From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By Mariane Angela

President Donald Trump issued an executive order Monday to remove the United States from the Paris Agreement.

The United States joins Iran, Libya, and Yemen as countries not part of the Paris Agreement, which seeks to limit global warming, the New York Times reported. Trump had previously pulled out of the agreement during his first term, only to see his successor, former president Joe Biden, re-enter it in 2021 after taking office.

This decision aims to increase fossil fuel production and reduce investment in clean energy technologies like electric vehicles and wind turbines, the outlet stated. Additionally, Trump notified the United Nations, which manages the Paris Agreement, of the U.S.’s withdrawal with a signed letter, setting the official exit to occur one year after its submission.

Trump has said in the past that the U.S. involvement in the Paris agreement harms America’s economic competitiveness and would not make a significant impact on the climate. He also said previously that the agreement was poorly negotiated and did not put American workers first.

The Biden administration implemented new emissions goals as part of its efforts to solidify its climate strategy. The Trump administration plans to deregulate the energy sector and roll back funding from Biden’s key climate initiatives. Since Nov. 5, members of Biden administration have distributed $1.6 billion in “environmental justice” grants, secured significant loans for green energy firms, empowered  California regulators to influence the national auto market, and published a detailed analysis on the effects of liquefied natural gas exports, potentially hindering Trump’s efforts to expand them.

From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By Nick Pope

President Joe Biden pardoned his brothers and other family members on Monday just moments before President-elect Donald Trump’s swearing-in

Biden pardoned his brother Frank, his other brother James, James’ wife Sara Biden, his sister Valerie Owens and her husband, John Owens in one of his last acts as president. James was connected to Hunter Biden’s business dealings with overseas partners, while Frank Biden used Joe Biden’s 2021 inauguration to promote his Florida law firm in connection with a lawsuit against sugar farmers and reportedly interrupted business meetings to speak on the phone with “the big guy” while working for a manufacturing company based in Illinois.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre attempted to spin President Joe Biden’s decision to pardon his son Hunter after months of claiming that he would not do so. pic.twitter.com/FpxQJ5m9gE

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) December 2, 2024

Monday’s last-minute pardons followed Joe Biden’s December 2024 decision to pardon his son Hunter — convicted on federal gun and tax charges in 2024 — for all crimes he may have committed going back to 2014. The pardons for the five other family members will also span back to 2014.

Despite the fact that Joe Biden’s Justice Department oversaw the investigations into Hunter Biden and congressional investigators proved that Biden family members and business associates profited from business deals with overseas oligarchs, Joe Biden said that his family was the victim of “the worst kind of partisan politics.”

“I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics,” Biden said in a statement released by the White House. “But baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety, and financial security of targeted individuals and their families. Even when individuals have done nothing wrong and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage their reputations and finances.”

“That is why I am exercising my power under the Constitution to pardon James B. Biden, Sara Jones Biden, Valerie Biden Owens, John T. Owens, and Francis W. Biden,” the statement continues. “The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that they engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense.”

James Biden, along with Hunter Biden, were paid millions of dollars by a Chinese energy firm called CEFC to look to secure energy deals in the U.S., though those ventures never materialized, according to a former CEFC associate who testified to congressional investigators in January 2024.

Republican Kentucky Rep. James Comer, who spearheaded the House impeachment inquiry against Joe Biden, slammed the pardons in a Monday statement, saying that he believes the move indicates the Biden family is likely guilty of the corrupt and unsavory activity of which they have been accused.

“President Biden’s preemptive pardons for the Biden Crime Family serve as a confession of their corruption as they sold out the American people to enrich themselves. Our investigation revealed that at least ten members of the Biden Crime Family and their associates raked in over $30 million by selling Joe Biden’s influence to corrupt foreign entities and individuals in China, Russia, Ukraine, Romania, and Kazakhstan,” Comer said. “The legacy media should be ashamed of themselves for covering up Joe Biden and his family’s abuse of power, corruption, and obstruction. The American people have seen through the legacy media’s coverup and the Bidens’ lies, and they know the truth: President Biden abused his public office to create a slush fund for his family.”

Prior to stepping in to protect his family members at the very end of his one term in office, Joe Biden also pardoned Anthony Fauci and other controversial figures before Trump was sworn in as president.