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[1/6] Tundra trucks and Sequoia SUV's exit the assembly line as finished products at Toyota's truck plant in San Antonio, Texas, U.S. April 17, 2023. TOYOTA'S PAST SUCCESSWashington's push to accelerate the shift to battery-electric vehicles amplifies the threat posed by Tesla to Toyota's position as the world's largest automaker. Toyota San Antonio has weathered a series of challenges since it built its first truck in 2006. The future for factories like Toyota San Antonio will play out across the next several years. Reporting by Norihiko Shirouzu in San Antonio, Texas, Joseph White in Detroit and David Shepardson in Washington Written by Joseph White Editing by Ben Klayman and Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Biden is set to use his first veto to save what Republicans call a "woke" rule that lets retirement fund managers consider companies' social and environmental records
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Jason Lalljee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The Senate voted to overturn a Labor Department measure allowing investment managers to make socially and environmentally conscious investing decisions. "Republicans' hypocritical resolution to nullify @USDOL's ESG rule ties investors' hands & would force their extremist views on investors," she wrote on Twitter following the vote. It's the latest back-and-forth in an ESG debate triggered by former President Donald Trump, who prohibited financial managers from making such considerations when he was in office. However, the White House has said that Biden will use his first veto as president to protect ESG considerations. As CNBC's Brian Schwartz reported this week, Trump allies and wealthy donors have funded Republicans' fight against ESG investing.

☆ U.S. Senate Republicans put Biden on notice over debt ceiling
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( David Morgan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A debt ceiling increase would require support from nine Republicans, 48 Democrats and three independents who caucus with Democrats to meet the Senate's 60-vote filibuster rule for most legislation. The one-page letter surfaced a day after Biden characterized Republicans as a party of "chaos and catastrophe" while criticizing their refusal to approve a debt ceiling increase without spending cuts. The White House, which has repeatedly voiced opposition to debt ceiling negotiations, was not immediately available for comment. On Tuesday, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said any solution to the debt ceiling debate would have to come from talks between Biden and House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy. It was not clear whether the Senate Republicans notified McCarthy about their letter ahead of time.

☆ Top talkers: These 20 lawmakers spoke the most on the House and Senate floors during the 117th Congress, including Rep. Buddy Carter and Sen. Marsha Blackburn
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Nicole Gaudiano | Oma Seddiq | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Some lawmakers delivered dozens of floor speeches during the 117th Congress, C-SPAN's tracking showed. Most members don't usually hang out on the House or Senate floor to hear their colleagues' speeches. These House members spoke the most on the House floor during the 117th Congress. "It is my duty to use the House Floor as a vehicle to share their views, needs, and successes. That's because the Senate floor is typically where leaders make announcements to their members on legislation and nominations, among other topics.

☆ Bill Gates-backed nuclear demonstration project in Wyoming delayed because Russia was the only fuel source
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

An artist rendering of the advanced nuclear power reactor demonstration project that Bill Gates' nuclear innovation company, TerraPower, plans to build in the frontier-era coal town, Kemmerer, Wyoming. TerraPower's advanced reactor demonstration will face delays of at least two years because its only source of fuel was Russia, and the Ukraine war has closed the door on that trade relationship. Wyoming Senator John Barrasso, a Republican, thinks it's a wake-up call for the U.S."America must reestablish itself as the global leader in nuclear energy," Barrasso said in a written statement. "Instead of relying on our adversaries like Russia for uranium, the United States must produce its own supply of advanced nuclear fuel." Barrasso also sent a letter to the Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm to urge the United States to move faster in securing a source of HALEU.

☆ Bill Gates-backed reactor delayed on worries about fuel from Russia
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Timothy Gardner | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The fuel, called high assay low enriched uranium, or HALEU, is enriched up to 20%, much above the up to 5% level today's reactors use. "TerraPower is anticipating a minimum of a two-year delay to being able to bring the Natrium reactor into operation," he said. The Department of Energy (DOE) is looking to downblend some of its stockpile of weapons-grade uranium to help provide fuel for the reactor projects. Levesque said TerraPower will provide a schedule update next year when it knows more about HALEU supply including the availability of DOE material for downblending. Only one company outside Russia, U.S.-based Centrus Energy Corp (LEU.A) is licensed to produce the fuel but it is years away from making commercial amounts.

☆ Republican lawmakers criticize U.S. grant to battery company with China ties
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File PhotoWASHINGTON, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Two senior Republican lawmakers on Wednesday were highly critical of the decision by the U.S. Energy Department to award $200 million to Microvast Holdings (MVST.O) over the lithium battery company's ties to the Chinese government. In October, Texas-based Microvast won a $20 million U.S. grant from the department to help build a new EV battery components plant in Tennessee. Representative Frank Lucas, top Republican on the House Science Committee, said nearly 80% of Microvast’sassets are in China and 61% of its revenue in 2021 originated in China. In November, Microvast and General Motors (GM.N)said they would work together "to develop specialized EV battery separator technology and build a new separator plant in the U.S., which is expected to create hundreds of new jobs." Over 200 companies applied for $2.8 billion in Energy Department grants and 20 received awards.

Trump's Save America PAC released a photo showing the former president meeting with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on January 28. It added: "President Trump will always and forever be a champion for the American People." Millions of Trump supporters would likely follow Trump to a new political party — if he chose to break away from the Republican Party. Afterward, McCarthy predicted intraparty peace, saying in a statement: "President Trump committed to helping elect Republicans in the House and Senate in 2022." "President Trump has agreed to work with Leader McCarthy on helping the Republican Party to become a majority in the House."

"We don't have a leader of the Republican Party," Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina told Insider. It's a common phenomenon when a party loses the White House and control in both chambers of Congress. It's what happens whenever a party loses the White House and majority control on both ends of the Capitol. That's the problem facing Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, the third-ranking House Republican. Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP'Until something else comes along'Trump may be barred from major social-media platforms, but he also isn't giving interviews or commanding attention from the White House.

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