Arizona Governor’s Rocky Start: Oath Laugh, Inaugural Donation Questions, and Speech Walkout

Newly inaugurated Arizona Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs is off to a rocky start, following a giggling bout at her swearing-in, questions surrounding inauguration donations, and a walkout during her first speech to the state Legislature by lawmakers who are planning to sue her.

Hobbs was sworn in on Jan. 2 in a brief ceremony off-limits to reporters, according to the Arizona Republic. A media pool photographer was present, and the ceremony was livestreamed. A public ceremony was later held on Thursday last week.

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RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel Will Not Participate in Public Debate with Challengers Harmeet Dhillon and Mike Lindell

Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel reportedly declined to participate in a live, public debate with her opponents, according to POLITICO.

McDaniel, seeking a fourth term as chair, cited her “existing commitment to a forum” that the RNC will hold regarding being absent from the live debate, the outlet reported Friday.

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Biden-Penn-China Funding Concerns Flagged for Then-Pennsylvania AG Josh Shapiro 18 Months Ago

Concerns about funding ties linking China, Joe Biden and the heavily Chinese-funded University of Pennsylvania were brought to the attention of state law enforcement almost two years ago, with no official action taken by the state’s then-Attorney General Josh Shapiro or any members of his staff. 

The letter, sent by a group called “Take Back Our Republic” and addressed to Shapiro and other high-ranking members of his team, was sent in July of 2021. That was nearly a year and a half before the Biden classified document story broke, resulting in Attorney General Merrick Garland appointing a special counsel on Thursday to investigate the matter. 

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Arizona State Senator J.D. Mesnard Says a Bill to Expedite Election Results Is Coming This Session

Arizona State Senator J.D. Mesnard (R-Chandler) released a new video in his weekly update series titled “The Right Note,” addressing the length of time it took for races to be called in Arizona’s general election. In response to this issue, he stated that legislation to expedite this process is in the works.

“So, what I’m proposing is that folks who are waiting until Election Day to return their mail-in ballots should be treated similar to those who actually walked up to the polls and vote on Election Day. The main difference being that you would have to show ID,” Mesnard said.

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Lawsuit Filed Against City of Phoenix for Suppressing Speech During Super Bowl

The Arizona-based Goldwater Institute (GI) announced that a lawsuit had been filed against the city of Phoenix Wednesday, alleging that it is violating the first amendment rights of some citizens leading up to the Super Bowl in February.

“Hosting sporting events should not come at the cost of surrendering fundamental rights. But by giving the NFL a blank check to censor the messages people can share, the city of Phoenix is trampling on hundreds of business owners and thousands of residents’ right to communicate with the public on their own property,” said GI Staff Attorney John Thorpe in a statement emailed to The Arizona Sun Times.

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Female Athletes Demand NCAA Protect Women’s Sports Outside Annual Convention

Female athletes, alumni and supporters delivered a petition to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Thursday demanding that the governing body take deliberate action to prohibit men from competing in women’s sports.

The petition was delivered after the “Our Body, Our Sports” rally Thursday morning in San Antonio, Texas, during the NCAA’s annual convention. The petition demanded that the NCAA commit to single-sex athletic teams and “keep women’s sports female.”

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Arizona Court of Appeals to Expedites Kari Lake’s Election Challenge Appeal

The Arizona Court of Appeals has set a date of February 1st for conferencing on Kari Lake’s lawsuit attempting to overturn the results of the 2022 General election.

“Our appeal is scheduled to be heard before the court on February 1st. Do not underestimate @KariLake’s desire to get justice for the people of Arizona. It doesn’t matter how long it takes. She will see this through,” tweeted the Lake campaign.

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House Democrats Oppose Resolution Condemning Violence Against Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers

Nearly all House Democrats opposed a resolution Wednesday condemning the political violence against pro-life pregnancy centers and their supportive allies that occurred in the aftermath of the leak of the U.S. Supreme Court’s draft opinion in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

The House voted, 222-209, to approve the resolution, introduced by Representative Mike Johnson (R-LA) that states since the leak of the draft opinion, “individuals professing anti-life views have targeted, destroyed, or vandalized numerous pro-life facilities, groups, and even churches to further their radical cause.”

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Pima County Reworks Lease with World View Following Successful Appeal from the Goldwater Institute

Pima County announced Wednesday that its board of supervisors has settled on a new lease agreement with aerospace firm World View following a legal defeat from the Arizona-based Goldwater Institute (GI).

“This revision of the World View lease should put to rest years of legal wrangling over how Arizona counties can participate in economic development activities and business retention. Having prevailed on three of Goldwater’s four claims, and Goldwater on the fourth, we and all the other counties in the state now know where the lines are drawn, which is the silver lining in this costly dispute,” said County Administrator Jan Lesher in a statement shared with the press.

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Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders Bans Critical Race Theory and Government Use of Woke Term ‘Latinx’ in Executive Orders

Newly sworn-in Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) began her term of office by signing seven executive orders, including one that bans Critical Race Theory (CRT) and another that prohibits government use of the woke term “Latinx.”

In her inaugural address, Sanders announced education reform would be “the hallmark of my administration,” and that one of her immediate executive orders would be “preventing the political indoctrination of Arkansas’s schoolchildren.”

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Sex Change Patients Reported Serious Health Problems After Surgery, Study Finds

A new study examining transgender patients’ stressors and coping mechanisms revealed widespread unhappiness with the outcomes of various cross-sex medical procedures, along with serious complications and negative side effects from surgeries and medications.

Researchers at the Amsterdam University Medical Center and Amsterdam Public Health Institute interviewed 19 Dutch transgender patients, all of whom had undergone some cross-sex medical procedures, in a voluntary survey published Dec. 28. Numerous participants reported ongoing physical and mental health issues after medical interventions including decreased strength and libido, genitals turning black and a genital implant not fitting properly, resulting in more than a dozen follow-up surgeries.

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America Is Shipping So Many Weapons to Ukraine, Defense Companies Can’t Keep Up, Top Navy Officers Warn

Top officers in the U.S. Navy warned that the Ukraine war is putting a strain on an already stretched industrial base Tuesday, complaining defense contractors continue to fall behind in keeping up with the Navy’s needs, according to media reports.

Defense companies have struggled for years to keep pace with the Navy’s demands, citing pandemic-induced supply chain setbacks and a shortage of available labor, Navy Times reported. As the U.S. continues sending weapons and equipment to Ukraine, heightening the burden on weapons manufacturers, top Navy brass expressed worry that the fleet could fall dangerously low on needed assets if the war stretches out much longer.

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Attorney Files Lawsuit Against Judge Who Dismissed Kari Lake’s Election Contest

Ryan Heath, an attorney who started The Gavel Project to engage in lawfare against woke ideology, has filed a lawsuit against the judge who dismissed Kari Lake’s election lawsuit. Submitted on Monday, the Writ of Mandamus demands that Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson vacate his ruling and award the election to Lake.

Heath told The Arizona Sun Times he doesn’t really know where Thompson came up with the really high bar he required Lake’s attorneys to prove in order to overturn the election. Thompson required showing by clear and convincing evidence that the misconduct was intentional and meant to change the election, was performed by one of the appropriate people in charge, and that it changed the election. Heath said this was the wrong standard, he should have relied on Reyes v. Cuming, a 1997 Arizona case involving similar circumstances, where signatures on the envelopes were not compared to the voter registration list, violating a non-technical statute.

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Despite Increased Use, Analysis Says Arizona’s School Choice Program Saving Taxpayers Money

In her Jan. 9 State of the State address, Gov. Katie Hobbs said the expansion of Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account program would bankrupt the state’s budget. 

“Funding this expansion is poised to cost Arizona taxpayers an estimated $1.5 billion over the next 10 years if left unaddressed,” she said. 

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Gaetz: Republicans Will Release 14,000 Hours of January 6 Tapes That Have Been Hidden from the Public

House Republicans intend to release 14,000 hours of January 6 tapes that have been hidden from the public, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) revealed on Tuesday.

During an interview with Turning Point USA (TPUSA) president Charlie Kirk on his radio show,  Gaetz said that releasing the tapes “would give more full context to that day rather than the cherry-picked moments of the January 6th committee.”

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El Paso Opens Tent-Like Intake Center to House 1,000 Immigrants

Border surge

The United States Border Patrol inaugurated this Wednesday in El Paso, Texas, a huge tent in the desert with capacity for 1,000 migrants, in order to help process the record number of people who cross the border between the United States and Mexico .

Located on the outskirts of the city, the temporary facility is the size of 23 football fields or 153,000 square feet and can hold 1,000 people. The facilities are weather resistant, air-conditioned and have spacious areas for eating, sleeping and washing.

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Commentary: Nancy Pelosi’s Other Legacy Is a Mountain of Debt for Our Children

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi officially stepped away from leadership last week after two decades directing the political agenda of House Democrats.

There’s no denying the historic nature of the California lawmaker’s tenure, whose leadership began in 2002 when she became the first woman elected House minority whip. She’d go on to take up the gavel of House speaker twice (from 2007–2011 and 2019–2023), making her the only female House speaker in history and one of a few to serve nonconsecutive terms.

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