Category: Federal-State Relations

‘The Government Is Not Our Friend’: Founder of True the Vote Discusses Being Targeted by FBI, IRS

Years before the FBI raid on President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home, Catherine Engelbrecht, founder of election monitoring organization True the Vote, already understood that federal agencies were being weaponized against political foes. During President Barack Obama’s administration, her personal, business, and nonprofit dealings suddenly became of intense interest to the federal government. She endured more…


Texas Targets 10 Financial Companies, 340+ Funds Over ESG-Driven Fossil Fuel Divestment

Texas State Comptroller Glenn Hegar on Aug. 24 released a list of ten financial companies and almost 350 funds said to be boycotting energy firms involved in fossil fuels, marking another advance in the war between individual U.S. states and the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) movement. The state comptroller must publish such a list…


Judge Blocks Biden Admin’s Emergency Abortion Rule in Texas

A federal judge blocked the White House late Tuesday from enforcing guidance in Texas to require hospitals to provide emergency abortions regardless of state laws. U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix in Lubbock agreed with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) guidance was unauthorized and went…


Federal Judge Reinstates 20-Week Abortion Ban in North Carolina

A federal judge has ruled that North Carolina’s law banning abortions after 20 weeks of gestation, except in an urgent medical emergency, is back in force. U.S. District Judge William Osteen’s decision on Aug. 17 eliminates an injunction he had issued against the 20-week abortion ban in 2019. He said that the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on June 24 in…


NYC Is ‘Most Dangerous Sanctuary Community’ in US, Says Report on Illegal Alien Policies

New York City has been deemed “America’s Most Dangerous Sanctuary Community” in a report issued by the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI). The city was named the second-worst sanctuary community in IRLI’s previous 2019 ranking. “Since then, the city has doubled down on its dangerous sanctuary policies to earn the shameful top position,” according to…


17 Governors Urge Biden to Lift COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate on International Travel

Seventeen governors on Aug. 10 urged President Joe Biden to lift the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for international travelers, noting that dozens of countries around the world have rescinded vaccination requirements in recent months. Non-U.S. citizens who are also non-immigrants must show proof of COVID-19 vaccination before traveling by air into the United States. The Centers…


Biden EPA Announces ‘Flyovers’ of Key US Oil- and Gas-Producing Region

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it will conduct “flyovers” of the Permian Basin region in Texas and New Mexico to “survey oil and gas operations to identify large emitters of methane” amid the Biden administration’s climate policy initiative. “The flyovers are vital to identifying which facilities are responsible for the bulk of these…


Department of Justice Sues Idaho Over Abortion Law

The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against Idaho over a law that imposes a ban on the vast majority of abortions, coming weeks after the Supreme Court’s landmark decision to overturn Roe v. Wade while marking what could the first in several Biden administration efforts to target states over their respective…


Kansas Aug. 2 ‘Value Them Both’ Vote First of at Least 6 Abortion Measures on 2022 Ballots

The Kansas ‘Value Them Both’ amendment goes before Sunflower State voters as a special election on their Aug. 2 primary ballots. The ballot measure asks voters to remove access to abortion as a right guaranteed under the Kansas Constitution in a 2019 state Supreme Court ruling. It is the nation’s first public referendum on abortion…


Arizona Attorney General Sues Biden Admin and ATF Over Gun-Control Rules

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich confirmed he is suing the Biden administration over rules imposed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) that would treat firearm parts as finished guns. “The ATF is attempting to overshoot the authority granted to it by Congress,” Brnovich said in a statement Wednesday about his lawsuit. “The…