US Dept of Education opens investigation of Harvard over antisemitism on campus
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is opening an investigation into Harvard University following antisemitism on campus in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war, Fox News has learned. In a letter obtained by Fox News Digital dated Tuesday, Kristi R. Harris, Chief Attorney for the OCR Boston Office said that the OCR will be opening an investigation into whether Harvard “failed to respond to alleged harassment of students based on their national origin (shared Jewish ancestry and/or Israeli) in a manner consistent with the requirements of Title VI.” “Please note that opening the complaint for investigation in no way implies that OCR has made a determination on the merits of the complaint. During the investigation, OCR is a neutral factfinder, collecting and analyzing relevant evidence from you, the University, and other sources, as appropriate,” the letter says. “Our goal is the prompt resolution of the complaint,” Harris wrote, noting that the complaint can be resolved before the conclusion of the investigation or through mediation with the university. UNIVERSITY PRESIDENTS FROM HARVARD, MIT TO TESTIFY BEFORE CONGRESS ON RAGING ANTISEMITISM ON CAMPUSES The letter was addressed to a Harvard alum, who spoke with Fox News Digital on condition of anonymity, and who previously filed a complaint with OCR alleging the Ivy League school discriminated against students on the basis of national origin by not appropriately responding to incidents of harassment last month. The complaint came in response to a first-year Israeli student at Harvard Business School reportedly being shoved and accosted by pro-Palestinian protesters amid a “die in” demonstration held in October at the Massachusetts campus in reaction to Israel’s retaliatory strikes against the Gaza Strip. The FBI and Harvard police received a complaint saying the Israeli student had his phone ripped from his hands and was “assaulted both physically and verbally,” according to The Washington Free Beacon. Harris’s letter says complainants may also have a right to file a private suit in federal court whether or not OCR finds a violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national original in any program or activity actively receiving federal financial assistance from the U.S. Department of Education. “Please be advised that the University must not harass, coerce, intimidate, discriminate, or otherwise retaliate against an individual because that individual asserts a right or privilege under a law enforced by OCR or files a complaint, testifies, assists, or participates in a proceeding under a law enforced by OCR,” the letter says. “If this happens, the individual may file a retaliation complaint with OCR.” OVER 1,600 JEWISH ALUMNI DEMAND HARVARD CRACK DOWN ON ANTISEMITISM IN SCATHING LETTER Fox News Digital reached out to Harvard for comment, but they did not immediately respond. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The investigation was revealed the same day it was announced that college presidents from Harvard, MIT and the University of Pennsylvania will be testifying on Capitol Hill about rampant antisemitism on their campuses that followed Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attacks. Dr. Claudine Gay, President of Harvard University, Ms. Liz Magill, President of the University of Pennsylvania and Dr. Sally Kornbluth, the President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are expected to testify on Tuesday, Dec. 5, before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, chaired by Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C. Fox News’ Ronn Blitzer contributed to this report.
House GOP spending momentum sputters as long holiday break looms
Government funding is not on the menu for House lawmakers returning from their Thanksgiving district work period this week, even as the holiday schedule puts Congress in a time crunch to make a deal on federal spending. The House is expected to hold several votes related to the Israel-Hamas conflict as well as the U.S. border crisis, according to a schedule obtained by Fox News Digital on Monday. Not listed are the remaining five appropriations bills that House Republicans are aiming to pass out of 12 total. Similarly, there are no upcoming meetings or hearings on appropriations listed on the websites of the House Rules Committee and the House Appropriations Committee. The House has been in recess since Nov. 17, returning on Tuesday afternoon. Lawmakers will be gone again from Dec. 15 until the new year. JOHNSON’S FIRST WEEKS AS SPEAKER MARKED BY GOP INFIGHTING – AND SOME VICTORIES Just before leaving, Congress passed a temporary extension of last year’s government funding levels, but with two separate deadlines: Passing appropriations bills concerning military construction and Veterans Affairs; Agriculture; Energy and Water; Transportation and Housing and Urban Development, by Jan. 19, while the remaining eight appropriations bills must be worked out by Feb. 2. Before that, the Senate passed its own three spending bills in a joint “minibus” and is potentially weighing a similar effort with the other nine. HOUSE PASSES BILL TO AVERT GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN, SPEAKER JOHNSON NOTCHES FIRST BIG LEGISLATIVE WIN And despite the solidarity shown by passing the extension to avoid a government shutdown, the two chambers are still far apart on a final deal. The topline budgets the House and Senate have said they are expected to be working toward are about $120 billion apart. Conservative policy riders on issues like abortion and the LGBTQ community have also made the House GOP’s bills a nonstarter for the Democrat-controlled White House and Senate. The lack of expected votes on appropriations this week comes after House leaders were forced to pull key spending bills from the schedule over the last month over opposition from both moderates and the GOP Conference’s right flank. SPEAKER JOHNSON ROLLS OUT PLAN TO AVOID GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN, PREVENT ‘SPENDING MONSTROSITY’ But House conservatives have made clear that the pressure is on GOP leaders to not only move forward with the appropriations process, but also fight for deep spending cuts along the way. “If the [House GOP] cannot 1) cut spending off of the massive Pelosi omnibus… 2) demand the U.S. border be secured before even mentioning the word Ukraine… & 3) make our military great again w/o social engineering… what’s the point of being in the majority?” Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, wrote on X. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., said on the platform, “Consistently high inflation is continuing to rage and hurt our economy. Washington must take these issues seriously by working together to cut wasteful government spending. Both parties created this mess, and we must work together to fix it.”
California Dem to introduce privileged resolution to expel George Santos from Congress
A California Democrat will introduce a privileged resolution to expel the disgraced New York GOP Rep. George Santos from Congress. The spokesperson for Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., confirmed to Fox News Digital that the congressman will be noticing a privileged resolution in a Tuesday floor speech to expel Santos from the House of Representatives. Garcia is expected to speak on the floor at 2 p.m. to notice the resolution. New York Democrat Rep. Dan Goldman is also leading the resolution with Garcia. THIRD TIME THE CHARM: WILL GEORGE SANTOS SURVIVE THE LATEST MOVE TO OUST HIM FROM THE HOUSE? Because it is a privileged item, it will have to be taken up by the House within two legislative days. This means the House Republican majority would be forced to vote on the measure to remove Santos from Congress, narrowing the already slim majority for Republicans. Santos said he would stand for his expulsion vote on the House floor in a Tuesday post. “Setting the record straight, My conversation with the speaker was positive and I told him [I’d] be standing for the expulsion vote,” Santos posted in response to a report about his meeting with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. CHAOS AT THE CAPITOL AS GEORGE SANTOS RAGES AGAINST ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTER: ‘F—ING TERRORIST SYMPATHIZER’ “Expel me and set the precedent so we can see who the judge, jury and executioners in Congress are,” he continued. “The American people deserve to know!” Santos said earlier this month that he would not be seeking re-election to Congress after a damning House Ethics Committee report accused Santos of having “used campaign funds for personal purposes” and “engaged in fraudulent conduct,” among other allegations. In the 56-page report, the bipartisan subcommittee unanimously agreed that Santos “knowingly caused his campaign committee to file false or incomplete reports with the Federal Election Commission; used campaign funds for personal purposes; engaged in fraudulent conduct in connection with RedStone Strategies LLC; and engaged in knowing and willful violations of the Ethics in Government Act as it relates to his Financial Disclosure (FD) Statements filed with the House.” That includes $50,000 in campaign donations that were wired to Santos’ personal account on Oct. 21, 2022 and allegedly used to, among other things, “pay down personal credit card bills and other debt; make a $4,127.80 purchase at Hermes; and for smaller purchases at OnlyFans; Sephora; and for meals and for parking.” Should Santos get expelled, it will be the first time a lawmaker has been removed from the House since expelled Ohio Democrat Rep. Jim Traficant. Traficant was expelled from the House in 2002 after being convicted of 10 felony counts that included bribery and racketeering. Only four other members besides Traficant have been expelled in the House’s history. All five expulsions were Democrats, meaning Santos could be the first Republican expelled from the chamber. Fox News Digital’s Danielle Wallace contributed reporting.
Trump, Ramaswamy campaigns clap back after Romney says he wouldn’t vote for them in 2024
Presidential candidate and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy clapped back at Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, a longtime vocal critic of former President Trump, after he said he would rather support “a number of Democrats” over Trump and Ramaswamy in the 2024 election. “Turns out he’s opposed to America-First itself, not just one man. Newsflash, Mitt: I didn’t vote for you either, and I still call on your niece Ronna to resign,” Ramaswamy told Fox News Digital in a statement Monday. Ronna McDaniel is chair of the Republican National Committee. Ramaswamy’s response comes after Romney said to CBS’ Norah O’Donnell that he’d “be happy to support virtually any one of the Republicans” except Ramaswamy, and that a “number of the Democrats” would be an upgrade from Trump. “Maybe not Vivek, but the others that are running would be acceptable to me, and I’d be happy to vote for them,” Romney stated. FOX NEWS POLL: SUPPORT FOR TRUMP HITS 62% IN GOP PRIMARY “I’d be happy to vote for a number of the Democrats, too. I mean, it would be an upgrade, in my opinion, from Donald Trump – and perhaps also from Joe Biden,” he continued. Romney’s comments, which aired on CBS last month, went widely unnoticed until this week. In an emailed statement Tuesday to Fox News Digital, a Trump spokesperson said, “Voters aren’t going to take advice from a loser and quitter like Mittens.” Romney, a former presidential candidate, will not be running for re-election in 2024 and announced in September his retirement from the Senate. “I have spent my last 25 years in public service of one kind or another. At the end of another term, I’d be in my mid-eighties. Frankly, it’s time for a new generation of leaders. They’re the ones that need to make the decisions that will shape the world they will be living in,” Romney said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital in September. “We face critical challenges – mounting national debt, climate change, and the ambitious authoritarians of Russia and China. Neither President Biden nor former President Trump are leading their party to confront them,” Romney said. Trump called Romney’s retirement “fantastic news” for America, Utah and the Republican Party on TruthSocial shortly after his announcement, NBC News reported at the time. Romney was one of the Republicans who voted to impeach the former president twice. BLACK VOTERS SAY THEY’RE TURNING AWAY FROM ‘WEAK’ BIDEN IN 2024: ‘HE DIDN’T CHANGE ANYTHING’ Romney’s term ends in January 2025. He was first elected to the Senate from Utah in 2018, winning the GOP primary in a landslide. But his willingness to reach across the aisle and criticize other national Republicans has caused friction with the Utah GOP. Last month, more than 60 GOP Utah state lawmakers endorsed Utah state House Speaker Brad Wilson to mount a primary challenge against Romney. Fox News Digital has reached out to Romney’s office and the RNC for comment. UTAH REPUBLICAN SEEKING TO REPLACE ROMNEY ACCUSED OF FALSIFYING ENDORSEMENTS, STRONG-ARMING GOP FOR SUPPORT
Watch a Dec. 13 conversation with University of Austin president Pano Kanelos
Kanelos will discuss the path to creating the new liberal arts school, why higher education needs a transformation and why Austin was the right place for this mission.
AOC lauds pro-Palestinian ‘activism,’ accuses US of aiding ‘gross’ human rights abuses in Gaza
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., accused the Biden administration of enabling “gross human rights violations” in Gaza by sending military aid to Israel as it seeks to eradicate Hamas. The progressive lawmaker held a tele-town hall on Monday evening where she fielded multiple questions on the Middle Eastern conflict, including a constituent who said the U.S. should “just defund Israel and send funding and aid to Gaza.” She also encouraged pro-Palestinian activists to keep putting pressure on Democratic lawmakers to support a cease-fire, even as heightened tensions around the issue have led to instances of vandalism and threatening behavior. “Forces that are recipients of U.S. military aid cannot be engaging in gross human rights violations,” Ocasio-Cortez said, citing a set of statutes known as the Leahy law. “And if they are engaged in gross human rights violations, then that aid must be either pulled, reconsidered, conditioned, etc.” ISRAEL, HAMAS CONFRIM LIST OF HOSTAGES, PRISONERS TO BE EXCHANGED OVER 2-DAY CEASE-FIRE EXTENSION: LIVE UPDATES The Leahy law stops the government “from using funds for assistance to units of foreign security forces where there is credible information implicating that unit in the commission of gross violations of human rights,” according to the State Department. “What we are witnessing is the gross violation of human rights in Gaza, and that is being done with U.S. military assistance,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “I don’t think that the American people want to see our public resources going to finance gross human rights violations.” ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR: US LOOKS TO INCREASE AID INTO GAZA THROUGH EGYPT, INCLUDES WARNING FOR ISRAEL At another point, a caller asked what Americans who support a cease-fire should do to keep pressuring lawmakers. Ocasio-Cortez replied, “I want to also be clear about how powerful that is, constituent engagement.” She said the flood of calls and messages from pro-Palestinian activists to pro-Israel Democrats was increasing support for a cease-fire. ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR: IDENTITIES OF 11 RECENTLY-RELEASED ISRAELI HOSTAGES REVEALED “These are not just progressives,” she said. “We have seen representatives from swing seats, that just barely won their seats, are now starting to come out in favor of a cease-fire. So all of this activism is making this a politically tenable and a politically normalized position. So I want to encourage individuals who are, you know, making that call or perhaps if you haven’t made that call yet, to please do so.” But some of that pressure has led to heightened security concerns when the activism goes beyond phone calls. Rep. Daniel Goldman, D-N.Y., who is Jewish, saw his Brooklyn office vandalized earlier this month with pro-Palestinian messaging. And a demonstration outside the Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters grew so heated that one Democratic lawmaker who was inside at the time compared it to the violent Jan. 6, 2021, protest at the U.S. Capitol.
Haley lands endorsement of influential conservative group with powerful grassroots outreach
Americans for Prosperity Action, the political wing of the influential and deep-pocketed fiscally conservative network founded by the billionaire Koch Brothers, is endorsing Nikki Haley for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. The group, which has pledged to spend tens of millions of dollars to help push the Republican Party past former President Trump, made its announcement Tuesday morning in a memo. AFP Action said that “it is proud to be throwing the full weight and scope of its grassroots operation behind Nikki Haley to help her become the next President of the United States. That effort will begin with a multimillion dollar ad campaign launching this week in all early and several Super Tuesday states calling on Americans to unite behind Haley’s positive vision to turn the page on today’s broken politics and move our country forward.” THE FINAL COUNTDOWN: TRUMP HOLDS COMMANDING LEAD WITH 50 DAYS TO GO UNTIL IOWA CAUCUSES Haley, the former two-term South Carolina governor who later served as ambassador to the United Nations in the Trump administration, launched her 2024 GOP presidential campaign in February. She’s enjoyed momentum in the polls in recent months, thanks in part to well-received performances in the first three GOP presidential primary debates. GAME ON IN IOWA AS DESANTIS AND HALEY BATTLE FOR SECOND PLACE BEHIND TRUMP Haley has leapfrogged Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for second place in New Hampshire — which holds the first primary and votes second in the Republican nominating schedule — and in her home state, which holds the first southern contest. And she’s pulled even with DeSantis in some of the latest polls in Iowa, whose caucuses kick off the GOP nominating calendar on Jan. 15. But Haley and DeSantis remain far behind Trump, who continues to hold a commanding lead over the rest of the field as the former president makes his third straight White House run. The AFP Action endorsement should help Haley, whose campaign lacks the grassroots outreach and organizational strength that DeSantis enjoys, due to the major assist from the DeSantis-aligned super PAC Never Back Down. The endorsement by AFP Action will likely support Haley with the group’s powerful direct-mail and field operations, as well as a major ad blitz in the early voting states. In the 2022 midterm election cycle, the group knocked on roughly 5.5 million doors, made 2 million calls, and sent out nearly 70 million pieces of mail on behalf of candidates it was backing. AFP Action senior adviser Emily Seidel, who called her group “a true grassroots organization,” highlighted that “when we announced our decision to engage in our first ever Republican presidential primary, we made it clear that we’d be looking for a candidate who can turn the page on our political dysfunction — and win. It’s clear that candidate is Nikki Haley.” Seidel pledged that “we will be doing everything we can to help make her the next President of the United States.” Haley, reacting to the endorsement, said the group’s “members know that there is too much at stake in this election to sit on the sidelines. This is a choice between freedom and socialism, individual liberty and big government, fiscal responsibility and spiraling debt. We have a country to save, and I’m grateful to have AFP Action by our side.” The DeSantis campaign, reacting to the news, argued that the AFP Action endorsement of Haley will only bolster Trump as he aims to win the GOP presidential nomination. “Congratulations to Donald Trump on securing the Koch endorsement. Like clockwork, the pro-open borders, pro-jail break bill establishment is lining up behind a moderate who has no mathematical pathway of defeating the former president. Every dollar spent on Nikki Haley’s candidacy should be reported as an in-kind to the Trump campaign. No one has a stronger record of beating the establishment than Ron DeSantis, and this time will be no different,” DeSantis campaign communications director Andrew Romeo charged in a statement. The Trump-aligned super PAC Make America Great Again Inc. also blasted the endorsement. “Americans for Prosperity has already lit millions of dollars on fire this primary only to watch President Donald Trump’s lead grow. No amount of money can break the bond President Trump has with voters. He kept his promises,” MAGA Inc. spokesperson Karoline Leavitt argued in a statement. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Rosalynn Carter funeral: Presidents, first ladies, country stars to mourn humanitarian
Former President Carter, 99, is to honor his late wife Rosalynn Carter during a memorial service in Atlanta on Tuesday attended by all living U.S. first ladies and multiple presidents. Tuesday’s tribute at Glenn Memorial Church at Emory University is expected to begin at 1 p.m. It falls on the second of a three-day schedule of public events celebrating the former first lady and global humanitarian who died Nov. 19 at home in Plains, Georgia, at the age of 96. Tributes began Monday in the Carters’ native Sumter County and continued in Atlanta as she lay in repose at The Jimmy Carter Presidential Center. President Biden and first lady Jill Biden, longtime friends of the Carters, lead the list of dignitaries joining the widowed former president in Atlanta. Former President Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, along with former first ladies Melania Trump, Michelle Obama and Laura Bush, will pay their respects, as will Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and his wife Marty Kemp. Former Presidents Trump, Obama and Bush were invited but will not attend, according to The Associated Press. County music stars Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, family friends of the Carters, will perform at the invitation-only tribute service, according to The Carter Center. TRIBUTES TO FORMER FIRST LADY ROSALYNN CARTER POUR IN ON NEWS OF HER DEATH Former President Carter’s participation in the events had been a day-by-day issue; he is 10 months into home hospice care. The Carter Center confirmed his plans to attend the Tuesday service. It will be his first public appearance since September, when he and Rosalynn Carter rode together in the Plains Peanut Festival parade, visible only through open windows in a Secret Service vehicle. Carter, who was with his wife during her final hours, did not appear publicly during any part of a public motorcade and wreath-laying ceremony Monday at Rosalynn Carter’s alma mater, Georgia Southwestern State University in Americus. “Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished,” Carter said in a statement after his wife’s passing. “She gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it. As long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew somebody loved and supported me.” JIMMY CARTER AND WIFE ARE IN ‘FINAL CHAPTER’ OF LIVES, GRANDSON SAYS The Carters married in 1946; their 77-plus years together makes them the longest-married presidential couple in U.S. history. “My grandmother, in addition to being a partner to my grandfather, was a force on her own,” Jason Carter, who will be among the speakers Tuesday, told the AP. Rosalynn Carter has been praised for a half-century of advocacy for better mental health care in America and reducing the stigma attached to mental illness. She brought attention to the tens of millions of people who work as unpaid caregivers in U.S. households, and she gained new acclaim for how integral she was to her husband’s political rise and in his terms as Georgia’s governor and the 39th president. Jason Carter, himself a former state senator and one-time Democratic nominee for governor, called her “the best politician in the family,” a distinction former President Carter never disputed. “My wife is much more political,” the former president told the AP in 2021. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Hunter Biden agrees to House Oversight Committee testimony
Hunter Biden has offered to testify publicly before the House Oversight Committee on Dec. 13, according to a letter obtained by Fox News. The president’s son agreed to comply with a subpoena issued by House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., according to the letter sent to the committee Tuesday, but he is demanding that the testimony be public. The subpoena was for a closed-door deposition rather than a public hearing, sources told Fox News. “We have seen you use closed door sessions to manipulate, even distort the facts and misinform the public. We therefore propose opening the door,” Hunter’s attorney Abbe Lowell wrote. “If, as you claim, your efforts are important and involve issues that Americans should know about, then let light shine on the proceedings.” HOUSE GOP SUBPOENAS DOJ PROSECUTOR WHO ALLEGEDLY TRIED TO SHIELD BIDEN DURING FEDERAL PROBE INTO SON HUNTER Comer subpoenaed the president’s son, the president’s brother James Biden and his business associated Rob Walker earlier this month as part of the Republican-led investigation into the Biden family’s business dealings. The committee has also sought interviews from James Biden’s wife, Sara Biden; President Biden’s daughter-in-law, Hallie Biden, the widow of President Biden’s son, Beau, who later was romantically involved with Hunter; Hallie Biden’s older sister, Elizabeth Secundy; and Hunter Biden’s wife, Melissa Cohen. The committee also requested a transcribed interview with Hunter Biden’s former business associate, Tony Bobulinski, who was also involved in Sinohawk Holdings. BIDEN’S CLAIM TO HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE OF HUNTER’S BUSINESS DEALINGS IS BECOMING HARDER TO MAINTAIN Lowell previously said Hunter is “eager to have the opportunity” to testify “in a public forum,” where he will answer GOP allegations that he leveraged his father’s positions in government to make business deals and sell influence. In the letter Tuesday, Lowell slammed the GOP probe as part of a “crusade” to impeach President Biden. “Here we are, eleven months into your so-called investigation, and every objective review of your ‘revelations’ — including by some of your colleagues — has declared your exploration as one turning up only dry holes,” Lowell wrote. The attorney accused Republicans of holding a double standard for not pursuing investigations into former President Donald Trump and his family’s businesses, which Lowell noted were maintained while Trump was in office. “Your Committee has been working for almost a year — without success — to tie our client’s business activities to his father,” he wrote to Comer. HUNTER BIDEN ASKS JUDGE TO SUBPOENA TRUMP, FORMER OFFICIALS IN GUN CASE “Unlike members of the Trump family, Hunter is a private person who has never worked in any family business nor ever served in the White House or in any public office. Notwithstanding this stark difference, you have manipulated Hunter’s legitimate business dealings and his times of terrible addiction into a politically motivated basis for hearings to accuse his father of some wrongdoing,” the letter reads. Lowell urged Comer to hold a public hearing, where Biden would be able to address the GOP allegations without “selective leaks, manipulated transcripts, doctored exhibits, or one-sided press statements.” Fox is told the committee has not decided whether to take up Lowell on his offer. As of right now, the closed door deposition is still scheduled for Dec. 13. Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman and Fox News’ David Spunt contributed to this report.
Georgia Senate GOP proposes map with 2 Black-majority districts to address vote dilution concerns
Georgia Senate Republicans are proposing a new map that would create two Black-majority voting districts, but would probably retain Republicans’ 33-23 edge in the General Assembly’s upper chamber, in an effort to fix a map a judge said illegally dilutes Black votes. The proposed districts, released Monday, would increase the number of Black majority districts by eliminating two white-majority districts currently represented by Democrats. State Sens. Jason Esteves and Elena Parent, both of Atlanta, would find themselves living in Black-majority districts if the redrawn map goes through. A special session on redrawing state legislative and congressional districts is scheduled to begin Wednesday after U.S. District Judge Steve Jones in October ordered Georgia to draw Black majorities in one additional congressional district, two additional state Senate districts, and five additional state House districts. JUDGE SAYS GEORGIA’S CONGRESSIONAL AND LEGISLATIVE DISTRICTS ARE DISCRIMINATORY AND MUST BE REDRAWN APPEALS COURT SAYS GEORGIA MAY ELECT UTILITY PANEL STATEWIDE, REJECTING A RULING FOR DISTRICT VOTING It’s unclear whether Jones would accept the map if it passes. He ordered two additional Black Senate districts in the southern part of metro Atlanta, finding 10 state Senate districts illegal under Section 2 of the federal Voting Rights Act. Monday’s Republican proposal left two of those districts untouched — a district in Clayton and Fayette counties, represented by Democrat Valencia Seay of Riverdale, and the district stretching across Fayette, Spalding, Pike and Lamar counties, represented by Republican Marty Harbin of Tyrone. Some other districts declared illegal saw changes that did little to affect their racial or partisan balance. By contrast, Republicans propose redrawing a number of Democratic-held districts in Fulton and Cobb counties the judge didn’t single out. Overall, it appears no current senators would be drawn into the same district under the plan. That’s important because under Georgia law, state legislators must have lived in their districts for a year before they are elected. Because 2024’s election is less than a year away, it’s too late for anyone to move to another district to run. Their drastically different districts could invite Democratic primary challenges to Parent and Esteves. Parent is the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate and Esteves is the treasurer of the state Democratic Party. Parent declined comment Monday, saying she would speak Tuesday when Democrats introduce their own proposal. That plan is unlikely to pass the majority Republican legislature, but could become part of legal argument over whether lawmakers’ proposed remedy meets the terms of Jones’ order. Ken Lawler, chair of Fair Districts GA, which seeks to reduce partisan gerrymandering, said that he thought the districts met Jones’ goal of creating additional Black majority districts. “With respect to complying, they get a pass,” Lawler said. However, he said Republicans shouldn’t change other districts to try to retain their current majority, saying those were like other mid-decade changes Georgia Republicans have undertaken in recent decades to pad their control. GEORGIA TO APPEAL CONGRESSIONAL, LEGISLATIVE REDISTRICTING ORDER No House or congressional plans were released Monday, although the House Committee on Reapportionment and Redistricting said it would hold a Wednesday hearing on a new House plan. A new Black-majority congressional district, combined with similar rulings in other Southern states, could help Democrats reclaim the U.S. House in 2024. New legislative districts could narrow Republican majorities in Georgia. It’s unclear if the GOP can legally prevent Democrats from gaining a congressional seat, along the lines of what they’re seeking to do in the state Senate. Jones wrote in his order that Georgia can’t fix its problems “by eliminating minority opportunity districts elsewhere.” The state has pledged to appeal Jones’ order. If the state later wins an appeal, Georgia could have new districts in 2024 and revert to current lines in 2026. Republicans control nine of Georgia’s 14 congressional seats and 102 of the 180 state House seats.