Tennessee Senators Bill Hagerty (R-TN) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) have joined other Republicans to challenge President Biden’s COVID vaccine mandate. Both Hagerty and Blackburn are utilizing the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to block the order and protect Americans from losing their jobs because of it.
The CRA is a tool that congress is able to use to overturn rules issued by federal agencies.
Read the full story
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) is spearheading a measure to ensure the Biden administration does not pay reparations to illegal-immigrant families.
On Thursday, Blackburn joined her Montana GOP colleague Steve Daines and a number of other Republican senators in cosponsoring the amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for the next fiscal year.
Read the full story
Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Illinois Senator Dick Durbin (D-TN) introduced bipartisan legislation Friday that “ensures that survivors of child sex abuse are able to seek justice under the federal civil remedy statute, 18 U.S.C. § 2255, without being barred by statutes of limitation,” according to a press release.
Read the full story
A U.S. Senate committee investigating the promotion of material harmful to young people on social media expanded beyond Facebook and Instagram Tuesday to include the video-sharing sites YouTube and TikTok as well as the Snapchat messaging application.
Therein, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) deplored the health-threatening viral challenges (e.g. binge drinking, the infamous “cinnamon challenge”), enticements toward illegal drugs, encouragements to engage in drastic dieting and presentations of child-sex abuse that she said have been purveyed to children and teens via these websites. She raised particular alarm regarding minors she said have been led into illicit sexual relationships on Snapchat.
Read the full story
According to a Rasmussen Reports poll, 65% of voters agree with Sen. Marsha Blackburn’s comment that Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg should either “get back to work or leave” after taking off work for two months of paternity leave.
The Tennessee Republican made the comment to Breitbart after Politico reported that the Transportation Secretary had been on paternity leave since August. “We’re in the middle of a transportation crisis, and Pete Buttigieg is sitting at home,” Blackburn said. “Meanwhile, cargo boats are unable to dock, and shelves are sitting empty. Pete needs to either get back to work or leave the Department of Transportation. It’s time to put American families first.”
Read the full story
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) is sponsoring legislation with Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) to place a moratorium on gain-of-function (GOF) research, problems with which many believe played a role in the outbreak of COVID-19.
GOF experiments enhance the severity or transmissibility of a virus or other biological agent. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) have condoned such research “to help us understand the fundamental nature of human-pathogen interactions, assess the pandemic potential of emerging infectious agents and inform public health and preparedness efforts.” The NIH have however acknowledged major “biosafety and biosecurity risks” that warrant meticulous oversight.
Read the full story
U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) and U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) have joined nine other U.S. senators and formally asked that U.S. President Joe Biden replace Vice President Kamala Harris with a new border czar. This, considering Harris’s failure to stem the flow of illegal migrants to the United States and her failure to work with our neighbors to secure the border, Hagerty said in an emailed press release Thursday.
Read the full story
The National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) has credited Tennessee’s top prosecutor with a major role in leading NAAG’s support for the U.S. Senate’s inquiry into social media’s impacts on mental health and safety.
The association announced Tuesday it sent a letter to the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation’s Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security backing that subcommittee’s efforts to probe Facebook and other companies regarding their effects on children and teens.
Read the full story
U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) said Friday that she and U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) have formally asked U.S. President Joe Biden to tell the massive migrant caravan approaching the U.S. southern border to turn around. Blackburn and Graham addressed Biden in a letter dated Thursday.
Read the full story
Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R) and Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D) led a bipartisan grilling of Facebook’s Antigone Davis Thursday about apparent troubles the company’s photo-sharing platform causes for teenagers.
Davis, Facebook’s global head of safety, testified before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety and Data Security, of which Blumenthal and Blackburn are respectively chair and ranking member. The meeting focused largely on the psychological hazards that Facebook has quietly acknowledged its photo-album application Instagram has posed to children and teens.
Read the full story
On Tuesday in a press release, Tennessee Senators Bill Hagerty (R-TN) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) announced that they have introduced legislation to codify the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity (W-GDP) Initiative along with a few of their Republican colleagues.
Read the full story
Top American military leaders are set for another round of intense congressional grilling on Wednesday, following a day-long Tuesday session that at times featured blistering criticism of their part in the U.S. exit from Afghanistan.
The Tuesday hearing placed on the griddle Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin; U.S. Central Command Chief Gen. Frank McKenzie; and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley.
Read the full story
On Thursday in a letter to President Joe Biden, Tennessee Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) suggested there needs to be more incentive to get vaccinated instead of prioritizing unvaccinated people for monoclonal antibody treatment.
Read the full story
Facebook has paused development of a version of its image-sharing platform Instagram specifically geared towards children, the company announced Monday.
The tech giant decided to suspend work on the project in order to “work with parents, experts, policymakers and regulators,” and “demonstrate the value and importance of this project for younger teens online today,” Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, wrote in a statement Monday.
Read the full story
On Tuesday during the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights, Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) questioned Big Tech’s invasive practices.
Read the full story
Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters wants to break up Big Tech and ban their business practices he believes are harmful.
“I think Republicans need to reacquaint themselves with their history of antitrust enforcement, and realize huge concentrations of power in private hands can violate people’s liberties just as much as government,” Masters said in an interview with the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Masters, who announced his candidacy in July, serves as chief operating officer at investment firm Thiel Capital and runs the Thiel Foundation, a philanthropic organization founded by billionaire investor and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel. He competes in a crowded Republican primary with fellow candidate and current Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich for the chance to unseat incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly in 2022.
Read the full story
Tennessee Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Bill Hagerty (R-TN) have signed on as cosponsors to bipartisan bill S.2756 which would award Congressional Gold Medals to the 13 American servicemembers who lost their lives during the terrorist attacks in Kabul, Afghanistan on August 26th.
Read the full story
According to a news release from Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn’s (R-TN) office, she along with Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) introduced legislation to expand funding opportunities for Hickman, Humphreys, and Perry counties by adding them to the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC).
Read the full story
Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R) and her Connecticut colleague Richard Blumenthal (D) announced this week they’re launching an inquiry into revelations, reported that morning in The Wall Street Journal, about Facebook’s knowledge of harms its products may pose to their young users.
Blumenthal chairs the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security, through which the investigation of the social network will proceed. Blackburn serves as the subcommittee’s ranking member.
Read the full story
U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) said on a recent podcast that the constantly-increasing federal debt imperils future generations and could rob them of their chance to pursue the American Dream. Blackburn said this on the talk show, Over-Caffeinated.
Read the full story
Despite calls for increased regulation of the tech industry, Congress has yet to pass any major legislation, leaving it up to the states to take action curbing tech companies’ power and influence.
Meanwhile, state legislatures have introduced and enacted legislation on data privacy, antitrust, and content moderation, while state attorneys general have issued a number of legal challenges alleging anticompetitive business practices.
Read the full story
Apple proposed a settlement with app developers Thursday, requiring the tech company to restructure its app store and change some of its more controversial practices.
The agreement, still pending court approval, would settle a class action antitrust lawsuit filed by app developers against Apple for alleged anticompetitive practices in its app store.
The company will now permit app developers to use information obtained in their apps to directly communicate with consumers about payment options outside the app store, Apple announced in court filings Thursday. This helps developers avoid paying Apple a commission on app purchases, and grants developers greater control over their apps.
Read the full story
By a vote of 69 to 30, the U.S. Senate on Tuesday passed a $1.2 billion infrastructure bill that Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) warns is an endeavor to “fundamentally move America toward Western-Europe-style socialism.”
“Investing in infrastructure the right way is a wise investment in America’s future and in our long-term competitiveness, but that’s not what we’re being asked to vote on here,” Hagerty told fellow senators in the run-up to Tuesday’s vote.
Read the full story
As U.S. Senate leaders expect to pass a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill Tuesday morning, both of Tennessee’s senators, Marsha Blackburn (R) and Bill Hagerty (R) are vehemently opposing the legislation, alarmed by its potential to worsen the national debt.
Senate Democrats have expressed their intention to use a process called reconciliation to avoid any possible filibuster, thus allowing themselves expand the measure to encompass $3.5 trillion in federal spending.
Read the full story
Tennessee’s U.S. Senators, Marsha Blackburn (R) and Bill Hagerty (R), this week joined Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) in sponsoring legislation forbidding the executive branch from publishing guidelines on country-of-origin product labels that disfavor Israel.
Per a 1995 Clinton-era policy, U.S. labeling regulations used to require that products manufactured in Judea and Samaria be labeled as “Made in West Bank.”
Read the full story
U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and U.S. Representative Michael McCaul (R-TX-10) introduced a bill Wednesday to counteract authoritarian regimes’ clout within the United Nations.
The legislation is designed to contravene “malign influence, require transparency, and promote accountability within the United Nations system.…”
Read the full story
Speaking to iHeartRadio host Sara Carter on Thursday, Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn condemned the Biden administration’s professed “flagging” of what it terms “disinformation” regarding COVID-19 for social-media companies.
“What they’ve set up is basically a premise that if your message is not government-approved, then what you’re going to experience is state-sponsored censorship….” Blackburn said.
Read the full story
Tennessee’s AFL-CIO chapter rallied Tuesday afternoon outside the Nashville offices of Republican Senators Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty in favor of the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act.
The legislation would forbid states from maintaining right-to-work policies which allow workers who chose not to join a union to decline to pay union dues. The bill would also redefine many independent contractors as employees for purposes of collective bargaining—thus placing what many consider a heavy burden on freelancers—and would impose numerous other pro-union provisions.
Read the full story
U.S. Representative Diana Harshbarger (R-TN-01) introduced a bill on Tuesday that is aimed to increase the level of transparency associated with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The legislation, known as the DHS Contract Reporting Act of 2021, would instruct DHS to publish a public, daily report of all headquarters and component contracts related to the agency that exceeds $4 million.
Read the full story
Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) joined a group of Republican senators in calling on the Biden administration to end the mask mandate for fully vaccinated individuals that is currently in place for airplanes and public transportation.
The group introduced a resolution that would recommend the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to stop the regulations.
Read the full story
During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) expressed concerns over President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), David Chipman.
“Mr. Chipman is willing to lie to push his anti-gun agenda. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives deserves a better leader. Americans deserve a better leader,” Blackburn said of the concerning statements made by Chipman.
Read the full story
Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Bill Hagerty (R-TN) joined Representative Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN-03) and demanded a briefing from the Department of Health and Human Services, after reports of abuse of the unaccompanied minors in federal custody.
“This allegation of abuse and the missing child individually raise urgent questions that demand immediate answers regarding the steps HHS is taking to ensure the safety and well-being of UACs in this Chattanooga facility,” the letter states.
Read the full story
This week, Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) assisted in the introduction of a bill to prohibit federal funding for schools using the 1619 Project as curriculum. The Saving American History Act also notes that federal funds couldn’t be used by school boards and other local educational agencies to support the teaching of the 1619 Project.
The act explained that the respective secretaries of Education, Agriculture, Health and Human Services, Defense, and Interior would determine the cost of teaching the 1619 Project – including planning and teaching time. This determination would come from pre-established formulas. No reductions would affect the free and reduced price school lunch program, or any low-income student programs, or students with disabilities.
Read the full story
Senators Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty are on a mission to stop Congress and the White House’s rampant, out-of-control spending agenda that is raising the cost of living for far too many Tennessee families.
Read the full story
Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) challenged Dr. Anthony Fauci this week over his handling of COVID-19 and apparent collusion with Big Tech. Following the mass release of Fauci’s emails through an open records request last week, Blackburn published a video Tuesday to offer some summarized insight on Fauci’s involvement in the COVID-19 outbreak and his email correspondence with Facebook.
“Here are the facts on Fauci that big tech doesn’t want you to know,” tweeted Blackburn.
Read the full story
In a letter sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Governor Bill Lee (R-TN) and Governor Kim Reynolds (R-IA) called for a hearing into the ongoing crisis at the country’s Southern border.
Both governors urged the hearing largely due to reports of the Biden administration relocating unaccompanied migrant children to the states. In Tennessee, multiple planes carrying unaccompanied minors landed in Chattanooga under the cover of darkness. Similarly, Gov. Reynolds has received no answers from the Biden administration after migrants were flown from California to Iowa.
Read the full story
Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) joined Senators Rick Scott (R-FL) and Mike Braun (R-IN) in introducing a resolution to condemn the teaching of Critical Race Theory (CRT) in K-12 schools.
“Critical race theory has no place in American schools. The tenets of critical race theory are based in the destructive ideal of inherent racism and will teach our children to judge and self-segregate based solely on skin color,” Blackburn said. “Students should not be discriminated on the basis of race under any circumstances.”
Read the full story
Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) traveled to Memphis on Thursday to tour the damaged I-40 bridge and met with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to discuss infrastructure spending to meet the logistical needs of Tennessee.
“The I-40 bridge closure affects not only Memphis and the Mid-South region, it affects the entire nation. I-40 is a coast-to-coast federal interstate highway crossing our nation from North Carolina to California,” Blackburn described in a statement. “This bridge situation deserves to have the full and immediate attention of the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Biden administration.”
Read the full story
Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) joined 10 other Republican Senators in demanding Attorney General Merrick Garland explain his decision to reinstate funding for sanctuary cities and states.
The new policy enacted by Garland will reverse policies implemented under President Donald Trump with the goal of curbing illegal immigration.
Read the full story
Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) called on the Biden administration for answers on why they used untrained federal government bureaucrats to care for the surge in unaccompanied alien children.
The letter questions the decision by the Biden administration to send staff from agencies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Federal Trade Commission, to the border facilities.
Read the full story
U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) this week said “Tennesseans are facing a stark new reality: when our border isn’t secure, every town becomes a border town and every state a border state.” Blackburn said this in an emailed statement that her staff distributed to the media.
Read the full story
Wednesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Washington Correspondent for the Star News Network Neil McCabe to the newsmakers line to weigh in on his recent story about the House Freedom Caucus’s Speaker choice and the possible motivation behind Donald Trump’s move to New Jersey.
Read the full story
Former U.S. Republican Sen. Bob Corker this week downplayed talk that he might run for United States president. Corker also opined on whether and how his brand of Republican Party differs from what it is currently under former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Read the full story
U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) has introduced legislation that she said proves it is possible to improve our nation’s infrastructure without implementing the largest tax hike in nearly three decades. Blackburn, in a press release, also said it is possible to accomplish this without adding $2 trillion to our federal deficit.
Read the full story
U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) warned this week on her Facebook page that “every state is a border state until we secure the southern border.” Blackburn posted several times on Facebook Sunday from Arizona.
Read the full story
U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) announced Saturday that she will visit the U.S./Mexico border in Arizona on Sunday alongside Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb and Cochise County Sheriff Mark. J. Dannels. This, according to a press release that members of Blackburn’s staff posted on her website.
Read the full story
Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan (R-Cumming) this week praised a deal involving a Georgia electric cooperative and a Tennessee-based solar power company, the latter of which has a history of alleged ethics violations. This, according to a press release that members of Duncan’s staff published on his website.
Read the full story
U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R–TN) this week helped introduce legislation that she said would shed light on the 157 sister city partnerships between U.S. and Chinese communities. This, according to a press release that Blackburn’s staff published on her website Thursday.
Read the full story
Tennessee’s two U.S. senators on Tuesday formally objected to putting former President Donald Trump on trial for a second impeachment. Trump left office one week ago.
Read the full story
Both Tennessee Senators oppose President Joe Biden’s first wave of executive orders. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Bill Hagerty (R-TN) quickly criticized Biden’s decisions to end the Keystone XL pipeline, overhaul the immigration system, and rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement.
In a series of tweets, Blackburn issued her criticisms of Biden’s orders.
Read the full story