Latest news with #TroyDowning
Yahoo
20-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
House committee signs off on delisting grizzly bear
Grizzly bear photographed in Yellowstone National Park on May 19, 2020. (Photo by Jim Peaco/National Park Service) The U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources on Tuesday narrowly voted in favor of delisting the grizzly bear from the Endangered Species Act, pushing legislation long sought by western state elected officials to the next step in the congressional process. House Resolution 281, the Grizzly Bear State Management Act of 2025, was introduced by Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyoming, along with Montana's two Republican congressmen, Reps. Ryan Zinke and Troy Downing. The legislation directs the Secretary of the Interior to remove the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem population of grizzly bears from the Endangered Species Act, restoring a ruling by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued in 2017 during the first Trump Administration. That rule was later vacated by a federal circuit court, and the agency, under the Biden administration, reversed its stance and recommended the grizzly stay on the list, and under federal jurisdiction. 'The GYE grizzly population has exceeded the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's recovery goals for over two decades,' Hageman said during the committee's markup hearing. 'Since a mere 3% of species listed under the ESA have ever been delisted the ESA desperately needs a success story like the GYE grizzly bear. The grizzly is, in fact, the poster child for how the ESA has failed in terms of what it was intended to do and how it has actually been implemented.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX But Democrats on the committee pushed back against the bill, arguing that the proposal amounted to a political football and could jeopardize the continued recovery of the species. The court ruling that vacated the 2017 delisting rule cited the federal government's 'failure to consider long term genetic effects on other populations and concerns that the decision was driven by political pressure … instead of the best available science,' ranking member Rep. Jared Huffman, D-California, said. He said the decision continued the partisan game played with the ESA, ignored consultation with Native American tribes on a culturally significant species, and removed public input from the process. 'To legislatively delist the population located around Yellowstone in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, from the ESA and then block judicial review, that is not going to lead us down the path of success,' Huffman added. 'That's going to lead us to some really unfortunate consequences.' Grizzly bears throughout the contiguous states were listed under the Endangered Species Act in 1975 when there were only an estimated 300 to 400 animals left in the wild. Currently, FWS estimates there are roughly 2,314 grizzlies living between Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and parts of Washington. During the last decade, a saga of proposed delisting actions, lawsuits and petitions have left the fate of grizzly bears overshadowed with questions. Montana previously petitioned FWS to delist the species in the GYE and the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem, centered around Glacier National Park and the Bob Marshall Wilderness, but the agency rejected the petition early this year. A similar petition from Wyoming was also rejected in the final weeks of the Biden administration. Instead, FWS proposed a new comprehensive approach to federal grizzly management, including consolidating grizzlies living in six distinct recovery zones into a single population. That move would have prevented sub-populations, such as the GYE, from being considered for delisting separately from the species as a whole. Montana officials derided that decision, with Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, a Republican, saying the administration was embracing a 'scorched earth strategy,' in its final days. He added that he looked forward to working with the Trump administration on a new path forward. Rep. Zinke shared similar sentiments at the time: 'Thankfully the political hands pulling the strings at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are about to be fired and President Trump will no doubt immediately rescind this train-wreck decision.' Zinke briefly served as Interior Secretary during Trump's first administration, and was in office when the 2017 delisting was announced. Zinke's office did not respond to a request for comment about the committee's vote on the 2025 rule or questions about preventing judicial review. But Montana Sen. Steve Daines praised Tuesday's vote in a post on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, that 'delisting the grizzly bear is long overdue.' Ahead of the committee vote, more than 50 conservation organizations signed onto a letter urging representatives to vote against the legislation. 'The grizzly bear populations in those locations are stable and growing, but conservationists remain concerned about the geographic and genetic isolation of those populations, the threat of increased human-induced mortality through hunting or predator control if they were delisted and management returned to the states of Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho, and the effects of delisting particular populations on grizzly bears in the rest of the lower-48 states,' the letter states. Chris Servheen, a retired FWS grizzly bear recovery coordinator who petitioned the federal government to consider managing grizzlies as a single population — the plan the agency put forth this year — said in a statement that the efforts to delist grizzlies by congressional actions ignored key components of the ESA. 'The current administration and Congress are working to defund grizzly bear science and monitoring, dramatically reduce funding for federal land management agencies in grizzly range, increase timber harvest and road building in grizzly habitat, and weaken or eliminate the fundamental laws that grizzly recovery depends on like the ESA, the National Environmental Policy Act and the United States Forest Service Roadless Rule,' Servheen said. 'At the same time, recreation pressure on public lands and private land development are accelerating rapidly in grizzly habitat putting even more stress on grizzlies. Congressional delisting while the cumulative impacts of these actions are ongoing is irresponsible and will result in immediate declines in grizzly numbers and range.' During the committee discussion, Rep. Hageman hammered home her argument that the reason environmental groups and previous administrations had pushed to keep the grizzlies listed was for 'controlling large swaths of land and water resources. It's that simple.' She said that both individual states, and the federal government, have limited resources to spend on issues like endangered species, and they should be allocated to where the need is highest. 'There are species that truly do need our protection and need the resources to be made available so that we can protect them and recover them,' she said. 'When we are wasting money on a recovered species, those are resources that cannot be used for that purpose.' Democrats proposed three amendments to the bill — one to require DOI to follow the new 2025 species assessment issued by FWS that considered all grizzlies in the lower 48 to be considered a single population; another to require more tribal consultation in management decisions for grizzlies; and a third that sought to strip out the prohibition on judicial review in the bill. All three amendments failed on party-line votes. On the discussion over judicial review, Hageman said the point of the bill is to carry out the purpose and intent of the Endangered Species Act, and removing the legal provision amounted to a 'gift to the radical environmental lobby.' 'Until the bear has returned to state control where it belongs, lawsuits and ever shifting recovery standards will stand in the way activist judges have stood in the way of delisting for far too long,' she said. Hageman added that when the grey wolf was delisted in 2011, during the Obama administration, a similar provision was put into that legislation. The committee voted 20-19 along party lines to recommend approval by the full House of Representatives. Huffman gave notice that he intended to file 'dissenting or minority views,' on the measure for the full chamber. Rep. Russ Fulcher, R-Idaho, and Rep. Pete Stauber, R-Minn, also cosponsored the legislation. Daily Montanan is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Daily Montanan maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Darrell Ehrlick for questions: info@ SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Bloomberg
26-06-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Trump Tax Bill Hits Health-Care Snag
On the early edition of Balance of Power, Bloomberg Washington Correspondents Joe Mathieu and Kailey Leinz discuss . On today's show, Bipartisan Policy Center Senior Vice President Bill Hoagland, Republican Congressman Troy Downing of Montana, Stonecourt Capital Partner Rick Davis, Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress Senior Democracy Fellow Jeanne Sheehan Zaino, former Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technology in the Biden Administration Anne Neuberger. (Source: Bloomberg)
Int'l Business Times
07-05-2025
- Business
- Int'l Business Times
Republicans, Dems Hold Separate Crypto Roundtables As Tensions Simmer Over Trump Projects
Donald Trump launched his official memecoin, $TRUMP, ahead of his inauguration. The Official Trump Meme Website / Screenshot Rep. Waters and two other Democratic lawmakers walked out of a scheduled hearing to discuss crypto legislation Republican Troy Downing said 'regulation by enforcement' must be eliminated to promote innovation GOP's Zach Nunn urged lawmakers to help establish a 'clear structure' for crypto businesses Dem Rep. Garcia argued that Trump is prioritizing his crypto projects over the country Dem Rep. Lynch said Trump, through his crypto ventures, 'blatantly violated the ethics laws' Republican and Democratic lawmakers on Sunday held separate cryptocurrency roundtables to discuss crypto policy and recent developments around the emerging sector as Dems and some crypto users raise issue with U.S. President Donald Trump's crypto ventures. World Liberty Financial (WLFI), a DeFi project that Trump has promoted and where his three sons, particularly Eric Trump, are involved in, was most recently in question over a deal with Abu Dhabi government-backed firm MGX and crypto titan Binance. Republicans Urge Crypto Innovation, Rulemaking Clarity In the joint roundtable by Republican members of the House Committee on Agriculture and House Committee on Financial Services, Rep. Troy Downing of Montana said the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under ex-Chair Gary Gensler made it difficult for digital asset innovators to raise capital. If we want digital asset innovation to thrive in the United States, we need clear rules of the road, not regulation by enforcement. The unprecedented dual effort between @FinancialCmte and @HouseAgGOP is making this possible. 📺 Watch my questions from today's roundtable 👇 — Congressman Troy Downing (@RepTroyDowning) May 6, 2025 He said that in order to ensure the United States' leadership in crypto, there must be clear rules of the road and "regulation by enforcement" should be eliminated. Similarly, Rep. Zach Nunn of Iowa urged clear rules for crypto businesses, arguing that prior administrations added to the confusion around rules. He called for legislation to establish a "clear structure" for the industry. Some digital assets are like a chocolate coin. When the coin is "wrapped" it's treated like a security. Once "unwrapped" it functions like a commodity. We can't have two different rules for our digital innovators, which is why we're fighting on @FinancialCmte for a clear… — Congressman Zach Nunn (@ZachNunn) May 6, 2025 Democrats Raise Concerns Over Trump's 'Crypto Corruption' As the Republicans' roundtable ensued, Democratic members, led by ranking member Rep. Maxine Waters of California, held their own roundtable in a different room on Capitol Hill. Notably, Waters objected to a Sunday bipartisan hearing, arguing that House rules require "unanimous consent" to such hearings. She walked out of the hearing after stating that she objects to the hearing because of Trump's "corruption" and "ownership of crypto." Today, Ranking Member @RepMaxineWaters blocked a Republican crypto hearing after the GOP refused to address Trump's rampant crypto corruption. Instead, the Ranking Member walked out and convened a Democratic hearing to discuss how Trump is using the presidency to enrich himself… — House Committee on Financial Services - Democrats (@USHouseFSC) May 7, 2025 Democratic Reps. Sean Casten and Brad Sherman also left the room. Waters later said GOP Committee members refused to discuss Trump's "corruption" in relation to his crypto ventures, which is why she objected to the hearing. In the Democrats' roundtable, Rep. Sylvia Garcia of Texas pointed out how Trump and his three sons were involved in WLFI's business. As per the project's website and photos of the website's "Team" presented by the congresswoman, the president is the company's "chief crypto advocate," while his three sons were "Web3 ambassadors." Trump isn't just pushing crypto—he's using the presidency to cash in on it. His friends and family are running shady firms like World Liberty Financial while he guts the rules meant to protect hard-working Americans from fraud and abuse. This is pure corruption.@USHouseFSC — Rep. Sylvia Garcia (@RepSylviaGarcia) May 6, 2025 "So instead of prioritizing his job as our nation's leader, he [Trump] is using his position to strip financial regulators of their independence, all to line the pockets of his friends, his family," Garcia said. Rep. Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts said it has never happened in U.S. history where a president has "so blatantly violated the ethics laws" amid concerns of conflicts of interest over Trump's crypto involvement. President Trump's blatant violation of ethics laws and exploitation of the Presidency to further his own financial gain cannot go unchecked. I will continue to work with my Democratic colleagues to hold this Administration accountable. — Rep. Stephen F. Lynch (@RepStephenLynch) May 6, 2025 He also made sure to call out the "outrageous" private dinner Trump promoted for the top holders of his official meme coin. "That just screams government for sale right there," Lynch said. Trump has yet to comment on the latest development wherein his crypto involvement is at center of lawmaker tensions. © Copyright IBTimes 2024. All rights reserved.
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Congressman Troy Downing Honored with 2025 Investing in America Award by the Institute for Portfolio Alternatives
Award recognizes legislative champions of alternative investments WASHINGTON, April 30, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Institute for Portfolio Alternatives (IPA) has awarded Congressman Troy Downing (R-MT) the 2025 Investing in America Award, recognizing his leadership in advancing policies that promote access to alternative investments and support capital formation across the country. The IPA's Investing in America Award is given to lawmakers who demonstrate a clear vision for expanding access to alternative investments and strengthening the U.S. economy through forward-thinking financial policy. Congressman Downing was elected in 2024 to represent Montana's Second Congressional District and currently serves on the influential House Financial Services Committee. His early work in Congress reflects a strong commitment to expanding economic opportunity and empowering more Americans to participate in diversified investment strategies. "Congressman Downing brings a deep understanding of both public and private markets, shaped by his service as Montana's Commissioner of Securities and Insurance and a career rooted in entrepreneurship and public service," said Anya Coverman, IPA President & CEO. "He has been a strong advocate for modernizing the accredited investor definition, a key step toward democratizing access to private markets and fostering economic growth." A U.S. Air Force veteran who completed two tours in Afghanistan, Congressman Downing is also a former educator, entrepreneur, and small business owner. His diverse background and pragmatic approach to policy make him a standout leader in Congress and a champion for investors and innovators alike. About the Institute for Portfolio Alternatives The Institute for Portfolio Alternatives (IPA) serves as the leading industry voice for alternative investments. IPA is the preeminent trade organization championing alternatives—including private real estate, private credit, private equity, infrastructure, and other alternative assets. IPA hosts innovative events and conferences, offering world-class networking opportunities and educational resources, while also engaging in impactful advocacy at both federal and state levels. More information on IPA can be found at or follow IPA on LinkedIn. MEDIA CONTACTErik RancatoreInstitute for Portfolio Alternatives202.978.2467 View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Institute for Portfolio Alternatives Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Smoke 'em out
Montana State Auditor Troy Downing, the Republican nominee for Montana's 2nd Congressional District, speaks at a rally in Bozeman on Aug. 9, 2024. (Photo by Blair Miller, Daily Montanan) Congress is now in recess through April, returning on May 3. This would be an ideal period for our Montana congressional delegation to meet with their constituents – wouldn't it? Don't hold your breath. A check with the four Capitol Hill offices last week revealed not a one of them had plans for an event where he would take questions and provide answers – with the exceptions of Sens. Steve Daines and Tim Sheehy visiting a few high school assemblies to talk about service academy nominations they make. Some low-profile, personally selected appearances such as Sheehy at a Belgrade community event or what Rep. Troy Downing's staffer said were small-group or personal visits will occur but there won't be advance notice to the public. Reporters aren't welcome – Sheehy turned his back on a television crew after his talk in Miles City. It seems the best way to keep track of them is to get your own 'X' account which each uses to boast of his activities. Meanwhile, Montana voters have questions, and all four of our millionaire congressmen have pledged to represent all of us, not just those who cast ballots for them. What if folks requested time of them by using congressional websites to fill out the online scheduling request form each has? Bear in mind that each request requires a lot of information such as name of the host, issue area, number of attendees, preferred dates and times, location and reason for meeting. Each also wants to know in advance the names and hometowns of meeting attendees. As there is no information in the request forms for any of the four regarding how requests are accepted, we might assume that any topic about the congressman's work would be regarded as an opportunity to engage in good constituent interchange. I would like to suggest several topics for voters asking for a meeting or appearance as these questions are being raised across Montana: Do you have input or prior notification into agency staff and funding decisions handed down by Department Of Government Efficiency? Do you believe DOGE does enough research and verification before issuing its far-reaching judgments? As each of you have had corporate experience and responsibility, would you have imposed draconian personnel and funding cuts without fully understanding employee roles and responsibilities in your organization? Why are government agencies being dismantled without prior congressional involvement since it was Congress that enabled them in the first place? What will be the role of the 200-some committees and sub-committees in re-forming our government agencies after staff and funding reductions demanded by DOGE? What is your level of concern for DOGE infiltration in protected information areas held by the Social Security Administration, IRS, Medicare and Medicaid programs and departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Energy, Interior, Treasury, and others? Do you support the Supreme Court decision that undocumented immigrants must receive legal due process before being deported? Here is my point: Our state's congressional delegation is heeding the orders of the leaders of the House and Senate reelection campaigns to stop holding in-person town halls. We are not all radical leftists, Marxists, Socialists, deranged Democrats, America-haters and all the other insulting labels being attached to us, citizens who honestly questioning what is happening to our country. If the delegation continues to hide from us – can we smoke 'em out?
