According to the Washington Post:
In its reply, the Justice Department wrote that the new rule “does not alter the environmental status quo, and will not have any significant impacts on public health and safety.”
But Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has asked for an internal assessment of whether the measure has any environmental impacts the government needs to take into account, Interior spokesman Matt Lee-Ashley said yesterday.
It is the duty of the Solicitor to defend the Administration’s policies, rules, and regulations in court. Whether Obama likes it or not, with that rule change, carry in National Parks is among the regulations the Solicitor General’s office is obligated to defend. If Obama wants to fish this turd out of his punch bowl, he’s going to have to undertake more rulemaking.
I expanded your last sentence to include another important consideration …
If Obama wants to fish this turd out of his punch bowl, he’s going to have to undertake more rulemaking, and in so doing, expend one hell of a lot of political capital he’d likely rather save.
He doesn’t have to expend as much to use regulations against us. That’s why Evan Nappen thinks he’ll do it. NRA can target individual critters easier than they can target him. Defeating a national campaign is harder than defeating a local one. Obama might be willing to bet his office that NRA can’t make up enough votes to unseat him.