Wisconsin Right Now

Citing discrimination against nonminorities in farming assistance programs, the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty has filed an amicus brief in support of plaintiff Robert Holman's litigation against the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He's a corn and soybean farmer. The institute is calling on the incoming Trump administration to address the issue among other federal agencies as well. In an amicus brief supporting Holman, the conservative-leaning institute says prioritizing members of races deemed “socially disadvantaged” in taxpayer-funded assistance programs is unconstitutional. “During the Biden administration, race discrimination infected every nook and cranny of the federal government,” Deputy Counsel Dan Lennington of the Institute for Law and Liberty said. “These programs impact Americans and small businesses every day. The new Congress and administration should immediately dismantle each one of these discriminatory programs. Otherwise, we’ll see them in ...

Photos and video show the extensive damage to Oscar's Frozen Custard & Sandwiches on November 19 after a fire "ravaged" the popular Waukesha, Wisconsin, restaurant. The cause remains unclear. "It is with profound sadness that we are posting today about the loss of our beloved Brookfield Location. As most of you already know the building was ravaged by fire early this morning - at this time we have no further details to share as to how the fire started, we are happy to provide more information on that side of things when we have more," a November 19 statement on the restaurant's Facebook page said. [gallery ids="311300,311301,311302,311303,311304,311305,311306,311307,311308"] "At this moment, what stands out as the most important part of this tragedy is that it happened without injury to anyone - thank goodness no one was in the building," the statement says, sharing a dramatic photo. "We are incredibly thankful to the ...

  (The Center Square) – President-elect Donald Trump is nominating former Congressman and current Fox Business host Sean Duffy to serve as his Department of Transportation secretary. “During his time in Congress, Sean was a respected voice and communicator in the Republican Conference, advocating for Fiscal Responsibility, Economic Growth, and Rural Development,” Trump said in a statement. “Admired across the aisle, Sean worked with Democrats to clear extensive Legislative hurdles to build the largest road and bridge project in Minnesota History.” Duffy is an attorney who represented the seventh district of Wisconsin from 2011-2019 as a Republican. “He will prioritize Excellence, Competence, Competitiveness and Beauty when rebuilding America's highways, tunnels, bridges and airports,” Trump said. “The husband of a wonderful woman, Rachel Campos-Duffy, a STAR on FoxNews, and the father of nine incredible children, Sean knows how important it is for families to be able to t...

Just over a week after “the biggest comeback in political history,” many of us are still riding high on feelings of elation and hope after Republicans took back the White House, the Senate, and have officially held on to the majority in the House of Representatives. President Trump has been given a clear mandate after overwhelmingly winning both the Electoral College and the popular vote. And after seeing Trump’s cabinet picks so far, it looks like real change within our government will happen. Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy as the heads of the Department of Government Efficiency? Tom Homan as the border czar? RFK Jr. as head of the Department of Health and Human Services? This is NOT business as usual. I’m under no illusions that this will be easy, especially with a narrow majority in the House. Democrats won’t just sit back without trying to obstruct President Trump and his agenda. But if the goal is to “drain the swamp” and bring serious reform to our government agencies, we’re...

Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul has badly mismanaged the state crime lab, a new report from his office shows , especially in the key area of DNA, where delays jumped significantly over his predecessor, Brad Schimel. This has been the case ever since Kaul took office in 2019. Although he defeated Schimel largely by hammering the Republican on crime lab delays, Kaul, five years into office now, has failed to get his hands around the lab backlogs. And his old excuse of COVID has long ago run out. Kaul said in the November 2024 report that he couldn't "meaningfully" reduce crime lab backlogs without getting more spending/staff, and he's tried to say he's doing better than some other crime labs. However, the fact is evident from his own reports: the Democrat Kaul is presiding over a crime lab that is far less productive than it was under Schimel, while still not turning evidence around as fast in multiple key areas. This matters because Kaul said the cri...

Republicans in the Assembly re-elected Speaker Robin Vos, while Democrats in the Wisconsin Senate re-elected Dianne Hesselbein as Minority Leader. Senate Republicans last week re-elected Sen. Devin LeMahieu as Majority Leader. Democrats in the Assembly are the only ones who have not yet voted for their leader. That vote is set for Tuesday. The leadership re-elections signal that next year likely won’t be that much different from the past two years at the Capitol in Madison. In fact, both Vos and Hasselbein said their priorities for the new session are no different than their priorities from the one that’s about to end. “We have an opportunity to make sure that the wishes of the public in Wisconsin become the reality that we work on over the next 14 to 15 months,” Vols told reporters. The new legislature will be tasked with writing a new state budget. Hesselbein said Democrats want to add to that state budget and spend more on Gov. Tony Evers’ top priorities. “We know ...

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to serve as U.S. Health and Human Services secretary. “I am thrilled to announce Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as The United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS),” Trump said in a statement. “For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to Public Health.” The lifelong Democrat became an Independent during his presidential campaign and then endorsed Trump, helping propel Trump to victory. Kennedy has been outspoken about the need to take on corporate food companies as well as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to address the chronic health crisis in America. “The Safety and Health of all Americans is the most important role of any Administration, and HHS will play a big role in helping ensure that everybody will be protected from harmful chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceut...