Johnson spending deal throws Speakership into question as floor vote approaches. TheHill.com article. Pull quote: “Even if Johnson survives this roadblock, the mutiny he faced over the spending deal is foreshadowing what the next Congress could bring — when Republicans will have an even slimmer majority and, after a number of members depart for the Trump administration, will not be able to afford to lose any lawmakers on party-line votes.”
Johnson has 3 main options to avert a shutdown. None of them are looking good. Politico.com article. Pull quote: “Stopgap with a debt limit hike: This is the preferred option of Trump and others — but it requires rank-and-file to walk what has been the third rail of modern GOP politics: Lifting the nation’s borrowing limits. Republicans have twisted themselves into all sorts of pretzels to avoid precisely these sorts of votes over the last decade, preferring to leave it to Democrats.”
Shutdown chances rise as Johnson defers to Trump on a spending plan. Politico.com article. Pull quote: “There’s no final plan yet, as the Lousiana Republican continues to huddle in his office on Thursday with a rotating cross-section of his conference, including members of his leadership team, House Freedom Caucus lawmakers and others. The speaker is assessing various options and running them by Trump world to ensure he has the incoming president’s buy-in before moving forward on another plan, after Trump publicly trashed the spending bill Wednesday and suddenly demanded that lawmakers raise the debt ceiling as well.”
GOP strikes a new spending deal that includes disaster aid and raising the debt limit. Politico.com article. Pull quote: “The plan Johnson is expected to put on the House floor would fund the government through March 14, just like the spending patch he agreed to with Democrats, and also includes the $110 billion disaster aid package mirroring that bipartisan negotiation. But the measure contains a straightforward extension of current "farm bill" policy for food and agriculture programs, along with a simple renewal of expiring health care policy, rather than making changes to those programs and adding new policy like overhauling rules for pharmacy benefit managers.”
Vast Announces Deal with SpaceX to Launch Two Human Spaceflight Missions to the International Space Station. VastSpace.com update. Pull quote: “"Enabling payload and crewed missions to the ISS is a key part of Vast’s strategy, allowing us to further our collaboration with NASA and global space agencies. These missions not only strengthen our expertise in human spaceflight operations and collaboration with NASA, but also position Vast as a leading contender to deliver the next-generation successor to the ISS, advancing the future of human space exploration," said Max Haot, Chief Executive Officer of Vast.”
Freight Car Safety Standards Implementing the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Federal Register FRA final rule. Summary: “FRA is amending the Freight Car Safety Standards (FCSS) to implement section 22425 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Act). The Act places certain restrictions on newly built freight cars placed into service in the United States (U.S.) including limiting content that originates from a country of concern (COC) or is sourced from a state-owned enterprise (SOE) and prohibiting sensitive technology that originates from a COC or is sourced from a SOE. The Act mandates that FRA issue a regulation to monitor and enforce industry's compliance with the Act's standards.”
US temporarily bans drones in parts of NJ, may use “deadly force” against aircraft. ArsTechnica.com article. Pull quote: “The New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness recently released a "drone incidents FAQ" to answer residents' concerns. One question in the FAQ was, "Why can't authorities or the military shoot down or capture a drone midflight?" It answered that "state and local authorities do not have the legal ability to mitigate threatening drone activity at this time" and that "federal agencies and the US military have different legal abilities and technical capabilities."”
Intel Officials Warned Police That US Cities Aren’t Ready for Hostile Drones. Wired.com article. Pull quote: “In the memo obtained by WIRED, DHS displays less confidence in its ability to detect menacing drones. The document, which authorities were instructed not to make public, states that “tactics and technology to evade counter-UAS capabilities are circulated and sold online with little to no regulation.” In reality, the ability of police to track errant drones is hindered by a range of evolving technologies, the memo says, including “autonomous flight, 5G command and control, jamming protection technology, swarming technology, and software that disables geofencing restrictions.””
NASA, Axiom Space Change Assembly Order of Commercial Space Station. NASA.gov article. Pull quote: “Under the company’s new assembly sequence, the Payload, Power, and Thermal Module will launch to the orbiting laboratory first, allowing it to depart as early as 2028 and become a free-flying destination known as Axiom Station. In free-flight, Axiom Space will continue assembly of the commercial destination, adding the Habitat 1 module, an airlock, Habitat 2 module, and the Research and Manufacturing Facility.”
Perchloroethylene (PCE); Regulation Under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Federal Register EPA final rule. Summary: “The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency) is finalizing a rule to address the unreasonable risk of injury to health presented by perchloroethylene (PCE) under its conditions of use. TSCA requires that EPA address by rule any unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment identified in a TSCA risk evaluation and apply requirements to the extent necessary so that the chemical no longer presents unreasonable risk. EPA's final rule will, among other things, prevent serious illness associated with uncontrolled exposures to the chemical by preventing consumer access to the chemical, restricting the industrial and commercial use of the chemical while also allowing for a reasonable transition period where the industrial and commercial use of the chemical is being prohibited, providing a time-limited exemption for a critical or essential use of PCE for which no technically and economically feasible safer alternative is available, and protecting workers from the unreasonable risk of PCE while on the job.” Effective date: January 17th, 2025.
Updates to New Chemicals Regulations Under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Federal Register EPA final rule. Summary: “The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) is amending the new chemicals procedural regulations under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). These amendments align the regulatory text with the amendments to TSCA's new chemicals review provisions contained in the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, enacted on June 22, 2016, will improve the efficiency of EPA's review processes, and update the regulations based on existing policies and experience implementing the New Chemicals Program. This final rule includes amendments that will increase the quality of information initially submitted in new chemicals notices and improve the Agency's processes for timely, effective completion of individual risk assessments and the new chemicals review process overall. EPA is also finalizing several amendments to the regulations for low volume exemptions (LVEs) and low release and exposure exemptions (LoREXs), which will require EPA approval of an exemption notice prior to commencement of manufacture, make per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) categorically ineligible for these exemptions, and provide that certain persistent, bioaccumulative, toxic (PBT) chemical substances are ineligible for these exemptions.” Effective date: January 17th, 2025.
Boeing Starliner astronauts will return to Earth in March
2025 after new NASA, SpaceX delay. Space.com article.
Pull quote: “Adding a fifth Crew Dragon to its fleet will allow SpaceX more
versatility in its commercial offerings and NASA some extra flexibility in its
mission manifests as well. For instance, had a fifth Dragon been available to
launch without disruption to the Crew-9 and Crew-10 missions, it's possible
NASA could have utilized such a vehicle to bring Starliner's Wilmore and
Williams home at an earlier date.”
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