Contributing Writers

Democratic Minnesota senators, holding firm despite only a one-vote majority, were poised Friday to pass gun control legislation strongly supported by the governor that would align the battleground state with others nationally that have taken steps to keep guns out of the hands of people in crisis and criminals.

Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin said the concept of diversity, equity and inclusion was admirable a decade ago but has since “gone off the rails” and “taken on a new mission.

Multiple Senate Democrats are departing ahead of what is expected to be a tough election year for the party and have announced their decision to not seek office again in 2024. Could other Democrats bow out of their races? Last week, Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., became the latest member of his party to announce he will not seek reelection to the upper chamber next year. “I am proud of all I have done for Maryland.

The top lawyer for OpenAI, the company that developed ChatGPT, argued that the best way to regulate artificial intelligence is not to start with government mandated rules and regulations but to allow the companies themselves to set standards that ensure AI is used safely and responsibly. OpenAI General Counsel Jason Kwon made that argument during a Tuesday panel discussion in Washington, D.C.

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed several bills Tuesday impacting Florida schools, including legislation that gives teachers the authority to restrict social media use in classrooms and protects teachers who report their own administrators for violating state policies. The new laws come amid a major, multi-year education overhaul led by DeSantis and Florida Republicans, which has also included bans on critical race theory and “woke activism” – as the governor calls it.

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., returned to Washington, D.C. on Tuesday after taking a months-long absence following a shingles diagnosis. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer confirmed the longtime senator’s return in a statement, saying he is pleased that his “friend Dianne is back in the Senate and ready to roll up her sleeves and get to work.” Feinstein’s office also confirmed the 89-year-old congresswoman was traveling and expected to be in D.C.

The state of California’s first in the nation reparations task force has voted to approve recommendations for how the state should compensate and apologize to Black Americans in response to slavery.

Activists on Saturday demanded that the state of California pay millions of dollars to each Black resident in reparations as a way to make amends for slavery and subsequent discrimination, dismissing the mammoth proposals from California’s reparations task force as too little. The demands were made at a highly explosive official meeting of the task force, which was created by state legislation signed by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2020.

President Joe Biden attempted to ease concerns about his age in an interview Friday by framing his 80 years of life experience as a positive rather than a negative. “Because I have acquired a hell of a lot of wisdom,” Biden told MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle on Friday when he was asked “why an 82-year-old Biden” would be the “right person for the most important job in the world” in 2024. “I know more than the vast majority of people.

The Department of Transportation has given the green light to New York’s controversial congestion pricing plan, which would impose a toll on drivers who attempt to enter Manhattan during peak traffic hours. On Friday, the Federal Highway Administration gave tentative approval to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s environmental and legal submissions for the proposal, allowing it to move forward with a 30-day public review period.

Former Vice President Mike Pence defended Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas from what he called malicious attacks against the conservative Black jurist. “Ever since his nomination to the Supreme Court in 1991 Justice Thomas has been maliciously attacked by the Left, including by then Sen. Joe Biden,” Pence said in a tweet.  “The attacks on his character are continuing today, and it’s appalling to see,” Pence continued.

The New Orleans mayor may have survived a recall effort, but she still faces criticism as she grapples with violence and other issues in one of the nation’s murder capitals. LaToya Cantrell, a Democrat, was the first Black woman to be elected mayor of New Orleans in 2018 and easily won re-election in 2021.

Republicans are less convinced than Democrats that the federal government needs to impose regulations on artificial intelligence systems and are even more skeptical on whether the government is up to the task, according to a new Fox News poll. The poll of registered voters shows a noticeable gap between the two parties on the question of whether and how to regulate AI, a sign that the increasingly important issue could get hung up in politics as it advances in Washington.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt has banned all sex reassignment procedures for minors in the state, including irreversible gender transition surgeries and hormone therapies, joining at least 15 other states with similar laws. The Republican governor signed SB 613 into law Monday, making it a felony for healthcare workers to provide children under the age of 18 gender surgery, puberty-blocking drugs or hormone doses that suppress or delay normal puberty.

GOP lawmakers Ted Cruz and James Comer are investigating whether certain environmental groups coordinated with the Biden administration to ban gas stoves.  In letters published Monday, Sen. Cruz of Texas and Rep. Comer of Kentucky accused the Biden administration and environmental activists of carrying out a “hidden pressure campaign.

Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia confirmed Monday that he will not be launching a 2024 bid for the White House “this year” after months of speculation. “No,” Youngkin told Wall Street Journal editor-at-large Gerard Baker at a Milken Institute “Governing America” event when he asked the governor if he would be “dusting off” the signature fleece jacket he became known for during his race for governor.

The Texas Legislature has passed a bill requiring silent panic buttons in classrooms across the state, which comes just days after the anniversary of last year’s shooting in Uvalde, where a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School. House Bill 3 cleared the chamber with a vote of 119-25. It now heads to the Senate. A mass shooting took place in Uvalde, Texas on May 24, 2022.

State lawmakers in Texas advanced a bill Tuesday suggesting stipends of up to $25,000 for public school staff members who become designated guardians authorized to carry or possess a weapon while working on the premises. House Bill 13, which focuses on “training, preparedness, and funding for school safety and emergencies,” passed with bipartisan support and now heads to the state Senate where it’s fate is uncertain.

A gun store manager said a sweeping new gun control package signed into law Tuesday by Washington’s governor demonstrates the power of a one-party state to chip away at Americans’ constitutional rights.  “They have an agenda and that agenda is to get rid of guns,” Bruce Smith, the manager of Surplus Ammo and Arms in Tacoma, told Fox News. “And eventually, all guns.”  WATCH MORE FOX NEWS DIGITAL ORIGINALS HERE Gov.

One of the national co-chairs of President Biden’s newly announced 2024 re-election campaign has deep and longstanding ties to China’s communist government, potentially presenting a problem for the president as analysts continue to warn of the threat that China poses to U.S. national security. The Biden campaign announced Tuesday that former Disney and DreamWorks Animation chief Jeffrey Katzenberg will be one of its national co-chairs.

The 2024 presidential election is a year and a half away. Still, several Republican presidential hopefuls are already making stops in key primary states like Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.  Florida Governor Ron DeSantis made a stop in South Carolina on Wednesday. He talked about his work in Florida, arguing that much of what he’s done there can work for the U.S. as a whole.