How a New Enemy Axis Called CRINK Is Working Against America
An axis uniting China, Russia, Iran and North Korea—dubbed CRINK by some Western officials—has emerged from the Ukraine war, a loose alliance united by a mutual disdain for the U.S.-led world order.
That coalition's cooperation has steadily deepened as the four have exchanged food, oil, arms, diplomatic support and military assistance in a manner designed to remain beyond the reach of Western sanctions.
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Axios
12 minutes ago
- Axios
Parliamentarian tosses public lands sales, LNG permitting plans
The Senate's nonpartisan referee has ruled against GOP attempts to use reconciliation to mandate public lands sales and to allow gas exporters to pay for expedited approvals, Democrats said. Why it matters: Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough's rulings mean those Energy and Natural Resources Committee provisions would be subject to the Senate's typical 60-vote threshold, dooming their passage in the reconciliation process. Selling public lands is a chief priority of ENR Chairman Mike Lee, but other Republicans have staunchly opposed the idea. MacDonough, in overnight rulings, rejected several sections of bill text that ENR proposed this month, according to Senate Budget Committee Democrats. Mandatory public land sales: This section would mandate the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service sell millions of acres of public land across 11 Western states. LNG exports: This section would create a regime to allow natural gas exporters to pay a fee to have the Energy Department deem their projects to be "in the public interest." Geothermal leasing and royalties: These sections would require Interior to hold yearly geothermal lease sales and change how geothermal royalties are calculated. Ambler Road project: This section would require Interior to permit construction of a controversial mining road in Alaska. The other side: Lee's office didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. But he tweeted that he wouldn't abandon his efforts, citing the need to address housing prices. "Yes, the Byrd Rule limits what can go in the reconciliation bill, but I'm doing everything I can to support President Trump and move this forward," he said. "Stay tuned. We're just getting started." Other subsections that MacDonough struck include: What's next: The parliamentarian is still weighing whether to scrub three other provisions, Democrats said.
Los Angeles Times
2 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
GOP plan to sell more than 3,200 square miles of federal lands is found to violate Senate rules
WASHINGTON — A plan to sell more than 3,200 square miles of federal lands has been ruled out of Republicans' big tax and spending cut bill after the Senate parliamentarian determined the proposal by Senate Energy Chairman Mike Lee would violate the chamber's rules. Lee, a Utah Republican, has proposed selling millions of acres of public lands in the West to states or other entities for use as housing or infrastructure. The plan would revive a longtime ambition of Western conservatives to cede lands to local control after a similar proposal failed in the House earlier this year. The proposal received a mixed reception Monday from the governors of Western states. New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, called it problematic in her state because of the close relationship residents have with public lands. Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon, a Republican, voiced qualified support. 'On a piece-by-piece basis where states have the opportunity to craft policies that make sense ... we can actually allow for some responsible growth in areas with communities that are landlocked at this point,' he said at a news conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where the Western Governors' Association was meeting. Lee, in a post on X Monday night, said he would keep trying. 'Housing prices are crushing families and keeping young Americans from living where they grew up. We need to change that,'' he wrote, adding that a revised plan would remove all U.S. Forest Service land from possible sale. Sales of sites controlled by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management would be significantly reduced, Lee said, so that only land within 5 miles of population centers could be sold. Environmental advocates celebrated the ruling late Monday by Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough, but cautioned that Lee's proposal was far from dead. 'This is a victory for the American public, who were loud and clear: Public lands belong in public hands, for current and future generations alike,'' said Tracy Stone-Manning, president of The Wilderness Society. 'Our public lands are not for sale.' Carrie Besnette Hauser, president and CEO of the nonprofit Trust for Public Land, called the procedural ruling in the Senate 'an important victory in the fight to protect America's public lands from short-sighted proposals that would have undermined decades of bipartisan work to protect, steward and expand access to the places we all share.' 'But make no mistake: this threat is far from over,' Hauser added. 'Efforts to dismantle our public lands continue, and we must remain vigilant as proposals now under consideration,' including plans to roll back the bipartisan Great American Outdoors Act and cut funding for land and water conservation, make their way through Congress, she said. MacDonough, the Senate parliamentarian, also ruled out a host of other Republican-led provisions Monday night, including construction of a mining road in Alaska and changes to speed permitting of oil and gas leases on federal lands. While the parliamentarian's rulings are advisory, they are rarely, if ever, ignored. Lawmakers are using a budget reconciliation process to bypass the Senate filibuster to pass President Trump's tax-cut package by a self-imposed July Fourth deadline. Lee's plan revealed sharp disagreement among Republicans who support wholesale transfers of federal property to spur development and generate revenue, and other lawmakers who are staunchly opposed. Land in 11 Western states from Alaska to New Mexico would be eligible for sale. Montana was carved out of the proposal after lawmakers there objected. In states such as Utah and Nevada, the government controls the vast majority of lands, protecting them from potential exploitation but hindering growth. 'Washington has proven time and again it can't manage this land. This bill puts it in better hands,' Lee said in announcing the plan. Housing advocates have cautioned that federal land is not universally suitable for affordable housing. Some of the parcels up for sale in Utah and Nevada under a House proposal were far from developed areas. New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich, the ranking Democrat on the energy committee, said Lee's plan would exclude Americans from places where they fish, hunt and camp. 'I don't think it's clear that we would even get substantial housing as a result of this,' Heinrich said earlier this month. 'What I know would happen is people would lose access to places they know and care about and that drive our Western economies.' Daly writes for the Associated Press.
The Hill
2 hours ago
- The Hill
Trump thanks Jeb Bush for calling Iran strike ‘watershed moment'
President Trump thanked former Gov. Jeb Bush (R-Fla.) for commending him on the United States' strikes in Iran. Bush issued a Sunday statement after B-2 bombers tanked three of Tehran's nuclear sites, lauding the president's decision to intervene in the Middle East. 'President Trump's decision to neutralize Iran's regime's nuclear program is a watershed moment—one that reasserts American strength, restores deterrence, and sends an unmistakable message to rogue regimes: the era of impunity is over. Where others delayed and wavered, President Trump acted,' Bush said in a release published by the United Against Nuclear Iran non-profit. The former Florida governor said the move was an 'act of courage, clarity, and historical necessity' and hammered down former President Clinton's pledge to ensure Iran will never possess a nuclear weapon. 'Thank you to Jeb Bush — Very much appreciated!' Trump wrote in a Tuesday Truth Social post in response to Bush. GOP leaders backed Trump's intervention with fervor, arguing that it improved public safety for the country and the Western world. 'The President's decisive action prevents the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism, which chants 'Death to America,' from obtaining the most lethal weapon on the planet,' House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) wrote in a statement on X. 'This is America First policy in action. God bless our brave men and women in uniform – the most lethal fighting force on the planet – as we pray for their safe return home. May God bless America.' However, others urged the president to remain neutral in the foreign war. 'Every time America is on the verge of greatness, we get involved in another foreign war. There would not be bombs falling on the people of Israel if Netanyahu had not dropped bombs on the people of Iran first,' Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) wrote in a Sunday statement on X. 'Israel is a nuclear armed nation. This is not our fight. Peace is the answer.' Although the president didn't share regret for dropping bombs on nuclear facilities, he did cite concerns with Israeli military operations on Tuesday before leaving for the NATO summit in the Hague. Israel and Iran agreed to a 12-hour ceasefire that was ultimately broken. 'We basically — we have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don't know what the f‑‑‑ they're doing,' Trump told reporters on the South Lawn. In a Truth Social post around the same time, Trump wrote: 'ISRAEL. DO NOT DROP THOSE BOMBS. IF YOU DO IT IS A MAJOR VIOLATION. BRING YOUR PILOTS HOME, NOW!' Trump told reporters at the White House he was going to see if he could 'stop it,' referring to attacks forged in the dead of night by both Iran and Israel despite the ceasefire agreement in place.
