GOP Senator Presses Defense Secretary on Missing Evidence Behind Abortion Claims

A GOP senator questioned the Department of Defense (DOD)’s missing justification for its controversial abortion travel policy after the Pentagon said it still needed to assess the impact of abortion restrictions on the military, in a letter exclusively obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Republicans have opposed Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s measures to counteract state abortion restrictions implemented since the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Supreme Court decision in June of 2022, including by paying travel expenses for women seeking abortions. The Pentagon argued abortion restrictions would harm military readiness and lethality, but Republican Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi hammered Austin again for failing to provide data backing up that claim in a letter dated Oct. 27.

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Iowa U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley Demands Biden Administration Release All Information on China Spy Balloon

Recent reports that China’s claimed “weather” balloon was taking multiple images of U.S. military sites and sending them back to the communist nation are raising greater national security alarms. 

U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) is demanding the Biden administration release all information available on the spy balloon that invaded U.S. air space in late January and early February. 

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Sens. Ron Johnson, Roger Wicker Introduce Senate ‘No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act’

Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson (R) and Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker (R) led 45 of their Republican colleagues in introducing the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, a measure that would permanently prohibit federal funding for abortion.

Johnson and Wicker introduced the legislation Wednesday, a measure that would establish a “permanent prohibition on federal funding for abortion, replacing the current restrictions with a single, government-wide standard,” said a press release from Johnson’s office.

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Republican Senators Re-Introduce No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act

In a show of pro-life solidarity, 47 Republican U.S. senators are re-introducing a bill that would establish a permanent prohibition on federal funding for abortion, replacing the current restrictions with a single, government-wide standard.

The No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, the lawmakers say, attempts to clean up inconsistent and haphazard policies that have regulated federal funding for abortion.

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Wisconsin Senator Johnson and Colleagues Urge White House to Reverse Major Climate Policies

Wisconsin Republican Senator Ron Johnson wrote jointly with several colleagues to President Joe Biden this week urging him to reverse major elements of his anti-fossil-fuel agenda. 

The letter from the senators takes issue with several actions the White House has taken to hinder investment in and use of oil, natural gas and coal in an effort the administration insists is important to lessening global warming. 

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Blackburn Legislation Addresses Supply Chains in Tennessee

Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Roger Wicker (R-MS) introduced a bill this week to engage public-private partnerships toward strengthening supply chains in Tennessee and the region.

Current bottlenecks in shipping have translated to fewer goods on store shelves and higher prices for American consumers. Their causes are multifaceted and include high labor costs, cumbersome union work rules and the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Wittman, Kaine Introduce SHIPYARD Act to Fund Navy Infrastructure, Including Norfolk Naval Shipyard

Senator Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) and Representative Rob Wittman (R-Virginia-01) announced the SHIPYARD Act to provide $21 billion to invest in the Navy’s four public shipyards, including Norfolk Naval Shipyard. The plan, announced Wednesday, would also provide $2 billion for new construction of private shipyards, and $2 billion to repair the Navy’s existing private shipyards.

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Senator Marsha Blackburn’s New Bill Tackles Big Tech Censorship and ‘Fact-Checkers’

U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) is co-sponsoring a reform bill tackling Big Tech’s censorship and “fact-checking” policies. The bill, “Online Freedom and Viewpoint Diversity Act,” is a reform of Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act (CDA).
Section 230 hasn’t been updated in nearly 25 years. The goal of the reform is to “clarify the original intent of the law and examine Big Tech’s content moderation practices.”

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