02a U.S. Politics – Conservative

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An Indiana school counselor who was fired after discussing the district’s policy regarding “gender identity” with a reporter was awarded a $195,000 payout as part of a lawsuit settlement.

Kathy McCord, who has been an educator for 37 years, was dismissed after the South Madison Community School Corporation unveiled the new policy in August 2021.

The policy said that counselors and other employees were required to use “names and pronouns for the student that do not correspond with his or her sex” upon request of that student, according to a Wednesday release from Alliance Defending Freedom.

The policy sometimes “required employees to hide the new names and pronouns from parents,” the legal advocacy group said.

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As the ceasefire between the United States and Iran winds down, heated words filled the air.

“Iran has Violated the Cease Fire numerous times!” President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social.

He did not provide details about the alleged infractions.

Meanwhile, Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, rebuked Trump for “imposing a siege and violating the ceasefire,” according to CNBC. He was referring to Trump’s blockade of Iranian ports.

He accused Trump of trying to turn peace talks into “a table of surrender or to justify renewed warmongering.”

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Disgraced former Democrat Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) is facing renewed scrutiny after campaign finance records revealed extensive spending on alcohol delivery services, luxury travel, and personal expenses funded by donors over multiple years.

According to reports citing Federal Election Commission data, Swalwell’s campaign made more than 100 separate purchases from alcohol delivery service Drizly between 2020 and 2024.

The purchases account for roughly a quarter of all such campaign-related spending nationwide during that period.

Campaign Funds Used for Alcohol, Travel, and Luxury Expenses

After Drizly ceased operations, records show Swalwell’s campaign continued similar spending patterns through Uber Eats, with more than 220 transactions totaling over $19,000.

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A majority of voters support the SAVE America Act and want Congress to pass it before the midterms in November, a March Harvard CAPS/Harris poll found. The majority of respondents also support other election integrity requirements, like counting ballots within 24 hours after Election Day, removing noncitizens from the voter rolls, and even allowing states to share voting records with the Department of Homeland Security.

The Harvard CAPS/Harris poll is conducted monthly. Last month’s survey, conducted March 25-26, included 2,009 respondents identified as “registered voters.”

Much of leftist media outlets’ coverage surrounding the SAVE America Act — which would require documentary proof of citizenship when registering to vote and voter ID in federal elections — fearmongers that the legislation would essentially disenfranchise voters en masse by enacting these common-sense safeguards. The recent Harvard/Harris poll suggests that Americans aren’t as worried about that as the corporate press would have you think.

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Biden-era FBI officials pressed forward with an investigation into Republican members of Congress after top prosecutors privately agreed central allegations lacked credibility, documents obtained by Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley show.

Based largely on claims made by then-Democratic New Jersey Rep. Mikie Sherrill, the FBI launched a probe in January 2021 to assess whether several Republican members assisted individuals or groups who organized the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, records reveal.

“Operation Rampart 12 is yet another example in which Republicans were unfairly targeted and secretly subjected to an invasive investigation by the Biden DOJ and FBI,” Grassley told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

“If not for my investigative work and brave whistleblowers, we wouldn’t know about FBI agents’ and DOJ prosecutors’ disgraceful efforts to try and destroy Republicans,” Grassley said. “My Democrat colleagues want to ignore these facts and evidence and defend the fired officials who participated in Biden’s lawfare. I’ll continue working to expose the widespread constitutional abuses that occurred under the Biden administration, because transparency brings accountability.”

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Key Takeaways

  • The U.S. Department of Education proposed a rule to hold colleges accountable for graduates’ earnings, introducing an ‘earnings test’ to ensure graduates earn more than those without a degree.
  • Programs failing to meet the earnings threshold, with bachelor’s graduates earning less than high school graduates, would lose eligibility for federal student loans.
  • The proposal aims to address rising student debt, emphasizing that taxpayer subsidies should only support programs that yield better outcomes for graduates.

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Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-NJ) remains sidelined due to an undisclosed medical issue, extending a weeks-long absence that is tightening the margin for House Republicans at a critical moment.

According to reports, Kean has not cast a vote since early March and has now missed dozens of roll-call votes, with no clear timeline for his return.

Extended Absence Raises Questions

Kean’s office confirmed he will miss additional votes this week but has provided limited details about his condition.

A spokesman said the congressman is “expected to be totally fine” and will be “back to a full schedule soon,” but offered no further updates.

Kean has been absent from public view for more than a month, with no recent in-person appearances.

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Harvard law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz is officially breaking with Democrats after more than six decades, saying the party he once backed has taken a turn he can’t support.

The longtime liberal announced he is registering as a Republican, pointing to what he described as growing “hostility” toward Israel and a broader ideological shift inside the Democratic Party.

Dershowitz made clear he’s not just switching labels; he plans to get involved in stopping Democrats from reclaiming power in Washington.

“I intend to work hard to prevent the Democrats from gaining control of the House… and Senate, and I urge those who share my concerns about the increasing influence of radicalisms in the Democratic Party to vote, campaign and contribute for continued Republican control of Congress.”

The prominent constitutional lawyer has spent years warning that Democrats are drifting too far left, especially on foreign policy and civil liberties.

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There appears to be an expulsion fever occurring in the House of Representatives. Republican Tony Gonzales (TX-23) and Democrat Eric Swalwell (CA-14) resigned their seats, rather than face this particular fate. Democrat Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (FL-20) and Republican Cory Mills (FL-07) remain bloodied, but unbowed.

Cherfilus-McCormick’s day of reckoning comes Tuesday. The House Ethics Commission has found her in violation of 25 charges and recommended sanctions. Republican Ana Paulina Luna (FL-13) plans to bring a resolution to the floor to have Cherfilus-McCormick expelled.

Republican Rep. Nancy Mace (SC-01) has Republican Cory Mills (FL-03) in her sights, and she’s locked and loaded.

I filed a resolution to expel Cory Mills from Congress.

Last time, my resolution to censure him failed because he cut a deal with Ilhan Omar to save his own skin.

My new resolution outlines how Mills misrepresented his military service, sexual misconduct, campaign finance violations and illicit involvement in federal contracts as a member of Congress, among other charges.

Swalwell is gone. Gonzales is gone. Mills is next.

We need to have the moral courage to do what’s right and expel him.

 

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Capitol Hill has never been a particularly ethical place, but complaints of wrongdoing on both sides of the aisle have led to a recent spike in efforts to remove sitting lawmakers.

One new development involves Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL), who is facing a House Ethics Committee decision as dozens of her fellow Democrats seem eager to join Republicans in voting to expel her.

While House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) only said the party will “follow the facts and apply the relevant law” when it comes to allegations that Cherfilus-McCormick laundered millions of COVID-relief dollars, other Democrats were more decisive.

As Axios reported:

“The charges and examination are incredibly, incredibly serious and I think we have to hold ourselves to high standards here in the Congress,” Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) told Axios.

  • “We need to make sure we can tell the American people that they can trust in their lawmakers,” said Rep. Eric Sorensen (D-Ill.).
  • Reps. Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.), Julie Johnson (D-Texas), John Larson (D-Conn.), Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) and Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas) all told Axios they expect to vote for expulsion if that is what the Ethics Committee recommends.
  • “I’m going to take their recommendation very seriously,” said Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine).
  • Rep. Johnny Olszewski (D-Md.) went one step further, telling Axios expulsion is “something we should take a look at seriously even if it’s not” what the committee recommends.

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The Trump administration has made it clear since its pullout from Minneapolis that the era of mass deportation is over and the administration will instead focus on criminal aliens. But sanctuary cities, which defend the worst of the criminal aliens, remain fully funded and undeterred well into Trump’s second term, with zero strategy to harness the news of endless heinous crimes committed in these fugitive jurisdictions.

How can it be that Republicans are planning one last party-line bill to fund ICE and aren’t even broaching the issue of sanctuary cities?

Just 15 months into this administration, the central campaign promise is dead.

According to the Federation for American Immigration Reform, there were over 300 sanctuary jurisdictions in 2016. In response to Trump’s rise to power and his threat to enforce our sovereignty, this number rose to 564 by 2018 — an increase of roughly 88% in the first two years of the Trump administration. As of last year, FAIR identified at least 1,003 by May 2025.

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Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed a bill making Virginia the latest participant in the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact last week, as the compact draws perilously close to upending our constitutional order. Every American who cherishes our republic should take notice.

For years, left-leaning pundits and politicians have campaigned to scrap the Electoral College, the method the founders gave us for choosing presidents. Their vehicle is the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. With Virginia’s recent entry, the compact now includes 19 jurisdictions (18 states plus the District of Columbia) controlling 222 electoral votes. That falls short of the 270 needed to trigger the scheme, but the trajectory is clear and troubling.

Virginia’s action carries special irony. This is the state of James Madison, the Father of the Constitution. Yet in April 2026 Virginia has joined an effort that effectively rewrites a core feature of the document Madison helped design.

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I’ve never met Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, but I’ve voted for her twice: I live in her Tampa-area district. (Actually, she lives in my district — I’m pretty sure I got here first.)

She’s still in her second term, but already on the cusp of becoming a national figure. She’s gone one-on-one with Joe Rogan. On live TV, she corrected Bill Maher about her “Cuban” ethnicity (“We’re Mexican. We’re not all the same, Bill.”) Camera-shy, she ain’t.

If you could buy stock in a politician’s future, Rep. Luna’s stock value would be soaring.

And you don’t have to be a genius to figure out why. If Jay Leno’s quip is accurate — and politics is “show business for ugly people” — then Mrs. Luna is preposterously overqualified. Not too many of her colleagues could’ve modeled for Maxim Magazine. (Not even Rosa DeLauro.)

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WASHINGTON/CAIRO/ISLAMABAD, April 21 (Reuters) – The U.S. military said on Tuesday it had seized a tanker linked to Iran in international waters, its latest apparent action to enforce a blockade, with time running out on a ceasefire and the prospect of last-ditch further peace talks still up in the air.

Washington has expressed confidence that talks with Iran will go ahead in Pakistan, and a senior Iranian official said Tehran was considering joining. But with the final hours of a two-week truce ticking by, there was little time left for the talks.

The U.S. military said it had boarded the tanker Tifani “without incident”. The ship, capable of carrying 2 million barrels of crude, last reported its position on Tuesday morning as near Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean, according to MarineTraffic tracking data. It was close to fully loaded and had signaled Singapore as its destination.

“As we have made clear, we will pursue global maritime enforcement efforts to disrupt illicit networks and interdict sanctioned vessels providing material support to Iran — anywhere they operate,” U.S. Central Command said.

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A national free speech group is calling on the Catholic University of America to allow pro-Israel speakers on campus – or else face an accreditation complaint.

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression sent a second letter to CUA leadership on Friday, asking it to remove its restrictions on Students Supporting Israel.

The intervention follows a proposal earlier this year for the group to host Israeli homeland security expert Dany Tirza as well as Jewish Republican Rep. Randy Fine of Florida, as The College Fix previously reported.

The university is requiring the club to host a pro-Palestinian or anti-Israel speaker.

While the school says this is part of their policy, that is only supposed to apply when an invited speaker takes a view contrary to the Catholic Church, such as if a club invited a pro-abortion speaker. However, the university did not even apply this policy, allowing the campus Democrats club to host a speaker who supports abortion, according to Student Supporting Israel’s leadership.

The Catholic university in Washington, D.C. allowed an event with an anti-Israel speaker, for example, but did not present the pro-Israel side, FIRE also said.

“We again strongly urge CUA to approve SSI’s event requests and assure students that the university will not condition event approval on student’s willingness to arrange for and host speakers opposed to their own viewpoint,” Program Counsel Jessie Appleby wrote to President Peter Kilpatrick.

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Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) celebrated the news that 26 Iranian ships broke through the U.S. naval blockade in the Gulf of Oman.

I haven’t found many reports about the fleet bypassing the naval blockade. I came across this:

Maritime tracking firm TankerTrackers.com reported that a Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) operated by the National Iranian Tanker Company departed Iran in late March 2026. The vessel then sailed towards Southeast Asia, where it reportedly transferred approximately 2 million barrels of crude oil to another supertanker.

Following the transfer, the tanker returned towards Iranian waters and is believed to have crossed what analysts describe as a US “siege line”, a monitored maritime enforcement zone linked to the ongoing blockade efforts.

According to Iran’s Fars News Agency, the vessel successfully re-entered Iranian-controlled waters and is expected to reach Kharg Island shortly. The report stated, “This tanker unloaded its 2 million barrels of crude oil and then returned home through the blockade line,” citing data from TankerTrackers.com.

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An Oklahoma couple and their pets got to safety in the nick of time on Friday when a possible tornado hit their community.

Shari and Dwain Short live in Ponca City, where video footage recorded outside their home shows the tense moments as the sky darkened and the wind whipped around their property, Fox Weather reported Saturday.

The clip shows Shari opening the door to what appears to be an underground storm shelter. The trees sway back and forth in the wind and the grey sky looks ominous as the couple prepares for the worst.

Moments later, Dwain is seen carrying a dog as he climbs into the shelter behind his wife. The second he tries to shut the door, the wind picks up. Dwain emerges from the shelter for a moment, then goes back inside as the storm hits.

Debris flies through the air, the camera shakes violently, and outside lights flash as gust after gust of wind hits their property and the surrounding community. A flash is seen in the sky seconds before the video ends:

In a social media post Sunday, Shari recalled how intensely frightening the experience was for them before acknowledging God’s hand in it.

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The leftist Supreme Court justices are facing accusations that they literally put their conservative colleagues’ lives at risk because they were so beholden to Roe v. Wade and abortion on demand.

Liberal Supreme Court justices slow-walked completion of their dissents in the landmark Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case, according to a new book.

They delayed its official release for 53 days even as the five conservative justices in the majority faced death threats and assassination attempts following the leak of a draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade.

That’s according to a new report on Mollie Hemingway’s forthcoming book.

The May 2, 2022, leak of the 98-page draft to Politico triggered protests outside the homes of conservative justices, vandalism and arson at hundreds of pregnancy centers, churches and pro-life organizations, and an assassination attempt on Justice Brett Kavanaugh and potentially the other conservative justices.

“Abortion supporters had an incentive to kill one or more of the justices in the majority to change the outcome,” Hemingway wrote in Alito: The Justice Who Reshaped the Supreme Court and Restored the Constitution. “Everyone knew that the leak posed a serious security risk for justices. Since decisions do not take effect until issued officially from the bench, the death of a justice before then could alter the result. The threat of assassination increased dramatically.”

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Chaos erupted in Wisconsin on Saturday.

On Saturday, nearly 1,000 animal rights activists attempted to storm a research facility in Blue Mounds, Wisconsin.

The research facility that the animal activists attempted to storm is home to a beagle breeding facility that has used some questionable research methods.

In response to the activists descending on the research grounds, authorities deployed pepper spray and rubber bullets.

Take a look:

AP reported more on the incident:

About 1,000 animal welfare activists who tried to gain entry Saturday to a beagle breeding and research facility in Wisconsin were turned back by police who fired rubber bullets and pepper spray into the crowd and arrested the group’s leader.

It was the second attempt in as many months by protesters to take beagles from the Ridglan Farms facility in Blue Mounds, a small town about 25 miles (about 40 kilometers) southwest of the capital, Madison.

Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett, said in a video statement that 300 to 400 protesters were “violently trying to break into the property” and assault officers. He said protesters have ignored designated areas for peaceful protest and blocked roads to prevent emergency vehicles from entering.

“This is not a peaceful protest,” Barrett said.

The sheriff’s department said a “significant” number of people were arrested out of about 1,000 protesters at the site but did not give an exact total as they were still being processed as of the afternoon.

Protesters tried to overcome barricades that included a manure-filled trench, hay bales and a barbed-wire fence. Some protesters did get through the fence but were unable to enter the facility, where an estimated 2,000 beagles are kept, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.

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On Saturday’s The Weekend: Primetime, MS NOW hosts Antonia Hylton and Charles Coleman Jr. combined for a remarkable escalation—from stylistic nitpicking to smearing an entire group of Christians as extremists.

After opening with a polished aside about Trump’s recent use of “God is good,” which she said had not previously been part of his ‘linguistic repertoire,’” Hylton quickly pivoted to a jaw-dropping—and wholly unsupported—claim: that Trump is surrounded by religious advisers who are “telling him that he is God,” or effectively God’s representative on Earth.

Hylton offered no evidence for the assertion, presenting it instead as her personal “read” based on following “extremist” Christian figures. But she didn’t name a single adviser making such a claim—let alone anyone literally telling Trump he is God.

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Data released by Pew Research shows that 9 percent of all US births in 2023 were to those that were here in the US illegally, or in the country temporarily.

Children born to illegal immigrant parents in the US were nearly 10 percent of all new births in the US in 2023, according to new data. The figures were published about data that came during the Biden administration, which had lax border policies.

New data released by Pew Research shows that 9 percent of all US births in 2023 were to those who were here in the US illegally, or in the country temporarily. The Supreme Court is currently considering the legality of an order from President Donald Trump that would restrict birthright citizenship from some of those born to foreign nationals in the US.

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President Trump had criticized the pope on April 12 following remarks Leo made about ongoing global conflicts.

Vice President JD Vance responded to Pope Leo XIV’s comments downplaying the divide between him and President Donald Trump, after the pontiff called the reporting of the situation inaccurate.

Leo addressed the issue Saturday while speaking to reporters aboard the papal plane during a trip from Cameroon to Angola as part of an 11-day tour of Africa.

“There’s been a certain narrative that has not been accurate in all of its aspects, but because of the political situation created when, on the first day of the trip, the president of the United States made some comments about myself,” Leo said. “Much of what has been written since then has been more commentary on commentary, trying to interpret what has been said.”

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Federal officials are scrambling after a powerful new artificial intelligence (AI) model demonstrated the ability to hack virtually every major operating system and web browser, triggering urgent warnings from top government and financial leaders.

AI giant Anthropic’s new system, known as “Mythos,” is being kept under tight restrictions.

However, insiders say the threat is already serious enough that the U.S. government is racing to understand it before it’s too late.

Treasury Rushes to Access High-Risk AI

According to reports, the U.S. Treasury Department is urgently seeking access to Anthropic’s restricted model

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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani reiterated his commitment to socialism over the weekend when pressed on a funding shortfall that could prevent him from carrying out some of his top priorities.

“I believe in it even more than I did the day before [the election], and that’s because of the fact that it is focused on the needs of working people,” Mamdani said during an NBC Meet the Press interview released Saturday. “And working people need that focus, that fight from politicians more than ever.”

Mamdani was questioned about how he plans to carry out his hopes of freezing the rent on roughly one million apartments in the country’s largest city, as well as making buses free and providing free universal child care, despite facing a $5.4 billion budget deficit. In response, the mayor said he has already made significant progress in closing the budget gap, and touted Gov. Kathy Hochul’s (D-NY) proposal for a new tax on residents who own second homes in New York City that are worth $5 million or more as a policy that will advance his goals.

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President Donald Trump issued an ultimatum to the Cuban government, urging it to release political prisoners or face continued blackouts, fuel shortages and other problems.

Washington is currently maintaining a blockade in the region, preventing Cuba from receiving shipments of oil and other resources. The move is aimed at pressuring the Cuban government to remove the Castro family from power, release political prisoners, hold free elections, and restore civil liberties to the public. The president has also imposed tariffs on countries that provide oil to the Cuban regime.

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A billionaire running for governor of California just released a plan so radical it makes Gavin Newsom look like a moderate.

Tom Steyer, the hedge fund billionaire and failed 2020 presidential candidate who now leads the Democrat primary field for California governor, published a five-point immigration platform this week that calls for abolishing ICE, jailing federal immigration agents, and using state funds to bring deported illegal aliens back to California.

You read that right. He wants to arrest the people enforcing federal law and roll out the red carpet for those who broke it.

Fox News reporter Bill Melugin laid out the details:

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“A possible foreign operation that could be involved here. That’s why they’re investigating.” “There was a meeting at the White House today on the deaths or disappearances of 10 scientists and staffers, many of whom have overlapping connections to some of our most closely held defense and nuclear research space programs, a lot of intersection between that in the work that they were doing.

“Who are the missing or dead scientists with connections to government research

Ten scientists have died or disappeared, all with links to the nation’s nuclear programs, raising questions about possible connections.

On Thursday, President Trump said he was in a meeting about the cases and expects to know more in a week and a half. He expressed hope the links between the cases were just a coincidence.

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The pro-life activist and father of seven who was targeted with an FBI raid under the Biden administration won a lawsuit payout of over $1 million, one of the ministries supporting him announced earlier this month.

Mark Houck, who lives near Philadelphia, regularly ministered outside the Planned Parenthood location in the Center City neighborhood, sometimes taking his 12-year-old son to experience the harrowing work of trying to save babies on the brink of murder.

On one occasion in October 2021, a volunteer clinic escort verbally harassed his son with profane language, prompting Houck to shove the man to protect his child.

The Thomas More Society, which represented Houck, noted that the private case against him was dismissed after the clinic escort failed to appear at the hearing.

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The decision will make it more difficult to take businesses to court that had contracts with the federal government.

The Supreme Court on Friday sent a lawsuit seeking to hold oil and gas companies liable for damage to the Louisiana coast back to the federal courts (SCOTUSblog).

The plaintiff bar took a big loss at the Supreme Court on Friday, which means a win for the economy and rule of law. In a unanimous decision (Chevron v. Plaquemines Parish), Justices made it harder to raid businesses by holding that federal contractors can’t be hauled into state courts for claims relating to their government work (Wall Street Journal).

Justice Alito didn’t participate because he has stock in one of the companies involved in the dispute. At the center of the case was whether or not Chevron could move their case from state courts to federal courts via the “federal officer removal statute.” Justice Thomas, writing for the majority, said indeed they can:  Held: Chevron has plausibly alleged a close relationship between its challenged crude-oil production and the performance of its federal avgas refining duties—not a tenuous, remote, or peripheral one—and has therefore satisfied the “relating to” requirement of the federal officer removal statute (Supreme Court).

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A former California congressman is facing serious scrutiny after federal filings revealed he blew through tens of thousands of dollars in leftover campaign funds on alcohol deliveries, luxury hotels, and rideshare bills.

Former Rep. Eric Swalwell, the Democrat who once ran for president and sat on the House Intelligence Committee, reportedly burned through roughly $75,000 in campaign cash on personal-looking expenses after leaving office, according to Federal Election Commission records reviewed by multiple outlets.

Fox News reported:

Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings show that former Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., spent more than $75,000 in leftover campaign funds on alcohol deliveries, luxury hotel stays, and rideshare services after leaving Congress. The filings reveal over 100 charges to alcohol delivery services like Drizly, more than $10,000 in Uber and Lyft charges, and roughly $26,000 in hotel stays including a $20,000 tab at the Ritz Carlton.