Politics
White House does victory lap on its handling of East Palestine disaster despite never declaring emergency
The White House is doing a victory lap on its response to the derailment of a train hauling toxic chemicals in East Palestine, Ohio, last year as President Biden prepares to visit the site for the first time.
The administration’s media blitz Wednesday comes nearly 12 months after the disaster which occurred in early February 2023, and sparked fears of widespread contamination of the region’s air and water supply. In the aftermath of the event, the federal government led by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) took action to clear the derailment site, remove waste and implement new rail safety measures.
“We have been at work here at the U.S. Department of Transportation throughout this entire process and we’ll continue to do so. Safety is our department’s main reason for being. Whether it’s aviation safety, roadway safety or railway safety, it is always our top priority,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told reporters Wednesday. “All of this was at stake and continues to be at stake in the response to what happened one year ago.”
“For many, it’s been a year of fear, a year of uncertainty and a year of change,” added EPA Administrator Michael Regan. “We recognize times have been very challenging. That’s why I’m so thankful for the leadership of President Biden, who mobilized this whole-of-government response to support the people of East Palestine, Ohio, and supported the United States Environmental Protection Agency as we worked hard to hold Norfolk Southern accountable, clean up this mess and restore this tight-knit community.”
EAST PALESTINE RESIDENTS GRILL BIDEN FOR NOT YET VISITING SITE OF MAJOR TRAIN DERAILMENT: ‘WE’RE NOT OK’
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg speaks during a news conference near the site of the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb. 23, 2023. (Matthew Hatcher/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The White House also announced Wednesday that Biden would visit the site in East Palestine at some point next month to witness the ongoing cleanup effort. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said shortly after the incident that Biden would visit the site, but those plans never came to fruition last year.
When pressed in September about why he hadn’t made the visit, Biden said he hasn’t “been able to break.”
EAST PALESTINE RESIDENT EXPERIENCING LESIONS, STOMACH PAIN, SHORTNESS OF BREATH SINCE TRAIN DERAILMENT
Overall, according to federal data released on Friday, the EPA has shipped an estimated 176,787 tons of solid waste and 44.4 million gallons of wastewater from the site since February. Workers have also completed all planned excavation and continue to backfill as test results indicate contaminated soil has been removed.
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan answers questions in East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb. 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Patrick Orsagos)
In addition, the White House highlighted additional federal work testing air quality, supporting local community members, investigating the cause of the derailment and monitoring potential health impacts to nearby residents. The work involves EPA, the Department of Transportation, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Health and Human Services, and Department of Agriculture.
OFFICIALS REVEAL BEHIND-THE-SCENES DECISION TO VENT TOXIC CHEMICALS AFTER EAST PALESTINE TRAIN DERAILMENT
“On behalf of FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell and the entire Biden-Harris administration, I want to reiterate and express that our agency is committed and we will continue to be with the people of East Palestine as they transition to long-term recovery support,” Anne Bink, the associate administrator for FEMA’s Office of Response and Recovery, said Wednesday.
A black plume rises over East Palestine, Ohio, as a result of a controlled detonation of a portion of the derailed Norfolk Southern trains on Feb. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, file)
However, despite his administration’s work clearing the area, Biden failed to ever issue a national disaster declaration which Ohio officials repeatedly requested. In July, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine sent a letter to Biden doubling down on his request and, one month later, Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, urged FEMA to grant DeWine’s request to “unlock additional resources from the federal government.”
“It’s our responsibility to do everything possible to help them recover. I will continue to do all in my power to support the families and small businesses of East Palestine,” Brown wrote to FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell. “Now it is your time to step up and provide the support that only FEMA can.”
REPUBLICANS PROBE EPA ON WHY EAST PALESTINE WASTE SENT TO INDIANA AFTER DEMS OBJECTED TO MICHIGAN
In September, Biden signed an executive order ordering FEMA to appoint a federal disaster recovery coordinator to oversee cleanup efforts. But he declined to grant Ohio’s disaster declaration request, instead choosing to hold the request open pending future developments.
“We’re continuing to provide federal coordination through the appointment of the federal disaster recovery coordinator to support the identification of unmet needs in East Palestine,” a senior administration official told reporters Wednesday. “That was one of our major charges through the executive order. We’re continuing to do that right now.”
“But that work remains ongoing, and it’s really premature to judge what additional federal resources may be required at this time,” the official added. “As more information is known, we’ll certainly share it.”
On Feb. 3, 2023, a train carrying vinyl chloride, a dangerous colorless gas, and operated by the transportation company Norfolk Southern Railroad derailed in East Palestine, which is located along the Ohio-Pennsylvania border. Shortly after the derailment, Norfolk Southern opted to release the gas from the derailed cars, potentially releasing deadly fumes into the air, to prevent a potentially disastrous explosion.
Local residents were told to evacuate the area during the release, but were assured it was safe to return less than a week later. Experts, though, expressed concern that the air and water was not safe.
“This really looks like a nuclear winter,” Sil Caggiano, a local hazardous materials specialist, told Fox News at the time. “Pretty much, yeah, we nuked this town with chemicals.”
Politics
Socialism goes west as DSA-backed challenger ousts longtime Democrat
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Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., a 30-year incumbent, lost to a Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)-backed challenger in a high-profile primary on Tuesday evening.
Melat Kiros, a 29-year-old socialist, defeated DeGette in a Democratic primary for a deep-blue House seat anchored in Denver, according to The Associated Press, scoring a major victory for the socialist left on Tuesday evening.
The DSA had been aiming to cast DeGette’s loss as evidence of its growing momentum after a slate of socialist candidates won Democratic primaries in New York City last week.
“Today, the East Coast, next week the Mountain West,” the DSA wrote in a social media post last week.
Rep. Diana DeGette speaks during a press conference outside the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 10, 2024. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
SOCIALISTS CHEER ‘SHOCKWAVE’ PRIMARY NIGHT AS DSA-BACKED CANDIDATES WIN, ADVANCE ACROSS THE MAP
If elected in November, Kiros, who was born in Ethiopia, will likely join the ranks of the far-left group known as the Squad and become one of a handful of the House chamber’s outspoken socialists.
The millennial challenger was endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and the anti-incumbent leftist organization Justice Democrats. Controversial socialist streamer Hasan Piker, who has said Hamas is “a thousand times better” than Israel and praised the Chinese Communist Party, also backed Kiros’ insurgent primary run.
DeGette, a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus who supports abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), sought to win a 16th House term by flexing her leftist bona fides. She argued her seniority on an influential House committee would allow her to push for Medicare-for-All legislation — a longtime priority of the party’s far-left flank.
DeGette, who was endorsed by former CPC Chairwoman Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., also spotlighted her experience as an impeachment manager during Trump’s second impeachment trial in 2021.
Though DeGette and Kiros shared few policy disagreements, they diverged sharply over Israel and antisemitism. Kiros also sharply criticized DeGette for accepting corporate PAC contributions.
Kiros, a PhD student and lawyer, was fired from a New York firm in 2023 after publishing an open letter, arguing that pro-Palestinian student protesters calling for the elimination of Israel were not antisemitic and appearing to defend Hamas.
Melat Kiros participated in a League of Women Voters Congressional District 1 candidate forum at Montview Presbyterian Church in Denver on May 28, 2026. (RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post)
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She has also described the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks against the Jewish state as the “inevitable consequence of apartheid” and declined to characterize the deadly firebombing of protesters in Boulder last year who were urging the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza as antisemitic.
“I don’t know what was in the heart of the perpetrator,” Kiros told Colorado’s 9News in a recent television interview. “All I know is that he went and attacked innocent people because of what they might have believed.”
A June 2025 bipartisan resolution condemning the attack as part of a “rise in ideologically motivated attacks on Jewish individuals” won every present lawmaker’s support, except for Reps. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who voted present.
Kiros has also suggested the United States deserved 9/11.
“Inevitable in the sense that we destabilized a lot of the Middle East that forced people to believe that another act of violence was the only response,” Kiros told 9News when asked if she thought the terror attack was “the inevitable consequence of American foreign policy.”
“And again, just like I said before, our responsibility is to get rid of those conditions that lead to violence in the first place,” Kiros continued.
DeGette argued that Kiros’ embrace of Piker and her comments about antisemitism and 9/11 were disqualifying.
“I’m shocked and disgusted that Kiros is doubling down on excusing terrorism and the murder of innocent people,” the 30-year incumbent wrote on Facebook earlier this month.
Streamer and creator Hasan Piker speaks at a press conference during day two of Web Summit Vancouver at the Vancouver Convention Centre in Vancouver, Canada, on May 13, 2026. (Sam Barnes/Web Summit via Sportsfile via Getty Images)
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Colorado’s 1st Congressional District is the most liberal seat in the state and voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris by 56 points in 2024.
The primary fight was further scrambled by University of Colorado Regent Wanda James, also running for DeGette’s seat. Though James did not pose the same threat as Kiros, her vote share could ultimately have swayed the contest.
Politics
Newsom signs off on 100% California tax for money from Trump’s $1.8-billion ‘slush fund’
Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed off on a 100% state tax on money any Californians receive from Trump’s $1.8-billion “anti-weaponization” fund for his political allies.
Newsom unveiled his proposal in May, after Trump’s Justice Department said it would create a fund to compensate Trump’s allies who claim they have “suffered weaponization and lawfare” under Biden’s Justice Department.
The settlement fund was criticized by politicians on both sides of the aisle, including Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who described it as a “slush fund to pay people who assault cops.”
The fund remains in legal limbo. Earlier this month, a federal judge in Virginia extended a court-ordered block on the plan, which critics warned could be used to pay pardoned Jan. 6 rioters.
Fast-tracked into law as part of Senate Bill 122, Newsom’s plan imposes “a tax on any settlement fund payment from the federal Anti-Weaponization Fund, or any subsequent fund, settlement, or agreement, as provided, at a rate of 100%,” according to the bill text. The tax applies to all tax years between 2026 and 2030.
Newsom signed the bill Tuesday. In a statement, his office said the tax is meant to ensure that, should Trump’s fund proceed, California recipients won’t “receive favorable state treatment on those payments.”
“We believe democracy is worth defending, the rule of law matters, and public dollars should support victims—not those who attacked the very institutions that protect our freedoms,” Newsom said in the statement.
University of Southern California law professor Ariel Jurow Kleiman, an expert on tax law and policy, said that while Newsom’s tax is a “novel legal strategy,” she believes there is “no categorical legal restriction” preventing California from implementing it.
States have a “wide degree of discretion” to design their tax systems — including how they define income — so long as they do not violate their constitutions, Jurow Kleiman said.
If a California resident wanted to challenge the tax in court, they would need to show they were harmed by it to have standing to sue, according to Jurow Kleiman. That would mean receiving a payment from Trump’s settlement fund and then paying the 100% California tax. Unless the settlement fund is established and distributes payments, that scenario is unlikely.
While there have been proposals to levy a 100% tax on income above certain thresholds — Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in 2023 said he supports a 100% tax on income exceeding $1 billion — Jurow Kleiman said she is not aware of any governments that have adopted such a policy.
Politics
Congress eyes rare bipartisan housing win with or without Trump’s help
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The House has officially shipped a colossal bipartisan housing package to President Donald Trump, and lawmakers are hoping that, at the very least, he doesn’t veto it.
Trump was supposed to sign the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act last week, but his last-minute decision to ghost the signing ceremony with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., put into question whether the bill was dead.
His refusal to sign the bill, which passed with overwhelmingly bipartisan support in both chambers, was to leverage the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, which doesn’t currently have the votes to succeed in the Senate.
WARREN TELLS TRUMP TO ‘SIGN THE DAMN BILL’ AS BIPARTISAN HOUSING PACKAGE REMAINS STALLED IN WASHINGTON
Trump has refused to sign the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act. (Shawn Thew/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Trump appears to be in no hurry to sign the bill, despite Republicans who are hungry for a win in the affordability fight ahead of the midterm elections.
“It’s so unimportant … compared to the SAVE America Act,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday. “I think the SAVE America Act is exactly what it says. It’s saving America from crooked elections.”
“Here’s what I would like to sign, much more than a bill that — big deal, it’s a yawn,” he continued. “Some people say it’s wonderful. To me, compared to the SAVE America Act, just about everything is a big yawn.”
GOP INFIGHTING OVER TRUMP’S VOTER ID BILL ERUPTS AS TOP SENATOR CALLS STRATEGY ‘FANTASY’
It’s legislation that is loaded with nearly 60 provisions from both sides of the aisle in both chambers that’s designed to make it easier for homes to be built and for younger Americans to buy their first home. It also includes a ban on hedge funds buying up housing stock that Trump pushed Congress to include during the State of the Union earlier this year.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., one of the architects behind the bill in the upper chamber alongside Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., charged that Congress handed the bill to Trump “on a silver platter.”
“When you ask me what happens next, if he cared about the American people, he’d have already signed the damned thing, and we’d be underway,” Warren said on WCVB’s “On the Record” on Sunday.
But Trump doesn’t have to put his signature on the bill for it to become law.
IRATE REPUBLICANS ACCUSE TRUMP OF HANDING DEMOCRATS A WIN AFTER BLOWING UP HOUSING PACKAGE
The Senate advanced a massive, Trump-backed housing package geared toward lowering the costs of homes and supercharging the housing supply. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., pitched it as legislation to prevent America from becoming a “nation of renters.” (Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Protect Borrowers; Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
The Constitution grants presidents the ability to veto a bill within 10 days of it being transferred over to the White House. In that scenario, Congress could override a veto of the housing package.
It’s happened before under the Trump administration. In early 2021, Congress overrode Trump’s veto of the annual National Defense Authorization Act — a massive Pentagon funding authorization package that some House Republicans are trying to use as a vehicle to pass the SAVE America Act.
But during that 10-day period, if Trump doesn’t sign the bill, it would automatically become law. That’s unless Congress completely adjourns, in which case a “pocket veto” could happen. The Senate is currently in recess and the House is scheduled to leave town by week’s end, but neither count as a full adjournment.
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Johnson, who spent the last few days meeting with Trump at the White House about the housing bill and the SAVE America Act, said: “I hope he does sign it.”
“If he doesn’t, it’s still law,” Johnson said. “We’ll still celebrate it, but he’s trying to make a point, and I think he’s making it very effectively. And the fact that you all ask me every three steps down the hallway illustrates that he has achieved the desired objective, and that is to make SAVE America the number one thing, because if we don’t get that right, everybody’s concerned about what happens next.”
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