Rallies to protect critical healthcare safety net programs took place nationwide on Sunday, on the heels of a week that saw those very programs placed squarely in Republican crosshairs. 

Spearheaded by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the #OurFirstStand events hope to be “a major show of grassroots support” for programs including the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, and Medicaid, as well as the at-risk organization Planned Parenthood. 

And the demonstrations aim to highlight President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign trail promises not to place such critical initiatives at risk—pledges the GOP seems happy to ignore. 

“If Mr. Trump allows the Republican Party to go ahead with its plans, it will dismantle the healthcare system and jeopardize the economic security of millions of Americans,” Sanders said. “Our message to the Republicans is simple and straightforward. You are not going to get away with it. You are not going to punish the elderly, disabled veterans, the children, the sick, and the poor while you reward your billionaire friends.”

The Trump administration is vetting the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) pending work before allowing it to be published, in the president’s latest crackdown on federal bureaus and science in general.

According to Doug Ericksen, communications director for Trump’s transition team at the EPA, the mandate refers to “all existing content on the federal agency’s website, including details of scientific evidence showing that the Earth’s climate is warming and man-made carbon emissions are to blame,” the Associated Press reports.

New work is also on a “temporary hold” before it can be released, the AP said.

Erikson clarified earlier statements made to the outlet that indicated all future information would be subject to political review before publication, noting that the mandate only applies to existing data, and that the hold should be lifted by Friday. However, he said during the earlier interview, “We’re taking a look at everything on a case-by-case basis, including the web page and whether climate stuff will be taken down.”

The clarifications did little to quell public fear that Trump had essentially launched a war on science, especially after one of the administration’s first moves was to scrub any mention of combating climate change from the official White House website.

The review mandate also follows a series of other orders from Trump that are seemingly intended to prevent the dissemination of scientific data, including putting a media blackout on several federal departments and a freeze on EPA hiring and grants (though that, too, may end on Friday). The widespread crackdown prompted an unofficial resistance movement, including the creation of numerous “rogue” agency Twitter accounts, such as @AltUSNatParkService, @RogueNASA, @ungaggedEPA, @ActualEPAFacts, and @AltHHS.

Former EPA staffers under Republican and Democratic presidents said the restrictions go far beyond anything seen in previous administrations.

The Trump administration “will be held accountable in court” for its decision to grant the final easement on the Dakota Access pipeline (DAPL), Indigenous people and environmental allies vowed Tuesday.

And with actions planned nationwide on Wednesday, the administration won’t get off in the court of public opinion, either.

“The drinking water of millions of Americans is now at risk,” said Dave Archambault II, chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, following the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ announcement (pdf) that it would give the official go-ahead within 24 hours. “We are a sovereign nation and we will fight to protect our water and sacred places from the brazen private interests trying to push this pipeline through to benefit a few wealthy Americans with financial ties to the Trump administration.”

In granting the easement, the Army Corps halted (pdf) the preparation of an environmental review ordered by the Obama administration. The Standing Rock tribe, which says DAPL threatens its clean water supply and violates Indigenous treaty rights, pledged to “challenge any easement decision on the grounds that the [environmental impact statement, or EIS] was wrongfully terminated.”

“Trump’s reversal of that decision continues a historic pattern of broken promises to Indian tribes and unlawful violation of treaty rights,” added Jan Hasselman of Earthjustice, lead attorney for the tribe. “They will be held accountable in court.”

Other next steps, according to the Standing Rock statement, include asking the court for DAPL-operator Energy Transfer Partners “to disclose its oil spill and risk assessment records for full transparency and review by the public,” and, “if DAPL is successful in constructing and operating the pipeline, the tribe will seek to shut the pipeline operations down.”

“The granting of an easement, without any environmental review or tribal consultation, is not the end of this fight—it is the new beginning.”
Click Here: NRL Telstra Premiership—Tom Goldtooth, Indigenous Environmental Network

The tribe is not alone in its outrage. Multiple environmental groups voiced their opposition to the decision, while Democratic members of the House and Senate natural resources committees wrote a letter to President Donald Trump expressing their own dismay.

“This blatant disregard for federal law and our country’s treaty and trust responsibilities to Native American tribes is unacceptable,” the lawmakers wrote. “We strongly oppose this decision and any efforts to undermine tribal rights. We urge you to immediately reverse this decision and follow the appropriate procedures required for tribal consultation, environmental law, and due process.” Signatories included Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), as well as Reps. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Donald Beyer (D-Va.).

Grijalva, ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee, also issued a separate statement: “Before the Women’s March and before thousands of people protested at airports, the Standing Rock Sioux and their allies were camping in the freezing cold to defend their rights,” he said. “The Obama Administration heard those concerns and agreed to take a step back; this Administration is ignoring them. In his first few weeks in office our new president has built a resume of discrimination, falsehoods, and sloppy work, and now the decision to trample the sovereignty of our First Americans is the latest entry on a growing list of shameful actions.”

A protest in front of the White House is planned for 5:00pm Wednesday, along with more than 30 actions taking place around the country on what the Indigenous Coalition at Standing Rock has dubbed “an international day of emergency actions to disrupt business as usual and unleash a global intersectional resistance to fossil fuels and fascism.”

On his first full day in office Thursday, newly-confirmed Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke rode a horse to work and proceeded to repeal a rule that protected plants and animals from lead poisoning.

The former Montana congressman’s order (pdf) overturned a policy put into place by former Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) director Dan Ashe on January 19, before the Obama administration left office, that banned the use of lead ammunition and fishing tackle in FWS wildlife refuges and other federal lands that allow hunting or fishing.

He also signed a separate order asking other agencies under his purview to come up with ways to make federal lands more accessible for recreational use, saying it “worries” him to think about hunting and fishing becoming a sport of the “land-owning elite.”

According to the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), spent lead ammunition causes poisoning in 130 species of birds and animals, and hundreds of reports have been written about the dangers of lead exposure to wildlife. The center said Zinke’s swift action repealing the ban came in response to pressure from the National Rifle Association (NRA), which spent $30 million on ads promoting President Donald Trump’s election.

“Switching to nontoxic ammunition should be a no-brainer to save the lives of thousands birds and other wildlife, prevent hunters and their families from being exposed to toxic lead, and protect our water,” said Jonathan Evans, CBD’s environmental health legal director.

[block:block=30]

Democratic National Committee (DNC) chair Tom Perez on Tuesday seemed to distance himself from the call for the DNC to become more progressive, as he and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) spoke with MSNBC‘s Chris Hayes to discuss their national “Come Together and Fight Back” tour.

Hayes noted that Hillary Clinton’s “hopeful” campaign ultimately failed against President Donald Trump’s counter-message, which often blamed immigrants for America’s economic troubles, and asked if Democrats are willing to adopt Sanders’ candid opposition to the ruling class.

“Do you have to name the enemy?” Hayes asked Perez. “Do you have to say ‘these are the people that are screwing you’?”

Perez appeared to waffle on his answer, stating, “I think you’re creating a false choice…what we have to do as Democrats is to articulate very clearly that Donald Trump’s vision for America is a vision for the top one percent of the one percent. It’s a vision that’s divisive.”

His response did not sit well with the grassroots action group AllOfUs, which is pushing Democrats to adopt progressive values. “If you cannot name who stands in the way of a creating a country where all of us have what we need to thrive, then you cannot lead America,” the group tweeted. “The only way to win is by telling the truth about our broken system and placing the blame where it belongs… with Wall Street and corporate CEOs, the politicians who use racism to divide us, and a corrupt political establishment in both parties.”

Perez and Sanders are on a cross-country tour of red and purple states in hopes of reenergizing the Democratic Party and bolstering the grassroots resistance to Trump. But the DNC chair, who was seen as a corporate choice when he was elected over progressive favorite Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), has reportedly been having some trouble connecting with rally-goers, having been booed on the road.

Hayes asked Perez to tell him “one thing” he learned about the residents of these states.

“The people of Kentucky, the people of Maine, the people everywhere I go, are incredibly resilient people,” the DNC chair said. “They want to hear the message of the Democratic Party. They want to hear that optimistic message of inclusion. How are we going to make their lives better?…”

Hayes asked Sanders if he agreed.

“What I see and hear is a lot more pain and a lot more discontent than you see on television or you read in the paper,” the Vermont senator said, describing one woman’s account of experiencing poverty and hunger throughout her childhood and college education. “The Democratic Party has got to hear that pain. And it has gotta say, ‘you know what? We’re going to stand up to those people who have the power—both economically and politically—and we are going to take them on.'”