The Trump administration is cracking down on blue state abuses of federal environmental legislation that impedes the White House&#8217;s push for American energy dominance.
The Environmental Protection Agency plans to issue a memo on Thursday clarifying the authority of state and tribal governments under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act. In recent years, states like New York and Washington have invoked that section to kill major fossil fuel projects, despite those states’ high energy prices.
“Under the last Administration, certain states attempted to leverage the Clean Water Act to undercut projects that would boost national and regional development and unleash American energy resources,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a statement. “With this memorandum, EPA is reinforcing the limits on Clean Water Act section 401 certification to support energy, critical mineral, and infrastructure projects that are key to economic growth and Power the Great American Comeback.”
Under Section 401, state and tribal governments may <a href="https://www.epa.gov/cwa-401/overview-cwa-section-401-certification" target="_blank" rel="noopener">block</a> “any activity that may result in any discharge into waters of the United States,” according to the EPA’s website. The law was designed to give local officials authority to step in if federally-permitted activities threatened water quality.
In 2020, the Trump EPA restricted the use of Section 401 authority. The move roiled blue states, and a coalition of 19 attorneys general joined together to <a href="https://www.mass.gov/news/ag-healey-sues-trump-administration-over-illegal-attack-on-clean-water-act" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sue</a> the administration over the rule change. The Biden administration <a href="https://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/regulation/epa-reverses-another-trump-administration-rule/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reversed</a> the Trump rules in 2022.
Now, the Trump administration is reinstating its 2020 guidance in an effort to stop state-level Democrats from using the law to block key fossil fuel projects, such as pipelines and coal shipping terminals.
According to the Trump administration, Democrats have expanded use of the rule beyond its statutory role. In 2017, several states <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2018/08/16/coal-crow-tribe-washington-regulations/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">blocked</a> construction of a series of massive coal export terminals, the Millennium Bulk Terminals, in southwestern Washington.
In a <a href="https://ecology.wa.gov/getattachment/8349469b-a94f-492b-acca-d8277e1ad237/MBTL-Denial.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> denying the project approval, Washington State officials said they lacked “reasonable assurance” under Section 401 that mitigation efforts would offset damage done to wetlands and waterways. State officials also cited the State Environmental Policy Act to claim “diesel emissions” from trains, “adverse impacts to vehicle traffic,” and “[t]rain-related noise levels” were among other reasons why the project should be killed.
Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D), who is currently running for mayor of New York City, blocked multiple pipeline projects during his tenure using Section 401. Cuomo blocked the Northern Access Pipeline in 2017, the Northeast Supply Enhancement Pipeline in 2018, and the Constitution Pipeline in 2019.
While natural gas pipeline projects were being blocked, New York has <a href="https://www.naturalgasintel.com/news/thousands-awaiting-natural-gas-service-in-new-york-amid-squeezed-supplies/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">suffered</a> under threats of shortages because of squeezed pipeline capacity. In January, the North American Electric Reliability Corp. <a href="https://www.nerc.com/news/Pages/Statement-on-NPCC-Northeast-GasElectric-System-Study.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> New York’s energy infrastructure is under “severe threats to reliability” because of its lack of extra pipeline capacity in the event of severe weather.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) continued Cuomo’s stance against natural gas pipelines, blocking the Northern Access Pipeline again in 2024 after it had received approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. While the state’s top Democrats have continued to kill pipeline projects, New York energy prices have remained some of the <a href="https://www.electricchoice.com/electricity-prices-by-state/#:~:text=The%20average%20electric%20rate%20across,to%2042.34%20cents%20per%20kWh." target="_blank" rel="noopener">highest</a> in the country.

Lee Zeldin

EXCLUSIVE: Trump EPA Cracks Down On Blue State Threats To American Energy Dominance

Donald Trump

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

President Donald Trump&#8217;s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is on a mission to &#8220;fix&#8221; the despised start/stop technology in newer cars that shuts down a vehicle&#8217;s engine when stopped in traffic or at a red light in the name of conserving fuel and saving the planet.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said on Monday that his agency would begin looking into how it can modify the start/stop feature. The EPA currently incentivizes car manufacturers to make cars with the start/stop system. The technology can give vehicles anywhere between a 3% to 10% fuel economy boost.
&#8220;Start/stop technology: where your car dies at every red light so companies get a climate participation trophy. EPA approved it, and everyone hates it, so we’re fixing it,&#8221; Zeldin wrote on X.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Start/stop technology: where your car dies at every red light so companies get a climate participation trophy. EPA approved it, and everyone hates it, so we’re fixing it. <a href="https://t.co/zFhijMyHDe">pic.twitter.com/zFhijMyHDe</a>
&mdash; Lee Zeldin (@epaleezeldin) <a href="https://twitter.com/epaleezeldin/status/1921894994769575972?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 12, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Zeldin did not elaborate on specific plans to change the feature.
Start/stop technology was first used by European car manufacturers on hybrids, but over the past decade, most automakers began implementing the system in many of their new vehicles, including SUVs and pickup trucks. By 2019, however, more automakers began giving drivers the option to shut off the start/stop system as people began to complain. Buick first gave drivers that option with its 2019 Envision based on &#8220;customer feedback,&#8221; according to <a href="https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a19561461/automakers-increasingly-offer-ways-to-deactivate-stopstart-systems-temporarily/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Car and Driver</a>. Ford, GM, Volvo, and Lincoln also began including the shut-off option in their start/stop vehicles between 2017 and 2018.
While most cars with start/stop technology allow drivers to deactivate the system, they can&#8217;t turn it off permanently, and owners of start/stop cars who don&#8217;t want to use the tech still have to turn it off every time they get back in the car. The EPA’s fuel-economy test results for vehicles with the start/stop system are affected if drivers turn the system off. According to Car and Driver, &#8220;If a vehicle’s stop/start system can be permanently turned off, then the vehicle’s fuel economy is tested both when stop/start is active and when it’s off. The EPA then averages the two tests for a resulting fuel-economy rating found on the car’s window sticker—which is certain to be lower.&#8221;
The response to Zeldin&#8217;s announcement was overwhelmingly <a href="https://x.com/epaleezeldin/status/1921894994769575972/quotes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">positive</a> on social media, with many people calling the objective &#8220;common sense.&#8221;

Traffic

Trump Admin Sets Out To ‘Fix’ Everyone’s Least Favorite Car Feature

Auto Companies

Cars

Trump Administration

The Environmental Protection Agency will save $300 million per year through a massive reorganization by completely slashing unnecessary climate programs and reducing staffing levels to levels not seen since the Reagan administration, the agency announced Friday.
Administrator Lee Zeldin said the streamlined reorganization is oriented towards focusing on the agency&#8217;s &#8220;core mission,&#8221; which he defines as &#8220;protecting human health and the environment.&#8221; Rather than focusing on environmental justice, it will focus on its statutory responsibilities such as air quality and safety of the water supply.
“With these organizational improvements, we recommit to fulfilling all of our statutory obligations and exceptionally delivering on EPA’s core mission of protecting human health and the environment,&#8221; said Zeldin. &#8220;This reorganization will bring much needed efficiencies to incorporate science into our rule makings and sharply focus our work on providing the cleanest air, land, and water for our communities. It will also save at least $300 million annually for the American people.&#8221;
A source familiar with the restructuring told The Daily Wire that the reorganization could lead to future cuts amounting to around 10% of the current workforce. In the ongoing round of the Deferred Resignation Program, better known as the &#8220;fork in the road&#8221; option for federal employees to leave government, there has been significant interest.
The agency has already received about 1,300 applications to leave, a source told The Daily Wire. The first &#8220;fork in the road&#8221; offer months ago yielded around 545 early resignations.
With the ongoing restructuring, more employees could soon be taking up the offer to leave. Over 8,300 EPA employees hopped on a briefing this week to learn about the agency&#8217;s ongoing Deferred Resignation Program and the Voluntary Early Retirement Authority.
<div id="attachment_915329" style="width: 2570px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-915329" class="size-full wp-image-915329" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/MixCollage-02-May-2025-02-02-PM-9910-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="2560" height="1280" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/MixCollage-02-May-2025-02-02-PM-9910-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/MixCollage-02-May-2025-02-02-PM-9910-300x150.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/MixCollage-02-May-2025-02-02-PM-9910-1024x512.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/MixCollage-02-May-2025-02-02-PM-9910-768x384.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/MixCollage-02-May-2025-02-02-PM-9910-1536x768.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/MixCollage-02-May-2025-02-02-PM-9910-2048x1024.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" />Side by side of current and proposed EPA Administrator Office restructuring.</div>
The changes will primarily impact the Office of the Administrator, Office of Air and Radiation, Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP), and Office of Water as the agency will seek to focus on its core statutory duties. Specifically, climate and atmospheric focused programs inside the Office of Air and Radiation are expected to be on the chopping block.
In some cases, the agency will also be incorporating more modern issues into the departments. For example, the Office of Water will now have more of a focus on cybersecurity to protect the water supply and water reuse issues. The agency will also be looking to form the Office of State Air Partnerships within the Office of Air and Radiation.
Earlier this year, the EPA ended the Biden administration&#8217;s diversity, equity, and inclusion office and its Office of Environmental Justice. With this move, the agency cut 280 employees and moved another 175 to perform tasks for other offices.

Vice President JD Vance

EPA To Slash Climate Programs, Promises Return To Reagan-Level Staffing

Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin visited San Diego on Earth Day to address the flow of sewage from Mexico&#8217;s Tijuana River across the border into the United States.
Zeldin visited San Diego to meet with local and Mexican officials to discuss the <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/04/21/us-news/epas-zeldin-demands-end-to-mexican-sewage-flooding-across-border/">flow of sewage</a> from the Mexican river, which has polluted American beaches and even hindered the training of Navy SEALs, some of whom have gotten sick as a result of the pollution.
“There, for decades, has been raw sewage that’s been traveling across the border, and Americans are very concerned with regards to beach closures, degradation of the Tijuana River Valley, and concerns of public health, air quality,” Zeldin <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/04/21/us-news/epas-zeldin-demands-end-to-mexican-sewage-flooding-across-border/">charged</a>. The EPA administrator explained that his visit to San Diego is intended to ensure “that the path forward is one of max collaboration and extreme urgency to end a crisis that should have ended a long time ago.”
&#8220;Mexico needs to fulfill their part in cleaning up the contamination that they caused. They cannot view this as a U.S. problem just because their contamination reached U.S. soil,&#8221; Zeldin asserted at a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYVmEzwCqfY">press conference</a> in San Diego. &#8220;They&#8217;re going to have to commit to that final cleanup&#8221; in addition to completing infrastructure projects to prevent future flows of sewage into the United States, the EPA administrator explained.
The EPA administrator, who also toured an international wastewater treatment plant, explained that Mexican officials are willing to collaborate with the United States to fix the crisis.
“It was clear with the way that the Mexican environmental secretary approached the conversation yesterday evening that she wants to have a strong, collaborative relationship,” Zeldin added. “I welcome that collaboration.” Zeldin went on to add that he’d work with Mexican officials to craft a comprehensive solution to end the crisis.
“What’s been communicated by the new Mexican president is an intense desire to fully resolve the situation,” Zeldin noted.
Daily Wire White House correspondent Mary Margaret Olohan asked White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt about Zeldin’s visit to the southern border to examine the flow of sewage from Mexico. Leavitt said that “Zeldin met with his Mexican counterpart to discuss steps that Mexico needs to take to ensure the water entering the United States is clean and safe.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
What does the White House have planned for Earth Day? <a href="https://twitter.com/PressSec?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PressSec</a> tells <a href="https://twitter.com/MaryMargOlohan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MaryMargOlohan</a>:
&#8220;[President Trump] has always maintained he wants America to have the cleanest air and the cleanest water, and we want to do what&#8217;s right for our environment and for our earth.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/nrNinIXu8A">pic.twitter.com/nrNinIXu8A</a>
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/1914738540858265921?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
She added that President Trump “has always maintained he wants America to have the cleanest air and the cleanest water, and we want to do what&#8217;s right for our environment and for our earth.&#8221;

Southern border

EPA’s Lee Zeldin Travels To Border To Hammer Mexican ‘Raw Sewage’ Polluting American Water

Border

California

Mexico

Pollution

Social Issues

U.S.

It&#8217;s Earth Day, and the White House is trying to fix a toxic and smelly environmental issue on the nation&#8217;s southern border.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday that the Trump administration is urging the Mexican government to do more to stop sewage from flowing across the border and into the United States. She highlighted President Donald Trump&#8217;s desire to &#8220;do what&#8217;s right&#8221; for the environment.
During Tuesday&#8217;s press briefing, Leavitt responded to a question from Daily Wire White House Correspondent Mary Margaret Olohan and discussed the work of Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, who is in San Diego pushing for the Mexican government to stop the flow of sewage into the United States.
&#8220;Administrator Zeldin met with his Mexican counterpart to discuss steps Mexico needs to take to ensure the water entering the United States is clean and safe, and he&#8217;s holding a press conference in San Diego today with elected officials and local stakeholders on the Tijuana River sewage crisis,&#8221; Leavitt said. &#8220;I would also add from the president himself, he has always maintained he wants America to have the cleanest air and the cleanest water, and we want to do what&#8217;s right for our environment and for our earth.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
What does the White House have planned for Earth Day? <a href="https://twitter.com/PressSec?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PressSec</a> tells <a href="https://twitter.com/MaryMargOlohan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MaryMargOlohan</a>:
&quot;[President Trump] has always maintained he wants America to have the cleanest air and the cleanest water, and we want to do what&#39;s right for our environment and for our earth.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/nrNinIXu8A">pic.twitter.com/nrNinIXu8A</a>
&mdash; Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/1914738540858265921?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Raw sewage from Mexico has traveled into the United States through the Tijuana River Watershed &#8220;for decades,&#8221; according to Zeldin, the New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/04/21/us-news/epas-zeldin-demands-end-to-mexican-sewage-flooding-across-border/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. The issue has raised concerns about &#8220;beach closures, degradation of the Tijuana River Valley, and concerns of public health, air quality,&#8221; Zeldin added. Trump&#8217;s EPA administrator met with Mexican Environmental Secretary Alicia Bárcena to discuss the crisis.
Trump <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/work-starts-to-stop-sewage-flows-into-california-from-mexico/2020/09/02/b8675f3e-ed86-11ea-bd08-1b10132b458f_story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pushed</a> to resolve the Tijuana sewage issue during his first administration, completing a $10.6 million project to prevent millions of gallons of sewage from entering the Tijuana River. Zeldin said on Monday that the crisis &#8220;needs to end.&#8221;
“[T]here’s nowhere more important for me to be tomorrow than on the border in California dealing with this very important public health and environmental crisis,” he added.

Karoline Leavitt

Leavitt Highlights Big Environmental Issue For Trump Admin On Earth Day

Earth Day

Environment

Politics

Southern Border

Daily Wire host Michael Knowles was part of the White House&#8217;s first-ever &#8220;Podcast Row&#8221; on Thursday, joining other podcasters in a room set up where they can stream, record, and talk with Trump cabinet officials.
The White House debuted Podcast Row as the Trump administration prioritizes giving access to journalists and news outlets outside of the legacy media. Podcast Row is similar to the &#8220;new media seat&#8221; the White House grants to journalists and podcasters once a month at the press briefing.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced the new setup for podcast hosts and quipped that those invited to Podcast Row reach &#8220;more viewers than CNN and the legacy media.&#8221;
“Hey everybody, today is Podcast Row here at the White House and our team has gathered a room full of podcasters with cabinet officials, White House officials who are talking to them about the president and his agenda,” Leavitt said. “And I bet you, the people in that room have much more viewers than CNN and the legacy media, just saying. We’re proud to welcome them to the White House.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Our very own <a href="https://twitter.com/michaeljknowles?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@michaeljknowles</a> is in The White House Podcast Row! <a href="https://t.co/VGhTVOcyy2">https://t.co/VGhTVOcyy2</a>
&mdash; Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/1905332459215974534?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 27, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Fun day planned&#8230;&#8221; Knowles wrote on X alongside a picture of the name plate given to him by the White House.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Fun day planned… 😎 🇺🇸 <a href="https://t.co/n4DcM9mR1h">pic.twitter.com/n4DcM9mR1h</a>
&mdash; Michael Knowles (@michaeljknowles) <a href="https://twitter.com/michaeljknowles/status/1905267611471905183?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 27, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Other journalists and commentators in attendance at Podcast Row on Thursday included <a href="https://x.com/nataliegwinters/status/1905263531512963395" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Natalie Winters</a> of Steve Bannon&#8217;s &#8220;War Room&#8221; and Canadian YouTuber <a href="https://x.com/thevivafrei/status/1905285209831973290" target="_blank" rel="noopener">David Freiheit</a>.
According to NewsNation reporter Libbey Dean, who was on hand to cover the event, numerous Trump officials stopped by to chat with the podcasters, including Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Happening now: Inside look at White House Podcast Row event.
In attendance today: <a href="https://twitter.com/RobertKennedyJr?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RobertKennedyJr</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/SecScottBessent?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecScottBessent</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/LeeMZeldin?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LeeMZeldin</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/EDSecMcMahon?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@EDSecMcMahon</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/PressSec?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PressSec</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/russvought?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@russvought</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/AlinaHabba?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AlinaHabba</a> <a href="https://t.co/nVZnT8bWTH">pic.twitter.com/nVZnT8bWTH</a>
&mdash; Libbey Dean (@LibbeyDean_) <a href="https://twitter.com/LibbeyDean_/status/1905281329559711962?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 27, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Michael Knowles

White House Hosts Inaugural ‘Podcast Row’

Linda McMahon

Media

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Russ Vought

Scott Bessent

White House

National security officials are grilled on Capitol Hill amid dueling accusations over a military strike text chain. Big food companies are fighting to keep soda and snacks on the subsidized menu. And, EPA Chief Lee Zeldin is taking swift action to dismantle cumbersome environmental regulations.
It’s Wednesday, March 26th, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. If you’d rather listen to your news, today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:
<iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/signal-snafu-soda-wars-3-26-25/id1576594336?i=1000700886698" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>
<h2>When The Group Chat Leaks…</h2>
<div id="attachment_897845" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-897845" class="size-large wp-image-897845" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Signal-Hearing-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Signal-Hearing-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Signal-Hearing-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Signal-Hearing-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Signal-Hearing-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Signal-Hearing-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Signal-Hearing-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Signal-Hearing-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />(Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)</div>
Topline: Top national security officials were on Capitol Hill yesterday, where lawmakers grilled them on how a journalist was added to a group chat about military operations.
Damage Control… Around two weeks ago, a user named “Michael Waltz” added Atlantic Editor in Chief Jeffrey Goldberg to a Signal group chat where Trump national security officials discussed upcoming strikes on Houthi terrorists. The fallout from that compromised series of communiques, in Washington and in the national press, has been substantial.
Several senior intelligence directors with the Trump administration were already set to testify before the Senate on Tuesday – the hearing naturally became all about the signal chat with Democrats accusing Trump officials of exposing classified information, and the officials defending the administration. CIA Director John Ratcliffe downplayed the severity of the leak in a heated exchange with Senator Jon Ossof (D-GA):
<blockquote>OSSOFF: Director Ratcliffe, this was a huge mistake, correct?
RATCLIFFE: No.
OSSOFF: A national political reporter was made privy to sensitive information about imminent military operations against a foreign terrorist organization, and that wasn’t a huge mistake? This is an embarrassment. This is utterly unprofessional.</blockquote>
Ratcliffe insisted that there was nothing inherently wrong with national security officials discussing military plans on Signal – it was approved under the Biden administration. “One of the first things that happened when I was confirmed as CIA director was Signal was loaded onto my computer at the CIA – as it is for most CIA officers,” Radcliffe testified before Congress. “That is a practice that preceded the current administration to the Biden administration.”
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, also a member of the chat, told Virginia Senator Mark Warner that “there was no classified material that was shared in that Signal chat.” 
Trump hasn’t said much about the saga yet, but it seems like he’s standing by Waltz and the entire team. The president told NBC yesterday that Waltz “has learned a lesson, and he&#8217;s a good man.&#8221; Trump added that he’s not concerned about the story, saying it is “the only glitch in two months, and it turned out not to be a serious one.”
<h2>Cutting Fat From The Budget</h2>
<div id="attachment_897849" style="width: 795px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-897849" class="size-large wp-image-897849" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Junk-Food-785x576.jpg" alt="" width="785" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Junk-Food-785x576.jpg 785w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Junk-Food-300x220.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Junk-Food-768x563.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Junk-Food-1536x1126.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Junk-Food-2048x1502.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 785px) 100vw, 785px" />(Photo by LauriPatterson by Getty Images)</div>
Topline: Food lobbyists are fighting tooth and nail to stop the Trump administration from limiting taxpayer subsidies for junk food. 
The Trump administration has made a strong push to restrict soda, candy, and other unhealthy options from purchases being made with SNAP, commonly called food stamps. Proponents say this is necessary in light of America’s obesity and overall health crisis, and chiefly, about how taxpayer money is spent. Federally, these changes have been discussed openly by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, who plays a key role in administering these benefits.
 There are also numerous bills in the House seeking to restrict junk food and soda from SNAP.
The movement has picked up steam on the state level: Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has <a href="https://governor.arkansas.gov/news_post/governor-sanders-calls-for-reforms-to-the-snap-program/">asked</a> the feds to allow her state to restrict SNAP. Lawmakers have made similar moves in Idaho, Kansas, Arizona, Indiana, Texas, and Wyoming, to name a few. In related news, West Virginia has just passed a bill that bans a number of food dyes often found in junk food and sugary drinks – that will affect the soda industry, too, which ran a <a href="https://www.medpagetoday.com/primarycare/dietnutrition/114739">strong opposition campaign</a> to that bill. Republican Gov. Patrick Morrisey signed that bill on Monday; it will go into effect in 2028, though it will affect school food programs this summer. 
The food industry is working across numerous fronts to protect the profits of these products. About 1 in 8 Americans receive SNAP benefits currently, with <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/american-heart-association-retracts-food-stamp-soda-opposition">soda</a> as the most frequently purchased item. About 10% of all SNAP spending goes toward soda and sugary drinks, and another 10% toward junk food. American taxpayers reportedly subsidize roughly <a href="https://www.ibtimes.com/soft-drinks-snap-benefits-congress-3756667?utm_source=chatgpt.com">$4 billion</a> worth of soda products through SNAP.
Buttering Trump Up: The American Beverage Association, or ABA, which represents all of those big soda companies, gave <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/rfk-jr-soda-snap-food-stamps-coke-pepsi-9bd9a872">money</a> to Trump’s inauguration, as they have for past presidents. Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Keurig Dr Pepper have directly engaged with administration officials – talking up their commitment to “zero-sugar” options and clear product labeling. Coca-Cola also famously met with Trump in January to gift him a personalized bottle of Diet Coke. 
Walmart has also engaged in lobbying efforts to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/american-heart-association-retracts-food-stamp-soda-opposition">stop</a> these restrictions, and, believe it or not, there was also a lobbyist from the American Heart Association (AHA) who advocated against these restrictions. As was first reported by The Daily Wire’s Luke Rosiak, the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/american-heart-association-retracts-food-stamp-soda-opposition">AHA</a> has since claimed that the lobbyist &#8220;miscommunicated&#8221; the group&#8217;s position. 
A poll commissioned by the ABA found that <a href="https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/health/republicans-divided-over-banning-purchase-soft-drinks-food-stamps?utm_source=chatgpt.com">58</a>% of 2024 Trump voters believe food stamps should be allowed to purchase soda. Overall, 64% of those polled agreed. But, again, this was conducted on behalf of the ABA, and it only polled about 800 people. It’s also noteworthy that a significant number of Americans who voted for Trump receive SNAP benefits – likely tens of millions of Americans. 
Trump himself has not said anything for or against restricting soda and other junk food from SNAP, though he has empowered RFK to enact his “MAHA” agenda.
<h2>EPA Cuts Spending and Regulation</h2>
<div id="attachment_897851" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-897851" class="size-large wp-image-897851" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Zeldin-and-Trump-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Zeldin-and-Trump-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Zeldin-and-Trump-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Zeldin-and-Trump-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Zeldin-and-Trump-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Zeldin-and-Trump-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Zeldin-and-Trump-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Zeldin-and-Trump-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)</div>
Topline: The second Trump administration could oversee one of the largest shifts in environmental policy in over a decade. EPA chief Lee Zeldin is leading the transition with an aggressive effort to cut extensive climate regulations.
The Trump administration, and Zeldin in particular, are aggressively attacking Democratic climate policies and green programs. It’s all part of President Trump’s stated goal of energy dominance.
“I am here to fight for part of that Trump mandate earned [on] November 5th,” Zeldin <a href="https://x.com/epaleezeldin/status/1899998341829730445">told</a> Fox&#8217;s Laura Ingram earlier this month. “[There are] people who cannot afford to be able to heat their home, to purchase a car, small businesses that are struggling to operate. People have been put out of work, and it&#8217;s going to end.”
Zeldin wants to reform and repeal dozens of the most burdensome climate rules. That includes, for example, Biden’s electric vehicle mandate that aims to force a radical change to the automobile market with half of new cars sold being all electric by 2032. Zeldin’s EPA has also set its sights on Obama’s 2009 endangerment finding – that rule essentially set the basis for the EPA to police greenhouse gas emissions in the United States and spawned a massive amount of environmental regulation.
Zeldin has also cut and reclaimed funds from climate programs. In a cabinet meeting on Monday, he said that the EPA had cut “over $22 billion worth of contracts,” which had previously been going to.
Trump’s Energy Secretary Chris Wright has worked alongside the EPA to greenlight a lot of oil and gas projects. And Wright has also been cutting regulations on energy producers – so much so that oil and gas executives are reneging on green investment pledges and pausing the transition to green energy that Democrats have wanted.
 There was also a major court case punishing Greenpeace for its extreme protest strategies. Last week, it was found liable in a nearly $700 million judgment for helping violent protesters destroy and vandalize property in their attempts to sabotage the Dakota Access Pipeline. The trial revealed that Greenpeace USA organizers had trained protesters and even purchased supplies the protesters used to commit illegal acts.

Intelligence Directors Testify At Senate Hearing On Worldwide Threats

Morning Brief: Signal Chat Fallout, Cutting Soda From SNAP, & EPA Deregulation

John Ratcliffe

Morning Wire

Tulsi Gabbard

WASHINGTON—Members of President Donald Trump&#8217;s Cabinet described the egregious waste of taxpayer dollars they are encountering — and ending — within their respective departments when they met with the president Monday.
The president sat down with his cabinet and Elon Musk around 11:00 a.m. in the White House. As the meeting concluded he described the meeting as a &#8220;very, very good cabinet meeting,&#8221; adding that the White House is &#8220;on our way to some tremendous numbers.&#8221;
Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins described how her department recently &#8220;canceled a contract in New York educating transgender and queer farmers on food justice and food equality,&#8221; telling the cabinet members &#8220;I&#8217;m not even sure what that means, but apparently the last administration wanted to put our taxpayer dollars towards that.&#8221;
Energy Secretary Chris Wright emphasized that President Joe Biden&#8217;s administration grew his department by 20% over the past four years, &#8220;all in an effort to reduce the production of energy in the United States and to make energy more expensive.&#8221;
&#8220;We are stewards of the American taxpayer dollars. That&#8217;s the job of everyone around this table, led by you,&#8221; Wright told the president. &#8220;We want to reverse that trajectory, and care about every dollar an American taxpayer gives us, and are we using it for the benefit of Americans.&#8221;
Trump, listening to his cabinet members describe cuts to their departments, said that the American people understand that his administration wants to &#8220;Make America Great Again,&#8221; arguing that &#8220;the country was riddled with fat.&#8221;
“We’ve been ripped off by every country in the world,&#8221; the president said.
<div id="attachment_896613" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-country-was-riddled-with-fat-trump-team-details-biden-waste-in-cabinet-meeting/us-politics-trump-cabinet-2" rel="attachment wp-att-896613"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-896613" class="wp-image-896613 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2206206343-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2206206343-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2206206343-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2206206343-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2206206343.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>Elon Musk, wearing a red hat, looks on as US President Donald Trump hosts a cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)</div>
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. also shared that while his department&#8217;s expenditures went up during the Biden administration, health care went down, and he argued that Elon Musk&#8217;s DOGE is helping HHS to &#8220;Make America Healthy Again.&#8221;
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem described her visit to the southern border and told cabinet members that deportations are down by 50%. She also shared that she&#8217;ll be heading to El Salvador soon to meet with the country&#8217;s president and to see the prison where the United States deportees are being held.
During the conversation on the border, the president said in response to Noem: &#8220;Yesterday, I was speaking to somebody, I was checking on the border and they said there was literally nobody on this massive plaza, a plaza that would hold hundreds of thousands of people, there was literally no one there, there were no people. It&#8217;s been an amazing transformation very quickly. We&#8217;re getting the bad ones out first, and we&#8217;re taking them out. And there&#8217;s some really bad ones, REALLY bad ones, murderers.&#8221;
Secretary of State Marco Rubio praised Trump for his diplomacy, telling those gathered around the table that &#8220;The American people should be proud that we have a president that&#8217;s promoting peace and the end of conflict on this planet.&#8221;
Rubio noted that even as they spoke, they had teams on the ground in Saudi Arabia meeting with the Russians and Ukrainians in hopes of making progress towards peace, arguing that Trump is the only leader &#8220;on the planet&#8221; that can &#8220;bring the two sides together&#8221; and end the conflict.
&#8220;Ultimately,&#8221; he said, &#8220;I think the only chance we have for peace is through the president&#8217;s leadership.&#8221;
Many companies are coming back to the United States, Trump told the media as he concluded the meeting, predicting that around $4 trillion worth of companies are moving back.
&#8220;It&#8217;s going to be tremendous jobs, high paying jobs too,&#8221; the president said.
He credited their return not only to his tariffs, but to the 2024 election, reminding the world: &#8220;Remember, there are no tariffs if you build here!&#8221;
&#8220;The numbers that we are talking about are crazy,&#8221; Trump promised. &#8220;Beyond anybody&#8217;s wildest expectation.&#8221;

US-POLITICS-TRUMP-CABINET

‘The Country Was Riddled With Fat’: Trump Team Details Biden Waste In Cabinet Meeting

brooke rollins

Elon

Marco Rubio

Pam Bondi

Pete Hegseth

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) cut hundreds of grants totaling $1.7 billion in the latest cuts to align spending with President Donald Trump’s agenda.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin <a href="https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-administrator-lee-zeldin-cancels-400-grants-4th-round-cuts-doge-saving-americans" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> the results of the fourth round of cuts identified with help from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) project on Monday. The agency said it has cut around $2 billion since Trump took office in January.
“Working hand-in-hand with DOGE to rein in wasteful federal spending, EPA has saved more than $2 billion in taxpayer money,” Zeldin said in a statement. “It is our commitment at EPA to be exceptional stewards of tax dollars.”
The agency is working to claw back $20 billion in funds that the Biden administration doled out under the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. The funds were turned over to Citibank in the months leading up to the election and held under the names of eight nonprofits. Those nonprofits intended to disperse the funds to other groups and programs.
Citibank has frozen the funds while the Department of Justice probes the issue. Zeldin has said he wants the money returned to the federal government.
Zeldin has called the funds “gold bars” that were shoveled out of the agency at the last minute. Last month, the EPA head <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/doj-prosecutor-steps-down-after-refusing-criminal-probe-into-20b-in-biden-climate-spending" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that $20 billion had been directed to go to a group of “pass throughs” that would then funnel the money to other pass throughs with the effect of funding friends and allies of the Biden administration.
$2 billion of the $20 billion was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/epa-doge-cut-nearly-70m-in-biden-era-grants-to-green-groups" target="_blank" rel="noopener">directed</a> toward a group called Power Forward Communities, a green group linked to Democrat Stacey Abrams. Zeldin suggested last month that the example represented a serious case of waste and fraud that the Trump administration is working to rectify.
“I made a commitment to members of Congress and to the American people to be a good steward of tax dollars and I’ve wasted no time in keeping my word. When we learned about the Biden Administration’s scheme to quickly park $20 billion outside the agency, we suspected that some organizations were created out of thin air just to take advantage of this,” Zeldin said in a <a href="https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/icymi-administrator-lee-zeldin-finds-gold-bars-epa-stacey-abrams-connected-group-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>.
“As we continue to learn more about where some of this money went, it is even more apparent how far-reaching and widely accepted this waste and abuse has been. It’s extremely concerning that an organization that reported just $100 in revenue in 2023, was chosen to receive $2 billion. That’s 20 million times the organization’s reported revenue,” he said.

EPA Ends Hundreds Of Grants Totaling $1.7 Billion In Latest DOGE Cuts

The Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have cut tens of millions of dollars directed under former President Joe Biden to left-wing green groups.
The Biden administration had awarded the funds through grants to a slew of environmental and activist groups. The grants totaled $77.1 million, but the EPA froze $67.4 million in payments yet to be made, according to the <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/02/22/us-news/doge-cuts-67-m-in-epa-grants-for-environmental-justice-groups/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New York Post</a>.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has welcomed DOGE officials into his agency to comb through spending programs and systems looking for waste, fraud, and abuse. The administrator touted the cuts to the environmental grants as another example of “wasteful spending end[ing] with the Trump Administration.”
“We will make sure every penny spent by EPA goes towards protecting human health and the environment, and Powering the Great American Comeback,” he added. “I am proud to partner with DOGE to restore fiscal responsibility and accountability in our government.”
Zeldin has spent much of his first weeks at the U.S. environmental regulator making cuts to the agency&#8217;s spending and reshaping its priorities to the Trump administration. The EPA head has been attempting to claw back $20 billion in “gold bars” that he says the Biden administration hurriedly shoveled out to allies and friends ahead of the former president leaving office.
The EPA chief said last week that $2 billion of the $20 billion identified was <a href="https://freebeacon.com/trump-administration/billions-doge-found-parked-at-bank-earmarked-for-stacey-abrams-backed-green-group/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">directed</a> to be paid out to Power Forward Communities, a green group linked to Stacey Abrams.
“I made a commitment to members of Congress and to the American people to be a good steward of tax dollars and I’ve wasted no time in keeping my word. When we learned about the Biden Administration’s scheme to quickly park $20 billion outside the agency, we suspected that some organizations were created out of thin air just to take advantage of this,” Zeldin said in a <a href="https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/icymi-administrator-lee-zeldin-finds-gold-bars-epa-stacey-abrams-connected-group-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>.
“As we continue to learn more about where some of this money went, it is even more apparent how far-reaching and widely accepted this waste and abuse has been. It’s extremely concerning that an organization that reported just $100 in revenue in 2023, was chosen to receive $2 billion. That’s 20 million times the organization’s reported revenue,” he said.

EPA, DOGE Cut Nearly $70M In Biden-Era Grants To Green Groups

A top prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney&#8217;s Office in Washington, D.C, resigned on Tuesday over an order to open a criminal investigation into Biden-era climate-related contracts.
Denise Cheung, head of the criminal division in the D.C. office, sent a resignation <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/02/18/read-resignation-letter-denise-cheung/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> to interim U.S. attorney Ed Martin. In the letter, Cheung said that she decided to resign her post after refusing to open a criminal investigation and issue grand jury subpoenas related to “whether a contract had been unlawfully awarded by an executive agency before the change in Administration.”
The investigation cited by Cheung is believed to be part of an effort by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to claw back at least $20 billion-worth of green energy contracts issued in the final weeks of the Biden administration, previously <a href="https://x.com/epaleezeldin/status/1889840040622321778" target="_blank" rel="noopener">targeted</a> by EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin as “gold bars off the Titanic.”
The funds Zeldin identified were found in a Citibank account and marked to be dispersed under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which, despite its name, is widely recognized as a largely green energy and climate action-oriented piece of legislation.
Zeldin has said that he wants those taxpayer funds clawed back and returned to the U.S. Treasury. In a <a href="https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/administrator-zeldin-announces-billions-dollars-worth-gold-bars-have-been-located" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> announcing the discovery, Zeldin said his agency would work with the Department of Justice to take back the funds.
Cheung in her letter said she “took point” on a letter to Citibank requesting that the funds be frozen, but refused to comply with an order from Martin to take harsher measures to ensure the funds stay in place.
“[B]ased upon the evidence I have reviewed, I still do not believe that there is sufficient evidence to issue the letter you described, including sufficient evidence to tell the bank that there is probable cause to seize the particular accounts identified. Because I believed that I lacked the legal authority to issue such a letter, I told you that I would not do so. You then asked for my resignation,” Cheung wrote.
Zeldin has characterized the $20 billion in funds as waste that was directed to eight “pass throughs” that were then going to direct the money toward other pass through groups.
“What the American public voted for was having a government that would be better stewards of tax dollars, caring about the economy, unleashing energy dominance, making sure that taxes are lowered, and the cost of living in America goes down,” Zeldin said in a Fox News interview on Tuesday.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
$20 BILLION in tax dollars stashed at an outside bank to split among 8 pass through entities to give to other entities, including even more pass throughs. With massively reduced oversight controls at EPA, this was a recipe for disaster from the start! <a href="https://t.co/ZLaN2WfG6R">pic.twitter.com/ZLaN2WfG6R</a>
&mdash; Lee Zeldin (@epaleezeldin) <a href="https://twitter.com/epaleezeldin/status/1892022422305407178?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 19, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Environmental Protection Agency

DOJ Prosecutor Steps Down After Refusing Criminal Probe Into $20B In Biden Climate Spending

Washington D.C.

EPA Administrator <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/lee-zeldin" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lee Zeldin</a> said in a video released on Wednesday night that his agency has discovered an unprecedented scheme that was utilized by the Biden administration to funnel money to far-Left activist groups.
&#8220;An extremely disturbing video circulated two months ago featuring a Biden EPA political appointee talking about how they were &#8216;tossing gold bars off the Titanic,&#8217; rushing to get billions of your tax dollars out the door before Inauguration Day,&#8221; Zeldin said.
He continued, &#8220;The gold bars were tax dollars, and tossing them off the Titanic meant the Biden administration knew they were wasting it.&#8221;
Zeldin said that he has contacted the U.S. Justice Department and the inspector general to launch investigations into the $20 billion that was transferred to an outside financial institution for the purpose of doling out funds to leftist organizations during Biden&#8217;s final days in office.
&#8220;Fortunately, my awesome team at EPA has found the gold bars,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Shockingly, roughly $20 billion of your tax dollars were parked at an outside financial institution by the Biden EPA.&#8221;
&#8220;This scheme was the first of its kind in EPA history, and it was purposely designed to obligate all of the money in a rush job with reduced oversight,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;Even further, this pot of $20 billion was awarded to just eight entities that were then responsible for doling out your money to NGOs and others at their discretion with far less transparency.&#8221;
He said that the financial agreement with the bank needs to be instantly terminated and the funds need to be returned to the government.
&#8220;The days of irresponsibly shoveling boatloads of cash to far-Left activist groups in the name of environmental justice and climate equity are over,&#8221; he added.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MxkzQn8S5p0?si=ZoUC_TmWe0w7VduP" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>

Lee Zeldin Reveals EPA Found Unprecedented Scheme Biden Admin Used To Funnel Money To Leftists

Biden Administration

Environmentalism

Taxes

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