特朗普解除司法部长邦迪职务

2026年4月3日 07:05 / 联合早报

去年8月11日，邦迪出席白宫新闻发布会，就华盛顿特区犯罪问题发表讲话，特朗普也在场。 （法新社）

美国总统特朗普宣布解除司法部长邦迪职务，曾担任特朗普多起案件辩护律师的副司法部长布兰奇将暂代司法部长一职。

路透社报道，邦迪成为特朗普第二个总统任期内第二名被解职的内阁成员。

特朗普星期四（4月2日）在社交媒体Truth Social宣布此消息，并赞扬邦迪是“伟大的美国爱国者和忠诚的朋友”，称她主导了一场“大规模打击犯罪”行动。

特朗普说，邦迪将加入私营企业，但没有透露详情。

邦迪也在社媒发文，称“能够在特朗普总统为保障美国安全而采取历史性且非常成功的努力中扮演领导角色”，是她“毕生荣幸”。她说，将下来一个月把工作交接给布兰奇。

美国媒体报道，特朗普对邦迪的不满已持续数月。特朗普认为她对爱泼斯坦档案处置不力、对打击他的政治对手不够强硬。

3月17日，众议院监督与政府改革委员会向邦迪发出传票，要求她就爱泼斯坦案接受国会闭门质询。根据传票要求，邦迪定于4月14日接受委员会质询。此前，邦迪已出席过相关听证会，但未能消除国会两党多名议员对司法部的质疑与批评。

在邦迪之前，饱受争议的国土安全部长诺姆于3月5日被特朗普撤换。特朗普提名参议员马林接替诺姆职务，参议院已投票确认马林的提名。

司法部长提名也须参议院确认。目前共和党议员在参议院占据多数席位。

New weight loss drug to be sold on Trump’s pharmaceutical cost comparison platform

April 2, 2026 / 4:33 PM EDT / CBS News

By Olivia Rinaldi

Olivia Rinaldi White House reporter

Olivia Rinaldi is a White House reporter at CBS News. She covered President Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign and was previously an associate producer for “CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell” and a broadcast associate for “Face the Nation.” She is based in Washington, D.C.

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Olivia Rinaldi

A first-of-its-kind weight loss pill will become the latest drug to be offered on President Trump’s cost comparison platform “Trump Rx,” CBS News exclusively learned.

Foundayo, a GLP-1 drug, is a first-of-its-kind weight loss pill that doesn’t need to be taken on an empty stomach, expanding access for those who are needle averse.

A White House official says TrumpRx, the low-cost pharmaceutical comparison website launched by the administration in February, will provide coupons for Foundayo to Americans without insurance starting at $149 for the first dose.

The refills will be marked at $199 and future prescriptions will be $299.

The pill will also be sold at a similar price on Eli Lilly’s direct to consumer platform “Lilly Direct.”

Though the prices are the same, a White House official tells CBS news they believe TrumpRx has a greater reach than the drugmaker’s platform and serves as a “one stop shop” for consumers to evaluate all GLP-1s on the market.

The cost for Americans on Medicare will be around $50 and Americans on private insurance for about $25.

A White House official told CBS News that the pill could be featured on TrumpRx as soon as Thursday.

Foundayo is also the first new drug approved under the FDA’s priority voucher program. The program, which was announced last June, was intended to shorten the time it takes to review drugs from 10 to 12 months down to just two months.

The FDA approved the Eli Lilly drug just 50 days after filing. The company plans to start shipping the pill on April 6.

Hegseth tells US Army chief of staff to step down immediately

Apr 2, 2026, 5:26 PM ET / CNN

By Haley Britzky, Natasha Bertrand

Updated Apr 2, 2026, 6:18 PM ET

Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Randy George attends a Medal of Honor Ceremony in the East Room of the White House on March 2, 2026.

Win McNamee/Getty Images

US Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George has been told to retire immediately by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a Pentagon official told CNN.

Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell confirmed George’s retirement Thursday, writing on X, “General Randy A. George will be retiring from his position as the 41st Chief of Staff of the Army effective immediately. The Department of War is grateful for General George’s decades of service to our nation.”

CBS News first reported George’s ousting. A Defense Department official confirmed the accuracy of CBS News’ report.

Hegseth’s move comes a day after President Donald Trump’s address to the nation on the Iran war. In the speech, Trump signaled the US will intensify strikes on Iran, after earlier suggesting the US could be done with the war within two to three weeks.

As the Army Chief, George has worked closely with Army Secretary Dan Driscoll — a senior official close to the White House whom Hegseth has perceived as a threat and had a contentious relationship with at times. Hegseth has ousted a number of other senior military officers during his tenure.

George, a career infantry officer, commissioned out of the US Military Academy at West Point in 1988. He has served as the chief of staff since September 2023; he previously commanded I Corps at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, and went on to serve as the senior military assistant to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin during the Biden administration.

While the job of senior military assistant to the defense secretary is often one considered to be apolitical and a role given to the best of the best of military officers, George’s proximity to Austin has been considered a mark against him to Hegseth and his circle.

There was speculation among military and Pentagon officials when Hegseth nominated his senior military assistant, Gen. Chris LaNeve, to be the Army vice chief of staff, that he would ultimately take over for George. As the vice chief, LaNeve will likely step in as the acting chief of staff in George’s absence.

Before working for Hegseth, LaNeve — who has served since 1990 after commissioning from the University of Arizona ROTC — was the commanding general of 8th Army in South Korea, after a brief tenure as commander of the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Commanding the 82nd Airborne Division is typically a two-year job, though LaNeve left the role less than two years in and moved to be a special assistant to the commander of US Army Forces Command, before moving to South Korea, according to his official biography.

LaNeve got Trump’s attention in the hours after his inauguration, when LaNeve called into the Commander in Chief’s Ball with his troops from South Korea.

“Sir, on behalf of the brave men and women who serve under my command and the thousands of dedicated service members that are part of the joint team in Korea, congratulations on your victory as the 47th President of the United States,” LaNeve said on a video call. “Welcome back, Mr. President.”

Trump praised LaNeve, saying, “Is this man central casting or what?”

“They’re not going to play games with you. That’s good,” Trump added, according to an official transcript of the event. “I like to see that. Nobody is playing games with that man.”

This story has been updated with additional details.

特朗普放炸桥视频施压 伊朗外长说不会投降

2026年4月3日 07:32 / 联合早报

针对特朗普在社媒发布的视频，阿拉格齐回应说，破坏民用设施，包括未完工的桥梁，并不能迫使伊朗投降。 （法新社）

美国总统特朗普星期四（4月2日）在社交媒体发布视频，称空袭炸毁伊朗“最大桥梁”，施压伊朗与美国“达成协议”。伊朗外交部长阿拉格齐回应说，破坏民用设施，不会迫使伊朗投降。

新华社引述伊朗媒体报道，被称为中东最高桥梁、伊朗标志性工程杰作的卡拉季市（Karaj）贝伊克公路桥（B1 Bridge），2日遭美国和以色列空袭受损。空袭造成八名平民死亡，另有95人受伤。相关路段已全面封闭。

彭博社报道，特朗普在Truth Social发布空袭视频并配文道： “伊朗最大的桥梁坍塌了，再也无法使用——还有更多灾难即将发生！”

特朗普还以全大写英文字母写道：“伊朗是时候达成协议，以免后悔莫及，把一个原本能成为伟大国家的希望给彻底毁掉！”

阿拉格齐在社媒发文回应说，破坏民用设施，包括未完工的桥梁，并不能迫使伊朗投降。

阿拉格齐指这种行径只能表明“处于混乱状态的敌人”的失败和士气崩溃。他强调，每一座被毁的桥梁和建筑都会得到重建，且“更加坚固”，而“美国的地位受损”这一既成事实将不可逆转。

Iran’s tallest bridge collapses after reported US airstrikes; Iran threatens American allies in retaliation

Iran’s IRGC reportedly identified bridges in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi as potential targets

April 2, 2026 5:29pm EDT / Fox News

Footage captures the moment a key span gives way after a reported strike, as tensions in Iran continue to escalate. (@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social)

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Iran’s biggest bridge near Tehran has crashed down in a stunning scene captured on camera following reports of U.S. airstrikes, President Donald Trump announced Thursday, as he pressed the regime to make a deal before tensions escalate further.

The B1 highway bridge, a key link between Iran’s capital and the western city of Karaj, is considered the tallest in the Middle East and was only inaugurated earlier this year.

Iranian state TV reportedly warned of potential retaliation, claiming the state’s military has identified multiple bridges in American-allied Middle East nations as targets, according to Iran International.

Trump posted a video on social media capturing a massive plume of smoke and debris after the bridge’s apparent collapse.

KAROLINE LEAVITT FIRES BACK AT NBC NEWS REPORTER WHO ASKED IF TRUMP’S IRAN THREAT AMOUNTS TO A ‘WAR CRIME’

The B1 bridge near Tehran collapsed after reported U.S. airstrikes.(@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social)

“The biggest bridge in Iran comes tumbling down, never to be used again — Much more to follow! IT IS TIME FOR IRAN TO MAKE A DEAL BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE, AND THERE IS NOTHING LEFT OF WHAT STILL COULD BECOME A GREAT COUNTRY!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

The strike on the bridge was aimed at cutting drone and missile supply lines to Iranian firing units targeting U.S. and Israeli forces, Middle East outlet i24NEWS reported, citing sources.

Iranian state TV also said the bridge was hit twice, roughly an hour apart, resulting in civilian casualties, Fars News reported.

TRUMP TO ADDRESS NATION ABOUT IRAN AS HE SIGNALS WAR COULD END WITHIN WEEKS

President Donald Trump pauses as he finishes speaking about the Iran war Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Washington.(Alex Brandon-Pool/Getty Images)

“A few minutes ago, the American-Zionist enemy once again targeted the B1 bridge in Karaj,” the broadcast said, noting that the first strike killed two civilians.

Fars News also reported that other areas of Karaj were struck.

Iran’s IRGC reportedly identified several bridges in American-allied nations as potential targets after the collapse of the B1 bridge.(Morteza Nikoubazl/Nur Photo)

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The outlet reported that Iran is considering plans to rebuild the bridge with the help of its engineers and experts.

In retaliation, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has reportedly identified several bridges in American-allied nations across the Middle East as potential targets, including infrastructure in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi and the Jordan-West Bank region.

Bonny Chu is a Digital Production Assistant at Fox News Digital.

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6392463207112

Trump sends mixed messages on securing the Strait of Hormuz

April 2, 2026 / 5:00 PM EDT / CBS News

By

Caitlin Yilek Politics Reporter
Caitlin Yilek is a politics reporter at CBSNews.com, based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked for the Washington Examiner and The Hill, and was a member of the 2022 Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellowship with the National Press Foundation.

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Washington — President Trump has sent conflicting messages about the Strait of Hormuz over the last few weeks as the world’s oil supply has been choked by the Iran war.

In a prime-time address Wednesday, Mr. Trump declared that Iran “has been essentially decimated” and “when the conflict is over, the strait will open up naturally.”

“The hard part is done,” Mr. Trump said. But at the same time, he was telling other countries to step up and “take care” of the strait. “They must cherish it. They must grab it and cherish it. They can do it easily.”

The comments follow weeks of shifting plans from the president on how to secure the waterway between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula through which about a fifth of the world’s oil flows.

CBS News national security analyst Aaron MacLean said Thursday that Iran has “played the major card that was available to them” by closing the Strait of Hormuz, which at “some point is going to have to be dealt with.” The international oil price benchmark, Brent Crude,jumped more than 7% after Mr. Trump’s speech.

In a March 9 interview with CBS News, the president claimed ships had been entering the strait and he was “thinking about taking it over.” But data show that a majority of vessels that have passed through the strait in the last month are linked to Iran as conditions remain perilous.

That same day, Mr. Trump told reporters that the U.S. Navy and its partners would escort oil tankers through the strait “if needed.” He added that the U.S. would offer “political risk insurance to any tankers operating in the Gulf.”

Mr. Trump said in mid-March that the U.S. would work with other countries to “police” the strait, though he would not disclose which countries had made such an agreement, and that the U.S. was “hammering” Iran’s capacity to threaten commercial ships.

“We hit, to the best of our knowledge, all of their mine-laying ships,” the president said on March 16. “Now they can put them on other types of ships, I guess, and drop them in. But we don’t know that any have even been dropped in.”

He encouraged other countries to “come and help us with the strait,” while also saying “we have it in very good shape.” Asked why the U.S. couldn’t immediately reopen the strait, Mr. Trump said, “it takes two to tango.”

On March 20, Mr. Trump asserted that reopening the strait was a “very simple” military maneuver, while also claiming “at a certain point, it’ll open itself.” A week later, the president claimed Iran was “begging to make a deal” and “if they make the right deal, then the strait will open up.” He also said the U.S. “blew up every one” of their mine droppers.

“They’re going to have to take them out on a rowboat or something,” he said of the mines.

At the same time, Mr. Trump has acknowledged that ships passing through the strait still face threats.

“Look, problem with the strait, guy can take a mine, drop it in the water and say, ‘Oh, it’s unsafe.’ It’s not like you’re taking out an army or you’re taking out a country, or you — they can drop it. Or you can take a machine gun from the shore and shoot a few bullets at a ship, or maybe an over-the-shoulder missile, small missiles,” Mr. Trump added on March 31. “That’s not for us. … That’ll be for whoever’s using the strait.”

Ahead of his prime-time address, Mr. Trump reiterated his call for other countries, like China, South Korea, Japan, France and other European countries to defend the strait.

“Let them all do it,” he said. “What the hell are we doing it for? All I want to do is make sure they don’t ever have a nuclear weapon. And the other thing, this was not part of what I wanted to do, but we’ve done it, I guess, through sheer force of personality, we have a regime change like nobody thought was possible.”

Mr. Trump again Wednesday night suggested securing the strait was not the responsibility of the United States.

“We will be helpful, but they should take the lead in protecting the oil that they so desperately depend on,” he said.

MacLean said the president’s Wednesday night comments on the strait imply that his “principle objective remains a deal — a deal at which point the Iranians will open it up or perhaps some form of regime change where they no longer harass it.”

“I think he’s aware of the difficulty of a military campaign to open the strait,” he said, adding that it runs the risk of prolonging the war — beyond the two to three weeks the president has said Wednesday it will last. At the outset of the war, the president said the U.S. military operations would take four to five weeks, and the offensive is currently in its fifth week.

Trump’s new role for USPS in mail balloting is unconstitutional, three lawsuits say

2026-04-02 20:56 GMT / CNN

By Tierney Sneed

PUBLISHED Apr 2, 2026, 4:56 PM ET

President Donald Trump answers questions from reporters after signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House, on March 31, 2026.

Alex Brandon/AP/File

Democrats compared President Donald Trump’s latest attempt to overhaul elections to George Orwell’s “1984,” in one of three lawsuits now challenging Tuesday’s executive order, which instructs the US Postal Service to determine who does and doesn’t receive a mail ballot.

Democratic congressional leaders and organizations, as well as two separate coalitions of voter advocacy groups, each filed lawsuits – prompting a sense of deja vu, as those Trump opponents previously brought successful legal challenges that halted parts of a March 2025 Trump executive order that sought to boost proof of citizenship requirements.

The challengers say Trump is again violating the Constitution and several laws by imposing new hurdles to vote by mail in his latest executive order, and by unliterally taking over election decisions that are handled by states.

Additionally, Trump’s order calls for federal agencies to use internal databases to create a “citizen” list to share with states. While the directive doesn’t lay out explicitly how that list would then be used, the challengers argue that it would violate privacy laws intended to protect against the federal government assembling a “personal dossier” on citizens in the vein of the dystopian novel. Further, they warn, the federal databases in question have shown themselves to be a flawed way of determining who is eligible to vote.

“The Executive Order’s provisions are convoluted and confusing,” said the Democrats’ lawsuit, which was filed Wednesday in Washington, DC’s federal court. “What is clear is that it dramatically restricts the ability of Americans to vote by mail, impinging on traditional state authority.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Governors Association, and the party’s congressional campaign arms all signed onto the lawsuit.

Mail-in ballots in their envelopes await processing at the Los Angeles County Registrar Recorders’ mail-in ballot processing center at the Pomona Fairplex in Pomona, California, on October 28, 2020.

Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images/File

“In effect, the Order seeks to interpose a federal screening regime between voters and the ballot box by empowering a federal mail carrier to withhold certain voters’ ballots,” a collection of voter advocacy groups said in a case filed Thursday in Massachusetts. “In doing so, the Order displaces the roles that the Constitution and federal law assign to the states and Congress to regulate elections and to USPS as a neutral, nondiscriminatory carrier of the mail.”

Tuesday’s executive order is Trump’s latest attempt to unilaterally insert the federal government in the administration of elections, a job the Constitution largely gives to the states. The order comes as his legislative effort to add restrictions to voting has floundered in Congress.

“Only Democrat politicians and operatives would be upset about lawful efforts to secure American elections and ensure only eligible American citizens are casting ballots,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement. “President Trump campaigned on securing our elections and the American people sent him back to the White House to get the job done.”

But the challengers argue the order will disenfranchise eligible voters, because it requires that states seeking to use USPS to deliver ballots submit lists of their mail voters 60 days before an election. That process would leave out people who move or become naturalized citizens within 60 days of an election, Democrats note. The order also requires USPS to only deliver mail ballots in states that meet certain ballot design and other requirements, which would “grant the Postal Service unilateral authority to determine who is eligible to vote by mail based on the criteria specified in the Order,” the Democrats said.

The order violates the law governing the Postal Service, the Voting Rights Act, and other statutes, the challengers allege, in addition to being unconstitutional.

The data collection part of the order, according to the challengers, runs afoul of the Privacy Act, which sets requirements for how the government goes about collecting and using sensitive information from Americans.

“Indeed, in enacting amendments that tightened restrictions specifically on ‘computerized matching programs,’ Congress underscored that its purpose was to ensure that it would be ‘legally impossible for the Federal Government … to put together anything resembling a ‘1984’ personal dossier on a citizen,’ and that ‘proper regard for privacy of the individual, confidentiality of data, and security of the system’ would be respected,” the Democrats’ lawsuit said.

But the executive order, the lawsuit continues, directs federal agencies “to make good on President Trump’s repeated claims that the federal government should take charge of who is “eligibl[e]” to vote precisely by amassing such a database.”

While the order does not explicitly state the purpose for the “citizen” list, the voting advocates in the Massachusetts lawsuit say that the “most reasonable inference” is that Trump intended it be used to screen mail ballots.

That further risks disenfranchisement of eligible voters, Trump’s opponents warn, arguing that the existing databases and programs he is instructing the federal government to use are riddled with errors.

Voting officials already have access to one of the federal citizenship data programs – known as SAVE – to review their registration lists, and because of the errors produced, “numerous election administrators have expressed their frustration and mistrust in the system,” a second coalition of voter advocacy groups said in a lawsuit filed in DC Thursday.

伊朗称打击甲骨文亚马逊在波斯湾数据中心

2026年4月3日 07:46 / 联合早报

伊朗革命卫队3月31日将中东地区与18家美国科企有关的公司机构作为“合法打击目标”，甲骨文为其中之一。 （路透社）

伊朗称打击了美国技术巨头甲骨文公司和电商巨头亚马逊公司设在波斯湾地区的数据中心。

新华社报道，伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队海军司令部星期四（4月2日）在社交媒体发布消息称，被袭击的甲骨文（Oracle）和亚马逊（Amazon）数据中心分别位于阿联酋迪拜和巴林。

消息称，这一行动是为摧毁“暗杀机器”，美国总统特朗普的行为正让美军方付出惨痛代价。

另据法新社报道，伊朗国家电视台引述伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队中央司令部安比亚的声明说，为回应伊朗钢铁工业遭受的袭击，伊斯兰革命卫队2日上午发动了新一轮袭击。

声明称，“阿布扎比的美国钢铁厂、巴林的美国铝厂，以及犹太复国主义政权的拉斐尔战斗机工厂”都是袭击目标。

伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队3月31日发布公告说，将中东地区与18家美国信息通信技术和人工智能企业有关的公司机构作为“合法打击目标”，涉及思科、惠普、英特尔、甲骨文、微软等企业。

US agencies to monitor drinking water for microplastics, pharmaceuticals

2026-04-02 18:05 UTC / Reuters

By Valerie Volcovici

April 2, 2026 6:05 PM UTC Updated 9 mins ago

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[1/4]Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin looks on during an announcement on microplastics at the EPA headquarters in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 2, 2026. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno

WASHINGTON, April 2 (Reuters) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday announced ‌that they will monitor the impact of microplastics and pharmaceuticals on drinking water, the first step toward assessing their health risks and shaping new policies.

The joint announcement was hailed by EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. as a win for President Donald ​Trump’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda, whose priorities have included reducing the number of recommended childhood vaccines and promoting whole foods in new ​dietary guidelines.

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The EPA will now include microplastics and pharmaceuticals on the sixth Contaminant Candidate List, which ⁠would mean they would start being tested and monitored under the Safe Drinking Water Act and receive funding for ​research, a precursor to future regulation if they are determined to threaten public water systems.

“We cannot treat what we cannot ​measure. We cannot regulate what we don’t understand,” Kennedy said at a press conference at EPA headquarters.

Zeldin and the EPA have drawn criticism from MAHA activists for falling short on addressing their concerns, including microplastics, and not applying more stringent rules on pesticides.

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“For too long, Americans have been ​ignored as they sound the alarm about plastics in their drinking water. That ends today,” Zeldin said at the ​press conference.

Supporters of RFK, Jr. and his MAHA platform helped elect President Donald Trump in 2024.

MOVE FOLLOWS PETITION

Seven U.S. governors from states including ‌New ⁠Jersey and Michigan as well as 175 environmental and health groups late last year filed a legal petition calling on the EPA to add microplastics to the list of contaminants to monitor. The list is updated every five years.

Microplastics are microscopic pieces of plastic that have been discovered everywhere from inside human bodies to drinking water to the depths of oceans and ​Arctic ice. Some studies have ​linked them to cancers or ⁠reproductive harm.

Plastic industry groups have dismissed these studies and said the science is not settled concerning the harms caused by microplastics.

Judith Enck, president of Beyond Plastics and former EPA regional ​administrator, said the EPA’s move is “an important first step.”

Kimberly Wise White, vice president of ​regulatory and scientific ⁠affairs at the American Chemistry Council, which represents plastic manufacturers, said the group supports science-driven monitoring of drinking water for microplastics.

When Kennedy ran for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination, he pledged to tackle plastic pollution, including its production. He later endorsed Republican candidate ⁠Trump, ​whose administration last year warned countries to oppose any attempt to cap plastic ​production under a potential UN treaty to limit plastic pollution.

Pharmaceuticals enter water systems through improper disposal and human waste.

The EPA will also release human health ​benchmarks for 374 pharmaceuticals to be monitored.

Reporting by Valerie Volcovici in Washington; Additional reporting by Leah Douglas; Editing by David Gregorio

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

NY House GOP launches pressure campaign on Hochul to scrap climate law over soaring energy costs

2026-04-02T13:41:01-04:00 / Fox News

A Hochul administration memo found households would pay $4,000 more per year in energy costs under the climate mandate

By Adam Pack Fox News

Published April 2, 2026 1:41pm EDT

Greg Gutfeld: Kathy Hochul makes odd confession

Fox News host Greg Gutfeld and the ‘Gutfeld!’ panel discuss New York Gov. Kathy Hochul begging millionaires to come back to the state.

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New York House Republicans are ramping up a pressure campaign against Gov. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y., citing her failure to combat rising utility costs in the Empire State.

The group of lawmakers, led by Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., is calling on Hochul to scrap the state’s 2019 climate law that they blame for “skyrocketing” energy prices.

“Utility bills are at the center of the affordability crisis with New York,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Hochul Thursday, citing a study that found electricity prices in New York were the sixth highest in the nation in December and 59% higher than the national average.

“Given these significant cost burdens, we strongly urge that the CLCPA [Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act] be repealed.”

FROM ‘JUMP ON A BUS’ TO TAX CRACKDOWNS: BLUE STATES CHASE WEALTHY RESIDENTS FLEEING TO RED HAVENS

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks at a news conference July 31, 2024, in the Bronx borough of New York. (Julia Nikhinson/AP Photo)

The letter comes as Hochul, who is up for re-election in November and appears to be branding herself as a pragmatist on affordability issues, has acknowledged the “cataclysmic” costs for households and businesses if the law is implemented on schedule.

That acknowledgment comes despite her long-standing support for the law, which passed under former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, D-N.Y.

“Put simply, something has got to give,” Hochul wrote in an op-ed in March. “[T]he undeniable fact is we cannot meet the Climate Act’s 2030 targets without imposing new and additional crushing costs on New York businesses and residents.”

A Feb. 26 memo released by the Hochul administration found that households would pay $4,000 in additional energy costs per year if the state penalizes oil and gas producers as called for by the law. It also found the climate mandate would increase gas prices by $2.23 a gallon.

However, she has stopped short of backing a full repeal. In March, Hochul proposed delaying enforcement targets while keeping the law’s 2050 target of net-zero emissions in place.

Republicans, who see an opening to go on offense on affordability issues in deep-blue states, have ripped the governor’s efforts to move the enforcement goalposts while keeping the law in place.

“The basic fact is this: the 2019 Climate Law was based on faulty assumptions and was enacted using wishful thinking instead of hard facts,” the GOP lawmakers wrote.

“It is time to inform the citizens of our state about the realities of the 2019 Climate Law and acknowledge that its goals are unattainable, its costs are too high, and it is overall destructive to our state’s economy.”

Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., and the rest of New York’s House Republican delegation are calling on Gov. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y., to support a full repeal of New York’s 2019 climate law.(Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

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The debate over New York’s climate law comes as Democrats across the country are walking back aggressive environmental and climate policies amid surging electric bills and growing voter concern about the cost of living.

“It is essential that the implementation of the energy transition move forward on an affordable and practical basis to protect ratepayers from skyrocketing energy costs,” the GOP lawmakers wrote.

The group is also demanding that Hochul provide “immediate relief” to New Yorkers by redirecting several billion dollars in unspent ratepayer-collected funds back to residents facing high electric bills as utility bill credits.

Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., leaves the U.S. Capitol after the last vote of the week Jan. 9, 2026.(Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)

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More than 60% of New Yorkers said keeping energy costs affordable is more important than lowering greenhouse gas emissions, according to an April 2025 Siena College poll.

Hochul’s office fired back at House Republicans in a statement to Fox News Digital, accusing the New York delegation of supporting policies that drive up costs.

“While New York Republicans in Congress continue to bend the knee to President Trump, axing clean energy projects and killing jobs in their own districts, Governor Hochul is taking a realistic approach to clean energy progress,” Hochul spokesperson Emma Wallner said. “The Governor is laser-focused on bringing down energy costs for families, but congressional Republicans refuse to offer tangible solutions and are only making life harder — and more expensive — for their constituents.”