Tag: republicans

Minnesota Republican accused of soliciting sex with 16-year-old girl

Minnesota state Sen. Justin Eichorn, a Republican, was arrested on Monday on suspicion of trying to solicit a minor.

Minnesota Public Radio reported Tuesday that the Bloomington Police Department claimed Eichorn, “who thought he was talking to a 16-year-old female,” was actually in touch with detectives. He then scheduled a meetup on Monday, where police arrested him, officials said.

MPR cited Eichorn’s biography, which states he is “an entrepreneur and married with four children.”

Senate Republican Leader Mark Johnson said he wouldn’t comment to MPR before he was able to review the information.

Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, a Democrat, released a statement saying, “The felony allegation against Senator Eichorn is deeply disturbing, and raises serious questions that will need to be answered by the court, as well as his caucus and constituents.”

Local police had a different take.

“As a 40-year-old man, if you come to the Orange Jumpsuit District looking to have sex with someone’s child, you can expect that we are going to lock you up,” Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges told KSTP News.

The report also said that formal charges had not yet been filed.

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GOP Rep Unveils Bill To Prevent Federal Dollars From Subsidizing Sex Change Surgeries

Republican South Dakota Rep. Dusty Johnson will introduce legislation Tuesday to bar healthcare entities from using some federal dollars to subsidize sex change surgeries and hormone replacement therapies.

Johnson’s No 340B Savings for Transgender Care Act would prohibit healthcare entities from using savings under the 340B drug pricing program to offer free or discounted sex change procedures to uninsured or low-income Americans. The legislation would ensure that healthcare entities are not pushing left-wing gender ideology with savings derived from participation in the program, according to background on the bill obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Congress created the 340B program in 1992 to stretch eligible healthcare entities’ federal dollars by requiring drug manufacturers participating in Medicaid to sell discounted drugs to eligible healthcare entities, which allows them to use the derived savings to provide additional services and expand healthcare access. Some healthcare entities in blue states, such as Howard Brown Health in Chicago, Illinois, have publicized that they use their 340B savings on sex-altering procedures, including “hormone therapy, group therapy and gender-affirming surgical navigation.”

Between 2018 and 2023, 16 states funneled more than $165 million in funding to so-called “gender-transition services,” including so-called puberty blockers and sex change surgeries.

Sex-altering procedures are especially expensive for uninsured patients, ranging from up to $15,000 for just genital reconstruction, to $50,000 for genital reconstruction, facial alteration and breast removal, according to the DCNF’s previous reporting.

Individuals who undergo sex-change procedures will also need to remain on hormone replacement therapy for the remainder of their life, which can cost as much as $1,500 per year.

“The federal government should not be subsidizing hormone therapies and gender altering surgeries when our nation faces significant health crises,” according to background on the bill shared with the DCNF.

Former President Joe Biden’s administration and Democratic-led states oversaw a massive increase in taxpayer-funded child sex-change procedures, the DCNF previously learned.

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Conservative Republican Rep. Harriet Hageman on Waste Uncovered by DOGE at Education Department: ‘Money Laundering at its Absolute Best’

Conservative Republican Rep. Harriet Hageman of Wyoming recently appeared on Winston Marshall’s podcast and talked about the waste, fraud and abuse that’s being uncovered by DOGE.

Using the Education Department as one example, Hageman pointed out that while the department gets billions in tax dollars, very little of that money actually goes towards educating students. Where does the rest of it go?

Hageman suggests that it goes to consultants and then gets funneled back to politicians. She comes right out and calls this a form of money-laundering.

From Real Clear Politics:

WINSTON MARSHALL: So, is the DOGE program targeted at these bureaucrats? And so, how — what can you expect?

REP. HARRIET HAGEMAN: Well, let’s look at the Department of Education. The Federal Department of Education spends — has a budget of about $280 billion a year. Less than 25% goes to educating our students.

So where does the other $220 billion go? It goes to a bureaucracy. It goes to a consultant, and that consultant then donates money back to the Democrats. And then it goes to a different consultant, and then it goes to an NGO, and then it goes to—I mean, it is money laundering and money churning at its absolute best. And you can look at almost every single agency, and you will find it.

So, the brilliance of DOGE isn’t that he’s going in and cutting spending—he doesn’t have the authority to do that. We’re the ones that have the authority to do that. What I want him to do is come up with a report, go through agency by agency by agency, identify every single program that we should not be funding, put a number attached to it.

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Virginia Governor’s Veto Of Marijuana Sales Bill Would Erase Millions In Revenue For Pre-K And Drug Treatment, State Report Shows

With Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) widely expected to veto a lawmaker-passed plan to legalize retail marijuana sales in the commonwealth, a new fiscal impact statement makes clear that rejecting the proposal would mean missing out on tens of millions of dollars in annual state revenue—including for pre-kindergarten programs, community reinvestment and substance use treatment.

Annual government revenue would begin at an estimated $7.3 million in fiscal year 2026, according to the Department of Taxation, rising steadily as the regulated system got off the ground. By fiscal year 2031, the figure is projected to climb to an annual $87.84 million.

All told, by the end of fiscal 2031, retail cannabis is expected to bring Virginia nearly $300 million in total revenue.

The income would come from an 8 percent excise tax on marijuana sales and a 1.125 percent sales tax imposed under the legislation, from Sen. Aaron Rouse (D) and Rep. Paul Krizek (D).

The numbers were published on Friday in a report from the state Department of Planning and Budget.

The top-level revenue projection does not include separate, local taxes of up to 2.5 percent. Depending on how broadly municipalities implement those taxes, they could bring in up to $2 million statewide in fiscal 2026, rising to an estimated $24.09 million by fiscal 2031.

The bulk of the state money would go to community reinvestment. The Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Fund would receive an estimated $1.92 million in fiscal 2026, which would rise to $46.26 million in fiscal 2031.

Money would also go to preventing and treating substance use disorders. That would be about $1.92 million in fiscal 2026, rising to $19.27 in fiscal 2031.

Revenue would also fund pre-kindergarten programs (beginning at $2.56 million initially and rising to $7.72 million annually in fiscal 2031), public health programs ($320,000 initially and rising to $3.85 million in fiscal 2031) and other initiatives.

In terms of how the revenue is divided, that would change over time. Until fiscal 2027, 40 percent would fund pre-K, 30 percent would go to the reinvestment fund, 25 percent would go toward substance use disorders and 5 percent would fund public health programs. After that, 10 percent would go to pre-K, 60 percent to community reinvestment, 25 percent to substance use disorders and 5 percent to public health.

As for costs, preparing for and administering a regulated retail sales program would cost several million dollars per year—about $9.37 million total in fiscal 2026 and an estimated $9.26 annually after that.

Licensing fees for marijuana businesses would pay the bulk of administrative costs at the Cannabis Control Authority (CCA), which would regulate the adult-use retail system. During its first year, however, some funds would also need to come from the state general fund.

New expenses at CCA would include 73 more staff members as well as technology and equipment, vehicles and travel.

The Department of Taxation, meanwhile, would incur estimated costs of $468,950 during the first fiscal year of operation in order to update forms and internal systems.

State Police, meanwhile, would incur just over $200,000 annually to hire two additional staff members to conduct fingerprinting and background checks.

Despite the fiscal impact report indicating that legalizing retail sales could bring Virginia hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue over the next several years, the state’s governor is widely expected to veto the lawmaker-passed bills.

Youngkin vetoed a nearly identical proposal last legislative session, and his office has said he’s inclined to do the same this year.

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Ohio GOP Leaders Claim Bill To Roll Back Marijuana Legalization Law Doesn’t Disrespect Voters

Ohio’s Senate president is pushing back against criticism of a bill that would scale back parts of a voter-approved marijuana legalization law, claiming that the legislation does not disrespect the will of the electorate and would have little impact on products available in stores.

“My definitive message is: If you want to go purchase marijuana products from a licensed dispensary, that is going to be unchanged by Senate Bill 56,” Senate President Rob McColley (R) said on a podcast posted on Friday. “The only difference you’ll notice is the packaging may not look as appealing to children, but you’ll still be able to buy the same products.”

McColley was speaking on a The President’s Podcast, produced and published by Ohio Senate Republicans. He and host John Fortney, the communications director for the Senate GOP caucus, spent the first half of the podcast defending SB 56, which would amend the cannabis law passed by voters in November 2023.

Among other changes, the bill would halve the number of plants that adults could grow, add new criminal penalties around cannabis conduct and remove select social equity provisions in the law.

The Senate approved the proposal on a 23–9 vote last week.

Critics, such as Sen. Bill DeMora (D), who spoke against the measures on the Senate floor, contend that the plan “goes against the will of the voters and will kill the adult industry in Ohio.”

Fortney began the podcast by acknowledging “a lot of controversy around Senate Bill 56,” asserting that “all it did was preserve access to what the voters approved in November of 2023, the initiated marijuana statute, and put some safety and security parameters around it for—of all things, Mr. President—children.”

“The far left, the Democrat narrative, the narrative of the legacy media, has been, ‘Republicans are trying to take away what the voters approved,’ which is patently false,” Fortney continued. “What a lie.”

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GOP Congressman Tells Welfare Recipients To ‘Stop Buying The Medical Marijuana’ And Eating Cheetos

A GOP congressman is peddling a stigmatizing message to justify a new bill on adding work requirements for certain federal benefits, implying that it’s necessary to prevent people from buying marijuana with taxpayer dollars and lazing around on the couch while eating Cheetos.

During an appearance on Fox Business on Wednesday, Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX) was asked about recently filed Republican legislation that would impose restrictions on access to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits—specifically mandating that able-bodied people under 65 work at least 20 hours per week in order to receive the assistance.

That’s already part of federal law, but lead bill sponsor from Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD) claims his America Works Act would close “loopholes” that have been exploited in certain states.

Fallon, for his part, decided to justify the legislation by playing into cannabis stereotypes and arguing that federal dollars are going toward medical cannabis purchases by welfare recipients.

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Republicans Introduce Bill to Defund ‘Liberal Propaganda’ National Public Radio

Conservatives have wanted to yank taxpayer funding for National Public Radio for years. Could it finally happen?

Two Republicans, one in the Senate and one in the House, have introduced a new bill that would accomplish this task, and in our current environment of cutting waste, fraud, and abuse, the time is right to strike.

Even liberal law professor Jonathan Turley recently said it was time to end NPR’s taxpayer funded gravy train.

The GOP needs to get this done.

Breitbart News reported:

Exclusive – Sen. Jim Banks, Rep. Kat Cammack Introduce Bill To Defund ‘Liberal Propaganda’ NPR

Sen. Jim Banks (R-IN) and Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL) believe American taxpayers shouldn’t be keeping National Public Radio (NPR) afloat.

The pair are introducing legislation in their respective chambers to put an end to taxpayer subsidizing of the notoriously left-leaning media outlet, Breitbart News learned exclusively Wednesday.

“Taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to fund NPR’s liberal propaganda,” Banks told Breitbart News. “If NPR can’t stay afloat without government funding, that tells you all you need to know about the quality of their news.”

Banks’ Defund NPR Act would prohibit federal funding for National Public Radio by amending section 396 of the Communications Act so that no funds may, directly or indirectly, be made available to or used to support the National Public Radio, including through the payment of dues to or the purchase of programming from the organization.

Conservatives should not be forced to fund a news organization that does nothing but attack conservatives.

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Crenshaw Facing Ethics Complaint After Threatening To Kill Tucker Carlson

James Copenhaver, a former undercover narcotics detective who spent years coordinating and liaising with numerous federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies, and served on the FBI Violent Crimes Task Force, has filed an official ethics complaint against Texas Congressman Dan Crenshaw, following him being caught on a hot mic saying he’d “fucking kill” journalist Tucker Carlson.

“On February 24, 2025, during an exchange with a British journalist, Representative Dan Crenshaw was caught on a hot mic making a violent and threatening remark about former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, stating, “If I ever meet him, I’ll fucking kill him.”

This shocking statement, made in an unguarded moment following an interview with GB News, is not only unbecoming of a sitting member of Congress but may also constitute a violation of House rules regarding conduct and threats of violence.

This incident is not an isolated lapse in judgment but part of a pattern of unethical behavior that raises significant concerns about Rep. Crenshaw’s ability to uphold the integrity of the House,” reads the introduction of Copenhaver’s complaint that was filed with the Office of Congressional Ethics earlier today.

Copenhaver, a decorated former undercover DEA agent and member of the FBI’s violent Crime Task Force, made sure to list another five disciplinary offenses by Crenshaw, ranging from failing to disclose stock trades and campaign finance violations.

GP reported on how “Eye Patch McCain” had a Christmas meltdown after popular X meme account Catturd called out his illegal campaign contribution scheme.

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Kansas Republicans Reject Amendment To Grant Terminally Ill Patients The Right To Try Medical Marijuana

A Senate Democrat unsuccessfully attempted to insert “medicinal cannabis” among treatments allowed under a bill meant to broaden Kansans’ access to experimental drugs.

Democratic Sen. Cindy Holscher, who introduced Wednesday the amendment that would have legalized medicinal cannabis for terminally ill patients, later emphasized her intention was not to create a public medical marijuana program.

“I think most of you realize I would not bring something of that magnitude to an important bill like SB 250,” said Holscher, of Overland Park, Wednesday evening. “That amendment, rather, was to mirror what was approved by President Trump in the Right to Try Act, which is a very defined, narrow scope only for terminally ill patients.”

Senate Bill 250, introduced and carried on the Senate floor by Eudora Republican Sen. Beverly Gossage, would create the Right to Try for Individualized Investigative Treatments Act. Investigational treatments can also be referred to as experimental drugs, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The bill would permit people who are unable to find relief from rare, life-threatening or debilitating conditions to access individualized, genetics-based medical treatment. The drug trial evaluation system in the U.S. is designed to evaluate medications meant to help larger populations, leaving behind drugs that can be individually tailored to a patient’s unique genetic makeup, Gossage said.

“Individualized treatments are being pioneered in the U.S. and abroad, but often patients in the U.S. travel thousands of miles,” she said.

The bill passed the Senate and is awaiting approval in the House.

Holscher supported the bill as a whole but voiced concerns.

“I don’t want to give people false hope,” she said, “yet I certainly would not stand in the way of a parent or individual trying to get medical help for a family member.”

Her amendment added medicinal cannabis to the list of treatments allowed under the definition of individualized investigative treatment.

Cannabis “has been found to have proven benefits for those with life-threatening or debilitating diseases,” Holscher said.

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