[477] A short while later, a U.S. airstrike at the Baghdad International Airport killed top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, escalating tensions between the United States and Iran.
[479] Heavy traffic apparently fueled by fears of a return of the draft for the first time since 1973 caused the Selective Service System website to crash on January 3.
[480] The U.S. military deployed a new submarine-launched low-yield nuclear weapon, seen as critical to countering the threat posed by Russia's arsenal of smaller tactical nukes.
Braithwaite's predecessor, Richard Spencer, resigned in November 2019 after criticizing the pardoning of Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher, who had been accused of war crimes.
[485] Esper had supported renaming military bases that honor Confederate soldiers and had disagreed with the President on deploying troops to suppress demonstrations.
[487] New rules proposed on January 3 would exempt long-term accumulative effects such as climate change from being considered in the implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act.
[488] The EPA announced on December 7 that it would not strengthen standards for particulate-matter air pollution, despite evidence that such a change would save thousands of lives.
[497] Since Dan Coats resigned in August 2019 because of differences with the president,[498] Trump appointed two acting directors, emphasizing loyalty over competence or experience.
[506] The situation in Iraq causes Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to postpone a planned visit to Ukraine and other eastern European countries in early January.
[8] A bipartisan bill proposes transferring control of the Secret Service back to the Treasury Department, but it is hung up on a dispute over whether to disclose the costs of protection for President Trump's travel.
[524][525] Sticky points are not only the attack on the U.S. Embassy in Bagdhad, but also a nuclear agreement, shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, economic sanctions, and the war in Yemen.
President Trump claimed the targeted killing prevented an attack on American interests and saved many lives, insisting he does not want a war while warning Iran against retaliation.
[530][531] Domestic political reaction was mostly along party lines, with Republicans, particularly Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC),[532] supporting the move and Democrats opposing it.
On the Democratic side, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) had the strongest reaction, calling the killing an "assassination;" he was echoed by Andrew Yang and Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard.
[541] An August CNN report alleges that the Iranian government paid bounties to Taliban fighters that led to the December 2019 attack on a U.S. airbase that resulted in two dead and 70 people injured, including four American soldiers.
[542] The November 27 assassination of nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, presumably by Israel, is expected to make normalization of United States-Iranian relations under a Biden administration difficult.
[543] On March 26, 2020, the United States accused Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro of narcoterrorism and offered a $15 million reward for information leading to his arrest.
[545] On April 1, Trump announced that he was sendin anti-drug Navy ships and AWACS planes to the Caribbean near Venezuela in the largest military build-up in the region since the 1989 invasion of Panama.
Iranian patrol boats harass U.S. naval ships in the Persian Gulf, Russian planes fly dangerously close to American fighters in the eastern Mediterranean, and North Korea fires missile tests into the Sea of Japan.
Dismantlement of the two Boeing OC-135B Open Skies planes was begun right away, making it almost impossible for President-elect to reverse the decision after he takes office in January.
[564] Government response to the pandemic became a major issue during the 2020 elections, with Democrats generally advocating for the caution (mask wearing, virtual campaigns, social distancing, and limited economic opening) and Republicans often advocating for a fully-open economy while ignoring mask wearing and social distancing; large, live rallies and other public events were a hallmark of the Trump reelection campaign.
[571] Mother Jones reports that Johns Hopkins University researchers have concluded that lax oversight by the Food and Drug Administration is hampering efforts to ensure that opioids such as OxyContin are not overprescribed.
[572] A March 25, 2020 report by ProPublica revealed that Walmart used its political influence with the Trump administration to avoid criminal prosecution for over-dispensing opioids in Texas.
[577] In December 2019, Politico reported that 21 of 27 presidential candidates support legalization, five want the states to decide the issue, and one (Joe Biden) has called for decriminalization of marijuana.
[578] The Democratic-controlled United States House of Representatives voted to legalize marijuana at the federal level on December 4, but the Republican-controlled Senate is expected to block it.
[580][581][582][583][584] In response to the coronavirus pandemic, Apple Inc. and Google are collaborating on technology to create smartphone apps that would help identify people who have crossed paths with a contagious person and alert them.
Trump vetoed the Defense authorization bill because it did not repeal Section 230 of Internet legislation, which provides immunity for website publishers from third-party content.
[589] Biden, Sanders, Warren, Pete Buttigieg, and Klobuchar have qualified for the 7th debate on January 14 at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.
[596] Trump refused to concede and baselessly alleged massive voter fraud, filing dozens of frivolous lawsuits: all but one minor procedural matter were soundly rejected by the courts.
[614] Wired characterized fears that the technology could cause cancer, infertility, autism, Alzheimer's, and mysterious bird deaths as "conspiracy theory".