May, 16 2017, 02:45pm EDT

EPI Policy Center Strongly Opposes the Regulatory Accountability Act
In a letter to the Senate Committee on Homeland Services and Government Affairs, Heidi Shierholz and Celine McNicholas of the EPI Policy Center expressed their opposition to S. 951, the Regulatory Accountability Act of 2017 (RAA), and urged senators to vote against the proposal.
In a letter to the Senate Committee on Homeland Services and Government Affairs, Heidi Shierholz and Celine McNicholas of the EPI Policy Center expressed their opposition to S. 951, the Regulatory Accountability Act of 2017 (RAA), and urged senators to vote against the proposal.
The RAA is designed to paralyze the regulatory process, weakening the ability of federal agencies to make rules and issue guidance that protect the health and wellbeing of working people and the public. By adding a number of onerous and time-consuming requirements, the RAA gives corporate special interests even more opportunities to influence the rulemaking process.
"This bill reveals a willingness to place corporate concerns ahead of the American people." said Shierholz. "The purpose of regulations is to keep workers safe, protect consumers, and safeguard the environment. This bill is a chance for members of Congress to show whose side they are on."
The EPI letter highlights the serious threat the RAA would pose to important worker protections. For example, the Department of Labor's "silica rule" would have been threatened by the RAA due to the upfront costs to businesses that would have to invest in safety equipment. The RAA would have forced the DOL to consider only these upfront costs, and not the benefits of reduced illness and saved lives over decades.
"The intent of the RAA is crystal clear," said McNicholas. "The bill puts corporate profits ahead of the public interest, gutting federal agencies' ability to issue rules that protect workers and consumers. It will further draw out already-lengthy rulemaking procedures and give corporate special interests unprecedented power to interfere with and delay the regulatory process, all at a cost to taxpayers."
The RAA is one piece of President Trump and congressional Republicans' radical anti-regulatory and anti-worker agenda, which is being advanced with little consideration for the importance of regulations to workers, consumers, and the environment. Agency rules can have broad benefits in terms of public health, environmental protections, and worker protections that vastly outweigh the compliance costs for businesses.
EPI is an independent, nonprofit think tank that researches the impact of economic trends and policies on working people in the United States. EPI's research helps policymakers, opinion leaders, advocates, journalists, and the public understand the bread-and-butter issues affecting ordinary Americans.
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Federal Judge Rules Trump Deportations Under Alien Enemies Act 'Unlawful'
Also Thursday, Human Rights Watch released a report calling on Congress to repeal the wartime authority, the statute invoked by the U.S. President Donald Trump in March to deport over 130 Venezuelan nationals.
May 01, 2025
A federal judge ruled on Thursday that U.S. President Donald Trump has illegally invoked the Alien Enemies Act and barred further deportations under the statute, a centuries-old wartime authority used to justify the deportation of over 130 Venezuelan nationals in March to a megaprison in El Salvador.
"The court concludes that the president's invocation of the AEA through the proclamation exceeds the scope of the statute and, as a result, is unlawful," according to U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez, Jr., a Trump appointee.
The judicial rebuke comes the same day that the group Human Rights Watch issued a report making the case that the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) is "entirely incompatible" with modern international law that constrains the United States with respect to human rights, and therefore should be repealed.
The report from Human Rights Watch, titled United States: Repeal the Alien Enemies Act, A Human Rights Argument, explains that the AEA was codified in 1798 and gives the president authority to detain and expel noncitizens who are nationals of a foreign country considered hostile.
The president can draw on these powers when there is a "declared war" between the U.S. and a foreign power, or when an "invasion or predatory incursion is perpetrated, attempted, or threatened" against the U.S. by a foreign nation.
When invoking the AEA, Trump accused the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) of "perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion or predatory incursion" in the U.S., and said that the men targeted for deportation under the AEA have ties to TdA—though available reporting also casts doubt on this assertion.
The judge in his ruling on Thursday said that the government's evidence that TdA's presence in the U.S. constitutes an "invasion" or "predatory incursion" as characterized by the AEA fell short.
The American Civil Liberties Union cheered the court's decision. ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt said in a statement on Thursday: "The court ruled the president can't unilaterally declare an invasion of the United States and invoke a wartime authority during peacetime."
While the ruling is likely also welcome to Human Rights Watch, which has already spoken out against the administration's use of AEA, in their latest report the group argues that the law should be outright repealed.
"Congress has an important role in challenging the Trump administration's use of this outdated law to supercharge its mass deportation machine," said Akshaya Kumar, crisis advocacy director at Human Rights Watch and lead author of the report, in a statement on Thursday, prior to the release of Thursday's court ruling.
Since 2020, Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) have repeatedly introduced the "Neighbors Not Enemies Act," which would repeal the Alien Enemies Act. The duo reintroduced it again on January 22, days after U.S. President Donald Trump returned to the White House. The report recommends immediate debate and consideration of the Neighbors Not Enemies Act of 2025. With Republican majorities in both chambers, passage of the Neighbors Not Enemies Act is highly unlikely.
The report argues that the United States is not engaged in any war or armed conflict that is relevant to the administration's current use of the AEA, and that the law "was drafted, and has always been applied and interpreted, in a manner that is adversarial to modern-day international human rights law frameworks and the laws of war."
The U.S. is a part of multiple human rights treaties that compel the government to ensure respect for rights like due process, and protection from removal from the U.S. to countries where a person would likely face persecution or torture, according to the report.
For example, in 1994 the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) was ratified by the U.S. with the understanding the treaty "was not self-executing and required implementing legislation to be enforced by U.S. courts," according to a 2009 Congressional Research Service report.
The U.S. did enact statutes and regulations to prohibit the transfer of people to countries where they may be tortured, including the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998.
According to Human Rights Watch, CAT prohibits "the U.S. from expelling, returning, or extraditing any person to a state where there are 'substantial grounds' for believing that he would be in danger of being subject to torture.'"
In Thursday's court ruling, the judge noted the petitioners had invoked this protection under CAT as one of their legal arguments, but the court concluded that it does "not possess jurisdiction to consider petitioners' challenges" to Trump's AEA executive order based on CAT.
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US-Iran Talks Delayed for 'Logistical Reasons' After Hegseth Social Media Threat
"With sufficient will, the negotiations can reach the finish line and avert the risks of a disastrous war and Iranian weaponization of its nuclear program," said the National Iranian American Council's policy director.
May 01, 2025
Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi announced on social media Thursday that a fourth round of U.S.-Iran nuclear talks planned for this coming weekend has been postponed—just hours after U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth publicly threatened Iran.
However, al-Busaidi, who has mediated the previous rounds of negotiations, did not address the U.S. threat. He claimed on social media that the delay was due to "logistical reasons" and "new dates will be announced when mutually agreed."
As The Associated Pressreported:
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei issued a statement describing the talks as being "postponed at the request of Oman's foreign minister." He said Iran remains committed to reaching "a fair and lasting agreement."
Meanwhile, a person familiar with the U.S. negotiators said that America "had never confirmed its participation" in a fourth round of talks in Rome. However, the person said the U.S. expected the talks to occur "in the near future." The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door negotiations.
During U.S. President Donald Trump's first term, he ditched the Iran nuclear deal negotiated under the Obama administration. After Trump returned to the Oval Office in January, Vice President JD Vance had to cast a tiebreaking vote to confirm Hegseth, whose tenure as Pentagon chief thus far has been marred by controversy and accusations of ineptitude.
Hegseth—a former Fox News host who faces mounting calls to resign after sharing U.S. plans to bomb Yemen in multiple chats on the commercial messaging application Signal—addressed Iran's support for the Houthis, a Yemeni group, in a late Wednesday social media post.
"Message to IRAN: We see your LETHAL support to the Houthis," he said. "We know exactly what you are doing. You know very well what the U.S. Military is capable of—and you were warned. You will pay the CONSEQUENCE at the time and place of our choosing."
Hegseth's initial post was from his Pentagon account. He also
shared it on his personal account with a screenshot of a mid-March Truth Social post in which Trump railed against Iran and the Houthis.
In response to Hegseth, journalist Ryan Grim asked, "This because our jet fell off our boat?"
A $60 million U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet recently went overboard from the USS Harry S. Truman after the aircraft carrier turned to evade Houthi fire, according to a U.S. official.
Republican Congressman Thomas Massie (Ky.)—who has a history of joining with Democrats to criticize military action without a declaration of war, particularly in Yemen—responded: "I support this administration, but the secretary of defense doesn't have the constitutional authority to declare war on a sovereign country. A planned military attack on Iran is an act of war and requires a vote of Congress according to the U.S. Constitution."
Ryan Costello, policy director of the National Iranian American Council, said in a statement that "Trump entered office with a deficit of effective U.S. diplomacy in the Middle East, not a deficit of threats or bombing. Where the administration has led with diplomacy and sustained that focus, they've delivered some positive results. Where the administration has let bombs lead the way, like the Biden administration before them, we've seen security worsen and sustainable solutions move further from reach."
"If there was a military solution to security in Yemen, Saudi Arabia would have emerged victorious in its conflict a decade ago, and the Biden administration would have halted the Houthis' targeting of shipping in the Red Sea last year," he continued. "Of course, there isn’t a military solution in Yemen, which makes it all the more befuddling that the Trump administration thinks it can bomb the Houthis into submission when this approach has been tried and failed repeatedly."
"Secretary Hegseth tweeting at Iran and threatening 'CONSEQUENCE' for its ties with the Houthis won't alter these dynamics, and risks leading the U.S. into far more damaging blowback against a more capable adversary," Costello stressed. "The U.S. and Iran need to resolve security challenges through diplomacy, not threats and military escalation. This is true on the nuclear issue, where we encourage the U.S. and Iran to return to negotiations as soon as possible. The pace that they have set on negotiations has been difficult to sustain, but not impossible."
"With sufficient will, the negotiations can reach the finish line and avert the risks of a disastrous war and Iranian weaponization of its nuclear program," he added. "Likewise, the U.S. should halt its backfiring bombing campaign in Yemen and find a way to bring all the relevant actors to the negotiating table—simultaneous with efforts to restore a cease-fire in Gaza that frees the remaining hostages and ensures urgent aid for the devastating humanitarian crisis on the ground."
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'Mike Waltz Has Left the Chat': Trump Ousts National Security Adviser Amid Signalgate
"Firing Waltz is an admission of guilt by the administration about the leaking of classified war plans," said one Democratic strategist. "They have to fire Hegseth now."
May 01, 2025
U.S. National Security Adviser Michael Waltz and a top deputy have been fired from the Trump administration, with more dismissals expected imminently in the wake of the "Signalgate" scandal, insiders familiar with the decision told multiple major media outlets on Thursday.
Fox Newsconfirmed that Waltz and his deputy Alex Wong were fired Thursday, and that more staffers are likely to be terminated. Calls for Waltz's resignation mounted amid revelations that the former Republican congressman and members of his staff created at least 20 group chats on the encrypted messaging application Signal to coordinate official work on sensitive foreign policy issues.
"Waltz's firing is just the beginning of the overdue accountability that the American people."
In one of the most egregious incidents of the scandal, Waltz, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and other top Trump administration officials added a journalist to a Signal group chat about plans to bomb Yemen.
"I take full responsibility. I built the group," Waltz acknowledged in a March 25 Fox News interview. "It's embarrassing. We're going to get to the bottom of it."
It was later revealed that Hegseth shared Yemen war plans in a second private group chat whose members included relatives and his personal lawyer.
It is unclear who will replace Waltz. Steve Witkoff—President Donald Trump's special envoy to the Middle East—is considered a top contender for the job.
Trump publicly defended Waltz and his national security team throughout the scandal, telling reporters last month that they've "had big success with the Houthis," the Yemeni rebel group targeted by U.S.-led airstrikes that have killed and wounded hundreds of people, reportedly including more than 150 civilians and scores of African migrants at a detention center.
Waltz appeared on
Fox News' "Fox and Friends" just hours before he was sacked, lavishing praise upon Trump and Hegseth:
Mike Waltz was on Fox & Friends just hours before his firing slathering praise on Trump and Pete Hegseth
[image or embed]
— Aaron Rupar ( @atrupar.com) May 1, 2025 at 8:17 AM
Responding to Waltz's ouster, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) took a sardonic swipe at Hegseth on social media.
"Pete Hegseth shows real leadership by passing the blame to Mike Waltz," she wrote. "Was it Waltz who set up Signal on Hegseth's office computer and added his wife, brother, and lawyer in a war plan group chat?"
Democratic strategist Mike Nellis also zeroed in on the defense secretary,
writing on the social media site X that "firing Waltz is an admission of guilt by the administration about the leaking of classified war plans."
"They have to fire Hegseth now—especially after he leaked to his wife, brother, and personal attorney," Nellis added. "Complete shitshow."
Sean Vitka, executive director of the online activist group Demand Progress, said that Waltz' firing underscores the need for a Signalgate probe—which Republicans in the House of Representatives blocked on Tuesday.
"Waltz, and Defense Secretary Hegseth, put our service members and national security at risk by recklessly chatting about imminent military plans on channels that could have been spied on by foreign adversaries—channels that Waltz compromised with his incompetence," Vitka continued.
"Waltz's firing is just the beginning of the overdue accountability that the American people, including our men and women in uniform, deserve," he added. "Congress must demand answers about how our military was exposed like this, and why."
Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who was former Vice President Kamala Harris' 2024 running mate, responded to Waltz's dismissal in six words on social media.
"Mike Waltz has left the chat," he said.
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