Republican U.S. Senate Candidate Dave McCormick Named Winner of Pennsylvania U.S. Senate Race Against Bob Casey

Pennsylvania U.S. Senator-elect Dave McCormick

The Dave McCormick campaign for U.S. Senate declared victory over Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) in a Thursday press release sent as multiple Republican senators issued statements acknowledging McCormick’s victory and urging Casey to concede.

McCormick campaign communications director Elizabeth Gregory delivered the victory declaration, stating, “McCormick is up 30,679 votes with more to come, as ruby red Cambria County is still outstanding. While votes continue to be counted, any way you slice it, Dave McCormick will be the next United States Senator from Pennsylvania.”

Read the full story

GOP Lawmakers Eye Tax on ‘Woke’ Private Universities’ Massive Endowments

High-profile Republicans are pushing a new strategy to tax universities’ endowments, arguing the institutions don’t deserve their tax-exempt statuses because they use their vast amounts of money to push “woke” biases.

While initial efforts in Congress appear to have stalled for now, watchdogs warn higher education leaders that this strategy has only just begun.

Read the full story

Sen. Tom Cotton Endorses Kari Lake, ‘The Fighter Arizona Needs’

Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) endorsed Kari Lake to represent Arizona in the U.S. Senate on Monday, stating the former newswoman and gubernatorial candidate “will stand up to the Biden agenda and put Arizonans first” if elected.

Lake wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that she was grateful for Cotton’s endorsement, calling him “a conservative warrior in the Senate.” Lake wrote that she looks “forward to working with Senator Cotton to secure the border” in a future Republican Senate majority.

Read the full story

Scandal-Plagued Civil Rights Group Launches Attack on Parental Rights Groups

The Alabama-based civil rights organization that made its name suing the Ku Klux Klan has put parental rights groups in its sights and for the first time has started tracking the “antigovernment movement” ideology in its annual “Year in Hate & Extremism” reports.

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) added “reactionary anti-student inclusion groups” to a list of 702 “antigovernment extremism” groups it tracked in 2022, separate from 523 “hate” groups. The organization focused almost exclusively on just one in its annual report published this week: Florida-based Moms for Liberty, far and away the leader in chapters nationwide.

Read the full story

White House Defends TikTok Outreach Amid Bipartisan Security Concerns

On August 9, 2021, Benito Skinner, the Millennial Generation comedian known online as “Benny Drama,” posted a video on TikTok of his day-in-the-life experience as a White House intern, photocopying, making unrequested nail appointments for then-Press Secretary Jen Psaki, and generally making a mess.

All of it was for laughs, but there was a reason the Biden administration invited him into the West Wing. They wanted Millennials and members of Gen Z to hear a public health message from the TikTok influencer: “We need to get shots in the arms of every single American.”

Read the full story

Conservative Tech Groups Slam Ex-Intelligence Officials for Defending Monopolies, Urge Passage of Antitrust Bills

Two conservative tech advocacy groups sent a letter to House lawmakers criticizing former national security officials for attempting to prevent the passage of antitrust bills targeting Big Tech.

The letter, sent by the Internet Accountability Project (IAP) and the American Principles Project (APP) to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy along with lawmakers responsible for overseeing antitrust legislation, urged Congress to pass six bills targeting major tech companies advanced beyond the House Judiciary Committee in June. The letter also criticized twelve former intelligence officials who sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy arguing against the passage of antitrust bills in mid-September.

Read the full story

Senate Passes Amendment to Ban Federal Dollars from Funding Critical Race Theory in Schools

The Senate has approved an amendment to the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill that will ban the use of federal funds from being used to teach Critical Race Theory in schools.

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., introduced the “Stop CRT Act” in an effort to prevent tax dollars from being used to teach the controversial set of ideas in public school classrooms.

Read the full story

In Wake of Beef Supplier Attack, Wittman Co-Signs Agriculture Intelligence Measures Act

Rob Wittman and Tom Cotton

Congressman Rob Wittman (R-Virginia-01) was one of six Republicans last week who cosigned a bill that would create an Office of Intelligence in the Department of Agriculture. The bill was originally introduced by Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and Congressman Rick Crawford (R-Arkansas-02) last fall, but the current House version, HR 1625, has gradually gained Republican cosigners this spring.

“Two weeks ago, JBS, an international meat supplier, fell victim to a severe cyber attack,” Wittman explained in a Friday newsletter. “This marks the second attack targeting the production of American commodities, such as gasoline and food. This attack highlights the threat cyberattacks potentially pose to the American food supply chain.

Read the full story

Trump Says He Will Stop Funding Schools That Teach New York Times’ 1619 Project

President Donald Trump said in a tweet Sunday that the Department of Education would stop funding California public schools if they teach the New York Times’ 1619 Project.

“Department of Education is looking at this. If so, they will not be funded!” Trump said in a tweet as a response to a post that claimed “california has implemented the 1619 project into the public schools. soon you wont recognize america[sic].”

Read the full story

NY Times Editorial Page Editor James Bennet Resigns Amid Backlash Over Running Conservative Senator’s Op-ed

The New York Times’ editorial page editor resigned Sunday after the newspaper disowned an opinion piece by U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton that advocated using federal troops against protesters, and it was later revealed he hadn’t read the piece prior to publication.

James Bennet resigned and his deputy, James Dao, is being reassigned at the newspaper, the Times said Sunday.

Read the full story

Senator Marsha Blackburn: ‘Our Message in Senate Bill 553 is to Hold China Responsible’ for Hiding Coronavirus Pandemic Information

In a special interview, Tuesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed U.S. Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee to the newsmakers line.

Read the full story

Sen. Tom Cotton Calls Democrats’ Fight To Hold Coronavirus Bill Hostage Over Climate Change, Other Liberal Dreams a ‘Disgrace’

Republican Sen. Tom Cotton said Monday that his Democratic colleagues are holding up the Senate’s coronavirus bill so they can push green energy policies, among a slew of other “radical” measures.

The Arkansas senator railed against his colleagues, telling his Twitter followers that they were putting Americans’ lives at risk over global warming. His criticism came after Senate Democrats failed to pass a procedural cloture vote on a phase-three coronavirus stimulus bill.

Read the full story

Senators Blackburn, Blumenthal Sound Alarm Over Chinese Telecom Giant Huawei’s Role in National Defense Technology

  U.S. Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) are expressing concerns about the inclusion of Huawei in the development of next-generation sharing technology in a band of spectrum critical to national defense. The senators wrote a letter on the topic Wednesday to Patrick Shanahan, Acting Secretary of the Department of Defense, and Ajit Pai, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. The letter was also signed by U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), John Cornyn (R-TX), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Edward Markey (D-MA) and Dan Sullivan (R-AK). “For years, alarm bells have been ringing over concerns about Huawei, especially in regards to national security and economic competitiveness,” Blackburn said in a press release. “Yet, as far back as 2016, and as recently as 2018, representatives from Huawei have been meeting with government officials regarding their work to develop next-generation spectrum sharing technologies between the United States Navy and the commercial sector. Spectrum sharing is a solution to spectrum management, but serious questions need to be answered regarding Huawei’s involvement.” Blackburn also tweeted her concerns, saying, “Alarm bells are ringing about Huawei – especially in regards to national security & economic competitiveness. That’s why @SenBlumenthal & I wrote a letter to @ActingSecDef…

Read the full story

Cotton: Feinstein Will Be Investigated For Leak Of Ford Letter

by Jason Hopkins   Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton said Dianne Feinstein’s office will be investigated for the leak of Christine Blasey Ford’s letter, a message she explicitly requested be kept confidential. Speaking Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Cotton told host John Dickerson that, not only will Feinstein and her staffers be investigated for the leak of Ford’s confidential letter, but that Ford’s lawyers will also face a Washington, D.C., bar investigation for allegedly not informing her that Senate Judiciary Committee staffers were willing to travel to California to interview her about her allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. “Those lawyers are going to face a D.C. bar investigation into their misconduct. Dianne Feinstein and her staff is going to face an investigation for why they leaked that. All of this could have been done discreetly, it happens hundreds of times … hundreds of times every year in the Judiciary Committee,” the Arkansas Republican said during his exchange with Dickerson. Feinstein — who serves as the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee — received Ford’s letter in July, describing an alleged encounter with Kavanaugh. Despite requesting anonymity, the letter was leaked to the press in September. Feinstein has denied any involvement in…

Read the full story

Sen. Tom Cotton: Six-Month Delay on DACA Prevents Pro-Amnesty ‘Stampede in Congress’

Tennessee Star

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) urged GOP lawmakers tempted to support amnesty for illegal immigrants to “think about why [President] Donald Trump won the nomination and then won the election,” during an interview Tuesday on “The Laura Ingraham Show.” Cotton, an immigration hawk who co-sponsored the Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment (RAISE) Act earlier this year,…

Read the full story