Texas Weekly Online

Texas-trans-white
Menu
Menu

Author:

Mississippi lawmakers poised to vote on Medicaid expansion plan with work mandate

Mississippi lawmakers poised to vote on Medicaid expansion plan with work mandate

Mississippi lawmakers are expected to vote this week on a proposal that would expand Medicaid coverage to tens of thousands more people, but it includes a work requirement that might not win federal approval. The state House and Senate passed separate expansion plans earlier this year. With the four-month legislative session pushing into its final days, negotiators from the two chambers submitted a compromise moments before a Monday night deadline. They declined to answer questions after emerging from a closed-door meeting, but the proposal was filed in legislative clerks’ offices. The plan would require the new Medicaid recipients to be employed at least 100 hours a month in a job that does not provide private health insurance. Or, they could fit into other categories, such as being a fulltime student or the parent of a child younger than 6. HEALTH CARE OR HOUSING? MORE STATES ARE USING MEDICAID FUNDS TO HELP THE HOMELESS If the federal government rejects Mississippi’s work requirement, the state Division of Medicaid would be required to continue seeking approval each year — an acknowledgement that a different federal administration might provide a different decision. Georgia is the only state with a Medicaid work requirement, and it is suing the federal government to try to keep the mandate in place. The work requirement was approved by then-President Donald Trump’s administration, but the Biden administration announced in December 2021 that it was revoking the approval. That prompted Georgia officials to sue. Mississippi is one of the poorest states in the U.S., and advocates say covering tens of thousands more people with Medicaid could help them manage chronic health conditions such as asthma and diabetes. The federal health overhaul signed by then-President Barack Obama in 2010 allowed states to expand Medicaid, largely to people who work low-wage jobs without insurance. Mississippi is among the 10 states that have resisted expansion. Republican Gov. Tate Reeves has said for years that he does not want to put more Mississippi residents on government programs. But dynamics in the Republican-controlled Legislature changed this year with the selection of a new House speaker, Jason White, who said expansion could help some of Mississippi’s financially struggling hospitals. The House voted by a wide bipartisan margin in late February to expand Medicaid coverage to about 200,000 people who earn up to 138% of the federal poverty level, or $20,120 annually for one person. Mississippi has about 3 million residents, and its Medicaid program covered 374,823 people in March. In late March, the Senate passed its own pared-down version that would extend eligibility to people earning up to 100% of the federal poverty level, just over $15,000 for one person. Senate Medicaid Committee Chairman Kevin Blackwell, a Republican from Southaven, said about 80,000 people would become eligible for coverage but he thought about half that number would enroll.

Abbott says Texas won’t accept Biden’s ‘ham-fisted’ Title IX changes

Abbott says Texas won’t accept Biden’s ‘ham-fisted’ Title IX changes

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has announced his state will not be implementing changes to Title IX protections propagated by President Biden’s administration. Abbott, in a letter sent to the White House on Monday, rebuked the Biden administration’s expansion of Title IX protections to protect “gender identity.” “Title IX was written by Congress to support the advancement of women academically and athletically,” the letter states. “The law was based on the fundamental premise that there are only two sexes — male and female. You have rewritten Title IX to force schools to treat boys as if they were girls and to accept every student’s self-declared gender identity.” FLORIDA, OKLAHOMA INSTRUCT SCHOOLS TO IGNORE BIDEN’S TITLE IX CHANGES, PENDING LEGAL CHALLENGES The letter continued, “This ham-handed effort to impose a leftist belief onto Title IX exceeds your authority as President. I am instructing the Texas Education Agency to ignore your illegal dictate.” The Biden administration unveiled the new rules earlier this month to address concerns expressed by LGBTQ+ groups regarding gender identity protections. “No one should face bullying or discrimination just because of who they are, who they love,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said. “Sadly, this happens all too often.” GEORGIA AG FILES SUIT AGAINST BIDEN ADMINISTRATION FOR TITLE IX REVISION: ‘DESTROYING WOMEN’S SPORTS’ The unveiled rule changes also rolled back regulations put in place by former Trump Education Secretary Betsy DeVos that ensured due process for those accused of misconduct. Abbott’s letter declining to comply with the updated federal protections focused solely on the expansion to cover “gender identity,” which he claimed was an illegitimate overreach and would be challenged in court. “Your rewrite of Title IX not only exceeds your constitutional authority, but it also tramples laws that I signed to protect the integrity of women’s sports by prohibiting men from competing against female athletes,” Abbott wrote. “Texas will fight to protect those laws and to deny your abuse of authority.” Texas is not alone in opposition to the Title IX updates — state officials from Florida, Oklahoma, Georgia, and elsewhere have expressed intentions to legally challenge the federal government on implementing the protections.  Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr has already filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration, accusing the White House of “gutting commonsense provisions that protect female athletes.” State attorney generals from Alabama, South Carolina, and Florida have joined Georgia in the suit.

Judge hits ‘treasonous’ ex-NSA worker with 21-year sentence for trying to sell secrets to Russia: ‘A betrayal’

Judge hits ‘treasonous’ ex-NSA worker with 21-year sentence for trying to sell secrets to Russia: ‘A betrayal’

A federal judge laced into an ex-National Security Agency worker who admitted to attempting to sell classified secrets to Russia, sentencing the “treasonous” former U.S. intelligence employee to 21 years in prison.  U.S. District Judge Raymond Moore said he could have put Jareh Sebastian Dalke, 32, behind bars for even longer, calling the 262-month sentence “mercy” for what he saw as a calculated action to take the job at the NSA in order to be able to sell national security secrets. The nearly 22-year sentence was the same as what prosecutors sought.  “This was blatant. It was brazen and, in my mind, it was deliberate. It was a betrayal, and it was as close to treasonous as you can get,” Moore said, according to The Associated Press.  According to court documents, Dalke, who worked at the NSA for about a month from June 6 to July 1, 2022, as an Information Systems Security Designer, admitted that between August and September 2022, in order to demonstrate both his “legitimate access and willingness to share,” he used an encrypted email account to transmit excerpts of three classified documents to an individual he believed to be a Russian agent.  SENATE PASSES FISA SURVEILLANCE TOOL RENEWAL MINUTES AFTER MIDNIGHT DEADLINE That person was an FBI online covert employee. All three documents from which the excerpts were taken contain NDI, are classified as Top Secret//Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) and were obtained by Dalke during his employment with the NSA, federal prosecutors said.  Dalke was said to have told the undercover FBI agent that he wanted to “cause change” after questioning the United States’ role in causing damage to the world, but he also said he was $237,000 in debt, according to court documents. He allegedly said he had decided to work with Russia because his heritage “ties back to your country.” Dalke was initially paid $16,499 in cryptocurrency for excerpts of some documents that he passed on to the agent to show what he had, and then he offered to sell the rest of the information he had for $85,000, according to the plea deal. Prosecutors say $85,000 is about what he would have earned at the NSA in a year. The agent directed him to go to Denver’s downtown train station and send the documents using a secure digital connection during a four-hour window. Dalke arrived with his laptop and first used the connection to send a thank you letter that opened and closed in Russian and in which he said he looked “forward to our friendship and shared benefit,” according to the plea deal.  Moments after he used his laptop to transfer all the files, FBI agents arrested him.  SENATE PUSHES FORWARD FISA SURVEILLANCE BILL AS EXPIRATION LOOMS According to his indictment, the information Dalke sought to give to Russia included a threat assessment of the military offensive capabilities of a third, unnamed country. It also includes a description of sensitive U.S. defense capabilities, some of which relates to that same foreign country. Speaking outside court after the hearing, FBI Special Agent in Charge Mark Michalek said he could not provide details about what the documents contained, but he said Dalke knew the risk they posed. Dalke’s attorneys had asked for the Army veteran, who pleaded guilty to espionage charges last fall in a deal with prosecutors, to be sentenced to 14 years in prison, in part because the information he sold in 2022 did not end up in enemy hands and cause damage. Assistant federal public defender David Kraut also argued for a lighter sentence because he said Dalke had suffered a traumatic brain injury, had attempted suicide four times, and had experienced trauma as a child, including witnessing domestic violence and substance abuse. Research has shown that kind of childhood trauma increases the risk of people later engaging in dangerous behavior, he said. Later, Dalke, who said he was “remorseful and ashamed”, told Moore he had also suffered PTSD, bipolar disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder. He denied being motivated by ideology or earning money by agreeing to sell the secrets. Dalke also suggested he had an idea that he was actually communicating with law enforcement but was attracted to the thrill of what he was doing. Moore said he was skeptical of Dalke’s claims about his conditions since the defense did not provide any expert opinions or hospital records. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Senate gridlock could worsen with Romney, Sinema, Manchin retirements: experts

Senate gridlock could worsen with Romney, Sinema, Manchin retirements: experts

The already narrowly divided Senate could see more gridlock in 2025, with several of the less partisan lawmakers from both sides of the aisle departing. As Sens. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., each prepare to leave the Senate, questions loom over the upper chamber’s future ability to legislate across party lines.  “The Senate is trending to be much more of a hostile atmosphere as more moderate or independent-minded senators are retiring,” said Republican strategist Ron Bonjean, former top spokesperson to former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott and former chief of staff of the Senate Republican Conference. GOP SENATORS AIR ‘DEEP CONCERNS’ OVER NPR BIAS, URGE CEO TO ‘START A COURSE CORRECTION’ “More deadlock and stalemate” is a likely outcome if the aforementioned lawmakers are succeeded by “more polarized and polarizing figures,” said Grant Reeher, a political science professor at Syracuse University.  Daniel Wirls, a politics professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz, said that “the number and degree of stalemates might be hard to predict.” He also said the moderate senators in each party “did not necessarily remedy or reduce the stalemates.”  “In some instances, they may have complicated them,” he added. TIM SCOTT SAYS BIDEN ‘WILLING TO TANK’ ECONOMY BY GETTING RID OF TRUMP TAX CUTS Romney’s office pointed Fox News Digital to past comments he made about the future of the Senate. “We got a lot of stuff done on a bipartisan basis,” Romney told CNN following news in March that Sinema would not seek re-election. “That is really over. That is not going to keep happening.” The Utah Republican reminisced last year about a bipartisan effort during the COVID-19 pandemic, telling Politico in September, “That group was so productive. And it was so fun.” “That little group, I think, is not going to be around. And so, time for new groups to form,” he said. DEM SENATE CANDIDATE ELISSA SLOTKIN’S ‘SMALL CONSULTING BUSINESS’ MAY HAVE NEVER BEEN ACTIVE Bonjean predicted that the three lawmakers who have bucked their parties on occasion will be succeeded by “more partisan and party-line voices.” He also said that such successors won’t necessarily be interested in looking for bipartisan ways to legislate “and instead dig into their positions.” However, Reeher said Arizona, West Virginia and Utah each “can, and have, produced more moderate representatives over the years.”   “So, perhaps similar senators will follow them,” he said.  Another consideration for the Senate, sans Romney, Manchin and Sinema, is the fate of the controversial filibuster, which allows senators to effectively kill a bill that is unable to reach 60 votes on a procedural cloture measure. “Through its filibuster rule, the Senate is also built to amplify the voice of moderates – at least in moments of great polarization. Senator No. 60 becomes more important than Senator No. 51,” Reeher said.  TOP SENATE DEM CALLS FOR PROBE INTO MUSLIMS PROSECUTED BY DOJ FOR ILLEGAL BORDER CROSSINGS Manchin and Sinema have notoriously opposed efforts by Democrats to do away with the procedural device. Reeher suggested that with the potential for “more polarized and polarizing figures” entering the upper chamber, “even Senator No. 60,” who would be needed to break a filibuster, “may not be a moderate.” If the Senate does become more partisan with fewer lawmakers willing to diverge with their parties, it’s unlikely either Democrats or Republicans would get very far without a challenge. Reeher said it “doesn’t seem likely anytime soon” that either party will get 60 seats in the Senate and thus the ability to bypass a filibuster without bipartisan assistance. Wirls predicted that if given the opportunity to control all three branches of government, Democrats could be expected to once again “revive efforts to reform if not eliminate the Senate filibuster.” But he cautioned that such a scenario is “hardly a given.” Representatives for Sinema and Manchin did not provide comment in time for publication.

NY v Trump criminal trial begins its 3rd week as former president accused of gag order violations

NY v Trump criminal trial begins its 3rd week as former president accused of gag order violations

The historic and unprecedented criminal trial of former President Trump is set to resume for its third week Tuesday.  Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged the former president with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree.  Trump pleaded not guilty. So far, opening statements have been delivered by Trump’s defense attorneys and prosecutors from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. NY V. TRUMP: TABLOID PUBLISHER TESTIFIES HE BOUGHT STORIES ON TIGER WOODS, EX-OBAMA CHIEF OF STAFF Trump defense attorneys say the former president is “innocent.”  Prosecutors must try to convince the jury not only that Trump falsified the business records related to hush money payments, but also that he did so in furtherance of another crime: conspiracy to promote or prevent election. Prosecutors will try to prove that the alleged conspiracy was to conceal a conspiracy to unlawfully promote his candidacy in 2016.  “Any two or more persons who conspire to promote or prevent the election of any person to a public office by unlawful means and which conspiracy is acted upon by one or more of the parties thereto, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor,” New York Law 17-152 reads.  Typically, on their own, falsifying business records and conspiracy to promote or prevent election are viewed as misdemeanors. So far, the prosecution has called three witnesses – former American Media Inc. CEO and former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker. Pecker testified about an alleged “catch & kill” practice of buying negative stories about Trump, regardless of their legitimacy, and burying them to protect his reputation. Prosecutors are trying to convince the jury that Pecker’s actions were done with the intention of influencing the 2016 presidential election.  Pecker, though, testified that he worked with Michael Cohen in his capacity as Trump’s personal attorney.  NY PROSECUTORS REVEAL ‘ANOTHER CRIME’ TRUMP ALLEGEDLY TRIED TO CONCEAL WITH FALSIFIED BUSINESS RECORDS On Friday, prosecutors called Rhona Graff to the stand for questioning. Graff is a former executive assistant to Trump and a senior vice president of the Trump Organization. She worked at Trump Tower for decades prior to Trump’s presidency.  Later, they called Gary Farro, who, in 2016, was a senior managing director at First Republic Bank.  Meanwhile, New York Judge Juan Merchan, who is presiding over the trial, imposed a gag order on the former president, which prohibits him from making statements about court staff and potential witnesses. Bragg has alleged Trump violated the order at least 14 times and is asking the judge to fine the former president $1,000 per violation. They also want Trump to be held in contempt of court. Trump attorneys argue the gag order is a violation of the former president’s First Amendment rights. The judge is expected to hold a hearing on the gag order and alleged violations on Thursday. Merchan has not yet ruled.  In documents filed last week, prosecutor Christopher Conroy outlined four additional alleged violations that happened when Trump made statements to the press between his court appearances. The prosecutor pointed to comments Trump made to a local Pennsylvania news station about Cohen, who is expected to testify at trial later on. “Well, Michael Cohen is a convicted liar, and he’s got no credibility whatsoever. He was a lawyer, and you rely on your lawyers. But Michael Cohen was a convicted liar. He was a lawyer for many people, not just me. And he got in trouble because of things outside of what he did for me, largely, it was essentially all because what he did in terms of the campaign. I don’t think there was anything wrong with that with the charges that they made. But what he did is he did some pretty bad things, I guess, with banking or whatever if that was a personal thing to him,” Trump said on Monday.  TRUMP TRIAL: FORMER PRESIDENT ‘INNOCENT,’ DEFENSE SAYS AS DA ALLEGES ‘CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY’ Conroy called this a “knowing and willful statement” that violated Merchan’s gag order. The prosecutor also noted statements Trump made about Pecker. “He’s been very nice. I mean, he’s been – David’s been very nice. A nice guy,” Trump said on Thursday.  At trial, Conroy told the judge that Trump was sending a message to Pecker, instructing him to “be nice” or else Trump would use his platform to “say things like I said about Cohen.”  Trump is required to attend every day of his criminal trial. Because of this, last Thursday, Trump was forced to miss arguments at the Supreme Court on the issue of presidential immunity and whether he is immune from prosecution on charges stemming from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s 2020 election interference case. Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges.  NY VS TRUMP: THE EVIDENCE PROSECUTORS CAN PRESENT IF FORMER PRESIDENT TESTIFIES Trump had requested to attend, but Merchan rejected his request.  On Friday, Trump missed celebrating the birthday of his wife, former first lady Melania Trump, Trump wished her a “very happy birthday” on Friday morning from the courthouse.  “I want to start by wishing my wife Melania a very happy birthday. It’d be nice to be with her, but I’m in a courthouse for a rigged trial,” Trump said Friday. Meanwhile, Trump has requested to attend his youngest son Barron Trump’s high school graduation on May 17. Merchan has not yet made a decision on whether the former president can attend to celebrate his son. The judge said he would consider the issue later based on how the trial is going.  The court does not meet on Wednesdays. The former president is expected to hold campaign events Wednesday.