January 1, Pentagon Orders Remaining Active-Duty Troops to Leave DC

This Day in History | 1944

Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhowergives the go-ahead for the largest amphibious military operation in history: Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of northern France, commonly known as D-Day. 

Pentagon Orders Remaining Active-Duty Troops to Leave DC

(Voice of America) – The Pentagon will be sending back the remaining 900 active-duty troops who were sent to the Washington D.C. area to potentially respond to civil unrest, and they are expected to start heading back to their home bases, a U.S. official told Reuters.

The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the order had been signed by U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper and that the troops would be heading back to Fort Bragg in North Carolina and Fort Drum in New York.

While the troops were in the National Capital Region, they were not deployed to Washington D.C. and were on standby in case they were needed.

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GOP Senator Grassley Berates Pres. Trump on Twitter

(The Week) – Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is bringing out the big guns — by tagging President Trump in his tweets.

On Thursday, Grassley announced his intention to “place holds” on approving Trump administration nominees until he receives satisfactory answers pertaining to the firings of two federal watchdogs, Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson and State Department Inspector General Steve Linick, CNBC reports. Atkinson was removed in April after informing Congress about the whistleblower complaint regarding Trump’s communications with Ukraine that eventually led to his impeachment, while Linick was fired on May 15 on the recommendation of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who was reportedly under at least two investigations by Linick’s office at the time.

“All I want is a reason 4 firing these ppl,” Grassley, who USA Today describes as “usually a staunch Trump ally,” wrote Thursday, adding “CHECKS&BALANCES.”

Grassley’s initial pleas to the administration didn’t call out the president specifically, but by Friday Grassley was no longer holding back:

“A little history/irony @realdonaldtrump Did u know Hillary Clinton didn’t want an inspector general so she didn’t have 1? Did u know it was a top priority for Kerry to get 1? That was Linick I found him 2b helpful when trying to get to bottom of email scandal Now he’s gone!”

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Trump says Drew Brees Should not have Backed off ‘NO KNEELING!’ Stance

(NY Post) – President Trump on Friday reentered the fray over NFL players protesting police brutality by kneeling during the National Anthem — knocking New Orleans Saints QB Drew Brees for apologizing and demanding there be “NO KNEELING!” during the “Star-Spangled Banner.”

“I am a big fan of Drew Brees. I think he’s truly one of the greatest quarterbacks, but he should not have taken back his original stance on honoring our magnificent American Flag. OLD GLORY is to be revered, cherished, and flown high,” Trump tweeted.

”We should be standing up straight and tall, ideally with a salute, or a hand on heart. There are other things you can protest, but not our Great American Flag — NO KNEELING!”

Brees said Wednesday that kneeling during the National Anthem was “disrespecting the flag” — though he soon apologized after taking heat for his remarks from players, activists and others for making the statement after the death of George Floyd.

“I know there’s not much that I could say that would make things any better right now,” Brees said in an Instagram video.

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NFL Condemns Racism, Admits ‘We Were Wrong’ Not to Listen to NFL Player Protests

(CNBC) – National Football League commissioner Roger Goodell admitted the league was “wrong” for failing to listen to players who protested social injustice, he said on Friday in a video. 

In his second statement released since the May 25 death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man killed by police in Minnesota, Goodell used the roughly 80-second recorded message not only to “condemn the systemic oppression of black people” but also to admit fault for not listening to its players “earlier.”

Goodell said he wants players to continue to speak out through protesting, supported the Black Lives Matter movement, and offered his participation.

“I personally protest with you and want to be part of the much needed change in this country. Without black players, there would be no National Football League,” Goodell said. 

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The May Jobs Report had ‘Misclassification Error’

(Washington Post) – When the U.S. government’s official jobs report for May came out on Friday, it included a note at the bottom saying there had been a major “error” and the unemployment rate likely should be higher than the widely reported 13.3 percent rate.

The special note said that if this misclassification error had not occurred, the “overall unemployment rate would have been about 3 percentage points higher than reported,” meaning the unemployment rate would be about 16.3 percent for May.

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