Lawsuit challenges Tennessee law against ‘harboring' undocumented people
The Tennessee-based Southeastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America filed the lawsuit Friday, joined by a Nashville landlord and a Mexican immigrant in the state. They allege that the law is unconstitutionally vague, oversteps federal authority to regulate immigration, and could place churches, landlords and immigrant communities in the state's crosshairs.
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Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Des Moines School Board Chair Jackie Norris running for Joni Ernst's US Senate seat
Des Moines School Board Chair Jackie Norris is running for the U.S. Senate in 2026, becoming the latest Democrat seeking to take on Republican U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst. "Look, I think it's time for an educator in the Senate," she told the Des Moines Register. "Former teacher, school board member. I have seen firsthand the invisible burdens that are on the shoulders of families right now." Norris, 54, has a lengthy political resume. She worked on campaigns for former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack and former President Barack Obama and was chief of staff to former First Lady Michelle Obama. She is the president and owner of Horizon Group, a research and consulting firm, and previously served as CEO of Goodwill of Central Iowa. She is married to John Norris, a former Iowa Democratic Party chair, gubernatorial candidate and Polk County administrator. They have three sons. Jackie Norris says she's 'very proud' of Des Moines Public Schools' policy limiting cell phones Norris, who worked as a high school government teacher in Perry, Ames and Johnston, said "families are in crisis" and are struggling to afford child care, health care and housing while young people also struggle with anxiety and depression. She pointed to her efforts as a school board member to pass a district-wide policy limiting cell phone use during class time. The district's Hoover High School previously adopted a similar policy in an effort to improve students' grades and their mental health. "We heard loud and clear that we needed to improve the conditions where students can learn and teachers can teach," she said. "And so cell phone addiction was becoming an issue. Kids were struggling with mental health challenges, they weren't hitting their mark on academic outcomes, and so moving forward and passing a cell phone policy for 30,000 students is something I'm very proud of." Norris' school board seat will be on the ballot this fall. She said she does not plan to run for reelection as she mounts a Senate campaign. 'I'm going to bring my whole self to this campaign' Norris is the fourth Democrat to formally enter the race. State Sen. Zach Wahls of Coralville, state Rep. J.D. Scholten of Sioux City and former Knoxville Chamber of Commerce Director Nathan Sage of Indianola have all announced campaigns. State Rep. Josh Turek of Council Bluffs is preparing to launch a campaign this month. Norris said, "I'm going to bring my whole self to this campaign." "I'm going to work hard," she said. "I'm going to use the network that I have all across this country to raise the funds necessary to be competitive and also remind people that Joni Ernst is not what we want in the Senate and we have an opportunity to flip the seat and we need the best candidate to do it. And I'm that candidate." Jackie Norris criticizes Joni Ernst for Medicaid comments, support for Pete Hegseth Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, has been scrutinized this year for comments she made at a May 30 town hall, saying, "Well, we all are going to die" after a constituent shouted that people would die due to Medicaid cuts in President Donald Trump's budget bill. The next day, Ernst shared a sarcastic apology video that she filmed while walking through a cemetery. Ernst ultimately voted for the bill, which extends and deepens tax cuts signed by Trump in 2017 while cutting Medicaid spending by nearly $1 trillion over a decade. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says 10 million people are expected to become uninsured over a decade as a result of the bill. Norris characterized Ernst's remarks as "some pretty flippant comments about people who are going to face real harm." "Those types of callous remarks make it really clear that she is not in touch with how Iowans are feeling and how serious it is," she said. Norris also said that she is a military mom and respects Ernst's military service, but was disappointed by her support for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Ernst, the first female combat veteran to serve in the U.S. Senate, had expressed concerns about Hegseth, who previously said he didn't believe women should serve in combat roles. She questioned Hegseth about the topic during his confirmation hearing before ultimately voting to confirm him after he affirmed women would continue to be able to serve in combat roles, "given the standards remain high." "She is a woman who served in the military, and yet she seems pretty comfortable letting women be disrespected by the secretary of defense," Norris said. "I think she's lost her way. I think she's lost her integrity." Still, Norris said her approach to governing is to solve problems regardless of party. She pointed to her work for Points of Light, a nonprofit Republican former President George H.W. Bush founded. "My approach is always going to be to find the best win for Iowa," she said. "And if that means working with people who are strange bedfellows so be it, because we should all want to work for the betterment of our state. And quite honestly I think Americans are going to believe in government if they actually see us putting them ahead of our own party loyalties." Ernst has hired a campaign manager but has not formally announced that she will seek a third term in 2026, prompting speculation about her plans. Two Republicans have said they intend to challenge Ernst for the GOP nomination: former state Sen. Jim Carlin and Joshua Smith. Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@ or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on X at @sgrubermiller. This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Des Moines School Board Chair Jackie Norris running for US Senate
CNN
27 minutes ago
- CNN
Former senior Biden aide to appear before House committee in probe of former president's alleged mental decline
A longtime aide to Joe Biden is set to sit for a transcribed interview in House Republicans' probe of the former president's potential cognitive decline and possible efforts to conceal it from the public. Bruce Reed, the former White House deputy chief of staff for policy, is scheduled to appear before the House Oversight Committee Tuesday as part of the Republican-led panel's investigation. He's just the latest Biden White House official to do so, and the first of two top former White House aides scheduled to appear this week. Former senior adviser to the president for communications Anita Dunn is set to appear Thursday, and the committee is expected to hold more voluntary interviews in the coming weeks. During the Biden administration, Reed oversaw much of the domestic policy agenda in the White House. He had also played a role in preparing Biden for his presidential debate against Donald Trump – a disastrous event for Biden that eventually led to his exit from the race altogether. The panel has conducted a number of interviews with former Biden officials in recent weeks, with varying degrees of cooperation. Former Biden counselor Steve Ricchetti and onetime senior adviser Mike Donilon voluntarily sat for transcribed interviews last week. Others have been subpoenaed to appear. Compelled to testify, White House physician Dr. Kevin O'Connor, former assistant to the president and senior adviser to the first lady Anthony Bernal and former assistant to the president and deputy chief of staff Annie Tomasini all invoked their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
Washington Post
28 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Live updates: Texas Democrats delay redistricting to a Trump-backed election map
During a special legislative session called by Gov. Greg Abbott (R), where lawmakers aim to redraw Texas's election map — a move backed by President Donald Trump — the state legislature will reconvene Tuesday for a second straight day without dozens of Democrats, who left the state to block the map's passage. Blue-led states California, Illinois and New York have said they are considering redistricting as a response to Texas, proposals that Abbott called 'crazy bluster' Monday night on Fox News. One opponent of California's potential redistricting plans? Former governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Republican who helped lead the effort to create his state's independent redistricting process. Schwarzenegger, his spokesman said, 'is the rare former politician who thinks gerrymanders are evil no matter which party does them.' Trump has one event on his public schedule Tuesday: signing an executive order in the afternoon. Michael Abramowitz, the director of Voice of America, has been fired after refusing to accept what he called an 'illegal' reassignment to run a broadcasting station in North Carolina, according to a new court filing on Monday. A letter sent Friday by John A. Zadrozny, a senior adviser at the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees VOA, said Abramowitz would be terminated after 30 days notice, on Aug. 31. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's acting chief of staff tried and failed to oust a senior White House liaison assigned to the Pentagon, people familiar with the matter said Monday, detailing an unusual dispute that marks the latest instance of infighting among a staff plagued by disagreement and distrust. Former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who helped lead the effort to create his state's independent redistricting process through ballot measures in 2008 and 2010, is opposed to the gerrymandering effort underway by GOP leaders in Texas. But he also is concerned about the effort California Democrats are embarking on to temporarily create more partisan maps in their state as a countermeasure to Texas. Schwarzenegger, his spokesman said Monday, 'is the rare former politician who thinks gerrymanders are evil no matter which party does them.' A government agency best known for its number-crunching prowess became the target of the president's criticism last week when a federal jobs report was revised to show a less-than-rosy economic picture. President Donald Trump ordered the firing of Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer after a bleak jobs report showed signs of a slowing economy and revised figures revealed things were worse for the labor market than initially reported in May and June.
