Pentagon Mulls Scrapping Aukus Agreement With Australia, UK
The Pentagon has launched a review of the Biden-era Aukus pact to develop nuclear-powered submarines with Australia and the UK, as the Trump administration looks to shift the burden for collective defense to allies and make sure the US has enough warships of its own.
The review will study whether the deal, signed by President Joe Biden's team in 2021, is 'aligned with the President's America First agenda,' the Pentagon said in a statement.
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CBS News
24 minutes ago
- CBS News
Suisun City votes to move forward with California Forever annexation project research
SUISUN CITY -- The Suisun City city council voted 3-1 on Tuesday night to enter into a reimbursement agreement with California Forever, which means the city's plan to consider annexing up to 22,000 acres of land owned by the development group now takes a big step forward in what is projected to be a years-long process. California Forever, a billionaire-backed initiative that drew national attention for its plans to build a new city in Solano County, withdrew its "East Solano Plan" from the November ballot in July 2024. The group was asking Solano County voters to support their proposed city adjacent to Travis Air Force Base of around 400,000 people. Instead, the group went back to the drawing board amid public pushback to put together a full environmental impact report on the proposed city's impact, planning to put a measure back before voters in 2026. Suisun City, as has the city of Rio Vista, engaged in talks with California Forever beginning in early 2025 to consider annexing some of the group's land into each city. Tuesday's vote by the Suisun City city council now means California Forever will front the cost of all of research needed for the annexation proposal, including environmental impact reports and paying consultants chosen by the city. California Forever will pay the city an initial $400,000. If the proposed annexation is eventually adopted by the city council and then approved by the county's LAFCO authority, California Forever will pay Suisun City $10 million. Currently, the city is facing a projected more than $1 million budget deficit for the 2025-2026 fiscal year. City manager Bret Prebula spoke in support of the annexation project vote, calling it the city's path forward that now allows them to engage in talks with California Forever that could secure a 'prosperous' future for the city. "What it does is open the door for Suisun City to shape the conversation and ensure we are not left behind," said Prebula at Tuesday's meeting. More than one hundred community members signed up to give public comment Tuesday night, which meant conversation on this topic went on for more than four hours. There was standing room only as Solano County residents both for and against the vote packed the chambers. Several people in support of the annexation project said it stands to provide decades of work for skilled laborers in the county. "What's the problem? I don't get it. It should be an easy 'yes' vote to take the time and do the research. As far as I'm concerned, the project should go forward as well," said Alicia Mijares, representing local sheet metal workers and their union. Those in opposition made it clear they do not trust California Forever and they do not want the city's future tied to their initiative. "When it was happening last summer to go on the ballot, nobody wanted it. They took it off the ballot. Now with this, we don't even have that right anymore. For it to have our vote, our count. It's disgraceful," resident Jan Bartz told CBS News Sacramento before the meeting. Several called what they heard in Tuesday night's public hearing and presentation 'empty promises.' "You may think you are being transparent, but many people I speak to in Suisun City do not agree. Brief public comments are no substitute for genuinely transparent and publicly participatory processes," said one community member from the podium in public comment opposing the vote. Councilmember Princess Washington was the sole "no" vote on the reimbursement agreement with California Forever. Washington expressed hesitancy in her comments by saying that she doesn't feel five people, the council, should 'dictate the fate of the entire county.' She added that proposals of this nature should be up to voters. Mayor Alma Hernandez and the other members of the council commented that this is step one in a long process that will provide the city answers, not result in an outright decision, on annexation. CBS13 asked California Forever for a response to Tuesday night's meeting. "We look forward to working with Suisun City and Rio Vista to bring new industries, amazing neighborhoods, and new sources of tax revenue to the region," a spokesperson responded in a statement. Suisun City is also considering a recent offer by California Forever's CEO Jan Sramek to purchase $1.5 million in downtown city property to help the city offset its budget shortfall. The item is expected to return to the council for a vote in late fall 2025.
Yahoo
28 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump administration pulls US out of agreement to help restore salmon in the Columbia River
SEATTLE (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday pulled the U.S. out of an agreement with Washington, Oregon and four American Indian tribes to work together to restore salmon populations and boost tribal clean energy development in the Pacific Northwest, deriding the plan as 'radical environmentalism' that could have resulted in the breaching of four controversial dams on the Snake River. The deal, known as the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement, was reached in late 2023 and heralded by the Biden administration, tribes and conservationists as historic. It allowed for a pause in decades of litigation over the harm the federal government's operation of dams in the Northwest has done to the fish. Under it, the federal government said it planned to spend more than $1 billion over a decade to help recover depleted salmon runs. The government also said that it would build enough new clean energy projects in the Pacific Northwest to replace the hydropower generated by the Lower Snake River dams — the Ice Harbor, Little Goose, Lower Monumental and Lower Granite — should Congress ever agree to remove them. In a statement, the White House said former President Joe Biden's decision to sign the agreement "placed concerns about climate change above the Nation's interests in reliable energy sources.' Conservations groups, Democratic members of Congress and the Northwest tribes criticized Trump's action. 'Donald Trump doesn't know the first thing about the Northwest and our way of life — so of course, he is abruptly and unilaterally upending a historic agreement that finally put us on a path to salmon recovery, while preserving stable dam operations for growers and producers, public utilities, river users, ports and others throughout the Northwest," Democratic U.S. Sen. Patty Murray of Washington said in a written statement. 'This decision is grievously wrong and couldn't be more shortsighted.' Basin was once world's greatest salmon-producing river system The Columbia River Basin, an area roughly the size of Texas, was once the world's greatest salmon-producing river system, with at least 16 stocks of salmon and steelhead. Today, four are extinct and seven are listed under the Endangered Species Act. Another iconic but endangered Northwest species, a population of killer whales, also depend on the salmon. The construction of the first dams on the main Columbia River, including the Grand Coulee and Bonneville dams in the 1930s, provided jobs during the Great Depression, as well as hydropower and navigation. The dams made the town of Lewiston, Idaho, the most inland seaport on the West Coast, and many farmers in the region rely on barges to ship their crops. But the dams are also main culprit behind the salmon's decline, and fisheries scientists have concluded that breaching the dams in eastern Washington on the Snake River, the largest tributary of the Columbia, would be the best hope for recovering them, providing the fish with access to hundreds of miles of pristine habitat and spawning grounds in Idaho. The tribes, which reserved the right to fish in their usual and accustomed grounds when they ceded vast amounts of land in their 19th century treaties with the U.S., warned as far back as the late 1930s that the salmon runs could disappear, with the fish no longer able to access spawning grounds upstream. 'This agreement was designed to foster collaborative and informed resource management and energy development in the Pacific Northwest, including significant tribal energy initiatives,' Yakama Tribal Council Chairman Gerald Lewis said in a written statement. 'The Administration's decision to terminate these commitments echoes the federal government's historic pattern of broken promises to tribes, and is contrary to President Trump's stated commitment to domestic energy development.' Republicans in region opposed agreement Northwestern Republicans in Congress had largely opposed the agreement, warning that it would hurt the region's economy, though in 2021 Republican Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho proposed removing the earthen berms on either side of the four Lower Snake River dams to let the river flow freely, and to spend $33 billion to replace the benefits of the dams. 'Today's action by President Trump reverses the efforts by the Biden administration and extreme environmental activists to remove the dams, which would have threatened the reliability of our power grid, raised energy prices, and decimated our ability to export grain to foreign markets," Rep. Dan Newhouse, a Republican from Washington, said in a news release. Tribes, environmentalists vow to fight for salmon The tribes and the environmental law firm Earthjustice, which represents conservation, clean energy and fishing groups in litigation against the federal government, said they would continue working to rebuild salmon stocks. 'Unfortunately, this short-sighted decision to renege on this important agreement is just the latest in a series of anti-government and anti-science actions coming from the Trump administration,' Earthjustice Senior Attorney Amanda Goodin said. "This administration may be giving up on our salmon, but we will keep fighting to prevent extinction and realize win-win solutions for the region.'
Fox News
28 minutes ago
- Fox News
Federal judge orders Trump to return control of California National Guard to Newsom
A federal judge has ruled that President Donald Trump acted illegally when he seized control of California's National Guard during ICE-related riots in Los Angeles. U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer issued the decision Thursday, siding with Governor Gavin Newsom and ordering Trump to return control of the Guard to the state "forthwith.""His actions were illegal—both exceeding the scope of his statutory authority and violating the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution," Breyer wrote. "He must therefore return control of the California National Guard to the Governor of the State of California forthwith.""Federalism is not optional," the ruling states. "Even the president cannot legislate by fiat."JUDGE MULLS TRUMP'S AUTHORITY OVER NATIONAL GUARD, WARNS US IS NOT 'KING GEORGE' MONARCHY Recent anti-ICE protests have led to riots, looting, and clashes with federal agents in Los Angeles. Trump issued a proclamation invoking federal authority, but Breyer rejected the justification, calling it constitutionally hollow. In his order, U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer granted the plaintiffs' request for a temporary restraining order and took immediate action to halt federal control of the California National Guard."Defendants are temporarily ENJOINED from deploying members of the California National Guard in Los Angeles," the ruling states. "Defendants are DIRECTED to return control of the California National Guard to Governor Newsom."TRUMP TELLS JUDGE HE DOES NOT NEED NEWSOM'S PERMISSION TO CRACK DOWN ON RIOTERS, DEPLOY NATIONAL GUARD The court stayed the order until noon on June 13, 2025, giving the defendants a narrow window to comply. Plaintiffs were also ordered to post a nominal bond of $100 within 24 hours. Looking ahead, Judge Breyer scheduled a hearing to determine whether the temporary restraining order should become a preliminary injunction."Defendants are further ORDERED TO SHOW CAUSE why a preliminary injunction should not issue," Breyer wrote. The hearing is set for June 20, 2025, at 10 a.m."CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPThe White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
