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

 

Saturday, March 11 – Sunday, March 12

• Manhattan Attorney Fired by Trump Administration

  • Preet Bharara, an attorney in the Southern District of New York, has been fired because, according to Bharara, he “refused to quit.” It is unknown if Bharara will pursue an unlawful termination case in court against the Justice Department.

  • Bharara was asked to resign along with 45 other United States attorneys on Friday.

    • He was the only one to refuse.

Monday, March 13

• Congressional Budget Office Reviews TrumpCare

  • The findings concluded that, within 10 years of its passage, the American Health Care Act, or TrumpCare, would leave 24 million American uninsured, but save a total of $337 billion.

    • The report was denounced by the Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price, as well as the president’s Budget Director Mick Mulvaney in a joint press conference.

• Janet Yellen Announces Interest Rate Increase

  • Yellen, the Chairwoman of the Federal Reserve, announced the increase to curb inflation, going against the promise of President Donald Trump to stimulate economic growth.

    • Yellen plans multiple rate hikes this year, with this one only being the first in a series of four.

 

Wednesday, March 15

• Revised Travel Ban Blocked in Court

  • For a second time, Trump’s travel ban has been blocked by the court system, this time by a judge in Hawaii. The judge wrote that the executive order appears “to disfavor a particular religion”.

    • It is unclear if Trump will appeal to the 9th Circuit Court as he did after his first travel ban was blocked by a Washington judge.

• Far-Right Fails in the Netherlands

  • Geert Wilders of the Party for Freedom, known in Dutch as Partij voor de Vrijheid, gained fewer seats than expected in the nation’s parliamentary elections.

    • Wilders called for a complete halt of all asylum admissions, banning of headscarves and other extreme measures styled similarly to those of Trump.

  • The liberal People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy, known in Dutch as Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie, won the most seats and is likely to form a coalition government, retaining Prime Minister Mark Rutte for another term.

• Russian Agents Charged for Yahoo Hack

  • The hack of Yahoo’s user database, releasing 500 million accounts’ information in 2014, was traced back to four men, two of whom work for the Russian intelligence bureau Federal Security Service.

    • Of the two other men, one is also Russian but not government-involved, and the other is Canadian.

    • Combined, the four men were charged with 47 crimes.

    • The Canadian, Karim Baratov, a Kazakh national, has been detained by federal authorities.

 

Thursday, March 16

• International Monetary Fund (IMF) Targeted by Letter Bomb

  • The Paris office of the IMF was targeted by a letter bomb, with one IMF employee suffering minor injuries.

• Trump Administration Releases Budget Proposal

  • The new budget would allocate $1.5 Billion to building a wall on the Mexican border, in total increasing military spending by 20 percent, while cutting other services.

    • All funding for the National Endowment of the Arts, the National Endowment of the Humanities and the Public Broadcasting Service would be cut.

    • The Environmental Protection Agency would be the hardest hit division of government, taking a 31 percent budget hit.

  • Read this New York Times article for more detail on Trump’s budget proposal.

 

Friday, March 17

• German Prime Minister Angela Merkel Visits White House, Trump Stands by Wiretap Claim

  • At a joint press conference with Merkel, Trump again repeated his claim that Trump Tower was wiretapped under the order of former President Barack Obama.

    • This claim is still unjustified, as no evidence has been presented for it.

• Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Threatens Nuclear Attack on North Korea

  • During a visit to South Korea, Tillerson said that the Trump Administration has not ruled out a pre-emptive action against North Korea if its nuclear program reaches unacceptable levels.

    • “Pre-emptive action” refers to the launching of nuclear missiles to destroy North Korean military targets before North Korea launches a missile of its own to eliminate the threat.