Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) said that the investigation into a potential object detected over the state of Montana Saturday night is ongoing and that there may still be something there.
Tester, Chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, made the remarks during a Sunday appearance on CBS News&#8217;s &#8220;Meet The Press&#8221; with host Margaret Brennan.
&#8220;The investigation is still going on as we speak,&#8221; he said. &#8220;The truth is, is that there was an anomaly, and they&#8217;ve investigated. I think it got dark last night, so they couldn&#8217;t fully check it out. I&#8217;m sure as we speak, it&#8217;s being checked out right now.&#8221;
&#8220;There may still be something out there,&#8221; he added. &#8220;It may be a false alarm.&#8221;
Tester said that there may have been damage done to U.S. national security because of President Joe Biden&#8217;s decision to allow a suspected Chinese spy balloon to traverse the nation before ordering it shot down off the Carolina coast last weekend.
&#8220;We&#8217;ve got ICBMs in Montana, we got 150 of them, Malmstrom Air Force Base is an incredible deterrent for this country and has been since the early 60s,&#8221; he said. &#8220;The military made an assessment that they wouldn&#8217;t be able to gather the information that the military thought was important to China. And if that didn&#8217;t happen that way, somebody screwed up.&#8221;
WATCH:
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TRANSCRIPT:
<blockquote>MARGARET BRENNAN: Good morning, and welcome to Face The Nation. As we come on the air, the big question in our minds today is what is going on here with what seemed like a deluge of potential incursions? What are these objects? Where are they coming from? What is their purpose? And are we experiencing an increase of the so-called unidentified aerial objects? Or are we just looking for them more carefully following the Chinese spy balloon event? We will do our best to try and get some of those questions answered today. We are going to begin with Montana Senator Jon Tester. Good morning to you, Senator.
SEN. JON TESTER: Good morning.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So, late Saturday, NORAD and NORTHCOM said there was a radar anomaly over your state, which is why airspace was closed. Was it a false alarm? Or is there an object over Montana?
SEN. TESTER: Well, I think the investigation is still going on as we speak. The truth is is that there was an anomaly, and they&#8217;ve investigated. I think it got dark last night, so they couldn&#8217;t fully check it out. I&#8217;m sure as we speak, it&#8217;s being checked out right now.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So it hasn&#8217;t been ruled out. There may still be something up there.
SEN. TESTER: Absolutely. There may still be something out there. It may be a false alarm.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Is the policy now to shoot down any unidentified object?
SEN. TESTER: Well, I think that&#8217;s a very, very good question, and that&#8217;s a better question for General Milley. But the truth of the matter is, is that they need to have a policy, they being the military, needs to have a policy to recommend to the president. It&#8217;s something that as- as Chairman of the Defense Committee and Ranking Member Collins, we&#8217;ve already talked about this. We&#8217;re going to make sure that there is a plan. We&#8217;re going to make sure if that plan needs to be funded that it gets funded. This is- what&#8217;s gone on in the last, you know, two weeks or so, 10 days, has been nothing short of craziness. And the military needs to have a plan to not only determine what&#8217;s out there, but determine the dangers that go with it.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So you don&#8217;t know what will happen to this object over Montana.
SEN. TESTER: My guess is it&#8217;ll get shot down. But the military will make an assessment as to potential collateral damage just like they did on the Chinese balloon.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So you have spent time, as I understand it, with General Milley&#8211;
SEN. TESTER: I have.
MARGARET BRENNAN: &#8211;the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and other DoD officials. Could he share with you anything about this mysterious object that was cylindrical and floating over Canada? Or the car sized one over Alaska?
SEN. TESTER: Well, I think you&#8217;ve got what he shared with me at that moment in time, and that they had done an assessment of it and determined that it was unmanned and determined that it should be shot down because they weren&#8217;t absolutely positive that it was of no threat.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So the object over Alaska was near Prudhoe Bay, which is one of the most important energy fields in this country.
SEN. TESTER: Yes.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Does that sound to you like it&#8217;s espionage, state driven espionage?
SEN. TESTER: Well, look, I don&#8217;t think things happen by mistake when it comes to China.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You think this was China?
SEN. TESTER: I don&#8217;t know. I don&#8217;t know that it&#8217;s China. We will find out later on, if in fact, it was affiliated with the Chinese Communist government or not. But- but the bottom line is, is that I think we need to take these things seriously. I think the President and I think more importantly, the military are taking the- very, very seriously. And- and to back that up, I think through the appropriations process and the Defense Committee, we&#8217;re going to make sure that they&#8217;re taking it seriously. So the checks and balances will be there as we move forward. But this is, like I said, this has been a phenomenon that we haven&#8217;t had recently, where we&#8217;ve had other countries that have went into our airspace for the purpose of trying to gather information on what we&#8217;re doing here in the United States.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You said, and you underscored your key role in helping to determine the budget there for the Pentagon&#8211;
SEN. TESTER: Yeah.
MARGARET BRENNAN: &#8211;that you don&#8217;t remember hearing anything that dealt with balloons. How long has the military actually been tracking this?
SEN. TESTER: Well, I mean, that&#8217;s a better question for the military. From my perspective&#8211;
MARGARET BRENNAN: but they weren&#8217;t sharing this with Congress&#8211;
SEN. TESTER: They weren&#8217;t sharing it with me. And so I can&#8217;t say what their awareness was over the last 10 years. But- but obviously, there was some awareness, but whether it was up to where it needed to be that&#8217;s- that&#8217;s a debate that Congress needs to have and questions that need to be answered by our- our military leadership.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You were very critical, you made that very clear and were plain spoken about the fact that administration didn&#8217;t shoot down the confirmed Chinese spy balloon over the state of Montana. And you wanted it shot down as soon as it was in U.S. airspace. Has your view changed at all after you&#8217;ve been briefed?
SEN. TESTER: Yeah, well, so initially, I was very much for shooting it down when it was over the Aleutians. I think what transpired was is that the military took assessments as to potential collateral damage and the threat of this balloon, and you know, we pay these folks good money to make sure we keep our nation safe, and I respect their view and the president followed that. Going on in the future, I think there needs to be a plan that&#8217;s right up front. So we know exactly what&#8217;s going to happen when these balloons come in and their threat is assessed, what&#8217;s going to happen. But- but look, we- I got briefed, both in open session and a classified session and quite honestly, the military and intelligence community&#8217;s explanation of what transpired with that balloon, I accept. Is it something that I would have done right out right out of the chute? No. I would have probably done a different, but that&#8217;s not saying that I&#8217;m right or I&#8217;m wrong or they&#8217;re right or they&#8217;re wrong. In the end, we ended up with a balloon that they&#8217;ve recovered, and they&#8217;re going to take and put it back together and reverse engineer it and we&#8217;ll find out what they&#8217;re up to, plus the information that was gathered while it came across the United States.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So I hear you say there&#8217;s value in the that intelligence.
SEN. TESTER: Yes.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But in terms of of damage, according to what was declassified the Chinese balloon could intercept signals intelligence, it could pick up chatter, it hovered over some pretty key states, locations in your state, including one that houses excuse me, 150 intercontinental ballistic missiles.
SEN. TESTER: No doubt about that.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Was there damage done?
SEN. TESTER: No doubt about that, and there better not have been damage done, or it makes my case for shooting the doggone thing down over the Aleutian Islands. Look, we&#8217;ve got ICBMs in Montana, we got 150 of them, Malmstrom Air Force Base is an incredible deterrent for this country and has been since the early 60s. They- the military made an assessment that they wouldn&#8217;t be able to gather the information that-that the military thought was important to China. And if that didn&#8217;t happen that way, somebody screwed up.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You on the issue of China. According to the federal government, 3% of the nation&#8217;s farmland is owned by foreign investors. You have recently introduced a bill to try to restrict foreign ownership of farmland. I know this is an issue in a number of farming states. Why do you think that needs to be a federal ban on foreign ownership?
SEN. TESTER: Well, look, I&#8217;m a farmer. I&#8217;ve been farming my grandparents&#8217; land at the homestead, and I think it&#8217;s really important for food security. The folks- this is a ban against China, Russia, North Korea and Iran, folks who don&#8217;t want to see us exist anymore as a nation. I don&#8217;t think they should have any opportunity to try to dictate our food supply or–
MARGARET BRENNAN: Any Chinese owned company, right?
SEN. TESTER: Right, period done. Because they&#8217;re all connected with the Communist Chinese government anyway. And so I think it&#8217;s a reasonable step to take. Senator Rounds out of South Dakota does too. So it&#8217;s bipartisan. And I think we should do it as a matter of course, and I&#8217;m all about private property rights. I think people ought to be able to sell who they want to sell to, but not in this particular case because China wants to do bad things to us. Same thing with North Korea, Russia and Iran. So let&#8217;s- let&#8217;s take that off the table, both in farmland and in agri-businesses I think, I think it&#8217;d be a mistake, a really a mistake for national security and for food security.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Senator Tester, thank you for your time.</blockquote>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-closes-airspace-over-montana-after-unidentified-object-discovered">U.S. Closes Airspace Over Montana After Unidentified Object Discovered</a>

Jon Tester

Sen. Jon Tester On Probe Into Potential Object Detected Over Montana: ‘May Still Be Something Out There’

Sen. Jon Tester On Probe Into Potential Object Detected Over Montana: 'May Still Be Something Out There'

Congress

Montana

National Security

Politics

Spying

The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/national-security" target="_blank" rel="noopener">North American Aerospace Defense Command</a> (NORAD) and the U.S. Northern Command released a statement late on Saturday night about a supposed unidentified object that they identified over Montana, saying that fighter jets were not able to locate the object.
&#8220;NORAD detected a radar anomaly and sent fighter aircraft to investigate,&#8221; that statement said. &#8220;Those aircraft did not identify any object to correlate to the radar hits. NORAD will continue to monitor the situation.&#8221;
The statement came after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) sent a notice to airmen (NOTAM) late Saturday night warning that it had designated an area in the northern part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/montana" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Montana</a> as a “national defense airspace” and that anyone who entered the airspace would be intercepted.
The incident occurred after a U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor shot down an unidentified object over Canada Saturday afternoon after gaining authorization from Canadian officials. The U.S. military shot down another unidentified object off the coast of Alaska Friday afternoon.
All of this comes after the U.S. military shot down a Chinese spy balloon last weekend off the coast of South Carolina using an F-22 Raptor. The fighter jet fired an air-to-air AIM-9X Sidewinder missile from 58,000 feet to down the surveillance threat. The decision to shoot down the spy balloon came after President Joe Biden allowed it to fly thousands of miles over the continental U.S.
This is a breaking news story; refresh the page for updates.

ISRAEL-MILITARY-EXERCISE

U.S. Military Unable To Find Alleged Object That Caused FAA To Close Airspace In Montana

Espionage

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)

Military

U.S.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) sent a notice to airmen (NOTAM) late Saturday night warning that it had designated an area in the northern part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/montana" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Montana</a> as a &#8220;national defense airspace&#8221; and that anyone who entered the airspace would be intercepted.
&#8220;I am in direct contact with NORCOM and monitoring the latest issue over Havre and the northern border,&#8221; Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT) tweeted. &#8220;Airspace is closed due to an object that could interfere with commercial air traffic — the DOD will resume efforts to observe and ground the object in the morning.&#8221;
Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) confirmed the news, tweeting: &#8220;I am aware of the object in Montana air space and remain in close contact with senior DOD and Administration officials.&#8221;
The incident occurred after a U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor shot down an unidentified object over Canada Saturday afternoon after gaining authorization from Canadian officials. The U.S. military shot down another unidentified object off the coast of Alaska Friday afternoon.
All of this comes after the U.S. military shot down a Chinese spy balloon last weekend off the coast of South Carolina using an F-22 Raptor. The fighter jet fired an air-to-air AIM-9X Sidewinder missile from 58,000 feet to down the surveillance threat. The decision to shoot down the spy balloon came after President Joe Biden allowed it to fly thousands of miles over the continental U.S.
This is a breaking news story; refresh the page for updates.

F-15

U.S. Closes Airspace Over Montana After Unidentified Object Discovered

A viral video shows what appears to be an explosion rocking the skies over southeastern <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/montana" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Montana</a>.
The video, posted to Twitter by Billings, Montana, resident Dolly Moore, shows the aftermath of the explosion. A large smoke trail can be seen falling downward across the sky. Officials in the state have denied reports of an explosion, but the video has garnered more than 2 million views on Twitter in a little over four hours. In an interview with The Daily Wire, Mrs. Moore said she began recording when she saw a plane, then an explosion.
&#8220;I just started snapping pictures with my phone when I saw the plane fly over,&#8221; Moore told The Daily Wire over the phone. &#8220;It shook my office window.&#8221;
Officials have denied reports of an explosion, however. &#8220;We are aware of the video shared on Twitter and claims of a &#8216;massive explosion&#8217; over Billings,&#8221; the <a href="https://twitter.com/BillingsMT/status/1621686031694311424?s=20&amp;t=Jvig1wNy9Y6XmdLQMW87vw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">city of Billings</a> tweeted Friday night. &#8220;However, our PD, Fire &amp; airport have NOT been called to any incidents related to this video and there haven’t been any plane crashes picked up on radar.&#8221;
Moore said that she saw the plane fly over her house. She then ran to her office window and began filming. Shortly afterward, she says she saw a large explosion. She then began recording. In the video, an object descends from the sky very slowly, while a large, long smoke trail follows behind.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Ok, so here’s what I just caught I few minutes ago out my window. I saw a jet go by so fast and then explosion in the sky. Holy crap! Billings MT. <a href="https://t.co/swr8ERC6pf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pic.twitter.com/swr8ERC6pf</a>
— Dolly Moore (@MMtTreasures) <a href="https://twitter.com/MMtTreasures/status/1621661908205195265?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2023</a></blockquote>
Moore said the object moved slowly down, like nothing she had ever seen. &#8220;I remember in middle school when I saw the [Space Shuttle] Challenger explosion,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Debris went everywhere. This was not like that. There was one big object, like a mushroom in the sky, but very slowly coming down.&#8221;
&#8220;You know when you see a plane crash on TV and it&#8217;s all going very fast? This was not like that,&#8221; she added.
She also reported seeing jet fighters flying over her home two nights earlier. She also reported seeing Blackhawk helicopters flying over the area. As of 10:58 p.m. EST Friday night, the aircraft flight tracking website <a href="https://mobile.flightradar24.com/G20692/2f129688" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FlightRadar24</a> shows one Blackhawk helicopter flying around Billings.
&#8220;We have confirmed with @MontanaDES &amp; @GovGianforte that there have not been any explosions in, around, or across #Montana,&#8221; the city <a href="https://twitter.com/BillingsMT/status/1621694612330139650?s=20&amp;t=Jvig1wNy9Y6XmdLQMW87vw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">added</a>. &#8220;They are aware of the video and it can not be substantiated.&#8221;
Furthermore, Yellowstone County Sheriff Mike Linder told local news outlet <a href="https://www.kulr8.com/news/city-of-billings-reports-video-of-explosion-in-the-sky-over-billings-not-substantiated/article_ccacbd16-a429-11ed-ad17-b380aa32a87c.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">KULR 8</a> that he was trying to verify the video. He was not able to contact Mrs. Moore and did not receive complaints from other witnesses.
But Montana Republican Congressman <a href="https://twitter.com/RepRosendale/status/1621684334880034816?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1621684334880034816%7Ctwgr%5E45823a50f9669bc06a8293008d1e106a7fb19037%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ktvq.com%2Fnews%2Flocal-news%2Fvideo-billings-woman-captures-possible-explosion-in-sky-over-town" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Matt Rosendale</a> expressed concern about the reports. &#8220;I am genuinely concerned with the lack of transparency about the original Chinese Spy balloon and potential unexplained explosion above Billings,&#8221; he tweeted. &#8220;I have reached out to the Commanding Officer at Malmstrom Air Force base for details.&#8221;
Mrs. Moore told The Daily Wire that the video is legitimate. &#8220;We have no reason to make this up,&#8221; Mrs. Moore and her husband both said over the phone. &#8220;We&#8217;re not techies, we don&#8217;t know how to do that.&#8221;
It is not known whether this event has anything to do with the suspected Chinese spy balloon seen over Montana on Thursday. Officials said that the balloon had moved and was over the state of <a href="https://twitter.com/RogerMarshallMD/status/1621572987802599426" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kansas</a> Friday afternoon.

Explosion

Montana Officials Dismiss ‘Explosion’ Rumor After Viral Video Sets Internet Abuzz

Montana Officials Dismiss 'Explosion' Rumor After Viral Video Sets Internet Abuzz

General

interview

Twitter

viral video

A Senate Democrat is joining Republican colleagues in calling for an investigation into the suspected <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/what-we-know-about-the-suspected-chinese-spy-balloon-flying-over-united-states" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chinese spy balloon</a> currently hovering over the United States.
Senator <a href="https://www.tester.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/tester-announces-defense-hearing-on-chinese-spy-balloon/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jon Tester</a> (D-MT), chairman of the Senate&#8217;s Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, announced that he would hold a hearing to get answers to questions about the balloon spotted over his home state Friday. The announcement follows similar outrage from multiple Republican senators from states over the balloon&#8217;s current flight path.
“Montanans value their freedom and privacy and I’ll always fight to defend both,” Tester said Friday. “China’s actions are a clear threat to those values and to America’s national security, and I’m demanding answers from the Biden Administration. I will be pulling people before my committee to get real answers on how this happened, and how we can prevent it from ever happening again.”
Earlier in the day, Tester issued a <a href="https://www.tester.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/tester-statement-on-chinese-spy-balloon-above-montana/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> blasting the news of the balloon and calling for answers. “This provocation is completely unacceptable, and I am in close contact with Department of Defense and Intelligence officials. We are still waiting for real answers on how this happened and what steps the Administration took to protect our country, and I will hold everyone accountable until I get them. I will always defend Montana and our national security from hostile adversaries like China.”
Tester&#8217;s demand for answers comes amid a chorus of calls for answers from Republicans. First on Thursday, Tester&#8217;s Montana Senate colleague, Republican <a href="https://www.daines.senate.gov/2023/02/02/daines-demands-briefing-from-biden-administration-regarding-spy-balloon-over-montana/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Steve Daines</a>, sent a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin demanding a briefing on national security concerns.
“The fact that this balloon was occupying Montana airspace creates significant concern that Malmstrom Air Force Base (AFB) and the United States’ intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) fields are the target of this intelligence gathering mission,&#8221; Daines wrote. &#8220;Given the serious nature of the event, I am requesting a full security briefing from the administration on this situation. It is vital to establish the flight path of this balloon, any compromised U.S. national security assets, and all telecom or IT infrastructure on the ground within the U.S. that this spy-balloon was utilizing.&#8221;
Other senators issued statements on Twitter demanding answers, and above all, to shoot the balloon down.
&#8220;China invaded US airspace, &amp; the Biden admin needs to take action to address this situation. Further delay is unacceptable,&#8221; Senator <a href="https://twitter.com/JerryMoran/status/1621585835110944768" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jerry Moran</a> (R-KS) wrote on Twitter.
&#8220;I can confirm the Chinese spy ballon [sic] is over NE KS,&#8221; fellow Senator <a href="https://twitter.com/RogerMarshallMD/status/1621572987802599426" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Roger Marshall</a> (R-KS) added. &#8220;My staff is in contact with law enforcement officials. I condemn any attempts the Chinese make to spy on Americans. President Biden must protect the sovereignty of the U.S. whether it’s our airspace or the southern border.&#8221;
Senator <a href="https://twitter.com/HawleyMO/status/1621550581633454082?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1621550581633454082%7Ctwgr%5E8db91d8fa9e33006aa7480b80be03e55b8f1f93f%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Fquery%3Dhttps3A2F2Ftwitter.com2FHawleyMO2Fstatus2F1621550581633454082widget%3DTweet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Josh Hawley</a> (R-MO) called for the Senate Homeland Security Committee to investigate. &#8220;The Homeland Security Committee needs to have public hearings NOW on the Chinese spy balloon &#8211; how did Biden let this happen? Major domestic security threat,&#8221; he tweeted.
And both Hawley and fellow Senator <a href="https://twitter.com/Eric_Schmitt/status/1621499867854999552" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Eric Schmitt</a> (R-MO) called for the balloon to be <a href="https://twitter.com/HawleyMO/status/1621562707089522689" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shot down</a>. &#8220;I know I was just named to the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday but I’m going to go out on a limb and say we shouldn’t have a Chinese spy balloon floating over the United States of America. Take it down.&#8221;

Democrat Senator Announces Hearing To Demand Answers On Chinese Spy Balloon

Democrat Senator Jon Tester Announces Hearing To Demand Answers On Chinese Spy Balloon

China

Global Politics

Republican

Senate

The suspected Chinese spy balloon traveling over the U.S. has drifted out of Montana, crossed over several states — including Kansas — and is now reportedly flying over Missouri.
Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) confirmed that the balloon had crossed into Kansas airspace by Friday midmorning.
&#8220;I can confirm the Chinese spy ballon is over NE KS,&#8221; Marshall said. &#8220;My staff is in contact with law enforcement officials. I condemn any attempts the Chinese make to spy on Americans. President Biden must protect the sovereignty of the U.S. whether it’s our airspace or the southern border.&#8221;
The National Weather Service in Kansas City, Missouri, said in a statement a large balloon had crossed into northwestern Missouri.
&#8220;We have had several reports across northwest MO of a large balloon visible on the horizon,&#8221; the statement, which included photos, said. &#8220;It is now visible from our office in Pleasant Hill and the KC Metro. We have confirmed that it is not an NWS weather balloon.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
We have had several reports across northwest MO of a large balloon visible on the horizon. It is now visible from our office in Pleasant Hill and the KC Metro. We have confirmed that it is not an NWS weather balloon. <a href="https://t.co/CKQWOw7God">pic.twitter.com/CKQWOw7God</a>
&mdash; NWS Kansas City (@NWSKansasCity) <a href="https://twitter.com/NWSKansasCity/status/1621562137717141505?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 3, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), who sits on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, responded to incursion into Missouri airspace by tweeting: “SHOOT IT DOWN.”
Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) also called for immediate action to be taken in combatting the Chinese threat.
“I know I was just named to the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday but I’m going to go out on a limb and say we shouldn’t have a Chinese spy balloon floating over the United States of America,” Schmitt said. “Take it down.”
The U.S. Department of Defense revealed Friday that the Chinese spy balloon has the ability to maneuver and has changed direction at 60,000 feet.
Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder would not say how the balloon could be maneuvered and refused to state if the communist Chinese government was in control of the balloon.
“We know that balloon has violated US airspace and international law — which is unacceptable. And we’ve conveyed this directly to the PRC on multiple levels,” he told reporters Friday. “The fact is, we know that it’s a surveillance balloon, and I’m not going to be able to be more specific than that.”
This is a breaking news story; refresh the page for updates.

CHINA-BEIJING-CYLC-100TH ANNIVERSARY-CEREMONY (CN)

Chinese Spy Balloon Flies Out Of Montana And Over New U.S. State

Foreign Policy

Kansas

Missouri

After a Chinese balloon — which the Defense Department called a surveillance balloon — flew over Montana, where intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) fields are located, Montana GOP Senator Steve Daines wrote an urgent letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin demanding a full security briefing.
After the balloon was detected, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley and vice chair Joint Chief Gen. Christopher Grady recommended that no “kinetic action” be taken because of possible falling debris, defense officials stated.
“The fact that this balloon was occupying Montana airspace creates significant concern that Malmstrom Air Force Base (AFB) and the United States’ intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) fields are the target of this intelligence gathering mission,” Daines <a href="https://www.nbcrightnow.com/news/more-background-given-on-intelligence-gathering-balloon-seen-over-montana/article_08071296-b1d8-516e-95f7-179aefb93c62.html">wrote</a>. “Given the serious nature of the event, I am requesting a full security briefing from the administration on this situation. It is vital to establish the flight path of this balloon, any compromised U.S. national security assets, and all telecom or IT infrastructure on the ground within the U.S. that this spy-balloon was utilizing.”
Daines continued by noting that Montana housed the nuclear missile silos at Malmstrom Air Force Base, then stated bluntly, “I am alarmed by the fact that this spy balloon was able to infiltrate the airspace of our country and Montana.”
“There is no higher priority for your administration than the safety and security of the American people and it is imperative that your administration reassure them of that fact at this time,” he concluded.
The balloon was reported by several people in Billings, Montana on Tuesday. <a href="https://www.ktvq.com/news/local-news/pentagon-says-object-spotted-over-billings-was-chinese-spy-balloon">According</a> to a senior defense official, the balloon had flown over the Aleutian Islands, then Canada, before reaching Montana, and was still flying over the U.S. on Thursday.
On Wednesday, all flights at Billings Logan International Airport were grounded for roughly two hours.
&#8220;You did see reports yesterday of a ground stop at Billings airport, and the mobilization of a number of assets including F 22s&#8230;in the event that a decision was made to bring this down while it was over Montana,” the senior defense official acknowledged. “So we wanted to make sure we were coordinating with civil authorities to empty out the airspace around that potential area&#8230;It was the judgment of our military commanders that we didn&#8217;t drive the risk down low enough that we didn&#8217;t take the shot.”
Montana GOP Gov. Greg Gianforte issued a statement saying, “I received an informational briefing yesterday on the situation involving a suspected Chinese spy balloon flying over Montana. From the spy balloon to the Chinese Communist Party spying on Americans through TikTok to CCP-linked companies buying American farmland, I’m deeply troubled by the constant stream of alarming developments for our national security.”

Key Speakers At America First Agenda Summit

‘I Am Alarmed’: Montana GOP Sen. Steve Daines Wants Briefing From SecDef About Chinese Spy Balloon

Montana GOP Sen. Steve Daines Wants Briefing From SecDef About Chinese Spy Balloon

Balloon

Communist China

Lloyd Austin

nuclear missiles

Steve Daines

Montana voters opposed a midterm ballot measure imposing criminal charges on medical professionals failing to take &#8220;all medically appropriate and reasonable actions to preserve the life&#8221; of infants born alive, including those who survived after attempted abortions.
LR-131, a legislative referendum known as the <a href="https://static.votesmart.org/static/billtext/77192.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Montana Born-Alive Infant Protection Act</a>, asked Montanans to decide whether &#8220;infants born alive, including infants born alive after an abortion, are legal persons.&#8221; The measure would have also found healthcare providers guilty of failing to take medically appropriate and reasonable actions to preserve a born-alive infant&#8217;s life, with a punishment of a fine up to $50,000 or imprisonment up to 20 years, or both.
&#8220;A born-alive infant means an infant who breathes, has a beating heart, or has definite movement of voluntary muscles, after the complete expulsion or extraction from the mother,&#8221; the referendum reads.
Republican lawmakers and supporters of the measure said it would have protected babies that survived botched abortions, which <a href="https://www.womenscenter.com/2018/11/successandfailureratesusingabortionpill/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">studies</a> suggest the failure rate of the medical abortion process is less than 1%.
Rep. Matt Regier (R-Kalispell), who sponsored a bill last year that put the controversial measure on the ballot, told the House Judiciary Committee in January 2021 that it would define who Montanans are as a state.
&#8220;This goes right down to, are we going to stand for life, or are we going to throw it away,&#8221; Regier <a href="https://montanafreepress.org/2022/09/23/what-does-montanas-lr-131-have-to-do-with-abortion/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
In an <a href="https://helenair.com/opinion/columnists/matt-regier-lr-131-will-protect-all-infants-born-alive/article_50b90b45-d7ce-572e-8c5d-7a135cff6016.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">op-ed</a>, Regier wrote, &#8220;A YES vote for LR 131 will do exactly what the title states — protect all infants that are born alive. This is different from the abortion debate. This law only affects medical providers intentionally allowing children born alive to perish.&#8221;
Montana resident Lea Bossler told the <a href="https://montanafreepress.org/2022/09/23/what-does-montanas-lr-131-have-to-do-with-abortion/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Montana Free Press</a> that she lost her daughter 115 days after she was born prematurely from fetal inflammatory response syndrome. If the law had been in place, the medical staff involved would have been labeled criminals.
&#8220;Her death under LR-131 would have been extremely traumatic for everyone, rather than beautiful,&#8221; Bossler said. &#8220;Legally forced repeated chest compressions and epi shots would have done nothing but overdosed, bruised, and broken her already dying body.&#8221;
She added that the law would &#8220;infringe deeply on patient privacy, further restrict access to medical services, and eliminate infant palliative care and the human right to a dignified death, regardless of actual medical viability.&#8221;
Lauren Wilson of the Montana Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics told <a href="https://www.mtpr.org/montana-news/2022-11-10/montana-voters-reject-born-alive-abortion-referendum" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Montana Public Radio</a> in a statement that the initiative would have &#8220;criminalized doctors, nurses, and other health care workers for providing compassionate care for infants, and, in doing so, overridden the decision-making of Montana parents.&#8221;
The Montana Free Press reports former Republican state Sen. Al Olszewski sponsored a born-alive bill in 2019 that was later vetoed. He said the bill would clarify that infants born-alive would have legal protections rather than to &#8220;go after children and families dealing with the tragedy of fetal abnormalities.&#8221;
Congress already passed a <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/107th-congress/house-bill/2175/text" target="_blank" rel="noopener">law</a> twenty years ago that granted infants born alive the same rights as a person but did not require care or impose penalties on the medical staff, which led 18 other states to pass similar laws.

EARLY VOTING MT

Montana Voters Reject Measure Requiring Care For Babies Born Alive

2022 Election

2022 Midterms

Elections

A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/montana">Montana</a> woman has come under fire after posting photos of a skinned Husky she shot and killed after mistaking it for a wolf.
Amber Rose provoked widespread ire and condemnation after posting <a href="https://www.tmz.com/2022/09/26/montana-woman-kills-skins-husky-dog-think-wolf-outrage/">graphic photos</a> of the carcass of a Siberian Husky she killed on a bear hunt, which she identified as a ‘wolf pup.’
&#8220;So this morning I set out for a solo predator hunt for a fall black bear however I got the opportunity to take another predator wolf,” Rose wrote, “was a great feeling to text my man and say I just smoked a wolf pup. #firstwolf #onelesspredatorMT.&#8221;
Huskies are more visually similar to their canid cousins than many other breeds of dog, however, they are noticeably smaller: full grown Huskies are 20-23.5 inches tall typically weigh 35-65 lbs, while a gray wolf stands between 26-32 inches at the shoulder and weighs between 50-110lbs. The size discrepancy could explain why Rose identified it as a juvenile rather than an adult, but Huskies also have a broader snout and various minute differences in coloration and build when compared to wolves.
The incident took place outside of Martin City, Montana. The local Sheriff’s Office, Animal Control and Fish and Game agencies are currently investigating, although as of now there is no indication that Rose will face any legal repercussions, although some locals and many online observers are up in arms.
“It’s like, how could you ever mistake a husky like that for a wolf,” Rebecca Harding, a resident of Green Hills, Montana, told <a href="https://www.ktvq.com/news/local-news/western-montana-woman-ignites-fury-after-posting-photos-of-shot-and-skinned-husky-dog">MTN News</a>. “She’s poaching. She’s hurting our hunting community by posting that she went out looking for one specific animal and shooting a different one.”
Rose defended herself from the backlash in a subsequent post, arguing that she had received a wolf tag before her hunt began and was authorized to kill a wolf if she encountered one, although she admitted that she &#8220;made a mistake.&#8221;
Rose also claimed that she had made the kill in self defense, stating that the Husky was &#8220;aggressive&#8221; and &#8220;coming directly for me.&#8221;

Portrait of Sled Dog in winter, Le Corbier, France

Montana Woman Shoots And Skins Dog She Mistook For Wolf

Dogs

It may be a northern state, but Montana is groaning over the record amounts of fentanyl flooding over the Southern border.
In the first six months of this year, Montana law enforcement <a href="https://dojmt.gov/ag-knudsen-new-data-show-fentanyl-is-top-public-safety-threat-in-montana/">seized</a> 58 times more fentanyl than they seized in all of 2019. The state&#8217;s Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area task forces seized nearly 112,000 fentanyl doses, and that doesn&#8217;t even include fentanyl seized by other law enforcement across the state. In comparison, over 60,000 doses were seized last year and only 1,900 dosage units were seized in 2019.
&#8220;It&#8217;s growing exponentially, and it&#8217;s a massive crisis devastating with honestly deadly consequences,&#8221; Montana Republican Governor Greg Gianforte told The Daily Wire in an interview.
Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is cheap to make and easily transported, is about 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine. Because it is often cut with other drugs, users may often be unaware that they are consuming the powerful substance, which can be deadly even in small doses. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), 42% of pills tested for fentanyl contained a potentially lethal dose.
Fentanyl overdoses are now the leading cause of death for Americans 18 to 45, <a href="https://www.wral.com/fentanyl-overdose-becomes-leading-cause-of-death-for-adults-age-18-to-45/20200135/">according</a> to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). During the year that ended October 2021, nearly 106,000 people died from drug overdoses, <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/drug-overdose-data.htm">according</a> to the CDC, a surge largely driven by fentanyl and other synthetic opioids.
In Montana, 34 people have already died this year from fentanyl overdoses, with dozens more deaths suspected, <a href="https://dojmt.gov/ag-knudsen-new-data-show-fentanyl-is-top-public-safety-threat-in-montana/">according</a> to the Montana Justice Department. Last year, fatal fentanyl overdoses in Montana spiked 1,100% since 2017 from four to 49. Since 2021, opioid-related emergency medical responses have spiked 57%.
As overdoses tick up across the state, Montana officials and law enforcement are pleading with the Biden administration to do something about the porous U.S.-Mexico border, which they blame for the deadly crisis.
&#8220;Even though we&#8217;re 1,200 miles away from the southern border, I can tell you we&#8217;re a northern border state with a southern border problem,&#8221; said Gianforte. &#8220;It&#8217;s just ripping our communities apart,&#8221;
More and more, Mexican cartels are manufacturing fentanyl for distribution in the U.S., importing the chemical precursors for fentanyl production from China and turning them into pills and powder at &#8220;massive, industrial-scale labs,&#8221; <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdca/pr/fentanyl-seizures-border-continue-spike-making-san-diego-national-epicenter-fentanyl">according</a> to the Justice Department. In recent weeks, law enforcement across the country has been <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndwv/pr/mon-metro-drug-task-force-seizes-rainbow-fentanyl">on alert</a> for a creative new version of the deadly drug dubbed &#8220;rainbow fentanyl,&#8221; which resembles candy.
In July, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) <a href="https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/national-media-release/cbp-releases-july-2022-monthly-operational-update">seized</a> 2,100 pounds of fentanyl, more than 200% more than the 640 pounds the agency seized in June.
Mexican cartels have in the past used the migrant crisis to overwhelm and distract Border Patrol agents as they smuggle drugs across the border, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/health/mexican-cartels-using-border-migrant-crisis-to-distract-u-s-agents-from-drug-smuggling-u-s-drug-czar">according</a> to James Carroll, the Trump administration&#8217;s drug czar.
Last fall, Gianforte visited the southern border in Texas with nine other governors. Afterwards, the 10 governors asked the Biden administration for a meeting and sent over a 10-point <a href="https://azgovernor.gov/governor/news/2021/10/governor-ducey-fellow-governors-outline-plan-biden-resolve-border-crisis">plan</a> to secure the border and combat the drug crisis.
&#8220;We haven&#8217;t gotten a return phone call,&#8221; Gianforte said.
Since taking office, President Joe Biden has moved to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/after-court-win-biden-again-tries-end-trump-remain-mexico-program-2022-08-09/">axe</a> <a href="https://apnews.com/article/mexico-immigration-government-and-politics-5c7bb29c829d7f0711b23f9beb18755d">two</a> Trump-era policies, Title 42, which allowed authorities to quickly expel migrants due to the COVID pandemic, and the &#8220;Remain in Mexico&#8221; policy, which made asylum-seekers wait in Mexico while their cases are pending.
Last week, Gianforte <a href="https://news.mt.gov/Governors-Office/Gov_Gianforte_to_Pres_Biden_Stop_Fentanyl_Secure_the_Border">held</a> a press conference along Highway 191 in the Gallatin Valley, a drug trafficking hotspot, to again urge the Biden administration to take action to stanch the flow of fentanyl from Mexico.
&#8220;I consider fentanyl truly the number one threat to Montana,&#8221; <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxXy7JO9ppk&amp;t=180s">said</a> Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen at the press conference.
&#8220;This is an absolute poison that is tearing our communities and our state apart,&#8221; Knudsen said, adding that he recently spoke with one woman who has lost two sons in two separate fentanyl overdoses and is now raising her grandchildren from both sons.
Montana has worked to combat its addiction crisis with the HEART Fund, which invests $25 million a year in behavioral health and treatment programs, as well as the Angel Initiative, a program to allow addicts to walk into a law enforcement office and get connected with treatment.
With Mexican cartels operating within Montana and a &#8220;tsunami of drugs&#8221; coming in though, the state has struggled to control the crisis, according to Gianforte.
Even Amtrak is involved.
&#8220;They throw it out the windows and then on their cell phone call a local mule to go pick up the package along the tracks,&#8221; Gianforte said.
Gianforte also estimated that drugs are responsible for as much as 90% of Montana&#8217;s violent crime.
&#8220;Ultimately, a country without a border is no country at all. We must secure the southern border,&#8221; Gianforte said. &#8220;This should not be a political issue. We are losing lives. Families are being ripped apart.&#8221;
In April, Gianforte and 25 other governors <a href="https://azgovernor.gov/governor/news/2022/04/governor-ducey-25-governors-commit-coordinated-effort-secure-united-states">formed</a> the American Governors’ Border Strike Force, which works to secure the border and combat drug trafficking in the absence of more federal action.

Supervised consumption sites in the DTES give addicts who use fentanyl, opioids, crystal methamphetamine and other drugs a place to use

‘Northern Border State With A Southern Border Problem’: Montana Reeling As Fentanyl Seizures Skyrocket

Montana Has Seized 58 Times More Fentanyl In 2022 Than It Did In All Of 2019

Fentanyl

A federal watchdog&#8217;s report accusing a former Trump cabinet official of lying to investigators is raising eyebrows due to its timing: four years after <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/former-trump-admin-official-wins-gop-nomination-for-open-montana-congressional-seat" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ryan Zinke&#8217;s</a> alleged transgression and just over two months before he appears on the ballot for the House seat he previously held.
The <a href="https://www.oversight.gov/sites/default/files/oig-reports/DOI/WebRedactedFormerSecretaryandCOSDidntComplyWithDutyofCandor.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">44-page report</a> by the Department of the Interior (DOI) Inspector General (IG) Mark Greenblatt found that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/former-trump-admin-official-wins-gop-nomination-for-open-montana-congressional-seat" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Zinke</a>, the agency&#8217;s former secretary, and his chief of staff “lacked candor” with investigators probing Zinke&#8217;s September 2017 decision involving an Indian casino. Zinke&#8217;s attorney, Danny Onorato, called the report and its timing a “political smear,” coming some two months before Zinke — a former Montana congressman — will be on the ballot bidding to take back that role in November.
“Secretary Zinke repeatedly told the inspector general that he was not subject to any influence in that matter because he lacked jurisdiction to act on the application,” Onorato said in a statement. “That should have ended the inquiry. Instead, on the eve of an election, the IG has released a misleading and inaccurate report that suggested Secretary Zinke lacked candor in his interview with IG agents. That is wrong.”
The decision by Zinke, a former Navy SEAL who served as secretary from 2017-2019, involved an application by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation to open an off-reservation casino in Connecticut. The DOI manages Indian reservations, and typically approves, rejects, or takes no action on such proposals, with the latter option usually signaling tacit approval. Zinke&#8217;s position was that because the proposed <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/casinos-airlines-lobbying-congress-for-billions-in-coronavirus-bailout-funds" target="_blank" rel="noopener">casino</a> was not on federal land, it required a “fourth option,” in which the state would decide.
Some Department attorneys opposed the decision, allegedly out of fear it could lead to a lawsuit. But a federal judge&#8217;s ruling later vindicated Zinke&#8217;s view. Nonetheless, by May 2018, the IG interviewed Zinke in an investigation involving the decision and referred the matter to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for possible prosecution in 2018.
Many of the allegedly false statements involved Zinke claiming that career DOI attorneys supported his decision, a claim the watchdog said was undermined by a Department lawyer&#8217;s account that he was not “thrilled” but did believe Zinke&#8217;s decision was legal.
Zinke is also accused of downplaying interactions with lobbyists with a stake in the issue, including one political consultant with ties to Zinke who went skiing with him and had dinner at his home.
But the report obscures the fact that Zinke did not do what lobbyists wanted him to. In one text message between two lobbyists, one complained that Zinke&#8217;s decision was “not what we want. He thinks we can litigate against State. He thinks it&#8217;s a half loaf. That&#8217;s from Zinke.”
Heather Swift, Zinke&#8217;s campaign manager, told The Daily Wire that Zinke “came to the decision before any lobbyists contacted him or his chief, and his decision never changed, so that would mean none of them influenced his decision making.”
Last year, President Joe Biden&#8217;s DOJ declined to take action. The IG says it waited for a response from the DOJ, then conducted more than a year of further “administrative” investigation into Zinke — who had resigned in 2019 — which is why the report was released now.
Greenblatt&#8217;s office did not respond to questions from The Daily Wire about the predicate of the investigation or why it continued its investigation long after Zinke was gone and the DOJ had declined to prosecute.
In June, Zinke, who represented Montana in the House from 2015-2017, won the Republican primary for the state&#8217;s newly created western district. He faces Democrat Monica Tranel in the November election.

Ryan Zinke and Donald Trump

New Watchdog Report Claiming Ex-Trump Official Lied Four Years Ago Called Election ‘Smear’

Connecticut

Department of Interior

Donald Trump

Native Americans

Ryan Zinke

Following two years of many teachers working from home, citing <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/covid" target="_blank" rel="noopener">coronavirus</a>, some school districts will resume school this month with only four days of instruction per week, citing the inability to find teachers who want to work full-time.
Twenty-seven school districts in Texas will move from a five- to a four-day week this year in order to attract teachers, the <a href="https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/education/article264215926.html">Star-Telegram</a> reported. Other districts across the country are doing the same, such as in <a href="https://fox2now.com/news/missouri/four-day-school-weeks-few-around-st-louis-but-common-in-missouri/">Missouri</a> (where a local paper called it a &#8220;<a href="https://www.kansascity.com/opinion/editorials/article264389496.html">terrible idea</a>&#8220;), <a href="https://www.ktvq.com/news/montana-news/montana-schools-moving-to-classes-four-days-a-week-to-attract-teachers">Montana</a>, and <a href="https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/local/education/article264538546.html">Idaho</a>.
It could come at the expense of children&#8217;s academics, at a time when academic performance is abysmal and children are especially far behind because of the lack of in-person school during the coronavirus pandemic.
While the schedule makes life more pleasant for teachers, it also comes at the expense of parents who will have to find and pay for childcare for one day a week — which could be logistically impossible for daycare providers, since everyone in a town would be seeking care for just that day.
Teachers&#8217; unions <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/parents-union-blasts-teachers-union-influence-on-biden-school-closures-calling-cdc-infected">enraged</a> parents across the country, and especially in liberal states, in the last two years by refusing to return to work, citing coronavirus, even though the CDC determined that teachers were at less risk than the average person, and children were at very little risk. Parents wondered whether the educational establishment was essentially giving up on the idea that the government must provide school, and whether <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/teachers-union-to-vote-on-mandatory-masking-enemies-list-rejecting-words-mother-and-father">teachers unions</a> intended to use the pandemic to seek permanent changes.
Now, some teachers don&#8217;t seem to want to come back full-time, spurring the four-day switch. “In the last year, we are seeing more news that districts are adopting the schedule to improve teacher recruitment and retention,” <a href="https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/education/article264218051.html">Emily Morton</a>, a researcher at the Northwest Evaluation Association, told the Star-Telegram.
A RAND Corporation study found that a four-day week saved less than 5%, so the move would not be a financial one, so much as it is to appease teachers.
The idea that teachers would willingly take steps that could reduce student learning is at odds with teachers union marketing that positions teachers as advocates for children.
In Texas, on average, school districts extended the school day for &#8220;nearly an hour&#8221; to partially, but not completely, make up for the missing day.
“If the district is adopting the schedule because they feel they need to do so to recruit teachers or to improve school climate, they may be willing to make that choice even if it means test scores could decrease by a little,” Morton said.
A 2021 study of schools in Oregon and Oklahoma, co-authored by Paul Thompson, a researcher at Oregon State University, found that math scores decreased by 6% and reading scores by 4% after districts switched to four-day weeks, according to the Star-Telegram.
Some school districts also may extend the school day by adopting early-morning start times that studies have suggested are bad for children. At the <a href="https://www.athensisd.net/">Athens</a> school district, which bills itself prominently as &#8220;Home of the Four-Day Instructional Week,&#8221; students must be in school by 7:10 a.m.
Just as the pandemic closures disproportionately affected impoverished students who were left at home, the same can be expected for children who may be left in less-than-positive environments for one day a week. A <a href="http://www.cob.calpoly.edu/undergrad/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2016/07/paper1606.pdf">study</a> in Colorado found that four-day school weeks corresponded with increased juvenile delinquency.
Elana Fishbein, a social worker who now leads the activist group <a href="https://www.noleftturn.us/">No Left Turn In Education</a>, said the move is a giveaway to teachers at the expense of &#8220;children, families, and the economy.&#8221;
Child care &#8220;is a cost that many families, particularly poor-middle class won&#8217;t be able to afford, especially in this economy,&#8221; she told The Daily Wire. &#8220;So many of them might be roaming the streets or spending their day playing on electronic devices.”
She said ending social justice policies like &#8220;restorative justice&#8221; that create a lawless atmosphere in classrooms, with teachers exposed to insubordination and violence, would do more to improve teachers&#8217; working conditions.
Other school districts have teacher <a href="https://wjla.com/news/local/fairfax-county-virginia-schools-teacher-shortage-positions-2022-23-school-year-jobs-near-me-falls-church-interview-applications-job-fair-educators-students">shortages</a> with days to go before the new school year, even as they are hiring social workers to focus on students&#8217; emotions.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/teachers-union-its-ok-that-kids-dont-know-math-they-know-the-words-insurrection">Teachers Union: ‘It’s OK’ That Kids Don’t Know Math, ‘They Know The Words Insurrection and Coup’</a>
&nbsp;

Some School Districts Move To Four-Day Weeks At Teachers’ Behest

Some School Districts Move To Four-Day Weeks At Teachers’ Behest, Despite Impact On Learning

Education

Teachers Unions

Texas

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