Trump team mum on report targeting state climate action
President Donald Trump sent shock waves through state capitals earlier this year when he signed a sweeping executive order — 'Protecting American Energy From State Overreach' — that directed the Justice Department to target any state climate policies 'burdening' energy development.
Trump's order named specific targets, such as so-called climate superfund laws in New York and Vermont, as well as state lawsuits against the fossil fuel sector. In the wake of Trump's order, the Justice Department followed through on challenges to those policies — including an unusual lawsuit seeking to preempt Hawaii and Michigan from suing fossil fuel companies.
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But Trump's April 8 order also gestured at an even more aggressive campaign, and it set a 60-day deadline for Attorney General Pam Bondi to sketch out a plan for it.
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Yahoo
9 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Musk Announces New America Party Is Formed Amid Trump Split
Elon Musk speaks during an America PAC town hall in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on Sunday, March 30, 2025. Credit - Jamie Kelter Davis—Getty Images Elon Musk says he has 'formed' his new political party titled the "America Party." The former lead of the Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE) had promised to do just that if President Donald Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Bill' passed. Musk has been—and continues to be—a vocal critic of the policy bill, arguing that it will 'cause immense strategic harm' to America on account of the trillions of dollars the bill is projected to add to the debt of the country. 'By a factor of two to one, you want a new political party and you shall have it! When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste and graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy,' Musk said via his social media platform, X, on Saturday, a day after Trump signed the bill. 'Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom.' The Tesla CEO had opened a poll on July 4, Independence Day, asking his more than 220 million followers if he should create the new political party. Over 65% of the more than 1.2 million respondents voted 'yes.' Read More: Musk Renews Promise to Start New Rival Political Party as Trump Debates Deporting Him Musk went on to share his potential strategy for 'gaining independence from the two-party system,' arguing that he might try to 'laser-focus on just two or three Senate seats and eight to 10 House districts' for his party. 'Given the razor-thin legislative margins, that would be enough to serve as the deciding vote on contentious laws, ensuring that they serve the true will of the people,' Musk elaborated. But as for what exactly Musk plans to do with his rival third party is largely open for discussion. Musk has yet to share any specific proposed policies or explicitly state what the core tenets of his party would what we do—and don't—know about Musk's vision for the America Party and how it came to be. When Musk floated the idea of creating a new political party in early June amid the very public fracturing of his relationship with Trump, his one-time ally, Musk after conducting a poll said: 'The people have spoken. A new political party is needed in America to represent the 80% in the middle!' He appeared to be referring to those who may not feel seen or represented by either the Republican Party or Democratic Party. Musk, the country's biggest Republican donor, is seemingly committed to campaigning against any Republicans who showed support and voted for the Big, Beautiful Bill that he so vehemently opposes. 'Every member of Congress who campaigned on reducing government spending and then immediately voted for the biggest debt increase in history should hang their head in shame!' Musk said on June 30. 'And they will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth.' If he so desired, Musk could target pivotal congressional seats in an effort to turn them and thus potentially have the upper hand during votes on key matters. He seemingly referenced this plan with his July 4 post about establishing a 'laser-focus on just two or three Senate seats and eight to 10 House districts.' Musk did not elaborate or specify which seats would be at the center of his focus. While Musk has yet to share an actual policy platform for his party, he has reposted and responded affirmatively to some of his X followers' posts about what the platform could be. What appears to be on the docket is a platform that prioritizes cuts on debt and excess spending within the government, similar to what Musk pushed for during his time in the White House. One of Musk's followers asked: 'Is this the America Party platform?' They went on to list the following stances: Reduce debt, responsible spending only Modernize military with AI/robotics Pro tech, accelerate to win in AI Less regulation across board, but especially in energy Free speech Pro natalist Centrist policies everywhere else In response, Musk said 'yeah!' and went on to repost the list to his millions of followers, but stopped short of providing his own official policy plan. Read More: Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Bill' Faces Opposition From Musk and Some Republicans as Senate Narrowly Votes to Advance It Though Musk had voted Democrat previously, he played a vital role for the Republican Party when he became the largest donor of the 2024 presidential race, predominantly funding Trump's campaign but also financially backing other Republicans via his super political action committee (PAC) titled America PAC. Musk became a close ally of Trump's and appeared at major campaign rallies with him, addressing large crowds and urging them to vote for Trump. As a sign of their close working relationship, Trump appointed Musk as the lead of DOGE, a role he held until May. During his tenure, Musk became known for actualizing Trump's vision of cutting 'waste' in the government, which amounted to laying off thousands of federal employees. But Musk and Trump's relationship soured, especially after the former took a public stance against the spending bill. 'I think a bill can be big or it could be beautiful,' Musk told CBS News in May, shortly before he announced his DOGE departure. 'But I don't know if it could be both.' Going a step further in early June, Musk said the 'massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination' and told his millions of followers to 'call your Senator, call your Congressman… kill the bill!' Musk and Trump engaged in an all-out war of words, exchanging jabs and lobbying threats—with Trump threatening to take away the government contracts for Musk's companies, including the SpaceX firm that has become a critical player for NASA. Trump has repeatedly claimed that the falling out stemmed from Musk being unhappy over changes to the Electric Vehicle [EV] mandate. Tensions reignited once more when Musk renewed his calls for the policy bill not to be passed. When asked by reporters on July 1 if he was planning to deport Musk, who has U.S. and South African citizenship, Trump replied: 'I don't know, we'll have to take a look.' 'We might have to put DOGE on Elon. The monster that might have to go back and eat Elon. Wouldn't that be terrible?' Trump said, appearing to refer to the contracts and subsidies that Musk's prominent businesses have from the federal government. Read More: Musk Floats Idea of Starting New Rival Political Party—and Even Names It—Amid Trump Feud Though Musk is looking to build a viable, competitive third party, it requires more than an X poll to actualize it in the U.S.. In fact, many have tried before. Two major parties—Democratic and Republican—have dominated U.S. politics and no third party in recent memory has been able to penetrate the two-party system in a meaningful way. Former 2020 Democratic presidential primary candidate Andrew Yang has pushed for representation beyond the two-party system, but has arguably encountered limited success with his Forward Party. In June, Yang expressed a keenness to join forces with Musk, seemingly hoping that the two of them may have a stronger chance of succeeding. 'Elon has built world-class companies from nothing more than an idea multiple times, and in this instance, you have the vast majority of Americans who are hungry for a new approach,' Yang said in an interview with Politico. 'I'm happy to spell it out for Elon, or anyone else who wants to head down this road. A third party can succeed very quickly.' Part of the reason third parties struggle is due to the U.S.' 'winner takes all' system in the Electoral College. 48 out of the 50 States award Electoral votes on a winner-takes-all basis (so does the District of Columbia). This makes voting for third party candidates difficult. For example, support for the Tea Party held strong at 24% according to polls in the 2010s, though they rarely held significant political power, since the Republicans were often fearful of splitting votes in races with narrow margins, which would have risked giving the election to Democratic candidates. Contact us at letters@
CBS News
20 minutes ago
- CBS News
Transcript: Rep. Tom Suozzi on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," July 6, 2025
The following is the transcript of an interview with Rep. Tom Suozzi, Democrat of New York, that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on July 6, 2025. WEIJIA JIANG: We turn now to New York Democratic Congressman Tom Suozzi. Congressman, thank you so much for your time this morning. REP. TOM SUOZZI: Yeah, thanks so much for having me. WEIJIA JIANG: Well, you just heard from Kevin Hassett- you know, like President Trump, he said, without this bill, it would be one of the greatest tax hikes for the American public. They say it is the greatest tax cut in American history. You sit on the Ways and Means Committee, so I have to wonder how you describe it. REP. SUOZZI: I describe it as the big, ugly bill, not the 'big, beautiful bill.' It's going to do a lot of things that are going to hurt a lot of people in our country. The biggest one, which you talked about with Mr. Hassett, is increase the deficit enormously in the country. And what that does, is that creates inflation, that keeps interest rates high, that makes it hard for people to buy homes, makes it hard for them to borrow money, to do the things that they want to do. In addition, it's going to knock a bunch of people off of health care. We know the Republicans have tried for a decade to undo the Affordable Care Act- Obamacare, and this is kind of a backdoor way to take health insurance away from people that really need it the most here in our nation. And it's going to cause health insurance costs to go up for a lot of people. One of the President's biggest issues he campaigned on was reducing prices rapidly on day one, we're going to cut the costs. Well, costs are not going down, inflation- inflation is going to be affected by this deficit. Interest rates are going to stay high, and this is going to have a negative impact on health insurance costs for many people in our country. WEIJIA JIANG: I know that you just brought up Medicaid and potential loss of coverage. What do you say to some Americans who might wonder, well, why should the able bodied not have to work in order to access Medicaid? REP. SUOZZI: Well, you have to understand that 92% of the people that are able to work are currently working, and the 8% that are not are often people that are taking care of disabled children. Remember that two thirds of the people in nursing homes are on Medicaid. One-tenth of all the veterans in the United States of America are on Medicaid. Medicaid is a lifeline for so many people that are facing such difficult circumstances that we can't even possibly imagine. And why would we be taking health insurance and food benefits away from some of the most needy Americans while we're providing what I believe is an unnecessary tax break for some of the wealthiest Americans. It just doesn't make sense that you're reducing taxes for some of the wealthiest people, hurting some of the lowest income people, while blowing the biggest deficit in the budget that we've had in the history of the country. Those things just don't add up. WEIJIA JIANG: Well, just last week, you said you agree with 75% of what's in this package, that's a pretty significant number. So why isn't it worth the 25% that you don't like? REP. SUOZZI: Because those things that I just mentioned are so devastating. I like the idea that we're investing more money to secure the border. I like the idea that we are providing tax breaks to lower income folks and hard working middle class folks and people aspiring to the middle class. I like the idea of providing tax breaks for those folks. But why are we providing- and when the economy is doing as well as it has been over the past several years, why would we be providing a tax decrease- tax breaks for some of the wealthiest Americans in our country, while blowing a massive hole in the deficit? WEIJIA JIANG: Congressman, I want to turn to an op-ed that you wrote in The Wall Street Journal last week saying, Zohran Mamdani's win in the New York City's Democratic mayoral primary should be a quote, 'loud wake up call for Democrats.' What lessons do you think your party can learn from- from his campaign? REP. SUOZZI: Well, you know, I disagree with Mr. Mamdani. I have to make that very clear that, you know, I'm a Democratic capitalist. I'm not a Democratic socialist. And- but you have to recognize that he tapped into something. He tapped into the same thing that Donald Trump tapped into, which is that people are concerned that the economy is not working for them. Affordability and the economy is the number one issue in the country. And too often, Democrats are not perceived as being focused on affordability and the economy and the middle class, and people aspiring to the middle class and their economic concerns. They see Democrats as being primarily focused on reproductive rights and on LGBT protections, which are important issues, but they're not the issues that people think about every night when they're lying in bed thinking about paying their bills or when they're talking about how they're going to send their kids to school. So Democrats have got to do a better job learning from both Trump and Mamdani not with their solutions, which I think are wrong, but with the diagnosis of the problem that we're frustrated, we're concerned. Everybody in America, whether you're a right wing conservative or a left wing progressive, should believe that in return for working hard, you make enough money so you can live a good life. You can buy a home, you can educate your children, you can pay for your health insurance, you can retire one day without being scared. People don't feel that currently, and we have to do a better job of communicating that. WEIJIA JIANG: Well, I'm glad you brought up the perception, because you also wrote that 'Democrats must recognize the future starts with a message of economic security for American families.' I covered the Biden campaign. I covered the Harris campaign. That was the center of their messages. So what's the problem here? Is it the messenger? Is it the messaging? Because they have that message already. REP. SUOZZI: It's a combination. Number- the Democratic Party as a whole has to have this platform that focuses on what the people care about. They care about the economy, they care about immigration, they care about taxes, they care about crime, they care about health care. But then we have to recognize that the media infrastructure is fractured, and Trump figured it out before the Democrats have, which is that it's not just traditional media like your shows and newspapers, but it's social media. It's podcasts. Podcasts, the top 500 podcasts in America, 400 of the top 500 are right leaning. 100 are left leaning. And of the 100 left leaning ones, half of them beat the, you know what, out of the Democrats. Then you have other national media, and then you have some of this ethnic and underground media related to WeChat and WhatsApp and different types of apps that people use. So we have to communicate across all those platforms, because people are getting their messages in these fractured environments and living in these echo chambers, and we have to do a better job communicating across all these platforms and getting Democrats as a whole to focus on the economy, immigration, et cetera. WEIJIA JIANG: Alright, Congressman, we are all trying to learn all those new languages. Thank you so much for your time this morning. And we'll be right back with a lot more Face the Nation. Stay with us.
Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Musk forms new political party after split with Trump over president's signature tax cuts law
BRIDGEWATER, N.J. (AP) — Elon Musk say he's carrying out his threat to form a new political party after his fissure with President Donald Trump, announcing on X that he is forming the America Party in response to the president's sweeping tax cuts law. Musk, once a ever-present ally to Donald Trump as he headed up the slashing agency known as the Department of Government Efficiency, broke with the Republican president over his signature legislation, which was signed into law Friday. As the bill made its way through Congress, Musk threatened to form the 'America Party' if 'this insane spending bill passes.' 'When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy,' Musk said Saturday on X, the social media company he owns. 'Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom.' The formation of new political parties is not uncommon, but they typically struggle to pull any significant support away from the Republican and Democratic parties. But Musk, the world's richest man who spent at least $250 million supporting Trump in the 2024 election, could impact the 2026 elections determining control of Congress if he is willing to spend significant amounts of Monday. His reignited feud with the president could also be costly for Musk, whose businesses rely on billions of dollars in government contracts and publicly traded company Tesla has taken a hit in the market. It wasn't clear whether Musk had taken steps to formally create the new political party. Spokespeople for Musk and his political action committee, America PAC, didn't immediately comment Sunday. As of Sunday morning, there were multiple political parties listed in the Federal Election Commission database that had been formed in the the hours since Musk's Saturday X post with versions of 'America Party' of 'DOGE' or 'X' in the name, or Musk listed among people affiliated with the entity. But none appeared to be authentic, listing contacts for the organization as email addresses such as ' wentsnowboarding@ ″ or untraceable Protonmail addresses. Musk on Sunday spent the morning on X taking feedback from users about the party and indicated he'd use the party to get involved in the 2026 midterm elections. Last month, he threatened to try to oust every member of Congress that voted for Trump's bill. Musk had called the tax breaks and spending cuts package a 'disgusting abomination," warning it would increase the federal deficit, among other critiques. 'The Republican Party has a clean sweep of the executive, legislative and judicial branches and STILL had the nerve to massively increase the size of government, expanding the national debt by a record FIVE TRILLION DOLLARS,' Musk said Sunday on X. His critiques of the bill and move to form a political party mark a reversal from May, when his time in the White House was winding down and the head of rocket company SpaceX and electric vehicle maker Tesla said he would spend 'a lot less' on politics in the future. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who clashed with Musk while he ran DOGE, said on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday that DOGE's 'principles' were popular but 'if you look at the polling, Elon was not.' 'I imagine that those board of directors did not like this announcement yesterday and will be encouraging him to focus on his business activities, not his political activities,' he said. ___ Associated Press writer Meg Kinnard in Chapin, South Carolina, contributed to this report.
