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Environmental Protection Agency Terminates Contracts With Unionized Employees
A court challenge brought by unions against the presidential directive was stayed on Aug. 1, allowing the EPA to move forward.
Aug 10, 2025
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Melanie Sun
EPA Proposing Approval for Herbicide Blocked by Court in 2024
The Environmental Protection Agency said dicamba poses no serious risk. Critics say the chemical can drift from a field and damage neighboring plants.
Jul 24, 2025
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Michael Clements
Family Persists With Fourth of July Tradition Despite Lightning Storms
Floridians in St. Petersburg waited out lightning and thunderstorms, determined to spend their Fourth of July on the beach.
Jul 04, 2025
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T.J. Muscaro
Pipeline Operators Say High-Tech Tools Preclude Need for Expansive Safety Regulation
Industry representatives tell Congress reauthorized pipeline safety bill should be swiftly adopted 'without major changes or new mandates.'
Jul 27, 2025
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John Haughey
EPA Proposing Approval for Herbicide Blocked by Court in 2024
The Environmental Protection Agency said dicamba poses no serious risk. Critics say the chemical can drift from a field and damage neighboring plants.
Jul 24, 2025
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Michael Clements
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The Hill
18 minutes ago
- The Hill
GOP senator on DC carjacking fears: ‘I don't buckle up'
Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) on Wednesday expressed his fear of being carjacked in the nation's capital, as the Trump administration ramps up its federal takeover of local law enforcement. 'And by the way, I'm not joking when I say this, I drive around in Washington, D.C., in my Jeep, and yes, I do drive myself, and I don't buckle up. And the reason why I don't buckle up, and people can say whatever they want to, they can raise their eyebrows at me again, is because of carjacking,' Mullin said during an appearance on Fox News's 'The Ingraham Angle.' 'I don't want to be stuck in my vehicle when I need to exit in a hurry, because I got a seatbelt around me and that — and I wear my seatbelt all the time,' he told host Brian Kilmeade, in a clip highlighted by Mediaite. 'But in Washington, D.C., I do not, because it is so prevalent of carjacking,' the Oklahoma Republican continued. 'And I don't want the same thing [to] happen to me what's happened to a lot of people that work on the hill.' President Trump announced earlier this week that his administration was taking control of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and deployed hundreds of National Guard soldiers to the area to combat crime and violence in the city. The move, sparked after a former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffer was attacked by teenagers during a carjacking — has received heavy blowback from Democrats and local officials. A provision in Washington's ' Home Rule Act ' allows the president to federalize the police force for up to 30 days — but any additional time requires Congressional approval. During a speech Wednesday from the Kennedy Center, Trump said he will seek a 'long-term' extension. 'Well, if it's a national emergency, we can do it without Congress,' Trump said, when asked about whether he's talked to lawmakers about extending the takeover. He added that he expects meet with Congress 'very quickly' and snag GOP support. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) signaled in a post online Wednesday that he and fellow Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) were working with the Trump administration on a safety package for the district. 'Together, we will try to shepherd the DC Security Fund through Congress to give President Trump the resources he will need to improve the safety and quality of life in our nation's capital,' he wrote on social platform X. 'Every American should be behind this effort to make Washington, DC clean and safe so that it can truly become the shining city on the hill.' For such a move to advance, however, it would likely need support from some Senate Democrats. Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) made clear that his caucus would not back the measure. 'No f‑‑‑ing way,' he told podcast host Aaron Parnas. 'We'll fight him tooth and nail. … He needs to get Congress to approve it, and not only are we not going to approve it, but there are some Republicans who don't like either.' D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has also pushed back on Trump's moves, calling them an 'authoritarian push' as data shows the crime rate declining in the nation's capital. The mayor has also used the national attention as a platform to reup the district's quest to gain statehood.
New York Times
20 minutes ago
- New York Times
Trump Administration Live Updates: Federal Deployment Ramps Up in D.C.
President Trump made a show of force in Washington, D.C., this week, exercising his unique powers over the nation's capital to commandeer the city's police force, deploy the National Guard and send hundreds of federal law enforcement agents into the city in what he described as an effort to combat crime. It is the first time a president has used a declared emergency to wrest control of the city's police, a step that its mayor said was 'unsettling' though allowed under the law. Congress and the executive branch have long exerted controls over the city's budget and other decisions. But the president's move may represent the biggest encroachment on the city's autonomy since it was granted home rule 52 years ago. While crime is a concern for many residents, the situation on the ground differs from Mr. Trump's hyperbolic statements in justifying the moves: Official data shows that crime is falling — particularly violent crime, which hit a 30-year low last year — after surging during the pandemic. Mr. Trump, who has stoked fears of violent crimes in America's cities going back more than 35 years, delivered increasingly dire threats after returning to office in January that if he was not satisfied with the city's efforts to combat crime, he would order a federal takeover of Washington — in effect dissolving the local government to rule it directly. Mr. Trump took his first firm steps in that direction last week, after a prominent young administration official was beaten by a mob of young assailants in an attempted carjacking in Washington. Here's what to know. What is Trump doing on law enforcement in Washington? And how is he able to do it? In the span of a week, Mr. Trump rapidly ratcheted up moves going over the heads of D.C. leaders. He has invoked his authority in overseeing federal law enforcement and a 1973 law that gives the president the power to take temporary control of the city's police. He ordered a surge of roughly 500 federal agents into the city beginning last Friday, after the beating of Edward Coristine — an operative of the Department of Government Efficiency — that week. Then on Monday, Mr. Trump used a provision of the D.C. Home Rule Act, the law that established a local government and granted the city limited autonomy, to temporarily take over the Metropolitan Police Department, the city's main police force. A White House official said the current takeover would last 30 days, the maximum outlined in the law before the president must seek an extension of that authority through Congress. Mr. Trump has expressed interest in seeking such an extension. What powers do federal agents have on city patrols? On Tuesday, National Guard troops began to deploy in Washington for the first time since 2020, when Mr. Trump ordered a crackdown on Black Lives Matter protests in the city. Unlike the 50 states, D.C. does not control its National Guard unit and has little ability to push back against a federal deployment, as Gov. Gavin Newsom of California did earlier this year. About a dozen troops were spotted on the National Mall on Tuesday as others gathered at the D.C. Armory, the headquarters of the D.C. National Guard. The initial deployment near the Washington Monument was a far cry from the aggressive policing carried out by the D.C. Guard in 2020. The troops were seen snapping photos of themselves with visitors, and left roughly two hours after they arrived. One complicating factor of using federal agents to patrol Washington is that those agents do not have the same authority as police officers to arrest people for minor criminal offenses. Trump administration officials have suggested that if federal agents see someone commit such a crime, they can stop and detain the person until a local police officer arrives and makes an arrest. City officials have said the National Guard troops would not have the authority to make arrests, as the use of the military for civilian law enforcement is limited by the Constitution. Mayor Muriel Bowser of Washington said this week that the president 'has the authority, by virtue of the statute, to request services.' But she said city officials retained the authority to hire and fire people in the Police Department. She added that the police chief would work 'hand in hand with the people that the president has designated.' Could Trump fully take over D.C.? Even before the current crisis, Mr. Trump held a significant amount of control over D.C. The president nominates the city's judges and top prosecutor. Much of the City Council's powers to make laws and plan the annual budget is also subject to congressional oversight. Mr. Trump in effect exercised his presidential powers to set aside some of the city's autonomy, declaring a public safety emergency and temporarily commandeering the city's police force. In theory, Mr. Trump could go further, with the approval of the Republican-controlled Congress. Lawmakers could extend the emergency, keeping the police under Mr. Trump's authority for the duration. Mr. Trump may also be able to keep the National Guard and other federal agents deployed in the city indefinitely. In California, a fraction of the Guard force that Mr. Trump had federalized is still operating under federal control months after being called up. He could also direct federal units to more forcefully police the city, using tear gas, riot gear, armored vehicles, low-flying aircraft and other aggressive tools and tactics. The White House had previously said that federal agents in the city would be 'identified, in marked units, and highly visible,' but those restrictions are not mandated by law, and those units could quickly shift to crack down on city residents. The most extreme — and most unlikely — outcome is that Mr. Trump calls on Congress to repeal the D.C. Home Rule Act. That would dissolve the local government and place the city directly under federal control. The city's 700,000 residents — more than the population of Vermont or Wyoming — would lose the ability to elect their mayor and local council members. Mr. Trump has in recent months expressed support for a federal takeover, and Republicans in both the House and the Senate have introduced legislation to do so. But the chances of those laws passing are still very low. Under current Senate rules, such a law would need 60 votes to advance, and there are only 53 Republicans in the Senate. Has something like this happened before? Mr. Trump is the first president to use a declared emergency to wrest control of D.C.'s police. But federal police and the military have previously been deployed in the city, most recently during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob. Mr. Trump had also deployed the National Guard to Washington in 2020 as part of a crackdown on racial justice protests after the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. The D.C. Guard was at the forefront of that deployment, which was widely seen as a debacle at the time. Mr. Trump had also considered a deployment of active-duty military units like the 82nd Airborne, and senior Army leaders warned National Guard officers that Army units would replace them on the ground if they were insufficiently aggressive in controlling the protests. There have been other encroachments on the city's autonomy during home rule. Before this week, the most significant was a financial control board, established by Congress in 1995 to steer the city out of a fiscal crisis.
Chicago Tribune
an hour ago
- Chicago Tribune
DC residents protest as White House says federal agents will be on patrol 24/7
WASHINGTON — Residents in one Washington, D.C., neighborhood lined up Wednesday to protest the increased police presence after the White House said the number of National Guard troops in the nation's capital would ramp up and federal officers would be on the streets around the clock. After law enforcement set up a vehicle checkpoint along the busy 14th Street Northwest corridor, hecklers shouted, 'Go home, fascists' and 'Get off our streets.' Some protesters stood at the intersection before the checkpoint and urged drivers to turn away from it. The action intensified a few days after President Donald Trump's unprecedented announcement that his administration would take over the city's police department for at least a month. The city's Democratic mayor walked a political tightrope, referring to the takeover as an 'authoritarian push' at one point and later framing the infusion of officers as boost to public safety, though one with few specific barometers for success. The Republican president has said crime in the city was at emergency levels that only such federal intervention could fix — even as District of Columbia leaders pointed to statistics showing violent crime at a 30-year low after a sharp rise two years ago. For two days, small groups of federal officers had been visible in scattered areas of the city. But more were present in high-profile locations Wednesday and troops were expected to start doing more missions in Washington on Thursday, according to a National Guard spokesman who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the planning process. On Wednesday, agents from Homeland Security Investigations patrolled the popular U Street corridor. Drug Enforcement Administration officers were seen on the National Mall, while National Guard members were parked nearby. DEA agents also joined Metropolitan Police Department officers on patrol in the Navy Yard neighborhood, while FBI agents stood along the heavily trafficked Massachusetts Avenue. Hundreds of federal law enforcement and city police officers who patrolled the streets Tuesday night made 43 arrests, compared with about two dozen the night before. D.C. Councilmember Christina Henderson downplayed the arrest reports as 'a bunch of traffic stops' and said the administration was seeking to disguise how unnecessary this federal intervention is. 'I'm looking at this list of arrests and they sound like a normal Saturday night in any big city,' said Henderson. Unlike in other U.S. states and cities, the law gives Trump the power to take over Washington's police for up to 30 days. Extending his power over the city for longer would require approval from Congress, and that could be tough in the face of Democratic resistance. Trump suggested he could seek a longer period of control or decide to call on Congress to exercise authority over city laws his administration sees as lax on crime. 'We're gonna do this very quickly. But we're gonna want extensions. I don't want to call a national emergency. If I have to, I will,' he said. Later, on his Truth Social site, Trump reiterated his claims about the capital, writing, 'D.C. has been under siege from thugs and killers, but now, D.C. is back under Federal Control where it belongs.' Henderson, who worked for Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York before running for the D.C. Council, said she was already in touch with 'friends on the Hill' to rally opposition for any Trump extension request. She added, 'It's Day Three and he's already saying he's going to need more time?' The arrests made by 1,450 federal and local officers across the city included those for suspicion of driving under the influence and unlawful entry, as well as a warrant for assault with a deadly weapon, according to the White House. Seven illegal firearms were seized. There have now been more than 100 arrests since Trump began beefing up the federal law enforcement presence in Washington last week, White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said. 'President Trump is delivering on his campaign promise to clean up this city and restore American Greatness to our cherished capital,' she said. The president has full command of the National Guard and has activated up to 800 troops to support law enforcement, though exactly what form remains to be determined. Neither Army nor District of Columbia National Guard officials have been able to describe the training backgrounds of the troops who have so far reported for duty. While some members are military police, others likely hold jobs that would have offered them little training in dealing with civilians or law enforcement. The federalization push also includes clearing out encampments for people who are homeless, Trump has said. U.S. Park Police have removed dozens of tents since March, and plan to take out two more this week, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has said. People are offered the chance to go to shelters and get addiction treatment, if needed, but those who refuse could be fined or jailed, she said. City officials said they are making more shelter space available and increasing their outreach. The federal effort comes even after a drop in violent crime in the nation's capital, a trend that experts have seen in cities across the U.S. since an increase during the coronavirus pandemic. On average, the level of violence Washington remains mostly higher than averages in three dozen cities analyzed by the nonprofit Council on Criminal Justice, said the group's president and CEO, Adam Gelb. Police Chief Pamela Smith said during an interview with the local Fox affiliate that the city's Metro Police Department has been down nearly 800 officers. She said the increased number of federal agents on the streets would help fill that gap, at least for now. Mayor Muriel Bowser said city officials did not get any specific goals for the surge during a meeting with Trump's attorney general, Pam Bondi, and other top federal law enforcement officials Tuesday. But, she said, 'I think they regard it as a success to have more presence and take more guns off the street, and we do too.' She had previously called Trump's moves 'unsettling and unprecedented' while pointing out he was within a president's legal rights regarding the district, which is the seat of American government but is not a state. For some residents, the increased presence of law enforcement and National Guard troops is nerve-wracking. 'I've seen them right here at the subway … they had my street where I live at blocked off yesterday, actually,' Washington native Sheina Taylor said. 'It's more fearful now because even though you're a law-abiding citizen, here in D.C., you don't know, especially because I'm African American.'
