New Trump administration rule could speed up infrastructure, but impact climate
WASHINGTON -- President Trump is proposing a change to a 50-year-old law designed to protect the environment.“The United States will not be able to compete and prosper in the 21st Century if we continue to allow a broken and outdated bureaucratic system hold us back from building what we need,” President Trump said Thursday.President Trump wants to limit how long projects can be under environmental review.He hopes the change will speed up efforts to fix American’s roadways, airports, and bridges.“This effort if these regulations are finalized might be the biggest improvement in government decision making in over a generation,” Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said.Bernhardt said the 1970 National Environmental Policy Act is ready for an update.“We’re just trying to do things in a way that is a little smarter, a little clearer and a little quicker, and I think it is really a big step forward.”Secretary Bernhardt said this will speed up new projects that have been delayed.But other groups said without the safeguards protections for the environment and public health could be at risk.“Federal decision-makers should look before they leap when it comes to large projects and infrastructure,” Mike Saccone, Spokesperson for the National Wildlife Federation said.Saccone said there’s a reason for a long review process and worries about the new rules’ impact on climate change.“At a time when we’re seeing record wildfires, floods and other climate-fueled disasters it simply doesn’t add up to take climate out of the equation for federal decision-makers.”The new rule isn’t finalized and will be subject to 60 days of public comment.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she will 'soon' transmit impeachment to Senate
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday she will "soon'' transmit the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, but warned that Senate Republicans are rushing to acquittal without a fair trial.Pelosi brushed back GOP claims that Democrats are afraid to send the impeachment case to the Senate.
House to vote Thursday on curbing President Trump's actions against Iran
WASHINGTON — Speaker Nancy Pelosi set a House vote for Thursday on limiting President Donald Trump's ability to take military action against Iran as Democratic criticism of the U.S. killing of a top Iranian general intensified.Pelosi, D-Calif., announced the plan in a one-page statement that said last week's drone strike that killed Gen.
President Trump says Iran appears to be 'standing down' after strike
WASHINGTON — The U.S. and Iran stepped back from the brink of possible war Wednesday, as President Donald Trump indicated he would not respond militarily after no one was harmed in Iran's missile strike on two Iraqi bases housing U.S. troops.Speaking from the White House, President Trump seemed intent on de-escalating the crisis, which reached a new height after he authorized the targeted killing last week of Gen.
Joe Biden: Iran escalation shows President Trump 'dangerously incompetent'
AIN ASSAD AIR BASE, Iraq -- Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said Tuesday, Jan. 7 that President Donald Trump’s escalation of tensions with Iran proves him to be “dangerously incompetent” and puts the U.S. on the brink of war.Speaking in New York, Biden said President Trump used a “haphazard” decision-making process to order the killing of Iranian Gen.
Iran strikes back at US with missile attack at bases in Iraq, US official says very few if any casualties
AIN ASSAD AIR BASE, Iraq -- Iran struck back at the United States early Wednesday, Jan. 8 for killing a top Revolutionary Guards commander, firing a series of ballistic missiles at two military bases in Iraq housing American troops in a major escalation between the two longtime foes.Iranian state TV said it was in revenge for the U.S. killing of Revolutionary Guard Gen.
'All is well!' Pres. Trump responds to Iran missile attacks at bases housing US troops in Iraq
AIN AL-ASAD AIR BASE, Iraq -- President Donald Trump insisted “All is well!” on Tuesday, Jan. 7 after Iran fired surface-to-surface missiles at two Iraqi bases housing U.S. troops.
US prepares for possible Iranian reprisal after drone strike
WASHINGTON -- U.S. officials braced for Iran to respond to the killing of its most powerful general, noting heightened military readiness in the country and preparing for a possible “tit-for-tat” attempt on the life of an American military commander.
GOP clears Wisconsin primary field for President Trump
MADISON — Republicans decided Tuesday to place only President Donald Trump's name on Wisconsin's primary ballot this spring, setting up obstacles for any long-shot candidates to challenge him in the state.A committee made up of Republicans and Democrats met with state election officials in the state Capitol to decide which candidates will be placed on the April 7 primary ballot.
With new law, FCC hopes to make ‘significant dent’ in robocall crackdown
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Now that President Donald Trump has signed legislation aimed at stopping illegal robocalls, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) hopes the agency will make a significant dent in putting an end to the problem.FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said the TRACED Act is designed to help them crack down on robocalls.“It’s one of the things that’s generated the most complaints at the FCC, year, after year, after year,” Pai said.Pai said the law will require phone companies to develop ways to detect robocallers and directs the FCC to issue rules that allow phone companies to block those robocalls before they reach consumers.“Americans deserve the phone calls they want to get and deserve some peace from those they don’t want to get,” Pai said.Last year, Americans received nearly 60 billion illegal calls — and Senator John Thune said no one is immune to them.“Scammers use these calls to successfully prey on vulnerable populations,” Thune, R-South Dakota, said.Thune said the bill won’t provide an overnight fix to the issue but is a start.“It won’t prevent all illegal robocalling, but it’s a big step in the right direction,” Thune said.While the law is currently in effect, it’s unclear how soon consumers will see a change.
John Bolton 'prepared to testify' if subpoenaed in Senate trial
WASHINGTON — Former Trump national security adviser John Bolton said Monday that he is “prepared to testify” if he is subpoenaed by the Senate in its impeachment trial.Bolton, who left the White House in September, said that he has weighed the issues of executive privilege and that after “careful consideration and study” decided that he would comply with a Senate subpoena.“I have concluded that, if the Senate issues a subpoena for my testimony, I am prepared to testify," he said in a statement.Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has publicly expressed resistance to calling new witnesses in the trial, though Democrats are pressing to hear from Bolton and others who did not appear before the House's inquiry in the upcoming proceedings.Bolton's statement comes as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is stalling House-passed articles of impeachment against President Trump in a bid to get new witnesses to testify.
Congress demands answers from President Trump about Soleimani killing
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump insists that Iranian cultural sites are fair game for the U.S. military, dismissing concerns within his own administration that doing so could constitute a war crime under international law.
Pompeo: US may hit more Iranian Ieaders if Iran retaliates
WASHINGTON — The U.S. military may strike more Iranian leaders if the Islamic Republic retaliates for the Trump administration's killing of Tehran's most powerful general last week by attacking Americans or American interests, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday.As Pompeo conducted a round of TV interviews to explain President Donald Trump's decision to target Iranian Gen.
Iran abandons nuclear deal limits after US airstrike kills general
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran said Sunday it would no longer abide by any of the limits of its unraveling 2015 nuclear deal with world powers after a U.S. airstrike killed a top Iranian general in Baghdad, abandoning the accord's key provisions that block Tehran from having enough material to build an atomic weapon.Iran insisted in a state television broadcast it remained open to negotiations with European partners, who so far have been unable to offer Tehran a way to sell its crude oil abroad despite U.S. sanctions.
President Trump says 52 targets lined up if Iran retaliates
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump issued a stark warning to Iran on Saturday, threatening to hit dozens of targets in the Islamic Republic “very fast and very hard” if it retaliates for the targeted killing of the head of Iran's elite Quds Force.The series of tweets came as the White House sent to Congress a formal notification under the War Powers Act of the drone strike on Gen.
'No justice, no peace, U.S. out of the Middle East!' Nationwide protests condemned action in Iran and Iraq
WASHINGTON — Demonstrators in dozens of cities around the U.S. gathered Saturday, Jan. 4 to protest President Donald Trump's administration's killing of an Iranian general and decision to send thousands of additional soldiers to the Middle East.More than 70 planned protests were organized by CODEPINK and Act Now to Stop War and End Racism, a U.S.-based anti-war coalition, along with other groups.From Tampa to Philadelphia and San Francisco to New York, protesters carried signs and chanted anti-war slogans.
With hours' notice, US fast-response force flies to Mideast following killing of top Iranian general
FORT BRAGG, N.C. — Hundreds of U.S. soldiers deployed Saturday, Jan. 4 from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to Kuwait to serve as reinforcements in the Middle East amid rising tensions following the U.S. killing of a top Iranian general.Lt.
President Trump stirs Mideast tensions despite talk of 'endless wars'
MIAMI — With a single drone strike, President Donald Trump did more than just take out an avowed enemy of the United States.
UWM professor believes Iran will not avenge death of top commander on US soil
MILWAUKEE -- As tensions mount in the Middle East, the United States is preparing for Iran's next move.