Friday's Mini-Report, 3.10.17

Today's edition of quick hits:* More on this on tonight's show: "The Justice Department announced Friday that Attorney General Jeff Sessions has asked all 46 remaining Obama administration U.S. attorneys to resign."* The refundable tax credits in the GOP plan aren't going anywhere: "The White House and House Republican leaders on Friday forcefully defended their plan to overhaul the Affordable Care Act, including a provision that has drawn criticism from conservatives who are pressing for a more aggressive attack on the law."* South Korea: "A South Korean court removed the president on Friday, a first in the nation's history, rattling the delicate balance of relationships across Asia at a particularly tense time. Her removal capped months of turmoil, as hundreds of thousands of South Koreans took to the streets, week after week, to protest a sprawling corruption scandal that shook the top echelons of business and government."* Why this matters: "After the historic ouster of President Park Geun-hye on Friday, scandal-weary South Koreans began turning their attention to a new election due within 60 days -- and to the prospect that her successor could try to reset relations with neighboring North Korea and its powerful patron, China."* FDA: "President Trump is expected to pick Scott Gottlieb, a conservative physician and businessman with deep ties to the pharmaceutical industry, to be commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, a person familiar with the nomination said Friday."* It's kind of amusing to think some voted for Trump because they saw him as the more dovish candidate on foreign policy: "The weeklong blitz in Yemen eclipsed the annual bombing total for any year during Obama's presidency. Under the previous administration, approval for strikes came only after slow-moving policy discussions, with senior officials required to sign off on any action. The Trump administration has proven much quicker at green-lighting attacks."* DNI: "If Dan Coats, President Trump's nominee to serve as the director of national intelligence, had any illusions about what he was getting into, the past seven weeks have certainly made clear the challenges he will face in a job created after the Sept. 11 attacks to coordinate the activities of the entire intelligence community."* We're all in big trouble: "A proposed White House budget for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration could put coastal communities throughout the nation at a major disadvantage as they struggle to adapt to threats from sea-level rise, severe storms and other climate-related events, scientists and other experts said. That's because the budget, revealed by The Washington Post last week, targets a handful of programs that provide important resources to help coastal states prepare for the coming effects of climate change."* Imagine if Trump had made this an early priority for his presidency: "American infrastructure has barely maintained a below-standard grade of 'D+' over the last four years, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers."Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.