Southeast
Biden admin rebuffs lawmakers' claims new energy standards will exacerbate 'dream-killing' housing costs
The Biden administration on Monday rejected claims from Congress and homebuilder groups that new energy efficiency standards for home construction will make a bad economic situation even worse.
In late May, the Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) and Department of Agriculture enacted updated energy efficiency standards for new home construction that reflect 2021 International Energy Efficiency Conservation Code (IECC) parameters for federally-financed homes.
The pushback comes after nearly 20 lawmakers sent a recent letter demanding the president halt adoption of the new efficiency standards, set to be enforced, citing affordability and inflationary concerns.
In comments to Fox News Digital, a Biden-Harris administration official rejected claims the new standards will further burden first-time homebuyers and families already facing record high prices.
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Single-family homes in a residential neighborhood in Aldie, Virginia. (Nathan Howard/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“As a result of this rule, energy efficiency improvements will cut costs by hundreds of dollars per year, saving homeowners tens-of-thousands of dollars over the lifetime of the home,” the official said.
“[HUD, USDA] and the Department of Energy are providing billions of dollars in resources and support to builders to ensure these standards help homebuyers see lower energy bills, ensure their homes are more resilient to extreme heat and cold, and even see benefits to their health.”
In a separate statement, HUD officials wrote that the adoption of the 2021-IECC will yield “significant annual and lifetime cost savings to homeowners and renters, improves resident health and comfort, and increases the climate resilience of both single family and multifamily covered housing.”
According to a HUD fact sheet, the agency calculated an $80 per month energy bill savings for houses built under 2021-IECC versus the prior standards. Current IECC standards were drafted in 2009 and put into effect in 2015.
In their letter, more than a dozen House lawmakers led by Rep. Ben Cline, R-Va., warned Biden the adoption of 2021-IECC standards would exacerbate the housing affordability crisis and price some households out of the market altogether.
Cline’s letter, co-signed by Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, Dan Meuser, R-Pa., and 15 other lawmakers, said 44 states thus far declined to adopt the 2021-IECC standards themselves because they understand the market ramifications.
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“In fact, HUD estimates that applying the 2021-IECC standards would cause new home prices to rise by an average of $7,200 per single-family home. Additionally, National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) data shows that around 107 million households are already unable to afford the median price of a new home,” the lawmakers wrote.
“The adoption of this new standard will price an additional 724,525 households out of the market,” it went on. The letter also claimed the new standards will disproportionately hurt underserved communities and first-time homebuyers.
A spokesman for Meuser said although the 2021-IECC standards went into effect May 28, there is still time for Biden to pull back on any enforcement.
The spokesman cited the federal register, which stipulated compliance dates for FHA-insured single family new-construction 18 months after the May date, one year for multifamily projects and two years for projects in rural or “persistent poverty” areas.
In a statement, Cline said Biden-era regulations have already had a negative impact on the Shenandoah Valley, which he represents, adding the adoption of 2021-IECC will “only exacerbate the housing crisis.”
Another co-signer, Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fla., quipped, “first inflation, now this.”
Bean said Biden’s energy policies are “killing the American Dream of home ownership.”
Bean went on to cite data mirroring that from Kansas City, Mo.’s Home Builders Association that calculated an increase of more than $31,000 in the price of a home.
“It’s clear Biden stands with Wall Street billionaires and green radicals, not hardworking Americans,” Bean said.
Self said in a statement the new regulations will deliver only “minimal” energy-saving returns while burdening new homebuyers with higher prices.
A spokesperson for NAHB pointed Fox News Digital to recent congressional testimony by Shawn Woods, a Missouri homebuilder who appeared on the organization’s behalf.
“Without adequate review or consideration of how it will affect home buyers or renters, HUD and USDA have rammed through a mandate that will require new, single-family construction financed through both agencies to be built to the 2021 IECC,” he said.
Woods also echoed lawmakers’ concerns about the potential inflationary effects on the housing affordability crisis during his prior testimony.
Meanwhile, Craig Toalson, CEO of the Home Builders Association of Virginia, praised Cline’s action, predicting mandatory adoption of the standards by HUD and USDA would bring little in the way of “meaningful” energy savings to homebuyers.
“[T]his ill-conceived codes policy will deter new construction at a time when increasing the housing supply is crucial to lowering shelter inflation costs,” Toalson said.
The present and former standards were drafted by the International Code Council, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit. It formulates building safety codes and provides accreditations and technologies, according to its website.
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Southeast
Illegal immigrant arrested after showing up to Florida Border Patrol office for contract IT work
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FIRST ON FOX: An illegal immigrant who reported to a U.S. Border Patrol site in Florida to perform some Information technology contractual work was arrested when authorities were made aware of his citizenship status, officials said.
Angel Camacho, a Venezuelan citizen, reported to a USBP center in Dania Beach, Florida, Jan. 6 to do some IT work when U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials began vetting him, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told Fox News Digital.
During its investigation, it was revealed Camacho was in violation of U.S. immigration laws, authorities said.
Angel Camacho reported to a Florida U.S. Border Patrol center to perform contractual work when he was arrested, a Department of Homeland Security official said. (Getty Images )
“CBP vets all external visitors before allowing them to enter secure facilities to ensure safety and operational integrity,” DHS Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement.
“During the vetting process, CBP uncovered this individual was a tourist visa overstay in the country for over five years.”
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This photo shows a U.S. Border Patrol patch on a border agent’s uniform in McAllen, Texas, Jan. 15, 2019. (Suzanne CordeiroAFP via Getty Images)
Camacho was arrested and transferred to ICE custody, Bis said.
His criminal history includes theft and resisting a Florida Highway Patrol officer, officials said. Federal authorities have nabbed several illegal immigrants in the process of trying to obtain employment in law enforcement and education.
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One Sierra Leone citizen was recently arrested as he was training to become a Pennsylvania corrections officer.
Another illegal immigrant, Ian Roberts, served as the former superintendent of Iowa’s largest district, Des Moines Public Schools, before he was arrested by ICE.
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A Georgia high school teacher was arrested Wednesday after allegations of inappropriate contact between a teacher and a minor student surfaced at Lee County High School.
Danielle Weaver, 29, of Leesburg, is charged with child molestation and improper sexual contact by an employee, agent or foster parent, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigations (GBI).
Lee County High School requested the Leesburg Police Department investigate the allegations on Feb. 3, and the GBI was called to assist the following day.
Danielle Weaver, 29, of Leesburg, Ga., is charged with child molestation and improper sexual contact by an employee. (Lee County Sheriff’s Office)
Investigators identified Weaver as the “subject,” and identified the victim as a student under 18 years old at Lee County High School, according to officials.
GBI agents continued the investigation along with the Leesburg Police Department, and arrest warrants were obtained for Weaver on Tuesday.
A Google Maps street view photo of Lee County High School in Leesburg, Ga. (Google Maps)
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Weaver turned herself in to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday, and was later released on bond, according to a report from WALB News.
This investigation is active and ongoing, according to the GBI.
The incident allegedly happened at a high school in Georgia. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
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Once complete, the case file will be given to the Southwestern Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for prosecution.
Leesburg is located in South Georgia, and is about an hour and a half north of Tallahassee, Florida.
Lee County High School’s communications team did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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Southeast
Federal court clears way for Ten Commandments to be displayed in Louisiana public school classrooms
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A federal appeals court cleared the way Friday for a Louisiana law requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public school classrooms, lifting a lower court block and reigniting debate over religion in public education.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit voted 12-6 to lift a block first imposed in 2024, finding it was too early to determine the constitutionality of the law. Critics argue the requirement violates the separation of church and state, while supporters say the Ten Commandments are historical and foundational to U.S. law.
The court said in the majority opinion that it was unclear how schools would display the poster-sized materials, noting that the law allows additional content, like the Mayflower Compact or the Declaration of Independence, to appear alongside the Ten Commandments.
The majority wrote that there were not enough facts to “permit judicial judgment rather than speculation” when evaluating potential First Amendment concerns.
A federal appeals court on Friday lifted a lower court block on Louisiana’s Ten Commandments classroom law, bringing the measure closer to taking effect. (John Bazemore/AP)
In a concurring opinion, Circuit Judge James Ho, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, wrote that the law was constitutional and “consistent with our founding traditions.”
“It is fully consistent with the Constitution, and what’s more, it reinforces our Founders’ firm belief that the children of America should be educated about the religious foundations and traditions of our country,” Ho said, adding that the law “affirms our Nation’s highest and most noble traditions.”
Circuit Judge James L. Dennis, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, wrote in a dissenting opinion that displaying the Ten Commandments in classrooms would amount to “exposing children to government‑endorsed religion in a setting of compulsory attendance.”
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A federal appeals court ruling on Feb. 20 allows Louisiana’s Ten Commandments classroom mandate to proceed for now. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via Getty Images)
“That is precisely the kind of establishment the Framers anticipated and sought to prevent,” he added.
The ACLU of Louisiana and other groups representing the plaintiffs said they would pursue additional legal challenges to block the law.
“Today’s ruling is extremely disappointing and would unnecessarily force Louisiana’s public school families into a game of constitutional whack-a-mole in every school district,” the groups wrote in a joint-statement. “Longstanding judicial precedent makes clear that our clients need not submit to the very harms they are seeking to prevent before taking legal action to protect their rights.”
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Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry praised the appeals court decision on Feb. 20 allowing the Ten Commandments classroom law to move forward. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, file)
Republican Gov. Jeff Landry on Friday praised the court’s decision, writing on Facebook, “Common sense is making a comeback!”
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill issued a statement following the ruling, saying schools “should follow the law.”
“Don’t kill or steal shouldn’t be controversial. My office has issued clear guidance to our public schools on how to comply with the law, and we have created multiple examples of posters demonstrating how it can be applied constitutionally,” she said.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said schools should follow the Ten Commandments display law after a federal appeals court lifted a lower court block on Feb. 20. (Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
Joseph Davis, an attorney representing Louisiana in the case, celebrated the court’s decision.
“If the ACLU had its way, every trace of religion would be scrubbed from the fabric of our public life,” he said in a statement. “That position is at odds with our nation’s traditions and our Constitution. We’re glad the Fifth Circuit has allowed Louisiana to display the Ten Commandments in its public school classrooms.”
Friday’s ruling came after the full court agreed to reconsider the case, months after a three-judge panel ruled the Louisiana law unconstitutional.
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A similar law in Arkansas faces a federal court challenge, while Texas implemented its own Ten Commandments classroom requirement last year.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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