Politics and views in the United States.

Taxing millionaires could fund safety net programs, climate rollbacks raise national security concerns, India makes cross-border strikes in Kashmir, the Supreme Court backs transgender military ban, and government actions conflict with Indigenous land protections.

TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to 2025 Talks, where we're following our democracy in historic times.

That's about enough to pay for some of the biggest, most important programs like food stamps, SNAP, children's health insurance programs, and also temporary assistance for needy families.

American University economist Mary Eshelbach Hansen says raising the tax rate on million-dollar incomes to 44 percent could fully fund safety net programs without harming economic growth.

President Donald Trump has reportedly rejected a millionaire tax some Republicans proposed as a way to pay for mass deportation and increased military spending.

GOP-led efforts in Congress continue to focus on cutting programs to extend tax breaks that mostly go to the wealthy.

India has launched attacks across the line of control into Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

Pakistan reports three deaths, including a child, amid rising tensions between the nuclear powers after a deadly militant attack in Kashmir that targeted Hindus two weeks ago.

The U.S. is ending its bombing campaign against the Houthis in Yemen.

It's not clear if the Houthis will stop their attacks on shipping.

Clean energy activists and veterans say rolling back federal renewable investments undermines national security.

Environmental advocate Yetideh Baddaki warns that moves to undo the Inflation Reduction Act increase dependence on dangerous regimes.

And she says the rollback violates Congress's right to set spending.

The Inflation Reduction Act and environmental regulations are being besieged by a president who believes that his every want should magically become the law of the land.

That is not how the Constitution works.

The IRA has led an estimated $44 billion in clean tech investments at almost a thousand sites across the country.

But the Trump administration aims to increase oil and gas drilling on public land while limiting states' ability to set environmental policy.

State Representative and veteran Debbie Sereñana says lawmakers allied to fossil fuel interests in New Mexico often prioritize profits over public health.

The hardest part of being a legislator is watching on this committee where they don't do anything.

They don't say anything.

They don't see it as wrong because money is the most important thing about the Permian Basin.

Crystal Seabering with the Northern Arapaho Tribe is praising Wyoming for imposing new penalties for vandalizing Indigenous rock art.

But she says tribes are concerned that the U.S. Interior Department slashed the comment period on energy projects.

Our sacred sites and our places of significance, that's our history on the ground.

It's not in books.

It's on the land.

So it's really important for tribes to have that voice in there to protect those sites.

The Supreme Court is letting the administration ban transgender people from serving openly in the military, drawing backlash from civil rights groups.

Justices also heard arguments on emergency immigration powers, which could further expand presidential authority.

I'm Farah Siddiqui for Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.