Wisconsin Assembly passes GOP-backed constitutional amendment limiting diversity efforts
A constitutional amendment supported by Republicans that attempts to limit diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in Wisconsin won approval Thursday in the state Assembly. The measure is the latest effort targeting DEI efforts nationwide, but it is a long way from becoming law in Wisconsin. It must also pass the Senate this year and then the full Legislature next session before it would go to a statewide vote to be added to the Wisconsin Constitution. The Senate is only expected to be in session a couple more days before ending its work for the year in March. WISCONSIN GOP LEADER DOUBLES DOWN ON CRUSADE AGAINST DEI INITIATIVES Wisconsin Republicans have been proposing more constitutional amendments because they don’t require a sign off from Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. He has vetoed more bills than any other governor in state history, serving as a block on the agenda of Republicans who have strong majorities in the Legislature. The proposal passed Thursday would prohibit state and local governments, including the Universities of Wisconsin and local school districts, from discriminating against or granting preferential treatment to anybody on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin. It requires hiring decisions to be based on “merit, fairness and equality,” a term conservatives have used as a counter to DEI. Conservative backers of the constitutional amendment say the programs are discriminatory and promote left-wing ideology. Democratic supporters say the programs are necessary for ensuring institutions and government meet the needs of increasingly diverse populations. The measure’s sponsor, Republican Rep. David Murphy, said during debate that the amendment “restores merit, fairness and equality in hiring.” But Democratic Rep. Sylvia Ortiz-Velez derided the proposal as “divisive and manufactured” because it attempts to address problems she said don’t exist. The Assembly passed it 62-35 on a straight party line vote. The Wisconsin measure is modeled after a state constitutional amendment adopted in Michigan in 2006 and upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, Republican authors of the proposal said. GOP POWER BROKER VOS THREATENS TO TAKE WISCONSIN REDISTRICTING CASE TO SUPREME COURT The amendment is designed not to be in conflict with federal law, saying that it does not prohibit any action that must be taken to maintain eligibility for any federal program. There are numerous federal laws that already prohibit discrimination based on sex, race, color, nationality or religion. The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, a conservative law firm, is the only registered supporter of the amendment in Wisconsin. The only registered opponents are the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin and the National Association of Social Workers. Consideration of the amendment comes after Universities of Wisconsin agreed, under a narrowly approved deal reached with Republicans, to limit DEI positions throughout the system. Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos called the deal the first step toward eliminating what he called “cancerous DEI practices” and requested a review of diversity initiatives across state government.
Fed watchdog: Biden administration did not properly screen adults housing migrant children in the US
The Biden administration struggled to properly vet and monitor the homes where they placed a surge of migrant children who arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border in 2021, according to a federal watchdog report released Thursday. The Department of Health and Human Services is required to screen adults who volunteer to take in children arriving in the country without parents. But the analysis concluded that the department failed to prove it ran basic safety checks — like address or criminal background checks — on some adults who took in children. In about a third of the cases reviewed by the federal watchdog, the agency did not have legible documentation for the adults on file. “We found that children’s case files and sponsor records were not always updated with important documentation and information,” said Haley Lubeck, an analyst for the HHS Office of Inspector General, which conducted the review. GOP SENATOR FUMES OVER BIDEN ADMIN PROVIDING VETERAN MEDICAL RESOURCES TO ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS The federal health agency responded to the report by saying it has improved the process and the report only shows a limited window into how the agency handled cases “during an unprecedented influx.” HHS said it has also added new training for its employees handling migrant children. “The overwhelmingly majority of findings and recommendations address records management and documentation issues that (the agency) has already improved through training, monitoring, technology, and evaluation,” said HHS spokesman Jeff Nesbit. The report comes as President Joe Biden is facing intense pressure around his immigration policies. Since he took office, the administration has grappled with millions of migrants traveling to the border and faced scrutiny over how it handles children who arrive in the U.S. without parents. HHS, in particular, has been criticized for releasing those kids too quickly from government shelters, discharging them to adults who have allowed them to be exploited by major companies for cheap, dangerous, and illegal labor. The federal watchdog analyzed the case files of more than 300 migrant children from early 2021, months after thousands of children had trekked to the U.S. border seeking asylum. In March and April of that year, HHS placed more than 16,000 children with adults. HHS is supposed to obtain IDs for the adults – called sponsors – who take in migrant children. But the federal watchdog found that illegible IDs were submitted to HHS in more than a third of the cases analyzed during that time. Some IDs had missing holograms or blurry images, raising questions about whether they were forged documents. The agency also failed to provide proof it had conducted basic safety checks – like background checks or address checks – in 16% of the cases, the watchdog found. And, for every five cases, HHS didn’t follow up to check on the children it had placed, often for months. HHS is supposed to have a follow-up call with every child and their sponsor between 30 to 37 days after placement. But in cases where the agency failed to follow up with the children, it took on average about 122 days for a caseworker to reach out, the OIG’s analysis found. The OIG’s investigations have previously found that the administration rushed to respond to the migrant surge in 2021, failing to adequately train staff dealing with the cases of children.
GOP Rep wants to use ‘slush fund’ from progressive-backed pet project to fund foreign aid package
Republican Rep. Gary Palmer, R-Ala., supports funding the controversial foreign aid package, but with a condition: it is funded by rescinded money from a progressive-backed “slush fund.” The Inflation Reduction Act 2022 funneled tens of billions of dollars to green energy programs – including the “Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund,” a program praised by progressives which was granted $27 billion “to address the climate crisis” and for “environmental justice.” After the Senate passed a controversial bill to send $95B in aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, Palmer said he was working on legislation that would allocate already appropriated money for foreign aid instead of coming up with new funds. SENATE PASSES CONTROVERSIAL FOREIGN AID BILL SENDING BILLIONS TO UKRAINE, ISRAEL, AND TAIWAN “I don’t know how they’re going to pay for it,” Palmer told Fox News Digital of the foreign aid package. “I really don’t know the details of it, I’ve just heard the number. One of the things I’ve suggested to pay for it, is in the so-called Inflation Reduction Act, which I call the Income Reduction Act, which included $27B for a Green New Deal slush fund to be administered by the EPA.” When asked how Congress would pay for the bill, Palmer suggested using funds from the Green New Deal. CONGRESS FACES ‘EXISTENTIAL MOMENT’ OVER $95 BILLION FOREIGN AID BILL: DEM REPRESENTATIVE “I’ve got legislation that we’re trying to bring to the floor that will rescind that, and that’s money that has already been appropriated for that purpose that we can then use to offset funding for Israel aid,” the congressman said. The “Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund” has been pushed by progressives, including “Squad” member Rep. Alexandira Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who released a memo with Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., outlining the project in 2023. According to the Congressional Budget Office, “to effectively rescind budget authority, legislation must identify the source of the funds to be canceled” and “To be executed, rescission legislation also must either specify the amount of budget authority to be canceled or provide enough information so that an amount can be determined.” The Senate passed a controversial $95 billion national security supplemental package that includes $60 billion for Ukraine, $14 billion for Israel, $9 billion in humanitarian assistance for Gaza and nearly $5 billion for the Indo-Pacific, but no funds for border security. Speaker Johnson, R-La., said Monday, before the vote, that the House would not pass the Senate’s foreign aid package, but draft their own bill that would include border security provisions. Fox News Digital reached out to the EPA for comment. Fox News’ Jamie Joseph contributed to this report.
Delhi: Massive fire breaks out at paint factory in Alipur, seven dead
Seven people lost their lives in a fire incident. The Delhi Fire Service received a call at 5:25 pm and dispatched fire tenders to the scene.
Republican businessman Eric Hovde to launch bid for Wisconsin US Senate seat
Multimillionaire Republican businessman Eric Hovde is planning to launch a bid for U.S. Senate against Democratic incumbent Sen. Tammy Baldwin next week. Hovde’s campaign spokesperson Ben Voelkel said Thursday that Hovde, 59, will get into the race next week after months of preparation. Reelecting Baldwin to a third term is critical for Democratic hopes to maintain majority control of the Senate. Democrats are defending 23 seats in the Senate in November, including two held by independents who caucus with Democrats. That’s compared with just 11 seats that Republicans hope to keep in their column. WISCONSIN’S GOP-LED LEGISLATURE MAKES SECOND ATTEMPT TO DRAW MAPS BEFORE SUPREME COURT DOES Hovde has been laying the groundwork for a run for months, lining up support from the National Republican Senatorial Committee and recently hiring staff. He has also appeared at Republican events across the state. Hovde previously ran for Senate in 2012, describing himself then as a free-market conservative, losing in the Republican primary to former Gov. Tommy Thompson. Thompson went on to lose to Baldwin, who is now seeking her third term. In that race, Hovde ran as a supporter of overturning the Affordable Care Act, the national health care law signed by former President Barack Obama. Hovde also ran as an opponent of abortion and supporter of overturning Roe v. Wade. The U.S. Supreme Court did that in 2022, fueling wins by Democratic candidates that year who supported abortion rights. Baldwin has already said she plans to highlight abortion rights in this year’s Senate race. Hovde has largely stayed out of the public eye since that run, although he did run a television ad in 2020 criticizing Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ stay-at-home order during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hovde’s business empire includes Hovde Properties, a real estate development company founded by his grandfather in 1933, and three banking companies. He is CEO of Sunwest Bank, has appeared in television commercials for them that air out west, and owns a $7 million estate in Laguna Beach, California, in addition to his property in Madison. He returned to Madison in 2011 after living in Washington, D.C., for 24 years. SURPRISE RETIREMENT OF GOP CONGRESSMAN SPARKS COMPETITION FOR WISCONSIN SEAT Baldwin campaign spokesperson Andrew Mamo derided Hovde as a “mega millionaire California bank owner” who will try to “buy this Senate seat.” “We look forward to comparing Eric Hovde, a man who was named one of Orange County’s most influential people three years in a row, to Tammy Baldwin, a public servant with a proven track record of standing up to the wealthy and well connected on behalf of middle-class Wisconsin families,” Mamo said in a statement. Scott Mayer, a Franklin businessman, and former Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke are also considering Senate runs. Other higher profile Republicans, including U.S. Reps. Tom Tiffany and Mike Gallagher, opted against running. Baldwin most recently won reelection by 11 points in a race that was seen as a model for how to run as a Democrat statewide in Wisconsin. She is a tireless campaigner, garnered broad support, including among independents and voters outside of Democratic strongholds in Madison and Milwaukee, and she raised millions of dollars to fuel the successful bid.
Capitol Police arrest pro-Palestinian demonstrators inside Cannon House Office Building
The U.S. Capitol Police arrested numerous pro-Palestinian demonstrators Thursday who had staged a die-in alongside a banner with the message “ceasefire now” inside the rotunda of the Cannon House Office Building. One officer could be heard giving more than a dozen of the protesters a “final warning” through a megaphone as they dropped roses onto the banner and laid on the floor of the building in Capitol Hill. “Alright folks, you are demonstrating in an area not permitted to do so. This will be your final warning,” the officer said. “If you do not wish to be arrested, you will need to exit the building through those doors . . . . This is your third and final warning.” Footage captured by Fox News at the scene then showed numerous protesters, one by one, being detained and led away from the area by Capitol Police. Others left after heeding the warnings. NETANYAHU TOLD BLINKEN THAT US RECOGNIZING PALESTINIAN STATE WOULD BE A ‘PRIZE’ FOR PLANNERS OF OCT. 7 ATTACK Many of the demonstrators were wearing pro-Palestinian apparel and shirts from the group United We Dream, which describes itself on its website as the “largest immigrant youth-led network in the country” that is “leading the fight for the dignity and respect of all immigrants. Protesters were heard chanting “ceasefire now!” prior to the arrests, while others were silent. ISRAEL ELIMINATES HEZBOLLAH SENIOR COMMANDER AS TERROR GROUP WARNS IT WILL PAY ‘THE PRICE’ The demonstration comes as the Israeli military is preparing to move into the city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip in its counter-offensive against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. Rafah’s population has swelled from about 280,000 to nearly 1.7 million after many Palestinians fled there since the onset of the Israeli military’s ground incursion in Gaza, according to United Nations estimates. “We will fight until complete victory, and this includes a powerful action also in Rafah after we allow the civilian population to leave the battle zones,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a post on X on Wednesday.
Nearly half of Americans think Biden could be replaced as the Dem nominee in 2024: poll
Nearly half of voters think President Biden could be replaced as the Democratic nominee in 2024 amid growing concerns over his health. A Monmouth University poll released Thursday revealed Biden is “seen in a more negative light than Trump” when it comes to physical health and age, as only 32% of respondents think the president is physically fit to serve another four years in office. The results reflect a significant 20-point decrease in voter confidence in Biden since 2020, when Monmouth reported over 50% of voters believing Biden had the stamina to be president. As he seeks re-election, about 48% of respondents said that they think it is either somewhat or very likely Biden will be replaced as the Democratic nominee in 2024 due to elevated concerns over his health and stamina. DEMOCRATS USE TRUMP TO DEFLECT CONCERNS ABOUT BIDEN’S COGNITIVE HEALTH Additionally, about one third of respondents also said they could see GOP frontrunner former President Trump being replaced on the ballot, but cited his legal battles as the reasoning. Trump is making a third bid for the presidency at 77 years old, while Biden is setting records as the oldest sitting president in American history at 81. Special Counsel Robert Hur recently released his report on Biden’s mishandling of classified documents, sounding alarm bells after writing that the president was suffering from “significant limitations” and memory issues. OBAMA’S WH PHYSICIAN SAYS SPECIAL COUNSEL REPORT PROVES BIDEN HAS ‘SERIOUS ISSUES’: ‘WORSE BY THE DAY’ Following the report, Vice President Kamala Harris told the Wall Street Journal that she is “ready to serve,” increasing speculation that Democrats are considering an alternative candidate to Biden in 2024. Fox News Digital reported on Tuesday that several Democrat politicians have been floated as potential Biden replacements, including Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, and Vice President Kamala Harris. Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute, highlighted that the survey results reveal “Biden is seen in a more negative light than Trump” when it comes to age and health. “It’s interesting that voters in the same age bracket as both candidates don’t see much of a difference in terms of their stamina,” Murray said alongside the results. “But younger voters clearly have different perceptions of the two. This is probably one reason why many think Biden’s name may not be on the ballot in the fall – more than say the same about Trump.” The majority of respondents under the age of 70, about 52%, have more confidence in Trump’s stamina than Biden, who only 30% of respondents within that age group believe is fit enough to be president. The poll also found that Trump leads in a hypothetical 2024 matchup against Biden by 2 percentage points, with 46% of respondents saying they will either definitely or probably be voting for the former president in the fall. The Monmouth University poll was conducted from Feb. 8 to 12 with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.3 percentage points.
Republican Speaker Johnson on $95B Ukraine, Israel bill: House will not be ‘rushed’
Republican Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday the U.S. House will not feel “rushed” to pass the $95.3 billion foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other allies, signaling a further stall over sending military hardware and munitions Kyiv badly needs to fight Russia. Johnson made the remarks behind closed doors at a morning meeting of House Republicans, who are largely aligned with Donald Trump, the party’s presidential front-runner, in opposing the Senate-passed foreign assistance for Ukraine’s fight against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion. The speaker let colleagues know that the House will instead “work its will,” in considering the package, said a person familiar with the private remarks and granted anonymity to discuss them. SENATE’S $95 BILLION FOREIGN AID BILL HEADS FOR HOUSE REPUBLICAN BUZZ SAW “The Republican-led House will not be jammed or forced into passing a foreign aid bill,” Johnson said at a press conference afterward. Johnson, who rejected a border security compromise that was eventually stripped from the final product, said the Senate’s package “does nothing” to secure the U.S.-Mexico border, which has been the GOP’s priority. He said he had requested a meeting with President Joe Biden months ago on these issues, and was still waiting for the opportunity to talk one-on-one. The White House suggested that Johnson was in no position for productive talks after Republicans demanded that border security be attached to the national security aid and then he rejected the bipartisan package approved by the Senate. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that Johnson basically needs to negotiate with himself on what to do, rather than the White House. “What is there to negotiate?” she said at Wednesday’s news briefing. “What is the one-on-one negotiation about when he’s been presented with exactly what he asked for? So he’s negotiating with himself.” The slow-walk of U.S. aid to an ally during the largest ground war in Europe since World War II shows how far Republicans have retreated from overseas leadership in line with Trump. While Johnson has said he personally supports aid for Ukraine, he leads a far-right majority that is more closely aligned with Trump’s isolationist ideology and, increasingly, a hands-off approach to Putin’s aggression. It’s increasingly clear the new speaker has no clear strategy for what happens next as the aid package that was approved by an overwhelming majority of senators this week falls into serious jeopardy. Biden has warned that refusal to take up the bill would be “playing into Putin’s hands.” Separately, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made his own push for Ukraine aid in a virtual session with the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, some 50 countries that coordinate military support for Ukraine. Austin conducted the online meeting from his home, where he is recuperating from complications following prostate cancer surgery. In Congress, meanwhile, one last ditch effort coming from a number of lawmakers, Democrats and some Republicans, would be to employ an unusual procedure that would force the House to take up the bill for a vote over the objections of the GOP speaker and his leadership. The so-called discharge petition is a cumbersome, long-shot approach, but it’s one way to leverage the political power of the more centrist Republican lawmakers in a coalition with Democrats to ensure aid to Ukraine and the allies. But it seems unlikely. Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries would not comment Wednesday on using the discharge petition process to move the foreign aid package, but said he wants the speaker to put the package forward for an “up or down vote.” “Republicans are either going to stand with America’s national security or continue to stand with Vladimir Putin,” Jeffries told reporters after his own morning meeting with his Democratic caucus. Central to the $95 billion package has been the aid for Ukraine, a $60 billion allotment that would go largely to U.S. defense entities to manufacture missiles, munitions and other military hardware that is being sent to the battlefields in Ukraine. It also includes some funds to help the government in Kyiv stay afloat during the war, but not as much as first proposed as Republicans balk at shoring up public services abroad when there are needs in the U.S. The money for Ukraine, as well as for Israel and Taiwan, is largely military-related and spread in states across the U.S. that are home to domestic manufacturing for what supporters have called the “Arsenal of Democracy” — harkening back to last century’s language for the U.S. role abroad. Other options for Johnson would be to break the package into various parts knowing, for example, that each section could likely be approved on its own, with various bipartisan coalitions of Republicans and Democrats. But Johnson has not indicated his preferred approach and lawmakers have said many ideas are on the table. White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on Wednesday said that Biden remains determined to get the supplemental package through Congress. He reiterated the White House position that failure to act could have huge consequences for U.S. relationships around the globe. “Our allies are watching this closely. Our adversaries are watching this closely,” Sullivan said. “We know from history that when we don’t stand up to dictators, they keep going.”
Cotton probes DOD on security risks of Chinese-owned tutoring company for US military families
FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., is urging the Department of Defense (DOD) to share information about the agency’s contract with a Chinese-owned financial corporation that provides tutoring services for U.S. military families. On Thursday, Cotton sent a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin calling the business relationship with Hong Kong-based Primavera Capital Group “ill advised, reckless,” and a danger to U.S. national security. Primavera, the capital group associated with TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, owns the tutoring service Tutor.com and has provided critical funding to the TikTok giant. BIDEN CAMP WEIGHS JOINING TIKTOK TO SWAY YOUNG VOTERS MONTHS AFTER PURGING APP FROM FEDERAL DEVICES: REPORT “We should not be giving the Chinese communists access to the data of United States servicemembers and their families,” Cotton, a member of the Senate’s intelligence committee, told Fox News Digital in a statement. “I look forward to a full explanation from the Department of Defense on their continued use of Tutor.com.” Like ByteDance and any other Chinese tech company, Primavera is subject to Chinese national security laws which require tech companies to release confidential business and customer data. Primavera acquired Tutor.com in January 2022. “While providing educational services, Tutor.com collects personal data on users, such as location, internet protocol addresses, and contents of the tutoring sessions,” Cotton wrote. “As Chinese national security laws require companies to release confidential business and customer data to the Chinese government, we are paying to expose our military and their children’s private information to the Chinese Communist Party.” AMERICA UP FOR ‘REALY WILD YEAR AS ALLIES, ENEMIES EVALUATE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES: DEFENSE EXPERT By next week, Cotton is urging the DOD to provide information regarding whether they participated in any security reviews concerning Primavera’s acquisition before its approval, and if so, whether any concerns were raised during this process. Cotton also sought clarification on whether an internal review has been conducted to determine the continuation of the business relationship with Tutor.com, and if such a review has not taken place, an explanation is requested. Additionally, Cotton wants statistics on the annual usage of Tutor.com by military personnel or their dependents, and whether users are informed that their data may be shared with a Chinese company. Cotton has previously called for a nationwide ban on TikTok, saying last month that the CEO is “lying” about the app being safe for users. Fox News Digital has reached out to the DOD for comment.
These three “bandidas” are changing the face of Texas barbecue
With menu items like birria brisket ramen, the Bar-B-Que Bandidas in Lubbock are challenging the norm of Texas barbecue and a male dominated industry.