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If you had asked us eight months ago what White House press briefings would be like in the Trump administration, “robust debates about poetry” would not have been high on our list of expected features. The Boy Scouts’ chief contested Donald Trump’s statements about his address to the outdoors group, so we’re surprised Trump hasn’t made any noise yet about being awarded badges in land-leasing condo developments. And we give it a week until Donald Trump announces that the Statue of Liberty called to say Stephen Miller did great. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Wednesday, August 2nd, 2017:

PRESIDENT SIGNS LAW THAT HE HATES AND THINKS IS ILLEGAL - And to think he’s getting angry at congressional Republicans for not pursuing Obamacare repeal further. Paige Lavender: “President Donald Trump has signed a bill that allows new sanctions against Russia, but not without expressing his concerns over what he considers ‘significantly flawed’ legislation. Congress ‘included a number of clearly unconstitutional provisions’ in the bill, Trump argued Wednesday in a statement. He claimed in a separate statement that the bill ‘encroaches on the executive branch’s authority to negotiate,’ and worked in a jab at Senate Republicans over their failure to pass legislation on health care. ‘Congress could not even negotiate a healthcare bill after seven years of talking,’ Trump said. The president touted his business background while criticizing the bill, which puts limits on Trump’s ability to lift sanctions on Russia and Ukraine.” [HuffPost]

MUELLER NEEDS MORE HELP IN RUSSIA INVESTIGATION - To be fair there’s probably…a lot of stuff. Karen Freifeld: ”A former U.S. Justice Department official has become the latest lawyer to join special counsel Robert Mueller’s team investigating Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election, a spokesman for the team confirmed. Greg Andres started on Tuesday, becoming the 16th lawyer on the team, said Josh Stueve, a spokesman for the special counsel. Most recently a white-collar criminal defense lawyer with New York law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell, Andres, 50, served at the Justice Department from 2010 to 2012. He was deputy assistant attorney general in the criminal division, where he oversaw the fraud unit and managed the program that targeted illegal foreign bribery.” [Reuters]

FINALLY, WHITE PEOPLE GETTING A BREAK, FOR ONCE - Jeff Sessions doesn’t appear to be overly fond of minorities. Charlie Savage: “The Trump administration is preparing to redirect resources of the Justice Department’s civil rights division toward investigating and suing universities over affirmative action admissions policies deemed to discriminate against white applicants, according to a document obtained by The New York Times…. The document does not explicitly identify whom the Justice Department considers at risk of discrimination because of affirmative action admissions policies. But the phrasing it uses, ‘intentional race-based discrimination,’ cuts to the heart of programs designed to bring more minority students to university campuses.” [NYT]

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TYPICAL SNOWFLAKE WANTS TO DEBATE POETRY, NOT ISSUES - Paige Lavender: “During the daily White House press briefing, Miller expanded on a new Senate bill pertaining to immigration reform that would favor English-speaking applicants. CNN’s Jim Acosta questioned Miller about whether that bill is ‘keeping with American tradition’ and cited the most famous portion of ‘The New Colossus’: ‘Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.’ … Miller brushed off Acosta’s reference, arguing that the poem written by Emma Lazarus was ‘added later’ and has no significance.” [HuffPost]

More from average American Stephen Miller, who hails from the cornfields of Santa Monica, where the people love Dairy Queen almost as much as they love God: “Stephen Miller...charged that the CNN White House correspondent holds a ‘cosmopolitan bias’ and called his suggestion that the bill is racist ‘so insulting.’ … ‘Have you honestly never met an immigrant from another country who speaks English outside of Great Britain and Australia? Is that your personal experience?’ Miller said while raising his voice at Acosta. ‘It shows your cosmopolitan bias.’” [Washington Examiner]

ABOUT THAT IMMIGRATION POLICY - Elise Foley: “President Donald Trump threw himself behind a bill on Wednesday that would make it dramatically more difficult for people to come to the U.S. legally, in spite of his past claims that he did not want to cut the number of people allowed into the country. Trump held an event at the White House with Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and David Perdue (R-Ga.) to boost the latest iteration of their bill to slash the ways foreign nationals can move to the United States. The bill from Cotton and Perdue, known as the RAISE Act, would end the practice of prioritizing green cards for adult children and extended family of people already in the U.S., discontinue an immigration lottery program and limit the number of refugees to be accepted into the U.S. to only 50,000. The bill would cut legal immigration in half, according to estimates from the senators and outside experts.″ [HuffPost]

TRUMP GETS PATHOLOGICAL LIAR BADGE - The leader of a legion of children was brought into the news cycle again today and also the head of the Boy Scouts was involved. ::raises hand for high five:: Nailed it! AP: ”The Boy Scouts denied Wednesday that the head of the youth organization called President Donald Trump to praise his recent politically aggressive speech to its national jamboree. Trump told the Wall Street Journal in an interview published Wednesday, ‘I got a call from the head of the Boy Scouts saying it was the greatest speech that was ever made to them, and they were very thankful.’ Politico published the transcript of the interview. ‘We are unaware of any such call,’ the Boy Scouts responded in a statement. It specified that neither of the organization’s two top leaders — President Randall Stephenson and Chief Scout Executive Mike Surbaugh — had placed such a call. The White House had no immediate response to the Boy Scouts’ denial.” [AP]

WHITE HOUSE STILL THREATENING TO RUIN THE HEALTH INSURANCE MARKET - Negassi Tesfamichael and Paul Demko: “The White House isn’t backing down from threats to cut off key Obamacare subsidies, which could potentially send health insurance markets into chaos…. [A] decision to scrap the subsidy – which White House aides said could come this week – could hurt millions receiving coverage through Obamacare’s marketplaces. More insurers could exit the marketplaces or dramatically raise premiums to cover the payments.” [Politico]

Literally all the governors: Please don’t do that. “Democratic and Republican U.S. governors on Wednesday urged the Trump administration, as well as Congress, to continue funding payments to health insurance companies that make Obamacare plans affordable, calling it critical to stabilizing the insurance marketplace.” [Reuters’ Susan Cornwell, Caroline Humer and Susan Heavey]

THE RUSSIAN ORDER OF FRIENDSHIP IS A LIFETIME OBLIGATION - And Rex Tillerson doesn’t ::puts on sunglasses:: sleep on his obligations. Nahal Toosi: “Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is resisting the pleas of State Department officials to spend nearly $80 million allocated by Congress for fighting terrorist propaganda and Russian disinformation. It is highly unusual for a Cabinet secretary to turn down money for his department…. At one point during the discussions, Tillerson aide R.C. Hammond suggested the money is unwelcome because any extra funding for programs to counter Russian media influence would anger Moscow, according to a former senior State Department official.” [Politico]

SWAMPY SWAMPY SWAMP - Paul Blumenthal: “President Donald Trump’s choice to lead a key bank regulation agency spent the first half of this decade running a bank that illegally foreclosed on hundreds of thousands of Americans, often using forged and fraudulent documents. In 2013, halfway through Joseph Otting’s time running OneWest Bank, Otting purchased a Las Vegas ‘resort lifestyle home’ with a ‘heated pool,’ ‘double doors forged of wrought iron and glass,’ ‘professional-grade theater,’ and ‘far-reaching views of both the golf course and the mountains’ for more than $2 million. Today, as he awaits confirmation to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the house stands as a monument to the money he made from pushing people out of their homes.” [HuffPost]

BECAUSE YOU’VE READ THIS FAR - Here’s a calf that looks like Gene Simmons.

RICH GUY NOT WORRIED ABOUT HAVING TO PAY A LITTLE BIT MORE FOR THING - Congratulations on your bravery, Bob Corker. Jennifer Haberkorn: “President Donald Trump is threatening to ax money for lawmakers’ health insurance until they repeal Obamacare. Senate Republicans aren’t trying to stop him. ‘If that’s what he wants to do, he ought to just do it,’ Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) told POLITICO. But as ‘probably he’s learned over the last couple of weeks, threats don’t really go over particularly well. My advice would be to either do it or don’t do it.’ In a series of angry tweets, Trump has threatened to cut off the government’s share of payments for the Obamacare plans that cover lawmakers and their staffs. Those payments are similar to the share many employers pay for their employees’ benefits — including other federal workers.” [Politico]

COMFORT FOOD

- Twitter came up with a lot of good slogan ideas for the Democratic Party.

- How to really a truly run a bad joke into the ground.

- Puppies take on robot spider.

TWITTERAMA

@daveweigel: 2009: Obama’s a dummy who can’t talk without a teleprompter!



2017: After six months, Trump is paying attention in meetings. A true leader.

@wexler: Give me your [English speaking] tired, your poor, Your [highly skilled] huddled masses yearning to [not accept government assistance]

@elisefoley: At least it’s Wednesday

Got something to add? Sen tips/quotes/stories/photos/events/fundraisers/job movement/juicy miscellanea to Eliot Nelson (eliot@huffpost.com)