>>8725326 Top US intell official calls gene editing a WMD threat
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>notable
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>not in qresear.ch yet
Notable Seconded
>The head of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) abruptly resigned Tuesday
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>Cabaniss's departure was unexpected, according to sources familiar with the matter, and was believed to be related to internal conflicts.
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>https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/488129-opm-chief-abruptly-resigns-report
>Baker Notable
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>The head of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) abruptly resigned Tuesday
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>Exerpted from the sauce:
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>"OPM has received the resignation of OPM Director Dale Cabaniss and OPM Deputy Director Michael Rigas is Acting Director, Office of Personnel Management," an OPM spokesperson confirmed in a statement.
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>Cabaniss's departure was unexpected, according to sources familiar with the matter, and was believed to be related to internal conflicts.
OPM chief abruptly resigns
By Brett Samuels and Zack Budryk - 03/17/20 07:16 PM EDT
The head of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) abruptly resigned Tuesday, leaving a void atop a sprawling agency that oversees the federal workforce.
"OPM has received the resignation of OPM Director Dale Cabaniss and OPM Deputy Director Michael Rigas is Acting Director, Office of Personnel Management," an OPM spokesperson confirmed in a statement.
Cabaniss's departure was unexpected, according to sources familiar with the matter, and was believed to be related to internal conflicts.
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She chafed at treatment by John McEntee, the 29-year-old head of the office, as well as Paul Dans, OPM’s White House liaison, Politico reported. McEntee rejoined the White House last month and has set about stocking the administration with officials loyal to President Trump and his agenda.
Politico reported that the White House's decision to hire a third college senior to a sensitive post also contributed to the tensions that preceded Cabaniss's resignation.
OPM is an independent agency tasked with overseeing millions of federal workers. The office handles human resources matters and oversees the civil service hiring processes.
"If these reports are true, then the Trump administration's mismanagement and political appointees have once again brought chaos to the federal workforce," Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), chairman of the House Government Operations subcommittee, said in a statement.
"At the very moment we need OPM to operate smoothly and efficiently, including expanding telework for all eligible workers and contractors, we are instead faced with uncertainty that threatens to paralyze this agency," he added.
Cabaniss has led OPM since September, when she was confirmed in a 54-38 vote. She replaced Jeff Pon, who was ousted by Trump last October after just seven months on the job amid a dispute over the office's powers.
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Cabaniss previously served under former President George W. Bush as chairwoman of the Federal Labor Relations Authority, which oversees collective bargaining and disputes between agencies and workers, and has worked on civil service issues for two decades on the Senate Appropriations and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committees.
Her exit comes at a precarious time for the federal government, which is attempting to find its footing in handling the coronavirus pandemic. OPM typically offers guidance on telework, benefits and other policies for federal government employees, many of whom have been urged to work from home when possible to limit transmission of the virus.
It also marks the latest reshuffling of key responsibilities within the government as Trump looks to purge the administration of career officials deemed insufficiently loyal.
"There are still some very bad, sick people in our government - people who do not love our Country (In fact, they hate our Country!)," Trump tweeted on March 9.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/488129-opm-chief-abruptly-resigns-report
Notable Seconded
>Sen. Kelly Loeffler said that she and her CEO husband will liquidate their individual stock share positions and related options after weeks of criticism of the couple for selling millions of dollars in stock amid the coronavirus pandemic.
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>https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1247953822728613888
Kyle Griffin
@kylegriffin1
Sen. Kelly Loeffler said that she and her CEO husband will liquidate their individual stock share positions and related options after weeks of criticism of the couple for selling millions of dollars in stock amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Sen. Kelly Loeffler will liquidate individual stock shares after coronavirus trade furor
Sen. Kelly Loeffler and her husband Jeff Sprecher, CEO of the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, were criticized for selling millions of dollars in stock amid the coronavirus pandemic.
cnbc.com
11:25 AM · Apr 8, 2020
NOTABLE
Harmeet Dhillon: Coronavirus and elections – Dems doing this to gain political edge
Democrats are attempting to use the devastation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to take over elections. Again. And to do so permanently.
Not content with attacking President Trump and his tireless science, economic and policy advisers, or gleefully drawing attention to the destruction of the roaring Trump economy, Democrats want to leverage this crisis to massively expand the power of Washington at the expense of the states and individual freedoms.
Wholly lacking in irony, the very people who a month ago were calling President Trump a dictator are now attacking him for not ordering an unconstitutional nationwide lockdown.
The Constitution is an often inconvenient impediment when it comes to partisan politics – which is exactly why, in their wisdom, the framers drafted a Constitution with checks and balances, including federalism, which partisan politicians are willing to throw overboard to gain a momentary perceived advantage.
One of the many areas where Democrats want to expand Washington’s power is over voting laws, undoing even the most basic protections for the integrity of our elections. After their efforts to include such radical provisions, as well as the Green New Deal and other extreme expansions of federal power, in the phase three relief bill failed, they promise to try again with phase four.
While frustrating, it should not be surprising. Federal legislation is simply one front in the Democrats’ ongoing war to change the rules by which we vote to make it easier for Democrats to win (since they have realized quite correctly that most Americans are not interested in “Medicare-for-all,” socialized everything, and sacrificing thousands of jobs on the altar of climate change).
Democrats have been trying to change the rules for elections for years through the courts. Consider what they are doing this week in Wisconsin. Wisconsin had an election scheduled for Tuesday for a variety of important races. The governor delayed it Monday morning, but that evening the Wisconsin Supreme Court determined he had exceeded his authority under state law. So now the election is going forward as scheduled, for thousands of races.
Democrats, led by Democratic National Committee lawyer Marc Elias, had already sued to change some of the rules governing the election in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Normally Wisconsin requires absentee ballots to be received by Election Day to be counted. This is a common-sense rule in many states. It allows ballots to be counted quickly, gives finality to the election, and prevents shenanigans with ballot harvesting and attempts to change the result after Election Day.
The Democrats asked the district court to allow absentee ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted even if received after, due to delays in processing a large number of absentee ballot requests and speculative delays in the mail. Instead of just granting the requested relief, the court went even further. Its order allowed absentee ballots received by next Monday, April 13, to be counted, regardless of when postmarked.
That meant that people could vote almost a week after Election Day.
While the Democrats did not ask for that rule change (probably because it would have been a ridiculous request), when the court granted it, they defended it on appeal and claimed that it was really what they wanted all along.
After an emergency appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the court’s ruling, upholding the important principle that people cannot vote after Election Day and requiring ballots to be postmarked by Election Day.
This is a classic move from the Democrats’ anti-election integrity playbook. Back in 2008, Elias convinced the Minnesota secretary of state to change the rules after the election, resulting in the post-recount victory of Al Franken over Norm Coleman for the Minnesota Senate seat. Franken’s victory gave Democrats the 60th vote in the Senate needed for the supermajority that allowed ObamaCare to pass.
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/coronavirus-elections-wisconsin-democrats-harmeet-dhillon
GOP Gears Up for Next Relief Fight: Democrats ‘Want the Federal Government to Take Over Elections’
The GOP is gearing up for what could be a contentious battle over the next stage of coronavirus relief, as Democrats continue to signal their desire to pursue a variety of changes related to the U.S. election.
Republicans and Democrats are expected to begin the process of crafting the next stage of economic relief after successfully passing a bipartisan measure to provide relief to small businesses and individuals affected by the coronavirus pandemic last month. The measure ultimately passed unanimously in the Senate, but it initially did not go without opposition, as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) attempted to offer her own version of relief filled with a variety of liberal “wish list” items, including major changes to voting methods. While the speaker has signaled support for a bipartisan measure in the same mold as the last, she hinted last week that she is still going to pursue changes to voting methods.
“Vote-by-mail is essential to protecting the future of our democracy as we confront this public health crisis. There is no legitimate argument against enacting it,” Pelosi said last week:
Vote-by-mail is essential to protecting the future of our democracy as we confront this public health crisis. There is no legitimate argument against enacting it. #LSSC pic.twitter.com/WPgOgIivK0
— [[[Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi)]]] April 3, 2020
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/04/06/gop-gears-up-for-next-relief-fight-democrats-want-the-federal-government-to-take-over-elections/
This is a classic move from the Democrats’ anti-election integrity playbook. Back in 2008, Elias convinced the Minnesota secretary of state to change the rules after the election, resulting in the post-recount victory of Al Franken over Norm Coleman for the Minnesota Senate seat. Franken’s victory gave Democrats the 60th vote in the Senate needed for the supermajority that allowed ObamaCare to pass.
>Overton Window is Open RE FBI FISA Abuse
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>65% of those polled are somewhat/very likely that FBI breaks laws why spying!
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>Nearly two-thirds of American say the FBI likely violates the law when spying on Americans, a stunning statistic from the Just the News Daily Poll with Scott Rasmussen that shows the work ahead that FBI Director Chris Wray faces to re-gain the public's trust.
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>"It's also important to note how widespread this belief has become," Rasmussen said. "The distrust comes from 66% of men and 64% of women; 72% of Republicans, 62% of Democrats; and 61% of Independents; 72% of black voters, 70% of Hispanics, and 63% of whites."
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>Sauce:
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>https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/polling/just-news-rasmussen-poll-65-american-believe-fbi-breaks-law-when-spying
BAKER, NOTABLE
WTF?