Repeal of Transparency Rule for Oil Firms 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. "Trump signs repeal of transparency rule for oil companies"

"President Trump signed legislation Tuesday to repeal a controversial regulation that would have required energy companies to disclose their payments to foreign governments.

The legislation is the first time in 16 years that the Congressional Review Act (CRA) has been used to repeal a regulation, and only the second time in the two decades that act has been law. It is the third piece of legislation Trump has signed since taking office three weeks ago."

"It is the start of one front in an aggressive deregulatory effort that the Trump administration and the GOP Congress are undertaking to roll back Obama-era rules on fossil fuel companies, financial institutions and other businesses that they say have suffered for the last eight years.

The resolution repeals a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rule written under the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law.."

Read more at The Hill.

2. "White House posts wrong versions of Trump's orders on its website"

"The White House has posted inaccurate texts of President Trump's own executive orders on the White House website, raising further questions about how thorough the Trump administration has been in drafting some of his most controversial actions."

"A USA TODAY review of presidential documents found at least five cases where the version posted on the White House website doesn't match the official version sent to the Federal Register. The differences include minor grammatical changes, missing words and paragraph renumbering — but also two cases where the original text referred to inaccurate or non-existent provisions of law."

Read more at USA Today.

3. "Secret Service director to step down"

"The head of the Secret Service, a retired presidential detail leader who was given the assignment of shoring up the agency in a period of crisis, is leaving his post, a little more than two years after arriving in one of Washington's toughest jobs."

"Joseph P. Clancy, whom President Barack Obama summoned back from the private sector in late 2014 amid a string of security breaches and employee misconduct in the agency, said it's now time to retire for good. He alerted the White House last week of his plans to step down March 4, giving President Trump the chance to select his own security chief."

Read more at the Washington Post.

4. "U.S. calls Venezuela's vice president an international drug trafficker"

"U.S. authorities on Monday said the vice president of Venezuela was an international drug trafficker and slapped severe sanctions on him. The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said Tareck El Aissami has played a "significant role in international narcotics trafficking," a news release said."

"“OFAC's action today is the culmination of a multi-year investigation under the Kingpin Act to target significant narcotics traffickers in Venezuela and demonstrates that power and influence do not protect those who engage in these illicit activities," said John Smith, acting director of OFAC. El Aissami, who was appointed vice president of Venezuela in January, is a former interior and justice minister and governor of the country's Aragua state.”

Read more at CNN.

5. "Russia deploys missile, violating treaty and challenging Trump"

"Russia has secretly deployed a new cruise missile despite complaints from American officials that it violates a landmark arms control treaty that helped seal the end of the Cold War, administration officials say."

"The move presents a major challenge for President Trump, who has vowed to improve relations with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and to pursue arms accords."

Read more at the New York Times.

— Erin Wright

(Photo Credit: Jay Galvin via Flickr / Creative Commons)