Biden tied with Trump, Haley in potential November matchups but that changes if Trump is convicted: poll
President Biden and former President Donald Trump are basically all knotted up in a likely November election rematch, a new national poll suggests. But an NPR/PBS NewsHour survey released on Wednesday indicates that the president’s advantage over Trump increases if the former president is convicted of a crime. The poll also indicates that Biden is basically tied with former U.N. ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in a hypothetical general election showdown. BIDEN LEAD OVER TRUMP SHRINKS WITH THIRD PARTY CANDIDATES ADDED According to the poll, which was conducted Jan. 29-Feb. 1 among registered voters nationwide, Biden would edge Trump 48%-47% if the presidential election were held today, with 5% unsure. An average of all the most recent national polls – compiled by Real Clear Politics – that asks a Biden-Trump horse race question indicates the former president with a slight 1.7 point edge over the incumbent in the White House. HALEY ARGUES TRUMP AND BIDEN ARE ‘GRUMPY OLD MEN’ But if Trump were convicted on criminal charges, the new Marist poll indicates Biden opening a six-point lead (51%-45%) over the former president. And Trump’s advantage with independent voters would shrink from eight points to two. Plus, nearly one in 10 Republicans say they would back Biden. Trump made history last year as the first former or current president to be indicted for a crime. But his four indictments, including charges he tried to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss to Biden, have only fueled his support among Republican voters. Trump is the commanding frontrunner for the GOP nomination as he makes his third straight White House bid. He won the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, the first two contests in the Republican nominating calendar, by double digits. Haley is the last remaining major rival to Trump, but she faces a steep uphill climb to win the nomination. The poll indicates Biden at 46% and Haley at 45% in a hypothetical November showdown. The Marist poll surveyed 1,441 people, with an overall sampling error of plus or minus 3.6 percent. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Mitch McConnell scoffs at GOP critics after his border deal collapses: ‘They had their shot’
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell brushed off backlash from his GOP critics after support for his bipartisan border deal collapsed on Wednesday. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, called for McConnell to resign this week and argued that the border deal was far too weak to be acceptable. McConnell said his detractors are ignoring the reality of politics and compromise. “I’ve had a small group of persistent critics the whole time I’ve been in this job. They had their shot,” McConnell told Politico on Wednesday, referring to an attempt to replace him as leader in 2022. “The reason we’ve been talking about the border is because they wanted to, the persistent critics,” he continued. “You can’t pass a bill without dealing with a Democratic president and a Democratic Senate.” GOP SENATORS RALLY AGAINST BIPARTISAN BORDER DEAL, CITING BIDEN’S POWER TO SUSPEND ‘EMERGENCY’ BILL When asked on Tuesday specifically about Cruz’s call for him to resign, McConnell responded with his typical deadpan humor. “I think we can all agree that Senator Cruz is not a fan,” he told reporters. MAYORKAS LASHES OUT AT ‘BASELESS’ GOP ALLEGATIONS AHEAD OF KEY IMPEACHMENT VOTE Cruz is not the only Republican senator speaking out, however. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, campaigned against the border bill and has called for “new leadership” in the party. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., was similarly frustrated. “I’ve been super unhappy since this started,” Johnson told Politico. “Leader McConnell completely blew this.” Cruz said the bill, crafted by Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., “codifies” Biden’s penchant to allow a porous border and “normalizes” 5,000 illegal migrants per day. EX-ICE CHIEF SCOFFS AT KATHY HOCHUL’S SUDDEN MIGRANT OUTRAGE “That works out to 1.8 million a year. That works out to about 6 million illegal immigrants over the three years of Biden.… So the idiotic Republican proposal was let’s be for two thirds of the border invasion that Biden has allowed,” he told Fox News on Wednesday morning. CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The GOP infighting comes as the U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced 1 million border encounters since Oct. 1, the beginning of fiscal year 2024. The CBP reached the 1 million mark faster than any other year.
Trump rushed to Bud Light’s defense as Anheuser-Busch lobbyist slated to host fundraiser for him
Former President Trump rushed to Bud Light’s defense on Tuesday as a lobbyist from its parent company, Anheuser-Busch, is scheduled to host a fundraiser for him. “The Bud Light ad was a mistake of epic proportions, and for that a very big price was paid, but Anheuser-Busch is not a Woke company,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Anheuser-Busch is a Great American Brand that perhaps deserves a Second Chance? What do you think? Perhaps, instead, we should be going after those companies that are looking to DESTROY AMERICA!” Trump’s statement came in response to the Bud Light boycott that battered the company after its disastrous promotion of transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney last year. BIDEN REPEATEDLY ASSAILED ‘F—ING A–HOLE’ TRUMP IN PRIVATE TO AIDES: REPORT It also came shortly before Jeff Miller, a Washington, D.C.-based lobbyist representing Anheuser-Busch, is slated to host a fundraiser for him next month. According to Politico, which first reported the event, Miller’s fundraiser for Trump includes some tickets for $10,000 apiece. The lobbyist announced the event on social media Tuesday. Miller’s firm, meanwhile, collected $260,000 from Anheuser-Busch in 2023 and increased its fee around the time the Mulvaney backlash ensued, the publication noted. HISTORIAN WHO CORRECTLY PREDICTED ALMOST EVERY ELECTION WINNER SINCE 1984 REVEALS WHO IS LIKELY TO WIN IN 2024 Bud Light is still encountering problems luring customers back to its beer. Its sales were down 29.9% year-over-year for the week ending Jan. 20. To win back customers, the brand created a 60-second advertisement that will air during the Super Bowl this Sunday. The campaign, dubbed “Easy Night Out,” focuses on friends who encounter a “Bud Light Genie” that grants them wishes during a night out, including having Bud Lights magically appear. Trump’s campaign and Anheuser-Busch did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.
50+ House Republicans call for Biden admin to ‘immediately’ designate Houthis a Foreign Terrorist Organization
FIRST ON FOX: Dozens of House Republicans on Wednesday called for the Biden administration to designate the Iran-backed Houthis a Foreign Terrorist Organization, arguing that a recent move to put them on a separate terror list doesn’t go far enough. “We find it deeply concerning that the Administration once again opted not to designate the Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO),” the 54 House lawmakers, led by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said. The Biden administration placed the Houthis on the Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) list last month, which will trigger sanctions designed to prevent further attacks on global trade in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. HOUTHIS VOW ‘ESCALATION’ AFTER US, UK LAUNCH MORE STRIKES IN YEMEN “These attacks are a clear example of terrorism and a violation of international law and a major threat to life, global commerce, and they jeopardize the delivery of humanitarian assistance,” a senior administration official told reporters last month. The administration had removed the terrorist group from the FTO list in February 2021, which the Houthis had been placed on during the Trump administration, to get more foreign aid to Yemen. “It was the correct step in 2021 to revoke the foreign terrorist organization and SDGT designations for the Houthis,” an administration official said, adding that Blinken made that decision “in recognition of a very dire humanitarian situation in Yemen.” The shift in position to redesignate the Houthis came after the Yemen-based group launched attacks on commercial shipping vessels in the Red Sea, with thousands of ships being forced to divert to avoid the Red Sea. The U.S. and U.K. have since launched a series of attacks on Houthi targets in Yemen in reaction to a lethal drone attack on a U.S. base in Jordan. BIDEN ADMINISTRATION RELISTS HOUTHIS AS TERROR ORGANIZATION AFTER REVERSING TRUMP MOVE The Republican lawmakers, however, say that the anti-shipping campaign extends a “long-standing record” of terror attacks in the Peninsula that preceded the Biden administration’s removal of the Houthis from the FTO list. “The Administration has consistently justified this decision by claiming that such a designation could have an undue impact on innocent Yemenis,” the lawmakers say. “Yet this argument is spurious as relevant statutes have sufficient mechanisms to allow sanctions to be tailored to avoid this result.” They also argue that a policy of rapprochement with Iran, even if on hold, cannot be allowed to tie the administration’s hands on the matter. They say that it is time for a “significantly stronger response” from the administration. “While the Administration has taken several steps to respond to the Houthis recent attacks, including the launch of Operation Prosperity Guardian and kinetic strikes, such steps come too late, do not weaken Iran, and have failed to reestablish deterrence, as the President himself has admitted,” they say. BIDEN ADMINISTRATION TO RELIST YEMEN’S IRAN-BACKED HOUTHIS AS DESIGNATED TERRORISTS AMID RED SEA ATTACKS They argue that the SDGT designation includes broad exemptions for fuel and port transactions and will not come into effect for a month. “An FTO designation is substantially preferable to a stand-alone SDGT designation,” they say. “Listing the Houthis as an FTO would provide a right of action to victims of Houthi terrorism, impose visa bans, and apply sanctions widely to non-U.S. persons, while your SDGT designation would not. Likewise, when compared with an SDGT listing, an FTO designation would also reduce the legal threshold for penalizing violators of the resultant sanctions.” “The Houthis unquestionably meet the threshold for FTO designation, and so, given the forgoing, we believe you should redesignate them as an FTO immediately,” they say. Fox News’ Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.
Key study in FDA abortion pill case at the Supreme Court was retracted in ‘partisan assault’ authors say
A key study in the case against the FDA’s abortion pill approval at the Supreme Court has been retracted from an academic journal, and its authors say the move is an “unprovoked and partisan assault” on scientific research. On March 26, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in a case challenging access to the abortion pill and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s regulatory approval process. The FDA made several moves, intending to make it easier to access and use the mifepristone pill in the wake of the overturning of Roe v. Wade last year. Legal arguments against the FDA’s push have cited a study published in 2021 which found that the rate of abortion-related emergency room visits following a chemical abortion increased over 500% from 2002 through 2015, according to an analysis of Medicaid claims data. That study was published by Sage Publishing, an academic publishing company. However, on Monday, Sage announced it had retracted that 2021 study and two others, citing that the authors of the study failed to list their associations with pro-life organizations as a conflict of interest. SUPREME COURT SETS DATE TO HEAR ABORTION PILL CHALLENGE The author of the emergency room study, Dr. Jim Studnicki, is the vice president of data analytics for the Charlotte Lozier Institute (CLI), who was trained at Johns Hopkins University. He has a 50-year career conducting scientific research and has 70 peer-reviewed studies indexed in PubMed. CLI is a non-profit research arm of the Susan B. Anthony Pro Life America group – one of the most successful pro-life advocacy groups in the country. CLI says they are a network of over 70 associate scholars who are “credentialed experts in medicine, statistical analysis, sociology, science, bioethics, public health, law, and social services for women and families.” Roughly two years after the study was published, an initially anonymous reader wrote to Sage with a concern that the graphs and figures in the study misrepresented data and that Dr. Studnicki did not appropriately disclose his affiliations with a pro-life group. CLI responded to the concern, saying that “no errors, miscalculations or deceptive practices are identified.” CLI also said that “the affiliations of all authors are documented in the paper. In addition, a bio sketch for each author is included with the paper. Funding support for the research from CLI is also disclosed.” 20 STATE AGS WARN CVS, WALGREENS THAT DISTRIBUTING ABORTION PILLS VIOLATES STATE, FEDERAL LAW CLI notes in its response that part of the Committee on Publication Ethics’ definition of conflict of interest describes “those which may not be fully apparent, and which may influence the judgment of author, reviewers, and editors” and “which, when revealed later, would make a reasonable reader feel misled or deceived.” “All relevant information was fully disclosed,” CLI said. CLI continued in its response to Sage that “This paper is the single most read in the journal Health Services Research and Managerial Epidemiology. It has been repeatedly referenced in legal cases and legislative discourse in many states. It has enriched the scientific discourse on the relative safety of chemical induced abortion.” “Most importantly, it is excellent science, and the methods and findings are unchallenged. We respectfully ask that you not allow ideologically motivated and unsubstantiated ‘concerns’ to damage the reputation of this work and its authors,” they said. Four months later, with very little communication in the meantime, Sage notified CLI they were retracting the three studies. In response to an inquiry from Fox News Digital, Sage Publishing referred to its retraction notification which cites “undeclared conflicts of interest” and “lack of scientific rigor.” However, lawyers representing CLI told the publishing firm that “the allegations raised in support of retraction are not only procedurally flawed but meritless, and Sage’s actions are unlawful.” MISSOURI ATTORNEY GENERAL SUES BIDEN ADMIN FOR APPROVING THE SHIPMENT OF CHEMICAL ABORTION PILLS IN THE MAIL “Your decision also reflects a regrettable pattern of using scientific publications as a sword against unpopular findings—regardless of their objectivity. This further undermines the public’s confidence in scientific bodies and does a disservice to your mission to ‘advance knowledge,’” CLI’s lawyer David A. Shaneyfelt wrote in a letter to Sage in November. “Our clients have spent their careers building credibility and engaging in objective scientific discovery. Your decision to retract their articles, your recurring breach of confidentiality, and your blatant breach of contract have already done palpable damage to their reputation,” Shaneyfelt wrote. He also alleged that the timing of the retraction was “concerning,” considering the studies’ connection to the Supreme Court case Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA. Dr. Studnicki said in a statement to Fox News Digital, “I think Dobbs really accelerated this, there’s a sense of desperation among those in the abortion industry. They’ve always had the literature to themselves. All of the major health associations are pro-abortion, most of the journals are pro-abortion, all the academic departments in the universities are pro-abortion.” “It’s profoundly sad to me what is going on in science today. I’m at a point in my life, at 80 years old, where they won’t damage me,” he said. “But what if I was a mid-career faculty member or someone aiming for tenure or trying to raise a family? Right now, the science industry’s message appears to be – ‘if we can do this to Dr. Studnicki, who’s had a 50-year career without blemish, imagine what we can do to you.’” Tessa Longbons, a senior research associate for CLI, said, “this incident points to a larger, newer phenomenon, which is that many of our scientific institutions and publications no longer stand in defense of open inquiry.” “Rather, we’re seeing a biased elite faction across the medical community with all the power attempting to suppress any research that cuts against their approved, pro-abortion narrative,” she said. “Scientific research and publication should be grounded in science, not driven by ideology,” she added. The authors of the study told Fox News Digital they will be taking appropriate legal action.
Gun rights group urges senators to press Yellen over Treasury targeting gun transactions
FIRST ON FOX: A gun rights group representing over 2 million members and activists is urging senators to grill Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on alleged privacy violations committed by her department. Yellen is set to testify before the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee on Thursday. In a letter sent ahead of her testimony, Gun Owners of America (GOA) requests that committee lawmakers press the secretary on recent revelations that federal investigators asked banks to search and filter customer transactions for terms related to the firearms industry. “Congress cannot allow the federal government to continue establishing and expanding databases on guns and gun owners,” wrote Aidan Johnston, director of Federal Affairs for GOA. “Whether it is the misuse of gun store records and financial data by the Department of Justice or firearm transaction data by the Department of the Treasury, data collection on guns and their lawful owners must be stopped.” Fox News Digital previously reported that the Treasury Department’s Office of Stakeholder Integration and Engagement in the Strategic Operations of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) distributed materials to financial institutions that outlined “typologies” of “various persons of interest” and provided the banks with “suggested search terms and Merchant Category Codes for identifying transactions on behalf of federal law enforcement.” ALARMING’ SURVEILLANCE: FEDS ASK BANKS TO SEARCH PRIVATE TRANSACTIONS FOR TERMS LIKE ‘MAGA,’ ‘TRUMP’ Financial institutions were told to look for transactions with terms including “Trump” and “Maga,” as well as “Biden,” “Kamala,” “Antifa,” “White Power,” “Camp Auschwitz,” “Proud B,” “Storm, the,” “Capitol,” “Groyper Army,” “Threepers,” “boogaloo,” “civil war,” “last sons,” “kill,” “shoot,” “gun,” “death,” “murder,” “Biden,” “Kamala,” “Pelosi,” “Schumer” and “Pence.” FinCEN also provided banks with suggested terms and Merchant Category Codes for the firearms industry, including GOA partners like AR15.com, LLC, Browning Arms Company, Glock, Inc., Sig Sauer, Inc., Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc., and others. READ GUN OWNERS OF AMERICA’S LETTER HERE – APP USERS, CLICK HERE: The purpose of flagging these transactions was to identify “potential active shooters” and “international terrorists,” “domestic terrorists” or “homegrown violent extremists (‘lone wolves’).” The initial terms “MAGA” and “Trump” were revealed in a letter sent by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, to a former director of FinCEN, Fox News Digital first reported in January. FEDS SUGGESTED BANKS SEARCH TRANSACTIONS FOR TERMS LIKE ‘BIDEN,’ ‘ANTIFA’ AND MORE AFTER JAN 6: SOURCES The distribution of the search terms, including various members of the firearms industry, began in the final weeks of the Trump administration after Jan. 6, 2021. A slide included in Jordan’s letter, which was distributed to banks, detailed several parameters that transactions must meet before an individual was flagged as a “person of interest.” Banks were told to look for transactions involving five or more distinct and different merchants or vendors involving the suggested terms; and an aggregate purchase totaling $2,500 or more using suggested MCC codes; and a number of transactions involving the provided terms greater than 50% of the total number of transactions by that customer; and an aggregate purchase amount at the MCC codes greater than 50% of total purchases by the customer. The transactions had to meet all of those parameters before they were flagged to FinCEN investigators, meaning the vast majority of firearms transactions or transactions involving one of the suggested terms were not alerted to law enforcement. Even so, GOA raised concerns that the Treasury is “teaching financial institutions how to search financial data to find gun owners by flagging potential firearm transactions.” GUN RIGHTS GROUP’S ATF REPORT ACCUSES AGENCY OF MAKING ‘ILLEGAL GUN REGISTRY’ AS CRUZ TAKES AIM IN SENATE In his letter, Johnston pointed to testimony received by the House Judiciary Committee indicating that Bank of America provided the FBI “voluntarily and without any legal process” with a list of individuals who made firearms transactions in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area using a Bank of America credit or debit card between Jan. 5 and Jan. 7, 2021 for the federal investigations into the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. He also referenced GOA accusations that the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) is maintaining an “illegal gun registry” — a reference to a new ATF rule requiring federal firearms licensees to maintain purchase records indefinitely. “Gun Owners of America fully agrees with the Weaponization Committee that ‘[d]espite these transactions having no apparent criminal nexus — and, in fact, relate to Americans exercising their Second Amendment rights — FinCEN seems to have adopted a characterization of these Americans as potential threat actors,’” Johnston wrote. “This is truly ‘pervasive financial surveillance’ of gun ownership and ’raises serious doubts about FinCEN’s respect for fundamental civil liberties,’” he added. GOA requested that senators ask Secretary Yellen about these issues and whether the department should be “mass accumulating — or suggesting the mass accumulation of — American citizens’ personal firearm transactions.” The group also requested that senators ask what protections the Treasury has in place “to ensure the privacy of law-abiding Americans who choose to exercise their Second Amendment rights.” A Treasury Department spokesperson declined to comment. Fox News’ Brooke Singman and Houston Keene contributed to this report.
These states will vote on abortion this year
The Florida Supreme Court is hearing arguments Wednesday on whether a ballot measure to enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution should go before voters in November. It’s one of several states where abortion might be on the ballot this year. There has been a major push across the country to put abortion rights questions to voters since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and removed the nationwide right to abortion. MAJOR PRO-LIFE GROUP LAYS OUT AGGRESSIVE PLANS FOR 2024 ELECTIONS: ‘LARGEST GROUND GAME YET’ Since that 2022 decision, most Republican-controlled states have new abortion restrictions in effect, including 14 that ban it at every stage of pregnancy. Most Democrat-dominated states have laws or executive orders to protect access. Additionally, voters in seven states — California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Ohio and Vermont — have sided with abortion rights supporters on ballot measures. It’s not clear yet how many states will vote on measures to enshrine abortion access in November. In some, the question is whether amendment supporters can get enough valid signatures. In others, it’s up to the legislature. In Florida, there’s legal wrangling on the details. Maryland voters this year will also be asked whether to enshrine the right for women to end their pregnancies in the state’s constitution in a ballot question put before them by lawmakers last year. The state already protects the right to abortion under state law and Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-1. Abortion is allowed in Maryland until viability. New York lawmakers agreed to ask voters to bar discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, pregnancy outcome and reproductive healthcare as part of a broader equal protection amendment. It would also bar discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin and disability. The language of the constitutional amendment does not mention abortion specifically. Abortion is allowed in New York law until viability. A signature drive is underway to add a constitutional right to abortion in Arizona. Under the measure, the state would not be able to ban abortion until the fetus is viable, with later abortions allowed to protect a woman’s physical or mental health. Supporters must gather nearly 384,000 valid signatures by July 4. Current law bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Proponents of an amendment to allow abortion in many cases have until July 5 to gather nearly 91,000 valid signatures to get it on the Nov. 5 ballot. The measure would bar laws banning abortion in the first 20 weeks of gestation and allow abortion later in pregnancy in cases of rape, incest, threats to the woman’s health or life, or if the fetus would be unlikely to survive birth. Because it allows limits as soon as 20 weeks, the proposal does not have the support of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, which includes Arkansas. The state has a ban on abortion at all stages of pregnancy with narrow exceptions. There are dueling efforts on abortion in Colorado. One measure would create a voter-initiated law to ban access throughout pregnancy and the other would amend the state constitution to protect it. The abortion rights amendment would also require Medicaid and private health insurance to cover abortion. Supporters on each side have until Aug. 5 to submit more than 124,000 signatures to get a measure on the ballot. Amending the constitution in Colorado requires the support of 55% of voters. But the ban could be passed with a simple majority. Abortion is legal at all stages of pregnancy in Colorado. Advocates collected nearly a million signatures to put a state constitutional amendment to legalize abortion until viability on the ballot, surpassing the nearly 892,000 required. State Attorney General Ashley Moody has asked the state Supreme Court to keep the measure off the ballot, saying there are differing views on the meaning of “viability” and that some key terms in the proposed measure are not properly defined. If the measure goes before voters, 60% of them would have to vote yes for it to take effect. Abortion is legal in Florida through the first 15 weeks of pregnancy. But a 2023 law would drop that to six weeks — often before women know they’re pregnant — if the 15-week ban survives a court challenge. Pushes are underway to get dueling abortion-related ballot measures before Missouri voters in 2024. Abortion rights advocates in Missourians for Constitutional Freedom are pushing for one that would guarantee abortion is legal until viability. A group of moderate Republicans are taking a different approach and calling for an amendment that would allow abortion up to 12 weeks, and after that only under limited exceptions. Abortion is currently banned at all stages of pregnancy with limited exceptions in Missouri. Abortion rights proponents have proposed a constitutional amendment in Montana that would bar the government from denying the right to abortion before viability or when it’s necessary to protect the life or health of the pregnant person. But Attorney General Austin Knudsen ruled that the measure is legally insufficient. Advocates are appealing to the state’s top court. If the court allows it to move ahead, supporters would need to gather more than 60,000 signatures by June 21 to get it on the ballot. Abortion is currently legal until viability in Montana. Advocates are trying to collect about 125,000 signatures needed by July 5 to put a constitutional amendment before voters to protect abortion rights until fetal viability. Under a law adopted last year, abortion is banned after 12 weeks, with some exceptions. Signatures are being gathered to place an abortion access amendment on Nevada’s ballot in November. Under the amendment, abortion access for the first 24 weeks of pregnancy or later to protect the health of the pregnant person, which is already assured under a 1990 law, would be enshrined in the constitution. It requires more than 102,000 valid signatures by June 26 to place the measure on the ballot. Voters would need to approve it in both 2024 and 2026 to change
House CCP panel probes Pentagon over ‘woefully inadequate’ sealift program needed for wartime
FIRST ON FOX: The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is probing the Department of Defense (DOD) and Transportation Department (DOT) over what it describes as a “woefully inadequate” U.S. military sealift fleet needed in times of war. In a letter to Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost, the commander of the DOD’s Transportation Command, and DOT Maritime Administration Administrator Ann Phillips on Tuesday evening, House CCP Committee Chairman Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., warned the U.S. military’s sealift program is a significant national security liability. The program is required for transporting military equipment in the event of an overseas conflict but, according to Gallagher, appears to have deteriorated. “While China has undertaken a historic buildup of both military and commercial ships, the United States’ sealift fleet has continued to age and go underfunded, appearing woefully inadequate for the daunting task of providing logistical support to troops thousands of miles away from the homeland,” Gallagher wrote to Van Ovost and Phillips. “As described by an unnamed senior official responsible for American sealift capability, the situation is a ‘screaming national security vulnerability,’” he continued. “Now, in the middle of a new Cold War, the United States finds itself with neither the sufficient military nor civil resources to meet our sealift objective.” FORD PLANS TO HIRE CHINESE MILITARY SOFTWARE SUPPLIER FOR EV FACTORY IN US: GOP INVESTIGATORS Gallagher noted that, in the event of a conflict in the Indo-Pacific region, nearly 90% of Army and Marine Corps equipment would need to be transported to the region via sealift, on ships. However, the DOD’s entire sealift consists of just 60 ships and the average age of sealift ships is 45, with the majority not ready for mobilization. In addition, he said the U.S. has just 177 merchant vessels, which are needed to aid the sealift plan, down from the 600 recorded in 1990. By comparison, China operates 5,500 merchant vessels. US MILITARY BASE’S GREEN ENERGY PROJECT WITH CCP TIES DISCONNECTED OVER NATIONAL SECURITY CONCERNS And the U.S. has just 1,800 mariners employed, less than half of the number required to crew its fleet. “The combined effect of an underfunded and undersized fleet, crewed by an insufficient workforce of mariners, has led to a perfect storm in which the United States appears unprepared to carry out major sealift operations during a crisis,” Gallagher wrote. “Shifting the balance of power back in our favor and strengthening our ability to deny a Chinese invasion of Taiwan require a comprehensive plan that not only increases our offensive capabilities and enhances our defensive posture but also bolsters our logistical assets, especially our sealift fleet,” the CCP Committee chairman added. “We are quickly running out of time to implement meaningful changes, many of which will take years to fully execute. We must prioritize our attention and resources to restoring our deterrence against China and ensuring that we can succeed in any future conflict.” Gallagher then inquired about the two officials’ assessment of the sealift program and whether their respective agencies were prepared to fix the problems. The White House established sealift in October 1989, issuing the National Security Directive on Sealift, which characterized the program as critical to “executing this country’s forward defense strategy” and that it would “ensure that sufficient military and civil maritime resources [would] be available to meet defense deployment, and essential economic requirements in support of our national security strategy.”
The End of Fear
A look at the fear of growing up in a doomsday cult and believing that, any day now, the world may end. In part two of our Apocalypse Maybe series, End of Fear, people raised with a belief in an impending apocalypse look back on their upbringing, and find some parallels in today’s increasingly unstable world. Acclaimed author and professor Jerald Walker shares the story told in his 2016 autobiography, The World in Flames: A Black Boyhood in a White Supremacist Doomsday Cult, while writer and PR professional Fleur Brown connects past fears with the current day. Some threads of apocalyptic beliefs are then unpicked with academic insight by James Tabor, retired professor of Christian origins and ancient Judaism at the University of North Carolina. He reassures viewers that such prophecies, past and present, have a 100 percent failure rate. Apocalypse Maybe is a documentary series exploring why, in the presence of cascading global crises, many feel that we might be living in the end times. Theme music: Try Again by Cam Kahin. Adblock test (Why?)
Network blackout cuts communications for millions in war-torn Sudan
All three of Sudan’s main internet providers are offline as the United Nations appeals for aid funds. All three of Sudan’s main internet operators were offline on Wednesday, internet observatory NetBlocks has said, cutting communications for millions of people stuck in conflict zones or fleeing for their safety. The network blackout could also freeze e-wallets that many people depend upon amid a widespread cash shortage. A source from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary has denied responsibility, the Reuters news agency reported, and the companies have not publicly blamed anyone for the outages. Two of the networks had been offline since Friday, when telecom sources and the army-aligned state news agency said the RSF had shut down the networks belonging to MTN Sudan and Sudani. Zain Sudan is now also offline, NetBlocks said. Aid agencies have warned of rising hunger in Sudan and famine-like conditions in some areas, as a result of the nine-month war between the Sudanese army and paramilitary RSF. The United Nations on Wednesday urged countries not to forget the civilians caught up in the war, appealing for $4.1bn to meet their humanitarian needs and support those who have fled to neighbouring countries. Half of Sudan’s population – around 25 million people – need humanitarian assistance and protection, while more than 1.5 million people have fled to the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia and South Sudan, according to the UN. In the launch of its joint appeal with the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) called for $2.7bn in funding to provide humanitarian aid for 14.7 million people. The UN refugee agency asked for $1.4bn to support nearly 2.7 million people in five countries neighbouring Sudan as part of the appeal. OCHA’s appeal last year to provide aid to civilians in Sudan was less than half funded. Aid talks? Later on Wednesday, the UN aid chief said that Sudan’s warring sides have agreed to meet in UN-mediated talks on enabling aid delivery. Martin Griffiths told reporters in Geneva, Switzerland that he had been in contact with the heads of the two sides in the war about convening “empowered representatives of the two militaries” to discuss aid access. He said he wanted “to get them to follow up the commitments of the so-called Jeddah Declaration”, which the two sides signed last May, agreeing to spare civilians and civilian infrastructure and to let in badly needed aid. Griffiths warned the lack of access remained “very, very considerable”. While the Jeddah conference was organised by Saudi Arabia and the United States, Griffiths said “this time it’s the UN that will be the mediator”. “I had positive responses from both sides,” he said, adding that he was “still waiting for a confirmation on when and where”, but that Switzerland had been suggested as a venue. He said he hoped the meeting could take place “face to face”, but said plans were under way to organise a virtual call next week “as a first step”. Griffiths said the international community needed to act with a heightened sense of urgency. “We must not forget Sudan,” he said. “That’s the simple message that I have to say today.” Adblock test (Why?)