Democrat Wisconsin governor signals he won’t sign bill to fight forever chemicals as legislative session ends
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers signaled Wednesday that he has no intention of signing a Republican bill that would spend tens of millions of dollars to address pollution from the so-called forever chemicals known as PFAS because it dramatically scales back regulators’ enforcement authority. The Senate passed the bill in November and the Assembly was expected to follow suit on Thursday and send the legislation to the governor. Time is running out for any sort of compromise. Thursday is the Assembly’s last scheduled floor period of the two-year legislative session. Evers’ stance means that $125 million that Republicans set aside in the latest state budget to fight PFAS contamination will remain unspent. WISCONSIN AUTHORITIES BELIEVE MISSING 3-YEAR-OLD ELIJAH VUE ABDUCTED FROM HOME PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are man-made chemicals that don’t easily break down in nature. They are found in a wide range of products, including cookware and stain-resistant clothing, and previously were often used in aviation fire-suppression foam. The chemicals have been linked to health problems including low birth weight, cancer and liver disease, and have been shown to make vaccines less effective. Municipalities across Wisconsin are struggling with PFAS contamination in groundwater, including Marinette, Madison, Wausau and the town of Campbell on French Island. The waters of Green Bay also are contaminated. Lee Donahue, a town of Campbell supervisor, said residents there have been using bottled water for four years. She opposes the bill because it weakens the state’s enforcement authority and wants to see the state ban PFAS, set PFAS groundwater limits and find another way to get the $125 million to municipalities. But she’s questioning whether anything will get done. “It’s a tremendous level of frustration,” she said. “Sadly enough, a lot of these things have become partisan issues. We can’t move forward with the process. People are tired of waiting for the next session and the next session and the next session.” The bill would create grants for cities, towns, villages, private landowners and waste disposal facilities to test for PFAS in water treatment plans and wells. The grants would be funded with the $125 million in the state budget. The state Department of Natural Resources — an Evers cabinet agency — would need landowners’ permission to test their water for PFAS. The agency would be responsible for remediation at contaminated sites where the responsible party is unknown or can’t pay for the work. The DNR also would be prohibited from taking any enforcement action against landowners who spread PFAS in compliance with a license or permit to do so or own land contaminated through legal manure spreading. Landowners who allow the DNR to remediate contaminated property at the state’s expense would be immune from enforcement action. Evers balked at the DNR restrictions when bill was introduced last year. The bill’s chief Senate sponsors, Eric Wimberger and Rob Cowles, asked Evers in a Feb. 15 letter not to let a chance to address PFAS slip away. They said that the DNR restrictions are designed to ensure the agency can’t fine or hold landowners liable for contamination that they didn’t cause. The bill doesn’t protect actual polluters, they stressed. REPUBLICAN ERIC HOVDE SEEKS TO FLIP DEMOCRAT BALDWIN’S SEAT RED IN WISCONSIN SENATE RACE “We have an opportunity now to help Wisconsinites with their health concerns and the environment, and do it without forcing them to choose personal economic ruin in the process,” Wimberger and Cowles wrote. Evers said in a letter to the senators Wednesday that Republicans don’t want to hold polluters accountable and haven’t made any changes to the bill to win his support. He also criticized the GOP for forcing the DNR to stop developing limits on PFAS in Wisconsin groundwater. The DNR needs such standards to serve as the basis for enforcement actions, but the agency announced in December it had to stop drafting them under a 2017 state law that requires state agencies to obtain legislators’ permission to continue work on regulations if projected compliance costs top $10 million over any two-year period. Republicans haven’t granted the DNR for permission to continue and have refused Evers’ request to make an exception to the law for PFAS. The governor also pointed out in his letter that the Legislature’s Republican-controlled Joint Finance Committee could release the $125 million at any time. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “I again urge you to get serious about helping our impacted communities by urging your colleagues on the Joint Committee on Finance to approve the DNR’s request,” Evers wrote.
Trump endorses ex-Kevin McCarthy aide Vince Fong to fill vacant seat as his former aides back Fong’s opponent
Former President Donald Trump is throwing his support behind ex-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s chosen successor for his empty seat in Congress. Vince Fong, a California Assembly member who worked as McCarthy’s district director for almost a decade, is one of nine candidates running to replace him in Central Valley for his House seat. One of his opponents, Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux, has courted the endorsements of former Trump officials like former acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell and ex-chief deputy, Kash Patel. TRUMP SPARKS EMOTIONAL REACTIONS FROM CROWD IN SURPRISE VISIT TO SNEAKER CONVENTION “I am proud to join California’s Republican Congressional Delegation, and give Vince Fong my Complete and Total Endorsement!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “Vince was one of only 6 Republicans in the State Assembly to stand with me, and reject the Second Impeachment Hoax. In Congress, Vince will work with me to Grow the Economy, Lower your Taxes, Cut Burdensome Regulations, Champion American Energy, and Protect and Defend the Second Amendment, which is under siege by the Radical Left.” Endorsing Boudreaux last month, Grenell and Patel described him as the anti-establishment, America First choice. “Sheriff Mike Boudreaux is an America First patriot who has proven he is a principled fighter for freedom,” Grenell said, The Porterville Recorder reported at the time. “California needs leaders with courage to stand up to Washington bureaucrats. His record proves he is the right choice for the Valley.” TULARE COUNTY SHERIFF MIKE BOUDREAUX ON THE CARTEL STYLE HIT THAT KILLED SIX PEOPLE Patel said, “Sheriff Boudreaux is the kind of leader we need in Congress, one with the courage to stand up and fight, not back down, and put American first,” The Recorder reported. Patel declined to comment further when reached Wednesday by Fox News Digital. Grenell did not immediately respond. McCarthy resigned from the House of Representatives on Dec. 31, nearly three months after he became the first speaker in history to be ousted from the job. It’s a deep-red district, anchored in Bakersfield, and Fong’s Republican opponents have already been fighting to appeal to Trump’s MAGA base. Another of his opponents, Kyle Kirkland, is a business owner and nonprofit animal rescue operator who is attempting to portray himself as an outsider. His website proudly declares he’s “not a career politician.” Trump’s endorsement of Fong is likely to give him a boost with voters who may have been wary over his years-long ties to the GOP establishment. Fong wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, soon after the former president’s announcement, “Thank you… for your endorsement! Let’s get to work to secure the border, improve our economy, and defend our water and energy resources!” Fox News Digital reached out to Fong for further comment. The election to replace McCarthy is scheduled for May 21. Before that, the pool of nine candidates will get whittled down to two in a March 19 primary. Rather than holding party-specific primaries to nominate candidates for the general, California’s election laws mandate a single “jungle primary” where the top two vote-getters, regardless of party affiliation, advance to the general election. McCarthy is widely held as an establishment Republican who also worked to become a staunch Trump ally. Just before a group of eight hardline GOP lawmakers voted with all House Democrats to oust McCarthy, the former president wrote on Truth Social, “Why is it that Republicans are always fighting among themselves?”
Progressive Democrat caucus loses another member over anti-Israel positions
Divisions in the Democrat Party’s progressive wing are continuing to deepen in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks in Israel, forcing some pro-Israel Democrats out of key factions. Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y. has left the House Congressional Progressive Caucus, Axios first reported on Wednesday, making him the second Democrat to depart the caucus in recent months. Rep. Lois Frankel, D-Fla., left in November last year. Torres has been at odds with some of his Democratic colleagues, including far-left “Squad” members about his support for Israel. In December, he and Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., clashed after she suggested Torres was comfortable with Palestinian casualties as a result of Israel’s response to the Hamas attacks. ANOTHER IVY LEAGUE INSTITUTION FACES LEGAL ACTION FOR DEVOLVING IN ‘CAULDRON OF ANTISEMITISM’ “Every casualty is a tragedy, every war is a humanitarian crisis, but we have to keep in mind the causes of the war,” he told CNN host Dana Bash in an interview. “Israel did not start the war, the war was imposed upon Israel by the barbaric terrorism of Hamas, which butchered 1,400 Israelis, including babies,” he said, referring to the terrorist attack on Oct. 7 in southern Israel. “You know, my colleague, Rep. Omar, has voted against Iron Dome, which is a missile defense system that protects Israeli civilians from relentless rocket fire,” he told CNN host Dana Bash. “Were it not for Iron Dome interceptions, there would be far more dead Israelis – far more, by orders of magnitude. So the policy position that she has taken would have led to more dead Israelis and more dead Palestinians.” RASHIDA TLAIB VOTES ‘PRESENT’ ON NEARLY UNANIMOUS VOTE TO CONDEMN HAMAS’ USE OF RAPE AS WEAPON OF WAR In December, Torres responded to Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., and other hard-left figures after she seemed unable to explain why there was a hesitation among some progressives to condemn Hamas’ sexual violence against Israeli women. CNN’s Bash asked Torres in an intervew why it was so difficult for progressives to “unequivocally call out the barbaric sexual violence against Israeli women.” “Look, there’s often been a double standard against Israel when it comes to condemning the sheer butchery and barbarism of Hamas,” Torres said. JEWISH TIKTOK STAR SAYS SOCIAL MEDIA HAS MADE ANTISEMITISM ‘SOCIALLY ACCEPTABLE’ “Public officials have a moral obligation to speak with clarity rather than caveats. And I found it deeply troubling, for example, that the U.N. Women, the so-called women’s rights arm of the United Nations, went 50 days without commenting on or condemning the sexual atrocities that Hamas perpetrated against Israeli women. For me, this is not about politics. This is about decency. It is indecent to deny or downplay or ‘both sides’ the rape and sexual violence against Israeli women on Oct. 7.” Torres was also one of 22 Democrats to vote to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., for her anti-Israel comments. Torres’ office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. Fox News Digital’s Alexander Hall and Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.
Poll shows Biden’s lead over Trump shrinking in 2024 matchup as concerns over physical fitness grow
Former President Donald Trump is edging President Joe Biden in a hypothetical general election rematch, according to new polling that reveals growing concerns over the president’s physical health. A new Quinnipiac University poll found that Biden currently leads in a hypothetical race against Trump by four points, locking in 49% support of likely voters over 45% who said they would vote for the former president. The results reflect a slight narrowing in the race, after a January 31 poll found Biden leading Trump by 6 points, 50% to 44%. Trump remains the frontrunner in the Republican presidential primary, securing support from 80% of Republican-identifying respondents, while only 17% said former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley is their preferred GOP nominee. TRUMP REVEALS VP SHORTLOST INCLUDES DESANTIS, SCOTT, RAMASWAMY, NOEM, DONALDS, GABBARD Amid growing concerns over the president’s fitness, a large majority of voters, 67%, said they believe Biden is too old and not physically capable of completing another four-year term as president. On the flip side, 57% of voters think Trump is not too old to serve another term as president. ROGAN SAYS DEMOCRATIC PARTY IS ‘SETTING UP GAVIN NEWSOM’ FOR 2024 PRESIDENTIAL RUN AMID BIDEN SCANDALS The survey also noted that nearly twice as many voters believe Trump to be more physically fit than Biden. “A Biden-Trump split decision on physical and emotional fitness leaves both looking vulnerable,” Tim Malloy, Quinnipiac University Polling Analyst, said in a statement. “Yes, Trump wins walking away on the age and stamina question, but voters have more confidence in Biden’s empathy toward them and his emotional stability to handle the job,” Only 40% of voters said they approve of Biden’s handling of the presidency. The polling results come just weeks after Special Counsel Robert Hur released his report on Biden’s handling of classified documents and described the president as “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”
Fox News Politics: All in the family
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? – Trump reveals VP shortlist – 100 stories of ‘Biden Border Catastrophe’ – Johnson pressured to make move on Ukraine aid James Biden testified Wednesday that his brother, President Biden, “has never had any involvement or any direct or indirect financial interest” in his business ventures, according to his opening statement first obtained by Fox News Digital has learned. “I have had a 50-year career in a variety of business ventures,” James Biden said in his opening statement. “Joe Biden has never had any involvement or any direct or indirect financial interest in those activities. None.” James Biden said that Joe Biden “played no role, was not involved with, and received no benefits” from his work with Chinese energy company CEFC, or the healthcare company Americore. House Republicans have heard testimony from a number of the first son’s former business associates — including Tony Bobulinski, who testified before the committees earlier this month that Joe Biden was involved in the family’s business ventures. Bobulinski also testified that he personally met with Joe Biden. ‘STRIKING INACCURACIES’: Biden’s team ramping up press criticism following Special Counsel report …Read more ‘DOESN’T SEEM VERY AMERICAN’: Ex-USDA official blasts ‘mind-boggling’ Biden regulations on farming, menthol …Read more ‘DANGERS AND DESTRUCTION’: Speaker Johnson highlights 100 stories of ‘dangers and destruction’ of ‘Biden Border Catastrophe’ …Read more STRONG WARNING: Rand Paul: ‘Never, ever let Gavin Newsom anywhere near the White House’ …Read more CLASH WITH MCCONNELL?: Trump teases fight with McConnell in Fox News town hall: ‘I don’t know that I can work with him’ …Read more WAR ZONE: Pressure grows on Johnson to make a move on Ukraine aid as Russian invasion nears 2-year mark …Read more ‘GREEN BAD DEAL’: Republicans probing banks over climate coordination impacting farmers …Read more VP SHORTLIST REVEALED: Trump reveals VP shortlist includes DeSantis, Scott, Ramaswamy, Noem, Donalds, Gabbard …Read more CONFLICTING ACCOUNTS: Dem House candidate was arrested in prostitution sting, but his story doesn’t match police records …Read more DEFENSE FUND: Trump leadership PAC spent nearly $3M in January on legal expenses, FEC filing shows …Read more ‘TOUGH’: Biden campaign trolls Trump’s ‘weakest operation in recent history’ amid lagging campaign cash troubles …Read more BIG MONEY: Nikki Haley’s campaign against Trump has siphoned thousands of ‘large dollar’ donors away from Biden …Read more INFIGHTING: Republican Party infighting escalates in Ohio as March primary nears …Read more ‘WE ARE PREPARED’: Letitia James ready to seize Trump’s assets if he is unable to pay $354 million fraud fine …Read more ON THE BOOKS: California lawmakers introduce reparations package with formal apology for slavery …Read more ELDER-IN-CHIEF: Pelosi clashes with reporter over Biden being ‘too old’ to be president, slams ‘unfair’ special counsel report …Read more ‘IT’S EDUCATION’: Kentucky Republican says early childhood education is the answer to workforce, childcare crises …Read more LIBRARY PROPOSAL: Georgia proposal for parental oversight of library books advances, critics cry censorship …Read more HAPPY HOUR: Indiana lawmakers vote to lift nearly 40-year ban on restaurant happy hours …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.
Dem House candidate was once convicted after prostitution sting, but his story doesn’t match police records
FIRST ON FOX: Alabama House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels Jr. — a Democrat seeking to represent the Yellowhammer State’s new 2nd Congressional District — was arrested in the late ’90s during a trip to Florida and later convicted on misdemeanor prostitution charges, according to public records. Police records of the arrest, obtained by Fox News Digital, differ significantly from Daniels’ recollection of the incident some years later. In his 2009 book, “To Sweeten Alabama: A Story of a Young Man Defying the Odds,” Daniels described the arrest of him and a cousin but contradicted the police account. He later pleaded “no contest” to the charge, and paid a $180 fine. The incident took place on Dec. 30, 1999, as the then 17-year-old Daniels and a cousin were driving in Polk County, Florida, according to a Haines City Police Department report. WOMAN ‘LURED’ BY MAN’S ROMANCE AND GIFTS FORCED INTO DISTURBING PROSTITUTION HUSTLE: PROSECUTORS The pair drove up to a woman who was posing as a prostitute, according to the police account, and began talking. “As she approached the car on the passenger side, the driver then asked her how much for sex. She advised that it’s $20.00 for sex and $10.00 for head. The driver then said he wanted sex and the passenger said that he wanted head,” an officer wrote in the affidavit. Daniels was later identified by the officer as the driver of the vehicle and his cousin was identified as the passenger. The cousin at one point began patting the officer’s waistband and “stated that he was looking for a ‘gat,’ referring to a gun,” the officer wrote. After asking the female officer what she had in her front waistband, which was a pair of sunglasses, the two men were approached by police and taken into custody. Daniels was arrested on the spot, according to the officer’s testimony, and Christian was set free due to a miscommunication between officers. Christian was later picked up by police and arrested also, the officer noted at the time. Despite the officer’s statement that Daniels had mentioned wanting sex from the undercover officer, the Alabama lawmaker later recalled a different version of events. Daniels wrote in his book that the woman attempted to flag him down multiple times as he traveled to and from the gym during his trip to the Sunshine State. “She was standing on the opposite side of the street waving both her arms in the air,” Daniels wrote at the time. While returning to the gym to retrieve a jacket, Daniels and his cousin saw the woman “waving vigorously” while they were stopped at a red light. Daniels told his cousin about seeing the woman earlier, and they approached the woman to ask her “what she wanted.” ALABAMA SUPREME COURT RULES COUPLES CAN SUE FOR WRONGFUL DEATH AFTER EMBRYOS WERE DROPPED Daniels wrote that he told the undercover officer, who he recalled wearing loose jeans and a collared shirt, the reason he and his cousin stopped was because she had been attempting to flag him down. “She completely ignored me and initiated a conversation with my cousin,” Daniels wrote. “He said, ‘Let me talk to her for a second. Watch this.’” Daniels said in his book that he became “uneasy about [the] woman and the entire situation” and was “overcome by nervousness and discomfort” during the encounter. As his cousin ignored him and continued to joke around with the woman, Daniels wrote that he was “was thinking of ways to lure him away from her.” “Jokingly, I said, ‘This is an undercover police officer. Look at the shades hanging out of her pockets.’ He asked her, ‘You aren’t an undercover cop are you? Let me see.’ As he was asking the question, he began to grab for the glasses hanging out of her pocket. I could tell that this was definitely beginning to be a bad situation to be in,” Daniels wrote. “‘I’m about to go!’ I exclaimed. As I started to back up the truck, police cars completely surrounded us,” Daniels wrote in his book. “After the police had me blocked in, I turned to my cousin and shouted, ‘You stupid f—! What did you do to this woman?’ Exploding in laughter he said, ‘I was just joking with her, I was only playing around.’” Daniels wrote he was later approached by an officer and told to step out of the vehicle with his hands up before being searched and placed into the back of a police car. Daniels alleged in the book that he overheard officers “mention that my cousin had made a lewd comment by asking, ‘How much is it for some head?’” “To this day I don’t recall such a comment. I highly doubt my cousin would have seriously asked that, especially since neither one of us had any money,” he wrote. Daniels did not address in his book the police officers’ assertion that he had said he wanted sex from the undercover cop. Daniels noted in the book that officers eventually picked up his cousin. They were both taken to a holding cell for two hours and later released. Following their arrests, Daniels wrote that his mother didn’t believe his side of the story. He also noted in his writing that his parents “decided not to invest in an attorney” after they were allegedly told the charges would be dropped. “I was innocent!” Daniels wrote. Daniels and his cousin entered a plea of no contest and were found guilty by the court in the summer of 2000, according to records from the Polk County Clerk of Courts. Both Daniels and his cousin pleaded no contest to charges of misdemeanor “prostitution/lewd: involving the use of a motor vehicle” and each paid a $180 fine. Daniels’ cousin also pleaded no contest to a battery charge. In a statement to Fox News Digital about the incident, Daniels said: “My recollection of the events from that day are clear. I never solicited sex. I was
Dem Senate candidate sticks by call for $50 minimum wage, suggests $100,000 is fair ‘living wage’ in CA
Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee didn’t back down from her call for a $50 minimum wage when pressed about it on the California Senate primary debate stage on Tuesday night. “Congresswoman Lee, you’re sticking by the $50 minimum wage?,” Lee was asked on the debate stage following the most recent debate where she defended her previous call to raise the minimum wage to $50, around $100,000 per year. “First of all, we have to look at what it takes to live in California,” Lee responded. “We have a huge affordability crisis. Cost of living is much too high. First, at the federal level, of course we have to raise the minimum wage. We haven’t raised it in a decade. $7.25 to $17 in 2025, OK, great first step.” “But in California, for example we have $16 an hour now, and believe you me, every single study that you have seen that has been written about the affordability crisis in California, people working 2-3 jobs just to pay rent just to afford childcare we have to think about and talk about a living wage,” Lee continued. “What does that mean? Have a living wage in California. Over $100,000 in many parts of California people are just barely surviving or living on the edge, so we have to think about what it takes to make sure people can afford to live in California. That means a living wage.” DOORDASH SAYS DATA SHOWS SEATTLE PAY RULES HAVE CAUSED ‘UNPRECEDENTED DROP’ IN BUSINESS Lee previously called for the $50 minimum wage, seven times the current federal minimum wage, on the campaign trail sparking criticism from those who argue that raising the minimum wage forces business to close or layoff low wage earners that advocates of the raising the minimum wage are aiming to help. A Congressional Budget Office report in 2019 showed that while raising the federal minimum wage would raise incomes for some, it would ultimately end up costing many low wage workers their jobs and negatively effect younger workers in the long run. FAST-FOOD PRICES SET TO RISE AT MCDONALD’S, CHIPOTLE AND OTHERS AS CALIFORNIA MINIMUM WAGE HIKE LOOMS A 2021 Harvard Business Review study found that raising the minimum wage actually leads to lower compensation for employees. “At this point, far left politicians are so unwilling to listen to reason that I think they should actively pursue all the crazy ideas that they allegedly support,” E.J. Antoni, a research fellow in regional economics with the Heritage Foundation’s Center for Data Analysis, told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. “Don’t just stop at a $50 minimum wage, let’s make it $500. The only way that people today can be convinced of the lunacy of these proposals is to let them be implemented, and then allow people to face the ramifications.”
GOP AGs warn Biden admin of ‘catastrophic’ consequences of FAA pushing DEI over merit based hiring
FIRST ON FOX: A group of almost a dozen attorneys general across the United States have sent a letter to the Biden administration warning that DEI hiring practices within the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) are putting airline passengers in danger. “We are troubled by some recent reports regarding your agency’s hiring practices and priorities,” Kansas Republican AG Kris Kobach and 10 other attorneys general wrote to FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker. “It seems that the FAA has placed ‘diversity’ bean counting over safety and expertise, and we worry that such misordered priorities could be catastrophic for American travelers.” According to the letter, the FAA under the Biden administration “appears to prioritize virtue-signaling ‘diversity’ efforts over aviation expertise” and “this calls into question the agency’s commitment to safety.” Kobach and the other attorneys general allege that the FAA is no longer focusing on merit when hiring employees and has instead put its focus on diversity and pointed to statements made by the FAA related to a “five year strategic plan” to “diversify its workforce by rethinking its hiring practices and capitalize on opportunities to hire people who will bring new and diverse skills to the agency and reflect the demographics of the U.S. labor force.” DEI TRAINING SUSPENDED AFTER TELLING FIREFIGHTERS THAT WHITE STAFF HAVE CAUSED ‘RACIAL HARM’: REPORT “These efforts follow on work that reportedly started under the Obama Administration when the agency shockingly sought out applicants with ‘severe intellectual’ and ‘psychiatric’ disabilities to staff the agency responsible for air traffic control, aviation safety, major airports, commercial space regulation, and security and hazardous materials safety,” the letter states. Fox News Digital has previously reported on the FAA’s recent push to hire workers with ‘severe intellectual’ disabilities, which sparked concern and mockery from many. FEDERAL COMMISSIONER FIRES BACK AT MARK CUBAN FOR DIVERSITY CLAIM, DELIVERS WARNING ABOUT DEI: ‘MORE PROBLEMS’ The letter also pointed to a recent “Year of Inclusion” symposium where employees were subjected to racial sensitivity training and said the agency has been pushing forward with racial trainings despite previously acknowledging that “[t]here is a trade-off between diversity…and predicted job performance/outcomes.” The letter explains that “failure is not an option” when it comes to protecting the 45,000 fights filled with 2.9 million people that fly across the United States each day. The letter argues that the FAA “must return to prioritizing safety over diversity and virtue signaling” and “should once again hire based on merit so that only the most qualified aviation experts take care of America’s air travel.” FORMER FAA SAFETY EXPERT ADDRESSES AIRLINE DEI CONTROVERSY, VIRAL UNITED COMMENTS “Given the recent FAA failure that delayed thousands of flights last January and the recent spike in near aircraft collisions, I am very worried that the FAA has lost sight of its primary goal — ensuring the safety of American skies,” Kansas Republican Attorney General Kris Kobach told Fox News Digital. “American lives depend on the FAA hiring the most qualified aviation experts.” In addition to Kobach, the letter was signed by Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin, Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird, Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. The FAA did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Biden approves major disaster declaration for North Dakota ice storm
President Joe Biden has approved North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum’s request for a major disaster declaration related to a Christmastime ice storm that toppled power lines and left thousands of people without power. VERMONT GOV. SCOTT REQUESTS DISASTER DECLARATION OVER DECEMBER FLOODING Burgum’s office announced the approval Wednesday. The governor had declared a statewide emergency due to the Dec. 25-27 storm. He sought the presidential disaster declaration to make federal aid available to help cover repairs to damaged public infrastructure. Freezing rain and high winds brought down more than 2,000 power poles and led sections of interstate highways to close. Estimated storm damages totaled over $11.5 million, according to the governor’s office. The declaration affects all 13 counties Burgum requested.
Alabama lawmakers seek to define man and woman based on sperm and ova production
Alabama lawmakers are advancing legislation that would strictly define who is considered female and male based on their reproductive systems. Opponents said the move could erode the rights of transgender and intersex people in the state. “There are only two sexes, and every individual is either male or female,” declares the Senate bill approved in committee on Tuesday. It defines sex based on reproductive anatomy and says schools and local governments can establish single-sex spaces, such as bathrooms, based on those definitions. A House committee plans to take up similar legislation Wednesday. ALABAMA FROZEN EMBRYO RULING WILL LIMIT FERTILITY TREATMENT ACCESS, CRITICS SAY The bills are part of a wave of legislation in Republican states that seek to regulate which bathrooms transgender people use, which school sports teams they can play on, and to prohibit gender-affirming medical care, such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy, particularly for minors. “I am here today to stand for women’s rights,” said Republican Sen. April Weaver, the sponsor of the bill. She said the definitions will guide courts in interpreting existing laws and “codifies the time-honored definitions of male, female, woman, man, boy, girl, mother, father, and sex.” The bill states that a female is someone who, barring accident or anomaly, has a “reproductive system that at some point produces ova” and male as someone who, barring accident or anomaly, has a “reproductive system that at some point produces sperm.” The bill requires any state-supported entity collecting information related to sex to “identify each individual as either male or female at birth.” During a public hearing, opponents said the legislation is part of ongoing attacks on the rights of transgender people to simply go about their daily lives. “I’m here to say that I’m literally just a woman. I’m also transgender. People like me have always existed… and it’s OK that we exist,” Allison Montgomery told the County and Municipal Government Committee. Montgomery said what proponents are seeking would mean that men who have “taken testosterone for years and have developed full beards” would be required to use women’s restrooms because their bodies once produced ova. It is not clear how the proposal would impact people who are considered intersex, or born with a combination of male and female biological traits. The committee added language that sex can be designated as unknown on state records “when sex cannot be medically determined for developmental or other reasons.” The legislation is at odds with decades of medical research showing gender is a spectrum, not a binary structure, and that sexual anatomy doesn’t always agree with the chromosomes and genes that cause most people to develop and identify as male or female. The measure would create a vague exemption for people with intersex conditions — saying that individuals with congenital or medically verifiable differences in sex development “must be accommodated” in accordance with federal law — while declaring that such people “are not a third sex.” Research indicates that the U.S. population of intersex people, born with physical traits that don’t match typical definitions of male and female, is even bigger than that of transgender people. A proponent of the bill, Becky Gerritson, executive director of the Eagle Forum of Alabama, said the definitions would give guidance to the courts. “This bill will help preserve those single-sex spaces which ensure privacy, safety, equal opportunity,” Gerritson said. Democratic senators Linda Coleman-Madison from Birmingham and Merika Coleman from Pleasant Grove questioned the need for the bill. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “This is just so heartbreaking. We spend all of this time about trying to keep people down who are not like us. It’s sad,” Coleman-Madison said.