A document obtained by BuzzFeed shows plans for the relocation of 1,000 of the undocumented immigrant minors who have been detained in recent months to East Coast facilities.

The Arizona-Mexico border fence near Naco, Arizona, March 29, 2013.

Samantha Sais / Reuters / Reuters

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration plans to move as many as 1,000 unaccompanied minor migrants from Border Patrol facilities in Texas to facilities in Baltimore, Md., and Richmond, Va., in an effort to ease overcrowding and address the growing humanitarian crisis along the border.

Tens of thousands of Central American children, many under the age of 10, have begun flooding across the border and into cramped, overcrowded holding facilities. The White House has directed FEMA to begin working with the Departments of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services to relocate the children.

DHS has already begun moving children to facilities in Texas and California, and starting Saturday will move them to Ft. Sill in Oklahoma.

According to a "transportation flow chart" obtained by BuzzFeed, the administration will now begin resettling the children to an Office of Refugee Resettlement facility in Baltimore and to St. Paul's College in Richmond. Both facilities can accommodate up to 500 beds, according to the document. According to the chart, DHS buses and planes, as well as commercial planes, will be used to transport the children to all facilities.

The decision to move the children to other facilities has angered conservatives, including Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne, who has threatened to sue the government to temporarily block sending them to a Nogales, Ariz., facility.

HHS spokesman Ken Wolfe declined to comment on the plan to move the children to Baltimore and Richmond, saying in an email, "Fort Sill's temporary shelter will begin to receive children in the Unaccompanied Alien Children program tomorrow. There are no announcements yet on future facilities."

This is the flow chart outlining the relocations:

Ruling comes after a week of marriages — and confusion.

Gary Jones, 37, Racine, holds a flag in front of the Racine County Courthouse on Friday, June 13, 2014, in Racine, Wis.

Scott Anderson, Journal Times via AP

WASHINGTON — A federal judge issued a final trial court order striking down Wisconsin's ban on same-sex couples marrying, but she put her ruling on hold pending appeal.

"I conclude that Herbert v. Kitchen, compels me to stay the injunction," U.S. District Court Judge Barbara Crabb wrote, referencing the Supreme Court's January decision halting same-sex marriages in Utah during the appeal of that case.

The ruling comes a week after her initial decision striking down the ban. At that time, she did not issue an injunction in the case and laid out a plan for resolving that question and the question of whether her eventually injunction should be stayed during the appeal in the coming weeks.

Officials in Dane and Milwaukee counties, however, took Crabb's declaration that the ban is unconstitutional to mean that they could begin marrying same-sex couples if they wished to do so. Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen sought to stop those marriages with an emergency request for a temporary stay, but no such stay was granted — either by Crabb or the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. Over the course of the week, many other counties in the state began issuing licenses and, on Wednesday, the Wisconsin Vital Records Office began processing the licenses.

Because of the confusion, lawyers for the plaintiffs and the state sped up the process of providing language for Crabb's injunction in the case, and she held a hearing Friday afternoon to consider that issue, as well as the state's request for a stay.

Crabb explained her reasoning, including why her injunction includes a stay of the declaration striking down the state's ban as unconstitutional, in Friday's decision:

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The former secretary of state emphasizes Iraqi governance failure, Syrian spillover as causes of Iraq conflict.

Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press / MCT

WASHINGTON — Hillary Clinton warned that military intervention in Iraq, where Islamist militants have seized parts of the country, would be a "delicate and difficult task for our government because we certainly don't want to fight their fight."

"You'd be fighting for a dysfunctional, unrepresentative, authoritarian government," she said on Friday at George Washington University. Clinton talked at length about the unfolding crisis in Iraq, where the extremist group, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, has moved from Syria, taking hold of cities north of Baghdad.

"There's no reason on earth that I know of that we would ever sacrifice a single American life for that," Clinton added.

President Obama said on Friday that he would not send troops into the country, but would weigh other military options, including airstrikes.

Clinton, who stepped down as secretary of state last year, was at the university to promote her new book, Hard Choices, at an event sponsored by the bookseller, Politics & Prose. Lissa Muscatine, a former aide who owns the store and helped Clinton write her first memoir, Living History, moderated the event.

Muscatine asked Clinton to weigh in on the developing situation in Iraq. Clinton's comments focused almost entirely on what she described as a dysfunctional government run by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

"The underlying problem though here is not one of military preparedness and security," said Clinton. "The problem is the conception of leadership and governance that Maliki brought to the job of prime ministership."

"He would not commit to an inclusive government. He would not share power except with a very, very small circle. He was often quick to attack — even investigate, charge with crimes — those who politically disagreed with him."

Maliki's "failure at the governance level" — combined with the "extraordinary success of Islamist extremist groups in Syria" — has made the crisis in Iraq "especially dangerous," Clinton said. "It's a recipe for a horrendous conflict."

Clinton said that Maliki's requests of the United States for airstrikes would be "carefully considered" by the Obama administration. "But I think it's also imperative that Maliki be presented with a set of conditions if you are even to discuss seriously any kind of military support for the fight against the jihadists."

Before moving on from the topic, Clinton referenced the chapter in her memoir about Syria, which she titled, "A Wicked Problem." The problem has now "gotten just wickeder," she said, "because of the spillover into Iraq."

LINK: Everything You Need To Know About The Deadly Extremist Group Ravaging Iraq And Syria

Conservatives and liberals are complete opposites — except when they aren’t.

AP Photo/Jay LaPrete / ChameleonsEye / Shutterstock.com

Pew Research Center released a massive new study on American politics this week. The takeaway: America is a lot more politically polarized today than it has been in the past. But while liberals and conservatives may be sticking together more and more, the research shows they also have some things in common.

people-press.org

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“I am having a good time.”

Steve Dipaola / Reuters / Reuters

WASHINGTON — When she said she left the White House "dead broke," pundits called the comment the "first gaffe" of the next presidential race. When she sat for a primetime television interview, they called her performance "rusty." When she got confrontational with an NPR host, they called her exchange "testy," "awkward."

And on Friday evening, Hillary Clinton wanted everyone to know she didn't care.

Clinton wrapped up the first stretch of her tour to promote a new book, Hard Choices, at an event at George Washington University, sponsored by Politics & Prose, the local bookstore. Her old friend and former aide Lissa Muscatine owns the store and moderated Friday's question-and-answer session.

"You're traveling all over the place. You're doing all these interviews. You're keeping a pretty frenetic pace," Muscatine said before an audience of 1,500. "I'm wondering, just as I've watched you, in these past four days — you've had some tough interviews — you seem like you're having a really good time."

"Well, Lissa, I am having a good time."

"You're really free to speak your mind these days," Muscatine said.

"Maybe it's just the wonderful wealth of experience that I now have," Clinton went on. "Maybe it's because I am truly done with, you know, being really careful about what to say because somebody might think this instead of that."

"It just gets too exhausting and frustrating and it just seemed a whole lot easier to just put it out there and hope people get used to it. Whether you agree with it or not, you know exactly where I come from, what I think, what I feel."

"It feels a little bit liberating, to be honest."

"And it's great to watch," Muscatine said. "I have to say."

Clinton and Muscatine moved on to other topics — Syria, Iraq, Vladimir Putin. But the opening exchange provided Clinton the opportunity to respond to what some have characterized as a bad first week on book tour. Most recently, in her interview on Thursday with NPR's Terry Gross, Clinton struggled answering questions about how her position on same-sex marriage has changed.

"There are occasions when I think people gulp a little, including myself, to be fair," Clinton said. "But I really want to share the experiences that I've had."

Clinton seemed relaxed and at ease on stage with Muscatine, who helped write her first memoir, Living History, in 2003. After about an hour, as the event came to a close, Clinton fielded a last question about whether she would run for president in two years, bringing several members of the audience to their feet.

At speeches, Clinton almost always takes her leave as soon as the event is over. But on Friday at George Washington, she lingered to take photos with fans in the front row. She even lifted a baby from a member of the audience, holding it close to her face and posing for pictures. The auditorium let out a flash of oohs and awws, before Clinton handed the child back and walked off stage smiling.

“Climate change is no longer a distant threat but has moved firmly into the present,” Obama said during the commencement of the University of California, Irvine.

AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta

During his speech, Obama framed climate change as one of the most challenging issues the world faces but said politicians and cable news networks are stymieing any sort of progress. "Science has put the question of climate change to rest," he said, adding that the real question is whether we have the will to act before it's too late.

After ticking off a series of facts about carbon levels, wildfires, flooding and other things that represent the dangers of climate change, he lambasted politicians who ignore the science. He compared fighting climate change to going to the moon. When Kennedy proposed that project, Obama explained, some people objected but no one said "moon wasn't there or that it was made of cheese."

"What's the point of public office if you're not going to use your power to help solve problems," Obama later said.

Students at the commencement for the University of California, Irvine, Saturday.

AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill

Obama praised America's youth and encouraged them not to believe in cynicism. He also warned that todays youth are the ones "getting shortchanged by inaction" on climate change.

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Surrounded by paper towels, Clinton received visits from Sonia Sotomayor, John Lewis, family, and fans at a Costco book signing.

Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton talks with Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor during a book signing for her memoir, Hard Choices at Costco in Virginia on Saturday.

instagram.com

ARLINGTON, Va. — In 2003, the front-end supervisor of the Pentagon City Costco warehouse managed crowd-flow at a signing for Living History.

More than 10 years later, in Costco's aisle 130, the same staffer was on the warehouse floor again, ushering in more than 1,000 fans who waited in line for signed copies of Hard Choices, Hillary Clinton's second memoir.

The scene at the big-box retailer, located just outside Washington, D.C., featured more familiar faces for Clinton, who autographed hardbacks for more than three hours on Saturday. Hundreds of copies were stacked on crates to Clinton's left and right, with bulk-sized boxes of beach towels and water bottles piled behind her. Staffers had siphoned off an enclave of the store for the book signing, lining the outer section with a wall of Kirkland-brand paper towels.

Seated at a desk draped in a black tablecloth, Clinton spotted an old colleague in line: Rep. John Lewis, the civil rights icon and Democratic congressman from Georgia, who stopped by unannounced. Clinton exclaimed upon seeing Lewis approach her table and leaned in to grab his hand. "God bless you, my friend," she said, leaving her signature and a personalized note inside his copy of the book.

On his way out, Lewis told a group of reporters, "I come to this store and shop, and I wanted to come by and say hello to Mrs. Clinton. She's a very good friend."

An hour later, well after television cameras and photographers had left, Clinton received another surprised guest: Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

Sotomayor said she'd stumbled on the signing while "just shopping." She wore flip-flops, glasses, and a short-sleeve tee-shirt, striped black and white.

An aide guided her from a back entrance to the table, where Clinton stood up and laughed. "I don't believe this!" she said. "I'm so glad to see you." The women exchanged a brief conversation, mostly out of earshot. Clinton could be heard saying to Sotomayor, who also wrote a memoir last year, "I loved yours."

The Costco signing concluded Clinton's first week on tour to promote Hard Choices. The book, which came out on June 10, sold at a discount here on Saturday for $18.99, nearly 50% off the retail price. An official said the Arlington location gained 164 new Costco memberships as a result of the event.

A steady stream of fans cycled through the line as morning stretched into afternoon: supporters urged her to run for president; volunteers and staffers from her last campaign exchanged familiar hellos; and the co-founder of Costco, Jim Senegal, wearing his company name tag, even stopped by Clinton's table. (Like Sotomayor, he said he had also been in the store on Saturday by chance.)

Clinton also received a visit from the family: her brother Tony Rodham's young son and daughter came with their grandmother, Tony's mother-in-law, and sat next to Clinton for the last hour of the signing, helping her stack books as she greeted fans.

​Clinton did not take questions from the press, but her exchanges with attendees, short and pleasant, could be heard in bits and pieces.

"Hi, nice to meet you. Thank you for coming," she greeted one.

"No, that's the way democracy works," she said in response to another.

And another: "When are you getting married?"

And another: "It's going OK."

And another: "It turned out to be a beautiful day."

​When one of the last fans in line asked if she had time for a "selfie," Clinton said, "Turn around, quick." The young girl rotated, held her phone in the air​, ​and captured the shot with Clinton smiling in the background.

“If she wants to be commander-in-chief, she needs to answer why she didn’t provide security leading up to the attack in Benghazi.”

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) speaks during the inaugural Freedom Summit meeting for conservative speakers in Manchester, New Hampshire April 12, 2014.

Lucas Jackson / Reuters / Reuters

Sen. Rand Paul says Hillary Clinton's failure to understand and address security concerns in Benghazi in the lead up to the 2012 attack should prevent her from consideration for president.

The senator, expected to run for president himself, made the comments twice this weekend: first to Iowa Republicans on Saturday, and second in an interview with Aaron Klein's radio show that will air Sunday night.

"If she wants to be commander-in-chief, she needs to answer why she didn't provide security leading up to the attack in Benghazi," Paul said in an interview that will air on on Klein's show. "I asked her what I think is the most important question. I said, 'In the six months leading up to the attacks in Benghazi, did you read the cables from the ambassador asking for more security?' And she said, 'No.'"

"That answer to me precludes her from ever being considered for commander-in-chief because Libya had to be one of the most dangerous places in the world," Paul continues in the interview. "Couldn't be two or three countries more dangerous than Libya. Maybe no country. And she wasn't reading the requests for security, repeated requests for security. For a plane. For a security team. That to me is a dereliction of duty and I think it precludes her from being considered."

Under questioning from Diane Sawyer last week, Clinton argued she had not "missed" the moment that would have prevented the attack and that she did not have the "expertise" to make specific security decisions.

"I take responsibility, but I was not making security decisions," she said.

An old liberal complaint is lodged against a new president.

Martin H. Simon/Abaca Press / MCT

WASHINGTON — Progressive veterans of the last fight over U.S. military intervention in Iraq aren't waiting until President Obama decides what to do in Iraq this time around.

They've already begun laying the groundwork for a massive pushback on Obama should he decide to engage U.S. forces in the nation once again.

Obama has enjoyed a relatively good run with his progressive base since shifting away from trying to make deals with Republicans in Congress to his executive action-heavy "year of action." The traditional left has reveled as the White House has taken a hard line on climate change and backed away from plans to engage Republicans on entitlement benefit cuts. But now as a new — if limited — U.S. military entanglement in Iraq looms, Obama may be reigniting progressive frustration with his presidency.

Since Friday, thousands have added their names to two progressive petitions warning the president against military action in Iraq, one from San Francisco-based progressive group CREDO and the other hosted by MoveOn.org. Should Obama decide to go ahead with airstrikes in Iraq — he ruled out ground troops in a brief question-and-answer session with reporters at the White House Friday — progressive strategists told BuzzFeed Sunday the liberal grumbling could turn into an election year headache for the White House.

There are signs progressives are already feeling frustrated with the president.

"The whole thing feels way too predictable and depressing," said one big-name veteran of the progressive fight against the Iraq war in the early 2000s. "Pointing fingers and breaking countries and people die. Makes me want to puke. You?"

So far, the president has tried to walk a fine line on the sharply deteriorating situation in Iraq, where the extremist Islamist group ISIS has seized a contiguous region of the country in recent days. ISIS militants have claimed the mass executions of Iraqi military personnel and seized Iraqi military weaponry provided by the United States.

Obama has said any U.S. intervention in Iraq would be limited in scope and will only proceed with promises from the Iraqis that sectarian divisions within the current regime are under control.

To progressives, even a limited intervention in Iraq by Obama would be a betrayal of the base that helped get him to the White House six years ago.

Strong support from MoveOn in 2007 helped solidify Obama's position as the anti-Iraq war candidate. Now, with the potential for Obama-ordered American attacks on Iraqi targets, MoveOn is preparing to cast him as the latest architect of an American military quagmire in Iraq.

"The recent developments in Iraq are the tragic and predictable consequences of George W. Bush's reckless decision to invade in 2003, which destabilized the region and helped set the stage for Iraq's troubles today," MoveOn executive director Anna Galland said in a statement Friday. "The American people are sick and tired of more than a decade of war in the Middle East. President Obama should reject the use of military force in Iraq, including air strikes. We must not be dragged back into yet another war."

MoveOn is also calling on Capitol Hill to put a check on Obama by revoking the Iraq AUMF, "preventing any president from taking new military action without first getting explicit authorization from Congress," Galland said.

Leaders of CREDO, a group known for strong criticism of Obama over Keystone and other issues, are already equating Obama to his predecessor as U.S. military action in Iraq goes back on the table.

"If the president takes ownership of George W. Bush's disastrous decision to invade Iraq by launching a new round of bombing strikes, Iraq will become Barack Obama's war," reads the CREDO petition.

Asked if progressives were gearing up to go to war with Obama over Iraq, a senior official at another well-known progressive group said "that's fair."

A senior White House official referred to Obama's previous statements on potential action in Iraq when asked about the petitions and progressive complaints.

The nascent liberal campaign over new action in Iraq, with its foundations in the issue that united and inflamed progressives during the 2008 presidential, could have an impact in November, progressives say.

"I think it could have a big impact," said veteran progressive organizer Mike Lux. "Obama doesn't want to divide his party and piss off his base right before the mid-terms."

Game Of Thrones brings everyone together.

The White House is due to announce Monday that an order to bar federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity is being drafted, BuzzFeed has learned.

Martin H. Simon/Abaca Press / MCT

WASHINGTON — The White House Monday will announce that new rules barring federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity are being drafted, BuzzFeed has learned.

More than two years after the White House first rejected pursuing an executive order implementing the protections, President Obama is moving on the issue a week after talking about the important role that administrative action can play in advancing LGBT rights.

At a question-and-answer session at the White House last week, Obama spoke about how transgender students can now "assert their rights" following recent Education Department action laying out an expanded view of sex discrimination protections under Title IX.

The comments were in contrast to the administration's prior stance against signing an executive order to bar federal contractors from discriminating against LGBT workers and job applicants, despite Obama having said he would support protecting such workers in a questionnaire filled out while a candidate in 2008.

The Obama administration has maintained in the past that the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) is its preferred path for LGBT workplace protections, but Monday's announcement signals an acknowledgement that, despite Senate passage last fall, the bill is not likely to move in the House this year.

Monday's planned announcement comes the day before Obama is slated to talk in New York City at a Democratic National Committee LGBT gala. Additionally, the White House reception planned to mark LGBT Pride Month is set for June 30.

Although the specifics of the White House plans were not yet known, the order likely would either amend an earlier executive order signed by President Lyndon Johnson banning federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin or would be modeled after that order.

The White House declined to provide comment on the plans Monday morning.

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Republican Rep. Lou Barletta says impeaching Obama could pass the Republican-controlled House, but he’s unsure the American people want it.

A Republican congressman thinks a vote to impeachment President Obama would pass the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. Speaking with the Gary Sutton radio program on Monday, Rep. Lou Barletta of Pennsylvania said a vote to impeach Obama would "probably pass" the House.

Here's the video of Barletta's remarks:

youtube.com

"He's just absolutely ignoring the Constitution, and ignoring the laws, and ignoring the checks and balances," Barletta said. "The problem is, you know, what do you do? For those that say impeach him for breaking the laws or bypassing the laws. Could that pass in the House? It probably, it probably could. Is the majority the American people in favor of impeaching the president? I'm not sure."

Garbled messages from the right as everyone figures out their position on working with Iran.

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — As Republicans start to come out against the administration's plans to consult with Iran on the crisis in Iraq, one prominent figure on the right is increasingly looking like an outlier: Sen. Lindsey Graham.

Graham's call to work with Iran to address the situation in Iraq, which is under siege by the terrorist group, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which has taken over major cities and is marching on Baghdad, stands in contrast to other Republicans who have spoken out on the issue — including Sen. John McCain, usually Graham's ally on most foreign policy issues.

Appearing on one of the Sunday shows, Graham compared working with Iran on this issue to the Allies working with Stalin during World War II, presenting it as a necessary evil. "The Iranians can provide some assets to make sure Baghdad doesn't fall. We need to coordinate with the Iranians," Graham said. "And the Turks need to get in the game and get the Sunni Arabs back into the game, form a new government without [Iraqi Prime Minister] Maliki."

That same day, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers said the opposite, saying that working with Iran would be a "trap" and "a failure of leadership."

The issue is forcing hawkish Republicans to make a tough choice on whether intervening in Iraq is important enough to enlist Iran's help.

"It would be the height of folly to believe that the Iranian regime can be our partner in managing the deteriorating security situation in Iraq," McCain said in a statement on Monday. "The reality is, U.S. and Iranian interests and goals do not align in Iraq, and greater Iranian intervention would only make the situation dramatically worse. It would inflame sectarian tensions, strengthen the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), drive more Sunnis into ISIS's ranks, empower the most radical Shia militants, deepen the Iraqi government's dependence on Iran, alienate U.S. allies and partners in the region, and set back the prospects of national reconciliation. For all of these reasons, and more, the United States should be seeking to minimize greater Iranian involvement in Iraq right now, not encouraging it."

Neoconservative thinkers Frederick Kagan and Bill Kristol, writing in the Weekly Standard, called for the United States to send troops back to Iraq without any coordination with Iran.

"Throwing our weight behind Iran in the fight against al Qaeda in Iraq, as some are suggesting, would make things even worse," Kagan and Kristol wrote. "Conducting U.S. airstrikes without deploying American special operators or other ground forces would in effect make the U.S. Iran's air force. Such an approach would be extremely shortsighted."

Many other Republicans are so far staying relatively mum on the administration's plans; "I think like everybody else they're trying to get a grip on it," said one senior Republican operative. "This has all happened so quickly."

"People are tired of Iraq but they also don't fully understand the consequences of Iraq melting down," the operative said.

Mark Dubowitz, the executive director of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a national security think tank that supports strong sanctions against Iran, said that Graham's position was outside the mainstream on the Republican side.

"The Obama administration, which always has appeared too eager to bring Iran 'into the fold,' might view the current situation with [Iraq's prime minister] Maliki as an opportunity to make common cause with Tehran," Dubowitz said. "I doubt however most Republicans are going to fall for that delusion."

"If the Obama administration tries to partner with them to prevent the fall of Baghdad, it is a delusion to think that this won't significantly strengthen Iranian negotiating leverage over their nuclear program," Dubowitz said, voicing the concern shared by some observers that working with Iran on the Iraq issue could take away U.S. leverage on the nuclear issue.

A senior administration official said on Monday on a call with reporters that there could be discussions between the United States and Iran about what to do about Iraq on the margins of this week's round of nuclear talks in Vienna.

The official dismissed the idea that the Iraq issue could give Iran negotiating leverage on its nuclear program, comparing it with the Ukraine crisis, which has not affected Russia's participation in the negotiations.

"We're very focused on P5+1 as its own process," the official said.

Graham's is not the only surprising position on Iraq on the right; Sen. Rand Paul, who usually opposes most foreign entanglements, said in an interview with the Des Moines Register that he "would not rule out air strikes" on Iraq.

A spokesperson for Graham did not return requests for comment.

Apparently sent to BuzzFeed by accident.

Bowe Bergdahl

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — A list of talking points from Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Renacci's office offer a glimpse into how the office chose to spin the decision to delete the congressman's tweet about Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the freed prisoner of war who was exchanged for five Taliban prisoners.

The talking points, which were sent to BuzzFeed on Monday apparently by accident from an intern in Renacci's office, show the line seemingly used for constituents who might call and ask about a tweet from Renacci about Bergdahl that was deleted.

If you receive any calls regarding the deleted post regarding Bergdahl, here are our talking points:

• Over the past several days, new information has been brought to light regarding Sgt. Bergdahl's capture and release and the facts are currently unclear.
• Given these developments, which the administration did not share with Congress, it was appropriate to take the post down.
• We entrust the Army to follow through with outstanding concerns regarding the nature of his disappearance and we fully support the House Armed Services' Committee's hearings into the prisoner swap.
• We expect the administration to fully cooperate and provide answers to the American people's questions.
• We will continue to closely monitor these developments.
• Happy to pass along your concern to the Congressman.

Renacci was one of a group of politicians who tweeted supportive messages about Bergdahl's rescue, before his trade for five Taliban members became a hot-button issue in D.C. politics and the tweets were deleted.

"So glad to hear that Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is coming home safely," Renacci tweeted. "He's a true American hero."

The tweet was deleted three days after Renacci tweeted it.

Subject: Updated TPs for EUC

Same as before, chances are the person on the phone will have a differing point of view from the person on the phone. Feel free to input their opinions or request on Jim's position into IQ for an email or letter response-now that we have a letter approved it shouldn't be too long before they receive a response. Let me know if you have any questions.

• Mr. Renacci believes unemployment benefits are supposed to help the unemployed find work.
• Currently, there are no efforts underway in the House to extend the EUC program.
• While the Senate bill extends the EUC program for 5 months through May, 2014 (because it includes retroactive payments) the bill is unworkable and would cause considerable delays in the implementation of the program and increase administrative issues and costs.
• Some states have already indicated that if passed, they would consider not operating the program due to considerable administrative burdens.
• EUC was always meant to be a temporary program-it will have operated for twice as long and paid twice as many weeks of Federal unemployment benefits as any prior temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation program.
• The number of people collecting EUC has fallen back to 2008 levels, which is when the program began, suggesting it is time for the program to end.
• He believes our focus should be on strengthening the underlying UI program, which has serious administrative issues, and removing red tape to help states get people back to work sooner.
  o Including paying billions of dollars incorrectly to prisoners, people who are working, and even people who have died.
• For this reason, Mr. Renacci has introduced legislation that will make it easier for states to invest Federal UI funds in evidence-based programs that connect more Americans to jobs.
• The House will continue to consider and pass pro-growth job bills that focus on job creation and decreasing government red tape.

_______________________________

If you receive any calls regarding the deleted post regarding Bergdahl, here are our talking points:

• Over the past several days, new information has been brought to light regarding Sgt. Bergdahl's capture and release and the facts are currently unclear.
• Given these developments, which the administration did not share with Congress, it was appropriate to take the post down.
• We entrust the Army to follow through with outstanding concerns regarding the nature of his disappearance and we fully support the House Armed Services' Committee's hearings into the prisoner swap.
• We expect the administration to fully cooperate and provide answers to the American people's questions.
• We will continue to closely monitor these developments.
• Happy to pass along your concern to the Congressman.

__________________________

Subject: thompson-king amdt tps

• The Congressman is a life member of the NRA
• He strongly supports the Second Amendment
• He believes that the Bill of Rights was created to protect and preserve an individuals' right to bear arms and will always defend that Constitutional right
• Nearly half the states still do not regularly provide records to the federal database to keep guns out of the hands of people with histories of mental illness or a criminal background
• States are not required to report to the database
• Jim voted in favor of the Thompson-King Amendment to increase funding for state grants designed to prevent dangerous people from buying and owning firearms
• It is already illegal for these individuals to own firearms

________________________________

Immigration
* Jim recognizes our immigration system is broken.
* He believes that we must secure our borders first, we cannot put those who have come here illegally before those who have lawfully gone through the process, and we should not reward illegal behavior.
* He wants to see our current immigration laws enforced, our borders secured, and mandatory use of E-Verify.
* I am happy to pass on your thoughts and concerns.

A spokesperson for Renacci did not immediately return a request for comment.

Democracy For America, formed out of Howard Dean’s 2004 anti-Iraq war presidential campaign, believes a bipartisan group of lawmakers could stop intervention in Iraq.

AP Photo/Toby Talbot, File

WASHINGTON — As national progressives craft their opposition plan to a new U.S. military intervention in Iraq, one prominent liberal group says the path away from a new American quagmire in Iraq leads through Congress.

Democracy For America, the group formed from the remnants of Howard Dean's 2004 anti-Iraq war presidential bid, is planning to call on President Obama to consult with Congress before launching airstrikes — or some other military action — on terrorist insurgents threatening the American-backed Iraqi regime. DFA formally opposed new American military action in Iraq in a statement scheduled to go out Monday afternoon, calling on U.S. leaders to "bring the international community together" to "deescalate this sectarian conflict" in a non-military fashion in conjunction with the Iraqi regime.

Officials with the Vermont-based group say talks over the weekend with people on Capitol Hill have given progressives the impression a strong bipartisan coalition would stand in the way of military action in Iraq if Obama gives Congress a chance to weigh in on it.

Regardless of the outcome, DFA executive director Charles Chamberlain said that Obama "absolutely needs to consult with Congress" before making any new decisions.

"That's what separates out American democracy from dictators and horrible governments across the world," he said, "and the reason why that works is that we have a president that can consult with congress before making big decisions. That doesn't just make a unilateral decision to go in for military conflict."

On Monday, Sen. Richard Blumenthal joined the progressive push for Congressional authorization prior to new airstrikes in Iraq. The Connecticut Democrat told MSNBC "I urge the president to come to the Congress with specific proposals and recommendations."

So far, the White House has been unwilling to say whether congress will get a chance to weigh in before new military action is underway in Iraq. Obama asked Congress for guidance on Syria before he decided not to commit U.S. forces to the conflict, though at the time he said he did that while reserving the power not to ask Congress again in the future.

Obama hasn't said what he'll do about Iraq yet. Chamberlain said that after the firm pro-war ideological stance of George W. Bush, Obama's public thinking through of what to do next in Iraq is welcome. Even if DFA's leaders know what they want him to do.

Or, in the case of Iraq, not do.

"The difference with President Obama is we see a president who's clearly thinking through what his options are. He's clearly considering everything on the table and he's not ideologically driven by, in the case of our previous president, by the conservative war hawk right," he said. "In the case of this current president, people might think of him as driven by, potentially the super dove left. It does not seem that this president is heavily predisposed to go one way or another, and I think most Americans appreciate that."

"President Obama was right to end the Iraq War in 2011, and it would be a tremendous mistake to restart it now. Democracy for America members support President Obama's decision not to put American boots on the ground and we urge the President and Congress to reject any increased U.S. military involvement, including airstrikes, in this growing, sectarian civil war.

Opposition to George W. Bush's tragic, misguided war in Iraq brought Democracy for America's one million members together in 2004 and guided our support for President Obama through two presidential elections. Rather than debating bombing runs, now is the time for the United States to bring the international community together to push Prime Minister Maliki to build an inclusive government that will help deescalate this sectarian conflict."

Hard Choices sells 24,000 copies in its first week through B&N.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton attends a book signing for with her new memoir, Hard Choices, at a Costco in Arlington, Va., last Saturday.

Olivier Douliery / Abaca Press

Hillary Clinton's new memoir, Hard Choices, topped the Barnes & Noble best-seller list in its first week, according to the company's Nielsen BookScan sales numbers released to publishers on Monday and obtained by BuzzFeed.

Barnes & Noble, the country's largest retail bookseller, has sold just over 24,000 copies of the book since its release on June 10. Hard Choices debuted at No. 1 on the bookseller's hardcover best-seller list, which includes fiction and nonfiction.

Clinton's memoir edged out the new Diana Gabaldon book, Written in My Own Heart's Blood, for the top spot, selling just 319 more copies, according to the sales list. (The Gabaldon book, released on the same day as Clinton's, is the eighth installment in her long-running historical sci-fi romance Outlander series.)

Hard Choices is Clinton's second memoir. The 656-page book tells the story of her four years as President Obama's secretary of state. Democrats have said they hope the book, and the coast-to-coast publicity tour that began last Tuesday at a Manhattan Barnes & Noble, will preface another White House bid in 2016.

Bookstores and other retailers ordered through the first printing of Clinton's book — which totaled 1 million copies — two weeks before it had even been published.

The Barnes & Noble BookScan figures provide the first, if partial, glimpse at consumer interest. The figures, released Monday, only represent Barnes & Noble sales. They also do not include sales for e-books, made for tablets like Kindle.

But the numbers do indicate that Hard Choices has not performed as well in its first week as Clinton's first memoir, Living History, did in 2003.

At the time, Barnes & Noble spokeswoman Carolyn Brown told CNN that the memoir sold more than 40,000 copies of Living History in 24 hours, breaking the Barnes & Noble release-day sales record. The BookScan numbers released Monday, which cover sales for the week ending on June 15, show the company sold just over half that amount in hardback copies of Hard Choices.

Barnes & Noble sales represent a smaller share of the book market than they did in 2003, when Amazon and other online retails were less dominant.

Clinton's first book told the story of her childhood, her life with Bill in Arkansas, and her time as first lady. The memoir amounted to Clinton's first major account of a tumultuous eight years in the White House — her take on the impeachment, Monica Lewinsky, and the investigations that dogged her husband's administration.

That book sold more than 1 million copies in its first month. Interest in Living History was so high that Simon & Schuster printed an additional 50,000 copies in the first week — on top of its first printing of 1 million. (The publisher has not released information about a second printing of Hard Choices.)

Clinton kicked off her book tour at a Barnes & Noble in Manhattan's Union Square last Tuesday, where more than 1,000 people purchased copies and waited in line for autographs. Since then, she has held 10 events in six cities to promote the book.

This week's New York Times best-seller list comes out on Wednesday evening. Clinton allies are waiting to see where Hard Choices starts on the list — Living History debuted at no. 1 — and for how long it's able to stay on.

Spokespeople for Barnes & Noble and Simon & Schuster did not respond to requests for comment on Monday afternoon.

They will be tasked with protecting the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, he says.

Martin H. Simon/Abaca Press / MCT

President Barack Obama has ordered the deployment of 275 troops to Iraq "to provide support and security for U.S. personnel and the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad."

"The force is deploying for the purpose of protecting U.S. citizens and property, if necessary, and is equipped for combat," Obama wrote in a letter to Congress made public late Monday.

Obama dated the deployment to Sunday, June 15 and said it would include "approximately 275 U.S. Armed Forces personnel." He said the force would remain in Iraq "until the security situation becomes such that it is no longer needed."

As the militant group ISIS took over Iraq's second city Mosul last week, spawning fears it could take the capital Baghdad, Obama said he was considering all options to assist in aiding the security situation in the country. White House spokesman Jay Carney later clarified to say: "We are not contemplating ground troops."

Carney said in a statement released on Monday that the personnel to be deployed "are entering Iraq with the consent of the Government of Iraq."

TEXT OF A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT TO THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND THE PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE OF THE SENATE

June 16, 2014

Dear Mr. Speaker: (Dear Mr. President:)

Starting on June 15, 2014, up to approximately 275 U.S. Armed Forces personnel are deploying to Iraq to provide support and security for U.S. personnel and the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. This force is deploying for the purpose of protecting U.S. citizens and property, if necessary, and is equipped for combat. This force will remain in Iraq until the security situation becomes such that it is no longer needed.

This action has been directed consistent with my responsibility to protect U.S. citizens both at home and abroad, and in furtherance of U.S. national security and foreign policy
interests, pursuant to my constitutional authority to conduct U.S. foreign relations and as Commander in Chief and Chief Executive.

I am providing this report as part of my efforts to keep the Congress fully informed, consistent with the War Powers Resolution (Public Law 93-148). I appreciate the support of the Congress in these actions.

Sincerely,


BARACK OBAMA

The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals is hearing cases from Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee on August 6.

Mary Black (left) and her wife Sarah Weinstein hug after being married by Oakland County Clerk Lisa Brown at the Oakland County Courthouse on March 22.

Rebecca Cook / Reuters

The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals is ready to move forward on marriage cases pending before the court from Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee.

On Monday, the court announced that oral arguments in all of the cases — challenges to bans on same-sex couples' marriages or recognition of those marriages in each state in the circuit — are set for 1 p.m. August 6 in Cincinnati:

The court announced it would hear 30 minutes of arguments from each side in the Michigan marriage case:

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New York legislators are proposing something bold: using state’s rights to change immigration law.

New York state senator Gustavo Rivera and assembly member Karim Camara at a press conference announcing legislation that would give state citizenship to undocumented immigrants who meet certain guidelines.

Adrian Carrasquillo/BuzzFeed

New York Democrats announced Monday new legislation that would grant state citizenship rights to undocumented immigrants.

The bill could represent a bold new advocacy strategy: using states' rights to secure legal protections for the undocumented.

York state senator Gustavo Rivera and assembly member Karim Camara's bill would allow undocumented immigrants to vote, drive, receive professional licenses, run for civil office, and receive Medicaid as well as in-state tuition in New York by making them New York state citizens.

"It's up to New York to figure out who it's political community is," said Peter Markowitz, professor at the Cardozo school of law, who made the legal case for the legislation through the country's dual-sovereign structure. "New York gets to decide who is and who isn't a New Yorker. The federal government may not interfere."

The prospects for federal changes to U.S. immigration law took a hit last week after House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's primary election loss, attributed by some as directly the result of attacks by Cantor's opponent on his immigration record.

Flanked by activists in front of the Statue of Liberty Monday, Rivera struck a positive tone about the bill, called the New York is Home Act.

Immigrants would be eligible to become state citizens if they show proof of identity, proof of three years of New York State residency and proof of three years of New York State tax payments; the bill also requires a commitment to abide by state laws and uphold the state Constitution, and a willingness to serve on New York juries and to keep paying state taxes.

Rivera said the idea has been in the works for two years and called the legislation "bold," not because of the pieces themselves, but because they are all in one bill.

"This is unlike SB1070," Rivera told BuzzFeed after the event. "Arizona said, 'We can do this and affect things on a federal level.' No, you can't. But the conversation we need to have is: What rights do we have in a state?"

Spokespeople for Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, the first Latina in the role, said Monday they were reviewing the legislation.

"In light of inaction at the federal government, the administration is interested in learning about local initiatives to increase equality among immigrant communities," de Blasio deputy press secretary Maibe Ponet said.

"Given congress's failure to address immigration reform, people are obviously becoming increasingly frustrated, a spokesman for Mark-Viverito said. "[The speaker] is supportive of increasing voting rights and will be reviewing the legislation."

DREAMer and national immigration activist, Cesar Vargas.

Adrian Carrasquillo/BuzzFeed

Cesar Vargas, a DREAMer who has been fighting for the right to practice law as an undocumented immigrant, would benefit from the portion of the legislation that would give licenses for professions like lawyers, doctors, dentists, midwives and others. He said he is set to work with the mayor and the city council speaker to "see how they can support undocumented lawyers."

"As we stand in front of the Statue of Liberty, we're reminded of the American Dream, and I'm reminded of the dream of my mother for me to be a lawyer," Vargas said.

Many sought to draw a parallel between the fight for marriage equality — and its stops and starts over the years.

"This will get a lot of attention for New York," DREAMer Antonio Alarcon, 19, said. "It will take months to pass, we're going to be fighting for this like they did for marriage equality."

"Full equality and inclusion will gain momentum in our time," said Andrew Friedman, co-executive director of The Center for Popular Democracy.

He said his group is in discussion with four to five other states for similar legislation with the stated goal of putting "another horse in the race" in the way those who fought for marriage equality continued to refine what they were asking for.

Jose Davila, the vice president off policy and government relations at the Hispanic Federation echoed the belief that the legislation comes at an important time for the fight for changing U.S. immigration laws.

"Instead of tear families apart, we should be reframing the debate. What kind of state do we want to be?"

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Speaking with Canadian television CBC’s in an interview about her new book Hard Choices , former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reflected on a personal anecdote Vladimir Putin told her about his mother.

Speaking with a Canadian television station in an interview that aired Monday evening, Hillary Clinton relayed an story, also recounted in her new book Hard Choices, about Vladimir Putin. At a dinner, he once told Clinton of how his mother was nearly mistaken for dead and buried in a mass grave before being saved by his father.

Here's the video of Clinton recalling the story on Monday night:

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The authenticity of the tale has been called into question by some and Clinton herself says while Putin was convincing in his telling she is unclear if the tale is true or not.

Clinton argues that if the story is untrue, it gives an interesting insight into what Putin thinks about "what it means to be Russian."

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton poses with her new book, "Hard Choices," during a book signing at Costco in Arlington, Va., Saturday, June 14, 2014.

Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press / / MCT

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