Tom Zawistowski: Vivek Ramaswamy Likely to be Favorite Gubernatorial Candidate Among Ohioans

Tom Zawistowski, president of the Ohio-based We the People Convention, said businessman and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is likely to be the favorite Republican candidate among Ohioans in the 2026 gubernatorial race.

While Ramaswamy has not officially launched a bid for Ohio governor, reports have recently confirmed that the businessman and former presidential candidate has hired Vice President JD Vance’s top political advisers to head his expected campaign.

Read the full story

Appeals Court Overturns Law Banning Handgun Sales to Young Adults

handgun

An appeals court found that a federal preventing gun stores from selling handguns to people between 18 and 20 years old was unconstitutional.

“The text of the Second Amendment includes eighteen-to twenty-year-old individuals among ‘the people’ whose right to keep and bear arms is protected. The federal government has presented scant evidence that eighteen-to-twenty-year-olds’ firearm rights during the founding-era were restricted in a similar manner to the contemporary federal handgun purchase ban, and its 19th century evidence ‘cannot provide much insight into the meaning of the Second Amendment when it contradicts earlier evidence,’” the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals court ruled on Thursday.

Read the full story

‘Great Day for Tennessee’: Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson Celebrates Passage of Education Freedom Act

Jack Johnson

Tennessee Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson (R-Franklin) said the passage of the Education Freedom Act of 2025 sends a message that the Volunteer State believes in “parents making choices that are right for their kids.”

On Thursday, the Education Freedom Act (SB6001/HB 6004) passed the Tennessee House by a 54-44 vote and the Tennessee Senate by a 20-13 vote.

Read the full story

Trump to Slap Mexico, Canada and China with Tariffs Saturday

Claudia Sheinbaum and Donald Trump

President Donald Trump will be following through on his threat to hit Mexico, Canada and China with sweeping tariffs over complaints about illegal immigration and illicit drugs entering the U.S.

The administration will begin hitting Mexico and Canada with a 25% tariff and China with a 10% tariff beginning Saturday, White House Spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt announced during a press briefing Friday. The announcement follows import tax threats long made by the Republican unless all three countries do more to address the illegal immigration crisis and the smuggling of fentanyl into the United States.

Read the full story

Legal Expert Phill Kline: Trump’s Work to Address the ‘Unaccountable Government’ Will Be Hard for the Left to Stop Through the Courts

Donald Trump

Phill Kline, former Kansas Attorney General and current law professor at Liberty University School of Law, said he believes President Donald Trump’s work to address the “unaccountable government” through the temporary pause of federal financial assistance programs to review such funding is likely to be “backed up” by the courts as the Left attempts to derail the president’s actions through litigation.

Kline said Trump’s use of the presidential impoundment power to potentially save federal funds by pausing federal financial assistance programs pending further review is “clearly” appropriate.

Read the full story

Tennessee Law Enforcement Arrested or Convicted over 2,000 Illegal Immigrants in Final Months of 2024: State Report

ICE Arrest

Complying with legislation passed last year, the first annual report by the Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference (TNDAGC) containing the number of illegal immigrants arrested by Tennessee law enforcement, or convicted by a Tennessee court, between the months October and December 2024 was published Friday.

The TNDAGC report includes data from 73 of Tennessee’s 93 counties, with complete reports from only 71, and reveals there were 2,719 reports of illegal immigrants charged with or convicted of a criminal offense in Tennessee during the last three months of 2024.

Read the full story

Republicans from Local to Federal Levels Focus on Election Integrity as New Terms, Sessions Begin

Mail-In Ballot Processing

As new terms and legislative sessions begin, Republican politicians from the local level to the White House are focusing on passing and implementing various election integrity efforts, from banning ranked-choice voting to ending “Bidenbucks.”

With a trifecta Republican government at the federal level, Republicans are prioritizing issues such as ensuring that only U.S. citizens vote in federal elections and that the private funding of U.S. elections is prohibited. Meanwhile, Republican-led state and local governments are focusing on banning the ranked-choice voting system and cleaning up voter rolls.

Read the full story

Medicaid Fraud Implicated in Deaths of Native Americans Who Died in Phoenix Sober Living Homes, Governor Katie Hobbs Blamed

Group therapy treatment center

A massive Medicare fraud scheme has been unraveling in the state recently, involving sketchy sober living homes taking advantage of Native Americans, many who ended up dead. Scammers used hastily popped up sober living centers to take advantage of the program, which is operated under the state’s welfare system, the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS). Estimates of deaths range from two dozen to 200 people, with the fraud costing taxpayers up to $2.5 billion. Much of the blame has been placed on Governor Katie Hobbs for not stopping the fraud. 

Three wrongful death lawsuits have been filed related to the fraud. A 232-page class action lawsuit was filed in December. It alleged, “The grossly negligent and indifferent misconduct of Defendant STATE OF ARIZONA, including through its agencies AHCCCS and AZ-DHS, caused thousands of Native Americans, who are the class action Plaintiffs and proposed Class Members, to suffer and incur horrific injuries, deaths, dangerous drug addictions, fraudulent mental health services, homelessness, and other damages described herein that resulted in the so-called ‘sober living crisis.’ Defendant STATE OF ARIZONA is culpable for creating the crisis.”

Read the full story

Virginia Bill Would Force Congress to Declare War Before Governor Authorizes Virginia National Guard for Overseas Deployments

Virginia National Guard

Legislation under consideration by the Virginia House of Delegates would require the U.S. Congress to formally pass an act of war against a foreign country before the Governor of Virginia is allowed to authorize the Virginia National Guard to deploy overseas.

The Defend the Guard Act, or HB 2193 was submitted on January 7 by Delegate Nick Freitas (R-Culpeper), and on Thursday the legislation was advanced unanimously in vote by the House Subcommittee on Public Safety, prompting the conservative lawmaker to celebrate in a video posted to the social media platform X.

Read the full story

Commentary: Trump’s Executive Orders Are Taking a Massive Chunk Out of the Censorship State

President Donald Trump

President Donald Trump has hit the ground running, issuing a flurry of executive orders. Two of them are particularly welcome.

The first, “Restoring Freedom of Speech and Ending Federal Censorship,” mandates agencies across the government cease funding and end any activities that would “unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen.” The other, “Ending the Weaponization of the Federal Government,” requires agencies “to identify and take appropriate action to correct past misconduct by the Federal Government related to the weaponization of law enforcement and the weaponization of the Intelligence Community.”

Read the full story

ASU Journalism School’s ‘Dishonest Hit Piece’ Hurting Reputation of Retired Sheriff Mack and His Law Enforcement Group

Retired Graham County Sheriff Richard Mack

Retired Graham County Sheriff Richard Mack, known for his lawsuit in the 1990s that successfully convinced the Supreme Court to strike down the Brady Bill’s requirement that local law enforcement conduct background checks, is suffering damage to his reputation after journalists at Arizona State University wrote a “dishonest hit piece” about Mack and his law enforcement organization. Arizona State University’s Howard Center for Investigative Journalism (HCIJ), in collaboration with the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting (AZCIR), published an article on August 21, 2023 that falsely portrayed Mack and his Constitutional Sheriffs & Peace Officers Association (CSPOA) as vigilantes who were prone to violence. 

Mack met with the journalists prior to the article to provide them with CSPOA’s standard training on the Constitution, which the group offers to law enforcement officers and others. It thoroughly goes over how CSPOA was formed on the basis of the principles laid out in his famous case, Printz v. United States. However, Mack told The Arizona Sun Times the eventual article the journalists produced never mentioned anything from his almost two-hour long presentation, which refuted many of their assertions about him and CSPOA. The article barely mentioned the case, which is the reason why Mack is famous. 

Read the full story

Commentary: The Flaws of ‘Equitable Discipline’ and Its Impact on School Safety

Misbehaving class

In a December Education Week poll, teachers and administrators disclose that student behavior is worsening. Since pre-pandemic 2019, “there’s been a pronounced spike in behavior problems, ranging from minor classroom disruptions to more serious student fights broadcast on social media.”

The survey results reveal that 72% of educators say that students in their classroom, school, or district have been misbehaving either “a little” (24%) or “a lot” (48%) more than in the fall of 2019, the last semester before the COVID-19 shutdowns began.

Read the full story

Federal Workers ‘Kicking and Screaming’ at Trump’s Buyout Offer

Federal government worker

Government workers are reeling after President Donald Trump’s administration presented a “payout” to federal employees refusing to return to the office on a full-time basis.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) sent an email to millions of government employees on Tuesday, offering eight months of pay if they resigned by Feb. 6. In response, federal employees and Democratic representatives have lodged anonymous complaints to media outlets.

Read the full story

Sen. Marsha Blackburn Says President Trump ‘Sending Power Back to the States’ Key Motive Behind Possible Run for Governor

Sen. Marsha Blackburn

Senator Marsha Blackburn said on Thursday that she was inspired to consider a gubernatorial campaign, which could lead to her departure from the U.S. Senate, by the promises by President Donald Trump to return enormous power from the federal government back to individual states.

The Tennessee Republican explained her thought process during an appearance on “The John Fredericks Show,” telling host John Fredericks, who publishes The Virginia Star, The Georgia Star, and The Pennsylvania Daily Star, that she was devoting serious thought into the implications of possibly leaving the Senate.

Read the full story

Rep. Andy Ogles Questions Whether DEI Played Role in American Airlines Crash

Rep. Andy Ogles

U.S. Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) questioned on Thursday whether the American Airlines crash into the Potomac River outside Washington, D.C. could have been a consequence of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) hiring practices that critics argue require employers to choose applicants based on immutable characteristics, like gender or race, rather than qualification.

Ogles, during an appearance on Fox Business’ “Mornings with Maria,” told host Maria Bartiromo that DEI should be among the possibilities considered by investigators for the cause of the American Airlines jetliner into a military helicopter that officials say may have caused the deaths of 67 people on Wednesday night.

Read the full story

Chinese Communist Party Quietly Operates Shadow Justice System in U.S. Cities

China justice in the U.S.

China is imposing its justice system on American soil using a web of U.S.-based nonprofits linked to a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) intelligence agency, a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation found.

Located throughout California, the greater Washington, D.C. area, Hawaii, and New York, the network of more than a dozen nonprofits share information with Chinese law enforcement officials, and some also host unsanctioned courtrooms in the U.S., a months-long investigation discovered.

Read the full story

Searchers Recover 28 Bodies in American Airlines, Army Helicopter Crash Near DC Airport, No Survivors

Helicopter regional jet collision in DC

Officials said Thursday morning that searchers have recovered 27 bodies from the American Airlines flight that collided overnight with a military helicopter and plunged into the Potomac River along Washington, D.C.

They also said one body from the helicopter was recovered and that the emergency operation has moved from a search to a recovery effort. They also said nobody has been rescued from the crash.

Read the full story

Chinese Communist Party Quietly Operates Shadow Justice System in U.S. Cities

Xi Jinping

China is imposing its justice system on American soil using a web of U.S.-based nonprofits linked to a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) intelligence agency, a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation found.

Located throughout California, the greater Washington, D.C. area, Hawaii, and New York, the network of more than a dozen nonprofits share information with Chinese law enforcement officials, and some also host unsanctioned courtrooms in the U.S., a months-long investigation discovered. Although the Chinese government claims it appoints law enforcement officials overseas in order to more conveniently handle mundane matters like Chinese driver’s license renewal and international divorce cases, U.S. lawmakers and intelligence analysts say China’s underground courts could easily be weaponized to punish dissidents and expand communist influence abroad.

Read the full story

Trump DOJ Drops Biden-Era Lawsuit Against Virginia over Removing Noncitizens from Voter Rolls

People Voting

The Department of Justice (DOJ) under President Donald Trump formally dropped the government’s Biden-era lawsuit against Virginia over the commonwealth’s purge of noncitizens from its voter rolls before the 2024 elections.

Legal notice of the voluntary dismissal by the Trump administration’s DOJ was filed on Tuesday, months after the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed Virginia’s right to remove the noncitizens from its voter rolls despite the Biden-era lawsuit last October.

Read the full story

Trump Admin Revokes Biden’s Last-Minute Deportation Protection Extension for over 500,000 Venezuelans

Illegal Immigrant

The Trump administration Wednesday cut back deportation protections given to hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans handed out by President Joe Biden just days before he left office.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revoked an 18-month extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) granted to roughly 600,000 Venezuelan nationals earlier in January under the previous administration, according to a DHS memo obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation. The decision comes as the Trump White House continues on with its hawkish immigration enforcement agenda.

Read the full story

Nashville Middle Schooler Arrested for ‘Threats of Mass Violence’ Just Minutes Away from Antioch High School

JFK Middle School

A John F. Kennedy Middle School student was arrested by the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) after police said the 14-year-old male allegedly told other students that he planned to bring a gun to the Nashville campus.

According to an MNPD press release, the unnamed student was charged in Juvenile Court with making a threat of mass violence on school property. Police said the student allegedly warned students on Tuesday, “not to come to school tomorrow,” because “he would be bringing a gun.”

Read the full story

Sen. Bill Hagerty Backs Bill to Deport Illegal Immigrants Who Assault Police Officers

Police arresting suspects

U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) is a cosponsor of the Protect our Law Enforcement with Immigration Control and Enforcement (POLICE) Act, which would allow deportations for illegal immigrants who assault members of law enforcement.

A press release by Senator Ted Budd (R-NC)’s office linked the legislation to the Laken Riley Act, which similarly expanded the criteria to deport illegal immigrants, and was signed into law by President Donald Trump on Wednesday, stating that the POLICE Act will, “further strengthen federal law by explicitly making assault of a law enforcement officer, firefighter, or other first responder a deportable offense.”

Read the full story

President Trump Takes Aim at ‘Radical, Anti-American Ideologies’ in Education with New Executive Order

President Donald Trump

On the heels of an executive order expanding education freedom and parental choice in schooling, President Trump on Wednesday signed a separate executive order titled “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling,” targeting the infiltration of “radical, anti-American ideologies” into the nation’s classrooms. The move marks more progress on the list campaign promises he articulated in a series of 2023 videos collectively known as “Agenda 47.”

“Parents trust America’s schools to provide their children with a rigorous education and to instill a patriotic admiration for our incredible Nation and the values for which we stand,” the order states. “In recent years, however, parents have witnessed schools indoctrinate their children in radical, anti-American ideologies while deliberately blocking parental oversight.”

Read the full story

Tennessee State House Removes Disruptive Audience After Rep. Justin Jones Delivers Speech Denouncing Immigration Bill

Justin Jones

Disruptive members of the public were reportedly removed from the Tennessee State House gallery on Wednesday shortly after Representative Justin Jones (D-Nashville) delivered a speech urging Republicans not to vote for legislation that would empower citizens to recall local politicians who vote to make their communities a sanctuary city.

Lawmakers are currently convened in Nashville for a special legislative session to consider the Education Freedom Act, a universal school choice proposal that would create 20,000 scholarships to empower families, as well as a package of relief legislation for those affected by Hurricane Helene and immigration legislation to support the federal government under President Donald Trump.

Read the full story

Trump Expands Educational Freedom, Parental Choice with New Executive Order

President Donald Trump

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday designed to expand educational opportunities through enhanced parental choice. The order reflects the administration’s commitment to empowering parents with the decision-making power over their children’s education – particularly in light of recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results indicating that 70% of 8th graders are below proficient in reading, and 72% in math.

Read the full story

Trump’s Education Department Probes Blue State School for Turning Girls’ Bathroom into ‘All-Gender’ Space

Girl in locker room

President Donald Trump’s Department of Education announced the opening of an investigation into a Colorado high school Tuesday for reportedly turning a women’s bathroom into an “all-gender” facility.

East High School in the Denver Public Schools District now has a men’s restroom and an all-gender restroom but no female-only space on the second-level of the building, the education department said in its announcement of the investigation, alleging that the school may have violated students’ constitutional rights. The department cited the Title IX rule, which mandates that institutions receiving federal funds provide similar facilities to both sexes.

Read the full story

‘Every Abortion Is a Tragedy’: RFK Jr. Tells GOP Senator He’ll Follow Trump’s Lead on Policy Moves

RFK Jr

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. assured Republican Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford during his confirmation hearing on Wednesday that he would follow President Donald Trump’s policies on abortion if confirmed.

Kennedy, during his presidential campaign, expressed support for abortion “even if it’s full-term,” and said that he “wouldn’t leave it to the states” before appearing to walk back his position shortly after. The nominee, at the Senate Finance Committee hearing, clarified that he would “implement” Trump’s pro-life agenda, including leaving abortion regulation to individual states.

Read the full story

American Students Continue Learning Decline Since Pandemic

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) released its report card showing that American fourth-graders and eighth-graders have not recovered the knowledge they lost during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Overall, student achievement has not returned to pre-pandemic performance,” NCES Commissioner Peggy G. Carr said. “Where there are signs of recovery, they are mostly in math and largely driven by higher-performing students. Lower-performing students are struggling, especially in reading.”

Read the full story

‘Tidal Wave’ of RFK Jr. Supporters Descend on Washington as HHS Nominee Faces GOP Holdouts

Robert F. Kennedy Jr

by Adam Pack   Most cabinet nominees invite their families and key supporters to attend their confirmation hearing. Yet, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s team is calling upon thousands of Americans to descend on the nation’s capitol to rally behind his nomination. Kennedy, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is set to appear before the Senate Finance and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committees Wednesday and Thursday flanked by a legion of “Make America Healthy Again (MAHA)” advocates. If busloads of supporters were to pack the Senate Dirksen building hallways as planned, it would be a striking display of grassroots support for one of Trump’s cabinet nominees whose confirmation fate is uncertain due to a number of Senate Republican holdouts. We are here to MAHA people! pic.twitter.com/uqJxvvpexr — Leener Tep 🌺 (@LeenerTep) January 29, 2025 Kennedy’s numerous supporters, many of who are calling their senators or visiting their offices in person to lobby on his behalf — view the confirmation hearings — and Kennedy’s nomination more broadly — as a once in a lifetime opportunity to reverse Americans’ worsening health outcomes. “This is a pivotal moment in history,” Zen Honeycutt, founding executive director of the medical…

Read the full story

Credit Card Giant Tries to Scuttle Efforts to Guarantee Insurance for People Who Regret Sex Transition Surgeries

Visa

The Visa board of directors has asked shareholders to oppose a policy advocating the company address an apparent lack of health insurance coverage for detransitioners harmed by sex change interventions, such as hormone therapy and surgeries.

The National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC) is bringing forward a proposal titled “Gender-Based Compensation Gaps and Associated Risks,” referred to as Proposal 4, at Visa’s annual shareholder meeting on Tuesday. The proposal suggests Visa may be at risk of litigation if it fails to provide insurance coverage for those seeking to pause or reverse the impact of cosmetic medical procedures aimed at changing their bodies to look like the opposite sex.

Read the full story

‘Maternal Instinct’ Is Socially Constructed ‘Myth,’ Arizona State University Professor Declares

Professor Lela Rankin

The “maternal instinct” is a socially constructed “myth” rather than an innate biological trait, Arizona State University Professor Lela Rankin said at an on-campus event Thursday.

At the event, titled “Dismantling the Maternal Instinct,” she criticized the “myth” for enforcing “gendered” caregiving roles and contributing to an unequal burden placed on women in family structures.

Read the full story

California Democrats Want to Sue Big Oil for Horrific Los Angeles Fires

First reponders

Two California Democrats unveiled a bill Monday that they said would allow insurers and policyholders affected by the Los Angeles fires to sue major oil corporations for their alleged role in the disaster.

Democratic California State Sen. Scott Wiener and a host of other Democrats rolled out Senate Bill 222 on Monday, characterizing it as a means to make oil companies atone for the fires and stabilize California’s faltering insurance market. This, as residents pick up the pieces from the devastation. Weiner and Pérez say that oil companies bear responsibility for the fires because of their supposed role in climate change. This, even though critics say a litany of policy decisions and failures appear to have much more directly fanned the flames, as evidenced by things like malfunctioning fire hydrants.

Read the full story