Transgender students, marijuana enforcement and deportation: Washington Watch

Here’s what you need to know about the past week’s happenings in D.C.:

  • On Monday President Donald Trump chose Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster as his national security adviser, replacing the ousted Michael Flynn. McMaster’s surprising rise has his supporters and critics asking the same question: How will a soldier known for his sharp mind and even sharper opinions get along with a president who does not like being told that he is wrong?
  • The Trump administration planned to roll back protections for transgender students and is preparing changes to federal guidance that required the nation’s public schools to allow students to use the bathrooms and locker rooms that matched their gender identities. Officials announced the change in federal guidelines Wednesday. It is now up to states and school districts to interpret whether federal sex discrimination law applies to gender identity.
  • Millions of people living in the United States illegally could be targeted for deportation — including people simply arrested for traffic violations — under a sweeping rewrite of immigration enforcement policies announced Tuesday by the Trump administration. Meanwhile, Oregon told a federal court it wants to join Washington state’s lawsuit against the president’s immigration ban.
  • The president on Tuesday denounced recent threats against Jewish community centers as “horrible” and “painful.” He said they are a “very sad reminder of the work that still must be done to root out hate and prejudice and evil.”
  • Trump is preparing executive orders aimed at reversing Obama-era policies on climate and water pollution, according to individuals briefed on the measures.
  • Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday pledged that he and Trump would deliver sweeping tax cuts “before we get to this summertime,” raising expectations that Republicans will deliver in relatively short order on a key campaign promise.
  • Stephen Bannon, President Trump’s reclusive chief strategist and the intellectual force behind his nationalist agenda, said Thursday that the new administration is locked in an unending battle against the media and other globalist forces to “deconstruct” an outdated system of governance.
  • Sean Spicer suggested Thursday that the Trump administration will enforce federal marijuana laws in states where recreational pot is legal. 
  • Trump lashed out at the FBI over “leakers” on Friday, as his top aides sought to debunk reports of White House requests made to the law enforcement agency.

— The Oregonian/OregonLive

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