Senators Blackburn and Hagerty Demand Transparency After Federal Agency Removes Web Page on Taxpayer-Funded Union Work Hours

Blackburn Hagerty

Both of Tennessee’s U.S. senators were part of a letter that questioned the removal of an Office of Personnel Management (OPM) web page that formerly provided the number of work hours used as “official time” for union activities since 2013.

Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) led a group of 10 senators in a letter sent December 14, 2023, “to express concern” over OPM’s decision “to remove a page from its website that has documented, for over a decade, the amount of ‘official time’ taken by employees of federal agencies.”

Read the full story

Tennessee Senator Bill Hagerty Joins Colleagues in Demanding Biden Release Records on Federalized Voter Initiatives

U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) joined 22 of his colleagues this week in penning a letter to President Joe Biden demanding his administration come clean on his executive order instructing federal agencies to roll out voter mobilization plans.

The White House has refused to respond to the senators’ previous demands for transparency on Executive Order 14019, which appears to violate federal law prohibiting agencies from expending federal funds without congressional authorization.

Read the full story

Commentary: Consumers Can’t Afford the Credit Card Competition Act

The Credit Card Competition Act is great for big-box retailers like Target, but it’s extremely harmful for consumers.

American families are struggling through a cost of living crisis. Many are not saving for the future, they are struggling to stay above the water. Currently, over 60 percent of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, up two percentage points from last year. Some families are struggling to afford basic necessities like gas and groceries.

Read the full story

Senator Bill Hagerty Leads Banking Committee Republicans in Opposing Government Agency’s Race-Based Housing Plans

Tennessee U.S. Senator and member of the Senate Banking Committee Bill Hagerty (R-TN) led the Republican members of the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday in sending a letter to Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Sandra Thompson in opposition to the agency’s racial equity housing plans, which encourage discrimination based on race.

“Yesterday, I led my Senate Banking Committee GOP colleagues in sending a letter to FHFA Director Sandra Thompson calling out racial equity housing plans that encourage discrimination on the basis of race, rather than focusing on ensuring the safety and soundness of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,” Hagerty said.

Read the full story

Senator Vance Cosponsors Bipartisan Resolution Challenging Biden’s ESG Rule Politicizing Americans’ Retirement Plans

JD Vance

U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) is joining a bipartisan challenge alongside 49 other U.S. Senators in opposition to President Biden’s new Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) rule, which politicizes the retirement assets of millions of Americans in order to support Biden’s ideological viewpoints rather than obtaining the highest returns for Americans.

“Joe Biden’s ESG investing rule is a brazen attempt to funnel Americans’ retirement savings toward far-left special interest groups,” Vance told The Ohio Star.

Read the full story

Senator Bill Hagerty, Rep. John Rose Denounce Biden’s Creation of Office of Palestinian Affairs in Jerusalem

Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) and Congressman John Rose (R-TN-06) condemned the Biden Administration’s decision to reverse a Trump-era policy that coordinated issues with Palestinians within the U.S. Embassy to Israel.

Instead, the new decision would aim to reopen the consulate in Jerusalem as a new “Office of Palestinian Affairs.”

Read the full story

Senator Bill Hagerty on the Biden Administration’s ‘Theology and Religion of Climate,’ Collapsing the Southern Border to ‘Transform’ America

Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) to the newsmaker line to discuss his decision not to vote for the 40 billion dollar aid package to Ukraine and the concerted effort by the Biden administration to transform the United States of America.

Read the full story

Senator Hagerty to Tennessee Star on Border Security: Biden Administration Has Destroyed Most Important Tool

NASHVILLE, Tennessee- U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty spoke about border security with The Tennessee Star in an exclusive one-on-one interview after a Wednesday afternoon joint press event held with Governor Bill Lee outside his Nashville district office.
Hagerty addressed the Biden administration’s gutting of Title 42 and his desire to see it expanded, not ended. He also addressed the migrant protection protocols which were put in place under the Trump administration. Hagerty believes they should be codified, whereas the Biden administration has destroyed them.

Read the full story

Senator Hagerty: ‘Biden Administration Finds Itself on Both Sides’ of Ukraine Issue

Senator Hagerty says that the “Biden administration finds itself on both sides” of the Ukraine issue.

At a Tennessee welcome-home ceremony Monday for Greg Kelly, a Tennessean who has been held in the Japanese judicial system for several years, The Tennessee Star asked Senator Hagerty why he didn’t sign a letter signed by 42 of his Republican U.S. Senate colleagues and demanding action in support of the Ukraine. The letter, co-drafted by Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT), urged the Biden administration to give the Ukraine tools like fighter jets and other support capabilities from the United States, NATO allies, and other European partners in order to enable them to set up their own No-Fly-Zone.

Read the full story

Senator Bill Hagerty Tours Lipman Brothers Warehouse and Discusses Supply Chain Shortages

NASHVILLE, Tennessee— Senator Bill Hagerty toured the Lipman warehouse Tuesday morning. Haggerty and his team walked with CEO Robert Lipman and COO Lowell Goldman through a small tour, where Lipman and Hagerty discussed the problems the Lipman company had been facing with supply chain shortages. 

“This is another great example of wonderful Tennessee entrepreneurs that have thrived in an environment that’s very challenging,” Hagerty said. “But Robert Lipman, the proprietor here, told me how hard it is to get the workforce that he needs, the difficulties that he’s had with the supply chain; the fact that glass from China is a major bottleneck now, for what he’s trying to do right here.

Read the full story

Senator Hagerty Calls Out the Left in Scathing Op-Ed: ‘America Has Real Problems – Most of Them Self-Inflicted in 2021 by Democrats’

Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) on Monday called for bipartisanship to address challenges facing Americans over the course of the new year.

In an opinion piece published by The Hill, Hagerty outlined issues, like historic inflation or the border crisis, and urged Democrats to work with Republicans to find solutions.

Read the full story

Senator Bill Hagerty and Governor Bill Lee Speak at Tractor Supply’s 2,000th Store Opening in White House

WHITE HOUSE, Tennessee — Both Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) and Governor Bill Lee spoke at the Tractor Supply Co.’s 2,000 store opening. Hundreds gathered at the new store to watch the company’s CEO Hal Lawton “cut the ribbon” at the grand opening. Customers were already making purchases ahead of the comments, while they waited for Hagerty to arrive. 

Lawton began the event, saying that he was honored to lead the comments, and thanked everyone for going to the event. He said the new Tractor Supply location was the 84th store in the state of Tennessee, and “it’s a momentous occasion because we’re celebrating our 2,000th Tractor Supply store in the United States, isn’t that incredible?”

Read the full story

Governor Lee Joins Blackburn and Hagerty, Questions Biden Administration over Afghan Refugee Resettlement

Governor Bill Lee (R) on Wednesday joined Senators Marsha Blackburn(R-TN) and Bill Hagerty (R-TN) and demanded answers from the Biden Administration over Afghan refugee resettlement.

Over the past several months, thousands of refugees from Afghanistan have been relocated across the United States after President Joe Biden’s chaotic withdrawal.

Read the full story

Senator Hagerty Opposes Democrats’ Spending Package, Citing Unvetted Refugee Resettlement

Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) on Thursday voted against a bill that would fund the government through early December and avoid a government shutdown.

Hagerty, who joined 34 other Senators in opposing the measure, explained that his vote against the legislation was due the fact that an amendment proposed by Senator Tom Cotton failed to be included in the measure.

Read the full story

Senator Hagerty Introduces Bill to End Government-Directed Big Tech Censorship

U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) introduced a bill on Wednesday aimed to limit “government collusion” with Big Tech to censor Americans’ free speech.

“The purpose of the First Amendment is to prevent government from suppressing speech with which it disagrees. If the federal government is attempting to end-run the Constitution by secretly working with tech platforms to censor Americans’ speech, then the American people deserve to know. Requiring transparency will ensure that the government cannot work secretly to censor Americans,” Hagerty detailed of his proposed legislation.

Read the full story

Blackburn and Hagerty Introduce Bill to Leave Border Restrictions in Place

Blackburn and Hagerty

Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Bill Hagerty (R-TN) introduced a bill on Tuesday that would limit President Joe Biden’s ability to roll back current border restrictions put in place to curb the spread of COVID-19.

The legislation, known as the SHIELD Act, strengthens Title 42 , which was put into place by former President Donald Trump in an effort to limit the coronavirus over the course of the pandemic

Read the full story

Senator Bill Hagerty Slams Biden for Waiving Iranian Sanctions

Senator Bill Hagerty

Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) slammed President Joe Biden on Tuesday for waiving sanctions on the Iranian oil trade — allowing the country to access frozen funds from South Korea and Japan.

Further, the administration chose to roll back the restrictions on the same day that the Department of Justice announced charges on a spy network linked to the Iranian leadership that sought to kidnap an American.

Read the full story

Both Tennessee Senators Introduce Bill Enforcing Transparency on Foreign Funding in Higher Education

Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Bill Hagerty (R-TN) are calling for increased transparency for the foreign funding in higher education. The Foreign Funding Accountability Act will target Section 117 of the Higher Education Act. That law requires universities to submit biannual reports on all foreign gifts and contract transactions. The Department of Education reported last October that many colleges and universities fail to comply with Section 117. 

The two Tennessee senators introduced the Foreign Funding Accountability Act alongside Senators Tom Cotton (R-AK) and Tim Scott (R-SC). China was identified as the main foreign actor that spurred the legislation. The bill would require the full names of all levels of foreign donating entities and the purpose(s) for those gift-transactions, close the loopholes allowing gifting by registered foreign agents and exempting in-kind gifts from counting towards the disclosure minimum, lower the minimum reporting threshold for disclosure in terms of dollar amount to $25,000, and levy a graduated civil penalty structure against higher education institutions that willfully and repeatedly violate Section 117.

Read the full story

Sen. Hagerty Calls for ‘Changes’ Following January 6 Report

Bill Hagerty

Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) called for security changes — recommended by a January 6th report — to be implemented in order to prevent a situation similar to that day.

“The committees have laid out what happened and what should be reformed or reconsidered. It is now time to implement appropriate changes to make sure all relevant agencies are prepared to prevent an event like January 6 from happening again,” Senator Hagerty said in a statement.

Read the full story

Senators Blackburn and Hagerty Introduce Migrant Resettlement Transparency Act

Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Bill Hagerty (R-TN) joined Congressman Chuck Fleischmann in introducing the Migrant Resettlement Transparency Act.

If enacted, the legislation would require the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to consult with state and local officials regarding federally sanctioned migrant resettlement before the migrants are relocated to the specific area.

Read the full story

Tennessee Legislators Urge Biden Administration to Cease Importing Migrants into the State

Since reports of migrant children landing in Chattanooga emerged over the week, Tennessee’s legislators are urging the Biden Administration to cease importing migrants. In a press release, Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) announced that Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) and Representative Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN-03) joined her in a letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary (USDHS) Alejandro Mayorkas.

It is apparent from the letter that Tennessee’s leaders at both the federal and state levels have been left in the dark on the Biden Administration’s orders concerning migrants. The legislators asked Becerra and Mayorkas to answer whether the federal government is using Tennessee as a central location for resettling unaccompanied alien children.

Read the full story