Tennessee U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) sent a letter to President Joe Biden on Friday demanding the “immediate removal” of Jake Sullivan as his National Security Advisor.
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The Tennessee Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear oral arguments Monday afternoon in The Tennessee Star’s lawsuit demanding the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County release the Covenant School killer’s manifesto and related records.
The court is weighing whether to overturn Davidson County Judge I’Ashea Myles’ ruling to allow Covenant Presbyterian School parents, staff and others to intervene in the lawsuit and argue why the manifesto should remain locked away from the public.
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Tennessee State Representative and liberal U.S. Senate candidate Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville) has been relatively quiet on terrorist group Hamas’ horrifying attack on innocent Israeli civilians, but the Tennessee leftist’s first response was to call for a cease-fire.
Johnson (pictured above), who gained national attention as a member of the so-called “Tennessee Three” disorderly Democrat state lawmakers, fired off a message on her X account as Hamas members were systematically raping and murdering Jews.
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Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell did not attend a Monday evening solidarity event held by the Jewish Federation of Greater Nashville at the Gordon Jewish Community Center in Nashville after Hamas terrorists attacked Israel over the weekend.
Governor Bill Lee (R-TN) spoke at the event and told the crowd of 700 people, “We have seen once again the persecution of the nation of Israel, but we will see once again the steadfast resolve of the people of this state and this nation to stand alongside the Jewish people and the nation of Israel.”
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House Majority Leader Steve Scalise defeated fellow GOP Congressman Jim Jordan on Wednesday in the speaker election before the House GOP conference, following the House vote to remove Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., from the speakership post.
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A court ruling saying that absentee ballot requests in Tennessee can only be distributed by qualified elections officials has been upheld by the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.
In 2020, Tennessee’s Secretary of State Tre Hargett was sued in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee by activists including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the AFL-CIO labor union, who claimed that in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, anyone should be able to fill out and return to county election officials an absentee ballot request form on behalf of another person, as long as the form is signed by the would-be absentee voter.
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Nine members of the Tennessee Congressional Delegation sent a letter to President Joe Biden on Sunday urging his administration to support Israel “however possible” and “punish the terrorists” responsible for the attacks on the country that began Saturday morning.
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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CNN on Sunday that he is working to verify reports that multiple Americans have died and are missing in Israel following the Hamas attack.
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Tennessee agreed to send $26.5 million in taxpayer funds to the state’s parks and recreation departments as part of a Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation grant program awarded to 32 communities.
The grants are part of the Local Parks and Recreation Fund to fund reimbursements to buy land for parks, natural areas, greenways and to buy land for recreational facilities.
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Tennessee U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) released a statement Saturday reacting to the terrorist attacks on Israel, saying she stands with the country.
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Tennessee U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN-03) recently announced his work with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in helping secure an expansion of the Chattanooga National Cemetery.
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Since President Joe Biden took office, there have been some 6 million illegal immigrant crossings on the U.S. southern border — more than 1.5 million so-called “gotaways.”
The same administration that has allowed millions of illegal immigrants refuge in the United States is working feverishly to deport a Tennessee evangelical Christian family that fled religious persecution in Germany 15 years ago.
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In a heated segment on Fox News, host Brian Kilmeade appeared to mock Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN-02) for praying about his vote to remove former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA-20).
The following is a transcript of the interaction:
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U.S. Representative Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05) laid it all on the line Tuesday afternoon in supporting a motion to vacate to remove Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA-23) from the post he has tenuously held for less than a year.
“Speaker McCarthy has failed to demonstrate himself as an effective leader who will change the status quo. He has gone against many of the promises he made in January and can no longer be trusted at the helm,” Biggs said.
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The GOP-led House of Representatives voted Tuesday in favor of Florida GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz’s effort to remove House Speaker Kevin McCarthy from his position.
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Tennessee U.S. Representative Tim Burchett (R-TN-02) responded to a tweet by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich criticizing Florida U.S. Representative Matt Gaetz’s (R-FL-01) “suicidal efforts to cripple the House GOP.”
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Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) blasted the passage of the 45 day Continuing Resolution that included no spending cuts and failed to properly increase funding for U.S. border security.
The bill passed the House on Saturday in a 335 to 91 vote, then passed the Senate in an 88 to 9 vote, and was signed into law by President Biden just hours before the midnight deadline on Saturday, when funding for the 2022-2023 federal fiscal year. The bill continues funding the government at 2022-2023 levels until November 15.
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Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced this week that he named three key judicial appointments for newly created state courts.
He appointed Shawn Fry to the 13th Judicial District Criminal Court, Ashleigh Travis to the 19th Judicial District Circuit Court, and Julie Heffington to the 22nd Judicial District Circuit Court.
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The House passed a 45-day stopgap measure Saturday afternoon, according to multiple reports. The House has adjourned until Monday.
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The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a request from the plaintiffs in L.W. v. Skrmetti on Thursday to block a Tennessee law banning “gender-affirming care” on minors, including puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and sex-change surgeries.
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The Metro Nashville Public School (MNPS) Board this week considered changing eligibility rules for admission to its two highly successful academic magnet schools – Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet High School and Hume-Fogg Academic High School. If adopted, all prospective students would be subject to a lottery system for admission.
The proposed rule change would not go into effect until the 2024 – 2025 school year, but if adopted, would sever established pathways for entry into MLK and Home-Fogg. Currently, Meigs Middle School and John Early Middle School serve as pathway schools to Hume-Fogg, while Head Middle School and Rose Park Middle School serve as pathways to MLK.
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The Tennessee Faith and Freedom Coalition (TNFFC) released a statement Wednesday condemning the Biden Administration’s redirection of Title X funding from the Volunteer State to Planned Parenthood.
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In a move that drew criticism from Tennessee’s governor, the federal government plans to bypass the state’s health department and directly fund Planned Parenthood.
After the Human Life Protection Act took effect in August of 2022, ending the practice of abortion in Tennessee, Tennessee was denied Title X funding from the federal government.
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The creation of a new joint working group by Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) and Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally (R-Oak Ridge) to study the impact federal funds have on education in the Volunteer State is eliciting a mixed response.
State Senator Jon Lundberg (R-Bristol) and State Representative Debra Moody (R-Covington) will lead the new group. The state senator welcomes the opportunity to discuss using federal money in education.
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An advocacy group for illegal aliens is suing the Tennessee Department of Child Services (DCS), alleging that DCS is not doing enough to help illegal alien children in foster care gain citizenship in the United States.
“For children in DCS custody without legal immigration status, DCS’s care must include addressing and safeguarding their immigration-related needs, which impact their health, welfare, and safety,” says a lawsuit filed by Advocates for Immigrant Rights in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. “This care entails determining whether a child is in need of immigration related services, ensuring that DCS considers immigration-related needs when helping the child plan for their future, and helping a child access needed services.”
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Freddie O’Connell was sworn in as Nashville’s 10th mayor on Monday at a private ceremony, officially succeeding John Cooper.
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A group led by a major anti-Trump figure is responsible for bashing some of Tennessee’s elected Republicans for their perceived lack of support for Ukraine.
Republicans for Ukraine, reportedly a project of Defending Democracy Together, has issued “report cards” for Tennessee’s Republicans on the issue of Ukraine’s defense against Russian aggression.
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Three Tennessee cities have ranked among the Top 50 Best Job Markets in SmartAsset’s 2023 study of the 340 largest U.S. cities.
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Outgoing Nashville Mayor John Cooper posted a farewell message to his constituents Friday on social media to wrap up the last few hours of his term.
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One of the key figures in the center of the budget debate – Tennessee’s own Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) – took a break from ongoing talks to join The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy Friday to fill in listeners on where the House is on the budget, and what he sees coming in the days ahead. TRANSCRIPT Michael Patrick Leahy: 7:33 a.m. – in-studio, original All-Star panelist Crom Carmichael; on the newsmaker line right now, the man at the center of the controversies going on in Washington D.C. this very moment, our good friend, Congressman Andy Ogles, who represents the 5th District here in Tennessee. Good morning, Congressman Ogles. Andy Ogles: Good morning. How are you guys? Michael Patrick Leahy: Well, my question to you, Andy, is this: two years ago, when you would be getting up at four o’clock in the morning and leaving your house in Columbia to come in here and spend the morning in-studio with us to talk about issues of the day, did you think that two years later, you would be the man at the center of the national budget controversy going on in Washington, D.C. today? Andy Ogles: I don’t know…
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The Williamson County GOP has issued a medical rights resolution refusing to “blindly submit” to any effort by the federal government to reinstate COVID-19 mandates and urging state lawmakers to do more to protect Tennesseans’ medical freedoms.
“We, as the Republicans of Williamson County, as Americans, as God-fearing Conservatives, will refuse to blindly submit, and we thank our State Legislators for the protections they have already enacted and beg them to do far more to protect our Medical Freedom and to prevent such a horrific overreach from ever happening again; and we ask for Governor Lee to task our state’s Attorney General to investigate violations of the Tennessee Constitution and other Covid-19 crimes,” the resolution reads.
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A Tennessee senator on Wednesday blasted the Biden administration for President Joe Biden’s changing accounts of his involvement in his son Hunter Biden’s business dealings.
“The White House is now claiming that Hunter did not share his profits with Joe,” Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) captioned a post on X, formerly Twitter. “Biden keeps on changing the narrative to hide his corruption.”
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Tennessee U.S. Senator and member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Bill Hagerty (R-TN) joined the effort to secure the southern border by introducing companion legislation in the Senate to the House-passed Secure the Border Act of 2023.
Hagerty, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), along with nine other Senate Republican colleagues, on Monday introduced the companion legislation into the U.S. Senate.
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Long time national political reporter Neil W. McCabe connects the strategic dots he sees the candidates following into the first Republican presidential debate in Milwaukee tonight on Wednesday’s episode of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy.
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The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD) has announced that five lenders in LendTN, a program developed for small business owners in the Volunteer State earlier this year.
According to a release, the following lenders are participating in the program:
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Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti filed a motion to compel the Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok to comply with an earlier court order requiring it to produce relevant evidence in response to a multi-state investigation.
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Tennessee Governor Bill Lee (R) opened applications this week for the Tennessee Strong Families Grant Program to support expecting mothers and families.
According to the press release, the $20 million program aims to increase resources for moms, kids, and families while improving maternity healthcare access. It aids local nonprofit organizations across the state, including pregnancy centers.
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Tennessee U.S. Representative Mark Green (R-TN-07) announced Thursday that his Protecting Hunting Heritage and Education Act recently passed out of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
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As some entities begin to bring back COVID-19 mask mandates, and while the federal government is pushing a new version of the COVID-19 vaccine, Tennessee’s governor said there will be no further mandates in the Volunteer State.
“We learned in the last one the government does not need to tell people how to live their lives with regard to their personal health,” Gov. Bill Lee (R) said Wednesday. “Those are decisions they need to make, and that’s the way it will be going forward.”
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Freddie O’Connell won the Nashville Mayoral runoff election on Thursday, defeating his Republican opponent Alice Rolli.
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The memorial fund for Tyre Nichols has grown to nearly $1.5 million, according to the GoFundMe page his family set up after the 29-year-black man died from injuries sustained in “confrontations” with five Memphis Police officers.
As of Wednesday, the fund had received $1.477,930 in donations, well on its way to its $1.6 million goal.
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If Tyre Nichols was targeted by members of a Memphis Police Department violent crime unit because of his alleged involvement with one of the officers’ ex-wives, there’s nothing on the subject included in a new federal indictment against the five former law enforcement officials.
A federal grand jury in Memphis on Tuesday returned a four-count indictment against Emmitt Martin III, 31; Tadarrius Bean, 24; Demetrius Haley, 30; Desmond Mills, Jr., 33; and Justin Smith, 28.
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A Tennessee state senator said on X, formerly known as Twitter, Saturday that Christians use their faith to justify racial terror.
“Never forget that hatred and racial terror was – and still is – justified in the name of Christianity,” said State Sen. Charlane Oliver (D-Nashville), whose biography on the Tennessee General Assembly website curiously lists her as a Christian.
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The Davidson County Election Commission has revealed how many votes were cast during early voting for the 2023 Metro Nashville Runoff Election.
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Donald Trump Jr. served as the keynote speaker at the Tennessee Firearms Association Legislative Action Committee’s (TFALAC) annual convention on Saturday at the Wilson County Fairgrounds in Lebanon.
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The Tennessee Faith and Freedom Coalition (TNFFC) applauded Governor Bill Lee for signing an anti-human trafficking bill into law on Friday.
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A group of BlueCross BlueShield employees whom the company terminated between October and November 2021 for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine filed a federal lawsuit this week against the company.
As previously reported by The Tennessee Star, In 2021 BlueCross BlueShield of Tennesee (BCBST) terminated 41 of its employees, many of whom worked remotely from home, after the company implemented a COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
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A state representative who announced her run for U.S. Senate Tuesday once told a news outlet that North Korea was more democratic than the state of Tennessee.
“I feel like North Korea has more democracy than we do in the state of Tennessee, and it’s terrifying to me that we’re in this march to fascism,” State Representative Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville) told Mother Jones in April. “And it seems like the Tennessee supermajority is leading the charge.”
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State Representative Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville) announced Tuesday morning that she will challenge Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and immediately politicized the deaths of six people killed at The Covenant School in Nashville in a March mass shooting.
In an announcement video posted to her Twitter account, Johnson referred to those who oppose gun control as “bullies” and “cowards,” along with several references to The Covenant School shooting.
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State Rep. Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville) will make stops in three major cities across the state Tuesday, and could announce her anticipated long shot U.S. Senate bid against Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), according to sources who spoke with The Tennessee Star.
Johnson is expected to make announcements at 9 a.m. ET in Knoxville, noon CT in Nashville and 6:30 p.m. CT in Memphis.
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