National News

A coalition of states, legal scholars, trade groups, and the U.S. Department of Justice is urging Maryland’s highest court to reject attempts by three Maryland jurisdictions to revive climate lawsuits against oil and gas companies.
Eight amicus briefs filed this week argue that the Maryland Supreme Court should uphold the dismissals of climate-related cases brought by Baltimore, Annapolis, and Anne Arundel County.
Circuit judges in each jurisdiction dismissed the lawsuits earlier this year, prompting the plaintiffs to appeal.
The U.S. Department of Justice, 24 state attorneys general led by Alabama, and organizations ranging from the National Association of Manufacturers to the Maryland Defense Counsel contend the cases overreach by trying to regulate global emissions through local courts.
“These suits have nothing to do with advertisements in Annapolis, Anne Arundel County, or Baltimore,” the attorneys general wrote. “Perfect compliance with Maryland’s consumer laws would not have stopped the ‘storms’ and ‘heatwaves,’ nor would any remedy in those three Maryland jurisdictions abate the alleged injuries.”
The Justice Department argued the complaints target “worldwide activities” and implicate “substantial federal interests.”
Its brief states, “There is no relationship between that conduct and any interest unique to Maryland that would permit the local governments to exercise regulatory authority over fossil fuel production and marketing across the country.”
Baltimore’s case was dismissed on July 10, 2024, by Judge Videtta Brown. Additionally, Judge Steven Platt dismissed the Annapolis and Anne Arundel County lawsuits on Jan. 16, 2025.
The plaintiffs appealed to the Maryland Supreme Court after the dismissals.
The DRI Center for Law and Public Policy and Maryland Defense Counsel, Inc. criticized what they called an “expansive theory of nuisance liability,” arguing the lawsuits ask the court “to upend 150 years of Maryland case law.”
Their brief warned, “Without control, a manufacturer cannot remove or abate the nuisance… a party is simply too far removed from the nuisance to be held responsible for it.”
Professors Richard Epstein and John Yoo, writing with the Mountain States Legal Foundation, accused the plaintiffs of using tort law to “set nationwide climate policy.”
“Regulating the global climate is improper for local tort law,” and warned that the logic behind the lawsuits could make “every producer, user, and consumer of fossil fuels… the next defendant,” the brief said.
It’s unclear when the Maryland Supreme Court will decide whether to hear oral arguments or issue a ruling.

A third witness in a little over a week has invoked the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in a U.S. House investigation into former President Joe Biden’s mental and physical health during his time in the White House.
U.S. Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said Friday that Annie Tomasini, who served as an assistant to the former president and deputy director of Oval Office Operations, pleaded the fifth during a deposition into Biden’s “cognitive decline.”
A statement from Comer’s office characterizes Tomasini’s and fellow witnesses who also have pleaded the Fifth as “a pattern of key Biden confidants seeking to shield themselves from criminal liability.”
Comer says Tomasini was asked about her role in a “cover-up” of Biden’s mental decline, as well as the handling of classified materials.
“During her deposition today, Ms. Tomasini pleaded the Fifth when asked if Joe Biden, a member of his family, or anyone at the White House instructed her to lie regarding his health at any time,” according to Comer’s statement. “She also pleaded the Fifth when asked if she ever advised President Biden on the handling of classified documents found in his garage, if President Biden or anyone in the White House instructed her to conceal or destroy classified material found at President Biden’s home or office, and if she ever conspired with anyone in the White House to hide information regarding the Biden family’s ‘business’ dealings.”
Comer accuses Tomasini and other Biden aids of creating a “protective bubble” around the former president.
On Wednesday, former First Lady Jill Biden’s chief of staff, Anthony Bernal, also invoked the Fifth Amendment during a congressional deposition. During a closed-door congressional deposition on July 9, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, Biden’s physician, also pleaded the Fifth.
Comer continues to argue that the witnesses invoking their Fifth Amendment rights point to evidence that Biden White House officials were trying to cover up the former president’s mental decline.
Questions about Biden’s mental fitness were raised before the 2020 presidential election. Republicans and many in the conservative media continued to raise questions regarding the former president’s health throughout his presidency.
However, the White House claimed Biden received regular medical exams, showing a healthy, competent president.
The House committee announced in early June that it was expanding its investigation into the “cover-up” of Biden’s “mental decline.”
Comer sent letters to five former senior Biden White House aides, “demanding they appear for transcribed interviews.” The congressman was investigating “potentially unauthorized issuance of sweeping pardons and other executive action.”
The investigation furthers the debate on whether sweeping Biden pardons and actions could be voided.
The investigations have been fueled in part by a book written by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, “Original Sin,” which the congressman quoted as claiming, “Five people were running the country, and Joe Biden was at best a senior member of the board.”
In addition, President Donald Trump has been raising questions about whether an autopen was used to carry out executive actions, including executive orders, clemency grants, pardons, and presidential memoranda, and who directed the president’s signatures to be affixed to the documents.
Trump underscored the importance of a presidential signature, saying “the nation is governed through presidential signatures.”
An autopen is a device – its patent is centuries old – that places an individual’s signature on documents or other surfaces. Trump argues that the device is used to sign thousands of letters in response to Americans writing to the president, but it is not intended to be used for official documents.

Congress has passed legislation to help veterans avoid foreclosure after the Department of Veterans Affairs ended a mortgage relief program in May without a permanent replacement.
The VA Home Loan Program Reform Act, which passed the Senate last week and awaits President Donald Trump’s signature, creates a five-year partial claims program for delinquent borrowers with VA-backed loans. It lets the VA buy a portion of a loan in default, allowing veterans to catch up on payments without immediately losing their homes.
The move comes after the VA ended the Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase (VASP) program on May 1, leaving tens of thousands of veterans at risk of foreclosure. VASP had helped about 33,000 borrowers stay in their homes by offering new low-interest loans directly from the VA.
“This bipartisan and bicameral legislation will assist veterans who are facing financial hardships and provide VA with a tool to better help veterans stay in their homes and avoid foreclosure,” a joint statement from the House and Senate Committees on Veterans’ Affairs said.
The measure grants the VA the power to “pay the holder of a loan guaranteed by the VA an amount necessary to avoid the foreclosure of the loan,” provided that legal documents are executed to give the VA a secured interest in the property, according to a bill summary on Congress.gov. Borrowers would repay the VA later when refinancing, selling, or paying off the home.
The Mortgage Bankers Association praised the bill’s passage.
“MBA applauds the Senate for taking swift bipartisan action to support veterans at risk of foreclosure by passing the VA Home Loan Program Reform Act,” MBA President Bob Broeksmit said in a statement. “This important legislation… is a critical step forward in ensuring that distressed veteran homeowners have access to a proven and sustainable loss mitigation solution.”
The National Association of Realtors also expressed support for the proposal.
“We are grateful to the House of Representatives and the Senate for passing this measure and providing veterans and active-duty service members the same advantages as other buyers in a competitive real estate market,” Shannon McGahn, NAR’s EVP and Chief Advocacy Officer, said in a statement.
As of April 1, about 75,000 veteran borrowers had missed three or more payments on their VA-backed loans. Of those, 33,000 were already in foreclosure, NPR reports.
Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., a retired Navy SEAL and lead sponsor of the bill, criticized the Biden administration for creating VASP unilaterally.
“Under the Biden administration, the VA created the VASP program without consulting Congress, costing the American taxpayers $5.8 billion and endangering the entire VA home loan guarantee program,” his statement said. “My bill offers a real solution to help every servicemember and veteran maintain the American Dream of homeownership.”
With interest rates around 7%, many veterans who defaulted on their mortgages have been left with few realistic options, according to Mortgage Point. After VASP ended, loan modifications often meant higher monthly payments, and some lenders advised veterans to sell or face foreclosure. The partial claims program is designed to offer a more viable alternative, the report said.
The VA has not yet said when it will launch the new program or whether it will ask mortgage servicers to pause foreclosures in the meantime.
“We appreciate Congress’s work on the VA Home Loan Program Reform Act, which VA will implement once President Trump signs it into law,” VA press secretary Pete Kasperowicz told reporters.

Stablecoin legislation on Thursday made its way to President Donald Trump’s desk, helped by a North Carolina Democrat among 102 crossing the aisle, and Friday afternoon he signed it.
Already passed in the Senate, the bill was one of three being pushed by the second-term Republican president in what he dubbed Crypto Week. The beginning on Capitol Hill was ominous, however, with votes to get the trio onto the floor of the House of Representatives on Tuesday ending badly.
The week got better for the 79-year-old Floridian. The GENIUS Act, or Senate Bill 1582 as the stablecoin legislation is known, passed 308-122 with Rep. Don Davis, D-N.C., joining all 10 North Carolina Republicans in the chamber voting yea.
Stablecoins are cryptocurrency, a form of digital currency. Bitcoin and ethereum are other examples. Stablecoins derive the name because the idea is to have a stable price, and link to assets like the U.S. dollar or a commodity like gold. Some examples of stablecoins are tether, USD coin, and Dai.
In 2022, the Biden administration authorized further research into digital currencies by executive order. In addition to the GENIUS Act, the Trump administration this week has also pushed the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025 (House Resolution 3633) and Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act (HR1919).
The latter two passed on Thursday – 294-134 for HR3633; 219-210 for HR1919 – and are back with the Senate. Davis voted against each with North Carolina Democratic Reps. Alma Adams, Deborah Ross and Valerie Foushee.
All three cryptocurrency bills got yea votes from North Carolina Republican Reps. Dr. Greg Murphy, Virginia Foxx, Addison McDowell, David Rouzer, Rev. Mark Harris, Richard Hudson, Pat Harrigan, Chuck Edwards, Brad Knott and Tim Moore.
The Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress says the stablecoin bill “establishes a regulatory framework for payment stablecoins.” It specifies requirements “for reusing reserves; providing safekeeping services for stablecoins; and supervisory, examination and enforcement authority over federal-qualified issuers.”
Consumer trust in the emerging part of the financial industry spurred the partisanship voting.
The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, if agreed to by the Senate, would establish “a regulatory framework for digital commodities, defined by the bill as digital assets that rely upon a blockchain for their value,” the Congressional Research Service says.
The Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, if passed says the research service, would prohibit a “Federal Reserve bank from offering products or services directly to an individual, maintaining an account on behalf of an individual, or issuing a central bank digital currency (i.e., a digital dollar). Further, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is prohibited from using a central bank digital currency to implement monetary policy or from testing, studying, creating, or implementing a central bank digital currency, with exceptions as provided by the bill.”
Optimism for Senate passage resides in the majority numbers: 53 Repubicans, 45 Democrats, and two independents caucusing with the minority party.

The White House Council of Economic Advisers on Thursday released a report highlighting the Trump Administration’s energy strategy, projecting that policies aimed at “unleashing American energy” could raise U.S. GDP by as much as 1.9% by 2035 and support national security, energy affordability, and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence.
The report argues that revitalizing domestic oil, gas, coal, and nuclear production — combined with regulatory reform and infrastructure investment— can strengthen the U.S. economy while meeting the surging energy needs of AI-driven data centers and reshored manufacturing.
“The United States is blessed with a wealth of natural resources,” the report states. “Enacting policies that make the most of U.S. resource abundance and promote U.S. energy dominance can meaningfully contribute to economic growth and consumer welfare.”
The White House credited President Trump’s executive actions, including faster permitting, resumed federal leasing, support for advanced nuclear reactors, and grid modernization efforts, for laying the groundwork for increased production and investment.
According to the analysis, energy-focused policies could increase GDP by:
0.25% to 0.67% from deregulation alone.0.03% to 0.13% from removing restrictions on offshore oil commingling.0.025% to 0.11% annually from expanded production on federal lands.At least 0.03% from increased liquefied natural gas exports.
The report also links energy policy directly to AI competitiveness, citing projections that U.S. data centers will consume more electricity by 2030 than all energy-intensive goods manufacturing combined.
“There is no AI without energy,” it warns, quoting the International Energy Agency.
The report notes that just one ChatGPT prompt can be ten times more energy-intensive than a Google search.
To meet this growing demand, the administration has proposed an “all-of-the-above” strategy, with special emphasis on expanding nuclear power. Four executive orders signed in May direct reforms at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and aim to quadruple U.S. nuclear capacity by 2050.
“Rapid growth of low-cost domestic baseload generation is essential to compete for AI dominance,” the report states, noting that China is already building 150 new nuclear reactors and could become the world’s largest nuclear power producer by 2030.
The White House also used the report to tout the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”, which ends tax credits for wind, solar, and electric vehicles while expanding credits for biofuels, hydrogen, hydropower, and carbon capture.
The bill also appropriates funds to rebuild the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and build out grid reliability.
In a warning about overreliance on renewables without adequate backup, the report cites a major blackout in parts of Europe earlier this year caused by a sudden drop in solar generation, calling it “a concerning example of some critical flaws of renewable energy.”
To stabilize prices and supply, the administration advocates for delaying the retirement of coal and nuclear plants and interconnecting U.S. regional power grids.
“Even during hours of normal operation,” the report notes, “arbitraging regional price differences could lead to cost savings.”
The report concludes that small modular reactors could play a vital role in meeting data center needs. Amazon, Google, and Microsoft are already exploring co-locating data centers with SMRs.
“SMRs may end up being less costly than their conventional counterparts,” the report claims.
“Affordable, reliable, and sustainable electricity supply will be a crucial determinant of AI development,” the report states. “Countries that can deliver the energy needed at speed and scale will be best placed to benefit.”

The U.S. House in a late night vote passed Republicans’ $9 billion rescissions package, delivering another win for President Donald Trump and his promise to cut federal spending.
The measure, which cuts already appropriated federal spending on some foreign aid projects and public broadcasting programs, passed 216-213 in the House, the final voted needed to send it to Trump’s desk for his signature.
Two Republicans – U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., and Mike Turner, R-Ohio, joined all Democrats in voting against the measure.
Originally clawing back a total of $9.4 billion, the package now revokes roughly $7.9 billion in “woke” foreign aid programs and $1.1 billion meant to fund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which finances NPR, PBS and some radio stations.
Although the rescissions package – compiled by the Office of Management and Budget – does not include many details over specific program cuts, Republican leaders have floated a list of foreign aid initiatives deemed wasteful that will lose funding, including:
$21 million for wind farms in Ukraine$18 million to promote gender diversity in the Mexican street lighting industry$6 million for “Net Zero Cities” in Mexico$5 million to strengthen the “resilience of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer global movements” globally$4.4 million for the Melanesian Youth Climate Corps$3.3 million for civic engagement in Zimbabwe$3 million for Iraqi Sesame Street$2.5 million to teach children about how to make “environmentally friendly reproductive health” choices
It will also revoke millions in funds for “climate resilience” projects in developing countries – such as electric buses in Rwanda – as well as other global aid programs Trump deemed “woke,” promoting everything from abortion pills and vegan foods to DEI awareness and LGBTQ activism.
Conservative groups and fiscal watchdogs have urged lawmakers to support the package as a small step towards tackling the federal deficit. Democrats, however, have threatened to later force a government shutdown in October if it passes, which it did early Friday. They argue that Republicans “cannot expect” Democrats to work with them on bipartisan government funding bills, which require 60 votes in the Senate to pass, if GOP lawmakers will later rescind anything they don’t like, which requires only a majority vote in the Senate.
The rescission package needed only 51 in the Senate to pass.

Thursday marked the second day of the annual American Legislative Exchange Council meeting, where state legislators, policy experts, and business leaders gathered to discuss policy priorities and model legislation.
In her opening statement, Republican state Sen. Patricia Rucker of West Virginia highlighted the diverse challenges faced by state lawmakers.
“For some of them, it might be education policy and empowering parents,” Rucker began. “For others, it might be tax reform or trying to roll back government regulations on businesses.”
To kick off the session, Rucker introduced Will Hild, executive director of Consumers’ Research, who addressed the growing pushback against Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing.
“You have large banks, large asset managers, large insurers, and some of the proxy advisors forcing corporations that just want to focus on making money and serving their consumers to instead focus on the personal politics of people,” Hild said.
ALEC CEO Lisa B. Nelson invited Dr. Arthur Laffer to discuss the famous “Laffer Curve” and share his advice for public officials.
“Whenever you raise the highest tax rate on the top one percent of income earners, three things happen: the economy underperforms, tax revenues fall, and the poor get hammered,” Laffer said.
Nelson then shifted her focus to healthcare, where she talked about medical transparency and how ALEC built a bond with Cynthia Fisher and an advocacy group for patients. She also mentioned a medical price transparency bill and asked Michigan state Sen. Jonathan Lindsey what he thought about it.
“I’m optimistic about it,” Lindsey began. “I think there are only three states within the last year that have adopted state-level policy on medical price transparency.”
While HIPAA was enacted to safeguard personal health data, critics like Laffer contend it’s frequently invoked to block efforts at price transparency in healthcare
“HIPAA is not there to protect patients’ privacy,” Laffer said. “HIPAA is there to protect hospitals from disclosing what their prices are and how they’re ripping you off.”

The U.S. Department of Education has taken further steps to dismantle itself since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of broad layoffs.
The department announced new appointees, who will support the Trump administration’s mission of returning education decisions to the states.
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon explained President Donald Trump was angry and embarrassed over the decline in the quality of education children are receiving.
Around 70% of eighth graders nationally are not proficient in reading and math, McMahon said. “We are doing something clearly wrong in the way we are educating our students.”
She explained Trump wants all children to have access to quality education by ultimately giving greater control over schools to states and parents.
“Let’s have parents be at the center of that because parents are with their children. They know what is best for their child, and they should have the choice to put their children in schools where they can flourish,” McMahon said. “No child should be a prisoner of a failing school.”
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday to allow Trump to move forward with dismantling the U.S. Department of Education with broad layoffs.
This would mean around 1,400 employees would be cut from the department, starting in August.
The Supreme Court’s ruling is temporary, since it granted an emergency application filed by the Trump administration to override a federal judge’s ruling that halted the mass layoffs. The case will continue to be argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit before going back to the high court for a full hearing.
The Center Square reached out to the Department of Education for comment on what these broad layoffs would look like, but has not received a response.
“This isn’t just about jobs,” former teacher and Department of Education liaison Dani Pierce told ABC News. “It’s about abandoning the people and programs that protect students’ rights, support educators and ensure equity in schools across the country.”
But McMahon said programs will not be defunded.
Money will be allocated by Congress, the secretary of education said.
“The president has said from day one that dismantling the Department of Education will not mean defunding those programs,” McMahon said. “That money is appropriated by Congress … parents, teachers and kids should not be worried.”
Though many lawmakers have sued the administration over withheld education funding, other education officials said the U.S. Department of Education is useless.
“Shutting down the U.S. Department of Education would not result in a loss of federal formula funding for Arizona,” state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne said. “This is a waste of taxpayer dollars, shows a poor work ethic and sets a bad example to teachers and students who gather in person to learn. Educators should have a passion for academic excellence, but that is not evident at USDoE.”