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Trump Sides with Oil Industry In Signing Standards Repeal
President Trump signed measures meant to halt the enforcement of existing standards from California and other states that limit the pollution from cars and trucks.
Recognizing the state’s unique air quality challenges, Congress specifically gave California the authority to set stronger tailpipe emissions standards when it passed the Clean Air Act more than five decades ago. Congress later gave other states the right to adopt California’s standards.
The following is a comment from Simon Mui, managing director for transportation at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council):
“California’s vehicle standards reduce costs for drivers, increase customer choice, boost domestic manufacturing, improve air quality and help address the climate crisis. The only losers from cleaner vehicles are oil industry billionaires, which is why they were on hand today while the president signed the measures to nix these rules.
“States know best how to strike the right balance and protect their residents from dangerous pollution. There is no reason politicians in Washington should be stepping in at this late date to try and undercut states’ protections for their residents.
“The oil industry may be celebrating today, but the rest of us are going to continue to keep fighting for cleaner air, lower energy bills and a safer climate.”
NRDC works to safeguard the earth--its people, its plants and animals, and the natural systems on which all life depends. We combine the power of more than three million members and online activists with the expertise of some 700 scientists, lawyers, and policy advocates across the globe to ensure the rights of all people to the air, the water, and the wild.
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Trump-GOP Budget Bill 'Takes From the Poor and Gives Most to the Rich,' CBO Analysis Confirms
A new report from the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the Republican legislation would cut household resources for the bottom 10% and boost them for the richest 10%, making it "uniquely regressive."
Jun 13, 2025
A new distributional analysis released Thursday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office provided the latest confirmation that the GOP's sprawling budget bill would be highly regressive, further enriching the wealthiest households while leaving low-income families significantly worse off.
The CBO estimated that, if enacted, the House-passed Republican reconciliation package backed by President Donald Trump would slash household resources for the bottom 10% of the income distribution by roughly $1,600 per year over the next decade, primarily due to the bill's massive cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
Households in the top 10%, by contrast, would see their resources increase by around $12,000 annually, the CBO found.
On the left: Bill Clinton’s 1993 deficit reduction bill - taxed the rich and gave to the poor while reducing deficits
On the right: Donald Trump’s 2025 deficit increase bill - takes from the poor and gives most to the rich while increasing deficits pic.twitter.com/mdUiBiTR7u
— Bobby Kogan (@BBKogan) June 13, 2025
Chuck Marr, vice president for federal tax policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, toldThe New York Times that the extent to which the Republican bill would redistribute wealth upward is unprecedented in his experience.
"I've never seen anything that simultaneously really goes after poor people and then really helps rich people," said Marr.
The new CBO analysis adds to the growing body of reports detailing the harms the Republican reconciliation bill would inflict on poor households. Last week, the nonpartisan body estimated that the Republican bill would strip health coverage from nearly 11 million Americans while exploding the national debt by $2.4 trillion to give tax breaks to the ultra-rich.
The CBO has also found that the Republican attack on SNAP would take food benefits from more than a million people across the United States.
"The GOP reconciliation bill is something we haven't really seen before, and as a result it's uniquely regressive," wroteNew York Times reporter Emily Badger, the lead author of an analysis contrasting the Republican bill that's currently before the U.S. Senate with past legislation dealing with the U.S. tax code and safety net.
"To the extent that some prior bills have also been regressive," wrote Badger and her co-authors, "they still haven't looked quite like this."
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'Nuclear Facilities Must Never Be Attacked': IAEA Chief Condemns Israel's Bombing of Iran
"Such attacks have serious implications for nuclear safety, security, and safeguards, as well as regional and international peace and security," said the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Jun 13, 2025
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency issued a grave warning about the potentially catastrophic environmental and human impacts of military attacks on nuclear facilities after Israel launched a massive assault on Iran's nuclear energy infrastructure, reportedly damaging the country's largest uranium enrichment site.
"This development is deeply concerning," said IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi. "I have repeatedly stated that nuclear facilities must never be attacked, regardless of the context or circumstances, as it could harm both people and the environment. Such attacks have serious implications for nuclear safety, security, and safeguards, as well as regional and international peace and security."
Grossi pointed to the IAEA's longstanding position that "armed attacks on nuclear facilities could result in radioactive releases with grave consequences within and beyond the boundaries of the State which has been attacked."
As of Friday afternoon local time, Iranian officials said radiation levels were not elevated at the Natanz enrichment site, according to Grossi. Iranian officials also said the country's Esfahan and Fordow nuclear sites were not affected by Israel's attacks.
"Despite the current military actions and heightened tensions," Grossi said Friday, "it is clear that the only sustainable path forward—for Iran, for Israel, the entire region, and the international community—is one grounded in dialogue and diplomacy to ensure peace, stability, and cooperation."
"Israel's bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities is a dangerous escalation from a nuclear-armed state that threatens to thwart negotiations on the Iranian nuclear program."
Israel's deadly attack on Iran came a day after the IAEA Board of Governors approved a U.S.-backed resolution accusing Iran of not complying with its commitments to international nuclear safeguards.
Iran responded furiously to the resolution's passage, saying it "has no choice but to respond to this politically motivated resolution" and announcing a "new enrichment facility in a secure location."
Contrary to the Israeli government's claim that Iran is racing toward a nuclear weapon, U.S. intelligence agencies have maintained that Iran is not building an atomic bomb—an assessment consistent with Iran's repeated public statements that its nuclear program is for civilian energy purposes only.
Following Israel's attack, Iran—which is not a member of the IAEA board—requested that the United Nations agency hold an emergency meeting to discuss the Israeli strikes. Reutersreported that board members Russia, China, and Venezuela supported the request for a meeting.
Melissa Parke, executive director of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, said in a statement Friday that "Israel's bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities is a dangerous escalation from a nuclear-armed state that threatens to thwart negotiations on the Iranian nuclear program."
"Israel and Iran must join the U.N. Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons without delay," said Parke. "This would require Israel to dismantle its nuclear weapons program and Iran to maintain its current nuclear safeguards framework under IAEA oversight. It is only through broad-based negotiated solutions that we can truly end the threat from nuclear weapons by agreeing to their total elimination."
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'Netanyahu Is Sabotaging Diplomacy': Israeli Attack Kills Top Iranian Nuclear Negotiator
"This action ordered by Prime Minister Netanyahu appears to deliberately undermine ongoing American diplomatic negotiations about Iran's nuclear program," said one Democratic senator.
Jun 13, 2025
Israel's large-scale military attack on Iran early Friday targeted and killed an official who was leading a committee on nuclear talks with the United States, a decision that observers and Iranian officials said was clearly designed to undercut progress toward a diplomatic agreement.
Ali Shamkhani, whose home was among those attacked by Israel on Friday, was a top aide to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and had expressed optimism in recent weeks about the prospect of improved relations with the U.S. as President Donald Trump signaled he was open to a deal.
"If the Americans act as they say, for sure we can have better relations," Shamkhani toldNBC News last month. "It can lead to a better situation in the near future."
The next round of nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran was scheduled for Sunday. One unnamed Trump administration official said that "we still intend to have talks Sunday," but Friday's attacks left the status of the already-tenuous negotiations in serious doubt, as Iran responded to Israel's assault with a barrage of drones and warnings of additional retaliation.
Trump, in a social media response to the unfolding disaster, did not sound a diplomatic note, accusing Iran of missing "chance after chance to make a deal" and threatening that the situation "will only get worse."
"Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left," added the president, who during his first White House term withdrew the U.S. from a previous nuclear agreement with Iran.
"Trump must oppose Netanyahu's escalation and pursue a diplomatic path to deal with Iran's nuclear program."
The Trump administration claimed the U.S. was not directly involved in Friday's attacks, but Israel notified Washington in advance. Israel is heavily dependent on U.S. arms, and observers said it was inconceivable that the attack went forward without at least tacit approval from the Trump administration.
New York Times journalist Farnaz Fassihi reported that Iranian officials viewed the assassination of Shamkhani as "Israel targeting and killing nuclear diplomacy with the U.S."
Others, including foreign policy analysts and Democratic lawmakers in the U.S., echoed that assessment.
"This action ordered by Prime Minister Netanyahu appears to deliberately undermine ongoing American diplomatic negotiations about Iran's nuclear program, with the latest talks scheduled for this weekend," said U.S. Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) in a statement. "Conflict should always be a last resort, especially when diplomacy is ongoing."
The biggest recipient of U.S. foreign aid appears to be starting a war with Iran, inevitably putting American targets in the region in harm’s way, undermining American diplomats and threatening our own security.
Our tax dollars at work.
— Eli Clifton (@EliClifton) June 13, 2025
Dylan Williams, vice president for government affairs at the Center for International Policy, observed that "the overwhelming consensus among Democratic lawmakers commenting on Israeli attacks on Iran tonight is that Netanyahu is sabotaging diplomacy and recklessly risking a war."
"The next step should be to make clear: No U.S. help, no U.S. forces, and no U.S. taxpayer funding for Bibi's war," Williams wrote.
The chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), warned Trump that he "must not violate the Constitution by involving American troops in Netanyahu's war without coming to Congress."
"Netanyahu's reckless strike risks provoking a wider war and pulling in the United States," said Casar. "Trump must oppose Netanyahu's escalation and pursue a diplomatic path to deal with Iran's nuclear program."
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