>>5005221

I wonder if this event..is part of your info here:

Nevada delegation bashes Rick Perry for secretly shipping weapons-grade plutonium into their state

Nevada Democrats took aim at Energy Secretary Rick Perry on Thursday for secretly trucking weapons-grade plutonium cross-country to Nevada last year, vowing to introduce legislation to block the Trump administration from making any future trips.

"Not only did Secretary Perry and the agencies under his direction act in bad faith by totally ignoring the will of our Governor, their decision also completely disregards the health and safety of Nevadans," said Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto. She was joined by Sen. Jacky Rosen and Rep. Dina Titus of Nevada in admonishing the agency as behaving illegally and unethically.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the agency in charge of nuclear safety, said it had no involvement in the Energy Department shipments. Cortez Masto said she will be demanding answers at a meeting she quickly arranged with high-level officials from the Energy Department and the National Nuclear Security Administration, which is in charge of the nuclear arsenal. The senator also will be introducing legislation to block any future shipments, she said in a statement.

Cortez Masto said Perry had lied to a federal court by withholding information that the federal government had shipped plutonium from a nuclear weapons facility in South Carolina to a facility outside of Las Vegas. “It’s unconscionable that the Department of Energy (DOE) and National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) went into federal court in Nevada and failed to disclose that they shipped weapons grade plutonium into our backyards," the senator said. The Energy Department revealed on Wednesday to a federal judge in Reno that it had shipped the weapons-grade nuclear fuel. It explained that it could not reveal the activity earlier because it would endanger national security.

"I’ll be demanding they explain why these agencies ignored a federal court and how this reckless decision was made," Cortez Masto said. The state of Nevada had asked a court to block the movement of the nuclear material, but it appears the Energy Department moved the fuel before the court ruled on the state's petition. The senator said she will investigate any other possible efforts to move nuclear fuel into the state, as well as any high level effort to bring nuclear waste to the state by reviving the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste facility. Other members of the House and Senate delegation joined her in blasting Perry over the incident.

Meanwhile, the Nevada delegation and other Democrats sent a letter to Perry on Thursday, asking him to open an investigation into cases of sexual assault and harassment at the Nevada National Security Site. The letter was unrelated to the plutonium shipment, except that it involves the facility where the material had been shipped. The letter was in response to a Jan. 25 New York Times story on alleged sexual harassment that took place at the site in November 2017. The lawmakers not only want Perry to investigate the claims in the article, but "initiate a thorough review of the broader existence of sexual assault and harassment" at all facilities administered by the Department of Energy.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy/nevada-delegation-bashes-rick-perry-for-secretly-shipping-weapons-grade-plutonium-into-their-state

>>5005393 Update

RICK PERRY AND DEMOCRATS IN BRAWL OVER SECRET PLUTONIUM SHIPMENT

Energy Secretary Rick Perry is refuting Democratic accusations that he misled Congress and a federal court in overseeing a shipment of weapons-grade plutonium trucked to Nevada last fall that his agency only disclosed this week for national security reasons. “The Department of Energy was as transparent as operational security would permit,” the agency said after members of the Nevada delegation blasted Perry for not disclosing the plutonium shipment.

Congress was told: Perry’s office said efforts were made as early as August 2018 to ensure that all members of Congress were informed before the shipment was trucked from South Carolina to Nevada. The transfer that occurred in November was disclosed to a federal court in Nevada on Wednesday. The agency said that the National Nuclear Security Administration — responsible for controlling the nation’s nuclear arsenal — had confirmed much earlier that it was “actively engaged” in removing one metric ton of plutonium from South Carolina to Nevada, Texas, and New Mexico.

Betrayed: The Nevada delegation, on the other hand, is making the incident into a major betrayal by the federal government of the state of Nevada, vowing to fight the administration to block any future transfers. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., appears to be leading the charge, hosting a Thursday night meeting with National Nuclear Security Administrator Lisa Gordon-Hagerty and the agency’s General Counsel Bruce Diamond. Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., also attended the meeting. Cortez Masto said the administration refused to share critical information with the delegation and hid the timing of the shipment.

Confrontation: From a statement Cortez Masto issued after the meeting, the session was extremely confrontational. “I put NNSA officials on notice that they had betrayed the trust of Nevadans and completely undermined a bipartisan working relationship established by Governor [Brian] Sandoval, and continued by Governor [Stephen] Sisolak,” the senator said after the meeting. “While I remain hopeful we can rebuild that relationship, I made it clear that I’m fighting alongside Nevada’s congressional delegation, Attorney General [Aaron] Ford, and our Governor to hold them accountable and to find out when this plutonium will be removed,” she added.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/daily-on-energy-rick-perry-and-democrats-in-brawl-over-secret-plutonium-shipment

Banking chairman Mike Crapo proposes overhaul of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

Senate Banking Committee chairman Mike Crapo released a proposal Friday to reform the bailed-out mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, proposing to eventually release them back into the private sector with diminished roles and subject to competition. The Idaho Republican’s plan, a three-page paper, does not address several of the trickiest issues that have held up legislation to overhaul the two government-sponsored enterprises since they were taken into government custody in 2008. Nevertheless, it presents a starting point for negotiations between the two parties and the White House to try to resolve Fannie and Freddie’s unusual status as wards of the government.

“We must expeditiously fix our flawed housing finance system,” Crapo said in a press release. “My priorities are to establish stronger levels of taxpayer protection, preserve the 30-year fixed rate mortgage, increase competition among mortgage guarantors, and promote access to affordable housing. I invite my Senate and House colleagues, the Administration and all interested stakeholders to work together to enact this critically needed reform.”

Crapo proposes to retain a government guarantee for mortgage-backed securities, a feature that the housing and banking industries argue is necessary in order to facilitate the existence of 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages, but one that many congressional conservatives oppose. Ginnie Mae, the government corporation that today guarantees mortgage-backed securities offered by the Federal Housing Administration, would be responsible for guaranteeing securities issued by private guarantors, including reprivatized versions of Fannie and Freddie as well as competitors. The existing affordable housing goals required of Fannie and Freddie would be replaced with a new “Market Access Fund” that would help extend credit to poorer communities. That provision, as well as a funding stream for affordable housing funds, is a bid to entice Democrats to sign onto the legislation.

The proposal, though, leaves many crucial details unspecified. For instance, it doesn’t say what level of capital the private guarantors would be required to maintain, or how large, relative to the market, they would be allowed to grow. Nor does it spell out the minimum requirements for loans that would be eligible for backing, such as minimum down payments. The plan is also ambiguous regarding the treatment of current shareholders in Fannie and Freddie, many of which are large hedge funds that would be in a position to lobby against legislation. Crapo has introduced bipartisan housing overhaul legislation before, in 2014, only to see it fail on the Senate floor. The current situation, although unusual, works well enough for many in the banking and housing industries to prevent Congress from passing legislation to change the system. Nevertheless, some legislators want to pursue reform in order to prevent Fannie and Freddie from ever being released, unreformed, from government oversight.

In recent weeks, the Trump administration has indicated that it is interested in pursuing changes to the housing finance system. This week, it promised a plan for reform "shortly." “Protecting American taxpayers by ensuring the safety and stability of the United States housing finance system is a priority for the Treasury Department," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. "The outline for housing reform legislation released by Chairman Crapo is a productive first step toward that goal, and I applaud him for his efforts."

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/economy/banking-chairman-mike-crapo-proposes-overhaul-of-fannie-mae-and-freddie-mac

>>5005665

Housing Reform Outline

https://www.banking.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Housing%20Reform%20Outline.pdf

>>5005809

I think its highly doubtful that will happen, Trump will be helping with input.

>>5005923 @ >>5006031