House passes annual defense bill with extension of controversial surveillance tool
The House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved Congress’s annual defense policy bill just before leaving Washington for the holidays. The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2024 passed 310 to 118, with a majority of Republicans and Democrats voting for it. In addition to laying out the next year’s Pentagon policy priorities, this year’s bill also includes an extension of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act’s (FISA) Section 702, a tool that allows the intelligence community to spy on foreign nationals outside the U.S. without a warrant, even if the person on the other side of their communications is an American citizen. This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Just 1 in 4 Michigan Democrats enthusiastic about Biden being the nominee: poll
President Biden is experiencing a collapse in enthusiasm among Democratic voters in Michigan, according to a new poll. Just 27% of Democrats in the Great Lake State say there are “enthusiastic” for Biden as their party’s presidential nominee, according to the Washington Post-Monmouth poll. Approximately 51% of Democratic voters in the state say they would be “satisfied” with Biden as the Democratic nominee, and 19% say they would be “dissatisfied” or “upset.” HUNTER BIDEN FACES BACKLASH AFTER DEFYING SUBPOENA WITH PRESS CONFERENCE ‘STUNT’: ‘HOLD HIM IN CONTEMPT’ By contrast, approximately 45% of Michigan Republicans report being “enthusiastic” about former President Trump as their party’s nominee. Approximately 31% of GOP voters in the state say they would be “satisfied” to have Trump as the Republican presidential nominee in 2024. About 21% of Michigan Republicans say they would be “unsatisfied” or “upset” with Trump leading the party into the election. SUPPORT FOR BIDEN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY GROWS WITH A NOTABLE LEVEL OF DEMOCRAT BACKING: POLL The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that Americans are increasingly unsatisfied with the prospect of a Biden-Trump rematch in 2024. Approximately 56% of U.S. adults report they would feel “very” or “somewhat” dissatisfied with Biden as the Democratic nominee. Meanwhile, about 58% of U.S. adults say they would feel dissatisfied with Trump representing the GOP. Approximately 42% of respondents said they view Biden favorably, compared to 36% for Trump. The Post-Monmouth poll surveyed 1,066 potential voters in Michigan between Dec. 7 and Dec. 11. Its reported margin of error is +/-4.4%. The Associated Press-NORC poll surveyed 1,074 US adults selected via the NORC’s AmeriSpeak Panel. It was conducted between Nov. 30 and Dec. 4 and reports a margin of error of +/-4%.
Suspension of democracy: Congress slams centre over suspension of opposition MPs
Congress on Thursday termed as a “murder of democracy” the suspension of opposition MPs and alleged that the BJP government has reduced Parliament to a “rubber stamp”.
Lesley Wolf, prosecutor accused of working to ‘limit’ questions about ‘big guy’ in Hunter probe, out at DOJ
The assistant U.S. attorney who was accused of limiting questions related to President Biden during the federal investigation into Hunter Biden is no longer employed by the Justice Department, Fox News has learned. Lesley Wolf, who served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Delaware, is no longer with the DOJ, according to a source familiar with the situation. The source said Wolf had longstanding plans to leave the Department of Justice and did so weeks ago. Wolf, who IRS whistleblowers claimed slow-walked the Hunter Biden investigation, is expected to be deposed at the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday morning. Specifically, IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley alleged that Wolf worked to “limit” questioning related to President Biden and apparent references to Biden as “dad” or “the big guy.” This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Senate report sounds alarm on surge in fentanyl deaths among older Americans: ‘Silent epidemic’
FIRST ON FOX: A new Senate report is sounding the alarm about a surge in deaths from synthetic opioids such as fentanyl among older Americans – as the U.S. continues to grapple with the danger of the drug, which is primarily smuggled in across the southern border. The report, “The Silent Epidemic: Fentanyl and Older Americans,” is authored by Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., the ranking member on the U.S. Senate Committee on Aging, and looks at the increase in overdose deaths among older Americans. “Among Americans 65 and older, overdose deaths quadrupled across the last two decades, and there’s increasing evidence that synthetic drugs like fentanyl are adding to these fatalities,” the report says. DHS WARNS MEXICAN-PRODUCED DRUGS LIKE FENTANYL LIKELY TO KILL MORE AMERICANS THAN ANY OTHER THREAT The report cites statistics showing that overdose deaths from synthetic opioids increased by 53% in a single year. Over 79,000 Americans 55 and older died from an opioid overdose between 1999 and 2019, with the rate of overdose deaths increasing from 3 per 100,000 in 2002 to 12 per 100,000 in 2021. Fentanyl deaths have been plaguing the U.S. for years, with tens of thousands of deaths a year. Of the over 107,000 overdose deaths in 2021, 75% involved an opioid, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC.) Illicit fentanyl is predominantly made in Mexico using Chinese precursors and then smuggled across the southern border, both through the ports of entry and between them. Seizures of the drug by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have skyrocketed in recent years, which the Biden administration has said is due to better screening and technology that it has installed at ports of entry. But Republicans have said it is due to an increase in attempts as a result of the border crisis – meaning more of the drug could be getting through. Overdose deaths come primarily from Americans unknowingly taking pills or drugs laced with fentanyl, which can be fatal in tiny doses and is 50 times stronger than heroin. “Older Americans susceptible to overdoses on synthetics are often long-term, stable users whose drugs become infected by synthetics or people who turn to black-market prescription drugs due to cost or to supplement their demand for medication after being cut off from legal channels,” the report says. BORDER PATROL SEIZED ENOUGH FENTANYL TO KILL ENTIRE US POPULATION THIS FISCAL YEAR It found that Black men 55 and older have an opioid overdose rate four times larger than the same overall same-age rate, and that in Washington, D.C., between 2017 and 2022, 72% of opioid overdose deaths were among older Americans. The study says that information, research and data on substance use among older Americans is limiting, in turn affecting policy responses. “This has led to prevention messaging for older adults that still reflects traditional concerns about prescription opioid misuse but does not focus on synthetics like fentanyl increasingly infecting drugs taken by older Americans,” it says. WHITE HOUSE ANNOUNCES ADDITIONAL $450 MILLION IN FUNDING TO FIGHT OPIOID EPIDEMIC “There is a pressing need to rethink how and why older Americans are impacted by substance use, reduce stigma, and raise awareness about growing substance use among older populations,” it says. “There is also a pressing need to address the fentanyl crisis at its source.” The report recommends encouraging greater awareness among seniors, including making them aware that synthetics are extremely lethal and increasingly found in drugs like Oxycodone, Xanax and Adderall. It also says there should be more research and data to understand the scale of the impact on older Americans, including greater coordination between state and federal governments. Braun, who has also authored legislation to impose penalties, including the death penalty, on drug traffickers, also criticized what he called a “minimalist border security policy” by the Biden administration. “We often talk about fentanyl becoming the number one killer of young people, but it’s killing at every age. The silent epidemic of fentanyl flowing from our southern border is robbing our seniors of their golden years,” Braun said in a statement to Fox News Digital. The report’s publication comes ahead of a committee hearing on the matter on Thursday morning, which will see testimony from experts and officials. The Biden administration has touted its own efforts in cracking down on the fentanyl crisis, including investments in technology, recovery, prevention and greater cooperation with other countries to stop smuggling.
Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge writes to Rajya Sabha chairman, demands Amit Shah’s statement on Parliament breach
In his letter Vice President Dhankhar, the LoP in the Upper House labelled the breach in Parliament security as a grave matter, demanding that Union Home Minister Amit Shah make a statement on the issue following which a discussion should happen under Rule 267.
Maine lawsuits target decision to limit foreign influence in local elections
Two utilities and two media organizations are suing over a referendum in Maine that closed a loophole in federal election law that allows foreign entities to spend on local and state ballot measures. The three lawsuits take aim at the proposal overwhelmingly approved by voters on Nov. 7 to address foreign election influence. The Maine Association of Broadcasters and Maine Press Association contend the new law that goes into effect on Jan. 5 imposes a censorship mandate on news outlets, which are going to be required to police campaign ads to ensure there’s no foreign government influence. ME VOTERS MAY SOON BAN FOREIGN INFLUENCE IN ELECTIONS Meanwhile, Central Maine Power and Versant, the state’s largest electric utilities, each filed separate lawsuits raising constitutional challenges about the law they claim violates their free speech and engagement on issues affecting them. The Maine Commission on Government Ethics and Campaign Practices is studying the federal complaints filed Tuesday and consulting with the attorney general, Jonathan Wayne, the commission’s executive director, said Wednesday in an email. The attorney general’s office declined comment. State Sen. Rick Bennett, who led the effort to put the proposal on the ballot, said Wednesday that the federal lawsuits “speak volumes about what a deplorable state that we’ve reached in our politics.” MAINE DEMOCRATIC GOV. JANET MILLS VETOES BILL AIMED AT PROHIBITING FOREIGN INFLUENCE IN STATE ELECTIONS “This is something that Mainers are united about. Their voices are being drowned out by these people who are bringing the lawsuits,” he said. The referendum, which was approved by a margin of 86% to 14%, bans foreign governments — or companies with 5% or more foreign government ownership — from donating to state referendum races. The proposal was put on the ballot after a Canadian government-owned utility, Hydro Quebec, spent $22 million to influence a project on which it’s a partner in Maine. That hydropower corridor project ultimately moved forward after legal challenges. But there are implications for Maine-based utilities, too. The law applies to Versant because it’s owned by the city of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. Foreign governments also have a stake in Central Maine Power. CMP’s corporate parent Avangrid narrowly missed the cutoff by one measure. It is owned by a Spanish company — not the government — and minority shareholders owned by foreign governments, Norway’s central bank Norges Bank and the government-owned Qatar Investment Authority, together fall below the 5% threshold. But Qatar also has an 8.7% minority stake in Spain-based Iberdrola, which owns Avangrid and CMP, and that’s part of the reason CMP argues that the law is unconstitutionally vague. ME VOTERS REJECT TAKEOVER OF STATE’S LEADING ELECTRIC COMPANIES, FOREIGN GOVERNMENT SPENDING Before the Maine proposal went to voters it was vetoed by Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, who cited concerns about the proposal’s constitutionality and said its broadness could silence “legitimate voices, including Maine-based businesses.” Federal election law currently bans foreign entities from spending on candidate elections but allows such donations for local and state ballot measures. Maine was the 10th state to close the election spending loophole when the referendum was approved, according to the Campaign Legal Center in Washington, D.C., which supported the Maine proposal. Bennett, R-Oxford, said other states’ laws have withstood legal challenges even though some of their definitions are more stringent than Maine’s. He also said it was ironic that Versant would sue for a right that it doesn’t have in Canada. “In Canada it is completely illegal for any foreign individual or corporation to be involved in any of their elections,” he said.
Ramaswamy says SCOTUS should strike down FDA approval of abortion pill
Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said Wednesday that he hopes the U.S. Supreme Court will overturn the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of the abortion pill. Ramaswamy appeared in Des Moines, Iowa for a CNN town hall, where anchor Abby Phillip asked him about the Supreme Court’s decision to hear a case that could potentially restrict access nationwide to the abortion drug Mifepristone. Ramaswamy said the case is less about abortion and more about administrative law and the FDA approval process, arguing the agency exceeded its authority by approving mifepristone in 2000. “It’s my opinion — it’s the Supreme Court’s that’ll matter, but I’m pretty sure they’re going to come down right where I am on this — that the FDA exceeded its statutory authority in using an emergency approval to approve something that doesn’t fit Congress’ criteria for what actually counts as an emergency approval,” Ramaswamy told voters at the town hall. The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to consider appeals from the Biden administration and drug manufacturer Danco defending several actions by the FDA intended to make it easier to acces and use mifepristone in the wake of overturning Roe v. Wade last year. WATCH: RAMASWAMY’S TOP MOMENTS ON DEI, IMMIGRATION, TAX REFORM, JAN.6 AT CNN TOWN HALL: ‘THIS IS IMPORTANT In overturning Roe v. Wade in June 2022, the Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that the U.S. Constitution does not guarantee the right to an abortion and that the matter should be decided by the states. In the aftermath, 14 states have banned abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with some exceptions, and two others have banned abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which is around six weeks of gestation. Mifepristone, known by the brand name Mifeprex, is a pill taken with misoprostol in a two-drug regimen that first deprives an unborn baby of hormones it needs to stay alive and then causes cramps and contractions to expel the dead fetus from the mother’s womb. This process is sometimes referred to as a medication abortion or, by critics, as a chemical abortion. According to Danco, more than 5 million women have used Mifeprex in the United States since the FDA approved its use in 2000. The popular drug is 97% effective in terminating early pregnancy, although the company says 3% of women who take it will require surgical intervention for ongoing pregnancy, heavy bleeding, incomplete expulsion or other reasons such as patient request. WATCH: DESANTIS’ TOP MOMENTS ON ISRAEL, IMMIGRATION, TRUMP AND HALEY AT CNN TOWN HALL: ‘AN EASY ANSWER’ Pro-life doctors, represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, have challenged FDA approval of mifepristone on the grounds that the agency inappropriately expedited the drug’s approval with mixed success in lower courts. The Biden administration and the maker of the drug are asking the high court to reverse an appellate ruling that would cut off access to the drug through the mail and impose other restrictions, even in states where abortion remains legal. The restrictions include shortening from the current 10 weeks to seven weeks the time during which mifepristone can be used in pregnancy. The nine justices rejected a separate appeal from abortion opponents who challenged the FDA’s initial approval of mifepristone as safe and effective in 2000. Ramaswamy said the case is a “symptom” of “what’s going on in the administrative state.” TRUMP HOLDS MASSIVE LEAD IN IOWA 5 WEEKS FROM CAUCUSES THAT KICK OFF GOP RACE: POLL “The people who we elect to run the government, they’re not even the ones who actually run the government right now. It’s the bureaucrats in those three letter agencies that are pulling the strings today,” he said at the town hall. Ramaswamy said that if voters disagree with his position, they should turn to the “Democratic process” and expand abortion access “through the front doors of Congress,” pledging that if he’s elected president he will “rescind those unconstitutional federal regulations that Congress never actually passed.” In a statement, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that overturning the FDA’s decisions on the abortion pill “threatens to undermine the FDA’s scientific, independent judgment and would reimpose outdated restrictions on access to safe and effective medication abortion.” “This Administration will continue to stand by FDA’s independent approval and regulation of mifepristone as safe and effective. As the Department of Justice continues defending the FDA’s actions before the Supreme Court, President Biden and Vice President Harris remain firmly committed to defending women’s ability to access reproductive care,” she said. Fox News Digital’s Danielle Wallace contributed to this report. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Parliament security breach: 14 opposition MPs suspended, Lok Sabha adjourned till tomorrow
Lok Sabha on Thursday passed a second resolution suspending nine more MPs from various Opposition parties for disrupting House proceedings.
‘National security has become hollow…’: Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Parliament breach
Reacting to the opposition protests on the security breach incident, BJP MP Gopal Shetty said that they will make an issue out of this seeing their recent loss in elections.