Trump nominates acting EPA head, an ex-coal lobbyist, to run agency

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday nominated acting EPA chief Andrew Wheeler to run the agency permanently, the White House said, placing a former energy lobbyist at the helm of the nation’s top environmental regulator. The widely anticipated nomination provides Trump another avid supporter of his deregulatory and pro-fossil fuels agenda, but without the constant criticism over alleged mismanagement that plagued Wheeler’s predecessor, Scott Pruitt.

Wheeler took the reins at the Environmental Protection Agency on an interim basis in July after Pruitt resigned amid a slew of controversies that included his high spending on first-class travel, round-the-clock security, and office equipment.

Wheeler, 54, has overseen a number of deregulatory efforts since Pruitt’s departure, including proposals weakening Obama-era rules limiting carbon and mercury emissions from power plants, and an initiative to lift a summertime ban on higher ethanol blends of gasoline that was enacted to curb smog. In November, Trump announced during a Medal of Freedom ceremony at the White House that he had made up his mind to make Wheeler permanent, saying he had been doing a “fantastic job.” The U.S. Senate, which is led by Trump’s fellow Republicans, is expected to approve Wheeler’s nomination.

Wheeler worked at the EPA in the 1990s and later in the Senate under Republican Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma, a skeptic of mainstream climate science, before moving to the private sector as a lobbyist and consultant. He has said he is “not at all ashamed” of his lobbying for Murray Energy Corp, the nation’s leading underground coal mining company, the focus of criticism by environmentalists. Wheeler had also lobbied for utility Xcel Energy Inc (XEL.O) and consulted for biofuels industry group Growth Energy, agricultural merchant and biofuels producer Archer Daniels Midland Co (ADM.N) and International Paper Co (IP.N). Wheeler has said the EPA under his leadership would take the same course as under Pruitt, prioritizing cleaning up industrial Superfund sites, areas contaminated by hazardous waste and identified by the EPA as a candidate for cleanup, and financing investments in water infrastructure.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-epa/trump-nominates-acting-epa-head-an-ex-coal-lobbyist-to-run-agency-idUSKCN1P324H?il=0

Iran says U.S. citizen White arrested, confirming earlier reports

GENEVA (Reuters) - Iran’s Foreign Ministry said a U.S. citizen, Michael White, had been arrested in the city of Mashhad, state news agency IRNA reported on Wednesday, confirming reports in U.S. media. The New York Times reported on Monday that Michael White, a 46-year-old U.S. Navy veteran, was arrested while visiting Iran and had been held in jail since July on unspecified charges. Iran had not confirmed the arrest before ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi’s statement, which did not specify when it took place. Qassemi said Iran had informed the U.S. government about White’s arrest within days of when he was taken into custody.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-usa/iran-says-u-s-citizen-white-arrested-confirming-earlier-reports-idUSKCN1P3253?il=0

>>4682353

They might be begging for him to come back once Wheeler starts rolling back their plans even further.

>>4682400

Not for much longer IMHO..we will see soon!

Fed policymakers say can wait on further U.S. rate hikes

RIVERWOODS, Ill./CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (Reuters) - U.S Federal Reserve policymakers can wait on any further interest rate hikes until they have a better handle on whether growing risks will undercut an otherwise solid U.S. economic outlook, several policymakers said on Wednesday. After months of tumult in the stock market and rising speculation over a coming recession, presidents of four of the 12 Fed regional banks said they wanted greater clarity on the state of the economy before extending the central bank’s rate hike campaign any further.

Three of the four, Charles Evans of Chicago, Eric Rosengren of Boston, and James Bullard of St. Louis, are voting members this year on the Federal Open Market Committee, the bank’s 10-member policy-setting panel. Bullard has long been critical of the Fed’s rate increases, begun in December 2015, but the caution from Evans and Rosengren is new, even if they both believe growth will remain solid and rates will probably need to rise more. The fourth president, Raphael Bostic of Atlanta, said there was no urgency to raise rates further at this juncture. The remarks from the four come less than a week after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell eased market concerns that policy makers were ignoring signs of an economic slowdown. Powell said he was aware of the risks and would be patient and flexible in policy decisions this year.

Rosengren on Wednesday used those same two adjectives, while Evans said he would be “cautious.” “I think they have certainly changed their tune,” said Eric Stein, a portfolio manager for Eaton Vance who attended Rosengren’s talk. “If financial conditions continue to ease from here (as they have to start the year) and growth stays strong, I think they will still look to hike, but for now a wait and see approach is prudent.”

The new tone comes after the U.S. stock market dropped precipitously in the fourth quarter of 2018, suffering its worst December performance since the Great Depression. Other signs of tightening financial conditions surfaced as well, including a sharp slowdown in issuance of corporate bonds. Short-term U.S. interest-rate futures are now pricing in less than a 2 percent chance of a rate hike this year, and traders see a one-in-four chance of a rate cut by next January. That stands in stark contrast to forecasts from the Fed released after the central bank’s fourth 2018 rate hike in December. Those forecasts called for two more rate hikes this year.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-fed/fed-policymakers-say-can-wait-on-further-u-s-rate-hikes-idUSKCN1P31SC?il=0

>>4682406

Story goes he went to see his girlfriend..not sure who she is.

House Democrats may assess if shutdown delays IRS tax refunds

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives are considering holding hearings on the impact of the partial government shutdown on the Internal Revenue Service, with a focus on its ability to get refunds to taxpayers on time, a top lawmaker said on Wednesday.

Representative Richard Neal, chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, told reporters he wanted to be sure that the IRS begins to accept tax returns on Jan. 29, as scheduled, and that refunds go out in a timely manner. “We’re talking about (hearings) right now. The leadership and I have discussed it in the last couple of days,” the Massachusetts Democrat said.

This year’s deadline for tax filings is April 15, as usual. Each year, the IRS’s 80,000 employees process about 150 million tax returns and issue about 108 million refunds, despite having suffered repeated budget cuts in recent years.

But the partial shutdown, triggered by President Donald Trump’s demand for $5.7 billion for a U.S.-Mexico border wall, has furloughed nearly 70,000 IRS employees. The White House said this week the tax agency will somehow process returns and distribute tax refunds. Details of how this would be done were not provided. Russell Vought, acting director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, told reporters: “Tax refunds will go out.” Any delays in refunds - eagerly anticipated by millions of Americans - could be a political problem for Trump. Already, a growing proportion of Americans blame the Republican president for the partial shutdown, which has affected about a quarter of the federal government.

House Democrats on Wednesday were engulfed in legislative efforts to end the 19-day-old shutdown and were not expected to fully empanel oversight committees, including Neal’s, until late next week, meaning any hearings may have to wait for now. Neal first raised concerns about the shutdown’s impact on the IRS last week, in a letter to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

He later spoke to the two officials by phone. “It was pretty clear that when the conversation took place with the IRS commissioner and the secretary of the Treasury, that we want these refunds to go out on time,” Neal said on Wednesday. “I’m told that the tax filing season opens still on Jan. 29. So we’re going to be raising questions about that during the course of the next few days, to make sure that’s adhered to.” Neal said the average tax refund last year was $2,800, money that many families rely on to help pay for rent, food and child care. He has also expressed concern that mortgage lenders will be unable to obtain tax transcripts to verify income for loans.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-shutdown-tax/house-democrats-may-assess-if-shutdown-delays-irs-tax-refunds-idUSKCN1P328J?il=0

>>4682716

Did you mean "should" anon?

>Shouldn't take income tax out in the first place. Full refund this year for middle class and lower.

Nadler rejects Whitaker's offer to testify in February, demands hearing this month

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., on Wednesday rejected Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker's offer to testify in mid-February, and insisted that he appear sometime before President Trump's State of the Union address. "I cannot accept your proposal," Nadler wrote to Whitaker in reply to a suggestion that the hearing be held Feb. 12 or Feb. 13. "We are willing to work with you to identify a mutually identifiable date for your testimony, but we will not allow that date to slip past January 29, 2019 — the day of the President's scheduled address to Congress, when we know you will be in Washington."

Nadler said Whitaker must testify as soon as possible because Democrats are eager to hold oversight hearings on the Justice Department, and that it's been almost 15 months before former Attorney General Jeff Sessions testified before the committee. He said Whitaker's testimony is therefore needed on "a number of pressing matters," including the Trump administration's claim that terrorists are sneaking across the southern U.S. border. "We require an explanation for several apparently false statements by Administration officials about national security threats at the southern border," he wrote. Nadler added one of these was made by Trump when he said the "vast majority of individuals convicted of terrorism and terrorism-related offenses since 9/11 came here from outside of our country." Democrats want to address Trump's "near-daily statements attacking the integrity of the Department of Justice, the FBI, and Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation," Nadler wrote.

Democrats are looking to investigate the Justice Department's decision to stop supporting Obamacare, and want to ask about Trump administration efforts to weaken federal protections for civil rights. Nadler said another justification is that Democrats are preparing bills that involve the Justice Department, including "bills that address voting rights, immigration, gun violence, the Violence Against Women Act, and foreign influence on the federal government." The new committee chairman also rejected Whitaker's request that he testify at least two weeks after the partial government shutdown ends. "In 1995, the Office of Legal Counsel twice determined that, in the event of a funding lapse, 'the Department may continue activities such as providing testimony at hearings if the Department's participation is necessary for the hearing to continue,'" Nadler wrote. "Your presence is certainly necessary to this hearing." On Tuesday, CNN reported that Nadler is threatening a subpoena if Whitaker does not voluntarily appear.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/nadler-rejects-whitakers-offer-to-testify-in-february-demands-hearing-this-month

>>4682856

Ahh, got ya ;) How about they just abolish the IRS all together it only enriches the FED owners anyway.

>>4682903

I see

QQQQQQQ

>>4682913

I would just love to hear one of these people tell the fake politicians to just go to hell, in fact I'd pay to watch it happen!

>>4682921

Indeed in my pocket and yours..which is where it should be in the first place.

>>4682957

I think we should just abolish that system completely. They are (not all the employees) just an extension of the cabal and trained to take weather you were right or wrong, in your return.