The Daily Brief: Wednesday, July 5, 2017

The Daily Brief: Wednesday, July 5, 2017

1. 'In America, We Don't Worship Government, We Worship God,' Says Trump at Veterans Event - CBN News

President Donald Trump has once again shown he cares for two things important to millions of Americans: veterans and faith. This weekend he gave an address at the Celebrate Freedom concert at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. The event was hosted by Pastor Robert Jeffress and the church where he's the senior pastor, First Baptist in Dallas. It was held Saturday night in honor of men and women who have served in the armed forces.

The president spoke about religious freedom in America. "We love our country, we love our families, we love our freedom and we love our God," he said. He pointed back to the roots of religious freedom in the United States and held that this freedom is only found in God. "Since the signing of the Declaration of Independence 241 years ago, America always affirmed that Liberty comes from our Creator," he said. "Our rights are given to us by God, and no earthly force can ever take those rights away." (Read more)
- Father, we pray You would bless President Trump and his administration as they honor You by lifting up Your standard for our nation.

- What joy for the nation whose God is the Lord, whose people he has chosen as his inheritance. (Psalm 33:12)

2. Trump enters Charlie Gard debate: 'We would be delighted' to help - Fox News

The plight of Charlie Gard - the brain-damaged British baby whose parents recently lost a legal battle to keep him on life support - has now tugged at heart strings as far away as the Oval Office. President Trump on Monday tweeted his willingness to lend a hand - and in doing so exposed the debate over who should make life-and-death decisions for Charlie to a massive audience. "If we can help little #CharlieGard, as per our friends in the U.K. and the Pope, we would be delighted to do so," Trump wrote. (Read more)
- Father, we pray for healing for little Charlie Gard and pray his parents will be allowed to move him and pursue treatment. We also pray this example of the government superseding parental rights and controlling medical delivery will cause us to think through the amount of control we want our government to have over our healthcare system.

- The Lord has heard my plea; the Lord will answer my prayer. (Psalm 6:9)

3. 'Interesting things happening' on Mideast peace, Trump tweets - Jerusalem Post

US President Donald Trump personally engaged with Arab world leaders over the weekend in his effort to reboot a regional peace process. "Spoke yesterday with the King of Saudi Arabia about peace in the Middle-East," the president wrote on Twitter early on Monday morning. "Interesting things are happening!"

A White House readout of the president's Sunday calls - with Saudi Arabia's King Salman, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi and emir of Qatar - made no reference to a Middle East peace process with Israel, only detailing his conversations with regional leaders over a Riyadh-led blockade of Doha. "He reiterated the importance of stopping terrorist financing and discrediting extremist ideology," the White House statement reads. The US, Israel and Gulf states have long accused Qatar of funding Hamas. "The president also underscored that unity in the region is critical to accomplishing the Riyadh Summit's goals of defeating terrorism and promoting regional stability." (Read more)
- Father, You are realigning the nations for Your purposes. We pray President Trump, Secretary Tillerson and our State Department will move forward with wisdom to take advantage of these new opportunities.

- Look among the nations! Observe! Be astonished! Wonder! Because I am doing something in your days- You would not believe if you were told. (Habakkuk 1:5)

4. Analysis: Will Trump inflame or defuse Gulf crisis? - Jerusalem Post

The Gulf crisis could escalate in the coming days, with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt tightening the economic screws on Qatar. They would be doing this with a green light from Washington, which is anything but a neutral mediator. Washington shares the goals of the four allies that imposed a boycott and severed diplomatic relations with Doha on June 5, saying the moves were a response to Qatari support for terrorism.

"This administration probably shares the broad sentiments driving the Saudi and Emirati pressure on Qatar but at the same time doesn't want to see the situation spin out of control or deteriorate to the point of armed conflict or an unmanageable crisis," said Brandon Friedman, a specialist on Gulf politics at Tel Aviv University's Dayan Center. A two-day extension by the four allies of an ultimatum that Qatar meet a list of 13 demands to change its policies expires Tuesday. A meeting of the allies to discuss the next steps against Qatar will take place Wednesday unless Qatar caves in.

Among the demands are that Qatar close Al Jazeera television, curb ties with Iran, close a Turkish military base and hand over designated terrorists. (Read more)
- Father, we pray Qatar will yield to international pressure and end support for terrorist organizations and nations who support instability in the Middle East.

- But I will be merciful only if you stop your evil thoughts and deeds and start treating each other with justice. (Jeremiah 7:5)

5. Trump drains big part of White House swamp - WND

Fulfilling his campaign promise to the American people, President Trump is "draining the swamp," at least partly, by dramatically cutting the budget of the White House payroll, ultimately saving American taxpayers a projected $22 million. According to the Trump administration annual report to Congress on White House personnel, the president is reducing "czar" and "fellowship" posts President Obama had in place and is refusing his presidential salary. The report includes the name, status, salary and positions of all 377 White House employees.

Adam Andrzejewski, president of the government watchdog group OpenTheBooks.com, compared the Trump administration's payroll data to the Obama administration's of the last two years. "If the White House payroll is a leading indicator of the president's commitment to shrink government then voters have a reason to cheer," Andrzejewski writes in Forbes. (Read more)
- Father, we pray You would continue to give President Trump, his cabinet and staff wisdom as they apply best practices to our government, eliminating unnecessary and redundant positions and giving our public servants meaningful work.

- Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity (Proverbs 21:5a)

6. Court Delivers Trump's EPA A Defeat Right Before Independence Day - Daily Caller

A federal court has overturned the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) stay on the implementation of regulations on methane emissions for new oil and natural gas drilling wells. Federal judges gave environmentalists a legal win Monday by preventing the Trump administration from staying an Obama-era global warming rule while the EPA considers repealing it altogether. The court ruled that the "EPA's decision to impose a stay, in other words, was 'arbitrary, capricious,'" because "it was thus not 'impracticable' for industry groups to have raised such objections during the notice and comment period." The EPA imposed the methane rule as part of former President Barack Obama's "Climate Action Plan" to fight global warming. The rule was one of the key regulations that Obama hoped would help the U.S. comply with the Paris climate accord. (Read more)
- Father, we pray this regulation (and many others) will be removed when unnecessary to protect our environment.

- For You have shattered their oppressive yoke and the rod on their shoulders, the staff of their oppressor, just as You did on the day of Midian. (Isaiah 9:4)

7. Republicans submit again to CBO amid call to dump agency - WND

The Congressional Budget Office's scoring of the Senate Republicans' initial health-care proposal fueled Democrat complaints that the GOP is heartlessly stripping millions of their insurance plans. Now, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he will send a revised bill to the CBO next week for scoring, apparently hoping to trim the CBO's estimate that more than 22 million Americans would lose their health insurance in the next 10 years if the legislation passed in its current form. House Republicans passed their own version three weeks ago without waiting for a CBO score. It replaced an earlier version the CBO had said would result in 24 million being without insurance.

But critics of the CBO - described as a bipartisan federal agency within the legislative branch that provides budget and economic information and assessment to Congress - wonder why a Republican Congress would allow a group with a history of inaccurate forecasts that typically fail to account for the impact of market forces. And some have called for the agency to be disbanded or replaced. The CBO, founded in 1974 under President Nixon, also estimated the initial Senate Republican health-care bill will cut the federal deficit by $321 billion by 2026. Premiums, which have more than doubled for most Americans since Obamacare was enacted in 2010, would be 30 percent lower in 2020 than they would be without reform, according to CBO. (Read more)
- Father, the forecasting of this agency has caused our leaders to make poor decisions regarding our budget priorities and has greatly contributed to our national debt. Help us reform or end this agency.

- Wealth is a crown for the wise; the effort of fools yields only foolishness. (Proverbs 14:24)

8. Shadow President? Obama Meets With South Korean President To Discuss Trump - Daily Caller

Former President Barack Obama seems to be feeling nostalgic for his old job, meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in Monday for 40 minutes. The Korea Herald reported that Moon spoke about his recent meetings with President Trump in Washington and asked Obama for his advice on how to improve that relationship.The meeting came after Obama spoke at the Asian Leadership Conference and the Fourth Congress of Indonesian Diaspora in Jakarta. There he attacked Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris climate change accord.

"In Paris, we came together around the most ambitious agreement in history about climate change, an agreement that even with the temporary absence of American leadership can still give our children a fighting chance," Obama said in Indonesia. The former president had said before leaving office that he appreciated his predecessor George W. Bush's silence during his tenure, but also contended that he's "still a citizen and that carries with it duties and obligations." (Read more)
- Father, we pray You would reveal the insidious nature of meetings between Barack Obama and foreign leaders, and we pray former President Obama would be held fully accountable for his actions.

- The faithless will be fully repaid for their ways, and the good rewarded for theirs. (Proverbs 14:14)

9. Judicial Watch Pres: Mueller's Russia Probe 'Out of Control,' Should Be Shut Down - Fox News

Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton called for Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation to be shut down. Fitton joined "America's News HQ" this afternoon to explain after Mueller's latest hire of Andrew Goldstein, a former prosecutor who worked under Preet Bharara in New York. Fitton questioned who is overseeing Mueller's day-to-day conduct, pointing to the 12 hires he has made for his legal team. He noted that several of the lawyers donated to Democrats and it seems that the team is "searching for a crime."

"I don't understand what this investigation is about," he said, adding that there are constitutional questions that must be answered. Mueller is conducting the investigation into Russia's meddling in the 2016 presidential election and whether the Trump campaign was involved. (Read more)
- Father, we pray You would end this investigation, allowing our government to move on with the nation's business.

- But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. (Colossians 3:8)

10. Hamburg G20 protest: Thousands took to the streets as Donald Trump expected to visit Germany for summit - The Independent UK

Thousands took to the streets of Hamburg on Sunday to air their grievances about the forthcoming G20 summit which will be attended by the likes of Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The demo is the first of around 30 authorised protests in the city. Events range from everything from the "G20 welcome to hell" demonstration to the Green party's alternative harbour tour.

Up to 100,000 demonstrators are expected to descend on the city and around 20,000 police will be safeguarding the summit. (Read more)
- Father, intercessors in Germany have warned us that massive, violent, anti-Trump protests are being planned in Germany during the G20 meetings. They are well funded and well organized. They come with an agenda to take Trump out of power and out of all credibility.

Father, we thank You that those who pray in Your name wield a much greater power than these demonstrators have planned. We turn to You, Abba, asking that You would protect our president while he is in Germany, in Your name, amen.

- "Let God arise, Let His enemies be scattered; Let those also who hate Him flee before Him." (Psalm 68:1)