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Biden vetoes bill that would have given Trump more judicial seats to fill

Biden vetoes bill that would have given Trump more judicial seats to fill

President Biden on Monday vetoed a bill that would have added 66 federal district judgeships over a span of more than a decade, a once-bipartisan effort designed so that neither political party would have an advantage in molding the federal judiciary.  Three presidential administrations, beginning with the incoming Trump administration, and six Congresses would have had the opportunity to appoint the new trial court judgeships, according to the legislation, which had support from organizations representing judges and attorneys. Despite arguments from the organizations that additional judgeships would help with cases that have seen serious delays in resolution and ease concerns over access to justice, the White House said that Biden would veto the bill. In a statement, Biden said he made his decision because the “hurried action” by the House of Representatives left open questions about “life-tenured” positions. BIDEN’S DECISION TO COMMUTE SENTENCES FOR DEATH ROW INMATES SPARKS SOCIAL MEDIA FRENZY “The House of Representative’s hurried action fails to resolve key questions in the legislation, especially regarding how the new judgeships are allocated, and neither the House of Representatives nor the Senate explored fully how the work of senior status judges and magistrate judges affects the need for new judgeships,” Biden said. “The efficient and effective administration of justice requires that these questions about need and allocation be further studied and answered before we create permanent judgeships for life-tenured judges,” Biden added. He said the bill would also have created new judgeships in states where senators have not filled existing judicial vacancies and that those efforts “suggest that concerns about judicial economy and caseload are not the true motivating force behind passage of this bill now. GOP CONGRESSMAN CHARGES BIDEN ADMINISTRATION’S FOREIGN POLICY ‘LEFT THE WORLD IN A WORSE OFF PLACE’ When Biden’s plan to veto the legislation surfaced earlier this month, Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., told “America’s Newsroom” that the act is “the last spasm of a lame-duck.” “President Biden and his team don’t want to allow it to become law simply because a Republican administration would get to appoint some of the judges,” Kennedy said.  “I wish they’d put the country first,” the senator added. The legislation was passed unanimously in August under the Democratic-controlled Senate, though the Republican-led House brought the measure to the floor only after Donald Trump was reelected president in November, creating an air of political gamesmanship. Biden’s veto essentially shelves the legislation for the current Congress.  Overturning Biden’s veto would require a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate, and the House vote fell well short of that margin. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen recovering from multiple injuries after being bucked from horse: ‘Good prognosis’

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen recovering from multiple injuries after being bucked from horse: ‘Good prognosis’

Nebraska’s Republican Gov. Jim Pillen was in intensive care at a hospital on Monday to be treated for injuries after he was thrown off a horse while riding with his family the day before. Pillen, 68, was treated at the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska, where he underwent a medical procedure for an injured spleen he suffered when he was bucked off a new horse. Doctors said Pillen’s prognosis was positive despite seven rib fractures, a partially collapsed lung, a minor fracture in one of his vertebrae and a minor kidney injury that is expected to heal on its own. He is expected to remain in the hospital for at least another day, but is in stable condition. The governor underwent a minimally invasive procedure called a prophylactic embolization for the spleen injury. Doctors passed a wire into his arteries near the spleen and inserted coils to stop the bleeding, according to Nebraska Medicine trauma surgeon Hillman Terzian. NEBRASKA GOV. JIM PILLEN HOSPITALIZED AFTER HE WAS BUCKED OFF A HORSE Terzian said Pillen did well during the procedure, which he was sedated for. The operation lasted less than an hour and GOP Lt. Gov. Joe Kelly acted as governor for the time being in a routine transfer of power. The governor did not suffer any damage to his nervous system and there were no signs of an injury to his head, neck or spinal canal, according to Terzian. Pillen has been motivated to get out of bed and has already been walking laps, Terzian said, noting that this is “very impressive.” The doctor said being in intensive care is normal for people with a spleen injury similar to Pillen’s and with rib fractures at his age. Terzian said the governor had “a very good prognosis.” ILLEGAL MIGRANTS IN NEBRASKA TOWN BRINGING ‘STRESS’ TO SCHOOLS, PUBLIC SAFETY “We don’t expect anyone with his injuries to be up and running a marathon the next day, but we like them to be out of bed, to show us that they can pick up small objects, that sort of thing,” Terzian said. The biggest priority for Pillen’s doctor right now is controlling his pain. No other operations are planned, although physicians have options for treating his ribs, Terzian said. Pillen has made arrangements to work from his hospital room. The governor’s office said his injuries were serious, but not life-threatening, and could have been much worse. Pillen was elected as governor in 2022, running in the gubernatorial election that year because former Gov. Pete Ricketts, also a Republican, was term-limited. The governor worked as a veterinarian and owned a livestock operation before he was elected to the state’s highest office. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

‘Independent-minded’: DCCC chair reveals blueprint for winning back majority during 2026 midterms

‘Independent-minded’: DCCC chair reveals blueprint for winning back majority during 2026 midterms

The House Democrat who chairs the party’s campaign committee says she wants to “build on” the “things we did right” in the 2024 elections as she works to win back the chamber’s majority in the 2026 midterms. While the party lost control of the White House and Republicans flipped the Senate majority while holding on to their fragile control of the House, Democrats were able to take a small bite out of the GOP congressional majority.  Republicans will hold a razor-thin 220-215 majority in the next Congress, which means the Democrats only need a three-seat gain in the 2026 midterms to win back the chamber for the first time in four years. HOUSE GOP CAMPAIGN CHAIR TOUTS HOMEFIELD ADVANTAGE “We won in tough districts, outperformed across the country,” Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington state emphasized in a recent Fox News Digital interview. DelBene, who is sticking around for a second straight tour of duty steering the party’s campaign committee, said the 2024 successes are “a good example of what we need to continue to follow heading into 2026.” VANCE TO LIKELY BE 2028 GOP PRESIDENTIAL FRONT-RUNNER, BUT RNC CHAIR ALSO LIKES PARTY’S ‘BENCH’ “Number one, have great candidates who are independent minded, focused on the needs of their communities,” DelBene said. “Those candidates and their voices were critically important in this election.” DelBene said “making sure that they [the candidates] have the resources they need to get information out to voters and to continue to address head on the issues that are most important to their communities, lowering costs, making sure there’s economic opportunity” are also top priorities. SENATE REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE CHAIR SPELLS OUT HIS 2026 MISSION With President-elect Trump returning to the White House next month, and the GOP in control of both chambers of Congress, DelBene said Republicans are “going to be accountable for what they do in this country and the impact that has on working families” “We’re going to hold them accountable for their votes and the actions they take, especially if they aren’t supporting working families,” she emphasized. “I think people want to see governance work. So, if Republicans aren’t willing to work in a bipartisan way to get things done, that’s going to be a key part of the 2026 election as well.” The party in power traditionally takes a gut punch in the ensuing congressional election, which means the Democrats will have historical winds at their backs.  Looking to the 2026 map, DelBene touted that Democrats will have “opportunities across the country.” And she said it’s the DCCC’s job to “reach voters where they are and make sure they’re getting accurate information about where our candidates stand.” Fox News’ Emma Woodhead contributed to this report

Trump will be ‘very active on the campaign trail’ in 2026 midterms, Republican Party chair predicts

Trump will be ‘very active on the campaign trail’ in 2026 midterms, Republican Party chair predicts

As President-elect Trump begins his second term in the White House, his days as a candidate are numbered. But even though he’s term limited and his name will no longer be on the ballot, Republican National Committee chair Michael Whatley says Trump will play a “significant” role in supporting GOP candidates in the 2026 midterm elections. “President Trump is going to be a very significant part of this because at the end of the day, what we need to do is hold on to the House, hold on to the Senate so that we can finish his term and his agenda,” Whatley emphasized in a recent interview with Fox News Digital at the RNC headquarters in the nation’s capital. Republicans enjoyed major victories in last month’s elections, with Trump defeating Vice President Kamala Harris to win back the White House, the GOP flipping control of the Senate from the Democrats, and Republicans holding on to their razor-thin majority in the House. VANCE TO LIKELY BE 2028 GOP PRESIDENTIAL FRONT-RUNNER, BUT RNC CHAIR ALSO LIKES PARTY’S ‘BENCH’ Whatley argued that “as we go forward into this next election cycle, the fundamentals are going to remain the same.” “We need to make sure that we are building our state parties, that we’re building our ground game, we’re building our election integrity apparatus to be in place to make sure that when we get those candidates through those primaries in ‘26, that we’re going to be in a position to take them all the way to the finish line,” he emphasized. HOUSE GOP CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE CHAIR MAKES 2026 PREDICTION But the party in power traditionally suffers setbacks in the ensuing midterm elections. And Trump, who was a magnet for voter turnout in this year’s elections, won’t be on the ballot in 2026. Whatley predicted, “Donald Trump will be very active on the campaign trail for Republicans. And his agenda is the agenda that we’re going to be running on.” The Harris campaign and the Democratic National Committee outraised the Trump campaign and the RNC this past cycle, but Whatley is confident that with the party soon to control the White House, Republicans will be even more competitive in the campaign cash race in the midterms. “We’re pretty excited about where we are in terms of the fundraising that we did throughout the course of this cycle and what we’re going to do going forward,” he said. SENATE REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE CHAIR SPELLS OUT HIS 2026 MISSION Whatley said his message to donors will be, “We were successful in putting Donald Trump into the White House, and we need to carry forward with his agenda by keeping these House majorities and Senate majorities.” He also pushed back on the persistent questioning of the RNC and Trump campaign’s ground game efforts during the general election. “We focused very hard on low propensity voters. This was an entirely new system that we put in place over the course of this election cycle. It worked very, very well,” he touted.  And looking ahead, he said, “In a midterm election cycle, low propensity voters are going to, again, be very, very important for us. So, we’re going to continue to focus on building that type of a program.” Whatley spotlighted that “we also focused on outreach to communities that the Republican Party has traditionally not reached out to – Black voters, Hispanic voters, Asian American voters. That’s why we were able to see such seismic shifts toward Donald Trump versus where those blocs had been in 2016 and 2020. We also saw seismic shifts among young voters and women voters because we were talking to every single American voter. Our ground game was very significant.” Whatley was interviewed earlier this month, a week after Trump asked him to continue as RNC chair. In March, as he clinched the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, Trump named Whatley to succeed Ronna McDaniel as RNC chair. Whatley, a longtime ally of the former president and a major supporter of Trump’s election integrity efforts, had served as RNC general counsel and chair of the North Carolina Republican Party.