Pundit: Trump ‘Gag Order’ Is Fake News

Did you hear about the Trump administration’s “gag order” on federal agencies? Probably, even though it doesn’t exist. Explains Dena Battle in US News World Report, an Associated Press news alert claiming Trump ordered agencies’ silence was picked up across the country. But “these memos, which were portrayed by the press as unprecedented control over agency communications, are actually standard procedure for whenever we have a new administration.” The reason: “When a new party comes into power, there is a lag between the Inauguration and Senate confirmation for agency heads and political appointees,” during which it “doesn’t really make sense for an agency to be putting out press releases, tweets and ‘scientific’ reports.” The press, she says, is wasting its firepower on this.

Libertarian: What To Do With Trump’s Unsecured Phone

Security experts are calling President Trump’s unsecure Android phone a major risk. But, says the Cato Institute’s Julian Sanchez, they’re looking forwards when they should be looking back. That’s because a presidential candidate’s phone is a rich target long before they become president. Given the “laughable level of security” on that Droid model, Sanchez says sophisticated attempts to break into the phone would’ve succeeded. That means “Trump’s movements could have been tracked, any credentials stored on the phone exfiltrated, and any conversation held in the same room as the phone, recorded.” Instead of destroying the phone, Trump should give it to the NSA, which “can start piecing together what the adversaries would have obtained and how they’re likely to use it.”

Investigative Reporter: How Abortion Hijacked Feminism

The feminist movement wasn’t always so obsessed with abortion rights. Writing at The Federalist, investigative reporter (and former pro-choice feminist) Sue Ellen Browder pegs the date that changed: Nov. 18, 1967, when the National Organization of Women voted on a women’s “bill of rights” to codify NOW’s agenda. Presiding over the meeting were NOW President Betty Friedan and feminist attorney Marguerite Rawalt. The last and most controversial measure of the night was a motion to support repeal of all abortion laws. Friedan pushed for it, and “when the dust finally settled, the vote was 57-14 in favor of a resolution calling to repeal all abortion laws,” Browder recounts. The “abortion ‘right’ that has created so much turmoil in our nation was inserted into the feminist movement’s list of political demands by a mere 57 people.”

Health-care Wonk: First, Freeze ObamaCare Enrollment

The effort to repeal ObamaCare faces a challenge, notes Philip Klein at the Washington Examiner: What to do about current beneficiaries before a replacement is ready? Repealing most of the law “on paper” while delaying it exacerbates the problem. Instead, Klein suggests Republicans start by freezing enrollment: “They could continue allowing those who have benefits to receive them, but then prevent anybody from enrolling in the law’s expanded Medicaid program who was not already on the books as of the date the bill is signed into law.” It also means that “nobody would be eligible for subsidies for Obamacare’s exchanges who did not already sign up for coverage by Jan. 31 — the last date of open enrollment for this year.”

Lawmaker, Think Tanker: Reverse Death With Dignity Act

The Washington, DC, City Council legalized physician-assisted suicide last year — and Congress should nullify it, implore Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and ex-Sen. Jim DeMint in The Washington Post. Congress, by law, has the power to review all legislation passed by the DC council. “During the review of the Death With Dignity Act, Congress can and should pass a joint resolution of disapproval,” they write. “If it does and the resolution is signed by the president, the misguided Death With Dignity Act would be nullified.” The American Medical Association is against physician-assisted suicide, they note. And “D.C. Health Director LaQuandra Nesbitt testified against the bill and identified numerous concerns with it, including the potential for abuse and coercion, particularly for individuals with disabilities.” Plainly, say Chaffetz and DeMint, “Rather than facilitate suicides, the government’s role should be to prevent them.”

Compiled by Seth Mandel