White House Establishes Emergency Board to Avert Rail Strike

2025-09-16

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White House Establishes Emergency Board to Avert Rail Strike

Bread and Circus: The Complete Record of American Governance

Today’s newsletter covers official U.S. government happenings from the executive, legislative, and judicial branches yesterday, as well as key economic indicators. Below, you’ll find concise summaries of each document, with links to the original sources for further reading.

What Happened Yesterday:

🦅 Executive Branch: 3 documents (2 Executive Orders, 1 Rule)
🏛️ Legislative Branch: No activity
⚖️ Judicial Branch: No activity
📊 Economic Indicators: 1 documents (1 Bureau of Labor Statistics press release)
Total words condensed: 5,476 into 967

The Big Picture

This week, the White House took two notable actions affecting labor relations and technology regulation. President Trump established an Emergency Board to address a labor dispute involving the Long Island Rail Road and five of its unions, starting September 18, 2025, with a 30-day investigation period and a 120-day cooling-off phase where no changes can be made without mutual agreement. This move aims to prevent a potential strike that could disrupt transportation and sets a clear timeline for resolving the conflict. Meanwhile, the administration extended a pause on enforcing a law targeting foreign-controlled apps like TikTok until December 16, 2025, effectively allowing these apps to continue operating without penalties for nearly a year beyond the original enforcement date.

In immigration and trade, the government introduced a new $1 registration fee for all Diversity Visa lottery applicants starting September 16, 2025, shifting some program costs from winners to all entrants and potentially reducing fraudulent applications. On the economic front, import and export prices both rose by 0.3% in August 2025, with fuel prices dropping but other goods like medicines and machinery becoming more expensive. Export prices increased 3.4% over the past year, the largest jump since late 2022, signaling stronger demand or rising costs for U.S. products abroad. These price changes could influence consumer costs and business decisions in the months ahead.

Pattern to Watch

A clear pattern emerging is the government’s cautious, measured approach to managing economic and security challenges through incremental policy adjustments and temporary pauses. The Emergency Board for the rail dispute and the extended TikTok enforcement delay both reflect a preference for buying time to avoid immediate disruptions—whether in transportation or technology regulation—while seeking longer-term solutions. Similarly, the new Diversity Visa fee and the steady rise in import/export prices suggest a balancing act between funding government programs fairly and responding to shifting global economic conditions. Continued monitoring of labor negotiations, enforcement timelines, and trade price trends will reveal whether this pattern of cautious, stepwise policy management persists or gives way to more aggressive actions.

🦅 Executive Branch

White House

On September 16, 2025, President Donald J. Trump signed an order to create a special group called an Emergency Board to look into disagreements between the Long Island Rail Road Company and some of its workers who belong to five different labor unions. This group will start working early on September 18, 2025, and has 30 days to investigate and give a report to the President. During the next 120 days, the workers and the company are supposed to keep things the same and not make any changes related to the dispute unless they both agree. This action affects the railroad company, the workers in those unions, and could influence how their disagreements are solved. The order is based on a law called the Railway Labor Act, which lets the President step in when railroad workers and companies cannot settle their problems on their own. Read full document →
On September 16, 2025, President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order that delays the government’s enforcement of a law called the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which targets apps like TikTok. This order extends a pause on penalties and enforcement actions until December 16, 2025, meaning the Department of Justice will not punish or take action against companies for using or updating these apps during this time or for any time before the order. The order also directs the Attorney General to officially tell companies they are not in violation and to stop states or private groups from trying to enforce the law themselves, saying only the federal government can do that. This matters because it keeps TikTok and similar apps operating without legal penalties for nearly a year after the law was supposed to start being enforced, affecting companies, users, and national security policies. Read full document →

Federal Register

Starting September 16, 2025, people who want to enter the Diversity Visa lottery, which is a program that gives a chance to get a U.S. green card, must pay a new $1 fee when they register online. This is a change from before, when only those who won the lottery and applied for the visa paid a $330 fee. Now, everyone who signs up for the lottery helps cover the cost of running the program, which includes checking entries and picking winners. This new rule means the small group of winners won’t have to pay for the whole process alone, and it may also stop fake or unfair entries. This change affects anyone planning to enter the Diversity Visa lottery starting in late 2025. Read full document →

🏛️ Legislative Branch

No activity today.

⚖️ Judicial Branch

No activity today.

📊 Economic Indicators

Bureau of Labor Statistics

In August 2025, the prices of goods the U.S. buys from other countries (imports) went up by 0.3%, and the prices of goods the U.S. sells to other countries (exports) also rose by 0.3%. Fuel prices dropped by 0.8%, mainly because natural gas prices fell a lot (13.2%), but prices for other things like medicines, machines, and cars went up. Over the past year, import fuel prices fell about 10%, while nonfuel imports rose nearly 1%. Export prices increased 3.4% over the year, the biggest rise since late 2022, showing stronger demand or higher costs for U.S. goods abroad. These changes mean that some products are getting more expensive, which can affect the cost of living and jobs in industries that make or sell these goods. For everyday people, this can mean prices in stores might change, and businesses may adjust hiring or wages based on these cost shifts. Read full document →

Sources Covered Today

All U.S. Government Activity Yesterday:

Presidential actions issued: 2
Regulations: 1
Bills presented to president: 0
Bills that became law: 0
Supreme Court opinions issued: 0
Supreme Court oral arguments: 0

This is your daily record of history unfolding — no spin, just facts. For 342,495,942 people in the United States, this was yesterday.

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