Trump Says He's ‘Disappointed' by Musk Over Critique of Tax Bill
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President Donald Trump said he is disappointed with Elon Musk after his recently departed billionaire adviser turned against the Republican tax policy bill at the center of his domestic agenda.
Trump told reporters on Thursday the Tesla Inc. chief executive officer is frustrated by the bill's cuts to electric-vehicle tax credits.
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Yahoo
27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump has pledged to ‘lead a movement to get rid of' voting by mail. Will Utah be a target?
Eva Przybyla, front, and Nicholas Wells process ballots at the Salt Lake County Government Center in Salt Lake City on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch) President Donald Trump this week vowed to 'lead a movement to get rid of' voting by mail ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. 'WE WILL BEGIN THIS EFFORT, WHICH WILL BE STRONGLY OPPOSED BY THE DEMOCRATS BECAUSE THEY CHEAT AT LEVELS NEVER SEEN BEFORE, by signing an EXECUTIVE ORDER to help bring HONESTY to the 2026 Midterm Elections,' the president said in a post on Truth Social Monday. Trump, who has long opposed voting by mail, continued to claim, without evidence, that it's fraught with fraud. Utah has been the only red state among eight that have conducted universal by-mail elections, including six Democratic strongholds and one swing state — a fact that some conservatives here have balked at, while others have defended the state's by-mail system as a popular, convenient and safe voting method. After Trump's post, Utah's top election official, Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, a Republican, issued a short statement on social media without addressing the president directly. Utah Legislature approves bill to require voter ID, phase out automatic voting by mail by 2029 'The constitutional right of individual states to choose the manner in which they conduct secure elections is a fundamental strength of our system,' Henderson said. The president, however, asserted that states should do what the federal government wants. 'Remember, the States are merely an 'agent' for the Federal Government in counting and tabulating the votes,' Trump said. 'They must do what the Federal Government, as represented by the President of the United States, tells them, FOR THE GOOD OF OUR COUNTRY, to do.' Another high-ranking Republican and member of GOP legislative leadership — Senate Majority Assistant Whip Mike McKell, R-Spanish Fork — disagrees. McKell told Utah News Dispatch in an interview Tuesday that, like Henderson said, states have the right to choose how to administer their elections, and that he'd push back on an effort to completely undo voting by mail. 'In Utah, we're in a good place. I think there's strong support for vote by mail. There's also strong support for security,' McKell said. He added that's 'the needle we tried to thread' earlier this year when the 2025 Utah Legislature passed a bill that he sponsored to require voter ID and eventually phase out automatic voting by mail in this state by 2026. The aim of that bill, he said, was to preserve voting by mail as an option for Utah voters while also adding a new layer of security. Even though local polls have shown a vast majority of Utahns remain confident in their elections, Gallup polling shows trust nationally has decreased especially among a faction of Republican voters since 2006 as elections have become more polarized. After Trump lost the 2020 election, he ramped up rhetoric to cast doubt on election security and voting by mail. Asked about Trump's comments this week, McKell reiterated it's a matter of states rights. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX 'It is a federalism issue,' he said. 'If it's not enumerated in the (U.S.) Constitution, it's reserved for the states. That's article 10. I think states have the right to dictate how they run their elections.' McKell also defended Utah's track record as a state that has used voting by mail for years, starting with optional pilot programs that counties opted into before moving to universal voting by mail. 'In the state of Utah, Republicans have done really well with vote by mail. We elect Republicans,' he said, also noting that Trump in 2024 won the red state handily. 'There's generally broad support for vote by mail, especially among rural voters and elderly voters in Utah.' He added that 'it's OK if there's some tension between the federal government and state government,' but he argued the Constitution clearly reserves elections for states to control and administer. Pressed on how he'd respond to pressure from the Trump administration to get rid of voting by mail, McKell said, 'I would resist a movement that didn't originate in the state,' adding that he responds to his constituents, not the federal government. 'If there's a movement to change vote by mail, it needs to come from — it must come from — the state,' he said. 'It's a state issue. The states need to be in control of their own elections. Right now, I don't feel like there's a reason to eliminate vote by mail. I think we do a good job.' Utah election audit finds no 'significant fraud,' but raises concern over voter roll maintenance Not all Republicans in Utah embrace voting by mail, however, Earlier this year, McKell's bill was the result of a compromise between the House and Senate to more drastically restrict the state's universal vote-by-mail system. Asked whether Trump's comments could further inflame skepticism around the security of voting by mail in Utah, McKell said it's nothing new. 'We saw these comments before, and even going into the last legislative session, there were folks that opposed vote by mail.' But McKell said multiple state audits 'have shown that our elections are safe and secure,' while legislators have also made efforts to continually improve the system where issues have cropped up, like in voter roll maintenance. It remains to be seen whether Trump's comments could fan some Republican lawmakers' appetite to go after voting by mail during their next general session in January, but McKell said typically every year there's a slew of election bills for legislators to sort through. Asked whether he plans to make any tweaks to his 2025 bill, McKell said he's still talking with clerks about any possible changes. 'I feel like we did strike a really appropriate balance, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't look at ways to make it better,' he said, adding that he doesn't have any specific proposals yet, 'but that could change as we get closer to the legislative session.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
What are Norwich mayoral candidates doing to increase voter participation?
If past behavior is a predictor of the future, it's likely that the Norwich mayoral election will have fewer than 50% of the eligible voters participate. In Norwich, presidential elections get better turnouts. In 2020 and 2024, 90% and 71% of eligible voters in the city cast a ballot. In 2021, 2022, 2023, 32%, 47%, and 31% of eligible voters turned out, according to data from the Norwich Registrar of Voters Office. It's unfortunate that non-presidential years get a lower turnout, mayoral candidate Stacy Gould (R) said. What are the candidates doing to get out the vote? 'I'm hoping that people with a vested interest in their city come out and vote on Nov. 4,' she said. Despite the lower voter turnouts in non-presidential years, mayoral candidate Swarnjit Singh (D) feels it's more important for the public to participate in local elections, as the decisions that impact someone's day-to-day life are at the local level, he said. 'You cannot pick up a phone and call the president of the United States of America, but you have the flexibility to call your mayor,' he said. How the candidates are working to get out the vote Singh, campaigning as Singh Swarnjit, said he's knocked on over 1,000 doors in the city to get support for his campaign. He also wants to knock on the doors of people who don't normally participate in politics, as civic education, including absentee ballots, early voting, and encouraging green card holders to become citizens, is a keystone of his campaign, he said. 'That's a lot of civic education that needs to be promoted,' he said. During his door-to-door campaigning, Singh recalls even being invited inside the houses of local Republicans to talk about the issues, he said. 'I feel its going in a good direction, but I'm not taking things for granted,' he said. When The Bulletin spoke to petitioning candidate Marcia Wilbur, she hadn't been made an official candidate yet by the state, but she wants to hold town halls and other events where voters can meet her, she said. 'I think I have a pretty good pulse on what's going on, but, I definitely need to meet and greet more with the public,' Wilbur said. When Wilbur was collecting signatures for her petitioning candidacy, she, a registered Republican, got a signature from a Democrat who said they'd be willing to help with her campaign, because they wanted to support change in local politics, she said. Gould is encouraging locals to register to vote, reminding people that the two-week early voting period is an option, she said. Gould has also utilized door-knocking, signs and meet and greets to reach the voters. Her efforts are going well so far, she said. Multiple local business owners have already asked Singh for campaign signs to show their support, even though, Singh normally doesn't put campaign signs out until September, he said. Those signs can be seen in downtown and elsewhere. This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: What are the Norwich mayoral candidates doing to engage voters?
Axios
28 minutes ago
- Axios
Conservationists bring public lands podcast tour to Utah
A coalition of environmental organizations is calling attention to what it describes as attacks on public lands, with a tour through the West that arrives in Utah this week. Why it matters: From wildfires to proposed land sales, Utah's wild places have faced new threats this year amid cuts by the Trump administration and a Republican-led Congress. Driving the news: The Center for Western Priorities is taping a podcast live at Fisher Brewing Company, from 6-9pm Thursday, to discuss the fallout from staff and funding cuts to land management agencies. The big picture: Public lands advocates are celebrating the rejection of Sen. Mike Lee's (R-Utah) controversial proposal to sell off up to 3.3 million acres of public land in Western states. Catch up quick: The National Park Service has lost nearly a quarter of its permanent employees since January, according to a July analysis by the National Parks Conservation Association. Glen Canyon National Recreation Area lost conservation specialists and Arches National Park suspended access to one of its most popular hikes in the aftermath of staffing turmoil this spring. At Zion, the Washington Post reported some bathrooms have been replaced with portable toilets and a ranger said some repairs and improvements were being delayed. Zoom out: In Yosemite, scientists were reassigned to bathroom detail and campgrounds were closed in Colorado's Curecanti National Recreation Area. Meanwhile, Congressional Republicans have proposed defunding the management of about half of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The NPS did not immediately respond to Axios' query Tuesday afternoon. Follow the money: Small businesses in Utah's outdoor industry areas also are strained by President Trump's tariffs and guides are wary of upgrading gear amid projected international tourism losses, Utah Business reported last week.
