21 red states sue Biden administration over emission reduction targets

(CN) — Republican attorney generals from 21 states filed a lawsuit Thursday against President Joe Biden, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration for issuing a rule requiring states to establish targets for reducing on-road carbon dioxide emissions.

Filed in the Western District Court of Kentucky, the states claim that the executive agencies lack the authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions or to compel states to administer a federal regulatory program.

The plaintiff states include Kentucky, South Dakota, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.

They say that the agencies claimed authority under the “2012 Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act,” which was created to establish performance standards for managing bridges and paved roads on interstates, but interpreted the term “performance” to include “environmental performance” in order to further executive goals.

The regulations, announced by the Federal Highway Administration last month, are part of the Biden administration’s efforts to reduce national emissions, as transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.

While federal officials claim the rule simply adds to existing National Highway System performance measures and standards, the Republican states argue it is “arbitrary and capricious.”

Since the Obama administration, Democratic officials and environmental groups have been advocating for states to track emissions and set reduction targets as a way to monitor how state transportation agencies affect Americans’ means of travel and its environmental impact.

But others, such as Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, argue the reality of achieving “net-zero” greenhouse emissions means “drastic changes” as most Americans still drive internal combustion engine cars and much of the country still relies heavily on coal for electricity.

Although there is no penalty for failing to achieve reductions, Cameron argues in the states’ complaint that the rule requirements will affect “the American economy” by forcing states to “make choices about projects, contracts and regulations in order to meet the declining targets.”

In the suit, Cameron adds that “any mandated decline in on-road CO2 emissions will disproportionately affect states with more rural areas,” because rural residents tend to drive more miles per day than those living in urban areas.

“States with fewer metropolitan areas have fewer options available to them to reduce CO2. Many of the ideas for how states can decrease GHG emissions — congestion pricing, road pricing, ramp metering, increased coordination with transit and non motorized improvements, paying fees to scrap low mileage heavy duty vehicles — are options more conducive to metropolitan areas, not rural ones,” Cameron wrote.

“Low population densities limit the efficacy of public transit and congestion pricing as options that would reduce vehicle miles traveled and, consequently, CO2 emissions,” he added.

The filing comes just two days after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a similar suit against the U.S. Transportation Department, calling for the rule to be vacated. Texas was the country’s largest producer of carbon dioxide in 2021, producing 13.5% of the nation’s total emissions, according to Choose Energy’s August analysis of data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis said in a press release, “Florida will not sit idly by while the Biden Administration tries to force the Green New Deal into existence through the U.S. Department of Transportation. Florida will always fight for freedom and against the federal government’s unlawful efforts to control the American people.”

from Courthouse News

Senate confirms former Cherokee Nation AG Hill to Oklahoma district court

WASHINGTON (CN) — The Senate made history Tuesday as it voted to approve the nomination of Sara Hill, former attorney general for the Cherokee Nation, for a vacancy on Oklahoma’s northern federal district court.

The upper chamber voted 52-14 to confirm Hill, who became the fourth Indigenous woman to be appointed to the federal bench by the Biden administration — and the first ever in Oklahoma. She is only the eighth Indigenous person in U.S. history to receive a lifetime judicial appointment.

Hill’s nomination had the support of the Sooner State’s all-Republican Senate delegation, who backed her appointment despite calls to reconsider from Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt.

During a confirmation hearing last month, Senator James Lankford thanked the White House for working alongside Oklahoma Republicans to reach a compromise.

“Oklahoma and the White House don’t agree on a lot of things,” the lawmaker said, “but we can find common ground and we are able to work on things together.

Carl Tobias, chair of the University of Richmond School of Law, said Tuesday that Senator Lankford and fellow Oklahoma Republican Markwayne Mullin “deserve much credit” for supporting Hill’s nomination and for their bipartisan compromise. Tobias projected that a second Northern District of Oklahoma nominee, John Russell, will be confirmed in the new year.

Meanwhile, advocacy groups sounded off Tuesday evening to applaud Hill’s confirmation.Civil rights coalition the Leadership Conference for Civil and Human Rights said in a statement that the jurist’s appointment was a “critically important step toward ensuring that our federal courts truly reflect and represent the rich diversity of our nation.

”In a separate statement, The Native American Rights Fund pointed to what they said was Hill’s breadth of experience, “including a depth of understanding of tribal sovereignty that is far too often lacking on the judicial bench.” 

While she had the support of her Republican senators, Hill’s appointment became the subject of scrutiny for some GOP lawmakers. During her confirmation hearing, Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee grilled the nominee about, among other things, her time as the Cherokee Nation’s natural resources secretary from 2015 to 2019.

Lawmakers including South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham needled her for participating in a tribal delegation to North Dakota’s Standing Rock Reservation in 2016, during protests opposing the rerouted Dakota Access oil pipeline.

Although Graham appeared to suggest that her involvement with the protest would bias her against the fossil fuel industry, Hill assured lawmakers that her record also included work with energy companies.

“Working directly with those pipeline companies to make sure that they’re in compliance with the law is something that I’ve done,” she said.

Hill also brushed off Republican questioning about a migrant youth holding facility operated by a Cherokee Nation contracting company, arguing that the firm operates independently of the tribal government and that the facility in question was not located within her jurisdiction.

Meanwhile, the Senate Tuesday afternoon also voted to confirm Christopher Fonzone as assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. It’s Fonzone’s second job as a top federal lawyer — he previously served as general counsel for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

Fonzone, whose nomination was approved on a 50-17 vote, also faced tough questions from lawmakers during a confirmation hearing in early November. Republicans dialed in on his private practice work at law firm Sidley Austin — particularly legal work he did for Chinese telecommunications company Huawei and Beijing’s commerce ministry.

The nominee told lawmakers that he had done only “a small amount of work” for those clients at the request of the law firm’s other partners, and that it had not affected his ability to impartially represent the ODNI.

Tobias observed that Fonzone, who also worked as a deputy assistant and counsel to former President Barack Obama, “knows his way around D.C. … so [he] brings much relevant experience.”

The Senate continued its work Tuesday as lawmakers languish in Washington, their holiday recess delayed while Democrats and Republicans struggle to work through their differences on a proposed White House aid package for Ukraine and Israel. 

The GOP has demanded that the legislation include language strengthening U.S. border security — it is unclear whether negotiations have made enough progress to allow lawmakers to hold a vote this week, possibly forcing the Senate to take things up again in the new year.

from Courthouse News

Lawmakers spar over transparency as Republicans look to formalize Biden impeachment inquiry

WASHINGTON (CN) — Ahead of a crucial House vote on a resolution to formally authorize impeachment proceedings against President Joe Biden, Democrats blasted their Republican colleagues Tuesday for what they framed as an attempt to conceal the probe from public scrutiny.

The lower chamber is expected to vote on the proposed measure this week, which would further expand House Republicans’ ongoing investigation into the Biden family and their finances. 

Lawmakers have yet to uncover any solid evidence that President Biden was involved in any financial malfeasance, but that hasn’t stopped GOP leaders from making sweeping allegations against the president, including claims that Biden leveraged his political clout to advance the business dealings of his son Hunter.

Democrats, on the other hand, have disparaged their colleagues’ investigation as a political stunt — retribution on behalf of former President Donald Trump, who was impeached twice during his one term for conduct related to a Ukrainian influence scheme and his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.

Meanwhile, Republicans’ proposed impeachment resolution took a step closer to the House floor Tuesday morning as the lower chamber’s Rules Committee met to approve the measure. Despite the strong contentions of some GOP lawmakers, the panel’s Republican leadership sought to approach the impeachment probe with a lighter touch.

“We are here to determine a process, not an outcome,” said Oklahoma Representative Tom Cole, the Rules Committee chairman. “We are here to assert our Article I responsibility, not to act as judge and jury.”

Formally authorizing impeachment proceedings, Cole reasoned, would give House committees “the strongest legal standing” to collect information and enforce subpoenas related to lawmakers’ probe of the Biden family.

The proposed resolution, the Oklahoma Republican added, was based on a framework set by Democrats in 2019 as they moved to impeach Trump the first time. While Republicans opposed such legislation at the time, Cole explained, it set a precedent for future impeachment proceedings.

“Having created this procedure in 2019, it’s appropriate that we follow it in 2023,” he said.

Democrats took the opportunity to again slam their Republican colleagues for attempting to move ahead with impeachment proceedings despite a lack of strong evidence implicating President Biden in any wrongdoing.

“This impeachment sham … has no credibility, no legitimacy and no integrity,” said Massachusetts Representative Jim McGovern, the Rules Committee’s Democratic ranking member. “Every single Republican allegation has been debunked, discredited or disproven.”

McGovern accused his GOP colleagues of pursuing impeachment in a bid to get former President Trump reelected and to shield him from scrutiny over a litany of criminal charges.

“They want to hang around Joe Biden’s neck to tarnish him as he heads into the next election,” he said. “They think it will muddy the waters and confuse people who know in their gut that Trump is a criminal. “

Lawmakers sparred over the language of the proposed impeachment resolution, which Democrats argued gives Republicans license to conduct their probe behind closed doors and out of the public eye.

GOP lawmakers voted down an amendment offered by Colorado Democrat Joe Neguse, who suggested that the resolution should explicitly commit to transparency during the impeachment process.

Such language, Neguse told his colleagues, had been present in Democrats 2019 impeachment resolution but is nowhere to be found in the current measure, which he called a “glaring omission.”

“I don’t think this was an accident,” the Colorado lawmaker said. “It wasn’t an error by omission. It was intentional.”

Firing back at Neguse, Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie shifted the blame onto Democrats, arguing that Democrats had conducted closed-door interviews with witnesses in their 2019 impeachment inquiry and that the GOP was simply following their lead.

“There was no semblance of openness,” Massie said.

Neguse parried his colleague by pointing out that those private meetings had taken place before Democrats passed their formalized impeachment resolution, which mandated transparency in the process. On the flipside, he said, the Republican version opens the door for lawmakers to shroud the Biden probe in secrecy.

“That’s all I’m trying to figure out,” Neguse told Massie. “Why is the language permissive? Why has ‘open and transparent’ been deleted?”

The Kentucky Republican did not directly answer the question, again falling back on his argument about how Democrats handled their impeachment investigation before the 2019 resolution was passed.

Cole later interjected, explaining to Neguse and his fellow Democrats that language about transparency had been removed to give committee chairs more discretion in what material is made public during the formal impeachment inquiry.

“We trust the chairmen to do the right thing,” he said. “We want these committees to operate independently.”

As of Tuesday afternoon, the Rules Committee had yet to vote on whether to advance the proposed impeachment resolution to the full House. 

Whether Republicans can get the measure through the lower chamber, though, remains an open question. Under the GOP’s already razor-thin majority — which shrank this month after lawmakers voted to expel New York Representative George Santos — the party can only afford to lose around three votes.

Some congressional Republicans, such as Colorado Representative Ken Buck, have expressed reticence about formalizing the probe, casting aspersions on whether President Biden indeed committed impeachable offenses.

from Courthouse News

‘Barbie’ leads Golden Globe nominations with 9, followed closely by ‘Oppenheimer’

(AP) — Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” dominated the Golden Globe Awards nominations with nine nods for the blockbuster film, including best picture — musical or comedy, as well as acting nominations for Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling and three of its original songs.

It was closely followed by its release date and meme companion Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer,” which scored eight nominations, including best picture — drama and for actors Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr. and Emily Blunt.

In a statement, Gerwig said she “can’t wait to bring the Barbie party to the Globes.”

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The revamped group, now a for-profit endeavor with a larger and more diverse voting body, announced nominations Monday for its January awards show, after scandal and several troubled years, including one without a broadcast. Cedric the Entertainer and Wilmer Valderrama presided over the announcements from the Beverly Hilton Hotel, where the show will also take place on Jan. 7.

Films nominated for best motion picture drama included “Oppenheimer,” Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Bradley Cooper’s “Maestro,” Celine Song’s “Past Lives,” Justine Triet’s “Anatomy of a Fall” and Jonathan Glazer’s “The Zone of Interest.”

In the best motion picture musical or comedy category, “Barbie” was joined by “Air,” “American Fiction” “The Holdovers,” “May December” and “Poor Things.”

Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Poor Things” and Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” both received seven nominations each. “Poor Things” saw nominations for Lanthimos, its actors Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, and Tony McNamara for screenplay. “Killers of the Flower Moon” got nods for Scorsese, for direction and co-writing the screenplay with Eric Roth, and stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone and Robert De Niro.

Stone, who was also nominated for the Showtime series “The Curse,” said in a statement that she was “feeling extremely bewildered and thankful for it all.” She also said her “Poor Things” character Bella Baxter is her favorite.

DiCaprio praised Gladstone in his statement: “She is the soul of our film and helped to bring this sinister and painful part of our nation’s history to life,” he wrote. The film is about the murders of wealthy Osage individuals in Oklahoma in the early 20th century.

“Barbie” tied for the second-most nominations in Globes history with “Cabaret,” from 1972. Robert Altman’s “Nashville” remains the record-holder with 11 nominations. It went into the morning as a favorite and got a big boost from its three original song nominations, including “I’m Just Ken,” and one of the year’s new categories, recognizing cinematic and box office achievement. One person who was not nominated was America Ferrera, who delivered the movie’s most memorable monologue.

“Succession” was the top-nominated television program, with nine nods including for series stars Brian Cox, Jeremy Strong, Sarah Snook and Kieran Culkin, followed by Hulu’s “The Bear.”

As always there were some big surprises, like Jennifer Lawrence getting nominated for her bawdy R-rated comedy “No Hard Feelings” for best performance by a female actor in a musical or comedy. She was nominated alongside Robbie, Stone and Fantasia Barrino (“The Color Purple”), Natalie Portman (“May December”) and Alma Pöysti (“Fallen Leaves”).

Barrino heard the news from her husband who she immediately called back to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.

“My voice is shot because I’ve been screaming, crying and just telling God, ‘Thank you.’ I almost allowed fear to hinder me from this role, to keep me from this role,” she told the AP through tears. She’s been on the road for work and said she’s excited to go home and experience it with her children.

“The Color Purple” was expected to do better. The adaption of the stage musical got only two nominations total, both for actors, for Barrino and Danielle Brooks for her supporting performance. Left out was Colman Domingo, who was nominated for best drama actor for “Rustin.”

Cord Jefferson’s comedy “American Fiction” also came up with only two nods, best musical or comedy and for lead actor Jeffrey Wright, who plays a frustrated writer.

“I don’t think it’s totally healthy to think about these things too much, but they’re there, so one does,” Wright told the AP Monday. “I’m really pleased that the film is being recognized more so than my own personal recognition.”

Sofia Coppola’s widely acclaimed “Priscilla” got only one nomination, for actor Cailee Spaeny’s portrayal of Priscilla Presley. Her category mates in best female performance in a drama include Gladstone, Annette Bening for “Nyad,” Sandra Hüller for “Anatomy of a Fall,” Greta Lee for “Past Lives” and Carey Mulligan for “Maestro.”

The Globes won’t have to worry about anyone criticizing its “all male” directors this year, however. Gerwig was nominated as was Celine Song, for her romantic debut “Past Lives,” alongside Nolan, Scorsese, Cooper and Lanthimos.

Netflix got the most nominations overall, with 13 total for a slate which included “Maestro,” “May December” and “Rustin,” followed by Warner Bros., which made “Barbie” and “The Color Purple” with 12.

Ridley Scott’s “Napoleon” was not nominated at all. Instead, its star Joaquin Phoenix was recognized for “Beau is Afraid” in the lead actor comedy/musical category, with Wright, Matt Damon (“Air”), Nicolas Cage “Dream Scenario,” Timothée Chalamet (“Wonka”) and Paul Giamatti (“The Holdovers”). Michael Mann’s “Ferrari,” with Adam Driver, and Wes Anderson’s starry “Asteroid City” also got zero nominations.

The voting body has now grown to 300 members, following backlash to a 2021 report in the Los Angeles Times that found that there were zero Black members in the group that was then composed of only 87 foreign journalists.

Perhaps as a result, there were more international films and actors nominated in prominent categories including the Finnish comedy “Fallen Leaves,” the courtroom thriller “Anatomy of a Fall” and the harrowing Auschwitz drama “The Zone of Interest.”

The 81st Golden Globes will be the first major broadcast of awards season, with a new home on CBS, but no word yet on a host. It’s been tumultuous few years behind the scenes in the aftermath of the L.A. Times report, which also exposed ethical lapses like its members accepting lavish gifts and travel from awards publicists and studios.

The Globes had long been one of the highest-profile awards season broadcasts, second only to the Oscars. Before the pandemic, it was still pulling in around 19 million viewers. The show was touted as a boozy, A-list party, whose hosts often took a more irreverent tone than their academy counterparts.

Some years, the HFPA were pilloried for nominating poorly reviewed films with big name talent with hopes of getting them to the show, the most infamous being “The Tourist,” with Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp. In the past decade, they’ve more often overlapped with the Oscars.

This year, NBC’s Tuesday night broadcast got its smallest audience ever for the ceremony, with 6.3 million viewers.

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By LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer

AP Film Writer Jake Coyle and National Writer Jocelyn Noveck contributed from New York.

from Courthouse News

Jayden Daniels, the dazzling quarterback for LSU, is the AP college football player of the year

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels is The Associated Press college football player of the year, the school’s second winner in the past five seasons.

Daniels received 35 of the 51 first-place votes and 130 total points from AP Top 25 poll voters. The Heisman Trophy finalist finished comfortably ahead of Washington quarterback Michael Penix, who was second with 15 first-place votes and 97 points.

Oregon QB Bo Nix was third, with Ohio State receiver Marvin Harrison fourth and Oklahoma State running back Ollie Gordon II fifth. Nix received the other first-place vote. USC quarterback Caleb Williams, the 2022 AP Player of the Year and last year’s Heisman winner, did not receive votes this season.

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Daniels, Penix, Nix and Harrison are the finalists for the Heisman, which will be presented in New York on Saturday. The winner of the AP award has differed from the Heisman winner just twice in the past two decades.

The last LSU player to be named AP Player of the Year was Joe Burrow in 2019, when he also won the Heisman.

Daniels, a San Bernardino, California, native who transferred to LSU from Arizona State in 2022, has led the nation in total offense this season with 4,946 yards in 12 games (412.2 yards per game). He has passed for 3,812 yards, which ranks third nationally. His 40 TDs passing ties for first nationally with Nix, who has played in one more game than Daniels.

The 6-foot-4, 210-pound Daniels rushed for 1,134 yards and 10 TDs. His 50 touchdowns rushing and passing combined, along with a 2-point conversion on a passing play, has made him responsible for a nation-high 302 points.

As a youth athlete, his nickname was “Smooth,” he said in an interview with The Associated Press, “because it looks like I’m not running fast or running hard … but I’m moving faster than what most people think.”

As productive as Daniels has been as a passer, his elusiveness and breakaway speed as a scrambler have distinguished him. During a 52-35 victory over Florida, Daniels became the first Football Bowl Subdivision QB to pass for more than 350 yards and rush for more than 200 in a game.

“His ability to run when things are not there is unique,” LSU coach Brian Kelly said. “His speed, his durability, his toughness, puts him up there with the great ones.”

Daniels rushed for touchdowns of 85 and 51 yards against Florida, and said the latter exemplified his instinctive approach to scrambling. He said he read a linebacker’s eyes before darting behind him and then weaving his way to the end zone.

“It’s just all instincts,” Daniels said. “It’s not something that I think about pre-snap.”

His approach comes with risk and puts a premium on toughness.

A big and arguably late hit at Missouri briefly forced Daniels out of that game with a deep bruise in his ribs. He returned to lead LSU to a comeback victory, highlighted by his 35-yard scoring run. The rib injury bothered him for two more games.

“My pain tolerance is high,” Daniels said. “I was able to go out there and deal with it.”

LSU (9-3) was knocked out of contention for an SEC title when it lost to Alabama, a game in which Daniels spent most of the fourth quarter on the sideline with concussion symptoms after a penalized hit by linebacker Dallas Turner. Until that point, Alabama’s defense had struggled to contain Daniels.

“That still burns me,” Daniels said. “Obviously, we lost to a very good team, but I felt like it would have been a whole different story if I was in there.”

Daniels said it’s important to him to credit his team’s role in any individual accolades he receives, from the offensive line to the running backs and his pass-catchers.

“Without them, I wouldn’t be in a position like this where I was receiving any type of award,” Daniels said. “That’s my thing, is to make sure they feel a part of it.”

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By BRETT MARTEL AP Sports Writer

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