Ryan retweeted
NEWS: 19 FORMER ECONOMIC AND NATIONAL SECURITY LEADERS ENDORSE THE BIPARTISAN PERMITTING REFORM BILL
Today, a group of former Cabinet members and White House principals across seven Democratic and Republican administrations sent a letter calling on Congress to pass BAAJA. Here are the signatories:
Janet YELLEN, Michael R. POMPEO, Steven T. MNUCHIN, Leon E. PANETTA, Timothy F. GEITHNER, Henry M. PAULSON, Jr., Robert E. RUBIN, Stephen MIRAN, Jared BERNSTEIN, Tyler GOODSPEED, Jason FURMAN, Glenn HUBBARD, Laura D’Andrea TYSON, Michael J. BOSKIN, Jeffrey ZIENTS, Jake SULLIVAN, Brian DEESE, Larry KUDLOW, Allan B. HUBBARD
Key highlights from the letter:
1. “We are not building infrastructure fast enough to remain globally competitive… The median time for a new power plant to move from an interconnection request to commercial operation has more than doubled, from less than two years for projects built between 2000 and 2007 to more than four years for projects built between 2018 and 2024.
2. China has built more high-voltage transmission in the last fifteen years than the U.S. has built in all of its history... In 2024, China accounted for 31.5% of global knowledge- and technology-intensive manufacturing value added, compared with 20.7% for the United States.
3. Federally funded or permitted projects require NEPA review, but private projects often do not, creating a threat of failure precisely where the government is trying to be proactive, strategic, and engaged.
4. A project that spends years awaiting approval must continue carrying development and financing costs while remaining exposed to rising input costs. The IEA reports that prices for utility-scale transformers increased 26% in 2024, while lead times for some transformers have stretched as long as six years.
5. Mining projects also face tremendous uncertainty: a 2026 study by researchers at the Colorado School of Mines found that permitting for modern mining projects takes an average of 5.5 years, rising to 8.9 years for contested projects. The U.S. currently has the second-longest mine development timeline in the world.
6. The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act is the most significant bipartisan legislative effort that Congress has undertaken in decades to tackle these challenges.
7. BAAJA addresses key constraints stifling American industry by requiring interregional transmission planning, strengthening the federal backstop for nationally significant transmission lines, and creating a faster, more predictable process for connecting new generation to the grid.
8. BAAJA also makes permits more durable by imposing tighter timelines for litigation and limiting frivolous lawsuits that can halt projects indefinitely, while preserving community input and judicial review of substantive agency decisions.”
The letter was organized by @arnabdatta321 on behalf of @IFP and covered exclusively by the WSJ this morning.
Ryan retweeted
Looking for graphic designers/data viz specialists! We're hiring for my team at IFP, apply by tomorrow EOD for priority consideration.
(And if you refer me the person I hire, I'll pay you a $3000 bounty)
ifp.org/opportunity/graphic-…
Ryan retweeted
DHS is proposing $100,000 in total fees for Optional Practical Training (OPT) and STEM OPT.
We have a new resource out today on the legality of this proposal and its likely effects on the OPT program and American economy.
ifp.org/100k-opt-fee/
Ryan retweeted
Last week, the anti fraud task force went after allegedly wrongful use of employment-based visas by a few companies... but surprisingly also Microsoft.
I break down what happened and what was good but also what was bad about this on @CityJournal
cityjournal.substack.com/p/b…
Ryan retweeted
Do you want to read about every last provision in the permitting deal?
Or maybe you just want to dive deep on a single topic
Check out my new piece --> it covers every topic in BAAJA with an option for extra detail (for my fellow sickos) ifp.org/how-the-permitting-d…
Ryan retweeted
Elon Musk was born in South Africa. Satya Nadella was born in India. Sergey Brin was born in the Soviet Union. Jensen Huang and Lisa Su were born in Taiwan.
Immigration is America’s superpower, and we’re at risk of throwing it away.
Ryan retweeted
We wrote the Transit Abundance Playbook because transit costs 3x more to build in the US than in peer countries.
The Playbook lays out 15 concrete policy ideas to stop paying more for less.
Since June, it's had an incredible reception from advocates, legislators, and agencies, and Congress's Build America Caucus just included many of these ideas in their agenda.
We've now added new artwork with beautiful collages by @em_steinhobel. Check the Playbook out at ifp.org/cheaper-transit.
More coming soon on how to build more for less, including what the new federal permitting deal means for transit.
🚨HUGE NEWS:
The Build America Caucus is launching an ambitious, bipartisan agenda focused on improving Americans’ lives by making it easier to build the things we need.
It just went live on our website for you to read. Here’s why you should: 🧵
buildamericacaucus-harder.ho…
Ryan retweeted
If one believes the terms of the H-1B visa amount to indentured servitude, pausing permanent residency applications for thousands of such visa holders (who would be able to work anywhere and for anyone with a green card) is, in practice, an expansion of indentured servitude.
Ryan retweeted
The effect this rule is already having on US higher ed should scare us all.
Even though it is just a proposal & it could get shot down, this impacts schools' ability to recruit talent starting TODAY.
There's billions in revenue & hundreds of thousands of jobs on the line.
Ryan retweeted
My sense from reading many white papers is that think tanks often treat data visualization and design as an afterthought.
At IFP it's more of a before-thought, and I think for good reason: sometimes the only part of a paper I "read" is one or two compelling charts -- and I don't think I'm the only one.
Come join our amazing team and use your design skills to help us make policy change!
Reminder that I've placed a $3000 referral bounty on this data viz job.
Send me someone who is energized making complex data and decisions as fascinating and legible to lawmakers as they are to experts.
ifp.org/opportunity/graphic-…
Ryan retweeted
DHS's goofy assumption that a $100k fee on STEM OPT won't reduce STEM OPT participation is necessary for them to argue their plan won't be detrimental to the US economy.
Once you account for the fact this will shrink the skilled STEM workforce, this kind of change will conservatively cost the US $240-481 billion a year, or about $1,000 per household.
From @m_clem, @AmyMNice, and my work for @theNASEM:
nap.nationalacademies.org/re…
Ryan retweeted
The permitting reform bill is out, with more meaningful reform in it than ever before!
The most important reason to pass this, from @SenatorHeinrich: "We need to be able to build big things in this country again... to figure out how to get to yes, or how to get to no, a whole lot faster.
If we don't, experts have estimated that we will see 20-30% increases in the cost of electricity in the near term."
🚨 WE HAVE A PERMITTING DEAL🚨
And it is easily the best permitting bill we've ever gotten!
- The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act is HUGE (400+ pages) and both sides got a LOT.
- The bill is much bigger and better than either Manchin post-IRA in 2022 or Manchin-Barrasso in 2024.
Once I finish reading the text I'll publish an explainer. For now, here are a few high level takeaways.
1. Transmission: The bill is absolutely HUGE for transmission, going further than Manchin-Barrasso. Includes: interregional transmission, limited federal backstop authority, interconnection queue reforms, directives for advanced grid-enhancing tech, and oversight of utilities. It's absolutely AMAZING all of this got in.
2. NEPA: The bill has BIG changes to NEPA, including fixes for judicial review that underpins the law's costs. Still reading but this is even better than I expected!
3. Certainty: The bill includes strong provisions to push back on misuse of permitting, like we're seeing with the admin's abuses against offshore wind.
4. Historic Preservation: The bill includes changes to the NHPA 106 process, including changes to judicial review that will help right-size the process.
5. Clean Water: The bill fixes problems with section 401 by adding new requirements for states and makes section 404 nationwide permits easier to comply with.
6. Geothermal: The bill includes big wins for geothermal, including parity with oil and gas catexs.
7. Mining: The bill fixes the "Rosemont decision"
8. Endangered Species: The bill creates a new path for states to take on endangered species consultation.
9. Hydro: Fixes for certain hydroelectric projects
10. Ratepayer protection: The bill adds protections for ratepayers from added data centers. Looks to be stronger than the House passed bill by quite a bit.
Ryan retweeted
We could just replace the lottery so it doesn’t do that.
This quoted post is unavailable.
Ryan retweeted
This move is a diplomatic all-timer. It's like Messi cutting inside. You know it's coming. It doesn't matter how many times they run it. You're getting those pandas and you'll like it.
Ryan retweeted
My wife when I file a particularly effective comment to a proposed federal regulatory effort.
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The drive to zero out high-skilled immigration without the consent of Congress continues.
whitehouse.gov/presidential-…
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This would go a long way toward fixing the H-1B:
A new paper by Chad Sparber shows why both sides of the H-1B debate talk past each other.
H-1Bs are not just one thing--it's really a two-tier system:
1) The Student Pipeline: there really are firms recruiting top talent from US grad programs and paying well.
2) The Outsourcer Pipeline: there really are firms bringing in people from abroad as cheap labor.
Group 1 is paid 10% more, despite being way younger.
If you only look at the student pipeline, you'll think the H-1B is a clear win for Americans. If you only look at the outsourcers, it looks like a raw deal.
Good H-1B reform would cut out the outsourcers and preserve the students.
But the Trump admin is considering the exact opposite: a $100k fee on STEM OPT and expanding the $100k H-1B fee to include students...
docs.iza.org/dp18940.pdf
Ryan retweeted
Congress Can Start H-1B Reforms in “Reconciliation 3.0” Bill via @Heritage @WatchfulWaiter1 heritage.org/government-regu…
Ryan retweeted
Putting a $100,000 tax on foreign STEM PhD students' ability to work in the U.S. after graduation is national suicide. Chips won't get researched and medications won't get made.
