Biden EPA to Charge 'Methane Fee' 11/12 06:02
Biden EPA to Charge 'Methane Fee' 11/12 06:02 Oil and natural gas companies for the first time will have to pay a federal fee if they emit dangerous methane above certain levels under a rule being made final by the Biden administration. WASHINGTON (AP) -- Oil and natural gas companies for the first time will have to pay a federal fee if they emit dangerous methane above certain levels under a rule being made final by the Biden administration. The Environmental Protection Agency rule follows through on a directive from Congress included in the 2022 climate law. The new fee is intended to encourage industry to adopt best practices that reduce emissions of methane -- the primary component of natural gas -- and thereby avoid paying. Methane is a climate "super pollutant" that is far more potent in the short term than carbon dioxide and is responsible for about one-third of greenhouse gas emissions. The oil and natural gas sector is the largest industrial source of methane emissions in the United States, and advocates say reduction of methane emissions is a crucial way to slow climate change. The rule, set to be announced Tuesday at an international climate conference in Azerbaijan, comes hours after President-elect Donald Trump named former New York congressman Lee Zeldin to head the agency in Trump's second term. If confirmed by the Senate, Zeldin is expected to move to reverse or loosen dozens of environmental regulations approved under President Joe Biden as Trump seeks to establish U.S. "energy dominance" worldwide. Trump is likely to target the methane fee amid a flurry of expected actions he has promised to deregulate the oil and gas industry. As outlined by the EPA, excess methane produced in 2024 could result in a fee of $900 per ton, with fees rising to $1,200 per ton in 2025 and $1,500 per ton by 2026. Industry groups are likely to challenge the rule, including any effort to impose a retroactive fee. The rule will not become final until early next year, following publication in the Federal Register. EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement that the rule will work in tandem with a new EPA rule on methane emissions imposed this year. The rule targets the U.S. oil and natural gas industry for its role in global warming as Biden seeks to secure his legacy on fighting climate change. The fee, formally known as the Waste Emissions Charge, will encourage early deployment of available technologies to reduce methane emissions and other harmful air pollutants, Regan said. The fee "is the latest in a series of actions under President Biden's methane strategy to improve efficiency in the oil and gas sector, support American jobs, protect clean air and reinforce U.S. leadership on the global stage," he said. Industry groups and Republican-led states have challenged the earlier methane rule in court, but lost a bid for the Supreme Court to block the rule while the case continues before lower-level judges. Opponents argue that EPA overstepped its authority and set unattainable standards with the new regulations. The EPA, though, said the rules are squarely within its legal responsibilities and would protect the public. Many large oil and gas companies already meet or exceed methane-performance levels set by Congress under the climate law, meaning they are unlikely to be forced to pay the new fee, Regan and other officials said. Even so, EPA estimates that the rule will result in cumulative emissions reductions of 1.2 million metric tons of methane (34 million metric tons of carbon-dioxide equivalent) through 2035. That figure is similar to clean-air gains from taking nearly 8 million gas-powered cars off the road for a year, the EPA said. Cumulative climate benefits could total as much $2 billion, the agency said. Like the earlier methane rule, the new fee faces a near-certain legal challenge from industry groups. The American Petroleum Institute, the oil and gas industry's largest lobbying group, called a fee proposed earlier this year a "punitive tax increase" that "undermines America's energy advantage.'' API said it looks forward to working with Congress to repeal the "misguided new tax on American energy." Environmental groups, for their part, have hailed the impending methane fee, saying oil and gas companies should be held accountable for pollution that contributes to global warming. Oil and gas companies routinely calculate that it's cheaper to waste methane through flaring and other techniques than to make necessary upgrades to prevent leaks, they said. The EPA said it expects that over time, fewer oil and gas companies will be charged for excess methane as they reduce emissions in compliance with the rule.
Congress Returns to Unfinished Business11/12 06:06
Congress Returns to Unfinished Business11/12 06:06 Congress returns to a changed Washington as President-elect Donald Trump's hard-right agenda is quickly taking shape, buoyed by eager Republican allies eyeing a full sweep of power on Capitol Hill while Democrats are sorting out what went wrong. WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congress returns to a changed Washington as President-elect Donald Trump's hard-right agenda is quickly taking shape, buoyed by eager Republican allies eyeing a full sweep of power on Capitol Hill while Democrats are sorting out what went wrong. Even as final election results are still being tallied, the House and Senate leadership is pushing ahead toward a second-term Trump White House and what he's called a "mandate" for governing, with mass deportations, industry deregulation and wholesale gutting of the federal government. Trump is already testing the norms of governance during this presidential transition period -- telling the Senate to forgo its advise-and-consent role and simply accept his Cabinet nominees -- and he is staffing his administration and finding lawmakers willing to bend those civic traditions. "Trump's going to deliver his deportations, the drilling, the wall -- it's going to take all of us getting together," said Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., a conservative member of the House Freedom Caucus. But first, the House and Senate leaders will hold internal party elections this week for their own jobs. Most of the top Republican leaders depend on Trump for their political livelihoods and have worked to draw closer to the president-elect to shore up loyalty. House Speaker Mike Johnson, who is on the cusp of keeping a slim majority hold of the chamber with several House races still too early to call, will assemble his leadership team early Tuesday on the Capitol steps for a victory lap and agenda-setting. In the Senate, where Republicans seized power from Democrats on election night, three Republican senators who are vying to become the new GOP leader have rushed to agree with Trump's plan for quick confirmation of presidential nominees. "As Congress returns to Washington, we must prepare the Senate to advance that agenda legislatively and ensure that the president-elect can hit the ground running with his appointees confirmed as soon as possible," GOP Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, who is seeking the leadership job, wrote in a Fox News opinion piece. All told, it's a fundamental reshaping of not only the power centers in Washington, but the rules of governing, as Trump returns to the White House in January with a potential GOP-led Congress that is far less skeptical or wary of his approach than eight years ago, and much more willing to back him. "This is going to be a very challenging time," said Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. She described the "horrific immigration policies" that Trump promised voters and she insisted the progressives in Congress will provide an "effective check" on the new White House, much the way Democrats did during his first term by fighting efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and other policies. At the same time, Jayapal warned Trump will have "many fewer restrictions." "Our members are ready to take up the fight again," she said, standing alongside a handful of newly elected progressive lawmakers she called the "bright lights" joining Congress. First tests will come during the "lame duck" period of the remaining days of this Congress, the eight-week sprint until Jan. 3, 2025, when the new lawmakers are sworn into office. As lawmakers return this week they will be joined by dozens of new names in the House and Senate who are in town for freshmen orientation weeks and the private leadership elections scheduled for Wednesday. But Republican senators are protesting that one of their own, newly elected Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania, is being excluded from orientation week by Senate Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer because there are still uncounted ballots in his race. Schumer's office has said it is custom to wait until all the ballots are counted. The Senate leadership race to replace outgoing GOP Leader Mitch McConnell is turning into a test of Trump loyalties, with the president-elect's allies -- including billionaire Elon Musk and Make America Great Again influencers -- pushing the senators to elect Sen. Rick Scott of Florida. But Scott has not been the most popular candidate for the leadership post, and senators had been rallying around the two "Johns" -- Thune, the second-ranking GOP leader, and Sen. John Cornyn of Texas. The outcome of Wednesday's private balloting behind closed doors is highly uncertain. In the House, some conservative Republicans are quietly suggesting their own leadership elections should be postponed until the final results of the House races are resolved. Democrats will hold their House and Senate leadership elections later. Johnson wants to retain the speaker's gavel and told colleagues in a letter last week he is ready to "take the field" with them to deliver on Trump's agenda. But he is expected to face detractors behind closed doors. While Johnson only needs a simple majority during Wednesday's private voting to become the GOP nominee to be speaker, he will need a 218-member majority in January during a floor vote of the whole House. A low vote total this week will show the leverage Freedom Caucus members and others have to pry concessions from Johnson, much as they forced then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy into a prolonged vote for the gavel in 2023. And while Johnson predicts next year will launch the "most consequential" presidency and Congress in modern times, he has had difficulty this year leading Republicans who refused to go along with plans, forcing the speaker to often partner with Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Johnson's troubles stem in part from his slim majority, but that could persist if Trump continues to tap House Republicans to fill his administration. Trump has already asked Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., to be ambassador to the United Nations and Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., to be his national security adviser. "We're pretty much maxed out," said Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas. "Everybody understands that." In the weeks ahead, Congress faces another deadline, Dec. 20, to fund the federal government or risk a shutdown, and conservatives are redoubling their pressure on Johnson not to cave on their demands to slash spending. The House and Senate also will consider replenishing the Disaster Relief Fund to help provide aid in the aftermath of Hurricanes Helene and Milton. And with President Joe Biden preparing to exit and Democrats relinquishing their hold on the Senate, there will be pressure to confirm more judicial nominees and to usher out the door any other bills that could possibly become law before Trump takes over.
NKorea, Russia Ratify Defense Treaty 11/12 06:05
NKorea, Russia Ratify Defense Treaty 11/12 06:05 SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- North Korea ratified a major defense treaty with Russia stipulating mutual military aid, the North's state media reported Tuesday, as the U.S., South Korea and Ukraine say North Korea has sent thousands of troops to Russia to support its war against Ukraine. Russia had completed the ratification of the treaty last week after it was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in June. It is considered both countries' biggest defense deal since the end of the Cold War. The Comprehensive Strategic Partnership treaty will take effect when both sides exchange documents on the ratification, the state-run Korean Central News Agency said. North Korea ratified the treaty through a decree signed Monday by the country's president of state affairs, KCNA said, using one of Kim's titles. North Korea's rubber-stamp parliament, the Supreme People's Assembly, has the right to ratify treaties but Kim can unilaterally ratify major ones, according to South Korea's Unification Ministry. The treaty requires both countries to use all available means to provide immediate military assistance if either is attacked. It also calls for the two countries to actively cooperate in efforts to establish a "just and multipolar new world order" and strengthen cooperation on various sectors including peaceful atomic energy, space, food supply, trade and economy. Some observers speculate the treaty's ratification in both countries could signal North Korea could formally enter the Russia-Ukraine war soon. According to U.S., South Korean and Ukrainian intelligence assessments, up to 12,000 North Korean troops have been sent to Russia likely as part of the June treaty. Last week, Ukrainian officials said Ukraine and North Korean troops engaged in small-scale fighting while Ukraine's army fired artillery at North Korean soldiers in Russia's Kursk border region. North Korea's troop dispatch threatens to escalate the almost three-year war. South Korea, the U.S. and their partners also worry about what Russia could give North Korea in return. Possible Russian transfer of sensitive technology to enhance North Korea's already-advancing nuclear and missile programs would be an alarming development for the U.S. and its allies. North Korea and Russia have been significantly strengthening their military and other cooperation. South Korea's spy agency said last month that North Korea had sent more than 13,000 containers of artillery, missiles and other conventional arms to Russia since August 2023 to replenish its dwindling weapons stockpiles.
Israel Misses US Deadline to Boost Aid 11/12 06:10
Israel Misses US Deadline to Boost Aid 11/12 06:10 JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israel has failed to meet U.S. demands to allow greater humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip, where conditions are worse than at any point in the 13-month-old war, international aid organizations said Tuesday. The Biden administration last month called on Israel to "surge" more food and other emergency aid into the Palestinian territory, giving it a 30-day deadline that expires Tuesday. The administration warned that failure to comply could trigger U.S. laws requiring it to scale back military support as Israel wages offensives against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Israel has announced a series of steps toward improving the situation. But U.S. officials recently signaled that Israel still isn't doing enough, though they haven't said if they will take any action. Israel's new foreign minister, Gideon Saar, appeared to downplay the deadline, telling reporters on Monday that he was confident "the issue would be solved." The Biden administration may have less leverage after the reelection of Donald Trump, who was a staunch supporter of Israel in his first term. Tuesday's report, authored by eight international aid organizations, listed 19 measures of compliance with the U.S. demands. It said that Israel had failed to comply with 15 and only partially complied with four. An Oct. 13 letter signed by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called on Israel to, among other things, allow a minimum of 350 truckloads of goods to enter Gaza each day; open a fifth crossing into the besieged territory; allow people in Israeli-imposed coastal tent camps to move inland before the winter; and ensure access for aid groups to hard-hit northern Gaza. It also called on Israel to halt legislation that would hinder the operations of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA. After the report was published, the Israeli military announced the opening of a fifth crossing Tuesday close to the city of Deir al Balah in Gaza. It will allow for the delivery of supplies to the territory's central and southern regions. Despite Israeli steps to increase the flow of aid, levels remain far below the U.S. benchmarks. Residents are also still crammed in tent camps, access for aid workers to northern Gaza remains restricted, and Israel has pressed ahead with its laws against UNRWA. "Israel not only failed to meet the U.S. criteria that would indicate support to the humanitarian response, but concurrently took actions that dramatically worsened the situation on the ground, particularly in Northern Gaza," the report said. "That situation is in an even more dire state today than a month ago." The report was co-signed by Anera, Care, MedGlobal, Mercy Corps, the Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam, Refugees International and Save the Children. U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said last week that Israel had made some progress, but needs to do more to meet the U.S. conditions. "What's important when you see all of these steps taken is what that means for the results," he said. Israel launched a major offensive last month in northern Gaza, where it says Hamas militants had regrouped. The operation has killed hundreds of people and displaced tens of thousands. Israel has allowed almost no aid to enter the area, where tens of thousands of civilians have stayed despite evacuation orders. Aid to Gaza plummeted in October, when just 34,000 tons of food entered, or less than half the previous month, according to Israeli data. U.N. agencies say even less actually gets through because of Israeli restrictions, ongoing fighting and lawlessness that makes it difficult to collect and distribute aid on the Gaza side. In October, 57 trucks a day entered Gaza on average, according to Israeli figures, and 81 a day in the first week of November. The U.N. puts the number lower, at 37 trucks daily since the beginning of October. COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of humanitarian aid to Gaza, said that the drop in the number of aid trucks in October was because of closures of the crossings for the Jewish high holidays and memorials marking the anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack that triggered the war. "October was a very weak month," an Israeli official said on condition of anonymity in line with military briefing rules. "But if you look at the November numbers, we are holding steady at around 50 trucks per day to northern Gaza and 150 per day to the rest of Gaza." Aid distribution is also being hampered by the U.N. and other agencies' failure to collect aid that entered Gaza, leading to bottlenecks, and stealing by Hamas and organized crime families in Gaza, he said. He estimated as much as 40% of aid is stolen on some days. Israel on Monday announced a small expansion of its coastal "humanitarian zone," where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have sought shelter in sprawling tent camps. It also has announced additional steps, including connecting electricity for a desalination plant in the central Gaza town of Deir al Balah, and efforts to bring in supplies for the winter. On Tuesday, COGAT announced a "tactical" delivery of food and water to Beit Hanoun, one of the hardest-hit towns in northern Gaza. Also on Monday night, the Israeli security Cabinet approved increased aid for Gaza, which will increase the number of trucks that enter Gaza each day, according to an official familiar with the matter. The war began last year when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250 people. Around 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead. Israel's bombardment and ground invasion have killed more than 43,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to local health authorities, who don't say how many of those killed were militants. Around 90% of the population has been displaced, often multiple times, and hundreds of thousands are packed into squalid tent camps, with little food, water or hygiene facilities. The United States has rushed billions of dollars in military aid to Israel during the war and has shielded it from international calls for a cease-fire, while pressing it to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza. The amount of aid entering Gaza increased under U.S. pressure last spring after Israeli strikes killed seven aid workers before dwindling again. Trump has promised to end the wars in the Middle East without saying how. He was a staunch defender of Israel during his previous term, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says they have spoken three times since his reelection last week. Israeli President Isaac Herzog, whose role is mostly ceremonial, is scheduled to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday. Former U.S. State Department official Charles Blaha, who ran the office in charge of ensuring that U.S. military support complies with U.S. and international law, predicted the Biden administration would find that Israel violated U.S. law by blocking humanitarian aid from reaching Palestinians in Gaza. "It's undeniable that Israel has done that," Blaha said. "They would really have to torture themselves to find that Israel hasn't restricted ... assistance." But he said that the administration would likely cite U.S. national security interests and waive restrictions on military support. "If the past is prologue -- no restrictions, and then kick the can down the road to the next administration."
Trump Picks 2 for Immigration Posts 11/12 06:12
Trump Picks 2 for Immigration Posts 11/12 06:12 SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Donald Trump's first picks for immigration policy jobs spent the last four years angling for this moment. Stephen Miller and Thomas Homan had critical roles in the first Trump administration and are unapologetic defenders of its policies, which included separating thousands of parents from their children at the border to deter illegal crossings. With Trump promising sweeping action in a second term on illegal immigration, the two White House advisers will bring nuts-and-bolts knowledge, lessons from previous setbacks and personal views to help him carry out his wishes. After Trump left office in 2021, Miller became president of America First Legal, a group that joined Republican state attorneys general to derail President Joe Biden's border policies and plans. Homan, who worked decades in immigration enforcement, founded Border 911 Foundation Inc., a group that says it fights against "a border invasion" and held its inaugural gala in April at Trump's Florida estate. Homan "knows how the machine operates," said Ronald Vitiello, a former Border Patrol chief and acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement director under Trump. "He did it as a front line, he did it as a supervisor, and he did it as the lead executive. He doesn't have anything to learn on that side of the equation." Miller, he said, is deeply knowledgeable, has firm ideas about how the system should work, and has Trump's confidence. Trump has promised to stage the largest deportation operation in American history. There are an estimated 11 million people in the country illegally. Questions remain about how people in a mass raid would be identified and where they would be detained. Miller and Homan portray illegal immigration as a black-and-white issue and applaud Trump's policy of targeting everyone living in the country without status for deportation. Trump frequently and sharply attacked illegal immigration during his campaign, linking a record spike in unauthorized border crossings to issues ranging from drug trafficking to high housing prices. The arrival of asylum-seekers and other migrants in cities and communities around the country has strained some budgets and broadly shifted political debate over immigration to the right, with Democratic nominee Kamala Harris during her campaign reversing several of her old positions questioning immigration enforcement. Miller, 39, is a former Capitol Hill staffer who rose to prominence as a fiery Trump speechwriter and key architect of his immigration policies from 2017 to 2021. He has long espoused doomsday scenarios of how immigration threatens America, training his rhetoric on people in the country illegally but also advocating curbs on legal immigration. Trump, Miller said at the former president's Madison Square Garden rally last month, was fighting for "the right to live in a country where criminal gangs cannot just cross our border and rape and murder with impunity." "America is for Americans and Americans only," he added. Homan, 63, decided on a career in law enforcement as a boy in West Carthage, New York, watching his father work as a magistrate in the small farming town. After a year as a police officer in his hometown, he joined the Border Patrol in San Diego and remembers thinking, "What the hell did I just do?" Homan, then working in relative obscurity as a top ICE official, said in a 2018 interview with The Associated Press that he got "a seat at the table" under President Barack Obama's homeland security secretary, Jeh Johnson, to deliberate on policy change. Homan told others that he worried he may have been disrespectful and when word got back to the secretary, Johnson told him, "I may not agree with what you say, but I need to know what the effects are going to be if I don't listen to you." Johnson said Monday that he didn't recall the exchange but doesn't dispute it, saying it sounded like him. Homan rose to acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement under Trump. He was "significantly involved" in the separation of children from their parents after they crossed the border illegally and parents were criminally prosecuted, said Lee Gelernt, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, which successfully sued to halt the practice. Under a court settlement, families cannot be separated until December 2031 as part of a policy to deter illegal crossings. Trump has defended the practice, claiming without evidence last year that it "stopped people from coming by the hundreds of thousands." At the National Conservatism Conference in Washington earlier this year, Homan said while he thinks the government should prioritize national security threats, "no one's off the table. If you're here illegally, you better be looking over your shoulder." In the 2018 interview, Homan said he had no reservations about deporting a man who had been in the United States illegally for 12 years and with two children who are U.S. citizens. He likened it to a ticket for speeding motorists or an audit for a tax cheat. "People think I enjoy this. I'm a father. People don't think this bothers me. I feel bad about the plight of these people. Don't get me wrong but I have a job to do," he said. He defended the "zero tolerance" policy that led to family separations when pressed by Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in a congressional hearing. He likened it to arresting someone for driving under the influence with a young child as a passenger. "When I was a police officer in New York and I arrested a father for domestic violence, I separated that father," he said, inviting criticism that it was not the right analogy. Children couldn't be quickly reunited with their parents at the border because government computers didn't track that they were families. Many parents were deported while children were placed in shelters across the country. Critics of zero tolerance have argued separations that happen during criminal cases involving American citizens are different from the separations under "zero tolerance," when in many cases parents were deported without their children, who were sent to government-run facilities. Miller and Homan do not require Senate approval, unlike homeland security secretary, ICE director and commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which oversees the Border Patrol. Those appointees will be tasked with carrying out orders from the White House.
Climate Negotiator:We Won't Revert Back11/12 06:15
Climate Negotiator:We Won't Revert Back11/12 06:15 BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) -- No matter what kind of U-turn President-Elect Donald Trump will make on climate change, America's clean energy economy won't reverse into the dirty past, a combative but "bitterly disappointed" top American climate negotiator said Monday. During the first day of the U.N. climate talks, COP29, Climate Adviser John Podesta struck a defiant but realistic tone in a press conference. He said Trump will likely pull the United States out of the landmark Paris Agreement and try to roll back many of the Biden Administration's signature climate moves, including the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act that included $375 billion in climate spending. "Are we facing new headwinds? Absolutely. But we won't revert back to the energy system of the 1950s. No way," Podesta said. "Setbacks are unavoidable, but giving up is unforgivable," Podesta said paraphrasing a Biden speech last week. "This is not the end of our fight for a cleaner, safer planet. Facts are still facts. Science is still science. The fight is bigger than one election, one political cycle in one country. This fight is bigger, still, because we are all living through a year defined by the climate crisis in every country of the world." During the campaign, Trump said would pull America from the Paris Agreement, rollback parts of the IRA and increase drilling and oil production. He has called emissions regulations part of a "green new scam" and claimed, without evidence, that offshore wind turbines harm whales. During Trump's first administration, between 2017 and 2021, many environmental regulations were rolled back, later to be reversed by the Biden administration. The incoming Trump administration has signaled it plans to now undo Biden's changes. During his press conference, Podesta ran through a shopping list of climate disasters, starting with the hottest day recorded, July 22, continuing with floods, hurricanes and droughts. "None of this is a hoax. It is real. It's a matter of life and death," Podesta said. "Fortunately, many in our country and around the world are working to prepare the world for this new reality and to mitigate the most catastrophic effects of climate change." Podesta said the Biden administration is still negotiating even as it prepares to leave. "We are here to work, and we are committed to a successful outcome at COP29," Podesta said. "We can and will make real progress on the backs of our climate committed states and cities, our innovators, our companies and our citizens, especially young people who understand more than most that climate change poses an existential threat that we cannot afford to ignore." Another senior U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said other countries are still working with American diplomats because they care what the U.S. thinks and any agreement struck here must be by consensus. Outside analysts had speculated the U.S. would be ignored. "In January, we're going to inaugurate a president whose relationship to climate change is captured by the words 'hoax' and 'fossil fuels'," Podesta said. "He's vowed to dismantle our environmental safeguards and once again withdraw United States from the Paris Agreement. That is what he said. And we should believe him."
Trump Taps Waltz for National Security 11/12 06:16
Trump Taps Waltz for National Security 11/12 06:16 President-elect Donald Trump has asked U.S. Rep. Michael Waltz, a retired Army National Guard officer and war veteran, to be his national security adviser, a person familiar with the matter said Monday. WASHINGTON (AP) -- President-elect Donald Trump has asked U.S. Rep. Michael Waltz, a retired Army National Guard officer and war veteran, to be his national security adviser, a person familiar with the matter said Monday. The nod came despite simmering concerns on Capitol Hill about Trump tapping members of the House, where the final tally is still uncertain and there are worries about pulling any GOP members from the chamber because that would force a new election to fill the empty seat. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the matter before Trump made a formal announcement. The move would put Waltz at the forefront of a litany of national security crises -- ranging from the ongoing effort to provide weapons to Ukraine and escalating worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea to the persistent attacks in the Middle East by Iran proxies and the push for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas and Hezbollah. Waltz, a three-term GOP congressman from east-central Florida, was the first Green Beret elected to the U.S. House, and easily won reelection last week. He has been chairman of the House Armed Services subcommittee on readiness and a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Waltz is an ardent Trump advocate who backed efforts to overturn the 2020 election. He is considered hawkish on China, and called for a U.S. boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing due to its involvement in the origin of COVID-19 and its ongoing mistreatment of the minority Muslim Uighur population. He has been a sharp critic of the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and has called on the U.S. to hold accountable those who bear responsibility for the deaths of the 13 U.S. service members at Abbey Gate and for "thousands of Americans and allies behind enemy lines." He has also repeated Trump's frequent complaints about a so-called "woke" military that the former president has derided as soft and too focused on diversity and equity programs. In a statement last year, Waltz said that as head of the readiness subcommittee: "I am ready to get to work to better equip our military and turn our focus away from woke priorities and back to winning wars. Our national security depends on it." A graduate of Virginia Military Institute, Waltz was a Green Beret. He served in the active-duty Army for four years before moving to the Florida Guard. While in the Guard he did multiple combat tours in Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa and was awarded four Bronze Stars, including two with valor. He also worked in the Pentagon as a policy adviser when Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates were defense chiefs. "President-Elect Trump will begin making decisions on who will serve in his second Administration soon," said Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson for the Trump transition. "Those decisions will be announced when they are made." Richard Goldberg, who served at the National Security Council during Trump's first term, called Waltz an impressive pick whose background as an elite U.S. service member and experience on Capitol Hill will be of great value to Trump. "With fires raging across the world right now, Waltz is well positioned to help the President put out those fires," said Goldberg, who is now a senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington. Waltz's selection was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
Financial Markets 11/12 09:43
Financial Markets 11/12 09:43 NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. stocks are drifting Tuesday as some momentum comes out of the torrid "Trump trade" that swept Wall Street following Donald Trump's presidential victory. The S&P 500 was 0.1% higher in early trading, coming off its latest all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 70 points, or 0.2%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was virtually unchanged. Stocks have been broadly rising on expectations that Trump's preference for lower tax rates and other policies will mean faster economic growth, as well as bigger U.S. government debt and higher inflation. Some areas of the market have launched on particularly high-grade fuel, such as smaller U.S. stocks. They gave back some of their big gains on Tuesday, and the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies slipped 0.4%. Even Tesla, which is run by Trump's ally Elon Musk, sank. It fell 2.4% and is on track for its first loss since before Election Day last week. The stock that's become most entwined with Trump's popularity, Trump Media & Technology Group, fell 6.6%. Helping to offset such losses was Live Nation Entertainment, which joined the lengthening list of U.S. companies delivering stronger profit for the summer than analysts expected. The company behind Ticketmaster said concert fans around the world are spending more to hear artists, and it said trends are already encouraging for 2025 stadium tours for Coldplay and others. Its stock rose 4.7%. Tyson Foods rose 8.1% after likewise topping analysts' forecasts for profit. The producer of beef, chicken and pork also raised its dividend for investors. Home Depot rose a more modest 0.3% after beating analysts' profit expectations, as it continues to contend with a pullback in spending by customers. In the crypto market, bitcoin soared to another record before pulling back. Trump has embraced cryptocurrencies generally and pledged to make his country the crypto capital of the world. Bitcoin got as high as $89,995, according to CoinDesk, before dropping back toward $85,000. It started the year below $43,000. In the bond market, Treasury yields rallied as trading of U.S. government bonds resumed following Monday's Veterans Day holiday. The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed to 4.38% from 4.31% late Friday. Treasury yields climbed in large part because the U.S. economy has remained much more resilient than feared. The hope is that it can continue to stay solid as the Federal Reserve continues to cut interest rates in order to keep the job market humming, now that it's helped get inflation nearly down to its 2% target. Some of the rise in yields has also been because of Trump. He talks up tariffs and other policies that economists say could drive inflation and the U.S. government's debt higher, along with the economy's growth. Traders have already begun paring forecasts for how many cuts to rates the Fed will deliver next year because of that. While lower rates can boost the economy, they can also give inflation more fuel. In stock markets abroad, indexes fell across much of Europe and Asia. Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 2.8% for one of the worst falls. The Hang Seng closed below the 20,000 level for the first time since China announced a stimulus package in September. ___ AP Business Writer Yuri Kageyama contributed. --------- itemid:b6d1f03881765e3c6f68f3ec9126424a