Oklahoma’s Governor Appointed Alan Armstrong to the Senate as a Permitting Reform Hail Mary Gov. Kevin Stitt told NOTUS that he picked Armstrong after talking with Majority Leader John Thune about what it would take to finally accomplish permitting reform.

Can an Oklahoma businessman swoop in to Congress and push permitting reform over the line?

Gov. Kevin Stitt seems to think so. He told me that’s why he appointed Alan Armstrong.

But the Senate is a place where new people and ideas usually go to wither…

The Trump Administration and Maryland Are Both Suing DC Water Over Potomac Sewage Spill The suit marks a change in target for Trump, after he had initially blamed Maryland Gov. Wes Moore for the spill.

NEWS: Both the Trump administration and Maryland are separately suing DC Water over the disastrous Potomac Interceptor spill.

Both suits dropped today. They allege significant failings by the utility.

The full list also has lots of independent academic researchers who study the many areas regulated by the EPA, including people focused on air pollution, forever chemicals, water quality, and chemical toxicity.

The companies with people on the board include Chemours, Exxon, Dow Chemical, Corteva Agriscience, and AGPROfessionals.

Inside Lobbyist Efforts to Gut Federal ‘Forever Chemical’ Regulations More than 500 pages of emails, internal presentations and talking points obtained by NOTUS detail lobbying efforts around the EPA’s decision to walk back standards.

The person from Chemours is toxicologist Shawn Gannon.
@taylorgiorno.bsky.social previously reported that Chemours used Gannon's research on PFOA to push against EPA's "forever chemicals" regulations.

Lee Zeldin's EPA named its new scientific advisory board today. On the list:

- 6 people from chemical, fertilizer, and oil companies
- 1 climate change skeptic
- 1 clean air skeptic

Chemours used research from one of the newly-named advisors to lobby against PFOA regulation.

Gov. Josh Shapiro Doubles Down on His Fight Against Rising Electricity Prices Shapiro again threatened to pull Pennsylvania out of its grid operator and announced a victory halting electricity rate increases for Philadelphia.

NEWS: Gov Josh Shapiro is still threatening to pull PA out of the region’s grid operator.

He doubled down on his threat in an interview with me today.

“Pennsylvania is no longer going to be held captive to PJM.”

The Trump Administration Is Failing to Tell Congress About the Status of Energy Projects The Interior Department missed a required deadline to submit two reports on how energy projects are progressing on federal lands.

Exclusive: Doug Burgum has blown past a deadline set by Congress to report the status of energy projects.

With Interior stonewalling clean energy, Congress required Interior to submit 2 reports every 60 days. The first reports are late.

How the Trump Administration Diverted Resources to Support Mass Deportations From prison guard training to FEMA staff, internal memos and budget footnotes reveal the extent to which the Trump administration shifted programs and personnel toward immigration enforcement.

My latest deep dive: The Trump admin diverted resources and taxpayer dollars intended for national security, natural disasters, and diplomacy, repurposing them for the deportation agenda.

It’s happening across government, from FEMA to State to DOJ.

Welp. Quite the line from today’s inflation numbers:

“The gasoline index increased 21.2 percent over the month, the largest monthly increase since the series was first published in 1967.”

U.S. Cadets Were Stuck in the Persian Gulf After Trump Bombed Iran The Trump administration failed to warn vessels with close ties to the U.S. military ahead of the strikes, leaving them trapped in the region.

SCOOP: The Pentagon failed to warn ships carrying supplies for the US military before starting the war in Iran.

The ships got stuck in the Persian Gulf.

They’re still stuck. And for a month, they were stuck w/ a group of college students — merchant marine cadets.

Absolutely wild story about U.S. Merchant Marine Academy cadets getting stuck in the Persian Gulf as the United States began bombing Iran.

“Nobody told them. They were caught unawares.”

Via @annackramer.bsky.social Jasmine Wright & Joe Gould of @notus.com: www.notus.org/defense/us-c...

Trump Administration Forecasts Long-Term High Gas Prices From Strait of Hormuz Closure The Energy Information Agency is struggling with unknowns about the Strait of Hormuz in its models and predicted that average gas prices will get as high as $4.30 per gallon.

Trump admin acknowledged today that they're in the dark about the long-term price effects of the Strait of Hormuz closure.

"Just as we had never before seen the strait close, we’ve never seen it reopen. What exactly that looks like remains to be seen."

Democrats’ Probe Into Noem, Lewandowski Hones in on Pro-Trump Donor’s Contracts Rep. Robert Garcia has requested information from William Walters, who is tied to five companies that received hundreds of millions of dollars in federal contracts.

I found the amount of money that the White House gave Department of Homeland Security for "executive travel," including "leasing jets."

It's $205 million.

Details below, in our new story about Dems probing the Corey Lewandowski pay-to play allegations

Trump’s ‘God Squad’ Exempts the Oil Industry From Protecting Endangered Rice’s Whales Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth cited the war in Iran as one reason he sought the exemption.

BREAKING: The God Squad voted unanimously to give the oil industry a pass from protecting the approximately 50 remaining critically endangered Rice's whales in the Gulf of Mexico.

Pete Hegseth even cited the Iran war as part of the justification.

Feels like the right moment to re-introduce myself: I cover how the Trump admin is reshaping government, and our world, for
@notus.com

If you're excited about our ambitious, optimistic vision for the future of journalism: My signal is annakramer.54, plz send tips or just say hello!

An Immigration Official Invested in a Company Boosted by a Trump Trade Deal. The White House Credits an NFL Owner. A White House official attributed the purchase to inspiration from a Wall Street Journal article featuring Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.

A senior White House official bought stock in a gas company now benefitting from the Japan-US trade deal.

The White House told me her husband bought the stock because of a WSJ story about Cowboy's owner Jerry Jones investing $1 billion in the company.

Pentagon Called ‘God Squad’ to Cut Protections for Endangered Whales in the Gulf of Mexico Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth cited national security concerns for the request, a new legal filing shows.

UPDATE: A federal judge just ruled that a “God Squad” meeting can go ahead for end of March.

The meeting was called by Pete Hegseth. He’s invoking national security to get the oil industry exempted from endangered species protections in Gulf of Mexico.

The Trump administration is simultaneously trying to

1: Exempt offshore oil from protecting the whales.
2: Stop offshore wind in order to protect the whales.

Pentagon Called ‘God Squad’ to Cut Protections for Endangered Whales in the Gulf of Mexico Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth cited national security concerns for the request, a new legal filing shows.

NEWS: Pete Hegseth is invoking "national security" to exempt the oil industry in the Gulf of Mexico from having to follow endangered species laws.

There are only ~50 Rice's whales left in the Gulf. They are at risk of extinction.

ICE Plans to Expand Deportation Fleet With 10 New Airplanes The Trump administration has given ICE $464.5 million to purchase eight Boeing 737s and two Gulfstream G650s, which are often used as private jets.

scoop: The Trump administration gave ICE $465 million to buy ten planes for its deportation flights, including two gulfstream G650s more commonly used as private jets

Link to IG report here: www.doioig.gov/sites/defaul...

Looks like the Trump admin quietly cancelled an Interior Department program for canal improvements. Just so many cancellations over the last year that the smaller things are slipping under the radar.

From Interior's inspector general report👇

Hi Kate — I'm the climate and environment reporter at NOTUS. Any chance you'd be willing to speak with me about your resignation? I'm on Signal at annakramer.54

Elizabeth Warren Led a Key Housing Bill. She Might Lead to Its Downfall. Stakeholders and a range of lawmakers are unhappy with the result of Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s work with the White House to draft a major housing bill passed by the Senate.

SCOOP: Sen. Elizabeth Warren shepherded a major housing bill through the Senate — it’s now at risk of tanking in the House

Sources say she has boxed House Democrats out of negotiations, which is imperiling its support in the lower chamber
www.notus.org/housing/eliz...

you know gas prices are getting bad when the gig companies start announcing price relief programs.

my inbox this morning:

Trump’s DOGE Cuts Slashed Staff That Handled Middle Eastern Oil and Gas Crises Six months before going to war in Iran, the U.S. government cut staff that would have been central to the current situation.

NEWS: Six months before the Trump admin began bombing Iran, the Department of State fired its oil and gas experts.

State’s energy division got completely DOGE’d. And with it went the people who knew how to plan for a global energy crisis.

Millionaires Are Overrepresented in the U.S. Senate — By a Lot It raises questions around how a group of mostly multimillionaires makes policy that affects millions — and how expensive it is to run for Senate in the first place.

The Senate is a millionaires club 💰 73% of senators have a median net worth of more than $1 million, compared to just 7% of the U.S. population!

That's one of the many findings from Capitol Gains, a @notus.com project all about wealth in Congress 🧵 www.notus.org/capitol-gain...

NEWS: Trump admin hit with a lawsuit to stop it from breaking up NCAR, the nation’s leading weather and climate research center.

From the suit: “Federal agencies and officials… are waging a campaign of retaliation against the State of Colorado.”

It feels unbelievably good to be in a newsroom that’s growing and ambitious. Very few in DC journalism are lucky enough to say that right now. Especially excited to be working with @jeffstein.bsky.social and @joegould05.bsky.social

Signal is annakramer.54 if you want to send tips our way