Today’s edition of quick hits:
* North Carolina: “In a rare defeat for anti-abortion activists in the South, North Carolina Republicans failed on Wednesday to overturn a veto of a bill that would have made it a crime to not treat ‘any infant born alive after an abortion.’”
* Finally: “President Donald Trump on Thursday signed a $19.1 billion disaster aid bill aimed at helping communities across the country bounce back from hurricanes, floods, tornadoes and fires.”
* FCC: “Faced with mounting public pressure to take action against robocalls, the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday voted to make it easier for telecom companies to block suspected scam calls on their customers’ behalf.”
* A story worth watching: “A group of Democratic senators wants top officials at the Federal Reserve to examine whether Deutsche Bank complied with anti-money-laundering and other laws after bank employees flagged transactions tied to President Trump as potentially suspicious.”
* Right on cue: “Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) confirmed Wednesday that he is unlikely to bring up the House-passed bill to provide a path to citizenship for immigrants brought to the United States as children, known as ‘dreamers.’” * One cabinet member, many controversies: “During the early days of the Trump administration, lawmakers and government watchdogs complained agencies weren’t turning over Cabinet secretaries’ schedules as has been practice. Now, one department has presented those groups with the opposite problem, creating new questions about a lack of consistency and transparency. The Interior Department has released five different versions of Secretary David Bernhardt’s schedule for the first five months of 2019.” * Noted without comment: “Stephen Moore, who last month abandoned his bid for a Federal Reserve seat amid an uproar over his past writings about women, says he’s still angling for a job supporting President Trump.” Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past." Recommended
