Episode Details

We have the first wave of the Trump laws! In this episode, highlights of the most impactful laws from the first three months of the 115th Congress, which include favors to the fossil fuel industry, gun industry, telecommunications industry, and defense contractors. In addition, learn about a law (that's flown completely under the radar) that fundamentally changes how NASA operates. Please support Congressional Dish: Click here to contribute using credit card, debit card, PayPal, or Bitcoin Click here to support Congressional Dish for each episode via Patreon Mail Contributions to: 5753 Hwy 85 North #4576 Crestview, FL 32536 Thank you for supporting truly independent media! Recommended Congressional Dish Episodes CD124: The Costs of For-Profit War CD135: Education is Big Business Bills Outline S. 84: A bill to provide for an exception to a limitation against appointment of persons as Secretary of Defense within seven years of relief from active duty as a regular commissioned officer of the Armed Forces. Exempts General James Mattis from the law that prohibits anyone from serving as Defense Secretary within seven years of leaving military service (Mattis had retired less than four years before his appointment). H.R. 72: GAO Access and Oversight Act of 2017 Gives the Government Accountability Office (GAO) more power to get federal agency records for audits and investigations Requires agency heads to report their plans - not just their actions - that the agency will take when given recommendations by the GAO and requires the reports to be given to more Congressional committees Makes it easier for the GAO to sue federal agencies that don't comply Gives the GAO access to the National Directory of New Hires (NDNH) H.J.Res. 41: Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of a rule submitted by the Securities and Exchange Commission relating to "Disclosure of Payments by Resource Extraction Issuers". Repeals an Obama administration rule requiring companies listed in the stock market to publicly report payments by the fossil fuel and mineral industries to the US or foreign governments if the payments are over $100,000 in a year. H.J.Res. 38: Disapproving the rule submitted by the Department of the Interior known as the Stream Protection Rule. Repeals a Department of Interior regulation known as the "Stream Protection Rule" which aimed to reduce pollution from coal mining by blocking mining within 100 feet of streams and requiring coal mining companies to restore the land their use to it's pre-mining condition. H.J.Res. 40: Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Social Security Administration relating to Implementation of the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007. Repeals a Social Security Administration rule that never went into effect that would have prohibited approximately 75,000 people who receive disability checks for mental illness from buying guns. H.R. 321: Inspiring the Next Space Pioneers, Innovators, Researchers, and Explorers (INSPIRE) Women Act Orders the NASA administrator to create a plan to use current and former NASA employees to engage with K-12 female students to encourage them to pursue careers in aerospace. The plan must be submitted in 90 days. H.R. 255: Promoting Women in Entrepreneurship Act "Encourages" the National Science Foundation to recruit women to work in commercial science and engineering - S. 442: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Transition Authorization Act of 2017 Authorizes $19.5 billion for NASA operations for 2017 Declares that it will be US policy that we will support the International Space Station through at least 2024 Sense of Congress: "Commercially provided crew transportation systems" should be the primary means of transporting US astronauts to and from the International Space Station and reliance upon Russian transportation should be ended as soon as possi