North Carolina Congressman Mark Harris is leading a push to protect pastors who make political statements from being punished by the IRS, he told The Daily Wire. 
Harris on Monday will introduce the “Free Speech Fairness Act,” to make it clear in law that religious leaders can make statements about political candidates and not have to worry about their churches losing tax-exempt status. The bill is specifically aimed at countering the 1954 Johnson Amendment, which restricts churches and other non-profits from endorsing or opposing political candidates. 
“The whole idea was in contrast to Americans’ inalienable rights to free speech and the free exercise of religion,” Harris told The Daily Wire. “It currently puts the IRS in a position of judge and jury on comments that are going to be made by ministers from the pulpit and all speech from non-profits.”
Harris, a Baptist minister, said that the Johnson Amendment had been used as a “tool to silence religious leaders and churches.” He said his legislation would restore free speech to religious leaders and non-profits. 
Senator James Lankford (R-OK) will introduce a companion measure co-sponsored by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) in the Senate. 
“The First Amendment protects Americans’ right to freedom of speech and religious freedom without the threat of interference from Congress,&#8221; Lankford told The Daily Wire. &#8220;Fundamental American values must extend to everyone, including pastors, social workers, or non-profit employees and volunteers. Everyone should have their constitutional rights to assembly, free speech, freedom of religion and free press protected.”
The bill would “allow charitable organizations to make statements relating to political campaigns if such statements are made in the ordinary course of carrying out its tax exempt purpose” and if no meaningful expenses are incurred. For example, a pastor could comment on a political candidate during a sermon, or the president of a crisis pregnancy center could point to a candidate&#8217;s record on abortion in a newsletter. 
The legislation would not allow churches or non-profits to become political action committees, Harris said. 
”We’re not looking for churches to become super PACS, that is certainly not the purpose of this,” he told The Daily Wire. “But it is to really restore free speech to the pulpits of America without any threat of our tax code.” 
In the House, the bill has already picked up 14 co-sponsors, including Reps. Michael Guest (MS), Randy Weber (TX), Barry Moore (AL), Clay Higgins (LA), Glenn Grothman (WI), Keith Self (TX), Michael Baumgartner (WA), Mark Messmer (IN), Tim Walberg (MI), Marlin Stutzman (IN), David Rouzer (NC), Doug LaMalfa (CA), Andy Ogles (TN), Abe Hamadeh (AZ), and Mary Miller (IL). 
House Speaker Mike Johnson <a href="https://scalise.house.gov/press-release/scalise-hice-johnson-lankford-reintroduce-free-speech-fairness-act" target="_blank" rel="noopener">introduced</a> similar legislation in 2019 alongside House Majority Leader Steve Scalise.
The proposal is also backed by over a dozen conservative groups including the Alliance Defending Freedom, Focus on the Family, the Family Research Council, Catholic Vote, the America First Policy Institute, and others.
Back in 2017, President Donald Trump promised to &#8220;destroy&#8221; the Johnson Amendment to &#8220;allow our representatives of faith to speak freely and without fear of retribution.&#8221; To that effect, Trump signed an <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2017/05/09/2017-09574/promoting-free-speech-and-religious-liberty" target="_blank" rel="noopener">executive order</a> in May 2017 to explicitly protect religious leaders speaking out on politics.

Mark Harris wont face state charges in N.C. 9th District ballot fraud case

EXCLUSIVE: North Carolina Republican Leads Effort To ‘Restore’ Free Speech For Pastors, Churches

First Amendment

Free Speech

James Lankford

North Carolina

Religious Liberty

Sen. James Lankford (R-LA), a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on Sunday that he does not believe there is an &#8220;issue of leadership&#8221; with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth following the leak of a Signal group chat in which Trump administration officials discussed plans for airstrikes on Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists in Yemen.
During an interview on CNN&#8217;s &#8220;State of the Union,&#8221; anchor Dana Bash asked Lankford if Hegseth should take responsibility after noting that the defense secretary &#8220;shared the specific information about the timing and aircraft being used&#8221; in the Signal chat.
&#8220;I think he just joined into an encrypted app,&#8221; Lankford said, adding that he did not &#8220;see it as much of an issue&#8221; because &#8220;they all believed that this was a closed circle of conversation&#8221; and Hegseth was trying to give them &#8220;a heads up&#8221; of the attack plan &#8220;as we had given a heads-up to our foreign partners overseas as well.&#8221;
The White House has <a href="https://x.com/PressSec/status/1904512527699968437" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg, who publicized the contents of the conversation, was &#8220;inadvertently added&#8221; to the Signal chat and the breach would be investigated by the National Security Council.
In response to the Signal controversy, Hegseth <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hegseth-fires-back-at-the-media-over-signalgate-reporting" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> his &#8220;job&#8221; was to &#8220;provide updates in real time, general updates in real time, keep everybody informed.&#8221; Meanwhile, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz has <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg12ewv7xyo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">taken</a> &#8220;full responsibility&#8221; for the leak, noting that he built the Signal group.
Lankford said the Signal app was being used for &#8220;normal communication&#8221; and what was &#8220;not normal&#8221; was having a reporter &#8220;in the middle of the&#8221; conversation.
When Bash pressed Lankford on whether he had any doubts about Hegseth&#8217;s leadership, the senator <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1906336511341064491" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>, &#8220;No, I don&#8217;t see this as an issue of leadership.&#8221;
Lankford, who had earlier said an inspector general inquiry into the leak would be appropriate, went on to say that people calling for Hegseth for Hegseth to resign was &#8220;way overkill.&#8221;
Hegseth &#8220;is stepping in and has actually led a very successful first attack here on somebody that had attacked the United States over and over again,&#8221; Lankford said. &#8220;During the Biden administration, they had very limited response. Pete Hegseth has actually organized and coordinated an initial response to pushback and make them stop.&#8221;
Lankford also <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1906334416953114725" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>: &#8220;The story behind the story here is that Houthis have attacked American ships 170-some-odd times. So, for the Trump administration to push back on them is an entirely appropriate thing to be able to do. And they are pushing back on them strong to be able to stop their attack on American warships.&#8221;

Pete Hegseth

No ‘Issue Of Leadership’ With Hegseth After Signal Leak: Senate Intel Republican

Congress

Houthis

National Security

U.S.

U.S. Senate

Yemen

Oklahoma Senator James Lankford urged his colleagues to permanently overturn an “absurd” Biden-era regulation that requires small business owners to report personal information to the federal government. 
Lankford told The Daily Wire that the Senate should <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-admin-wont-enforce-outrageous-biden-era-small-business-reporting-rule" target="_blank" rel="noopener">follow</a> the Trump administration&#8217;s lead and prohibit enforcement of the beneficial ownership information reporting requirements for American companies. The rule, as promulgated by the Biden administration, required people who had direct or indirect control of a company to report their name, birthdate, address, and a unique identifying number to the Treasury Department.
“There is no way anyone is going to ever tell me and convince me that the Constitution allows the federal government to go to every small business and say, ‘tell me who your influences are and send me that in a form’. That is not the job of the federal government to go do that,” Lankford told The Daily Wire. 
The Trump administration announced on Sunday that it would stop enforcing the rule for domestic businesses and that it would be promulgating a new rule only applicable to foreign companies. 
Lankford said that the Biden administration had taken a statute that was “snuck” into a National Defense Authorization Act to supposedly combat money laundering and created an “over-burdensome” and “quasi-Orwellian” unconstitutional rule that did more to harm honest small business owners than illicit companies. 
He said the rule made a massive &#8220;assumption that companies that are laundering drug money will suddenly at that moment become honest and report that they are actually being controlled by a drug kingpin. The practical effect of the rule was to force small business owners to prove that they were laundering drug money,&#8221; Lankford said. 
Consequences for not complying with the form, which Lankford said many small businesses were unaware of, could include a $10,000 fine and up to two years in prison. 
“Small businesses don’t get up every day and read the federal register to be able to find out what it is the federal government is now imposing on them as a new regulation for a new piece of paper to be able to get in or face jail,” he said. “They’re getting up and turning lights on, cleaning toilets, and doing all the things they need to do to get their business going that day.”
Senate Republicans have previously introduced multiple bills to challenge the rule and Lankford said that the Senate Banking Committee is expected to hear one of the proposals in light of the decision from the Trump administration. Recently, Republicans on the committee <a href="https://www.banking.senate.gov/newsroom/majority/scott-leads-effort-to-ease-burdens-on-small-businesses" target="_blank" rel="noopener">introduced</a> a measure that would have bumped the deadline for small businesses to report the required information. 
Last month, the House of Representatives voted unanimously to extend the deadline for businesses to respond to the Treasury Department, which had previously been scheduled for March 21. 
“This is one of those things that every small business just wants this gone so that they don’t have to think about it all the time and be worried about if they are going to go to jail tomorrow because of a form not being filled out,” Lankford told The Daily Wire.

Congressional Lawmakers React To The Expiration Of The Title 42 Border Policy

Lankford Urges Senate To Permanently Overturn ‘Absurd’ Biden Small Business Reporting Rule

Biden Administration

Senate

Small Businesses

Treasury Department

Trump Administration

Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) said during an interview over the weekend that China would be misreading the room if it took what happened between President Donald Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday as a green light for it to invade Taiwan.
Lankford made the remark during a Sunday interview on NBC News&#8217; &#8220;Meet The Press&#8221; with Kristen Welker while recapping the Oval Office spat between the two world leaders.
&#8220;If China somehow receives that, they&#8217;re receiving the exact wrong message that the United States stands with our ally Taiwan, and we, like the rest of the world, want to see peace in that region and to continue to be able to have relationships all across that region,&#8221; he said. &#8220;But China should not misread this at all. What President Trump is trying to do is trying to get both sides to the table.&#8221;
He said that the United States was not turning its back on Ukraine and that the United States views Putin as &#8220;a murderous KGB thug that murders his political enemies and is a dictator.&#8221;
&#8220;We&#8217;ve seen his aggression. Countries around him have seen that,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;Obviously the Ukrainian people have seen that. The challenge is now we&#8217;re at a stalemate. This is a World War I-like trench warfare, and it is best to be able to get to at least a pause. And what I hear President Trump saying over and over again is, &#8216;We need to get to a stop in fighting, find some resolution.'&#8221;
&#8220;I understand Zelensky is rightfully concerned that Putin has violated every single agreement he&#8217;s ever signed and that he can&#8217;t be trusted,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;He&#8217;s looking for some kind of security guarantees, which the French and the U.K. are saying they want to put troops in. But we need to get these two folks at the table, get to some kind of resolution to something that may look like North and South Korea for a long time, and have a line where people are looking at each other, but not an active war.&#8221;
He added that he does not agree with those who are calling on Zelensky to resign, and that if Zelensky were to do so, it would &#8220;spiral Ukraine into chaos right now.&#8221;
&#8220;If you remember, in that press conference in the Oval Office just on Friday, it began with President Trump saying that he is a friend of Zelensky. He is interested,&#8221; Lankford added. &#8220;They&#8217;ve had good conversations. I think they understand each other and that, obviously, there are differences whereas Zelensky wants more in the way of some kind of security guarantees. The United States is not willing to be able to put troops on the ground. We&#8217;re not willing to do that.&#8221;
&#8220;But President Trump obviously met with Zelensky first,&#8221; he concluded. &#8220;Everybody was talking about Trump is going to work with Putin. He had foreign ministers working with the Russians. He wanted to meet personally with Zelensky first. I think that&#8217;s a very clear sign of where he is and where he stands on this. But he wants to get both sides of the table and get an end to the fighting and the death.&#8221;
WATCH:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Lankford says ‘cutting fraud’ is ‘reasonable,’ but no one wants to cut benefits: Full interview" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hiQpoU23oOs?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Sen. James Lankford

James Lankford: Would Be Mistake For China To Think It Has Green Light To Invade Taiwan

Donald Trump

Media

Politics

Ukraine-Russia War

Volodymyr Zelensky

Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) continued his push to reform <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/fema" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FEMA</a> on Tuesday when he introduced a bill to prohibit political discrimination in disaster relief, according to a copy of the bill first shared with The Daily Wire. 
Lankford <a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/FINAL-TEXT-Stopping-Political-Discrimination-in-Disaster-Assistance-Act.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">put forth</a> the &#8220;Stopping Political Discrimination in Disaster Assistance Act&#8221; to add &#8220;political affiliation&#8221; as a protected class for emergency relief. The bill comes as FEMA faces criticism over its handling of recent hurricanes, including an incident in Florida where a supervisor told workers to “avoid homes advertising Trump.”
The Oklahoma Republican introduced similar legislation in November before Republicans had officially regained control of the Senate. He also asked Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/noem-promises-to-keep-politics-out-of-dhs-when-asked-about-fema-scandal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">to commit</a> to prohibiting political discrimination during one of her confirmation hearings. 
Other sponsors of the legislation included Republican Senators Roger Marshall (KS), Rick Scott (FL), Ted Budd (NC), Josh Hawley (MO), Marsha Blackburn (TN), and Thom Tillis (NC). 
Lankford introduced three other disaster bills on Tuesday, including one that would <a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/FINAL-TEXT-Direct-Property-Acquisitions-Act.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">establish</a> a pilot program for communities to “directly apply to the Administrator for hazard mitigation assistance for the purposes of property acquisition and structure demolition or relocation assistance.”
Another bill would streamline approvals for hazard mitigation projects, and the third would encourage communities to be better prepared for natural disasters. 
Lankford introduced the measures at the same time he sent a <a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/02.04.25-Letter-to-President-Trump-re-FEMA-Review-Council.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> to President Donald Trump commending the president’s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trumps-fema-executive-order-takes-aim-at-supervisor-who-told-workers-to-skip-his-supporters" target="_blank" rel="noopener">creation</a> of a 20-person council to conduct a full review of FEMA’s activities. 
“The current federal framework for responding to disasters is insufficient, and major reforms are necessary to ensure Americans are best supported in times of need,” Lankford wrote in a letter obtained by The Daily Wire. “The federal government’s labyrinthine disaster response and recovery programs have not been subject to the scrutiny needed to assess whether it is achieving its goals or whether its funding would be better spent with limited strings attached at the state and local levels.”
“I ask that your Council consider whether more federal emergency response capabilities should be consolidated under FEMA, which would reduce the number of agencies constituents need to work through when seeking federal disaster assistance, and whether other, current responsibilities should be placed elsewhere,” he added. 
Lankford added that all levels of government, not just the federal government, should have “skin in the game” when it comes to emergency response. 
Trump has floated the idea of eliminating FEMA altogether and leaving disaster relief to the states, with some percentage of funding still coming from the federal government. In his executive order calling for an evaluation of the agency, Trump cited concerns of political bias as one of the reasons needed for reform. 
“Indeed, at least one former FEMA responder has stated that FEMA managers directed her to avoid homes of individuals supporting the campaign of Donald J. Trump for President,” Trump wrote, referring to The Daily Wire&#8217;s report reporting on supervisor Marn’i Washington’s instructions for workers to skip Trump homes in Lake Placid, Florida.

Los Angeles Recovers From Historically Devastating Wildfires

EXCLUSIVE: Lankford Bill Bars FEMA From Discriminating Based On ‘Political Affiliation’

FEMA

Kristi Noem

Natural Disaster

Senator <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/james-lankford" target="_blank" rel="noopener">James Lankford</a> (R-OK) on Tuesday introduced a bill to mandate a full review of the federal government’s handling of natural disasters as agencies like FEMA face <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-rips-into-fema-says-it-is-getting-in-the-way-of-everything" target="_blank" rel="noopener">criticism</a> over their response to recent hurricanes. 
Lankford <a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/ALL250752.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">put forth</a> the ‘‘Natural Disaster Resilience and Recovery Accountability Act” to create a new commission to conduct a comprehensive review of the efficiency of the government&#8217;s natural disaster programs. The commission would examine how the government is using taxpayer dollars and devise policy recommendations to improve the federal response to natural disasters. 
“Oklahomans know the federal disaster system isn’t working,” Lankford told The Daily Wire. “President Trump is taking quick action to fix it, and my legislation builds on that by reviewing how federal tax dollars are spent on disasters and finding ways to make government more efficient.”
President Donald Trump has slammed FEMA over its sluggish response to aid flooded communities in North Carolina and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trumps-fema-executive-order-takes-aim-at-supervisor-who-told-workers-to-skip-his-supporters" target="_blank" rel="noopener">raised concerns</a> about political bias at the agency pointing to a Daily Wire report showing how one supervisor ordered relief workers to skip homes with Trump flags. 
The legislation from Lankford, first shared with The Daily Wire, would create a 15-member commission composed of federal and state officials, relief workers, and other experts to “examine and recommend administrative and legislative reforms to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and budget funding of programs and activities of Federal agencies supporting natural disaster resilience and recovery.”
Trump on Friday signed an executive order that would create a 20-person council to conduct a full review of FEMA. The commission created by Lankford’s bill would follow that proposal and look at the full federal handling of and spending on disasters. Each federal program related to natural disasters would be put under the microscope of the commission for evaluation. 
Once assembled, the commission would have two years to produce a report with recommendations to improve the efficiency of the government’s response by evaluating all related federally funded activities. The report would be sent to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs and the House Oversight Committee. 
The commission would work with a variety of departments, including the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The commission would consider “potential administrative changes to the roles and responsibilities of the various Federal agencies involved in natural disaster resilience and recovery.”
Trump has promised to fundamentally reform FEMA and has floated the idea of getting rid of the agency altogether. He suggested handing over the responsibility of emergency responses to the states with funding from the federal government.
“I love Oklahoma, but you know what? If they get hit with a tornado or something, let Oklahoma fix it,” Trump said last week. “And then the federal government can help them out with the money.”
Vice President JD Vance <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/vance-calls-out-bureaucracy-slowing-federal-emergency-response-in-visit-to-virginia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reiterated</a> the Trump administration&#8217;s approach on Monday during a visit to flood-ravaged Virginia, saying that they would work to slash the bureaucracy from multiple federal departments holding up emergency relief.

U.S. Senate Meets To Vote On Proposed Continuing Resolution

EXCLUSIVE: Lankford Pushes For Full Probe Into The Government’s Disaster Response

Oklahoma

South Dakota Republican Governor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/kristi-noem" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kristi Noem</a> promised during her confirmation hearing on Friday that, if confirmed, the Department of Homeland Security would not be politicized when asked about the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/fema" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FEMA</a> scandal in Florida where relief workers were ordered to skip homes with Trump flags or yard signs. 
Noem was also asked about securing the border, the state of the Secret Service, and FEMA’s response to natural disasters. 
Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) asked Noem about an incident <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-fema-official-ordered-relief-workers-to-skip-houses-with-trump-signs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first reported</a> by The Daily Wire in Lake Placid, Florida, when FEMA supervisor Marn’i Washington ordered Hurricane Milton relief workers to “avoid homes advertising Trump.”
“Last year FEMA employees during disaster relief were instructed by one of their supervisors that if they see a Trump sign or a Trump flag flying to skip that house, to not stop by there, and tell them what their federal government can do for them,” Lankford said. “Will you allow FEMA employees or any within DHS to politicize their role or pick and choose who gets help and who doesn’t as an American?”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) asks Trump Homeland Security nominee Kristi Noem about my exclusive Daily Wire report revealing that FEMA skipped at least 20 homes during hurricane relief operations in Florida because of Trump flags or signs. <a href="https://t.co/MmadHBPSME">pic.twitter.com/MmadHBPSME</a>
— Leif Le Mahieu (@leif_lemahieu) <a href="https://twitter.com/leif_lemahieu/status/1880327357233525164?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 17, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The instructions from Washington, given verbally and in a group chat, led to FEMA workers skipping some 20 homes from late October into early November when they canvassed Lake Placid. FEMA workers later visited those homes a day after The Daily Wire published its report. 
“Under President Trump’s administration, disaster and emergency relief will not be handed out with political bias,” Noem told Lankford. “Every American will be responded to and treated equally.”
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell has maintained that Washington’s guidance was an isolated incident that violated agency policies. In subsequent interviews, Washington claimed that her orders were based on widespread “avoidance” policies approved by FEMA in cases of political “hostility.” 
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?_gl=1*1lail3r*_gcl_aw*R0NMLjE3MzIyMDEyNDkuQ2owS0NRaUEwZnU1QmhEUUFSSXNBTVhVQk9JSkM0VnNsMFVreURxYXUxVWVEVWdOdjZkNzR2Y1pEeEZQeHVBcGl2R3BLaTdBMjVzT1p5TWFBdG1nRUFMd193Y0I.*_gcl_au*NDUxNDQ0NzYwLjE3MzY3ODI2NDY.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczNjk1NzYwMy4zNDAuMS4xNzM2OTU3NzE2LjYwLjAuMA.." target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?_gl%3D1*1lail3r*_gcl_aw*R0NMLjE3MzIyMDEyNDkuQ2owS0NRaUEwZnU1QmhEUUFSSXNBTVhVQk9JSkM0VnNsMFVreURxYXUxVWVEVWdOdjZkNzR2Y1pEeEZQeHVBcGl2R3BLaTdBMjVzT1p5TWFBdG1nRUFMd193Y0I.*_gcl_au*NDUxNDQ0NzYwLjE3MzY3ODI2NDY.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczNjk1NzYwMy4zNDAuMS4xNzM2OTU3NzE2LjYwLjAuMA..&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1737044212122000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3mp2MZNwEXBk00lKmCtOss">CELEBRATE #47 WITH 47% OFF DAILYWIRE+ MEMBERSHIPS + A FREE $20 GIFT</a>
Multiple investigations, including from the inspector general, are ongoing, probing claims of similar misconduct in North Carolina. 
Specifically, DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari is <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dhs-inspector-general-confirms-fema-probe-says-aid-should-not-be-politically-based" target="_blank" rel="noopener">looking into</a> claims made to lawmakers on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure that entire neighborhoods were skipped in North Carolina if more than three signs displayed support for Trump. 
Various names have been floated around for who Trump might task with replacing Criswell at FEMA, but no official decision has been announced yet.

Senate Confirmation Hearing Considers Kristi Noem For DHS Secretary

Noem Promises To Keep Politics Out Of DHS When Asked About FEMA Scandal

Department of Homeland Security

Florida

Republican lawmakers are again introducing legislation to protect babies born alive in botched abortions, The Daily Wire can first report.
Led by Republican Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford, lawmakers will introduce the &#8220;Born-Alive Survivors Protection Act&#8221; on Thursday. The legislation would &#8220;prohibit a health care practitioner from failing to exercise the proper degree of care in the case of a child who survives an abortion or attempted abortion.&#8221;
It&#8217;s a piece of legislation that Republicans have introduced repeatedly in the past, arguing that it is both common sense to support it and inhumane to vote against it. Yet every year, Democrats vote against the protections for born-alive babies, arguing that the legislation is a secret attempt to restrict women&#8217;s access to so-called reproductive healthcare.
“No child should be denied medical care simply because they are ‘unwanted,'&#8221; Lankford told The Daily Wire. &#8220;Today, if an abortion procedure fails and a child is born alive, doctors can just ignore the crying baby on the table and watch them slowly die of neglect.&#8221;
&#8220;That’s not an abortion,&#8221; he added, &#8220;that’s infanticide.”
The Oklahoma senator is joined by 38 of his Republican colleagues, including Jim Banks of Indiana, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Chuck Grassley of Iowa,  Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, Ted Cruz of Texas, and Mike Lee of Utah. The legislation is also backed by a host of conservative organizations, including Concerned Women for America, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, the Ethics and Public Policy Center, and more.
<div id="attachment_858987" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-gop-lawmakers-introduce-born-alive-abortion-survivors-protection-act/gop-senators-hold-press-conference-on-laken-riley-act" rel="attachment wp-att-858987"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-858987" class="wp-image-858987 size-large" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/GettyImages-2192522530-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/GettyImages-2192522530-864x576.jpg 864w, https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/GettyImages-2192522530-300x200.jpg 300w, https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/GettyImages-2192522530-768x512.jpg 768w, https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/GettyImages-2192522530-1536x1024.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>(Photo by Jon Cherry/Getty Images)</div>
Protections for unborn babies, limits on abortion, and federal abortion legislation are controversial topics within the Republican Party at the moment. But protections for born-alive babies have strong support from most, if not all, Republican lawmakers.
President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly highlighted Democratic support for laws that allow abortionists to end the lives of babies who survive abortions. Vice President Kamala Harris — who shook her head at Trump during their presidential debate and indicated he was lying as he discussed Democratic abortion extremism — <a href="https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1162/vote_116_2_00058.htm">voted against</a> the Born Alive Infant Survivors Protection Act in 2020.
Given the controversial nature of abortion in the United States, it would seem that Americans should have access to quality reporting and statistics on the topic. But only eight states publicly report or respond to requests for statistics on babies who were born alive during abortion procedures, according to the Charlotte Lozier Institute: Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and Texas.
A Daily Wire review <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/yes-democrats-support-ending-the-lives-of-babies-who-survive-abortions">found that most of these states are not transparent</a> with their reporting on whether the babies were given care after they were born alive following botched abortions. Minnesota appears to be the only state providing reasons — and Tim Walz, the state’s Democratic governor, did away with the state’s reporting requirement in May 2023.
Lankford&#8217;s legislation would require not only that abortionists &#8220;exercise the same degree of professional skill, care, and diligence as a reasonably diligent and conscientious health care practitioner would render to any other child born alive at the same gestational age,&#8221; but also that the abortionist ensures that &#8220;the child born alive is immediately transported and admitted to a hospital.&#8221;
It would also mandate that health care practitioners, hospital staff, or abortion clinic staff report any knowledge of violations of this law, and states that anyone who intentionally &#8220;performs or attempts to perform an overt act that kills a child born alive&#8230;shall be punished&#8230;for intentionally killing or attempting to kill a human being.&#8221;
Mothers of babies born alive may not be prosecuted under the law.

US-POLITICS-CAPITOL

EXCLUSIVE: GOP Lawmakers Introduce Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act

Abortion

Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) signaled during an interview on Sunday that after some hesitation, he has now firmly decided to back former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) to be President-elect Donald Trump&#8217;s Director of National Intelligence.
Lankford made the remarks during an interview on NBC News&#8217; &#8220;Meet The Press&#8221; with Kristen Welker when confronted over his previous concerns about where Gabbard stood on the issue of FISA Section 702, a &#8220;critical intelligence collection authority that enables the Intelligence Community (IC) to collect, analyze, and appropriately share foreign intelligence information about national security threats,&#8221; according to the U.S. government.
When asked if Gabbard&#8217;s assurances were enough for him and whether he was now a &#8220;yes&#8221; on her being confirmed to the position, Lankford responded: &#8220;Yeah, I am.&#8221;
&#8220;And that was a very important piece for me,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Obviously she voted against 702 authority. And just to clarify that, that authority is for actually trying to be able to track terrorists overseas. That has nothing to do with American citizens or anything that&#8217;s happening in the United States. It is if someone&#8217;s planning to attack us overseas, we find out about that.&#8221;
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/">JOIN THE MOVEMENT IN ’25 WITH 25% OFF DAILYWIRE+ ANNUAL MEMBERSHIPS WITH CODE DW25</a>
&#8220;That&#8217;s what 702 authority allows us to be able to do,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;It is to be able to track international individuals overseas before they come and actually attack us. She voted against that in the House when she was a member of the House of Representatives and then said she wanted changes. She&#8217;s now coming in and saying, &#8216;Those changes have been done.&#8217; Because even since she was in Congress, there have been quite a few changes that we&#8217;ve made in Congress to make sure we&#8217;re protecting the civil rights of Americans.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Senator Lankford is a YES on <a href="https://twitter.com/TulsiGabbard?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TulsiGabbard</a> for DNI! ✅ 🔥 <a href="https://t.co/JHHMQofh5c">pic.twitter.com/JHHMQofh5c</a>
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) <a href="https://twitter.com/TrumpWarRoom/status/1878462995522572701?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 12, 2025</a></blockquote>

Screen Shot 2022-04-15 at 12.30.10 PM

Sen. Lankford Signals Support For Tulsi Gabbard Ahead Of Confirmation Hearings

Tulsi Gabbard

The United States is suffering from a &#8220;low-grade fever,&#8221; Sen. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/raphael-warnock" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Raphael Warnock</a> (D-GA) said on Sunday when describing the political climate.
Warnock sat alongside Sen.  James Lankford (R-OK) during a joint interview on NBC&#8217;s &#8220;Meet The Press&#8221; for a conversation that focused a great deal on bipartisanship. At one point, moderator Kristen Welker asked Warnock if he feels like there is a &#8220;public anger and almost mistrust of people&#8221; working across the aisle.
&#8220;I think the whole country has what I call a low-grade fever,&#8221; Warnock said. &#8220;You know some mornings you wake up and you just don&#8217;t feel really well. You can&#8217;t even put your finger on it. We&#8217;ve been through four years of COVID. And people — you know, the early years of that, the early months of that, having to shelter in, all the trauma around that. Twenty years of what felt like an endless war, and then demagogues who make — you know, who exploit this moment through exacerbating the fault lines, the cultural fault lines of division in our country. And I think people just feel the full weight and the trauma of all of that.&#8221;
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Sens. Warnock and Lankford tell families to do ‘hard work,’ bridge political divides: Full Interview" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/s0WiwpQ2Dy8?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Warnock said he would encourage people, &#8220;especially in this season, is to look toward one another rather than to figure out — you know, rather than thinking about how we can hurt one another, how we can pray with one another rather than prey on one another.&#8221;
The senator went on to declare that he still has &#8220;great hope&#8221; for the U.S.
&#8220;Our ideals of unity, of inclusion, of equality,&#8221; Warnock said. &#8220;And the American story is about pushing us closer towards those ideals. And there have been moments when the — the democracy has expanded. There have been moments when it&#8217;s contracted. But any woman will tell you that even contractions are necessary for birth. And so I remain hopeful even in this moment. But it&#8217;s going to be hard work.&#8221;
Warnock also shared what his message is to Democrats on what they can do to improve heading into the new year after Republicans retained the House and won back control of the Senate and the White House in the 2024 election.
&#8220;Well, look, you&#8217;ve got to listen to the people,&#8221; Warnock said. &#8220;We just had an election and I think we have to take some time to listen to what the folks are saying, what the people are saying, everyday people are saying, and continue to build on our values. Look, I&#8217;ve had success doing bipartisan work, working with people like Ted Cruz and I did legislation together. I&#8217;ve worked with Republican senators in Alabama to defend and support farmers. A lot more bipartisan work happens very often than you think. Sometimes it&#8217;s not talked about because that doesn&#8217;t necessarily fit.&#8221;

US Senator Raphael Warnock

Democrat Senator Says U.S. Has ‘Low-Grade Fever’

Raphael Warnock

Senator <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/james-lankford" target="_blank" rel="noopener">James Lankford</a> (R-OK) busted media during a recent appearance on Fox News, saying that although the legacy outlets might talk a good game, it was the people doing the actual work on Capitol Hill who knew what was really going on.
Lankford was responding to the numerous reports swirling about President-elect Donald Trump&#8217;s nominee for Secretary of Defense, decorated Army veteran Pete Hegseth — among them, a report from the Wall Street Journal suggesting that Hegseth might be replaced by Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) — and he argued that media outlets did not always have the inside scoops they claimed.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Sen. <a href="https://twitter.com/jameslankford?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jameslankford</a>: &#8220;What&#8217;s interesting is the national media, the CNN, MSNBC, CBS, all talk about people as if they&#8217;ve met them. All of us get the privilege of actually getting a chance to be able to meet them&#8230; So there&#8217;s all the noise out there and then there&#8217;s actually… <a href="https://t.co/XnpCc7MqdJ">pic.twitter.com/XnpCc7MqdJ</a>
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) <a href="https://twitter.com/TrumpWarRoom/status/1864329104385888642?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 4, 2024</a></blockquote>
&#8220;What&#8217;s interesting is the national media, the CNN, MSNBC, all those, CBS, all talk about people as if they&#8217;ve met them. All of us get the privilege of actually getting a chance to be able to meet them&#8230; So there&#8217;s all the noise out there, and then there&#8217;s actually what&#8217;s happening on the Hill as people are one-by-one getting to meet with folks as I&#8217;m doing later on today with several different nominees,&#8221; he explained.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/gift-guide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE</a>
Lankford argued that the people — and media — should allow the process to play out as proscribed in the Constitution and wait to see how those one-on-one meetings and eventual hearings went before rushing to judgment.
&#8220;President Trump, like every other president, has the right to be able to hire his staff, and to be able to pick the people around him,&#8221; Lankford continued. &#8220;The Senate also has a role, in key people, in what&#8217;s called &#8216;advise and consent&#8217; &#8230; at this point, let it play out. Let&#8217;s get past the media noise and let&#8217;s actually do the constitutional process and let&#8217;s actually support the president in who he&#8217;s actually trying to be able to pick to put next to him to be able to actually turn the country around.&#8221;

Senate GOP Leadership Election

GOP Sen Blows Up Media: ‘There’s All The Noise Out There, And Then There’s Actually What’s Happening’

Media Bias

Social Media Bias

Sen. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/james-lankford" target="_blank" rel="noopener">James Lankford</a> (R-OK) defended former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, President-elect Donald Trump&#8217;s nominee for U.S. Attorney General, this week after she promised to remove anti-Trump individuals from the department.
Lankford made the remarks during a Sunday interview on CNN&#8217;s &#8220;State of the Union&#8221; with Dana Bash when asked about whether Bondi would weaponize the department to go after Trump&#8217;s political opponents.
&#8220;[Trump] wants to make sure that the people that are around him in the Cabinet are at least directionally the right direction,&#8221; he said. &#8220;This has been a question, quite frankly, since the Kennedy administration, when President Kennedy put his brother in as attorney general.&#8221;
Bash then played a clip of remarks that Bondi made in the past on Fox News:
<blockquote>BONDI: The Department of Justice, the prosecutors will be prosecuted, the bad ones. The investigators will be investigated, because the deep state, last term for President Trump, they were hiding in the shadows. But now they have a spotlight on them.
And they can all be investigated. And the house needs to be cleaned out.</blockquote>
Lankford said that he did not agree with the notion that Bondi&#8217;s comments were indicative of her pursuing &#8220;retribution&#8221; for Trump.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/gift-guide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE</a>
&#8220;I think it&#8217;s trying to be able to get us back to neutral and to balance on that,&#8221; he said, adding that in the past, there were &#8220;individuals within the FBI, and that was very well — known after President Trump came on in 2016 — that there were members of the FBI that hated him that were in senior leadership that were working to be able to undercut him, Peter Strzok, multiple others that were actively working to try to undercut the president.&#8221;
&#8220;I think it&#8217;s entirely appropriate for Pam Bondi to step in and to say, or whoever that is as attorney general, to be able to step in and say, we&#8217;re not going to allow someone to try to undercut the President of the United States in this Department of Justice,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;You have got to actually be balanced and about justice, not about attacking the president.&#8221;
He said anyone trying to undercut the president at the department &#8220;should be gone&#8221; immediately.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
&#8220;I don&#8217;t see any evidence of that kind of retribution.&#8221;<a href="https://twitter.com/SenatorLankford?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SenatorLankford</a> downplays Trump&#8217;s threats of payback at DOJ but tells <a href="https://twitter.com/DanaBashCNN?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DanaBashCNN</a> &#8220;if someone is in the Department of Justice right now that is actively trying to undercut the president, they should be gone.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/6HbEwvSGv2">pic.twitter.com/6HbEwvSGv2</a>
— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) <a href="https://twitter.com/CNNSOTU/status/1860720493424246886?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 24, 2024</a></blockquote>

2024 Republican National Convention TW

GOP Senator Defends Trump AG Pick Pam Bondi For Promising To Gut DOJ’s Anti-Trump Lawyers

Attorney General

Department of Justice

Pam Bondi

Menu