Senator Elizabeth Warren was cut off by Maj. Leader Mitch McConnell before the Senate vote to confirm Sessions as US Attorney General. Why? She was reading a letter that Coretta Scott King wrote in 1986 opposing Senator Jeff Sessions nomination for a federal judgeship. Now, Senator Warren is trending with #LetLizSpeak and #ShePersisted.On that note, here is where things stand with Trump's cabinet:Confirmed this Week.Betsy DeVos for Secretary of Education, confirmed this week in a 50-50 vote. Two Republican Senators, Lisa Murkowski (AK) and Susan Collins (ME), both broke ranks with the Republican party and voted against DeVos. The Vice President cast the tie-breaking vote, the first time in history a Vice President's vote was needed to confirm a nominee.Jeff Sessions confirmed as Attorney General of the United States in a 52-47 vote.Tom Price confirmed late last night as Secretary of Health and Human Services in a 52-47 vote. Who is left? Steve Mnuchin, Department of TreasuryBen Cars...

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Andrew Puzder's confirmation hearing is now scheduled for February 16 after previous delays due to failure to submit required ethics and financial paperwork. The Secretary of Labor's job is to enforce laws and regulations that protect America's workers, but Puzder has made it clear that he believes the government should not be protecting workers. He has said that government should not be taking actions to protect workers, like enforcing minimum wage or overtime requirements, or working to ensure that they can get health insurance, because that makes businesses grow more slowly.The Department of Labor is supposed to be a fair arbiter between workers and the companies they work for, but he's made it clear over and over that he will never take the side of workers, even if they're being mistreated, because he thinks companies' profits are more important.What ANDREW PUZDER's policies actually mean for the average voter: Puzder is a CEO who believes that companies should not have to answe...

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Last week, high-level changes occurred at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), where Trump named Commissioner Cheryl LaFleur acting chair of the Commission. Meanwhile, Commissioner Norman Bay, an Obama appointee, announced that he would step down on Friday, February 3. Commissioner Bay's exit leaves just two commissioners on the five-member commission. Without a quorum, FERC will not be able to issue rules and orders, assess penalties for market manipulation, issue show-cause orders to propose penalties, or approve settlements. No one knows when a new commissioner will be nominated or confirmed, with estimates ranging from weeks to several months.Highlighting FERC's problems in the absence of a quorum, Senators Warren and Markey submitted a letter asking the Commission to rescind a recently issued order approving a new pipeline construction project that spans New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. The senators raised concerns about the fairness of FERC's process in th...

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TRUMP STANDS WITH WALL STREET: Today, February 3, after a behind-closed-doors meeting with Wall Street's top executives, Donald Trump sent a clear message to working families across America trying to save for their retirement: When Wall Street tries to rip you off, you're on your own. New protections for retirement savers against financial advisers' conflicts of interest were slated to go into effect in April, but Wall Street hates them because they can't continue to pick retirement savers' pockets to enrich themselves. After the meeting, without offering other stakeholders any chance for notice or comment, Trump sided with Wall Street lobbyists and ordered the Department of Labor to delay implementation of the new protections for 180 days and probably forever.The conflicts of interest rule has one, commonsense purpose: to require all financial advisers to serve their clients' best interest and not their own self-interest when providing retirement investment advice. It prevents fina...

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One of the central components to RISE Stronger are our numerous policy working groups and state chapters. If you are interested in joining one of these groups, please email us at [email protected] policy working groups support the organization and its partners by providing evidence-backed analyses of the challenges before the public, new legislation and regulations, and claims by elected officials.RISE state chapters are being built out around the country in order to allow citizens to engage with their communities, local and state governments, and to understand and share at a national level, their perspectives and the challenges that they face.January Update While the first weeks of the new Administration have been challenging, RISE policy working groups and state chapters have been working tirelessly to research, analyze and advise on legislation, cabinet nominees, and more. RISE-Healthcare and RISE state chapters in Louisiana, Maine, Pennsylvania, Tennesse...

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Betsy DeVos' Senate vote is scheduled for 6:30am, Friday, February 3. We are likely just one Republican Senator away from halting her confirmation on the Senate floor, scheduled for Friday, February 3. The team at RISE is asking that you act now to help make this possible. Reach out to friends, family, and your communities. Call, write, tweet, facebook, your Senators today and tomorrow morning to ask that they vote NO for Betsy DeVos.DeVos is an opponent of public schooling. Her transparent, longstanding desire to privatize education presents significant concerns to all parents with children in public schools, and all educators, that our public schools will be deprived of critical funding. Here is RISE Stronger's statement on Betsy DeVos. Two Republican Senators (Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murowski of Alaska) have already said they cannot support her. We just need just one more senator to vote no in order to halt this nomination from going forward. Please call your Senators rig...

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Feb. 2, 2017To Members of RISE Stronger,This has been one of the most volatile two weeks in American politics. We are living in a moment of history, and our ability to stand up together will help shape our nation's trajectory. We have already seen some heroes rise to the challenge - the ACLU/Yale/IRAP team of attorneys who filed the first lawsuit against Trump's Muslim Ban executive order, and the upstanding Judge who placed a stay on the order; Former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, who stood firmly against enforcing the muslim travel ban, and showed us the importance of checks and balances; and on Wednesday, two Republican Senators confirmed that they would not be voting in favor of Betsy DeVos for Secretary of Education, bringing us closer to halting her confirmation.While the wins seem few and far between, they are critical to keep in mind. Our efforts are working - the calls, the social media, the actions taken by all of you and millions more are being heard. It is an exha...

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In its first week, the Trump Administration has taken a number of actions addressing energy and environmental issues, including efforts aimed at curbing the EPA's work, promoting oil pipelines, and potentially eliminating pending regulations.Shortly after being sworn into office, President Trump's White House removed almost all mention of climate change from its website and replaced it with an America First Energy Plan page that emphasizes increasing production of fossil fuels and eliminating climate change policies.Later that day, Reince Priebus issued a memorandum freezing pending regulations for further review. This delays 30 EPA actions, including numerous state air plan approvals.On Tuesday, President Trump issued a series of executive actions pertaining to climate and energy. These actions:Provided expedited and simplified procedures for the Dakota Access Pipeline;Invited TransCanada to resubmit their application for the Keystone XL Pipeline using streamlined procedures;Direct...

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BREAKING NEWS/CALL TO ACTION: Two Republican Senators Announce they will not vote for Betsy DeVos for Education Secretary! Please call Lisa Murkowski (Alaska 202-224-6665) and Susan Collins (Maine 202-224-2523) to thank them immediately. Call other Republican Senators and tell them that this bipartisan support clearly shows DeVos is unqualified.FOR ANY STATE: Dial 1-202-224-3121, enter your zip-code and be connected automatically to your SenatorJoin us: https://www.facebook.com/RISEStronger.orghttps://www.risestronger.org/sign_uphttps://twitter.com/RISE_stronger

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THE MOST IMPORTANT CALLS/ACTIONS FOR EACH STATE: RISE Stronger is starting a new initiative to highlight the most important call/action that people in each of the 50 states can do each week. Like a sports team, those of us in different states have different roles we can best play based on the positions/committee assignments of our respective Members of Congress. To maximize your impact and not waste your time, we believe we need to be more strategic about making calls to Congress and taking action. This is our first list and is still a work in progress. Let us know if this is useful and how we can improve. If there are more important actions for your state, or if you have suggestions for next week, please get in touch at [email protected] us to keep getting these lists each week: https://www.facebook.com/RISEStronger.org/https://www.risestronger.org/sign_uphttps://twitter.com/RISE_strongerFOR ANY STATE: Dial 1-202-224-3121, enter your zip-code and be connected automatically ...

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