This Senate Rule Could Stop Democrats From Confirming Biden’s SCOTUS Nominee

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With Justice Stephen Breyer officially announcing his retirement on Thursday (a full 24 hours after the White House announced it for him), Senate Democrats will have a chance to fill a Supreme Court seat, likely before the 2022 midterm elections in November.

But ever since 2017, when Senate Republicans invoked the nuclear option to confirm Supreme Court justices at a simple majority, instead of at the usual 60 votes necessary to break a filibuster, there has been procedurally little minorities can do to prevent a nomination from moving forward (the outright lies, smears, and chaos tactics Senate Democrats employed against Justice Brett Kavanaugh notwithstanding).

This conventional wisdom, however, is true only of Senates that present a clear minority-majority differential. The Senate of 2022 is tied, with 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans, which presents Republicans with an interesting procedural option: denying a quorum in the Senate Judiciary Committee, thus preventing the nomination from being reported out of committee and placed on the calendar, and ultimately moved to the Senate floor.

In parliamentary practice, a quorum is the number of members that must be present to hold votes and conduct official committee business. By failing to show up to vote on the nomination in committee, Republicans could prevent the nomination from reaching the Senate floor by appealing to the Senate’s Rule 26, which requires that a majority of members, physically present, report the bill out of committee. (The Senate’s Rule 14, which allows senators to bypass committee consideration for legislation, cannot be used for nominations.)

What has made this strategy ineffective in the past — namely, a Senate majority being able to present a numerical majority of their members in committee — is what makes it work in 2022, where the Senate’s committee membership, reflecting the makeup of the Senate, is in a tie. (Read more from “This Senate Rule Could Stop Democrats From Confirming Biden’s SCOTUS Nominee” HERE)

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Biology Class Compares Transgenderism With Tree Frogs That Change Sex

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A biology class at a Massachusetts high school compared transgenderism in humans to clownfish and a species of tree frog, both of which can change their sex under certain conditions.

The comparison was part of a series of slides that discussed variation in human biology in regards to sex, gender, gender expression, and sexual orientation.

The slides, which were obtained by the parent activist group Parents Defending Education and reviewed by the Washington Examiner, say that “humans are conditioned to view sex and gender as binary.”

In a slide that discusses “human biological variation,” the lesson mentions “intersex people” and that “only mentioning biological sex as male and female marginalises intersex people who have been persistently discriminated against.”

Intersex is a rare genetic condition caused by the presence of multiple sex chromosomes, resulting in the presence of both male and female physical characteristics. The Needham High School lesson says that intersex is found in close to 2% of the population, which Erika Sanzi, the director of outreach for Parents Defending Education, said was false. (Read more from “Biology Class Compares Transgenderism With Tree Frogs That Change Sex” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr

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Surprise! Religious Rights Victory Is Wonderful News for Children

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In a victory for religious rights across America, the state of Michigan has agreed to settle a lawsuit with a provision that allows a religious adoption agency to decline to place children with same-sex duos, because that would violate members’ faith.

The state also will be paying the agency $550,000 for its fees and costs in the dispute.

The Washington Examiner reported the conclusion of the case involving Michigan and St. Vincent Catholic Charities is that “faith-based adoption agencies and foster care organizations contracting with the Michigan government will not be required to grant children to same-sex couples.”

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services announced in a statement that it was resuming contracting with agencies that disallow adoptions by same-sex duos.

Officials cited a June 2021 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, on the same dispute in Philadelphia, in which Chief Justice John Roberts wrote Philadelphia’s discrimination against those organizations violated the First Amendment. (Read more from “Surprise! Religious Rights Victory Is Wonderful News for Children” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr

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Jewish Couple Sues to Stop Tennessee Christians From Helping With Adoptions

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Elizabeth and Gabriel Rutan-Ram are suing the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services, but their real beef is with the Holston United Methodist Home for Children. The Knoxville couple, who are Jewish, wished to adopt a boy from Florida, but part of the adoption process involved them taking a state-approved family training course.

According to the lawsuit they filed in state court, they reached out to Holston United because it was the only government-approved agency that could provide them the services they needed. But after initially thinking the home would work with them, they were told that the Methodist group’s core religious principles forbid it from placing children in non-Christian homes. . .

But if they win their case, it will be a blow to religious freedom rather than a triumph for it.

The goal of the lawsuit is to overturn legislation signed into law by Gov. Bill Lee in January 2020 that explicitly permits religious adoption agencies to decline to be involved in cases that “would violate the agency’s written religious or moral convictions or policies.” The Rutan-Rams’ lawyers — backed by the American Civil Liberties Union — contend the law violates both the Tennessee Constitution and the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees freedom of religion. (Read more from “Jewish Couple Sues to Stop Tennessee Christians From Helping With Adoptions” HERE)

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Under Biden Proposal, Everyone Including Kids Could More Easily Get Transgender Surgery

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The Biden administration is pushing for more insurers, and thus anyone who buys their insurance, to cover transgender surgeries. Such genital, breast, and facial surgery, as well as hormone therapy and more, would be considered “medically necessary” for those wishing to identify with the other sex.

Discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability is prohibited in federally funded health-care facilities under the Affordable Care Act, passed during the Obama administration. A proposed rule, issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on January 5, would add “sexual orientation and gender identity” to that list.

The rule “places ideology ahead of sound medicine,” the Ethics and Public Policy Center said in a comment Thursday opposing the rule. It “is without legal support, contradicts long-standing scientific understandings of the human person, attempts to evade court injunctions, promotes harm to patients (especially minors), tramples religious freedom,” and more, according to the EPPC.

Taxpayers are already paying for transgender procedures, as they are covered by the federal program Medicaid in some states. Some insurers also already cover the procedures.

“Nearly half of transgender respondents in one survey said their health insurance company denied them gender affirming [sic] surgery, and a similar proportion reported that they were denied coverage for hormone therapy,” the proposed rule states, in reference to a Center for American Progress study. (Read more from “Under Biden Proposal, Everyone Including Kids Could More Easily Get Transgender Surgery” HERE)

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Professor Placed on Leave After Blasting Biden’s Vow to Elect Black Woman to SCOTUS

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Georgetown Law School placed an incoming professor on administrative leave after he deleted and apologized for a tweet that condemned President Joe Biden’s affirmative action commitment to nominate a black woman to the Supreme Court, according to an email from Georgetown Law’s Dean.

Dean William Treanor sent an email to students on Jan. 31 announcing that the school placed CATO Scholar and incoming professor Ilya Shapiro on administrative leave after hearing the “pain and outrage” from the Georgetown community. Treanor said in his email that there was outcry “particularly from our Black female students, staff, alumni, and faculty” to remove Shapiro from his incoming role.

“Ilya Shapiro’s tweets are antithetical to the work that we do here every day to build inclusion, belonging, and respect for diversity,” Treanor’s email reads.

“I have placed Ilya Shapiro on administrative leave, pending an investigation into whether he violated our policies and expectations on professional conduct, non-discrimination, and anti-harassment, the results of which will inform our next steps,” he continued.

“Racial stereotypes about individual capabilities and qualifications remain a pernicious force in our society and our profession,” Treanor said. “I am keenly aware that our law school is not exempt.” (Read more from “Professor Placed on Leave After Blasting Biden’s Vow to Elect Black Woman to SCOTUS” HERE)

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BLM Co-Founder Tied to Other Groups With Spending ‘Red Flags’: Report

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Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors — who resigned in the wake of a Post expose of her spending spree on lavish homes — is tied to several other fundraising organizations whose finances raise “potential red flags,” according to a new report.

One of the groups, Reform LA Jails, in 2019 collected more than $1.4 million, of which $205,000 went to a consulting company owned by Cullors and her spouse Janaya Khan, New York magazine said.

Another $211,000 was paid to Cullors’ pal Asha Bandele, who co-wrote her memoir, and about $86,000 was paid to an entertainment, clothing and consulting company called Trap Heals, which was started by Damon Turner, the father of Cullors’ child, according to the report.

Reform LA Jails also reportedly paid $270,000 to a consulting company run by its treasurer, Christman Bowers, who’s also known as Shalomya Bowers and has signed tax documents as the deputy executive director of the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, which reportedly has $60 million its coffers but no leader since Cullors quit under fire in May.

Bowers is also involved in at least three other groups that Cullors started or helped lead — including Dignity and Power Now, JusticeLA, and the Justice Teams Network — between which money has passed, New York said, citing official filings. (Read more from “BLM Co-Founder Tied to Other Groups With Spending ‘Red Flags’: Report” HERE)

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Biden Says There’s ‘a Way to Go’ on COVID Two Years Into the Pandemic

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President Biden sounded shaky Monday about his administration’s ability to lead the US out of the COVID-19 pandemic and back to normal, telling a group of governors at the White House that “we got a way to go on that, in my view” as Americans grow restless with social restrictions nearly two full years into the pandemic.

The president made the comment to members of the National Governors Association while discussing how he’d like states to standardize their coronavirus policies.

“I know you spoke today with … the head of my COVID team [Jeff Zients] in here,” Biden said. “We got a way to go on that, in my view, but we’re moving. And so I think it’s all about making sure we have the same standards we’re applying across the board.”

Seconds later, Biden said the administration was “gonna try like the devil to keep schools open,” even as several districts return to virtual learning, citing a surge in cases caused by the Omicron variant.

“We do know — study after study, as all of you know and you’ve done, the great universities in your states have done them — is that, you know, losing a semester can put a kid back a year and a half,” Biden said. “And so, there’s a whole lot we can — have to do, in my view, to focus. And I think that keeping schools open is a big part of that.” (Read more from “Biden Says There’s ‘a Way to Go’ on COVID Two Years Into the Pandemic” HERE)

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Biden’s Border Plan: Fix Foreign Countries *First*

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President Joe Biden met with American governors at the White House on Monday, but only spoke briefly about migration and the crisis on the southern border.

The president acknowledged that border security was an issue, claiming he was “working a lot with neighboring countries” on the migrant crisis.

But he stressed the most important thing he wanted to do is fix the foreign countries from which migrants were coming.

“There’s a lot to do.” he said. “There’s a lot. I think one of the fundamental things we gotta do in addition to some of the changes we’ll make — we won’t get into them today — is that if we figure out why they’re leaving in the first place.”

Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, along with cabinet officials, met with governors from the National Governors Association. (Read more from “Biden’s Border Plan: Fix Foreign Countries *First*” HERE)

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He Pulled a Biden! Trudeau Tries to Distract From Anti-Mandate Trucker Protests With Ukraine Panic

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The government of far-left Prime Minister Justin Trudeau withdrew nonessential personnel from Canada’s embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine, this weekend and sent the nation’s defense minister to the capital to discuss an alleged potential Russian invasion of the country.

The extensive focus on Ukraine for Canada follows nearly two weeks of elevated coverage of the eight-year invasion of Ukraine by Moscow that became a global priority after President Joe Biden hinted that America would not aid its allies in Kyiv if Russia engages in a “minor incursion” of the country. Tensions between the Biden administration and its counterpart under Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have escalated since the “minor incursion” remark, culminating with an exasperated Zelensky telling reporters during a press conference Friday that his country has lost nearly $500 million in foreign investment since Biden predicted a further invasion of the country.

It also follows a tumultuous week of domestic politics in Canada. After nearly two years of onerous pandemic lockdown policies under the Trudeau government, a protest convoy organized by truckers across Canada arrived in Ottawa this weekend, flooding the capital with thousands of peaceful protesters demanding the restoration of basic civil rights stripped from Canadians in the name of public health. Police following the event documented no incidents of violence, injuries, or any major disturbances following the peaceful protests.

Trudeau has dismissed the thousands of protesters as a “fringe” minority and fled to an undisclosed location shortly before the truckers arrived in the capital. He has since announced that he tested positive for Chinese coronavirus. (Read more from “He Pulled a Biden! Trudeau Tries to Distract From Anti-Mandate Trucker Protests With Ukraine Panic” HERE)

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