Pentagon Chief Orders Renaming of Ship Named for Gay Icon
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the renaming of a US Navy ship named after a gay icon, the assassinated former San Francisco politician Harvey Milk, a military affairs website reported Tuesday.
Military.com said it had reviewed a memo from the Office of the Secretary of the Navy that said the move was in line with Hegseth's purported goal of "reestablishing a warrior culture" in the US armed forces.
Military.com quoted an unidentified defense official as saying that Navy Secretary John Phelan had been ordered by Hegseth to rename the USNS Harvey Milk, and the timing of the upcoming announcement -- during LGBTQ WorldPride month -- was intentional.
CBS News said the navy is considering re-titling several other ships including two named after former US Supreme Court justices -- Thurgood Marshall, the first Black member of the top court, and liberal icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Responding to the reports, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said "any potential renaming(s) will be announced after internal reviews are complete."
"Secretary Hegseth is committed to ensuring that the names attached to all (Department of Defense) installations and assets are reflective of the Commander-in-Chief's priorities, our nation's history, and the warrior ethos," Parnell said in a statement.
Democrat Nancy Pelosi, the former speaker of the House of Representatives, condemned the reported move to rename the USNS Harvey Milk, calling it "a shameful, vindictive erasure of those who fought to break down barriers for all to chase the American Dream."
"Harvey Milk proudly served as a Lieutenant in the United States Navy and was a formidable force for change -– not just in California, but in our Country," the California congresswoman said in a statement.
"This spiteful move... is a surrender of a fundamental American value: to honor the legacy of those who worked to build a better country."
Milk served as a US Navy diver at a time when there was a ban on homosexuality in the military.
One of the first openly gay politicians in America, Milk was elected to San Francisco's Board of Supervisors, where he was instrumental in passing laws banning discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.
Months later, in 1978, Milk was shot dead along with mayor George Moscone, by a disgruntled former city supervisor.
Milk's murder helped cement his reputation as a civil rights icon, and he was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
The USNS Harvey Milk, a 227-metre (744-foot) refueling vessel, was christened at a ceremony in 2021 attended by then-secretary of the navy Carlos Del Toro.
Since taking office, President Donald Trump has moved to ban transgender troops from the military and to dismantle diversity programs, claiming they "undermine leadership, merit, and unit cohesion, thereby eroding lethality and force readiness."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Manar
10 hours ago
- Al Manar
Iran: Trump Travel Ban Shows ‘Deep Hostility' for Iranians, Muslims
Iran on Saturday blasted US President Donald Trump's travel ban on countries including the Islamic Republic, saying it showed 'deep hostility' toward Iranians and Muslims. 'The decision to ban the entry of Iranian nationals – merely due to their religion and nationality – not only indicates the deep hostility of American decision-makers towards the Iranian people and Muslims but also violates… international law,' a senior foreign ministry official said in a statement posted on the X social media platform. The US travel ban on hundreds of millions of people because of their nationality or faith 'amounts to racial prejudice and systematic racism prevailing in the US government,' said the director general of the Iranian Expatriates' Affairs Department at the ministry Alireza Hashemi Raja. Iran slams Washington's racist move to ban entry of citizens from several countries into US The director general for the Department of Iranian Affairs Abroad at Iran's Foreign Ministry, Alireza Hashemi Raja, strongly condemned the recent decision by the US government to bar… — Foreign Ministry, Islamic Republic of Iran 🇮🇷 (@IRIMFA_EN) June 7, 2025 He called on the United Nations and the human rights organizations to overtly oppose the US' unilateral policies that have violated the human rights norms. Trump's proclamation on Wednesday will bar citizens from 12 countries starting on Monday, alleging that the move was needed to protect against 'foreign terrorists' and other security threats. The countries are Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Trump travel ban live: US issues full entry ban on 12 countries, with dual citizens among exemptions — Reuters (@Reuters) June 5, 2025 The entry of people from seven other countries – Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela – will be partially restricted. The ban was reminiscent of a similar move Trump implemented during his first term in office from 2017 to 2021, when he barred travelers from seven Muslim-majority nations.
Nahar Net
2 days ago
- Nahar Net
Trump tax bill will add $2.4 trillion to the deficit and leave 10.9 million more uninsured, CBO says
by Naharnet Newsdesk 05 June 2025, 15:58 U.S. President Donald Trump's big bill in Congress would unleash trillions in tax cuts and slash spending, but also spike deficits by $2.4 trillion over the decade and leave some 10.9 million more people without health insurance, raising the political stakes for the GOP's signature domestic priority. Republican leaders in Congress, determined to muscle the sweeping package forward, had little to say after the analysis released Wednesday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. GOP senators spent more than an hour at the White House in what they called a robust afternoon discussion with Trump. "We're committed to making a law that will make the lives of the American people better," Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota said afterward. He vowed to "get this done one way or another." But Democrats angling to halt the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, named after the president's own catchphrase, piled on with relentless opposition. "In the words of Elon Musk, this bill is a 'disgusting abomination,'" said Rep. Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, reviving the billionaire former Trump aide's criticism of the package. The analysis comes at a crucial moment as Trump is pushing Congress, where Republicans have majority control, to send the final product to his desk to become law by the Fourth of July. The House passed the bill last month by a single vote, but it's now slogging through the Senate, where Republicans want a number of significant changes, including those discussed with Trump. And the politics are only intensifying. Musk blindsided Congress with an all-out assault against the bill this week, leaving House Speaker Mike Johnson rushing to do damage control. The GOP speaker said he called Musk to discuss the criticism, but had not heard back. Musk has threatened to use his political apparatus to go after Republicans in the midterm elections. "I hope he comes around," Johnson, R-La., told reporters. Hours later, Musk, whose business interests could be impacted by green energy rollbacks in the bill, implored voters to call their representatives and senators. "Bankrupting America is NOT ok!" he wrote on social media, "KILL the BILL." Tax breaks, but also cuts to health care The work of the CBO, which for decades has served as the official scorekeeper of legislation in Congress, is closely watched by lawmakers and others seeking to understand the budgetary impacts of the sprawling 1,000-page-plus package. The bill includes roughly $3.75 trillion in tax cuts — extending the expiring 2017 individual income tax breaks and temporarily adding new ones that Trump campaigned on, including no taxes on tips. The revenue loss would be partially offset by nearly $1.3 trillion in reduced federal spending elsewhere, namely through Medicaid and food assistance. As a result, some 7.8 million people would no longer have health insurance with changes to Medicaid, including 5.2 million from the proposed new work requirements on those nondisabled adults up to age 65, with some exceptions, the analysis said. Some 1.4 million people who are in the United States without legal status in state-funded health programs would no longer have coverage. Also, some 400,000 people would lose insurance coverage from the termination of a medical provider tax that key Republicans, including Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, want to keep in place to ensure rural hospitals can keep paying their bills. Republicans argue that their proposals are intended to strengthen Medicaid and other programs by rooting out waste, fraud and abuse. They want the federal funding to go to those who most need health care and other services, often citing women and children. But Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said those claims are bogus and are simply part of long-running GOP efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, as most states have expanded Medicaid to serve more people under the program. "They just want to strangle health care," Schumer said. Additionally, the CBO had previously estimated that nearly 4 million fewer people would have food stamps each month due to the legislation's proposed changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, including new work requirements for some older Americans and parents of school-age children. Some would see their benefits reduced by about $15 by 2034, the CBO has said. Republicans criticize the CBO Ahead of the CBO's release, the White House and Republican leaders criticized the budget office in a preemptive campaign designed to sow doubt in its findings. Thune said the CBO was "flat wrong" because it underestimated the potential revenue growth from Trump's first round of tax breaks in 2017. The CBO last year said receipts were $1.5 trillion, or 5.6% greater than predicted, in large part because of the "burst of high inflation" during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021. White House Budget Director Russ Vought said when you adjust for "current policy," which means not counting some $4.5 trillion in existing tax breaks that are simply being extended for the next decade, the overall package actually doesn't pile onto the deficit. He argued that the spending cuts alone, in fact, help reduce deficits by $1.4 trillion over the decade. But Democrats and even some Republicans call that "current policy" accounting move a gimmick. Still, it's the approach Senate Republicans intend to use during their consideration of the package to try to show it does not add to the nation's deficits. Vought argued that the CBO is the one using a "gimmick" by tallying the costs of continuing those tax breaks that would otherwise expire. "Russ is right," Johnson, the House speaker, posted on social media. "Our One Big Beautiful Bill will REDUCE the deficit WHILE delivering on the mandate given to us by the American people." White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has also suggested that the CBO's employees are biased, even though certain budget office workers face strict ethical rules — including restrictions on campaign donations and political activity — to ensure objectivity and impartiality. What's at stake The individual income tax breaks that had been approved during Trump's first term in the White House will expire in December if Congress fails to act, in what Republicans warn would be a massive tax hike on many American households. During the meeting at the White House, Trump pushed senators for his priorities — the new tax breaks on tips, overtime pay and others — while some of the most conservative GOP senators pushed for steeper spending cuts to stem deficits. And they joked about Musk. Trump briefly brought up Musk, senators said. GOP Sen. Roger Marshall described it as "a laughing conversation for 30 seconds." The package also includes a massive buildup of $350 billion for border security, deportations and national security that is central to the GOP agenda, as well as a $4 trillion increase to the nation's $36 trillion debt limit, which the Treasury Department says is needed by this summer to pay the nation's bills. CBO aims for impartiality More than 50 years ago, the CBO was established by law after Congress sought to assert its control, as outlined in the Constitution, over the budget process. Staffed by some 275 economists, analysts and other employees, the CBO says it seeks to provide Congress with objective, impartial information about budgetary and economic issues. Its current director, Phillip Swagel, a former Treasury official in Republican President George W. Bush's administration, was reappointed to a four-year term in 2023.
MTV Lebanon
2 days ago
- MTV Lebanon
Trump Reinstates US Travel Ban, Bars Citizens from 12 Countries
U.S. President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Wednesday banning the citizens of 12 countries from entering the United States, saying the move was needed to protect against "foreign terrorists" and other security threats. The directive is part of an immigration crackdown Trump launched this year at the start of his second term, which has also included the deportation to El Salvador of hundreds of Venezuelans suspected of being gang members, as well as efforts to deny enrollments of some foreign students and deport others. The countries affected by the latest travel ban are Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. The entry of people from seven other countries: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela, will be partially restricted. "We will not allow people to enter our country who wish to do us harm," Trump said in a video posted on X. He said the list could be revised and new countries could be added. The proclamation is effective on June 9, 2025 at 12:01 am EDT (0401 GMT). Visas issued before that date will not be revoked, the order said. During his first term in office, Trump announced a ban on travelers from seven Muslim-majority nations, a policy that went through several iterations before it was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018. Former President Joe Biden, a Democrat who succeeded Trump, repealed that ban on nationals from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen in 2021, calling it "a stain on our national conscience." Trump said the countries subject to the most severe restrictions were determined to harbor a "large-scale presence of terrorists," fail to cooperate on visa security and have an inability to verify travelers' identities, inadequate record-keeping of criminal histories and high rates of visa overstays in the United States. "We cannot have open migration from any country where we cannot safely and reliably vet and screen those who seek to enter the United States," Trump said. He cited Sunday's incident in Boulder, Colorado in which a man tossed a gasoline bomb into a crowd of pro-Israel demonstrators as an example of why the new restrictions are needed. An Egyptian national, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, has been charged in the attack. Federal officials said Soliman had overstayed his tourist visa and had an expired work permit - although Egypt is not on the list of countries facing travel limits. Somalia immediately pledged to work with the U.S. to address security issues. "Somalia values its longstanding relationship with the United States and stands ready to engage in dialogue to address the concerns raised," Dahir Hassan Abdi, the Somali ambassador to the United States, said in a statement. Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, a close ally of President Nicolas Maduro, responded on Wednesday evening by describing the U.S. government as fascist and warning Venezuelans of being in the U.S. "The truth is being in the United States is a big risk for anybody, not just for Venezuelans ... They persecute our countrymen, our people for no reason." A spokesperson for the Taliban-led Afghan foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Pakistan's foreign ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment on how it would handle the thousands of Afghans waiting in Islamabad who had been in the pipeline for U.S. resettlement. Calls early on Thursday to the spokesperson of Myanmar's military government were not answered. The travel ban threatens to upend a 31-year-old Myanmar teacher's plan to join a U.S. State Department exchange program, which was slated to start in September. "It is not easy to apply nor get accepted as we needed several recommendation letters," said the teacher, who currently lives in Thailand and asked not to be named because her visa application is still outstanding. "In my case, I would get to work at universities that provide digital education," she said, adding that she had not been updated by the program after Trump's announcement. Trump's presidential campaign focused on a tough border strategy and he previewed his plan in an October 2023 speech, pledging to restrict people from the Gaza Strip, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and "anywhere else that threatens our security." Trump issued an executive order on January 20 requiring intensified security vetting of any foreigners seeking admission to the U.S. to detect national security threats. The latest travel restrictions were first reported by CBS News. In March, Reuters reported that the Trump administration was considering travel restrictions on dozens of countries.
