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New Biden environmental regulations ‘failed’ small businesses, top House Republican says

New Biden environmental regulations ‘failed’ small businesses, top House Republican says

FIRST ON FOX: House Small Business Committee Chair Roger Williams, R-Texas, is demanding answers from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over a set of new federal proposals he claims “failed” to consider the potential harm to Main Street America business owners. In a letter to the EPA Wednesday, just hours before a full committee hearing on EPA’s regulations, Williams argued recent regulations targeting certain chemicals have costs small businesses more than $249.7 billion since 2021, coupled with millions of paperwork hours for businesses of all sizes. “On day one, this Administration started wrapping Main Street — and the American economy — in red tape, and they haven’t stopped,” Williams said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “We know the EPA is one of the worst regulatory offenders in all of government. … They seem determined to regulate some industries, like oil and gas, out of the marketplace.  “For America’s economy to get back on track, the federal government needs to get out of the way and let Main Street work. More regulations will only serve to run our economy further into the ground.”  COVID-19 RELIEF FRAUD LED TO BILLIONS IN TAXPAYER-FUNDED PAYCHECK PROTECTION PROGRAM LOANS LOST In the letter, obtained by Fox News Digital, Williams identified specific rules that have sparked concern among small business owners, such as the proposed ban on the commercial use of ethylene oxide (EtO), a chemical essential in the sterilization of medical equipment. Williams argues the ban could force small medical device manufacturers to adopt costly or less effective sterilization methods, potentially jeopardizing their operations and leading to financial strain. “While larger entities may be able to afford to comply with this rule, small businesses may not be able to shoulder the costs and could be forced to shut down,” Williams wrote.  BIDEN ADMIN PROBED AFTER FOX NEWS DIGITAL SHOWS IT MAY HAVE FABRICATED PAPER TRAIL TO SHUTTER CHEMICAL PLANT Another regulation is the requirement for oil and gas companies to actively search for methane leaks in their facilities. If businesses do not comply, they could be fined. “Additionally, the rule could require businesses to capture excess methane that is currently being released or flared,” Williams wrote. “This would require a costly retooling. Industry has described this regulation as incoherent and indicated it would limit the ability of companies to innovate. Nearly 90 percent of all oil and gas extractors are small businesses, these rules will disproportionately increase costs for them, and may result in many small wells closing.” Other regulations mentioned by Williams include those targeting perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), measures to mitigate emissions of particulate matter and a proposed rule mandating carbon capture technology in power plants. Industry associations such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and American Petroleum Institute (API) have previously warned of the potentially wide-ranging impacts of more restrictive particulate matter restrictions. In a September letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan, those groups and 30 other industry associations said the regulations could lead to onerous permitting requirements that would “freeze manufacturing and supply chain investments.” FOSSIL FUEL INDUSTRY UNLEASHES ON BIDEN FOR HALTING KEY NATURAL GAS PROJECTS According to the American Action Forum (AAF), a center-right policy think tank led by former director of the Congressional Budget Office Douglas Holtz-Eakin, the administration has enacted 774 final rules, costing businesses $451.7 billion. In the letter, the House Committee asked the EPA to provide the following information by the end of the month, for each of the regulations: 1) the estimated number of impacted small businesses, 2) the estimated additional compliance costs for small businesses, 3) the location where small businesses can access analysis on the rules’ impact, and 4) a list of alternatives considered to mitigate the impact on small businesses. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) unveiled the regulations last week in a joint announcement with environmental activists, saying limiting particulate matter known as PM2.5 or soot would have health benefits for Americans nationwide. The rulemaking lowers the annual PM2.5 standard from a level of 12 micrograms per cubic meter to a level of 9 micrograms per cubic meter. “Today’s action is a critical step forward that will better protect workers, families and communities from the dangerous and costly impacts of fine particle pollution,” Regan told reporters in a call. “The science is clear. Soot pollution is one of the most dangerous forms of air pollution and is linked to a range of serious and potentially deadly illnesses, including asthma and heart attacks.” According to EPA, the regulations will prevent up to 4,500 premature deaths and 290,000 lost workdays while yielding up to $46 billion in net health benefits by 2032. And the agency further estimated that, for every $1 spent complying with the PM2.5 regulations, there could be up to $77 in human health benefits by 2032. Fox News’ Thomas Catenacci contributed to this report. 

Who is Mazi Pilip, the ‘unique’ GOP candidate who failed to secure Santos’ House seat

Who is Mazi Pilip, the ‘unique’ GOP candidate who failed to secure Santos’ House seat

The Republican candidate for New York’s vacated 3rd Congressional District, Mazi Melesa Pilip, seemed locked in a tight race with former Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi ahead of Tuesday’s special election, but she came up short against the longtime Democrat politician. “She’s a unique candidate,” New York-based Republican election attorney Joseph Burns said of Pilip in an interview with Fox News Digital. “She certainly hasn’t been in the public eye as long as Tom Suozzi… he’s undoubtedly a well-known commodity.” Burns’ comments came as the battle between Pilip and Suozzi reached its final day Tuesday, ending what has been a closely contested race. Polls both from internal and public sources had shown almost a dead heat throughout, with the upstart Pilip looking to take down a candidate with deep roots in the district. At the end of a primary day that saw snow piling up on streets and sidewalks, Democrat voters turned out to hand Suozzi, the long-time New York and DC political fixture, a decisive win. However, this may not be the last time that voters hear from the newcomer Pilips.  The race may already be on for the next general election for NY-3. With a campaign apparatus up and running, Pilip could quickly transition to the normally scheduled congressional elections in November for a rematch with Suozzi but with the possible added dynamic of former President Trump at the top of the ticket. CLOSE RACE TO REPLACE SANTOS HEATS UP AHEAD OF ELECTION DAY SNOWSTORM Pilip’s history in the suburban New York City district is much shorter than Suozzi’s with her election to the Nassua County Legislature in 2021. But Pilip didn’t even live in the U.S. until 2005, immigrating to her new home after being born in Ethiopia and fleeing with her family at age 12 to Israel, where she eventually served with the Israeli Defense Forces. The GOP candidate also originally registered as a Democrat in 2012, a party affiliation that has yet to change despite her runs for office as a Republican, according to a report from Politico last year. Pilip’s rise into elected office was won on a platform opposing new taxes and increasing police patrols, according to a report from Forbes, while the candidate has also become more outspoken about opposing antisemitism since the Hamas attacks on Israel in October of last year. The suburban New York district Pilip was looking to represent was left vacant by former Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., who was expelled from Congress last year amid multiple controversies that included being indicted on federal charges over allegations he defrauded donors. NEW YORK SPECIAL ELECTION CANDIDATES CLASH OVER BORDER CRISIS, ABORTION: ‘YOU CREATED THIS ISSUE’ Despite a recent national trend that has seen suburban voters inch closer to Democrats, the Long Island suburbs have voted solidly Republican in elections over the last three years. The familiar Suozzi was able to buck the trend. “In this day and age, it can work against you, being a politician who has been in public office and in the public eye for as long as [Suozzi] has,” Burns said. “If you’re seeing what’s going on, whether it’s the spike in crime, whether it’s with the migrant crisis, whether it’s run-of-the-mill Albany dysfunction, to some degree it is not a surprise that voters would want something different.” Pilip sought to capitalize on the issues pushing some New York voters away from Democrats, telling Fox News in an interview Monday that Democrats such as Suozzi are responsible for both crime and the migrant crisis in the district. “The migrant crisis… it’s a big issue for the 3rd Congressional District,” Pilip said. “When you are weak on crime, when you don’t support law enforcement, and then you have wide open borders, you are bringing unvetted immigrants. This is a formula that we are seeing, a perfect formula for all these issues.” DEMOCRAT SUOZZI RUNNING FOR GEORGE SANTOS SEAT TAKES HEAT FOR 2019 POST ON ICE AMID NEW YORK’S MIGRANT CRISIS “You know the difference between me and you?” she said. “You are a talker. I am the person who will deliver.” Fox News’ Emma Colton contributed to this report. 

3 Republicans vote against impeaching DHS Secretary Mayorkas

3 Republicans vote against impeaching DHS Secretary Mayorkas

Three Republican lawmakers voted against impeaching Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas Tuesday night as the House of Representatives successfully impeached the border chief over his mishandling of the illegal immigration crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border. Reps. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., Ken Buck, R-Colo., and Tom McClintock, R-Calif., bucked their party to side with Democrats in opposing Mayorkas’ impeachment. This is the first time a Cabinet secretary has been impeached by the U.S. Congress since 1876. The 214-213 vote comes after Mayorkas narrowly defeated impeachment last week when every House Democrat showed up to protect him, including Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, who temporarily left the hospital where he was recovering from surgery to cast his vote. HOUSE VOTES TO IMPEACH DHS SECRETARY MAYORKAS OVER BORDER CRISIS House Republicans have accused Mayorkas of ignoring existing immigration law and worsening the situation at the Southern Border. The three Republicans who voted against impeachment on Tuesday have criticized Mayorkas’ handling of the border but expressed reservations over whether it rose to the level of impeachment. McClintock warned it could set a precedent for political impeachments that could harm Republican officials in the future. “Swapping one leftist for another is a fantasy, solves nothing, excuses Biden’s culpability, and unconstitutionally expands impeachment that someday will bite Republicans,” McClintock said last week. But House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., pushed back on concerns about precedent when speaking to reporters hours before the vote on Tuesday. “Mayorkas is an exceptional case in U.S. history,” Johnson said, adding that the secretary has done more “damage on the country than any Cabinet secretary that’s ever been.” Johnson also spoke about the likely scenario that the impeachment would go nowhere in the Democrat-controlled Senate. “The House has a constitutional responsibility, as I’ve said many times. It’s probably the heaviest next to a declaration of war. And we have to do our job regardless of what the other chamber does,” he said. HOUSE FAILS TO IMPEACH DHS SECRETARY ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS IN MAJOR BLOW TO GOP Two impeachment articles were approved against Mayorkas by the House Homeland Security Committee: one alleging he “refused to comply with Federal immigration laws” and the other alleging he violated “public trust.” The Department of Homeland Security criticized House Republicans for holding a second Mayorkas impeachment vote on Tuesday, pointing to comments by GOP lawmakers who have called the effort a waste of time. “House Republicans’ baseless push to impeach Secretary Mayorkas has already failed once, with bipartisan opposition,” the department said. “If Members of Congress care about our national security, they should listen to their fellow Republicans and stop wasting time on this pointless, unconstitutional impeachment – time that could be spent addressing the issue by advancing bipartisan legislation to fix our broken immigration laws and provide needed resources for border security.” A DHS spokesperson said House Republicans “will be remembered by history for trampling on the Constitution for political gain rather than working to solve the serious challenges at our border.” “While Secretary Mayorkas was helping a group of Republican and Democratic Senators develop bipartisan solutions to strengthen border security and get needed resources for enforcement, House Republicans have wasted months with this baseless, unconstitutional impeachment,” the spokesperson said. “Without a shred of evidence or legitimate Constitutional grounds, and despite bipartisan opposition, House Republicans have falsely smeared a dedicated public servant who has spent more than 20 years enforcing our laws and serving our country,” the spokesperson added. “Secretary Mayorkas and the Department of Homeland Security will continue working every day to keep Americans safe.” President Biden said, “history will not look kindly on House Republicans for their blatant act of unconstitutional partisanship that has targeted an honorable public servant in order to play petty political games.” “This impeachment already failed on a bipartisan vote,” Biden said. “Instead of staging political stunts like this, Republicans with genuine concerns about the border should want Congress to deliver more border resources and stronger border security.” The articles will now head to the Senate, where the office of Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Mayorkas’ impeachment trial will begin later this month. “The House impeachment managers will present the articles of impeachment to the Senate following the state work period,” Schumer’s office said in a statement. “Senators will be sworn in as jurors in the trial the next day. Senate President Pro Tempore Patty Murray will preside.” Fox News’ Elizabeth Elkind and Bradford Betz contributed to this report.

Democrats blast DHS Secretary Mayorkas impeachment as GOP ‘political’ stunt: ‘No evidence of wrongdoing’

Democrats blast DHS Secretary Mayorkas impeachment as GOP ‘political’ stunt: ‘No evidence of wrongdoing’

House of Representatives Democrats are decrying the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas as a “political” stunt. Representative Anna Eshoo, D-C.A, said that Mayorka’s historic impeachment on Tuesday was a “political stunt” and that there was “no evidence of wrongdoing.” “With no evidence of wrongdoing, House Republicans voted to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas today after the House rejected an identical resolution last week,” Rep. Eshoo said. “This is an abuse of the solemn power of impeachment which the Constitution reserves for extraordinary circumstances when officials have engaged in serious misconduct. Secretary Mayorkas is the first cabinet secretary impeached in nearly 150 years and the first ever impeached without evidence of impropriety.” “Astonishingly, House Republicans took this drastic step while refusing to even consider the bipartisan border security bill proposed by Senate negotiators. It’s long past time for Republicans to abandon their harmful political stunts and instead work to advance real solutions to our nation’s challenges,” the Representative continued. HOUSE VOTES TO IMPEACH DHS SECRETARY MAYORKAS OVER BORDER CRISIS Representative Pramila Jayapal, D-W.A, a member of the Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Subcommittee, said that the “do-nothing” Republicans continue to “waste time and resources” on “baseless, partisan attacks.” “Today, the ‘do-nothing’ Republican Party continues to waste time and resources that could be spent working for the American people on baseless, partisan attacks of Biden Administration officials as they take up this sham impeachment vote of Secretary Mayorkas for the second time in two weeks, after an embarrassing failure last week,” Rep. Jayapal said in a statement. “There is no question that the immigration system is broken – and what the American people want and deserve is an orderly and humane system that properly processes people and modernizes an outdated immigration system that has not been updated in over 30 years to reflect for the needs of our American economy, communities, and families. The situation that we’re seeing at the southern border is a direct result of this failure to address the underlying system, compounded by the extreme policies of the Trump Administration,” she continued. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., previously called the case against Mayorkas a “sham impeachment” and a “new low for House Republicans.” “This sham impeachment effort is another embarrassment for House Republicans,” Schumer said. “The one and only reason for this impeachment is for Speaker Johnson to further appease Donald Trump.” The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said that the vote moved forward “without a shred of evidence or legitimate Constitutional grounds.” HERE ARE THE 3 HOUSE REPUBLICANS WHO TORPEDOED MAYORKAS’ IMPEACHMENT VOTE “House Republicans will be remembered by history for trampling on the Constitution for political gain rather than working to solve the serious challenges at our border,” DHS spokesperson Mia Ehrenberg said in a statement. “While Secretary Mayorkas was helping a group of Republican and Democratic Senators develop bipartisan solutions to strengthen border security and get needed resources for enforcement, House Republicans have wasted months with this baseless, unconstitutional impeachment. President Joe Biden blasted House Republicans immediately after the vote. “History will not look kindly on House Republicans for their blatant act of unconstitutional partisanship that has targeted an honorable public servant in order to play petty political games,” he said. Biden said that Republicans have pushed Mayorkas’ “baseless impeachment” and rejected bipartisan plans. “Instead of staging political stunts like this, Republicans with genuine concerns about the border should want Congress to deliver more border resources and stronger border security. Sadly, the same Republicans pushing this baseless impeachment are rejecting bipartisan plans Secretary Mayorkas and others in my administration have worked hard on to strengthen border security at this very moment — reversing from years of their own demands to pass stronger border bills,” Biden continued.  Biden said that Congress has to give his administration the tools to address the southern border and that the House GOP has to “decide whether to join us to solve the problem or keep playing politics with the border.” HOUSE FAILS TO IMPEACH DHS SECRETARY ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS IN MAJOR BLOW TO GOP “Giving up on real solutions right when they are needed most in order to play politics is not what the American people expect from their leaders. Congress needs to act to give me, Secretary Mayorkas, and my administration the tools and resources needed to address the situation at the border. The House also needs to pass the Senate’s national security supplemental right away. We will continue pursuing real solutions to the challenges Americans face, and House Republicans have to decide whether to join us to solve the problem or keep playing politics with the border,” Biden said. The Democrat’s statement came after Mayorkas was impeached by the House of Representatives on Tuesday afternoon. A Cabinet secretary has not been impeached by the U.S. Congress since 1876. The 214-213 vote was always expected to be tight; Mayorkas narrowly escaped impeachment last week when every single House Democrat showed up to shield him, including Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, who temporarily left the hospital where he was recovering from surgery to cast his vote. Three Republicans also voted down the effort: Reps. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., Ken Buck, R-Colo., and Tom McClintock, R-Calif. Reps. Anna Eshoo, Pramila Jayapal, Sen. Schumer and the Department for Homeland Security did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.