House Republicans try again on water permitting bills
The bills would benefit oil and gas companies, farming interests, homebuilders, water utilities and others who say that environmental reviews and long permitting timelines are stifling development.
They were introduced by Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee Chair Mike Collins (R-Ga.) and Reps. Rick Crawford (R-Ark.), David Rouzer (R-N.C.), Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.), Pete Stauber (R-Minn.), Burgess Owens (R-Utah), Eric Burlison (R-Mo.), Jeff Hurd (R-Colo.), Jefferson Shreve (R-Ind.), Dave Taylor (R-Ohio) and Jimmy Patronis (R-Fla.).
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'The Clean Water Act was intended to protect water quality, support healthy communities, and balance the demands of economic growth across the United States,' Graves said in a statement.
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Fox News
35 minutes ago
- Fox News
Justice Alito's warning about nationwide injunction 'loophole' looms over Trump cases
Justice Samuel Alito raised concerns about a "potentially significant loophole" in the Supreme Court's decision to curb universal injunctions, and now his warning is hanging over lawsuits involving President Donald Trump. Alito said in his concurring opinion in Trump v. CASA that class action lawsuits and lawsuits brought by states leave room for judges to hand down injunctions that, in practice, would function the same way a universal injunction does. "Federal courts should thus be vigilant against such potential abuses of these tools," Alito said. Alito's warning comes as judges continue to hand down sweeping rulings and as plaintiffs begin filing lawsuits tailored to avoid running into the new roadblock established by the high court. In one major ruling, Judge Randolph Moss, an Obama appointee based in Washington, D.C., found this week that Trump's proclamation declaring an "invasion" at the border was unlawful. Trump's proclamation restricted migrants from claiming asylum when crossing into the United States, a practice the Trump administration says has been abused by border crossers. Moss "set aside" that policy under the Administrative Procedure Act, which had an effect similar to that of a nationwide injunction. More than a dozen potential asylees brought the lawsuit, and Moss also agreed to certify the case as a class action lawsuit that applied to all potential asylees in the country. The Trump administration immediately appealed the ruling. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement that Moss was a "rogue district court judge" who was "already trying to circumvent the Supreme Court's recent ruling against nationwide injunctions." In his concurring opinion, Alito warned against class action lawsuits that do not strictly abide by Rule 23, which lays out the criteria for certifying a class. He said the Supreme Court's decision on universal injunctions will have "very little value" if district courts do not adhere to the rule. "District courts should not view today's decision as an invitation to certify nationwide classes without scrupulous adherence to the rigors of Rule 23," Alito wrote. "Otherwise, the universal injunction will return from the grave under the guise of 'nationwide class relief,' and today's decision will be of little more than minor academic interest." Alito also noted that another area for exploitation could be states that seek statewide relief from a court. For instance, Democrat-led states have filed several lawsuits challenging Trump's policies. A judge could grant those states statewide injunctions, meaning everyone living in the state would be exempt from the policies. Alito warned that giving third parties widespread standing in cases in that manner required careful scrutiny. If judges are lax about these statewide lawsuits, states will have "every incentive to bring third-party suits on behalf of their residents to obtain a broader scope of equitable relief than any individual resident could procure in his own suit," Alito wrote. "Left unchecked, the practice of reflexive state third-party standing will undermine today's decision as a practical matter."
CNN
35 minutes ago
- CNN
Supreme Court agrees to review bans on transgender athletes joining teams that align with their gender identity
Source: CNN The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to decide whether states may ban transgender students from playing on sports teams that align with their gender identity, revisiting the issue of LGBTQ rights in a blockbuster case just days after upholding a ban on some health care for trans youth. The decision puts the issue of transgender rights on the Supreme Court's docket for the second year in a row and is by far the most significant matter the justices have agreed to hear in the term that will begin in October. The cases, one from West Virginia and the other from Idaho, involve transgender athletes who at least initially competed in track and field and cross country. The West Virginia case was filed by a then-middle school student who told the Supreme Court she was 'devastated at the prospect' of not being able to compete after the state passed a law banning trans women athletes' participation in public school sports. The court's decision landed as transgender advocates are still reeling from the 6-3 ruling in US v. Skrmetti, which upheld Tennessee's ban on trans youth from accessing puberty blockers and hormone therapy. Though the state law also bars surgeries, they were not at issue in the high court's case. But that decision was limited to questions of whether the state had the power to regulate medical treatments for minors, leaving unresolved challenges to other anti-trans laws. The justices agreed to review two cases challenging sports bans in Idaho and West Virginia. The court didn't act on a third appeal over a similar ban in Arizona and will likely hold that case until it decides the other two, probably by early next summer. The American Civil Liberties Union, which is part of the legal team representing the athletes in the cases, said school athletic programs should be accessible to everyone regardless of a student's sex or transgender status. 'Categorically excluding kids from school sports just because they are transgender will only make our schools less safe and more hurtful places for all youth,' said Joshua Block, senior counsel for the ACLU's LGBTQ & HIV Project. 'We believe the lower courts were right to block these discriminatory laws, and we will continue to defend the freedom of all kids to play.' West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey, a Republican, said that the state is 'confident the Supreme Court will uphold the Save Women's Sports Act because it complies with the US Constitution and complies with Title IX.' The Supreme Court will review the case at a time when Republican-led states and President Donald Trump have pushed for policies to curtail transgender rights. Trump ran for reelection in part on a campaign to push 'transgender insanity' out of public schools, mocking Democratic candidate Kamala Harris in advertising for supporting 'they/them,' the pronouns used by some transgender and nonbinary people. But even before that, states had passed laws banning transgender girls from playing on girls' sports teams. Roughly half of US states have enacted such laws. The Trump administration has actively supported policies that bar transgender athletes from competing on teams that match their gender identity. On Wednesday, the federal government released $175 million in previously frozen federal funding to the University of Pennsylvania after the school agreed to block transgender athletes from female sports teams and erase the records set by swimmer Lia Thomas. In West Virginia, former Gov. Jim Justice, a Republican, signed the 'Save Women's Sports Act' in 2021, banning transgender women and girls from participating on public school sports teams consistent with their gender identity. Becky Pepper-Jackson, a rising sixth grader at the time, who was 'looking forward to trying out for the girls' cross-country team,' filed a lawsuit alleging that the ban violated federal law and the Constitution. The Richmond-based 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last year that West Virginia's ban violated Pepper-Jackson's rights under Title IX, a federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex at schools that receive federal aid. The court also revived her constitutional challenge of the law. 'Her family, teachers, and classmates have all known B.P.J. as a girl for several years, and – beginning in elementary school – she has participated only on girls athletic teams,' US Circuit Judge Toby Heytens, who was nominated to the bench by President Joe Biden, wrote for the court. 'Given these facts, offering B.P.J. a 'choice' between not participating in sports and participating only on boys teams is no real choice at all.' Most of the appeals on the issue of transgender athletes question whether such bans are permitted under the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. The West Virginia case was different in that it also raised the question of whether such bans violated Title IX. The Supreme Court often prefers to settle a dispute under a law, rather than the Constitution, if it has the option because such a ruling technically allows Congress to change the law in response to the decision. West Virginia appealed to the Supreme Court last year, arguing that the appeal court decision 'renders sex-separated sports an illusion.' 'Schools will need to separate sports teams based on self-identification and personal choices that have nothing to do with athletic performance,' the state said. West Virginia initially brought the case to the Supreme Court last year on an emergency basis, seeking to enforce the law against Pepper-Jackson while the underlying legal challenge played out. In an unsigned order, the court declined that request. Conservative Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito said they would have granted it. In Idaho, Republican Gov. Brad Little signed the state's sports ban in 2020, the first of its kind in the nation. Lindsay Hecox, then a freshman at Boise State University, sued days later, saying that she intended to try out for the women's track and cross-country teams and alleging that the law violated the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause. A federal district court blocked the law's enforcement against Hecox months later and the San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that decision last year. Idaho appealed to the Supreme Court in July. 'Idaho's women and girls deserve an equal playing field,' said Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador, a Republican. 'For too long, activists have worked to sideline women and girls in their own sports.' But Sasha Buchert, senior attorney and director of the Non-Binary and Transgender Rights Project at Lambda Legal, stressed the importance of team sports for all students. Lambda Legal is part of the team representing Pepper-Jackson in the West Virginia case. 'Our client just wants to play sports with her friends and peers,' said Buchert said. 'Everyone understands the value of participating in team athletics, for fitness, leadership, socialization, and myriad other benefits.' This story has been updated with additional information. See Full Web Article
TechCrunch
35 minutes ago
- TechCrunch
Stripe's first employee, the founder of fintech Increase, sort of bought a bank
It's an open secret in the fintech world that the founder and CEO of startup Increase, Darragh Buckley, has been trying for years to 'buy a bank,' as one person familiar with the landscape told TechCrunch. A couple of weeks ago, he basically succeeded. He bought a big enough stake in Twin City Bank to trigger a public disclosure of the transaction by the Federal Research Board. Such share purchases are then subject to FDIC approval. Twin City is a small community bank in Longview, Washington, about an hour north of Portland, Oregon. The stake had to be in excess of 10% to trigger the disclosure. Buckley confirmed the deal to TechCrunch but declined to say how big of a stake he purchased. Whether he owns 11% or, say, 51%, we understand he is not the sole owner. Still, anything upwards of 10% makes him a major shareholder. (For comparison, public companies have to disclose all ownership stakes of 5% or more.) The assumption in the industry was that Buckley wanted a bank to further the ambitions of Increase, his banking-as-a-service (BaaS) startup, multiple sources told TechCrunch. What's particularly wild is that a mysterious entity — most likely one of Buckley's competitors — was so opposed to this deal that it hired an agency to pitch the press on writing negative stories about it and him. But, Buckley told TechCrunch, this was actually his third investment in a Washington community bank and his interests are not what his competitors think. Techcrunch event Save $450 on your TechCrunch All Stage pass Build smarter. Scale faster. Connect deeper. Join visionaries from Precursor Ventures, NEA, Index Ventures, Underscore VC, and beyond for a day packed with strategies, workshops, and meaningful connections. Save $450 on your TechCrunch All Stage pass Build smarter. Scale faster. Connect deeper. Join visionaries from Precursor Ventures, NEA, Index Ventures, Underscore VC, and beyond for a day packed with strategies, workshops, and meaningful connections. Boston, MA | REGISTER NOW This is not an effort for Increase to own the bank, he said. 'Twin City Bank is, and will remain, a community-focused bank,' he said. Silicon Valley finds a banking shortcut Increase offers an API platform that allows financial services to be programmatically served. It performs tasks like automated clearing house transactions, wires, real-time payments, etc. Increase's customers are largely other fintechs like Ramp, Check, and Pipe. As Stripe's first employee, Buckley has 'a great reputation as an engineer among his peers,' one person in the fintech industry told TechCrunch. Even some BaaS competitors refer business to Increase when they can't handle it themselves. Like most fintechs, Increase partners with (and shares revenue with) FDIC-insured banks to offer such regulated services. Obtaining banking licenses themselves is difficult and expensive. Even Chime, which offers checking and savings accounts and recently had an IPO, is not an FDIC-insured bank but has banking partners. In Increase's case, it works with Grasshopper Bank and First Internet Bank of Indiana. (Buckley said he has no personal investment in either one.) However, BaaS is a crowded, competitive market. That's led a small number of them to find a workaround to stand out: buying small community banks directly and doing away with banking partners. The biggest example of this is William Hockey, co-founder of Plaid, whose current fintech, Column, bought Northern California National Bank for $50 million in 2021. Another example is a Kansas City bank called Lead, bought and led by former Block executives Jackie Reses, Lead's CEO, and Ronak Vyas, CTO. The dangers of fintech partnerships Buckley insists he has no plans to turn Twin City into his company's personal partner bank or to swell its revenues with lots of fintech partners like Increase's customers. The latter, he knows, can be dangerous. For example, Evolve Bank, a partner to many fintechs from Affirm to Stripe, was the target of a large ransomware attack in 2024. This was shortly after the Federal Reserve System issued a cease-and-desist consent order to Evolve over problems it found with the bank's risk management systems. Evolve was ordered to implement pages of compliance fixes. (The bank was also associated with the meltdown of BaaS startup Synapse.) 'Twin City Bank shouldn't support sponsor banking,' Buckley explained, referring to banking partnerships with fintechs. 'Sponsor banking requires very specific capability and capacity to supervise partners safely and soundly. Only specialized banks should do it.' So why make such a big investment if not to benefit Increase? Because he likes community banks. They are the underdogs of the banking world. 'There's perhaps a prevalent view in the financial technology industry that community banks can't grow on their own. But community banks' strength is their relationships and knowledge,' he said. If Buckley's plan for the bank ever changes, his BaaS competitors will be watching. As for the mysterious entity hoping to stop him: it's too late. He said he received the FDIC's 'non-objection for control' approval and the deal has already closed.
