Massachusetts considering universal, free community college
A plan to create tuition-free, universal community college for all Massachusetts residents was up for discussion Tuesday as the state Senate launched debate on its proposed $57.9 billion budget for the new fiscal year. Supporters, including Democratic Senate President Karen Spilka, say the plan dubbed MassEducate is aimed at increasing the state’s workforce while expanding opportunities for students across the state. The proposal would set aside $75.5 million in new spending to cover tuition and fees, and offer a stipend of up to $1,200 for books, supplies, and other costs to students who make 125% or less of the median income in the state. MASSACHUSETTS RECREATIONAL CENTER TO RETURN TO PUBLIC USE AFTER SERVING AS TEMPORARY MIGRANT SHELTER The Senate plan included in its Fiscal Year 2025 budget would continue to invest in programs created in the current-year budget, including $18 million in free nursing programs at community colleges and $24 million in free community college for residents over 25. “We are investing in talent that is right here at home, and opening the workforce floodgates to employers who are starved for graduates, so Massachusetts keeps the competitive edge that we pride ourselves in,” Spilka said in statement when she unveiled the plan earlier this month. Students would be eligible for the free tuition and fees and the stipend this coming fall semester if the proposal is included in the state’s final budget plan. That’s far from certain. The Massachusetts House, which has already approved its version of the state budget, did not include the proposal. Senate leaders will have to negotiate with the Democrat-led House to try to get the plan in the final version of the spending plan they ultimately send to Democratic Gov. Maura Healey. The 15 community colleges in Massachusetts serve more than 90,000 students, about 70% of of whom attend school part-time, juggling work and family commitments. Nearly half receive federal Pell grants. Those students, already eligible for a book stipend through state financial aid, would also be eligible for a stipend for books, supplies, and costs of attendance under the Senate plan for a combined $2,400 stipend per year. Critics warn that the cost of the Senate’s community college plan could be hard to sustain. “There is nothing as expensive as making something free. The cost will inevitably balloon and the taxpayers will forever be obligated to pay for this irresponsible decision,” said Paul Diego Craney, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance. The Senate budget debate comes as state officials said the voter-approved “millionaire’s tax” – which imposes a 4% surtax on the portion of an individual’s annual income that exceeds $1 million — has already generated more than $1.8 billion in revenue for the current fiscal year with three months left to go, more than estimates. The money is intended for transportation and education initiatives. Massachusetts Teachers Association President Max Page and Vice President Deb McCarthy said in a written statement that the additional tax revenues is a vindication for the coalition of groups, including the MTA, that pushed for the measure. “These funds are vitally needed so school districts can hire and retain the necessary staff to meet the needs of students and provide public educators, in pre-K through higher ed, with fair wages and modern working conditions, including access to paid family leave,” they said in a statement.
Thomas Massie, GOP rebel who defied Trump and tried to oust Johnson, survives primary threats
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., prevailed in a three-way Republican primary on Tuesday night, paving the way to an eighth term representing his deep red Kentucky district. Massie enjoyed a decisive victory during what’s been a tumultuous period for both the House GOP and himself. The libertarian Republican was one of three GOP rebels pushing to oust Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., from power over his bipartisan work on government spending and foreign aid. Their bid failed earlier this month when a significant number of Democrats joined a majority of Republicans to block a House-wide vote. OHIO PURGES ‘NON-CITIZENS’ FROM STATE VOTER ROLLS, CALLS ON BIDEN ADMIN FOR DATA AHEAD OF 2024 ELECTION Massie told reporters in late April that his voters were behind him, however, even as a litany of GOP lawmakers lined up to deride the effort and warn it would cost them the November election. “I haven’t gotten any blowback,” Massie said at the time. “I explained the problem with Mike Johnson and the three big betrayals he’s made to the majority of Republicans here and the majority of Republicans back home. And they understand.” He’s also one of the rare few Republicans who have not shied away from confronting former President Donald Trump. FOX NEWS POLL: ABORTION, ECONOMY, AND BORDER SECURITY ARE TOP DEAL-BREAKERS IN 2024 ELECTIONS Massie was one of the most vocal surrogates for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ now-defunct presidential primary bid. More recently, he accused Trump of “ridiculous bullying tactics” for calling for a Republican to challenge sitting House Rep. Laurel Lee, R-Fla. His Tuesday primary victory comes despite millions of dollars spent against him by the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a bipartisan pro-Israel lobby that has spent big this cycle against lawmakers who have opposed legislation affirming U.S. support for Israel and condemning antisemitism. REPUBLICAN AIMING TO FLIP KEY SENATE SEAT IN DARK BLUE STATE GETS PRAISE FROM THESE TOP DEMS CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP He brushed off AIPAC’s threat in a statement to voters before polls closed, however, writing on X, “Election Day in KY! It’s a referendum on whether a guy can go to DC and vote against foreign aid, foreign wars, and sanctions, while supporting free speech, privacy, & the [Second Amendment]. AIPAC claims to have spent $400k against me. They won’t be happy tonight!” His challengers included former Kentucky gubernatorial candidate Eric Deters and Michael McGinnis, a self-described “sixth generation Kentuckian,” according to his campaign site.
WATCH: Hearing goes off the rails as Ted Cruz accuses Biden official of funding Hamas attack on Israel
Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz pulled no punches while questioning Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a heated Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Tuesday. The tense clash between the two began with Cruz blasting the Biden administration’s “worst foreign policy disaster of modern times,” referencing its handling of Iran and the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, and culminated with the senator accusing the White House of indirectly funding the attack. “Mr. Secretary, you have presided over the worst foreign policy disaster of modern times,” Cruz began. “When Joe Biden became president, he inherited peace and prosperity in the world. We now have two simultaneous wars waging: the worst war in Europe since World War II, and the worst war in the Middle East in 50 years. Both, I believe, were caused by this administration’s consistent weakness.” EXPERTS REVEAL MAJOR ‘DOWNSIDE’ TO POTENTIAL TRUMP VP PICK: ‘NO WOW FACTOR’ “Your foreign policy is precisely backwards from what a rational American foreign policy should be to our friends and allies. This administration has consistently undermined, weakened and attacked them,” he added. “And to our enemies, this administration has shown constant appeasement and indeed has flowed billions of dollars to the enemies of America who want to kill us.” The two clashed over the Biden administration’s effort to prevent Israel from attacking Rafah, a city in the Gaza Strip, as part of its efforts to root out Hamas terrorists from among the Palestinians, with Cruz demanding to know whether they offered Israel intelligence on the terrorists if they would hold off attacking. Blinken denied any such action was taken and attempted to expand on what he said was President Biden’s support for Israel, but Cruz stopped him, saying he wasn’t interested in a “campaign speech.” Cruz continued to press him, but Blinken called the notion “misleading and wrong,” and said the U.S. government shares intelligence if it’s available. WATCH: POSSIBLE TRUMP VP PICK MAKES MAJOR PREDICTION ABOUT BLACK VOTERS AS BIDEN BLEEDS SUPPORT Cruz then accused Blinken and the State Department of repeatedly telling Israel “not to kill” Hamas terrorists, citing a tweet he said the department later deleted immediately after the Oct. 7 attack, calling on Israel “not to engage in military retaliation.” “Senator, I was in Israel five days after Oct. 7. I’ve been there seven times since. No one, starting with President Biden, has done more to make sure they have what they need to defend themselves from Hamas, to deal with the threat,” Blinken said, as Cruz pushed back. “That is simply wrong. … That is ludicrous,” Cruz said, asking if the administration had cut off sending weapons to Israel. Blinken denied the administration had cut off any weapons supplies, but Cruz began to press him on funding for Iran. Cruz noted that Iran’s oil production had increased since Biden had taken office, and that the nation had developed more “ghost” ships to circumvent the sanctions against it and ship the oil. TRUMP’S POTENTIAL RUNNING MATES TO COMPETE FOR APPROVAL AT MAJOR CHRISTIAN CONFERENCE AS SPECULATION SWIRLS “This administration desperately wants a new Iran deal. You have been showering cash on Iran from day one,” Cruz said, referencing what he said was the administration’s “refusal to enforce oil sanctions.” “In a very real sense, this administration, you and President Biden funded the Oct. 7 attacks by flowing $100 billion to a homicidal, genocidal regime that funded those attacks,” he added. Blinken quickly hit back, calling Cruz’s statement “profoundly wrong” and “disgraceful,” to which the latter responded, “Why?” “We have gone at Iran repeatedly with more than 600 sanctions applied against them,” Blinken said. “Why are they selling 10 million barrels a day compared to 300,000?” Cruz responded. Blinken argued Iran was working hard to get around the sanctions, and that the administration was continuing to “go at them” every day despite the country being “determined” to sell more oil. “They weren’t determined when Trump was president,” Cruz said.
Nancy Pelosi interrupted while accepting award by anti-Israel agitator: ‘Shame on you!’
A Harvard graduate interjected with an anti-Israel rant, while former House Speaker and Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi was accepting an award for “distinguished citizen of the year” in San Francisco. The sold out dinner event, which was hosted by the Harvard Club of San Francisco for its 150th anniversary, honored Pelosi on Monday for her “37-year career of outstanding servant leadership,” the event’s website said. In video of the encounter obtained by Fox News Digital, Pelosi is seen accepting her “distinguished citizen” award before a female anti-Israel agitator interrupted. “Congratulations, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi,” the protester is heard yelling in the footage while standing in the middle of the room. “What good is getting a scholarship if we’re using our money from Harvard to retaliate and repress and suppress our own students?” JIMMY KIMMEL BECOMES LATEST COMEDIAN TO HOST SWANKY DEMOCRATIC FUNDRAISING EVENT WITH BIDEN AND OBAMA IN LA The protester told Pelosi that she was “aiding and abetting” the ongoing conflict in Gaza. “And what good can you be as a distinguished citizen when you are aiding and abetting this war and this ongoing genocide in Palestine?” the protester said. POLICE CLEAR ANTI-ISRAEL ENCAMPMENT AT UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Shortly after the protester’s outburst, event workers were seen ushering her out. “Shame on everybody here! Shame on you! How dare you do this? Where our own students are getting attacked by your administration!,” the protester yelled while being led out. Pelosi, who represents California‘s 11th congressional district, is heard replying to the protester, “We respect your right to have your say.” As the protester was removed, Pelosi quipped, “Welcome to San Francisco, everybody” to enthusiastic clapping and laughter. Since Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, campus protests have erupted at many college campuses across the U.S., including Harvard. According to a report by The Associated Press, at least 2,100 people have been arrested at various anti-Israel protests since April 18. Pelosi’s office, the San Francisco Police Department, Harvard University and the Harvard Club of San Francisco did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Dade Phelan, House incumbents receive major fundraising boost from casino magnate
The embattled Texas House speaker received twice as much in fundraising this period than his challenger David Covey.
Biden administration authorized ‘Use of Deadly Force’ in Mar-a-Lago raid
The Biden administration authorized the use of deadly force during the FBI’s raid on former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in August 2022 as part of its investigation into classified records, court documents revealed. An “Operations Order” produced in discovery as part of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Trump’s alleged improper retention of classified records revealed that the “FBI believed its objective for the Mar-a-Lago raid was to seize ‘classified information, NDI, and US Government records” as described in the search warrant. The order, according to a court filing, contained a “Policy Statement” regarding “Use of Deadly Force,” which stated, for example, “Law Enforcement officers of the Department of Justice may use deadly force when necessary.” FLASHBACK: TRUMP SAYS MAR-A-LAGO HOME IN FLORIDA ‘UNDER SIEGE’ BY FBI AGENTS According to the filing, the DOJ and FBI agents “planned to bring ‘Standard Issue Weapons, ‘Ammo,’ ‘Handcuffs,’ and ‘medium and large sized bolt cutters,’ but they were instructed to wear ‘unmarked polo or collared shirts’ and to keep ‘law enforcement equipment concealed.” Trump, who spent yet another day in a New York City courtroom for his unprecedented criminal trial stemming from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation, reacted to the revelations Tuesday afternoon. “WOW! I just came out of the Biden Witch Hunt Trial in Manhattan, the ‘Icebox,’ and was shown Reports that Crooked Joe Biden’s DOJ, in their Illegal and UnConstitutional Raid of Mar-a-Lago, AUTHORIZED THE FBI TO USE DEADLY (LETHAL) FORCE,” Trump posted on his Truth Social. “NOW WE KNOW, FOR SURE, THAT JOE BIDEN IS A SERIOUS THREAT TO DEMOCRACY.” FEDERAL JUDGE POSTPONES TRUMP’S CLASSIFIED RECORDS TRIAL WITH NO NEW DATE Trump added: “HE IS MENTALLY UNFIT TO HOLD OFFICE — 25TH AMENDMENT!” Trump was charged out of Smith’s investigation into his retention of classified materials. Trump pleaded not guilty to all 37 felony charges from Smith’s probe, including willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice, and false statements. Trump was also charged with an additional three counts as part of a superseding indictment out of the investigation: an additional count of willful retention of national defense information and two additional obstruction counts. Trump pleaded not guilty. The federal judge presiding over the case, Judge Aileen Cannon of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, postponed the trial stemming from Smith’s case indefinitely. The trial was set to begin May 20.
Fox News Politics: Courtroom Cliffhanger
Welcome to Fox News’ Politics newsletter with the latest political news from Washington D.C. and updates from the 2024 campaign trail. What’s happening? – James Carville tells Biden to stop complaining about coverage of his age – Jimmy Kimmel hosts fancy fundraiser for Biden, Obama – Legal filing claims transgender track athlete displaced over 700 girls Defense attorneys in New York v. Trump rested their case Tuesday morning without calling former President Trump to the stand to testify. The prosecution rested its case Monday, and Trump defense attorneys called two witnesses — paralegal Daniel Sitko and a former legal adviser to Michael Cohen, Robert Costello — before resting its case. Rather than have potential days-long gaps between closing arguments and jury deliberations, Judge Juan Merchan dismissed the jury until after Memorial Day. Former President Trump said his defense team has already “won the case by any standard” in the NY v. Trump trial as he called on presiding Judge Juan Merchan to dismiss this case. And when he exited court Tuesday evening, Trump pushed the boundaries of the gag order that has already cost him $10,000 in fines. “Look at the person. Why don’t you look at the person that argued their case for almost the entire case? Look at the person. Where did he come from? Unbelievable. He came from Biden,” he added. Trump did not name the person he was speaking about. However, the lead prosecutor for the case, Mathew Colangelo, is a former Department of Justice official who took a job with the DA’s office just months before the indictment of the former president. ‘SUFFOCATING HIM’: James Carville tells Biden to stop complaining about media coverage of his age …Read more DENIED: State Department does not grant Iran’s rare request for US assistance after president’s deadly helicopter crash …Read more ‘POLITICAL PURPOSES’: Biden skewered by GOP for targeting firearms industry with new commerce rule …Read more ‘IT’S ABSURD’: Biden admin under fire by House GOP leaders for response to Raisi death …Read more FMR REP SANCTIONED: China takes action against Republican who recently left House …Read more MONEY TO SPEND: GOP sen challenges Dems to support unspent COVID-19 funds to finish border wall …Read more HAULED AWAY: Anti-Israel agitators interrupt Blinken Senate testimony, taken out by Capitol police …Read more ‘WILL NEVER’: Trump says he ‘will never advocate imposing restrictions on birth control’ or other contraceptives …Read more BIG MONEY, BIG PRIZES: Jimmy Kimmel becomes latest comedian to host swanky fundraiser with Biden, Obama …Read more ‘CLOWN’: Fani Willis lashes out at Rep. Jim Jordan, Republicans in defiant media appearance …Read more PRIMARY SHOWDOWNS: What to know as five states from coast to coast hold crucial elections on Tuesday …Read more WHERE WILL JOE GO?: Manchin addresses report he’s being recruited to run for governor …Read more FIGHT IT OUT: In Georgia, fierce state Supreme Court race, Republican congressional primary top ballots …Read more ROUGHING THE KICKER: LGBT group slams ‘dangerous’ Harrison Butker as out of step with Pope Francis …Read more ‘RADICAL REDEFINITION’: New legal filing says one transgender track athlete displaced girls over 700 times …Read more ‘KANGAROO COURT’: Ex-NSC official calls to defund ICC before it targets United States …Read more WHO CARES?: MSNBC host defends Michael Cohen bombshell admission during trial …Read more Subscribe now to get Fox News Politics newsletter in your inbox. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.
Trump risks gag order violation with new screed against lawyer who argued the case: ‘Unbelievable’
Former President Trump launched an attack on the Manhattan District Attorney’s lead prosecutor in the NY v. Trump case, despite not calling him out by name, as a “representative” of the Biden administration looking to “hurt” Trump’s 2024 run for the White House. “Let me just tell you that the White House … they’re the one trying this case. You heard who was doing all the talking: a representative from the White House, just recently. This is all about Biden, he can’t campaign. So, he’s trying to injure his opponent. They’re trying to hurt the opponent because they can’t win it fair and square. It’s lawfare. There are a lot of terms for it. It’s a third-world-country way of campaigning. Such a disgrace, so sad to see what’s happened to our country,” Trump said Tuesday afternoon. “Our country is going to hell under Biden.” “Look at the person. Why don’t you look at the person that argued their case for almost the entire case? Look at the person. Where did he come from? Unbelievable. He came from Biden,” he added. Trump did not name the person he was speaking about. However, the lead prosecutor for the case, Mathew Colangelo, is a former Department of Justice (DOJ) official who took a job with the DA’s office just months before the indictment of the former president. JIM JORDAN DEMANDS NY AG HAND OVER DOCUMENTS RELATED TO FORMER DOJ OFFICIAL AT HEART OF NY V. TRUMP His comments come amid a gag order that has prevented him from publicly speaking about witnesses or making remarks about court staff, DA staff or family members of staff. Trump has already been fined $10,000 for violating the order on 10 occasions via Truth Social posts and his campaign’s website. Earlier Tuesday, Trump teased he may violate the gag order. “We do want to defend our Constitution,” he told reporters Tuesday. “So at some point, maybe, I will take the chance.” In presiding Judge Juan Merchan’s initial gag order ruling last month, he threatened Trump with jail time if the former president continued to violate the order, noting the law prevented him from fining Trump more than $1,000 for each violation. Merchan wrote in the order that if Trump carries out “continued willful violations” of the gag order, he could face “incarceratory punishment” if “necessary and appropriate.” NY V TRUMP: APPEALS COURT REJECTS TRUMP’S REQUEST TO END ‘UNCONSTITUTIONAL’ GAG ORDER Trump responded to the threats of jail this month as a “sacrifice” he was willing to make to protect the Constitution. “I have to watch every word I tell you people. You ask me a question, a simple question I’d like to give it, but I can’t talk about it because this judge has given me a gag order and [says] you’ll go to jail if you violate it,” Trump said at the time. TRUMP PROSECUTOR QUIT TOP DOJ POST FOR LOWLY NY JOB IN LIKELY BID TO ‘GET’ FORMER PRESIDENT, EXPERT SAYS “And frankly, you know what? Our Constitution is much more important than jail. It’s not even close. I’ll do that sacrifice any day.” Though Trump did not mention Colangelo by name when he made his remarks Tuesday, the prosecutor has a lengthy resume in government that dates back to the Obama administration, Fox News Digital previously reported. He most recently served nearly two years in Biden’s DOJ, including as acting associate attorney general and overseeing the Antitrust, Civil, Civil Rights, Environment and Natural Resources, and Tax Divisions. Colangelo has also previously prosecuted cases involving Trump. EX-TOP BIDEN DOJ OFFICIAL NOW PROSECUTING TRUMP WAS ONCE PAID BY DNC FOR ‘POLITICAL CONSULTING’ Colangelo assisted a case in 2018 that dissolved Trump’s former N.Y.-based charity, the Donald J. Trump Foundation, after prosecutors alleged that it had illegally coordinated with Trump’s 2016 campaign. The charity was dissolved after a judge found that Trump had “breached his fiduciary duty.” That same year, Colangelo worked as lead prosecutor in a case involving the Trump administration’s push to include a citizenship question in the 2020 census. The Justice Department ultimately decided to print the 2020 census without the citizenship question due to lengthy court battles, including the Supreme Court weighing in that the question could not be added for the time being. Experts who previously spoke to Fox News Digital described Colangelo’s career move from a top DOJ position to a district attorney’s office as “very odd.” NY V TRUMP: HOUSE JUDICIARY INVESTIGATES BRAGG PROSECUTOR WHO HELD SENIOR ROLE IN BIDEN DOJ Before the gag order was imposed, Trump made clear he was no fan of Colangelo. He slammed the attorney as a “radical left [prosecutor] who was put into the state working for Letitia James and was then put into the district attorney’s office to run the trial against Trump.” Last week, Republican House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan sent a letter to New York Attorney General Letitia James, demanding her office turn over documents related to Colangelo and arguing that the prosecutor has an “obsession” with the 45th president. “Mr. Colangelo’s recent employment history demonstrates his obsession with investigating a person rather than prosecuting a crime,” Jordan wrote in his letter to James last Wednesday. BRAGG ‘ALLOWED POLITICAL MOTIVATIONS’ TO ‘INFECT’ PROSECUTION OF TRUMP, HOUSE JUDICIARY GOP SAYS “At the New York Attorney General’s Office, Mr. Colangelo – who, for some time, held the title of Chief Counsel for Federal Initiatives – ran investigations into President Trump, leading ‘a wave of state litigation against Trump administration policies,’” Jordan continued. “On January 20, 2021, the first day of the Biden Administration, Mr. Colangelo began serving as the Acting Associate Attorney General – the number three official at the Justice Department. Upon the confirmation of Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta, Mr. Colangelo then served as the Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General.” The defense team rested on Tuesday, with Merchan dismissing the jury until Tuesday next week, when closing arguments will begin. Jury deliberations are anticipated to begin next Wednesday.
DOJ files lawsuit against Oklahoma challenging state immigration law
The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against Oklahoma, challenging a state law which imposes criminal penalties on illegal immigrants. The DOJ argued that enforcing immigration laws is a federal matter and Oklahoma “cannot disregard the U.S. Constitution and settled Supreme Court precedent.” “We have brought this action to ensure that Oklahoma adheres to the Constitution and the framework adopted by Congress for regulation of immigration,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton said in a statement. The law, HB 4156, makes it a state crime to be in the state illegally, gives local law enforcement the ability to arrest illegal immigrants, and requires them to leave the state within 72 hours following conviction or release from custody. UNUSED COVID-19 FUNDS WOULD BUILD BORDER WALL UNDER NEW SENATE BILL HB 4156 was signed by Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt this month and is due to go into force on July 1. Stitt said the bill was necessary because the Biden administration is failing to secure the nation’s borders. “Not only that, but they stand in the way of states trying to protect their citizens,” Stitt said in a statement. BIDEN WANTS TO SPEED UP BACKLOG OF MIGRANT ASYLUM SEEKERS IN BLUE CITIES AS DEM PRESSURE BUILDS The DOJ, which threatened to sue Gov. Stitt and Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond earlier this week, said the law violates the U.S. Constitution and is asking the court to declare it invalid and bar the state from enforcing it. Drummond vowed to uphold the law and accused the Biden administration of being “‘committed’ to subverting the immigration laws of this country.” “Oklahoma is exercising its concurrent and complementary power as a sovereign state to address an ongoing public crisis within its borders through appropriate legislation,” Drummond wrote. “Put more bluntly, Oklahoma is cleaning up the Biden Administration’s mess through entirely legal means in its own backyard – and will resolutely continue to do so by supplementing federal prohibitions with robust state penalties.” Oklahoma is among several GOP states jockeying to push deeper into immigration enforcement as both Republicans and Democrats seize on the issue. Similar laws passed in Texas and Iowa are already facing challenges from the DOJ.
California lawmaker’s mic cut off while reading bill to end sanctuary state laws, says Dems ‘don’t care’
A California lawmaker who tried to force a vote Tuesday on a bill that would have ended sanctuary protections for illegal immigrants convicted of sex crimes against minors had his microphone cut off before the legislation was kicked aside. Assemblyman Bill Essayli motioned to force a vote on AB 2641 in an effort to force state Democrats to go on the record. The bill would have repealed provisions of a state law that prohibits local authorities from participating in federal immigration enforcement, including banning officers from asking someone about their immigration status and informing immigration authorities about when a suspect is due to be released from local police custody. On Tuesday, Essayli attempted to introduce the bill in Sacramento before his microphone was cut off in the Democratic-dominated chamber. Assembly Speaker Pro Tempore Jim Wood, a Democrat, quickly cut Essayli off. DEMOCRATIC TOWN FURIOUS OVER MIGRANT SHELTER OPENING IN NEIGHBORHOOD “Stop. Strop. Stop,” Wood said. “You went beyond making a motion. You started to go into debate. You can make the motion, but you cannot talk about… the motion will be nondebatable.” A motion was then made to suspend the rules for a vote on the bill, which failed 13-36. “Every single Democrat voted against it,” Essayli told Fox News Digital. “They’re so out of touch and tone-deaf. They really feel like they can do whatever they want and there’s nothing anyone can do to them. They don’t care.” “You cannot get a clear answer out of them about why we should not deport child sex predators,” he added. Fox News Digital has reached out to the California Democratic Party about its stance on the bill. The vote effectively killed the bill, Essayli said, noting that all bills have to be passed in the Assembly by the end of the week. Essayli previously told Fox News Digital that he was inspired to seek a legislative fix to California’s immigration policies by a recent case in which a Colombian citizen convicted of sex crimes in California was arrested in Massachusetts by immigration agents. The suspect was released from a jail in California, but the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office didn’t notify ICE of the impending release because of state laws. MIGRANT CHILDREN IN MASSACHUSETTS LIVED AMONG SEX PREDATORS AS DEM GOVERNOR CLAIMED SHELTERS ‘VETTED’: REPORT Dalila Epperson, a Republican who is challenging Democratic Assemblywoman Dawn Addis, said state Democrats want California to be a refuge for illegal immigrants. “This is their stand and they are choosing this hill to die on,” she told Fox News Digital. “Gavin Newsom wants it to be a sanctuary state for abortion and illegal aliens. He wants to provide free health care for them, free school. They can’t be deported for any reason whatsoever.” Essayli’s attempt to force a vote came after AB 2641 was refused a hearing in the Democratic-dominated Assembly Public Safety Committee. The committee came under fire last year when it initially blocked a bill that would have made human trafficking of children a serious felony. It eventually reversed course after outcry from the public and Democratic leaders, including Newsom. CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “They don’t want to give Republicans a platform. They’re just going to oppose it out of politics,” Essayli said. “They’re like, ‘We’re never going to let a Republican pass anything here.’ They do this thing where they just keep their head in the sand, and they don’t respond, and they think it’s just going to go away.”