Tennessee U.S. Representative Mark Green (R-TN-07), who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee, was among those who delivered two articles of impeachment against Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to the U.S. Senate on Tuesday.
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Tennessee Governor Bill Lee joined the governors of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas in issuing a joint statement in opposition of the United Auto Workers’ (UAW) unionization campaign.
The coalition of governors said it is “highly concerned” about the unionization campaign, adding such efforts are “driven by misinformation and scare tactics.”
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A bill passed by the Tennessee General Assembly prevents credit card companies from monitoring and tracking gun purchasers through merchant category codes (MCCs).
HB 2762, also known as the Second Amendment Financial Privacy Act, was sent to Republican Gov. Bill Lee’s desk last week.
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Tennessee U.S. Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) made history on Thursday upon introducing his 100th piece of legislation since being sworn into Congress last year.
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The Tennessee Faith and Freedom Coalition (TNFFC) announced Friday that two members of the Tennessee General Assembly have been honored as the Senate and House Conservative Champions this legislative session.
According to the organization, TNFFC’s Conservative Champion awards are given to legislators in the General Assembly who “most ardently defend the Constitution, rights and freedoms” of the Volunteer State citizens.
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U.S. Representative David Kustoff (R-TN-08) was the sole member of Tennessee’s congressional delegation to vote on Friday against an amendment that would have ended the warrantless spying on United States citizens allowed under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
Kustoff was among the 86 Republicans who joined 126 Democrats in a vote against a FISA amendment proposed by Representatives Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05) and Pramila Jayapal (D-WA-07) that would have required intelligence agencies to obtain a warrant before spying on American citizens.
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Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, said he believes Tennessee U.S. Representative David Kustoff’s (R-TN-08) vote on Friday against an amendment that would have ended the warrantless spying on United States citizens allowed under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) makes the congressman “ripe for a challenge” this election cycle.
Kustoff and Democrat Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) were the sole members of Tennessee’s congressional delegation to vote against the amendment on Friday, Pappert previously reported.
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The treasurer for The Best of Tennessee Action Fund, the super PAC wing of the “moderate” political group founded by fundraiser Kim Kaegi and Democratic pro-abortion lawyer Chloe Akers, donated to to the former Democratic political opponent of Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) last year.
Treasurer James C. Seabury III donated $1,000 to the political campaign of Joanne Sowell, a Nashville-based attorney who announced an exploratory committee to consider seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination for U.S. Senate to challenge Blackburn last year, according to the Federal Elections Commission (FEC).
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The Tennessee Senate voted 18-11 on Thursday to pass a resolution applying for a national convention to propose term limits on Congress.
The resolution, HJR5, will now be counted towards the 34 state applications required to call a term limits convention as the Tennessee House of Representatives passed the measure last year.
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Members of the “furry” community will host what they describe as a family friendly convention in a Tennessee state park beginning Friday and ending Saturday.
“If you enjoy spending time in nature AND the furry fandom, this is the trip for you! Woods Flock is a a community that holds our annual Spring mini-con at Fall Creek Falls State Park in Tennessee (USA),” says an event invitation by a group called Woods Flock. “Participants will have a plethora of outdoor, crafty, and fun activities to choose from during their stay at our family-friendly camp.”
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The Tennessee State Senate on Wednesday passed legislation that would impose criminal penalties for adults who provide transportation to minors seeking to circumvent the state’s abortion laws.
SB 1971 passed with 26 votes in favor and just three votes against. If passed by the House and signed by the governor, the legislation would create the criminal offense of abortion trafficking of a minor.
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A bill that would make child rape punishable by the death penalty has passed the Tennessee Senate.
SB 1834, sponsored by State Senator Ken Yager (R-Kingston), “authorizes the death penalty as a punishment for rape of a child, aggravated rape of a child, or especially aggravated rape of a child.”
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Conservative commentators blasted California’s governor after he took to X to comment on the Tennessee Senate’s passage of a bill that would allow some teachers to carry guns in the classroom.
“Tennessee Republicans have decided their solution to gun violence in schools is…. MORE GUNS IN SCHOOLS,” said Governor Gavin Newsom (D).
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Shelby County resident Dr. George Flinn, a Republican candidate for U.S. Congress in West Tennessee’s 8th District, said he is running because incumbent U.S. Representative David Kustoff (R-TN-08) needs to be “challenged.”
Flinn, who has run as a Republican and Independent candidate in U.S. Senate and primary races for Tennessee’s 8th and 9th Congressional districts, said he believes Kustoff “should not go unchallenged” considering the incumbent’s recent voting record on bills, particularly spending packages.
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U.S. Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) joined 18 other Republicans in voting against reauthorizing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) on Wednesday. He told The Tennessee Star his vote would protect Tennesseans from “unreasonable searches and seizures by the federal government.”
Ogles explained his decision to break with the majority of Republicans and vote against reauthorizing FISA came after House leadership “chose to keep the doors closed and did not allow an open amendment process.” He noted he had six amendments that were all ignored by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA-04).
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The Nashville-based Beacon Center of Tennessee published results of its poll on Wednesday revealing how registered Tennessee voters would vote in the 2024 presidential and senate general election races.
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The Tennessee Senate voted unanimously on Tuesday to pass the Protect Tennessee Minors Act, which would require online websites that distribute “content harmful to minors” to implement age-verification methods to verify the age of users attempting to access the material.
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The Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association (TSSAA) voted on Tuesday to make girls flag football an officially-sanctioned Tennessee high school varsity sport beginning in the 2024-2025 school year.
The TSSAA voted unanimously in favor of Franklin High School’s proposal to make the sport a sanctioned sport. The TSSAA previously tabled the proposal during its December 2023 legislative council meeting.
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The Tennessee State Senate on Tuesday passed legislation to allow some teachers to be armed on public school property, but the Senate gallery needed to be cleared prior to the vote following a series of outbursts from activists opposed to the bill.
Lawmakers voted to pass SB 1325, which would allow school faculty and staff to carry concealed handguns if they obtain an enhanced handgun carry permit, complete 40 hours of school safety training annually, obtain approval of relevant school and law enforcement authorities and are not restricted from owning firearms.
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The Tennessee House of Representatives voted 68-20 on Monday to pass the largest business tax cut bill in state history.
The House’s bill version, SB 2103/HB 1893, would refund $713.6 million or one year of franchise tax.
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Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, said he believes that the Best of Tennessee Action Fund’s goal is to “get rid of anybody who will support” former President Donald Trump based on the political candidates the treasurer for the dark money group has donated to in the past.
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A public school principal and teacher in Henderson County were criminally indicted by a grand jury after investigators claimed they falsified hours work to pay out nearly $8,000 in wages and benefits for hours that were never worked.
The Tennessee Comptroller’s Office announced on Thursday that their investigation into Scotts Hill Elementary School principal Brian Lane and teacher Tiffany Koelsch, who they claim conspired to pay Koelsch “$7,988.50 in wages and benefits that she did not earn,” led to criminal indictments.
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The self-described “world’s leading liberal voice” news outlet The Guardian published an attack-style article denouncing the Republican supermajority in Tennessee politics on Friday, claiming such a political makeup has “imprisoned our democracy.”
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The Tennessee Republican Party State Executive Committee (SEC) voted on Saturday to remove eight individuals who were elected as Trump delegates to the Republican National Convention (RNC) in the March 5 primary election in Tennessee.
The convention, which will formally name Donald J. Trump as the Republican Party’s nominee for President in 2024, will be held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin from July 15 to July 18.
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The treasurer for The Best of Tennessee Action Fund, part of the “Lincoln Project of Tennessee” announced on Wednesday, recently made two $1,000 donations to the presidential campaign of Nikki Haley, the former Ambassador to the United Nations who reportedly courted Democrats in her ill-fated primary campaign against former President Donald Trump.
Federal Elections Commission (FEC) records indicate James Seabury III is the treasurer for The Best of Tennessee’s super PAC, which it calls the Action Fund.
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A Tennessee man who is already serving life in prison after a murder conviction has been charged for allegedly killing a fellow inmate.
Carlos Green, who is currently incarcerated at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville has been charged with second degree murder in the 2022 death of Justin Michael Walters.
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Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, detailed how three new fundraising entities in the Volunteer State – collectively called The Best of Tennessee – mirror the agenda of the nationally focused, Never-Trump organization The Lincoln Project.
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Tennessee teachers could soon be allowed to carry firearms while on school property. The State Senate is poised to vote on legislation allowing faculty and staff to carry concealed weapons if they are licensed, trained, and undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted on Tuesday to advance SB 1325, which would authorize school faculty or staff members “to carry a concealed handgun on school grounds subject to certain conditions, including obtaining an enhanced handgun carry permit and completing annual training.”
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A bill that would create a domestic violence offender registry is moving through the Tennessee House of Representatives.
“This bill creates within the Tennessee bureau of Investigation (TBI) a registry of persons who have been convicted of the offense of domestic assault. The TBI must maintain this registry based upon information supplied to TBI by the court clerks pursuant to this bill, and information available to the TBI from the department of correction and local law enforcement agencies. The TBI must make the registry available for public inquiry on the internet,” according to the summary of HB 2898.
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Maryam Abolfazli, founder of the nonprofit group Rise and Shine Tennessee, launched a bid for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District on Wednesday.
“I refuse to sit back while our fundamental values and freedoms are under threat. That’s why I’m stepping up to put an end to the extremism that’s harming our state and country,” Abolfazli, a Democrat, wrote in a social media post announcing her campaign.
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A pro-abortion lawyer based in Knoxville has joined forces with Tennessee political fundraiser Kim Kaegi to form three strategically intertwined organizations – a 501 (c) (4) nonprofit, a political action committee (PAC), and a super PAC, a Wednesday report reveals.
The PACs and nonprofit will be called The Best of Tennessee, and the political wing of the operation will focus on “pro-choice” messaging to elect moderate candidates, according to The Tennessean.
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A criminally indicted Shelby County judge, who last week was jailed for her alleged cocaine use, has reportedly asked to resign from her public position.
Shelby County Judge Melissa Boyd asked to resign from her judgeship in a letter dated March 29, according to Fox 13, which reported that Boyd’s letter bears the signature of one of her criminal defense attorneys.
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Home rental service Airbnb said in a Tuesday release that it brought in more than $425 million in tourism taxes to the state of Tennessee since 2018.
According to the company, $130 million of that tax revenue was remitted in 2023 alone.
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The Tennessee General Assembly approved legislation on Thursday to label any food product with vaccine technology as a pharmaceutical drug. The bill is currently awaiting a signature from Governor Bill Lee.
HB 1894 was passed by the Tennessee House on Thursday and subsequently adopted by the Senate. It aims to define “food that contains a vaccine or vaccine material as a drug for purposes of the Tennessee Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.”
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A bill in the Tennessee General Assembly that already passed the Senate would, in part, require students to view a fetal development video as part of their sex education or human development curriculum.
SB 2767 requires the state’s education commissioner to submit a report of the disposition of each complaint filed by a parent or legal guardian against any school district to the General Assembly. The General Assembly’s goal is to ensure that school boards are held accountable for investigating complaints made by parents.
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Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) plans to table the impeachment articles against Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas next week after senators are sworn in as jurors.
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Phil Williams, the NewsChannel 5 reporter known for his criticism of the effort by Governor Bill Lee to expand school choice in Tennessee, claimed on Friday that meddling by rich progressives in state politics is unworthy of his reporting because Republicans have a majority in the General Assembly.
Williams failed to acknowledge the recent funding of Nashville and Memphis by Bloomberg American Sustainable Cities, a climate change initiative backed by former New York mayor and Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg.
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A group of Tennessee lawmakers have condemned President Joe Biden for proclaiming Easter Sunday as Transgender Day of Visibility, saying the president’s proclamation is a “satanic and patently Marxist declaration” and a “direct assault on Christianity.”
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Tennessee State Representative Justin Jones (D-Nashville) claimed on Thursday that his Democratic colleagues are “bought and paid for” by House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) in a now-deleted post to social media.
Jones wrote in a post to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that “Speaker Sexton has bought and paid for Dem leadership in the Tennessee House.” He accused Sexton of directing Democratic “silence and performance based on what’s best for him.”
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Governor Bill Lee appointed eight new members to the Tennessee State University (TSU) board of trustees on Thursday moments after signing legislation to vacate and reconstitute the entire board.
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Tucker Carlson posted an interview Tuesday of a Tennessee man who is facing 11 years in prison for praying outside an abortion clinic.
In October of 2022, agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) showed up at Paul Vaughn’s home with guns drawn and arrested him in front of his wife. Vaughn has 11 children.
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Americans for Prosperity – Tennessee (AFP-TN) celebrated the Tennessee Senate on Thursday for its passage of House Joint Resolution 81 by a 26-6 vote.
House Joint Resolution 81 would prohibit the Tennessee General Assembly from levying, authorizing, or otherwise permitting a state tax on property if enacted.
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Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Melissa Boyd was remanded to jail by Tennessee Circuit Judge Roy Morgan on Wednesday after prosecutors provided evidence she tested positive for cocaine twice and failed to appear for a third drug test, violating the terms of her bond.
Boyd was previously granted a low, $5,000 bond after she was criminally indicted in December for alleged harassment and coercion of a former campaign employee. That employee stated Boyd abused drugs and alcohol while serving as a judge, including while she made decisions on the bench.
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The Tennesse General Assembly passed a bill prohibiting banks from de-banking and closing consumer accounts based on “social credit score” systems.
SB 2148 “prohibits financial institutions and insurers from denying or canceling services to a person, or otherwise discriminating against a person, based upon the use of a social credit score or other factors,” according to the bill’s summary.
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State Senator Kerry Roberts (R-Springfield) said a bill that would prohibit individuals from transporting illegal aliens into the Volunteer State failed in committee because its language was not “exact.”
The bill, SB 2802, would increase the penalty fine for transporting an illegal alien from $1,000 to $5,000.
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Tennessee’s lawmakers at the state and federal level Wednesday marked the year anniversary of the mass shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, which claimed six lives.
Tennessee’s House Republicans shared the following message on X.
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The Tennessee Department of Agriculture’s Forestry Division is reminding Tennesseans that burn permits are required through the middle of May.
“Fire prevention starts with each of us practicing safe burning and only burning when it’s safe. The burn permit process communicates to residents the safe locations and times for open burning,” State Forester Heather Slayton said in press release. “During hazardous fire conditions like high winds or extreme drought, permit issuance pauses temporarily until safe conditions return. Our aim is to safeguard Tennessee’s people, communities, and natural resources. Together, we can conserve our state’s beauty and prevent wildland fires.”
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Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Scott Golden explained why the Republican National Committee (RNC) and state Republican parties are pushing voters to vote early in this year’s November general election when the time comes.
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The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will provide almost $12 million to the Tipton County Board of Education to rebuild Crestview Elementary School, U.S. Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) announced Tuesday.
Cohen represents Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District, which covers approximately half of Tipton County.
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Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti on Friday issued a statement celebrating the recent distribution of nearly $81 million accrued through lawsuit settlements against opioid manufacturers.
A press release explained the funding is available as a result of years of litigation against “opioid manufacturers and distributors” by the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office.
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