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Republicans rediscover the one weird trick that actually cuts spending

Republicans rediscover the one weird trick that actually cuts spending

Dominic Pino is the Thomas L. Rhodes journalism fellow at National Review Institute and host of the American Institute for Economic Research podcast 'Econception.'
Well, this is awkward. After the relationship between President Donald Trump and businessman Elon Musk very publicly soured, Congress is considering action on the primary product of that relationship: spending cuts suggested by the U.S. DOGE Service.

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Trump revokes California's nation-leading electric vehicle mandate
Trump revokes California's nation-leading electric vehicle mandate

Politico

time21 minutes ago

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Trump revokes California's nation-leading electric vehicle mandate

President Donald Trump moved Thursday to eliminate California's nation-leading vehicle emissions standards, upending strict rules that had become a template for states across the nation to realize their greenhouse gas ambitions. Trump signed three Congressional Review Act resolutions rolling back a trio of California's rules at a White House signing ceremony, delivering on his Day 1 executive order to quickly roll back electric vehicle mandates around the country. 'We officially rescue the US auto industry from destruction by terminating California's electric vehicle mandate, once and for all,' Trump said at a Oval Office signing alongside House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. The president, in a wide-ranging speech before the signing, used the moment to hit on a range of issues, including inflation, his disdain for windmills and his recent fallout with Tesla CEO Elon Musk. 'Now we know why Elon doesn't like me so much,' Trump quipped, before saying that Musk never asked him to save EV rules and that their break was over other 'smaller things.' While the Trump administration has also gone on the offensive against federal vehicle standards, California's regulations aimed at phasing out gas-powered passenger vehicles and heavy-duty diesel trucks — which are followed by a dozen other states — have drawn the stiffest opposition from the auto and fossil fuel industries. 'Worse than unachievable, these EV mandates were going to be harmful,' said John Bozzella, president and CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation. 'Harmful to auto affordability, to consumer choice, to industry competitiveness and to economic activity.' The move takes place against the backdrop of worsening relations between Trump and Gov, Gavin Newsom, with the president ordering the military to quell unrest in Los Angeles over immigration raids. It also comes as Tesla CEO and former White House adviser Elon Musk clashed with Trump last week over electric vehicle policies. Trump's signature revokes the Golden State's unique permission to exceed federal vehicle pollution standards, which it's used for decades to set nation-leading rules. A dozen other Democrat-led states have opted to follow California's rules, representing one-third of the U.S. auto market. California's regulations aim to require automakers to sell increasing percentages of zero-emission vehicles, culminating in a 2035 target of all new-car sales being electric or otherwise carbon-free. Trump had targeted California's rules in his first term and on the campaign trail for his second term. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin asked Congress to revoke them using the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to overturn rules passed in the waning days of the previous administration. The request triggered a debate among Republicans about whether to stretch congressional norms by using the CRA to roll back California's rules, which Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough and the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office have said aren't subject to the law. In addition to the rules for passenger vehicles, Thursday's signings roll back California's authority to enforce zero-emission sales targets for commercial trucks and higher standards for heavy-duty diesel engines. The fight over whether Congress acted lawfully will now head to the courts. California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta said last month they would sue immediately after Trump signs the resolutions. The outcome of that court case will have widespread implications, as Democratic leaders seek to wean drivers and industry off fossil fuels and hit lofty greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals. But the question is especially acute for California, which has struggled for decades to reduce the nation's worst smog in the Los Angeles area and Central Valley and comply with federal air quality standards under the Clean Air Act. Failure to reach those standards could result in sanctions and withholding of federal highway funds, which both Republican and Democratic administrations have floated in the past. Trump's EPA threatened sanctions against the state in 2019, just days after the agency revoked an earlier version of its electric vehicle rules. 'It is hard to imagine that they will not threaten sanctions,' said Ann Carlson, who was head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration under former President Joe Biden. 'The president clearly has it out for California, and Los Angeles is obviously in his sights.' EPA said in a statement when asked about the possibility of sanctions that it will enforce the Clean Air Act. 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Randolph suggested that the state could consider approaches like district emissions rules for 'indirect sources' like warehouses that attract commercial trucks, incentives to encourage EV purchases and putting more funding towards public transit.

Wesley Hunt, Texas Congressman, Explains What Influenced His Decision To Enlist In The U.S. Army
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Wesley Hunt, Texas Congressman, Explains What Influenced His Decision To Enlist In The U.S. Army

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'I call it a rebellion': Maxine Waters' history of enflaming crowds, from Rodney King to today
'I call it a rebellion': Maxine Waters' history of enflaming crowds, from Rodney King to today

Yahoo

time26 minutes ago

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'I call it a rebellion': Maxine Waters' history of enflaming crowds, from Rodney King to today

Eighteen-term Democrat Rep. Maxine Waters resurfaced in the news after several run-ins with federal authorities during the ongoing illegal immigration riots in California, just as her House tenure began amid prior Angeleno unrest. In 1992, as she was finishing her first term in Congress, the not-guilty verdict against White LAPD officers seen beating a Black motorist named Rodney King sparked a similar conflagration in Los Angeles, and Waters was in the midst of it then as well. The riots greatly affected her South Los Angeles district, and Waters was quoted at the time as appearing to downplay the violence not as a "riot" but as "just a bunch of crazy people who went out and did bad things for no reason." "I maintain it was somewhat understandable, if not acceptable. So I call it a rebellion," she said, according to the Los Angeles Times. Maxine Waters Torched By Feds For 'Taunting' Guardsmen And 'Spewing Lies' About Riots, Trying To Enter Jail Waters had joined the Rev. Jesse Jackson in trying to convince the Justice Department to file civil rights charges against the acquitted officers, blaming the rioting on Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Chief Daryl Gates and President George H.W. Bush, according to famed journalist Robert Novak. Read On The Fox News App When Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., attempted to have Waters expelled from Congress in 2021 for "inciting violence and terrorism," the Democrat claimed some of her past remarks were taken out of context. "I am not worried that they're going to continue to distort what I say," she told The Grio after Greene led her resolution with Waters' Rodney King-era statements. Greene said Waters violated House Rule 23's clause regarding conduct by members "at all times in a manner that shall reflect creditably on the House." At a 2007 anti-war protest, Waters declared she was "not afraid of George Bush" and also pledged to "get rid of" then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. She later drew the ire of Greene and other Republicans when she told an LGBTQ gala, "I will go and take out Trump tonight." Defenders said she was speaking rhetorically and politically and not threatening the mogul. Later in Trump's first administration, Waters was filmed on a California street corner shouting at supportive demonstrators and instructing them to be disruptive toward Trump allies. Maxine Waters Taunts Armed Agents After Feds Slam Door On Her During La Riots: 'You Better Shoot Straight' "If you see anybody … in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out, and you create a crowd, and you push back on them. And you tell them that they are not welcome." She later said she did not physically threaten Trump supporters, though then-White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders had earlier been run out of a Lexington, Va., restaurant and then-Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen was accosted at a Washington, D.C., eatery. In April 2021, Waters rallied in Brooklyn Center, Minn., while ex-Minneapolis Officer Derek Chauvin was on trial for the murder of George Floyd. Waters was recorded telling protesters to "stay" in the street and warned that if the jury delivered a not-guilty verdict, "We cannot go away … we've got to get more confrontational." The comments caught the attention of trial Judge Peter Cahill, suggesting the comments could lead to a defense appeal and also disrespected the judicial branch. Waters later pushed back on some characterizations, saying, "I am nonviolent. I talk about confronting the justice system. … I'm talking about speaking up." In February, Waters appeared in front of the Department of Education building in Washington along with other House Democrats. A security guard was confronted as lawmakers tried to gain entry to voice concerns about Secretary Linda McMahon's downsizing plans. This week, while riots again raged in Los Angeles, Waters hurried toward a group of National Guardsmen entering the plywood-covered door of the Metropolitan Detention Center. "I just came to use my congressional authority to check on David Huerta," she said, referring to the SEIU union leader arrested during an immigration raid. A Guardsman told Waters to contact "public affairs" and slammed the door in her face. She was later seen asking armed Guardsmen if they planned to shoot her, why they were there and that the conflict was President Donald Trump's fault. Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital after that incident that instead of "taunting" Guardsmen, Waters should have been trying to assuage the unrest. While some of her recent Republican challengers, like Joe Collins and Omar Navarro, have received hefty donations from around the country due to her polarizing comments, the 86-year-old has been re-elected with typically 70% of the vote. Fox News Digital reached out to Waters for comment but did not immediately hear back. Fox News' Leonard Balducci contributed to this article source: 'I call it a rebellion': Maxine Waters' history of enflaming crowds, from Rodney King to today

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