The US House of Representatives passed a bill to remove federal protections for gray wolves nationwide, aiming to give states more control over wolf management, despite concerns from environmental groups about potential threats to wolf populations and legal protections.
The Trump administration has rescinded Biden-era guidance that protected healthcare providers performing emergency abortions under federal law, leading to concerns about legal confusion and potential delays in critical care amid increasing state restrictions and the fallout from the Dobbs decision.
The House failed to overturn President Biden's veto of a Republican effort to nullify his administration's water pollution rule. The rule, which delineates which waters are subject to federal protections, is still not in effect for a significant portion of the country due to court challenges. The vote comes after a pair of court decisions temporarily blocked its implementation in a total of 26 states.
A federal judge has issued a temporary preliminary injunction to block the Biden administration's clean water rule, which would expand federal protections for hundreds of thousands of waterways in 24 states. Republican-led states, farming groups, oil and gas producers, and real estate developers have argued that the rule is harmful to business and agriculture interests and is an example of federal overreach. The rule applies federal protections to wetlands, tributaries, and other waters that have a connection to navigable waters, and it doesn't impose a specific distance for when adjacent wetlands are protected.