Transcript

5.31.25 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the reading of Today's Washington Post for the
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last day of May of twenty twenty five. It is May,
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the thirty first fifth month of the year is over.
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Your reader is alis Nina, with the reminder that radioizes
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the service for those blinds that have other difficulties in
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holding a reading printed material. So I start with the
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front page of the Washington Post, and the first is
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a picture of something I mentioned in my last reading
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on Thursday, and it is a large picture on the
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front page to the left, taking up most of the
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front page, more than half entitled we have Lost our village,
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and it is a picture of green pine trees. And
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then on that is sort of an air in the
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light with a whole area of what looks like like
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spilt milk covering the pine trees and the homes quite
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a bit bleeding into an area of just massive gray matter.
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And it is the Swiss Alps village of Blaton, left
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almost completely buried by an avalanche that also blocked a river,
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causing severe flooding. Residents had been evacuated as geologists warned
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that a glacier was ready to collapse. And that is
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what my last article was on Wednesday. But it is
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just devastating looking just taken. There is not an article
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about it. But the picture to the right of that,
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Trump trade gambit hobbled by setbacks, invoking emergencies, fuels legal losses,
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tariffs back on for now amid back and forth rulings
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by David J. Lynch. Below the picture towards the middle
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of the front page. As Trump pushes boundaries, Roberts holds
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to his own by Ann E. Mehrima Chief Justice alternately
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seen as deft enabling as he seeks to avert face off.
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And to the right of that, and the picture President's
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effort to ban foreign students blocked. Some at Harvard are
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reporting visa denials, a university official says by Susan Sluluga.
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And below the fold on the left, justice's narrow scope
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of US environmental reviews and eight to nothing ruling limits
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federal scrutiny required for infrastructure projects justin Juvenile and Maxine
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jos Law. And a picture of a gentleman covering his eyes.
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He looks like he has a service hat on. And
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it's a picture of Harold Greenberg who is covering his
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eyes in prayer at the Capitol Jewish museum which welcomed
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visitors for a ceremony eight days after the killing of
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two Israeli embassy staffers. And it's after the tragedy the
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museum reopens, and it's just a picture of this man
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with salt and pepper hal with his hands covering his eyes,
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and then the very background is blurred. Below the picture
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Starship Failure puts Moon timeline in question by Joel Aickenbach.
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And then the last article on the far right below
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the fold is cleming see for ex Gangsta Rappa, former
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Congressman by Emily Davies. Today's first article, Trump's use of
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emergency law to enact tariff imperiled trade war strategy, White
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House confident of appeal prospects, potential for using other legal tools.
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And there is a picture of air President taken May
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twentieth in twenty twenty five in his blue suit with
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a red and blue tie striped tie, and he it's
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a shot looking up at him with a shadow behind him,
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and people in a hallway, an arched hallway with frescoes
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on the ceilings of this arched hallway. And that is
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when President Donald Trump stopped to speak to media members
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as he arrives at the United States Capital to attend
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the House Republican Conference on that May twentieth. By David Lynch,
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A pair of courtroom defeats has blown a whole in
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President Donald Trump's plan to use historically high tariffs to
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reshape global trade, raise hundreds of billions of dollars in
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new tax revenue, and boost the fortunes of domestic manufacturers.
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Late Thursday, the administration celebrated a legal win when a
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federal appeals court paused implementation of one of the court
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judgments and allowed the government to continue collecting the tariffs
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at issue. The White House may yet be able to
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prevail in a protracted legal struggle over the president's favorite
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trade war weapon, an Emergency Powers Act that dates to
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the Carter administration, but for now, officials are battling on
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multiple legal fronts to save his high rus risk strategy,
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while eyeing alternative waves of imposing sweeping import taxes if
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they fail. The twin courtroom setbacks show how Trump's thirst
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for unilateral action and embrace of a maximalist legal strategy backfire,
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leading to a federal court ruling Wednesday that he overreached
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in his use of emergency powers to tackle chronic problems,
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such as the trade deficit. More than four months into
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his term, Trump's trade war strategy has led to a
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cold sack of his own making, and the administration can
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use other legal authorities to reimpose the tariffs if it's
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an appeal fails, but that will take time. The president
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has spent four months charging headlong down a risky path
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and now may be forced to start over. The continuing
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uncertain day, meanwhile, has both diplomatic and commercial consequences. If
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the administration wants to pursue significant tariff changes, it will
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need to seek new authority from Congress or use other
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tariff raising authorities. None of these statutes give the president
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the latitude in which he has operated in recent months,
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said John Verenaut, a former US trade negotiator under President
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George W. Bush, adding since few members of Congress campaign
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last year on raising tariffs, it seems highly unlikely that
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Congress would grant the president sweeping new authority to raise tariffs.
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Trump's second term trade blitzwig, which he says is needed
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to protect the American working class from unfair foreign powers,
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as unnerved vests cost US billions of dollars, has cost
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US businesses billions of dollars and left consumers fretting over
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renewed inflation. Still, White House officials on Thursday struck a
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confident pose, insisting that they would prevail with an appeal
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to the decision by the Court of International Trade, a
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specialized federal court in New York, which issued the first
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ruling rebuffing the president. Hours later, a federal appeals court
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granted their bid for a temporary stay, freezing the status
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quo while it considers the merits of the case. Yet
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before it did, a second federal court rejected the president's
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emergency powers claim, brushing aside President Trump's administration warnings of
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catastrophic harm for its negotiations with U S Trading partners.
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Treasury Secretary Scott Passent has been racing to conclude trade
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negotiations with China and more than a dozen other nations
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under a pair of ninety day deadlines established by the President.
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Trump paused his highest tariffs to allow talks to proceed,
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but threatened to reinstate them if substantial progress was not made.
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US trading partners may feel less urgency about bargaining now
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that the Trade Court has holidayed that threat. We have
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a slightly better position now seeing that some of the
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tariffs are not even inside the legal system of the
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United States, are not accepted, said Bernard Lang, chair of
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the European Parliament's International Trade Committee. Lange, who is in
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Washington this week heading an eight member delegation that with
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administration officials, said he was not totally optimistic about talks
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between the European Trade Union and the United States, but
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he said he expects serious talks to begin next week
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when European negotiators arrive in Washington, with less than six
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weeks remaining before Trump's deadline. Meanwhile, businesses, which have been
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whipsawed for months by the president's habit of threatening, imposing
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and removing tariffs, remain unsure about how to proceed. The
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Trade Court's ruling gave the administration ten days to remove
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the improper tariffs, so even before the appeals court hit pause,
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nothing had changed on the ground. Some companies debated resuming
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importing counting on a tariff respite, but others were weary,
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fearing that any holiday from Trump's tariffs could prove brief.
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Executives are under pressure. Corporate profits felled by one hundred
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and eighteen billion in the first three months of the year,
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according to Bureau of Economic Analysis data released Thursday. What
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the court ruling does is it basically guarantees uncertainty for
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the foresee of a future, said Colvin president of the
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National Foreign Trade Council, which represents importers such as Ford,
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IBM and Caterpillar. Even some administration allies questioned the president's
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scambal on the Emergency Powers Act. The ten percent universal
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tariff that the Trade Court ruled illegal could raise more
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than three hundred billion dollars in annual revenue, which could
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help offset some of the cost of the President's tax legislation,
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said Nick Ayakovella, executive vice president of the Coalition for
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Prosperous America, which supports it's the use of tariffs to
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raise revenue and protect domestic industry. Why would the President
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and his team not say to Congress legislate this temper
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cent universal tariff. That would just render this whole thing moot,
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he said. White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt accused the
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Trade Court of judicial overreach in blocking the president's tariffs.
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Justice Department Attornities attorneys told a federal appeals Court that
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if it failed to grant immediate relief, they would petition
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the Supreme Court on Friday to maintain the current tariff schedule,
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but the Appeals Court acted quickly, freezing the Trade Court's
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ruling and allowing the government to continue collecting the tariffs.
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They include the temper sent universal tariff on all important
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goods and taxes on goods from China, Mexico and Canada
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that the President said we needed to combat the sparkling
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of people and drugs. The second strike against the president's
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use of the Emergency Powers Act came in a decision
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by US District Judge Rudolph Contreras in Federal Court in
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DC and a case brought by two small businesses, Learning
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Resources and Hand to Mind. Contraras rejected the government's request
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to transfer the case to the Specialized Trade Court in
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New York. The plaintiffs would suffer irreparable harm and an
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existential threat to their businesses if the tariffs were not
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were allowed to stand. This case is not about tariff's
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quad tariffs. It is about twellther I. EEPA enables the
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President to unilaterally impose re oak pause reinstate and the
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Jeff tariffs to reorder the global economy, the court agrees
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with plaintiffs that it does not Contreras wrote using the
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acronym for the emergency power to act. The White House
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is expected to appeal. During his first term, Trump relied
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on provisions of US trade laws that previous presidents had
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used to raise taxes on imports citing national security concerns
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or persistent violations of trading rules by other nations. But
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those laws require the government to gather evidence, solicit public comment,
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and proceed at a measured pace. Within hours of returning
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the White House in January, Trump demonstrated his willingness to
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wage a global trade war using every bit of executive
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power he could muster goods from Mexico, Canada, China, the
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European Union, and a group of developer in countries known
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as the Capital b Rics. All were threatened with punishing
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tariffs before the sun set on the first day of
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his second term. The president did not say so at
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the time, but he would not wait for the government's
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customer of Eurotic bureaucratic process to play it before imposing
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new import taxes. Instead, he would declare economic emergencies and
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effectively dare his opponents and the courts to stop him.
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From the start, Trump opted for a go it alone
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tariff's strategy that sidelined Congress and relied on the nineteen
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seventy seven International Emergency Economic Powers Act i ee PA
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International Emergency Economic Powers Act to reshape US trade relations.
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The legislation gives the president broad powers to con economic
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activity in the event of a declared national emergency, but
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it had never been used to levy import taxes. Part
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of the appeal of IEEPA to the administration is that
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it is a very fast process, and it doesn't require
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long investigations or public input or the preparation of detailed reports. Instead,
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it's a very fast moving process that allows the President
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to implement and change tariffs and tariff levels very quickly,
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said Patrick Childress, who until earlier this month was an
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attorney in the US in the Office of the U
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s Trade Representative and is now a partner with Holland
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and Knight. Trump has also used his authority to impose
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tariffs to protect national security, notably on steel, aluminum, and automobiles,
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relying on Section two thirty two of the nineteen sixty
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two Trade Those tariffs were not affected by either of
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the court rulings against THEAEPA tariffs, and he has ordered
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the Commerce Department to conduct seven investigations into whether imports
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of products such as copper, lumber, trucks, and commercial aircraft
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are high enough to pose security worries. Before the President
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can impose tariffs under Section two thirty two, he must
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receive a detailed report from the Commerce Department, which can
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take up to two hundred and seventy days to produce it.
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Supreme Court walks a tightrope as it confronts Trump's power moves.
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The Justices appear to be trying to avoid a direct
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conflict with the Trump administration while also blocking certain presidential actions.
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And there is a picture of President Donald Trump greeting
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Chief Justice John G. Roberts during a joint session of
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Congress in March. There is above shot looking down on them,
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and President Trump doesn't appear, in my opinion, to be
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greeting the president justice Chief Justice Roberts. He's pointing a
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finger at him, but they're all in dark suits. And
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there's a camera in the lower right hand corner taking
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a picture of the group, and so the justices are
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behind Justice Roberts by Anne Merrimo. Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr.
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Is navigating a fraud path. Legal analysts a trying to
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divert a direct concentration between the Trump administration and a
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Supreme Court that has steadily expanded presidential powell, but not
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without limits. The stakes are hot as at any time
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in roberts twenty year tenure. He is committing to protecting
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the independence of the courts to check the excesses of
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Congress or the executive, as he said recently amid attacks
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by President Donald Trump and his allies on federal judges,
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including the Justices. Since Trump returned to the White House,
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the Supreme Court has granted him most but not all,
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of what he asks for in emergency of requests. The
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Justices have allowed the administration for now to borrow transgendered
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troops from the military, fire independent agency leaders with outcause,
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halt teacher grants, and remove protections for as many as
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three hundred and fifty thousand Venezuelans. On Friday, the Court
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cleared the way for Trump to revoke legal status for
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more than five hundred and thirty thousand migrants while litigation continues.
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The Court's notable increasingly forced exceptions have come in cases
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involving the due process rights of migrants targeted for fast
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track deportation. It is still early in Trump's term to
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draw conclusions about how the Supreme Court will ultimately rule
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on the many lawsuits challenging the administration's most aggressive moves.
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Over the next few years, the justices could have the
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final word on issues including Tariff's birthright citizenship, the firing
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of the independent agency leaders, and more. In handling the
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flood of emergency requests. So far, Roberts seems to be
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taking a page from one of his heroes. John Marshall,
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who has the longest serving Chief Justice, established the court
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system's independence while studiously avoiding fights with President Thomas Jefferson
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that he knew he couldn't win. Roberts wants to avoid
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conflict with the other branches until he absolutely has to
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come into conflict with them, said John You, a law
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professor at the University of California at Berkeley who served
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as deputy assistant in Attorney General in George W. Bush's administration.
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Unlike the executive branch or Congress, You continued, the court
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doesn't have the sword or the purse. Its power is persuasion,
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and the justices understand that more than most people and
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are sensitive to that. With both hoses of Congress controlled
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by Republicans, the federal courts have emerged as a primary
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potential roadblock to Trump's initiatives, with significant implications for his
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presidency and the fragile balance among the three co equal
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branches of government. Trump has said that he has great
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respect for the Supreme Court and that his administration will
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abide by its decisions. Solicitor General d John Sowell, the
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president's top advocate at the court, told the justices during
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oral argument this month that the administration views itself as
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bound by their judgments and presidences. But the president's social
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media post have shown flashes of angle with a bench
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that includes three Trump nominees, Justices Neil M. Gorsuch, Brent M. Kavanaugh,
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and Amy Coney Barrett. The Supreme Court of the United
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States is not allowing me to do what I was
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elected to do, Trump wrote on truth social on May sixteenth,
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after the High Court's sternly worded order temporarily blocking deportations
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of alleged to gang members in northern Texas. The next day,
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the president circulated did annymous post from legal adviser and
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conservative provocateur Mike Davis, who said the Supreme gord is
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heading down a perilous path. The escalating tension poses a
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serious test for Robert's leadership and the Supreme Court's legitimacy
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at a time when the Court and the country are
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ideologically divided, and when America's trust in the Court has plummeted.
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Many of the Court's early decisions have been technical and procedural.
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In the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, for instance, a
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divided court directed the administration to take steps to return
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the wrongly deported Marilyndmand, but the Justice has stopped short
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of ordering Trump to make it happen. That gave the
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administration an opening to drag its feet in response to
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lower court orders and to suggest that Abrego Garcia would
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not not be returning to the United States. Jeffrey Rosen,
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chief executive of the National Constitution Center, said Roberts is
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determined to protect the court and not invite a confrontation.
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Rosen said he has a very sophisticated sense of how
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fragile the Court's nonpartison role is. He's trying to pull
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it off under extremely challenging circumstances where it is not
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clear whether or not the Court will succeed, he said,
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calling Robert's approach a combination of diplomacy and law. You
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observed something similar in how the Court handled Trump's proposed
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ban on birthright citizenship, which has been blocked by several
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lower courts. While litigation continues, the court put off for
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another day big constitutional questions about the legality of denying
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automatic citizenship for you born babies. Instead, the justices took
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up the procedural issue of whether a single judge has
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the power to temporary block a president's agenda nationwide. That's
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his operating system to try to delay having to decide
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these really controversial constitutional issues, you said of the Chief Justice.
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The emergency orders from the Court have been unsigned, with
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dissenters listed by name if they choose. Roberts appears to
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have been in the majority in all but one of
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the approximately ten substantive actions the Court has taken so far.
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Rosen Eus parallels between Robert's approach and the legacy of Marshall,
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whose portrait hangs above the fireplace and the Justice's wood
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paneled private conference room, and to lead the Court from
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eighteen oh one to eighteen thirty five. Marshall facilitated consents
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among his colleagues and transformed what was a weak judicial
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body into a powerful check on Congress and the President.
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But he was also also careful not to engage in
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unwinnable battles with rival Jefferson. I am not fond of
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butting up against a wall in sport, Marshall wrote to
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his colleague Justice Joseph's story in eighteen twenty three, most
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notable in the eighteen three case of Marbury versus Madison,
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the Supreme Court had to decide whether it could order
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the Secretary of State to deliver William Marbury's commission as
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a Justice of the Peace bestowed by outgoing President John Adams.
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The new President Jefferson, did not want to honor the appointment,
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so Marbury sued. Marshall found that the Court lacked the
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power to grant Marbury his commission, keeping the justices out
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of a conflict with Jefferson and his allies in Congress,
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who had canceled new judgeships. But the Chief Justice also
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used the ruling to establish the Court's broad authority to
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say what the law is and invalidate laws that conflict
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with the Constitution. Roberts invoked Marshall's legacy during an interview
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at Georgetown Law School this month, crediting him with establishing
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the judiciary as an independent, co equal branch at a
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critical moment in the nation's history. He is I'm happy
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to defend the most important figure in American political history
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who was not a president, Robert said, adding dryly, a
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lot more important than about half the president's Trump's early
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second term record at the Court is mixed, Roberts said,
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and the court Roberts and the consecutive majority have signed
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off on Trump's efforts to consolidate presidential power by firing
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rank and file workers and independent agency officials while litigation continues.
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Last week, a divided court allowed Trump to carry out
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the firings of Gwynn Wilcox of the National Labor Relations
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Board and Kathy A. Harris of the Merit Systems Protection Board,
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despite laws passed by Congress protecting their tenures. But robertson
28:33
Barrett joined with the court's three liberal justices in March
28:37
in refusing to block a lower court requiring the administration
28:41
to unfreeze foreign aid payments for work already completed on immigration.
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In addition to telling the administration to take steps to
28:54
bring back a Brego Garcia, the justices issued an extra ordinary,
29:00
middle of the night order that temporary barred Trump officials
29:05
from using a wartime power to deport alleged gang members
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from parts of Texas. Melissa Murray, and New York University
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law professor and co host of a liberal podcast about
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the court called Strict Scrutiny, seized the court, oscillating between
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two postures that she called good court bad Court. In
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the course of a few days this month, for instance,
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the Justices issued two starkly different immigration rulings. First, they
29:37
said the Trump administration could not invoke the Alien Enemies
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Act of seventeen ninety eight to restart deportations in northern Texas.
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They chastise officials for not giving those targeted for removal
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sufficient time to challenge their deportations, and alluded to the
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administration's handling of a Brago Garcia, saying that Tiny's interests
30:01
were particularly weighty because of the risk of indefinite detention
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at a notorious megaprison in El Salvador. Three days later,
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without explanation, the Court cleared the way for the Trump
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administration to council temporary protections for up to three hundred
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and fifty thousand Venezuelans, some of whom have lived in
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the United States for many years. Many of the Court's
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orders are written, Murray said, as if the Justices are
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concerned that Trump officials won't listen if they are especially forceful.
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In a different Alien Enemies Act case, the Justices did
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not address the validity of invoking the wartime power last
30:45
used during World War II. Instead, they said the migrants
30:50
should have challenged their deportations in Texas rather than Washington,
30:54
and must be given notice and an opportunity to challenge
30:58
their removals. Murray said they are trying to figure out
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what the right approach is that will engender compliance. The
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administration has taken an aggressive posture in court and public statements.
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Vice President J. D. Vance last week took issue with
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Roberts' recent description of the High Court's role as a
31:22
check on the excessis of the executive I thought that
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was a profoundly wrong sentiment. That's one half of his job. Vance,
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a Yale law school graduate whose wife clerked for Roberts,
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said in an interview with The New York Times columnist
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Ross does it, the other half of his job is
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to check the excesses of his own branch. As much
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as Roberts may be trying to portray the Court as
31:52
a neutral arbitrator or arbitrara, Murray noted the Chief Justice
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played a major role in creating the conditions for Trump's
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maximalist approach, authoring the Court's opinion last summer that gave
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Trump Bore Community from criminal prosecution for official actions as president.
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While the decision had the immediate effect of derailing Trump's
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election interference prosecution in DC, it was also a broad
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endorsement of executive authority that seems to have been boldened
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the administration. The Solicitor General's Office, for instance, has quoted
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from the Court's decision in Trump Vsus to bolster the
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president's claims that he is the authority to defire independent
32:39
agency officials who are protected by statute from at will removal.
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It's hard for him to say that the Court is
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just trying to call balls and strikes, Murray said of Roberts,
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the Chief Justice and the Majority have midwife this movement
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and brought us to the moment we're in now. Michael W. McConnell,
33:04
have a former Federal Appeals Court judge, sees Robert as
33:08
trying to keep the judiciary in its proper lane. In
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the case involving USAID funding, the court did not directly
33:17
order the administration to restart payments, but said the lower
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court should clarify what obligations the government must fulfill to
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ensure compliance with the temporary restraining Order, with due regard
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for the feasibility of any compliance timelines. He doesn't want
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the judiciary to be enlisted as a combatant in this
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political struggle, and he's right about that, said McConnell, who
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is a Supreme Law crourt at the same time as
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Roberts and now directs the Constitutional Law Center at Stanford University.
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The role of our courts and our system is to
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adhere to stable legal princes, not to throw their weight
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on one side of the other. I think that's coming
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through loud and clear from the Chief Justice walking the tightrope,
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McConnell said, meanings the Chief Justice may be unpopular with
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both science. Our country is so divided. Those who hate
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Trump are mad at Roberts because he's not doing enough
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to rein him in and those who love Trump are
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mad adam because he is allowing too many district judges
34:29
to rein him in. McConnell said, there is very little
34:33
constituency for a sober middle ground. Continuing with another Supreme
34:41
Court article from the front page of the Post, Supreme
34:46
Court narrows scope of environmental reviews. The Supreme Court decision
34:52
centered on the National Environmental Policy Act and a rail
34:57
line in Utah that would carry billions of gallons of oil.
35:03
And before the article begins, there is a picture of
35:06
a very desolate looking area in northern Utah that I
35:11
didn't know existed. It's called an aerial view of Bureau
35:15
of Land Management land in the u Intam Mountains of
35:20
northern Utah. Very very desolate looking. The article is by
35:26
Justin Juvenile and Maxine Joslo. The Supreme Court on Thursday
35:32
unanimously narrowed the scope of government required environmental reviews for
35:38
major infrastructure projects, overturning a lower court block on a
35:42
rail line in Utah that may carry billions of gallons
35:47
of oil. The case became a proxy battle over how
35:52
far federal agencies may go in assessing the environmental impact
35:57
of highways pipelines and other projects before deciding whether to
36:02
approve them. Business interests cheers the ruling as a necessary
36:08
check on the process that had become too burdensome, costly,
36:12
and slow, while environmentalists said it would allow agencies to
36:16
ignore major environmental impacts, including the acceleration of climate change.
36:23
An array of challengers spent years battling over the eighty
36:27
eight mile stretch of track that would connect the remote
36:32
inter basin in northeastern Utah to national rail lines, allowing
36:38
the extraction of more waxy crude oil from one of
36:42
the nation's largest oil fields. The High Court's ruling returns
36:47
the case to the lower court for further review under
36:51
more limited parameters. It remains unclear whether the rail line
36:56
will ultimately be built, and decision adds to a string
37:01
of rulings by the High Court that have sharply curtailed
37:05
environmental regulation. In March, the Justice is struck down rules
37:10
regulating the discharge of order pollution. Last term, in a
37:15
landmark ruling, the Supreme Court overturned a forty year old
37:20
president that formed the basis of thousands of environmental regulations,
37:25
allowing some long settled rules to be challenged in court.
37:30
The Conservative supermajority also has trimmed the power of the
37:34
Environmental Protection Agency to regulate air pollution, runoff in wetlands,
37:40
and greenhouse gases. The Utah rail Project, which could result
37:47
in a large increase in greenhouse gas emissions, was approved
37:51
by the Surface Transportation Board in twenty twenty one, with
37:55
a federal panel saying the benefits of the land would
37:59
outweigh the negative impacts. Five environmental groups and the county
38:05
that is home to Vail, Colorado Change challenged that decision
38:10
for the US Court of Appeals for the DC's circuit.
38:13
The appeals Court ruled that the Transportation Board failed to
38:17
fully examine the effects of increased drilling in the interbasin
38:23
and the pollution caused by refining the crude oil on
38:27
the Gulf Coast, as required by the National Environmental Policy
38:31
Act NEEPA, signed into law by President Richard M. Nixon
38:38
in nineteen seventy, is a cornerstone of environmental law, along
38:43
with statutes such as the Clean Water Act and the
38:46
Endangered Species Act. Specifically, it requires agencies to consider the
38:52
environmental implications of their actions. The Supreme Court's a zero
38:57
opinion with justice nearly or such recusing himself was written
39:03
by Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh and said the lower court
39:06
ruling amounted to micromanaging agency decisions. Reading excerpts from the bench,
39:14
Kavanaugh said, overly intrusive judicial review leads to delay upon
39:21
delay and higher cost, noting that the review for the
39:25
rail line spanned thirty six hundred pages, yet an appeals
39:31
court still found it deficient. Inn EPA, he said, is
39:36
intended to simply informed decision making, not to paralyze it.
39:43
In some when assessing significant environmental effects and feasible alternatives
39:49
for purposes of NEPA, the agency will invariably make a
39:54
series of fact dependent, contexts, specific and policy laden choices
40:00
the depth and breadth of its inquiry, Kavanaugh wrote, courts
40:08
should afford substantial difference and should not micromanage those agency
40:13
choices as so long as they fall within a broad
40:16
zone of reasonableness. The court's three liberals concurred with the majority,
40:22
but offered alternative reasons, writing for the group. Just as
40:28
Sonya Soda Mayor said, agencies do not have to weigh
40:32
environmental impacts that fall outside their regulatory authority. An agency
40:39
need not consider every conceivable environmental consequence of a proposed
40:44
federal action, Soda Mayor wrote, Rather, agencies need only analyze
40:52
environmental impacts for which their decision would be at least
40:56
in part responsible. Severan local counties and oil interests say
41:04
the Utah project could boost the region's economy, which has
41:08
been hampered by the lack of transportation options and a
41:12
mountainous region the size of Maryland. Concurrently, oil from the
41:17
basin is trucked out over high mountain roads. Groups representing
41:25
the fossil fuel and logging industries applauded the ruling. Amy Andrews.
41:30
Sach Zach, president and CEO of Interstate Natural Gas Association
41:35
of America, said this decision should provide federal agencies with
41:40
a greater understanding of their obligations under ANYPA. Her statement
41:46
quoted directly from the Supreme Court opinion. Congress did not
41:51
design any PA for judges to hamstring new infrastructure and
41:55
construction projects. Nick Smith, a spokesman for the American Forest
42:02
Resource Council, said that environmental groups have weaponized in EPA
42:07
when suing to stop logging. These lawsuits mistakenly demand exhaustive
42:13
analysis of every hypothetical alternative and remote impact, stretching any
42:19
PA documents into the thousands of pages, and dragging reviews
42:23
on for five more years even when facing renewed legal challenges.
42:28
Smith said in an email, we are hopeful this ruling
42:32
sets a clear precedent for restoring common sense to environmental reviews.
42:40
Environmentalists and academics differed on the ruling significance. Sam Sankar,
42:46
a senior vice president with Earth Justice who represented one
42:50
of the parties opposed to the rail line, said that
42:54
the court is giving agencies a greenlight to put blinders
42:58
on and not safe for seal consequences of projects. He
43:03
added that the ruling is essentially saying that an administration
43:08
that doesn't believe in climate change is allowed to avoid
43:11
talking about it entirely. Wendy Park, a senior attorney at
43:17
the Center for Biological Diversity, agreed, saying that this disastrous
43:22
decision to undermine our nation's bedrock environmental law means air
43:28
and water will be more polluted and the climate and
43:31
extinction crisis will intensify and people will be less healthy. Yet,
43:37
Michael Berger, executive director of the Saban Center for Climate
43:43
Change Law at Columbia's Law School said the decision is
43:47
far from the worst case scenario. He said the ruling
43:52
would still allow agencies to consider the downstream impacts of
43:56
oil and gas leasing, such as the greenhouse gas emission
44:00
that would be generated by burning oil after it has
44:03
been extracted. As his customary for Supreme Court justices, Gorsuch
44:09
did not offer a reason for his decision to recuse
44:12
himself from the case. Liberal groups had highlighted his task
44:17
to billionaire Philip Ansutz, whose and Such Exploration Corps has
44:23
interest in the United Basin u into Basin. And Such
44:29
was a client of Gorsuch's law firm before Gorssutch was
44:33
nominated to the Supreme Court. President Donald Trump used his
44:38
first term to make sweeping changes to NEPA that he
44:42
said would make it easier to build new projects. On Wednesday,
44:47
the White House Counsel on Environmental Quality Withdrew Biden irregdence
44:53
that directed federal agencies to consider projects contributions to climate change.
45:02
Continuing SpaceX Starship failure casts further dout on NASA's moon
45:09
landing timeline. NASA needs Starship for its scheduled lunar landing
45:15
in twenty twenty seven, but three consecutive test missions have
45:20
ended with the spacecraft breaking apart and raining debris. By
45:27
Joel Aichenbach, NASA hopes to put astronauts on the Moon
45:32
in just two years, but a critical spacecraft required for
45:36
the mission keeps exploding or disintegrating. SpaceX's Starship the largest
45:43
rocket ever built. Originally envisioned as a Mars rocket, it
45:48
is also a key piece of NASA's plan to outpace
45:52
China and land humans on the lunar surface for the
45:55
first time in more than half a century. On ninth
46:00
launch Tuesday, the four hundred and three foot tall Starship
46:06
managed to reach space, but as it re entered the atmosphere,
46:10
it began to tumblel out of control, and broke apart.
46:14
The two previous Starship launches ended in explosions over the Caribbean.
46:19
The consecutive failures may have decreased the likelihood space x
46:24
can meet NASA's twenty twenty seven goal, observers said, a
46:28
schedule that has already been questioned as overly ambitious. Aerospace
46:33
experts did not appear greatly alarmed, however, with several noting
46:38
that Starship is a boundary breaking feet of engineering and
46:42
that even when the skies are filled with flying debris,
46:46
progress is being made. That was also the message from
46:50
space founder space X founder and CEO Elon Musk on
46:55
his social media platform X after Tuesday's mission, Musk wrote,
47:02
Starship made it to the scheduled ship engine cutoff, so
47:06
big improvement of a last flight. Also no significant loss
47:11
of heat shield tiles. Doing assent leeks caused loss of
47:16
main tank pressure during the coast and re entry phase.
47:20
That got lot of good data to review. NASA spokesperson
47:26
Sherylwona said Wednesday that the agency is encouraged by the
47:31
latest test flight and that each test yields important data.
47:36
The first lunar landing will use a different version of
47:40
Starship for its human landing system than their early development
47:45
version tested. We have confidence SpaceX will fully investigate every
47:50
aspect of their test flight and address any issues. Phil Larson,
47:56
a former space advisor to President Barack Obama who is
47:59
now a senior strategist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied
48:04
Physics Laboratory, was similarly upbeat. This is to be expected
48:10
and actually fun to watch, he said Wednesday. This is
48:14
our version of the space race in the nineteen sixties,
48:18
updated with new technology, better rockets, reusable systems. But Tuesday's
48:24
test flight, whether a failure or not, comes at a
48:29
delicate time for NASA and its Moon program. Under NASA's
48:34
elaborate plan and ambitious timeline for returning to the Moon,
48:39
failure to work out the Kingston Starship is not an option.
48:46
There's a picture of twisted rebar and chunks of concrete
48:50
livering a road after a Starship launch in twenty twenty three.
48:55
It doesn't say where that is, but it's looks like
49:01
a pretty banged up area with a car behind it,
49:06
but reborrowed concrete miss. The problems that caused the two
49:12
previous explosions of Starship were resolved, noted Mattha Patel Nagaraja,
49:19
an aerospace consultant and former Associate Chief Scientist for Exploration
49:24
at NASA. But NASA's goal of boots on the ground
49:28
in twenty twenty seven might be implausible, she said. The
49:33
fact that they actually go to space that at least
49:36
is progress. Now does it change the timeline. Of course,
49:41
it's going to push the timeline, she said Artemis, as
49:47
NASA has dubbed its program to return humans to the
49:50
Moon was conceived during the first Trump administration. In twenty nineteen,
49:56
the agency sat at twenty twenty four date for landing astronauts,
50:00
but the timeline slipped. Artemis one sent an uncrued capsule
50:06
around the Moon in twenty twenty two without landing, and
50:10
Artemis two, a similar journey with the crew, is supposed
50:13
to launch next year. Artemis three, which inspires to land
50:17
astronauts near the Moon's south pole, is scheduled for mid
50:21
twenty twenty seventh, NASA's outgoing administrator Bill Nelson said in decemble.
50:29
But the Artemis program has drawn criticism from outside NASA
50:33
and even from Musk, who has called it a distraction
50:37
from the greater goal of reaching Mars. President Donald Trump
50:41
has echoed that argument as well. Artemis and precursor programs
50:46
have been costly, on the order of one hundred billion
50:49
dollars already, according to NASA Inspector General's report. Some of
50:54
the most withering criticism has been directed at the complex
50:58
mission architecture, which has the feel of a system designed
51:02
by many disputatious committees. The current architecture of Artemis does
51:09
not make sense, said Robert Zubrin, a veteran aerospace engineer
51:15
and the president of Mars Society, which advocates Mars exploration.
51:21
The elements don't fit together, Zubrin said, it's five separate
51:27
elements which each have been funded for different reasons. The
51:32
current plan uses a NASA owned heavy lift rocket, the
51:37
Space Launch System to send four astronauts to lunar orbit,
51:41
and a NASA owned capsule Orion. Then comes what made
51:45
the biggest challenge, getting two of those astronauts to the
51:49
service and back again safely. NASA has given SpaceX four
51:55
billion dollars in artemis contracts that include using a modified
52:00
starship called the Starship Human Landing System to dock with Orion,
52:05
then transport the astronauts to and from the lunar surface.
52:10
The lunar landa is so tall, more than one hundred
52:14
and sixty feet, that the astronauts will have to take
52:17
an elevated to the surface. When blasted back to lunar orbit,
52:22
they would rejoin the other two astronauts in Orion, which
52:26
would send them back to Earth. Major elements of the
52:30
mission are far from complete and have not passed critical
52:33
test or design reviews. That includes milestones that SpaceX hasn't achieved.
52:41
To carry out its tasks, SpaceX has to launch a
52:45
set of uncrewed starship tankers to orbit to create a
52:50
fuel depot. Fuel would then have to be transferred to
52:53
another starship that would travel to the Moon. SpaceX must
52:58
also land an uncrued starship on the Moon before attempting
53:04
to do it with astronauts. If NASA wants to fly
53:09
Artemis three in twenty twenty seven, like it's on the books,
53:13
SpaceX would be doing its uncrude landing demo on the
53:17
Moon no later than mid to late next year with
53:21
starship Pam Melroy, a former astronaut who flew three Space
53:26
Shuttle missions, including one as commando, and later served as
53:31
deputy NASA administrator under President Joe Biden, said in an email.
53:38
Melroy said although progress has been made in launch and recovery,
53:43
the challenge is that SpaceX also has to start to
53:46
prove the ability to have a fuel depot and be
53:49
able to successfully launch starships to it and fill it
53:53
up with propellant, which is also required for a landing
53:56
on the Moon. SpaceX has administruted engineering virtuosity since its
54:02
days as a startup company two decades ago. And thanks
54:06
its Falcon nine rocket and thanks two its Falcon nine
54:12
rocket is now the dominant provider of launches globally. American
54:16
astronauts fly to the International Spaceship via the Falcon nine
54:20
and the Dragon Spaceship spacecraft. But although SpaceX wins plawed
54:26
it for its achievements, Musk has a history of over
54:29
promising a meeting mission milestones. Starship is, in order of magnitude,
54:36
more challenging than Falcon nine, was said Lori Garber, the
54:40
NASA Deputy Administration administrator in Obama's first term. Some of
54:47
this is new ground. The size of the vehicle is unique.
54:51
We've never done a re usable vehicle this large. It
54:55
was also not initially planned for the lunar mission. It
54:59
was planned for the more mission. Musk has maintained since
55:05
he founded space X more than two decades ago, that
55:08
human settlement of Mars, eventually developing into a civilization completely
55:13
independent of Earth, is necessary to make humanity a multiplanet
55:18
species capable of surviving existential threats. He has denounced federal regulators,
55:25
who he claims have slowed progress on Starship. We want
55:29
to enable anyone who wants to be a space traveler.
55:33
To go to Mars. Musk wrote on X last year
55:37
that means you are your family or friends, anyone who
55:40
dreams of great adventure. Eventually there will be thousands of
55:44
starships going to Mars, and it will be a glorious
55:47
sight to see. Can you imagine? Wow? Standing in the
55:52
way of Musk's dream are tremendous technical challenges and the
55:57
wishes of Congress, which pays the bills and passes the
56:02
legislation telling NASA what it must do. Congress is invested
56:08
in Artemis and NASA's Moon to Mars program makes clear
56:13
that the one is a stepping stone to the other,
56:17
and the first step is still fifty six years after
56:22
Apollo eleven's heroic journey a big one. In the last
56:28
article which won't belong, Judge blocks Trump's administration effort to
56:34
ban foreign students. At Harvard, students are already reporting visa
56:39
denials and revocations and seeking to transfer, according to a
56:43
university official. And there is a picture on Thursday of
56:48
the graduation and commencement services at Harvard with lots of
56:54
red and black and mortarboards being thrown into the air
56:59
with joyous gradsuits of Harvard University by Suban Susans FIRLUGA.
57:06
A federal judge Thursday block the Trump's administration attempt to
57:10
bar international students from enrolling at Harvard. Judge Alison D.
57:15
Burrough said a temporary restraining order she issued last week
57:20
must remain in place until a preliminary junction is issued.
57:24
The judge's order, which was issued on the school's commencement day,
57:28
grants Harvard a win in one of the most haigh
57:30
stakes battle in its ongoing war with the administration. Today's
57:35
court decision allows the university to continue in rolling international
57:40
students and scholars while the case moves forward. Jason Newton,
57:45
a spokesperson for the school, said in an email statement,
57:49
Harvard will continue to take steps to protect the rights
57:53
of our international students and scholars, members of our community
57:57
who are vital to the university's academic mission and community,
58:01
and whose presence here benefits our country immeasurably. Department of
58:08
Homeland Security Secretary Christy L. Noms said Harvard's refusal to
58:13
comply with SVP Student and Exchange Visitor Program oversight was
58:19
the latest evidence that it disdains the American people and
58:23
takes for granted US taxpayer benefits after the department's led
58:28
it to Harvard, she said in a written statement, the
58:31
school attempted to claim it now, which used to comply
58:33
with SCVP standards. We continue to reject Harvard's repeated pattern
58:39
of endangering its students and spreading American and hate. It
58:43
must change its ways in order to participate in American programs,
58:47
and that sadly ends the reading of Today's Washington Post
58:52
for May thirty, first of twenty twenty five. Thank you
58:56
for listening, and please continue listening to programs on rape
59:00
d O. I have a good weekend and stay dry. Bye.