Judge Garland Not Interested in FBI Job 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.Judge Garland not interested in FBI job: sources

U.S. appeals court judge Merrick Garland, turned away by the Senate last year for a Supreme Court post, is not interested in serving as FBI director, two sources said on Tuesday, even as the top Senate Republican recommended him for the job.

Garland, the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, has told people around him he "loves his job and is not interested in leaving the judiciary," said one of the sources familiar with the judge's thinking. The two sources spoke on condition of anonymity.

Garland, 64, has been praised by both Democrats and Republicans in his two decades on the appeals court. His appointment there is a lifetime one, and if he took on a 10-year term at the FBI it would open up another top judicial seat for Trump to fill.

Read more at Reuters.

2. Moves to Ease Gun-Carrying Restrictions Expand

A convergence of state and federal legislation could ease restrictions on carrying concealed firearms nationwide, a long-sought goal of gun-rights activists that their opponents say would threaten public safety.

More states are giving their residents the right to carry a concealed handgun without permission from authorities—including two this year, bringing the total to 12—while Congress is considering legislation to make that right portable across state lines.

Read more at the Wall Street Journal.

Vote on legislation to allow concealed carry across state lines at Countable!

3. GAO: Thousands discharged for military misconduct had mental health diagnosis

The top government watchdog said Tuesday that nearly a quarter of U.S. troops discharged for misconduct were given other-than-honorable discharges despite previously being diagnosed with a mental health condition.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) in its report faulted branches of the Department of Defense (DOD) for having policies inconsistent with — or poor enforcement of — official Pentagon rules for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI) or sexual trauma.

Read more at The Hill.

4.Kamala Harris to Trump: Leave grandma’s marijuana alone

Sen. Kamala Harris of California used the year’s first big 2020 presidential spotlight Tuesday to rail against Trump administration drug policies and call for easing laws governing marijuana.

"Let me tell you what California needs, Jeff Sessions. We need support in dealing with transnational criminal organizations and dealing with human trafficking – not in going after grandma’s medicinal marijuana," she said, referring to Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Read more at McClatchy DC.

5. GOP lawmakers crafting tough immigration bill — but not tough enough, critics say

Two key GOP lawmakers are crafting a bill that would punish "sanctuary cities," force parents of undocumented teens to wear electronic ankle monitors so their children do not skip deportation hearings, and establish five-year minimum prison sentences for immigrants who illegally re-enter the United States after being deported, according to a congressional aide and a draft of the legislation obtained by The Washington Post.

But hard-line anti-immigration groups who have seen drafts of the legislation say it falls short by failing to provide for President Trump’s long-promised border wall; sanctions against businesses that hire illegal immigrants; or E-Verify, the employment-verification system that has been a staple of previous immigration talks on Capitol Hill.

Read more at the Washington Post.

— Asha Sanaker

(Photo Credit: Wikimedia / Creative Commons)