As Elon Musk ramps up his $1 million-a-day support for Donald Trump, what appears to be a record of progressive harassment of his many companies may explain how the world’s richest man went all-in for Republicans.
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The Biden-Harris administration has deployed a little-known hiring mechanism to staff key divisions of the Department of Justice (DOJ) ahead of the 2024 election, according to documents provided to the Daily Caller News Foundation by Protect the Public’s Trust (PPT).
Hundreds of people, primarily lawyers and judges, have been appointed to the Environmental and Natural Resources (ENRD) and Antitrust and Immigration Review divisions of the DOJ using its “Schedule A” hiring authority since President Joe Biden took office, documents shared with the DCNF by PPT show. Schedule A hiring does not require appointments to be made on the basis of merit and appointments do not expire at the end of the current president’s term, meaning these bureaucrats will stick around even if former President Donald Trump takes office in 2025, according to the Office of Budget and Management.
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Norfolk Southern reached a $310 million settlement with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Justice on Thursday over a train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, last year.
The settlement, which has yet to be approved by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, requires Norfolk Southern to spend an estimated $235 million for clean-up, $30 million for water quality monitoring, $25 million for a 20-year community health program, and $6 million to prioritize addressing historical pollution through a “waterways remediation plan,” reported the Washington Examiner.
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Multiple fireworks shows slated for July 4th along Los Angeles’ coastline have been canceled in the wake of a county mandate that was initially spurred by environmental activists, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The L.A. Regional Water Quality Control Board implemented a firework permit rule in an effort to clamp down on pollutants from firework displays, which reportedly affect nearby water sources, the LA Times reported. The Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation (CERF) brought a lawsuit against Long Beach’s Big Bang on the Bay, alleging that a firework show in 2022 violated the Clean Water Act.
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Two environmental groups have filed a federal lawsuit alleging the Naval Surface Warfare Center at Dahlgren, Virginia, violated the Clean Water Act through munitions testing in and over the Potomac.
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The Supreme Court rolled back the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) authority to regulate under the Clean Water Act (CWA) in a unanimous decision Thursday.
Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency, brought by a couple prevented by the EPA from building a home on their own land near Priest Lake, Idaho because it contained wetlands, considered the scope of the agency’s “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) rule, which defines what “navigable waters” can be regulated under the CWA. Plaintiffs Chantell and Mike Sackett, who have spent 15 years fighting the agency’s rule in court, allege the EPA has overstepped the authority it was granted when Congress enacted the CWA in 1972—forcing them to stop construction on their land or face fines.
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The House of Representatives voted 227-198 Thursday to overturn the Biden administration’s “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) rule, which has been heavily criticized for broadening the definition of what are considered “navigable waters” subject to federal regulation under the Clean Water Act.
Republicans say the rule places a costly burden on landowners, ranchers, and farmers by claiming regulatory control over lands containing small streams and wetlands. All but one Republican, Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, voted to overturn the rule, with nine Democrats joining.
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