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"content": "\u003cp>JENA, La. — The immigration judge was looking out over her courtroom. Mahmoud Khalil was sitting at a table next to his lawyers as they tried to convince her not to order him deported to the Middle East.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“His life is at stake, your honor,” one of them, Marc Van Der Hout, told the judge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Khalil was focused and stern. But he kept getting distracted. His wife was sitting in the public gallery a few feet away, cradling their tiny newborn son, Deen. The baby was cooing. Everyone could hear. And each time, Khalil couldn’t resist a smile.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was a touch of levity in a courtroom otherwise heavy with the gravity of what was being discussed: Khalil’s fear that if he’s deported, the state of Israel might try to kill him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last month, Judge Jamee Comans ruled that \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/04/11/nx-s1-5361208/mahmoud-khalil-deported-judge-rubio-antisemitism-immigration-court\">\u003cu>Khalil could be deported \u003c/u>\u003c/a>because as an immigration judge she had no authority to question Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s determination that his pro-Palestinian activism at Columbia University was antisemitic and threatened U.S. foreign policy goals. Unless his lawyers believed he qualified for special protection like asylum, the judge said, she would order him expelled either to Syria, where he was born and raised in a camp for Palestinian refugees, or to Algeria, which gave him a passport because of his mother’s ancestry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12041473 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/12/gettyimages-888870656-e9acdd0cdcb80ec5cd16b8a05023e4e5664f30fb-1020x765.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Thursday, over 10 grueling hours behind the barbed wire of the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center, where Khalil is being held, his lawyers called on experts via videoconference to convince the judge to grant him asylum and set him free. Here’s the heart of their argument: The Trump administration’s false, they say, and public accusations that Khalil is an anti-Semite and terrorist sympathizer have turned him into a high profile critic of Israel known around the world. Because of that, he said he fears that if he is deported to the Middle East, Israel could come after him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It could range from assassination, kidnapping, torture,” Khalil said during more than three hours of testimony that recalled key moments in his life, from his earliest memory in a Palestinian refugee camp near Damascus, Syria, to missing the birth of his son last month because he was locked up at the detention center 1,400 miles from his home in New York.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>President Trump, Secretary of State Rubio, and other government officials “mislabeled me a terrorist, a terrorist sympathizer or a Hamas supporter, which couldn’t be further from the truth. I advocate for human rights. I never engaged in antisemitic activities,” Khalil said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He challenged the government lawyers sitting a few feet from him to offer any evidence to the contrary. “I became, not by choice, a celebrity – someone who has a target on his back by these mislabels. This means wherever I go in the world, I will have that target.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Judge Comans said it would be several weeks before she makes a decision on Khalil’s asylum claim. But whatever she decides will not be the final word on his fate. A federal judge in the Northeast has temporarily blocked the government from deporting him while he considers whether it violated Khalil’s constitutional right to free speech. Khalil’s lawyers are pursuing every legal option to stop his deportation and restore his green card, and have said they’ll go all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12041615\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12041615\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-16.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1800\" height=\"1350\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-16.jpg 1800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-16-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-16-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-16-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-16-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1800px) 100vw, 1800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mahmoud Khalil has been appearing in an immigration court at the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center, where he’s been held since immigration agents arrested him in New York on March 8. \u003ccite>(Adrian Florido/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>During Thursday’s asylum hearing, his lawyers questioned several experts on the Middle East about why they thought Khalil would be at risk if he’s sent back there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The U.S. has called him a pro-Hamas agent,” said Muriam Haleh Davis, a professor of the Middle East at U.C. Santa Cruz. She said Israel has historically targeted Hamas collaborators for assassination.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Khaled Elgindy, an expert on Israeli-Palestinian affairs at Georgetown University, told the court that Khalil’s newly elevated profile as a critic of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza puts him at risk of harm or arrest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Khalil has achieved an ability to sway Americans, Elgindy said, so “he is a direct and potent threat to Israel’s objectives. If he can be targeted by the United States government, then certainly the Israelis would perceive him in a similar light.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lisa Wedeen, a Syria expert at the University of Chicago, testified about the ease with which, if it wanted to, Israel could target Khalil there, given Syria’s political instability and Israel’s recent expansion of the territory it controls in the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My biggest worry is that they’ll disappear him,” Wedeen said, because of “the latitude and impunity with which Israel is able to operate in Syria.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During his testimony, Khalil said that in addition to fearing Israel, he’s also concerned that if he returns to Syria, he could be targeted by former operatives of Bashar al-Assad who’ve remained in the country since Assad’s government fell last December. Khalil, who is now 30, said he organized protests against Assad as a teenager in Syria and fled the country in 2013 after two cousins he often protested with were arrested.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Department of Homeland Security did not call any witnesses of its own to challenge Khalil’s claim of fear. Whether it submitted written testimony is unclear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But when he cross-examined Khalil, Numa Metoyer, a lawyer for the department, asked questions probing the level of danger Khalil would actually face.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If he feared deportation to Syria, Metoyer asked him, why had he visited the country in January?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Before March 8 was different than after March 8,” Khalil said, referring to the date ICE agents arrested him, leading President Trump to \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/POTUS/status/1899178095535350258\">\u003cu>call him\u003c/u>\u003c/a> a “Radical Foreign Pro-Hamas Student.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Because attention was brought to you here in this case, now you have been targeted by the Israeli government?” Metoyer asked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to questions about Khalil’s asylum claim. After the hearing, his lawyers said they hoped the judge will consider it “with an open mind.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During his testimony, Khalil did too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Although I have no faith in the immigration system,” he said, “I hope that my presence here is not merely a formality.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>JENA, La. — The immigration judge was looking out over her courtroom. Mahmoud Khalil was sitting at a table next to his lawyers as they tried to convince her not to order him deported to the Middle East.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“His life is at stake, your honor,” one of them, Marc Van Der Hout, told the judge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Khalil was focused and stern. But he kept getting distracted. His wife was sitting in the public gallery a few feet away, cradling their tiny newborn son, Deen. The baby was cooing. Everyone could hear. And each time, Khalil couldn’t resist a smile.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was a touch of levity in a courtroom otherwise heavy with the gravity of what was being discussed: Khalil’s fear that if he’s deported, the state of Israel might try to kill him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last month, Judge Jamee Comans ruled that \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/04/11/nx-s1-5361208/mahmoud-khalil-deported-judge-rubio-antisemitism-immigration-court\">\u003cu>Khalil could be deported \u003c/u>\u003c/a>because as an immigration judge she had no authority to question Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s determination that his pro-Palestinian activism at Columbia University was antisemitic and threatened U.S. foreign policy goals. Unless his lawyers believed he qualified for special protection like asylum, the judge said, she would order him expelled either to Syria, where he was born and raised in a camp for Palestinian refugees, or to Algeria, which gave him a passport because of his mother’s ancestry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Thursday, over 10 grueling hours behind the barbed wire of the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center, where Khalil is being held, his lawyers called on experts via videoconference to convince the judge to grant him asylum and set him free. Here’s the heart of their argument: The Trump administration’s false, they say, and public accusations that Khalil is an anti-Semite and terrorist sympathizer have turned him into a high profile critic of Israel known around the world. Because of that, he said he fears that if he is deported to the Middle East, Israel could come after him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It could range from assassination, kidnapping, torture,” Khalil said during more than three hours of testimony that recalled key moments in his life, from his earliest memory in a Palestinian refugee camp near Damascus, Syria, to missing the birth of his son last month because he was locked up at the detention center 1,400 miles from his home in New York.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>President Trump, Secretary of State Rubio, and other government officials “mislabeled me a terrorist, a terrorist sympathizer or a Hamas supporter, which couldn’t be further from the truth. I advocate for human rights. I never engaged in antisemitic activities,” Khalil said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He challenged the government lawyers sitting a few feet from him to offer any evidence to the contrary. “I became, not by choice, a celebrity – someone who has a target on his back by these mislabels. This means wherever I go in the world, I will have that target.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Judge Comans said it would be several weeks before she makes a decision on Khalil’s asylum claim. But whatever she decides will not be the final word on his fate. A federal judge in the Northeast has temporarily blocked the government from deporting him while he considers whether it violated Khalil’s constitutional right to free speech. Khalil’s lawyers are pursuing every legal option to stop his deportation and restore his green card, and have said they’ll go all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12041615\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12041615\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-16.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1800\" height=\"1350\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-16.jpg 1800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-16-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-16-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-16-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-16-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1800px) 100vw, 1800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mahmoud Khalil has been appearing in an immigration court at the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center, where he’s been held since immigration agents arrested him in New York on March 8. \u003ccite>(Adrian Florido/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>During Thursday’s asylum hearing, his lawyers questioned several experts on the Middle East about why they thought Khalil would be at risk if he’s sent back there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The U.S. has called him a pro-Hamas agent,” said Muriam Haleh Davis, a professor of the Middle East at U.C. Santa Cruz. She said Israel has historically targeted Hamas collaborators for assassination.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Khaled Elgindy, an expert on Israeli-Palestinian affairs at Georgetown University, told the court that Khalil’s newly elevated profile as a critic of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza puts him at risk of harm or arrest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Khalil has achieved an ability to sway Americans, Elgindy said, so “he is a direct and potent threat to Israel’s objectives. If he can be targeted by the United States government, then certainly the Israelis would perceive him in a similar light.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lisa Wedeen, a Syria expert at the University of Chicago, testified about the ease with which, if it wanted to, Israel could target Khalil there, given Syria’s political instability and Israel’s recent expansion of the territory it controls in the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My biggest worry is that they’ll disappear him,” Wedeen said, because of “the latitude and impunity with which Israel is able to operate in Syria.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During his testimony, Khalil said that in addition to fearing Israel, he’s also concerned that if he returns to Syria, he could be targeted by former operatives of Bashar al-Assad who’ve remained in the country since Assad’s government fell last December. Khalil, who is now 30, said he organized protests against Assad as a teenager in Syria and fled the country in 2013 after two cousins he often protested with were arrested.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Department of Homeland Security did not call any witnesses of its own to challenge Khalil’s claim of fear. Whether it submitted written testimony is unclear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But when he cross-examined Khalil, Numa Metoyer, a lawyer for the department, asked questions probing the level of danger Khalil would actually face.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If he feared deportation to Syria, Metoyer asked him, why had he visited the country in January?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Before March 8 was different than after March 8,” Khalil said, referring to the date ICE agents arrested him, leading President Trump to \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/POTUS/status/1899178095535350258\">\u003cu>call him\u003c/u>\u003c/a> a “Radical Foreign Pro-Hamas Student.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Because attention was brought to you here in this case, now you have been targeted by the Israeli government?” Metoyer asked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to questions about Khalil’s asylum claim. After the hearing, his lawyers said they hoped the judge will consider it “with an open mind.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During his testimony, Khalil did too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Although I have no faith in the immigration system,” he said, “I hope that my presence here is not merely a formality.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "waste-of-taxpayer-dollars-what-it-will-take-to-transform-the-qatari-jet-into-air-force-one",
"title": "'Waste of Taxpayer Dollars': What It Will Take to Transform the Qatari Jet Into Air Force One",
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"content": "\u003cp>A luxury jetliner gifted by Qatar is currently \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/05/19/nx-s1-5398103/trump-qatar-gift-plane\">sitting on a tarmac\u003c/a> at an airport in San Antonio waiting for a specialized overhaul to become the next Air Force One.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The United States \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/05/21/nx-s1-5406420/trump-accepts-qatar-plane-air-force-one\">officially accepted\u003c/a> the Boeing 747-8 on Wednesday, and the Air Force has been tasked to upgrade it to be used as a new plane for President Trump, according to the Defense Department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Democratic lawmakers and independent watchdogs say \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/05/12/nx-s1-5395696/qatar-trump-plane-gift-ethics\">the gift violates\u003c/a> the Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments Clause, which bans government officials from taking gifts from foreign countries. Trump says it would be a gift to the DOD and that he would not use it after leaving office, when it would be kept at his presidential library.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The plane is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Trump said he would be \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/05/11/g-s1-65838/qatar-plane-trump\">“stupid” to turn it down\u003c/a>, suggesting that it could be converted quickly to be ready for use as a presidential aircraft. But experts warn that no matter how luxurious the plane is, it would take years to rework it to meet the current standards set for Air Force One.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It just seems to me an interesting dream that President Trump has to bring this plane online very quickly,” says Ken Walsh, a journalist who has \u003ca href=\"https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/kenneth-t-walsh/air-force-one/9781401397913/?lens=grand-central-publishing\">written a book on Air Force One\u003c/a>, after covering the White House for decades and riding on the famed aircraft more than 200 times.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Anybody who knows anything about these planes and the history of Air Force One knows that these are difficult to construct, and the technology is always improving. They don’t just show up at your airport. They have to be built,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two new Boeing 747-8 planes are currently being specially customized to become the next generation of Air Force One — a project that has \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2018/02/27/589207048/new-air-force-one-deal-cleared-for-takeoff\">been in the works for years\u003c/a> and subject to delays. The new Boeing planes were supposed to be ready by last year but now aren’t expected for several more years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Richard Aboulafia, managing director of AeroDynamic Advisory and an aviation analyst, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/05/14/nx-s1-5395734/trump-qatar-plane-national-security-risk\">told NPR’s \u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em>\u003c/a> that some of the responsibility for the delays lies with “poor execution” by Boeing. “But some of that is just due to the huge amount of requirements and work needed to take a commercial jet and wire it up for war.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said Trump’s plan that the gifted plane could be ready soon was a “fantasy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What makes Air Force One, Air Force One?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The term “Air Force One” technically applies to any Air Force plane carrying the president. But in more common usage, it refers to special Boeing 747-200B planes equipped with high-tech communications and defense systems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a mobile White House,” says Doug Birkey, executive director of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. “All the functions of the president have to be executed in it, no matter what circumstances, including warfare.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Air Force One planes feature an “incredibly robust command and control suite,” he says, and have defenses against a range of threats, from surface-to-air missiles to a nuclear blast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s meant to withstand the very worst days,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beyond that, Birkey says, is the unique layout of the plane itself, with a very specific seating and office configuration to keep the president as safe as possible and able to continue the job in the air.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12041546\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/Graphic1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"697\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/Graphic1.png 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/Graphic1-800x545.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/Graphic1-1020x694.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/Graphic1-160x109.png 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Much of the specifics of Air Force One aren’t publicized, but a \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Web-site-exposes-Air-Force-One-defenses-2499964.php\">technical order accidentally published online\u003c/a> by the Air Force in 2006 gave a look at the basic floor plan of the three-level plane as it was then — the bottom level for cargo, the middle level for essentially all the presidential functions, and the top, smaller level for the crew and communications.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In that middle level is everything, as I say, for the president’s convenience, to help him do his job,” says Walsh, including a large presidential suite with office space able to do live video and audio broadcast, a medical area equipped for basic surgery, a conference room, two galleys able to prepare up to 100 meals at once, several areas for Secret Service agents, and seating in the very back for the media.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What’s planned for the next generation of Boeing Air Force One planes?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12041543\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12041543\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-2-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1706\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-2-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-2-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-2-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Qatari F-15 jets fly over Air Force One as President Trump departs the Al Udeid Air Base on May 15 in Doha, Qatar. The current Air Force One planes are over 30 years old. \u003ccite>(Win McNamee/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The plan to replace the current Air Force One fleet has been long in the works, with \u003ca href=\"https://www.reuters.com/article/world/americas/boeing-wins-contract-to-build-new-air-force-one-presidential-jets-idUSKCN0V72P8/#:~:text=By%20Andrea%20Shalal,to%20transport%20the%20U.S.%20president.\">Boeing winning the contract back in 2016\u003c/a> under then-President Obama. \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2018/02/27/589207048/new-air-force-one-deal-cleared-for-takeoff\">Trump finalized a deal\u003c/a> in his first term in 2018.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two current planes have been in use since 1990, and their age is starting to show — one of the reasons Trump has been eager to put pressure on Boeing to finish the new generation of planes. But experts like Birkey say it’s not just about aesthetics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are serious issues about parts availability and all of that,” he says, adding that there are very specific security requirements about what can actually go in the plane that make it even harder to replace failing pieces. “You’re not going to an aircraft junkyard and just grabbing a spare generator or something like that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new generation will be a newer Boeing model, the 747-8, which is also the same model of the gift plane from Qatar. Compared to the 747-200, the 747-8 emits around 16 less tons of carbon per trip, can travel about 1,000 nautical miles further in range, and is the fastest commercial jet in the world, \u003ca href=\"https://www.boeing.com/defense/air-force-one#comparison\">according to Boeing\u003c/a>. It’s also wider and longer than the current model in use.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Much of the details of the planes haven’t been made public, but there are planned upgrades to the electrical and communications systems, military and combat-ready electronics, more self-defense systems, and autonomous systems for baggage loading and entering and exiting the plane, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/FOID/Reading%20Room/Selected_Acquisition_Reports/FY_2021_SARS/22-F-0762_VC-25B_SAR_2021.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">documents from the Department of Defense\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What would the gifted plane from Qatar need?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The gifted 747-8 plane from Qatar is certainly opulent, with big leather seats and wood inlay, multiple lounges, a bedroom suite and private office, according to marketing materials saved on the Internet Archive. The Qatari government purchased the plane in 2012, and had been trying to sell it for several years without success.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the specs say nothing about security or defense systems on board — beyond an anti-intrusion system for when the aircraft is left unattended — and the communications system that’s listed is for basic entertainment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Birkey says, in terms of luxury, the plane from Qatar probably looks and feels better than the current or planned Air Force One planes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But past that, things like a comms suite, self protection, all that — I doubt it has any of that in it right now,” he says. “And installing those is not an easy thing. I mean, you have to deconstruct the aircraft a fair amount to do that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12041547\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/Graphic2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"684\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/Graphic2.png 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/Graphic2-800x534.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/Graphic2-1020x681.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/Graphic2-160x107.png 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Tuesday, Air Force Secretary Troy Meink told lawmakers the plane would need “significant modifications.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both experts and members of Congress have expressed concern that Trump might decide to roll back current security requirements for Air Force One in order to get the plane ready faster.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There could also possibly be listening devices or malware on the plane, as it’s been sitting in a foreign country for more than a decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can’t rule out the presence of bad actors in this whole process,” says Aboulafia, pointing out that this would make the conversion process even more complicated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Basically, to be absolutely certain that there were no listening devices on board, you’d have to rip this plane down to its constituent elements.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What could it cost?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Trump has repeatedly stressed that the plane from Qatar was free, but several experts NPR talked to agreed that it will likely end up costing a significant amount of money to outfit it properly to current Air Force One standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A U.S. official who requested anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly about the matter told NPR the conversion would likely cost hundreds of millions of dollars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Aboulafia says that should concern taxpayers, since the current program to upgrade Air Force One was a fixed contract signed with Boeing — meaning that all the costs of extending the project are being borne by Boeing and its investors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Most likely there will be money spent on this jet, probably a lot more than what the jet is worth,” he says. “All of this amounts to, you know, frankly, a waste of taxpayer dollars in terms of this additional vanity project.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>NPR’s Tom Bowman and Deepa Shivaram contributed to this report. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The US officially accepted the Boeing 747-8 from Qatar on Wednesday. Experts say upgrading the plane to Air Force One specifications could take years and cost hundreds of millions of dollars.",
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"title": "'Waste of Taxpayer Dollars': What It Will Take to Transform the Qatari Jet Into Air Force One | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A luxury jetliner gifted by Qatar is currently \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/05/19/nx-s1-5398103/trump-qatar-gift-plane\">sitting on a tarmac\u003c/a> at an airport in San Antonio waiting for a specialized overhaul to become the next Air Force One.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The United States \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/05/21/nx-s1-5406420/trump-accepts-qatar-plane-air-force-one\">officially accepted\u003c/a> the Boeing 747-8 on Wednesday, and the Air Force has been tasked to upgrade it to be used as a new plane for President Trump, according to the Defense Department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Democratic lawmakers and independent watchdogs say \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/05/12/nx-s1-5395696/qatar-trump-plane-gift-ethics\">the gift violates\u003c/a> the Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments Clause, which bans government officials from taking gifts from foreign countries. Trump says it would be a gift to the DOD and that he would not use it after leaving office, when it would be kept at his presidential library.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The plane is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Trump said he would be \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/05/11/g-s1-65838/qatar-plane-trump\">“stupid” to turn it down\u003c/a>, suggesting that it could be converted quickly to be ready for use as a presidential aircraft. But experts warn that no matter how luxurious the plane is, it would take years to rework it to meet the current standards set for Air Force One.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It just seems to me an interesting dream that President Trump has to bring this plane online very quickly,” says Ken Walsh, a journalist who has \u003ca href=\"https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/kenneth-t-walsh/air-force-one/9781401397913/?lens=grand-central-publishing\">written a book on Air Force One\u003c/a>, after covering the White House for decades and riding on the famed aircraft more than 200 times.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Anybody who knows anything about these planes and the history of Air Force One knows that these are difficult to construct, and the technology is always improving. They don’t just show up at your airport. They have to be built,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two new Boeing 747-8 planes are currently being specially customized to become the next generation of Air Force One — a project that has \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2018/02/27/589207048/new-air-force-one-deal-cleared-for-takeoff\">been in the works for years\u003c/a> and subject to delays. The new Boeing planes were supposed to be ready by last year but now aren’t expected for several more years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Richard Aboulafia, managing director of AeroDynamic Advisory and an aviation analyst, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/05/14/nx-s1-5395734/trump-qatar-plane-national-security-risk\">told NPR’s \u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em>\u003c/a> that some of the responsibility for the delays lies with “poor execution” by Boeing. “But some of that is just due to the huge amount of requirements and work needed to take a commercial jet and wire it up for war.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said Trump’s plan that the gifted plane could be ready soon was a “fantasy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What makes Air Force One, Air Force One?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The term “Air Force One” technically applies to any Air Force plane carrying the president. But in more common usage, it refers to special Boeing 747-200B planes equipped with high-tech communications and defense systems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a mobile White House,” says Doug Birkey, executive director of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. “All the functions of the president have to be executed in it, no matter what circumstances, including warfare.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Air Force One planes feature an “incredibly robust command and control suite,” he says, and have defenses against a range of threats, from surface-to-air missiles to a nuclear blast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s meant to withstand the very worst days,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beyond that, Birkey says, is the unique layout of the plane itself, with a very specific seating and office configuration to keep the president as safe as possible and able to continue the job in the air.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12041546\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/Graphic1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"697\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/Graphic1.png 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/Graphic1-800x545.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/Graphic1-1020x694.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/Graphic1-160x109.png 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Much of the specifics of Air Force One aren’t publicized, but a \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Web-site-exposes-Air-Force-One-defenses-2499964.php\">technical order accidentally published online\u003c/a> by the Air Force in 2006 gave a look at the basic floor plan of the three-level plane as it was then — the bottom level for cargo, the middle level for essentially all the presidential functions, and the top, smaller level for the crew and communications.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In that middle level is everything, as I say, for the president’s convenience, to help him do his job,” says Walsh, including a large presidential suite with office space able to do live video and audio broadcast, a medical area equipped for basic surgery, a conference room, two galleys able to prepare up to 100 meals at once, several areas for Secret Service agents, and seating in the very back for the media.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What’s planned for the next generation of Boeing Air Force One planes?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12041543\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12041543\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-2-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1706\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-2-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-2-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-2-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Qatari F-15 jets fly over Air Force One as President Trump departs the Al Udeid Air Base on May 15 in Doha, Qatar. The current Air Force One planes are over 30 years old. \u003ccite>(Win McNamee/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The plan to replace the current Air Force One fleet has been long in the works, with \u003ca href=\"https://www.reuters.com/article/world/americas/boeing-wins-contract-to-build-new-air-force-one-presidential-jets-idUSKCN0V72P8/#:~:text=By%20Andrea%20Shalal,to%20transport%20the%20U.S.%20president.\">Boeing winning the contract back in 2016\u003c/a> under then-President Obama. \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2018/02/27/589207048/new-air-force-one-deal-cleared-for-takeoff\">Trump finalized a deal\u003c/a> in his first term in 2018.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two current planes have been in use since 1990, and their age is starting to show — one of the reasons Trump has been eager to put pressure on Boeing to finish the new generation of planes. But experts like Birkey say it’s not just about aesthetics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are serious issues about parts availability and all of that,” he says, adding that there are very specific security requirements about what can actually go in the plane that make it even harder to replace failing pieces. “You’re not going to an aircraft junkyard and just grabbing a spare generator or something like that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new generation will be a newer Boeing model, the 747-8, which is also the same model of the gift plane from Qatar. Compared to the 747-200, the 747-8 emits around 16 less tons of carbon per trip, can travel about 1,000 nautical miles further in range, and is the fastest commercial jet in the world, \u003ca href=\"https://www.boeing.com/defense/air-force-one#comparison\">according to Boeing\u003c/a>. It’s also wider and longer than the current model in use.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Much of the details of the planes haven’t been made public, but there are planned upgrades to the electrical and communications systems, military and combat-ready electronics, more self-defense systems, and autonomous systems for baggage loading and entering and exiting the plane, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/FOID/Reading%20Room/Selected_Acquisition_Reports/FY_2021_SARS/22-F-0762_VC-25B_SAR_2021.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">documents from the Department of Defense\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What would the gifted plane from Qatar need?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The gifted 747-8 plane from Qatar is certainly opulent, with big leather seats and wood inlay, multiple lounges, a bedroom suite and private office, according to marketing materials saved on the Internet Archive. The Qatari government purchased the plane in 2012, and had been trying to sell it for several years without success.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the specs say nothing about security or defense systems on board — beyond an anti-intrusion system for when the aircraft is left unattended — and the communications system that’s listed is for basic entertainment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Birkey says, in terms of luxury, the plane from Qatar probably looks and feels better than the current or planned Air Force One planes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But past that, things like a comms suite, self protection, all that — I doubt it has any of that in it right now,” he says. “And installing those is not an easy thing. I mean, you have to deconstruct the aircraft a fair amount to do that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12041547\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/Graphic2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"684\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/Graphic2.png 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/Graphic2-800x534.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/Graphic2-1020x681.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/Graphic2-160x107.png 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Tuesday, Air Force Secretary Troy Meink told lawmakers the plane would need “significant modifications.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both experts and members of Congress have expressed concern that Trump might decide to roll back current security requirements for Air Force One in order to get the plane ready faster.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There could also possibly be listening devices or malware on the plane, as it’s been sitting in a foreign country for more than a decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can’t rule out the presence of bad actors in this whole process,” says Aboulafia, pointing out that this would make the conversion process even more complicated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Basically, to be absolutely certain that there were no listening devices on board, you’d have to rip this plane down to its constituent elements.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What could it cost?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Trump has repeatedly stressed that the plane from Qatar was free, but several experts NPR talked to agreed that it will likely end up costing a significant amount of money to outfit it properly to current Air Force One standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A U.S. official who requested anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly about the matter told NPR the conversion would likely cost hundreds of millions of dollars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Aboulafia says that should concern taxpayers, since the current program to upgrade Air Force One was a fixed contract signed with Boeing — meaning that all the costs of extending the project are being borne by Boeing and its investors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Most likely there will be money spent on this jet, probably a lot more than what the jet is worth,” he says. “All of this amounts to, you know, frankly, a waste of taxpayer dollars in terms of this additional vanity project.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>NPR’s Tom Bowman and Deepa Shivaram contributed to this report. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Major American retailers are fighting two battles at once: As they grapple with the costly price impact from President Trump’s sweeping tariffs, companies are struggling to talk about that impact publicly without enraging the White House or alienating their customers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Target on Wednesday became the latest retailer to \u003ca href=\"https://corporate.target.com/press/release/2025/05/target-corporation-reports-first-quarter-earnings\">lower its financial forecast\u003c/a> for the year. It downplayed its plans for tariff-related price hikes. Lowe’s executives, asked about tariffs and prices, also focused on plans to stay price-competitive and minimize the impact on shoppers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This follows Home Depot’s update on Tuesday that \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/05/20/nx-s1-5404662/home-depot-tariffs-prices-product-lines\">it doesn’t plan to raise prices\u003c/a> broadly because of tariffs — though it acknowledged that \u003cem>some \u003c/em>prices might go up and some items might disappear from store shelves altogether.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So far, all three have avoided the anger that the president and his administration have bestowed on Walmart, Mattel and, briefly, Amazon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although Trump says foreign countries should pay for his tariffs, it’s U.S. businesses that get the tariff bill when they claim their imported goods at the border. Under \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/05/12/nx-s1-5395027/us-china-tariffs-deal-trade-war-beijing-washington\">a current temporary deal\u003c/a>, U.S. levies on Chinese imports are 30% instead of the previous 145%. All global imports face a new 10% tariff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, last week \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/05/15/nx-s1-5399154/walmart-higher-prices-tariffs\">warned it will have to raise prices as a result of tariffs\u003c/a>, beginning as early as this month. Trump, in a \u003ca href=\"https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114523638623110397\">social-media post\u003c/a>, wrote that Walmart instead should “EAT THE TARIFFS.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Walmart and its suppliers are already absorbing some of the costs of tariffs, CEO Doug McMillon has said. But Walmart cannot do that with the full amount “given the magnitude of the tariffs,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Amazon, too, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/04/29/nx-s1-5380935/amazon-tariffs\">had faced criticism\u003c/a> from the Trump administration after news reports that the retailer might display the costs of new tariffs on its low-cost marketplace called Amazon Haul. The White House called it “hostile and political” before Trump spoke with founder Jeff Bezos on the phone, and Amazon said displaying tariffs was never its plan to begin with.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=forum_2010101909473 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/43/2025/04/GettyImages-2207863842-stock-market-tariffs-1020x574.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shortly after that, Trump threatened to \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2dTaFl9nM0\">put a 100% tariff\u003c/a> on Barbie-maker Mattel after the company said it would raise prices on some toys due to tariffs. “He won’t sell one toy in the United States,” Trump said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Following all that, Target executives reiterated that the chain was working hard to offset “the vast majority” of the tariffs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have many levers to use in mitigating the impact of tariffs, and price is the very last resort,” Target CEO Brian Cornell told investors on an earnings call on Wednesday. The other levers include negotiating with suppliers, changing up product selection, shifting where items come from and reshuffling the timing of orders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Home Depot executives on Tuesday asserted that the chain wasn’t looking at broad price hikes, but it might raise prices for individual items or switch up some product options if tariff costs prove too high.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Similarly, its rival Lowe’s said it would continue competing on price, keen to avoid losing shoppers to others with cheaper prices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have tools that will allow us to manage this — and manage this in a way that we’re going to minimize any impacts to our customers,” Lowe’s CEO Marvin Ellison told investors on Wednesday’s earnings call. “In this environment, we’re going to be as keenly focused on competing on price as we are every single day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lowe’s, Home Depot and all other retailers face growing pressure from suppliers, also, as they too are wrestling with tariffs. For example, the tool maker Stanley Black & Decker last month \u003ca href=\"https://seekingalpha.com/article/4779785-stanley-black-and-decker-inc-swk-q1-2025-earnings-call-transcript\">already said\u003c/a> it had raised its prices to account for new tariffs and planned another price increase later this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So far, all three have avoided the anger that the president and his administration have bestowed on Walmart, Mattel and, briefly, Amazon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although Trump says foreign countries should pay for his tariffs, it’s U.S. businesses that get the tariff bill when they claim their imported goods at the border. Under \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/05/12/nx-s1-5395027/us-china-tariffs-deal-trade-war-beijing-washington\">a current temporary deal\u003c/a>, U.S. levies on Chinese imports are 30% instead of the previous 145%. All global imports face a new 10% tariff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, last week \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/05/15/nx-s1-5399154/walmart-higher-prices-tariffs\">warned it will have to raise prices as a result of tariffs\u003c/a>, beginning as early as this month. Trump, in a \u003ca href=\"https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114523638623110397\">social-media post\u003c/a>, wrote that Walmart instead should “EAT THE TARIFFS.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Walmart and its suppliers are already absorbing some of the costs of tariffs, CEO Doug McMillon has said. But Walmart cannot do that with the full amount “given the magnitude of the tariffs,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Amazon, too, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/04/29/nx-s1-5380935/amazon-tariffs\">had faced criticism\u003c/a> from the Trump administration after news reports that the retailer might display the costs of new tariffs on its low-cost marketplace called Amazon Haul. The White House called it “hostile and political” before Trump spoke with founder Jeff Bezos on the phone, and Amazon said displaying tariffs was never its plan to begin with.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shortly after that, Trump threatened to \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2dTaFl9nM0\">put a 100% tariff\u003c/a> on Barbie-maker Mattel after the company said it would raise prices on some toys due to tariffs. “He won’t sell one toy in the United States,” Trump said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Following all that, Target executives reiterated that the chain was working hard to offset “the vast majority” of the tariffs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have many levers to use in mitigating the impact of tariffs, and price is the very last resort,” Target CEO Brian Cornell told investors on an earnings call on Wednesday. The other levers include negotiating with suppliers, changing up product selection, shifting where items come from and reshuffling the timing of orders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Home Depot executives on Tuesday asserted that the chain wasn’t looking at broad price hikes, but it might raise prices for individual items or switch up some product options if tariff costs prove too high.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Similarly, its rival Lowe’s said it would continue competing on price, keen to avoid losing shoppers to others with cheaper prices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have tools that will allow us to manage this — and manage this in a way that we’re going to minimize any impacts to our customers,” Lowe’s CEO Marvin Ellison told investors on Wednesday’s earnings call. “In this environment, we’re going to be as keenly focused on competing on price as we are every single day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lowe’s, Home Depot and all other retailers face growing pressure from suppliers, also, as they too are wrestling with tariffs. For example, the tool maker Stanley Black & Decker last month \u003ca href=\"https://seekingalpha.com/article/4779785-stanley-black-and-decker-inc-swk-q1-2025-earnings-call-transcript\">already said\u003c/a> it had raised its prices to account for new tariffs and planned another price increase later this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "a-salmonella-outbreak-sickens-dozens-prompting-a-cucumber-recall-heres-what-to-do",
"title": "A Salmonella Outbreak Sickens Dozens, Prompting a Cucumber Recall. Here's What to Do",
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"headTitle": "A Salmonella Outbreak Sickens Dozens, Prompting a Cucumber Recall. Here’s What to Do | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is recalling cucumbers across the country over a salmonella outbreak that has sickened more than two dozen people in multiple states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Monday, the FDA \u003ca href=\"https://www.fda.gov/food/outbreaks-foodborne-illness/outbreak-investigation-salmonella-cucumbers-may-2025\">announced a recall\u003c/a> for cucumbers grown by South Florida-based Bedner Growers between April 29 and May 19.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The FDA says Fresh Start Produce Sales distributed them to retailers, distribution centers, wholesalers and food service distributors nationwide, making people sick from California to Kansas to New York — and it is unclear exactly where else they may have ended up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Cucumbers may have been sold individually or in smaller packages, with or without a label that may not bear the same brand, product name, or best by date,” the agency said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The cucumbers in question have been linked to what the FDA calls a “multistate outbreak” of Salmonella Montevideo, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/salmonella/symptoms-causes/syc-20355329\">bacterial disease\u003c/a> that affects the intestinal tract.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As of Tuesday, the cucumbers have made 26 people sick, nine of whom required hospitalization, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The cases are spread out across 15 states: Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency says investigators conducting a \u003ca href=\"https://www.fda.gov/food/outbreaks-foodborne-illness/outbreak-investigation-salmonella-cucumbers-june-2024\">follow-up inspection\u003c/a> in April collected an environmental sample from Bedner Growers that was positive for the disease and matched recent clinical samples from people who got sick.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12017234 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/gettyimages-2164656715-1020x754.jpeg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“FDA’s traceback investigation has identified Bedner Growers, Inc. as the common grower of cucumbers in this current outbreak,” it said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Acknowledging that salmonella is a “serious health concern,” Bedner Growers said in a statement that it is initiating the recall “in an abundance of caution, and out of deep respect for the public health.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Symptoms of salmonella infection include diarrhea, fever, stomach cramps and vomiting. They usually start 12 to 72 hours after eating contaminated food and can last four to seven days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While many people typically recover on their own within a few days, diarrhea can lead to severe dehydration that requires medical attention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The FDA says anyone who has symptoms of a salmonella infection, especially after eating cucumbers, should report them — and seek care — from their medical provider.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What should shoppers do?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The FDA and CDC are working with state and local authorities to investigate the outbreak. They warn that people with cucumbers already in their fridge should err on the side of caution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you cannot tell if your cucumber was grown by Bedner Growers, throw it away,” the FDA says. “When eating out over the next week, ask if cucumbers were from Bedner Growers or Fresh Start Produce Sales, Inc.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Consumers, restaurants and retailers who have already handled potentially contaminated cucumbers should \u003ca href=\"https://www.fda.gov/food/buy-store-serve-safe-food/safe-food-handling\">carefully sanitize\u003c/a> any surfaces or containers that they may have touched.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The FDA instructs restaurants, retailers and distributors that may have purchased the cucumbers between April 29 and May 19 to notify their customers about the potential health concerns and sanitize any areas — including bulk bins — that the vegetables touched.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In general, the CDC recommends following several \u003ca href=\"https://www.foodsafety.gov/keep-food-safe/4-steps-to-food-safety#chill\">food safety tips\u003c/a> to try to prevent food poisoning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It advises people to wash their hands, utensils and surfaces often; rinse fruits and vegetables under running water before eating or peeling them; keep food that won’t be cooked separate from raw meat and poultry; and refrigerate perishable food within two hours — or one hour if the temperature is above 90 degrees Fahrenheit. It says food should be thawed in refrigerators, not on countertops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Food scientists \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/12/03/nx-s1-5213746/cdc-is-recalling-mexican-cucumbers-due-to-a-salmonella-outbreak\">told NPR\u003c/a> that when washing produce, it is not necessary — and could even be counterproductive — to use soap or let it soak in a bowl of water. Peeling produce might reduce the risk of consuming bacteria, but is not a guarantee.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Where might the cucumbers be?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>According to the FDA’s outbreak map, the states with the most illness reports are Illinois, Ohio, North Carolina and Florida, home of Bedner Growers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The FDA says some of the affected cucumbers were previously available for sale at Bedner’s Farm Fresh Market’s three Florida locations; Boynton Beach, Delray Beach and West Palm Beach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A spokesperson for Bedner Growers told NPR on Wednesday that the farmers markets have “already recalled and eliminated all possibly contaminated cucumbers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The current products you’ll find today at the markets are completely unaffected by this recall,” the company added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The FDA says it is aware that the contaminated cucumbers are available “at both restaurant and retail locations,” and is still working to trace them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fresh Start Produce Sales told NPR in an email that it “has notified all its affected wholesale and regional distribution center customers and asked them to provide their customers with recall instructions, including immediately notifying any consumer point-of-purchase locations such as retail stores and restaurants.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The FDA says the products purchased by distributors, restaurants, and retailers were labeled either as supers, selects or plains.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How unusual is this outbreak?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/about/index.html\">CDC estimates\u003c/a> that salmonella causes about 1.35 million infections in the U.S. each year, mostly through contaminated food.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Salmonella infection is one of the leading causes of foodborne illness, and of hospitalizations and deaths linked to foodborne illness. The CDC says it is more common in the summer, with warmer temperatures and unrefrigerated food.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Raw meat, seafood and poultry — particularly chicken — are a common culprit, as are raw or undercooked eggs. But fresh produce can also cause infections, for example, if they are washed during processing with water contaminated with salmonella.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cucumbers specifically have been the subject of several major salmonella recalls in recent years. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/06/06/g-s1-3096/salmonella-outbreak-cucumbers-cdc\">June 2024 outbreak\u003c/a> sickened \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/outbreaks/africana-06-24/investigation.html?CDC_AAref_Val=https://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/africana-06-24/details.html\">551 people\u003c/a> across 34 states and Washington, D.C., and the CDC \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/11/30/nx-s1-5211260/cucumbers-costco-eggs-salmonella-recall\">recalled Mexican cucumbers\u003c/a> in November after 68 people got sick.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, the FDA eventually determined that Bedner Growers was one of several likely sources of that summer outbreak — which is why it was collecting follow-up samples from the company last month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The FDA says Fresh Start Produce Sales distributed cucumbers to retailers, distribution centers, wholesalers and food service distributors nationwide, making people sick from California to Kansas to New York — and it is unclear exactly where else they may have ended up.",
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"title": "A Salmonella Outbreak Sickens Dozens, Prompting a Cucumber Recall. Here's What to Do | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is recalling cucumbers across the country over a salmonella outbreak that has sickened more than two dozen people in multiple states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Monday, the FDA \u003ca href=\"https://www.fda.gov/food/outbreaks-foodborne-illness/outbreak-investigation-salmonella-cucumbers-may-2025\">announced a recall\u003c/a> for cucumbers grown by South Florida-based Bedner Growers between April 29 and May 19.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The FDA says Fresh Start Produce Sales distributed them to retailers, distribution centers, wholesalers and food service distributors nationwide, making people sick from California to Kansas to New York — and it is unclear exactly where else they may have ended up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Cucumbers may have been sold individually or in smaller packages, with or without a label that may not bear the same brand, product name, or best by date,” the agency said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The cucumbers in question have been linked to what the FDA calls a “multistate outbreak” of Salmonella Montevideo, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/salmonella/symptoms-causes/syc-20355329\">bacterial disease\u003c/a> that affects the intestinal tract.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As of Tuesday, the cucumbers have made 26 people sick, nine of whom required hospitalization, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The cases are spread out across 15 states: Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency says investigators conducting a \u003ca href=\"https://www.fda.gov/food/outbreaks-foodborne-illness/outbreak-investigation-salmonella-cucumbers-june-2024\">follow-up inspection\u003c/a> in April collected an environmental sample from Bedner Growers that was positive for the disease and matched recent clinical samples from people who got sick.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“FDA’s traceback investigation has identified Bedner Growers, Inc. as the common grower of cucumbers in this current outbreak,” it said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Acknowledging that salmonella is a “serious health concern,” Bedner Growers said in a statement that it is initiating the recall “in an abundance of caution, and out of deep respect for the public health.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Symptoms of salmonella infection include diarrhea, fever, stomach cramps and vomiting. They usually start 12 to 72 hours after eating contaminated food and can last four to seven days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While many people typically recover on their own within a few days, diarrhea can lead to severe dehydration that requires medical attention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The FDA says anyone who has symptoms of a salmonella infection, especially after eating cucumbers, should report them — and seek care — from their medical provider.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What should shoppers do?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The FDA and CDC are working with state and local authorities to investigate the outbreak. They warn that people with cucumbers already in their fridge should err on the side of caution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you cannot tell if your cucumber was grown by Bedner Growers, throw it away,” the FDA says. “When eating out over the next week, ask if cucumbers were from Bedner Growers or Fresh Start Produce Sales, Inc.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Consumers, restaurants and retailers who have already handled potentially contaminated cucumbers should \u003ca href=\"https://www.fda.gov/food/buy-store-serve-safe-food/safe-food-handling\">carefully sanitize\u003c/a> any surfaces or containers that they may have touched.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The FDA instructs restaurants, retailers and distributors that may have purchased the cucumbers between April 29 and May 19 to notify their customers about the potential health concerns and sanitize any areas — including bulk bins — that the vegetables touched.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In general, the CDC recommends following several \u003ca href=\"https://www.foodsafety.gov/keep-food-safe/4-steps-to-food-safety#chill\">food safety tips\u003c/a> to try to prevent food poisoning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It advises people to wash their hands, utensils and surfaces often; rinse fruits and vegetables under running water before eating or peeling them; keep food that won’t be cooked separate from raw meat and poultry; and refrigerate perishable food within two hours — or one hour if the temperature is above 90 degrees Fahrenheit. It says food should be thawed in refrigerators, not on countertops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Food scientists \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/12/03/nx-s1-5213746/cdc-is-recalling-mexican-cucumbers-due-to-a-salmonella-outbreak\">told NPR\u003c/a> that when washing produce, it is not necessary — and could even be counterproductive — to use soap or let it soak in a bowl of water. Peeling produce might reduce the risk of consuming bacteria, but is not a guarantee.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Where might the cucumbers be?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>According to the FDA’s outbreak map, the states with the most illness reports are Illinois, Ohio, North Carolina and Florida, home of Bedner Growers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The FDA says some of the affected cucumbers were previously available for sale at Bedner’s Farm Fresh Market’s three Florida locations; Boynton Beach, Delray Beach and West Palm Beach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A spokesperson for Bedner Growers told NPR on Wednesday that the farmers markets have “already recalled and eliminated all possibly contaminated cucumbers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The current products you’ll find today at the markets are completely unaffected by this recall,” the company added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The FDA says it is aware that the contaminated cucumbers are available “at both restaurant and retail locations,” and is still working to trace them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fresh Start Produce Sales told NPR in an email that it “has notified all its affected wholesale and regional distribution center customers and asked them to provide their customers with recall instructions, including immediately notifying any consumer point-of-purchase locations such as retail stores and restaurants.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The FDA says the products purchased by distributors, restaurants, and retailers were labeled either as supers, selects or plains.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How unusual is this outbreak?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/about/index.html\">CDC estimates\u003c/a> that salmonella causes about 1.35 million infections in the U.S. each year, mostly through contaminated food.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Salmonella infection is one of the leading causes of foodborne illness, and of hospitalizations and deaths linked to foodborne illness. The CDC says it is more common in the summer, with warmer temperatures and unrefrigerated food.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Raw meat, seafood and poultry — particularly chicken — are a common culprit, as are raw or undercooked eggs. But fresh produce can also cause infections, for example, if they are washed during processing with water contaminated with salmonella.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cucumbers specifically have been the subject of several major salmonella recalls in recent years. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/06/06/g-s1-3096/salmonella-outbreak-cucumbers-cdc\">June 2024 outbreak\u003c/a> sickened \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/outbreaks/africana-06-24/investigation.html?CDC_AAref_Val=https://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/africana-06-24/details.html\">551 people\u003c/a> across 34 states and Washington, D.C., and the CDC \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/11/30/nx-s1-5211260/cucumbers-costco-eggs-salmonella-recall\">recalled Mexican cucumbers\u003c/a> in November after 68 people got sick.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, the FDA eventually determined that Bedner Growers was one of several likely sources of that summer outbreak — which is why it was collecting follow-up samples from the company last month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "what-losing-billions-in-federal-grants-means-for-universities-and-the-nation",
"title": "What Losing Billions in Federal Grants Means for Universities, and the Nation",
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"headTitle": "What Losing Billions in Federal Grants Means for Universities, and the Nation | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>This week’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/05/14/nx-s1-5397318/trump-administration-says-it-will-cut-another-450-milliion-in-grants-to-harvard\">$450 million in cuts\u003c/a> from federal grants to Harvard University added to the growing pot of federal money the Trump administration has frozen in university research funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the past four months, the total, at universities across the U.S., is about $11 billion. The cuts affect things like cancer research, diabetes treatments, new wearable technology, farming solutions and studying domestic violence: research across nearly every discipline and subject. More than two dozen universities have been affected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To offset the damage, a handful of universities have moved to self-fund some research. On Wednesday, Harvard announced it would supplement \u003ca href=\"https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2025/5/15/harvard-central-research-funding/\">$250 million to continue research efforts\u003c/a>. Harvard joined schools such as Johns Hopkins University and Northwestern University in seeking to make up at least a part of the lost federal dollars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But university leaders tell NPR it’s not a long-term solution, given the high price tag. Even in Wednesday’s announcement, Harvard President Alan Garber signaled that cuts, layoffs and “difficult decisions and sacrifices” lie ahead for the world’s wealthiest university.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s because when the government stops funding research, there’s really no other entity positioned to pick up the void.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How university research built the American economy\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The relationship between universities and the federal government traces back to the 19th century. In the 1860s, the government provided funds and land grants to states to \u003ca href=\"https://www.nifa.usda.gov/grants/land-grant-university-website-directory\">establish universities focused on agriculture\u003c/a> and science. In the 1930s, under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Public Works Administration, an agency created under the New Deal, got involved in funding \u003ca href=\"https://livingnewdeal.org/sites/howard-university-buildings-washington-dc/\">building projects on college campuses\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For decades, most research was conducted and funded by private labs, including AT&T, Bell Labs, Westinghouse and DuPont — or university research was funded from philanthropic sources such as the Carnegie Corp. or the Rockefeller Foundation.[aside postID=forum_2010101909387 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/43/2025/03/250319-UCBerkeleyProtest-17-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg']“Universities were highly decentralized, less dependent on government money,” explains Christopher Loss, a historian at Vanderbilt University. “They feared that federal funding would lead to interference in the research process itself and perhaps corrupt the pursuit of truth in some profound way.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But World War II changed all that and marked the beginning of the federal government entrusting and deeply investing in universities to conduct research and development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The urgency of the war effort sent federal dollars into the system in order to produce the research and the wartime discoveries that we needed,” says Loss. “That was the beginning of a publicly subsidized and funded research economy that we have today.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shalin Jyotishi, managing director of the Future of Work and Innovation Economy Initiative at New America, a left-leaning think tank, agrees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The government-university-industry partnership built the American economy in the 20th century,” he said. “Everything from the iPhone to GPS technology to fortified vitamin D has had its roots in federally funded research.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By 2021, the federal government gave colleges and universities about $180 billion annually across dozens of federal agencies, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.gao.gov/federal-research-oversight\">Government Accountability Office\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But President Trump has said that some universities no longer deserve such money because of widespread political bias that the administration sees at these institutions. In the letter from the federal antisemitism task force announcing the latest research cuts to Harvard, officials claimed that Harvard’s campus “has become a breeding ground … for discrimination” and that the university’s leaders have “forfeited the school’s claim to taxpayer support.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Letters from the federal agencies to Harvard said the grants “no longer effectuate agency priorities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The crusade against universities didn’t come out of nowhere. On the campaign trail, Trump talked about using federal funds as leverage to root out \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/04/15/nx-s1-5366009/nadworny-harvard-reax\">what he saw as communist indoctrination\u003c/a> and woke liberalism at elite colleges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What the future looks like may, to some degree, involve the courts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harvard is \u003ca href=\"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-high-stakes-battle-between-government-policy/id1521406876?i=1000706476055\">suing to block the federal funding freeze\u003c/a> and has updated its lawsuit to include the most recent cuts. The university claims that the administration’s moves are unlawful and that the cuts threaten academic freedom and First Amendment rights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://www.wbur.org/news/2025/04/28/harvard-trump-arguments-date-funding-freeze\">trial is set to begin in July\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The last four months or so have forced those of us that work in higher education to confront the fact that we’re heavily dependent on taxpayer dollars,” says Loss. “One definition of a university is that it’s a charity, relying on other people’s money. The federal government has been one of the biggest and most important patrons. In exchange, of course, our nation has received really important discoveries and groundbreaking research that improves the human condition.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those groundbreaking discoveries, as well as the way government investment has benefited from the exchange, has drawn the attention of other nations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“American research universities have been the envy of the world for a reason,” says Jyotishi. “China and other competitors of the United States are borrowing from the American playbook for innovation. They’re doubling down and increasing investments in R&D.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jyotishi says the biggest worry is that if the government gets out of this business, there won’t be anyone else to step in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He says the private sector can and should play more of a role in helping universities commercialize university research, but he doesn’t expect industry to replace the federal government.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Why industry support likely won’t fully replace the government\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Sabrina Howell, a finance professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business, studies innovation and university research. She can rattle off many examples of how university research didn’t result in just a product or a solution — it resulted in underlying ideas and technologies that went on to shape entire industries and the way we live our lives.[aside postID=news_12036380 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250307-BERKELEY-SCIENCE-PROTEST-MD-08_qed-1020x680.jpg']“We would not have iPhones if universities like MIT that are federally funded hadn’t worked on lasers without having a particular commercial application in mind and with the interest of just creating new knowledge,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because that laser technology wasn’t used on just the iPhone, she adds — it also helped create semiconductors that power so many things we use in our daily lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“No private company would take that on, on their own, because it’s not obvious what the commercial application is for all the work that you’re doing,” Howell explains. “And the benefits of it are gonna be used by everybody who works on it, and so only the government can fund that kind of work.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the Trump administration talks about handing off this type of funding to the private sector, she argues that such investments are too expensive without clear returns on investment. \u003ca href=\"https://business.columbia.edu/sites/default/files-efs/pubfiles/26274/Babina_ColorofMoney.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Howell has worked on research that looked\u003c/a> at what happened when areas of university research experienced federal funding declines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The research found that when the private sector tried to fill the void, it made investments at a lower level, which ultimately led to weaker outcomes. The research also found a dramatic drop in the likelihood of grant recipients founding a startup, and a reduction in entrepreneurship as a result.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Howell says that’s because industry has a different motivation, much more focused on outputs, whereas the government is often investing in innovation to benefit society and the U.S. at large.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Is change always a bad thing?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>But there are experts who think changes could be made to this partnership.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s time for someone to shake things up a bit,” says Richard Vedder, a senior fellow at the Independent Institute, a libertarian think tank and the author of the book \u003cem>Let Colleges Fail\u003c/em>. He has called for scaling back government funding for research overhead and administration and says his decades working at Ohio University taught him that there is a lot of “waste” in higher education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Trump’s broad cuts aren’t what he had in mind, he says, the new administration has definitely sent an important message to colleges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not perhaps the ideal way to change things. It may be a disruptive way to change things,” he says. “But on the whole, the attempt to reevaluate research grant money is a valid one.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He adds that maybe now that the public sees the high price tag of federally funded research, there will be a way to make changes without abruptly halting essential and lifesaving research.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vanderbilt’s Loss, who has studied the history of this high price tag, says the extent of the federal government’s involvement in the research economy has not been well understood, even by people who work in the system and are part of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s quite a time here in our nation’s history where there is a deep reconsideration and evaluation of that partnership. Whether it leads to the complete toppling of it is, as yet, unclear,” he says. “But it suggests that we’re at a very different place and that we should be prepared for a very different kind of higher education system in the future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>This week’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/05/14/nx-s1-5397318/trump-administration-says-it-will-cut-another-450-milliion-in-grants-to-harvard\">$450 million in cuts\u003c/a> from federal grants to Harvard University added to the growing pot of federal money the Trump administration has frozen in university research funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the past four months, the total, at universities across the U.S., is about $11 billion. The cuts affect things like cancer research, diabetes treatments, new wearable technology, farming solutions and studying domestic violence: research across nearly every discipline and subject. More than two dozen universities have been affected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To offset the damage, a handful of universities have moved to self-fund some research. On Wednesday, Harvard announced it would supplement \u003ca href=\"https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2025/5/15/harvard-central-research-funding/\">$250 million to continue research efforts\u003c/a>. Harvard joined schools such as Johns Hopkins University and Northwestern University in seeking to make up at least a part of the lost federal dollars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But university leaders tell NPR it’s not a long-term solution, given the high price tag. Even in Wednesday’s announcement, Harvard President Alan Garber signaled that cuts, layoffs and “difficult decisions and sacrifices” lie ahead for the world’s wealthiest university.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s because when the government stops funding research, there’s really no other entity positioned to pick up the void.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How university research built the American economy\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The relationship between universities and the federal government traces back to the 19th century. In the 1860s, the government provided funds and land grants to states to \u003ca href=\"https://www.nifa.usda.gov/grants/land-grant-university-website-directory\">establish universities focused on agriculture\u003c/a> and science. In the 1930s, under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Public Works Administration, an agency created under the New Deal, got involved in funding \u003ca href=\"https://livingnewdeal.org/sites/howard-university-buildings-washington-dc/\">building projects on college campuses\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For decades, most research was conducted and funded by private labs, including AT&T, Bell Labs, Westinghouse and DuPont — or university research was funded from philanthropic sources such as the Carnegie Corp. or the Rockefeller Foundation.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Universities were highly decentralized, less dependent on government money,” explains Christopher Loss, a historian at Vanderbilt University. “They feared that federal funding would lead to interference in the research process itself and perhaps corrupt the pursuit of truth in some profound way.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But World War II changed all that and marked the beginning of the federal government entrusting and deeply investing in universities to conduct research and development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The urgency of the war effort sent federal dollars into the system in order to produce the research and the wartime discoveries that we needed,” says Loss. “That was the beginning of a publicly subsidized and funded research economy that we have today.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shalin Jyotishi, managing director of the Future of Work and Innovation Economy Initiative at New America, a left-leaning think tank, agrees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The government-university-industry partnership built the American economy in the 20th century,” he said. “Everything from the iPhone to GPS technology to fortified vitamin D has had its roots in federally funded research.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By 2021, the federal government gave colleges and universities about $180 billion annually across dozens of federal agencies, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.gao.gov/federal-research-oversight\">Government Accountability Office\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But President Trump has said that some universities no longer deserve such money because of widespread political bias that the administration sees at these institutions. In the letter from the federal antisemitism task force announcing the latest research cuts to Harvard, officials claimed that Harvard’s campus “has become a breeding ground … for discrimination” and that the university’s leaders have “forfeited the school’s claim to taxpayer support.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Letters from the federal agencies to Harvard said the grants “no longer effectuate agency priorities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The crusade against universities didn’t come out of nowhere. On the campaign trail, Trump talked about using federal funds as leverage to root out \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/04/15/nx-s1-5366009/nadworny-harvard-reax\">what he saw as communist indoctrination\u003c/a> and woke liberalism at elite colleges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What the future looks like may, to some degree, involve the courts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harvard is \u003ca href=\"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-high-stakes-battle-between-government-policy/id1521406876?i=1000706476055\">suing to block the federal funding freeze\u003c/a> and has updated its lawsuit to include the most recent cuts. The university claims that the administration’s moves are unlawful and that the cuts threaten academic freedom and First Amendment rights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://www.wbur.org/news/2025/04/28/harvard-trump-arguments-date-funding-freeze\">trial is set to begin in July\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The last four months or so have forced those of us that work in higher education to confront the fact that we’re heavily dependent on taxpayer dollars,” says Loss. “One definition of a university is that it’s a charity, relying on other people’s money. The federal government has been one of the biggest and most important patrons. In exchange, of course, our nation has received really important discoveries and groundbreaking research that improves the human condition.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those groundbreaking discoveries, as well as the way government investment has benefited from the exchange, has drawn the attention of other nations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“American research universities have been the envy of the world for a reason,” says Jyotishi. “China and other competitors of the United States are borrowing from the American playbook for innovation. They’re doubling down and increasing investments in R&D.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jyotishi says the biggest worry is that if the government gets out of this business, there won’t be anyone else to step in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He says the private sector can and should play more of a role in helping universities commercialize university research, but he doesn’t expect industry to replace the federal government.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Why industry support likely won’t fully replace the government\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Sabrina Howell, a finance professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business, studies innovation and university research. She can rattle off many examples of how university research didn’t result in just a product or a solution — it resulted in underlying ideas and technologies that went on to shape entire industries and the way we live our lives.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“We would not have iPhones if universities like MIT that are federally funded hadn’t worked on lasers without having a particular commercial application in mind and with the interest of just creating new knowledge,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because that laser technology wasn’t used on just the iPhone, she adds — it also helped create semiconductors that power so many things we use in our daily lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“No private company would take that on, on their own, because it’s not obvious what the commercial application is for all the work that you’re doing,” Howell explains. “And the benefits of it are gonna be used by everybody who works on it, and so only the government can fund that kind of work.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the Trump administration talks about handing off this type of funding to the private sector, she argues that such investments are too expensive without clear returns on investment. \u003ca href=\"https://business.columbia.edu/sites/default/files-efs/pubfiles/26274/Babina_ColorofMoney.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Howell has worked on research that looked\u003c/a> at what happened when areas of university research experienced federal funding declines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The research found that when the private sector tried to fill the void, it made investments at a lower level, which ultimately led to weaker outcomes. The research also found a dramatic drop in the likelihood of grant recipients founding a startup, and a reduction in entrepreneurship as a result.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Howell says that’s because industry has a different motivation, much more focused on outputs, whereas the government is often investing in innovation to benefit society and the U.S. at large.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Is change always a bad thing?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>But there are experts who think changes could be made to this partnership.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s time for someone to shake things up a bit,” says Richard Vedder, a senior fellow at the Independent Institute, a libertarian think tank and the author of the book \u003cem>Let Colleges Fail\u003c/em>. He has called for scaling back government funding for research overhead and administration and says his decades working at Ohio University taught him that there is a lot of “waste” in higher education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Trump’s broad cuts aren’t what he had in mind, he says, the new administration has definitely sent an important message to colleges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not perhaps the ideal way to change things. It may be a disruptive way to change things,” he says. “But on the whole, the attempt to reevaluate research grant money is a valid one.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He adds that maybe now that the public sees the high price tag of federally funded research, there will be a way to make changes without abruptly halting essential and lifesaving research.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vanderbilt’s Loss, who has studied the history of this high price tag, says the extent of the federal government’s involvement in the research economy has not been well understood, even by people who work in the system and are part of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s quite a time here in our nation’s history where there is a deep reconsideration and evaluation of that partnership. Whether it leads to the complete toppling of it is, as yet, unclear,” he says. “But it suggests that we’re at a very different place and that we should be prepared for a very different kind of higher education system in the future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>At the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12033789/lets-fight-back-127-years-after-momentous-supreme-court-ruling-san-francisco-honors-wong-kim-ark\">U.S. Supreme Court\u003c/a> Thursday, the justices heard a case that challenges the constitutional provision guaranteeing automatic \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12023126/california-leaders-to-sue-trump-over-birthright-citizenship-border-policies\">citizenship to all babies\u003c/a> born in the United States, but the arguments focused on a separate question: Can federal district court judges rule against the administration on a nationwide basis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The justices appeared divided on the issue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several seemed skeptical of the Trump administration’s argument that lower courts should not have the right to issue nationwide injunctions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What do hospitals do with a newborn? What do states do with a newborn?” Justice Brett Kavanaugh asked Solicitor General D. John Sauer, the government’s lawyer, about how the federal government would enforce Trump’s order.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Justice Brown Jackson was more pointed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Your argument seems to turn our justice system, in my view at least, into a catch me if you can kind of regime … where everybody has to have a lawyer and file a lawsuit in order for the government to stop violating people’s rights,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Justice Clarence Thomas seemed more receptive to Sauer’s argument, noting the U.S. had “survived” without nationwide injunctions until the 1960s.[aside postID=news_12024082 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2030/01/GettyImages-1314541146-1020x690.jpg']New Jersey Solicitor General Jeremy Feigenbaum, who represented the 22 states suing the government, told the court that nationwide injunctions should be available in “narrow circumstances” — like this case involving birthright citizenship.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kelsi Corkran, who represented pregnant women and immigrant rights groups in the case, suggested allowing nationwide injunctions only when the government action is deemed by plaintiffs to be violating the Constitution. She argued that an injunction limited to only the parties in the case would not be “administratively workable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>President Trump has long maintained that the Constitution does \u003cem>not \u003c/em>guarantee \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12015449/a-129-year-old-san-francisco-lawsuit-could-stop-trump-from-ending-birthright-citizenship\">birthright citizenship\u003c/a>. So, on Day One of his second presidential term, \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/protecting-the-meaning-and-value-of-american-citizenship/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">he issued an executive order\u003c/a> barring automatic citizenship for any baby born in the U.S. whose parents entered the country illegally, or who were here legally but on a temporary visa.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Thursday, \u003ca href=\"https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/114511762010659631\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">he posted on Truth social\u003c/a> that “it all started right after the Civil War ended, it had nothing to do with current day Immigration Policy!” — and \u003ca href=\"https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/114511710554568353\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">repeated\u003c/a> incorrect \u003ca href=\"https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c983g6zpz28o\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">claims\u003c/a> that the U.S. is the only country with birthright citizenship.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12036845/she-grew-up-believing-she-was-a-us-citizen-then-she-applied-for-a-passport\">Immigrant rights groups\u003c/a> and 22 states promptly challenged the Trump order in court. Since then, three federal judges, conservative and liberal, have ruled that the Trump executive order is, as one put it, “blatantly unconstitutional.” And three separate appeals courts have refused to unblock those orders while appeals are ongoing. Meanwhile, Trump’s legal claim has few supporters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nonetheless, the Trump administration took its case to the Supreme Court on an emergency basis. But instead of asking the court to rule on the legality of Trump’s executive order, the administration focused its argument on the power of federal district court judges to do what they did here — rule against the administration on a nationwide basis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What do hospitals do with a newborn? What do states do with a newborn?” Justice Brett Kavanaugh asked Solicitor General D. John Sauer, the government’s lawyer, about how the federal government would enforce Trump’s order.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Justice Brown Jackson was more pointed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Your argument seems to turn our justice system, in my view at least, into a catch me if you can kind of regime … where everybody has to have a lawyer and file a lawsuit in order for the government to stop violating people’s rights,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Justice Clarence Thomas seemed more receptive to Sauer’s argument, noting the U.S. had “survived” without nationwide injunctions until the 1960s.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>New Jersey Solicitor General Jeremy Feigenbaum, who represented the 22 states suing the government, told the court that nationwide injunctions should be available in “narrow circumstances” — like this case involving birthright citizenship.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kelsi Corkran, who represented pregnant women and immigrant rights groups in the case, suggested allowing nationwide injunctions only when the government action is deemed by plaintiffs to be violating the Constitution. She argued that an injunction limited to only the parties in the case would not be “administratively workable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>President Trump has long maintained that the Constitution does \u003cem>not \u003c/em>guarantee \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12015449/a-129-year-old-san-francisco-lawsuit-could-stop-trump-from-ending-birthright-citizenship\">birthright citizenship\u003c/a>. So, on Day One of his second presidential term, \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/protecting-the-meaning-and-value-of-american-citizenship/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">he issued an executive order\u003c/a> barring automatic citizenship for any baby born in the U.S. whose parents entered the country illegally, or who were here legally but on a temporary visa.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Thursday, \u003ca href=\"https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/114511762010659631\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">he posted on Truth social\u003c/a> that “it all started right after the Civil War ended, it had nothing to do with current day Immigration Policy!” — and \u003ca href=\"https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/114511710554568353\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">repeated\u003c/a> incorrect \u003ca href=\"https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c983g6zpz28o\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">claims\u003c/a> that the U.S. is the only country with birthright citizenship.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12036845/she-grew-up-believing-she-was-a-us-citizen-then-she-applied-for-a-passport\">Immigrant rights groups\u003c/a> and 22 states promptly challenged the Trump order in court. Since then, three federal judges, conservative and liberal, have ruled that the Trump executive order is, as one put it, “blatantly unconstitutional.” And three separate appeals courts have refused to unblock those orders while appeals are ongoing. Meanwhile, Trump’s legal claim has few supporters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nonetheless, the Trump administration took its case to the Supreme Court on an emergency basis. But instead of asking the court to rule on the legality of Trump’s executive order, the administration focused its argument on the power of federal district court judges to do what they did here — rule against the administration on a nationwide basis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>“Jobs in factories will come roaring back into our country,” \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6uFW0gHwXU\">said\u003c/a> President Trump when he announced reciprocal tariffs last month. “We will supercharge our domestic industrial base.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The American manufacturing sector is not what it once was. Since its \u003ca href=\"https://www.bls.gov/opub/btn/volume-9/forty-years-of-falling-manufacturing-employment.htm#:~:text=Despite%20being%20a%20leading%20driver,May%201953%20at%2032%20percent.\">peak\u003c/a> of 19.6 million workers in 1979, American manufacturing has lost over a third of its workers, \u003ca href=\"https://nam.org/mfgdata/facts-about-manufacturing-expanded/\">now employing\u003c/a> 12.7 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many people aside from President Trump want these jobs back. Factory work has been a political focus on \u003ca href=\"https://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/why-we-pine-for-manufacturing\">both sides\u003c/a> of the aisle for years. And \u003ca href=\"https://www.cato.org/blog/americans-think-manufacturing-employment-greatfor-other-people\">one poll\u003c/a> from the Cato Institute and YouGov shows that 80% of Americans say the country would be better off if more Americans worked in manufacturing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But why do Americans of all stripes want these jobs back so much — and why does factory work seem so culturally charged? And how does the dream of bringing more factory jobs back stack up against the reality of how American manufacturing works today?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/05/07/1263527111/its-been-a-minute-bringing-back-factory-jobs-fantasy-vs-reality\">We looked into\u003c/a> some of these big cultural questions around factory jobs — and here are the four main takeaways.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Question 1: Why is there so much cultural nostalgia around factory jobs?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Jeffrey Gonzalez, associate professor of English at Montclair State University, wrote a \u003ca href=\"https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-american-studies/article/abs/wages-work-and-the-industrial-past-in-three-contemporary-labor-market-narratives/F1F008AAD21D25082D4B1C133CFFBCB5\">paper\u003c/a> about “smokestack nostalgia” in different pieces of art.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The picture that we get with smokestack nostalgia is that these were good, solid jobs that people had for generations,” he says, “that forgets that it was union activity that secured those [wages]. And it was often [a] violent struggle, right?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=forum_2010101908039 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/43/2024/12/GettyImages-2188263215-1-1020x574.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, salaries for manufacturing jobs are now in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/feds/files/2022011pap.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">bottom half (PDF)\u003c/a> of all jobs. And one paper by researchers at the Federal Reserve \u003ca href=\"https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/feds/files/2022011pap.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">shows (PDF)\u003c/a> that the decline in unionization rates is, by and large, responsible for the drop in wages for factory work compared to other jobs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[And] the northern factories where that union work happened, they were undercut by laws in the south that made manufacturing \u003ca href=\"https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2015-10-07/manufacturing-moved-south-then-it-moved-to-china?embedded-checkout=true\">move south\u003c/a>, where [it was] so much harder to create a union,” adds Gonzalez.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Vox\u003c/em> senior correspondent Dylan Matthews adds that some of the cultural nostalgia for factory work might stem from guilt some people might have about their “email jobs,” as opposed to making something physical for work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think I very much have an email job now,” he says. “What am I doing? I’m trying to create page views, so that we can sell money to advertisers, so they can sell cars. The whole economic process I am a part of is so baroque and so apart from what it is I’m actually doing day to day that you lose that kind of connection. And I think that’s an important emotional thing for some people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Question 2: What’s the political appeal of bringing more factory jobs back?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While there may be other incentives for more American manufacturing jobs, Matthews also thinks narratives about factory work align with conservative views around traditional families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Some of the conservative mythologies [about factory work include] the idea of a ‘family wage,’ that you can make enough money in a factory to pay for the \u003ca href=\"https://www.dailysignal.com/2024/07/09/sen-josh-hawley-america-founded-on-christian-nationalism/\">full family\u003c/a>, which implicitly means the wife does not have to work,” says Matthews.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Republican politicians \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmrHyHhwKqY\">including\u003c/a> Vice President J.D. Vance have also made national security arguments for opening more factories in the U.S. that could produce weapons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve been giving a lot of artillery shells to Ukraine in their battle with Russia, and we’ve \u003ca href=\"https://www.newsweek.com/us-navy-admiral-sounds-alarm-weapons-stockpile-samuel-paparo-1988586\">run through\u003c/a> a lot of existing stockpiles,” says Matthews. “And I think the other thing is [that] a surprising amount of the Ukraine war has been both sides using \u003ca href=\"https://www.reuters.com/graphics/UKRAINE-CRISIS/DRONES/dwpkeyjwkpm/\">drones\u003c/a> to do reconnaissance on each other and try to anticipate attacks. And those drones are [largely] made in \u003ca href=\"https://www.csis.org/analysis/why-chinas-uav-supply-chain-restrictions-weaken-ukraines-negotiating-power#:~:text=Ukraine's%20Dependence%20on%20Chinese%20Drones%20and%20Components&text=Ukraine%20heavily%20relies%20on%20Chinese,of%20Mavic%20quadcopters%20in%202023)\">China\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For some conservatives – that’s a big problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are people in DC who are very convinced that China is a deep adversary, and if this is an important military technology that they make [a lot] of, I think within that worldview, it makes sense to be a little worried about this,” says Matthews. “Now, whether you think China is the big adversary and we should be preparing for war against them, that’s a bigger question.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, the issue of bringing back more manufacturing jobs cuts across political lines. Bernie Sanders has \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/SenSanders/status/1848482946816041240\">recently\u003c/a> called for rebuilding American manufacturing. Revitalizing American manufacturing was also a priority of former Presidents \u003ca href=\"https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/02/08/remarks-by-president-biden-on-rebuilding-our-manufacturing-to-make-more-in-america/\">Biden\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2014/01/15/262788908/obama-unveils-new-plans-to-encourage-manufacturing-jobs\">Obama\u003c/a>. And Matthews believes there is a particular political nostalgia around factory work for people on the left.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you look back at the ’50’s and ’60’s, the heyday of American manufacturing was also the heyday of American unions,” Matthews said. “The [United Auto Workers Union] was incredibly powerful, and that in turn supported a Democratic Party where labor was an incredibly important part of the coalition. Spending programs like Medicare [might] not have passed without strong union support.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Question 3: Does the desire to bring jobs back match up with the reality of American manufacturing today?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Many manufacturing jobs in the U.S. are already available. In fact, there are 400,000 open positions in manufacturing as of February, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://nam.org/mfgdata/facts-about-manufacturing-expanded/\">National Association of Manufacturers\u003c/a>. Some factory owners are \u003ca href=\"https://www.wsj.com/articles/help-wanted-u-s-factories-seek-workers-for-the-nearshoring-boom-ef0209aa\">having trouble\u003c/a> filling these existing positions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A manufacturing job looks very different from what it did in the fifties,” says Matthews. “If part of the appeal of manufacturing was that it provided decent wage jobs for people straight out of high school, that is not the way a lot of these factories operate these days.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But can we add more jobs in the sector? Matthews says there’s reason to think that could be tough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While there’s been disagreement about the main cause of factory job losses, one \u003ca href=\"https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w24151/w24151.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">new paper (PDF)\u003c/a> by Robert Z. Lawrence, Harvard’s Albert L. Williams Professor of International Trade and Investment, suggests that productivity growth beats out foreign competition for the most blame.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So even if we add more factories – we might not be adding that many jobs along with them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s just been a lot of money invested in making humans less essential to the production process,” he adds. “It’s incredibly automated.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Matthews argues that there’s nothing special about manufacturing work that made it a “good job,” and that other work should also have that “good job” status.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would love for politicians to stand up and say Amazon warehouse workers need to make more money. I want to make that a job that is good the same way that working at a GM line was a good job,” he says. “We can make the jobs good if we want them to be good.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Question 4: What might be the impact of President Trump’s policies on bringing factory jobs back?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The last time President Trump issued import tariffs, they did not increase or decrease employment in protected sectors, according to one \u003ca href=\"https://www.nber.org/papers/w32082\">analysis\u003c/a> in the National Bureau of Economic Research.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think the best analogy I’ve heard for using tariffs to try to get manufacturing jobs back is: if you run someone over with your car, and then to fix the situation, you back over them again,” Matthews says. “It just doesn’t follow that if the U.S. changing its trade policy one way led to this exit of jobs, reversing [it] will bring them back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are also potential effects from President Trump’s immigration policies. \u003ca href=\"https://usafacts.org/articles/which-industries-employ-the-most-immigrant-workers/\">As of 2023\u003c/a>, there are 3.2 million foreign-born workers in manufacturing, about 25% of all manufacturing workers. His large-scale deportation efforts \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/02/28/g-s1-50958/business-workplace-raids-immigration-ice-deportation\">may add\u003c/a> to the number of open jobs in the sector.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Liam McBain contributed reporting, Neena Pathak and Luis Clemens edited the text.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>“Jobs in factories will come roaring back into our country,” \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6uFW0gHwXU\">said\u003c/a> President Trump when he announced reciprocal tariffs last month. “We will supercharge our domestic industrial base.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The American manufacturing sector is not what it once was. Since its \u003ca href=\"https://www.bls.gov/opub/btn/volume-9/forty-years-of-falling-manufacturing-employment.htm#:~:text=Despite%20being%20a%20leading%20driver,May%201953%20at%2032%20percent.\">peak\u003c/a> of 19.6 million workers in 1979, American manufacturing has lost over a third of its workers, \u003ca href=\"https://nam.org/mfgdata/facts-about-manufacturing-expanded/\">now employing\u003c/a> 12.7 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many people aside from President Trump want these jobs back. Factory work has been a political focus on \u003ca href=\"https://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/why-we-pine-for-manufacturing\">both sides\u003c/a> of the aisle for years. And \u003ca href=\"https://www.cato.org/blog/americans-think-manufacturing-employment-greatfor-other-people\">one poll\u003c/a> from the Cato Institute and YouGov shows that 80% of Americans say the country would be better off if more Americans worked in manufacturing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But why do Americans of all stripes want these jobs back so much — and why does factory work seem so culturally charged? And how does the dream of bringing more factory jobs back stack up against the reality of how American manufacturing works today?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/05/07/1263527111/its-been-a-minute-bringing-back-factory-jobs-fantasy-vs-reality\">We looked into\u003c/a> some of these big cultural questions around factory jobs — and here are the four main takeaways.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Question 1: Why is there so much cultural nostalgia around factory jobs?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Jeffrey Gonzalez, associate professor of English at Montclair State University, wrote a \u003ca href=\"https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-american-studies/article/abs/wages-work-and-the-industrial-past-in-three-contemporary-labor-market-narratives/F1F008AAD21D25082D4B1C133CFFBCB5\">paper\u003c/a> about “smokestack nostalgia” in different pieces of art.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The picture that we get with smokestack nostalgia is that these were good, solid jobs that people had for generations,” he says, “that forgets that it was union activity that secured those [wages]. And it was often [a] violent struggle, right?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, salaries for manufacturing jobs are now in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/feds/files/2022011pap.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">bottom half (PDF)\u003c/a> of all jobs. And one paper by researchers at the Federal Reserve \u003ca href=\"https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/feds/files/2022011pap.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">shows (PDF)\u003c/a> that the decline in unionization rates is, by and large, responsible for the drop in wages for factory work compared to other jobs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[And] the northern factories where that union work happened, they were undercut by laws in the south that made manufacturing \u003ca href=\"https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2015-10-07/manufacturing-moved-south-then-it-moved-to-china?embedded-checkout=true\">move south\u003c/a>, where [it was] so much harder to create a union,” adds Gonzalez.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Vox\u003c/em> senior correspondent Dylan Matthews adds that some of the cultural nostalgia for factory work might stem from guilt some people might have about their “email jobs,” as opposed to making something physical for work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think I very much have an email job now,” he says. “What am I doing? I’m trying to create page views, so that we can sell money to advertisers, so they can sell cars. The whole economic process I am a part of is so baroque and so apart from what it is I’m actually doing day to day that you lose that kind of connection. And I think that’s an important emotional thing for some people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Question 2: What’s the political appeal of bringing more factory jobs back?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While there may be other incentives for more American manufacturing jobs, Matthews also thinks narratives about factory work align with conservative views around traditional families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Some of the conservative mythologies [about factory work include] the idea of a ‘family wage,’ that you can make enough money in a factory to pay for the \u003ca href=\"https://www.dailysignal.com/2024/07/09/sen-josh-hawley-america-founded-on-christian-nationalism/\">full family\u003c/a>, which implicitly means the wife does not have to work,” says Matthews.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Republican politicians \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmrHyHhwKqY\">including\u003c/a> Vice President J.D. Vance have also made national security arguments for opening more factories in the U.S. that could produce weapons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve been giving a lot of artillery shells to Ukraine in their battle with Russia, and we’ve \u003ca href=\"https://www.newsweek.com/us-navy-admiral-sounds-alarm-weapons-stockpile-samuel-paparo-1988586\">run through\u003c/a> a lot of existing stockpiles,” says Matthews. “And I think the other thing is [that] a surprising amount of the Ukraine war has been both sides using \u003ca href=\"https://www.reuters.com/graphics/UKRAINE-CRISIS/DRONES/dwpkeyjwkpm/\">drones\u003c/a> to do reconnaissance on each other and try to anticipate attacks. And those drones are [largely] made in \u003ca href=\"https://www.csis.org/analysis/why-chinas-uav-supply-chain-restrictions-weaken-ukraines-negotiating-power#:~:text=Ukraine's%20Dependence%20on%20Chinese%20Drones%20and%20Components&text=Ukraine%20heavily%20relies%20on%20Chinese,of%20Mavic%20quadcopters%20in%202023)\">China\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For some conservatives – that’s a big problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are people in DC who are very convinced that China is a deep adversary, and if this is an important military technology that they make [a lot] of, I think within that worldview, it makes sense to be a little worried about this,” says Matthews. “Now, whether you think China is the big adversary and we should be preparing for war against them, that’s a bigger question.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, the issue of bringing back more manufacturing jobs cuts across political lines. Bernie Sanders has \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/SenSanders/status/1848482946816041240\">recently\u003c/a> called for rebuilding American manufacturing. Revitalizing American manufacturing was also a priority of former Presidents \u003ca href=\"https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/02/08/remarks-by-president-biden-on-rebuilding-our-manufacturing-to-make-more-in-america/\">Biden\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2014/01/15/262788908/obama-unveils-new-plans-to-encourage-manufacturing-jobs\">Obama\u003c/a>. And Matthews believes there is a particular political nostalgia around factory work for people on the left.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you look back at the ’50’s and ’60’s, the heyday of American manufacturing was also the heyday of American unions,” Matthews said. “The [United Auto Workers Union] was incredibly powerful, and that in turn supported a Democratic Party where labor was an incredibly important part of the coalition. Spending programs like Medicare [might] not have passed without strong union support.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Question 3: Does the desire to bring jobs back match up with the reality of American manufacturing today?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Many manufacturing jobs in the U.S. are already available. In fact, there are 400,000 open positions in manufacturing as of February, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://nam.org/mfgdata/facts-about-manufacturing-expanded/\">National Association of Manufacturers\u003c/a>. Some factory owners are \u003ca href=\"https://www.wsj.com/articles/help-wanted-u-s-factories-seek-workers-for-the-nearshoring-boom-ef0209aa\">having trouble\u003c/a> filling these existing positions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A manufacturing job looks very different from what it did in the fifties,” says Matthews. “If part of the appeal of manufacturing was that it provided decent wage jobs for people straight out of high school, that is not the way a lot of these factories operate these days.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But can we add more jobs in the sector? Matthews says there’s reason to think that could be tough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While there’s been disagreement about the main cause of factory job losses, one \u003ca href=\"https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w24151/w24151.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">new paper (PDF)\u003c/a> by Robert Z. Lawrence, Harvard’s Albert L. Williams Professor of International Trade and Investment, suggests that productivity growth beats out foreign competition for the most blame.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So even if we add more factories – we might not be adding that many jobs along with them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s just been a lot of money invested in making humans less essential to the production process,” he adds. “It’s incredibly automated.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Matthews argues that there’s nothing special about manufacturing work that made it a “good job,” and that other work should also have that “good job” status.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would love for politicians to stand up and say Amazon warehouse workers need to make more money. I want to make that a job that is good the same way that working at a GM line was a good job,” he says. “We can make the jobs good if we want them to be good.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Question 4: What might be the impact of President Trump’s policies on bringing factory jobs back?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The last time President Trump issued import tariffs, they did not increase or decrease employment in protected sectors, according to one \u003ca href=\"https://www.nber.org/papers/w32082\">analysis\u003c/a> in the National Bureau of Economic Research.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think the best analogy I’ve heard for using tariffs to try to get manufacturing jobs back is: if you run someone over with your car, and then to fix the situation, you back over them again,” Matthews says. “It just doesn’t follow that if the U.S. changing its trade policy one way led to this exit of jobs, reversing [it] will bring them back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are also potential effects from President Trump’s immigration policies. \u003ca href=\"https://usafacts.org/articles/which-industries-employ-the-most-immigrant-workers/\">As of 2023\u003c/a>, there are 3.2 million foreign-born workers in manufacturing, about 25% of all manufacturing workers. His large-scale deportation efforts \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/02/28/g-s1-50958/business-workplace-raids-immigration-ice-deportation\">may add\u003c/a> to the number of open jobs in the sector.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Liam McBain contributed reporting, Neena Pathak and Luis Clemens edited the text.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Last year, \u003ca href=\"https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/expert/david-koranyi/\">David Koranyi\u003c/a> attended his mother’s 70th birthday party back home in Hungary, but the indirect route he took highlights the \u003ca href=\"https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20220909IPR40137/meps-hungary-can-no-longer-be-considered-a-full-democracy\">autocratic rule\u003c/a> that grips his homeland. Instead of flying straight to Hungary, Koranyi flew to neighboring Austria and then turned off his phone and drove across the border where there was no passport control and he knew he could slip in undetected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Koranyi runs an organization called \u003ca href=\"https://www.actionfordemocracy.org/\">Action for Democracy\u003c/a> that has mobilized Hungarians overseas to vote back home, where political scientists say Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has tilted the electoral landscape toward his ruling party. The government says Koranyi threatens Hungary’s sovereignty; pro-government media routinely call him an “enemy of the state.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Friends and even embassies in Hungary … told me that maybe it’s better if I don’t come back to Hungary anytime soon,” says Koranyi, who was concerned Orbán’s government might try to detain him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Threats like this are one reason Koranyi came to America and became a citizen in 2022. So, he’s been struck to see U.S. government agents stopping and aggressively questioning people — including \u003ca href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/18/us/us-citizen-detained-canada/index.html\">citizens\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/u-s-detention-of-european-and-canadian-tourists-creates-fear-over-traveling-to-america\">tourists\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.wgbh.org/news/local/2025-03-14/green-card-holder-from-new-hampshire-interrogated-at-logan-airport-detained\">green-card holders\u003c/a> — returning to America.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12038554\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12038554\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-2.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-2-800x1000.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-2-1020x1275.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-2-160x200.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-2-1229x1536.jpg 1229w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Amir Makled is a Michigan-based attorney who was detained by federal agents when returning to the US from a family vacation. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Amir Makled)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>They include \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/04/09/nx-s1-5357455/attorney-detained-by-immigration-authorities\">Michigan lawyer Amir Makled\u003c/a>, who was stopped at Detroit Metro Airport in early April as he returned from a family vacation. Makled, who said agents asked to search his phone, thinks he was targeted because he represents a pro-Palestinian protester at the University of Michigan.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘I’m not going to be a dictator’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“I never in a million years would have imagined that atmosphere of fear and that random searches at border crossings and looking into people’s phones … is something that I would live through in my life in the United States,” says Koranyi, who lives in New York.[aside postID=news_12026783 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/GettyImages-1148899659-1020x736.jpg']Countless people have left authoritarian countries for the promise of freedom and safety in the United States. NPR reached out to Koranyi and a dozen others to get their impressions of the Trump administration’s first several months in power. Most — but not all — said some of the administration’s tactics reminded them of those used by the regimes they fled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, a survey in February found that \u003ca href=\"https://brightlinewatch.org/\">hundreds of U.S.-based scholars\u003c/a> think the United States is moving swiftly from a liberal democracy toward some form of authoritarianism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is an elected government, obviously, but it is behaving as an authoritarian one,” says Steven Levitsky, a professor of government at Harvard University and co-author of \u003cem>How Democracies Die\u003c/em>. “It is engaging in a rapid and systematic weaponization of the machinery of government and its deployment to punish rivals, to protect allies and to bully elements of the media.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Some immigrants say Trump is the victim\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Last fall, President Trump insisted he would not be an autocrat beyond Inauguration Day, when he said he would all but lock down the southern border and green-light drilling for energy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“After that I’m not going to be a dictator,” Trump pledged to applause at a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TI0TfaIpr9s\">Fox News town hall\u003c/a> during the campaign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some U.S. immigrants from authoritarian countries say Trump has kept his word. \u003ca href=\"https://www.heritage.org/china/heritage-explains/lily-tang-williams-growing-communist-china\">Lily Tang Williams\u003c/a>, who is \u003ca href=\"https://www.wmur.com/article/lily-tang-williams-2026-campaign-congress-nh-0425/64437326\">running for Congress\u003c/a> for a third time in New Hampshire as a Republican, says it wasn’t Trump but former President Joe Biden, who most reminded her of the authoritarian leaders back in her homeland, China.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Who censored us during the COVID times [and] put us in Facebook jail?” Tang Williams said in an interview with NPR. “It was not Trump. Trump himself was censored.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tang Williams says she blames the Biden administration for \u003ca href=\"https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/zuckerberg-says-the-white-house-pressured-facebook-to-censor-some-covid-19-content-during-the-pandemic\">putting pressure\u003c/a> on Facebook and Twitter to crack down on certain posts, including a meme she said she posted about mask mandates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Biden administration has said it was encouraging responsible action to protect public health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the Trump administration’s tactics have unsettled immigrants such as Koranyi, they’ve instilled fear in others, such as \u003ca href=\"https://www.middlebury.edu/college/people/fulya-pinar\">Fulya Pinar\u003c/a>, a professor at Middlebury College in Vermont.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12038555\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12038555\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1067\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (left) and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán shake hands after a joint statement at the Carmelite Monastery in Budapest, Hungary, in 2023. \u003ccite>(Denes Erdos/AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Similar authoritarian tactics by Turkey’s Erdogan\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Pinar grew up in Turkey and says she watched Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the country’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/05/13/1175887249/turkey-recep-tayyip-erdogan-leader-president-election\">autocratic president\u003c/a>, attack scholars and consolidate power over the news media. She says she moved to the U.S. in 2016 to study for her Ph.D. and to have intellectual freedom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was about survival as an academic,” Pinar recalls, “to be able to continue thinking, teaching, writing without fear.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since taking office, Trump has withheld or threatened to withhold \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/04/02/1242229717/who-loses-when-trump-cuts-funding-to-universities\">billions of dollars\u003c/a> in federal contracts and research grants from universities, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/04/14/nx-s1-5364829/trump-administration-freezes-funds-after-harvard-rejects-dei-demands\">Harvard\u003c/a>, saying they haven’t done enough to fight antisemitism. In this atmosphere, Pinar worries some students could report her. She’s teaching Anthropologies of the Middle East this semester and doing so differently than in the past.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In her lectures, for instance, Pinar used to cite death tolls for conflicts such as the war in Gaza. Now, she directs students to readings where they can find answers on their own. It’s a way to insulate herself from charges of bias.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Fear in college classrooms\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“I’m trying to be more careful,” says Pinar, who is untenured. “At the end of the semester, students usually provide feedback about professors, and then your promotion depends on that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pinar’s worries are representative, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://criticalissues.umd.edu/middle-east-scholar-barometer\">Middle East Scholar Barometer\u003c/a>, which tracks the opinions of scholars who teach about the region. A survey in February found 57% of professors in the U.S. felt more pressure under the Trump administration to self-censor when discussing Israeli-Palestinian issues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Having left Turkey’s autocracy for America’s freedom, Pinar says she never saw a period like this coming.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I feel quite fragile because I feel like I can’t work freely here,” Pinar continues. “It just feels like I’m stuck.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to taking on universities, the Trump administration has also targeted news organizations that cover the president critically. The Federal Communications Commission is investigating broadcast news networks — including ABC, CBS and NBC — over allegations that they have \u003ca href=\"https://deadline.com/2025/01/fcc-complaints-trump-cbs-nbc-abc-1236263995/\">favored Democrats\u003c/a>. Trump has also attacked public broadcasters. In a social media post, he called NPR and PBS\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/04/16/nx-s1-5366151/president-trump-plans-order-to-cut-funding-for-npr-and-pbs\"> “radical left monsters”\u003c/a> that hurt the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12038557\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12038557\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1067\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-3.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-3-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-3-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-3-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-3-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Maria Ressa gestures after she and her online news outfit Rappler were acquitted of tax evasion cases against her at the Court of Tax Appeals in Quezon City, Metro Manila, in January 2023. \u003ccite>(Jam Sta Rosa/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Threatening to strip licenses from TV news broadcasters\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Journalist \u003ca href=\"https://www.sipa.columbia.edu/communities-connections/faculty/maria-ressa\">Maria Ressa\u003c/a> says Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippines’ autocratic former president, used similar tactics. In 2020, Duterte’s government refused to \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/05/09/853217038/it-s-unbelievable-shutdown-of-philippines-major-broadcaster-worries-many\">renew the license\u003c/a> of the country’s largest broadcaster and shut it down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Duterte left office in 2022 and is now awaiting \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/03/13/nx-s1-5326081/rodrigo-duterte-to-face-trial-in-the-hague-for-charges-of-crimes-against-humanity\">trial in The Hague\u003c/a> on charges of crimes against humanity for allegedly allowing tens of thousands of extrajudicial killings during his war on the country’s drug trade. But Ressa says the damage he did to the news media endures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That network, even after the end of Duterte’s reign, never got its license … back,” says Ressa, who once ran the broadcaster herself. “What is damaged in this time period, what is destroyed, stays destroyed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ressa won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 for standing up to Duterte’s attacks on her and her news site, Rappler. At one point, she faced the possibility of more than a century in prison on tax evasion and cyber-libel charges that human rights groups say were politically motivated. Ressa is spending this semester teaching at Columbia University. A dual citizen, she has a message for people here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Americans are slow to respond, but I know what fear does,” she says. “Don’t let fear paralyze you because you are at your strongest now, and every day you do not act and hold the line on your rights, you get weaker.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Last year, \u003ca href=\"https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/expert/david-koranyi/\">David Koranyi\u003c/a> attended his mother’s 70th birthday party back home in Hungary, but the indirect route he took highlights the \u003ca href=\"https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20220909IPR40137/meps-hungary-can-no-longer-be-considered-a-full-democracy\">autocratic rule\u003c/a> that grips his homeland. Instead of flying straight to Hungary, Koranyi flew to neighboring Austria and then turned off his phone and drove across the border where there was no passport control and he knew he could slip in undetected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Koranyi runs an organization called \u003ca href=\"https://www.actionfordemocracy.org/\">Action for Democracy\u003c/a> that has mobilized Hungarians overseas to vote back home, where political scientists say Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has tilted the electoral landscape toward his ruling party. The government says Koranyi threatens Hungary’s sovereignty; pro-government media routinely call him an “enemy of the state.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Friends and even embassies in Hungary … told me that maybe it’s better if I don’t come back to Hungary anytime soon,” says Koranyi, who was concerned Orbán’s government might try to detain him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Threats like this are one reason Koranyi came to America and became a citizen in 2022. So, he’s been struck to see U.S. government agents stopping and aggressively questioning people — including \u003ca href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/18/us/us-citizen-detained-canada/index.html\">citizens\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/u-s-detention-of-european-and-canadian-tourists-creates-fear-over-traveling-to-america\">tourists\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.wgbh.org/news/local/2025-03-14/green-card-holder-from-new-hampshire-interrogated-at-logan-airport-detained\">green-card holders\u003c/a> — returning to America.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12038554\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12038554\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-2.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-2-800x1000.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-2-1020x1275.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-2-160x200.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-2-1229x1536.jpg 1229w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Amir Makled is a Michigan-based attorney who was detained by federal agents when returning to the US from a family vacation. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Amir Makled)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>They include \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/04/09/nx-s1-5357455/attorney-detained-by-immigration-authorities\">Michigan lawyer Amir Makled\u003c/a>, who was stopped at Detroit Metro Airport in early April as he returned from a family vacation. Makled, who said agents asked to search his phone, thinks he was targeted because he represents a pro-Palestinian protester at the University of Michigan.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘I’m not going to be a dictator’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“I never in a million years would have imagined that atmosphere of fear and that random searches at border crossings and looking into people’s phones … is something that I would live through in my life in the United States,” says Koranyi, who lives in New York.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Countless people have left authoritarian countries for the promise of freedom and safety in the United States. NPR reached out to Koranyi and a dozen others to get their impressions of the Trump administration’s first several months in power. Most — but not all — said some of the administration’s tactics reminded them of those used by the regimes they fled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, a survey in February found that \u003ca href=\"https://brightlinewatch.org/\">hundreds of U.S.-based scholars\u003c/a> think the United States is moving swiftly from a liberal democracy toward some form of authoritarianism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is an elected government, obviously, but it is behaving as an authoritarian one,” says Steven Levitsky, a professor of government at Harvard University and co-author of \u003cem>How Democracies Die\u003c/em>. “It is engaging in a rapid and systematic weaponization of the machinery of government and its deployment to punish rivals, to protect allies and to bully elements of the media.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Some immigrants say Trump is the victim\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Last fall, President Trump insisted he would not be an autocrat beyond Inauguration Day, when he said he would all but lock down the southern border and green-light drilling for energy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“After that I’m not going to be a dictator,” Trump pledged to applause at a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TI0TfaIpr9s\">Fox News town hall\u003c/a> during the campaign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some U.S. immigrants from authoritarian countries say Trump has kept his word. \u003ca href=\"https://www.heritage.org/china/heritage-explains/lily-tang-williams-growing-communist-china\">Lily Tang Williams\u003c/a>, who is \u003ca href=\"https://www.wmur.com/article/lily-tang-williams-2026-campaign-congress-nh-0425/64437326\">running for Congress\u003c/a> for a third time in New Hampshire as a Republican, says it wasn’t Trump but former President Joe Biden, who most reminded her of the authoritarian leaders back in her homeland, China.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Who censored us during the COVID times [and] put us in Facebook jail?” Tang Williams said in an interview with NPR. “It was not Trump. Trump himself was censored.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tang Williams says she blames the Biden administration for \u003ca href=\"https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/zuckerberg-says-the-white-house-pressured-facebook-to-censor-some-covid-19-content-during-the-pandemic\">putting pressure\u003c/a> on Facebook and Twitter to crack down on certain posts, including a meme she said she posted about mask mandates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Biden administration has said it was encouraging responsible action to protect public health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the Trump administration’s tactics have unsettled immigrants such as Koranyi, they’ve instilled fear in others, such as \u003ca href=\"https://www.middlebury.edu/college/people/fulya-pinar\">Fulya Pinar\u003c/a>, a professor at Middlebury College in Vermont.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12038555\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12038555\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1067\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (left) and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán shake hands after a joint statement at the Carmelite Monastery in Budapest, Hungary, in 2023. \u003ccite>(Denes Erdos/AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Similar authoritarian tactics by Turkey’s Erdogan\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Pinar grew up in Turkey and says she watched Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the country’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/05/13/1175887249/turkey-recep-tayyip-erdogan-leader-president-election\">autocratic president\u003c/a>, attack scholars and consolidate power over the news media. She says she moved to the U.S. in 2016 to study for her Ph.D. and to have intellectual freedom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was about survival as an academic,” Pinar recalls, “to be able to continue thinking, teaching, writing without fear.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since taking office, Trump has withheld or threatened to withhold \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/04/02/1242229717/who-loses-when-trump-cuts-funding-to-universities\">billions of dollars\u003c/a> in federal contracts and research grants from universities, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/04/14/nx-s1-5364829/trump-administration-freezes-funds-after-harvard-rejects-dei-demands\">Harvard\u003c/a>, saying they haven’t done enough to fight antisemitism. In this atmosphere, Pinar worries some students could report her. She’s teaching Anthropologies of the Middle East this semester and doing so differently than in the past.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In her lectures, for instance, Pinar used to cite death tolls for conflicts such as the war in Gaza. Now, she directs students to readings where they can find answers on their own. It’s a way to insulate herself from charges of bias.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Fear in college classrooms\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“I’m trying to be more careful,” says Pinar, who is untenured. “At the end of the semester, students usually provide feedback about professors, and then your promotion depends on that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pinar’s worries are representative, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://criticalissues.umd.edu/middle-east-scholar-barometer\">Middle East Scholar Barometer\u003c/a>, which tracks the opinions of scholars who teach about the region. A survey in February found 57% of professors in the U.S. felt more pressure under the Trump administration to self-censor when discussing Israeli-Palestinian issues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Having left Turkey’s autocracy for America’s freedom, Pinar says she never saw a period like this coming.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I feel quite fragile because I feel like I can’t work freely here,” Pinar continues. “It just feels like I’m stuck.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to taking on universities, the Trump administration has also targeted news organizations that cover the president critically. The Federal Communications Commission is investigating broadcast news networks — including ABC, CBS and NBC — over allegations that they have \u003ca href=\"https://deadline.com/2025/01/fcc-complaints-trump-cbs-nbc-abc-1236263995/\">favored Democrats\u003c/a>. Trump has also attacked public broadcasters. In a social media post, he called NPR and PBS\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/04/16/nx-s1-5366151/president-trump-plans-order-to-cut-funding-for-npr-and-pbs\"> “radical left monsters”\u003c/a> that hurt the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12038557\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12038557\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1067\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-3.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-3-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-3-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-3-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-3-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Maria Ressa gestures after she and her online news outfit Rappler were acquitted of tax evasion cases against her at the Court of Tax Appeals in Quezon City, Metro Manila, in January 2023. \u003ccite>(Jam Sta Rosa/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Threatening to strip licenses from TV news broadcasters\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Journalist \u003ca href=\"https://www.sipa.columbia.edu/communities-connections/faculty/maria-ressa\">Maria Ressa\u003c/a> says Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippines’ autocratic former president, used similar tactics. In 2020, Duterte’s government refused to \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/05/09/853217038/it-s-unbelievable-shutdown-of-philippines-major-broadcaster-worries-many\">renew the license\u003c/a> of the country’s largest broadcaster and shut it down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Duterte left office in 2022 and is now awaiting \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/03/13/nx-s1-5326081/rodrigo-duterte-to-face-trial-in-the-hague-for-charges-of-crimes-against-humanity\">trial in The Hague\u003c/a> on charges of crimes against humanity for allegedly allowing tens of thousands of extrajudicial killings during his war on the country’s drug trade. But Ressa says the damage he did to the news media endures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That network, even after the end of Duterte’s reign, never got its license … back,” says Ressa, who once ran the broadcaster herself. “What is damaged in this time period, what is destroyed, stays destroyed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ressa won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 for standing up to Duterte’s attacks on her and her news site, Rappler. At one point, she faced the possibility of more than a century in prison on tax evasion and cyber-libel charges that human rights groups say were politically motivated. Ressa is spending this semester teaching at Columbia University. A dual citizen, she has a message for people here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Americans are slow to respond, but I know what fear does,” she says. “Don’t let fear paralyze you because you are at your strongest now, and every day you do not act and hold the line on your rights, you get weaker.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "So Far Congress Has Stayed Out of Trump's Way, but Pressure Tests Lie Ahead",
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"content": "\u003cp>If President Trump has adopted the Silicon Valley ethos of “move fast and break things” for his second term, then “move slow and get out of the way” could be the corresponding marching orders on Capitol Hill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trump has taken about 140 executive actions in his first 100 days in office — a rapid pace that rivals the 162 actions President Biden took in his entire time in office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Consider in the same period of time, Congress has enacted just \u003ca href=\"https://legiscan.com/US/legislation?status=passed\">five laws\u003c/a>, a low watermark in modern congressional history for this time period.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To a large extent, Trump is enjoying the spoils of unilateral party control of Washington, where there has been no significant pushback as he legislates through executive actions on everything from immigration to election law, ignores statutes that require the White House to inform the Senate on certain actions before taking them, upends the economy with tariffs that Congress could technically block and, most notably, allowed billionaire Elon Musk to lead a government “department” — without confirmation hearings before the Senate — that has unilaterally slashed and cut agencies and programs funded by Congress through its constitutional authority to determine how taxpayer dollars get spent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a testament to the strength of Trump’s party loyalty, GOP leaders have taken little issue with it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think there’s a gross overreaction in the media to what is happening,” Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters earlier this year when asked whether Musk’s government slashing efforts were trampling on congressional turf.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Johnson has said the president has the authority to make sure dollars in the executive agencies are well spent. “It looks radical, it’s not. I call it stewardship.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there are signals that all is not well with some in Congress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, made a stunning admission at an event in Anchorage during the last congressional recess.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are all afraid,” she told constituents. “It’s quite a statement, but we are in a time and a place where I certainly have not been before, and I’ll tell ya, I’m oftentimes very anxious myself about using my voice, because retaliation is real. And that’s not right.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Meet the new Congress, same as the old Congress\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Trump didn’t start this, said Joseph Postell, an associate professor of politics at Hillsdale College, but he is benefiting from it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Congress has for decades kind of ceded its authority, including authority over fiscal matters, appropriations, budgets, things like that,” he told NPR. “I think it’s a huge concern in this Congress, the extent to which Trump has been able to lead the Congress on fiscal questions, but I also don’t think that’s out of keeping with the way Congress has performed or conducted itself over the last few decades.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=forum_2010101909333 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/43/2025/03/Luke-Broadwater-Annie-Karni-1020x574.png']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Congress is designed to be a co-equal branch of government and a check on executive power, but in practice when the same party controls the White House, lawmakers in the modern era have proven willing to go along with the usurpation of their legislative power.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The dynamic applies to both parties — like when Democrats cheered Biden’s executive actions to create a student loan forgiveness program, which the Supreme Court later ruled unconstitutional.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was this fertile ground that has allowed Musk’s team to institute cuts across departments, agencies and programs with little pushback from the GOP-led Congress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Congressional scholars like Postell say a government that functions like this is a cause for concern. “I see the decline of a Congress that legislates as a serious constitutional crisis that anybody who believes in republican government should be concerned about. So I tend not to see this as just a neutral change. I see it as a serious constitutional concern.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Show them the money\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Lawmakers also need to decide how they are going to approve the spending bills for fiscal year 2026 — which starts Oct. 1 — after punting on this year’s bills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kevin Kosar, a congressional scholar with the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute, said it was understandable for Congress to want to clear the decks at the start of this Congress, but the real test of congressional muscle under Trump will be how they handle next year’s spending bills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The patient we know as Congress, I do not think is wholly dead,” Kosar said, adding that House and Senate lawmakers will want some assurances that the money is actually going to be spent, because otherwise it’s a futile process. “I would think, ultimately, the appropriators’ desire for power would kick in. I mean, it’s going to have to kick in at some point. Otherwise, what’s the point of being an appropriator?” Kosar said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sarah Binder, a congressional scholar with the centrist Brookings Institution, agrees. “You don’t want to overuse the word, but it is kind of existential for Congress,” she said. “It’s really hard to get around the single most important power that Congress has as the power of the purse, and if the parties can’t be sure that the administration is going to abide by those pots of money that they set into statute, that they put into law, then the jig is up, right?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kosar also nodded to the political reality of the moment, where the House GOP majority is on the line in 2026. Historically, the party in power in the White House tends to lose seats in the midterms. Republicans hold a slim two-seat majority.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I do feel like the administration and congressional Republicans, to a degree, really are operating within a two-year window, and so the amount of deference that legislators are showing is to some degree, like, ‘we just have to do this to see if we can rack up as many wins as possible, because those midterms are probably not going to go our way.'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To that end, Speaker Johnson has gone so far as to use parliamentary rules to effectively block the House’s ability to vote to repeal Trump’s tariffs, as well as any effort to vote on a resolution calling for an investigation into Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s use of the Signal messaging app to discuss sensitive military operations. “I think it’s an overreach here,” said Rep. Mary Scanlon, D-Pa., on Monday, “I think it’s simply for the purpose of having to avoid tough votes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For his part, newly minted Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters on Tuesday that Republicans want to be “good partners” to a president who Thune reiterated has a mandate — “It was clear, it was decisive” — to enact his policy goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A near-term policy fight that could upend the Senate indefinitely\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Thune has been working judiciously with Senate Republicans to make those policy goals a reality in the one “big, beautiful bill” Trump has demanded.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That massive undertaking is intended to make Trump’s 2017 tax cuts permanent, as well as include border security and energy provision using a budget process called reconciliation that allows the majority party to skirt the filibuster, the chamber’s 60-vote threshold to pass most legislation, and advance the package without Democratic votes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thune has already described it as an “arduous” process that typically involves relying on the Senate parliamentarian to referee what can and what fits the strict rules for a reconciliation bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The parliamentarian is a nonpartisan Senate staffer tasked with safeguarding Senate rules. In the past, reconciliation has been guided by that person’s judgment. For instance, Democrats wanted to include a $15 federal minimum wage hike in a 2021 pandemic relief package that advanced under reconciliation rules. But the parliamentarian nixed the policy because it did not comply with the complicated rules for what is allowed in such a bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For instance, in order for a bill to qualify for reconciliation and the lower, 50-vote threshold for passage, it generally cannot increase the federal deficit over the next decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Republicans, backed by Majority Leader Thune, are already looking to bypass that rule — and the parliamentarian — to use a favorable analysis for the deficit impact of the tax cuts. In reality, trillions will be added to the U.S. national debt over the next decade if Trump’s tax cuts are extended without ways to pay for them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Binder says ignoring the parliamentarian can be consequential. “If you just ignore parliamentary history, it’s really, for a lack of a better term, it’s really “\u003ca href=\"https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Calvinball\">\u003cu>Calvin ball\u003c/u>\u003c/a>\u003cu>,\u003c/u>” where you choose your rules solely for the purpose of getting the outcome that you want, and that’s quite destabilizing to the U.S. Congress.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thune will also likely face pressure to overrule the parliamentarian if the official rules that provisions on immigration or energy policy do not comply with budget rules. Thune has said publicly he does not wish to overrule the parliamentarian, but he could face a pressure campaign from Trump to get what the president wants in that bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Democrats warn that doing so would amount to going “nuclear” and threaten the foundational pillar of minority rule in the Senate: the filibuster. “They are tramping all over the rules that have governed the Senate for decades in order to give massive tax cuts for their billionaire friends,” said Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on the Senate floor earlier this month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"title": "So Far Congress Has Stayed Out of Trump's Way, but Pressure Tests Lie Ahead | KQED",
"description": "Trump is enjoying the spoils of unilateral party control of Washington, where there has been no significant pushback as he legislates through executive actions on everything from immigration to election law.",
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"headline": "So Far Congress Has Stayed Out of Trump's Way, but Pressure Tests Lie Ahead",
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"nprByline": "\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/467975902/susan-davis\">Susan Davis\u003c/a>, NPR",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>If President Trump has adopted the Silicon Valley ethos of “move fast and break things” for his second term, then “move slow and get out of the way” could be the corresponding marching orders on Capitol Hill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trump has taken about 140 executive actions in his first 100 days in office — a rapid pace that rivals the 162 actions President Biden took in his entire time in office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Consider in the same period of time, Congress has enacted just \u003ca href=\"https://legiscan.com/US/legislation?status=passed\">five laws\u003c/a>, a low watermark in modern congressional history for this time period.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To a large extent, Trump is enjoying the spoils of unilateral party control of Washington, where there has been no significant pushback as he legislates through executive actions on everything from immigration to election law, ignores statutes that require the White House to inform the Senate on certain actions before taking them, upends the economy with tariffs that Congress could technically block and, most notably, allowed billionaire Elon Musk to lead a government “department” — without confirmation hearings before the Senate — that has unilaterally slashed and cut agencies and programs funded by Congress through its constitutional authority to determine how taxpayer dollars get spent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a testament to the strength of Trump’s party loyalty, GOP leaders have taken little issue with it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think there’s a gross overreaction in the media to what is happening,” Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters earlier this year when asked whether Musk’s government slashing efforts were trampling on congressional turf.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Johnson has said the president has the authority to make sure dollars in the executive agencies are well spent. “It looks radical, it’s not. I call it stewardship.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there are signals that all is not well with some in Congress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, made a stunning admission at an event in Anchorage during the last congressional recess.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are all afraid,” she told constituents. “It’s quite a statement, but we are in a time and a place where I certainly have not been before, and I’ll tell ya, I’m oftentimes very anxious myself about using my voice, because retaliation is real. And that’s not right.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Meet the new Congress, same as the old Congress\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Trump didn’t start this, said Joseph Postell, an associate professor of politics at Hillsdale College, but he is benefiting from it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Congress has for decades kind of ceded its authority, including authority over fiscal matters, appropriations, budgets, things like that,” he told NPR. “I think it’s a huge concern in this Congress, the extent to which Trump has been able to lead the Congress on fiscal questions, but I also don’t think that’s out of keeping with the way Congress has performed or conducted itself over the last few decades.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Congress is designed to be a co-equal branch of government and a check on executive power, but in practice when the same party controls the White House, lawmakers in the modern era have proven willing to go along with the usurpation of their legislative power.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The dynamic applies to both parties — like when Democrats cheered Biden’s executive actions to create a student loan forgiveness program, which the Supreme Court later ruled unconstitutional.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was this fertile ground that has allowed Musk’s team to institute cuts across departments, agencies and programs with little pushback from the GOP-led Congress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Congressional scholars like Postell say a government that functions like this is a cause for concern. “I see the decline of a Congress that legislates as a serious constitutional crisis that anybody who believes in republican government should be concerned about. So I tend not to see this as just a neutral change. I see it as a serious constitutional concern.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Show them the money\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Lawmakers also need to decide how they are going to approve the spending bills for fiscal year 2026 — which starts Oct. 1 — after punting on this year’s bills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kevin Kosar, a congressional scholar with the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute, said it was understandable for Congress to want to clear the decks at the start of this Congress, but the real test of congressional muscle under Trump will be how they handle next year’s spending bills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The patient we know as Congress, I do not think is wholly dead,” Kosar said, adding that House and Senate lawmakers will want some assurances that the money is actually going to be spent, because otherwise it’s a futile process. “I would think, ultimately, the appropriators’ desire for power would kick in. I mean, it’s going to have to kick in at some point. Otherwise, what’s the point of being an appropriator?” Kosar said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sarah Binder, a congressional scholar with the centrist Brookings Institution, agrees. “You don’t want to overuse the word, but it is kind of existential for Congress,” she said. “It’s really hard to get around the single most important power that Congress has as the power of the purse, and if the parties can’t be sure that the administration is going to abide by those pots of money that they set into statute, that they put into law, then the jig is up, right?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kosar also nodded to the political reality of the moment, where the House GOP majority is on the line in 2026. Historically, the party in power in the White House tends to lose seats in the midterms. Republicans hold a slim two-seat majority.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I do feel like the administration and congressional Republicans, to a degree, really are operating within a two-year window, and so the amount of deference that legislators are showing is to some degree, like, ‘we just have to do this to see if we can rack up as many wins as possible, because those midterms are probably not going to go our way.'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To that end, Speaker Johnson has gone so far as to use parliamentary rules to effectively block the House’s ability to vote to repeal Trump’s tariffs, as well as any effort to vote on a resolution calling for an investigation into Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s use of the Signal messaging app to discuss sensitive military operations. “I think it’s an overreach here,” said Rep. Mary Scanlon, D-Pa., on Monday, “I think it’s simply for the purpose of having to avoid tough votes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For his part, newly minted Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters on Tuesday that Republicans want to be “good partners” to a president who Thune reiterated has a mandate — “It was clear, it was decisive” — to enact his policy goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A near-term policy fight that could upend the Senate indefinitely\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Thune has been working judiciously with Senate Republicans to make those policy goals a reality in the one “big, beautiful bill” Trump has demanded.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That massive undertaking is intended to make Trump’s 2017 tax cuts permanent, as well as include border security and energy provision using a budget process called reconciliation that allows the majority party to skirt the filibuster, the chamber’s 60-vote threshold to pass most legislation, and advance the package without Democratic votes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thune has already described it as an “arduous” process that typically involves relying on the Senate parliamentarian to referee what can and what fits the strict rules for a reconciliation bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The parliamentarian is a nonpartisan Senate staffer tasked with safeguarding Senate rules. In the past, reconciliation has been guided by that person’s judgment. For instance, Democrats wanted to include a $15 federal minimum wage hike in a 2021 pandemic relief package that advanced under reconciliation rules. But the parliamentarian nixed the policy because it did not comply with the complicated rules for what is allowed in such a bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For instance, in order for a bill to qualify for reconciliation and the lower, 50-vote threshold for passage, it generally cannot increase the federal deficit over the next decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Republicans, backed by Majority Leader Thune, are already looking to bypass that rule — and the parliamentarian — to use a favorable analysis for the deficit impact of the tax cuts. In reality, trillions will be added to the U.S. national debt over the next decade if Trump’s tax cuts are extended without ways to pay for them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Binder says ignoring the parliamentarian can be consequential. “If you just ignore parliamentary history, it’s really, for a lack of a better term, it’s really “\u003ca href=\"https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Calvinball\">\u003cu>Calvin ball\u003c/u>\u003c/a>\u003cu>,\u003c/u>” where you choose your rules solely for the purpose of getting the outcome that you want, and that’s quite destabilizing to the U.S. Congress.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thune will also likely face pressure to overrule the parliamentarian if the official rules that provisions on immigration or energy policy do not comply with budget rules. Thune has said publicly he does not wish to overrule the parliamentarian, but he could face a pressure campaign from Trump to get what the president wants in that bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Democrats warn that doing so would amount to going “nuclear” and threaten the foundational pillar of minority rule in the Senate: the filibuster. “They are tramping all over the rules that have governed the Senate for decades in order to give massive tax cuts for their billionaire friends,” said Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on the Senate floor earlier this month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "the-house-strikes-a-blow-against-california-in-a-fight-over-evs",
"title": "The House Strikes a Blow Against California in a Fight Over EVs",
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"headTitle": "The House Strikes a Blow Against California in a Fight Over EVs | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to undo three federal waivers that let\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california\"> California\u003c/a> set strict vehicle \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/pollution\">pollution\u003c/a> standards. On Wednesday, the House voted against two waivers involving heavy trucking, and on Thursday, it voted to reverse a state rule that would require all new vehicles in the state to be zero-emission by 2035.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two nonpartisan government entities have advised Congress that it can’t actually reverse those waivers through the mechanism it’s using. The Senate now needs to decide whether to follow that guidance — or follow the House.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s standards have been described by supporters as ambitious, and by critics as unrealistic. Beginning with model year 2026, the state requires 35% of new cars sold by any given automaker to be zero-emission. Currently, about 25% of new cars sold in California are electric; the national average is closer to 10%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These rules are not something automakers can brush off or overlook. California is a huge state and a major auto market. Other states can’t set their own standards, but they can opt to follow California’s, and about a dozen have adopted its zero-emission rule. The result is that more than 30% of the U.S. auto market is governed by California’s policies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California’s waiver has a massive impact,” Stephanie Brinley, the associate director of AutoIntelligence at S&P Global Mobility, wrote in a report in January 2025.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12032226\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12032226\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMG_6860_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMG_6860_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMG_6860_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMG_6860_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMG_6860_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMG_6860_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMG_6860_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Traffic on Interstate 550 in Oakland flowing with cars, but without large diesel trucks, which are prohibited from driving on this interstate. \u003ccite>(Joyce Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a trade group representing automakers, had pushed hard for Congress to step in and overrule California because they argue that consumer demand for EVs is not strong enough to support California’s targets. John Bozzella, the trade group’s president, has warned that meeting the requirements \u003ca href=\"https://www.autosinnovate.org/posts/papers-reports/December%202024%20Memo%20-%20California%20and%20states%20with%20EV%20sales%20requirements.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>would “take a miracle”\u003c/u>\u003c/a> and said in a statement Wednesday that “thousands of American auto jobs and millions of units of U.S. auto production are at stake.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Environmental groups such as the Union of Concerned Scientists argue that flexibilities built into the rules make them \u003ca href=\"https://blog.ucs.org/dave-reichmuth/what-the-auto-industry-isnt-telling-you-about-californias-clean-vehicle-rules/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>more achievable than they seem\u003c/u>\u003c/a>. And they say stricter regulations are important for protecting public health and the climate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This vote is an unprecedented and reckless attack on states’ legal authority to address the vehicle pollution causing asthma, lung disease and heart conditions,” Kathy Harris, Director of Clean Vehicles at the Natural Resources Defense Council, wrote in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s how we got here, and what’s next.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What is a ‘California waiver’?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Picture Los Angeles in the 1940s and ’50s. Beautiful beaches, palm trees and picturesque homes — that were impossible to see behind a thick haze. That choking smog was fueled by air pollution from cars and industry, which became trapped mid-air by mountains and wind patterns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Facing this unusually severe problem, the state began regulating air pollution well before the federal government did. As a result, California has a unique privilege: It, alone among U.S. states, can impose its own emissions standards that are stricter than the nation’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Each time California wants to add a new, stricter rule, it has to obtain a waiver from the EPA. It’s done that more than 75 times.[aside postID=news_12037646 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/230928-EAGLE-ROCK-SETTLE-MD-09_qed-1020x680.jpg']Today, the House voted to rescind the waiver that let California issue its zero-emission rule for passenger cars, along with two more that allow California to set rules for heavy trucks. One rule would require more heavy trucks to be electric, while the other would require new diesel vehicles to become cleaner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those three California rules aren’t \u003cem>just \u003c/em>about reducing smog. Cars and trucks are a major source of carbon dioxide emissions that are warming the planet. Increasingly, California has become a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2015/11/24/456650555/california-an-environmental-leader-eyes-a-key-role-in-climate-talks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>global leader\u003c/u>\u003c/a> in reducing the carbon emissions that fuel climate change, and zero-emission vehicles are a key part of those climate policies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s climate-minded vehicle regulations, far more aggressive than the federal standards and explicitly designed to fight climate change, have long \u003ca href=\"https://rollcall.com/factbase/trump/transcript/donald-trump-speech-political-rally-green-bay-wisconsin-april-2-2024/#85\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>outraged\u003c/u>\u003c/a> President Trump and his \u003ca href=\"https://www.governing.com/resilience/a-blow-against-californias-ev-tyranny\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>allies\u003c/u>\u003c/a>. Trump has dismissed climate concerns and \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/02/01/nx-s1-5273496/trump-biden-climate-change-energy-fossil-fuels-paris-agreement\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>prioritized the domestic fossil fuel industry\u003c/u>\u003c/a>, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/03/12/nx-s1-5326354/trump-epa-environmental-rules-rollback-deregulation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>opposes regulations\u003c/u>\u003c/a> that he describes as limiting consumer choice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Trump administration is working to eliminate a number of the Biden administration’s pro-EV policies, from \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/02/07/nx-s1-5289922/trump-transportation-department-ev-charging-halt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>freezing EV charger funding\u003c/u>\u003c/a> to \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/01/30/nx-s1-5272749/donald-trump-ev-electric-vehicles-subsidies-auto-industry\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>reconsidering federal vehicle standards\u003c/u>\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even if the administration eases federal standards, California’s tougher rules still push the auto industry to move aggressively toward EVs. That’s why reversing these waivers is a key part of the Trump administration’s broader deregulation plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Wait, didn’t this happen before?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Yes. During the first Trump presidency, the federal government revoked a waiver that allowed California to set its own vehicle standards. That had never been done before, and triggered years of litigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It also split the auto industry. Some companies that had already made costly investments based on existing rules, and that were looking for some consistency among flip-flopping policies, sided with California. They agreed to follow the state’s rules regardless of whether they were legally required to. Others sided with the Trump administration. The whole situation was messy, chaotic and, ultimately, temporary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Biden took office, the waiver was reinstated. Over the next few years, California made its rules even stricter, requiring a new waiver to be granted — the one on passenger vehicles that the House just voted to nix.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What’s different this time?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The new Trump administration is now trying a different tactic to eliminate these waivers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The EPA grants them. In the first Trump term, it was also the EPA that revoked the passenger vehicle waiver. As soon as Biden was in office, the EPA just issued the waiver again. That flip-flopping could, hypothetically, continue with each new administration, unless something changes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12035189\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12035189\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-6.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1044\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-6.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-6-800x522.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-6-1020x666.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-6-160x104.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-6-1536x1002.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">President Trump answers a reporter’s question in the Oval Office on Monday. \u003ccite>(Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This time, Congress is attempting to use the Congressional Review Act to reverse the EPA’s decision to grant these waivers in the first place. It’s a little bit like pressing an “undo” button, wiping the waivers out of existence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s only an option within a narrow window of time — and it only works if the president’s party controls Congress. (Trump used this tool heavily in his \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2017/04/09/523064408/republicans-are-using-an-obscure-law-to-repeal-some-obama-era-regulations\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>first administration\u003c/u>\u003c/a>.) Significantly, rules that are reversed under the CRA \u003ca href=\"https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R43992\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>may not be reissued\u003c/u>\u003c/a> in “substantially the same form” unless Congress passes a new law authorizing that specific rule.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Congressional Review Act also states that actions taken under it are not subject to judicial review, meaning that courts can’t overturn Congress’ decision. But if the California waiver is in fact revoked under the CRA, expect legal challenges anyway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s guaranteed,” says Christopher “Smitty” Smith, an environmental lawyer in California. “And that’s something I’m willing to state: It’s \u003cem>guaranteed \u003c/em>to result in litigation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What’s next?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Now, the Senate has a decision to make.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Government Accountability Office, a federal agency, believes the waiver is \u003ca href=\"https://www.gao.gov/products/b-337179\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>not actually eligible\u003c/u>\u003c/a> for this kind of reversal. So does the Senate parliamentarian, a sort of referee over what Congress can and can’t do according to its own rules. \u003ca href=\"https://www.schiff.senate.gov/news/press-releases/statement-whitehouse-padilla-schiff-on-senate-parliamentarian-reaffirming-californias-clean-air-act-waivers-not-subject-to-cra/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>Three Democratic senators\u003c/u>\u003c/a> say the parliamentarian “reaffirmed” in early April that the waiver is not subject to the Congressional Review Act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The parliamentarian is not elected, and while her rulings hold significant weight in the Senate, they are not binding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But overruling the parliamentarian violates long-held Senate norms — the same norms that keep the filibuster in place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reports \u003ca href=\"https://www.eenews.net/articles/senators-weigh-next-move-on-california-clean-car-rules/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>indicate\u003c/u>\u003c/a> that some Republican senators have been weighing whether eliminating the California rules justifies breaking that norm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lobbying on this issue has been intense, with traditional automakers and the oil industry pushing hard for Congress to eliminate the rules, and public health groups like the American Lung Association joining environmental and EV groups to defend California’s policies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "California, which has the unique ability to set vehicle standards, has set ambitious rules requiring all new cars to be zero-emission by 2035. The fate of those rules is now up to the Senate.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to undo three federal waivers that let\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california\"> California\u003c/a> set strict vehicle \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/pollution\">pollution\u003c/a> standards. On Wednesday, the House voted against two waivers involving heavy trucking, and on Thursday, it voted to reverse a state rule that would require all new vehicles in the state to be zero-emission by 2035.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two nonpartisan government entities have advised Congress that it can’t actually reverse those waivers through the mechanism it’s using. The Senate now needs to decide whether to follow that guidance — or follow the House.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s standards have been described by supporters as ambitious, and by critics as unrealistic. Beginning with model year 2026, the state requires 35% of new cars sold by any given automaker to be zero-emission. Currently, about 25% of new cars sold in California are electric; the national average is closer to 10%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These rules are not something automakers can brush off or overlook. California is a huge state and a major auto market. Other states can’t set their own standards, but they can opt to follow California’s, and about a dozen have adopted its zero-emission rule. The result is that more than 30% of the U.S. auto market is governed by California’s policies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California’s waiver has a massive impact,” Stephanie Brinley, the associate director of AutoIntelligence at S&P Global Mobility, wrote in a report in January 2025.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12032226\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12032226\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMG_6860_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMG_6860_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMG_6860_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMG_6860_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMG_6860_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMG_6860_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMG_6860_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Traffic on Interstate 550 in Oakland flowing with cars, but without large diesel trucks, which are prohibited from driving on this interstate. \u003ccite>(Joyce Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a trade group representing automakers, had pushed hard for Congress to step in and overrule California because they argue that consumer demand for EVs is not strong enough to support California’s targets. John Bozzella, the trade group’s president, has warned that meeting the requirements \u003ca href=\"https://www.autosinnovate.org/posts/papers-reports/December%202024%20Memo%20-%20California%20and%20states%20with%20EV%20sales%20requirements.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>would “take a miracle”\u003c/u>\u003c/a> and said in a statement Wednesday that “thousands of American auto jobs and millions of units of U.S. auto production are at stake.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Environmental groups such as the Union of Concerned Scientists argue that flexibilities built into the rules make them \u003ca href=\"https://blog.ucs.org/dave-reichmuth/what-the-auto-industry-isnt-telling-you-about-californias-clean-vehicle-rules/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>more achievable than they seem\u003c/u>\u003c/a>. And they say stricter regulations are important for protecting public health and the climate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This vote is an unprecedented and reckless attack on states’ legal authority to address the vehicle pollution causing asthma, lung disease and heart conditions,” Kathy Harris, Director of Clean Vehicles at the Natural Resources Defense Council, wrote in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s how we got here, and what’s next.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What is a ‘California waiver’?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Picture Los Angeles in the 1940s and ’50s. Beautiful beaches, palm trees and picturesque homes — that were impossible to see behind a thick haze. That choking smog was fueled by air pollution from cars and industry, which became trapped mid-air by mountains and wind patterns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Facing this unusually severe problem, the state began regulating air pollution well before the federal government did. As a result, California has a unique privilege: It, alone among U.S. states, can impose its own emissions standards that are stricter than the nation’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Each time California wants to add a new, stricter rule, it has to obtain a waiver from the EPA. It’s done that more than 75 times.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Today, the House voted to rescind the waiver that let California issue its zero-emission rule for passenger cars, along with two more that allow California to set rules for heavy trucks. One rule would require more heavy trucks to be electric, while the other would require new diesel vehicles to become cleaner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those three California rules aren’t \u003cem>just \u003c/em>about reducing smog. Cars and trucks are a major source of carbon dioxide emissions that are warming the planet. Increasingly, California has become a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2015/11/24/456650555/california-an-environmental-leader-eyes-a-key-role-in-climate-talks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>global leader\u003c/u>\u003c/a> in reducing the carbon emissions that fuel climate change, and zero-emission vehicles are a key part of those climate policies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s climate-minded vehicle regulations, far more aggressive than the federal standards and explicitly designed to fight climate change, have long \u003ca href=\"https://rollcall.com/factbase/trump/transcript/donald-trump-speech-political-rally-green-bay-wisconsin-april-2-2024/#85\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>outraged\u003c/u>\u003c/a> President Trump and his \u003ca href=\"https://www.governing.com/resilience/a-blow-against-californias-ev-tyranny\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>allies\u003c/u>\u003c/a>. Trump has dismissed climate concerns and \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/02/01/nx-s1-5273496/trump-biden-climate-change-energy-fossil-fuels-paris-agreement\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>prioritized the domestic fossil fuel industry\u003c/u>\u003c/a>, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/03/12/nx-s1-5326354/trump-epa-environmental-rules-rollback-deregulation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>opposes regulations\u003c/u>\u003c/a> that he describes as limiting consumer choice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Trump administration is working to eliminate a number of the Biden administration’s pro-EV policies, from \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/02/07/nx-s1-5289922/trump-transportation-department-ev-charging-halt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>freezing EV charger funding\u003c/u>\u003c/a> to \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/01/30/nx-s1-5272749/donald-trump-ev-electric-vehicles-subsidies-auto-industry\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>reconsidering federal vehicle standards\u003c/u>\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even if the administration eases federal standards, California’s tougher rules still push the auto industry to move aggressively toward EVs. That’s why reversing these waivers is a key part of the Trump administration’s broader deregulation plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Wait, didn’t this happen before?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Yes. During the first Trump presidency, the federal government revoked a waiver that allowed California to set its own vehicle standards. That had never been done before, and triggered years of litigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It also split the auto industry. Some companies that had already made costly investments based on existing rules, and that were looking for some consistency among flip-flopping policies, sided with California. They agreed to follow the state’s rules regardless of whether they were legally required to. Others sided with the Trump administration. The whole situation was messy, chaotic and, ultimately, temporary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Biden took office, the waiver was reinstated. Over the next few years, California made its rules even stricter, requiring a new waiver to be granted — the one on passenger vehicles that the House just voted to nix.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What’s different this time?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The new Trump administration is now trying a different tactic to eliminate these waivers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The EPA grants them. In the first Trump term, it was also the EPA that revoked the passenger vehicle waiver. As soon as Biden was in office, the EPA just issued the waiver again. That flip-flopping could, hypothetically, continue with each new administration, unless something changes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12035189\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12035189\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-6.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1044\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-6.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-6-800x522.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-6-1020x666.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-6-160x104.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-6-1536x1002.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">President Trump answers a reporter’s question in the Oval Office on Monday. \u003ccite>(Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This time, Congress is attempting to use the Congressional Review Act to reverse the EPA’s decision to grant these waivers in the first place. It’s a little bit like pressing an “undo” button, wiping the waivers out of existence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s only an option within a narrow window of time — and it only works if the president’s party controls Congress. (Trump used this tool heavily in his \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2017/04/09/523064408/republicans-are-using-an-obscure-law-to-repeal-some-obama-era-regulations\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>first administration\u003c/u>\u003c/a>.) Significantly, rules that are reversed under the CRA \u003ca href=\"https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R43992\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>may not be reissued\u003c/u>\u003c/a> in “substantially the same form” unless Congress passes a new law authorizing that specific rule.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Congressional Review Act also states that actions taken under it are not subject to judicial review, meaning that courts can’t overturn Congress’ decision. But if the California waiver is in fact revoked under the CRA, expect legal challenges anyway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s guaranteed,” says Christopher “Smitty” Smith, an environmental lawyer in California. “And that’s something I’m willing to state: It’s \u003cem>guaranteed \u003c/em>to result in litigation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What’s next?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Now, the Senate has a decision to make.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Government Accountability Office, a federal agency, believes the waiver is \u003ca href=\"https://www.gao.gov/products/b-337179\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>not actually eligible\u003c/u>\u003c/a> for this kind of reversal. So does the Senate parliamentarian, a sort of referee over what Congress can and can’t do according to its own rules. \u003ca href=\"https://www.schiff.senate.gov/news/press-releases/statement-whitehouse-padilla-schiff-on-senate-parliamentarian-reaffirming-californias-clean-air-act-waivers-not-subject-to-cra/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>Three Democratic senators\u003c/u>\u003c/a> say the parliamentarian “reaffirmed” in early April that the waiver is not subject to the Congressional Review Act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The parliamentarian is not elected, and while her rulings hold significant weight in the Senate, they are not binding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But overruling the parliamentarian violates long-held Senate norms — the same norms that keep the filibuster in place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reports \u003ca href=\"https://www.eenews.net/articles/senators-weigh-next-move-on-california-clean-car-rules/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>indicate\u003c/u>\u003c/a> that some Republican senators have been weighing whether eliminating the California rules justifies breaking that norm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lobbying on this issue has been intense, with traditional automakers and the oil industry pushing hard for Congress to eliminate the rules, and public health groups like the American Lung Association joining environmental and EV groups to defend California’s policies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "'Burned Out': Remaining Social Security Workers Struggle to Keep Up After Employee Cuts",
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"content": "\u003cp>Jessica LaPointe has worked at a Social Security field office in Madison, Wis., for the past 16 years. And she says right now, the work is harder than ever.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LaPointe says disruptions prompted by the Trump administration’s efforts to make deep cuts in the federal government workforce have left many remaining Social Security employees “burned out … and overwhelmed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Field offices are the public-facing branch of a sprawling agency that provides retirement and anti-poverty benefits to 73 million Americans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We really feel the brunt of the public that we serve and the chaos and confusion surrounding Social Security and its impact on them,” said LaPointe, who’s president of a local chapter of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), which represents 25,000 field office workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Social Security Administration (SSA) has laid out plans to \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/02/28/nx-s1-5296986/trump-worker-cuts-social-security-administration\">slash about 12% of its overall workforce, or 7,000 jobs\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rich Couture, a spokesman for AFGE SSA’s General Committee, says more than 2,500 employees at the agency have taken an offered buyout, and that many of the workers who have left were in critical roles — including those local field offices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s the primary point of contact, other than the 1-800 number, that the American people have with Social Security,” he said. “They take care of enumeration issues with respect to Social Security cards, handle retirement, disability survivor claims, interviews and processing, among other workloads.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12033802 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250323-DEM-TOWN-HALLS-MD-14-KQED-1-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Couture says the agency has lost about 2,000 employees specifically from the field offices through the federal government’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/voluntary-separation-incentive-payments/\">buyout program\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These losses have disproportionately affected certain local offices. Couture told NPR that there are about 40 field offices that have lost at least 25% of their staff so far, and others, such as offices in Nevada, Mo., and Alexandria, Minn., have lost half or more of their workers, according to agency data.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The impact on those offices in particular is going to be significant, where you are going to see waiting times for visitors, including those who have appointments, go up exponentially,” Couture said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The office in the city of Wisconsin Rapids has lost more than 58% of its staff. LaPointe, whose field office is 100 miles south, says massive losses in one office often affect nearby sites.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That office then takes the work and moves it to the surrounding offices, the surrounding areas and then throughout the region and even then nationwide to get help,” LaPointe said. “So every office is overburdened, short-staffed with public demand.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Trump promised no cuts to benefits, but advocates say service cuts affect benefits\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Trump administration has routinely pledged not to cut Social Security benefits, while simultaneously cutting waste and fraud from the program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“President Trump has promised to protect Americans’ hard-earned Social Security benefits so that all eligible individuals can access them,” Lee Dudek, the acting commissioner of Social Security, said in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.ssa.gov/news/press/releases/2025/#2025-04-22\">statement\u003c/a> recently.[aside postID=news_12035781 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/iStock_000047219414_Large_qed-1020x680.jpg']But SSA workers and advocates for older and disabled Americans say these staff cuts — as well as \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/03/22/nx-s1-5320263/social-security-administration-changes-identity-office\">controversial agency moves\u003c/a> under Dudek’s leadership — amount to a cut to services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The cut to the program is the deterioration of staff,” LaPointe said. “That is the backdoor cut to the program because benefits delayed are benefits denied.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the agency’s own \u003ca href=\"https://www.ssa.gov/ssa-performance/800-number-performance#average-call-wait-time-trend\">performance data\u003c/a>, there has been a significant increase in wait times for phone services since President Trump was elected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year the average wait time for phone services was about an hour. So far this year, it’s more than an hour and a half. At the same time, the number of people calling in to the agency has skyrocketed. In November of last year, roughly 6.5 million calls were received by the SSA that month. Last month, the agency received 10.4 million calls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Much of the increase in call volume, LaPointe said, is due to “confusion and fear” created by the administration. Some of that concern, she said, was a result of recently announced \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/04/preventing-illegal-aliens-from-obtaining-social-security-act-benefits/\">anti-fraud\u003c/a> measures, as well as stories of some beneficiaries being \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/10/us/politics/migrants-deport-social-security-doge.html\">erroneously classified\u003c/a> as dead. She said she also saw an uptick in calls after Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick \u003ca href=\"https://www.axios.com/2025/03/21/social-security-lutnick-doge-checks\">suggested\u003c/a> that only a “fraudster” would complain if they missed a Social Security check.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People started to come in just to verify their identity [and] that they’re alive,” LaPointe said, “that they’re associated with their account [and] to let us know they do need their money.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Reassignments and retirements\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>It’s expected many of the lost field office employees will be replaced by staff who were working at the agency’s headquarters or one of the regional offices. One of the Trump administration’s plans is to cut down the number of regional offices — which provide IT and human resources to the field offices — from 10 to four, and then retrain some workers who “volunteered” to be reassigned to public-facing roles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“SSA offered all employees the opportunity to volunteer to be reassigned from a non-mission critical position to a local field office, teleservice center, processing center, payment center, workload support unit, or hearing office,” \u003ca href=\"https://www.ssa.gov/news/workforce/\">the agency says\u003c/a>. More than 2,000 employees have volunteered for a reassignment.[aside postID=news_12032994 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250323-DEM-TOWN-HALLS-MD-07-KQED-1-1020x680.jpg']Couture said the union, however, has not heard any “well-developed plan for ensuring that there was orderly knowledge transfer” as people are placed in those roles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Laura Haltzel was the former associate commissioner for the SSA’s Office of Research, Evaluation and Statistics in the agency’s Maryland headquarters. Rather than volunteer for reassignment and face more uncertainty, she decided to take an offer of early retirement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Haltzel said there are problems with the expectation that workers in roles like hers would be able to quickly jump in and replace the thousands of frontline workers that have left. She called the plan a “sort of mythical idea.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve lost an extreme amount of expertise and knowledge that we simply are not going to get back,” she said. “Let’s say somebody in my team, who is a statistician, [you] suddenly turn them into a claims processor. It takes two years of training for someone to become proficient at taking a Social Security claim because of the complexity of the law. That is not something that you can simply plug somebody into overnight and keep up at the same pace as it had been operating previously.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And to meet the overall staffing goal, agency officials are urging more workers in “non-critical roles” at headquarters to consider the deferred resignation program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Haltzel said it’s an open question whether many of these workers will want to leave, despite the pressure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People are taking reassignments out of fear that they will have no jobs because the entire economy in the D.C. area now is affected by a loss of employment across the federal landscape,” she said. “And for all of these individuals to find new jobs in the private sector, that’s simply not a reality, particularly from the Social Security Administration, for which there is no private equivalent.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A spokesperson for Social Security told NPR in a statement that the agency “has implemented its workforce optimization plan that focuses on reducing employees in non-mission-critical positions and bolstering staff in mission-critical roles” and that officials will “continue to monitor progress” of the staff reductions as they continue throughout the fiscal year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Haltzel said she’s deeply concerned about the loss of expertise that has left the SSA in recent weeks. She said her former team, which analyzed whether the agency was doing a good job serving beneficiaries, has been cut by more than half.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I hope that we’re able to sustain a basic minimum of knowledge in order to maintain the functioning of the agency,” Haltzel said. “But frankly, given that they have no control over who takes the reassignments and who simply retires and leaves, they could lose individuals where we are one person deep in knowledge. And once that knowledge is gone, it is gone. These people will not come back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Jessica LaPointe has worked at a Social Security field office in Madison, Wis., for the past 16 years. And she says right now, the work is harder than ever.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LaPointe says disruptions prompted by the Trump administration’s efforts to make deep cuts in the federal government workforce have left many remaining Social Security employees “burned out … and overwhelmed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Field offices are the public-facing branch of a sprawling agency that provides retirement and anti-poverty benefits to 73 million Americans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We really feel the brunt of the public that we serve and the chaos and confusion surrounding Social Security and its impact on them,” said LaPointe, who’s president of a local chapter of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), which represents 25,000 field office workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Social Security Administration (SSA) has laid out plans to \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/02/28/nx-s1-5296986/trump-worker-cuts-social-security-administration\">slash about 12% of its overall workforce, or 7,000 jobs\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rich Couture, a spokesman for AFGE SSA’s General Committee, says more than 2,500 employees at the agency have taken an offered buyout, and that many of the workers who have left were in critical roles — including those local field offices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s the primary point of contact, other than the 1-800 number, that the American people have with Social Security,” he said. “They take care of enumeration issues with respect to Social Security cards, handle retirement, disability survivor claims, interviews and processing, among other workloads.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Couture says the agency has lost about 2,000 employees specifically from the field offices through the federal government’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/voluntary-separation-incentive-payments/\">buyout program\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These losses have disproportionately affected certain local offices. Couture told NPR that there are about 40 field offices that have lost at least 25% of their staff so far, and others, such as offices in Nevada, Mo., and Alexandria, Minn., have lost half or more of their workers, according to agency data.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The impact on those offices in particular is going to be significant, where you are going to see waiting times for visitors, including those who have appointments, go up exponentially,” Couture said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The office in the city of Wisconsin Rapids has lost more than 58% of its staff. LaPointe, whose field office is 100 miles south, says massive losses in one office often affect nearby sites.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That office then takes the work and moves it to the surrounding offices, the surrounding areas and then throughout the region and even then nationwide to get help,” LaPointe said. “So every office is overburdened, short-staffed with public demand.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Trump promised no cuts to benefits, but advocates say service cuts affect benefits\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Trump administration has routinely pledged not to cut Social Security benefits, while simultaneously cutting waste and fraud from the program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“President Trump has promised to protect Americans’ hard-earned Social Security benefits so that all eligible individuals can access them,” Lee Dudek, the acting commissioner of Social Security, said in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.ssa.gov/news/press/releases/2025/#2025-04-22\">statement\u003c/a> recently.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>But SSA workers and advocates for older and disabled Americans say these staff cuts — as well as \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/03/22/nx-s1-5320263/social-security-administration-changes-identity-office\">controversial agency moves\u003c/a> under Dudek’s leadership — amount to a cut to services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The cut to the program is the deterioration of staff,” LaPointe said. “That is the backdoor cut to the program because benefits delayed are benefits denied.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the agency’s own \u003ca href=\"https://www.ssa.gov/ssa-performance/800-number-performance#average-call-wait-time-trend\">performance data\u003c/a>, there has been a significant increase in wait times for phone services since President Trump was elected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year the average wait time for phone services was about an hour. So far this year, it’s more than an hour and a half. At the same time, the number of people calling in to the agency has skyrocketed. In November of last year, roughly 6.5 million calls were received by the SSA that month. Last month, the agency received 10.4 million calls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Much of the increase in call volume, LaPointe said, is due to “confusion and fear” created by the administration. Some of that concern, she said, was a result of recently announced \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/04/preventing-illegal-aliens-from-obtaining-social-security-act-benefits/\">anti-fraud\u003c/a> measures, as well as stories of some beneficiaries being \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/10/us/politics/migrants-deport-social-security-doge.html\">erroneously classified\u003c/a> as dead. She said she also saw an uptick in calls after Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick \u003ca href=\"https://www.axios.com/2025/03/21/social-security-lutnick-doge-checks\">suggested\u003c/a> that only a “fraudster” would complain if they missed a Social Security check.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People started to come in just to verify their identity [and] that they’re alive,” LaPointe said, “that they’re associated with their account [and] to let us know they do need their money.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Reassignments and retirements\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>It’s expected many of the lost field office employees will be replaced by staff who were working at the agency’s headquarters or one of the regional offices. One of the Trump administration’s plans is to cut down the number of regional offices — which provide IT and human resources to the field offices — from 10 to four, and then retrain some workers who “volunteered” to be reassigned to public-facing roles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“SSA offered all employees the opportunity to volunteer to be reassigned from a non-mission critical position to a local field office, teleservice center, processing center, payment center, workload support unit, or hearing office,” \u003ca href=\"https://www.ssa.gov/news/workforce/\">the agency says\u003c/a>. More than 2,000 employees have volunteered for a reassignment.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Couture said the union, however, has not heard any “well-developed plan for ensuring that there was orderly knowledge transfer” as people are placed in those roles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Laura Haltzel was the former associate commissioner for the SSA’s Office of Research, Evaluation and Statistics in the agency’s Maryland headquarters. Rather than volunteer for reassignment and face more uncertainty, she decided to take an offer of early retirement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Haltzel said there are problems with the expectation that workers in roles like hers would be able to quickly jump in and replace the thousands of frontline workers that have left. She called the plan a “sort of mythical idea.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve lost an extreme amount of expertise and knowledge that we simply are not going to get back,” she said. “Let’s say somebody in my team, who is a statistician, [you] suddenly turn them into a claims processor. It takes two years of training for someone to become proficient at taking a Social Security claim because of the complexity of the law. That is not something that you can simply plug somebody into overnight and keep up at the same pace as it had been operating previously.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And to meet the overall staffing goal, agency officials are urging more workers in “non-critical roles” at headquarters to consider the deferred resignation program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Haltzel said it’s an open question whether many of these workers will want to leave, despite the pressure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People are taking reassignments out of fear that they will have no jobs because the entire economy in the D.C. area now is affected by a loss of employment across the federal landscape,” she said. “And for all of these individuals to find new jobs in the private sector, that’s simply not a reality, particularly from the Social Security Administration, for which there is no private equivalent.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A spokesperson for Social Security told NPR in a statement that the agency “has implemented its workforce optimization plan that focuses on reducing employees in non-mission-critical positions and bolstering staff in mission-critical roles” and that officials will “continue to monitor progress” of the staff reductions as they continue throughout the fiscal year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Haltzel said she’s deeply concerned about the loss of expertise that has left the SSA in recent weeks. She said her former team, which analyzed whether the agency was doing a good job serving beneficiaries, has been cut by more than half.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I hope that we’re able to sustain a basic minimum of knowledge in order to maintain the functioning of the agency,” Haltzel said. “But frankly, given that they have no control over who takes the reassignments and who simply retires and leaves, they could lose individuals where we are one person deep in knowledge. And once that knowledge is gone, it is gone. These people will not come back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "oil-companies-expected-a-big-business-boom-under-trump-now-theyre-worried",
"title": "Oil Companies Expected a Big Business Boom Under Trump. Now They're Worried",
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"content": "\u003cp>The San Juan Basin, in the northwestern part of New Mexico, is one of the oldest \u003ca href=\"https://geoinfo.nmt.edu/geoscience/research/home.cfml?id=44\">federal lands drilling areas\u003c/a> in the U.S. It’s a huge swath of barren, brown high desert that first started booming in the 1950s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, some 40,000 wells pockmark the rolling hills of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npca.org/articles/2746-an-insider-s-guide-to-the-four-corners\">Four Corners region\u003c/a>, several thousand of them still reliably pump up light sweet crude oil and natural gas through the old iconic pumpjacks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But this historic and remote drilling region has struggled for the last decade or more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It used to be an epicenter,” says Sean Dugan, the third-generation president of Dugan Production, a family drilling business in the boom-and-bust town of Farmington. “When the majors left, they took all their rigs with them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s talking about the major international companies like Chevron and BP that started pulling out of the basin after the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/series/112578215/financial-crisis-one-year-and-counting\">2008 financial crisis\u003c/a>, namely when natural gas prices slumped.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many left for shale drilling areas like the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2018/11/23/669198912/after-struggles-north-dakota-grows-into-its-ongoing-oil-boom\">Bakken in North Dakota\u003c/a> or the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/06/09/1179415899/oil-production-gas-prices-opec-climate-change-permian-basin-texas\">Permian Basin\u003c/a> in southern New Mexico and Texas where drilling on private land was more productive, lucrative and economical.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today it’s only the smaller independents like Dugan still hanging on. But he sees potential for \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/04/16/nx-s1-5359013/trump-orders-coal-revival-market-favors-natural-gas\">another boom\u003c/a> out here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Oh yeah, we’ve got a lot of tricks up our sleeves,” says the cheerful and charismatic Dugan. “The basin has a lot to give. We’ve barely begun to tap its potential.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12037555\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12037555\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-20.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-20.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-20-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-20-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-20-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-20-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sean Dugan’s family drilling company has been a steady local employer for decades in New Mexico. \u003ccite>(Kirk Siegler/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Local drillers say more than half the natural gas reserves in this region have yet to be tapped. And the hope is all the new computer data centers being built in places like Phoenix will want cheaper gas-powered electricity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But watching a group of roughnecks on a rig in grubby overalls moving huge, long steel pipes, Dugan’s smile begins to fade to a smirk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Your polypipe, which is what these pipelines are made out of now. That all comes from the Asian markets,” Dugan says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dugan says the cost of doing business out here was already expensive and President Trump’s trade war is making it worse.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Trump’s trade war is causing anxiety in the oil patch\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Many oil and gas company executives, particularly the larger ones, initially celebrated Trump’s return to the White House. But lately, that optimism for higher oil company profits appears to have faded amid growing \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/04/07/nx-s1-5354927/recession-trump-tariffs\">fears of a recession\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You know, drill baby drill and lower oil prices are not simpatico,” says George Sharpe, investment manager for Merrion Oil and Gas, one of the San Juan Basin’s oldest drillers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In other words, Sharpe says, if Trump tanks the economy and oil prices hover at or below the cost of production, you can remove all the regulatory barriers you want, but companies will be wary of drilling new wells.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think the whole tariff thing is going to backfire on Trump,” Sharpe says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12037556\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12037556\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-21.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1067\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-21.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-21-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-21-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-21-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-21-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">President Donald Trump speaks with reporters at the White House on Wednesday in Washington. Many oil and gas company executives, particularly the larger ones, initially celebrated Trump’s return as president. But lately, that optimism for higher oil company profits appears to have faded amid growing fears of a recession. \u003ccite>(Alex Brandon/AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Dugan says he wakes up every morning and checks the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/04/22/nx-s1-5372588/trump-tariffs-imf-trade-world-economy\">news on tariffs\u003c/a>. He used to spend about $80,000 on a load of pipes that come from South Korea. Now, he figures it could be up to $120,000. His company was one of the few locally to avoid mass layoffs at the start of the pandemic in 2020 when \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/20/838521862/free-falling-oil-prices-keep-diving-as-demand-disappears\">oil prices tanked\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12026185 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/TrumpOilGasRegulationsAP-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today Dugan says he wants to plan for ten years out. But he doesn’t even know what’s going to happen tomorrow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It just kneecaps ya when all this uncertainty and volatility is in the air,” Dugan says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>President Trump \u003ca href=\"https://apps.npr.org/2024-election-results/new-mexico.html?section=key-races\">lost New Mexico handily\u003c/a> in the presidential election last year, but he did rack up big wins in rural counties like this. In interviews with local industry and community leaders, it’s clear there is still plenty of hope that the Trump administration’s newer, revised slogan of “build baby build” will make it easier to get a new gas pipeline built between the San Juan Basin and Mexico.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is optimism in the air. Our workers welcome energy policies that put American energy first,” Farmington Mayor Nate Duckett said, noting in an email that his town was built on top of one of the richest gas and coal fields in the U.S.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Boom and bust energy towns are in limbo\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>On the day President Trump issued \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/04/reinvigorating-americas-beautiful-clean-coal-industry-and-amending-executive-order-14241/\">four new executive orders\u003c/a> to revive \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/04/16/nx-s1-5359013/trump-orders-coal-revival-market-favors-natural-gas\">America’s coal industry\u003c/a>, local environmentalist Dave Fosdeck was driving his four-wheel drive truck to the top of a hogback for what turned out to be a bit of an apocalyptic view.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Here we are up on top,” Fosdeck said, hopping out for a 360 view. “Four Corners power plant about 11 o’clock there, and San Juan Generating station up to our left at 9 o’clock.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12037557\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12037557\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-22.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-22.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-22-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-22-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-22-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-22-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Most of the oil and gas jobs in New Mexico’s San Juan Basin today are servicing or decommissioning wells like these. \u003ccite>(Kirk Siegler/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>There was the enormous San Juan coal plant — \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/10/05/nx-s1-5076973/coal-power-plant-demolition-navajo-new-mexico\">currently being dismantled\u003c/a> — a hulking gash of twisted metal and steel glaring in the desert sun. The Four Corners plant on the Navajo Nation is supposed to be decommissioned in 2031, but Trump has promised to stop coal plants from closing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s about supply and demand and also the cost of producing in this remote region compared to like, Texas or Louisiana,” Fosdeck says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But people here are tired of seeing Farmington in the headlines as a town that’s losing population.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s opportunity, but, ugh, it’s hard,” Fosdeck says. “It’s hard to find an area like this that has been so dependent on oil and gas trying to transition to something else.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Farmington has \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/09/28/1202187607/fossil-fuel-blm-new-mexico-outdoor-recreation-biden-federal-land-oil-gas\">tried to diversify\u003c/a> by promoting tourism and outdoor recreation on all the federal public lands in the region. But those jobs don’t pay nearly as much. With virtually no new drilling here for now, most of the oilfield work is in servicing existing wells, or decommissioning them, to prevent the leaking of methane.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alex Prieto is supervising a crew that’s laying production pipe into a shuttered well, before they’ll pump cement and cap it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s grateful for the job in a time when so much feels uncertain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I love it, just keeping my head busy,” Prieto says. “I provide for my family which is the most important thing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It also means he doesn’t have to travel to other oil patches out of state for work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As long as we’re working we’re happy. The oil field is the main thing out here,” Prieto says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But no one seems to be preparing for a lot of new hiring here at this point, despite promises of a new oil and gas boom on federal land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This is the latest report in an occasional NPR National Desk series examining how President Trump’s early actions are playing out across America.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Many oil and gas company executives initially celebrated Trump's return to the White House, but now that optimism for higher oil company profits is fading amid growing fears of a recession.",
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"title": "Oil Companies Expected a Big Business Boom Under Trump. Now They're Worried | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The San Juan Basin, in the northwestern part of New Mexico, is one of the oldest \u003ca href=\"https://geoinfo.nmt.edu/geoscience/research/home.cfml?id=44\">federal lands drilling areas\u003c/a> in the U.S. It’s a huge swath of barren, brown high desert that first started booming in the 1950s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, some 40,000 wells pockmark the rolling hills of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npca.org/articles/2746-an-insider-s-guide-to-the-four-corners\">Four Corners region\u003c/a>, several thousand of them still reliably pump up light sweet crude oil and natural gas through the old iconic pumpjacks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But this historic and remote drilling region has struggled for the last decade or more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It used to be an epicenter,” says Sean Dugan, the third-generation president of Dugan Production, a family drilling business in the boom-and-bust town of Farmington. “When the majors left, they took all their rigs with them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s talking about the major international companies like Chevron and BP that started pulling out of the basin after the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/series/112578215/financial-crisis-one-year-and-counting\">2008 financial crisis\u003c/a>, namely when natural gas prices slumped.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many left for shale drilling areas like the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2018/11/23/669198912/after-struggles-north-dakota-grows-into-its-ongoing-oil-boom\">Bakken in North Dakota\u003c/a> or the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/06/09/1179415899/oil-production-gas-prices-opec-climate-change-permian-basin-texas\">Permian Basin\u003c/a> in southern New Mexico and Texas where drilling on private land was more productive, lucrative and economical.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today it’s only the smaller independents like Dugan still hanging on. But he sees potential for \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/04/16/nx-s1-5359013/trump-orders-coal-revival-market-favors-natural-gas\">another boom\u003c/a> out here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Oh yeah, we’ve got a lot of tricks up our sleeves,” says the cheerful and charismatic Dugan. “The basin has a lot to give. We’ve barely begun to tap its potential.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12037555\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12037555\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-20.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-20.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-20-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-20-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-20-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-20-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sean Dugan’s family drilling company has been a steady local employer for decades in New Mexico. \u003ccite>(Kirk Siegler/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Local drillers say more than half the natural gas reserves in this region have yet to be tapped. And the hope is all the new computer data centers being built in places like Phoenix will want cheaper gas-powered electricity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But watching a group of roughnecks on a rig in grubby overalls moving huge, long steel pipes, Dugan’s smile begins to fade to a smirk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Your polypipe, which is what these pipelines are made out of now. That all comes from the Asian markets,” Dugan says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dugan says the cost of doing business out here was already expensive and President Trump’s trade war is making it worse.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Trump’s trade war is causing anxiety in the oil patch\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Many oil and gas company executives, particularly the larger ones, initially celebrated Trump’s return to the White House. But lately, that optimism for higher oil company profits appears to have faded amid growing \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/04/07/nx-s1-5354927/recession-trump-tariffs\">fears of a recession\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You know, drill baby drill and lower oil prices are not simpatico,” says George Sharpe, investment manager for Merrion Oil and Gas, one of the San Juan Basin’s oldest drillers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In other words, Sharpe says, if Trump tanks the economy and oil prices hover at or below the cost of production, you can remove all the regulatory barriers you want, but companies will be wary of drilling new wells.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think the whole tariff thing is going to backfire on Trump,” Sharpe says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12037556\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12037556\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-21.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1067\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-21.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-21-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-21-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-21-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-21-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">President Donald Trump speaks with reporters at the White House on Wednesday in Washington. Many oil and gas company executives, particularly the larger ones, initially celebrated Trump’s return as president. But lately, that optimism for higher oil company profits appears to have faded amid growing fears of a recession. \u003ccite>(Alex Brandon/AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Dugan says he wakes up every morning and checks the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/04/22/nx-s1-5372588/trump-tariffs-imf-trade-world-economy\">news on tariffs\u003c/a>. He used to spend about $80,000 on a load of pipes that come from South Korea. Now, he figures it could be up to $120,000. His company was one of the few locally to avoid mass layoffs at the start of the pandemic in 2020 when \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/20/838521862/free-falling-oil-prices-keep-diving-as-demand-disappears\">oil prices tanked\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today Dugan says he wants to plan for ten years out. But he doesn’t even know what’s going to happen tomorrow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It just kneecaps ya when all this uncertainty and volatility is in the air,” Dugan says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>President Trump \u003ca href=\"https://apps.npr.org/2024-election-results/new-mexico.html?section=key-races\">lost New Mexico handily\u003c/a> in the presidential election last year, but he did rack up big wins in rural counties like this. In interviews with local industry and community leaders, it’s clear there is still plenty of hope that the Trump administration’s newer, revised slogan of “build baby build” will make it easier to get a new gas pipeline built between the San Juan Basin and Mexico.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is optimism in the air. Our workers welcome energy policies that put American energy first,” Farmington Mayor Nate Duckett said, noting in an email that his town was built on top of one of the richest gas and coal fields in the U.S.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Boom and bust energy towns are in limbo\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>On the day President Trump issued \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/04/reinvigorating-americas-beautiful-clean-coal-industry-and-amending-executive-order-14241/\">four new executive orders\u003c/a> to revive \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/04/16/nx-s1-5359013/trump-orders-coal-revival-market-favors-natural-gas\">America’s coal industry\u003c/a>, local environmentalist Dave Fosdeck was driving his four-wheel drive truck to the top of a hogback for what turned out to be a bit of an apocalyptic view.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Here we are up on top,” Fosdeck said, hopping out for a 360 view. “Four Corners power plant about 11 o’clock there, and San Juan Generating station up to our left at 9 o’clock.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12037557\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12037557\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-22.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-22.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-22-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-22-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-22-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-22-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Most of the oil and gas jobs in New Mexico’s San Juan Basin today are servicing or decommissioning wells like these. \u003ccite>(Kirk Siegler/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>There was the enormous San Juan coal plant — \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/10/05/nx-s1-5076973/coal-power-plant-demolition-navajo-new-mexico\">currently being dismantled\u003c/a> — a hulking gash of twisted metal and steel glaring in the desert sun. The Four Corners plant on the Navajo Nation is supposed to be decommissioned in 2031, but Trump has promised to stop coal plants from closing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s about supply and demand and also the cost of producing in this remote region compared to like, Texas or Louisiana,” Fosdeck says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But people here are tired of seeing Farmington in the headlines as a town that’s losing population.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s opportunity, but, ugh, it’s hard,” Fosdeck says. “It’s hard to find an area like this that has been so dependent on oil and gas trying to transition to something else.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Farmington has \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/09/28/1202187607/fossil-fuel-blm-new-mexico-outdoor-recreation-biden-federal-land-oil-gas\">tried to diversify\u003c/a> by promoting tourism and outdoor recreation on all the federal public lands in the region. But those jobs don’t pay nearly as much. With virtually no new drilling here for now, most of the oilfield work is in servicing existing wells, or decommissioning them, to prevent the leaking of methane.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alex Prieto is supervising a crew that’s laying production pipe into a shuttered well, before they’ll pump cement and cap it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s grateful for the job in a time when so much feels uncertain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I love it, just keeping my head busy,” Prieto says. “I provide for my family which is the most important thing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It also means he doesn’t have to travel to other oil patches out of state for work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As long as we’re working we’re happy. The oil field is the main thing out here,” Prieto says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But no one seems to be preparing for a lot of new hiring here at this point, despite promises of a new oil and gas boom on federal land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This is the latest report in an occasional NPR National Desk series examining how President Trump’s early actions are playing out across America.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
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"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
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"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
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"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
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"possible": {
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"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
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"radiolab": {
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},
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"tagline": "Art is where you find it",
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"info": "The Snap Judgment radio show and podcast mixes real stories with killer beats to produce cinematic, dramatic radio. Snap's musical brand of storytelling dares listeners to see the world through the eyes of another. This is storytelling... with a BEAT!! Snap first aired on public radio stations nationwide in July 2010. Today, Snap Judgment airs on over 450 public radio stations and is brought to the airwaves by KQED & PRX.",
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"soldout": {
"id": "soldout",
"title": "SOLD OUT: Rethinking Housing in America",
"tagline": "A new future for housing",
"info": "Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America",
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