Alec Stapp retweeted
Stunning report. At this point it seems like Howard Lutnick and Jeff Kessler are just outright defying the President's orders on export controls. The President apparently ordered Secretary Lutnick to crack down on China's access to controlled AI chips in Southeast Asia--and reportedly has ordered this three separate times--and they're just...not doing it.
Why is Lutnick refusing to act? Why is he allowing China to continue to get AI chips via Southeast Asia? At this point, Lutnick isn't just protecting Nvidia, he's straight up protecting Chinese companies--reportedly against the wishes of the President and the entire rest of the Cabinet. Is Lutnick personally benefitting from China getting access to AI chips?
This is a total breakdown inside the administration on a major national security issue. There has to be accountability for this. Congress obviously will investigate, but how is it that the President's own appointees are just refusing to execute the President's orders? I've never seen anything like this.
SCOOP: President Trump authorized a crackdown on companies suspected of diverting Nvidia's advanced AI chips to China on Thursday, but one administration official repeatedly stood in the way: Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. axios.com/2026/11/11/trump-l…
Alec Stapp retweeted
this is the tweet of the year right?
NYT says Jensen Huang had a relationship Nvidia's vice president of health care. nytimes.com/2026/11/11/techn…
Why is the Congressional Progressive Caucus opposing a bill endorsed by AFL-CIO, IBEW, LIUNA, and the Teamsters?
Alec Stapp retweeted
BAAJA’s opponents are just throwing stuff at the wall now
NEPA affects everything the gov does (~200k actions per year, only 0-5 for detention facilities)
Opposing BAAJA because of this tiny effect is like opposing repealing Trump’s tariffs because that would make metal for detention centers cheaper
The far greater affect of NEPA reform is faster gov action, more vital infrastructure, and disproportionate benefits for clean energy
Alec Stapp retweeted
Today on Volts: more permitting bill! The "manager's amendment" of the bill was released, with 77 pages of changes meant to address the objections of enviros, tribes, & utilities. @DanielPalken rejoins me to walk through the changes & catch us up on the legislative state of play.
volts.wtf/p/the-federal-perm…
Alec Stapp retweeted
Remember, many NHPA slowdowns are not about demolishing protected buildings but whether you can see a dim smudge of a wind turbine on the horizon from the window of that protected building.
Alec Stapp retweeted
I feel like I am going crazy. The Q will not be getting four Republican senators next year — it will be getting 10 R senators, because Trump will veto any permitting measure that can get all 56 Ds. (And of course, any bill that can get 56 Ds won’t get 10 Rs.)
Alec Stapp retweeted
Rep. Peters' analysis that the bipartisan permitting bill, BAAJA, writes Tribal consultation into law in a way it isn't now seems right to me.
To break down how I'm seeing it:
- The relevant section, Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), is currently only two sentences; neither sentence mentions Tribes nor requires Tribal involvement in the process.
- The Tribal consultation process exists today via Section 101(d) of NHPA & the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP)'s regulations -- which can be rewritten.
- In fact, the ACHP has already voted to rewrite them in a way that strips Tribal involvement and consultation out compared to the current regs.
- BAAJA, as amended by the manager's amendment, puts much of the current Tribal consultation process that is present in the regs into statute:
- Under BAAJA, Tribes would be provided agency's findings on every project (other than ones that don't affect historic properties), and consultation begins early, at least at the start of env review.
- Agencies "shall" (not may) seek input from Tribes about sites of religious and cultural importance.
- Tribes can object to an agency's findings, the agency must respond in writing.
- Tribal historic preservation offices (THPOs) keep control of their programs, with no option for a federal takeover even of noncompliant THPOs (this was a change from the original bill).
- Sensitive information about sacred sites is exempt from FOIA.
The ACHP's draft rule goes the other way: it makes early Tribal consultation optional, has a Tribe's lack of input cause waiver of their right to consultation, and deletes the regulations' statements about government-to-government consultation, Tribal sovereignty, and ancestral lands, among other things.
That regulation (or other regulatory rollbacks of Tribal consultation rights currently in regulation) would be impossible under BAAJA.
Alec Stapp retweeted
It actually sucks that Al Gore (who has been out of policymaking for 25 years now) would come out of his cave to just shit on the work of Sheldon Whitehouse, the man who has been *the* climate hawk of the Senate for the past 20 years.
Alec Stapp retweeted
This datacenter critique made sense before amendment; Zephyr may not have had a chance to read the new text
BAAJA's new datacenter safeguards make them subsidize consumers: Getting this was a red line for @PubEnterprise, @Groundwork, & @rooseveltinst endorsement
We got it! – at Queens, NY
Alec Stapp retweeted
i like my permitting — reformed
my chip exports — controlled
my auditors — embedded
my waymos — authorized to operate in dc
Alec Stapp retweeted
really powerful to see @SenKevinCramer — a senior member of the Senate Banking Committee and a cosponsor of the Chip Security Act — calling for jensen huang to step down.
Alec Stapp retweeted
The AI race with China is all about who has the best and most chips. There are four main ways China gets access to chips:
1.) Buying them directly from US companies like Nvidia.
2.) Illegally smuggling them from other countries into China.
3.) Accessing them remotely through the cloud from data centers located in places like Southeast Asia.
4.) Building their own domestic chips in China.
The Chinese military has used advanced chips to further its capabilities while undermining our national security, and the Chinese government has used these chips to strengthen its totalitarian surveillance project.
Congress has a generational opportunity in this year’s NDAA to pass bipartisan bills that would address all four of the pathways through which China acquires chips.
While we need a full assessment of the damage done to our national security by recent revelations, we can begin today by setting a better course.
No excuses. No apologies. Let’s get this done.
Alec Stapp retweeted
1. Reasonable people can oppose BAAJA; many people I respect do. Calling it a "utility giveaway" is not supportable, imho.
Utilities opposed it until yesterday am, when they threw in largely for optics/relationship preservation.
Alec Stapp retweeted
NHPA impacts clean energy WAY more than it does dirty energy, creating a predictable process with a beginning, middle, and end that respects tribal consultation rights is a good idea. People block clean energy projects for years because they *don’t like how they look*!
Alec Stapp retweeted
Heatmap describing perfectly why we at CPE published Down to the Wire - an federal policy framework for macrogrid development - and then immediately supported BAAJA a couple weeks later.
Alec Stapp retweeted
Got this text unprompted from a friend who's a liberal influencer.
Anti-BAAJA groups are offering tens of thousands of dollars to moderately-sized accounts to spread anti-BAAJA talking points. I've almost never seen anything like this.
Alec Stapp retweeted
Attention: dissertation-writing PhD students in economics + related fields.
If you are interested in how changes to microeconomic policies -- e.g. housing, energy+transportation infrastructure, high-skilled immigration, R&D -- affect economic growth, please consider applying!
Open call for Applications, PhD Student Workshop on Microeconomic Policies & Economic Growth. Workshop to be held in Washington, DC on March 31, 2027. Submit papers by 11:59pm EDT on December 16, 2026. More information: nber.org/calls-papers-and-pr…
Alec Stapp retweeted
What does @RepNikkiB, the new chair of the 114-member New Dem caucus, think about BAAJA and permitting reform?
See her episode with us on Right of Way:
greentape.pub/p/right-of-way…
