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Trump Admin Weighs Emergency Powers To Boost Refining As Diesel Tops $6

Zero Rss
3 weeks 5 days ago
Trump Admin Weighs Emergency Powers To Boost Refining As Diesel Tops $6

With national average diesel prices above $6 a gallon and regular gasoline firmly above $4.20, the Trump administration faces mounting pressure to deploy every available policy tool to contain fuel costs ahead of the midterm elections. Disruptions tied to the Russia-Ukraine war and turmoil in the Gulf are intensifying the global refining super squeeze.

Reuters reports late Friday afternoon that the Trump administration is considering whether to use the Defense Production Act to expand U.S. oil refining capacity as the Iran conflict drives up fuel prices.

According to the report:

The proposal to use the act came up during a recent meeting between President Donald Trump and nearly a dozen U.S. refiners, where White House officials sought to determine how federal support could best be used to add capacity, the sources said. No final decisions were made, and participants left the meeting with the expectation that the conversations would continue, according to the sources.

However, expanding refining capacity comes as U.S. refineries are already operating near their limits. The latest data shows that utilization has topped 98%. 

The discussions follow Trump's April decision authorizing support for domestic petroleum production, refining and logistics under the Defense Production Act. That directive identified financing constraints, long construction timelines, permitting delays and supply-chain limitations as obstacles to expanding capacity.

"America's refining capacity is essential to ensuring the United States has continuous access to secure, affordable, and reliable energy. Expanding that capacity is a top priority for the President and his energy team, who are evaluating concrete options to increase our refining capacity through regulatory reform, faster permitting, and additional investment," Taylor Rogers, a White House spokeswoman, told the outlet.

Reuters pointed out: 

A proposed new refinery in Brownsville, Texas, has emerged as a test case for Trump's call to expand U.S. refining capacity. It was unclear whether the project would receive any Defense Production Act funding. 

America First Refining plans to build a 168,000-barrel-per-day facility at the Port of Brownsville, which Trump announced in March as the first new U.S. refinery in nearly 50 years. ⁠The project is backed by India's Reliance Industries, which has agreed to a 20-year deal to buy the refinery's output.

In March, JPMorgan's head of commodity research, Natasha Kaneva, outlined six policy levers the Trump administration could pull to contain oil prices. Some, including Jones Act waivers and Strategic Petroleum Reserve releases, have already been used. Other options include export restrictions and waiving federal fuel taxes. 

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Tyler Durden Sun, 09/13/2026 - 12:15
Tyler Durden

"I Ain't Playin'": Cognizant, Cloudera PERM Filings And H-1B Processing Suspended

Zero Rss
3 weeks 5 days ago
"I Ain't Playin'": Cognizant, Cloudera PERM Filings And H-1B Processing Suspended

Authored by Kimberly Hayek via The Epoch Times,

The Labor Department's inspector general said Tuesday that federal officials have suspended PERM filings for tech company Cognizant and software company Cloudera and halted H-1B processing for both firms.

The logo of U.S. multinational information technology consulting and outsourcing company Cognizant in the Alpine resort of Davos during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting on Jan. 20, 2026. Ina Fassender/AFP via Getty Images

Inspector General Anthony D'Esposito posted the announcements on X throughout the day on Sept. 8. He credited the moves in part to Acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling, as well as to a White House anti-fraud task force.

"Fighting fraud is a TEAM SPORT," D'Esposito wrote. "@Sonderling47 and I are for real. @Cognizant's PERM filings are suspended. @DOLOIG is on the hunt. Threats to American workers will NOT be tolerated. Alongside @WHFraudTF, we're following facts, fraud and finances. Handcuffs await."

Hours later, he added Cloudera.

"One more," he wrote. "@cloudera: PERM filings SUSPENDED."

He followed up on the announcements later in the day.

"Cognizant. Cloudera. H1-B processing suspended. @Sonderling47 and I ain't playin'," he said.

PERM, or Program Electronic Review Management, is the Labor Department process employers use before sponsoring workers for employment-based green cards in the EB-2 and EB-3 categories. The department must determine whether able, willing, qualified, and available U.S. workers exist for the job before approving a PERM application. H-1B visas are temporary visas for specialty occupations. They generally last three years and can be extended to six.

Cognizant and Cloudera did not immediately return a request for comment.

In July, the Labor Department and the inspector general's office opened what officials referred to as a "major investigation" into alleged fraud in the H-1B and PERM systems, including possible human trafficking.

In a statement at the time, the two offices said they had "uncovered widespread schemes in which employers and labor brokers submitted fraudulent applications, exploited foreign workers through coercive wage-kickback arrangements, and undercut American workers by flooding the market with below-wage labor."

D'Esposito told Fox Business on July 8 that "dozens of subpoenas" had been issued by investigators.

"This is another example where fraud is fueling violent crime," he said. "Much of the visa and the human trafficking that we see when it comes to this foreign labor is tied to cartels, is tied to transnational gangs, and this is the work that we should be doing, not only to make America safe again, but to make America more affordable again."

He said the work was "not just people working in factories or actual labor," adding that some cases involve "people working in medical facilities and doctors' offices that are actually putting people in harm's way."

Cloudera was already involved in a separate federal case. The Labor Department announced in May 2026 that it had suspended Cloudera's PERM applications for 180 days after an April lawsuit.

The Justice Department sued Santa Clara, California-based Cloudera, alleging it discriminated against U.S. workers while using PERM to sponsor foreign employees. The complaint said the company directed American applicants to an internal email address that blocked outside messages.

"Employers cannot use the PERM sponsorship process as a backdoor for discriminating against U.S. workers," Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said at the time. "The Division will not hesitate to sue companies who intentionally deter U.S. workers from applying to American jobs."

She said the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division prioritizes protecting American workers from unlawful discrimination in favor of foreign visa workers.

Sonderling has served as acting labor secretary since April, and President Donald Trump said June 29 that he intended to nominate him permanently. A Senate committee advanced the nomination July 30 on a 12 - 11 party-line vote. D'Esposito's posts treat Sonderling as a partner in the enforcement effort.

The suspensions land amid other related policy initiatives.

The Department of Homeland Security proposed ending the 60-day grace period that now lets some temporary visa holders, including H-1B workers, remain in the country after a job ends. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin wrote that once a person no longer meets the conditions of status, "such status, as well as the authorization to remain in the United States, should definitively cease and the impacted alien should immediately depart the United States (unless otherwise authorized to lawfully remain in the United States)."

H-1B use remains concentrated, with a Pew Research survey showing that India accounts for about 73 percent of H-1B workers by country of birth, while China represents about 12 percent.

Tyler Durden Sun, 09/13/2026 - 11:40
Tyler Durden

Yemen Blame Game Begins: "Saudi-American F**k Up Of Epic Proportions"

Zero Rss
3 weeks 5 days ago
Yemen Blame Game Begins: "Saudi-American F**k Up Of Epic Proportions"

An official affiliated with Saudi-backed militias in Yemen told CNN that the Houthis "committed everything they had – waves upon waves of fighters... along with their available ballistic missiles and weapons."

"But the air support never came," the source said in reference to the fact that the Saudi-backed side rapidly folded and retreated in just days last week. "And Mocha has now fallen." The blame game has begun after a mere 36 hours has seen the Saudi coalition fracture on the ground, and the finger-pointing is likely to go on in the halls of government, now as Saudi territory continues coming under direct missile and drone threat.

Handout via Reuters

Another regional source told CNN on Thursday that "The failure this time is not with the Yemenis" but that "it's a disaster made in DC and Riyadh."

According to some further key lines and expletives:

The regional source told CNN that it was "a complete failure of political leadership" amid fierce squabbling and delayed decision-making in Riyadh.

"There was not one air strike throughout the day yesterday (by Saudi support forces), although there were minute-by-minute updates," the regional source added. "It’s a Saudi-American f**k up of epic proportions."

There are at the same time widespread reports that the Iran-backed Houthis have seized US made M-ATVs and MRAP armored vehicles. 

Dudes in sandals breaking the coalition with lighting speed...

The Houthis are literally fighting in sandals and are routing a military provisioned by (directly) KSA and (indirectly) the US. https://t.co/DxcTorDBO1

— History Speaks (@History__Speaks) September 11, 2026

Amr Al-Bidh, the top official of Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council (STC), has also been quoted in the CNN report, explaining that the Houthis "don’t need to use advanced weapons to close Bab al-Mandeb. They can just use a cannon on a car."

He added "It’s a leverage that they have without using advanced weapons. And they will keep it."

All of this has further emboldened the Houthis to take the fight directly to Saudi territory, amid the ongoing "siege for siege" policy. Riyadh has long sought to impose a brutal blockade on Houthi-controlled ports. The group has so far indicated it intends to allow most international vessels to traverse the Red Sea, but will attack Saudi or Israeli-linked shipping.

There are fresh Sunday reports of another ballistic missile attack on a Saudi base:

Yemen's Houthi group on Sunday claimed that it had launched a ballistic missile and drone attack on a Saudi military base, as fighting between the group and Riyadh-backed Yemeni government forces intensified. 

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the attack targeted the Sharurah base in southern Saudi Arabia, including “weapons depots and command and control centers that are managing the aggression against our nation and people”.

Saree declared that the strikes had hit their targets and threatened further bigger strikes deeper inside the kingdom if the Saudis keep up their military operations in Yemen.

gonna tell my kids this was Toyotathon https://t.co/0mYxwFDk7U

— Luke Metro (@luke_metro) September 12, 2026

Saudi coalition aerial assets have been belatedly at work: "On Sunday, the Yemeni military said its air force had conducted three strikes against Houthi positions and barracks in the Taiz region," MEE reports.

Al Jazeera writes: Analysts are calling the Iran-backed Houthi group’s victories the most significant regional development since the start of the US-Israel war on Iran. The offensives could be particularly damaging for Saudi Arabia and its oil exports.

The Yemeni military announced on X, "Air force of the armed forces targeted positions and barracks of the terrorist Houthi group with three air strikes" in the Taiz region.

Meanwhile, President Trump has said the Houthis are in contact with him and have pledged to let ships through the Bab Al-Mandab Strait. He said to reporters Saturday while meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin, "The Houthis called us, and they don't want to fight with us. They don’t want us to go after them."  He further explained that "they would much prefer not having us involved:" and so "they are letting most ships go through." The president did acknowledged they do have a ban on Saudi vessels, however. But the Houthi threat of closing the energy transit chokepoint lingers heavily.

Tyler Durden Sun, 09/13/2026 - 11:05
Tyler Durden

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