Democrats Reject Permitting Talks Due To Trump’s ‘Lawless’ Funding Pause

A top Democratic senator says his party will not engage in efforts to pass broad legislation to streamline environmental and other permitting processes until President Donald Trump reverses course on his sweeping freeze of funding at EPA and other agencies, arguing Trump’s move shows he is unwilling to implement laws as Congress directed. “A word of warning: Democrats will not agree to any permitting reform unless and until the Trump administration ends its lawless disregard for congressional authority and judicial...