News & Brews January 7, 2025
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Nippon, U.S. Steel sue after Biden blocks sale
Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel filed lawsuits yesterday after President Biden blocked the proposed sale of the latter to the former. The Wall Street Journal reports that the companies’ lawsuits “accus[e] President Biden, the president of the steelworkers union and the chief executive of a rival company of conspiring to scuttle their $14.1 billion tie-up.” One of the lawsuits alleges “that election-year politics subverted a national-security review process.” And another “accuse[s] Cleveland Cliffs, its CEO Lourenco Goncalves and United Steelworkers President Dave McCall of racketeering and anticompetitive activities to keep Nippon Steel from completing the sale.”
Lawmakers return to Harrisburg today
Today marks the start of a new, two-year legislative session in our state Capitol. But, as Spotlight PA reports, before getting down to legislative business, “state House and Senate lawmakers must elect chamber leaders and pass key rules that govern their behavior and influence how power is wielded in the commonwealth.” This year, “Among the biggest [rule] changes under consideration in the lower chamber is expanding the number of committees. That would give both parties’ leaders more powerful committee chair positions to distribute to their membership.” Meanwhile, House Democrats will begin the session without one lawmaker, leaving the balance of power at 101-101, because state Rep. Matt Gergely (Allegheny County) is hospitalized following a medical emergency.
Shapiro said Trump was an existential threat; now he wants to work with him
It’s amazing how much hyperbole changes following elections. The Inquirer reports that during the recent campaign, Gov. Josh Shapiro “frequently called Donald Trump an existential threat to American democracy.” But, lo and behold, now that Trump was decisively elected, Shapiro is ready to work with this supposed existential threat. Gee, makes you wonder if the rhetoric was all for show.
State rep. running for DNC vice chair
Democrat state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta lost his race for auditor general last year and lost his primary race for U.S. Senate in 2022. But not to be dissuaded, he’s now running to be vice chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). The Inquirer explains, “The party’s three at-large vice chairs will work with the DNC’s next chair and its executive committee in charting a new course for the party. More than a dozen people are running for the vice chair roles, the most since at least 2017 and a signal of the interest Democrats have in revamping the party.” Kenyatta is the only Pennsylvania candidate running for the role.
Pa. returns to bottom 5 in U-Haul growth rankings
Every year, U-Haul releases its growth rankings, which “are configured by each state’s net gain (or loss) of customers utilizing one-way U-Haul equipment in a calendar year. The U-Haul Growth Index is compiled from well over 2.5 million one-way U-Haul truck, trailer and U-Box® moving container transactions that occur annually.” And in 2024, Pennsylvania ranked #46, falling from #38 in 2023 and dropping back into the bottom 5 for the first time since 2021. U-Haul’s president stated, “Migration to the Southeast and Southwest continues as families gauge their cost of living, job opportunities, quality of life and other factors that go into relocating to a new state. Out-migration remains prevalent for a number of markets across the Northeast, Midwest and West Coast — and particularly California.”