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samsankar.bsky.social

@samsankar.bsky.social
182 followers 91 following 34 posts
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Reposted by @samsankar.bsky.social
Knight First Amendment Institute @knightcolumbia.org · 23/05/2025
📍Episode 2 is live. Soon after Trump took office, the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture purged vital climate-focused information from its web pages. @cristianfarias.com & @stephaniekrent.bsky.social discuss how our lawsuit with @earthjustice.org helped restore it. Listen: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...
podcasts.apple.com
Episode 2: Farmers Fight Data Purge
Podcast Episode · The Bully's Pulpit: Trump v. The First Amendment · 05/23/2025 · 34m
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Anna Bower @annabower.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
So, uh, it certainly looks like DOJ intended to file a letter to Judge Liman in MTA v. Duffy, but….it accidentally filed a letter containing its legal advice to the Department of Transportation instead storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Re: MTA v. Duffy, No. 25 Civ. 1413 (S.D.N.Y.)
Dear Erin:
We write with respect to the above-referenced litigation brought by the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority ("MTA") against the U.S. Department of Transportation ("DOT"), U.S.
Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, the Federal Highway Administration ("FHWA"), and Executive Director of the FHWA, Gloria Shepherd, to provide you with information concerning
(1) the litigation risk that DOT faces in defending the Secretary's February 19, 2025 decision to terminate the New York City Central Business District Tolling Program ("CBDTP") agreement, and (2) a process for terminating the CBDTP agreement outside of the current litigation for DOT to consider.
As discussed below, there is considerable litigation risk in defending the Secretary's
February 19, 2025 decision against plaintiffs' claims under the Administrative Procedure Act, that the decision was contrary to law, pretextual rocedurally arbitrary and capricious, and violated due process. For the reasons outlined below, it is unlikely that Judge Liman or further courts of review will accept the argument that the CBDTP was not a statutorily authorized "value pricing" pilot under the Value Prising Pilot Program (" ar
FHWA may, however, be able to properly terminate the CBDTP value pricing pilot pursuant to established Office of Management and Budget ("OMB") regulations concerning the termination of cooperative agreements. Termination of the CBDTP agreement pursuant to these OMB regulations would still allow FHWA to end the CBDTP for the Secretary's stated reasons, but would do so as a matter of changed agency priorities rather than arguing the CBDTP was not statutorily authorized in the first instance. Importantly, DOT can seek termination of the agreement pursuant to the OMB regulations in addition to, and not in place of, defending the rationale laid out in the Secretary's letter.
Case 1:25-cv-01413-LJL Document 65 Filed 04/23/25 Page 2 of 11
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samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
The Department of Energy is rebranding the Solar Decathlon. My bet: the "Gas Decathlon": a contest to see which student team can come up with the least efficient building design. subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...
subscriber.politicopro.com
E&E News: Solar is out as DOE rebrands Solar Decathlon
Student teams will compete only for honorable mentions at the rebranded “BuildingsNEXT Student Design competition."
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samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
Take a stand or bend the knee. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/30/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | For God’s Sake, Fellow Lawyers, Stand Up to Trump
The time has come to defend the oath we took when we became officers of the court.
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samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
Earthjustice invites D.C. bar members to meet Diane Seltzer, candidate for bar president, on April 22. You must RSVP at the link. Remember that voting begins on April 15, and that Diane's opponent is Brad Bondi. RSVP here: tinyurl.com/498vwymc
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samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
You can't make this stuff up. In the first sentence of a request to disqualify a judge, Trump's DOJ demanded proceedings "free from any suggestion of impartiality."
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The Lincoln Project @lincolnproject.us · 24/03/2025
Pete Hegseth today
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samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
You know you're a lower court MAGA judge when Neil Gorsuch says he has "no trouble" rejecting arguments you found convincing. www.nbcnews.com/politics/sup...
nbcnews.com
Supreme Court upholds Biden regulations on 'ghost gun' kits
The decision means that the federal government can regulate the easily obtainable gun parts in the same way as firearms purchased from specialist stores.
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samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
I filled out todays's "progress towards petro-state dictatorship" bingo card with just this one article: Trump megadonor. Attack on oil industry safety rules. Filing before Judge Kacsmaryk. DOJ refusal to defend settled precedent. Bingo! subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...
subscriber.politicopro.com
E&E News: Trump ally seeks to topple pipeline safety enforcement
An energy company led by GOP megadonor Kelcy Warren wants the process for penalizing violations declared “unconstitutional."
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Reposted by @samsankar.bsky.social
Tristan Snell @tristansnell.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
This is what happens when you have an entire cabinet full of folks who would NEVER pass a regular security clearance. Led by a president who would never be able to pass one either.
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samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · 22/03/2025
I have no sympathy for CJ Roberts’ predicament. He helped create it by refusing to address gerrymandering, gutting the Voting Rights Act, outlawing campaign finance reform, and stalling Trump’s criminal prosecution.
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samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · 22/03/2025
Bingo. If you have any dealings with the government, you would be nuts to rely on Paul, Weiss. And I’m shedding no tears for its downfall: the firm gets an “F” from Law Students for Climate Accountability.
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samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
As its website proudly notes, the "Weiss" in Paul, Weiss was Louis Weiss, who was famous for his commitment to civil rights. He would be ashamed of the firm he founded today: its partners just admitted that they care more about their pockets than their principles. www.paulweiss.com/about-the-fi...
paulweiss.com
History
1875 | 1910 | 1950 | Our Name Partners   Introduction Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, together with its predecessor firms, has been a presence in New York City for nearly 150 years and a...
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Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 16/03/2025
A federal court’s jurisdiction does *not* stop at the water’s edge. The question is whether the *defendants* are subject to the court order, not *where* the conduct being challenged takes place. Were it otherwise, the government could act lawlessly overseas and courts would be powerless to stop it.
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samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
EPA repealing its GHG endangerment finding to "drive a dagger straight into the heart of the climate change religion" is like putting Galileo in jail to make the sun go around the earth. www.epa.gov/newsreleases...
epa.gov
EPA Launches Biggest Deregulatory Action in U.S. History | US EPA
EPA News Release: EPA Launches Biggest Deregulatory Action in U.S. History
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samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
Trump's environmental actions, like his tariff policy, looks more like culture war than policy agenda. Because this particular move is like deleting the word "door" from a building code. www.eenews.net/articles/fem...
eenews.net
FEMA looks to strip climate phrases from official documents
The proposed list of words to avoid also includes terms that only tangentially relate to global warming, such as “water conservation.”
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Reposted by @samsankar.bsky.social
Dahlia Lithwick @dahlialithwick.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
With @mjsdc.bsky.social on judges finally breaking the third wall slate.com/news-and-pol...
slate.com
A Federal Judge Roasts the DOJ’s “Sham” Excuses for Trump’s Mass Firings
U.S. District Judge William Alsup delivered a furious rebuke to the Trump administration over its mass purge of civil servants.
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samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
“That’s just not right in our country, is it? That we run our agencies with lies like that and stain somebody’s record for the rest of their life? Who is going to want to work in a government that would do that to them?” I heart Judge Alsup. www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
washingtonpost.com
Judge orders Trump officials to offer jobs back to fired probationary workers
Judge William Alsup directed the Trump administration to extend the offer to probationary workers fired last month across several agencies.
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samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · 10/03/2025
“No one sues the government lightly,” said [BigLaw managing partner]. “You want to make sure you are doing it for fundamentally important reasons” Translation: happy to challenge regulations on behalf of business. Chicken to challenge dictators on behalf of real people. www.wsj.com/us-news/law/...
wsj.com
Fear of Trump Has Elite Law Firms in Retreat
Many big corporate law firms are declining to help with public criticism and legal opposition to the second Trump administration, in the wake of executive orders punishing law firms with Democratic ti...
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samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · 07/03/2025
Last year, China added 82,277 heavy-duty electric trucks to its roads. The U.S. added 1,476. Ending investments in clean trucking hands China a major victory in its campaign to dominate the future of manufacturing. subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...
eenews.net
Trump stalls $1B push to electrify trucking at Port of LA
The Biden administration program was aimed at cleaning up diesels that create the region’s deadliest air pollution. Now it’s all in doubt.
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samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
As a lawyer, I can't think of more clear-cut proof that we now have an authoritarian government. www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
whitehouse.gov
Addressing Risks from Perkins Coie LLP
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1. Purpose. The
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samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
“The majority is saying EPA can still protect water quality if it invests more staff time in issuing each permit,” Sankar said. “I guess they haven’t heard that Trump is gutting the agency.” @maxinejoselow.bsky.social wapo.st/3XntnA0
wapo.st
Supreme Court strikes down EPA rules on discharge of water pollution
The justices ruled that the agency cannot impose generic prohibitions against violating water quality standards.
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samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
Expanding offshore drilling is dangerous and dumb. Here's conservative Florida Rep. Byron Donalds suddenly turning all NIMBY: "I will tell my colleagues, you can do that wherever you want, but not off of Florida’s coast." subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...
subscriber.politicopro.com
E&E News: Republican push to expand offshore drilling has its limits
President Donald Trump and GOP lawmakers have moved to undo the Biden administration's offshore restrictions. Some Republicans say, "Not so fast."
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Adam Schwarz @adamjschwarz.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
It is not Zelensky and Ukraine that should be thanking the West. It is the West that should be thanking Zelensky and Ukraine.
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samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
BigLaw partners: You've been cheering the DoJ lawyers who are choosing their principles over their jobs. Will they cheer for you when you refuse to defend anyone that Trump targets? www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
washingtonpost.com
Opinion | Warning to law firms: Stand up for the rule of law while you can
One by one, Trump is fencing in all his potential opponents. Now he’s sending a clear warning to lawyers to back off.
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samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
My views on rumors that EPA will withdraw the 'endangerment finding' that is the foundation of GHG emissions regulations. "It’s like declaring smoking doesn’t cause cancer. If they want to waste their time with that . . . go for it. We’ll win.” InsideEPA.com insideepa.com/daily-news/z...
insideepa.com
InsideEPA.com |
InsideEPA is an exclusive news service offering detailed, behind-the-scenes reporting on environmental regulation and policy.
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samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
Unlike the pallid zealots of DOGE, farmers have to deal with the reality of climate change, and they rely on science and data to do that. So we're suing on behalf of farmers like Wes Gillingham to stop USDA from removing climate information from its websites. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/24/c...
nytimes.com
Farmers Sue Over Deletion of Climate Data From Government Websites
The data, which disappeared from Agriculture Department sites in recent weeks, was useful to farmers for business planning, the lawsuit said.
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samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
Musk is firing all the good lawyers, and Trump is getting some bad legal advice. Related?
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samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
In 2010 I investigated the causes of the Deepwater Horizon blowout on behalf of a commission created by President Obama. Pretty clear that none of Trump's people care about any of the lessons learned from that incident. So...we're headed to court. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/19/c...
nytimes.com
Alaska Lawsuit Aims to Block Trump’s Offshore Drilling Plans
The suit, filed in Alaska, is likely to be the first of many challenging the administration’s goal of expanding fossil fuel production.
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Barb McQuade @barbmcquade.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
DOJ leadership has put all Public Integrity Section lawyers into a room with 1 hour to decide who will dismiss Adams indictment or else all will be fired. Sending them strength to stand by their oath, which is to support the Constitution, not the president’s political agenda. 🇺🇸
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samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · 12/02/2025
World’s smartest businessman begins massive government cost-cutting campaign by attacking the smallest items in the budget.
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samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
The Trump administration is doing a lot of very bad things right now, but the purges going on at the Justice Department threaten the basic rule of law. Here are three true experts on the impacts on environmental law. legal-planet.org/2025/02/04/c...
legal-planet.org
Crisis at DOJ’s Environment & Natural Resources Division - Legal Planet
Dismantling ENRD will be disastrous for future administrations, the American people, and even for the Trump Administration.
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samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
By the way, it’s pronounced “Core.” heatmap.news/sparks/army-...
heatmap.news
A Key Federal Agency Has Stopped Approving New Renewables Projects
The Army Corps of Engineers, which oversees U.S. wetlands, has halted processing on 168 pending wind and solar actions, a spokesperson confirmed to Heatmap.
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samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · 28/01/2025
MAGA lawyers are arguing that the Endangered Species Act can't protect species found only in one state because that would violate the Commerce Clause. So...Congress can't protect species after they *really* become endangered? earthjustice.org/press/2025/c...
earthjustice.org
Conservation groups take legal action to ensure survival of declining Florida Scrub-Jay
Groups move to block effort to rescind Endangered Species Act protections
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samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · 26/01/2025
Why am I concerned about reassignment of DOJ section chiefs? Their smarts and credibility blunted the instincts of Trump's politicals last time. They helped uphold norms like "DOJ maintains consistent legal positions," or "DOJ defends constitutionality of existing laws." No chiefs, no checks.
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samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
At least 5 career leaders of DOJ's Environment and Natural Resources Division just got reassigned to the new "sanctuary cities" team. Includes chiefs of appellate, environmental crimes, environmental enforcement, and natural resources divisions and the head of the office of environmental justice.
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samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · 16/12/2024
Always fun to talk with @dahlialithwick.bsky.social even if the subject isn't fun (SCOTUS and environmental law). Confusing case, messy argument, big implications for (arguably) the most important environmental law of all: NEPA. tinyurl.com/wn82yztb
nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com
A SCOTUS case about trains could upend decades of environmental law.
Why Did Chris Wray Give Trump A Head Start At The FBI?
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samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · 11/12/2024
Pretty infuriating that WSJ op-ed pages the day before argument seem to function as supplemental briefs. I trust that the Justices read the parties' briefs with the same attention. (This from yesterday's SCOTUS NEPA argument.)
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samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
"Zeldin said he spent his Thanksgiving break getting up to speed on environmental policy, including by watching five hours’ worth of Pruitt’s and Wheeler’s testimony." I don't even know where to begin. www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
washingtonpost.com
Lee Zeldin didn’t ask to head EPA. Here’s why Trump picked him.
He was a moderate Republican congressman from New York. Now he’s a MAGA loyalist poised to lead a key environmental agency.
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