Trump threatens new Russia sanctions if no peace deal soon – National & International News – WED 22Jan2025
DOJ orders prosecution of officials resisting Trump immigration agenda.
Trump may adjourn Congress for recess appointments.
Trump threatens new sanctions on Russia if no peace deal soon.
NATIONAL NEWS
DOJ orders prosecution of officials resisting Trump immigration agenda
Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove issued a memo to federal attorneys to prepare for possible prosecutions of state and local officials for “resisting, obstructing, and otherwise failing to comply with lawful immigration related commands and requests”. Bove, a former federal prosecutor and member of Trump’s legal defense team, was appointed by Trump to lead the Department of Justice until Trump’s picks for Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General are confirmed.
The memo also instructed US attorneys to identify and challenge any local or state laws that would impede enforcement of Trump’s immigration directives. This directive takes aim at sanctuary cities where local laws limit cooperation with federal agencies for immigration enforcement actions.
Bove’s memo also directed federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and Bureau of Prisons to forward “identifying information” on any people they believe are in the country illegally within the next 60 days to facilitate “appropriate removals, enforcement actions, and immigration-related investigations and prosecutions”.
President Trump is also dispatching about 1000 active-duty troops to the Southern border to assist with enforcement and deportations.
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Trump may adjourn Congress for recess appointments
Senate Democrats are using procedural hurdles to slow down the confirmations of some of President Trump’s more controversial Cabinet picks, including Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., (Health and Human Services) and Pete Hegseth (Defense). Other Trump nominees are expected to sail through the confirmation process. Marco Rubio (Secretary of State) was approved unanimously on Monday, the first successful confirmation of this administration.
Trump has advised Senate Majority Leader John Thune that he may use his power to adjourn Congress to force through a recess appointment. Article 2, Section 3 of the Constitution grants the President the power to adjourn Congress “to such time as he shall think proper” in cases where the two Houses cannot agree on an adjournment. However, this power has never before been exercised by any President.
In the House, a simple majority is sufficient to approve adjournment. The Senate requires 60 votes and Republicans only hold 53 seats. The Constitution allows that if the House votes to adjourn and the Senate does not, Trump could force it to adjourn. The provision does not lay out an exact procedure for the President to force an adjournment in such a case.
If Trump does decide to adjourn Congress by this means, he may face legal challenges, which ultimately will have to be ruled on by the Supreme Court. Additionally, anyone receiving a recess appointment must either be confirmed by the end of the next calendar year (December 2026) or be newly appointed in another recess appointment.
Click here for the full story (opens in new tab).
DOJ orders prosecution of officials resisting Trump immigration agenda
Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove issued a memo to federal attorneys to prepare for possible prosecutions of state and local officials for “resisting, obstructing, and otherwise failing to comply with lawful immigration related commands and requests”. Bove, a former federal prosecutor and member of Trump’s legal defense team, was appointed by Trump to lead the Department of Justice until Trump’s picks for Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General are confirmed.
The memo also instructed US attorneys to identify and challenge any local or state laws that would impede enforcement of Trump’s immigration directives. This directive takes aim at sanctuary cities where local laws limit cooperation with federal agencies for immigration enforcement actions.
Bove’s memo also directed federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and Bureau of Prisons to forward “identifying information” on any people they believe are in the country illegally within the next 60 days to facilitate “appropriate removals, enforcement actions, and immigration-related investigations and prosecutions”.
President Trump is also dispatching about 1000 active-duty troops to the Southern border to assist with enforcement and deportations.
Click here for the full story (opens in new tab).
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Trump threatens new sanctions on Russia if no peace deal soon
A promise to quickly end the Russia-Ukraine conflict was a major talking point for President Trump while on the campaign trail. He had previously stated he could end the war within 24 hours of taking office. More recently, he directed his special envoy Keith Kellogg to end the war within 100 days.
In a lengthy post on Truth Social today, Trump warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that “if we don’t make a ‘deal,’ and soon, I will have no other choice but to put high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and various other participating countries”.
Russia has been heavily sanctioned by the West since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. In the post, Trump described Russia’s economy as “failing”. In fact, thanks to support from their allies in China, Russia’s economy has weathered the sanctions quite well. Furthermore, trade between US and Russia amounted to less than $3.5 billion last year.
In short, economic threats are unlikely to induce Putin to come to the table anytime soon. It seems likely that today’s post was intended more for the public’s consumption than for Putin’s.
Kellogg’s peace plan
Kellogg, a retired army general, previously co-authored a paper outlining his strategy to bring the war to an end. As Kellogg explained it to Reuters, “We tell the Ukrainians: ‘You’ve got to come to the table, and if you don’t come to the table, support from the United States will dry up. And you tell Putin: ‘He’s got to come to the table, and if you don’t come to the table, then we’ll give the Ukrainians everything they need to kill you in the field”.
Today’s post from Trump made no reference to sending new weapons to Ukraine.
Kellogg imagined that the deal would require compromise on Ukrainian territory currently held by Russia. Russia currently controls about one-fifth of Ukraine’s territory, including Crimea, which they have occupied since 2014. Kellogg’s paper essentially called for freezing the deadly and destructive conflict. In his view, Ukraine should cede its territory to Russian control, temporarily, in hopes that it can be regained in some future diplomatic process after Putin leaves office.
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