The vote on the #RightToContraceptionAct was 51-39, falling short of the 60 votes needed to defeat a #filibuster & move forward. Republicans said the bill is unnecessary as the use of #BirthControl is protected under #SCOTUS precedent as if [#SupremeCourt precedent means anything anymore].
The legislation would establish nationwide #rights for individuals to “obtain #contraceptives & to voluntarily engage in #contraception” & protect #healthcare providers who offer it. It defines contraceptives as “any drug, device, or biological product intended for use in the prevention of pregnancy” & prohibits #federal or #state governments from enforcing #laws or standards that impede that right. It empowers the #DOJ & affected private entities to sue to enforce the new protections.
Trump stands to gain billions… from the merger between TrumpMedia & Tech & the blank-check co [#SPAC] #DWAC, which took the parent company of #TruthSocial public.
The trust’s existence has previously been reported…. However, who controlled the acct, how the trust was connected to Paxum, & how the money had been funneled thru it to TrumpMedia was unknown.
The family of #BrianSicknick, the #PoliceOfficer who died during the #Jan6 attack, blasted Trump’s appearance at a wake Thurs for slain #NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller.
Charles & Kenneth Sicknick on Fri expressed condolences to Diller’s family, but said #Trump’s appearance, especially the #PressConference outside a funeral home, was nothing but an #inappropriate#PoliticalStunt.
#Trump was #indicted last year by a #federal#GrandJury for his alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, & has been blamed for #inciting the mob that stormed the Capitol on #Jan6.
He is currently under #indictment in #Manhattan for falsifying business records to hide #HushMoney payments to porn star Stormy Daniels. He is also facing #racketeering charges in #Georgia for an alleged effort to subvert that state’s election laws following his loss to Biden in the 2020 election.
The #SupremeCourt on Tues cleared the way for Texas to immediately begin enforcing one of the nation’s harshest immigration laws, which opponents say would disrupt more than a century of #federal control over #international borders.
“The Court gives a green light to a #law that will upend the longstanding #federal - #state balance of #power & sow #chaos,” wrote Justice SoniaSotomayor, joined by Justice ##KetanjiBrownJackson. They noted that a lower court judge had concluded “that it is likely #unconstitutional.”
#Biden WH blasts #SCOTUS ruling letting Texas #SB4 immigration crackdown law take effect. 'We fundmentally disagree' with the high court's order per the WH PressSec.
The US #SupremeCourt said it will rule on Trump’s bid for immunity from criminal prosecution, taking up a historic case that will determine whether Trump will stand #trial for 2020 #ElectionInterference.
The #SCOTUS’ justices set argument for the week of April 22 to consider a unanimous ruling from a panel of the #UnitedStates Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit that rejected #Trump’s sweeping assertion of #immunity from prosecution.
Trump’s pretrial proceedings in DC will remain on hold until a ruling is issued, putting the #SupremeCourt in the politically fraught position of influencing the timing of a #federal#election-#obstruction#trial for the leading #Republican presidential candidate.
#SouthCarolina to use #CongressionalMap deemed #unconstitutional #SCOTUS heard arguments on the redistricting case in Oct but has yet to rule🤬, essentially running out the clock for the #2024election. A #federal#court ruled Thurs that time had run out to draw a new congressional district in #SC & said the state could use its existing map even though it had earlier determined that map was unconstitutional.
Testimony in a #Michigan court Fri, revealed both #state & #federal investigators continue to probe certificates that falsely claimed #Trump won the #2020election, 5 months before the next election.
On day 4 of prelim examinations for 6 #Republicans who signed the false certificate in MI, MSP Capt Darren Green, said he was interviewed Thurs by the #FBI & 2 US prosecutors from DC.
#Hur, the special counsel, who is appearing …at the request of… #JimJordan, has arranged to resign from the #DOJ …one day before he is scheduled to appear….
In Taking Up #Trump’s #Immunity Claim, #SCOTUS Bolstered His #Delay Strategy
By scheduling a hearing for late April on TFG’s assertion that he cannot be prosecuted for his actions in office, the justices increased the chances that he will not face #trial by #Election Day
It is not out of the question that #Trump could still face a #jury in the case, in #Federal District Court in Washington, before #Election Day. At this point, the #legal calendar suggests that if the justices issue a ruling by the end of #SCOTUS’s term in June & find that Trump is not #immune from prosecution, the #trial could still start by late Sept or Oct.
One section…stands out from #SCOTUS’s decision in #Trump v. Anderson.
“Even though ‘all 9 Members of the Court’ agree that this independent & sufficient rationale resolves this case,” Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan & Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote in their concurrence, “5 Justices go on.”
Renting a relative's house while my house is pieced together due to a plumbing disaster, and pulled out my FLIR this morning--around 40F (4.4C) outside--and this building's thermal envelope is dismal. That said, I will likely end up fixing what I can here at some point, assuming they plan to keep this house. #EnergyEfficiency#flir#energy
There is a 30% rebate on insulation in the US, up to a maximum of $1200, if you are the owner of a house. It's well worth it, as there is a significant energy saves for both cooling and heating (worth it for helping to slow our overall societal energy usage and fossil fuels consumption anyway, btw) #energy#rebates#federal#EnergyEfficiency
A #GrayWolf killed in a January #coyote hunt in #Michigan's southern Lower Peninsula; #DNR investigating how it got there.
The harvest was potentially the 1st time a gray wolf has been identified in the Lower Peninsula since the species was wiped out driven to [#extinction] from the state in the early 20th century, MI Dept of #NaturalResources said.
“…In 4 decades as a #federal#judge, I have known scores, possibly hundreds, of federal trial & appellate #judges pretty well. I can’t think of a single one, no matter who appointed her or him, who has engaged or would engage in conduct like that. You just don’t do that sort of thing, whether it may be considered over the line, or just edging up to the margin. Flying those flags was tantamount to sticking a ‘Stop the steal’ bumper sticker on your car. You just don’t do it.”
A century & a half ago, Confederate Gen Joseph Orville Shelby splashed into the wild waters of the Rio Grande off this border city & fled to Mexico, refusing to surrender to Union soldiers.
Now the park named in his honor (?) has become a front line in a feud between the #state & the #federal govt — a power struggle over who ultimately has the right to control the border….
…It’s been nearly two years since #Abbott & other #Republican governors began traveling to this Democratic-voting Tejano city for news conferences denouncing “open borders” & unveiling plans to deploy #Texas#troops & drop river buoys. The #state’s #border w/ #Mexico is an #international boundary under the #jurisdiction of #federal authorities, but Abbott & his allies contend they have the right to intervene because the #Biden admin hasn’t done enough….