Trump signs executive order calling for proof of US citizenship to vote
Progressive groups denounce move as effort to suppress millions of voters who do not have ready access to government ID. United States President Donald Trump has signed an executive order requiring Americans to provide proof of citizenship to vote, claiming the move is necessary to “straighten out” election fraud. Trump’s order signed on Tuesday calls on the Election Assistance Commission to require prospective voters to produce a US passport or other valid government ID when registering for federal elections. The order also directs US states to receive all votes by election day and not count mail-in ballots that arrive after the polls have closed. Trump said his order would “hopefully” end election fraud, while repeating his false claim that he won the 2020 presidential election in a “landslide”. “At least this will go a long way toward ending it, there are other steps that we will be taking in the coming weeks, and we think we will be able to end up getting fair elections,” Trump said as he signed the order at the White House. “We’ve got to straighten out our election,” Trump added. “This country is so sick because of the election, the fake elections, and the bad elections, And we’re going to straighten it out, one way or the other.” Advertisement Trump’s order continues his long history of railing against alleged election fraud, including voting by non-citizens, which is illegal and shown in studies to be extremely rare. Trump has often questioned the outcomes of elections that have not gone his way, including his 2020 defeat to former US President Joe Biden, which he falsely attributed to widespread voting irregularities. Democrats and progressive groups have long opposed Republican-led efforts to require voters to produce ID on the grounds that poor and older voters may not have easy access to documents such as passports and birth certificates. Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen, a progressive advocacy group, described Trump’s order as a “blatant attack on democracy” and “an authoritarian power grab”. “Donald Trump’s executive order would compromise our election systems, suppress the votes of millions of Americans, especially voters of colour, and pave the way for still more Trumpian false claims of election fraud,” Gilbert said in a statement. Richard Hasen, a law professor at the University of California who runs Election Law Blog, also denounced the move, saying it would disenfranchise potentially millions of voters. “This would prevent only a tiny amount of noncitizen voter registration but stop millions of eligible voters, who do not have easy access to documents such as passports from registering to vote,” Hasen said on his blog. “The aim here is voter suppression pure and simple,” he added. Adblock test (Why?)
How did Yemen become a humanitarian disaster?
[unable to retrieve full-text content] A decade of conflict has torn Yemen apart. Now millions face hunger, displacement, and the collapse of basic services.
CBI conducts searches at former Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel’s residence
Baghel was set to reach Delhi today for the meeting of the All India Congress Committee’s ‘Drafting Committee’ constituted for the AICC meeting to be held in Ahmedabad (Gujarat) on 8 and 9 April.
Track and field to be first Olympic event to require DNA tests to prove sex
World Athletics chief say rules will uphold the integrity of women’s sport amid debate over inclusion of trans athletes. Track and field is set to become the first Olympic sport to require participants in women’s events to undergo DNA testing to prove their biological sex following a decision by World Athletics. Sebastian Coe, the president of World Athletics, said on Wednesday that track and field’s governing body had agreed to introduce the testing to keep the “absolute focus on the integrity of competition”. “It’s important to do it because it maintains everything that we’ve been talking about, and particularly recently, about not just talking about the integrity of female women’s sport, but actually guaranteeing it,” Coe told reporters on Tuesday after a two-day meeting of the governing body’s council in Nanjing, China. “And this, we feel, is a really important way of providing confidence and maintaining that absolute focus on the integrity of competition.” Coe, a former Olympic medal-winning middle-distance runner, said the body had made the decision following an “exhaustive review” and consultations with more than 70 sporting and advocacy groups. Advertisement “Overwhelmingly, the view has come back that this is absolutely the way to go,” Coe said. Coe, who earlier this month mounted an unsuccessful bid to lead the International Olympic Committee, said competitors would be subject to non-invasive cheek swabs and dry blood-spot tests and would only be checked once in their career. “We will doggedly protect the female category and we will do whatever is necessary to do it, and we’re not just talking about it,” he said. The decision is the latest turn in the heated debate over the participation of transgender women and gender non-conforming athletes in women’s sport. World Athletics in 2023 announced a ban on transgender women who had gone through male puberty, pending a review into the eligibility requirements for participants in female competition. The move overturned previous rules that allowed transgender women to compete if they maintained a blood testosterone level of no more than 5nmol/L for the preceding 12 months. While broadly aimed at athletes who have changed their gender, World Athletics’s testing requirements would also affect small numbers of competitors who were born with atypical sex chromosomes. World Athletics’s decision also comes on the heels of similar moves by several major sporting bodies, including World Aquatics and the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the main governing body for college sport in the United States. The International Olympic Committee, which will oversee the running of the 2028 Games in Los Angeles, has allowed transgender athletes to compete since 2004 but ultimately defers to the eligibility rules set by individual sporting bodies. Advertisement Beyond the world of sport, the issue has become a lightning rod in the broader culture wars taking place in the US and other Western countries. Last month, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to deny federal government funding to educational institutes that allow trans girls and women to participate in female sport and use female changing rooms. In a New York Times/Ipsos poll published in January, 79 percent of Americans said that trans women should not be allowed to participate in female sports, up from 62 percent in 2021. Adblock test (Why?)
At least 18 dead as ‘unprecedented’ wildfires rage across South Korea
South Korea’s forest service said thousands of fighters are tackling at least five active wildfires across the country. At least 18 people have been killed and almost 20 injured as wildfires rage in multiple areas across South Korea’s southeastern region where thousands of firefighters and soldiers are struggling to control rapidly expanding blazes, officials said. South Korea’s official Yonhap news agency said the death toll had reached 18 on Wednesday, the sixth day of the fires, which are being fuelled by strong and dry winds. According to Yonhap, four victims burned to death after they tried to escape the fires but their car overturned. They were found dead on a road late on Tuesday night. The Korea Forest Service said firefighters are fighting at least five active wildfires nationwide as of Wednesday morning. Smoke rises from a wildfire that has devastated areas in Andong county, South Korea, on March 25, 2025 [Yonhap via Reuters] The wildfires began late on Friday in Sancheong county in Northern Gyeongsang province before spreading to neighbouring Uiseong county – located about 180km (111 miles) southeast of the capital Seoul – and have advanced into Andong, Cheongsong, Yeongyang, and Yeongdeok counties. Advertisement Officials in Andong and other southeastern cities and towns have ordered residents to evacuate as firefighters struggle to contain the fires, which have burned more than 17,000 hectares (42,000 acres) of forest and destroyed hundreds of structures, including the more than 1,000-year-old Gounsa temple in Uiseong. National treasures stored at the Buddhist temple, which was built in 681, were moved to safety in other areas of the country, Yonhap said. Authorities also issued an emergency alert for Hahoe Folk Village – a UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site popular with tourists in Andong county – as the blaze drew closer. “The wildfire is currently about 8km (4.9 miles) from Hahoe Village,” an official at the Korea Heritage Service said, adding that fire trucks and dozens of firefighters are on standby and spraying water around the premise to prevent the fire from spreading. A man sprays water on a thatched roof amid the approaching wildfire in Andong’s Hahoe Folk Village, South Korea, on Tuesday [Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP] Lee Byung-doo, a forest disaster expert at the country’s National Institute of Forest Science, said the fire in Uiseong exhibited “unimaginable” scale and speed. South Korea’s acting President Han Duck-soo said the raging fires had exceeded all prediction models for such a disaster. “Wildfires burning for a fifth consecutive day in Ulsan and the Gyeongsang region are causing unprecedented damage,” Han said. The fires are “developing in a way that is exceeding both existing prediction models and earlier expectations”, he said. Advertisement According to Yonhap, the South Korean military has deployed an estimated 5,000 service members and sent 146 helicopters to help fight the fires alongside thousands of firefighters. Approximately 500 inmates at a prison have also been transferred to other facilities outside the fire danger zone. Helicopters extinguish wildfires by dropping water on a mountain in Ulsan, southeast of Seoul, South Korea on Tuesday [Yonhap/EPA] Adblock test (Why?)
‘Sloppy’: Trump downplays shock over leaked Signal chat about Houthi attack
The administration of United States President Donald Trump has continued to face fallout from an article in The Atlantic that revealed editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg was added to a group chat where top-level government officials discussed plans for bombing Yemen. The White House remained in damage control mode on Tuesday, seeking to dismiss allegations that government secrets were at risk. “There was no classified information, as I understand it,” Trump said at a meeting of US ambassadors, waving the scandal aside. “ We’ve pretty much looked into it. It’s pretty simple, to be honest. It’s just something that can happen.” He told reporters he had no intention of seeking punishments, barring the use of the social media app Signal or asking for an apology from those involved. Trump’s comments come in response to Goldberg’s article, published a day prior, wherein the editor explains how he received an invitation on the messaging platform Signal from a user identified as White House National Security Advisor Michael Waltz. Advertisement Goldberg accepted the invitation. He quickly found himself in the midst of a conversation about the merits of bombing Houthi fighters in Yemen. While Goldberg declined to quote specific military information from the chat, he did share in his published article interactions between officials at the highest level of government, including Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. Vance, Hegseth and Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller, for instance, were quoted as debating the timing of the attacks and whether economic gain could be “extracted” from Europe in exchange for the bombings. The vice president, in particular, expressed concern that the bombings would do more to benefit European trade in the Red Sea, where the Houthis are known to strike naval and shipping vessels. The article created a splash in Washington, DC, almost as soon as it was published. Questions were raised about why sensitive information was discussed on a non-government platform and whether the text messages would be preserved, as required by federal records laws. Some of those questions were put directly to two of the participants in the Signal chat, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. Both Ratcliffe and Gabbard testified at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Tuesday, facing a grilling from Democrats. “ This was not only sloppy. It not only violated all procedures, but if this information had gotten out, American lives could have been lost. If the Houthis had this information, they could reposition their defensive systems,” said Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the committee. Advertisement “ It’s also just mind-boggling to me that all these senior folks were on this line, and nobody bothered to even check Security Hygiene 101.” Senator Ron Wyden, another Democrat at the hearing, called the Signal chat “ obviously reckless, obviously dangerous”. “Both the mishandling of classified information and the deliberate destruction of federal records are potential crimes that ought to be investigated immediately,” Wyden said. “And I want to make clear that I’m of the view that there ought to be resignation, starting with the national security advisor and the secretary of defence.” National Security Advisor Mike Waltz speaks at a meeting of US ambassador nominees at the White House on March 25 [Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters] Questions of classified information The position of the White House, however, has been that no classified information was released over the Signal chat. In his article, Goldberg is clear that top-secret information was included in the group chat’s messages. “The information contained in them, if they had been read by an adversary of the United States, could conceivably have been used to harm American military and intelligence personnel,” Goldberg wrote. Had Goldberg repeated that information in his publication, he could have opened himself up to legal repercussions. Instead, Goldberg offered a broad-strokes description of what transpired in the chat. “What I will say, in order to illustrate the shocking recklessness of this Signal conversation, is that the Hegseth post contained operational details of forthcoming strikes on Yemen, including information about targets, weapons the U.S. would be deploying, and attack sequencing,” he wrote. Advertisement But on Tuesday, the Trump administration contested that assessment, saying no secrets were revealed in the Signal chat. “Jeffrey Goldberg is well-known for his sensationalist spin,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote on social media. “Here are the facts about his latest story: 1. No ‘war plans’ were discussed. 2. No classified material was sent to the thread.” Ratcliffe and Gabbard repeated similar remarks at the hearing at Capitol Hill, denying ever sharing top-secret information on Signal, whether on that chat or another. “ To be clear, I haven’t participated in any Signal group messaging that relates to any classified information at all,” Ratcliffe said. “ I have the same answer,” Gabbard echoed. Unlike Ratcliffe, Gabbard declined to even acknowledge whether she was a participant in the chat, as reported in Goldberg’s article. Their position led to a heated confrontation with Senator Warner, who argued that — if the chat did not contain classified information — its contents should be released immediately for review. “Why are you not going to get into the specifics? Is it because it’s all classified?” Warner asked. “Because this is currently under review by the national security —,” Gabbard began to respond, as Warner interjected: “Because it’s all classified? If it’s not classified, share the text now.” At the meeting with the US ambassadors, meanwhile, Trump denied there was any national security breach. “ Our national security now is stronger than it’s ever been,” Trump told reporters. Instead, he blamed technology — and the Signal app specifically — for allowing Goldberg to access the private chat. “ It’s not a perfect technology. There is no perfect technology. The really good ones are very cumbersome, very hard to access,” he said. Demonstrator Gary Rush holds a sign showing a picture of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in the aftermath of the Signal app scandal on March 25 [Kevin Lamarque/Reuters] Trump reignites rivalry with The Atlantic The scandal
Brazilian Supreme Court considers trial for Bolsonaro over coup allegations
Five justices from Brazil’s Supreme Court have concluded the first day of proceedings as they weigh whether former President Jair Bolsonaro will stand trial for an alleged coup attempt following his loss in the 2022 election. Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet argued on Tuesday that Bolsonaro oversaw a conspiracy to overthrow the government, including alleged plans to poison his election rival, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and kill Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. Gonet told the five-member panel that Bolsonaro had used criminal means to try and remain in office “regardless of the outcome of 2022 elections”. For a criminal trial to proceed, a majority of the five justices must vote in favour. They are expected to render a decision by Wednesday. De Moraes is among the judges considering the case. Tuesday’s hearing is the result of Gonet’s decision to file formal charges against Bolsonaro and 33 allies on February 18. Gonet told the justices that there was a preponderance of evidence against the defendants. Advertisement “The criminal organisation documented its project, and during the investigations, manuscripts, digital files, spreadsheets and exchanges of messages were found,” Gonet said. Bolsonaro faces five counts, including “attempted violent abolition of the democratic state of law” and damaging government property. Federal police initially indicted him in an 884-page report in November. The far-right Bolsonaro and his allies have decried the charges as part of an elaborate conspiracy by their political rivals to prevent him from running for president again. Already, in 2023, a panel of judges decided to ban Bolsonaro from holding public office until 2030, on the basis that he used his power as president to sow doubt about the country’s voting system. But Bolsonaro has denied any wrongdoing. He faces an array of investigations and probes, some related to his actions during the 2022 election and others pertaining to accusations of money laundering and other crimes. “I am innocent,” Bolsonaro said in a podcast on Monday. “I have no doubt that, in 30 days at the most, they will kill me.” He did not specify who had threatened him. Speaking to reporters the next day at Brasilia’s airport, Bolsonaro nevertheless expressed hope that the justice system would exonerate him. “I’m fine. I always hope for justice. Nothing is substantiated in the accusations, made in a biased way, by the federal police,” Bolsonaro said. The accusations centre on the lead-up and aftermath of the 2022 elections. Even before the first vote was cast, Bolsonaro spread false rumours that Brazil’s electronic voting system could not be trusted. Advertisement The race between Bolsonaro, the incumbent, and the left-leaning Lula was tight. But in a run-off election on October 30, 2022, Lula prevailed by narrow margins, earning 50.9 percent of the vote. Bolsonaro, however, did not publicly acknowledge defeat. Instead, he and his allies sought to challenge his loss with a legal complaint, which was ultimately tossed for lack of evidence. His supporters, meanwhile, flooded the streets, with truckers blocking major roadways. The police headquarters in the capital, Brasilia, was attacked, and a bomb threat was allegedly uncovered in the lead-up to Lula’s inauguration. But tensions reached a peak on January 8, 2023, just days after Lula was sworn in. On that day, thousands of Bolsonaro’s supporters stormed the Three Powers Plaza in Brasilia, breaking into buildings representing the country’s Congress, presidency and Supreme Court. Congress was not in session at the time, nor was Lula in residence. Brazil’s federal police have since accused Bolsonaro and his allies of attempting to trigger a “state of siege” that would allow the military to topple the government. Both allies and critics have compared Bolsonaro with United States President Donald Trump, who likewise rejected a past election defeat as fraudulent – without proof. For Trump, that loss came in 2020, when he was bested by Democrat Joe Biden. Trump has since returned to office after winning the 2024 race. Bolsonaro’s allies have indicated they hope that Trump, now serving a second term, could use the US’s influence to push Brazilian authorities to drop the case and clear the way for Bolsonaro to make another presidential bid. Advertisement Bolsonaro has expressed a strong affinity for Brazil’s military dictatorship, which ruled the country from 1964 through 1985. Crowds of his supporters gathered in front of military barracks after the 2022 election, calling for the armed forces to intervene and stop Lula from taking power. Adblock test (Why?)
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,126
These are the key developments on day 1,126 of Russia’s war on Ukraine. Here is the roundup of key events on Wednesday, March 26. Fighting A mass attack by Russian drones caused “major destruction” in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, the head of the city’s military administration, Oleksandr Vilkul, said early on Wednesday. Vilkul reported at least 15 explosions in Kryvyi Rih, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s home town and a frequent target of Russian attacks. There were no initial reports of casualties. A Ukrainian drone attack on Russia’s Belgorod region has left one civilian injured and damaged an apartment building, the region’s governor said. A Russian court in Rostov-on-Don is expected to soon give a verdict in a trial of Ukrainian military personnel, most of them belonging to the former Azov regiment that defended the port city of Mariupol in the months-long fierce battle against Russian forces in February and April 2022. The 24 Ukrainian soldiers, including nine women, are accused of terrorist activity and participation in a terrorist organisation, and could face up to 20 years in jail. Advertisement Ceasefire The United States said it has made separate agreements with Ukraine and Russia to ensure safe navigation in the Black Sea and to implement a ban on strikes against energy facilities in the two countries. Washington also agreed to push to lift some sanctions against Moscow as the first steps towards a wider ceasefire. “We’re in deep discussions with Russia and Ukraine. And I would say it’s going well,” US President Donald Trump told reporters. Oil refineries, oil and gas pipelines and nuclear power stations are among the targets on which Russia and Ukraine agreed to temporarily suspend strikes, the Kremlin said. A list appearing on the Kremlin’s Telegram channel also included fuel storage facilities, pumping stations, electricity generation and transmission infrastructure, such as power plants, substations, transformers, distributors and hydroelectric dams. The Kremlin statement said the list had been “agreed between the Russian and American sides”. According to the statement, the temporary moratorium on strikes on energy infrastructure starts on March 18 and is valid for 30 days, but it could be extended by mutual agreement. If the agreement is breached by one party, the other party is also released from compliance, the Kremlin added. In a parallel statement, the White House said that Russia and Ukraine “agreed to ensure safe navigation, eliminate the use of force and prevent the use of commercial vessels for military purposes in the Black Sea.” The US said it would also look for ways to enforce a ban on strikes on energy infrastructure in the two countries. The Kremlin warned in a statement that the Black Sea deal could only be implemented after sanctions against the Russian Agricultural Bank and other financial organisations involved in food and fertiliser trade are lifted and their access to the SWIFT system of international banking payments is ensured. The agreement is also conditional on lifting sanctions against Russian food and fertiliser exporters and ships carrying Russian food exports, and removing restrictions on exports of agricultural equipment to Russia, the Kremlin said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the US-brokered agreements but criticised Washington for agreeing to ease sanctions on Russia, saying that doing so “would weaken our position”. Zelenskyy said there was no requirement of sanctions relief for the agreed deals with Russia and Ukraine to come into force, and accused Moscow of manipulating the agreement. “Unfortunately, even now, even today, on the very day of negotiations, we see how the Russians have already begun to manipulate,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address. A security officer in a port in Odesa, Ukraine, in July 2022 [David Goldman/AP] Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, said in remarks published late on Tuesday that the Black Sea deal aims to bring Moscow back to predictable grain and fertiliser markets that would allow for profit and ensure global food safety. The United Kingdom government said it was “hopeful of the progress” following the Black Sea announcement but it was unclear whether the UK would follow US efforts to ease some sanctions on Russia as part of the deal. Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant was now a Russian facility and transferring control of it back to Ukraine or any other country was impossible. Russian forces seized the nuclear power station – Europe’s largest with six reactors – early in the war. Advertisement Regional security The US intelligence community’s Annual Threat Assessment report said Russia, along with Iran, North Korea and China are seeking to challenge the US through deliberate campaigns to gain an advantage and that Beijing also seeks to displace the US as the top AI power by 2030. NATO commanders said they were drawing on lessons learned in the drone war over Ukraine to conduct Europe’s largest air defence exercise, which ends in the Netherlands on Wednesday. The United Nations International Telecommunication Union, its International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the International Maritime Organization jointly voiced “grave concern” at growing disruptions of so-called Global Navigation Satellite Systems amid a marked increase in efforts to interfere with satellite navigation systems – such as GPS – that are critical for aviation and maritime safety since the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine, as well as amid war in the Middle East. The European Union is pushing for every household in the 27-country bloc to have a three-day survival kit ready in case crisis strikes – be it a conflict or natural disaster. The EU’s crisis management commissioner, Hadja Lahbib, told the AFP news agency that Brussels would like every citizen to be equipped for 72 hours of self-sufficiency, which was in line with a key report last year on strengthening Europe’s civilian and military preparedness. Politics and diplomacy Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna and his counterparts from Latvia and Lithuania met jointly in Washington, DC, with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio as the Baltic nations – all NATO members – lead concerns over
Jewish Texans disagree on how to combat antisemitism in schools during hearing on Senate bill
Lawmakers propose addressing antisemitism by requiring schools to use a set definition. Critics say the measure will stifle speech.
GOP senator says Dr Oz ignored his questions on transgender issues, abortion
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., has lingering questions about President Donald Trump’s Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) nominee, Dr. Mehmet Oz, and his past stances on transgender treatments for minors and abortion, and he says the nominee hasn’t answered his inquiries. The Missouri Republican told Fox News Digital in an interview that he remains concerned by Oz’s past of “promoting transgender surgeries for minors, promoting transgender hormone treatments and puberty blockers for minors.” He submitted a number of questions to Oz on the subjects earlier in the month, but Hawley said Oz never answered. “He hasn’t. Which I think is strange,” he said. TOP DEM USED SAME APP USED IN ATLANTIC SCANDAL TO SET UP CONTACT WITH STEELE DOSSIER AUTHOR “I’m hoping that he’s changed his views,” Hawley added. “I’d like to hear from him that he is in total alignment with President Trump, who has been tremendously strong on this.” In a statement to Fox News Digital, White House spokesman Kush Desai said, “Every member of the Trump administration is working from the same playbook, President Trump’s playbook, to restore commonsense policies and put an end to left-wing ideological nonsense afflicting our government.” “We look forward to the Senate’s swift confirmation of Dr. Oz so he can join the rest of our all-star team at HHS working to Make America Healthy Again by restoring common sense, transparency, and confidence in our healthcare apparatus.” ‘STOP THEM!’: DEMOCRAT CLASHES WITH TRUMP SOCIAL SECURITY NOMINEE OVER DOGE ACCESS As Hawley noted, Oz has used his television show to platform people who supported and promoted transgender treatments, particularly for minors. Oz hosted two transgender children on his show in 2010 in a segment titled, “Transgender Kids: Too Young to Decide?” Josie, 8, and the child’s mother, Vanessia, claimed that Josie’s life improved once the male-born child began embracing a feminine lifestyle. Isaac, who was 15, and the minor’s parents, Arturo and Monica, revealed that they decided to let their female-born teenager begin taking puberty blockers and have the teenager’s breasts removed in a double mastectomy. CAN CONGRESS DEFUND FEDERAL COURTS WITH KEY TRUMP BUDGET PROCESS? The segment was touted as “groundbreaking” by LGBTQ activist group GLAAD, which told supporters to thank Oz. The television doctor has also had a history of supporting abortion. In a 2019 interview on popular radio show “The Breakfast Club,” Oz said he was concerned by state laws aimed at restricting or limiting abortion, saying it’s “a hard issue for everybody.” And while on “a personal level,” he didn’t like abortion, he also believed he should not “interfere with everyone else’s stuff.” CHUCK SCHUMER FACING ‘UPHILL FIGHT’ AMID LEADERSHIP DOUBTS: ‘MATTER OF WHEN, NOT IF’ “Because it’s hard enough to get into life as it is,” he added. When Oz ran for Senate in Pennsylvania as a Republican in 2022, he still opposed government jurisdiction on the subject of abortion. “I don’t want the federal government involved with that at all,” he said during a debate with now-Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa. “I want women, doctors, local political leaders, letting the democracy that’s always allowed our nation to thrive, to put the best ideas forward, so states can decide for themselves.” Asked whether he would vote to confirm Oz even without answers to his questions, Hawley wouldn’t say. “I just have to believe that he will respond here.”