A man formerly known as a powerful Michigan lawmaker was sentenced Thursday to nearly five years in federal prison for accepting bribes as head of a marijuana licensing board. Rick Johnson admitted accepting at least $110,000 when he led the board from 2017 to 2019. “I am a corrupt politician,” Johnson told the judge, according to The Detroit News.
The North Dakota Supreme Court struck down a major budget bill for the state government on Thursday, likely meaning lawmakers must come back to Bismarck to do the massive bill over again. The court ruled the bill “was unconstitutionally enacted and is void” because it violates a provision of the state constitution that says bills can’t embrace more than one subject.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey filed a lawsuit against a healthcare company last week after it provided puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to minors without a mental health assessment, as required by state law before sex reassignments were banned. On Aug. 28, Missouri’s Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act was implemented as law in the state.
Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., pulled out of plans to attend the 13th annual Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration in Union City on Sunday, just two days after he was indicted on federal corruption charges, according to reports. The New Jersey Advance reported that Menendez hosts the celebration every year in his hometown of Union City. The Democratic senator’s office did not immediately respond to inquiries seeking information on why Menendez bailed out of Sunday’s plans.
Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., said he would finish what former President Donald Trump started at the U.S.-Mexico border and complete the wall construction if elected in 2024. Scott made the statement during a Sunday morning appearance on Fox News, telling host Griff Jenkins that Democrats don’t understand the border issue. He went on to blast the Biden administration for selling supplies that had been intended for the construction of the wall.
The wife of Iran’s president said in a new interview Sunday that the country’s new hijab law is being implemented “out of respect for women,” even as violators could face 10 years in prison. Jamileh Alamolhoda, the wife of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, sat down for an interview with ABC “This Week” host Martha Raddatz. It was reportedly recorded a day after her husband’s speech before the United Nations General Assembly.
The crisis at the U.S. southern border could become “worse” should the “dysfunction” in the House of Representatives block Congress from reaching a deal to prevent a federal shutdown, Democrat Sen. Mark Kelly said Sunday. Kelly, D-Ariz., appeared on CBS’ “Face the Nation” and blamed House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., for failing to get conservative Republican hardliners to agree with a conservative spending plan to keep the government funded.
President Biden announced a $325 million security assistance package for Ukraine after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday. Zelenskyy visited Washington, D.C., for the second time since the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Capping his visit, which included meetings and discussions with lawmakers and Pentagon officials, Zelenskyy met with Biden at the White House before the $325 million plan was unveiled.
President Biden committed his latest awkward gaffe Wednesday when it appeared he forgot to shake the hand of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, known as “Lula,” before leaving the stage after a joint event.
It’s take two for Dave McCormick in battleground Pennsylvania. McCormick, a former hedge fund executive, West Point graduate, Gulf War combat veteran and Treasury Department official in former President George W. Bush’s administration, on Thursday launched his second straight campaign for the Senate. His announcement gives national and state Republicans a high-profile candidate with the ability to self finance.
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., dressed down for an official meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Capitol, just days after the Senate dress code was altered. Zelenskyy traveled to Washington, D.C., on Thursday to meet with President Biden and a bipartisan group of lawmakers, a trip that marks his second visit to the U.S.
The U.S. Senate confirmed Gen. Eric M. Smith as Commandant of the Marine Corps in a 96-0 vote on Thursday. In July, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger relinquished his post, leaving the military branch without a confirmed leader for the first time in 164 years. Then assistant commandant of Marine Corps, Smith took over as acting Commandant. Just two months prior, President Biden nominated Smith to lead the service. Over the past 24 hours, the Senate also confirmed Air Force Gen.
EXCLUSIVE: The race to replace retiring Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, is gaining steam as another candidate has tossed his hat into the fold, the first since the senator said last week he wouldn’t run for re-election. Speaking with Fox News Digital, Roosevelt, Utah Mayor Rod Bird, Jr., a Republican, ripped Romney’s tenure in office, arguing the senator didn’t do what he said he would do when first elected in 2018.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, joked Monday that she would “wear a bikini” on the floor of the Senate following Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s, D-N.Y., directive that the body would no longer enforce a dress code for its members. Her comments were first reported by an NBC News reporter, but were confirmed by Fox News Digital.
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., attacked a journalist who defended how he dresses, baffling social media users. The senator took a shot at Nate Silver, the founder of the data news site FiveThirtyEight, after Silver posted a message on X, formerly known as Twitter, defending Fetterman against people who criticize him over his outfits, which regularly consists of hoodies and gym shorts.
A stopgap spending deal struck between separate factions of the House GOP was splitting the Republican conference on Monday, with less than two weeks until the government funding deadline on Sept. 30. The conservative House Freedom Caucus and the more pragmatic Main Street Caucus released a short-term spending bill, known as a continuing resolution (CR), aimed at buying lawmakers more time to avoid a government shutdown.
The Biden administration proposed to block of thousands of acres from future oil drilling or mining in northern New Mexico in an effort to protect Native American lands. According to the Department of the Interior (DOI), the proposal would ban new mining claims and oil and gas development across more than 4,200 acres in Sandoval County, New Mexico, located north of Albuquerque. If finalized and implemented, the action would remain in place for up to 50 years.
DES MOINES, Iowa – Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina – the only major Republican presidential candidate who’s never been married – spotlighted this weekend that he’s “dating a lovely Christian girl,” as he addressed a large group of influential voters of faith in the state that leads off the GOP nominating calendar.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton released a scathing letter directed towards the White House after he was acquitted of state impeachment charges Saturday. Paxton, a Republican, was accused of corruption, bribery and unfitness for office by a bipartisan group of Texas state senators. All 12 Democrats in the jury voted for his impeachment, along with two Republicans: Sens. Robert Nichols and Kelly Hancock.
“I always have a plan. That doesn’t mean it happens,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said early Thursday afternoon. “I had a plan for this week. It didn’t turn out exactly as I had planned.” McCarthy’s “plan” was for the House to approve a defense spending bill stocked with all sorts of conservative priorities.
When it comes to the combustible issue of abortion, Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley appears to be on a mission. “We are not going to demonize this issue anymore. We’re going to humanize it because it’s too personal of an issue,” the former ambassador and former two-term South Carolina governor said Saturday in a Fox News Digital interview minutes before she headlined a town hall in the suburbs of Iowa’s capitol city.
New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham on Friday revised her original public health order which would have temporarily banned individuals from carrying guns across Albuquerque and the surrounding Bernalillo County. The new revised order would temporarily ban individuals from carrying guns only in parks and playgrounds. The revised version comes after portions of her original version were struck down by a federal judge. Biden-appointed U.S.
President Joe Biden ended a Vietnam press conference on Sunday by frankly telling reporters he had to go to bed after wrapping up the 2023 Group of 20 summit. Biden was speaking in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi after two days at the G20 summit in New Delhi, India. He was answering a question about China’s relationship with the United States before announcing that he was sleepy.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Sunday said the influx of tens of thousands of migrants will bring a “financial tsunami” as departments across the board are forced to slash budgets to accommodate the new arrivals. The mayor’s dire warning came during an appearance on PIX 11’s “PIX on Politics” days after he predicted that the crisis “will destroy New York City.
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley slammed President Biden for recently sending a handful of cabinet members to China, arguing it was “embarrassing” for the U.S. “China has been practically preparing for war with us for years,” Haley told Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday. “They have killed more Americans than the Iraq … Afghanistan and Vietnam wars combined with their sending fentanyl over.
California Governor Gavin Newsom dodged responsibility for allowing the film industry to reopen while keeping churches closed in his state during the COVID-19 pandemic, instead blaming the collective “we” for such decisions. Newsom was confronted Sunday by “Meet the Press” anchor Chuck Todd about his lockdown-heavy approach to the pandemic that faced so much criticism that it sparked a recall election against him.
The George W. Bush Institute executive who organized a joint statement by 13 presidential libraries pledging to unify to preserve democracy was previously revealed as the person who leaked the infamous Steele dossier to BuzzFeed after the 2016 election. David Kramer, the executive director of the George W. Bush Institute, spearheaded a statement Thursday signed by 13 presidential libraries dating back to Herbert Hoover.
Two Republican members of the New Mexico State House of Representatives are calling for Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to be impeached after she temporarily suspended open and concealed carry across Albuquerque and the surrounding Bernalillo County for at least 30 days. Grisham on Thursday said she needed to respond to recent gun-related deaths, which include an 11-year-old boy who was shot and killed while outside a minor league baseball stadium on Wednesday night.
The head of the Border Patrol union told Fox News Digital on Saturday that a reported Biden administration plan to force migrants to remain in Texas as they are processed for their asylum hearings won’t do anything to secure the border or help agents. “It’s not going to help border security in any way, shape or form because it means catch-and-releases are going to continue to go on,” Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, told Fox News Digital.
EXCLUSIVE: Republican presidential candidate Tim Scott gave a one-word response to a California bill that would punish parents in custody battles who don’t “affirm” transgender kids. The South Carolina senator called the proposal “evil” in a statement to Fox News.