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House GOP lawmaker proposes using AI to cut federal red tape, streamline services

House GOP lawmaker proposes using AI to cut federal red tape, streamline services

FIRST ON FOX: House Rep. Andy Biggs is eyeing artificial intelligence (AI) technology as a way to cut unnecessary government red tape. The Arizona Republican is introducing a bill on Tuesday that would mandate federal agencies use AI to review regulations under their purview with the aim of cutting rules that fail to meet certain standards. “American businesses must be given the opportunity to thrive without overbearing, costly, contradictory, and duplicative regulations mandated by the DC Swamp,” Biggs told Fox News Digital.  “Federal overregulation takes a colossal toll on the U.S. economy. Thousands of new regulations go into effect every year, and there simply isn’t enough manpower or existing technology to sift through previously issued regulations. AI technology is an effective tool that can save taxpayer dollars, benefit American business owners, and promote economic growth.” GOOGLE GEMINI MAY BE ‘LAUGHABLE’ NOW, BUT THE THREAT TO FUTURE GENERATIONS IS REAL, MARC THIESSEN WARNS   If passed, the bill would have federal agencies and offices use “algorithmic tools and artificial intelligence” to “more efficiently, cost-effectively, and accurately” review regulatory policies, according to bill text obtained by Fox News Digital. The review would flag regulations that are “outmoded,” “contain typographic errors,” “contain inaccurate cost references,” or “are redundant or overlap with any regulations or standards of the Federal Government.” Heads of those agencies would then need to provide Congress with a detailed strategy on how to reform or strip those regulations. TAYLOR SWIFT AI-GENERATED EXPLICIT PHOTOS OUTRAGE FANS: ‘PROTECT TAYLOR SWIFT’  The 118th Congress has seen a record number of AI-focused bills introduced in both the House and Senate as lawmakers race to get ahead of the rapidly emerging technology. Many of those bills are focused on mitigating potential threats posed by AI, but Biggs’ bill is an example of how lawmakers are also working toward harnessing it to streamline aspects of day-to-day life and government operations.   WHAT IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)? CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The House of Representatives already uses AI to make certain processes more efficient, according to a report used last year by the Committee on House Administration. The December document listed current cases in which House staff use AI, which includes “AI-assisted chatbots and other AI automations or support for Helpdesk,” as well as using AI to help draft constituent correspondence, emails, memos and briefing notes.

Super Tuesday expected to boost Trump closer to clinching GOP nomination as Haley makes possible last stand

Super Tuesday expected to boost Trump closer to clinching GOP nomination as Haley makes possible last stand

Donald Trump won’t clinch the 2024 Republican presidential nomination on Tuesday. But with the former president likely to capture the lion’s share of the 854 Republican delegates up for grabs when 15 states hold GOP primaries or caucuses on what’s known as Super Tuesday, Trump is expected to move significantly closer to locking up his party’s presidential nomination over his last remaining rival – Nikki Haley. “It’s big stuff and it’s the single most important primary day of the year,” Trump told his supporters in a video to supporters posted on social media ahead of Super Tuesday. Trump has swept all but one of the first nine contests on the GOP nominating calendar, including North Dakota’s Republican presidential caucuses on the eve of Super Tuesday.  TRUMP HEADS INTO SUPER TUESDAY ON A ROLL  Another strong showing by the former president in Tuesday’s coast-to-coast primaries and caucuses will help him in his mission to completely pivot from a primary battle with Haley to a general election rematch with President Biden, who defeated Trump four years ago to win the White House. “If every single conservative, Republican, and Trump supporter in these states shows up on Super Tuesday, we will be very close to finished with this primary contest,” Trump emphasized. “Republicans will then be able to focus all of our energy, time, and resources, on defeating crooked Joe Biden.” WHERE THE 2024 REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY RACE STANDS Among the states holding nominating contests on Super Tuesday are delegate-rich California and Texas. Also holding primaries are Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia. Two states, Alaska and Utah, are holding caucuses.  The scant public opinion polling conducted in some of these states indicates the former president holds formidable leads over Haley, a former two-term South Carolina governor who later served as U.N. ambassador in the Trump administration. Some of the states – including California with 169 delegates at stake – have winner-take-all rules to varying degrees, which should boost Trump’s delegate haul. With more large states like Georgia, Florida, Illinois and Ohio among the eight holding primaries on March 12 and 19, Trump is expected to reach the 1,215 delegates needed to clinch the nomination by the middle of this month. Trump’s campaign predicted in a memo last month that even under the most favorable modeling for Haley, the former president would clinch the nomination by March 19. CHECK OUT THE LATEST REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY DELEGATE COUNT HERE Trump for nearly a year has dominated the GOP nomination race, which last summer peaked with over a dozen challengers taking on the former president. Helping to boost Trump among the Republican base – his history-making indictments last year in four different criminal cases – including charges in two cases that he tried to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss.  The former president kicked off the nominating calendar with double-digit wins in the Iowa caucuses and in the New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Michigan primaries. He also grabbed landslide victories in the Nevada and U.S. Virgin Islands GOP caucuses. Trump rolled into Super Tuesday with plenty of momentum, after securing the 39 delegates up for grabs Saturday at Michigan’s GOP’s party convention. A few hours later, the former president was victorious in the Missouri caucuses, and he closed out Saturday evening by scoring a win in the Idaho caucuses. “We’ve been launching like a rocket to the Republican nomination,” Trump touted Saturday night at a rally in Richmond, Virginia, as he pointed to his ballot box victories in Michigan, Missouri and Idaho. Heading into Super Tuesday, Trump was well more than 200 delegates ahead of Haley, following his North Dakota victory on Monday night. “Republican voters have delivered resounding wins for President Trump in every single primary contest and this race is over,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a recent statement. “Our focus is now on Joe Biden and the general election.” The former president also won a major court victory on Monday, as the Supreme Court sided unanimously with Trump in his legal challenge to the state of Colorado’s attempt to kick him off the 2024 primary ballot.  But Haley, who remains in the GOP nomination race at least through Super Tuesday despite the extremely long odds she faces, on Sunday enjoyed victory for the first time in the 2024 race. Haley topped Trump by roughly 30 points in Washington D.C.’s Republican primary. She captured 19 delegates and made history as the first woman to win a GOP presidential primary or caucus. “Republicans closest to Washington’s dysfunction know that Donald Trump has brought nothing but chaos and division for the past 8 years. It’s time to start winning again and move our nation forward!,” Haley wrote on social media Sunday night. In the past few days, Haley landed the endorsements of two GOP senators from Super Tuesday states – Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. Haley, who has garnered strong support in the GOP primaries from independents and whose fundraising has remained formidable, has stayed in the race as an option for voters dissatisfied with a likely Biden-Trump rematch.  But while Trump plans to make comments Tuesday evening from his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, Haley has no public events or election night gatherings scheduled for Super Tuesday evening and remains mum on any plans going forward. Haley reiterated in an interview on Saturday with Fox News’ Bill Melugin that “we’re going to go as long as we’re competitive,” but she did not specifically define what competitive means. One U.S. territory – American Samoa – also holds nominating contests on Tuesday. CHECK OUT THE LATEST DEMOCRATIC DELEGATE COUNT HERE Except for Alaska, all the states holding GOP primaries or caucuses on Tuesday are also conducting Democratic ones as well. And Iowa Democrats will announce the results of a vote-by-mail caucus they’ve been holding since mid-January. The president, who faces nominal challenges from Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota and best-selling

How left and right justices found common ground in restoring Trump to the ballot

How left and right justices found common ground in restoring Trump to the ballot

Let’s cut through the legal jargon: the Supreme Court yesterday did the only thing it could do, and did it unanimously. The justices rejected the notion that a Colorado court – all-Democratic appointees – could simply kick Donald Trump off the ballot. Just on the face of it, the idea was ludicrous, absurd and anti-democratic, and the court explicitly banned any other state from trying such a stunt. On Sunday’s “Media Buzz,” I was griping about the fact that the justices were taking so long, and said they must be honing their opinions and concurring opinions. That turned out to be the case. In the unsigned opinion, all nine justices declared that “nothing in the Constitution requires that we endure such chaos – arriving at any time or different times, up to and perhaps beyond the inauguration.” THE PUBLIC PERCEPTION OF FANI WILLIS’ CASE IS ‘VERY IMPORTANT’: SUSAN FERRECHIO While legal observers say the court moved at rocket speed, the ruling came on the last day before voters in Colorado head to the polls, along with those in the other Super Tuesday states. Much of the back and forth had to do with the 14th Amendment, but put that aside for a moment. When Colorado’s court first made its ruling, a veritable army of anchors, correspondents and legal analysts, especially on MSNBC, cheered the move, saying Trump was finally being held accountable for fomenting the Capitol riot.  Many of the anti-Trumpers wanted more states to remove the former president from their ballots – as Maine’s Democratic secretary of state did, followed by an Illinois judge late in the game. LIBERAL PUNDITS, URGING BIDEN TO WITHDRAW, PUSHING CONVENTION SCENARIO That means they were all taking a hard-line stance that has now been rejected Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson. That should tell us something: Who’s more out of step with the country? Trump, stepping before the cameras at Mar-a-Lago, calling the ruling a step toward national unity: “They worked long. They worked hard. And frankly, they worked very quickly on something that will be spoken about a hundred years from now and 200 years from now. Extremely important.” Trump then pivoted to the other case the Supreme Court just took, his claims of total unity for actions taken while president. The legal pundits say SCOTUS may well rule against him on that one, though no one knows for sure, which would amount to a split decision on the two high-stakes cases. Trump was soon doing the greatest hits, attacking such prosecutors as Jack Smith, Letitia James and Fani Willis, and slamming the judges hearing several of his cases.  A New York Times reporter said that Mario Nicolais, attorney for the Colorado side, said the Supremes had “abrogated their responsibility to our democracy….I hope that the cowardice of the court today doesn’t lead to bloodshed tomorrow.” Pretty gracious, huh? Remember, Kagan, Sotomayor and Jackson found common ground with Sam Alito, Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas, but the critics are still carping.  Jim Acosta, the anti-Trump CNN anchor, said his antagonist “has sort of played the legal system like a fiddle over the last couple of years. He’s thrown the kitchen sink into the gears of America’s judicial system.” Maine GOP director Jason Savage told the Times that his goal is replacing Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, the Democrat who ruled in December that Trump was ineligible for the Maine ballot: “One bureaucrat was trying to alter the presidential election based on her opinion.” What triggered the entire battle was Colorado dusting off an obscure, little-used legal provision passed after the Civil War: Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. It was aimed at former Confederate officials and soldiers who had rebelled against the country. MEDIA DEEM TRUMP THE NOMINEE, DESPITE HALEY TYING HIM TO PUTIN Where some of the justices parted company was over the scope of the unsigned opinion, with the court’s three liberal members saying in concurring opinions that the conservative majority went too far in attempting “to insulate the court” and Trump from “future controversy…. “In a sensitive case crying out for judicial restraint, it abandons that course.” Some of the conflicting views involve whether only Congress has the power to utilize Section 3 and whether the president is considered an officer of the United States. Justice Amy Coney Barrett agreed with the liberals, saying the majority should not have raised “the complicated question whether federal legislation is the exclusive vehicle through which Section 3 can be enforced… “This is not the time to amplify disagreement with stridency … Particularly in this circumstance, writings on the court should turn the national temperature down, not up.” However you slice and dice it, it was a big win for Donald Trump, and for those who believe the voters, not partisan state officials, should get to pick the president.

US sanctions Zimbabwe president Emmerson Mnangagwa over alleged abuses

US sanctions Zimbabwe president Emmerson Mnangagwa over alleged abuses

US targets Mnangagwa, his wife and top government officials in overhaul of sanctions regime imposed in 2003. The United States has sanctioned Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa, his wife and senior government officials for their alleged involvement in corruption and human rights abuses. The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced the sanctions – targeting three companies and 11 people, including the Mnangagwas, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, and retired Brigadier-General Walter Tapfumaneyi – after a review of the sanctions programme that had been in place since 2003. Other than the people listed on Monday, Zimbabweans formerly under US sanctions will see restrictions lifted. “The changes we are making today are intended to make clear what has always been true: our sanctions are not intended to target the people of Zimbabwe,” Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said. “We are refocusing our sanctions on clear and specific targets: President Mnangagwa’s criminal network of government officials and businesspeople who are most responsible for corruption or human rights abuse against the people of Zimbabwe,” he said. Mnangagwa is accused of protecting gold and diamond smugglers that operate in Zimbabwe and directing government officials to facilitate the sale of gold and diamonds in illicit markets, and taking bribes in exchange for his services. An Al Jazeera investigation last year found Zimbabwe’s government was using smuggling gangs to sell gold worth hundreds of millions of dollars, helping to mitigate the impact of sanctions. Gold is the country’s biggest export. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the new measures were part of a “stronger, more targeted sanctions policy” on Zimbabwe and voiced concern over “serious cases of corruption and human rights abuse.” “Key individuals, including members of the government of Zimbabwe, bear responsibility for these actions, including the looting of government coffers that robs Zimbabweans of public resources,” Blinken said in a statement. “Multiple cases of abductions, physical abuse, and unlawful killing have left citizens living in fear.” ‘This is massive’ The earlier sanctions were imposed after a campaign of forced takeover of land from white farmers. The Zimbabwean government welcomed those measures’ removal. “Well, this is massive,” government spokesman Nick Mangwana wrote on X, in what he called “a great vindication” of Mnangagwa’s foreign policy. “That said, as long our president is under sanctions Zimbabwe remains under illegal sanctions, as long as members of the First Family are under sanctions, Zimbabwe remains under illegal sanctions, and as long as senior leadership is under sanctions, we are all under sanctions,” he added. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller quipped in response: “It’s rare that you see a government say that sanctions on the sitting president is a victory for the government.” In Zimbabwe’s neighbour Zambia, President Hakainde Hichilema praised US President Joe Biden for ending the 2003 programme. “This is further evidence that Pres. Biden listens to his African partners. We hope this is an opportunity for a new direction for Zimbabwe and regional engagement,” Hichilema wrote on X. Mnangagwa, whose party has been in power for more than four decades, was declared the winner in elections last August that international observers said fell short of democratic standards. Mnangagwa pushed an ailing Robert Mugabe out of office in 2017. Mugabe died two years later at the age of 95. Adblock test (Why?)

How Gaza ceasefire became a focal point in Barbara Lee’s US Senate campaign

How Gaza ceasefire became a focal point in Barbara Lee’s US Senate campaign

Washington, DC – Three days after the attacks on September 11, 2001, the United States House of Representatives convened to authorise a military response, with legislation that would serve as the legal basis for the invasion of Afghanistan and the broader “war on terror”. The vote was overwhelming: 420 to one. The sole dissenter was Representative Barbara Lee, a California Democrat. On Tuesday, Lee — at the age of 77 — will face possibly the greatest electoral test of her career when California holds a primary for its open Senate seat. The congresswoman is running in that race on her credentials as an antiwar candidate. This time, however, her focus is on achieving a ceasefire in Gaza — a position she says distinguishes her from the rest of the field. Lee is in competition against more than 20 other candidates, including prominent Democratic representatives like Adam Schiff and Katie Porter. The stakes are high: Schiff, Lee and Porter have all opted not to run for reelection in the House, in order to focus on their Senate prospects. That means this year’s Senate primary could deal Lee her first electoral defeat in 26 years. But her candidacy shines a light on the range of Democratic views towards Israel’s war in Gaza — a spectrum that could translate into fractures as the party seeks unity at the ballot box. For me, doing what’s right is leadership. The lone vote against the War in Afghanistan then. California’s only US Senate candidate calling for a permanent, unconditional ceasefire now. Please vote for me, Barbara Lee—the peace and security candidate—by tomorrow, Tuesday! pic.twitter.com/uFcBCJMdd2 — Barbara Lee (@BarbaraLeeForCA) March 4, 2024 A beacon for progressives Amar Shergill, the chair emeritus of the California Democratic Party Progressive Caucus, is among those supporting Lee’s Senate bid. He told Al Jazeera that Lee’s stance on Israel’s war in Gaza was among the reasons he publicly backed her campaign. “Barbara Lee is a voice to end suffering around the world, regardless of the political cost, and she will fight for it,” he said. Over the past months, Lee has reiterated her call for a ceasefire in Gaza dozens of times on her social media accounts, making it a defining element of her campaign. Americans — and specifically Democrats — have increasingly voiced concern about the dire conditions in Gaza, where Israel has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians. A February poll from the Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that half of Americans felt Israel had “gone too far” in its military campaign. That number, however, shot up to 62 percent among Democrats alone. But many mainstream members of the Democratic Party have long resisted calls for a permanent ceasefire, instead affirming support for Israel’s military offensive. They include President Joe Biden, who has only recently articulated hopes for a ceasefire to pause — though not definitively end — hostilities. Lee’s supporters hope that her stance on the issue will carry her to a shock victory on Tuesday. Public opinion polls show her trailing her Democratic rivals Schiff and Porter, as well as Republican contender and former baseball player Steve Garvey. Foreign policy is rarely a top priority at the ballot box, but Shergill said voters are increasingly drawing parallels between injustices in Palestine and inequality at home. “The youth is inspired by her moral clarity. We see immigrant communities who understand that what’s happening in Palestine could happen to their relatives in ancestral homes around the world,” Shergill told Al Jazeera. California’s ‘jungle’ primary The Senate race in California — the state with the largest population in the country — is scheduled to arrive on Super Tuesday, a crucial date in the US electoral calendar. More states hold primaries on that date than on any other. Adding to the scrutiny of that high-profile occasion is the symbolism behind this particular Senate race. Lee and the other Senate hopefuls aim to fill a seat long held by the late Senator Dianne Feinstein, a key Democrat who died in 2023. Feinstein held the title of longest-serving female senator in the history of the US Congress. After her death, California Governor Gavin Newsom appointed Laphonza Butler to serve the rest of her term. But Butler has declined to run in the 2024 election, leaving the Senate race without an incumbent. An open Senate seat in California, a Democratic stronghold, is a rarity. Whoever wins will spend a six-year term in Congress. Most states have partisan primaries, where candidates from different parties compete on separate slates to claim their party’s nomination for the general election. But California holds what is known as a “jungle primary”: Candidates, regardless of political party, compete together in the first round of voting and the top two vote-getters face off in the general elections. So a Democrat like Lee not only has to compete against members of her own party but Republicans and independents as well. Democratic Senate rivals Katie Porter, Barbara Lee and Adam Schiff pose for photos after a US Senate Candidate Forum in Los Angeles in October 2023 [Richard Vogel/AP] The candidates Garvey, the Republican baseball star, has led a dark-horse campaign that has stunned political observers. Several polls show him in a tie with — or surpassing — Porter for second place. But even if Garvey makes it to the general elections, Democrats are widely expected to retain the Senate seat in November. Schiff, an ally of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, is currently leading the race. Considered a favourite of the party establishment, Schiff developed a national profile after he led an impeachment inquiry into then-President Donald Trump in 2019. Porter, meanwhile, is a left-wing lawmaker who rose to prominence with her consumer advocacy and criticism of major corporations. On domestic issues, Lee, Schiff and Porter share similar views, albeit with different approaches. Even Schiff — who is considered the centrist in the race — supports progressive priorities like universal healthcare and the Green New Deal climate plan.