Rocky Mountain Voice

Washington Examiner

Abortion Coverage Mandates in 13 Democrat-Led States Face Federal Civil Rights Review
Washington Examiner, Approved, National

Abortion Coverage Mandates in 13 Democrat-Led States Face Federal Civil Rights Review

By Gabrielle M. Etzel | Washington Examiner The Trump administration is launching civil rights investigations into the 13 Democrat-led states that require private health insurance plans to pay for abortions, arguing that state mandates for abortion insurance coverage violate religious and conscience rights protections. The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights sent 13 states letters late Wednesday evening, opening investigations into whether their requirements violate conscience protections under federal rules prohibiting state and local governments from discriminating against healthcare entities that refuse to facilitate abortions.  Paula Stannard, Director for HHS’ OCR, said in a press release that th...
SAVE America Act Fight Heads To Senate Floor In High Stakes Messaging Battle
Washington Examiner, Approved, National

SAVE America Act Fight Heads To Senate Floor In High Stakes Messaging Battle

By: David Sivak | Washington Examiner Senate Republicans are planning a marathon debate on President Donald Trump’s marquee elections bill, a move designed to ease tensions with the MAGA Right after Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) ruled out a talking filibuster. Thune’s staff has been gaming out days of floor debate that are likely to begin next Monday or Tuesday, according to two sources familiar with the discussions. Also involved are the White House legislative affairs office and Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), the lead co-sponsor of the legislation, dubbed the SAVE America Act. The contours of that process are still coming together, with Thune first announcing the strategy to his conference on Tuesday, but the overall goal is to replicate a ...
Medical Group Recommends Delaying Transgender Surgeries Until Age 19
Washington Examiner, Approved, National

Medical Group Recommends Delaying Transgender Surgeries Until Age 19

By Molly Parks | Washington Examiner The American Society of Plastic Surgeons released a statement recommending doctors refuse gender-related surgeries for transgender patients under the age of 19, a move the Trump administration is calling a win. “ASPS concludes there is insufficient evidence demonstrating a favorable risk-benefit ratio for the pathway of gender-related endocrine and surgical interventions in children and adolescents. ASPS recommends that surgeons delay gender-related breast/chest, genital, and facial surgery until a patient is at least 19 years old,” the ASPS recommendation reads. The Department of Health and Human Services and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. praised the group for its recomme...
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna Signals GOP Will Go It Alone To Pass Funding Bills
Washington Examiner, Approved, National

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna Signals GOP Will Go It Alone To Pass Funding Bills

By Zach LaChance | Washington Examiner House Republicans will attempt to pass the remaining spending bills and the two-week extension funding the Department of Homeland Security along party lines to end the partial government shutdown, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) revealed on Sunday night. Luna posted on X that GOP leaders would no longer be moving the legislation to the floor under suspension, which would fast-track passage of it but requires a two-thirds majority and, therefore, Democratic support. Instead, they will hope for a united caucus to pass the bills and fully reopen the government, a tricky prospect given Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) razor-thin majority. Johnson had already hinted at the change in strategy in multiple Su...
Congress Braces for Partial Shutdown as Spending Fight Intensifies
Washington Examiner, Approved, National

Congress Braces for Partial Shutdown as Spending Fight Intensifies

By Emily Hallas | Washington Examiner Congress is careening toward the second government shutdown in four months due to disagreements over federal funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The shutdown Washington is preparing for this weekend has several key differences from the government funding battle last fall. That 43-day shutdown became the longest in U.S. history, ending in November 2025. It centered on Democrats’ concerns that legislation to keep the government open did not contain a provision to extend Obamacare subsidies. And before the shutdown was triggered on Oct. 1, it was widely expected due to the known deadline for renewing the expiring Obamacare subsidies. Unlike last fall’s controversy, the latest looming government shutdown w...
Democrats Push Bill That Would Blacklist ICE Officers From Future Government Employment
Washington Examiner, Approved, National

Democrats Push Bill That Would Blacklist ICE Officers From Future Government Employment

By Ramsey Touchberry | The Washington Examiner Democrats are vowing to resist President Donald Trump’s sweeping deportation agenda by promoting policies to bar federal immigration officials from obtaining future government and law enforcement jobs. The pledges from progressive candidates seeking higher office go further than the party’s growing calls to “abolish ICE” or to slash its funding. Instead, they are warning of personal repercussions for Trump-era Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and deterring recruits from accepting lucrative sign-on bonuses. “The way I see it is, if you work for a fascist, forget about ever working for the state,” Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), who’s running for governor in November, told the W...
Colorado Rejects New CDC Vaccine Schedule, Maintains Existing Requirements for School and Daycare
Washington Examiner, Approved, State

Colorado Rejects New CDC Vaccine Schedule, Maintains Existing Requirements for School and Daycare

By Claire Carter | The Washington Examiner Colorado became the latest state to criticize the newly released federal guidance for childhood vaccines on Tuesday. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment released a statement rejecting the CDC’s new vaccine schedule and said Colorado’s approach “remains grounded in long-standing science, expert consensus, and transparency.”  On Monday, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention implemented a major change in the childhood immunization schedule, reducing the number of vaccines children receive from 17 to 11. READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Rand Paul’s Festivus Report Flags $1.6 Trillion in Federal Waste
Washington Examiner, Approved, National

Rand Paul’s Festivus Report Flags $1.6 Trillion in Federal Waste

By Molly Parks | Washington Examiner Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) released his annual “Festivus Report” on Tuesday, spotlighting over $1.6 trillion in wasteful government spending. Between discovering Veterans Affairs cash spent on teaching teenage ferrets how to binge drink to discovering $14.6 million spent on having monkeys play a Price Is Right-like video game, the Kentucky fiscal hawk bared all the quirky government waste on Tuesday. “No matter how much taxpayer money Washington burns through, politicians can’t help but demand more. Fiscal responsibility may not be the most crowded road, but it’s one I’ve walked year after year — and this holiday season will be no different. So, before we get to the Feats of Strength, it’s time for my A...
Trump Unveils $1,776 Warrior Dividend for Servicemembers in National Address
Washington Examiner, Approved, National

Trump Unveils $1,776 Warrior Dividend for Servicemembers in National Address

By Christian Datoc | Washington Examiner President Donald Trump delivered an end-of-year address to the nation on Wednesday night, the vast majority of which consisted of him repeating attacks on his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, as he sought to once again tie him to affordability concerns among voters. Eleven months after re-entering office with virtually the highest approval rating of his political career, the president finds himself having lost significant support from voters, specifically regarding his stewardship of financial matters, as the president’s tariffs maintain inflationary pressure on consumer markets. A poll published Tuesday by Reuters found that just 33% of respondents gave Trump’s economic policies a passing grade, down 10 poi...
Justices Take Key Immigration Case on Trump Order Limiting Birthright Citizenship
Washington Examiner, Approved, National

Justices Take Key Immigration Case on Trump Order Limiting Birthright Citizenship

By Jack Birle | The Washington Examiner The Supreme Court announced Friday that it will hear arguments in a case challenging President Donald Trump‘s executive order on birthright citizenship later this term. In an order released Friday afternoon, the justices said they would take up for review Trump v. Barbara, a case originally brought in a federal court in New Hampshire by a group of people whose children could be affected by the order. The Justice Department filed petitions to the high court to hear the Barbara case and Trump v. Washington, a challenge brought by Democrat-led states, in September, arguing the justices should rule on the legality of the order. “The government has a compelling interest in en...