Shanahan disputes reports US might send 10,000 more troops to counter Iran

He didn’t call it “fake news,” but acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan told reporters at the Pentagon that their sources “aren’t feeding you right information.” Shanahan made a point of stopping to talk to reporters covering the arrival of the Vietnamese deputy prime minister to dispute reports that the Pentagon was briefing the White House Thursday on an option to send as many as 10,000 additional troops to the Persian Gulf region in response to threats from Iran. “I got up this morning and read that we were sending 10,000 troops to the Middle East, and then I read about, more recently, there’s 5,000,” said Shanahan. “There is no 10,000 and there is no 5,000.”

Shanahan said the Pentagon is reviewing its “force protection” measures, which he conceded “may involve sending additional troops," but he insisted no such plan has been proposed. “Numbers get floated out there, and you’ve got lots of good sources of information. What I’m telling you is: Those sources right now aren’t feeding you right information,” Shanahan said. “As soon as anything changes, I’ll let you know. I really will.”

Shanahan reiterated that the United States is not spoiling for a fight with Iran. “We have a mission there in the Middle East: freedom of navigation, counterterrorism in Syria and Iraq, defeating al Qaeda in Yemen, and the security of Israel and Jordan,” he said. “Our job is deterrence. This is not about war.”

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/shanahan-disputes-reports-us-might-send-10-000-more-troops-to-counter-iran

Trump says he may send USMCA deal to Congress soon, triggering deadline

President Trump said Thursday that he may send his U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade to Congress soon, imposing a 60-day deadline for lawmakers to vote on the deal. Trump hedged, though, saying that he wasn't certain whether House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., would actually allow a vote, saying that she has "problems." "She's a mess. Look, let's face it, she doesn't understand it… It's finished, it's signed," Trump said. "Mexico has approved the deal. Canada has approved the deal. They're waiting to get a signal from her." He called on farmers to press Democrats to get Pelosi to bring it up for a vote. "She's got to get up to snuff. She has to learn the bill," Trump said. "I think she wants to approve the bill. [U.S. Trade Representative] Bob Lighthizer is waiting to get the okay from her to send it in. But we're at a point where we're just going to have to send it in."

Under Trade Promotion Authority, the law covering congressional approval of trade deals, the House must vote within 60 days of a deal being formally submitted by the president for it to be ratified. If a vote isn't held the deal, the process for submitting the bill must restarted, which would delay a potential vote for several more months at least. Pelosi has repeatedly said that the USMCA deal, which would replace the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement, needs strong enforcement provisions included in it before it can be brought up for a vote,. Several Democrats echoed that position earlier in the week. Trump said Pelosi had told Lighthizer she needed two weeks to read over the deal after she receives it. Trump said that was too long given that she was presiding over a "do-nothing" Congress.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/economy/trump-says-he-may-send-usmca-deal-to-congress-soon-triggering-deadline

Democratic Presidential Candidate Signs Sanctuary State Bill Into Law

Washington became the latest state to offer safe haven to illegal immigrants after Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee signed a “sanctuary” bill into law. The legislation largely prohibits local law enforcement from asking about an individual’s immigration status or place of birth, with an exception if it pertains to a criminal investigation. State prisons and jails are also barred from honoring voluntary “immigration holds” requested by federal authorities such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), or from alerting them when a migrant is soon to be released from jail. The rules, signed into law Tuesday, are considered some of the most restrictive in the country.

“Our state agencies are not immigration enforcement agencies,” said Inslee, who is also a Democratic presidential candidate. “We will not be complicit in the Trump administration’s depraved efforts to break up hard-working immigrant and refugee families.” The legislation is a mandate for all local law enforcement, expanding on a 2017 executive order by Inslee that imposed similar measures that only pertained to state agencies.

Inslee’s signature puts Washington on par with a growing number of deep-blue states that have enacted sanctuary policies. A list compiled by the Center for Immigration Studies names at least eight states that enacted laws protecting illegal immigrants from local law enforcement and ICE. The sanctuary policies brought on by state governments put them in direct conflict with the White House. President Donald Trump has continued to prioritize immigration reform, and the administration is considering a slate of measures that would ratchet up deportation of legal and illegal immigrants.

The sanctuary bill wasn’t the only legislation Inslee, known nationally for his environmental agenda, signed into law in recent days. The Democratic governor legalized human composting Tuesday, which creates an environmentally friendly alternative to being buried or cremated. Licensed facilities in the state can offer “natural organic reduction,” a process that mixes a dead body’s remains with substances such as straw and wood chips, making it healthier for the soil.

https://www.dailycaller.com/2019/05/23/washington-sanctuary-inslee-2020/