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Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Escalating ICE raids pull California Democrats back into immigration fight
SAN FRANCISCO — The Trump administration's increasingly aggressive moves on immigration are pulling Democrats back into a border security debate they had tried to ignore. For months, Democrats scarred by the politics of the issue sought to sidestep President Donald Trump's immigration wars — focusing instead on the economy, tariffs or, in the case of deportations, due process concerns. But in the span of a week, that calculation was jolted in California, after a series of high-profile raids and arrests, including of a labor union leader and dozens of other people in Los Angeles, and with President Donald Trump on Saturday announcing the deployment of 2,000 National Guard troops to the area. In this citadel of Democratic politics, party officials from the governor's mansion to city halls are suddenly tearing into Trump on immigration again, inflaming a debate that worked to Trump's benefit in 2024 — but where Democrats believe they now have a political opening. 'We were wrong on the border,' said Rep. Scott Peters, a Democrat from San Diego who chided Immigration and Customs Enforcement over a raid at a popular restaurant in the city. 'But it is not hard to explain to average Americans why what's happening here is unproductive. It's so un-American, and it's so cruel.' Peters and other San Diego leaders — including Democratic Reps. Juan Vargas, Sara Jacobs and Mike Levin — were quick to condemn the recent raid on an Italian restaurant in the trendy South Park neighborhood, where around 20 masked agents stormed the restaurant and handcuffed workers as a rattled crowd looked on. Four undocumented immigrants were arrested. The lawmakers called the agents' tactics 'needlessly reckless' and said the heavy-handed approach 'terrorized' residents, noting agents used flash-bang grenades to disperse those who gathered outside to protest. But if the enforcement action was aggressive, the response from Democrats represented an escalation in their engagement on immigration, too. San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, a Democrat, had previously said little about Trump or his immigration policies in the early months of his second term — similar to other blue-city mayors in California who've sought to avoid drawing the president's ire. But in recent days, Gloria sharply criticized federal officials over the raids. And then came the immigration sweeps in Los Angeles, where union officials said the Service Employees International Union's state president, David Huerta, was injured and arrested. Rep. Derek Tran, a Democrat from Orange County, who last fall flipped a hotly contested GOP seat, said on X that he was 'appalled by this clear violation of first amendment rights,' while Rep. Jimmy Gomez called it part of a 'nationwide pattern of suppression.' Protests erupted in the city, and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass decried immigration enforcement tactics she said 'sow terror in our communities.' 'These are fear-driven, military-style operations that have no place in a democratic society,' said Mark Gonzalez, a Democratic state Assemblymember whose downtown LA district was the epicenter of Friday's raids. The next day, when Trump announced the Guard's deployment, Democrats rushed to take a stand in a fight shifting from deportations to the deployment of the Guard. Gov. Gavin Newsom blasted the measure as 'purposefully inflammatory.' And when Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth threatened to deploy the U.S. military, too, Newsom posted on social media, 'This is deranged behavior.' In a note to his super PAC list, he said, 'These are not people who have some deep conviction about protecting law enforcement. This is a President who failed to call up the National Guard when it was actually needed — on January 6th — and then pardoned the participants as one of his first acts as president. They want a spectacle. They want the violence.' For the party at large, it's a notable swing from the immediate aftermath of Trump's victory in November, when many Democratic leaders in California and elsewhere sought to moderate on the issue — or at least strike a more muted tone than they did during Trump's first term. Polling suggests that voter frustration over Democrats' handling of border security and crime played a strong role in Trump's sweeping return to power, and many elected officials adjusted in response. Newsom was among them. He has avoided using the word 'sanctuary' to defend the state's immigration laws that limit police cooperation with ICE. He also vowed to veto a Democratic-led bill that would have applied such restrictions to state prisons and is now proposing steep cuts to a health care program for undocumented immigrants. Earlier this year, he suggested the legal fight over Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland resident mistakenly deported by the Trump administration and imprisoned in El Salvador — he is now back in U.S. custody and facing federal human trafficking charges — was a 'distraction' intended to take Democrats' focus away from other parts of Trump's agenda (Newsom's office later said his remarks were misconstrued). But in recent days, the governor has criticized federal deportation efforts, including reports that federal authorities threatened the family of a Bakersfield girl with a rare, life-threatening medical condition with deportation, despite the family earlier being granted humanitarian protection. 'The @GOP are sending a 4 year old off to her death without a care in the world. It's sick,' Newsom posted on X. The Trump administration has accused Democrats and the media of distorting the facts of the case, noting the girl wasn't actively being deported. Department of Homeland Security Officials said the family has since been approved to stay in the U.S. while she receives medical care. White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in an email that the left's 'unhinged smears' of immigration-enforcement tactics have led to a surge of assaults on ICE agents. 'President Trump is keeping his promise to the American people to deport illegal aliens,' she said. 'It's disturbing that Democrats would side with illegal aliens over Americans and stoke hatred against American law enforcement.' In a social media post, Trump said, 'If Governor Gavin Newscum, of California, and Mayor Karen Bass, of Los Angeles, can't do their jobs, which everyone knows they can't, then the Federal Government will step in and solve the problem, RIOTS & LOOTERS, the way it should be solved!!!' ICE officials have also defended the agency's actions in the San Diego raids, saying agents wear masks due to escalating death threats and online harassment. The agency said it deployed flash-bang grenades when the crowd outside the restaurant 'became unruly' and posed a potential danger. Regarding the arrest of SEIU's leader, federal authorities said Huerta had blocked an ICE vehicle while agents were serving a warrant. Still, the headline-grabbing incidents and images of residents clashing with ICE agents have provided an opening for Democrats to put the Trump administration on the defensive — over raids, accounts of children being separated from their parents during ICE detentions and migrants being arrested in federal courthouses while attending legal proceedings. Recent polling suggests that after making gains with Latino voters in 2024, Trump's support among Latinos is falling off. 'It's one thing when you're talking about illegal aliens in the abstract,' said Mike Madrid, a veteran political consultant and anti-Trump Republican. 'It moved from the abstract to the real. It's cruelty for cruelty's sake, and that's where you're going to lose support.' Chris Newman, legal director with the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, said while Democrats were hurt in the 2024 election by the Biden administration's handling of immigration, the politics are shifting as Trump tries to carry out his promise of mass deportations. 'When you see these types of Gestapo-style tactics playing out in real life, the whole country is recoiling to that,' said Newman, who represents the family of Abrego Garcia. He has criticized Democrats, including Newsom, over their response to the Abrego Garcia case, which captured national headlines due to Trump's defiance of multiple federal court orders. In that case, Democrats focused their messaging not on the humanitarian toll of deportations, but due process and the rule of law. Newman said the latest raids show Democrats hesitant to attack Republicans over their immigration policies have misread the moment: 'The wrong lesson (from the 2024 election) is that immigration is inherently a losing issue for Democrats at the top level. The right lesson is that what … the American public wants is a clear, legible immigration policy.' Among the most outspoken California Democrats in recent days has been San Diego Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera, who was pilloried by conservative media outlets over his Instagram post that included a photo labeling ICE agents as 'terrorists' in the restaurant raid. The post drew national attention, with White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller accusing politicians on the left of 'openly encouraging violence against law enforcement to aid and abet the invasion of America.' Elo-Rivera, who's also a member of the progressive Working Families Party, said while the restaurant incident made headlines, it was indicative of more aggressive ICE actions that have rattled his district near the U.S.-Mexico border — tactics he argues are designed to stoke fear. He said while Democrats did a lot of 'hemming and hawing' post-election over the party's stance on immigration, they now have a chance to make a sharp contrast with the GOP by consistently advocating for the dignity and rights of migrants. 'Immigration is not a distraction for Democrats. We just need to have the conversation on our terms,' Elo-Rivera said. 'Unfortunately, there's folks that think they need to see a poll first before they take a position.'
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
San Diego lawmakers demand federal investigation into ICE raid at local restaurants
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Local and state lawmakers are calling for a federal investigation into a recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid that took place at two popular San Diego restaurants. The operation, which occurred on May 30 at Buona Forchetta and Enoteca Buona Forchetta, has sparked outrage over what critics describe as 'excessive' and 'theatrical' enforcement tactics. In a formal letter sent to ICE's Office of Professional Responsibility, U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), along with Representatives Scott Peters (D-Calif.-50) and Juan Vargas (D-Calif.-52), demanded an investigation into the use of force, legal compliance, and community impact of the raid. The lawmakers cited reports that approximately 20 ICE agents in military-style gear entered the restaurants during peak dining hours, deploying flash-bang grenades and detaining four employees. Witnesses say the raid caused panic among patrons and staff. RELATED: Outrage and solidarity after ICE raid shakes South Park restaurant 'This troubling incident is not an isolated case,' the lawmakers wrote. 'Rather, it appears to be part of a broader pattern of escalated and theatrical immigration enforcement operations across the country.' The lawmakers pointed to other recent ICE actions — including a raid at a Los Angeles nightclub and an arrest in Massachusetts where agents smashed in a car window to detain a Guatemalan man — as part of what they describe as a disturbing trend of high-profile, aggressive tactics targeting immigrant communities. The raid has drawn strong criticism from local leaders, including San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, who condemned its impact on public trust, safety and the local economy. Community advocates also expressed concern about the effect the operation could have on immigrants' willingness to report crimes or engage with law enforcement. The letter outlines several questions for ICE, including what threat assessments justified the use of flash-bang devices in a civilian dining environment, whether legal protocols were followed, and whether local authorities were consulted beforehand. RELATED: California senator slams ICE raid at South Park restaurants: 'weaponized hate' Padilla, Schiff, Peters, and Vargas also raised concerns about broader immigration enforcement practices under the Trump Administration, linking the San Diego operation to what they called a 'misuse' of federal power aimed at instilling fear rather than ensuring public safety. Along with their call for an investigation, the lawmakers also sent a separate letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, expressing alarm over ICE agents targeting immigrants at courthouses, including the San Diego Immigration Court. The ICE raid has become a flashpoint in California's ongoing struggle with federal immigration enforcement, especially in sanctuary cities where officials have sought to create a more welcoming environment for immigrant communities. The lawmakers have requested a detailed report from ICE's Office of Professional Responsibility by July 7. As of now, ICE has not publicly responded to the demands. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
New York Times
02-06-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Inside the Bengals' offensive line reset: Scott Peters ‘brings a breath of fresh air'
Even during the May OTA malaise, few drills draw the eye more than the athleticism and advanced drill work of the Bengals' skill players. Joe Burrow slips and slides through tackling dummies before leaping to uncork off-platform throws. Ja'Marr Chase goes airborne and casually snags a one-handed pass over his head. Tee Higgins accelerates, then toe-taps on the sideline with the same ease as he did catching the game-winning touchdown against the Broncos in December. Advertisement Off in the distance, however, away from the star spotlight, you can see the offensive line group. The action looks, well, different. In the early portions of practice, they can be seen merely standing, each with an arm extending into a partner's chest, seemingly holding each other up and keeping that pose for extended stretches. Not exactly advanced athleticism theater. Yet, that's 100 percent the point for this group under new offensive line coach Scott Peters. He's tasked with installing a new set of techniques designed to improve consistency across one of the most inconsistent units in football last season. For now, that has Peters dedicating valuable time and resources to the most foundational details. Sometimes it's as simple as recalibrating the expected body positioning of a Bengals offensive lineman. 'It's a drill we'll use to test someone's posture because if you have a bad posture, you won't be able to sustain that,' Peters said. 'You won't be able to hold them up. If your arm gets broken down, you shouldn't fall forward. If someone is leaning on them, I should be able to stop you with one arm and just breathe and relax. If you knock my hand down, I shouldn't fall.' Center Ted Karras calls Peters' approach a 'huge refresh' that finally formalizes what he's been trying to explain to young linemen for years regarding his hand technique and the importance of posture. But even he's still learning rather than teaching these days. 'A lot of it is brand new for me,' he said, 'so, Year 10, that's pretty unique.' Unique, indeed. The entire process achieves a rare accomplishment during the non-contact portion of the NFL schedule in making the Bengals' offensive line one of the most interesting position groups on the field. 'It gives a chance to build the fundamentals, then we talk about when and where you apply those things,' Peters said. 'You are building a toolbox.' Peters arrives in Cincinnati with a background in jujutsu, but his philosophy fills with baseball and boxing metaphors. He talks about throwing strikes, changeups, counter-punches and approaches. Embracing the sweet science and cerebral nature in this battle of the big boys is the essence of his coaching style. Advertisement When fans or even trained eyes watch the Bengals' offensive line this fall, there won't be a noticeable difference in what pass protection looks like. 'Maybe to the nuanced eye,' Karras said. 'Hopefully, it translates to more one-on-one wins.' That's the bottom line here. Peters wants to increase the Bengals' batting average in protecting Burrow. That doesn't mean winning with dominating blocks. It means not whiffing. 'We have to bat a thousand,' Peters said. 'We are not trying to hit home runs. We are trying to get base hits and high averages.' The Bengals ranked dead last in the NFL in ESPN's Pass Block Win Rate last season, winning just 50 percent of the time. The Broncos led the NFL at 74 percent. The league average was 60 percent. The team's offensive line posted an average finish of 27th in PFF's offensive line rankings over the last five years and never above 20th. Out of 143 qualifying NFL offensive linemen last season, only Karras (6th) finished higher than 79th for the Bengals in blocking efficiency on true pass sets. How effectively the Bengals' linemen adapt, implement and self-correct Peters' more aggressive techniques can change those numbers. At least, that's the theory those charged with protecting the franchise quarterback are buying. That's why conversations about how the early days of this recalibration are going quickly go deep into the weeds. The specificity and detail with which these new tools are taught is 100 percent what makes them effective. 'It's not easy to start from zero,' Peters said. 'Some of the techniques are new, it's not just go out there and throw your hands out there. It's how you do it, from what platform, from what foundation your body operates from so your strikes are impactful and you are doing it without having to compromise posture. Guys will throw heavy hands and get beat and wiped and stuff. It is teaching them a foundation of how you throw a proper strike. You throw a proper strike and do it with good mechanics and ramp up the speed it looks like you have more pop in your hands, you have more length, you can play with better posture so if they did wipe your hands or knock you hands down you wont' be staggering forward and get beat.' Guard Cordell Volson perks up when the conversation turns to posture. Volson, too often over the last three years, would be doing just what Peters described and falling forward if his hands were wiped away. The same can be said for Cody Ford and seemingly everyone who played guard. There's a belief that merely mastering a posture that keeps the battle alive, even if the defender successfully wipes the hand away while simultaneously bringing more power to the punches that do connect, can shift those win-rate averages from league worst to something more manageable. Advertisement Half of that battle lives in the confidence to take the fight to the opponent and add different tools so the lineman isn't doing the same thing every snap. 'You want to be able to confidently throw hands,' Peters said. 'Some guys don't throw hands because they are nervous about getting wiped. It's like a boxer going into the ring and not throwing a punch because he doesn't want to get hit. You are going to have to throw. We know what they are going to try to do. We want to try to build them a way to respond as part of an automatic response.' Former offensive line coach Frank Pollack was in Cincinnati for four seasons after replacing Jim Turner, head coach Zac Taylor's first offensive line coach. Pollack is 57 and played with Jerry Rice. Turner is 59 and came from a military background. Peters, 46, retired after seven seasons in the NFL in 2009. His hands-on style, approachable mentality and new-school tactics have resonated. 'Scott is a really open guy,' said Volson, who accepted a pay cut rather than a release because he says he believed in what Peters could do for his career after being benched last season. 'You can bounce ideas off him and ask him questions. We can play more toward our skill set. He instills a lot of confidence in us. I think he brings a good energy. We enjoy talking to him. We enjoy going into meetings with him. I think that's really cool. It definitely makes my day way more enjoyable, that's for sure.' Left tackle Orlando Brown enters his eighth season on his third NFL team. As a captain last year, he saw the toll of the season and the battles many of his linemates faced wear on them as the season progressed. The difference, even at this point, has stood out. 'It's good for a lot of guys,' Brown said. 'Especially those that maybe struggled recently. He brings a breath of fresh air.' Advertisement Fresh air and resetting expectations are why they are easing through the motions. The 32-year-old Karras said he was anxious to view tape of the first Phase 2 practice because he was purposely slowing down to work on applying the new styles, even as the oldest player on the entire roster. This might not make the summer sizzle reel on Instagram, but those days will come. 'The first thing is making the guys aware that the things are possible that we do,' Peters said. 'And teaching them how to move and the mechanics, because you are not going full speed. You have to teach them the mechanics of how to move, the tools and all the components. Then, as we go forward, you just apply this particular technique.' Offensive line junkies love this stuff. They could debate all day the value of two-hand punches versus one-hand, reactionary versus aggressive, vertical sets versus jump sets. Those details are everything for Peters' crew. To everyone else just wanting Burrow upright, it's much more basic in the endgame. 'What he is teaching is all we are trying to do is increase our win-percentage chances on a one-on-one block because we are going to have more one-on-ones than anyone else in the league,' Karras said. 'Whatever increases that threshold of percentage chance to win.' (Top photo of center Ted Karras and guard Dylan Fairchild practicing at OTAs: Albert Cesare / Imagn Images)
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Tax credit cuts could spoil an even more important clean energy goal
As budget negotiations grip the US Congress, some lawmakers are already looking ahead to the next big energy fight, one with even higher stakes for clean energy and the AI power race: Permitting reform. Bipartisan discussions 'are being seeded now' on the scope of a bill that could speed up approvals for new grid lines and pipelines, and restrict the use of litigation to block such projects, Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.) told Semafor, and could lead to draft legislation 'pretty quickly' once the budget talks conclude. But the appetite for compromise on permitting will depend on the outcome of the budget: Democrats may feel burned by tax credit cuts, and Republicans may be able to score some permitting wins without a separate compromise bill. So far, preliminary hearings on the subject this year have shown 'the consensus around developing bipartisan permitting reform legislation,' Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.), who chairs the upper chamber's Environment and Public Works Committee, told Semafor. 'I continue to work with my colleagues across both chambers to make our permitting and environmental review processes more efficient, predictable, and transparent, so that we can complete projects of all types.' As much as clean energy companies would like to keep their current tax benefits, slow permitting bureaucracy and legal entanglements are still the biggest bottlenecks for the industry and its fossil fuel competitors: The existence of hypothetical tax credits is no use if projects can't get built to tap them. The budget reconciliation bill that passed the House of Representatives last week included provisions for fossil projects to pay a fee to jump ahead of the permitting queue, but stricter rules in the Senate about what exactly can be included in a budget bill mean those provisions are likely to get dropped, analysts say. Budget reconciliation was never going to be an effective forum for permitting reform; a bipartisan bill is still the only way to make the necessary changes, and make them stick. 'Everything the Trump administration can do or has done on permitting is prone to reversal,' said Xan Fishman, senior managing director of the energy program at the Bipartisan Policy Center think tank. 'After reconciliation, everyone will look around and say, 'We still need permitting reform'.' Conditions are favorable for a deal that builds on the one advanced last year by Sens. Joe Manchin (now retired) and John Barrasso (R-Wyo.). Key committee leaders, including Reps. Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) and Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) in the House and Sens. Capito and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) in the Senate, have expressed interest in prioritizing a permitting deal. The center of gravity has shifted from the Senate's Energy and Natural Resources committee, where Manchin sat, to Capito's Environment and Public Works committee, where issues around environmental impact statements and judicial rules can be more readily addressed. While some Republicans are pushing to break off chunks of permitting in smaller bills, such as a 'permit-by-rule' bill passed by the House Oversight committee last week, a spokesperson for Peters said that the goal is still 'a bigger more comprehensive product' that can address the full laundry list of permitting issues. Even if the permitting measures that Democrats oppose are struck from the budget bill, later negotiations could still get dragged down by the tax credit cuts. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) told Politico that the Inflation Reduction Act and permitting reform were always meant to be linked, and that it's a 'fantasy' to suppose one could proceed without the other. 'If all the IRA tax credits are gutted,' Fishman said, 'there's a risk Democrats will question why they should work on permitting at all, if this stuff isn't going to get built anyway.' Meanwhile, he said, the fact that components of permitting reform remain spread across the jurisdictions of numerous committees is 'the major structural challenge for a deal.' The fate of IRA tax credits now hangs with a few key senators. Ones to watch, Heatmap reported, include Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and John Curtis (R-Utah).
E&E News
16-05-2025
- Business
- E&E News
Reconciliation bill could hobble bipartisan permitting talks
The Republicans' massive party-line tax and spending bill could upend protracted talks to overhaul the nation's permitting system. Not only is the GOP looking to enact their own language to accelerate project approvals and limit ligation, but they are also repealing broad swaths of the Democrats' 2022 climate law. Democrats had been increasingly willing to make concessions on the environment in order to accelerate renewable energy projects and get them onto the grid. Permitting reform was supposed to complement the Inflation Reduction Act. But those dynamics are changing. Advertisement 'The idea that we're going to go on and do permitting reform is fantasy,' said Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), pointing to the GOP's drive to roll back the climate law. 'They need to not trash the IRA,' said Schatz. Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.) — who has positioned himself as a dealmaker on permitting and willing to make big changes to the National Environmental Policy Act — said the Republicans' budget reconciliation package could indeed further imperil a bipartisan deal. 'But I don't know what else to do about the problem, though, because the problem will still be the same the day before and the day after [Republicans] go for that awful reconciliation bill,' he said. Part of the problem, as Peters sees it, is too much red tape and litigation. That's where he coincides with the likes of House Natural Resources Chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), who doesn't think the GOP bill should hurt bipartisan talks. 'No, I don't think so because I think everybody understands reconciliation is a partisan process and you can't fix permitting in reconciliation,' Westerman said. 'You can nibble around the edges on things that have a definite budget impact. But I think there's still a lot of interest and willingness on both sides of the aisle to do a more comprehensive permitting reform package.' Permitting in reconciliation A heat exchanger and transfer pipes at a Maryland liquefied natural gas terminal. LNG projects would benefit from the Republicans' party-line tax, energy and security spending bill. | Cliff Owen/AP Republicans have long said they didn't expect many permitting provisions in their megabill because of the strict fiscal rules in the reconciliation process. Still, the changes the GOP is considering go too far for many Democrats. The Natural Resources portion of the package would allow companies to pay a fee that's 125 percent the cost of an environmental impact statement. That would accelerate reviews and shield companies from certain litigation. The Energy and Commerce portion of the budget reconciliation bill would let natural gas export companies pay $1 million to receive a positive Department of Energy national interest determination. Another provision would allow gas project developers to get expedited permitting from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission under the Natural Gas Act if they pay $10 million or 1 percent of the project's projected cost. The bill envisions permitting being completed within one year and would exempt projects from certain legal challenges. A similar timeline and fee structure would apply to carbon dioxide, oil and hydrogen pipeline approvals. The fees give Republicans the fiscal nexus they need to comply with budget reconciliation rules policed by the Senate parliamentarian. They also open the GOP to Democratic scorn. 'I think many Democrats will fairly mistrust Republicans even more on permitting if the permitting reforms in reconciliation go through,' said one House Democratic aide close to the permitting talks granted anonymity to speak freely. 'Similarly, I can imagine some Republicans will not see much of a point in further bipartisan talks if they get all their pay-to-play provisions.' 'They don't pay me to sit on my ass' Senate Environment and Public Works ranking member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), a staunch advocate of climate change, wasn't sure whether the Republican party-line bill would keep him from bipartisan permitting talks: 'I have not yet reached that conclusion.' Whitehouse said he's meeting with EPW Chair Shelley Moore Capito ( Energy and Natural Resources Chair Mike Lee (R-Utah) and ENR ranking member Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.). 'Yes, the four corners are still setting up the general legislative outline we're hoping to fill in,' he said. 'This is so far just trying to get our two key committees talking.' Whitehouse also wondered what House GOP provisions would survive the 'Byrd rule' — the reconciliation guidelines tied to former Senate Majority Leader Robert Byrd of West Virginia. Reconciliation allows the congressional majority to bypass the Senate filibuster on fiscal matters. Peters said it's been hard to meet with Republicans on bipartisan issues because of their focus on the reconciliation bill. 'So when reconciliation is over, we can hit the ground running,' he said. 'They don't pay me to sit on my ass and not do anything until only Democrats are in control, right? That's not why I'm here,' Peters said, pointing to the lingering need to address energy demand and climate change. 'Well, that didn't change. Physics and nature and chemistry didn't change, so this is less of a problem. So of course, I'm gonna try to work on it.' Reporters Nico Portuondo and Garrett Downs contributed.
