On Wednesday, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee held hearings on legislation to "modernize" the Endangered Species Act, part of a push by Republicans to roll back environmental regulations and protections. The Republicans on the committee, led by Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), and three of the five witnesses at the hearing argued that the 1973 law to keep animal species from extinction impedes oil drilling, mining, and farming, and infringes on the rights of states and private landowners. The proposed legislation would make it harder to list animals on the endangered species list and limit legal action under the 1973 law, among other changes.
Barrassso painted the bill as a way to cut "red tape," while Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) said the Endangered Species Act makes it too hard to take animals off the list, arguing that only 50 of the 1,600 species listed as endangered or threatened have been removed. Jamie Rappaport Clark, head of the conservation nonprofit Defenders of Wildlife, testified that the Obama administration removed 29 species from the endangered list in eight years, in a sign that the law is working. "For more than 40 years, the ESA has been successful, bringing the bald eagle, the American alligator, the Stellar sea lion, the peregrine falcon, and numerous other species back from the brink of extinction," she said. "Based on data from the (Fish and Wildlife Service), the ESA has saved 99 percent of listed species from extinction."
There's a parallel push to scale back the Endangered Species Act in the House — House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) wants to repeal it entirely, arguing that "it has never been used for the rehabilitation of species" but instead has "been used to control the land." On Wednesday night's Full Frontal, Samantha Bee was puzzled at the constituency for killing the Endangered Species Act. "The vast majority of Americans support wildlife protection," she said, citing a Defenders of Wildlife poll showing 84 percent support for the law (an American Farm Bureau Federation poll was more nuanced.) "'Animals are awesome' is the only safe topic of conversation most American families have left. Left-right, old-young, black-white, Americans agree: Four legs, good."
President Trump, who has already delayed adding an endangered bumblebee to the endangered species list, is expected to sign any legislation that comes to his desk. Peter Weber
On Tuesday night, the House passed a stopgap funding bill with a 359-57 vote, averting a government shutdown after the budget year ends on Sept. 30.
This measure, which keeps federal agencies running through Dec. 11, is expected to pass in the Senate. It includes Department of Agriculture subsidies for farmers and ranchers, which was pushed by the Trump administration, as well as food aid for poor families whose children cannot get free or reduced lunches due to schools being closed, something House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) requested.
In addition to keeping agencies funded, the measure also extends health programs, as well as federal flood insurance and highway and transit programs. Catherine Garcia
Cindy McCain endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Tuesday night, saying that there is "only one candidate in this race who stands up for our values as a nation, and that is Joe Biden."
Earlier in the evening, Biden announced during a virtual fundraiser that McCain, the widow of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), decided to endorse him after it was reported by multiple news organizations that President Trump called U.S. soldiers who died in combat "losers" and "suckers;" Trump has denied making the comments. John McCain was a U.S. Navy officer and prisoner of war in Vietnam, and three of his children also served in the military.
Over a series of tweets, Cindy McCain explained why she is backing Biden. "My husband John lived by a code: Country first," she said. "We are Republicans, yes, but Americans foremost. There's only one candidate in this race who stands up for our values as a nation, and that is Joe Biden."
McCain went on to say that they "don't always agree on the issues, and I know he and John certainly had some passionate arguments, but he is a good and honest man. He will lead us with dignity. He will be a commander in chief that the finest fighting force in the history of the world can depend on, because he knows what it is like to send a child off to fight." Biden's son Beau, who died of brain cancer in 2015, was a member of the Delaware Army National Guard who served in Iraq. Catherine Garcia
President Trump is actively "undermining" the guidelines developed by the White House Coronavirus Task Force, Olivia Troye, Vice President Mike Pence's former homeland security and counterterrorism adviser, told Andrea Mitchell in an interview that aired during Tuesday's NBC Nightly News.
This was made clear in June, Troye said, when Trump held a rally in Tulsa. Before resigning in July, Troye was a member of the task force, and she said staffers were "scared" to attend the rally because they knew people wouldn't be social distancing. The event was held inside and Trump didn't wear a mask, but none of this surprised Troye. "He's not actually looking out for you," she said. "He's not looking out for these people. He's not looking out for them. He just wants you in that audience so he can have the camera shot of ... his fanfare and the people around him. But the truth is, he's putting those lives at risk."
It was "very challenging" working on the task force, Troye said, because "suddenly the course of what we were doing had changed because that wasn't really what the president wanted. It's very hard when you're trying to actually base things on facts and science and on the data to have a president that wasn't focused on that." Instead, Trump was "really focused on public image, messaging, and it was really more about ... his personal agenda than really the agenda that the task force had at hand, which was how are we going to save and protect Americans."
A lifelong Republican, Troye appeared in a video released last week by the Republican Voters Against Trump organization, which revealed that she is voting for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. In the ad, Troye said Trump "doesn't actually care about anyone else but himself," and once stated that COVID-19 was "a good thing" because he didn't like "shaking hands with people. I don't have to shake hands with these disgusting people."
The White House has accused Troye of being disgruntled, and Pence's national security adviser, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, said on Tuesday he "fired her" and claimed what "she has said, I have never heard." On Twitter, Troye said Kellogg "is telling a bald faced lie to protect the president. I resigned on my own accord & was asked to stay. He never escorted me out. He knows this. I wrote a note thanking all the colleagues who had worked so hard with me in spite of POTUS & I stand by that." Catherine Garcia
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden announced on Tuesday during a virtual fundraiser that Cindy McCain, the widow of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), will endorse him.
Biden said McCain decided to make her support public after The Atlantic and other news organizations reported that President Trump called U.S. soldiers who died in combat "suckers" and "losers;" Trump has denied making these comments. Prior to McCain's death in 2018, Trump declared he was "no hero," saying of the former Vietnam prisoner of war, "I like people who weren't captured."
Biden and McCain served together in the Senate, and during August's Democratic National Convention, Cindy McCain made an appearance, discussing their friendship. She won't be the only person close to McCain to throw their support behind Biden — last month, dozens of former McCain staffers, including many who worked on his failed 2008 presidential bid, signed a letter saying they are backing Biden. Arizona is a crucial battleground state, and pundits note that her endorsement could give Biden an edge with undecided independent voters. Catherine Garcia
Now a tropical depression, Beta is stalled over the Texas coast, hovering about 40 miles north of Port O'Connor with maximum sustained winds of 30 mph, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
Beta made landfall as a tropical storm late Monday night, about five miles north of Port O'Connor. As of Tuesday evening, it is moving east-northeast at 5 mph, and by the end of this week, Beta is expected to move over Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi.
Forecasters are worried there could be extensive flooding in the Houston area, and some parts have already seen up to 14 inches of rain, the National Hurricane Center said. Since Monday evening, fire officials in Houston have conducted nearly 100 water rescues from city roads, The Associated Press reports, and residents are being asked to stay home.
"Your sedan is not a submarine," Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said. "Your minivan is not magical. So stay off the roads right now. Your destination is not worth your life. It's not worth the life of the first responder that's going to have to come and rescue you if you drive into high water and are stuck there." Catherine Garcia