Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters is calling for a major overhaul in how public school superintendents are selected, proposing that communities elect superintendents directly rather than relying on school board appointments. Walters argues this change will boost parental influence and weaken what he describes as the hold of “left-wing, woke bureaucrats” on public education.
After more than a year of blaming Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for New York City’s migrant crisis, Mayor Eric Adams has reversed course, welcoming federal assistance to remove illegal immigrants who commit violent crimes. Adams made the announcement Thursday following a meeting with President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming border czar, Tom Homan.
Another tragic death has underscored the consequences of lax immigration enforcement in Harris County, Texas. On December 1, 7-year-old Ivory Smith was killed by a drunk driver in northeast Houston. Her mother sustained serious injuries in the crash. The alleged driver, 41-year-old Venezuelan national Joel Enrique Gonzalez Chacin, was in the country illegally and had a prior criminal record. He now faces charges of intoxicated manslaughter.
Russia unleashed a large-scale aerial bombardment on Ukraine early Friday, targeting critical energy and transportation infrastructure in what Moscow described as retaliation for Ukraine's use of U.S.-supplied ATACMS missiles on a Russian air base earlier this week. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the assault one of the heaviest since the war began nearly three years ago.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is preparing to unveil a government spending bill that could include key components of President-elect Donald Trump’s healthcare agenda. Among the priorities under consideration is reforming Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) practices, a move aimed at lowering prescription drug costs for seniors by tackling middleman-driven price inflation.
Illinois’ pension crisis continues to deepen, with the state's unfunded pension liability reaching $143.7 billion, according to the latest report from the Illinois Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (COGFA). This figure is $1.5 billion higher than last year and marks the second-highest total since 2020, when the liability hit $144.2 billion.
In a decisive move, the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday endorsed the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a $884 billion package that significantly boosts military personnel pay while taking a stand against funding gender transition procedures for certain transgender children of military personnel.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) caused a stir on Tuesday by becoming the first Democratic U.S. senator to post on President-elect Donald Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social.
