Wisconsin Right Now

Wisconsin Republican Reps. Derrick Van Orden and Bryan Steil testified at a House Judiciary Committee meeting last week about the dangers of sanctuary cities and the community challenges illegal immigration has posed across the state, particularly in Whitewater. Steil has previously pointed to Whitewater as a “case study” of the damaging effects of illegal immigration under the current administration. The influx of roughly 1,000 migrants to the city of 15,000 has led to increasing strain on law enforcement, school resources, and housing capacity in Whitewater, according to reports . Now, the city is witnessing cartel activity, including drug and human trafficking operations, Steil testified, referencing multiple reports . “We know the danger that that poses in our communities,” Steil said. “And there has been state legislation where we could have had an opportunity to ban sanctuary cities here in the United States, and we’ve not been successful in doing that under Democratic leade...

Wisconsin Republican Senate candidate Eric Hovde said in a 2012 interview that he was in favor of raising the retirement age for Social Security, something that is the focus of a new political ad from incumbent Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin. Hovde clarified his thoughts to the Milwaukee Press Club and on social media this week with a statement saying that his proposal won’t impact those nearing retirement or currently receiving Social Security. Instead, his proposal applies only to those under the age of 40 because the Congressional Budget Office predicts that Social Security will have negative cash flow by 2033. “If we don’t act now, Social Security will no longer be able to pay out full benefits,” Hovde wrote . Hovde added he has never proposed to cut Social Security either, instead proposing to put Social Security in a trust so it cannot be used for other government spending. “This should have happened from its beginning,” Hovde wrote. “For decades, Congress has treated...

Twenty-five Republican governors want to know how many illegal foreign nationals have been flown into their states by a Biden-Harris administration plan they argue is burdening their residents and creating an unsafe environment. Those being flown in have arrived through more than a dozen parole programs created by U.S. Department of Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. The governors only inquired about one: the CHNV parole program, created to fast track previously inadmissible citizens of Cuba, Honduras, Nicaragua and Venezuela moving into the country. According to the latest U.S. Customs and Border Protection data, 530,000 CHNV parolees were released into the country in the past year, in addition to 813,000 foreign nationals processed into the country from all over the world through a CBP One app . Attorneys general from multiple states sued to stop them, arguing they are illegal. The U.S. House impeached Mayorkas for them and other actions they argue created the border crisis...

A trio of Wisconsin Republican lawmakers are again pitching a tax-free retirement plan that would exempt $75,000 of retirement income for single filers and $125,000 for married joint filers. The 2025 legislation was pitched and passed earlier this year that was ultimately vetoed by Gov. Tony Evers. This time, the legislation will be in addition to any retirement income that is already tax-exempt in Wisconsin, such as Social Security. Thirteen other states, including Illinois and Iowa, have tax-free retirement laws. “We can’t afford to keep losing seniors to other states,” said Rep. Joel Kitchens, R-Sturgeon Bay. “When they leave, we don’t just lose revenue. Families miss out on sharing important life events. Wisconsin is sitting on a $3 billion surplus, we can afford this tax cut more than we can afford not doing it.” The legislation will be sponsored again by Kitchens, Rep. David Steffen, R-Howard, and Sen. Rachel Cabral-Guevara, R-Fox Crossing. “Our retired parents and g...

  (The Center Square) – Support for Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump has grown among Hispanic and Black likely voters in Texas, according to a new poll. Trump also is continuing to lead his Democratic challenger, Vice President Kamala Harris, according to the poll published by the Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation. Trump holds a six-point lead over Harris, 50% to 44%. “Harris and Trump are effectively tied among Hispanic likely voters (49% vs. 43%),” the report states. Trump’s “strength among Texas Hispanic likely voters continues to show a striking resilience,” TxHPF CEO Jason Villalba said. The split represents a 10-point drop among Texas Hispanic likely voters who favored President Joe Biden in the 2020 election. Trump has also gained support from likely Black voters in Texas. In 2024, he has support from 17% of Texas Black voters surveyed, up from 6% in 2020, according to the data. Overall, among all likely Texas voters polled, 51%...

  (The Center Square) – Support for Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump has grown among Hispanic and Black likely voters in Texas, according to a new poll. Trump also is continuing to lead his Democratic challenger, Vice President Kamala Harris, according to the poll published by the Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation. Trump holds a six-point lead over Harris, 50% to 44%. “Harris and Trump are effectively tied among Hispanic likely voters (49% vs. 43%),” the report states. Trump’s “strength among Texas Hispanic likely voters continues to show a striking resilience,” TxHPF CEO Jason Villalba said. The split represents a 10-point drop among Texas Hispanic likely voters who favored President Joe Biden in the 2020 election. Trump has also gained support from likely Black voters in Texas. In 2024, he has support from 17% of Texas Black voters surveyed, up from 6% in 2020, according to the data. Overall, among all likely Texas voters polled, 51%...

A Republican lawmaker in Wisconsin want to avoid another fight to get off the ballot. State Rep. Scott Krug, R-Nekoosa, who oversees the Assembly’s elections committee said on UpFront over the weekend that he wants to change the state law that keeps people on the ballot, almost no matter what. "We can't force people to do things they don't want to do anymore, even if they wanted to do them earlier," Krug said. Krug said there’s no victory in forcing Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on the November ballot even though he’s no longer running for president. Kennedy has challenged Wisconsin’s ballot access law by arguing it creates two timelines for getting off the ballot. Kennedy says Wisconsin law sets one deadline for Republicans and Democrats to get off the ballot, while it sets another timeline for independent candidates. A Dane County judge has already rejected Kennedy’s claim, but the Wisconsin Supreme Court was still considering Kennedy’s argument. Krug said Ken...

It’s not that Republican lawmakers don’t want to give the University of Wisconsin any more money, one legislator says the problem is the university is reluctant to tell the legislature where the money it currently gets is being spent. Rep. Amanda Nedweski, R-Pleasant Prairie, was on News Talk 1130 WISN Wednesday, and said the UW System is likely not getting more money until school leaders improve their relationship with the legislature. “It's hard to be confident in institutions that are seeming so reluctant to share simple information with the legislature,” Nedweski said. “I mean, the lack of transparency and accountability shown by the system in the last two decades has resulted in so much distrust between the legislature, the system and the taxpayer.” University President Jay Rothman earlier this week announced plans to ask the legislature for $914 million in the next state budget. Rothman said the UW needs the money to cover the costs of pay raises, to provide wrap-ar...

(The Center Square) – A Tennessee Republican senator called for President Joe Biden to resign immediately after the 81-year-old dropped out of the presidential race early Sunday afternoon.   U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn said Biden must resign as president.  "If Joe Biden is too weak to stay in the race for the presidency, he should RESIGN as our Commander-in-Chief immediately," she wrote in a post on X.  Democrats praised Biden's work in office.  "President Biden has been an extraordinary, history-making president – a leader who has fought hard for working people and delivered astonishing results for all Americans," California Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote. "He will go down in history as one of the most impactful and selfless presidents." California Governor Gavin Newsom announces his revised May 2024 budget proposal. Office of the Governor of California Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, said the first debate bet...

Some of Wisconsin’s Republican congressmen say there is a problem with Gov. Tony Evers’ latest problems with the state’s political maps. Evers this week asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to take a look at the state’s congressional maps. "MONDAY: I signed fair maps for Wisconsin’s Legislature," Evers tweeted Wednesday. "NEXT UP: fair maps for our congressional districts." The liberal law firm The Elias Group has already asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to reconsider the state’s congressional maps, just like the court reconsidered the state’s legislative maps. The high court tossed those state maps back in December. But Wisconsin lawmakers ended the court’s review and replacement by passing Evers’ preferred maps for Assembly and Senate districts. Western Wisconsin Republican Congressman Derrick Van Orden on Wednesday pointed out the Congressional maps are also Evers’ own. “The maps are a 100% product of the Dems,” Van Orden said in a tweet. “Evers drew ...

The top Republican in the Wisconsin Assembly says the legislature has done what the Wisconsin Supreme Court suggested and passed new maps. Now, he says it’s time for the court fight over redistricting to stop. Republicans in the Wisconsin Assembly and Wisconsin Senate on Tuesday approved Democrat Gov. Tony Evers’ preferred maps. The vote is part of a strategy to head off maps that do even more damage to Republicans in the state from the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos told reporters that the strategy is aimed not just at getting the least-worst maps for Republicans but also aimed at getting on with the 2024 elections and avoiding a multi-million-dollar court battle. “To actually be and we begin the campaign talking about ideas and why our side is better for Wisconsin, I think that is a better answer than drawn out court battles and going through millions of dollars of taxpayer expense when there's really no need to do so,” Vos said. The legislature sen...

Abbott has ordered the Texas National Guard to continue building the wire barriers. Twenty-five Republican governors said Thursday they back Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's decision to defend the state's border with Mexico. Abbott invoked the invasion clause of the U.S. Constitution on Wednesday and said the federal government broke its compact with the states. The "Guarantee Clause" of the U.S. Constitution (Article IV, Section 4) "promises that the federal government 'shall protect each [State] against invasion." Fifty-one Texas counties have declared an invasion , citing an imminent threat created by transnational criminal organizations bringing in enough fentanyl to kill the entire state's population, and expressing support to defend Texas' sovereignty. The governors said they support Abbott. "Because the Biden administration has abdicated its constitutional compact duties to the states, Texas has every legal justification to prot...

  Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine banned transgender transition surgeries on minors with an executive order Friday. The move comes a week after he vetoed House Bill 68, which banned the practice and required single-sex sports teams to be established at schools, colleges and universities throughout the state. “A week has gone by, and I still feel as firmly about that as I did that day,” DeWine said. “I believe parents rather than government should be making those important medical decisions.” DeWine’s order and subsequent rules proposed for transgender health care for adults and children were the only issues addressed by DeWine on Friday. “This is something that the entire time when I talked to families, not once did they mention they want to have surgery on their minor child. That was never mentioned,” DeWine said. “This just assures everybody that that will never happen.” The rules up for public comment with the Ohio Department of Health and the Ohio Department of M...

The Republican who led the first investigation into Wisconsin’s 2020 election says she does not trust the effort to count the state’s absentee ballots early because she doesn’t trust election officials in Milwaukee. State Rep. Janel Brandtjen told The Center Square there are serious security concerns with the Monday Count plan moving ahead at the Wisconsin Capitol. “I get the concept, but Milwaukee has not been a trustworthy partner in elections as I have witnessed in recount, and central count elections,” Brandtjen said. Brandtjen said her experience with former Milwaukee Elections Commission Director Kim Zapata adds to her distrust. Zapata sent Brandtjen three military ballots ahead of the 2022 election. Zapata said she did so to expose a loophole in Wisconsin’s military ballot law. Brandtjen said she’s not so sure. “FYI if her VPN hadn't failed we would have never known who had sent the ballots, and I would have been under suspicion,” Brandtjen said. The Monday Cou...

“Final five or ranked-choice voting has to be one of the most foolish pieces of legislation I've seen introduced this session, and that's saying a lot” - Rep. Barb Dittrich There is not a lot of Republican support for a plan to change how Wisconsin would vote in upcoming elections. The Senate Committee on Elections heard a plan to introduce ranked choice voting in the state. “Right now, the parties are incentivized to hold power, and they do that through party primaries,” former Wisconsin Republican Congressman Reid Ribble, said during the hearing. “What final five [voting] does is eliminate partisan primaries.” The ranked voting plan has support from both Republicans and Democrats at the Wisconsin Capitol. A score of Republicans criticized the plan after the hearing. Rep. Rick Gundrum, R-Slinger, said ranked-choice voting makes elections less secure and less transparent. “It will reduce voter confidence, and threaten accurate ballot counting, Gundrum said. Re...

The top Republican in the Wisconsin Assembly says the deal to swap University of Wisconsin DEI jobs for pay raises is still on the table, but he also says it’s not changing. Speaker Robin Vos told News Talk 1130’s Jay Weber on Monday morning he’s willing to give UW regents time to reconsider, but he’s not going to soften his stance on ending diversity, equity and inclusion spending on UW campuses. “The deal was negotiated in good faith,” Vos said. “We are not changing one thing in this deal. We are not going backwards. If anything, I’d prefer to go forward. But, you know, a deal is a deal, and you have to keep your word. So, it’s going to last for a little while. But this is not forever. Vos didn’t say how long he’s planning to leave the deal on the table, but he suggested regents could reconsider and vote again after the holidays. UW regents on Saturday voted 9-8 against the deal that Vos agreed to with UW President Jay Rothman. Some regents felt the agreement “sold out” ...

The top Republican in the Wisconsin Assembly says he is encouraged by the University of Wisconsin’s plan to focus on in-demand degrees, but it's not enough to move him off his block of the university's pay raises. Speaker Robin Vos told reporters at the Capitol that without an agreement to pull back on diversity, equity, and inclusion spending there won’t be any movement on raises for university workers. “Hopefully, once we're able to conclude some kind of a deal on changing how we deal with diversity, equity, inclusion will be able to have that come up,” Vos said. “We have the engineering building, and we have the pay raises. They're all kind of part of one big package. So, my hope is that that is just one of many that can happen once we have an agreement.” Republican lawmakers put a hold on those raises last month. That came after Vos ordered a $32 million cut to the university’s budget over DEI. Vos says the school spends about $32 million a year on nearly ...

  Republican 2024 presidential candidates will gather Wednesday night in Miami to duke it out as the primary season continues. The Republican National Committee released a full list of candidates who meet the donor and support criteria and who are expected to debate tonight: Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Former South Carolina Governor and Ambassador Nikki Haley Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy Senator Tim Scott, R-S.C. The list of candidates has narrowed in recent weeks as candidates dropped out after failing to gain momentum. The biggest dropout among them was Vice President Mike Pence, who stepped out of the race at the end of October saying “it is not my time.” Notably, former President Donald Trump will skip the debate and hold a rally in Hialeah, a Florida city adjacent to Miami and just minutes from the GOP debate. Trump has said the voters know who he is and that he should not have to debate opponen...

The top Republican in the Wisconsin Assembly is not saying there will never be a vote to impeach the state’s elections chief, but there won’t be a vote anytime soon. [caption id="attachment_95919" align="alignleft" width="200"] Robin Vos[/caption] Assembly Speaker Robin Vos told reporters at the Capitol on Tuesday there’s not enough support among Republicans to call for a vote to oust Meagan Wolfe as Wisconsin Elections Commission administrator. “We had a brief discussion about it, and we are nowhere near a consensus,” Vos said. A handful of Republican lawmakers are demanding Vos call for an impeachment vote. They want Wolfe out for how she handled the 2020 election, and how she has responded to Republican questions about her job performance since then. Part of the GOP demands include a threat to oust Vos if he doesn’t act. State Rep. Janel Brandtjen, R-Menonomnee Falls, on Monday accused Vos of protecting Wolfe. “Why is Speaker Vos so c...

  House Republican Jim Jordan of Ohio has picked up several key endorsements heading into a scheduled Tuesday vote for the next speaker of the House. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., became the center of controversy over the weekend after news broke that he was reportedly considering working with Democrats to elect Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries given the Republican party's inability to pick a speaker so far. By Monday morning, Rogers publicly endorsed Jordan. “[Jordan] and I have had two cordial, thoughtful, and productive conversations over the past two days,” Rogers wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “We agreed on the need for Congress to pass a strong NDAA, appropriations to fund our government's vital functions, and other important legislation like the Farm Bill. “Since I was first elected to the House, I have always been a team player and supported what the majority of the Republican Conference agrees to,” he added. Jordan, who sent out a letter to fellow Republi...