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Common Dreams
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[l] at 3/15/25 2:02am
Freefalling through our authoritarian takeover, this week saw New York police in the grotesque faux-gold belly of the beast arrest about 100 Jews of conscience chanting "Free Free Palestine" and protesting the ICE abduction of a Palestinian peace advocate for likewise standing against Israeli genocide - both acts of Constitutionally-protected free speech this regime darkly deems criminal. Jews on detainment for expressing the wrong political ideas: "We know our history, and we know where this leads. This is what fascists do (to) cement control."The Jewish Voice For Peace protest - at the start of the Jewish holiday of Purim, which celebrates a long-ago, truth-telling queen who spoke out against another slaughter of innocents, in this case Jews - came after last weekend's nighttime arrest by ICE of Mahmoud Khalil, a 30-year-old leader and mediator of pro-Palestinian campus protests at Columbia University where he'd just earned a Master's degree in international affairs. The arrest was sinister: In newly released video recorded by his wife Noor Abdalla and shared by the New York Civil Liberties Union, burly plainclothes ICE agents confront Khalil in the lobby of his Columbia-owned apartment. They refuse to produce a warrant, say who they are or talk to the couple's attorney on the phone; they threaten both Khalil and his 8-months-pregnant wife before eventually handcuffing Khalil, forcing him into an unmarked car and driving away. "It was the most terrifying moment of my life," said Abdalla. "It felt like a kidnapping, because it was."In these times, the arrest of Khalil, after a "vicious, coordinated" doxxing campaign by Zionist thugs, was shocking but not surprising. A Syrian-born Palestinian citizen of Algeria whose family fled both the Nakba and then the war in Syria, Khalil was well-respected for his thoughtful, judicious work, first in the UK embassy in Beirut and last year as a negotiator during Columbia's protests. Though he's a legal permanent resident of the U.S. with a green card and a wife who's an American citizen, he was evidently considered fair prey by a stupid, bigoted regime that declared on arrival, "To all the resident aliens who joined in the pro-jihadist protests, we put you on notice: we will find you, and we will deport you." After announcing Khalil had been "proudly apprehended" - he was in plain sight at Columbia - Trump brayed it was “the first of many to come” among "Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before...(They) are not welcome here.”For 38 hours after his arrest, neither his wife nor lawyers knew where Mahmoud was held; it turned out authorities had secretly transported him from New York to New Jersey, and then in the middle of night to an infamous immigration detention center in Louisiana, a common, toxic ICE move to find judges more supportive of Trump's anti-immigrant assaults. But they still face one problem: Khalil hasn't been charged with any crime, and from the start Trump lackeys have been flailing to find one. ICE agents who arrived at his home first announced they'd revoked his student visa; when they were told he had a green card, they said they'd revoked that, which is almost impossible to do. Now, seeking to prove he is, as charged, an anti-Semitic supporter of Hamas - a claim for which there is no evidence and which his lawyers call "false and preposterous" - they're scrambling to justify their wildly illegal actions by clutching at implausible tactics - terrorism to immigration to McCarthy-era fearmongering.After a lame effort to base the arrest on a Homeland Security claim Khalil “led activities aligned to Hamas" - despite having no contact with them - Marco Rubio dug deep to find and cite a little-used provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act that the Secretary of State can deport "an alien whose presence or activities in the United States (would) have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences" for the U.S. Presented with this absurd notice in court in Louisiana, Khalil refused to sign it. Because irony is dead, the State Dept. may also use 1952's Red=Scare-and-anti- Semitic McCarran-Walter Act, which set quotas against "subversives" to keep out Jewish Holocaust survivors or "disruptors" suspected of being Soviet agents, to cancel visas of "pro-Hamas" foreign students like Khalil. Despite Jews fighting the law, Congress enacted it, making it almost impossible for Polish survivors to enter the U.S; those who did, like Jared Kushner's family, told US authorities they were German. Khalil's lawyers say the government’s case has "no basis in law," and it's "chilling" they seek to deport someone because they disapprove of speech "absolutely protected" by the Constitution: "The government doesn’t get to decide what you can talk about ...If it's adverse to U.S foreign policy interests, it's still protected." They also challenge, on legal and moral grounds, the regime's brazen effort to use the Immigration Act's “foreign policy” provision in this life-and-death situation: "If the government thinks Mahmoud’s speech in favor of Palestinian human rights and to end the genocide is not only contrary to U.S. foreign policy, that is something in itself, but that that dissent provides grounds for arrest, detention and deportation...It's an astonishing claim.” They are now trying to get Kahlil back in New York from Louisiana, a move they call a “retaliatory transfer” to restrict his access to his lawyers and family. A New York judge temporarily blocked his deportation at a hearing that drew hundreds of demonstrators.Still, Zionist forces remain hard at work. With polls showing U.S. support for a genocidal Israel at its lowest in 25 years, pro-Israel groups and lawmakers are fighting to stifle dissent, criminalize divestment efforts like BDS, further criminally blur the line between anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism, and delightedly deport the righteous likes of Mahmoud Khalil. Thus, the news that uber-Zionist Betar US, labeled a hate group by the Jewish ADL - for posts like their response to a list of thousands of children killed in Gaza: "Not enough. We demand blood" - has claimed credit for ratting out Khalil to the government. It also says it's compiled a thousands-strong “deportation list” of pro-Palestinian protesters on visas at Columbia and other schools, claiming to have "documentation" to support the claim they're “promoting the eradication, the destruction and the devolution of western civilization." Their former director charges Khalil is an "operative"; asked for whom, he said he hasn't figured that out yet.Meanwhile, a berserk regime keeps cracking down, with Dept, of Education plans to investigate over 50 universities for alleged "racial discrimination." Trump continues to torment Columbia, maybe because its city continues to hate him. He's threatened to pull $400 million in contracts and "review" $5 billion more if it doesn't get more pro-Zionist, cuts already affecting research at the medical school; his DOJ plans to probe if Columbia "was harboring or concealing immigrants (in) the US illegally" or even committing "terrorism crimes”; Homeland Security and ICE are roaming the campus searching rooms and reportedly detained at least two more students. When the besieged school ignored the Do Not Obey In Advance memo and said it expelled, suspended or temporarily revoked the degrees of students who took over Hamilton Hall during April demonstrations, Khalil and seven other students filed a lawsuit to stop them from providing activists’ names to vengeful GOP lawmakers in D.C.asking for them.Still, Trump pressed on. In "an extraordinary ultimatum," he demanded Columbia place its Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies programs under “academic receivership" for five years, ban masks that conceal identity or “intimidate others,” re-define antisemitism, abolish its discipline rules and "reform" admissions and international recruiting, adding, "We expect your immediate compliance." WTF. His minions are going with the rabid flow: Comic-book thug Tom Homan called Khalil "a national security threat," and Barbie Press Secretary said Khalil “distributed pro-Hamas propaganda, flyers with the logo of Hamas." His lawyers: "The reality is that Mr. Khalil completely, vehemently denies doing anything like that. He has absolutely no connections to Hamas whatsoever. (His) punishment should outrage anybody who believes speech should be free in the United States...If (he) is deported, no one can have any confidence in legal and constitutional protections as a line of defense against arbitrary state violence and punishment." It was in the same belief Khalil's arrest marks a fascist escalation from which "there is no going back" that about 300 Jewish Voice For Peace activists, allies and Holocaust descendants flooded the public atrium at Trump Tower to protest against "a clear move from the playbook for authoritarian government we know all too well." Their calls: “Bring Mahmoud home now! Not In Our Name! Stop Arming Israel! Fight Nazis Not Students! Never again for anyone, never again is now!" and, stubbornly even as police continuously clambered up and down that damn gold escalator to thin and handcuff their red-shirted ranks, "Free, Free, Free Palestine!" They argued Khalil's arrest "does nothing to make Jews safer.“ They recalled the stories "we grew up on" of relatives abducted by the Nazis, authoritarian regimes targeting and scapegoating people, grieving families separated. They proclaimed, "We will not stand by" and "we will not be silent." And they chanted even as they were dragged away, "Come for one, face us all." — (@)
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[l] at 3/14/25 1:46pm
This week alone, by using new levers of state power and old, inapplicable statutes, the Trump administration has: Initiated deportation proceedings against a green card holder for protesting on a college campus – a clear attempt to weaponize immigration law to chill political dissent and free speech across the country. Readied the invocation of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, infamously used to justify the internment of Japanese, German, and Italians during World War II, to seize sweeping new powers to conduct indiscriminate mass deportations. And the sitting Vice President offered a disturbing encapsulation of the right wing project to remake America around MAGA’s preferred image, with J.D. Vance stating on Fox News regarding the Mahmoud Khalil case and implications, “It's about who do we, as an American public, decide gets to join our national community? And if the Secretary of State and President decide a person shouldn't be in America, it's as simple as that.” The following is a statement from Vanessa Cárdenas, Executive Director of America’s Voice, reacting to the larger implications of this week:“The Trump administration’s expanded immigration crackdown is just the tip of a very dangerous spear for American democracy and Americans’ rights and liberties.Ripped from the playbook of authoritarian movements, it’s not hyperbolic to say they are looking to dismantle core principles of our democracy, viewing the executive branch and state power as means to seek political retribution, crack down on free speech and subvert or ignore the rule of law. Taken together, these actions take America back to the darkest chapters of our national and world history. The resulting fear, intimidation and chaos is a deliberate feature of their efforts.To push back and stand up for a different vision of America, we need to be clear eyed about what we’re seeing and the larger stakes and not pretend it’s business as usual. First, they came for the immigrants.”
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[l] at 3/14/25 1:36pm
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) released a judgment declaring Ecuador’s international responsibility for violating the rights of the Tagaeri and Taromenane Indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation. The Court determined that the Ecuadorian government failed in its duty to guarantee the principle of no contact of these peoples, allowing illegal incursions into their territory by third parties. Likewise, the creation of the Tagaeri Taromenane Intangible Zone (ZITT) was implemented without due diligence, facilitating extractive activities in the Yasuní National Park without applying the precautionary principle. In addition, the government failed to adopt adequate measures to protect the Tagaeri and Taromenane Indigenous peoples from violence by external actors. The ruling establishes that Ecuador violated, among others, the rights to life, personal integrity, and collective property of the Indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation by failing to prevent the episodes of violence that occurred in 2003, 2006, and 2013, in which members of the Tagaeri and Taromenane were killed. The government is also responsible for the forced separation of two Indigenous girls after the 2013 massacre, which affected their cultural identity and fundamental rights. The court decision comes after voters in a 2023 national referendum opted to keep the 846 million barrels of crude permanently in the ground underneath part of Yasuní National Park. The country’s Constitutional Court gave President Daniel Noboa’s administration one year to decommission drilling – closing 247 wells, dismantling infrastructure, and remediating and restoring the region. But to date, only four wells have been closed, exacerbating the existential threat to the Tagaeri-Taromenane. The IACHR gave Ecuador one year to implement its binding decision, which will have a major impact on the next president and future of oil extraction in the country. The ruling also opens the door to further restrictions on drilling in other areas inside Yasuní, or future oil concessions if the ZITT is expanded. Ecuador will hold run-off elections on April 13, 2025 between incumbent right-wing president Noboa and Luisa González, the hand-picked candidate of former leftist president Rafael Correa. Both administrations seek to expand oil activities in the country’s Amazon region, despite opposition from local Indigenous peoples. Concerning the popular referendum, the court ordered the Ecuadorian government to adopt “legislative, administrative and any other measures to effectively implement the decision taken in the popular consultation of August 20, 2023 to keep the crude of Block 43 indefinitely under the subsoil.” It also ordered the government to guarantee the application of the precautionary principle in any extractive activity in the region. The Court also ordered 20 measures of reparations, restitution, and guarantees of non-repetition, including the obligation to investigate the massacres of 2003 and 2006, determine government responsibilities for the violation of the rights of the girls contacted and forcibly separated, train its officials in the rights of peoples living in voluntary isolation, establish effective judicial mechanisms for the protection of their territories, the obligation of the government to present a report on the improvement of the current monitoring measures of the ZITT, the creation of a technical commission for the evaluation of the ZITT to guarantee the protection of the peoples living in voluntary isolation, and that a public act of recognition of responsibility be carried out. This commission should include the participation of independent experts, representatives of Indigenous organizations, and civil society, as well as guaranteeing government funding for its adequate functioning. The ruling marks a milestone in the defense of peoples living in voluntary isolation throughout the region and demands that Ecuador move from abandonment to immediate action for their effective protection. There are no more excuses: the government must guarantee their right to exist, free from violence and exploitation. “This judgment of the Inter-American Court is the result of many years of struggle and is a guarantee of the rights to territory for peoples in isolation, so that they can live without the threat of oil, mining, and other threats. This is a milestone for all Indigenous peoples living in isolation in the region and throughout the world. It is a precedent of the struggle of years and the Waorani are united. We are celebrating this victory and condemning the government for violating the rights of the people,” Juan Bay, President of the Waorani Nationality of Ecuador (NAWE), underscored. “This judgment is historic in several ways. It is the first time that the IACHR Court has issued a ruling regarding peoples living in voluntary isolation and ratifies the standards of protection and respect for the principle of no contact, precaution, and intangibility of their territories located in the Ecuadorian Amazon. On the other hand, it creates a historical precedent on the need to cease oil exploitation to protect the PIAV, since the court orders compliance with the popular consultation of Yasuní that has been pending since August 2023. This is an emblematic example of climate and social justice for the world,” emphasized Nathaly Yépez Pulles, Ecuador Legal Advisor at Amazon Watch. Kevin Koenig, Climate, Energy, and Extractive Industry Director at Amazon Watch, explains that this ruling has implications for the United States as well: “This decision makes it crystal clear: anyone consuming and or importing crude from Ecuador is complicit in the violation of the rights of isolated Indigenous peoples and undermining the will of Ecuadorian voters, the country’s Constitutional Court, and now the Inter-American Court on Human Rights. California is addicted to Amazon crude, and the first step is admitting it has a problem.”
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[l] at 3/14/25 1:35pm
In response to a post on X in which Elon Musk tried to recast blame for history’s worst genocides away from Hitler, Stalin, and Mao and onto public-sector workers, American Federation of Government Employees National President Everett Kelley issued the following statement: “The implication that the American citizens working at your local VA hospital or Social Security office are worse than Hitler, Stalin, or Mao—history's most despicable masterminds of genocide and mass murderer—is totally disconnected from reality. That's obvious to every American. “That this baseless accusation comes from the single most influential person in our government should alarm every citizen.“His intent doesn’t matter. His actions, disregard for the truth, and utter contempt for the patriotic Americans serving their country—a third of whom are veterans of the armed forces—does matter. It has no place in American government. “It's time for President Trump to step up, end the chaos that's harming the country and his own administration, and tell Elon Musk ‘You’re fired.’”
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[l] at 3/14/25 1:33pm
Jewish Voice for Peace calls on Columbia University President Katarina Armstrong to rescind all disciplinary charges against anti-war student protesters and to stand up for its core values. Yesterday, the University announced it had expelled, suspended, or temporarily revoked the degrees of dozens of students involved in the Hind’s (Hamilton) Hall takeover protests last year. These disciplinary measures are the latest in a long and futile series of actions undertaken by the Columbia administration in an attempt to appease President Trump’s authoritarian demands: its once-open campus is shuttered to the public, protest is severely restricted, and administrators forced out world-renown legal scholar Katherine Franke. Last week, Columbia also remained silent when the Department of Homeland Security abducted and detained graduate student Mahmoud Khalil last week. Despite Columbia’s efforts to aid Trump’s authoritarian crackdown, the Trump administration has revoked $400 million in grants and contracts to the university. Yesterday evening, ICE agents conducted raids on two of its student dorms.As Jews, we know that silence and complicity will only invite further violence against the most vulnerable members of Columbia University’s community. Jewish Voice for Peace urges Columbia University to stand up for its core values. Call for the immediate release of Mahmoud Khalil, revoke disciplinary charges against protesters, and take concrete action to protect its threatened community members from authoritarian threats they face. Jonah Rubin, Sr. Manager of Campus Organizing, Jewish Voice for Peace: “Yesterday, as Jews around the world prepared to celebrate Purim, Columbia University drastically expanded its draconian punishment of students who participated in last year’s anti-war protests. The Purim story focuses on Esther and Vashti, feminist icons renowned for their ometz lev, their bravery in speaking truth to power, even at great risk to themselves. Columbia, on the other hand, displays tremendous cowardice, prostrating before Trump and the authoritarian right. History does not look kindly on institutions that rush to aid authoritarian crackdowns. It is crucial that Columbia University stand up for its core values — including the right to engage in research, teaching, and protest about Palestine — rather than acquiescing to an authoritarian government bent on the destruction of institutions of higher education.”JVP staff and students are available for comment
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[l] at 3/14/25 1:31pm
In his confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee, Mehmet Oz failed to distance himself from his previous statements on privatizing Medicare and demonstrated that he is completely unqualified to become the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid. Public Citizen Co-President Robert Weissman issued the following statement:“Today, Mehmet Oz showed he is profoundly unqualified to lead any part of our healthcare system, let alone an agency as important as CMS. Between his massive conflicts of interest across the healthcare sector and his endorsement of further privatizing Medicare, Oz would be a threat to the health of tens of millions of Americans. Privatized Medicare Advantage plans deliver inferior care and cost taxpayers nearly $100 billion annually in excess costs.“It is time for President Trump to put down the remote, stop finding nominees on television, and instead nominate people with actual experience and a belief in the importance of protecting crucial health programs like Medicare and Medicaid. “Trump, Musk, and RFK Jr. fail to put the American people first as they seek to gut agencies and make dangerous cuts to health programs to fund tax cuts for billionaires. Oz indicated he would not oppose such cuts, bringing more destruction to life-saving programs.“Oz has no place in government and should be roundly rejected by every Senator.” Click here to read Public Citizen’s analysis on the impacts of expanding Medicare Advantage.
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[l] at 3/13/25 10:13am
Amid a growing number of legal and legislative efforts to hold Big Oil companies accountable for their role in the climate crisis, a coalition of nonprofit groups are calling on Congressional Democrats to “proactively and affirmatively reject” potential efforts aimed at shielding the fossil fuel industry from legal liability. In a letter to Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, 195 groups including Earthjustice, Sunrise Movement, and the American Association of Justice, pointed to past efforts from the fossil fuel industry to secure a liability waiver from Congress, as well as statements from President Trump, as reason to anticipate a new push to immunize polluters. “We have reason to believe that the fossil fuel industry and its allies will use the chaos and overreach of the new Trump administration to attempt yet again to pass some form of liability waiver and shield themselves from facing consequences for their decades of pollution and deception,” the groups wrote. “That effort — no matter what form it takes — must not be allowed to succeed.” Dozens of state, municipal, and tribal governments have filed lawsuits against major oil and gas companies to hold them accountable and make them pay for deceiving the public about the dangers of fossil fuels. Several of those cases are advancing toward discovery and ultimately trial. Twice this year the U.S. Supreme Court has denied requests — most recently on Monday — aimed at shielding Big Oil companies from facing such lawsuits, even after industry allies targeted the justices with an unprecedented pressure campaign. Separately, a growing number of state legislatures are advancing climate superfund bills that would compel major fossil fuel companies to contribute to funds supporting climate adaptation, infrastructure, and community rebuilding efforts based on their historical emissions. Vermont and New York passed first-of-their-kind climate superfund laws last year, both of which are now facing legal challenges from fossil fuel interests, and at least 10 additional states have introduced similar legislation in 2025. The groups’ letter asks Schumer and Jeffries “to draw a line in the sand now — before fossil fuel industry allies divulge their specific plans — and unite your caucuses in firm opposition to any Congressional efforts to bail out climate polluters from facing legal and legislative consequences for their central role in the climate crisis.” "Democrats need to be on guard so that Big Oil’s congressional allies can’t sneak immunity into a bill without it meeting fierce and vocal resistance,” said Aaron Regunberg, Director of Public Citizen’s climate accountability project. “No industry should be above the law — especially one whose criminal actions have fueled the greatest threat to human safety in history.""Big Oil companies know they face massive liability, and we know they'll do everything they can to avoid facing the evidence of their climate deception in court,” said Richard Wiles, President of the Center for Climate Integrity. “Now that the Supreme Court has repeatedly refused to bail out Big Oil, and lawsuits against the companies are getting closer to trial, members of Congress must not give the fossil fuel industry a 'get out of jail free card' for its fraudulent and destructive behavior."“For decades, the fossil fuel industry has known the health and climate harms of its actions. Instead of addressing them, they have tried everything to insulate themselves from the catastrophes they cause,” said Earthjustice Action Vice President of Policy and Legislation Raúl García. “That’s not how fairness works, and it’s not how the law works. Just like anyone else, they need to be held accountable for the harms they perpetrate on people and communities. The last thing they deserve is a liability shield, and we urge Congress to oppose and block any effort to help these companies evade accountability for their actions.” "The gun industry wrote this playbook years ago, and we've witnessed the tragic consequences when corporations secure legal shields from accountability. What's at stake here isn't just who pays for climate disasters – it's whether our democracy allows powerful industries to simply rewrite the rules when justice catches up to them,” said Cassidy DiPaola, Communications Director, Make Polluters Pay. “The fossil fuel industry spent decades burying climate science while their products fueled the crisis. Now that the bill is coming due, they want taxpayers to cover their tab. Lawmakers must decisively reject any attempt by the fossil fuel industry to evade accountability and ensure both justice today and the right of future generations to hold polluters responsible for decades of deception.”"As people around the country and world suffer from record-breaking global temperatures and unprecedented extreme weather events, the science is clear that burning fossil fuels is the primary driver of dangerous and deadly climate change,” said Kathy Mulvey, Climate Accountability Campaign Director at the Union of Concerned Scientists. “Major oil and gas companies have understood for decades that their products could have catastrophic effects on people and the planet, yet they engaged in a long-term, deliberate disinformation campaign. Now, when there is growing momentum to make fossil fuel corporations begin to pay for the damage they have caused, policymakers must stand firm and protect their constituents against any attempts by the industry to evade accountability for its pollution, deception, and destruction.""Working people are footing the bill for climate change. That's why a growing number of state and local governments are demanding that the oil and gas corporations that profit off causing the climate crisis — and mislead the public about it — start paying their fair share,” said Sunrise Movement Executive Director Aru Shiney-Ajay. “Congress needs to stand with working people — not Big Oil — and refuse to give immunity for oil and gas billionaires."A copy of the letter is available here.The 195 organizations that signed the letter are Adirondack Voters for Change ALIGNAll Our EnergyAllegheny County Clean Air NowAlliance for JusticeAlliance of Maine Health Professionals for Climate ActionAmerican Association for JusticeAmericans for Financial ReformArizona Health Professionals for Climate ActionBetter Future ProjectBig ReuseBold AllianceBreathe Project Bronx River - Sound Shore Audubon California Environmental VotersCampaign for Renewable EnergyCapital District Community EnergyCommunity Advocates for a Sustainable EnvironmentCatholic Charities Tompkins/Tioga Justice & Peace MinistryCenter for Biological DiversityCenter for Climate Change and HealthCenter for Climate IntegrityCenter for Justice & DemocracyCherokee Concerned Citizens Chesapeake Climate Action Network Church Women United in New York StateCitizen Action of New YorkCitizens Climate Lobby - Brooklyn Citizens Committee for Flood Relief Clean Water ActionClean, Healthy, Educated, Safe & Sustainable Community, Inc.Clean+HealthyClimate ChangemakersClimate Code BlueClimate Equity Policy CenterClimate Families NYCClimate Generation Climate Hawks VoteClimate Health NowClimate Reality Project Chicago Metro ChapterCoalition to SAVE the Menominee River, Inc.Coastal Research and Education Society of Long IslandCommunitopiaCommunity Advocates for a Sustainable EnvironmentConcerned Health Professionals of New YorkConsumer Federation of AmericaConsumer WatchdogCorporate AccountabilityCourage CaliforniaDamascus Citizens for SustainabilityDeep Green Resistance NYCDelaware-Otsego Audubon SocietyDon't Gas the Meadowlands CoalitionEarth Ethics, Inc. EarthjusticeEcoEquity Elders Climate ActionElders Climate Action MassEmpower New JerseyEnvironmental Advocates NYExtinction Rebellion USExtreme Weather SurvivorsFood & Water WatchFor Love of WaterFor the ManyFossil Free CaliforniaFossil Free TompkinsFrackBustersNYFriends of the ClearwaterFriends of the Earth USGas Free SenecaGen-Z for ChangeGrassroots Environmental EducationGreater Boston Physicians for Social ResponsibilityGreen OssiningGreenFaithGreenLatinosHabitatMapHealth Professionals for a Healthy ClimateHuman Impact PartnersImpact FundIndivisible ADK/SaratogaIndivisible HarlemIndivisible Mohawk Valley Climate Crisis WGInner City Green Team Jewish Climate Action Network, NYCJewish Climate Action Network, MAJunta Comunitaria Pastillo Tibes CorpLong Island Progressive CoalitionMaine Climate Action NowMake Polluters PayMetro JusticeMicah Six Eight MissionMichigan Climate Action Network Michigan Clinicians for Climate ActionMiddlefield NeighborsMissouri River Bird ObservatoryMN350 Mothers Out FrontMothers* Rebellion GlobalNational Association of Consumer Advocates National Consumers league Natural Resources Defense CouncilNew Paltz Interfaith Earth ActionNew York Communities for Change New York Lawyers for the Public InterestNew York Progressive Action NetworkNew Yorkers for Clean Power North American Climate, Conservation and EnvironmentNorth Country Earth ActionNorth Shore Audubon Society North Star FundNY Public Interest Research GroupNY State Council of Churches NY-GEONYCD16/15 IndivisibleNYPAN Environmental CommitteeOil and Gas Action NetworkOil Change InternationalOregon League of Conservation VotersOregon Physicians for Social ResponsibilityPark County Environmental Council People for a Healthy Environment Peoples Climate Movement - NYPhiladelphia Solar Energy AssociationPhysicians for Social Responsibility, ColoradoPhysicians for Social Responsibility, MainePhysicians for Social Responsibility, PennsylvaniaPhysicians for Social Responsibility, TexasProgressive SchenectadyPublic Citizen Public JusticeQuaker Action Mid Atlantic RegionRatepayer and Community Intervenors, Finger Lakes, NYReach Out AmericaReAL Edgemere CLT Reclaim Our PowerRegenerating ParadiseRise EconomyRising Sun Center for Opportunity Rivers & Mountains GreenFaithRPI Sunrise Movement San Francisco Bay Physicians for Social ResponsibilitySane Energy ProjectSeneca Lake Guardian Serpentine Art and Nature CommonsSierra ClubSierra Club Pennsylvania ChapterSisters of St Joseph of Rochester, Office of Justice and Care for Creation Sisters of St. Dominic of Blauvelt, NYSolarize AlbanySouth Bronx UniteStand.earthStaten Island Urban CenterStop NY Fracked Gas PipelineSunrise MovementSUNY New Paltz Environmental Task ForceSustainable Finger LakesTake Action Advocacy GroupTakeAction MinnesotaThe Climate CenterThe Climate Reality Project New York Chapters CoalitionThe Rachel Carson CouncilThird ActThird Act LawyersThird Act MassachusettsThird Act MarylandThird Act NYCThird Act Upstate New YorkThird Act VirginiaThree Rivers WaterkeeperTIAA-Divest!Tompkins County Climate Protection InitiativeUlster ActivistUnion of Concerned ScientistsUnited For Clean EnergyUnited Muslim Alliance of AlbanyUpper Nyack Green CommitteeVermont Natural Resources CouncilVermont Public Interest Research GroupVirginia Clinicians for Climate ActionVirginia League of Conservation VotersWashington Physicians for Social Responsibility Weber Sustainability ConsultingWESPAC Foundation, Inc.Westchester for ChangeWorcester Congregations for Climate and Environmental Justice 198 methods350 Bay Area350 Conejo / San Fernando Valley350 Wisconsin350Brooklyn350Hawaii350PDX
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[l] at 3/12/25 2:57pm
The Trump Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) moved to cancel $2 billion in grants to help communities burdened by pollution and will shutter every environmental justice office nationwide, according to published reports.The following is a reaction by Matthew Tejada, Senior Vice President for Environmental Health at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council). Prior to joining NRDC, Tejada led EPA’s environmental justice office. “Trump’s EPA is taking us back to a time of unfettered pollution across the nation, leaving every American exposed to toxic chemicals, dirty air and contaminated water. “The grants that EPA moved to cancel are some of the most important to help make communities across the nation safer, healthier, and more prosperous. They are helping rural Virginia coal communities prepare for extreme flooding, installing sewage systems on rural Alabama homes, and turning an abandoned, polluted site in Tampa, Florida into a campus for healthcare, job training, and a small business development.“Those who have paid the highest price for pollution, with their health, are now the first to be sacrificed by Trump’s EPA. But they will not be the last. Every American should be worried about what this portends. We are witnessing the first step of removing environmental protections from everyone, as the chemical industry and fossil fuel producers get their way – and the rest of us will pay with our health and lost legal rights.”
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[l] at 3/12/25 2:56pm
Today, Donald Trump’s EPA announced 31 deadly and dangerous actions the agency is taking, including attacking safeguards to limit pollution from power plants and vehicles, methane and other deadly emissions from oil and gas sources, Mercury and Air Toxics standards, the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, wastewater regulations at coal plants, and many other critical protections for the environment and public health. The standards that the EPA seeks to undermine are based on a strong scientific record and serve a number of public interests, including lowering the amount of deadly toxins fossil fuel-fired plants are allowed to release into the air and water, reducing pollution at steel and aluminum mills, and requiring fossil fuel companies to control pollution, like soot, ozone, and toxic and hazardous air pollutants at power plants. If these rules are withdrawn, the American public will see devastating health impacts. EPA estimated that just one of the rules would prevent 4,500 premature deaths and save $46 billion in health costs by 2032. The health toll and cost of rescinding all the rules listed in the EPA’s announcement would be vastly higher. In response, Sierra Club Executive Director Ben Jealous issued the following statement: “Donald Trump’s actions will cause thousands of Americans to die each year. It will send thousands of children to the hospital and force even more to miss school. It will pollute the air and water in communities across the country. And it will cause our energy bills to go up even more than they already are because of his disastrous policies. But as they put all of us at risk, Trump and his administration are celebrating because it will help corporate polluters pad their profit margin. “The American people should be furious. The EPA exists to protect us from serious pollution that endangers our lives and wellbeing, but Trump and Lee Zeldin are attempting to turn it into corporate polluters’ best friend. “Make no mistake about it: we will fight these outrageous rollbacks tooth and nail, and we will use all resources at our disposal to continue protecting the health and safety of all Americans.”
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[l] at 3/12/25 2:55pm
President Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency moved today to potentially scrap the landmark scientific finding that forms the core basis of federal climate action. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has announced plans to reconsider the agency’s endangerment finding, threatening to batter years of climate policies to protect people and wildlife from runaway global heating.“The Trump administration’s ignorance is trumped only by its malice toward the planet,” said Jason Rylander, legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute. “Come hell and high water, raging fires and deadly heatwaves, Trump and his cronies are bent on putting polluter profits ahead of people’s lives. This move won’t stand up in court. We’re going to fight it every step of the way.”The 2009 endangerment finding concluded that planet-warming pollution like carbon dioxide and methane threatens public health and the welfare of current and future generations. It was based on overwhelming scientific evidence that has only become more robust and irrefutable since then.The United States is the second largest carbon polluter in the world, after China, and the largest historical emitter of greenhouse gasses.The endangerment finding set the stage for protecting the climate. It underpins federal regulations that have reduced climate-damaging pollution from cars and trucks, saving 7 billion tons of emissions by 2032. It also supports regulations reducing pollution from oil and gas production and power plants under the Clean Air Act. Eliminating the finding calls these and other future critical climate protections into question.The EPA finalized the endangerment finding less than a week after the Center for Biological Diversity and 350.org petitioned the agency to set a national cap for greenhouse gas pollution under the Clean Air Act, citing the EPA’s proposed finding and the clear evidence of climate pollution’s harm to health and the environment. The EPA has not provided a final response to that petition.“Removing the endangerment finding even as climate chaos accelerates is like spraying gasoline on a burning house,” said Rylander. “We had 27 separate climate disasters costing over a billion dollars last year. Now more than ever the United States needs to step up efforts to cut pollution and protect people from climate change. But instead Trump wants to yank us backward, creating enormous risks for people, wildlife and our economy.”
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[l] at 3/12/25 2:47pm
This afternoon, the Environmental Protection Agency announced they are "reconsidering" 31 climate and environmental protections. EPA Secretary Lee Zeldin called it a "dagger straight into the heart of the climate change religion." In response, Sunrise Executive Director Aru Shiney-Ajay issued the following statement: "This is a fuck you to anyone who wants to breathe clean air, drink clean water, or live past 2030. The Trump administration is trying to roll back decades of critical health and safety regulations that have saved millions of lives and are all that’s standing between us and runaway climate change. Trump doesn't care about working people, all he cares about is pleasing the oil and gas billionaires who bankrolled his campaign. They know their industry is dying. Wind and solar are cheaper and safer than fossil fuels. So, they are trying to buy their way to profitability by rigging the rules in their favor. If they get their way, they will wreck our air, our water, burn down our homes, and hand future generations an unlivable climate. From moms in the 1970s who wanted their kids to be able to play outside without getting asthma to young people in the 2020s who went on hunger strike to force Congress to pass a climate bill, generations of Americans have fought and sacrificed for these regulations. No way in hell we will let a few corrupt, pathetic politicians turn the clock back now. You’ll see more from us soon."
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[l] at 3/12/25 2:33pm
Impeach Trump Again, a non-partisan campaign led by Free Speech For People, added the Trump Administration's blatant disregard for the judiciary branch as a new ground for an impeachment investigation against President Trump. Some of the Trump administration’s oversteps of the judiciary branch include: refusing to release $2 billion in foreign aid in defiance of multiple court orders; refusing to adhere to court orders that prohibit the Office of Management and Budget from implementing a freeze on all federal assistance; and refusing to adhere to a court order requiring U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Charles Ezell to testify in person on March 13, 2025, in a lawsuit challenging Ezell and OPM’s termination of thousands of employees. “The checks and balances of our three-branch government is a cornerstone of our democracy, created by our country’s founders because they were rightfully afraid of how quickly, in the absence of a balanced system, our democracy might become a tyranny. Trump has usurped the powers of the legislature and now tramples on the authority of the judiciary,” said Courtney Hostetler, Legal Director of Free Speech For People. “In just one month, he has repeatedly ignored court rulings that have and must restrain his unlawful abuses of power. He, like all Presidents, must abide by the rule of law—and because he has not, Congress must adhere to its own obligations to carry out an impeachment investigation.” Impeach Trump Again, a nonpartisan campaign led by Free Speech For People, had already collected over 250,000 petition signatures in support of an impeachment investigation of President Trump before these recent actions. Rep. Al Green recently announced on the House Floor that he plans to bring articles of impeachment against the president. Since Inauguration Day, the campaign has documented multiple abuses of power President Trump has already committed, including: planning the forced removal of Palestinians from Gaza; abusing his power to seek retributions against perceived adversaries, co-opting and dismantling independent government oversight; unconstitutionally usurping Congress’s powers; receiving foreign and domestic emoluments; depriving citizens of their birthright citizenship; corruptly dismissing criminal charges against Eric Adams; abusing the pardon power; abusing the emergency power; blocking efforts to secure U.S. elections; unconstitutionally usurping local and state authority; and engaging in unlawful, corrupt practices during the 2024 presidential election campaign. For more information on the campaign, please visit impeachtrumpagain.org.
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[l] at 3/12/25 2:27pm
Average U.S. egg prices have hit a record high of $5.90 per dozen, according to the latest monthly consumer price index, released today. This eclipses the previous record high of $4.95/dozen in January. The U.S. Department of Agriculture forecasts egg prices could jump another 41% this year.Just last week, the consumer advocacy group Food & Water Watch released a new report — “The Economic Cost of Food Monopolies: The Rotten Egg Oligarchy” — detailing how the U.S.’s largest egg producer has reaped tremendous profits during the yearslong bird flu outbreak at consumer expense. The U.S. Department of Justice opened an investigation into price-fixing by the nation’s largest egg corporations just last week.Food & Water Watch Research Director Amanda Starbuck issued the following statement: “Record-high egg prices have everything to do with corporate greed. While skyrocketing prices transform eggs into a luxury item, the food monopolies are seeing green. President Trump needs to get serious about lowering American food prices — starting with cracking down on the food monopolies exploiting the worsening bird flu crisis for profit.” The Food & Water Watch report finds that Cal-Maine, the nation’s largest egg corporation, raised prices during the early bird flu outbreak to rake in $1 billion in windfall profits in its FY 2023, while not experiencing a single flock outbreak of its own that fiscal year. These trends were echoed nationwide, as national and regional prices spiked despite a relatively stable egg supply.
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[l] at 3/12/25 2:25pm
In a letter delivered this morning to Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer and fellow Senate Democrats, nearly 150 advocacy groups from across the country called on them to reject the Republican budget proposal passed by the House yesterday, in light of the Trump administration’s ongoing operation to illegally dismantle the agencies and functions of the federal government. The letter was facilitated by the environmental organization Food & Water Watch and signed by groups including Progressive Democrats of America, Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Earth, Our Revolution, 350.org, New York Communities for Change and Citizen Action NY.The letter states, in part: Musk and Trump are illegally dismantling critical agencies and programs that protect workers, our environment and the economy, while ignoring Congress in the process. We call on you to take a strong public stance and rally the Senate to reject any spending bill that allows this lawlessness to continue… We call on you to withhold all votes for any spending bill until this stops. “Musk and Trump are in the middle of executing an illegal partial government shutdown. Democrats must not vote for any spending bill that doesn’t address this,” said Mary Grant, water program director at Food & Water Watch. “Approving the budget bill passed in the House is an invitation for Musk and Trump to continue their efforts to shut down and eliminate key government functions that protect people’s food, water, health, and pocketbooks. Senator Schumer and Democrats in the Senate should stand strong and oppose this dangerous bill.”Notably, the Republican spending measure eliminates Congressionally-directed spending for clean water projects. It zeros out the $1.4 billion in earmarked funding through the EPA’s State Revolving Fund (SRF) programs, and $117 million through USDA’s Rural Water and Waste Disposal assistance program. While the overall funding levels for the SRF programs are unaffected, he rural water program is reduced by the amount of the earmarked projects, amounting to a 20 percent cut in funding for rural water and wastewater projects. The proposal would cut USDA’s Watershed and Flood Prevention Operations by 58 percent by zeroing out $20 million in earmarked projects, and it eliminates $39 million in EPA’s State and Tribal Assistance Grants that were previously earmarked for remediation and environmental management activities. It would also cut USDA’s Conservation by $19 million and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) by $14 million.
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[l] at 3/12/25 2:24pm
In response to the Trump administration’s unlawful arrest and detention of Mahmoud Khalil, a lawful permanent resident and recent graduate of Columbia University, Paul O’Brien, Amnesty International USA’s Executive Director, made the following statement: “The arrest and detention of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian student activist and lawful permanent resident, is another attack on human rights by the Trump administration. Each and every one of us – regardless of immigration status – has the right to peaceful assembly, freedom of expression, and due process. “Targeting and threatening peaceful protesters and their immigration status for the content of their protest, such as advocating for the human rights of Palestinians, is a violation of human rights. This targeting sends a chilling message to people across this country, on and off campuses, that anyone exercising their rights will be subject to repression, detention, and possible deportation. And for the immigrant communities already living in fear throughout the U.S., they are now only further pushed into the shadows with fear that they could be deported for speaking out. “Freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are human rights, not grounds for deportation. “The U.S. government must release Mahmoud Khalil immediately. Colleges and universities must also take steps to protect their immigrant students from ICE enforcement and ensure that the human rights of all of their students and faculty to protest in support of Palestinian rights and other issues is respected and protected.”
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[l] at 3/12/25 11:44am
Discussions at this week’s OECD Export Credits Forum in Paris face a new geopolitical reality after South Korea blocked a landmark climate agreement that would have ended USD 41 billion in annual taxpayer financing for fossil fuels at the end of last year. After nearly two years of EU and UK-led negotiations, the binding agreement would have halted direct financial export support for fossil fuel projects provided by Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, an exclusive group of the world’s wealthiest nations. Negotiators are meeting in Paris this week at the OECD Export Credits Forum, it is clear that the opportunity that existed at the last meeting, before the Trump Administration took office, is gone.Alongside the EU, the UK, Canada, US, New Zealand, Australia and Norway supported binding OECD fossil fuel restrictions after already adopting such restrictions at the national level as part of the Clean Energy Transition Partnership. However, South Korea stalled negotiations until the change in US administration, rejecting even basic transparency measures for export finance. It blocked what could have been a historic deal that would have catalysed the global clean energy transition and supported parallel and pressing energy security and affordability objectives. Most OECD export finance for fossil fuels flows to Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) projects. Rather than supporting energy security or affordability, these projects increase countries’ exposure to volatile gas markets and, according to a recently published report from Carbon Tracker, involve stranded assets risks as the market is on a trajectory towards oversupply as gas demand drops. Amidst growing geopolitical instability, OECD countries committed to climate leadership must continue to walk the walk and find new ways to end international taxpayer subsidies for fossil fuels, while increasing support for a just energy transition. Efforts to end international public finance for fossil fuels is not only a critical win for the climate, but also equally important for energy security and affordability worldwide. The Export Credits Forum is also taking place as news is breaking that the US Export Credit Agency, US EXIM, is set to approve financing for the controversial Mozambique LNG project, which is mired in allegations of human rights violations as well as having the potential to have annual emissions as large as all 27 EU countries combined. EXIM is set to take this decision at its board meeting tomorrow.In response: Dongjae Oh, Head of Oil and Gas, Solutions for Our Climate (Korea), said: “South Korea’s reluctance to align with its partners in restricting fossil fuel financing was a major obstacle in the negotiations, contributing to their failure. At a time when renewable energy is expanding globally, Korea has instead chosen to side with the fossil fuel industry—jeopardizing our planet’s future. This year, Korea must step up and work with its allies to make a meaningful commitment to combating climate change by ending fossil fuel finance, whether through OECD mechanisms or bilateral agreements. If it fails to act, Korea risks being left behind as the world transitions to a cleaner, more sustainable future.”Nina Pusic, Export Finance Climate Strategist, Oil Change International, said: “Despite the disappointing outcome, an unprecedented number of OECD countries worked around their differences and nearly reached an agreement to end the largest flow of international public money to oil and gas. We expect those countries who argued for fossil fuel restrictions to stay committed in their leadership and meet their international obligations to stop funding fossil fuels and instead support a just transition to reliable and affordable renewable energy.”
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[l] at 3/12/25 11:42am
In a concerning development, the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), the world’s largest banking climate alliance will hold a vote on a proposal that would weaken its commitment to align $54 trillion in assets with the Paris Agreement’s critical target of limiting global warming to 1.5°C. An affirmative vote will mean the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, established in 2021 as a key part of the Global Financial Alliance for Net Zero, will adopt a less stringent goal of keeping heating “well below 2°C”, a significant retreat from the urgent action required to address the climate crisis. Andreas Sieber, Associate Director of Global Policy and Campaigns at 350.org says“Rather than appeasing those resisting climate action, the Net-Zero Banking Alliance must take decisive action to uphold the 1.5°C target and end fossil fuel expansion. The alliance faces instability as some members withdraw as a result of being afraid and too short-sighted to commit to climate action required, above all cutting fossil fuel financing. However, the need for binding regulations and accountability measures has never been more urgent. Clearly, banks are concerned about the potential legal consequences for failing to meet net-zero commitments, underscoring the urgent need for more robust public regulatory frameworks.The global climate justice movement calls on banks to uphold their commitments to the 1.5°C target and immediately halt funding for fossil fuel expansion. Anything less is a failure to protect vulnerable communities and a threat to the planet’s future. The time for vague promises and inadequate action is over—banks must act decisively to address the climate emergency.” The move comes as global temperatures surpassed the 1.5°C threshold for the first time last year, a stark reminder of the need for stronger, not weaker, climate action. Last year’s Banking on Climate Chaos report revealed that many alliance members have continued to pour nearly $700 billion annually into fossil fuel projects, despite joining the NZBA and committing to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. This contradiction underscores a disturbing pattern: while banks publicly endorse climate goals, their actions continue to fuel the climate crisis. Chuck Baclagon, Asia Regional Campaigner at 350.org says“The Net Zero Banking Alliance’s proposal to weaken its commitments is more than just a policy tweak—it’s a retreat at a time when we need an advance. Shifting from a 1.5°C target to a vague -2°C ambition ignores what the science is telling us: every fraction of a degree matters, and every delay costs lives. But there’s still time to do this right. The NZBA and its member banks must stand firm, not shrink from their commitments. If financial institutions want to claim leadership on climate, they need to act like it—by accelerating the shift to clean energy, funding real decarbonization, and ensuring a just transition for those who need it most. The stakes couldn’t be clearer.”
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[l] at 3/12/25 6:49am
With Congress moving to vote on a government spending bill despite the Trump administration’s ongoing and explicit refusal to honor existing appropriations levels, Revolving Door Project Executive Director Jeff Hauser issued the following statement: “Negotiating an unsatisfactory continuing resolution in order to maintain the status quo might make sense in ordinary times, but these are far from ordinary times. For weeks now the Trump administration has been flagrantly ignoring existing appropriations; there is no reason to believe they will treat new appropriations levels with any more respect. The public and the courts alike need to know that the U.S. Congress does not accept Donald Trump and Elon Musk shredding the core precepts of our Constitution's separation of powers. Congress—not the president, and not the president’s top donor—has the power of the purse.” The Revolving Door Project is continually monitoring the ongoing assault on the capacity of the federal government, including tracking the administration’s failures to comply with court orders, the DOGE agents carrying out Musk’s mission to dismantle public services, and the agencies they’re illegally gutting.
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[l] at 3/11/25 1:37pm
Today, Sen. Bernie Sanders released the Medicare Dental, Hearing and Vision Expansion Act on the floor of the U.S. Senate. The bill would greatly expand enrollees' access to dental, vision, and hearing services through the traditional Medicare Program. A similar bill was also introduced in the House by Rep. Lloyd Doggett (TX). Public Citizen Health Care Advocate Eagan Kemp issued the following statement:“Dental, vision, and hearing services are crucial forms of health care.” said Kemp. “At the same time Trump and his cronies in Congress try to rip health care away from millions and push for further privatization of Medicare, Senator Sanders and Representative Doggett are showing what one of our top priorities in health care should be – improving traditional Medicare. The introduction of this legislation is an important step to ensure Medicare enrollees can access the care they need, and we hope that Congress will act quickly to pass these common sense reforms. Health care is a human right.”
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[l] at 3/11/25 12:35pm
Ahead of Friday’s Senate confirmation hearing for Dr. Mehmet Oz to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), Public Citizen released a new research brief shining a light on the hundreds of millions of dollars Medicare Advantage companies have spent on lobbying.“If Oz is confirmed as the CMS Administrator, attacks on traditional Medicare are likely to move into overdrive,” said Eagan Kemp, a health care policy advocate at Public Citizen. “We should strengthen Medicare by improving it and expanding access to it, not weaken it through further privatization.”Top findings from the brief include: Since their inception in 2003, Medicare Advantage plans are estimated to have cost taxpayers more than $600 billion in overpayments. These overpayments are expected to grow to $1 trillion over the next decade.Just seven companies account for 84 percent of all Medicare Advantage enrollment. Disclosures reveal that these seven companies spent more than $330 million combined lobbying on all issues over the last five years, according to data from OpenSecrets.In 2024, these seven companies sent a combined 328 lobbyists to lobby the federal government. 223 lobbyists — nearly 70 percent of the total — reported specifically lobbying on “Medicare Advantage,” among other things.Dr. Mehmet Oz, President Trump’s nominee for Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator, has endorsed the expansion of Medicare Advantage and has been one of the program’s most vocal supporters. For more information on how Medicare Advantage harms seniors and taxpayers or on Dr. Oz’s conflicts of interest, contact Emily Leach at eleach@citizen.org.
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[l] at 3/11/25 10:32am
Putting the millions of Americans who use digital payments systems at risk of fraud, the Republican-led House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) is taking up a resolution to block the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) “larger participant rule” aimed to prevent Big Tech firms like PayPal, Venmo, Cash App, Apple Wallet, and Elon Musk’s X-Money from taking advantage of consumers. If they are successful like Senate Republicans last week, the CFPB will be unable to hold Big Tech companies accountable to the same federal laws as large banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions. “ This is a gift to Big Tech and likely the personal finances of Trump and Musk themselves. These companies process over 13 billion transactions a year, millions of Americans are relying on them for safe, and secure payments. Allowing companies like Apple, PayPal, and X-Money to avoid federal laws creates a blindspot for rampant financial abuse and fraud.” Accountable.US Executive Director Tony Carrk Earlier this month, new findings from Accountable.US revealed that President Trump and Elon Musk’s attacks against the CFPB open the door for both to further enrich themselves and their own business ventures into digital payment systems at the expense of millions of Americans. Late last year, Trump Media & Technology Group filed a trademark to create a broad financial services platform Truth.Fi. The new initiative would be subject to a separate proposed interpretative rule by the CFPB seeking to expand the definition of “funds” regulated under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA) to digital wallets and cryptocurrency payment platforms. Both companies could potentially be subject to CFPB oversight under the Republican-blocked “larger participant” rule.
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[l] at 3/5/25 3:12pm
Today, in response to a Department of Veterans Affairs memorandum outlining plans to slash 83,000 additional positions, American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) National President Everett Kelley issued the following statement: “These soon-to-be fired workers are patriotic Americans who chose to work at the VA because they genuinely care for the welfare of veterans and their families. They take to heart the department’s mission 'to care for him who shall have borne the battle…’ “Firing more than 80,000 workers, a third of whom are veteran themselves, will destroy the VA’s ability fulfill the PACT Act’s promises to veterans who either died or became ill as a result of exposure to burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic substances. Most of these employees were hired explicitly to provide the benefits provided for in the PACT Act. “The VA has been severely understaffed for many years, resulting in longer wait times for veterans in need. The DOGE plunder of career VA employees, adding to the illegal mass firings of thousands of probationary employees, can only make matter worse. Veterans and their families will suffer unnecessarily, and the will of Congress will be ignored. “Until Elon Musk and Donald Trump came on the scene, America never turned its back on our veterans and their families. Their reckless plan to wipe out the VA’s ability to deliver on America’s promise to veterans will backfire on millions of veterans and their families who risked their lives in service for our country. “On behalf of the 311,000 VA employees AFGE represents, I call on Congress to intervene in these un-American tactics and put a stop to Elon Musk’s DOGE rampage through America’s most cherished agencies in a blatant attempt to justify privatizing government services.”
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[l] at 3/5/25 8:59am
On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate is scheduled to vote on a bill to revoke the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s final rule to supervise digital payment apps like Venmo, Apple Pay and Google Wallet the same way the agency monitors companies that issue traditional credit cards and bank accounts. The vote is the latest in a damning and telling chain of events benefiting Elon Musk: Nov. 21, 2024: The CFPB finalizes a rule enabling the agency to proactively supervise digital payment apps Nov. 27, 2024: Musk tweets “Delete CFPB” Jan. 28, 2025: X CEO announces that X Money will debut with a partnership with Visa Feb. 7, 2025: Musk’s DOGE staffers enter the CFPB and kick off an effort to shut it down March 5, 2025: The Senate is set to vote on legislation to revoke the CFPB’s digital payments rule Every step of the way, Musk has gotten closer to launching X Money without a watchdog to ensure that the platform adheres to federal rules mandating data security standards, disputes for fraudulent payments, consumer protections against debanking and more. Demand Progress has been a strong supporter of the CFPB’s efforts to supervise digital payment platforms. The following is a statement from Emily Peterson-Cassin, corporate power director at Demand Progress:“Elon Musk wants to cripple consumer protections for digital payment apps and the U.S. Senate is doing his bidding. Not only does Musk want X, a platform swarming with bots and crypto scams, to be able to reach into your bank account, he also wants to defang and ‘delete’ the agency responsible for ensuring that X Money follows federal standards for data security and fradulent payment disputes. Senators must side with American consumers, and not online scammers, by voting ‘NO’ on this dangerous bill.”
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[l] at 3/5/25 6:52am
Jewish Voice for Peace Action is gravely concerned that the Trump administration and right-wing actors in Congress are using false accusations of antisemitism as a pretext to crush free speech and dissent in civil society and exert unprecedented control over American universities. Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing entitled Never To Be Silent: Stemming the Tide of Antisemitism in America. At a time when antisemitism is actively endorsed in the Republican party — as evidenced by Elon Musk and Steve Bannon’s recent Nazi salutes — the Republican senators leading this hearing have zero credibility in seriously addressing antisemitism. It is clear this hearing is political theater intended to attack the Palestinian rights movement as it works to end a genocide. Although it will do nothing to promote Jewish safety, it will expand authoritarian policies to dismantle civil liberties, and enable the MAGA Right to score cheap political points. Members of Congress are dangerously and inaccurately conflating support for Palestinian freedom with antisemitism. This conflation allows for anti-Palestinian and anti-democratic actors to pretend to care about Jewish safety, while in reality working to silence those who protest for Palestinian human rights or other social justice causes. Jewish Voice for Peace Action Political Director Beth Miller; Professor Barry Trachtenberg, Presidential Chair of Jewish History at Wake Forest University; and several Jewish college students are available to comment. Beth Miller, Political Director of Jewish Voice for Peace Action: “The Trump administration and its allies in Congress are operating under the guise of fighting antisemitism, while actually working to attack the Palestinian rights movement, universities, and civil liberties. Just yesterday, Trump doubled down on his plans to jail and deport anti-war student organizers, and to punish universities for allowing students to protest and exercise their civil liberties. It’s time for Congress to wake up and start fighting back.”Barry Trachtenberg, Presidential Chair of Jewish History at Wake Forest University, Member of Jewish Voice for Peace Academic Advisory Council: “These false accusations of antisemitism evacuate the term of its meaning precisely at the time when real antisemitism is dramatically rising, including from leaders like Elon Musk and Steve Banon. Distorting the meaning of antisemitism and making Jews the face of a campaign to crush free speech is deeply dangerous to Jewish Americans and all of us who work for collective liberation.”Hershel Barnstein, University of Maryland, Class of 2025“Hearings like this will set a precedent that allows for authoritarian attacks on any group that opposes the MAGA agenda. As a Jewish student, I refuse to allow my identity to be fuel for fascist crackdown on my fellow students.”Ellie Baron, Bryn Mawr College, Class of 2025 “It is essential we continue working to dismantle real antisemitism while also defending our friends and community members who are falsely accused of antisemitism. The only way forward is through forging greater solidarity with all people who are targeted by fascism and supremacist ideologies, including antisemitism and anti-Palestinian racism.”
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[l] at 3/4/25 10:29am
An early wildfire season in the U.S. that began in Los Angeles and is currently hitting the Carolinas and Georgia this week also poses risks to the Southern Plains states of Texas and New Mexico, according to a new outlook issued by the National Interagency Fire Center.Dr. Rachel Cleetus, the policy director with the Climate and Energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, writes in a new blog that hotter, drier conditions, coupled with gusty winds, are contributing to these winter fires. She notes that state and federal policymakers should ensure that adequate funding and resources are available to deal with wildfires so fire-damaged communities can recover.“The Trump administration’s mass layoffs of thousands of forest service employees, combined with federal funding freezes that affect wildfire mitigation and prevention projects, are their own red flag warnings going into this year’s fire season,” writes Cleetus. “Across the board, indiscriminately cutting staff and budgets at agencies such as NOAA, USDA and FEMA that contribute to predictive data and wildfire risk mapping, firefighting, and disaster response and recovery will only make things more unsafe for everyone.”
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[l] at 3/4/25 10:25am
In advance of Friday’s highly anticipated jobs report, CEPR Senior Economist Dean Baker released the following statement:“It is remarkably dangerous to treat economic policy like a reality TV show. This jobs report could signal a rapid turn in the labor market. We went from perhaps the strongest labor market in half a century to one marked by uncertainty in almost every sector. While we are not likely to pick up much of the effect of the DOGE cuts, we should see some impact, particularly on the hiring side. Many businesses have put hiring plans on hold; this is especially true in the healthcare sector, but we could see similar trends with state and local governments, universities, and other sectors that rely on federal support. It is not out of the question for job growth to be close to zero in February, and we may also see a modest uptick in the unemployment rate.”Baker’s full analysis appears below. Read it online here.February 2025 Jobs Preview: What to Expect in the Jobs ReportThe February employment report is the first of the Trump administration. While we are not likely to pick up much of the effect of the DOGE cuts, we should see some impact. Remember, the reference period is the week/pay period that includes the 12th. This is before most of the firings went into effect, and there was no noticeable uptick in the unemployment insurance claims at that point (although we did see an uptick later in the month).However, we are likely to see an effect on the hiring side. Many businesses have put hiring plans on hold, as they wait to see what DOGE will try to cut and what the courts will uphold. This is especially the case in the healthcare sector, which had been the largest source of job growth in the recovery, averaging over 50,000 new jobs a month in the last year. A large portion of the funding for hospitals, doctors’ fees, and nursing homes comes from Medicaid and other programs that may be in DOGE’s crosshairs. As a result, we can expect employers in the sector to be very cautious in taking on new workers.There is a similar story with state and local governments, which also were a leading source of job growth in the last year. They are concerned that they will not be seeing federal grants that had been promised. Universities are also looking at large cutbacks in federal support and feel the need to be cautious about hiring.With the key sectors supporting job growth sharply slowing hiring, job growth is likely to be close to zero in February. This may also lead to a modest uptick in the unemployment rate, as people entering the labor force or losing jobs find themselves unable to find new ones. The unemployment rate may tick up to 4.1 percent, or even 4.2 percent.Sharp Slowing in Immigrant EmploymentThe new population controls make it difficult to do year-over-year comparisons (the data are not seasonally adjusted) of employment of immigrants, but it is possible to do a crude workaround to get ballpark numbers. If we assume that the increase in the number of people identified as Hispanic or Asian added by the population controls are immigrants, and we apply the employment-to-population ratio for immigrants to this number, we can get a rough estimate of the increase in employment that is due to the population controls.The new population controls added a total of 2,121,000 people identified as either Hispanic or Asian. Applying the 63.0 percent employment-to-population ratio to this number implies that it added 1,336,000 to the employment number for non-native workers in January. Correcting for this, employment of non-native workers would have been 727,000 higher in January 2025 than in January 2024. The year-over-year increase had been well over 1,000,000 for most months in 2024, peaking in February at 1,694,000. With this adjustment, the year-over-year figure is likely to show a far smaller increase in February, due both to Trump’s deportation threats and also the sharp slowing in immigration by the change in the Biden administration’s policy last June.Wage Growth Could SlowThe strong labor market of the Biden years led to healthy wage growth, which was translating into strong real wage growth in the last year and a half as inflation slowed. The unemployment rate will still be low in February, even if there is a modest uptick, but workers fearful about future job prospects may be reluctant to push for pay increases. The monthly data on wages are erratic, but it is likely we will see some evidence of slowing wage growth in the February report.Share of Unemployment Due to Voluntary QuitsOne of the measures reflecting workers’ confidence in the state of the labor market is their willingness to leave a job before they have a new one lined up. This measure had already been relatively low given the near 4.0 percent unemployment rates we have been seeing, but that could reflect the fact that workers were relatively satisfied with their jobs after massive shifting in 2021-2023. We may see a notable fall in this number from the 13.2 percent share in January.Hours and ProductivityThe index of aggregate weekly hours fell 0.2 percent in January. This was due to a possibly weather-related (or LA fire related) reduction in the length of the average workweek. With weak employment growth, we are likely to see at best a modest increase in aggregate weekly hours in February.This would ordinarily imply a good story for productivity growth, which has been strong since the pandemic. However, the most recent data on consumption, trade, and housing imply weak and possibly negative GDP growth for the quarter. We are still early in the quarter, but if the economy is actually shrinking, we are not likely to have a strong quarter for productivity.Manufacturing and ConstructionThese highly cyclical sectors are both likely to show weakness in February. Manufacturing employment had already been trending slightly downward, losing 105,000 jobs over the last year, as high interest rates took a toll on durable goods purchases and investment.Construction has also weakened in recent months, adding an average of just 6,000 jobs a month since September, down from 18,000 a month in the prior 12 months. Employment could turn negative in February as housing remains weak, the factory construction boom has peaked, and many projects in both the private and public sector are put on hold.Weak Job Growth in Most SectorsWith the health care and state and local government sectors both likely showing weak growth in February, it is difficult to see what sectors can pick up the slack. Retail added a very strong 34,300 jobs in January, but this was likely a fluke of seasonal adjustment as fewer workers hired for the holiday season meant that fewer were laid off in January.Restaurant employment may see a bounce back after being depressed by the LA fires and unusually bad weather in January. Employment in professional and technical services is likely to be weak, as many companies put hiring plans on hold. There could be a good story for the temp help sector as employers look to get additional labor without making long-term commitments.Uncertainty Takes a Big Hit to Labor Market in FebruaryApart from the pandemic, most of us have probably never seen such a rapid turn in the labor market as we are likely witnessing now. We went from perhaps the strongest labor market in half a century to one marked by uncertainty in almost every sector. Perhaps we will get a clearer picture of the economy’s direction in the months ahead, but for now, much is up in the air and it is not a good environment for businesses to make plans.

As of 3/16/25 9:55am. Last new 3/15/25 2:23am.

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