Trump Races to Weaken Environmental and Worker Protections, and Implement Other Last-Minute Policies, Before Jan. 20

SilentPanda · Nov 28, 2020

Even as Trump and his allies officially refuse to concede the Nov. 3 election, the White House and federal agencies are hurrying to finish dozens of regulatory changes before Joe Biden is inaugurated on Jan. 20.

The rules range from long-simmering administration priorities to last-minute scrambles and affect everything from creature comforts like showerheads and clothes washers to life-or-death issues like federal executions and international refugees.

They impact everyone from the most powerful, such as oil drillers, drugmakers and tech startups, to the most vulnerable, such as families on food stamps, transgender people in homeless shelters, migrant workers and endangered species. ProPublica is tracking those regulations as they move through the rule-making process.

"The bottom line is the Trump administration is trying to get things published in the Federal Register, leaving the next administration to sort out the mess," said Matthew Kent, who tracks regulatory policy for left-leaning advocacy group Public Citizen. "There are some real roadblocks to Biden being able to wave a magic wand on these."

One proposal has raced through the process with little notice but unusual speed — and deadly consequences. This rule could reintroduce firing squads and electrocutions for federal executions, giving the government more options for administering capital punishment as drugs used in lethal injections become unavailable.

the Environmental Protection Agency is on the cusp of finalizing several rules that would make it harder to justify pollution restrictions or lock in soot levels for at least five years

The White House is close to completing several rules that would extend Trump's record of restricting immigration and make the changes harder for the Biden administration to reverse. The pending rules would make it more difficult to claim asylum by excluding people with criminal convictions (even those that have been expunged), drastically shortening the application time and giving immigration judges more latitude to pick and choose what evidence to consider.

Since many finalized Trump rules are currently under court challenges, the Biden administration might be able to let some of them wither or die in litigation — especially where judges have blocked or struck down the regulations and the new Justice Department could decide not to appeal.

It will also have to wrestle with other changes the Trump administration is rushing to implement, using tactics other than rule-making.

Trump Races to Weaken Environmental and Worker Protections, and Implement Other Last-Minute Policies, Before Jan. 20

The Trump administration is rushing to approve dozens of eleventh-hour policy changes. Among them: The Justice Department is fast-tracking a rule that could reintroduce firing squads and electrocutions to federal executions.

www.propublica.org

Tracking website

Tracking the Trump Administration’s “Midnight Regulations”

The administration rushed to implement dozens of policy changes in its final days. We followed some of the most consequential and controversial.

projects.propublica.org

Cocolina · Nov 28, 2020

Jakisthe · Nov 28, 2020

Cocolina said:

Tokyo_Funk · Nov 28, 2020

Burn bridges, shit on the carpet, leave all the faucets on.

The ultimate Trump tantrum on the way out.

nsilvias · Nov 28, 2020

lock this man in the bunker and dont let him out til inauguration

GeekyDad · Nov 28, 2020

Cocolina said:

Cause he wants to Make America great again? :D

Wackamole · Nov 28, 2020

Jakisthe said:

Spite, anger, hate, frustration, pettiness.

Bear Patrol · Nov 28, 2020

Republicans are fucking assholes, one and all.

T-800 · Nov 28, 2020

Can't they just be overturned using executive orders if needed?

djplaeskool · Nov 28, 2020

T-800 said:
Can't they just be overturned using executive orders if needed?

Most can, however, based on the article, there are some really brazen slash and burn moves they are trying to make, like automatically expiring regulations over 10 years old without explicit reauthorization, that could take many months to sort out.

This is far beyond removing the Ws from keyboards. They are actually trying to do as much institutional damage as possible to complicate the incoming administrations first years.

Psittacus · Nov 28, 2020

Wait if it's possible to lock in regulation for 5 years why hasn't it been done before?

Rocket Man · Nov 28, 2020

Why cant Biden reverse any executive action?

Netherscourge · Nov 28, 2020

Psittacus said:
Wait if it's possible to lock in regulation for 5 years why hasn't it been done before?

Because nobody ever thought a morally bankrupt person would be president.

If we learned anything from Trump, it's that the "honor system" or "gentleman handshakes" are not reliable means of legal limitations, and that every single power that a president has should be 100% regulated by an enforceable, written law.

aisback · Nov 28, 2020

Trump being the biggest loser ever I see

foxuzamaki · Nov 28, 2020

Horrid...

FarronFox · Nov 28, 2020

Its disgraceful what has been going in with the EPA and such since Trump took the presidency. Much of the things they've been up to should have had them renamed to the EDA (Environmental Destruction Agency).

It gets stupider since Trump likes to speak of great things done by Republicans and here he is destroying one of the things they created.

El-Suave · Nov 28, 2020

It's a dick move with consequences we don't like but if I'm not mistaken I remember having read about Obama having done the same during this period, albeit with more agreeable orders and consequences and probably with less petty motivations.
I'm not from the US, but to me the American presidential system and its powers are deeply flawed, even if the checks and blances worked, which they don't. Many presidents probably did similar things during thesee two months and don't get me started of those pardoning powers which had been used questionably before by presidents of both parties, albeit it was less mafia like about protecting their own criminal ass.

Edit: I pray for the world that we never get a US president just as evil and unlawful, but actually smart and smooth. The world would be completely fucked. We were even fucked by this clown more than I'd ever have imagined.

gozu · Nov 28, 2020

Jakisthe said:

Several possible reasons other than evil to explain GOP behavior:

Nihilism: Entropy will win anyways, why fucking bother? Let's party and burn the place down when we're about to die.

Denial : Going to eternal heaven so who cares about mortal earth? Also, money is proportional to goodness so rich people are more trustworthy than poor people. Also, being selfish is good and won't keep me from heaven.

Brawly Likes to Brawl · Nov 28, 2020

El-Suave said:
It's a dick move with consequences we don't like but if I'm not mistaken I remember having read about Obama having done the same during this period, albeit with more agreeable orders and consequences and probably with less petty motivations.
I'm not from the US, but to me the American presidential system and its powers are deeply flawed, even if the checks and blances worked, which they don't. Many presidents probably did similar things during thesee two months and don't get me started of those pardoning powers which had been used questionably before by presidents of both parties, albeit it was less mafia like about protecting their own criminal ass.

Edit: I pray for the world that we never get a US president just as evil and unlawful, but actually smart and smooth. The world would be completely fucked. We were even fucked by this clown more than I'd ever have imagined.

almost nothing about our political systems make sense. I can't believe it took just shy of 250 years for someone to realize that they could just fuck things up with no real consequence.

16bits · Nov 28, 2020

Netherscourge said:
Because nobody ever thought a morally bankrupt person would be president.

If we learned anything from Trump, it's that the "honor system" or "gentleman handshakes" are not reliable means of legal limitations, and that every single power that a president has should be 100% regulated by an enforceable, written law.

"executive order"

formasymphonic · Nov 28, 2020

Tokyo_Funk said:
Burn bridges, shit on the carpet, leave all the faucets on.

The ultimate Trump tantrum on the way out.

its this plus serving business interests above public interest

Senator Toadstool · Nov 28, 2020

Tokyo_Funk said:
Burn bridges, shit on the carpet, leave all the faucets on.

The ultimate Trump tantrum on the way out.

I mean literally ever president does midnight regulations. It's just trumps goals are just more evil. The lame duck period is a dumb idea from a bygone era. Things should be locked in place the moment the Electoral College votes.

T-800 said:
Can't they just be overturned using executive orders if needed?

No, some can just not be enforced but regulations have to go through the Administrative Procedures Act's rules and face due process and other constitutional issues.

Steel · Nov 28, 2020

gozu said:
Several possible reasons other than evil to explain GOP behavior:

Nihilism: Entropy will win anyways, why fucking bother? Let's party and burn the place down when we're about to die.

Denial : Going to eternal heaven so who cares about mortal earth? Also, money is proportional to goodness so rich people are more trustworthy than poor people. Also, being selfish is good and won't keep me from heaven.

Neither of those explain everything about the GOP as neatly as "just plain evil".

ps3ud0 · Nov 28, 2020

Someone assassinate him for gawd sake. All those guns...

ps3ud0 8)

Tremorah · Nov 28, 2020

Cocolina said:

ClickyCal' · Nov 28, 2020

Fucking monster

Allowing Federally Subsidized Homeless Shelters to Exclude Transgender People
This rule would allow Housing and Urban Development-funded homeless shelters, when segregating men and women, to assign transgender people to an area based on their biological sex, rather than the individual's self-identification.

entremet · Nov 28, 2020

Apparently the EPA will stall out a lot these now that Trump is leaving. I saw something on Twitter sourcing the NYT. Can't find the link tho.

Commedieu · Nov 28, 2020

Tokyo_Funk said:
Burn bridges, shit on the carpet, leave all the faucets on.

The ultimate Trump tantrum on the way out.

presidents should now be forced to pay deposits here forth.

call the legislation the Trump Depend.

Akai · Nov 28, 2020

25th amendment.

Steel · Nov 28, 2020

yuoke said:
Fucking monster

Oh, cool. As if he hadn't done enough to fuck up trans rights

foxuzamaki · Nov 28, 2020

El-Suave said:
It's a dick move with consequences we don't like but if I'm not mistaken I remember having read about Obama having done the same during this period, albeit with more agreeable orders and consequences and probably with less petty motivations.
I'm not from the US, but to me the American presidential system and its powers are deeply flawed, even if the checks and blances worked, which they don't. Many presidents probably did similar things during thesee two months and don't get me started of those pardoning powers which had been used questionably before by presidents of both parties, albeit it was less mafia like about protecting their own criminal ass.

Edit: I pray for the world that we never get a US president just as evil and unlawful, but actually smart and smooth. The world would be completely fucked. We were even fucked by this clown more than I'd ever have imagined.

I'm pretty sure most if the EPA stuff thats been removed or changed by trump is stuff Obama put in, you'll see a common thread whenever you read about these regulations trump stripped

JaseC64 · Nov 28, 2020

Well I hope Biden breaks every rule possible that had "gentlemens agreements" to pass everything he wants and on the way out, go ever further left just to be an ass.

Weltall Zero · Nov 28, 2020

Some of these are really silly. Like, imagine you're a dishwasher manufacturer. Would you bother designing and commercializing a new, less ecological dishwasher because of a new regulation that allows it but may not survive a year?

Taffy Lewis · Nov 28, 2020

Senator Toadstool said:
I mean literally ever president does midnight regulations. It's just trumps goals are just more evil. The lame duck period is a dumb idea from a bygone era. Things should be locked in place the moment the Electoral College votes.

Also, the electoral college shouldn't be a thing. Wouldn't have Trump without it in the first place.

N.Domixis · Nov 28, 2020

Transfer of power should happen immediately so this doesn't happen.

Kernel · Nov 28, 2020

Cocolina said:

The billionaires backing him and the GOP want to maximize their use of him while they still can.

Trump's just a proxy for them.

Zackat · Nov 28, 2020

Cartoon villain shit

Jahranimo · Nov 28, 2020

Zackat said:
Cartoon villain shit

I've always called him a cartoonish villain since 2016. Meh.

sangreal · Nov 28, 2020

El-Suave said:
It's a dick move with consequences we don't like but if I'm not mistaken I remember having read about Obama having done the same during this period, albeit with more agreeable orders and consequences and probably with less petty motivations.
I'm not from the US, but to me the American presidential system and its powers are deeply flawed, even if the checks and blances worked, which they don't. Many presidents probably did similar things during thesee two months and don't get me started of those pardoning powers which had been used questionably before by presidents of both parties, albeit it was less mafia like about protecting their own criminal ass.

Edit: I pray for the world that we never get a US president just as evil and unlawful, but actually smart and smooth. The world would be completely fucked. We were even fucked by this clown more than I'd ever have imagined.

All Presidents do, yes. Trump was able to kill all of Obama's late regulations though because they had Congress and the congressional review act lets them veto regulations permanently if they vote within I think 90 days. Also they found some sympathetic activist judges to throw out others (like expanded overtime) so they could just refuse to appeal

T-800 said:
Can't they just be overturned using executive orders if needed?

constitutionally maybe, but in practice no. Regulations aren't that easy to overturn when done properly (fortunately trump admin is not good at it)

Deleted member 25606 · Nov 28, 2020

Figured they throw in one more blow against trans people, fucking monsters.

Deleted member 19293 · Nov 28, 2020

Jakisthe said:

This is the right response.

sapien85 · Nov 28, 2020

Any chance Democrat House with a Republican Senate can pass laws limiting presidential powers like this? I mean they don't want Biden doing this shit. At the same time, starting in 2022 the House is gonna be more Republican again because of gerrymandering so the presidency might be safer for Democrats... I really wish that huge Democrat win had actually happened this year specifically for the districting.

Freakzilla · Nov 28, 2020

We knew this would fucking happen. They're gonna try to ram as much bullshit as possible before Jan 20th. And that's how you know the election fraud battle is all nonsense and he and everyone around him knows he's done.

sapien85 said:
Any chance Democrat House with a Republican Senate can pass laws limiting presidential powers like this? I mean they don't want Biden doing this shit. At the same time, starting in 2022 the House is gonna be more Republican again because of gerrymandering so the presidency might be safer for Democrats... I really wish that huge Democrat win had actually happened this year specifically for the districting.

No.

Deleted member 19293 · Nov 28, 2020

sapien85 said:
Any chance Democrat House with a Republican Senate can pass laws limiting presidential powers like this? I mean they don't want Biden doing this shit. At the same time, starting in 2022 the House is gonna be more Republican again because of gerrymandering so the presidency might be safer for Democrats... I really wish that huge Democrat win had actually happened this year specifically for the districting.

Republicans would advocate for such a thing (exceptionally hypocritically), but Democrats have no incentive whatsoever to do so when they control the House and the Presidency.

SilentPanda · Nov 28, 2020

Poison gas, firing squads: US approves more execution methods

The amended rule, published on Friday in the Federal Register, allows the US government to conduct executions by lethal injection or use "any other manner prescribed by the law of the state in which the sentence was imposed".

A number of states allow other methods of execution, including electrocution, inhaling nitrogen gas or death by firing squad.

The rule – which goes into effect on December 24 – comes as the Justice Department has scheduled five executions during the lame-duck period, including three just days before President-elect Joe Biden takes office.

A spokesperson for Biden told the AP earlier this month that the president-elect "opposes the death penalty now and in the future" and would work to end its use.

But he did not say whether executions would be paused immediately once Biden takes office.

Attorney General William Barr restarted federal executions this year after a 17-year hiatus.

This year, the Justice Department has put to death more people than during the previous half-century, despite waning public support from both Democrats and Republicans for its use.

Before the Trump administration resumed executions this year, the federal government had put only three inmates to death since 1988.

Poison gas, firing squads: US approves more execution methods

Outgoing Trump administration paves way for additional methods of executing prisoners sentenced to death.

www.aljazeera.com

mugurumakensei · Nov 28, 2020

Brawly Likes to Brawl said:
almost nothing about our political systems make sense. I can't believe it took just shy of 250 years for someone to realize that they could just fuck things up with no real consequence.

Well it took 250 years for a simultaneous trifecta of narcissist criminal in the White House plus both houses of Congress republican controlled plus several SCOTUS justices retiring or dying in succession.

FliX · Nov 28, 2020

Cocolina said:

To me it feels like someone somewhere is hoping that Biden "only" reverses 80% of Trump's shit and that 20% just stick. So anything they can do now increases the odds of something someone somewhere cares about staying around.

Mivey · Nov 28, 2020

Hardly surprising, but I hope this leads to more awareness in the US that a President can very easily abuse the powers of his office, and the US needing some major reforms, from how a President is voted for to how much power they are given once in office.

ps3ud0 said:
Someone assassinate him for gawd sake. All those guns...

ps3ud0 8)

Hope you don't get perma'd over this. Era would never be the same again.

Mivey 8)

Trump Races to Weaken Environmental and Worker Protections, and Implement Other Last-Minute Policies, Before Jan. 20

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