The White House has drafted a proposal, as part of President Trump's infrastructure plan, that would "scale back environmental requirements ... to make it easier to construct roads, bridges and pipelines," the Washington Post reports.
Why it matters: That kind of tradeoff would be sure to complicate negotiations with Democrats, whose support Trump wants for an infrastructure plan. Administration officials are open to negotiations on certain elements in order to get it through the Senate, per the Post, but "they have made it clear they are seeking to make the most sweeping changes in decades."
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut are suing the federal government over the GOP tax bill, specifically over the provision that added a $10,000 limit on state and local tax deductions. High-tax states often perceive this as an effective increase on their residents' tax burden.
Why it matters: This is the latest in a series of pitches many blue, high-tax states have been launching to try and bypass the new requirements.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has struck a deal with Vigilant Solutions to give the agency access to billions of license plate records, reports The Verge.
Why it matters: Vigilant's massive vehicle-tracking network will allow ICE agents to search every place a specific license plate has been captured on camera in the last five years. It will also give agents the ability to set up alerts for whenever a particular license plate is spotted, making it extremely difficult for vehicles of interest to remain unnoticed for long.
President Trump made his America-first pitch at the World Economic Forum in Davos today, touting the strength of the U.S. economy, telling the other world powers: "There has never been a better time to hire, to build, to invest and to grow in the United States."
Why it matters: Trump used the speech to reaffirm America as the leader in the global economy, but kept with his administration's motto in assuring the other countries that "America First does not mean America alone."
The White House framework on immigration reform that came out yesterday is a non-starter for influential figures on the left and right.
But, but, but: A senior White House official pushed back at our reporting, noting only President Trump or a member of congressional leadership can stop a bill in its tracks.
During a meeting with Swiss Confederation President Alain Berset at Davos, President Trump touted his economic policies and predicted that the United States would have faced a disaster if Hillary Clinton had won the 2016 presidential election:
“I will say this with great conviction, that had the opposing party won, in my opinion, because they would have added tremendous regulation, I believe the markets would’ve been down anywhere from 25 to 50 percent.”
President Trump expressed willingness to "shift more" on immigration in a CNBC interview that aired Friday morning, adding that he wants to help protect Dreamers:
"These are good people, these are people that should be able to stay in this country. We're going to solve the DACA problem. But we also want to solve a tremendous problem on the southern border, which is crime. We need a wall, we need the drugs to stop flowing in."
As President Trump visits Davos, Americans are more confident in the United States' ability to compete with other countries — but not necessarily because of Trump's economic leadership, according to a new Axios/SurveyMonkey poll. The change is mainly because Republicans are more confident than they were in 2011.
Data: SurveyMonkey poll conducted Jan. 11 to 18, 2018. Poll methodology. Washington Post poll conducted Jan. 13 to 17, 2011.; Chart: Lazaro Gamio / Axios