Foreign Home Buying Drops to Second-Lowest Level on Record

home buyers

Foreign buyers pulled back from the U.S. housing market over the past year, buying $45.3 billion worth of existing homes, the second-lowest level on record, according to a new report.

Foreigners bought those homes from April 2025 through March 2026, according to the National Association of Realtors 2026 International Transactions in U.S. Residential Real Estate report. That’s a 19.1% decrease in dollar value and a 14% drop in the number of properties purchased from the previous 12-month period.

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Commentary: America’s Murder Problem Is Smaller than It Looks

arrest

World Cup visitors discovered something many Americans already know: The United States does not feel like the dangerous place they’ve been led to expect. That’s because America’s murder problem is not spread evenly across the country. Does the United States have a higher murder rate than its peer countries? Yes – but new research shows that statistic obscures how murders in the U.S. are extremely concentrated in very tiny areas.

In 2025, the U.S. murder rate fell to just under 4 murders per 100,000 people. During the first six months of 2026, data compiled by the Council on Criminal Justice shows that murders in the nation’s 30 largest cities declined by another 18%. If that decline reflects the national trend, and that is likely, the U.S. murder rate will fall to approximately 3.25 per 100,000 people this year.

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Blackburn Introduces Bill to Keep Men Out of Daughters of the American Revolution

Daughters of the American Revolution National Headquarters

A new congressional bill seeks to prevent biological males from joining an organization dedicated to the American Revolution.

Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) introduced the Daughters of the American Revolution Membership Integrity Act, which would amend the Daughters of the American Revolution’s federal charter to ensure only biological females can become members.

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Tennessee Among Finalists for Nuclear Innovation Campus that Could Generate 25,000 Jobs, $50 Billion in New Investments

Bill Lee

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced on Tuesday that Tennessee ranked among five states selected as potential homes for Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses, which the agency said are part of a federal “effort to strengthen and modernize the nation’s full nuclear fuel cycle.”

According to the Tuesday press release, a total of 28 applications were submitted from 28 states, and Tennessee was selected as a “potential host” along with Idaho, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Utah. The federal agency reported that each state’s governor has already signed a memorandum of understanding with the DOE. 

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Swain: Fauci Took the Fifth Because ‘He Would Incriminate Himself by Telling the Truth’

Fauci Testimony

Author and retired college professor Dr. Carol Swain and The Tennessee Star’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy weighed in Wednesday on former White House COVID-19 adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci’s decision to repeatedly invoke his Fifth Amendment rights during a U.S. Senate hearing led by U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), arguing the testimony raised additional questions about Fauci’s conduct during the pandemic.

Fauci, who was pardoned by former President Joe Biden on his final day in office, declined to answer questions before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, invoking his constitutional right against self-incrimination after stating he believed Paul was attempting to entrap him in a “perjury trap.”

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State House Speaker Cameron Sexton Asks if Memphis Is ‘Tired of Being Blue’ After Shelby County Borrows $125 Million to Meet Payroll

Cam Sexton

Following the Shelby County Commission’s decision to borrow more than $100 million to meet its payroll expenses, State House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) questioned whether Memphis voters were “tired of being blue” in a social media post.

“This is what happens when liberals are in charge: higher taxes, more debt, and budgets so poorly managed they have to borrow money just to make payroll,” Sexton wrote in a post to social media. 

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‘Daily Perpetual Subpoena’: Conservatives, Investors Accuse Feds of Massive Privacy Violations

Investor at Work

Federal agencies are creating pointless cybersecurity risks and violating the First Amendment rights of nonprofits and investors through routine yet sweeping data dragnets that also violate the latter’s Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights, according to lawsuits against the IRS and Securities and Exchange Commission.

Young America’s Foundation is targeting mandatory disclosure of donor information on Form 990, required of most 501(c)(3) tax-exempt groups, after the IRS told the conservative nonprofit that convicted contractor Charles Littlejohn may have leaked its own information. 

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CPAC Backing Garrett in TN-06 Race

Johnny Garrett

The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Tuesday endorsed State Representative Johnny Garrett (R-Goodlettsville) in the Republican primary for Tennessee’s 6th Congressional District.

In a post on X, CPAC announced, “CPAC is proud to endorse Johnny Garrett for Congress. He is a proven conservative who delivered real wins in Nashville and will do the same in Washington. Early voting ends August 1st, so get out and vote in the August 6 primary!”

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Marsha Blackburn Joins Growing List of Senators Willing to Stay in Washington to Pass SAVE America Act

Marsha Blackburn

U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) on Tuesday joined more than a dozen of her colleagues who have argued the Senate should remain in session, skipping its normal summer recess, in order to pass the Safeguard America Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act.

Blackburn made the comments during an appearance on Newsmax TV after being asked whether President Donald Trump was driving a wedge between Republican voters and the Senate by repeatedly calling for the passage of the election integrity legislation.

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Trump Administration Formally Bans Gain-of-Function Research

lab science

The Trump administration announced Tuesday it has officially banned gain-of-function research, claiming it has the potential to threaten lives and undermine national security if not properly restricted and controlled.

The State and Health and Human Services departments claim that although biomedical research has produced lifesaving vaccines and medical breakthroughs, it must never come at the expense of public safety or national security.

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Congress Makes Bipartisan Request for Government to Have Kill Switch for Rogue, Dangerous AI Models

Kill switch bill

Two House members are engaged in a bipartisan effort to allow the federal government to slow down or shutter AI models that threaten to cause security breaches and other issues.

The measure, introduced last week, follows an incident in which OpenAI’s models GPT-5.6 Sol and an unreleased model escaped its secure testing environment and hacked the widely used, open-source model AI platform Hugging Face, where developers from around the world share their code, datasets and AI models for free, according to the Associated Press. 

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A Canceled Meeting Throws Wrench Into Trump AG Nominee’s Confirmation

Blanche and Cornyn

A canceled meeting between Republican Texas Sen. John Cornyn and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche might slow his confirmation process.

Cornyn and Republican North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis demanded that the Department of Justice (DOJ) formally end the $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund and rewrite language in an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) settlement that currently restricts Trump and his family from tax audits. Blanche’s scheduled meeting with Cornyn was abruptly called off Wednesday, endangering Cornyn’s support for advancing Blanche’s nomination out of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

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Anthony Fauci Pleads the Fifth During Highly Anticipated Hearing

Fauci hearing

Former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment Wednesday in response to questions from Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul about the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“On advice of counsel I respectfully decline to answer based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution,” Fauci repeatedly said in response to Paul’s questions during the Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing.

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Pulliam: New GOP Birthright Citizenship Bill Could Create ‘Path’ Around Supreme Court’s Ruling

SCOTUS

Legal commentator and retired attorney Mark Pulliam said a new bill sponsored by U.S. Senator Jim Banks (R-IN) and U.S. Representative Brandon Gill (R-TX-26) could provide Republicans with a new legal avenue to restrict birthright citizenship despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision striking down President Donald Trump’s executive order on the issue.

In June, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Trump v. Barbara that Trump’s executive order ending automatic birthright citizenship for children born in the United States to parents who are unlawfully or temporarily present in the country violated the 14th Amendment.

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AI and Screens Fueling a Generation of Depressed, Isolated and Gender-Confused Youth, Experts Warn

sad person

The age of artificial intelligence is fueling a generation of fragile, developmentally stunted and gender-dysphoric children, two analysts warned parents.

Classroom devices, smartphones and, increasingly, AI chatbots are stunting children’s cognitive and emotional development and driving a youth mental-health crisis, Michael Marinacio, executive director of the Center for Responsible Technology, and Nicole Runyon, a former child psychotherapist and parent coach, said during an online event hosted by parental rights group Moms for Liberty.

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Commentary: The Socialist Monster Awakens

Bernie Sanders

Fear about “affordability” supposedly fueled the new, strident socialism.

Yet annual inflation during Biden’s four years averaged almost 5 percent. It peaked at over 9 percent, while prices for some key staples rose by 30 percent over his tenure—all to silence from the Left. (By contrast, annual inflation during Trump’s first term averaged 1.9 percent. In his second term, it averaged 2.6 percent in 2025—and may rise to 4.5 percent in 2026, given the war with Iran.)

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Pappert: Rose Campaign Continues to Dodge Questions on Democratic Voting History and Donations

John Rose

Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, said U.S. Rep. John Rose’s (R-TN-06) gubernatorial campaign has still not answered key questions from The Star about Rose’s past donations to Tennessee Democrats who supported a state income tax or his participation in Democratic primary elections, arguing that the campaign has characterized the outlet’s reporting as a “political attack” rather than disputing its factual findings.

During Tuesday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Pappert discussed the campaign’s response to The Star’s reporting documenting Rose’s donations to Democrats who backed a state income tax between 1998 and 2002, as well as records showing Rose voted in three Democratic primary elections, including Tennessee’s 2004 Democratic presidential primary.

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Exclusive: Author Eric Metaxas Says His New Revolution Book Tells the ‘Whole Story’ of America’s Founding

U.S. Constitution

Author and conservative commentator Eric Metaxas said he wrote his latest bestselling book, Revolution: The Birth of the Greatest Nation in the History of the World, to give Americans a comprehensive account of the nation’s founding, arguing that understanding the American Revolution is essential rather than optional.

Metaxas made the remarks during an exclusive sit-down interview with The Tennessee Star’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy at Landmark Booksellers in downtown Franklin.

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Blackburn Sends Legal Demands over Ad by Virginia Dark Money Group Released ‘Without a Shred of Factual Support’

Marsha Blackburn

An attorney representing U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) on Monday sent a legal demand letter to two political consultants affiliated with the American Exceptionalism Institute AEI, which recently released an advertisement that accused her of engaging in public corruption to flood the country with opiates. 

Addressed to Wayne Ducote and Joel Riter, the letter accuses the American Exceptionalism Institute of sponsoring an advertisement containing “knowingly false and defamatory accusations of bribery and criminal corruption.” 

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Comer Warns Fauci That Upcoming Senate Testimony Is Not Protected by Biden Pardon

Dr. Anthony Fauci

House Oversight Chairman James Comer issued a warning Tuesday to former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci, stating the testimony he is slated to give Congress this week is not protected by former President Joe Biden’s pardon.

Biden pardoned Fauci hours before the former president left office last year, and Fauci is scheduled to testify in front of the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday. 

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Federal Judge Consolidates Four Lawsuits by 57 Plaintiffs Challenging Tennessee Pharmacy Benefit Manager Law

pharmacist

U.S. District Judge Eli Richardson on Tuesday consolidated four lawsuits filed over the Freedom, Access, and Integrity in Registered Pharmacy (FAIR Rx) Act, unifying claims made by nearly 60 plaintiffs over Tennessee’s prohibition on vertical integration of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and pharmacies.

Richardson, an appointee of President Donald Trump, ruled that four lawsuits designed to reverse Tennessee’s new law “have common questions of law and fact,” meaning their “consolidation would promote the economy and convenience of the Court and of the parties.”

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Biden Tapes: A Look Inside the Audio Recordings and Transcripts of Biden Interview with Ghostwriter

Joe Biden

Former President Joe Biden revealed classified information to his ghostwriter in 2016 and 2017 as the pair worked on his memoir following his tenure as vice president, newly released audio recordings and interview transcripts confirmed Monday.

The Oversight Project released over 100 pages of transcripts from Biden’s interviews, ending a two-year legal fight to obtain the information from former Special Counsel Robert Hur. The former president dropped his legal opposition to the files and recordings last week, after a federal court ruled that the public interest outweighed Biden’s right to privacy.

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Fauci, Vast Majority of Scientists He Consulted Didn’t Believe ‘Wet Market’ COVID Origin: ‘Diary’

Anthony Fauci

Neither Anthony Fauci nor the vast majority of scientists consulted by the then-director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases accepted the Chinese “wet market” theory of COVID-19 origin in early 2020, before they changed the official consensus in the “Proximal Origin” paper several weeks later, according to purported Fauci diary entries published by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.

“It now appears using epi data and genomic data that the first infection was in early December and was not connected to the market,” Fauci allegedly wrote in his personal notes Jan. 26, 2020 after the Chinese health minister said the novel coronavirus was spreading asymptomatically.

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Congressional Committee Issues Subpoenas to Organizations Tied to China-Linked Dem Megadonor

Jason Smith

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., has issued subpoenas to three tax-exempt organizations tied to socialist megadonor Neville Roy Singham, an American multimillionaire living in Shanghai with ties to the Chinese Communist Party.

The subpoenas have been served, a spokesperson for Smith’s office told Just the News, on BreakThrough News, Tricontinental and The People’s Forum, all three of which are funded, at least in part, by Singham. The subpoenas come after nearly a year of the Committee’s attempts to get answers from the three non-profit organizations regarding foreign influence in U.S. nonprofits.

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Andy Beshear Gives Mitch McConnell Ultimatum: Show Health Receipts or Resign

Kentucy senate

Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear demanded Monday that Republican Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell prove he is capable of serving or resign.

In a letter obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation, Beshear requested that McConnell be transparent with the public after he missed 38 consecutive votes during his hospitalization and rehabilitation. The governor said he will ask Senate Majority Leader John Thune to investigate McConnell’s condition and possibly vote to expel him.

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Andy Biggs Proposes Ending Arizona’s Income Tax, Mirroring Tennessee’s Tax Policy

Andy Biggs

Andy Biggs, the Republican gubernatorial candidate in Arizona, said he wants to eliminate the state’s personal income tax “incrementally.”

If Arizona were to fully remove its personal income tax, it would be the 10th state in America without an income tax, joining Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming.

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Pappert: Rose Campaign Dismissed Report as ‘Political Attack’ Instead of Explaining Donation Record

Tom Pappert

Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, said his investigation into U.S. Rep. John Rose’s (R-TN-06) past political activity began after the candidate publicly denied claims that he had donated to Democrats and voted in Democratic primaries, telling listeners that campaign finance and election records ultimately confirmed both.

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Thune Pours Cold Water on Canceling Recess to Pass SAVE America Act

Thune Congress

Senate Majority Leader John Thune on Monday poured cold water on the prospect of canceling the Senate’s August recess to pass the SAVE America Act, saying he saw no path to passage of the bill.

The marquis voter ID legislation has languished in the Senate due to the 60-vote filibuster threshold. Thune has declined to alter Senate rules or fire the parliamentarian to sneak voter ID in through the reconciliation process, which is limited to budget matters.

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Commentary: If Senate Won’t Pass SAVE America Act, Deport Noncitizens Registered to Vote

voting curtain

President Donald Trump is asking the Senate to abolish the Senate filibuster and adopt the SAVE America Act to get illegal aliens off of the voter rolls and to require proof of citizenship to register to vote from now on, citing over 250,000 non-citizens are illegally registered to vote in California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Nevada alone. So far, the Senate is saying there aren’t the votes to abolish the filibuster.

What can be done in the interim, then?

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John Rose Refuses to Say Whether He Voted for Howard Dean or John Kerry in 2004 Tennessee Democratic Presidential Primary

John Rose

U.S. Representative John Rose (R-TN-06) and his gubernatorial campaign did not respond to a Monday inquiry from The Tennessee Star asking which Democratic presidential candidate received a vote from Rose during the 2004 Democratic primary in Tennessee, which was one of three nominating contests where Rose returned a Democratic ballot.

While the Rose campaign told The Star on Monday that its reporting about his donations to Democrats who supported a state income tax, and his participation in three Democratic Party primary contests during the early 2000s, was a political attack, Rose and his campaign did not respond to a follow-up inquiry seeking information about how he voted during his participation in the Tennessee Democrats’ presidential primary in 2004.

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Some U.S. Medical Schools May Still Be Promoting DEI Efforts, Watchdog Says

Doctors review Tuberculosis X-ray

Some U.S. medical schools may be continuing to promote certain diversity, equity and inclusion ideology in some form, according to emails and meeting notes obtained by Do No Harm.

The University of Iowa (UI) announced in March 2025 that it was shuttering its Division of Access, Opportunity, and Diversity following a directive from the Iowa Board of Regents. However, DNH obtained a copy of a March 26, 2025 email from a UI employee via a Freedom of Information Act request suggesting that the university’s Carver College of Medicine (CCOM)’s DEI office was “still fully up and running” under a different name despite the other diversity division closing, the Daily Caller News Foundation first learned.

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Seattle Police Arrests 15-Year-Old Suspect in Connection to Sunday Night’s Deadly Shooting

space needle

Seattle police officers arrested a 15-year-old suspect Monday morning in connection to a deadly shooting that took place at a food festival near the city’s Space Needle.

Three people were killed, and four others were wounded in Sunday night’s shooting. One of the wounded was a 2-year-old boy, and police said they believed the incident began when two parties began shooting at each other.

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Analysis: Jack Smith’s Potential Criminal Charges

Former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith spent years investigating and prosecuting Donald Trump. Now, with Trump back in the White House as the president, Smith has become the subject of a potential criminal investigation of his own.

Earlier this month, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan referred Smith to the DOJ for potential criminal prosecution, alleging he made false statements during congressional testimony. President Trump has repeatedly argued that Smith should be held accountable for what he has described as politically motivated prosecutions.

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Tennessee State Rep. Jason Zachary Says Flock Camera Legislation Coming in January After Knox County Mayor Calls for Temporary Ban

Flock Camera

State Representative Jason Zachary (R-Knoxville) on Monday said the Tennessee General Assembly will consider legislation to regulate license plate reader (LPR) cameras, including those produced by Flock Safety, after Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs urged county commissioners to temporarily ban the devices, citing the lack of state or federal regulations and guidelines.

Jacobs expressed his concerns about the Flock cameras, which critics say could allow mass surveillance assisted by artificial intelligence (AI), despite the Knox County Commission previously approving an agreement to add the company’s product to the LPR technologies already deployed in the county.

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Fauci to Face Challenging, Potentially Incriminating Questions Before Senate

Anthony Fauci

Former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Anthony Fauci is scheduled to testify Wednesday before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, placing him in the crosshairs of what will undoubtedly be an aggressive line of questioning by the committee’s chairman, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. 

The grilling of the 85-year-old physician will likely center around gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, grants to EcoHealth Alliance and Fauci’s earlier public statements on the COVID-19 pandemic.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

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Property Mogul Indicted in NYC Mayor’s Office Bribery Scheme Listed as Chinese Intel Official

Eric Adams

The property developer who allegedly bribed former New York Mayor Eric Adams’ chief-of-staff has served as a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) intelligence official and hobnobbed with party bosses for years, a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation discovered.

Authorities arrested Andy Zhu, founder of New York-based real estate firm East Times Group (ETG), and three others including Adams’ former chief-of-staff, Frank Carone, on charges of fraud and money laundering in June, according to the indictment. Between October 2022 and September 2023, the property mogul allegedly bribed Carone and his brother with $120,000 to successfully pressure the New York City Department of Social Services to award Zhu’s Microtel Inn with a $6,825,000 “emergency shelter contract” in order to convert the Long Island City hotel into housing for “migrant asylum seekers.”

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Association of American Educators Partners with Professional Educators of Tennessee to Expand Teacher Support

Teacher and student

The Association of American Educators and Professional Educators of Tennessee formed a collaboration seeking to help support state educators.

The two organizations announced an affiliated partnership on Monday seeking to give Tennessee educators access to increased educator protections, stronger advocacy, and amplified professional learning services.

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Darline Graham Bucks John Thune, Says She’ll Stay In Town Until SAVE America Act Passes

John Thune

Republican South Carolina Sen. Darline Graham said Monday she would object to a summer recess so the Senate could vote to pass the Safeguard America Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act.

Graham said the SAVE America Act was “top priority” and she would remain in Washington, D.C., to see it passed. President Donald Trump and other Republican senators also called on Senate Majority Leader John Thune to cancel the upcoming recess.

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Exclusive: Blackburn Unveils Tennessee DOGE Proposal, Vows to Eliminate Government Waste

Marsha Blackburn

Tennessee Republican gubernatorial candidate U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) said her longstanding relationships with members of the Tennessee General Assembly would allow her to work effectively with lawmakers while also pledging to launch a “Tennessee DOGE” initiative aimed at identifying waste, fraud, and government bloat if elected.

During an exclusive sitdown interview with The Tennessee Star’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy, Blackburn emphasized that her ability to work with legislators across the state is built on years of collaboration and would be a key asset if she becomes governor.

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