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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah would do away with its universal mail-in voting system under a bill sent to its Republican governor as the state’s 2025 legislative session wrapped up on Friday.

The Republican-controlled Legislature approved a proposal requiring voters to opt in to receive their ballots in the mail, meaning they would no longer get them automatically. Voters who want to return their ballots by mail or to a drop box would need to write the last four digits of their driver’s license, state ID or Social Security number on the ballot return envelope. And starting in 2029, residents who vote in person would need to show a valid ID.

If Gov. Spencer Cox signs the bill into law, it would drastically change the voting system in one of just eight states — and the only led by Republicans — that allows all elections to be conducted by mail without a need to opt in.

Cox has repeatedly expressed confidence in the state’s election security but has said he may be open to changing the mail-in voting system so that votes can be tallied faster. Currently, ballots that are postmarked by the day before Election Day can be counted within the following two weeks. The proposal awaiting Cox’s signature would move up the deadline, requiring all ballots to be in the county clerk’s possession by 8 p.m. on Election Day. His office did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment Friday.

Lawmakers pointed to the same legislative audits to make cases for and against the bill. The recent audits found no evidence of widespread fraud in Utah’s elections but identified some delays in removing deceased residents from voter rolls. Democrats said the changes were unnecessary and would make voting more difficult, while many Republicans said the voter roll issues indicated a need for new security measures.

“We have good elections in Utah,” said Sen. Mike McKell, one of the top Republicans in the chamber. “We have high confidence in our election process. We have high confidence in vote by mail. But we also have concerns with security, and what we’re trying to balance in this bill is how do we enhance security and at the same time making voting easy?”

Five Republicans joined all Democrats in opposing the bill, which passed with veto-proof margins in the House and fell one vote short of a veto-proof majority in the Senate. If Cox rejects the bill, Republican supporters would need to pull in one more senator to override his veto.

Sen. Nate Blouin, a Salt Lake City Democrat, said that by passing the bill, Republican lawmakers were feeding into “conspiracy thinking” around election security.

Republicans have sent their base mixed signals about mail-in voting since President Donald Trump falsely claimed the system was plagued with fraud to explain away his 2020 election loss. Trump continued to sow distrust even as his campaign team and the Republican National Committee began encouraging Republicans to vote by mail in the 2024 race to avoid giving Democrats an edge.

The vast majority of Utah residents mail in their ballots or deposit them in drop boxes.

Earlier versions of the bill received strong pushback from Utah’s county clerks, who have since withdrawn their opposition. But some say they have lingering concerns that the changes will make elections less secure.

The measure instructs clerks to prioritize checking ID numbers over the current practice of matching signatures to those on file. Weber County Clerk Ricky Hatch warned that could lead to a rise in voter fraud because it’s easier to get ahold of someone’s state ID number than it is to forge their signature.

“It is absolutely not a perfect bill, and that’s why the clerks didn’t support it. We simply removed our opposition,” Hatch told The Associated Press. “A big reason why we did that is because we received assurances from sponsors that they would continue to work with us to fix the remaining issues we have to help make sure voters aren’t hurt and that the process is strengthened.”

Tribal IDs would also be an acceptable form of voter identification under the version of the bill that cleared the Legislature, alleviating concerns that it would disenfranchise Native American voters in the last state that gave them access to the ballot box.

Hannah Schoenbaum, The Associated Press


EDMONTON — Premier Danielle Smith says Alberta’s trade sanctions on the United States will stay in place until U.S. President Donald Trump drops the threat of tariffs.

In a social media post Friday, Smith said the province’s measures, which include a ban on future purchases of American booze and video lottery terminals, will remain despite a partial but vague pause from Trump.

“Yesterday’s presidential executive order mandating the pause is unclear as to which goods it actually applies to and what legal forms and requirements will be needed to qualify,” Smith said.

“The government of Alberta will therefore be moving forward with our tariff response until these questions have been adequately dealt with and the continued threats and unilateral imposition of tariffs in contravention of the (Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement) has stopped.”

She is also calling on Trump to abide by the trade agreement until Canada holds its next federal election. It’s expected to take place in April but won’t be called until after the federal Liberals elect a new leader Sunday.

Smith said doing so would respect Canada’s democratic process, calm markets and “demonstrate a good faith effort to respect the agreement negotiated by this very president during his first term, while a new agreement is being negotiated between our countries that addresses outstanding trade irritants.”

Besides cutting off U.S. liquor and VLTs, the Alberta government is also looking to prioritize purchases from Canadian companies or companies from countries that don’t violate trade agreements.

Alberta joined other provinces and the federal government in pushing ahead with trade sanctions despite Thursday’s partial rollback from the White House.

On Tuesday, Trump imposed sweeping 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods, along with a 10 per cent levy on energy products, only to announce carve outs on a range of goods two days later.

The executive order delays the tariffs on goods that meet rules-of-origin requirements under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement, often referred to as CUSMA, and lowers levies on potash to 10 per cent, until April 2.

Ottawa responded by suspending its second wave of retaliatory tariffs that were to take effect in three weeks. Canada’s first round of retaliatory tariffs on $30 billion in American goods remained in effect.

Smith said the back-and-forth this week “continues to confuse Canadians and Americans alike” and has only led to volatile market shifts and investment uncertainty.

At a press conference earlier Friday, Smith said some businesses could qualify for CUSMA exceptions — it’s just a matter of filling out the paperwork. She said she also suspects a “vast majority” of Alberta energy products can be shipped into the U.S. tariff-free.

“When the U.S. administration says that 62 per cent of Canadian goods have not been compliant with the (trade agreement), it seems to me that’s a paperwork issue.”

Smith has said Alberta needs to take action, but she won’t curtail or impose counter-tariffs on oil and gas shipments, as it could escalate retribution from the U.S. and hurt Canadians.

While the province is pushing its agencies, school boards, Crown corporations and municipalities not to buy goods and services from American suppliers, Alberta Municipalities president Tyler Gandam said many municipalities already have been.

“There isn’t going to be much of a change,” he said, adding some will need to take a closer look at whether they can switch to local suppliers and service providers where possible.

Alberta estimates $292 million in U.S. liquor products were sold in the province in 2023-24.

The province also buys about $100 million worth of VLTs each year, Smith said.

Her government has also pledged to help retailers voluntarily label Canadian and Albertan products and to reach free trade and labour mobility agreements with other provinces.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 7, 2025.

Lisa Johnson and Jack Farrell, The Canadian Press


MIAMI (AP) — A company owned by President Donald Trump sued Capital One on Friday, claiming the bank unjustifiably terminated over 300 of the Trump Organization’s accounts without cause in 2021, shortly after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The suit was filed by the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust and Eric Trump in Miami-Dade Circuit Court.

The Trump Organization claims the decision by Capital One to close the accounts was an attack on free speech and free enterprise. The suit also claims the decision was a response to Trump’s political views.

“Capital One has not and does not close customer accounts for political reasons,” the company said in a statement.

The Trump Organization claims it suffered considerable financial harm and losses when Capital One notified them in March 2021 that accounts holding millions of dollars would be closed in three months. The lawsuit claims Capital One violated the law and the Trump Organization is seeking damages.

The account closures were announced about two months after Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob of several thousand Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to stop lawmakers from certifying the 2020 election results, which named President Joe Biden as the winner.

Other banks also stopped doing business with the Trump Organization around the same time, while the business and Trump family members were facing civil and criminal investigations.

The Associated Press


VANCOUVER — A British Columbia company has been given a $3.15 billion contract to build one of two icebreaker ships for the Canadian Coast Guard.

Public Services and Procurement Canada says in a statement that Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards, located in North Vancouver, B.C., will be building one of the future polar icebreakers as part of Canada’s National Shipbuilding Strategy.

The federal government says the larger and more powerful ships will ensure coast guard operations continue at higher latitudes for longer periods, while allowing its fleet to better support Indigenous people, strengthen Arctic security, advance science, and better respond to maritime emergencies.

Seaspan Shipyards CEO John McCarthy says in the statement that construction of the ship begins next month

The other polar icebreaker is being built by Quebec-based Chantier Davie Canada Inc.

Minister of Procurement Jean-Yves Duclos says in the statement that the B.C. announcement marks a “significant milestone” in enhancing Canada’s maritime capabilities, and that the state-of-the-art vessel will support critical scientific research and environmental protection efforts and ensure national security in the Arctic.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 7, 2025.

The Canadian Press


OTTAWA — The federal government is rejecting the recommendations of two of its own ministers and refusing to issue an emergency order protecting southern resident killer whales from “imminent threats” to their survival.

Instead, the Fisheries Department says “incremental measures will be pursued” to protect the salmon-eating whales that live in British Columbia waters.

Thursday’s decision has been decried by conservation groups that say the refusal to issue an emergency order puts the species at greater risk of extinction.

Groups including the David Suzuki Foundation, Raincoast Conservation Foundation and World Wildlife Fund Canada had asked for the order last year.

The government says in a statement the environment and fisheries ministers announced their opinion in November that the species faces “imminent threats to its survival and recovery.”

It says the ministers were then “obliged” to recommend an emergency order for their protection under the Species At Risk Act, but the government has declined.

“It has been determined that the most effective approach is to continue to manage human activities without making an emergency order, using existing legislative tools and non-regulatory measures,” the statement says.

“The decision also took into account social, economic, policy and other factors, and the broader public interest.”

The conservation groups said in a statement on Friday that existing protection measures “have thus far proven inadequate.”

They say “persistent and escalating threats” include inadequate salmon prey, underwater noise, fatal vessel strikes and pollution.

“The urgency of the situation demands that decision-makers act with the boldness required to save southern resident killer whales from extinction,” the groups say.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 7, 2025.

The Canadian Press


HOLLAND, Mich. (AP) — Protesters demanding an in-person town hall from their western Michigan GOP congressman chanted loudly Friday as honking drivers signaled support, disrupting the usual calm of a conservative family vacation town.

Mere hours later, Rep. Bill Huizenga held a town hall — by phone. The vocal disruption seen outside his Holland office earlier in the day was absent, as the more controlled setting allowed for questions from pre-selected letters and callers.

“I know this may not be satisfactory to some who would like to just create a scene and be, you know, be disruptive,” Huizenga said on the call. “But we know that this is extremely effective for reaching people.”

Some Republicans have opted to hold telephone town halls after GOP leaders in recent days have advised lawmakers to skip town halls that have been filled with protesters decrying President Donald Trump administration’s slashing of federal government. GOP lawmakers have at times found themselves at a loss to explain the cuts, led by billionaire Elon Musk’sDepartment of Government Efficiency, that are leaving federal workers suddenly out of jobs in communities across the country.

Trump and other Republicans have accused paid activists of taking control of town halls. On Tuesday, Huizenga told News Channel 3 in west Michigan that the outreach overwhelming his office was “funded and organized by outside partisans.”

Meanwhile, longtime Holland resident Linda Visscher and other protesters faced freezing temperatures and falling snow outside Huizenga’s office on Friday. Holding a sign that read, “Our House seat is not your entitlement, you are accountable to your constituents,” she insisted she wasn’t being paid to protest.

“I’m trying to think of a nice way of saying B.S. They are not activists,” said Visscher, who said her political affiliations “lean towards liberal.”

“People who go to town halls are concerned citizens. And just because some of the representatives are getting yelled at or uncomfortably questioned doesn’t mean that you stop doing it,” she added.

Nearly 50 people gathered outside Huizenga’s office as cars, ranging from semi-trucks to Ford pickups, honked as they drove by. His Holland office is in Ottawa County, a deeply religious area known as a bastion of conservative politics. Trump secured the area in the 2024 election with 59.5% of the vote.

Nancy Berg, a volunteer at the local Christian Neighbors food bank, held a sign opposing cuts to Medicaid. She said the food bank serves people who are food insecure and “depend on the resources we provide,” adding that she doesn’t know how they will manage if the expected cuts materialize.

Many of the questions Huizenga faced at his phone town hall related to Social Security. Among the potential changes to the Social Security Administration are layoffs for more than 10% of the agency’s workforce and the closure of dozens of offices throughout the U.S. It is all part of the Trump administration’s efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce through the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.

Huizenga insisted, “Social Security is not being touched,” adding that DOGE has no authority over it.

Despite facing critical questions, Huizenga concluded his hour-long town hall by saying, “My job as a representative is not to necessarily agree with everybody.”

“It’s also, frankly, not to just go out there and stick my finger in the wind,” Huizenga said. “I get hired to use my experience, my judgment, and then to make tough decisions. And then I get a very public job review every two years.”

Joey Cappelletti, The Associated Press



EDMONTON — Alberta’s governing United Conservatives have booted a rural backbencher from caucus following his public opposition to the government’s proposed budget.

Chief government whip Shane Getson says UCP members of the legislature voted to remove Lesser Slave Lake MLA Scott Sinclair because he intends to vote against the spending document.

Under parliamentary convention, the budget vote is a confidence vote, meaning that if it fails in the legislature, it’s expected the government will trigger an election.

Sinclair has criticized the budget’s projected multibillion-dollar deficits and its allocation of money for big cities while rural constituencies like his need roads fixed and better health care.

Sinclair was the second UCP MLA to push back against Premier Danielle Smith in the span of a week.

Airdrie-Cochrane MLA Peter Guthrie quit cabinet over his concerns with government-wide contracting processes.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 7, 2025.

Lisa Johnson, The Canadian Press


President Donald Trump said Friday he’s committed to making the U.S. a world leader in cryptocurrencies as industry leaders heaped praise on him for reversing what they said had been unfair attacks on digital assets by the previous administration.

“I thought it was very important that we stay in the front of this one,” Trump said at the first-ever White House “Crypto Summit.”

A former crypto-skeptic, Trump has warmly embraced an industry that’s shown him significant love in return and spent heavily to help him win last year’s election.

“It’s truly wonderful to see how things have changed and how the pendulum has swung back,” Cameron Winklevoss, the co-founder of the crypto exchange Gemini, told Trump.

The summit included crypto company executives, cabinet officials and lawmakers, many of whom took turns raving about Trump’s leadership on digital assets. The emboldened industry said it was unfairly treated by the Biden administration and helped Trump and other Republicans score wins in the last election.

Trump reiterated his eagerness to help the crypto industry with friendly legislation and light-touch regulations.

Friday’s summit was the latest in a series of actions the new Trump administration has taken to try and boost the crypto industry. Notably, that’s included the Securities and Exchange Commission dropping several enforcement actions against large crypto companies, including those whose leaders were at Friday’s summit.

On Thursday, Trump signed an executive order establishing a “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve,” which essentially bars the U.S. government from selling bitcoin – currently valued at about $17 billion – it has acquired through criminal and civil asset forfeiture.

The order also allows the Treasury and Commerce Departments to come up with “budget-neutral” plans for the government to acquire additional bitcoin, though no details of what those plans might look like have been released.

The order is a significant boost for bitcoin’s credibility and legitimacy. The oldest and most popular cryptocurrency, bitcoin has gone from an experiment by libertarian cryptography enthusiasts to an asset worth $1.7 trillion in less than two decades.

“Bitcoin is special,” said David Sacks, the Trump administration’s “crypto czar,” told reporters Friday.

Trump’s order also creates a “Digital Asset Stockpile,” where the government will hold seized cryptocurrencies other than bitcoin. On Sunday, Trump sent crypto prices on a short-lived surge after a surprise announcement that he wanted the government to hold lesser-known cryptocurrencies XRP, solana and cardano.

It’s unclear why Trump named those specific cryptocurrencies and not others. His announcement caused a stir in the crypto community about whether the government would pick winners and losers among various types of cryptocurrencies.

Yesha Yadav, a professor at Vanderbilt Law School, said it’s clear the Trump administration wanted to avoid getting dragged into that kind of fight with the way the executive order was worded.

“It’s unsurprising that the Trump E.O. from yesterday has been quite neutral,” she said.

Trump’s foray into crypto has included backing a personal meme coin and other ventures to enrich himself and his family. Those moves have drawn swift criticism from Democrats and even some crypto enthusiasts who support Trump.

Sacks told reporters Friday that Trump’s personal crypto-related projects were “irrelevant” to the administration’s work related to the industry. That work, Sacks said, was focused on making the U.S. the world capital in crypto through fair and clear regulations that promote innovation while still protecting investors.

Sacks added his role was not to try and convince Americans to buy crypto.

“You should do your homework because this is a very volatile industry,” Sacks said. “It’s not for everyone.”

Alan Suderman, The Associated Press





CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Leaders of the first Freedom Caucus majority in a U.S. statehouse took a victory lap in Wyoming on Friday after wrapping up a legislative session in which most of their conservative priorities were passed, including a steep property tax cut and ban on diversity programs in government.

The Republican lawmakers aligned with a growing Freedom Caucus movement nationwide also passed stricter registration and residency requirements for voters. A fourth bill now before the governor would not allow driver’s licenses issued to unauthorized immigrants by other states to be recognized in Wyoming.

The four bills — out of a wish list of five at the outset of Wyoming’s legislative session in January — echo the priorities of President Donald Trump, something Wyoming House Freedom Caucus leaders weren’t shy about pointing out in an end-of-session news conference.

“Just like President Trump is bringing common-sense change to Washington, the Wyoming Freedom Caucus is bringing common-sense change to Cheyenne,” said Rep. Rachel Rodriguez-Williams, chairwoman of the caucus that took control of the Wyoming House in the November election.

Compared to Trump’s blunderbuss approach to firing federal workers and doing away with agencies, the Wyoming Freedom Caucus has been doing its work quietly.

Even during negotiations over how much to cut property taxes — 50% or the 25% ultimately negotiated — there was little vitriol even by Wyoming standards.

“Stuff got done,” summed up House Speaker Chip Neiman, a Freedom Caucus member.

Always conservative, Wyoming is almost completely dominated now by Republicans who control the governor’s office, congressional delegation and 91% of the Legislature. One result is that the differences between Freedom Caucus members and traditional Republicans have become more meaningful than those between Republicans and the state’s few Democrats.

The true spirit of the GOP in Wyoming is the Freedom Caucus, Williams said.

“We’re very well connected with the temperature of Wyoming and the culture of Wyoming as a whole,” Williams said. “The Freedom Caucus in Wyoming really is the conscience of the Republican Party.”

Wyoming’s more traditional Republicans include Gov. Mark Gordon, who last year drew Freedom Caucus ire by vetoing property a 25% property tax cut. With his concern about the minerals industry having to make up for the lost revenue addressed this year, Gordon signed off on it this time.

Skeptical that the Freedom Caucus really represents most Wyoming residents, Gordon has pointed out that many got elected last year in a Republican primary with low turnout.

Yet he has so far signed three of the five bills in the Freedom Caucus “five and dime” plan to pass five priorities out of the House in the first 10 days of the legislative session. All five cleared the House on schedule. But the Senate declined to take up a ban on environmental, social and governance, or ESG, investing by the state.

Three of the five bills are now law. A fourth bill that has passed, a stricter identification and residency requirements for voters, still awaits Gordon signature or veto.

Bills vetoed by Gordon, including one to require women to have an ultrasound before a pill abortion and one to lift the state’s cap on its number of charter schools, were overridden with Freedom Caucus help.

Any hard feelings toward Gordon were water under the bridge on Friday, however.

“We have an awesome relationship with our governor. We have the kind of relationship I think we need to have between the executive and the legislative branch,” Neiman said.

Freedom Caucus victories in other states

Freedom Caucus chapters in other states also have had some success this year.

South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden signed legislation Thursday barring the taking of private property to build a carbon dioxide pipeline, an issue championed by the state Freedom Caucus.

Missouri’s Freedom Caucus, which clashed with Republican state Senate leaders last year, has worked closely with new GOP leaders this year to advance its priorities, including measures that would permanently ban transgender treatments for minors and transgender athletes in women’s sports.

“I’m excited about the nationwide movement to create Freedom Caucus movements in other states,” Williams said. “What we have proven in the state of Wyoming as a caucus really should be a model for other states, especially in this administration.”

___

Associated Press writer David A. Lieb in Jefferson City, Missouri, contributed to this report.

Mead Gruver, The Associated Press


WASHINGTON (AP) — A series of decisions revealed Friday provided a glimpse of the turmoil engulfing federal agencies since President Donald Trump and Elon Musk launched their campaign of disruption, upending how government functions in ways big and small.

Some changes appeared designed to increase political control over agencies that have historically operated with some degree of autonomy, such as requiring Environmental Protection Agency officials to seek approval from the Department of Government Efficiency for any contracts exceeding $50,000.

Other directives increased burdens on federal workers, who have already endured insults, layoffs and threats from the president and other top officials. For example, government credit cards issued to civilian employees at the Pentagon were altered to have a $1 limit, choking off their ability to travel for work.

The Transportation Security Administration became another target. The administration canceled a collective bargaining agreement with 47,000 workers who screen travelers and luggage at airports around the country, eliminating union protections in a possible prelude to layoffs or privatization.

The cascading developments are only a fraction of the upheaval that’s taken place since Trump took office, but they still reshaped how hundreds of thousands of public servants do their jobs, with potentially enduring consequences. The ongoing shakeup is much more intense than the typical whiplash that Washington endures when one administration gives way to another, raising fundamental questions about how government will function under a president who has viewed civil servants as an obstacle to his agenda.

The White House has wrestled with political blowback over Musk’s role and legal challenges that have tried to block or slow down his work. Republicans who are facing growing pressure in contentious town halls have started to speak up.

“I will fully admit, I think Elon Musk has tweeted first and thought second sometimes,” said Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., during a virtual meeting with constituents on Friday. “He has plunged ahead without necessarily knowing and understanding what he legally has to do or what he is going to be doing.”

Mistakes are being made

The overhaul of the federal government is happening at lightning speed, reflecting years of preparation by Trump’s allies and the president’s decision to grant Musk sweeping influence over his administration. Musk, a billionaire entrepreneur with no previous experience in public service, has shown no interest in slowing down despite admitting that he’ll make mistakes in his crusade to slash spending and downsize the workforce.

The government is facing even more dramatic changes in the coming weeks and months. Trump has directed agencies to prepare plans for widespread layoffs, known as reductions in force, that will likely require more limited operations at agencies that provide critical services.

The Department of Veterans Affairs could shed 80,000 employees, while the Internal Revenue Service and the Social Security Administration are considering plans that would cut their workforces in half.

Trump has vowed not to reduce Social Security benefits, but Democrats argue that layoffs would make it harder to deliver payments to 72.5 million people, including retirees and children.

There are also concerns that politics could interfere with Social Security. Trump has feuded over transgender issues with Maine Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, and his administration recently said children born in the state would no longer have a Social Security number assigned at birth. Instead, parents would have to apply for one at a local office.

Leland Dudek, the acting commissioner of Social Security, rescinded the order on Friday.

“In retrospect, I realize that ending these contracts created an undue burden on the people of Maine, which was not the intent,” he said in a statement. Dudek added that “as a leader, I will admit my mistakes and make them right.”

A startup mindset takes hold

More than a month after Trump took office, there’s still confusion about Musk’s authority. In public statements and legal filings, administration officials have insisted that Musk does not actually run DOGE and has no direct authority over budgets.

But Trump has contradicted both statements. He said Tuesday that DOGE is “headed by Elon Musk” in a prime-time speech to a joint session of Congress, and he said Thursday that “Elon will do the cutting” if agency leaders don’t reduce their spending.

Their approach has energized people like David Sacks, a venture capitalist serving as a Trump adviser on cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence, who praised the administration as moving “faster than any startup that I’ve been part of.”

Trump denied reports of friction between Musk and Cabinet officials, particularly Secretary of State Marco Rubio, during a meeting Thursday.

“Elon gets along great with Marco,” the president said. The State Department had no immediate comment.

Norm Eisen, executive chair of State Democracy Defenders Fund, an organization that has been suing the Trump administration, said the president “made clear that Musk and DOGE have been calling the shots.”

Musk serves as a presidential adviser, not a Senate-confirmed official, which Eisen argued makes his role unconstitutional. He said Trump’s comments are “an admission that the vast chaos that Musk and DOGE have wrought without proper approval and documentation is illegal — and so must be completely unwound.”

Trump is using executive orders to reshape government

Many of the changes sweeping through Washington were ignited by Trump’s executive orders. One order issued last week said agencies must develop new systems for distributing and justifying payments so they can be monitored by DOGE representatives.

The EPA distributed guidance intended to ensure compliance.

“Any assistance agreement, contract or interagency agreement transaction (valued at) $50,000 or greater must receive approval from an EPA DOGE team member,” said the documents obtained by The Associated Press.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said the involvement of Musk’s “unvetted, inexperienced team raises serious concerns about improper external influence on specialized agency decision-making.”

Republicans have shied away from holding town hall meetings with constituents after critics started using them to vent their frustration.

Some protesters gathered outside Huizenga’s district office in Holland, Michigan, calling on him to answer questions in person.

“I would like to ask him why he thinks that someone like Musk can go in and simply blow up agencies without seemingly even knowing what they’re doing,” said Linda Visscher, a Holland resident.

She said increasing the efficiency of government was a good idea, but she doesn’t agree with “just taking the blowtorch to it.”

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Associated Press reporters Lolita Baldor, Matthew Daly, Fatima Hussein and Matthew Lee in Washington; Joey Cappelletti in Holland, Michigan; and Patrick Whittle in Portland, Maine, contributed to this report.

Chris Megerian, The Associated Press