Welcome to This Week in Politics, the recurring column covering the highlights in politics for the week of Feb.13.

 

Saturday, Feb. 11 – Sunday Feb. 12

• North Korea Launches Ballistic Missile

  • A medium range ballistic missile was launched from a site near North Korea’s capital, Pyongyang, on Saturday, landing in the Sea of Japan.

    • The missile has the range to reach South Korea and parts of Japan — two American allies.

  • President Donald Trump reacted Sunday with a short indirect statement that pledged support for Japan, without mentioning North Korea or its dictator Kim Jong Un.

    • Japan’s Prime Minister Shinto Abe was visiting the country over the weekend, staying with Trump in his Mar-a-Lago resort.

Monday, Feb. 13

• National Security Advisor Resigns Amid Scandal

  • Gen. Michael Flynn announced his resignation after misleading the White House and the Justice Department about his interactions with Russia during the transition before Trump entered the White House.

    • Flynn allegedly spoke with the Russian ambassador in December as a representative of the Trump transition team, acting in a diplomatic basis, which is against the law as Flynn was still a private citizen at the time.

  • He has been replaced by Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, who was originally in the running for the position in December. It is not yet known if he will serve an interim or permanent role.

    • Kellogg served two tours in Vietnam in the Army, and was the acting commander of the 82nd Airborne Division from 1997 to 1998.

    • He served under Flynn at his position in the White House.

• Steven Mnuchin confirmed as Treasury Secretary

  • Mnuchin is a former Goldman Sachs banker and Hollywood film financier.

  • He was confirmed after a 53-47 vote with only one democrat voting for him.

  • Mnuchin will be responsible for carrying out Trump’s tax plan, which includes large tax cuts across the board, including for the rich.

• David Shulkin confirmed as Head of Department of Veterans Affairs

  • Shulkin was confirmed in a unanimous vote, with strong support from both parties, unlike many of Trump’s cabinet nominees so far.

  • He served as Deputy Head of the VA from 2015 until his confirmation.

Tuesday Feb. 14

• Sen. Elizabeth Warren called for investigation into Russia

  • Warren (D-MA) called for a congressional investigation into the relationship between Russia and the Trump White House, tweeting “This. Is. Not. Normal”.

    • Warren cited the recent resignation of Flynn due to a scandal with Russia, as well as reports that alleged Russia attempted to sway the election in the favor of Trump and his many financial conflicts of interest.

• Kim Jong Nam Assassinated

  • Nam, the half-brother of North Korea’s dictator Kim Jong Un was assassinated at an airport in Malaysia by two women, who are suspected to be North Korean spies.

    • Nam was poisoned by the women, who quickly assaulted him and then left by cab. The women have been put into custody by Malaysian police.

    • Nam has been in hiding in Malaysia since had his uncle, Jung Sung-taek, executed in December of 2013.

• Russia Deploys Secret Cruise Missiles

  • The deployment violates a 1987 nuclear treaty and is a sign of deteriorating relations between Russia and the United States.

Wednesday Feb. 15

• Trump “can live with” One-State Solution

  • Trump, in a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said that he “can live with” a one-state solution, the cession of Palestine to Israel — walking back on decades of U.S. policy.

  • The two-state solution — the creation of separate Palestinian and Israeli states — has been supported by the United Nations, Arab League, European Union, Russia and the U.S. since its proposal in 1967.

    • Since the proposal of the two-state solution, a one-state solution has been ‘off of the table’ for American diplomats, until now.

      • Trump’s Israeli ambassador supports the one-state solution, the first American ambassador to Israel to do so

• Labor Secretary Nominee Withdraws

  • Andrew Puzder, CEO of Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s, and Trump’s pick for Labor Secretary, has withdrawn after scrutiny from both sides of the aisle.

    • Puzder was expected not to be confirmed in the Senate after five Republican senators said they were “not sure” about voting for him.

    • No new nominee has been announced by the Trump administration.

Thursday, Feb. 16

• Trump Holds Major Press Conference

  • Trump claimed that he has the “largest electoral college victory ever”, called the condition of the country when he became president “a mess”, referred to his administration as a “fine-tuned machine” and said that his travel ban executive order had a “smooth rollout”.

    • These claims have been debunked: Trump’s electoral victory was one of the smallest, the condition of the country is statistically much better than it was a few years ago on issues like unemployment and his travel ban was halted by federal courts and is expected to reach the Supreme Court.

    • Trump spoke for over an hour and took questions almost exclusively from conservative media sources, highly irregular compared to other presidents.

• Trump Budget Director Confirmed

  • Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-SC) was confirmed in a 51-49 vote after a Republican Senator, John McCain (R-AZ), voted against him along with a unified front of Democrats.

    • McCain cited Mulvaney’s interests in cutting military funding as his reason to vote against him.

Friday, Feb. 17

• Federal Election Commission Member Quits

  • Democrat Ann M. Ravel announced that she would be quitting her position on the Federal Election Commission, citing extreme gridlock between the three democratic and three republican members.

  • By tradition, Senate Democrats will be allowed to choose a successor for Ravel, but by law, Trump can choose whoever he wants, possibly allowing him to change election rules and regulations to what he wants with a 4-2 Republican-leaning commission.