Bismarck's Alyson Krug won the Class A girls pole vault at the state track meet on Thursday at the Bowl.
Bismarck's Alyson Krug won the Class A girls pole vault at the state track meet on Thursday at the Bowl.
Bismarck's Alyson Krug won the Class A girls pole vault at the state track meet on Thursday at the Bowl.
Bismarck's Alyson Krug won the Class A girls pole vault at the state track meet on Thursday at the Bowl.
There are more than 1 million wetland and lake basins in North Dakota, with densities of more than 150 wetlands per square mile in some areas, according to the state Game and Fish Department.
A U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Thursday limiting federal regulators' authority over wetlands was cheered by leaders in North Dakota, which has sued twice in recent years over the issue.
Justices ruled in a case out of Idaho that wetlands can be regulated under the Clean Water Act only if they have a "continuous surface connection" to larger, regulated bodies of water. The Sackett case involved a couple who wanted to build a home near a lake, but the federal Environmental Protection Agency stopped their work in 2007, finding wetlands on their property were federally regulated.
Thursday's ruling will impact ongoing court battles over new regulations that the Biden administration put in place in December defining which “Waters of the United States” -- commonly referred to as WOTUS -- are protected by the Clean Water Act. Two federal judges earlier blocked those rules from being enforced in 26 states.
One of those rulings came in a multistate lawsuit led by North Dakota and West Virginia. U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland in Bismarck in his April ruling stated, "There is little that is intelligible about the 2023 rule and the broad scope of its jurisdiction."
Hovland at the time also said that he hoped the Supreme Court would "provide some clarity" through the pending ruling in the Idaho case.
There were no immediate filings in the North Dakota lawsuit on Thursday. West Virginia Republican Congresswoman Carol Miller in a statement said EPA "continues to fight a losing battle" and should withdraw its WOTUS rule.
There are more than 1 million wetland and lake basins in North Dakota, with densities of more than 150 wetlands per square mile in some areas, according to the state Game and Fish Department.
North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley praised the Supreme Court's ruling Thursday, saying Biden administration efforts to expand federal water protections is "overreach" and that the justices' decision is good for "new federalism."
The state's all-Republican congressional delegation also cheered the ruling, with U.S. Sens. Kevin Cramer and John Hoeven and Rep. Kelly Armstrong all saying it will "rein in" the EPA.
"Today's Supreme Court decision finally makes clear what we've known all along, that the Clean Water Act was never intended to regulate puddles," Cramer said.
North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring said the decision "finally brings clarity and a clear definition to what comprises wetlands."
Gov. Doug Burgum called the ruling "a major victory for farmers and ranchers, the energy industry, housing developers and other landowners who need clarity and a commonsense interpretation of which wetlands should be covered by the Clean Water Act."
"We wholeheartedly agree with the Supreme Court’s opinion that ‘States can and will continue to exercise their primary authority to combat water pollution by regulating land and water use,’ because no one cares more about North Dakota’s land and water than the people who live here,” the governor said.
Earthjustice represents several American Indian tribes who have intervened in North Dakota's lawsuit. Earthjustice Vice President of Programs Sam Sankar denounced the ruling, saying it "will hurt everyone living in the United States."
"The Sackett decision undoes a half century of progress generated by the Clean Water Act. Almost 90 million acres of formerly protected wetlands now face an existential threat from polluters and developers," he said.
EPA Administrator Michael Regan said the agency is disappointed and will "carefully review the Supreme Court decision and consider next steps."
"Over the past 50 years, we have made transformational progress -- rivers that were once on fire have been restored and now sustain vibrant communities in every corner of the country," he said. "A commonsense and science-based definition of ‘Waters of the United States’ is essential to building on that progress and fulfilling our responsibility to preserve our nation’s waters -- now and for future generations.”
North Dakota and other states also sued in 2015 when President Barack Obama sought to expand federal WOTUS protections, and court injunctions prevented his administration's rule from taking effect. Federal courts later threw out a Trump-era rule that North Dakota leaders backed but environmentalists had argued left waterways vulnerable to pollution.
North Dakota Farm Bureau has been involved in the WOTUS battle since the Obama days, and has intervened in North Dakota's current lawsuit. President Daryl Lies called the Supreme Court decision "a huge victory for agriculture across the country."
(Tribune reporter Joseph Harris contributed to this story.)
Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., speaks about the topic of the Waters of the United States federal regulation in Bismarck.
Renovation of the Pro Cathedral of St. Mary's in downtown Bismarck is nearing completion, with a reopening date set for July 8, according to the Rev. Jared Johnson. The church was built in 1898 and for the past several months has been undergoing a major remodeling including a reinforcement of the roof. Other work includes new paint, lighting and flooring. Above, Sergii Buraa, left, and Niculta Vaseler, both of Magi Touch, clean grout from the tile inside the church. The large stained glass window in the back was a gift from the Marquis de Mores.
Renovation of the Pro Cathedral of St. Mary's in downtown Bismarck is nearing completion, with a reopening date set for July 8, according to the Rev. Jared Johnson. The church was built in 1898 and for the past several months has been undergoing a major remodeling including a reinforcement of the roof. Other work includes new paint, lighting and flooring. Above, Sergii Buraa, left, and Niculta Vaseler, both of Magi Touch, clean grout from the tile inside the church. The large stained glass window in the back was a gift from the Marquis de Mores.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rep. Jeff Delzer, R-Underwood, listens to testimony on Oct. 12, 2021, at the state Capitol in Bismarck. The panel was deciding the best way to spend federal aid from the American Rescue Plan.
Weisz
Holmberg
Over a long career in public budget writing, former North Dakota Rep. Jeff Delzer earned a reputation as a champion of conservative spending.
The Underwood Republican's travel log tells a different story.
Delzer took more than 30 taxpayer-funded trips to out-of-state conferences and meetings in the past decade, collecting nearly $26,000 in daily payments for himself along the way.
One of Delzer's costliest excursions came after voters decided they didn't want him in office any longer.
About two months after losing his bid for reelection in last year's primary, Delzer attended an annually held legislative summit in Denver. The state funded the trip to the tune of $3,700.
Delzer wasn't the only lame duck to wander from the pond. Since 2014, the North Dakota Legislature has spent more than $45,000 to send a dozen retiring and defeated lawmakers to out-of-state conferences, according to documents obtained by Forum News Service through a public records request.
Some of the departing lawmakers served on interstate policy boards and were expected to show up to faraway meetings, but others went to conferences that could have been attended by any of their colleagues who planned to remain in the Legislature.
Rep. Robin Weisz, a Hurdsfield Republican who briefly oversaw legislative conference attendance this year, said lawmakers who announce their retirement or lose an election "shouldn't be sent anywhere after that point."
"To me, it should be people going that are gonna get usefulness out of the meeting," Weisz said.
Delzer said lawmakers who are leaving office still can gain valuable information from conferences to share with those who will stay in the Legislature.
"You don't want to quit learning, and just because you're not there does not mean you're not going to have the opportunity to visit with people and bring back and share what you learned at these conferences," Delzer said.
Most of the lame-duck trips were approved by former Sen. Ray Holmberg, a Grand Forks Republican who resigned in June after a Forum investigation found he exchanged text messages with a jailed man accused of child pornography crimes.
Holmberg, who attended more out-of-state trips than any of his peers since 2013, also signed off on his own travel during the parts of eight years he served as chairman of Legislative Management, an interim panel of top lawmakers.
The senator's ability to authorize his own state-funded trips was "a basic conflict of interest," said Mark Jendrysik, a political science professor at the University of North Dakota.
"That is completely unethical. I can't believe they let him do that," Jendrysik said. "You can't possibly be unbiased in your own case."
When asked whether it was a conflict of interest to approve his own travel, Holmberg said the chairman of Legislative Management is given that authority by state law.
"How else would you do it? That's what the law is," Holmberg said.
Since 2013, the state has spent an average of $450,000 each two-year budget cycle to cover legislators' conference-related expenses, including airfare, lodging, meals and daily pay, known as per diem.
The goal of sending lawmakers to conferences is "primarily educational," said Legislative Council Director John Bjornson.
Members of the House of Representatives and Senate can learn from policy experts and compare notes with their counterparts from other states, Bjornson said. When the Legislature heads into session, lawmakers can use what they picked up at conferences.
Jendrysik said sending soon-to-be sidelined lawmakers on such trips strikes him as unethical since "you can't apply the things you learn on the taxpayers' dime in the Legislature."
Nearly all of the lame-duck lawmakers who attended out-of-state conferences during their waning terms held positions of influence within the Legislature or their party.
Delzer, the longtime chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, made two state-funded trips after losing to two Republican candidates in June. Besides the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) summit in Denver, he attended a San Antonio meeting of the Energy Council, a board on which he served.
Former House Speaker Kim Koppelman, R-West Fargo, attended a July meeting of Midwest lawmakers hosted by the Council of State Governments (CSG) in Wichita, Kansas. Several months earlier, he had dropped out of his race for reelection after losing his local party's endorsement.
Less than two weeks after proclaiming that he would not seek another term in July 2019, former Sen. Dwight Cook attended an NCSL summit in Nashville, Tennessee. The Mandan Republican who chaired the Senate Finance and Taxation Committee for a decade also attended meetings of two separate interstate tax policy groups to which he belonged.
Caroyln Nelson, a former assistant minority leader in the Senate, attended an NCSL conference near San Diego in December 2017 less than a month after announcing her intention to retire the following year. The Fargo Democrat also went to meetings in northern Minnesota and Chicago for boards on which she served.
Former House budget writer Mark Dosch, R-Bismarck, attended a CSG meeting in Milwaukee about six months after it became public he would not seek reelection in 2016.
Former House Speaker and Majority Leader Wesley Belter, R-Fargo, attended conferences in Chicago, Denver and Burlington, Vermont, after announcing he would not seek another term in December 2015.
Tony Grindberg, a longtime Senate budget writer from Fargo, went to a CSG conference in Anchorage, Alaska, three months before the end of his final term in 2014. The Republican who now serves on the Cass County Commission announced he would not seek another legislative term in January of that year.
The ex-lawmakers offered several justifications for the trips they took before leaving the Legislature.
Cook and Nelson said they were already registered for the conferences before announcing they would retire. Nelson added that she shared the information she gained from the meetings with other members of her small Democratic caucus.
Belter said elected representatives must continue serving their district and the state until the end of their term. He noted that current lawmakers occasionally ask him about certain issues, so his legislative knowledge is still put to good use.
"I think that the biggest point I would like to make is that I see nothing wrong with a legislator going to a conference after they've decided (to retire) because there is no replacement for them at that point in time," Belter said.
Delzer said the trips he took were justified since he used the knowledge he gained "validly and wisely."
Koppelman, Dosch and Grindberg did not respond to Forum News Service's requests for comment on this story.
Several other lame-duck lawmakers attended out-of-state meetings of groups to which they belonged, including former Sen. Jessica Bell and former Reps. Scot Kelsh, Lois Delmore and Jim Schmidt.
Bell, Kelsh and Delmore said they were expected to go to the meetings as members of their respective panels. Schmidt did not respond to a request for comment.
Former Sen. Joe Miller, R-Park River, attended a Denver agriculture conference as a lame duck in 2016, but he did not collect a per diem or any travel reimbursements. The state paid only the $745 he needed to register for the conference.
Miller told Forum News Service he received enough regular compensation for being a lawmaker, and he "just thought it was unnecessary to be further paid" for going to a meeting.
Holmberg approved most of the lame-duck trips as the chairman of Legislative Management from 2013-2018 and again from 2021 until April 2022, when he resigned from the position.
He told Forum News Service he took cues from the majority and minority leaders, who recommended members of their caucuses for different conferences. Holmberg said he thought sending lame ducks to conferences wasn't a good use of public funds, but signed off on it if legislative leaders insisted.
Former Senate Majority Leader Rich Wardner, R-Dickinson, said he rejected plenty of travel requests by soon-departing lawmakers, but he made exceptions for important members of interstate committees.
Former House Majority Leader Chet Pollert, R-Carrington, said it was valuable to send experienced lawmakers — even sometimes lame ducks — to represent North Dakota in various policy groups to make sure other states didn't have undue influence.
Weisz chaired Legislative Management for less than two weeks this month before House Majority Leader Mike Lefor, R-Dickinson, took over the role.
But even in his abbreviated time at the helm, Weisz said he began receiving travel requests from lawmakers for conferences as far out as next year. Some of the requests came from colleagues he believes won't seek reelection. Now, Lefor will have to deal with those, he said.
"I was like, 'OK, do we really want to send someone who's not running or frankly is checked out in a way already? To me, that is an issue," Weisz said. "You do want to send people that are going to bring back something useful and not (to) get a paid vacation."
Weisz, who has attended only a couple of out-of-state conferences during his nearly 30-year tenure, said the approval of conference attendance over time has become more first-come-first-serve and less a strategic effort by leaders to prepare and improve important lawmakers.
Lefor said he will evaluate travel requests on a case-by-case basis to determine whether investing in a lawmaker's training benefits the state. Lawmakers can spend up to $965,000 over the next two years on conference attendance.
The locations of conferences attended by Holmberg since 2013 read like a glossy travel magazine's table of contents: Norway, Puerto Rico, Alaska, Los Angeles, Miami and Vail, Colorado.
As Weisz put it, Holmberg "rarely missed a meeting."
In all, Holmberg made about 65 publicly funded trips over the last decade at a total cost of nearly $126,000 — by far the most of any lawmaker. He was paid $47,000 in per diem for attending the conferences.
He approved most of the trips himself as chairman of Legislative Management.
Holmberg told Forum News Service his role as a leader in between legislative sessions necessitated his frequent appearances at conferences and meetings across the continent.
Despite holding the ultimate authority to approve his own travel, Holmberg said he consulted Wardner before signing up for the conferences. Wardner said he never rejected Holmberg's requests "because they were all reasonable."
Weisz said it makes sense that Holmberg attended more meetings than the average legislator, but "he took advantage of it."
Jendrysik, who teaches a graduate-level class on ethics in the public sector, said Holmberg shouldn't have been able to exert influence on his own travel requests. The professor noted that he wasn't permitted to approve his own travel when he chaired his department due to the conflict of interest it would have presented.
In the future, there should be a committee or some other mechanism to review travel requests by the chairman of Legislative Management, Wardner said.
Since Lefor is both the House majority leader and the chairman of Legislative Management, he wouldn't have to consult anyone at all before approving his own trips.
Lefor agreed that there probably should be some check on the chairman's travel, but he isn't yet sure what form that would take. On a personal level, Lefor said abusing the power of the position won't be an issue for him.
"I don't think you'll find me taking a lot of trips," Lefor said. "I think I would hold myself to a higher standard."
Stewart Rhodes, founder of the Oath Keepers, speaks during a June 25, 2017, rally outside the White House in Washington.
This artist sketch depicts Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes, left, testifying Nov. 7, 2022, before U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta on charges of seditious conspiracy in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol in Washington.
WASHINGTON — Oath Keepers extremist group founder Stewart Rhodes was sentenced Thursday to 18 years in prison for orchestrating a weekslong plot that culminated in his followers attacking the U.S. Capitol in a bid to keep President Joe Biden out of the White House after winning the 2020 election.
Rhodes, 58, is the first person convicted of seditious conspiracy in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack to receive his punishment, and his sentence is the longest handed down so far in the hundreds of Capitol riot cases.
It's another milestone for the Justice Department's sprawling Jan. 6 investigation, which led to seditious conspiracy convictions against the top leaders of two far-right extremist groups authorities say came to Washington prepared to fight to keep President Donald Trump in power at all costs.
“The Justice Department will continue to do everything in our power to hold accountable those criminally responsible for the January 6th attack on our democracy,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
In a first for a Jan. 6 case, the judge agreed with the Justice Department that Rhodes' actions should be punished as "terrorism," which increases the recommended sentence under federal guidelines. That could foreshadow lengthy sentences down the road for other far-right extremists, including former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, also convicted of the rarely used charge.
Before announcing Rhodes' sentence, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta described Rhodes as a continued threat to the United States and democracy. The judge expressed fear that what happened Jan. 6 could be repeated, saying Americans will "now hold our collective breaths every time an election is approaching."
"You are smart, you are charismatic and compelling and frankly that's what makes you dangerous," the judge told Rhodes. "The moment you are released, whenever that may be, you will be ready to take up arms against your government."
Rhodes did not use his chance to address the judge to express remorse or appeal for leniency, but instead criticized prosecutors and the Biden administration and tried to play down his actions on Jan. 6.
"I'm a political prisoner and like President Trump my only crime is opposing those who are destroying our country," said Rhodes, who appeared in Washington's federal court wearing orange jail clothes.
Mehta fired back that Rhodes was not prosecuted for his political beliefs but for actions the judge described as an "offense against the people of the country."
"You are not a political prisoner, Mr. Rhodes," the judge said.
Another Oath Keeper convicted of seditious conspiracy alongside Rhodes — Florida chapter leader Kelly Meggs — was sentenced later Thursday to 12 years behind bars.
Meggs said he was sorry he was involved in the riot that left a "black eye on the country," but maintained he never planned to go into the Capitol.
The judge found Meggs doesn't present an ongoing threat to the country the way Rhodes does, but told him "violence cannot be resorted to just because you disagree with who got elected."
Other Oath Keepers are expected to be sentenced Friday and next week.
A Washington, D.C., jury found Rhodes guilty of leading a plot to forcibly disrupt the transfer of presidential power. Prosecutors alleged Rhodes and his followers recruited members, amassed weapons and set up "quick reaction force" teams at a Virginia hotel that could ferry guns into the nation's capital if they were needed to support their plot. The weapons were never deployed.
It was one of the most consequential Capitol riot cases brought by the government, which sought to prove the attack by right-wing extremists such as the Oath Keepers was not a spur-of-the-moment protest but the culmination of weeks of plotting to overturn Biden's victory.
Rhodes' January 2022 arrest was the culmination of a decadeslong path of extremism that included armed standoffs with federal authorities at Nevada's Bundy Ranch. After founding the Oath Keepers in 2009, the Yale Law School graduate built it into one of the largest far-right, anti-government militia groups in the U.S., though it appears to have weakened in the wake of the Oath Keepers' arrests.
The judge agreed to prosecutors' request for a so-called "terrorism enhancement" under the argument that the Oath Keepers sought to influence the government through "intimidation or coercion." Judges in less serious Jan. 6 cases previously rejected such requests.
Prosecutors sought 25 years for Rhodes, arguing a lengthy sentence was necessary to deter future political violence.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathryn Rakoczy pointed to interviews and speeches Rhodes gave from jail repeating the lie that the 2020 election was stolen and saying it would be again in 2024. Just days ago, Rhodes called for "regime change," the prosecutor said.
People "across the political spectrum" want to believe that Jan. 6 was an "outlier," Rakoczy said. "Not defendant Rhodes."
Rhodes, of Granbury, Texas, plans to appeal.
His sentence may signal the punishment prosecutors will seek for Tarrio and other Proud Boys leaders convicted of seditious conspiracy. They will be sentenced in August and September.
Before Thursday, the longest sentence in the more than 1,000 Capitol riot cases was 14 years for a man with a long criminal record who attacked police officers with pepper spray and a chair as he stormed the Capitol. Just over 500 of the defendants have been sentenced.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy said issues remain in negotiations with the Biden administration on raising the federal debt limit as the clock ticks d…
WASHINGTON — House Republicans pushed debt ceiling talks to the brink on Thursday, displaying risky political bravado in preparing to leave town for the holiday weekend just days before the U.S. could face an unprecedented default.
However, Speaker Kevin McCarthy also said he had directed his negotiating team “to work 24/7 to solve this problem.”
At the Capitol, McCarthy, R-Calif., said “every hour matters” in talks with President Joe Biden's team as they try to work out a budget agreement. Republican are demanding spending cuts the Democrats oppose as their price for raising the legal debt limit.
“We’ve been taking to the White House all day,” he told reporters in the evening. “We're working hard to make it happen.”
In remarks at the White House, Biden said, “It’s about competing versions of America.”
Yet both men expressed optimism that the gulf between their positions could be bridged.
The White House said discussions with the Republicans were productive, including by video conference Thursday, though serious disagreements remained as the president fights for his priorities.
"The only way to move forward is with a bipartisan agreement," Biden said. "And I believe we'll come to an agreement that allows us to move forward and protects the hardworking Americans of this country."
Reporters encircle Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., as debt limit negotiations continue Thursday at the Capitol in Washington.
As the deadline nears, it's clear the Republican speaker — who leads a party whose hard-right flank lifted him to power — is now staring down a potential crisis.
Lawmakers are tentatively not expected back at work until Tuesday, just two days from June 1, when Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the U.S. could start running out of cash to pay its bills and face a federal default. Biden will also be away, departing Friday for the presidential retreat at Camp David and Sunday for his home in Wilmington, Delaware. The Senate is on recess and will be until after Memorial Day.
Meanwhile, Fitch Ratings agency placed the United States' AAA credit on "ratings watch negative," warning of a possible downgrade.
Democratic lawmakers lined up on the House floor as the workday ended to blame "extreme" Republicans for the risky potential default. "Republicans have chosen to get out of town before sundown," said House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York.
Weeks of negotiations between Republicans and the White House failed to produce a deal — in part because the Biden administration resisted negotiating with McCarthy over the debt limit, arguing that the country's full faith and credit should not be used as leverage to extract other partisan priorities.
McCarthy is holding out for steep spending cuts that Republicans demand in exchange for their vote to raise the nation's borrowing limit. The White House offered to freeze next year's 2024 spending at current levels and restrict 2025 spending, but the Republican leader says that's not enough.
One idea is to set those topline budget numbers but then add a "snap-back" provision that enforces the cuts if Congress is unable during its annual appropriations process to meet the new goals.
Pressure is bearing down on McCarthy from the House's right flank Freedom Caucus not to give in to any deal.
"Don't take an exit ramp five exits too early," said Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, a Freedom Caucus member. "Let's hold the line."
Former President Donald Trump has encouraged Republicans to “do a default” if they don’t get the deal they want from the White House. McCarthy said Trump told him, “Make sure you get a good agreement.”
Failure to raise the nation's debt ceiling, now at $31 trillion, to pay America's already incurred bills would risk a potentially chaotic federal default. Anxious retirees and social service groups are among those already making default contingency plans.
Even if negotiators strike a deal, McCarthy promised lawmakers he will abide by the rule to post any bill for 72 hours before voting — now likely Tuesday or even Wednesday. The Democratic-held Senate vowed to move quickly to send the package to Biden's desk, right before next Thursday's possible deadline.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., joined by fellow Democrats, speaks with reporters about the debt ceiling Thursday at the Capitol in Washington.
Pushing a debt ceiling increase to the last minute is not uncommon for Congress, but it leaves little room for error in a volatile political environment. Both Democrats and Republicans will be needed to pass the final package in the split Congress.
"We still have a ways to go," top Republican negotiator Rep. Garret Graves of Louisiana said.
In one potential development, Republicans may be easing their demand to boost defense spending, instead offering to keep it at levels the Biden administration proposed, according to one person familiar with the talks and granted anonymity to discuss them.
The Republicans may achieve their goal of rolling back bolstered funding for the Internal Revenue Service if they agree to allow the White House to push that money into other domestic accounts, the person said.
The teams also are eyeing a proposal to boost energy transmission line development from Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., that would facilitate the buildout of an interregional power grid, according to a person familiar with the draft.
The White House continues to argue that deficits can be reduced by ending tax breaks for wealthier households and some corporations, but McCarthy said raising revenue from tax hikes was off the table.
Republicans want to beef up work requirements for government aid to recipients of food stamps, cash assistance and the Medicaid health care program that Democrats say are a nonstarter.
The White House countered by proposing to keep defense and nondefense spending flat next year, which would save $90 billion in the 2024 budget year and $1 trillion over 10 years.
Experian reviewed anonymized credit report data to see how consumers' credit scores have changed over the past year and to understand the pand…
