Tag: republicans

Top Ohio GOP Lawmakers Struggle To Reach Consensus On Bill To Amend Marijuana Legalization Law

Top Ohio Republican lawmakers say plans are still in the works to amend the state’s marijuana legalization law, with the Senate president setting a June target as regulators work to develop rules and launch an adult-use market.

It remains unclear what that future cannabis legislation will look like, but leadership has discussed addressing issues such as tax revenue distribution, scaling back home cultivation rules and restricting public smoking.

“I am—I would not say optimistic—but I am reasonably hopeful, if you need words, that we can get something done by June,” Senate President Matt Huffman (R), whose chamber has already passed legislation to amend the voter-approved legalization policy, told WCMH-TV.

“With greater access to marijuana, there will be more visits to poison control centers,” he said, adding that it’s “really important” that lawmakers allocate tax dollars to those centers as part of any amendment package.

The senator additionally said he thinks “what’s most pressing is people smoking marijuana when they’re walking down the street.”

Gov. Mike DeWine (R) has previously pressed the legislature to enact changes to expedite recreational marijuana sales, despite his personal opposition to the ballot initiative that voters passed in November. But he’s indicated that his more immediate concern is regulating the sale of intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoids such as delta-8 THC.

“This is time for the legislature to move,” the governor, who also raised the issue during his State of the State address earlier this month, said. “We can’t do it ourselves.”

He also said he’s “not going to get into that” when asked about disagreements within Republican leadership with respect to revising the state’s marijuana law.

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Lawmakers to examine influence of ‘extreme’ environmental activist groups in the Interior Department

House lawmakers will hold an oversight hearing Tuesday to scrutinize the influence of what Republicans call “radical” environmental activist groups in the Department of the Interior.

“Under Secretary Deb Haaland, the Department of the Interior has cultivated intimate and potentially improper relationships with radical NGOs [non-governmental organizations] driving the Biden administration’s extreme environmental agenda,” GOP lawmakers on the oversight and investigations panel of the Natural Resources Committee said.

Republicans on the panel, led by Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona, say the influence of “extreme environmental activist” groups over policy and politics in the U.S. is on the rise.

They list examples how Ms. Haaland allegedly coordinated with the Pueblo Action Alliance, a left-wing Native American activist group with which Ms. Haaland had a relationship prior her joining the Biden Cabinet, to advocate to withdraw more land in Chaco Canyon from natural resource development.

They contend that the administration is beholden to many activist groups, specifically those on the Left with social and environmental justice agendas.

These NGOs must comply with rigorous ethics requirements, but their influence within the rule-making process is growing.

Republicans say their influence is often hidden from the public through off-the-record exchanges during the informal rule-making process.

The Interior Department refused to comment.

The committee is expected to explore whether the department coordinates with leftwing activist organizations and violates the Administrative Procedure Act when engaging in the rule-making process.

Formal rulemaking is, according to the statute, “on the record” and requires a trial-type agency hearing. This seldom happens today during the rule-making process, while informal rulemaking, known as “notice and comment,” happens more often.

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Arizona Republican Party Declares Covid-19 Injections Biological and Technological Weapons, Passed Ban the Jab Resolution!

The Arizona Republican Party is now the second state Republican Party to pass the ‘Ban the Jab’ resolution and declare COVID-19 injections biological and technological weapons.

Shout out to Patriot, Dan Schultz of PrecinctStrategy.com who submitted the ‘Ban the Jab’ resolution to the Republican Party of Arizona. The Arizona GOP voted today and passed the resolution with 95.62% of the vote! This just passed so we don’t have the percentages yet. The resolution declares the COVID-19 injections biological and technological weapons and calls on the Governor to prohibit their distribution, the Attorney General to confiscate the vials and conduct a forensic analysis of their contents.

In addition to being an attorney, Dan is a former West Point graduate and former U.S. Army counterintelligence and human intelligence officer. Dan Schultz advocates the Precinct Strategy, which seeks to wrestle control of the Republican Party back to the people. Previously, Dan Schultz submitted the ‘Ban the Jab’ resolution to the Maricopa County GOP. On Saturday January 13th, the Maricopa County GOP passed the resolution with 87.4% of the vote! A total 1494 votes were cast, 1306 in favor, 188 against. Maricopa County is the largest Republican County in the nation.

The first ‘Ban the Jab’ resolution was passed in February of 2023. The Gateway Pundit recently reported on my lawsuit that seeks Ban the Jab in Florida. The case was dismissed and is on its way to the appellate court.

To date, approximately 10 Florida Republican County Parties have passed ‘Ban the Jab’ resolutions declaring Covid 19 injections biological and technological weapons, also calling on the Governor to prohibit their distribution and the Attorney General to confiscate the vials and conduct a forensic analysis. The Florida Republican Assembly, The National Federation of Republican Assemblies, the Republican Liberty Caucus of Florida have passed Ban the Jab resolutions. Recently, the Florida Department of Health has joined the call to Ban the Jab. Clackamas County GOP in Oregon and the Idaho Republican Party has passed the Ban the jab resolution.

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Controversies Involving Speaker Mike Johnson and His Son Resurface — From Monitoring Each Other’s Porn Usage to Arrest of His Adopted Son on Charges of Running Illegal Cannabis Business

Speaker Mike Johnson finds himself entangled in controversy once more, as past incidents involving his ‘adopted’ son resurface amidst legislative tumult.

Last week, the House of Representatives, under Johnson’s leadership and his comrades, passed two “America last” legislations.

Firstly, the House approved an extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), a measure initially enacted following the September 11, 2001, attacks, in a 273 to 147 vote. This provision allows for the warrantless surveillance of American citizens, a move that has raised concerns about privacy and civil liberties.

An amendment proposed by Rep. Andy Biggs, which sought to impose a requirement for the FBI to obtain a warrant before conducting surveillance on Americans under FISA, ended in a 212-212 tie vote, leading to Speaker Mike Johnson casting the tie-breaking vote against the amendment.

This decision drew sharp criticism, including conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, who accused Johnson of betraying the American people and undermining the Constitution.

In an attempt to halt the momentum of the FISA Section 702 extension, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna employed a procedural strategy to delay the Senate’s consideration of the bill. Despite her efforts, the bill passed again. The vote displayed a uniparty alliance, with 147 Democrats and 126 Republicans supporting the bill, while 88 Republicans and 59 Democrats opposed it.

The second major legislative action under Speaker Johnson involved the passing of three bills aimed at providing financial aid to Ukraine, Israel, Gaza, and other regions engaged in conflicts outside U.S. borders.

The Democrats waved Ukrainian flags on the floor of the United States House of Representatives as they voted to send $60 BILLION of taxpayer money to secure a foreign border.

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Oklahoma county GOP chair arrested in alleged murder-kidnap plot

Tiffany Adams, an Oklahoma resident who last year was elected as the chairwoman of Cimarron County Republican Party, was arrested this week and charged with three other people of participating in kidnapping and murder.

Local news station KOCO reports that Adams was charged with participating in the kidnapping and murder of 27-year-old Veronica Butler and 39-year-old Jilian Kelley, who both disappeared a little over two weeks ago.

According to local news station KSN, Butler was involved in a custody dispute with the 54-year-old Adams, who was the paternal grandmother of Butler’s children.

Butler and Kelley had been traveling to Adams’ house to pick up Butler’s children for a court-ordered visitation on March 30 before they mysteriously vanished.

The two women’s bodies were discovered on April 14th and Adams was arrested shortly afterward, along with fellow suspects Tad Cullum, Cole Twombly, and Cora Twombly.

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After Virginia GOP Governor’s Marijuana Veto, Democratic Senators Say Legal Sales Likely Won’t Happen Until 2027 Or Later

Democratic senators in support of legal marijuana sales in Virginia said at a recent event that in light of Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s (R) veto of a retail cannabis bill last month, it will likely be 2027 or later before adult-use shops can legally open their doors.

“I’m very direct, and sometimes folks don’t like to hear the harsh truth, but it’s the harsh truth,” said Sen. Aaron Rouse (D), who sponsored the retail sales bill in the Senate. “There’s a really big mountain to climb with this governor and his administration. I think he will veto setting up an adult cannabis market regardless of what we send him.”

“By 2027, there will be a new governor in Virginia,” added Sen. Adam Ebbin (D), who sponsored marijuana sales legislation this session and in years past. “It’s possible that after the 2025 gubernatorial election, that someone will take office in January of 2026 who would sign an adult-use marketplace bill.”

“That means that, whether it was in 2027 or thereabouts,” Ebbin continued, “we could expect to see more a regulated market for non-medical use or adult use in Virginia.”

Use, possession and limited cultivation of cannabis by adults is already legal in the commonwealth, the result of a Democrat-led proposal sponsored by Ebbin that was approved by lawmakers in 2021. But Republicans, after winning control of the House and governor’s office later that year, subsequently blocked the required reenactment of a regulatory framework for retail sales.

This year, with Democrats in control of both legislative chambers, lawmakers passed a new legal sales bill, sending it to Youngkin for his consideration in late February. A month later, the governor vetoed the bill, writing in a veto message that “the proposed legalization of retail marijuana in the Commonwealth endangers Virginians’ health and safety.”

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Congressional Lawmakers To Vote On GOP-Led Psychedelics Bill For Veterans This Week Despite VA Opposition

A congressional committee is set to vote this week on a GOP-led bill that would instruct the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to notify Congress if any psychedelics are added to its formulary of covered prescription drugs.

About a month after the House Veterans’ Affairs Health Subcommittee held an initial hearing on the legislation from Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI), members will mark up the bill on Tuesday.

The panel had also discussed a measure from the subcommittee chair Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA) during last month’s hearing, but that proposal isn’t on the Tuesday markup agenda—even though VA voiced support for it on the condition that certain amendments were made.

VA came out against the psychedelics bill that is getting a vote, arguing that it’s “unnecessary.”

The bill states that VA must report to Congress on the addition of any psychedelic medicines to its formulary within 180 days of their federal approval by Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The report would need to include “the determination of the Secretary whether to include such drug in the formulary of the Department,” as well as “the justification of the Secretary for such determination,” the bill text says.

Currently, there are no psychedelic drugs that are federally approved to prescribe as medicine. But that could soon change, as FDA recently agreed to review a new drug application for MDMA-assisted therapy on an expedited basis. The agency has also designated psilocybin, and more recently an LSD-like compound, as “breakthrough therapies.”

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Republicans Split on Whether FBI Should Be Able To Snoop Without a Warrant

Section 702, the controversial Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) authority used to justify snooping on Americans’ digital communications without a warrant, is set to sunset on April 19 if lawmakers don’t act. Many in Congress—including Republicans and Democrats—want Section 702 reauthorization that includes reforms to shield innocent Americans from warrantless surveillance and to hold federal agents accountable for misuse.

But as a “compromise” reauthorization measure comes before Congress this week, House Republicans are split on what sort of reform is really needed—and the side dismissive of civil liberties seems to be winning out.

“The House appears ready to reauthorize FISA 702—which has been abused literally hundreds of thousands of times to spy on Americans without a warrant—without requiring the government to get a warrant,” complained Sen. Mike Lee (R–Utah) on X (formerly Twitter) this week. A proposal put forth by Lee and Illinois Republican Sen. Dick Durbin would substantially limit warrantless access to communications obtained under Section 702. But House Speaker Mike Johnson (R–La.) “has declined to bring that bill to the floor, opting instead to have members vote on a ‘compromise’ measure—one that would compromise the rights of Americans if passed without amendments,” as Lee put it.

Johnson’s measure—H.R. 7888, the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act (RISAA)—was adopted 9 to 2 by the House Committee on the Rules yesterday.

RISAA and several amendments to it are now expected to get a full House vote tomorrow. And “the Senate is anticipated to pass whatever bill the House sends its way,” notes Axios.

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EASY TIGER! GOP Rep. Tim Walberg Suggests Ending War in Gaza and Russia ‘Like Nagasaki and Hiroshima’

Michigan Congressman Tim Walberg appeared to get somewhat carried away with his rhetoric during a town hall meeting with constituents this week.

The event, which was held at Dundee Village Hall in Michigan, allowed attendees to ask Walberg his view on various hot button issues of the day.

One man said he knew a soldier who was travelling to Gaza to help build a port at the request of the Biden administration as Israel carries out its war against Hamas.

“Why are we spending our money to build a port for them?” the man asked, according to a video posted on the X platform.

“It’s Joe Biden’s reason; we need to get humanitarian aid into Gaza,” Walberg responded. “I don’t think any of our aid that goes to Israel to support our greatest ally, arguably maybe in the world, to defeat Hamas and Iran and Russia, and probably North Korea’s in there, and China, too, with them helping Hamas — we shouldn’t be spending a dime on humanitarian aid.”

The Congressman then brought up the example of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, when the allies dropped two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities, which together killed over 100,000 people.

Although the bombings did bring a swift end to the war with the surrender of the Axis powers, debate over the ethics of the decision is debated to this date.

“It should be like Nagasaki and Hiroshima,” he continued. “Get it over quick. The same should be in Ukraine. Defeat Putin quick.”

In a statement to Detroit News, Walberg’s spokesman Mike Rorke insisted that he “vehemently disagrees with putting our troops in harm’s way.”

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Virginia GOP Governor Vetoes Marijuana Sales Legalization Bill

After sending messages for months that he had no interest in moving forward with Democratic-led plans to legalize retail marijuana sales in Virginia, Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) has now formally vetoed legal sales legislation sent to him by lawmakers about a month ago.

In a veto message issued on Thursday, the governor wrote that “the proposed legalization of retail marijuana in the Commonwealth endangers Virginians’ health and safety.”

“States following this path have seen adverse effects on children’s and adolescent’s health and safety, increased gang activity and violent crime, significant deterioration in mental health, decreased road safety, and significant costs associated with retail marijuana that far exceed tax revenue,” he claimed. “It also does not eliminate the illegal black-market sale of cannabis, nor guarantee product safety. Addressing the inconsistencies in enforcement and regulation in Virginia’s current laws does not justify expanding access to cannabis, following the failed paths of other states and endangering Virginians’ health and safety.”

Even before the legislative session kicked off this year, some supporters predicted Youngkin would veto any legal sales measure that arrived on his desk on principle, regardless of what provisions it contained. Others believed it was possible to craft a broadly appealing bill that could either win the governor’s approval or secure enough bipartisan support to overcome a potential veto.

Ultimately, however, votes for the legislation fell mostly along party lines, suggesting that Youngkin’s veto will likely stand because there isn’t enough support to override him in the Senate or House of Delegates.

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