Judge Declines to Block National Science Foundation From Ending DEI-Related Grants
The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by 16 Democratic-led states seeking a preliminary injunction to block the implementation of NSF's priority directive that halted funding for projects aimed at increasing minority participation in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields.
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New York Post
42 minutes ago
- New York Post
McCloskeys win back AR-15 rifle 5 years after Black Lives Matter protest confrontation
The St. Louis couple who went viral in 2020 for wielding guns as Black Lives Matter protesters marched outside their property have regained possession of their semiautomatic rifle. After a years long and complex legal struggle to reclaim their weapons after they were seized by authorities more than five years ago, police have returned the AR-15 to St. Louis lawyers Mark and Patricia McCloskey. Advertisement 'It only took 3 lawsuits, 2 trips to the Court of Appeals and 1,847 days, but I got my AR15 back!' Mark McCloskey posted to his X account on Friday, along with several photos of him carrying the gun. 'We defended our home, were persecuted by the left, smeared by the press, and threatened with death, but we never backed down.' In a separate X post, Mark McCloskey also shared a video of himself retrieving the rifle from a police station. 'That gun may have only been worth $1,500 or something, and it cost me a lot of time and a lot of effort to get it back, but you have to do that,' Mark McCloskey told Fox News Digital, adding he owns other weapons. 'You have to let them know that you will never back down, you'll never give up.' Advertisement 3 Mark McCloskey was given his AR-15 back FOX News He said he expects their pistol, wielded by Patricia McCloskey during the confrontation, to be returned by next week. The AR-15 ended up in the possession of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, while the pistol wound up in the possession of the St. Louis Sheriff's Department, he added. 'Each and every one of us owns a personal responsibility for our freedom and our democratic republic,' Mark McCloskey said. Advertisement In June 2020, a video of the gun-toting McCloskeys took the internet by storm after a swarm of Black Lives Matter protesters broke down an iron gate and ignored a 'No Trespassing' sign on their private street. 3 The couple went viral in 2020 for wielding guns as Black Lives Matter protesters marched outside their property. UPI 3 Their weapons were seized by authorities five years ago. UPI The couple, who said they felt threatened, armed themselves before heading outside to ward off the crowd, which was on its way to the former mayor's home. No one was hurt. Advertisement After the incident, the McCloskeys's were were seized by law enforcement, and they were charged with unlawful use of a weapon by St. Louis' former Democratic prosecutor, Kim Gardner. Shortly after that, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt moved to dismiss charges brought by Gardner. In 2021, the McCloskeys pleaded guilty to misdemeanor fourth-degree assault and second-degree harassment but later were granted a pardon by former Missouri Gov. Mike Parson. Last month, a Missouri appeals court confirmed the expungement of the McCloskeys' misdemeanor convictions, which, under state law, means it is as though the incident never happened, Mark McCloskey said. 'If you've been wronged, if you've been overreached by the leftist government — you can't give up,' Mark McCloskey told Fox News Digital. 'You can't let them get an inch.' The St. Louis Sheriff's Office and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
New York Times
43 minutes ago
- New York Times
Quote of the Day: Texas Pushes Redistricting Into an Era of ‘Maximum Warfare'
'Redistricting is going from like a decennial bare-knuckle rugby match to an every-other-year Hunger Games.' JAMIE RASKIN, Democratic representative from Maryland, on efforts to regularly rezone districts for political gain outside of the traditional post-census period.
an hour ago
Senate heads home with no deal to speed confirmations as irate Trump tells Schumer to 'go to hell'
WASHINGTON -- The Senate left Washington Saturday night for its monthlong August recess without a deal to advance dozens of President Donald Trump's nominees, calling it quits after days of contentious bipartisan negotiations and Trump posting on social media that Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer can 'GO TO HELL!' Without a deal in hand, Republicans say they may try to change Senate rules when they return in September to speed up the pace of confirmations. Trump has been pressuring senators to move quickly as Democrats blocked more nominees than usual this year, denying any fast unanimous consent votes and forcing roll calls on each one, a lengthy process that can take several days per nominee. 'I think they're desperately in need of change," Senate Majority Leader John Thune said of Senate rules Saturday after negotiations with Schumer and Trump broke down. "I think that the last six months have demonstrated that this process, nominations is broken. And so I expect there will be some good robust conversations about that.' Schumer said a rules change would be a 'huge mistake," especially as Senate Republicans will need Democratic votes to pass spending bills and other legislation moving forward. 'Donald Trump tried to bully us, go around us, threaten us, call us names, but he got nothing," Schumer said. The latest standoff comes as Democrats and Republicans have gradually escalated their obstruction of the other party's executive branch and judicial nominees over the last two decades, and as Senate leaders have incrementally changed Senate rules to speed up confirmations — and make them less bipartisan. In 2013, Democrats changed Senate rules for lower court judicial nominees to remove the 60-vote threshold for confirmations as Republicans blocked President Barack Obama's judicial picks. In 2017, Republicans did the same for Supreme Court nominees as Democrats tried to block Trump's nomination of Justice Neil Gorsuch. Trump has been pressuring Senate Republicans for weeks to cancel the August recess and grind through dozens of his nominations as Democrats have slowed the process. But Republicans hoped to make a deal with Democrats instead, and came close several times over the last few days as the two parties and the White House negotiated over moving a large tranche of nominees in exchange for reversing some of the Trump administration's spending cuts on foreign aid, among other issues. The Senate held a rare weekend session on Saturday as Republicans held votes on nominee after nominee and as the two parties tried to work out the final details of a deal. But it was clear that there would be no agreement when Trump attacked Schumer on social media Saturday evening and told Republicans to pack it up and go home. 'Tell Schumer, who is under tremendous political pressure from within his own party, the Radical Left Lunatics, to GO TO HELL!' Trump posted on Truth Social. 'Do not accept the offer, go home and explain to your constituents what bad people the Democrats are, and what a great job the Republicans are doing, and have done, for our Country.' Thune said afterward that there were 'several different times' when the two sides thought they had a deal, but in the end 'we didn't close it out.' It's the first time in recent history that the minority party hasn't allowed at least some quick confirmations. Thune has already kept the Senate in session for more days, and with longer hours, this year to try and confirm as many of Trump's nominees as possible. But Democrats had little desire to give in without the spending cut reversals or some other incentive, even though they too were eager to skip town after several long months of work and bitter partisan fights over legislation. 'We have never seen nominees as flawed, as compromised, as unqualified as we have right now,' Schumer said.
