SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
house republicans
In 'Dead of Night,' House GOP Unveils 'Corporate Polluter's Wish List'
"The sprawling proposal," warned the Sierra Club, "includes dozens of provisions that would benefit the oil and gas industry and other corporations, at the expense of American families."
May 02, 2025
Green groups on Friday decried U.S. House Republicans' proposed text for the upcoming reconciliation bill, which the Natural Resources Defense Council said "contains an unprecedented slate of direct attacks on the environment and public lands and waters."
Republicans on the House Natural Resources Committee submitted their proposed section of the massive GOP energy, tax, and national security bill, which is scheduled for a markup on Tuesday.
"The sprawling proposal, released in the dead of night, includes dozens of provisions that would benefit the oil and gas industry and other corporations, at the expense of American families," said the Sierra Club.
"The only way it could be friendlier to Big Oil CEOs would be if they wrote it themselves."
The draft's proposals include fast-tracked and expanded fossil fuel extraction on public lands, mandated oil and gas drilling leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, ending protections for Minnesota's pristine Boundary Waters watershed, reinstating canceled leases for the proposed Twin Metals mine in Minnesota, rolling back fossil fuel royalties, and more.
"This proposal is a corporate polluter's wish list," warned Athan Manuel, director of Sierra Club's Lands Protection Program. "The only way it could be friendlier to Big Oil CEOs would be if they wrote it themselves."
"Let's be clear, this proposal is a means to an end," Manuel added. "The end is tax cuts for billionaires, and the means are selling off the public lands that belong to the American people. These provisions enable drilling and mining as quickly, lucratively, and free from public scrutiny as possible, even allowing the fossil fuel industry to buy their way out of judicial oversight. It's a giveaway to industry, and Americans should not stand for it."
Defenders of Wildlife warned that "this egregious legislation would undermine critical wildlife protections and destroy or degrade large swaths of wildlife habitats through destructive mandates for increased logging and massive oil and gas lease sales on American public land, including portions of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge."
Robert Dewey, the group's vice president of government relations, said that "this bill would be devastating for American wildlife and the habitats they depend on."
"It puts a bullseye on already imperiled polar bears, whales, and hundreds of other species that depend on the integrity of federal lands and waters for their survival," Dewey added. "Congress shouldn't be handing over these vital and cherished wildlife habitats on public lands to oil and other extractive companies for bigger profits."
"This measure would give the oil industry free rein to pillage our public lands and oceans."
Kyle Jones, NRDC's federal affairs director, also issued a dire warning:
This measure would give the oil industry free rein to pillage our public lands and oceans. Instead of helping the American people and our shared public resources, it would allow the oil, coal, and timber industries to pick and choose the areas they want to exploit. And it exposes irreplaceable Alaskan wilderness to destructive oil drilling, industrial roadways and mining.
Worst of all, it allows fossil fuel companies and other big polluters to buy their way out of meaningful review or public input into their projects. So, that would mean one set of rules for the fossil fuel and logging barons, and another for the rest of us.
"The best thing that can be said about this measure is that it may be too radical for even this Congress," Jones added. "For the good of Americans and our shared resources, it should be quickly cast aside and forgotten."
The GOP draft follows the Trump administration's publication last month of a proposal that the Center for Biological Diversity warned "would rescind nearly all habitat protections for endangered species nationwide" by changing the regulatory definition of a single word—"harm"—in the Endangered Species Act, the nation's cornerstone wildlife conservation law.
It also comes as the administration, spearheaded by the Department of Government Efficiency—which has been led by billionaire Elon Musk—eviscerates federal agencies including the Fish and Wildlife Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
As he did during his first term, President Donald Trump—who campaigned on a "drill, baby, drill" platform—is pursuing a massive rollback of climate and environmental regulations and has appointed Cabinet secretaries whose backgrounds and beliefs are often inimical to their agencies' purposes.
Keep ReadingShow Less
House GOP Approves Economic Attack on Poor to Fund 'Big Payout' for Billionaires
"Republicans want to give away trillions of dollars to the richest people in our country," said Rep. Rashida Tlaib, "and they want to pay for it by taking food away from hungry children and letting people die from a lack of healthcare coverage."
Apr 10, 2025
In a party-line vote, House Republicans on Thursday approved a budget blueprint that sets the stage for the GOP to pass another round of tax cuts for the rich, paid for in part by slashing Medicaid, federal nutrition assistance, and other critical programs.
The final vote was 216 to 214, with two Republicans—Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Victoria Spartz of Indiana—and every Democrat opposing the measure, which now must be converted into legislation.
The budget reconciliation process that Republicans are using for their sweeping bill means it can pass with a simple majority in both chambers of Congress.
"Republicans are ramming through a budget that includes $880 billion in cuts to Medicaid and at least $230 billion in cuts to food assistance to pay for tax breaks for billionaires," Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) said in a statement Thursday. "These are the largest Medicaid and food assistance cuts in American history."
“Make no mistake: Republicans want to give away trillions of dollars to the richest people in our country like Elon Musk, and they want to pay for it by taking food away from hungry children and letting people die from a lack of healthcare coverage," Tlaib continued. "We must raise our voices and defeat this dangerous Republican budget."
"In unifying behind this budget resolution, congressional Republicans are telling us they are serious about their agenda to rob everyday Americans in order to deliver a big payout to the ultra-wealthy in tax cuts."
Passage of the blueprint came hours after Republican congressional leaders and President Donald Trump managed to win the support of GOP holdouts concerned that the forthcoming legislative package won't reduce spending enough to offset the massive cost of fresh tax cuts, which would largely benefit the rich.
During a press conference Thursday following the vote, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) signaled that they are unified behind the goal of cutting at least $1.5 trillion in federal spending over the next decade—an objective that Trump has endorsed.
"We have a lot of United States senators who believe that is a minimum," Thune said of the $1.5 trillion figure.
Sharon Parrott, president of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said in a statement that "in this budget framework, there is no way to cut $1.5 trillion in spending while protecting health coverage through Medicaid and food assistance through [the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program]."
"This budget architecture was terrible a couple of months ago," Parrott added. "It is a far worse plan at a moment when the president's tariffs, chaotically crafted and applied, have caused business uncertainty to soar and raised the risk of a recession, higher unemployment, and surging prices."
In a post on his social media site, Trump congratulated House Republicans for approving the measure and claimed it would deliver "the Largest Tax and Regulation Cuts ever even contemplated."
An analysis released last week by the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation estimated that renewing soon-to-expire provisions of the 2017 Trump-GOP tax law would cost $5.5 trillion over the next decade. Republican lawmakers have also called for an additional $1.5 trillion in tax cuts, which would push the overall cost of the tax package to $7 trillion.
David Kass, executive director of Americans for Tax Fairness, said in a statement Thursday that "the country is rapidly undergoing an intensifying economic crisis created by Trump and congressional Republicans, and the only legislative solution they've put forward is to double down on tax cuts for billionaires while eliminating healthcare access and food assistance for millions of Americans."
Lisa Gilbert, co-president of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, echoed that message, saying that "in unifying behind this budget resolution, congressional Republicans are telling us they are serious about their agenda to rob everyday Americans in order to deliver a big payout to the ultra-wealthy in tax cuts."
"As they now work to actually write the bill that they intend to push through via the reconciliation process, which will deplete funding for healthcare, nutrition, and other critical human needs in order to line the pockets of CEOs and billionaires, they should know we are also serious in our efforts to fight back," Gilbert added.
Keep ReadingShow Less
House Republicans Pass Bill Letting Musk 'Fleece Consumers' With His X Money Scheme
"Elon Musk orchestrated a plan to rip off consumers with impunity when he tweeted 'Delete CFPB' and Congress just rubber-stamped it," said one campaigner.
Apr 09, 2025
In a move likely to further enrich Elon Musk, the world's richest person, the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday voted to revoke a rule empowering a federal agency to oversee digital payment applications including Apple Pay, CashApp, and Venmo like it monitors banks and credit card companies.
House lawmakers passed S.J. Res. 28 by a party-line vote of 219-211, a move that followed the Senate's vote last month to rescind the Consumer Financial Protect Bureau (CFPB) rule requiring payment apps to be regulated under the agency's supervisory authority.
"The vote," the progressive advocacy group Demand Progress said, "is the latest in a damning and telling chain of events benefiting Elon Musk," chairman of the social media company X.
The group laid out the timeline:
- November 21, 2024: The CFPB finalizes a rule enabling the agency to proactively supervise digital payment apps.
- November 27, 2024: Musk tweets "Delete CFPB."
- January 28, 2025: X CEO announces that X Money will debut with a partnership with Visa.
- February 7, 2025: Musk's Department of Government Efficiency staffers enter the CFPB and kick off an effort to shut it down.
- March 5, 2025: The Senate votes to revoke the CFPB's digital payments rule.
- April 9, 2025: The House of Representatives votes to revoke the rule.
"Musk is now on a glide path to launch X Money this year without the watchdog agency to ensure that he follows federal rules mandating data security standards, disputes for fraudulent payments, consumer protections against debanking, and more," Demand Progress said.
"And through the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, Musk now has access to sensitive information about competitors in the digital payments space like Cash App, PayPal, and Venmo that have been investigated by the CFPB, potentially giving X Money an unfair business advantage," the group added.
BREAKING: Congress just voted to strip the CFPB of its power to make sure payment apps like CashApp protect consumers, just as Elon Musk gears up to turn Twitter into his own payment app.
[image or embed]
— Demand Progress (@demandprogress.bsky.social) April 9, 2025 at 2:03 PM
As Consumer Reportsnoted Wednesday:
The CFPB's rule (also known as the larger participant rule) applies to digital wallet and payment providers handling more than 50 million transactions per year. The most widely used apps subject to the rule process an estimated 13 billion consumer payment transactions annually, according to the CFPB.
In 2023 alone, consumers reported losing $210 million to scams on peer-to-peer payment apps, a staggering 62% increase from 2021. In addition, users who accidentally send a payment to the wrong person find it nearly impossible to get their money back.
"Elon Musk orchestrated a plan to rip off consumers with impunity when he tweeted 'Delete CFPB' and Congress just rubber-stamped it. Today's shameful vote means that X, an app already swarming with bots and scammers, will be able to connect to your bank account and allow fraudsters to take your money without accountability," Emily Peterson-Cassin, corporate power director at Demand Progress, said Wednesday.
"Thanks to the CFPB's supervision, $120 million was refunded to consumers who were scammed through Cash App," Peterson-Cassin added. "That kind of policing will be significantly harder now that Congress has voted to strip the CFPB of its ability to proactively watch over payment apps. And thanks to DOGE's intrusions into the CFPB's databases, Musk now has access to sensitive financial data from companies investigated by the agency, including virtually all would-be competitors to X Money in the digital payments space."
Other consumer advocates also panned the House vote, with Consumer Reports advocacy program director Chuck Bell arguing that "by voting to repeal the CFPB's rule, Congress is turning a blind eye to the fraud that runs rampant on payment apps and the privacy risks users can face when Big Tech companies collect their sensitive financial data and share it widely with other companies."
"Today's vote weakens the CFPB's ability to stop unfair practices that put consumers who use payment apps at risk and ensure that Big Tech companies are following the law," Bell added.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular