Today in History: President George H.W. Bush signs the Americans with Disabilities Act
Today in History:
On July 26, 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act, prohibiting discrimination based on mental or physical disabilities.
Also on this date:
In 1775, the Continental Congress established a Post Office and appointed Benjamin Franklin its Postmaster-General.
In 1847, the western African country of Liberia, founded by freed American slaves, declared its independence.
In 1863, Sam Houston, former president of the Republic of Texas, died in Huntsville at age 70.
In 1945, Winston Churchill resigned as Britain's prime minister after his Conservatives were soundly defeated by the Labour Party. Clement Attlee succeeded him.
In 1947, President Harry S. Truman signed the National Security Act, which reorganized America's armed forces as the National Military Establishment and created the Central Intelligence Agency.
In 1948, President Truman issued Executive Order 9981, which desegregated the U.S. military.
In 1953, Fidel Castro began his revolt against Fulgencio Batista with an unsuccessful attack on an army barracks in eastern Cuba. (Castro ousted Batista in 1959.)
In 1971, Apollo 15 was launched from Cape Kennedy on America's fourth successful manned mission to the moon.
In 2002, the Republican-led House voted to create an enormous Homeland Security Department in the biggest government reorganization in decades.
In 2016, Hillary Clinton became the first woman to be nominated for president by a major political party at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
In 2018, the last six members of a Japanese doomsday cult who remained on death row were executed for a series of crimes in the 1990s, including a gas attack on Tokyo subways that killed 13 people. Previously, seven other cult members were executed on July 6 of that year.
In 2020, a procession with the casket of the late U.S. Rep. John Lewis crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Alabama, where Lewis and other civil rights marchers were beaten 55 years earlier.
Today's Birthdays: Former Australian Prime Minister John Howard is 86. Football Hall of Famer Bob Lilly is 86. Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Darlene Love is 84. The Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger is 82. Actor Helen Mirren is 80. Rock musician Roger Taylor (Queen) is 76. Olympic gold medal figure skater Dorothy Hamill is 69. Actor Kevin Spacey is 66. Actor Sandra Bullock is 61. Actor Jeremy Piven is 60. Actor Jason Statham is 58. Actor Olivia Williams is 57. Actor Kate Beckinsale is 52. Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is 45. Actor Juliet Rylance is 45. Actor Monica Raymund is 39. Actor Francia Raisa is 37. Actor-singer Taylor Momsen is 32. Actor Elizabeth Gillies is 32. Actor Thomasin McKenzie is 25.
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New York Post
10 minutes ago
- New York Post
Key Trump national security roles left vacant due to Dem obstruction — leaving US vulnerable to threats
WASHINGTON — Crucial national security jobs in the Trump administration have been left empty by Senate Democrats' obstruction while the White House focuses on installing US ambassadors — leaving America vulnerable to foreign threats, The Post has learned. At least 144 nominees were awaiting confirmation when the Senate broke for its August recess — including picks for senior positions at the State, Defense and Energy departments tasked with military readiness, nuclear issues and weapons of mass destruction. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), in line to take over as Chuck Schumer's No. 2 with the retirement of Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), initially placed a hold on more than 300 Trump nominees — a move one source familiar with the confirmation process described as 'payback' for the administration 'destroying USAID.' Advertisement 'Unprecedented Democrat obstruction against every single presidential nominee has left vital national-security positions vacant, even those tasked with preventing nuclear devices from falling into the wrong hands,' Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) told The Post last week, demanding that the August recess be canceled. 7 President Trump's national security picks have had their confirmations delayed due to Democratic obstruction and a focus instead on installing US ambassadors, administration sources told The Post. AP 'While Chuck Schumer wants to neglect his responsibilities, President Trump continues to work hard from the White House on behalf of the American people,' said White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly. 'He has been clear that the Senate must confirm all of his nominees as quickly as possible.' Advertisement Notably, only around two dozen ambassador nominations are still pending on the Senate calendar, compared to more than 100 nominees for other executive branch roles. The White House notifies the Senate when it wants nominations to be voted on, and some administration sources have groused that the approach of ensuring ambassadors are confirmed first is akin to 'having an army of generals without soldiers.' 'It's vital to have these positions to secure regional stability, especially in our own hemisphere,' added another source close to the White House. 'But it's one of many issues at the moment.' 7 'Unprecedented Democrat obstruction against every single presidential nominee has left vital national-security positions vacant,' Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) told The Post Friday, demanding that the August recess be canceled. CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images Advertisement While Trump has yet to nominate an assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and global security at the Pentagon, for example, US ambassador to Belgium nominee Bill White, a businessman and former Obama fundraiser, has leapfrogged to the front of the line for consideration. Several ambassadors were approved late last week before the Senate recess — including Louis Rinaldi, a longtime golfing buddy of Trump's, to be envoy to Uruguay; and fast food magnate Andrew Puzder, who donated more than $100,000 to help Republicans and the president's re-election campaign, to be US representative to the European Union, Of the more than a dozen ambassadors confirmed so far, at least half donated to Trump's campaign committees or PACs during the 2024 election cycle or so far in 2025. Others opened their pocketbooks after the president took office — and were confirmed in two months. Advertisement 7 Of the more than a dozen ambassadors confirmed so far, at least half donated to Trump's campaign committees or PACs during the 2024 election cycle or in 2025 — including UK and Northern Ireland ambassador Warren Stephens. Getty Images Warren Stephens, Trump's ambassador to the United Kingdom, donated nearly $400,000 to the RNC in February — a little more than a week after the Senate received his nomination. He was confirmed in a bipartisan 59-39 vote on April 29. US Ambassador to Italy Tilman Fertitta gave $100,000 to the Republican National Committee on April 9, one month after his nomination was sent to the Senate. He was confirmed in a bipartisan 83-14 vote on April 29. Pending national security nominees include the State Department's Bureau of East Asian Affairs-designate Michael DeSombre, whose purview includes US policy on China. DeSombre's nomination was received in the Senate March 24, placed on its executive calendar June 5, and still hasn't received a vote. 7 Several ambassadors were approved late last week before August recess — including Louis Rinaldi, a golfing buddy of Trump's from New York, who was narrowly confirmed to be ambassador to Uruguay. Facebook/Trump National Golf Club Westchester Robert Kadlec, who helmed Trump's Operation Warp Speed and dug deep into the possible culpability of China's military experiments for the COVID-19 pandemic, was nominated in February for a similar role at the Pentagon — but hasn't made it out of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Gerald Parker, who reportedly helped craft the president's executive order banning gain-of-function research that officials and scientific experts have said could have started the COVID outbreak, was tapped to lead the White House Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy but recently resigned. Advertisement Meanwhile, Adrienne Keen, the ex-director for global health security at the National Intelligence Council, who played a role in keeping critical evidence on COVID origins out of a 2021 briefing delivered to former President Joe Biden, remains employed at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 7 Robert Kadlec, who helmed Trump's Operation Warp Speed and dug deep into the possible culpability of China's military experiments for the COVID-19 pandemic, was nominated in February but hasn't cleared committee vetting. Bloomberg via Getty Images The delays in filling administration posts have left experts in the field impatient. Rutgers University molecular biologist Richard Ebright said it was 'dismaying the Senate has moved so slowly on confirmation of key nominees for biosecurity positions. The foot-dragging puts US health security and US national security at risk.' Advertisement 'It is even more dismaying that Adrienne Keen, who actively participated in defrauding the public and policy makers about the origin of COVID, remains at the CDC. Keene needs to be terminated for cause forthwith,' added Ebright, who testified on the pandemic's origins before the Senate last year. 'National security should not be politicized,' added Atlantic Council fellow Alex Plitsas. 'If nominees are unqualified or not confirmable for valid reasons then they should be acted upon accordingly to ensure another qualified nominee is sent forward to the Senate for consideration as soon as possible to prevent critical vacancies. Otherwise, holding qualified nominees indefinitely for other reasons is detrimental to our national security.' 7 'It is even more dismaying that Adrienne Keen, who actively participated in defrauding the public and policy makers about the origin of COVID, remains at the CDC,' said Richard Ebright, a Rutgers University molecular biologist. A political appointee tracking website shows the pace of confirmations is roughly the same as under Biden and during Trump's first term — but far beneath that set by former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush. Advertisement Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and Republicans have considered adopting new procedural rules to quicken the process — including eliminating the cloture vote, shortening debate time for nominees down to two hours or voting on groups of nominations at once. 'Going back multiple administrations, both Democrats and Republicans, as recently as Bill Clinton, 98% of all the noms considered were handled either by voice [vote] or UC [unanimous consent] and it's just deteriorated over time to where Trump's, you know, we're at zero here,' Thune told The Post in an exclusive interview last week. 'It's got to be fixed,' he said. 'It certainly hamstrings, I think, the functioning of our government in a way that's really detrimental to the country.' Senate committees noted that the pace of their confirmations is ahead of where it was during the previous two presidential terms, without directly commenting on any of the stalled nominees. Advertisement 7 Democrats have been blocking final Senate approval, with Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii initially placing a hold on more than 300 Trump nominees. CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images 'As of July 30th,' a Senate Foreign Relations Committee spokeswoman said the panel, 'had passed 54 nominees, where the Biden Administration had only passed 18 at this point in the admin, and Trump 1.0 Administration had passed 24.' Of the 33 civilian leadership nominees advanced out of the Senate Armed Services Committee, at least 22 been confirmed, a spokesman for the panel added. The State Department, Pentagon, Department of Health and Human Services, and Republican National Committee did not immediately respond to requests for comment, nor did spokespeople for Thune, Schumer or Schatz.
New York Post
10 minutes ago
- New York Post
Hysterical Hochul vowing to flout law to redraw voting map
Gov. Kathy Hochul is on a mission . . . to prove she can spew blarney with the best. 'Children are starving,' Hochul emoted to Rachel Maddow on Monday; that's why she'll 'fight fire with fire' by redrawing New York's House districts to counteract Texas' redistricting plan — which she calls a 'declaration of war on the American people.' Utter hogwash: The gov claims kids are 'starving' because Republicans cut SNAP (food stamp) benefits; in fact, the expanded work requirements (for some recipients) won't kick in until 2027 at the soonest — it's another phony 'famine.' The string of nonstop lies began with Hochul's pledge in a Houston Chronicle column to save 'our democracy' by gerrymandering New York's congressional map to kill Republican-leaning seats if Texas GOP lawmakers go ahead with their Democrat-reducing plan. Yet the gov can't get New York redistricted that fast: The state Constitution not only explicitly forbids (nakedly) partisan map-drawing, it also orders redistricting get done at the turn of the decade. As it is, the state just redrew its maps last year after long court battles prompted by state Democrats' 2021 drive to kill GOP districts. Even after Dems packed the state's top court, the justices will find it hard to swallow Hochul ordering up a new map just because she's changed her mind about the one she signed into law a year ago. So she'd need to get the state Constitution amended first — and that's at least a two-year process that she'd have to start by calling a special session since the Legislature finished for the year months ago. Hochul's just jumping on the Democrat outrage wagon, along with Govs. Gavin Newsom and J.B. Pritzker. Yet, unlike those two blowhards, Hochul isn't even eyeing a 2028 presidential run, so why bother with this bull? Our best guess: She figures Democrats are so deep in denial that they'll turn on her if she doesn't join in the fibbing. Which prompts the question: Who's more pathetic here — Hochul or her whole party?
CBS News
11 minutes ago
- CBS News
Trump claims banks discriminate against conservatives through debanking. Here's what that means.
President Trump on Tuesday claimed that major banks are discriminating against conservatives — including him — through the act of debanking, or when financial institutions refuse to work with some individuals or businesses or abruptly close clients' accounts. Mr. Trump made the comment in an interview with CNBC on Tuesday, after he was asked about a report by the Wall Street Journal that said he would soon sign an executive order aimed at stamping out debanking. Mr. Trump claimed that JPMorgan Chase gave him 20 days to close his account, although he didn't specify when this occurred or what reason he was given by the bank for doing so. He also claimed that Bank of America refused his business after he left JPMorgan. The issue of debanking has become a sticking point for some conservatives who claim that they've been unfairly targeted by financial institutions. Debanking can occur for a number of reasons, such as if a financial institution detects potentially fraudulent activity or the account owner is overdrawn, but some conservatives claim they have been rejected due to their political views. "They discriminated against many conservatives," the president told CNBC. Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan rejected such allegations of bias against conservatives, in a recent interview on CBS News' "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" that took place ahead of Mr. Trump's comments on CNBC. Moynihan pointed to the nation's second-largest bank's massive customer base as evidence of its diverse clientele. He also emphasized the impact of federal regulations, in addition to concerns over legal and financial risk, on banking decisions. "We have 70 million consumers, and we're the biggest small business lender. That's not — the issue they're focused on is the regulators impact on this industry. And you heard Senator Scott talk about this this week. This reputation, this after the fact, look, that you banked x, and now after the fact, you're gonna say x didn't turn out to be what you thought," the CEO told Margaret Brennan. "So we look at it. We look at it based on risk. People may feel those decisions are made for some other reason, but we always make it on what's best for our company, what's best for our client." At a Senate hearing in February over the issue, Sen. Tim Scott, a Republican from South Carolina, said debanking harms individuals as well as the economy, and violates the principles of fair market access. Debanking has also been highlighted by some crypto investors, such the CEO of crypto platform Anchorage Digital, who testified in the Senate hearing that his bank had closed his company's account on short notice because they weren't comfortable with crypto transactions. The White House declined to comment on the EO. JPMorgan Chase said in a statement that it doesn't close accounts for political reasons, adding that it agrees with Mr. Trump that "regulatory change is desperately needed." It added, "We're pleased to see the White House is addressing this issue, for which we've been advocating for many years, and look forward to working with them to get this right." Earlier this year, Bank of America said, "Political beliefs are not a factor in account closure decisions." Referring to the reported EO, the bank said in a statement that it welcomes "regulatory clarity" from the Trump administration. Reached for comment on Mr. Trump's recent comments, Bank of America pointed to its earlier statement. Debanking isn't just happening at banks, said Nicholas Anthony, a policy analyst at the libertarian-leaning Cato Institute. "This can be something that happens to you at a credit union, at a cryptocurrency exchange or anywhere else really," Anthony said. "It's just having that sudden abrupt closure of your financial account where you've been, and essentially kicked out of the system or cut off from the system." Banks are not required by law to give account owners a reason for why their account is being closed. Under the Bank Secrecy Act, banks are obligated to track their customers' activity and file a so-called suspicious activity report (or SAR) if they notice anything unusual. Banks aren't allowed to disclose to customers if there's a SAR, which can leave some people in the dark if their account is shut for this reason. "It's a terrible feeling to suddenly have this relationship cut off, and you really don't know why," Anthony said. "In a lot of cases, it's by federal law that banks can't tell you what happened, and you're kind of left to just spiral there." More than 8,000 consumers filed complaints with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau during the last three years related to their financial institutions' "improperly closing checking, savings or other deposit accounts," according to a February analysis from the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. By comparison, consumers made about 1.3 million complaints about credit reporting in 2023 alone, according to CFPB data. Banks can close accounts if they suspect fraudulent or suspicious behavior, or if a customer violates their terms. In the complaints cited by the Senate banking committee analysis, some consumers said they had faced overdraft fees due to overdrawn funds before their banks shuttered their accounts, for example. But there's no data that tracks whether people or institutions are debanked due to their political views, although there are anecdotal accounts, experts said. "There is no actual data or proof that conservatives are being debanked for their beliefs," Jeremy Siegel, senior associate at research firm Pleiades Strategy, told CBS MoneyWatch. "In fact, Florida set up a hotline for this very reason, and got zero complaints. A Virginia Credit League Lobbyist said this in his testimony against a similar bill in Virginia." Banks set risk tolerances and conduct their business within those perimeters, added Shayna Olesiuk, director of banking policy at Better Markets, a financial advocacy group. "They must always understand and manage any risk that they are accepting in their business activities and decisions; this could include things like financial risk or unlawful or discriminatory activity," she added. There have been allegations from some conservatives that their political views led to account closures. The attorney general for Kansas, Kris W. Kobach, sent a letter to Bank of America last year, alleging discrimination by the bank of religious groups he states had their accounts closed without explanation. Banking policies appear "to be systematically punishing religious and political views with which it disagrees," the Kobach claimed in the letter. But some of these organizations had red flags that could have led to the debanking, such running a debt collection business outside of the U.S., Cato's Anthony added. "There are anecdotal cases of conservative account holders that have had their accounts closed, but at the same time, we see that with others as well," he added. "There's been a longstanding history of people who are Muslim having their accounts denied, people with Russian last names or Middle Eastern last names for that matter, having their accounts denied." "It seems to be a widespread issue in the sense that it affects all different sorts of people," Anthony said.
