Tennessee Republicans approved new congressional maps Thursday that are expected to eliminate the state’s last Democratic seat, triggering protests from activists and outrage from leftists inside the state capitol. 
Tennessee’s current congressional delegation features eight Republicans and one Democrat, Rep. Steve Cohen of Memphis. The plan restructures Memphis by splitting it into three Republican-leaning districts, a move that would likely unseat Cohen. Republican Gov. Bill Lee signed the map into law shortly after it passed. 
The maps were passed during a special session called by Lee after the Supreme Court ruled that certain majority-black districts put in place by the Voting Rights Act amounted to unconstitutional racial gerrymandering. After that decision, Tennessee joined other Southern states in redrawing maps ahead of the 2026 midterms. 
During the special session, hundreds of leftist activists descended upon the Capitol in Nashville, holding up signs like &#8220;Black Voters Matter,&#8221; &#8220;Say No To Jim Crow 2.0,&#8221; and &#8220;Modern Apartheid.&#8221;
Republicans framed the new maps as a reflection of Tennessee&#8217;s political reality. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) celebrated the move as a step toward advancing President Donald Trump&#8217;s agenda and strengthening conservative leadership in the state.
“It’s a great day for Tennessee! Thank you to President [Donald Trump] for leading the charge, Governor [Bill Lee], and to the legislators who worked quickly and diligently to make this possible,” Blackburn posted on X. “This is how we cement President Trump’s agenda and usher in America’s Golden Age here in Tennessee, and how we become America&#8217;s conservative leader.”
State Rep. Jason Zachary, a Republican, called the maps &#8220;historic,&#8221; noting that they could result in a fully Republican congressional delegation alongside the state&#8217;s two GOP senators.
“For the first time in Tennessee’s history, we will have 9 Republican Congressmen and 2 Republican Senators representing our great state at the nation’s Capitol,” said Zachary. “This represents our state’s strong conservative principles and TN values.”
Rep. Cohen, a white man who has represented Memphis for nearly two decades, called the new map “insane.” 
“The GOP&#8217;s newly proposed TN Congressional maps would have people in Shelby County all the way to Williamson County—200+ miles apart—being &#8220;represented&#8221; by the same Congressman,” he said Wednesday. “It&#8217;s a blatant, corrupt power grab that would destroy the black community&#8217;s and our entire city&#8217;s voice.”

Trump Says Tennessee To Redraw District Maps To Boost GOP

Brutal Blow For Democrats In Red State Sparks Leftist Outrage

Bill Lee

Congress

Elections

Tennessee

U.S. Politics

Tennessee appears poised to redraw its congressional map in a move that could eliminate the state&#8217;s lone deep-blue district in the Memphis area, currently represented by Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN), following Wednesday’s Supreme Court ruling narrowing the scope of the Voting Rights Act.
President Donald Trump said on Thursday afternoon that he had communicated with Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee about the possibility of a redraw.
“I had a very good conversation with Governor Bill Lee, of Tennessee, this morning, wherein he stated that he would work hard to correct the unconstitutional flaw in the Congressional Maps of the Great State of Tennessee,” Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116494706928688681">posted</a> to Truth Social.
“Likewise, all of the other Political Representatives of Tennessee have promised to do so. This should give us one extra seat, and help Save our Country from the Radical Left Democrats, and their Country destroying Policies of High Tax, Open Borders, Transgender Mutilization, Defunding the Police, ICE, and Border Patrol, No Voter ID, Soft on Crime, and so much more. Thank you Governor Lee — PUSH HARD!” Trump added.
The comments come after Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) called for a redrawing of the Volunteer State’s map. Blackburn is running for governor as Lee is termed out, encouraging lawmakers to act.
“I urge our state legislature to reconvene to redistrict another Republican seat in Memphis. It&#8217;s essential to cement [Trump’s] agenda and the Golden Age of America,” Blackburn <a href="https://x.com/VoteMarsha/status/2049515547910381782">wrote</a> in an X post.
“I’ve vowed to keep Tennessee a red state, and as Governor, I&#8217;ll do everything I can to make this map a reality,” she added.
In response to the president’s Truth Social comments, Blackburn posted, “Fantastic news. Thank you, [Trump] and [Lee]!”
The Supreme Court&#8217;s decision in Louisiana v. Callais hinged primarily on a majority-minority district in Louisiana, which Justice Samuel Alito wrote was “an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.”
The ruling&#8217;s broader implications are likely to be tested beyond Louisiana. Tennessee and other states, including Mississippi, have majority-minority districts created under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. In her dissent, liberal Justice Elena Kagan warned that the decision could effectively gut those protections.
“After today, those districts exist only on sufferance, and probably not for long,&#8221; Kagan wrote. &#8220;If other States follow Louisiana’s lead, the minority citizens residing there will no longer have an equal opportunity to elect candidates of their choice. And minority representation in government institutions will sharply decline.”
Louisiana has already moved to suspend its May congressional primaries as its maps are redrawn in accordance with the ruling, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-louisiana-suspends-primaries-after-major-supreme-court-ruling?author=Cameron+Arcand&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Louisiana%E2%80%99s+Election+Calendar+Just+Got+Blown+Up+After+Supreme+Court+Ruling" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Daily Wire</a> reported Thursday morning.
Potential redistricting changes could shape the battle for control of the House of Representatives in November.

US-GERMANY-POLITICS-TRUMP-MERZ

Red State Could Wipe Out Deep-Blue House Seat After Trump’s Big Move

House of Representatives

Marsha Blackburn

President Donald Trump on Monday signed a memo directing a crackdown on crime in Memphis, Tennessee, using a strategy similar to the one deployed in Washington, D.C.
The <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/09/restoring-law-and-order-in-memphis/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">memo</a> establishes the Memphis Safe Task Force and directs the Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to request control of the Tennessee National Guard from the governor. Trump’s Monday directive followed a request from Tennessee Republican Governor Bill Lee for help fighting crime in Memphis.
“This task force will be a replica of our extraordinarily successful efforts here (in Washington, D.C.), and you&#8217;ll see it&#8217;s a lot of the same thing,” Trump said in an Oval Office signing ceremony flanked by top Tennessee and federal law enforcement officials. “Now, we did send the FBI in about four months ago to work, and it brought some of the numbers down, and they did a great job, but we&#8217;re sending in the big force now.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>: &#8220;Today, at the request of <a href="https://twitter.com/GovBillLee?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GovBillLee</a> of Tennessee&#8230; I&#8217;m signing a Presidential Memorandum to establish the Memphis Safe Task Force — and it&#8217;s very important because of the crime that&#8217;s going on.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/8fflcbietz">pic.twitter.com/8fflcbietz</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1967693731014099053?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 15, 2025</a></blockquote>
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) credited FBI Director Kash Patel with the work done by his agency to drop crime in Memphis over the summer through “Operation Viper.”
“There have been over 500 arrests, there are over 100 indictments, and Memphis had the best stats they have had in years this past August, last month. It was the best August they have had, and it&#8217;s because of the work that&#8217;s been done,” Blackburn <a href="https://x.com/MarshaBlackburn/status/1967730702809706534">said</a>.
While the plan to combat crime in Memphis includes National Guard members posted in the city, it relies on partnerships between state, local, and federal law enforcement to combat crime. The law enforcement agencies involved <a href="https://www.tn.gov/governor/news/2025/9/15/icymi--gov--lee--president-trump-meet-in-oval-office-to-discuss-strategic-mission-to-address-crime-in-memphis.html">include</a> the Drug Enforcement Agency, Tennessee Highway Patrol, and Memphis Police Department, according to Lee’s office.
During his remarks at the White House, Trump said that Chicago is “probably next” to receive a deployment from the National Guard after Memphis. It’s unclear how Trump plans to allocate federal resources to Chicago. Unlike in Tennessee, the president faces a hostile governor in Illinois who would almost certainly refuse to cooperate with any effort to send federal resources into Chicago.
“Mr. President, do not come to Chicago. You are neither wanted here nor needed here,” Pritzker <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/25/politics/jb-pritzker-trump-chicago">said</a> last month.

Donald Trump

Trump Targets Memphis Crime With Strategy Proven In Washington, D.C.

Trump Targets Memphis For Next Crime Crackdown

Crime

Memphis

Politics

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — “Everybody needs to be reading more history.” 
While not a typical applause line, it was a favorite of the crowd of twenty and thirty-somethings listening to Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti speak at the National Young Republican Convention. Skrmetti, fresh off a landmark victory at the Supreme Court, implored the crowd to take seriously their duty to know how America works and leave it better off for future generations. 
“You’re the ones who are coming into this, and you’ve got the future ahead of you, we run the country, and we need to do it wisely,” Skrmetti told the crowd of sharply-dressed attendees in the ballroom of the Sheraton Music City Hotel last weekend. “That means everybody needs to be reading more history. You’ve got to have the perspective of knowing how things have worked in the past.”
Skrmetti, who loves American history and has four young children, praised the Founding Fathers for their sacrifices to build the United States. 
“America is not just a short-term thing where we get what we can get and then run for the hills,” he said. “It is literally created to secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity, and we have to have the multi-generational perspective and be looking not just to get short-term wins, but to strengthen our country.”
This year’s convention was attended by more than 1,000 Republicans between the ages of 18 and 40 from all 50 states. It was the largest convention in decades, and the second largest ever, according to organizers. 
Speakers and participants included a variety of Tennessee political staples, such as Governor Bill Lee and Reps. John Rose and Tim Burchett, in addition to sports commentator Clay Travis and conservative CNN commentator Scott Jennings. 
From Thursday to Sunday, attendees milled about the convention space, which featured booths from diverse organizations such as Trump Mobile, PETA, and WinRed. Multiple attendees told The Daily Wire they were there to meet like-minded people. 
Kellie Lynch, a Republican from New York, said that she thought the most significant issues facing young people were the economy, the cost of living, and the rise of artificial intelligence. While much has been made of the gender divide in voting patterns, Lynch said that the GOP did a “great job” reaching out to women. She thought media bias played a major role in some women’s perception of Republicans. 
<div id="attachment_957525" style="width: 2570px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-957525" class="size-full wp-image-957525" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/IMG_6866-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="2560" height="1920" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/IMG_6866-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/IMG_6866-300x225.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/IMG_6866-768x576.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/IMG_6866-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/IMG_6866-2048x1536.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" />Booths at the Young Republican convention/ Photo: Catherine Maxwell.</div>
Another attendee, Kyle Mason, an investment property specialist from Texas, said he believed President Donald Trump’s embrace of masculinity was key to the reason many younger men were starting to vote Republican. In his spare time, Mason volunteers with Republican political efforts in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. 
After his panel appearance, Skrmetti told The Daily Wire that he had a lot of older mentors who helped him be involved in civic action, and he now wants to play that role for others. Asked about some young people who see politics as hopelessly corrupt, Skrmetti pointed out that America was founded by men who were skeptical of the government. 
“Cynical people are a critical part of America, and we need them, but we need them not to sit on the sidelines and gripe. We need them to take their cynicism and put it to work on behalf of all the American people,” he said. 
He added that one way to expose corruption and push for change was on the internet, which he said really opened up the national conversation for input from anyone. 
Skrmetti’s sentiment was present in other speeches, including by Governor Lee, who noted that he would probably float into “political obscurity” once his term in office was over.
“You’re the future of America, you have an obligation and a responsibility to wake up every day and ask yourself those questions so you’ll be engaging in the things that matter and that change the lives of the people around you,” Lee said. 
<div id="attachment_957531" style="width: 2570px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-957531" class="size-full wp-image-957531" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/YRNC_250731_131724_1243-scaled.jpg" alt="Young Republicans National Convention Thursday, July 31, 2025, at Sheraton Music City Hotel in Nashville, TN. " width="2560" height="1707" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/YRNC_250731_131724_1243-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/YRNC_250731_131724_1243-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/YRNC_250731_131724_1243-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/YRNC_250731_131724_1243-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/YRNC_250731_131724_1243-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/YRNC_250731_131724_1243-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/YRNC_250731_131724_1243-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/YRNC_250731_131724_1243-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" />Lee speaks at convention: Photo by: Jonathan Williams | NationalPhotography.us via YRNC.</div>
The National Young Republicans now have chapters in almost every state, with a Delaware chapter being chartered over the weekend, Chair Hayden Padgett told The Daily Wire. The last state needing a chapter is Wyoming. 
Padgett said that the purpose of the Young Republicans was twofold: to build community and to aid in political campaigns.
During the 2024 election cycle, which he described as “wild” in the “best way,” Padgett said a contingent of Young Republicans knocked on the doors of 3% of Montana voters in support of Tim Sheehy, who successfully defeated incumbent Democrat Senator Jon Tester. 
His pitch to young people was that Republican policies would help them achieve the American dream of starting a family, owning a business, and buying a home. Padgett was re-elected as chair of the Young Republicans after a contentious challenge from New York State Young Republicans Chair Peter Giunta.
“If you want to have a better life, if you want to have a family, if you want to have the ability to actually achieve the American dream, we are putting in the policies, and have been for 150 years, whatever it is, that actually make that possible,” Padgett said. “So come join that.”

YRNC_250731_122447_0999

‘America Is Not A Short-Term Thing’: Lawmakers Urge Young Republicans Take Up The Fight

American History

Nashville

Republicans

Scott Jennings

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced Monday that the state would be partnering with Elon Musk’s Boring Company to build an underground tunnel connecting the Nashville airport to the city’s downtown.
The project will be called the “Music City Loop” and will connect Nashville International Airport to the heart of the city’s entertainment district via an underground tunnel. Using electric vehicles, the trip will take about eight minutes, <a href="https://www.tn.gov/governor/news/2025/7/28/gov--lee--the-boring-company-unveil-transformative-underground-music-city-loop-project.html">according</a> to the Boring Company.
During a press conference at the airport, Lee said that the project would be 100% privately funded with “no cost to taxpayers.” He said that it was brought to Nashville because it is the “most dynamic city in the country” and that it would lead to less congestion on the roads.
“Tennessee continues to lead the nation in finding innovative solutions to infrastructure challenges,” Lee said. “By leveraging the innovation of private sector companies like The Boring Company, we’re exploring possibilities we couldn’t achieve on our own as a state. This partnership represents the kind of forward-thinking, fiscally responsible approach that will define the future of transportation in Tennessee.”
The loop will be built under state-owned roads, and construction is projected to begin in the fall of 2026, pending approvals.
Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy was also present at the announcement, saying that he was “thrilled about this project.”
Duffy said that the project would help reduce congestion on the roads, which has become worse in recent years as Tennessee has seen an influx of new residents. He said that the congestion was a “product of your own success” because people were attracted to the politics of Tennessee.
Boring Company President Steve Davis said at a press conference that the rock below Tennessee was really difficult to drill through, but that his engineers would be able to figure it out. He also said that the company would start consideration of potential places to expand the tunnel.
The decision to bring a tunnel to Nashville was celebrated by Tennessee GOP Senators Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty.
&#8220;As Nashville International Airport continues to set passenger records and our city experiences an economic boom, the Boring Company&#8217;s investment in the Music City Loop will help ease growing pains and address transportation challenges at zero cost to Tennessee taxpayers,&#8221; Blackburn said. &#8220;The Boring Company could not have picked a better new home for this state-of-the-art tunneling technology than Nashville, and I look forward to seeing the tremendous impact this investment will have on our city and its residents.”

Milken Institute’s Global Conference Held In Beverly Hills

Elon Musk’s Boring Company Announces Major Tunnel Project In Red State

Economy

Elon Musk

U.S.

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti warned leftist activists not to defy the Volunteer State’s protection of kids from transgender procedures after securing a major victory at the Supreme Court on Wednesday. 
Skrmetti made the comments in an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/mrn-250618-member-exclusive?elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+Show+Episodes+Carousel">interview</a> with Morning Wire just hours after the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in favor of a Tennessee law that protects children from irreversible transgender medical procedures. In December, Skrmetti and his team defended the law before the court after the ACLU and the Biden administration sued to overturn it. 
“It is a really important ruling,” Skrmetti told The Daily Wire. “It affects an increasingly large number of kids. And the evidence that keeps coming in shows more and more that there is a huge risk to kids from these procedures with very little, if any, benefit. So it&#8217;s really important that our legislatures be allowed to follow the evidence and do what they need to do to make sure kids are protected.”
Skrmetti added that any state with “shield laws” to protect people sending in transgender drugs into Tennessee would end up in court. 
“The full faith and credit clause says that Tennessee&#8217;s laws are binding in Tennessee. Other states can&#8217;t get cute and try to find ways around that. We&#8217;ve seen a lot of states try to do this. I think it&#8217;s a bad idea. They shouldn&#8217;t do it and if they keep it up, they&#8217;re going to end up in court and they&#8217;re going to lose,” he said. 
Opponents of Tennessee’s law claim that it violates the 14th Amendment because it would allow boys to be prescribed testosterone to address developmental issues but not allow girls to be given testosterone for a so-called transition. 
Skrmetti said that this line of thinking was a “fatal flaw” in the arguments made by the law’s opponents. 
“With any medical treatment, you&#8217;re not just handing someone a drug, you&#8217;re giving them a treatment to treat a specific condition. And different drugs have different effects on different conditions,” he said. “And we differentiate between those purposes all the time. So I thought that was a fatal flaw in the argument on the other side.”
Dozens of states followed Tennessee’s lead after Governor Bill Lee signed its ban into law in March 2023. That came after Daily Wire host Matt Walsh published an investigation into the Pediatric Transgender Clinic at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, showing it had removed the breasts of girls who identified as boys and prescribed cross-sex hormones to gender-confused children.
Portions of the interview were included in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/morning-wire?elementPosition=0&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=News+%26+Commentary&amp;rowType=Square+Show+Carousel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Morning Wire</a>’s Thursday episode, and the full interview will air this Sunday. 
<iframe loading="lazy" title="SCOTUS Upholds Trans Treatment Ban &amp; Iran Strike Looms?" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9OtOZrUF2Wc?list=PL7nd_lHY9IxA6E1unmjAilHmHfDPlfHPJ" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Supreme Court To Weigh Bans On Puberty Blockers, Hormones For Trans Teens

Tennessee Attorney General Issues Warning To Dem States After SCOTUS Victory On Trans Procedures

Matt Walsh

Morning Wire

Supreme Court

Transgender

The Tennessee General Assembly sent two bills cracking down on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives to Republican Governor Bill Lee&#8217;s desk on Tuesday as the legislative session came to a close.
One bill would ban publicly funded universities and state and local governments from maintaining DEI offices, while the other bill would prohibit those same entities from making hiring decisions based on race. Both bills passed with overwhelming Republican support.
&#8220;DEI violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” Tennessee Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson <a href="https://tnga.granicus.com/player/clip/31993?view_id=775&amp;meta_id=914498&amp;redirect=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on Tuesday. “We don’t need DEI in our state, Mr. Speaker. We need to hire people and promote people based on their merit. Diversity is a wonderful thing and it will happen. But we’re not going to make diversity the number one objective when we’re trying to serve our constituents and hire good people to take care of our constituents. It will be based on qualifications and merit.”
Johnson was the prime Senate sponsor of both the &#8220;Dismantling DEI Departments Act,&#8221; which <a href="https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default.aspx?BillNumber=SB1084" target="_blank" rel="noopener">prohibits</a> DEI offices for publicly funded entities, and the &#8220;Dismantle DEI Act,&#8221; which <a href="https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default.aspx?BillNumber=HB0622" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bans</a> public entities from making hiring decisions based on DEI.
“We want to make sure that we are not discriminating when it comes to hiring people at all levels of government in the state of Tennessee. Similarly, we want to make sure that we are not discriminating when it comes to delivering services to our constituents,&#8221; Johnson said from the Senate floor on Tuesday. 
The &#8220;Dismantling DEI Departments Act&#8221; passed the Senate 26-6 and the House 72-25, while the &#8220;Dismantle DEI Act&#8221; passed the Senate 27-6 and the House 73-24.
The Dismantling DEI Department Act would prohibit state government departments or agencies, county governments, city governments, and public universities &#8220;from maintaining or authorizing an office or department that promotes or requires discriminatory preferences in an effort to increase diversity, equity, or inclusion,&#8221; <a href="https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default.aspx?BillNumber=SB1084" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to a summary of the bill.
Its companion bill, the &#8220;Dismantling DEI Act,&#8221; would prohibit those same entities from basing hiring decisions on characteristics like race and sex, &#8220;rather than on individual merit, qualifications, veteran status, or lawful eligibility criteria.&#8221;
DEI has been a hot topic in the state in recent weeks, especially at major universities like Vanderbilt University Medical Center, which was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/vanderbilt-hospital-ends-all-dei-programs-after-being-accused-of-cover-up?author=Spencer+Lindquist&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Vanderbilt+Hospital+Ends+All+DEI+Programs+After+Being+Accused+Of+Cover-Up" target="_blank" rel="noopener">accused</a> of &#8220;concealing&#8221; its DEI programs in violation of President Donald Trump&#8217;s executive order for universities that receive federal funding to eliminate DEI programs.
After pressure from Senator Marsha Blackburn, Vanderbilt University Medical Center confirmed that it would be continuing to take steps to get rid of DEI at the university.

Diversity Equity and Inclusion Text on Wood Block

‘Don’t Need DEI In Our State’: Republicans Move To Close Government, University DEI Offices

Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

Vanderbilt University

A Republican-backed bill allowing Tennessee citizens victimized by illegal aliens to sue non-governmental organizations that provided housing to that illegal alien has been sent to Governor Bill Lee’s desk.
The <a href="https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default.aspx?BillNumber=HB0811" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bill</a> was passed by the Tennessee House 70-23 on Wednesday, advancing the bill to the governor’s desk. The legislation would give citizens harmed by an illegal alien a private right of action to sue entities enabling illegal immigration.
“This is a public safety bill in keeping with the Trump administration’s renewed focus on illegal immigration,” Republican Rep. Rusty Grills, who sponsored the legislation, <a href="https://tnga.granicus.com/player/clip/31956?view_id=775&amp;redirect=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on the House floor. “What we&#8217;re doing with this bill is anyone who is a victim of crime committed by an illegal alien will have a private right of action against any NGO that has assisted an illegal alien with housing in a community.”
Grills noted that housing as defined in the bill would not include homeless shelters or storm shelters, as some Democrat opponents have claimed. It would include long-term housing situations or rental homes.
In the Senate, the bill was sponsored by Republican Sen. Brent Taylor and passed 24-4 earlier this month.
The text of the legislation says that NGOs “may be held liable for a loss, damages, injury, or death resulting from a criminal offense committed by the person who is unlawfully present in the United States while the person is receiving housing services from the charitable organization if the charitable organization&#8217;s conduct in providing housing constitutes negligence, gross negligence, or willful and wanton misconduct.”
Many NGOs have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/meet-the-ngos-enabling-mass-immigration-under-the-banner-of-religion" target="_blank" rel="noopener">faced scrutiny</a> over their role in facilitating mass migration into the United States and some have been accused of enabling human trafficking.
Tennesseans have not been exempt from the flood of illegal immigrants that occurred under former President Joe Biden. For example, nearly 3,000 illegal aliens <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-data-show-how-much-crime-illegal-immigrants-committed-in-red-state?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=New+Data+Show+How+Much+Crime+Illegal+Immigrants+Committed+In+Red+State" target="_blank" rel="noopener">were arrested</a> in Tennessee for crimes ranging from murder to rape during the last three months of 2024.
In one prominent <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/saying-goodbye-is-hard-nashville-restaurant-closes-doors-after-owner-killed-by-illegal-immigrant" target="_blank" rel="noopener">case</a>, local Nashville business owner Matt Carney was killed by an illegal immigrant from Mexico during an attempted robbery at his beloved restaurant.
On Tuesday, the House also sent another <a href="https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default.aspx?BillNumber=HB0833" target="_blank" rel="noopener">illegal immigration bill</a> to Lee’s desk in a 75-20 vote. The bill would require law enforcement, with the exception of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, to “report monthly to the department of safety each interaction that the law enforcement agency had with illegal aliens over the previous month.”
Reports need to include “the date of the interaction, the number of illegal aliens encountered, and a description of identification documents, if any, in their possession.”
Another bill, which would allow schools in Tennessee to charge illegal aliens tuition, has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/red-state-senate-passes-bill-allowing-schools-to-stop-giving-illegal-aliens-free-education?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Red+State+Senate+Passes+Bill+Allowing+Schools+To+Stop+Giving+Illegal+Aliens+Free+Education" target="_blank" rel="noopener">passed the Senate</a>, but was placed behind the budget by the House as the session is coming to a close. The bill still could be revived, but it has currently stalled out. Backers of the bill hope to challenge Plyler v. Doe, a Supreme Court decision that forced states to provide education to illegal aliens.

TOPSHOT-MEXICO-HONDURAS-US-MIGRATION

Red State Deals Major Blow To Groups That Facilitate Illegal Immigration

Illegal Immigration

After decades of <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/">failing grades</a>, the Department of Education is being scrapped by the Trump administration. Attorney General Pam Bondi charges several suspects with “domestic terrorism” after targeting Tesla, and the Trump IRS is slamming the brakes on major audits as the agency braces for radical change.
It’s Friday, March 21st, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. If you’d rather listen to your news, today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:
<iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/education-department-dismantled-tesla-terrorism-continues/id1576594336?i=1000700243845" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>
<h2>Trump Dismantles the Department of Education</h2>
<div id="attachment_895193" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-895193" class="size-large wp-image-895193" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/US-Department-of-Education-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" />(Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)</div>
Topline: On Thursday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to disband the Department of Education.
At a ceremony at the White House on Thursday, President Trump signed an executive order that will “begin to eliminate” the Department of Education. The department was created by an act of Congress, and dissolving it entirely would require Congressional approval, but in the meantime, the Trump administration will continue to cut the department’s staff, as <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/education-dept-staff-expected-to-be-slashed-by-half-as-trump-mulls-closing-it">nearly half of its employees have already been let go</a> since Trump took office.
&#8220;We are going to be returning education very simply back to the states where it belongs,” Trump said to a crowd of governors, educators, and students from around the country. “This is a very popular thing to do, but much more importantly, it&#8217;s a commonsense thing to do – and it&#8217;s going to work.&#8221;
The Numbers: The Department of Education was founded under the Carter administration in 1979. Republicans have campaigned on abolishing the department for nearly as long as it’s existed – President Reagan pledged to end it in his 1980 campaign but failed to garner enough support from <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-01-29-mn-13948-story.html">Congressional Democrats</a>, who controlled the House of Representatives for the length of his presidency. From 1979-2017, U.S. spending per pupil (adjusted for inflation) has <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d19/tables/dt19_236.55.asp">nearly doubled</a>, while <a href="https://www.thebalancemoney.com/the-u-s-is-losing-its-competitive-advantage-3306225">relative standing</a> compared to other nations with respect to education has gone down, and test scores have remained mostly flat.
<div id="attachment_895195" style="width: 970px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-895195" class="size-large wp-image-895195" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/page-1-960x576.jpg" alt="" width="960" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/page-1-960x576.jpg 960w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/page-1-300x180.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/page-1-768x461.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/page-1.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px" />(Image by NAEP)</div>
“We can spend those dollars so much more efficiently and effectively than the federal government can,” Tennessee Republican Governor Bill Lee told Morning Wire. &#8220;Part of the taxpayer money that Tennesseans send up to D.C., and then they send back to us – if it&#8217;s filtered through a bureaucracy of thousands of employees, it siphons off a large part of that tax money to support that bureaucracy before it comes back to educate our kids.”
At the moment, total abolition of the department seems unlikely – it would require 60 votes in the Senate to overcome a filibuster, and the chamber is currently split 53-47. Democrats remain <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2025/mar/20/donald-trump-executive-order-department-of-education-us-politics-latest-updates-news">fiercely opposed</a> to cuts. But Trump can still use executive authority to strip the department of most of its responsibilities and funding. Many of the department’s most important functions will remain in place but shift to other departments.
After signing the executive order, President Trump assured the public that “Pell Grants, Title 1 funding, and resources for children with disabilities and special needs will be fully preserved and redistributed to various other agencies and departments that will take very good care of them.”
<h2>Suspected Tesla Attackers Charged As Terrorists</h2>
<div id="attachment_895197" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-895197" class="size-large wp-image-895197" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Tesla-Graffitti-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Tesla-Graffitti-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Tesla-Graffitti-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Tesla-Graffitti-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Tesla-Graffitti-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Tesla-Graffitti-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Tesla-Graffitti-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Tesla-Graffitti-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />(Photo by Kena Betancur/Getty Images)</div>
Topline: United States Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that the Department of Justice is charging three suspects with domestic terrorism after a series of attacks on Tesla.
“If you&#8217;re going to touch a Tesla, go to a dealership, do anything, you better watch out, because we&#8217;re coming after you,” Bondi said. “And if you&#8217;re funding this, we&#8217;re coming after you. We&#8217;re going to find out who you are.”
The Allegations: The names of the suspects are not yet public. One suspect allegedly lobbed eight Molotov cocktails at a Tesla retailer in Oregon. Another in Colorado is charged with “attempt[ing] to light Teslas on fire.” A third in Charleston, South Carolina, allegedly spray-painted obscene graffiti about President Trump at a Tesla charging station and set three charging stations on fire.
This violence is especially concerning as it&#8217;s now putting ordinary citizens at risk. On Wednesday, a number of Tesla owners confirmed that their names and home addresses were published on an online map. The site also encouraged protestors to “unleash [their] artistic flair” by vandalizing Tesla vehicles and recommended other “creative expressions of protest.”
Fellow Travelers: Some Democrats and public figures have made light of the violence. On Wednesday night, talk show host Jimmy Kimmel responded to a clip of Elon Musk saying these attacks make no sense by saying, “When you pull out a chainsaw to celebrate firing thousands of people, they get mad.”
Prominent elected Democrats have taken a more active role in supporting the anti-Tesla movement: Former vice presidential candidate and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz recently <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/loudmouth-tim-crows-about-tesla-stock-dropping-minnesota-had-millions-of-shares-in-tesla">celebrated Tesla’s declining stock price</a>, claiming he checks the downward ticker “to give [himself] a little boost during the day.”
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) <a href="https://x.com/atensnut/status/1902735220589154433">said</a> during a livestream with the protest group Takedown Tesla, “All I want to see happen on my birthday [March 29] is for Elon to be taken down.”
<h2>Changes At The IRS</h2>
<div id="attachment_895199" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-895199" class="size-large wp-image-895199" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/IRS-Forms-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/IRS-Forms-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/IRS-Forms-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/IRS-Forms-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/IRS-Forms-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/IRS-Forms-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/IRS-Forms-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/IRS-Forms-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />(Photo by masterSergeant via Getty Images)</div>
Topline: It’s been a busy few days for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and not just because it’s tax season. The agency is halting major audits and adjusting to new management.
The IRS is reportedly halting a number of major audits and seems likely to pursue fewer down the line. Now, critics are pointing to this as a huge red flag. They say pausing the audits is leaving billions of dollars on the table and basically means allowing the rich to get away with tax fraud. But remember, the Biden administration had expanded the IRS’ auditing power in a way that left people concerned. Democrats had plans to bring on more than 80,000 new agents who would largely be tasked with <a href="https://www.heritage.org/budget-and-spending/commentary/fact-checking-team-biden-who-those-87000-new-irs-agents-would-audit">auditing</a> people making less than $400,000 a year.
On NBC&#8217;s &#8220;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvrSxTE8GOw">Meet the Press</a>&#8220; last weekend, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent discussed those cuts and shared his vision for the future of the agency. “There were about 15,000 probationary employees that we could have let go. We kept about 7,500, 8,500 because we viewed them as essential to the mission. … I have three priorities for the IRS: collections, privacy, and customer service. And we&#8217;ll see what level is needed to prioritize all those.”
Whistleblower Promotions: On Tuesday, the agency announced that Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler had been brought in to the Department of Treasury as senior advisors to Bessent. Those two are the IRS employees who the department says were “wrongfully targeted” after blowing the whistle on Hunter Biden’s tax evasion. For the next year, they will serve as senior advisors to Bessent and then transition back into senior positions at the IRS. In a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-admin-promotes-hunter-biden-whistleblowers-after-they-were-wrongly-punished-by-superiors">statement</a> announcing the moves, Bessent praised them as “veteran civil servants” who will “help further the agency’s focus on collections, modernization, and customer service, so we can deliver a more effective and efficient IRS experience for hardworking American taxpayers.”

President Trump Signs Executive Order To Severely Shrink Department Of Education

Morning Brief: Trump Guts Education Dept, Suspected Tesla Vandals Charged As Terrorists, IRS Shakeup

Department of Education

Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

Scott Bessent

Tesla

The Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to a Tennessee law that protects children from viewing sexually explicit performances.
The court on Monday denied a petition from Friends of George’s, a Memphis-based theater group, that claimed a law banning sexually explicit performances in front of children violated the First Amendment. In July, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that the law could take effect, overturning a federal judge’s decision to block the law.
“Another big win for Tennessee! Today, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Friends of George’s v. Mulroy,” Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said. “Free speech is a sacred American value, but the First Amendment does not require Tennessee to allow sexually explicit performances in front of children,” said AG Skrmetti. “We will continue to defend TN’s law and children.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Another big win for Tennessee! Today, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Friends of George’s v. Mulroy.
“Free speech is a sacred American value, but the First Amendment does not require Tennessee to allow sexually explicit performances in front of children,” said AG… <a href="https://t.co/Tqiyi3aXwz">pic.twitter.com/Tqiyi3aXwz</a>
— TN Attorney General (@AGTennessee) <a href="https://twitter.com/AGTennessee/status/1894126239918477600?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 24, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Tennessee Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, who authored the legislation, also celebrated the news from the court.
“This court decision makes it clear that sexually explicit performances belong in spaces for adults, not in front of kids,&#8221; Johnson <a href="https://www.thecentersquare.com/tennessee/article_fd7e722e-f38a-11ef-b6b9-9faac744f0a2.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &#8220;Just because an event is labeled ‘family-friendly’ doesn’t mean it’s appropriate for children or reflects Tennessee’s values. This law establishes a necessary legal standard, ensuring that what is truly family friendly is clearly defined.&#8221;
The law was passed by the Republican-controlled state legislature in 2023 and signed by GOP Governor Bill Lee. In June of 2023, a federal judge blocked the law from going into effect, saying that it was “unconstitutionally vague and substantially overbroad.”
According to a <a href="https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default.aspx?BillNumber=SB0003&amp;ga=113" target="_blank" rel="noopener">summary</a> of the law, it “creates an offense for a person who engages in an adult cabaret performance on public property or in a location where the adult cabaret performance could be viewed by a person who is not an adult.”
The law passed after a series of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/taxpayer-funded-tennessee-performing-arts-center-hosted-all-ages-drag-christmas-show-as-republicans-propose-banning-similar-events" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reports</a> of drag performances across the state that were billed as “family friendly,” but were explicit in content.
The Supreme Court is currently considering another Tennessee law meant to protect children.
In December, the court heard arguments over Tennessee’s law that bans procedures like giving minors puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones, and performing surgeries like removing the breasts of girls who identify as boys. The law was temporarily blocked by a federal judge after it was passed in 2023 before the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals allowed the law to take effect.
After oral arguments on the case in December, the Supreme Court <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/supreme-court-appears-poised-to-uphold-tennessee-law-protecting-kids-from-trans-procedures" target="_blank" rel="noopener">appears poised</a> to rule in Tennessee’s favor. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh, John Roberts, and Amy Coney Barrett all seemed skeptical of the claims made by the ACLU and the previous Biden administration.

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Supreme Court Won’t Hear Challenge To Tennessee Law Protecting Kids From Explicit Performances

Drag show

General

Nearly 3,000 illegal immigrants were arrested in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/tennessee" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tennessee</a> for crimes ranging from murder to rape during the last three months of 2024, according to a report compiled by the state’s district attorneys.
The <a href="https://www.tndagc.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/PC998-Immigration-Report-2025-FINAL.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> released last week by the Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference found that around 2,719 illegal immigrants from over 92 different countries were arrested from October to December 2024. Sent to GOP Governor Bill Lee and House Speaker Cameron Sexton, the report sheds light on how the border crisis has led to increased crime in the Volunteer State.
Compiled as a result of a new state law requiring law enforcement to report on the arrests of illegal immigrants, the report found that 447 of the estimated total 3,854 charges were violent offenses. The data only included 73 counties since the other 22 did not submit their statistics.
There were a total of 11 homicides reported across the state, including three cases of first degree murder, one case of second degree murder, and seven instances of vehicular homicide.
Other violent offenses reported include rape of a child (3), aggravated rape (6), continuous sexual abuse of a child (2), aggravated kidnapping (3), especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor (1), statutory rape (9), aggravated sexual battery (6), aggravated robbery (6), aggravated domestic assault (27), sexual exploitation of a minor (8), robbery (2), and assault on a law enforcement officer (4).
The most common offenses illegal immigrants were arrested on were driving under the influence (654), driving without a license 549, traffic violations (533), domestic assault (154), public intoxication (147), failure to appear (150), probation violation (91), open container (83), and aggravated assault (80).
<div id="attachment_872131" style="width: 1949px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-872131" class="size-full wp-image-872131" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/Screen-Shot-2025-02-05-at-2.36.24-PM.png" alt="" width="1939" height="872" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/Screen-Shot-2025-02-05-at-2.36.24-PM.png 1939w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/Screen-Shot-2025-02-05-at-2.36.24-PM-300x135.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/Screen-Shot-2025-02-05-at-2.36.24-PM-1024x461.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/Screen-Shot-2025-02-05-at-2.36.24-PM-768x345.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/Screen-Shot-2025-02-05-at-2.36.24-PM-1536x691.png 1536w" sizes=" (max-width: 1939px) 100vw, 1939px" />TN District Attorneys report.</div>
Results of the charges were reported as a mixed bag with 136 cases still open, 37 dropped by prosecutors, 85 cases dismissed, 128 found guilty, and 198 with no record indicating the outcome.
Most of the arrests were made in the cities of Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga, and the counties surrounding those cities. Surprisingly, Shelby County, home to Memphis, reported just 59 arrests of illegal immigrants.
The greatest number of illegal immigrants came from Mexico (892), though a significant number came from Guatemala (564), Honduras (332), Venezuela (130), and El Salvador (86).
Over the past few years, illegal immigrants have been arrested in Tennessee for a number of high-profile crimes, including the murder of popular Nashville restaurant owner Matt Carney. Carney died from injuries after police say an illegal immigrant struck him with his truck in the parking lot of his restaurant. Carney’s death <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-decries-vicious-illegal-immigrant-suspected-of-murdering-nashville-restaurant-owner" target="_blank" rel="noopener">drew the attention</a> of then-candidate Donald Trump, who has warned of an illegal immigrant crime wave stemming from lax border policies implemented by the Biden administration.
Last week, Tennessee <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tennessee-passes-bill-to-assist-trumps-illegal-immigration-crackdown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">passed</a> sweeping legislation during a special session intended to help carry out Trump’s mass deportation plans.

Federal Agents Target Immigrant Gangs On Long Island

New Data Show How Much Crime Illegal Immigrants Committed In Red State

Violent Crime

During a legislative special session on Thursday, the Tennessee Senate passed the <a href="https://tneducationfreedom.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Education Freedom Act of 2025</a> by a vote of <a href="https://www.wbir.com/article/news/education/tennessee-senate-on-universal-school-voucher-program-propsal/51-a16d86f9-3499-41d8-9a7b-f2f06a9bc4a3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">20 to 13</a>. The bill had passed the House <a href="https://www.wbir.com/article/news/local/tennessee-house-passes-amended-universal-school-voucher-bill/51-10d2cbf2-c8bc-4dae-a1f0-cca50d5ab8bc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">54 to 44</a> earlier in the day. It now heads to the governor’s desk for his signature. With the stroke of Gov. Bill Lee’s pen, Tennessee will become the 13th state in the nation to enact universal (or near-universal) school choice.
While it’s not official yet, there is no question regarding whether Gov. Lee will sign the bill into law. He has been an enthusiastic education freedom champion and called the Tennessee General Assembly for a <a href="https://www.tn.gov/governor/news/2025/1/15/gov--lee-announces-special-session-to-begin-january-27.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">special session</a> with the purpose of passing the Education Freedom Act. Last month, Gov. Lee <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GmEmon6DcE" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>, “When it comes to education, more freedom is what our children need to succeed. That means empowering parents with school choice…. that’s why we need to pass the Education Freedom Act in Tennessee.”
<a href="https://tneducationfreedom.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">According to Gov. Lee</a>, “Education has the power to change the trajectory of a child’s life, and every Tennessee child deserves to attend the school that fits their unique needs — regardless of income or zip code.”
The Tennessee Education Freedom website <a href="https://tneducationfreedom.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">explains</a>, “The Education Freedom Act will extend school choice to every family across rural and urban Tennessee, putting parents at the forefront of their child’s education so that students find the best school for their needs to succeed in the classroom and beyond.”
The education scholarship amount will <a href="https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/114/Bill/HB0001.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">equal the state base funding</a> amount per student, which is around $7,000. The <a href="https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/114/Bill/HB0001.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">funds can be used toward</a> private school tuition and fees. If funds remain, they can be allocated toward required school textbooks, curricula, instructional materials, uniforms, tutoring services, school transportation fees, educational technology, test fees, early postsecondary courses, and educational therapies for qualifying students. Under this act, students must be enrolled in a private school to participate.
The universal school choice program will be implemented in two steps. During the <a href="https://tneducationfreedom.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2025-2026 school year</a>, 20,000 scholarships will be available for students, with half of those directed toward students from households at or below 300% of the income for free or reduced-price lunch, students with a disability, or those already eligible for an existing Tennessee education savings account program. All students statewide are eligible to participate starting in the <a href="https://tneducationfreedom.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2026-2027 school year</a>.
Beyond the private school scholarships, the Education Freedom Act also includes a <a href="https://tneducationfreedom.com/#list-with-large-icons-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$2,000 bonus</a> for all 86,000 public school teachers in the state.
Despite cries from the opposition, the school choice program will not harm public school finances. According to Representative William Lamberth (R-Portland) on the House floor on Thursday, Tennessee will continue to spend <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woqswb_O7p8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$7 billion annually</a> on K-12 public education.
Thanks to Gov. Lee’s steadfast commitment to education freedom for Tennesseans, the parents of <a href="https://www.tn.gov/education/about-the-tdoe.html#:~:text=The%20Tennessee%20Department%20of%20Education%20serves%20over,to%20provide%20the%20best%20for%20all%20students." target="_blank" rel="noopener">more than 900,000 K-12 public school children</a> and <a href="https://www.privateschoolreview.com/tennessee" target="_blank" rel="noopener">over 115,000 private school students</a> will soon be empowered with school choice.
Tennessee will join the universal school choice ranks with Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Utah, and West Virginia.
Now, eyes turn to Texas as well as Georgia, Idaho, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Wyoming. With a <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/State_government_trifectas" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Republican trifecta</a> in each of these states, it’s time for their lawmakers to advance universal education freedom. 
As education freedom states reap the far-reaching academic, workforce development, economic, and societal benefits of a free market K-12 education environment, other states will be forced to take notice. Lawmakers in those states will have to decide if they will double down with the teacher unions in trapping children in failing schools — to the detriment of their state’s future — or empower the parents. By advancing laws that allow education funding to follow students, lawmakers will support parents and the general public, who, <a href="https://www.edchoice.org/engage/support-for-school-choice-policies-remains-high/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">by majority, support school choice</a>.
With each state to pass universal school choice, the tide is turning toward a better and brighter future for America because nothing will impact the future of our country more than the education of the next generation.
So, which state will be number 14? Republican governors, it’s time to rally your lawmakers toward education freedom victory.
* * *
Dr. Keri D. Ingraham is a Senior Fellow at Discovery Institute, Director of the American Center for Transforming Education, and a Senior Fellow at Independent Women’s Forum.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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With Gov. Lee’s Signature, Tennessee Will Become 13th State To Enact Universal School Choice

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