Contributing Writers

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the Heartbeat Protection Act into law Thursday evening, putting the state more in line with other Republican-led states, just hours after the legislation cleared the Florida legislature. The new law expands protections to unborn children, giving them full rights to life once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which can be as early as six weeks of pregnancy. It also provides funding to help mothers across the state.

A federal judge in Washington state is clarifying his ruling on access to the abortion pill that contradicts prior rulings by two other federal courts.  In a separate suit brought by 17 states with Democrat attorneys general, Judge Thomas O. Rice issued a ruling that compels the FDA not to do anything that might affect the availability of the abortion drug mifepristone in the suing states.

A member of California’s reparations task force is dismissing the total dollar amount as the “least important piece” of their proposal, despite the committee considering doling out nearly triple the state’s existing budget in payments to Black residents as a way to make amends for slavery and subsequent discrimination.

California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom took aim at a Florida college that he called “ground zero” for what Republicans want to do to education nationwide. The progressive champion singled out the Sarasota-based New College of Florida, whose board of trustees was revamped by Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, in a Wednesday message to his 2 million Twitter followers. Newsom said the institution is banning books, among other allegations of limiting speech.

The Biden administration announced a trilateral campaign with the United States, Panama and Colombia Tuesday that will aim to halt illegal migration through the Darien Gap, an area of dense jungle where tens of thousands of migrants have already crossed this year. In a joint statement, the three countries said they will launch a 60-day campaign to try and curb the flow of migrants that reached nearly 90,000 in just the first three months of this year.

Republican lawmakers in North Carolina are poised to push ahead with school choice legislation and other education reforms, a key policy area where the GOP has surging momentum following the high-profile defection of a Democratic legislator. State Rep. Tricia Cotham announced last week that she’s joining the Republican Party after serving her deep blue Charlotte-area district as a Democrat.

Sen. Tim Scott will launch a presidential exploratory committee on Wednesday, sources close to the Republican senator from South Carolina confirm to Fox News. The move by Scott, a rising star in the GOP and the only Black Republican in the Senate, is a traditional step taken in the past by many politicians who ended up running for the White House. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking the past few months. I’ve been thinking about my faith.

President Biden arrived in Belfast, Northern Ireland, for the first time during his presidency Tuesday night to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement and accompanying him were son, Hunter, and sister, Valerie Biden Owens. Air Force One landed in the capital of Northern Ireland late Tuesday night, and along with his son and sister, Biden was joined by U.S. envoy to Northern Ireland Joseph Patrick Kennedy III, a grandnephew of the late President John F. Kennedy.

Oklahoma’s Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters is on his way out as Gov. Kevin Stitt’s secretary of education. Stitt on Tuesday announced in a press release that he is appointing Oklahoma State University professor of education Katherine Curry to serve on his cabinet in the role Walters has held since 2020. OKLAHOMA GOV.

House Republicans are setting up a vote next week on legislation aimed at keeping biological males out of girls’ and women’s sports at colleges, universities and public schools across the nation. The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act was introduced by Rep. Greg Steube, a Florida Republican who says it’s time to “save women’s sports” from biological males who have “no place” competing against women.

Senate Democrats are demanding Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts open an investigation into Justice Clarence Thomas over what they decry as his “misconduct” detailed in a ProPublica report published last week. The liberal outlet’s report accused Thomas of improperly receiving lavish vacations from Republican mega donor Harlan Crow, which reportedly included taking trips across the world on the latter’s yacht and private jet without disclosing them.

Chasten Buttigieg, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s husband, snapped back at Americans boycotting Anheuser-Busch’s decision to make transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney the star of one of its latest Bud Light commercials. On Monday, Chasten turned to Twitter to speak to those boycotting the blue-canned, frothy alcoholic beverage. “If you’re upset about a beer company supporting civil rights, you might want to start bottling your tears,” Buttigieg tweeted.

A battle over a $1 billion transmission line that won all regulatory approvals only to be rebuked by state residents in a referendum now comes down to nine regular folks. In a rare move, a jury is being asked to decide a complicated constitutional matter — whether developers have a vested right to complete the 145-mile project, which would supply Canadian hydropower to the New England power grid.

Tennessee state Rep. Justin Jones, one of two Black Democratic lawmakers expelled last week from the GOP-led statehouse, is being sent back to the Legislature.  The Nashville Metropolitan Council voted unanimously Monday to restore Jones to office, less than a week after GOP lawmakers stripped him of his seat.

President Joe Biden’s job performance rating has mostly held steady for more than a year and currently stands at 44% approve vs. 56% disapprove in the latest Fox News national survey. That’s net negative by 12 points. The last time that he received positive marks was September 2021, and that was by 1 point (50%-49%).