According to aides who were present when Trump discussed the issue, but who choose to remain anonymous for fear of retribution, Trump said he was sick of Vance and wanted to fire him. “I wanted him to be my attack dog,” said Trump, “but he appears foolish on television. He dropped the college football trophy. He met with Pope Francis and the next day the pope died. Vance is toxic, and I don’t want him to come near me. He just doesn’t look as good on television as I thought he would.”   read more

Oil and gas interests have comprised most of Perry’s political donors over the years. A strong advocate of the death penalty, Perry is a climate-change denier who said those who believe the overwhelming evidence that the climate is changing “know that we have been experiencing a cooling trend, that the complexities of the global atmosphere have often eluded the most sophisticated scientists..." As governor of Texas, Perry was Indicted for abuse of power--charges that were eventually dropped.   read more

Mulvaney rode the Tea Party wave in 2010 to become one of the 14 most conservative members of Congress. He signed on to Speaker Ryan’s plan to turn Medicare into a voucher scheme and was criticized at his confirmation hearing for not having paid payroll taxes for the woman who cared for his young triplets. When Mulvaney said he couldn’t recall voting for cuts in defense spending and troop deployments, Sen. McCain responded: “I think I would remember if I was withdrawing troops from Europe.”   read more

As director of D.C.'s Planning Office, Tergoning devoted herself to revitalizing the city, with a focus on making it more bike- and pedestrian-friendly. Many residents found her efforts arrogant and high-handed. “The thing people sometimes forget about Harriet is, she's viewed as a hero in the smart-growth movement, but a lot of D.C. residents really didn't like her,” said a Post reporter. The Washingtonian called her “a street fighter who often finds herself between warring forces.”   read more

Pruitt filed a series of 14 lawsuits against federal regulations designed to protect the environment from numerous threats, including mercury emissions by coal-burning power plants, and carbon dioxide that causes climate change. In 13 of the cases, Pruitt was joined by co-plaintiffs including companies that had contributed money to him. At one point, Pruitt allowed an industry-written letter, prepared by Devon Energy officials, to be printed verbatim on official stationery with his signature.   read more

In his 2014 fundraising emails, Zinke wrote: “I spent 23 years as a Navy SEAL and served as a Team Leader on SEAL Team Six — the team responsible for the mission to get Osama bin Laden.” What he didn’t mention was that he’d been out of the Navy for three years when the mission against bin Laden was carried out. He also said that while humans have some role in climate change, “the evidence is equally as strong that there are other factors...that have a greater influence.”   read more

It was during the savings and loan crisis that Golding launched his career in mortgage finance with a job at the Federal Home Loan Bank Board. His ascension at FHA found him with limited authority to manage the agency. Republican lawmakers, led by Sen. Charles Grassley, criticized the Obama Administration for circumventing the Senate in appointing Golding to the FHA post. HUD officials denied there was any such intent. Industry trade groups, however, largely supported the choice.   read more

Several of Puzder's food franchisees were fined by the Labor Dept, the very organization Puzder has been nominated to lead, for not paying employees properly. Puzder fought against minimum wage increases, donating money to a failed attempt to fight a ballot measure raising Nevada's minimum wage from $5.15 an hour to $6.15. In response to critics of his sexually charged fast-food commercials, Puzder said, "I like beautiful women eating burgers in bikinis. I think it’s very American."   read more

Tillerson's ExxonMobil cut a deal with Russia in 2011 for a joint venture to explore for oil in the Russian Arctic. But in 2014, the collaboration ended due to sanctions the U.S. put into place after Russia invaded Ukraine. Not surprisingly, Tillerson opposed the sanctions. Russia wasn’t the only place where Tillerson’s company acted in opposition to U.S. interests. It also signed an oil deal with the Kurds who control Iraq’s northern region. That agreement cut out the Iraqi central government.   read more

These are the seven countries from which President Donald Trump halted entry to the United States: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Including all terrorist acts committed by terrorists who were foreign-born or whose parents were born abroad, the total number of Americans killed by terrorists from the Trump 7 is…zero. On the other hand, terrorists from other countries have killed 2, 689 Americans. Here are some examples.   read more

A member of the American Psychological Association, Kane is a recognized authority on the subjects of psychology, criminology and corrections. He joined the Bureau in 1977 as a social science research analyst, focusing on such issues as prison-based sexual assaults and violence, and inmate management. In 2012, Kane was named deputy director of the agency, taking on responsibilities that included oversight of restrictive prison housing, labor-management initiatives and staff safety.   read more

What are the 15 biggest imports from Mexico to the United States?   read more

Linda McMahon helped make WWE hugely profitable, but some of that came from keeping costs low, especially when it came to paying the wrestlers. She sought exemptions that would allow WWE to be treated as entertainment instead of a sport, thus relieving it of the burden of drug testing. WWE is not forced to provide health insurance for wrestlers, nor does it pay into Social Security or unemployment insurance for them. Running for the Senate in 2012, McMahon called for the SBA to be abolished.   read more

Then governor of Iowa, Branstad first met Xi Jinping, now president of China, during Xi's stay there in 1985. Xi returned to the town in 2012 as China’s vice-president. An early Trump supporter, Branstad was mentioned after the election as a likely candidate for the Beijing post, even drawing supportive comments from the Chinese. "Mr. Branstad is an old friend of the Chinese people and we welcome him to play a greater role in promoting Sino-U.S. relations,” said a Chinese government spokesman.   read more

After having been in the Coast Guard only three years, Zukunft commanded a 95-foot boat, the Cape Upright, as the Mariel boatlift was going on. Zukunft and his crew took 200 people off a leaky 60-foot boat making its way to Florida. During his career, Zukunft was Chief of Operations for the Coast Guard Pacific Area and Chief of Operations Oversight for the Coast Guard Atlantic Area. In 2010, he was made federal on-scene coordinator of the BP oil spill cleanup in the Gulf of Mexico.   read more

As a 2015 presidential candidate, Carson took on the agency he would eventually run. He called HUD's new fair housing policies “government-engineered attempts to legislate racial equality.” His other positions included a 10% flat tax based on the Biblical reference to tithing; that being gay could be “cured”; that Obama was a “psychopath”; the Holocaust happened because of gun control; and that the Egyptian pyramids were built as grain-storage facilities. He also compared Obamacare to slavery.   read more

Kelly’s appointment drew approval from Democrats as well as Republicans. But some civil libertarians are concerned about some stances Kelly has taken. He has been reluctant to support the idea of opening all military jobs to women. And he was critical of President Obama’s efforts to close the prison camp at Guantánamo Bay, saying that human rights concerns about the prisoners in Guantánamo were “foolishness.” Like his new boss, Donald Trump, Kelly has railed against the media.   read more