Archive by Author

Five takeaways from President Biden’s trip to Ukraine

President Biden made a covert journey to Kyiv on Monday, breaking cover to join Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the nation’s capital.

It was a huge moment, just days before the anniversary of Russia’s invasion. It also came at a time when American public support for Ukraine appears to be eroding, at least in some polls.

That’s problematic for Biden, who has risked an enormous amount of political capital on the conflict, casting it as an epochal struggle between the free world and authoritarian expansionism.

Biden is now back in the relative safety of Poland.

Here are the five biggest takeaways from his trip inside Ukraine.

The big headline: ‘Ukraine stands’

President Joe Biden, right, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy talk during an unannounced visit in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, Feb. 20, 2023. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

There was no doubt about the main soundbite in Biden’s remarks with Zelensky at the Mariinsky Palace.

Biden referred back to the night when Russian tanks first began rolling into Ukraine. 

The U.S. president said that, then, the world “was bracing for the fall of Kyiv…perhaps even the end of Ukraine.”

But, he added, “One year later, Kyiv stands. And Ukraine stands. Democracy stands.”

It was as pithy a summation as possible of the extraordinary defiance offered by Ukraine, enabled by support from the U.S. and other Western allies.

It was also a reminder of how grim the situation seemed at the start of the war, with many military experts believing Russian forces would sweep Ukraine’s army aside with ease.

Instead, it is Russian President Vladimir Putin who appears stuck in a quagmire now.

Still, Putin looks determined to grind on and Ukraine is not anywhere close to victory. 

In that light, Biden’s rallying call was a reminder of what is at stake — at least as he sees it — as the war enters its second year.

Biden got in and out safely

This was Biden’s first trip to Ukraine since the war begin — and it was a real risk.

Numerous other Western leaders have visited Kyiv during the war, as have other senior American politicians. Then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) made the journey last spring.

But the logistical challenges of getting an American president in and out of a war zone — one where there is no significant U.S. military presence on the ground — were of a whole different order.

Biden traveled first to Poland, from where he traveled by train to Kyiv. According to pool reports, the train stopped at least once to add more security personnel to an already-significant presence. 

Only two people accompanied Biden as members of the traveling media pool, whereas normally that number is roughly a dozen for overseas trips. 

Even the media arrangements had their share of subterfuge, with the two members of the media being informed of plans for the trip in an email which had “arrival instructions for the golf tourney” as its subject line.

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters that the White House told Russia about Biden’s trip shortly before it took place “for deconfliction purposes.”

In plain terms, the administration wanted to avoid catastrophe if Russian forces were to strike Kyiv and harm Biden, by accident or design.

More military aid — but no big escalation

The White House clearly didn’t want the visit to be purely symbolic.

So Biden announced a further tranche of military aid, worth about half a billion dollars.

He described the hardware as including more artillery ammunition and more anti-tank Javelin rockets as well as “anti-armor systems [and] air surveillance radars that’ll protect Ukrainian people from aerial bombardments.”

Those are clearly important in bolstering Ukraine’s defenses. But the announcement was also notable because there was no suggestion of the U.S. pushing forward with more advanced weaponry than Ukraine has already received.

Zelensky, for instance, has sought F-16 fighter jets, which Biden has so far refused to provide. 

There was no sign of that changing. The U.S.’s announcement last month that it would supply Abrams tanks to Ukraine remains the most recent escalation of that kind.

Visit fails to quell criticism from DeSantis, others in GOP

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Feb. 15, 2023, at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Most Republican elected officials believe there should be continued aid to Ukraine, though many are calling for greater accountability around how where the money and material goes.

Some Republicans are making more strident criticisms, however — even amid Biden’s trip.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) told “Fox & Friends” Monday that Biden was “very concerned about those borders halfway around the world. He’s not done anything to secure our own border here at home.”

DeSantis, a leading potential candidate for the GOP’s 2024 presidential nomination, added, “We have a lot of problems accumulating here in our own country that he is neglecting.”

Some of the most confrontational Republican House members dialed the rhetoric up even further.

Rep. Matt Gaetz  (R-Fla.) accused Biden of “ditching America for Ukraine” on the Presidents’ Day holiday, alleging that this was consistent with how Biden “ditched America’s interests since the start of his presidency.”

Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), also on Twitter, called it “breathtaking” that Biden “can show up in Ukraine to ensure their border is secure but can’t do the same for America.”

Biden takes new aim at Putin

President Joe Biden walks at St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Cathedral on a surprise visit, Monday, Feb. 20, 2023, in Kyiv. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

Biden in his remarks with Zelensky took new aim at Putin, reiterating his view that the Russian president had fallen victim to catastrophic hubris.

Saying that Russia had sought to wipe Ukraine out entirely, Biden argued that “Putin’s war of conquest is failing.”

He went on to paint a vivid picture of the Kremlin’s missteps and their effects: 

“Russia’s military has lost half its territory it once occupied. Young, talented Russians are fleeing by the tens of thousands, not wanting to come back to Russia. Not just fleeing from the military, fleeing from Russia itself, because they see no future in their country. Russia’s economy is now a backwater, isolated and struggling.”

Biden has sounded similar themes before. But the degree to which he leaned into them again Monday showed the battle for hearts and minds is still being waged fiercely.

Source: TEST FEED1

GOP governor says Greene's call for 'a national divorce' is 'evil'

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) on Monday hit back at Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s calls for a “national divorce” of Republican and Democratic states, saying the lawmaker’s rhetoric is “evil.”

Greene on Monday suggested the U.S. “separate by red states and blue states and shrink the federal government,” re-upping her suggestion of a “divorce” to solve the nation’s division. Cox countered that the country needs “marriage counseling” instead.

“This rhetoric is destructive and wrong and—honestly—evil. We don’t need a divorce, we need marriage counseling. And we need elected leaders that don’t profit by tearing us apart. We can disagree without hate. Healthy conflict was critical to our nation’s founding and survival,” Cox wrote on Twitter.

The Republican governor shared images of the Lincoln, Jefferson and Washington memorials in the nation’s capital, and quoted former GOP President Reagan in calling D.C. a “shining city on a hill” for Americans across the political spectrum.

Greene repeated her national divorce calls Monday as she criticized President Biden’s trip to Kyiv for a surprise meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ahead of the one-year mark of Russia’s invasion.

“Impeach Biden or give us a national divorce,” she wrote.

Cox said he saw “American Exceptionalism at work” at the National Governors’ Association winter meeting earlier this month, sharing photos of himself seated alongside Democratic colleagues, including shots featuring Biden and Vice President Harris.

“We didn’t agree on everything, but we disagreed better. And we found ideas to bring us together. I still believe this is what Americans want… I don’t just mean civility and kindness (although we definitely need more of that too). I mean passionate disagreement that doesn’t destroy our souls and our country,” Cox said.

Source: TEST FEED1

McCarthy gives Fox News's Tucker Carlson access to Jan. 6 Capitol surveillance footage

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has granted Fox News host Tucker Carlson and his team access to surveillance footage from the U.S. Capitol around the time of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot.

Carlson was granted access to some 41,000 hours of footage by McCarthy’s office, Axios first reported on Monday. A Fox News spokesperson confirmed the report to The Hill.

During a press conference last month, McCarthy said he supported the idea of more footage from the Jan. 6 attack being made public while accusing Democrats of politicizing the investigation. Two Republicans were seated on the select committee that was formed to probe events surrounding the riot, though both were critics of former President Trump.

“I think the public should see what has happened on that,” McCarthy told reporters in January while discussing the footage.

“We watched the politicization of this. I think the American public should actually see all what happened instead of a report that’s written for a political basis,” the GOP Speaker added.

Carlson, Fox’s top-rated prime-time host, has on his show questioned the circumstances around the attack.

In 2021 he produced “Patriot Purge,” a documentary series that purports to tell an alternative story of the Jan. 6 insurrection and features at least one subject who suggests the event may have been a “false flag” operation.

The series led two contributors to leave their roles with the network and reportedly angered staffers within Fox News’s ranks.

The release of additional footage from the Jan. 6 attack has been a point of emphasis for Republicans in the new Congress.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who was at the center of a rebellion against McCarthy for the Speakership last month, appeared on Carlson’s program and called for releasing additional footage from Jan. 6.

“Every time, from the JFK files to 9/11 to now Jan. 6, it’s our own government — it’s our own Department of Justice — that seems to stand in the way of transparency,” Gaetz said.

U.S. Capitol Police had previously said they shared 14,000 hours of sensitive footage with the Jan. 6 select committee.

Mychael Schnell contributed.

Source: TEST FEED1

How President Biden's secretive trip to Ukraine came together

The White House alerted the press at 10:20 a.m. Sunday that Biden would not be seen for the rest of the day. In reality, he had not even been in the building for several hours.

Biden left his famous address at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue even earlier that morning to fly to Poland. He then reportedly took a train to Kyiv, where he arrived early Sunday morning.

It was a surprise trip to the capital city of war-torn Ukraine roughly one year since Russian forces first launched an unprovoked invasion.

The president’s closely guarded travel was the product of months of planning that culminated with Biden standing side-by-side with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and declaring the U.S. and the world would support Ukraine for as long as it takes to win the war.

“It was logistically complicated and difficult, and it sends an incredibly powerful message that President Biden has faith in the Ukrainian people and is unwavering in his commitment to stand by them,” White House communications director Kate Bedingfield said of the trip.

Biden’s trip to Ukraine was “meticulously planned over a period of months,” deputy national security adviser Jon Finer told reporters on Monday. A small number of officials from the National Security Council, the Pentagon, Secret Service and the White House military office were involved in the planning, he said.

The trip to Ukraine differed from past unannounced presidential visits to war zones like Iraq and Afghanistan because the U.S. does not have an established military presence on the ground there.

The president himself made the final decision on Friday to proceed with the trip to Kyiv ahead of a previously announced visit to Warsaw, which is roughly 500 miles from the Ukrainian capital.

“He got a full presentation of a very good and very effective operational security plan. He heard that presentation, he was satisfied that the risk was manageable, and he ultimately made the determination,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters.

Sullivan said the White House notified Russian officials of the impending trip to Ukraine before Biden departed, though he did not give an indication of how Moscow responded to the heads up.

Biden arrived at Joint Base Andrews and boarded Air Force One at 4 a.m. on Sunday, and the plane took off a short time later. After a refueling stop in Germany, Biden’s plane landed in Poland. The New York Times reported Biden traveled by train into Ukraine, arriving in Kyiv at roughly 8 a.m. local time on Monday.

The White House took significant steps to keep the trip under wraps until Biden arrived in Kyiv, and to ensure his security once he arrived. Officials had in recent days brushed aside questions about whether Biden would cross into Ukraine during his trip to Poland, saying there were no plans for the president to travel anywhere other than Warsaw.

Only three White House staff members traveled with Biden aboard Air Force One: Sullivan, deputy chief of staff Jen O’Malley Dillon and director of Oval Office Operations Annie Tomasini.

A 13-person press pool typically travels with the president, consisting of print, radio and broadcast reporters, as well as photographers and a videographer. Only two reporters traveled with Biden aboard Air Force One: a single print reporter, and a photographer, both of whom turned over their phones as a security precaution that is typical of unannounced presidential travel.

A two-person TV crew joined Biden’s motorcade upon his arrival in Kyiv, and nine more journalists were able to join for Biden’s meeting with Zelensky at the presidential palace.

While in Kyiv, reporters on the ground agreed not to share real-time updates on Biden’s movement and locations, and details on how he traveled to and from the city were withheld until he was out of the country. 

Biden spent roughly five hours in Kyiv, meeting with Zelensky, U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink and other Ukrainian officials.

While there, Biden announced an additional $500 million in military aid for Ukraine and upcoming sanctions to further pressure companies and individuals supporting Russia’s war effort. More broadly, he spoke about the importance of the U.S. and its allies continuing their support for Ukraine after a year that saw thousands of Ukrainians lose their lives in a brutal war, themes he is expected to reiterate in a Tuesday address from Warsaw.

“One year later, Kyiv stands,” Biden said from the capital. “And Ukraine stands. Democracy stands.”

Source: TEST FEED1

DeSantis hits back at 2024 Republicans who criticized him

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is firing back after some of his would-be rivals for the 2024 GOP presidential nod took swipes at him in recent days.

“If you’re an office holder and you’re just sitting there twiddling your thumbs and not getting anything done, no one ever says anything,” he said during a Monday appearance on “Fox & Friends.” “You can kind of just fly under the radar.”

“But when you’re out there leading, when you’re out there setting the agenda, not just for Florida, but really for the nation, which we’ve done over the last few years, people see that, and the people that don’t necessarily like that are going to respond accordingly,” he continued. “But I can just tell you, if people are not firing at me, then I must not be doing my job.” 

DeSantis hasn’t jumped into the race for the White House yet, but he is said to be preparing for a campaign and is widely viewed as an early front-runner for the Republican nomination.

That has made him a prime target for other Republicans who are either already running for the GOP nod or may jump into the race soon. 

He’s drawn fire from former President Trump for months, while just last week, another 2024 hopeful, Nikki Haley, said that the Florida governor’s controversial Parental Rights in Education Act, which bans classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade, doesn’t go “far enough.”

And on Sunday, former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R), who is weighing a presidential bid, criticized DeSantis’s education initiatives, calling them “authoritarian” and an example of “big government.”

DeSantis isn’t a stranger to political fights, frequently using the bully pulpit of the Florida governor’s mansion to go after his opponents. But he’s largely avoided engaging with his potential 2024 rivals. 

After Trump criticized him last month over his early response to the COVID-19 pandemic, DeSantis responded with a simple reminder that he won his 2022 reelection bid by the largest margin in a Florida gubernatorial contest in four decades. 

“When you’re an elected executive, you have to make all kinds of decisions. You got to steer that ship. And the good thing is, is that the people are able to render a judgment on that — whether they reelect you or not,” DeSantis said at a news conference last month. 

“And I’m happy to say, you know, in my case, not only did we win reelection. We won with the highest percentage of the vote that any Republican governor candidate has in the history of the state of Florida.”

Source: TEST FEED1

Zelensky on Biden visit to Ukraine: 'Historic. Timely. Brave.'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised President Biden for his surprise trip to Kyiv on Monday for talks in the war-torn capital city just days ahead of the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Historic. Timely. Brave. I welcomed @POTUS in Kyiv as Russian full-scale aggression approaches its one-year mark,” Zelensky said on Twitter.

“I am thankful to the U.S. for standing with Ukraine and for our strong partnership. We are determined to work together to ensure Ukraine’s victory.”

Biden in Kyiv announced another half-billion dollars in aid to Ukraine and gave remarks on unity in the face of Russian aggression. It’s his first visit to the country since Russia invaded Ukraine late last February.

“Russia’s aim was to wipe Ukraine off the map,” Biden said in remarks from Mariinsky Palace. “Putin thought Ukraine was weak and the West was divided … He thought he could outlast us. I don’t think he’s thinking that right now.”

The U.S. president later left Ukraine for a planned meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda in Warsaw.

Air raid sirens could be heard around Kyiv as Biden and Zelensky met.

Biden’s trip comes not long after Zelensky made a historic trip to the U.S. in December to meet with the president at the White House and address a joint meeting of Congress.

Source: TEST FEED1

Biden makes surprise trip to Ukraine to meet with Zelensky

President Biden made a surprise stop in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Monday, meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and bringing word of new aid, as the nation prepares to mark the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion.

“It’s good to be back in Kyiv,” said Biden, who sported a tie in Ukraine’s colors, blue and yellow. It is Biden’s eighth visit to the city.

Ambassador Bridget Brink greeted him on arrival, and Zelensky and Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, welcomed Biden as he arrived at Mariinsky Palace just after 8:30 a.m. local time.

As the leaders headed into a bilateral meeting, Biden noted the reason behind the unannounced stop: “I thought it was critical that there not be any doubt, none whatsoever, about U.S. support for Ukraine in the war.”

He noted that while some in Congress have called for a deceleration of aid to Ukraine, there is broad support for the nation’s cause. “It’s not just about freedom in Ukraine … It’s about freedom of democracy at large.”

In joint remarks with Zelensky at the palace, Biden said more aid would be sent to Ukraine, with details coming later Monday. The package will also include military equipment.

“Russia’s aim was to wipe Ukraine off the map,” Biden said. “Putin’s war of conquest is failing.”

Zelensky thanked Biden for his leadership and Americans for their support from the start of the war.

He said discussion is ongoing on the U.S. sending long-range missiles to Ukraine. Noting the aid package Biden announced, Zelensky said the moment stood as a “clear signal that Russia’s attempts of relaunch will have no chance.”

“This conversation brings us closer to the victory,” Zelensky said. “Today our negotiations were very fruitful …They were very important and crucial.”

Biden told Zelenksy of Americans’ “unwavering support for the nation’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

“So many have kept the Ukrainian people, particularly women and children, in their prayers,” Biden said. “They can’t fathom the idea of the shelling of everything from orphanages to schools to the like. It’s barbaric.”

After almost two hours at the palace, the leaders traveled a short distance to St. Michael’s Gold-Domed Cathedral in central Kyiv, where they took a walk around the complex, a symbol of Ukrainian resistance.

The cathedral’s sky-blue and golden buildings gave shelter in 2013 to pro-Western protesters under a president backed by Russia.

–Developing

Source: TEST FEED1

The Hill's Morning Report — Biden visits Kyiv nearly one year into war

Editor’s note: The Hill’s Morning Report is our daily newsletter that dives deep into Washington’s agenda. To subscribe, click here or fill out the box below.

Nearly a year into the largest ground war in Europe since World War II, President Biden made a secret trip to besieged Kyiv today in a demonstration of U.S. support for Ukraine in the face of Russia’s yearlong invasion. 

The visit, which included a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, was unannounced for security reasons before Biden flew again to Poland for meetings in Warsaw, as scheduled (Politico EU and The New York Times).

“One year later, Kyiv stands,” Biden said in Kyiv. “Ukraine stands. Democracy stands. The Americans stand with you and the world stands with you.”

Biden announced half a billion dollars in further aid to Ukraine, “including artillery ammunition, anti-armor systems, and air surveillance radars,” according to a White House statement, and will detail further sanctions “against elites and companies that are trying to evade or backfill Russia’s war machine” later this week. Zelensky said today that he and Biden spoke about “long range weapons and the weapons that may still be supplied to Ukraine even though it wasn’t supplied before.”

Biden’s surprise visit comes as world leaders prepare to mark a year on Friday since Ukraine began its defense, and currently, there are no real signs of a way out of the conflict. Russian President Vladimir Putin shows no indication of giving in, and Ukraine, which has battled Russian invaders to a standstill, says it’s determined to gain ground during an expected spring offensive. 

In Kyiv, Biden said Putin had miscalculated. “He’s just been plain wrong,” he said standing with Zelensky. “One year later, the evidence is right here in this room. We stand here together.”

Neither side appears primed for an outright military victory, and progress at the negotiating table seems just as unlikely (NPR). Ukraine is depending on a brutal ground war and massive ammunition to attain a standstill against Russia, as Kyiv prepares for a spring offensive launched by Moscow (CBS Sunday Morning). 

▪ PBS NewsHour: A timeline of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

▪ CNN: Ukraine is burning through ammunition faster than the U.S. and NATO can produce it. Inside the Pentagon’s plan to close the gap.

▪ CBS Sunday Morning: Ukrainians resolute after a year of war.

▪ Reuters: The United Nations will mark the anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine by urging “just peace.”

Biden will deliver a speech in Warsaw on Tuesday to commemorate the anniversary of the war in the same place he was last year when he told the world that he believed Putin cannot “remain in power” after visiting refugees near the front lines. Since then, the president has maintained his leadership among NATO allies when it comes to aiding Ukraine, totaling in the billions. He also hosted Zelensky at the White House, a remarkable showing of the two leaders as the world attempts to ice out and thus punish Putin.

On Tuesday, Biden is scheduled to meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda before delivering his speech, and on Wednesday will meet with the Bucharest Nine, members of NATO’s eastern flank: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia (The Hill). Meanwhile, the European Union’s foreign affairs council meets in Brussels today and Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, tweeted to thank Estonia for a proposal for “joint direct procurement of arms and ammunition” for Ukraine (The Guardian live blog).

Vice President Harris, speaking to the Munich Security Conference last week, repeated that the U.S. and allies will hold Russia to account for international war crimes and “crimes against humanity” in Ukraine, including alleged torture, rape and murder of adults and children (The Washington Post).

“The United States has formally determined that Russia has committed crimes against humanity, and I say to all those who have perpetrated these crimes, and to their superiors, who are complicit in these crimes, you will be held to account,” Harris said.

▪ The Hill: “We consider such insinuations as an attempt, unprecedented in terms of its cynicism, to demonize Russia in the course of a hybrid war, unleashed against us,” said Russian ambassador Anatoly Antonov in a statement on the messaging platform Telegram.

▪ CNN: The U.S. evidence of Russian war crimes is “starkly clear,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday.

▪ The Hill: There the U.S. has no timeline for the end of support for Ukraine, White House spokesman John Kirby said.

Though the Russian military has suffered setback after setback, Putin has been far more successful at home; facing little resistance, he has gone further than many thought possible in reshaping Russia in his image. The paranoia, grievances and imperialist mindset that drove Putin to invade have seeped deep into daily life. School children now learn that the Russian military has always liberated humanity from “aggressors who seek world domination,” and any of the activist groups and rights organizations that sprung up in the first 30 years of post-Soviet Russia have met an abrupt end (The New York Times).

But some in Russia fear Putin is leading his nation into a dark period and suggest he needs a military victory to ensure his political survival. “In Russia, loyalty does not exist,” one Russian billionaire told The Washington Post. Business executives and state officials say Putin’s position at the top could prove precarious as doubts over his tactics grow among the elite, and his vision of the country horrifies many, who quietly say the war has been a catastrophic and failed error.

“Among the elite, though they understand it was a mistake, they still fear to do anything themselves,” Boris Bondarev, the only Russian diplomat to publicly quit office over the war, told the Post. “Because they have gotten used to Putin deciding everything.”

CNN: Faint cracks emerge in the facade of Putin’s rule, one year after the Ukraine invasion.

Blinken told CBS News on Saturday that China is actively considering providing lethal support, including weapons and ammunition, to aid Moscow against Ukraine. Blinken over the weekend warned his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, at the Munich Security Conference that there will be U.S.-China consequences if Beijing helps Russia fight the war (CBS News, Al Jazeera and BBC).

“We’ve been concerned from day one about that possibility,” Blinken said on “Face the Nation.” He spoke in general terms about the type of lethal aid China is considering. “There’s a whole gamut of things that — that fit in that category, everything from ammunition to the weapons themselves.”

Related Articles

▪ Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Former President Carter, 98, is receiving hospice care at home in Plains, Ga., The Carter Center said on Saturday. The 39th and longest-lived president has received an outpouring of social media love from around the country.

▪ NPR: U.S. and South Korea reacted to Sunday’s North Korean ballistic missile test with joint military air exercises, also on Sunday. North Korea launched two more missiles off its coast today (Reuters).

▪ CNN: Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, whose possible impeachment is a priority for Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and House Republicans critical of the administration’s border and migration policies, said during an interview broadcast and streaming on Sunday that he will not resign. DHS hired outside legal representation for the secretary (The Hill). 

▪ The Hill: Big Tech regulation, plus student debt forgiveness top a divisive Supreme Court agenda during the next two weeks.

▪ The Hill: Lawmakers have high hopes for a “serious” committee to weigh China issues. 

▪ The Hill: Five key questions about the dwindling Social Security Trust Fund. 

LEADING THE DAY

➤ POLITICS

Among Republicans, there’s a lot of impatient toe-tapping, hand-wringing, poll reading, and conversations with donors (and lawyers) well ahead of 2024. The Republican presidential field, officially consisting of former President Trump and former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley, might by early summer look as long as a conga line. Or maybe not.

Haley’s official entrance could pressure other possible GOP contenders to make up their minds faster than they preferred (The Hill).

Former Maryland Republican Gov. Larry Hogan said on Sunday that he’ll need to decide by spring whether to enter the GOP presidential primary. He told Chuck Todd on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that if his candidacy would help Trump win the nomination in 2024, “That’d be a pretty good reason to consider not running. Absolutely.”

“I’m a lifelong Republican who wants to support the nominee of the party, whoever that is. However, you know, I’ve said before, I didn’t support Trump, I wouldn’t support Trump,” Hogan said. “I don’t care that much about my future in the Republican Party. I care about making sure we have a future for the Republican Party.”

Republicans in the Senate, nervous about former Trump’s strong lead in presidential primary polls, anticipate that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) will enter the race this spring. There are concerns that the longer he waits, the bigger the GOP primary field will grow, which is viewed as a boon to Trump, The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports.

At a Staten Island event today, DeSantis will be a “special guest” to discuss protecting New York’s “law and order” (Politico).

▪ The Washington Post: Inside the collapse of the Trump-DeSantis “alliance of convenience.”

▪ Mediaite: Trump trashes the New York Post and journalist Salena Zito, Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, Karl Rove and former House Speaker Paul Ryan in a burst of DeSantis rage.

▪ The Daily Beast: Woke-obsessed DeSantis took aim at New College of Florida, enrollment 700. They’re about to fight back.

▪ The Hill: DeSantis approval dropped in a GOP primary poll released on Friday.

▪ The Miami Herald: DeSantis surgeon general Joseph Ladapo last week used a state “health alert” to question the safety of COVID-19 vaccines.

▪ The Washington Post: In education policy, which DeSantis openly challenges, did politics scrub “systemic” from the advanced placement African American Studies plan?

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) is setting himself up as the liberal answer to DeSantis, advancing progressive policies across a range of culture war issues, including education, abortion rights and gun rights, reports The Hill’s Lexi Lonas. “There is a virulent strain of nationalism plaguing our nation, led by demagogues who are pushing censorship, with a particular attack right now on school board members and library trustees,” Pritzker said last week.

While talking about DeSantis and other potential GOP candidates, Hogan on Sunday said some conservatives who prescribe what can be taught about gender and race in schools sound “autocratic” while backing policies that sound like “big government.” While leading a Democratic-led state, Hogan also was accused of issuing executive orders and school edicts opposed by constituents, including during the pandemic.

Haley’s presidential campaign is just days old, but Democrats are working overtime to figure out how to challenge a female conservative who is the daughter of Indian immigrants, a former governor who preached racial tolerance while assailing Trump and later working beside him (The Hill).

▪ The Hill: Republicans on Haley’s 2024 bid: Don’t rule her out.

▪ The New York Times: Haley walks a treacherous road for GOP women.

▪ Puck News: The Chris Christie ‘24 chaos theory.

▪ The Hill: Special counsel Jack Smith shows signs of ramping up the Justice Department’s Trump investigation.

▪ The Hill: Trump on Wednesday will visit East Palestine, Ohio, site of a train derailment accident that has gained national attention. 

IN FOCUS/SHARP TAKES

➤ MORE INTERNATIONAL

The United Arab Emirates told the U.N. Security Council that it will not call a vote today on a draft resolution demanding Israel “immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory,” according to a note seen by Reuters.

Turkey has ended rescue efforts in all but two provinces, almost two weeks after a massive earthquake killed tens of thousands of people there and in neighboring Syria, the country’s disaster agency said. However, hopes of finding anyone else alive in the rubble are fading fast. The death toll, which this weekend exceeded 46,000, is expected to climb, with about 345,000 apartments in Turkey known to have been destroyed and many people still missing. Neither Turkey nor Syria has said how many people are still unaccounted for. At the Incirlik Air Base in Turkey on Sunday, Blinken announced that the United States would send an additional $100 million to help those affected. The Biden administration pledged $85 million shortly after the quakes (BBC and The Washington Post).

▪ NPR: One Turkish couple’s bedroom walls caved in during the earthquake, forming a tented “V” over their bed. It saved their lives in a six-story apartment building.

▪ Al Jazeera: “Buried alive”: Syrians recount losing family in the earthquakes.

▪ The New York Times: The earthquake’s staggering reconstruction bill will join other economic woes as Turkey’s autocratic leader, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, faces reelection.

OPINION

■ The problem with Russia is Russia, byOksana Zabuzhko, guest essayist, The New York Times. https://nyti.ms/3xCgMvo

■ Why I’m still trying to figure out what happened to Rudy Giuliani, by Ken Frydman, a former Giuliani press secretary during the 1993 New York mayoral campaign, opinion contributor, MSNBC. “I feel almost duty-bound to use my platform to keep exposing Rudy’s lies.” https://on.msnbc.com/3IB5sWu

WHERE AND WHEN

📲 Ask The Hill: Share a news query tied to an expert journalist’s insights: The Hill launched something new and (we hope) engaging via text with Editor-in-Chief Bob Cusack. Learn more and sign up HERE.

The House will hold a pro forma session at noon on Tuesday. 

The Senate meets in a pro forma session on Tuesday at 11 a.m. 

The president landed in Ukraine today for an unannounced visit. He met with Zelensky in Kyiv, delivered a speech about Ukraine’s resistance to Russia after the Feb. 24, 2022, invasion, and announced half a billion dollars of additional U.S. assistance to Ukraine. Biden and Zelensky strolled together in the open air near Kyiv’s St. Michael’s Cathedral. Biden issued a written statement explaining his stop in Kyiv and flight from there to Warsaw, Poland, to meet with President Andrzej Duda, as previously announced. 

The secretary of State today is in Turkey and Greece. Blinken met with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in Ankara and the two held a press conference. The secretary participated in a wreath-laying ceremony in the morning at Anitkabir Mausoleum, followed by a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara. Blinken in the afternoon participates in a chancery dedication and meets with employees and families from the U.S. Mission in Ankara before flying to Athens. In Greece this evening, Blinken is scheduled to attend a working dinner with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

ELSEWHERE

➤ ECONOMY & EMPLOYMENT 

During his State of the Union address, Biden mentioned jobs that pay $130,000, even for those who have no advanced degree. The Hill’s Daniel de Visé dug deep into data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to report on 20 high-paying jobs that do not require a college diploma. 

Remote work remains a popular trend among employees but not as popular among many bosses as COVID-19 eases as a health emergency. Work-from-home and hybrid work are bargaining chips among elite job hunters. Workers argue they gain improved work-life balances, save money and time and are more productive — and there is evidence they are right (Forbes). The Hill’s Daniel de Visé reports that roughly 30 percent of all work now happens at home, six times the rate of 2019. In Washington, D.C., and other large urban centers, half of all business offices sit empty. Corporate America appears to have settled on a formula of three days out of five of in-office presence. 

➤ STATE WATCH

East Palestine, Ohio, residents report splitting headaches, a metallic taste after breathing chemical fumes hanging in the air, dead wildlife and pets, an oily sheen on the surface of stirred-up nearby creeks and waterways and an overabundance of distrust and disgust two weeks after 50 train cars carrying toxic chemicals derailed.

State and rail company officials on Feb. 3 opted for the evacuation of residents and later a controlled release and burning of what was initially described as vinyl chloride and has grown into a list of toxic chemicals that may not be released by federal officials for months (The Guardian).

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) last week said water tests came back indicating it was safe even as he and other officials urged residents to drink bottled water. Lawsuits have been filed and video of rainbow-colored slicks in water near the train derailment raise new concerns about chemical contamination (USA Today).

“People are just angry but they don’t know who to be angry with because we’re not getting enough information to know who to be mad at,” resident Jami Cozza told the Guardian. “‘The air is fine, but don’t go outside. Your water is fine, but drink bottled water.’ You can’t trust them.”

The federal government sent personnel from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (The Hill) and the Environmental Protection Agency to East Palestine beginning last week as the rail accident focused national attention on chemical shipping by rail and truck — and the safety regulations involved.

Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown (D), appearing on CNN on Sunday, blamed “corporate greed,” plus industry lobbying and lax rules for the Northrup Southern derailment and chemical spills (Bloomberg News and Politico).

“You think about just the whole idea if you had to flee your home because a railroad failed to do its job as the executives and their lobbyists get richer and richer and richer. There’s something very wrong with that,” Brown said. “It really strikes you that we’ve a lot to do to fix this, to make rail safer, to fight against lobbyists who keep trying to weaken these rules as they did three or four years ago. That’s our mission, that’s our job.”   

Bloomberg Opinion, by Faye Flam: We shouldn’t need body bags to learn from Ohio’s train disaster.

Fires have undermined California’s push to build more affordable housing, a goal set by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and the rest of the state’s Democratic leadership. They’ve made narrowing the gap between rich and poor a political priority, but the state has repeatedly failed to meet its housing goals. Climate change and its consequences are pushing up the price of homes throughout much of the West, as floods and fires carve into existing housing inventory and restrict the amount of land suitable for future building, The Washington Post reports. 

It’s not just California. Other Western states face the same changing climate and housing shortages as the spread of the fire threat from a climate in rapid flux curtails options for safe places to build.

▪ CalMatters: Silicon Valley’s vast wealth disparity deepens as poverty increases.

▪ CNN: Here are the U.S. cities where home prices are falling.

As arid Arizona scrambles to quench the thirst of a rapidly expanding population, officials are eying the Sonoran seaside as a potential wellspring for future demand, writes The Hill’s Sharon Udasin. But whether the Mexican state would be on board with this arrangement — and the hefty infrastructure such a project would require — remains to be seen. “I am going to defend the interests of Sonorans. That is my responsibility,” Sonora Gov. Alfonso Durazo said at a recent press conference, describing the plans as “utter absurdity.” 

At the core of the project, proposed by Israel-based IDE Technologies, would be a $5 billion desalination plant rooted in the resort city of Puerto Peñasco. While some of the treated water would go to Sea of Cortez coastal towns, much of it would be piped 200 miles north to Phoenix.

▪ High Country News: Could Arizona’s new governor shift Colorado River politics?

▪ The Washington Post: Changes needed to save second-largest U.S. reservoir, experts say.

➤ PANDEMIC & HEALTH 

Health insurance sign-ups through the Affordable Care Act reached record numbers during the most recent enrollment period. Extended subsidies made available through the Inflation Reduction Act are thought to have expanded access to health care, writes The Hill’s Joseph Choi. Over 16.3 million people signed up for coverage through the Affordable Care Act and health care experts are attributing this enthusiasm to subsidies that were established by the American Rescue Plan in 2021 and subsequently extended through the IRA. 

▪ The New York Times: To patients, herpes can be devastating. To many doctors, it’s not a priority.

▪ The Atlantic: Wash your hands and pray you don’t get sick. Once a norovirus transmission chain begins, it can be difficult to break.

▪ The Washington Post: “Sleep as medicine,’ or how to make a hospital stay less unhealthy.

When Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) announced last week that he entered a hospital to be treated for clinical depression, politicians of both parties praised him for his openness. Mental health experts say he is a powerful symbol — especially for men, who are less likely to seek treatment for depression and suffer higher rates of suicide (The New York Times).

“We’ve come a long way; people are willing to say they have a diagnosis or that they’re going to therapy,” said former Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy (D-R.I.), of the political Kennedy family, who disclosed his treatment for bipolar disorder and drug abuse when he was in Congress. “But we’re still not in a place where people are comfortable saying any more than that. And really the question with Senator Fetterman is: How much is he going to disclose?”

Information about the availability of COVID-19 vaccine and booster shots can be found at Vaccines.gov. 

Total U.S. coronavirus deaths reported as of this morning, according to Johns Hopkins University (trackers all vary slightly): 1,117,479. Current U.S. COVID-19 deaths are 2,838 for the week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (The CDC shifted its tally of available data from daily to weekly, now reported on Fridays.)

THE CLOSER

And finally … 🇺🇸 It’s Presidents Day, and for many (but not all, ahem), it’s a holiday.

Federal workers, who have the day off, may recognize it as Washington’s birthday, initially celebrated by soldiers at Valley Forge in 1778 (The Bulwark).

If you’re in the vicinity of the nation’s capital, George Washington’s home on the Potomac River, Mount Vernon, is free to visitors today and Wednesday, his natal day (info HERE).

🦅 For nature lovers, here’s a news alert worth applauding in Washington: Mr. President, a bald eagle, and mate Lotus (Lady of the United States) set up in a new nest in the National Arboretum near the Anacostia River and expect an eaglet in mid-March (The Washington Post). 

💳 For those hunting for retail therapy, consumer “malaise” may be your friend for Presidents Day, at least for some bigger-ticket items that aren’t selling as fast as stores would like — including furniture, home appliances, consumer electronics and mattresses (USA Today). 

Stay Engaged

We want to hear from you! Email: Alexis Simendinger and Kristina Karisch. Follow us on Twitter (@asimendinger and @kristinakarisch) and suggest this newsletter to friends!

Project would pipe water from Mexico to parched Arizona — if anyone can agree on it

As arid Arizona scrambles to quench the thirst of a rapidly expanding population, officials are eying the Sonoran seaside in Mexico as a potential wellspring for future demand. 

But whether the Mexican state and federal governments would be on board with the arrangement — and the hefty infrastructure such a project would require — remains to be seen. 

“I am going to defend the interests of Sonorans. That is my responsibility,” Sonora Gov. Alfonso Durazo said at a recent press conference, describing the plans as “utter absurdity.” 

At the core of the project, proposed by Israel-based IDE Technologies, would be a $5 billion desalination plant rooted in the resort city of Puerto Peñasco. While some of the treated water would go to Sea of Cortez coastal towns, most of it would be piped 200 miles north to the Phoenix area. 

‘It’s a complicated project’

“We’re still very early in this process,” Chuck Podolak, the newly hired director of the Water Infrastructure Finance Authority of Arizona (WIFA), an independent agency established by the state legislature last year, told The Hill. “It’s a complicated project, with complicated politics and permitting on both sides of the border.”

Cross-border tensions began mounting at the end of January, when Durazo denied any involvement in the plans, appearing to backtrack on previous comments. He was fielding criticism from Sonoran businessman Óscar Serrato, who had resurfaced comments made in December about the governor’s meetings with IDE. 

At two separate hearings on Dec. 20, representatives from IDE relayed to WIFA board members and Arizona state legislators the warm reception from Durazo that their project had received. 

“We had meetings with the state of Sonora. We have received the support both from state and federal,” Erez Hoter-Ishay, manager of an IDE-led consortium called the Arizona Water Project Solution, said at a Joint Legislative Water Committee session that afternoon. 

Hoter-Ishay said he met with Durazo in July “to answer all the questions about the environmental issues” and make sure that the governor was comfortable with the plans.

The Sonoran government then “came back with the support,” as well as some asks, which the IDE-led team accounted for in the project’s financial models, Hoter-Ishay explained. State officials see the project as “strategic,” he had said at a public WIFA meeting four days earlier. 

Following the consortium’s presentation, board members of WIFA adopted a resolution to engage in formal conservations about the proposed Arizona Water Project Solution. 

The resolution calls for WIFA’s professional staff to conduct an analysis of the plans, after which the board can “discuss a non-binding term sheet” for the purchase of imported water.   

A century of water from the Sea of Cortez

The project proposal, submitted to WIFA a week prior to the board meeting, outlines an intent to withdraw, desalinate and move water from the Sea of Cortez — with a goal of providing Arizonans with up to 1 million acre-feet annually “for 100 years and more.” 

The project’s first phase, which could be online by 2027, would generate up to 300,000 acre-feet of water annually, per the proposal. Only later would the capacity expand to the upper limit of 1 million-acre feet, which would be enough to fulfill the needs of 3 million households. 

At the project’s core would be a desalination plant in Puerto Peñasco, about 60 miles southwest of the Arizona border. While this city, as well as Hermosillo, Sonoyta and Nogales, would receive some water, most of it would be piped across the border, according to the plans. 

Four pumps located on the Mexican side of the border would bolster the uphill portions of the journey, powered predominantly by solar and battery storage, the consortium explained. This arrangement allows the project to circumvent Arizona’s Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, according to IDE.

Within a Phoenix-area Arizona Water Distribution Facility, an on-site reservoir would be able to store four days of water for customers and include a tie-in to the Central Arizona Project — a 336-mile aqueduct that diverts Colorado River water across the state.

Buyers would adhere to a fixed price structure, while WIFA would place $750 million in a temporary escrow account to demonstrate the state’s long-term commitment, per the proposal. 

Hoter-Ishay had stated at the Dec. 20 meeting that the consortium would be submitting its plans the next day to the Bureau of Land Management for review under the National Environmental Policy Act. 

However, The Hill could find no record of such a filing, aside from a draft copy of the document obtained from WIFA, and IDE declined to comment about the submission. 

Sonora governor offers support — and then takes it back

Just two days after the WIFA board authorized the resolution permitting continued discussion about the plans, Durazo, the Sonora governor, appeared to be on board with the project. 

He discussed “the possibility of selling desalinated water to the United States” at a Dec. 22 press conference, touting the Sea of Cortez’s location  just “100 kilometers from the border.” 

Stressing that Arizonans “need water,” the governor cited one “condition” for the project’s development: it also must help “solve the water problem” of Sonoran cities. 

“If there is consent from our counterpart, I will be willing to add my efforts to help the project materialize,” Durazo said. 

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador also recently expressed support for the plans, which would require federal authorization, as water is considered a national resource in the country. 

Responding on Jan. 24 to a question about the desalination facility, López Obrador said that if there is no opposition and if assessments show that the plans pose no problem to the environment, then “we are authorizing everything.”

But when Serrato, the Sonoran businessman, resurfaced IDE’s claims at the end of January,   Durazo denied his participation in the plans. Acknowledging that he had met with IDE, he stressed that “at no moment” did they discuss the supply of water to Arizona. 

“I received the representatives of an Israeli company that came to sell technology for the desalination of water, in view of the eventual necessity that the state of Sonora might have,” Durazo said. 

He stressed that water in Mexico “is a federal issue” and that any exchange would need to occur through a binational agreement. Such action would be a “matter of national security,” his office added in an accompanying Twitter thread. 

“Given the lack of ethics of the company that tried to turn the courtesy with which it was received into a negotiation for the sale of desalinated water, the Government of Sonora will never deal with it again,” Paulina Ocaña, a spokeswoman for Durazo, said in a statement.

“This was a project between the former governor of Arizona and the former governor of Sonora,” Ocaña added. 

Slamming both Sonoran and Arizonan leaders for “a total lack of transparency,” Serrato argued that Durazo “should have sat down and listened to the people of Sonora.” 

“I don’t believe him and obviously he knows I don’t believe him,” Serrato said, noting that the day after Durazo’s Jan. 31 press conference, he saw the governor at a business roundtable.  

“And he went and said and told me, ‘I answered you,’” Serrato added.

Across the border, things are also unclear

Arizona’s handling of the plans has been equally opaque, according to Serrato. The businessman described his surprise that a Republican-led governorship and legislature would “push for a project of this size and this controversial in the last days of their administration” before current Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) took over.

During the Dec. 20 WIFA board meeting, Hoter-Ishay said that his presentation comes “after more than three years of working, surveying and planning on both sides of the border.” 

Among those with whom he recalled meeting, in addition to Durazo, were former Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R), Sens. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), former Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), former Arizona Speaker of the House Rusty Bowers (R), and other leaders of relevant state agencies.

At the WIFA board meeting, Bowers confirmed that he had signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) about the project. Bowers said that when he was asked about it on the Arizona House floor, he responded, “I’m under an NDA, and I can’t talk about it or any other as yet.”

“But I knew it was exactly what we all know right now. There’s all the work that was done,” Bowers said at the WIFA session. “We need the water. And we need it as fast as we can get it.”

At the Joint Legislative Water Committee meeting later that afternoon, former state Sen. Lisa Otondo (D) questioned this specific NDA, noting that Bowers was serving on the WIFA board, although in a non-voting capacity.

“For a legislator to sign an NDA with a company that is going to benefit from that piece of legislation stinks of collusion,” Serrato said. “In Mexico, that will be a crime.”

The Hill has reached out to Bowers for comment. 

Regarding the consortium’s interactions across the border, Hoter-Ishay said that the group has yet to request any official resolution from Mexico but stressed that it does intend to do so.  

“The reason is to have everything in parallel, both in Arizona and in Mexico,” he said at the legislative session. 

Although WIFA’s voting board members granted unanimous approval on Dec. 20 to the resolution to begin discussions on the project, participants raised many objections over the course of the three-and-a-half-hour meeting. 

Non-voting board member and former State Senate President Karen Fann (R), who was instrumental in passing the legislation that led to WIFA’s creation, expressed  concern that the process has not been “open to anybody and everybody” and that it “is a little rushed.” 

“Our legislators wanted to make absolutely sure that everything was transparent, that it was vetted properly, that it was done above board and out front,” Fann said. 

Otondo, who also took part in the joint legislative session, told WIFA board members that she questioned the “speed and lack of transparency” in a process that “reeks of backroom deals.” 

She said she was worried about the board moving forward with considering such a project before WIFA — a new agency — has even completed its own procurement rules. 

At a last-minute public meeting just four days before, WIFA Chairman David Beckham had cited similar concerns, even thanking members “for gathering on such short and unexpected notice.”

Beckham attributed the “exigent timing” to a call he had received from the Arizona Commerce Authority indicating that “there was urgency involved” — even though he had only received the consortium’s 50-page proposal a few days prior. 

“That was the first time I have heard any type of urgency to act this promptly,” Beckham said at the time. 

Asked for further comment on behalf of the consortium, a spokeswoman for IDE Technologies told The Hill that “IDE isn’t able to discuss the project at this time,” and that “when the timing is better, we hope to revisit this conversation.” 

Moving forward could take time

Despite the urgency with which the board vote took place, Podolak, WIFA’s director, said that his professional review of the IDE proposal — required by the resolution before the board can entertain a non-binding term sheet — could take some time, as he is still building his staff.

Podolak began his role as the agency’s director at the beginning of January, and he is in the process of hiring additional staff. 

“There’s a lot of focus on what the project proponents brought, but that’s really not what the board approved,” he said. “The board approved a thorough due diligence, and then a chance — if that meets all the criteria — to begin discussions.”

The state legislature last year established both WIFA and an accompanying $1 billion Long-Term Water Augmentation Fund, with the vision of “using state dollars to invest in projects that bring new water supplies to Arizona,” according to Podolak. 

The law requires WIFA — whose appointed board was seated only in November — to develop rules and processes before proceeding with any project, Podolak explained. 

Asked whether there would be a bidding process for the desalination project, he said that WIFA has been “getting a lot of informal outreach” and has an application available online. 

“It’s formal to the extent that we have a place for people to outreach to us, to collect those, to have a record of all those documents and ideas,” Podolak said. 

Noting that IDE’s presentation occurred following “a very defined and specific request of the board,” Podolak acknowledged that “there was some discussion by the board members about not having a full process in place.”

He said he characterizes the board’s decision to sign the resolution, however, as “a direction to us to do the due diligence on the process.”

“I do not see this as a first come, first serve,” Podolak said. “I think we will look at the IDE proposal along with any other good proposals that we get and bring the recommendations to the board about which ones they should fund.”

Desalination up for debate

Before any water departs from the Sea of Cortez — let alone travels 200 miles to Phoenix — this expansive cross-border project would need to overcome a long list of bureaucratic hurdles in multiple states and countries. 

And it’s not the only desalination project under consideration in the region. 

The International Boundary & Water Commission, a U.S.-Mexican partnership that administers binational water resources, began studying the possibility of binational desalination on the Sea of Cortez in April 2020. 

The main difference, however, is that the water generated by such a facility — likely financed by a U.S. state — would go directly to Mexican farmers in the region, in exchange for some of Mexico’s Colorado River entitlement. 

These binational desalination talks are ongoing, Tom Buschatzke, director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources and a U.S. negotiator in the process, confirmed to The Hill. 

Buschatzke, who is also a non-voting WIFA board member, raised several environmental issues to IDE at the Dec. 20 meeting, including questions as to how the brine — the residual salt solution left from the desalination process — would be dispersed into the sea. 

Serrato, who was not present at the meeting, expressed similar concerns, noting that the currents capable of dispersing that brine are not as strong in the Sea of Cortez as they are in the Pacific Ocean, where IDE also runs multiple desalination plants. 

“The Sea of Cortez is a very ecologically fragile environment,” Serrato said. 

Meanwhile, because about 70 percent of Mexico’s gross fishing production comes from this sea, Serrato said such activity could be disruptive to the industry and the region’s food chain.

“I’m not opposed to desalination when that technology evolves to be environmentally feasible and economically feasible,” he said. 

Jennifer Martin, a programs manager at the Sierra Club, warned WIFA board members about the habitat fragmentation that can occur following pipeline construction. 

The project, she argued, would “shift the ecological burden for Arizona’s unwillingness to confront our water limits to our neighbors to the south.”

But other members of the public argued in favor of the plans — such as Terri Sue Rossi, of the Arizona Water Company, who described a need for “a diverse water supply portfolio.”

“It is not the panacea — it is a piece of the puzzle, and it is a piece of the puzzle that is worthy of exploration,” Rossi said. 

Craig MacFarland, mayor of Casa Grande, said that his region’s agricultural industry is feeling a “sense of urgency,” while Tony Smith of Pinal County said that a lack of water is forcing farmers to fallow their fields. 

Acknowledging that “Arizona needs water,” Serrato told The Hill that the state’s “best shot” would be to “build a desalination plant on the Pacific side of Mexico and then transport the waters.”

“They’re trying to balance whatever sources of water they have with their predicted growth, and they do not have enough water for growth,” Serrato added, noting that desalination will be necessary, but that it’s the last option officials should consider.  

Podolak, meanwhile, reiterated the complicated nature of the project and the fact that it will necessitate getting a variety of permits on both sides of the border. 

He emphasized the importance, however, of continuing to engage in negotiations and discussions in Mexico — both in Sonora and with the federal government in Mexico City. 

And while Podolak expressed his support for Arizona’s continued investment in conservation, stormwater recovery, water reuse and other “lower-hanging fruits,” he stressed that it’s not an “either-or” situation. 

“Just because we’re doing those, I don’t think that means that we can’t plan for the future,” he added.

Source: TEST FEED1