U.S. House Approves Bill to Accelerate Natural Gas Pipeline Permits ⚡
U.S. House Approves Bill to Accelerate Natural Gas Pipeline Permits as Impeachment Attempt Against Trump Fails
On Friday, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a measure intended to streamline the federal permitting process for interstate natural gas pipelines. The legislation passed with a vote of 213 to 184 and would designate the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) as the primary authority responsible for evaluating pipeline permit applications.
Under the proposal, FERC would be allowed to assess water quality impacts as part of its environmental review, rather than waiting for separate Clean Water Act certifications from individual states. According to reports, supporters believe the current state-level review process can delay pipeline projects for years.
The bill, titled the Improving Interagency Coordination for Pipeline Reviews Act, is one of several initiatives in Congress aimed at modernizing and speeding up federal permitting procedures. Another measure, the Promoting Efficient Review for Modern Infrastructure Today Act, also gained bipartisan approval in the House.
Lawmakers say the push for permitting reform comes as the United States faces rapidly growing electricity demand, driven in part by the expansion of large-scale data centers across the country.
Backers of the legislation argue that accelerating the approval process for energy infrastructure could help stabilize or reduce energy costs for American households.
FERC, the federal agency responsible for regulating interstate energy projects, typically operates with five commissioners, who are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. In recent years, the commission has approved most natural gas pipeline proposals brought before it.
“These bills will help ensure that the infrastructure needed to meet America’s rising demand for dependable and affordable energy can be built more efficiently,” said Mike Sommers, president of the American Petroleum Institute.
Meanwhile, the Senate is pursuing its own broader effort to overhaul federal energy permitting regulations. Senators are focusing particularly on potential changes to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which governs environmental reviews for major infrastructure projects. Their proposals are expected to include reforms aimed at improving the development of electric transmission lines as well.
House Blocks New Impeachment Effort Against Trump
In a separate development, an effort by a Democratic lawmaker to launch another impeachment process against President Donald Trump was halted in the House on Thursday.
Representative Al Green (D-Texas) introduced two articles of impeachment late Wednesday through a privileged resolution, a procedural tool that requires the House to consider the measure within two legislative days.
However, Republican lawmakers quickly moved to table the resolution, effectively preventing debate on the impeachment proposal. The motion succeeded with bipartisan support.
A total of 23 Democrats joined Republicans in voting to block the measure. Additionally, a large group of Democratic lawmakers chose to vote “present,” including the party’s top House leaders: Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.).
In a joint statement explaining their decision, the three leaders emphasized that impeachment is a serious constitutional process that normally requires extensive investigation, evidence gathering, witness testimony, and congressional hearings.
They argued that such groundwork had not been completed and said their priority remains addressing economic concerns facing everyday Americans.
The final vote on the motion to table the resolution was 237 in favor, 140 against, with 47 members voting “present.”
Among the Democrats who supported shelving the impeachment proposal were Tom Suozzi of New York, Josh Riley of New York, Jared Golden of Maine, Jimmy Panetta of California, Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire, Sharice Davids of Kansas, Don Davis of North Carolina, and Shomari Figures of Alabama, along with several others.
The vote effectively ended the latest attempt to initiate impeachment proceedings in the House.
The first time Dante Rossi touched his wife, she begged him not to hurt her.
The first time Dante Rossi touched his wife, she begged him not to hurt her.
He had not even meant to touch her.
He had only reached to lift the veil.
The conservatory at the edge of the Rossi compound still smelled of crushed lilies, damp earth, and expensive deceit. Outside, the final guests were being ushered to their cars by men with earpieces and holstered weapons hidden under black trench coats. Inside the master suite, Aria Sterling stood in the middle of the Persian rug like a porcelain doll someone had trapped in silk.
Her wedding dress was an armor of elegance. Heavy ivory silk. Long sleeves. A high collar. A train so thick and demanding it had taken two maids to carry it down the aisle of the cathedral.
At first, Dante had assumed the gown was merely traditional.
Then he saw what it was hiding.
A dark, mottled shadow peeked just above the silk near her collarbone. Another bruise, fading to a sickly green, curved along the delicate line of her jaw. When he brushed the tulle of her veil back, her entire body went rigid.
“Please,” she breathed. “Don’t hurt me.”
Dante’s hand stopped dead in the air.
He had been called a butcher, a phantom, the newly crowned king of Boston’s most unforgiving crime syndicate. He had heard grown men plead for their lives in empty warehouses. He had built his reign on an iron discipline so absolute that even his rivals confessed he was principled before he was lethal.
But nothing in his violent life had prepared him for the sound of his own bride pleading for mercy on their wedding night.
Aria’s gaze was glued to the floor. Her bottom lip quivered once before she bit down to force it still. She looked twenty-two and utterly broken by the world. The massive emerald on her finger weighed her down like a chain.
Dante took a slow step back.
“Who did that to you?”
Her eyelashes fluttered.
“No one.”
“Do not lie to me.”
“I fell.”
“On both sides of your neck?”
Her silence gave him the answer her voice wouldn't.
For a heartbeat, the oxygen seemed to vanish from the room. Beyond the frosted glass, Boston shimmered cold and indifferent through the heavy November rain. This marriage had been forged to extinguish a decades-old war between two distinct underworlds. Sterling political cover. Rossi brute force. A pact sealed with signatures, veiled threats, and champagne toasts.
Dante had braced himself for an entitled politician’s daughter who despised him.
He had not braced himself for a woman who had been trained to flinch before he even raised a hand.
Aria took a ragged, shallow breath. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have spoken out of turn.”
“Sorry for what?”
“For offending you.”
Dante just stared at her.
Then he turned on his heel, walked to the heavy oak door, and gripped the brass handle.
Aria’s head snapped up, pure panic flooding her eyes. “Where are you going?”
“To the guest wing.”
“But we’re expected to—”
“We’re expected to what?” His tone came out harsher than he wanted. He reined it in with sheer willpower. “Finalize the treaty? Give your father his proof? Let a compound full of armed guards think they own the rights to what happens in this bed?”
All the color drained from her face.
Dante squeezed the door handle until the metal dug into his palm. “Listen to me very closely, Aria. I do not lay hands on women who don’t want my touch. I do not extract obedience from someone who is already shivering in fear. This room is yours. The lock works from the inside. There is food in the adjoining kitchen. If you decide to walk out the front gates, no one will stand in your way.”
She stared at him as if he had just recited a poem in a dead language.
“You aren't mad?”
“I am enraged,” he said, his voice a low, dangerous rumble. “Just not at you.”
Then he stepped out and left her alone.
Only when the latch clicked into place did Aria collapse against the edge of the mattress. She pressed both palms over her mouth, trembling so violently that the heavy silk of her dress rustled like dry leaves.
She thought she had just escaped one monster.
Perhaps she hadn't been traded to another after all.
But hope was a deadly thing. Hope made people drop their guard. And Aria Sterling had survived far too much violence to put her faith in a single act of grace.
If you like it, please like and comment.
Full story in the first comment 👇
