Freshman GOP Rep. Gabe Evans spoke to Fox News Digital about the critical need for new energy policies in the United States and how he plans to push forward to overcome harmful green energy mandates like the ones in his home state of Colorado. 

"We know that we need more energy, not less, for our modern lifestyle, and all of the different emerging technologies, for example, United Power, they're actually my local electric co-op that supplies my energy, and United Power is forecasting a double to triple increase in the amount of power that they're going to need over the next 10 to 20 years, driven not only by population growth, but driven also by a lot of the new technologies that we're seeing," Evans told Fox News Digital. 

"Everybody knows about electric vehicles and the power that's required there, and so whether that's, you know, the switch to electric vehicles is driven by the free market or whether it's driven by some heavy-handed government mandates, if you plug in something into the power grid, we need more power, and we need to make sure that we have a more robust power grid to deliver that and that all ties back to baseline energy generation," he continued.

Evans explained that "there's also mandates in Colorado around things like electrifying drill rigs for a lot of the oil and gas, which is going to consume massive amounts of energy."

AMERICA'S ENERGY CRISIS IS HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT AND IT'S WORSE THAN YOU KNOW

"So we have massive new demands for electricity around AI or computing, and these are things that are of critical national security importance, because if we're not making sure that we're the dominant power in AI and a lot of this advanced computing, a lot of our international competitors are going to move into the first place position in those spaces. And so really, our entire modern way of life revolves around energy and having more energy."

Evans told Fox News Digital that the United States, particularly Colorado’s 8th Congressional District which he represents, makes "some of the cleanest and most environmentally responsible energy anywhere on the planet."

"So being able to advocate for that, all of the above approach to meet the demands that we have for our modern way of life is something that I'm super excited to work on and on," Evans said.

ENERGY EXPERTS WEIGH IN AFTER CANADIAN PREMIER SAYS SHE WANTS TO DISCUSS KEYSTONE PIPELINE 2.0 WITH TRUMP

Evans told Fox News Digital that Democrat-led energy policies in Colorado, along with other places, are actually causing a larger carbon footprint from green energy policies.

"Follow the science," Evans said. "So we've talked a lot about electricity. The question that often doesn't come up in the space of electricity is what is the carbon footprint required to produce electricity? And in Colorado right now, the carbon footprint of our electrical grid is actually about 40% higher than the carbon footprint for pure natural gas," Evans explained.

"So if there is a natural gas school bus versus an electric school bus, if there's a natural gas RTD as in our local mass transit system in the Denver metro area, if we have a natural gas RTD bus versus an electric bus, the electric buses are actually contributing 40% more carbon to the atmosphere because of the carbon footprint required to generate and transmit that electricity than just pure natural gas."

Evans told Fox News Digital it is imperative that Republicans work hand in hand with the Republican secretary nominees, who are yet to be confirmed, at the Department of Energy, Department of the Interior, and Environmental Protection Agency.

"Chris Wright is the energy nominee, he's also from Colorado, and so we have a preexisting relationship based on my time in the state legislature where I was the ranking member on our State Energy and Environment Committee," Evans said. "But we really do have to work hand-in-hand together, and I think the American people understand that, which is why the American people gave majorities in the House and the Senate and then obviously the presidency to my party, because they understand that we need to have a full court press to be able to deliver these solutions."

Evans continued, "And it's not just the House or the Senate or the presidency and the administration. We all have to be able to work together. And so being able to continue, you know, specifically in the energy space, the existing relationship that I have with some of these nominees is going to be critically important to achieving that ultimate goal of empowering energy producers, getting the good jobs that come from that industry, protecting our environment by actually producing responsible energy and then ultimately providing the good paying jobs that are so critical to solving the affordability crisis that we have right now."

• Point72 founder and New York Mets owner Steve Cohen spoke at iConnections' Miami conference Tuesday.
• Cohen said Chinese company DeepSeek's recent breakthroughs are good for the AI industry overall.
• "It advances the move to artificial superintelligence. And that's coming, it's coming quick," he said.

Billionaire Steve Cohen isn't worried that the US has lost any kind of AI race with China just because of DeepSeek's recent breakthroughs.

The Chinese AI startup has vaporized hundreds of billions of market value from some of the biggest names in the S&P 500 with its open-source models. Still, Cohen — whose firm, $37 billion hedge fund Point72, has a $1.5 billion fund dedicated to AI named Turion — believes "what happened with DeepSeek is actually super bullish" for the industry.

"It advances the move to artificial superintelligence. And that's coming, it's coming quick," said Cohen, speaking at the iConnections conference in Miami.

Bumps in the road for the companies on the path to superintelligence are just that, he said — bumps in the road.

"There's going to be a lot of winners here, and it's going to be episodic. It's not going to go in a straight line," he said, according to a recording of his talk obtained by Business Insider.

While he's optimistic about AI's potential, Cohen said the overall market could slow down due to President Donald Trump's immigration and trade policies.

Cohen, who has supported former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in the past, said Trump's focus on "unleashing America" and shedding regulations has "a lot to like." However, he believes the tariff and immigration policies proposed by the administration would slow growth this year.

"Tariffs are a tax, and that's going to slow consumer spending," he said. He thinks the economy will grow 2.5% in 2025's first half but slow in the second half to around 1.5%, and the Federal Reserve will struggle to hit its 2% inflation target thanks to unemployment remaining low due to a severe drop in immigration.

"I would expect the market to top over the next couple of months if it hasn't already topped already," he said.

Wherever the market ends up this year, though, Cohen won't be trading it, at least not for his firm's investors. While he's regarded as one of the greatest stockpickers to ever live, Cohen decided to step away from trading last year to focus on running his two companies, Point72 and Major League Baseball's New York Mets.

"I describe it as being immersed in a video game, and it's so immersive that you just forget what's going on around you," he said of trading, and without it, he's able to focus more on the people at his companies.

"I'm 68 and had this vision of being 70, still behind screens. I was like, 'That doesn't make sense,'" Cohen said.

• A judge has paused President Donald Trump's order to freeze federal grants, AP reported.
• The order would have temporarily frozen federal grants to agencies like FEMA and the SBA.
• The judge's ruling pauses the order until Monday afternoon, protecting funding for existing programs.

A federal judge has temporarily prevented President Donald Trump's order to freeze federal grants from taking effect Tuesday evening.

US District Judge Loren L. AliKhan's decision will protect funding for existing programs until Monday afternoon.

The order, which caused widespread panic among federal employees when it was announced early Tuesday, would have impacted funding at agencies like FEMA and the Small Business Administration.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Google added themed icons to Android quite a few years ago at this point, but many apps have still not yet adopted them. One long holdout, Microsoft Teams, has finally changed that though, as the latest Android update adds themed icons support.

A federal judge on Tuesday temporarily halted President Trump's effort to temporarily pause federal grant, loan and financial assistance programs, multiple outlets reported.

The big picture: U.S. District Judge Loren L. AliKhan blocked Trump's order minutes before it was to take effect, with an administrative stay that expires Monday.

Zoom in: The judge's order is in response to a complaint filed earlier Tuesday by the National Council of Nonprofits, the American Public Health Association, the Main Street Alliance and SAGE.

• They argued the funding freeze targets grant recipients based on their opinions on issues like climate change or diversity, equity and inclusion.
• Trump's memo "will have a devastating impact on hundreds of thousands of grant recipients who depend on the inflow of grant money," the complaint said.

Zoom out: Democratic attorney generals and members of Congress also said they plan to sue over the freeze.

Context: The Office of Management and Budget sent a memo to federal agencies Monday night directing them to "temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance."

• The memo created confusion among federal agencies and state governments, and some states reportedly lost access to a portal used to manage Medicaid spending.
• The White House said in a follow-up memo Tuesday, that "the pause does not apply across-the-board" and is "expressly limited" to funding areas like DEI targeted by Trump's executive orders.

Editor's note: This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the Trump administration's temporary pause on some federal spending as Democrats sounded the alarm about programs like Medicaid going dark.

The big picture: The freeze, which a federal judge halted Tuesday, would not effect programs like Social Security, Medicare, and welfare benefits, Leavitt said.

• Leavitt told reporters the pause was to ensure "every penny that is going out the door is not conflicting with the executive orders and actions that this president has taken."
• However, that left nonprofits and organizations that rely on federal funds like Meals on Wheels scrambling to assess the freeze's impact.

Catch up quick: An Office of Management and Budget memo, sent to the heads of executive departments and agencies gave them until Feb. 10 to submit details on programs, projects or activities subject to the indefinite pause.

• It also instructed agencies to assign a senior political appointee to oversee each federal financial assistance program and ensure it "conforms to Administration priorities."
• Federal Pell Grants and direct student loans will not be impacted by the freeze, Madi Biedermann, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Education, told Axios in a statement.

Yes, but: While the administrations said assistance "received directly by individuals" is in the clear, Democrats pounced to highlight the various programs affected by the freeze.

• Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) highlighted concerns from a domestic violence center that serves multiple counties, writing on X that "they may have to close their doors" without federal funding.
• Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) posted that several agencies in his region had been "completely cut off."
• Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) wrote that his staff confirmed Medicaid portals were down in all 50 states amid the freeze. Leavitt later posted that the White House was aware of the portal outage and that no payments had been affected.
• Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said the 18,000 people who rely on housing vouchers "currently do not know how their rent will be paid next month, and workers across various federally funded programs risk losing their pay."

Friction point: Trump's freeze appears to conflict with the Impoundment Control Act, a 1974 law that directs presidents to release all funds appropriated by Congress.

• Leavitt argued the freeze was "certainly within the confines of the law."
• While the law does allow presidents to delay funding under some circumstances, it doesn't allow freezing funds to decide if programs are "consistent with the president's policies," said Samuel Bagenstos, a University of Michigan professor and former General Counsel to the OMB.

What's next: Bobby Kogan, the senior director of Federal Budget Policy at the Center for American Progress who served in the Biden OMB, said to think of the freeze like a government shutdown: "It's bad immediately, and the longer it goes on, the worse it gets."

Go deeper: Democrats prepare for war with Trump over funding freeze