First Draft on Politics: Undoing Obama’s Climate Legacy

President Trump signed an order undoing President Obama’s climate legacy as a step toward energy independence. View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Wednesday, March 29, 2017 [NYTimes.com/Politics »]( [President Trump was joined by his E.P.A. administrator, Scott Pruitt, left, and coal industry workers on Tuesday as he signed an executive order rolling back previous U.S. climate change commitments.]( President Trump was joined by his E.P.A. administrator, Scott Pruitt, left, and coal industry workers on Tuesday as he signed an executive order rolling back previous U.S. climate change commitments. Stephen Crowley/The New York Times Good Wednesday morning, Here are some of the stories making news in Washington and politics today: - President Trump, flanked by coal miners, [signed an order]( to undo President Barack Obama’s climate legacy as a step toward energy independence. Climate diplomats from other major economies said they would continue to carry out their agreements with or without the U.S. - For those in coal country who felt bullied by the previous administration’s policies, [a rollback is cheered]( though expectations remain muted. - Representative Devin Nunes, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, [said Democrats’ concerns about his impartiality]( were “their problem.” - As other advisers have floundered in recent weeks, Vice President Mike Pence [has emerged as an effective wingman]( for a president short on competent help. — The First Draft Team HAVE A CONFIDENTIAL NEWS TIP? Do you have the next big story? Want to share it with The New York Times? We offer several ways to get in touch with and provide materials to our journalists. [Learn More »]( ADVERTISEMENT [The Morning Briefing. In Your Inbox.]( Sign up for the Morning Briefing. Get what you need to know to start your day, delivered to your inbox Monday through Friday. [• Sign up »]( [5 Reasons Trump’s Promised Tax Overhaul Won’t Be So Easy]( By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS [Representative Kevin Brady, seated left, chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, and Representative Greg Walden, both Republicans. ]( Representative Kevin Brady, seated left, chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, and Representative Greg Walden, both Republicans. Stephen Crowley/The New York Times President Trump’s failure to push through the broad health care overhaul he promised has raised questions about the prospects of a sweeping rewrite of the tax code. It is a politically fraught and dizzyingly complex endeavor that pits powerful interests against one another and threatens to increase the federal deficit. “Trump has to win on this,” said Stephen Moore, a distinguished visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation who advised Mr. Trump on tax policy during his campaign and transition. “There’s no margin for error here, and failure is just not an option.” Just how difficult will it be? There are five obstacles to getting a new tax law ... [Read more »]( [Trump Signs Executive Order Unwinding Obama Climate Policies]( By CORAL DAVENPORT AND ALISSA J. RUBIN Flanked by coal miners at the Environmental Protection Agency, the president signed an order directing the agency to start the process of rewriting the Clean Power Plan. [Coal Miners Hope President’s Order Will Help. But Few Count on It.]( By CAMPBELL ROBERTSON President Trump’s move aiming to roll back environmental regulations elated many in coal country who felt bullied by his predecessor. But expectations for a comeback remain muted. [Order Pushes the U.S. Climate Pledge Further Out of Reach]( By NADJA POPOVICH Without key Obama-era greenhouse gas regulations in place, the United States is set to fall far short of its 2015 Paris Agreement pledge. [Policy Shift Helps Coal, but Other Forces May Limit Effect]( By CLIFFORD KRAUSS AND DIANE CARDWELL Reversing clean power rules may lead to more drilling and pipelines, but economics and state initiatives still favor natural gas and renewable energy. [Fact Check: Trump’s Misleading Words on Energy and Jobs]( By LINDA QIU The president claimed undue credit for job gains and miscast the effect of his executive orders on energy. [What to Know About the Order to Undo the Clean Power Plan]( By TATIANA SCHLOSSBERG What was happening with the Clean Power Plan until now? What happens next? [Devin Nunes Says He Will Continue to Lead Russia Inquiry]( By EMMARIE HUETTEMAN The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee said Democrats’ concerns about his impartiality were “their problem.” [Repeal of Affordable Care Act Is Back on Agenda, Republicans Say]( By ROBERT PEAR AND JEREMY W. PETERS Under pressure from conservative activists, House Republican leaders and the White House say they have restarted negotiations. [Congress Acts to Scrap Obama-Era Online Privacy Rules]( By CECILIA KANG Following the Senate, the House voted to dismantle rules requiring broadband providers to get permission before collecting data on a user’s online activity. [Like Trump, White House Staff Will Skip Correspondents Dinner]( By MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM The administration said the entire White House staff would not attend the event next month, in solidarity with the president, who had already said he would not attend. Congressional memo [Congress Is Headed to Another Government Funding Showdown]( By JENNIFER STEINHAUER Fresh off the House health bill debacle, the president is courting another disaster by asking for $18 billion in cuts to pay for his border wall with Mexico. [President’s Job Approval Rating Reaches New Low]( By KAREN YOURISH AND PAUL MURRAY The president’s record-low approval rating is because of high disapproval among Democrats and independents, but it masks considerable satisfaction among Republicans. [Buyer of Trump’s Childhood Home Is Said to Be From China]( By SARAH MASLIN NIR A stream of Chinese visitors reportedly stopped to see the house between when it was listed for auction in January and when the sale closed last week. [Amid White House Tumult, Pence Offers His Boss a Steady Hand]( By GLENN THRUSH AND MAGGIE HABERMAN As other advisers floundered in recent weeks, the vice president has emerged as an effective wingman for a president short on competent help. [Texas Used Wrong Standard in Death Penalty Cases, Justices Rule]( By ADAM LIPTAK The Supreme Court has rejected the test Texas uses to determine who should be spared execution because of an intellectual disability, continuing a trend toward limiting capital punishment. Right and Left: Partisan Writing You Shouldn’t Miss Read about how the other side thinks. We have collected political writing from around the web and across ideologies. From the Right • From [National Review]( “To claim that something is technically legal is not to say that it is appropriate.” For Andrew McCarthy, the question is not whether it was legal to monitor President Trump or his associates during the campaign, but whether it was a political abuse of power. [Read More »]( _____ From the Left • From [The Intercept]( “Fight fewer wars and for narrower reasons, but be more barbaric and criminal in prosecuting the ones that are fought.” One should not mistake President Trump’s “anti-interventionism” for “pacifism,” Glenn Greenwald warns. That distinction, according to Mr. Greenwald, helps to explain the precipitous increase in civilian casualties in the Middle East since Mr. Trump took office. [Read more »]( _____ [See more picks »](  ADVERTISEMENT  HOW ARE WE DOING? We’d love your feedback on this newsletter. 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