JOSH SIEGEL and ALEX GUILLÉN, Staff Writers - Politico
Stephan:
All those Trump voters are about to discover their lives are going to become more miserable because Trump has appointed Lee Zeldin to head the EPA, and through Zeldin Trump has made it clear that he is going to promote petroleum and carbon energy, and gut regulations to protect Americans from pollution, even as his administration does little or nothing about climate change. This has planet-wide implications.
President-elect Donald Trump greets Lee Zeldin as he arrives to speak at a campaign event at a farm on Sept. 23, 2024, in Smithton, Pennsylvania. Credit: Alex Brandon/AP
President-elect Donald Trump on Monday announced he has picked former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) to helm the Environmental Protection Agency, the first step in what Trump’s supporters have said could be a thorough shakeup of the regulatory body.
Strikingly, Trump made his EPA nominee one of the very first personnel decisions of his incoming administration — an unusually prominent placement that appeared to reflect the prime role that energy deregulation played in his campaign messaging.
The selection of Zeldin, a vocal Trump ally in Congress during his first term, was a surprise after Andrew Wheeler, who served as the second EPA chief during Trump’s first term, was widely thought to be the frontrunner for the post.
At EPA, Zeldin will carry out Trump’s energy and environmental agenda, which includes pulling back Biden-era rules on climate and air pollution and potentially rescinding millions of dollars in funding for clean energy under […]
Once again Trump voters are going to experience exactly what they thought Trump would protect them from. Trump’s deportation schemes are not only going to create massive social disruption in communities all over the country; it is also going to be very costly. It is time for thinking Americans to realize that a large percentage, maybe even a majority of us, don’t understand what a democracy is supposed to be and, therefore, have little interest in preserving it. There is going to be a lot of misery and pain as a result for all but the rich, and even they will be impacted by climate change.
A girl wearing a “Build the wall, deport them all” t-shirt attends Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again Rally in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, U.S. October 19, 2024. Credit: Brian Snyder/ Reuters
President-elect Donald Trump ran on deporting millions of undocumented immigrants if he won a second term. And now that he prepares to enter the White House in January, his incoming administration has promised that mass deportations will be at the top of his mind from day one.
Reuters reported earlier this week that Trump’s plan to deport a significant portion of the 13 million undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States would cost roughly $968 billion over a 10-year period. This includes the cost of hiring untold thousands of additional Department of Homeland Security personnel to round up, detain and process targets of Trump’s mass deportations, in addition to the construction cost of detention camps, immigration judges and other related costs.
However, as Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Cay Johnston told MSNBC host Joy Ann-Reid on Friday, there is
One of the reasons we moved to a Blue state 15 years ago was what I saw happening with climate change. The other reason was I could see the rise of fascism in the United States; it was one of the reasons I walked away from a career in government, even though I had been approached to work for the President after being a Special Assistant for two Chiefs of Naval Operations. And I am so glad we did. Blue states are preparing for climate change as Red states are not, and now Blue state governors and legislatures are doing everything they can to Trump-proof themselves. Yesterday two people, one of whom I knew but the other I did not, and today a third person I didn’t know, all SR readers, wrote to tell me they were living in Red States and wanted to move, and what did I suggest? I told them all to look at the Pacific Northwest.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, center left, stands during the roll call at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024. Credit: AP
Democratic governors and attorneys general are working to Trump-proof their states ahead of his inauguration, gearing up to ensure their residents have access to medication abortion and the resources in place to fight Donald Trump’s actions in court.
On Thursday morning, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that he is taking the first step to safeguard his state from some of Trump’s worst policies by calling a special legislative session. Newsom wants the legislature to pass more funding for the California Department of Justice so that it can file lawsuits against Trump’s actions if need be.
“The freedoms we hold dear in California are under attack—and we won’t sit idle,” Newsom said in a release. “California has faced this challenge before, and we know how to respond. We are prepared, and we will do everything necessary to ensure Californians have the support and resources they need to thrive.”
Newsom thinks California will have to fight Trump on […]
Tom Homan, if you have ever seen him on television, you know is a vulgar thug who ought to be in prison for what he did to immigrants when he was in office in the previous Trump administration. But he was protected by Trump and now he will be back in office. He is one of about nine former Trump villains who avoided persectution and are now coming back into government. It is already clear that this is going to be an administration of villains and thugs.
Tom Homan speaks at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in July. Trump announced on Sunday that the former acting ICE director will oversee border control in his second administration. Credit: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP / Getty
President-elect Trump announced Sunday night that Tom Homan, his former acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), will join his second administration to oversee border control.
In his role as “border czar” — which does not require Senate confirmation — Homan will be in charge of the southern and northern U.S. borders, as well as “all Maritime and Aviation Security,” Trump said in his post on Truth Social.
“Likewise, Tom Homan will be in charge of all Deportation of Illegal Aliens back to their Country of Origin,” Trump wrote, adding that “there is nobody better at policing and controlling our Borders.”
It is unclear what role Homan will take, since managing immigration requires coordination between several agencies under the Department of Homeland Security.
Homan, a former police officer and Border Patrol agent, has worked under six presidents during his three decades in law enforcement. He […]
And so it begins. American voters are going to see their legal system restructured to favor the fascist rich. It is all straight out of the fascist playbook of which Project 2025 is just the latest iteration. By the time Trump’s administration ends in four years, if it does end, the legal system that has governed this nation since the Civil War ended will have been transformed into something the people who voted for Trump and the Republicans will not recognize, and no one will be more damaged by this than the people who voted for him.
President-elect Donald Trump moved to seize a measure of power months before being sworn in by demanding that the U.S. Senate not allow President Joe Biden to appoint any judges during his remaining time in office.
In a social media post on Sunday, Trump avoided endorsing a Republican majority leader for the next Senate but put some conditions on his support for the position.
“Any Republican Senator seeking the coveted LEADERSHIP position in the United States Senate must agree to Recess Appointments (in the Senate!), without which we will not be able to get people confirmed in a timely manner,” he wrote.
The former president complained that it took up to two years for some appointments to be approved during his previous administration.
“We need positions filled IMMEDIATELY!” he exclaimed.
Trump also had some demands that would limit Biden’s ability to do his job in the remaining months of his presidency.
“No Judges should be approved during this period of time because the Democrats are looking to ram through their Judges as the Republicans fight over Leadership,” he said. “THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE. THANK YOU!”
