#eightyearsagotoday

March 13, 2017 – Donald Trump expanded the CIA’s power to allow the agency to conduct drone strikes on suspected terrorists. Under Obama, the CIA’s directive was to gather intelligence on locations of potential terrorists and then allow the military to call the drone strike.

**Democracy Matters** @DemocracyMattersALot · Mar 10

Mar 10

March 10, 2017 – Donald Trump abruptly ordered 46 Obama-era prosecutors to tender their resignations.

Among the dismissed prosecutors was Preet Bharara, an attorney renowned for his work uprooting government corruption.

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**Democracy Matters** @DemocracyMattersALot · Mar 9

Mar 9

March 9, 2017 – Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt said he did not believe carbon dioxide was a primary contributor to global warming.

Pruitt’s statement contradicted a library of scientific evidence, including a 2009 study by his own agency which concluded carbon emissions were a leading cause of global warming.

**Democracy Matters** @DemocracyMattersALot · Mar 9

Mar 9

March 9, 2017 – The Office of Government Ethics urged the White House to reprimand senior counselor Kellyanne Conway for publicly endorsing Ivanka Trump’s clothing line.

The OGE called the White House’s view of ethics “incorrect.”

**Democracy Matters** @DemocracyMattersALot · Mar 7

Mar 7

March 7, 2017 – In order to fund Donald Trump’s proposed border wall with Mexico, the Trump administration considered cutting budget from airport security and the Coast Guard.

**Democracy Matters** @DemocracyMattersALot · Mar 7

Mar 7

March 7, 2017 – Donald Trump supported the House’s repeal-and-replace healthcare bill, in a potential violation of Trump’s campaign promise to provide “insurance for everybody” without raising insurance premiums or cutting Medicaid.

A review by the Congressional Budget Office found the new bill would slash Medicaid, increase insurance premiums, and leave 21 million Americans uninsured by 2021.

Continued thread

**Democracy Matters** @DemocracyMattersALot · Mar 6

Mar 6

To improve the second ban’s chances of passing, the Trump administration amended the executive order, excluding Iraq from the list of banned countries and altering the permanent ban on Syrian refugee admissions.

About a week later, on March 15, a Hawaiian judge blocked this second draft of the ban.

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**Democracy Matters** @DemocracyMattersALot · Mar 6

Mar 6

March 6, 2017 – Six weeks after issuing his first failed executive order blocking citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries, Donald Trump issued a new travel ban. Trump’s first order met objections in several state courts, and was blocked on appeal in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Continued thread

**Democracy Matters** @DemocracyMattersALot · Mar 4

Mar 4

Schwarzenegger then invited Trump to tour a middle with him to see the benefits of the after-school programs the president planned to eliminate. Trump did not respond.

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Continued thread

**Democracy Matters** @DemocracyMattersALot · Mar 4

Mar 4

Schwarzenegger responded to Trump’s insult with a video on Twitter chiding Trump for defunding inner-city school programs. “When you take away after school programs for children and meals on wheels for the poor people,” said Schwarzenegger, “that’s not what you call ‘making America great again’.”

**Democracy Matters** @DemocracyMattersALot · Mar 4

Mar 4

March 4, 2017 – In March of 2017, President Donald Trump engaged in a Twitter-based squabble with Arnold Schwarzenegger over ratings of “The Apprentice,” the television show—on which Trump was still listed as a producer. Trump tweeted, “Arnold Schwarzenegger isn’t voluntarily leaving the Apprentice, he was fired by his bad (pathetic) ratings, not by me. Sad end to great show.”

Continued thread

**Democracy Matters** @DemocracyMattersALot · Mar 3

Mar 3

During his confirmation hearing, the attorney general had sworn he did not meet with Russian representatives.

When the meetings were uncovered, Sessions said he was traveling in his capacity as a senator—despite having his travel booked and paid for by Donald Trump’s campaign.

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