Trump administration finalizes Waters of the United States rule

A win-win? Really? Last night, around 9:30, a New York Times news alert flashed on our phones. The Trump administration had finally finalized its rule to roll back the Waters of the United States rule, the end point in a plan that has been inching along since the president’s first day in office. But what really caught our eye was less about the news itself and more about the Times‘s characterization of this particular scuffle: It called the change a “victory for farmers,” based on the quote of just one Farm Bureau lobbyist. To which, editor Kate Cox texted late last night: “Why would the Times characterize this move with so little nuance?”