What to expect from Pam Bondi’s hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee
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The Senate Judiciary Committee will hear testimony from Attorney General Pam Bondi at 9 a.m. ET today.
A number of key issues are expected to come up, including National Guard deployments in cities trying to reject them, a newly released document showing Republicans senators were probed in an investigation that led to former special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into false electors, and files tied to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s case. (FBI Director Kash Patel was asked by the panel on the Epstein files during a hearing last month.)
Bondi, Senate Judiciary Committee chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and ranking member Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., are each expected to give opening statements, followed by a round of questions.
Durbin’s opening statement and questioning, in particular, is likely to press Bondi on Trump’s deployment of the National Guard as part of a crime crackdown. Durbin last month called for a hearing over the Trump’s threats to send troops to American cities, and yesterday said Trump should rescind his plan effort to deploy troops to Chicago.
Supreme Court weighs challenge to bans on ‘conversion therapy’ aimed at LGBTQ kids
The Supreme Court today considers a free speech challenge to a Colorado law that bans so-called conversion therapy aimed at young people questioning their sexual orientations or gender identities in a case likely to have national implications.
The ruling could affect more than 20 states that have similar bans and raise new questions about other long-standing state health care regulations.
The court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority that often backs conservative free speech claims, will hear oral argument in a case brought by Kaley Chiles, a Christian therapist, who says the 2019 law violates her free speech rights under the Constitution’s First Amendment.
Conversion therapy, favored by some religious conservatives, seeks to encourage gay or lesbian minors to identify as heterosexual and transgender children to identify as the gender identities assigned to them at birth. Colorado bans the practice for licensed therapists, not for religious entities or family members.
Governors tap state funds to keep some national parks open during the government shutdown
With the government shutdown about to extend into a second week, some governors are drawing on state funds to ensure popular national parks remain open for visitors.
Utah and West Virginia said they already have funding streams to keep places such as the Zion and New River Gorge parks operational. Tennessee is playing a role in helping keep the Great Smoky Mountains National Park open, while Colorado is eying similar steps for some of the National Park Service attractions in its state.
The Interior Department issued guidance last week allowing open-air sites at parks to remain open during the shutdown, but indoor structures like visitor centers would be closed to the public. Nearly 64% of the National Park Service’s 14,500 employees are expected to be furloughed amid the funding lapse.
Here’s how some states are handling the situation a week into the shutdown.
