Legislation pushed by Senate Republicans to exclude non-citizens, including illegal immigrants, from being tallied on the census for the purposes of apportionment for House seats and the Electoral College was defeated late Friday after failing to get support from a single Democrat.

Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) proposed an amendment to the $460 billion spending package that would require the Census Bureau to include a citizenship question in any future census and then bar anyone who is not a US citizen from being counted for congressional district and Electoral College apportionment.

While the plan would also exclude legal immigrants on temporary visas and green cards from the census, the move is specifically intended to prevent illegal immigrants from being counted amid millions of new entries into the United States under the Biden regime.

The law would be comparable to a Trump administration plan to include a citizenship question on the 2020 census. Democrats and left-wing immigration organizations slammed Trump’s move, claiming that a citizenship issue was illegal and intended to benefit Republicans in future elections.

The Heritage Foundation’s Lora Ries and the President of the National Immigration Center For Enforcement R.J. Hauman co-wrote an essay warning that illegal immigration is causing “warped representation” in Congress.

“Barring the Census from including non-citizens in apportionment is critical in making sure that American citizens — the only population who can and should vote in U.S. elections — are picking America’s leaders,” Ries and Hauman wrote, warning that the crisis is “distorting the representation that states have in the House, and how many electoral votes they have in presidential elections.”

However, Hagerty’s proposal failed because 51 Democrats and Independents voted against it or were absent. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, a Republican, also voted against the plan. All other Republicans either supported the bill or were not present. The result was 51 to 45 against.

Billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, the owner of social media platform X, reacted to the legislative defeat.

Most Americans do not know that the US census currently counts, for purposes of voting power, all people in a district, regardless of citizenship!

Senate Democrats just voted unanimously to defeat an amendment that would have stopped counting illegals for congressional seat… https://t.co/5gXt4Z1wzP

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 9, 2024

“Most Americans do not know that the US census currently counts, for purposes of voting power, all people in a district, regardless of citizenship!” he wrote. “Senate Democrats just voted unanimously to defeat an amendment that would have stopped counting illegals for congressional seat apportionment and electoral college (presidential) votes.”

“Since illegals are mostly in Democrat states, both the House and the Presidential vote are shifted ~5% to the left, which is enough to change the entire balance of power!” he added. “This is a major reason why the Biden administration is ushering in record levels of illegals and doing so few deportations.”

Stacy Washington, a political commentator, added more context.

Democrats would not have the border open without the SCOTUS decision requiring non citizens to be counted in the CENSUS.

These illegals cannot legally vote. But they can increase the number of seats in the House of Representatives, ensuring Democrats have control of the House.

— Stacy Washington (@StacyOnTheRight) March 9, 2024

“Democrats would not have the border open without the SCOTUS decision requiring non citizens to be counted in the CENSUS,” she noted. “These illegals cannot legally vote. But they can increase the number of seats in the House of Representatives, ensuring Democrats have control of the House.”

Another commentator, @DogRightGirl, also noted the implications of the vote.

“Democrat Senators just admitted they use illegals (in census) to gain Congressional seats,” she said. “All Dems voted against Sen. Bill Hagerty’s amendment to stop illegal aliens from being counted in apportionment for congressional districts and the Electoral College.”

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The death of Angela Chao, the sister-in-law of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, continues to haunt American headlines.

There are numerous questions about the timing and circumstances of Angela Chao’s death, which was first reported in the American media in early February as an “unfortunate accident” at an Austin, Texas area ranch whose ownership can be traced to a company with ties to her billionaire capitol investor husband Jim Breyer.

Chao’s “unfortunate accident” occurred when her husband Jim Breyer was in the United Arab Emirates for an event calling itself the “World Government Summit.”

Angela Chao’s death was also referenced by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell as one trigger for his surprise announcement to retire from politics.

As reported by the New York Post on that seismic event in Senate politics, “McConnell cited the recent death of his wife’s youngest sister as a moment that prompted introspection.”

But Angela Chao’s death itself came amidst a number of changes in the relationship between the Chao family of shipping tycoons and China. In an interesting wrinkle to the story, Breyer in January had announced that his firm Breyer Capital was suspending investments in China for 18 months. In early February, IDG Capital, a venture firm with offices in Beijing and Hong Kong that is co-chaired by Jim Breyer, had to fend off the Pentagon’s accusations that it is assisting the Chinese military.

According to U.S. media details that eventually arose (foreign reports surfacing earlier had oddly described her death as a result of an intoxicated trucker running a red light and killing her in an accident), Chao had backed her Tesla into a pond and drowned.

There are perceived issues over this story: Teslas do not roll backwards like gas-powered vehicles that are put into “neutral.” Some also believe it is possible that Chao’s Tesla may have been “hacked” (like in the movie “Leave the World Behind.”)

The official response fueled speculation due to the mixed messages it sent.

“This incident was not a typical accident,” the Blanco County Sheriff’s Office wrote in a letter to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton following Chao’s death.

“Although the preliminary investigation indicated this was an unfortunate accident, the Sheriff’s Office is still investigating this accident as a criminal matter until they have sufficient evidence to rule out criminal activity,” the letter said.

It was an “unfortunate accident,” but not a “typical accident”; and thus, a criminal investigation was opened.

Now, there may be some clarity over the circumstances of Chao’s death. The New York Post is reporting that Chao had made a 911 call during the eventually fatal incident.

Angela Chao, Sen. Mitch McConnell’s billionaire sister-in-law, spent her last minutes alive frantically calling her friends for help as her Tesla slowly sank in a pond on a remote Texas ranch, according to a report.

Chao, the billionaire former CEO of dry bulk shipping giant Foremost Group, tragically died at the age of 50 on Feb. 10 after accidentally backing her car into the pond while making a three-point turn.

The driving mishap was detailed in a report by The Wall Street Journal that shed light on the chaotic rescue efforts that ultimately came up short, turning what was supposed to be a celebratory weekend with friends into a nightmare.

The Wall Street Journal conducted several interviews in order to piece together what allegedly happened on the night Chao died.

The night was chilly and very dark, with no moon, so rather than walk, Chao got in her Tesla Model X SUV for the four-minute trip back to the house. […]

Within minutes of saying her goodbyes, she called one of her friends in a panic. While making a three-point turn, she had put the car in reverse instead of drive, she said. It is a mistake she had made before with the Tesla gearshift. The car had zipped backward, tipping over an embankment and into a pond. It was sinking fast…

Over the next several hours, her friends, then the ranch manager and his wife, and then paramedics, and firefighters and sheriff’s deputies rushed around and tried to break the windows, find an escape hatch or any way to get Chao out of the car. 

The WSJ piece goes on to explain why Chao may have had a difficult time escaping. A motorist has approximately one minute to get out of a sinking automobile. When automobiles were built with more manual mechanics, a driver could crank down the window to get out, but this still required mental clarity, which is sometimes elusive in an emergency. In modern vehicles, such as the Tesla Model X, the driver may have seconds to press the button to pull down the window before the water level climbs too high. After that, the only way out is to shatter it, according to vehicle safety experts.

That is extremely tough underwater, and it becomes even more difficult when attempting to bash through tempered glass or stronger laminated glass, which is used by the majority of automobile manufacturers nowadays. According to company documents, Tesla could have utilized any of these two kinds of glass in its 2020 Model X. Laminated glass, in particular, is praised for its safety features, such as preventing a driver from being ejected after a collision; yet, the American Automobile Association’s testing found that it is very difficult to break while underwater.

The basic timeline of events leading up to Chao’s death, based on the WSJ investigation and additional reporting, is as follows.

On Friday night, after eating dinner and celebrating the Chinese New Year, Chao left the guesthouse about 11:30 p.m. to return to the main home, where her son slept. Due to the frigid weather, she chose to drive her Tesla Model X SUV instead of walking the four-minute distance.

However, within minutes, she contacted one of her pals in a panic. She explained that when performing a K-turn, she put the car in reverse rather than drive. While traveling rearward, the automobile slid over an embankment and into a pond, sinking quickly.

Her friends rushed to her aid, and one lady dove into the water, according to the Journal. The ranch manager and his wife went outside after hearing the disturbance, and someone else in addition to Chao called 911.

Blanco County emergency units arrived at 12:28 a.m., a full 24 minutes after receiving the call, according to an incident record acquired by the Post. Because of the difficult terrain, some responders exited their vehicles and walked to the site.

One respondent characterized the Tesla as fully submerged. During the rescue operations, sheriff’s deputies stood on top of it, attempting to break through a window.

According to the event report, a dive crew was required, but none was available. A tow truck arrived to remove the automobile out of the pond, but it lacked the necessary cable to reach the vehicle, which was considerably further out in the pond than rescuers had expected.

A longer cable was ultimately found. According to a witness at the scene, at least one tow truck driver was concerned about getting electrocuted by the electric car. Around 12:56 a.m., a two-man rescue crew extracted Chao from the automobile, according to authorities. When the car’s doors were opened, hundreds of gallons of water poured out.

Chao was unconscious, and EMS personnel attempted to revive her for 43 minutes without success, authorities said.

Angela Chao was much more than the daughter of a Chinese shipping tycoon who became the CEO of Foremost Group. She was a member of the board of the Bank of China and a vice chair of the Council of China’s Foreign Trade. She was also a director of the China State Shipbuilding Corporation, a Chinese government-owned enterprise that makes ships for the Chinese military and Foremost Group. She was also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Her sister is Elaine Chao, the wife of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and herself a former labor and transportation secretary. An inspector general report in 2021 accused Elaine Chao of abusing her influence while in office to help her family’s shipping business.

The Transportation Department’s inspector general delivered a 44-page report that laid out how Chao exploited her office personnel for a dozen personal duties and work connected to promoting the business development of the Foremost Group.

Despite the fact that the inspector general forwarded complaints of Chao’s alleged abuses to the Justice Department’s U.S. attorney’s office and Public Integrity Section in December, the Justice Department declined to conduct an investigation, claiming a lack of proof of criminal misconduct.

According to the report, Chao instructed her staff in departmental emails to include her father, sister, and brother-in-law in official events and high-level meetings planned for a departmental travel to China.

As reported by the New York Times, Chao had abused her office to boost the family’s shipping firm in China, where the government manages a bank with loan guarantees from the company worth “hundreds of millions of dollars.”

The Times report said Foremost Group’s “fleet is overwhelmingly focused on China.”

According to the report, in addition to the shipping firm, Chao’s family has other links to the Chinese Communist Party, including board seats in state-owned enterprises and a strong friendship between Chao’s father and former Chinese President and General Secretary Jiang Zemin.

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A Trump-appointed federal judge has blocked Republicans’ efforts to stop President Joe Biden’s migrant parole program.

The Biden policy has allowed up to 30,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela (CHNV) to enter the United States each month and stay for up to two years, according to the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

Texas and 20 other Republican-led states sued the administration over the program, but U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton dismissed the case, stating that the plaintiffs failed to show how they were “injured” by the policy.

Over 541,000 migrants have been granted entrance into the United States through the parole procedure, the DCNF reported.

“Plaintiffs … are unable to demonstrate that they have been injured by the Program, and as a result, they lack standing to bring these claims,” Tipton wrote. “In reaching this conclusion, the Court does not address the lawfulness of the Program. The Court may only reach that question after a plaintiff has established that it has standing.”

The Biden administration has given parole to nearly 541,000 migrants seeking entrance into the United States, using internal government figures, court documents, and public reporting.

Republican states filed a lawsuit against the scheme in January 2023, claiming that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is working “under the false pretense of preventing aliens from unlawfully crossing the border between the ports of entry.”

According to USCIS, parole is used to provide temporary entrance to migrants in need of humanitarian aid or who are assessed to be of “significant public benefit.”

“The number of CHNV nationals entering the United States since the Program’s implementation has dramatically decreased by as much as 44 percent,” according to the court’s order on Friday.

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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is nearing ballot access in three crucial battleground states that President Joe Biden won in 2020 but is lagging behind in polls against former President Donald Trump for 2024.

Kennedy’s campaign announced on Super Tuesday it received the required signatures to get his candidacy on the ballot in Nevada, and his aligned super PAC American Values 2024 surpassed similar thresholds in Arizona and Georgia just last week. In the three battleground states, where the previous election was decided by less than 56,000 ballots combined, polling suggests Trump’s lead against Biden grows when Kennedy and other third-party candidates are on the ballot.

“Nearly 70% of Americans don’t want a Trump/Biden rematch from 2020. They want to vote for someone who represents hope and healing. For someone with an inspiring vision for America,” Kennedy said in a statement Tuesday. “I look forward to taking on Presidents Biden and Trump on the issues that matter most to Americans — from making housing and health care affordable to ending the forever wars and unraveling corporate capture of our government.”

Trump is beating Biden by 7.7 points in Nevada, 6.5 points in Georgia and 5.5 points in Arizona for head-to-head matchups, according to the RealClearPolitics (RCP) averages. The former president’s leads grow slightly to 8.5 points in Nevada, 8 points in Georgia and 7.5 points in Arizona when Kennedy, “Justice for All Party” candidate Cornel West and Green Party candidate Jill Stein are included.

In the three battleground states, Kennedy pulls in the most support of the third-party candidates at anywhere from 6.7% to 8.5% of the share in the RCP averages.

Trump won Arizona and Georgia in 2016, but lost both to Biden the following election by less than one point. The Democratic nominee won Nevada each cycle, with Biden securing the state by 2.4 points in 2020.

Jon McHenry, GOP polling analyst and vice president at North Star Opinion Research, believes that even a small increase in margin for Trump with Kennedy on the ballot in crucial battleground states could be enough to swing the election for him.

“On the face of it, it makes sense that a nominal Democrat like [Kennedy] would take more votes away from President Biden than former President Trump,” McHenry told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “What we’ve seen in our polling is a very slight difference in margin — maybe a point or two better for Trump — because [Kennedy’s] candidacy is more than anything else an anti-Biden statement that provides another option for some folks who might choose Trump in a two way ballot.”

“Of course, if it’s a point or two better for Trump, that could be the difference in states like Arizona, Georgia, and Wisconsin, and flipping those three states would give Trump a win in 2024,” McHenry added.

Kennedy originally challenged Biden for the Democratic nomination in April 2023, where he had been pulling in double-digit support, but switched his affiliation to independent in October.

Mark Weaver, a veteran Republican strategist, argued that Kennedy being a household Democratic name would likely pull more support from Biden’s camp than Trump’s.

“The polls I’ve seen show Trump voters gripping more tightly to their candidate than Biden voters gripping to theirs,” Weaver told the DCNF. “The pull of a third-party candidate will have a greater effect on Biden voters, who are not gripped so tightly to their candidate, than it will on Trump voters.”

Kyle Kondik, nonpartisan polling analyst and managing editor for Sabato’s Crystal Ball, argued that West and Stein’s candidacies pose more of a threat to Biden’s campaign than Kennedy’s does.

“Biden generally does worse on the ‘full ballot,’ but that also includes Cornel West and Jill Stein, who more clearly are left-wing and who more clearly hurt Biden,” Kondik told the DCNF. “[Kennedy’s] effect is harder to quantify, as he generally takes from both Biden and Trump.”

Kennedy has already secured ballot access in Utah, and collected the required signatures to get on the ballot in New Hampshire. American Values 2024 is now focused on gathering signatures in California, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, South Carolina, Texas and West Virginia.

The independent’s supporters collected enough signatures in Hawaii to establish the “We The People” party, which plans on nominating Kennedy for president, the campaign announced on Feb. 22. Kennedy’s allies have also filed the necessary paperwork to form the party in California, Delaware, Mississippi, North Carolina and Texas.

Kennedy’s campaign is aiming to make it on the ballot in all 50 states, as well as Washington, D.C.

The Kennedy, Trump and Biden campaigns did not respond to the DCNF’s requests for comment.

Originally published by the Daily Caller News Foundation

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Fulton County Ethics Board Decides At Last Minute Not To Hear Fani Willis Complaint

The Fulton County Board of Ethics reportedly declined to review two complaints against Fani Willis just before a meeting scheduled for their consideration Thursday.

The board chose not to review the complaints because it found it lacks jurisdiction to enforce the code of ethics against Willis, as she is a state constitutional officer, according to multiple reports. The meeting agenda initially listed two ethics complaints against Willis but was later amended to exclude them.

“The Fulton County Code of Ethics only applies to county officers and employees,” a member of the board stated, according to a video posted by Atlanta News First reporter Doug Reardon. “The Fulton County district attorney does not fall within the definition of a county officer.”

The Fulton County Board of Ethics will NOT hear two Fani Willis complaints. Board apparently has determined it does not have jurisdiction over Willis, a state constitutional officer. #gapol

— David Wickert (@dwickert) March 7, 2024

It is unclear whether the meeting has been canceled entirely, though the Zoom link provided for public access leads to an invalid notice.

Gregory Mantell, who operates the Substack blog Investigative News Service, filed one complaint due to “the DA’s illegal refusal to release certain financial records, including Nathan Wade’s invoices, under Georgia’s public records law.”

Steven Kramer, a Fulton County resident, filed the other complaint, according to the agenda.

The Board of Ethics determined it lacked jurisdiction over Willis, who is an elected state officer, unable to be ethically reviewed by a county board. They noted the investigations going on at the state level. pic.twitter.com/3V8DGPiU3m

— Doug Reardon (@ReardonReports) March 7, 2024

Defense attorney Ashleigh Merchant, who filed the motion to disqualify Willis on behalf of Trump co-defendant Michael Roman in January, testified Wednesday on how she had uncovered the district attorney’s relationship with Nathan Wade at a Georgia State Senate hearing.

The Georgia Senate Special Committee on Investigations held its first meeting Feb. 9 to “thoroughly investigate the allegations of misconduct by the district attorney for Fulton County, Fani Willis, relating to potential conflicts of interest and misuse of public funds, to enact new or amend existing laws and/or change state appropriations to restore public confidence in the criminal justice system.”

Originally published by the Daily Caller News Foundation

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Gold Star Parent is Placed Under Arrest for Interrupting Joe Biden’s State of the Union Speech

Steve Nikoui, a Gold Star parent invited to attend the State of the Union address, has been placed under arrest for interrupting Biden’s speech.

“U.S. Capitol Police confirmed to NBC News that Steven Nikoui, a guest at tonight’s State of the Union address, was arrested for disrupting the speech,” the media outlet reported.

“Our officers warned him to stop and when he did not, the man was removed from the House Galleries and was arrested,” Capitol Police said. “Disrupting the Congress and demonstrating in the Congressional Buildings is illegal.”

Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL) invited Nikoui, who is the father of one of the 13 U.S. service members killed in the attack on Abbey Gate during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

As reported earlier by the Politics Brief, during Biden’s boasting about allegedly making America safer, distraught man yelled “United States Marines!” and “Abbey Gate!”

“The man screaming at Biden during his speech was Steve Nikoui, whose son, Kareem Nikoui, was killed during Biden’s DISASTROUS Afghanistan withdrawal Steve was screaming things like ‘UNITED STATES MARINES’ and ‘ABBEY GATE!’ If there’s anything I’d ask you to do tonight, it’s pray for the Nikoui family, and demand they receive justice for Kareem,” Nick Sortor reported.

Steve Nikoui’s sad story was first told to Americans after President Biden’s disastrous Afghan withdrawal.

“Steve Nikoui had been glued to TV reports on Thursday, desperate for hints his son, Lance Corporal Kareem Nikoui, survived the deadly airport suicide bombing in Afghanistan when three Marines arrived at his door with the worst news possible,” Reuters reported in August 2021.

“The 20-year-old Marine, who the previous day had sent home a video of himself giving candy to Afghan children, was among 13 U.S. service members killed in the bombing,” the story continued. “Others included an expectant father from Wyoming, the son of a California police officer and a medic from Ohio.”

“He was born the same year it started, and ended his life with the end of this war,” Nikoui said.

“Joe Biden has been trying to turn the page on Afghanistan after his incompetence cost American lives, but not on my watch,” Rep. Mast said.  “For the last three years, Joe Biden has done nothing but tried to deflect blame as terrorists have taken hold of Afghanistan, repressed women, and killed those who supported America.  I will continue to call out President Biden to remind him of the damage he has done to national security and American families.”

This Gold Star parent’s arrest adds more insult to injury after Joe Biden infamously checked his watch while at a ceremony for the dignified transfer of remains.

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