Today’s edition of quick hits.
* Big news from the EPA: “The Biden administration on Wednesday issued one of the most significant climate regulations in the nation’s history, a rule designed to ensure that the majority of new passenger cars and light trucks sold in the United States are all-electric or hybrids by 2032. Nearly three years in the making, the new tailpipe pollution limits from the Environmental Protection Agency would transform the American automobile market.”
* The CHIPS Act is making a difference: “President Biden on Wednesday awarded $8.5 billion in grants to Intel, a major investment to bolster the nation’s semiconductor production, during a tour of battleground states meant to sell his economic agenda. Speaking from the Intel campus in Chandler, Ariz., Mr. Biden said the award would support thousands of new manufacturing jobs, including ones that do not require a college degree.”
* Time is of the essence: “Congressional aides raced on Tuesday to draw up the text of a bipartisan $1.2 trillion spending deal to fund the government through September. While President Biden, Republicans and Democrats have all endorsed the agreement, they had yet to release its details and it was not clear whether Congress would be able to complete action on it in time to avert a brief partial government shutdown over the weekend.”
* Texas’ SB4: “Judges on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals appeared unreceptive to arguments by Texas’ solicitor general Wednesday that the state’s new immigration law should take effect because it ‘mirrors’ federal law. A three-judge panel of the court had ruled 2-1 late Tuesday that the measure, known as Senate Bill 4, should be temporarily blocked while the judges hear the case. Earlier Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court said that it could take effect.”
* Still waiting for rate cuts: “The Federal Reserve held its key federal funds interest rate at about 5.5% for March as it continues to fight persistent inflation in the economy. In its latest statement, the central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee noted that job gains remain strong and unemployment remains low, while price growth remains elevated, even as it has cooled since peaking in 2022.” * Ireland prepares for a leadership change: “Leo Varadkar, Ireland’s first openly gay taoiseach, or prime minister, said Wednesday that he would step down — a shocking move that he said was for both “personal and political” reasons. Varadkar, who became Ireland’s youngest taoiseach in 2017, said he would also relinquish his leadership of the center-right Fine Gael party, which forms a ruling coalition government along with Fianna Fáil and the Green Party.” * Following up a story we discussed a couple of years ago: “Legal ethics watchdogs in the District of Columbia and Georgia have dismissed complaints against the lawyer Stefan C. Passantino over allegations that he pressured a former client, Cassidy Hutchinson, to remain loyal and protect former President Donald J. Trump by saying little to Congress about his conduct in the lead-up to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.” See you tomorrow.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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