Today’s edition of quick hits:
* The United States in 2018: “The undocumented immigrant from Honduras sobbed as she told an attorney Tuesday how federal authorities took her daughter while she breastfed the child in a detention center, where she was awaiting prosecution for entering the country illegally.”
* Climate crisis: “Antarctica’s ice sheet is melting at a rapidly increasing rate, now pouring more than 200 billion tons of ice into the ocean annually and raising sea levels a half-millimeter every year, a team of 80 scientists reported Wednesday. The melt rate has tripled in the past decade, the study concluded.”
* Immigration: “The Trump administration is urging a federal court in Texas to declare DACA illegal, setting up a potential conflict that could allow the government to shut the program down within a matter of weeks.”
* He’s in a position to do more than complain: “Sen. Bob Corker, the Republican chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, on Wednesday chided his GOP colleagues for being ‘cultish’ and ‘fearful’ under President Donald Trump, and said some are concerned about their prospects in the midterm elections.”
* Interest rates: “The Federal Reserve approved another rate hike on Wednesday, bumping up the nation’s benchmark interest rate by one-quarter of a point. It’s the second time Fed Chairman Jerome Powell has raised rates since he took over the nation’s central bank in February.”
* Is Pruitt starting to lose the right? “Conservative pundit and radio host Laura Ingraham called on President Donald Trump Wednesday to fire Scott Pruitt after a report that the EPA administrator had an aide press GOP donors to give his wife a job.” * Hmm: “The Justice Department has repeatedly refused to provide former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe with documents related to his firing, according to a lawsuit filed on his behalf Tuesday.” * In the wake of his summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, Donald Trump lied a lot. Try not to be too surprised. 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
