Free Republic

State Department diplomats are circulating a memo objecting to President Trump’s executive order last week to suspend the nation’s refugee program and deny U.S. entry to citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries in the Middle East. The document is destined for what’s known as the State Department’s “dissent channel,” which was set up during the Vietnam War as a way for diplomats to signal their disagreement on foreign policy decisions to senior management. The communications are typically private. It is not known whether the memo has been submitted yet to Acting Secretary of State Thomas Shannon, a holdover from the...

When likely EPA Secretary Scott Pruitt walks into his first day at the office, “He’ll have 16,000 employees working against him,” Sen. James Lankford told a large gathering of libertarian donors Saturday evening.“And I expect a flood of lawsuits over everything he does.”Pruitt, who has been nominated to lead the EPA by President Donald Trump, is the attorney general of Lankford’s state, Oklahoma. He has faced fierce opposition from the environmentalist left.Lankford, who chairs the Senate Oversight Subcommittee on Energy Policy, Health Care and Entitlements, was joined on stage by Sens. Mike Lee and Pat Toomey. Their panel, moderated by Americans for Prosperity...

The Brussels Business, to be broadcasted on Arte on 12 February, explores the shadowy universe of the powerful lobby groups at work behind the scenes of the European Union institutions, revealing their opaque and crucial influence on decisions that affect the daily lives of Europe’s citizens. The film’s co-director, Friedrich Moser, tells Presseurop how the idea of making a movie on such a touchy subject came to him, how he managed to persuade the lobbyists to take part, and his ideas on the EU and its future. …(T)here is a democratic deficit compared to the member states. Firstly because, in...

A report by the European Court of Auditors has found problems in the way the EU's 31 agencies manage their budgets. The findings are likely to fuel the debate about the usefulness of the bodies in a time of austerity. The report—sent on Wednesday (15 February) to the European Parliament and seen by EUobserver—analyzes the costs, financial management and "operational efficiency" of 22 out of the EU's 31 autonomous agencies. The agencies do studies on issues ranging from drug addiction to trademark registration and police co-operation. They are an object of national pride and hotly contested negotiations between member states...