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The Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization has triggered a slew of abortion bans, with devastating consequences for women and their families. The lawsuit filed in Texas by five women and two doctors documents the danger and suffering the states abortion ban has inflicted on women, the dire consequences for women who need appropriate care for miscarriages, and the impact on the medical profession.

A new report from the National Center for Health Statistics documents that even before Dobbs, the United States already-high maternal death rate was rising (32.9 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2021 compared with 23.8 in 2020 and 20.1 in 2019), especially for Black women (2.6 times that of White women). After Dobbs, that figure can be expected to soar.

Where are the Senate hearings on this health crisis? Senators should bring in a variety of health-care specialists, hospital officials, medical ethicists, women, families of female victims, sociologists and statisticians (to highlight the economic, emotional and family impact when women are forced to give birth against their will), and legal scholars (to, among other things, explain the inherent vagueness and unworkability of state statutes). Senate Republicans who have cheered these bans should see evidence of the harm they support.

Hearings would serve an array of critical legislative purposes: to secure abortion access (despite the Houses forced-birth fanaticism), protect womens right to travel to secure critical care, enact appropriate policy for military and federal civilian personnel, or appropriate funding for further study.

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Opinion | Democrats are lagging on oversight - The Washington Post

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Along with Scott, seven other Republican senators have cosponsored the resolution. A House version, introduced March 7, has 10 cosponsors five of them Democrats.

The two-year pause now in effect prevents any new tariffs associated with a U.S. Department of Commerce investigation into solar panel imports from Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia. The Biden administration sought to give the solar industry time to import components from those countries as it builds up a domestic supply chain.

The Commerce Department announced in December that it had made a preliminary affirmative determination that solar panels imported from those countries circumvented tariffs on Chinese-made solar components, delivering a blow to the industry. Commerces final determination is expected May 1.

Along with introducing the resolution, Scott joined Sen. Bill Posey, R-Fla., in sending a Feb. 16 letter to the secretaries of commerce and defense that said solar panels reportedly found on a Chinese balloon that had entered U.S. airspace in late January to early February were likely Chinese-made panels, therefore the moratorium should be overturned.

Not only is the Biden administration protecting Chinese solar companies and allowing them to continue illegal trade activity without consequence, but the administration is also quite possibly protecting the very same companies providing solar panels that are powering Chinese spy balloons, Scott and Posey wrote.

Barring any change, the pause will be effective through June 2024.

U.S.solar installations declined in 2021 and 2022, according to consulting firm Wood Mackenzie,as developers grappled with supply constraints resulting from the Commerce investigation, enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, and COVIDs overall impact on the global supply chain.

But demand for solar projects increased in 2022 after the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which contained tax credits incentivizing renewable energy projects. Rosens memo said that the resolution of disapproval would undermine the success of the Inflation Reduction Act by starving the American solar market from critically important panels and cells that cannot be obtained in the U.S.

She said U.S. solar panel manufacturers are currently only able to meet 15% of domestic demand on their own.

Though domestic solar companies like First Solar are making large investments in rapid manufacturing expansions, doubt exists in the industry as to whether even the two-year pause would provide enough time for build-out.

Robb Jetty,chief operating officer at Distributed Solar Development, said in a December interview that a two-year timeline for establishing a robust domestic solar supply chain was literally impossible and there is no way that manufacturing capacity would be able to respond in that time period to meet the demands of projects that developers are going to want to bring online.

Rosens memo states that the pause was a prudent compromise to allow a transition period and that the misguided Republican resolution would upend the industrys delicate balance of supply and demand.

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Sen. Rosen urges fellow Democrats to keep solar tariff pause in ... - Utility Dive

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signs a law to include the rights of LGBTQ people in Michigan's Civil Rights law on Thursday, March 16, 2023, in Lansing, Mich. Rick Pluta/Michigan Public Radio Network hide caption

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signs a law to include the rights of LGBTQ people in Michigan's Civil Rights law on Thursday, March 16, 2023, in Lansing, Mich.

LANSING, Mich. In her State of the State address this year, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer had something no other Democratic governor has had since the early 1980s a legislature willing to pass her agenda, even if with only a two-seat majority in both chambers.

"We spoke with a clear voice in November," Whitmer said. "We want the ability to raise a family without breaking the bank, strong protections for our fundamental rights to vote and control our own bodies."

And Democrats have wasted no time getting their top priorities to the governor's desk. Within the first two months of the many-months long legislative session, Democrats passed their centerpiece tax plan, a bill to repeal the state's defunct 1931 abortion ban and legislation to create civil rights protections for LGBTQ people.

Some items, like the civil rights expansion, came with a few Republican votes while the abortion ban repeal fell closer to party lines.

"I am grateful that we are finally, finally addressing it and repealing this archaic and punitive law once and for all," said Democratic Rep. Laurie Pohutsky, who sponsored the abortion repeal. Pohutsky physically tore a page containing the old law from a book of Michigan statutes as she spoke.

But it hasn't all been easy. Democratic leadership learned a tough lesson when votes over the big tax cut got messy.

The plan started as two separate proposals to roll back taxes on pension income and increase the earned income tax credit, but funding for business incentives and other spending got roped in.

When the House vote did come up, after hours of waiting, no one was allowed to speak. Republican anger was palpable as they shouted down leadership.

This moxy comes after years of Democrats feeling powerless in the minority, often being gaveled down. Now, they're finding themselves using some of the same tactics they once criticized Republicans for.

"Voters exercised their power in terms of what they wanted us to do," said Democratic House Speaker Joe Tate. "They want us to be effective and I think we've shown that."

Now, Democrats are rushing to pass the last of their early goals before going on spring break.

That means getting labor priorities, like repealing the state's 2012 right-to-work law and a requirement for construction contracts to pay prevailing wage to the governor. Also, a deadly mass shooting at Michigan State University pushed gun control bills up on the priority list.

A large crowd attends a rally to demand action on gun safety at the Michigan State Capitol on March 15, 2023, in Lansing, Mich. The rally comes as gun safety bills are making their way through the Michigan legislature. Chris duMond/Getty Images hide caption

A large crowd attends a rally to demand action on gun safety at the Michigan State Capitol on March 15, 2023, in Lansing, Mich. The rally comes as gun safety bills are making their way through the Michigan legislature.

Meanwhile, Republicans are hoping that speed backfires. While their colleagues are selling the labor proposals as pro-worker, Republicans argue they're unpopular and expensive.

"This is the beginning of the Democrat overreach that's going to lead to their demise and the Republicans taking back the House," Republican House Minority Leader Matt Hall told reporters ahead of his chamber passing right-to-work repeal legislation.

"They shouldn't gulp, they should sip," says Associated Builders and Contractors of Michigan President and CEO Jimmy Greene who has been a longtime supporter of right-to-work.

He says he understands why Democrats are moving so fast this time around but warns against them overplaying their hand.

"They should show that they're responsible with power. Right now, it looks like they're power hungry," Greene says.

It's hard to tell how strong the Democratic majority truly is, Greene says. Arguably, Democrats won control of the legislature with the help of a massive turnout spurred on by an abortion rights ballot measure. Not to mention newly independently drawn voting districts that ended up competitive anyway.

One factor in Democrats' favor, though infighting within the state Republican Party.

"I think the Republican party is the best gift Democrats have. The idea that they're doing all this right now with [an] absolutely dysfunctional, inoperative, broke party apparatus?" Greene says. "Let's be honest. They're not afraid of Republicans. I wouldn't be."

There could be a long road ahead. The legislature still has all year to meet.

Colin Jackson is the capitol reporter at the Michigan Public Radio Network.

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Michigan works to pass LGBTQ protections, repeal abortion, right-to ... - NPR

Its so much in Donald Trumps character to violate the entire regime governing gifts from foreign states, Mr. Raskin said. He added that Trump is exactly someone who the framers had in mind when they included the emoluments clauses in the Constitution, which bars any federal office holder from accepting any type of gift from a foreign state without Congresss consent to prevent American policy from being dictated by foreigners.

The report also raised issues involving a domestic gift. It cited an email exchange from Jan. 15, 2021, in which the Trump White Houses top ethics lawyer, Scott Gast, expressed concerns that a Mac Pro computer from Mr. Cook, which was valued at $5,999, had been intended as a gift to the U.S. government, not Mr. Trump. Gifts that are given to the government are considered government property and cannot be taken by officials.

In response, a Trump aide, Desiree Thompson Sayle, said, Well, we cant find it.

A year later, in Mr. Trumps financial disclosure forms, he listed the computer among the gifts he had received and kept. The episode in some ways echoed a dispute involving former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton after they left the White House in 2001. They were accused of taking a sofa, a rug and chairs from the White House that had been given to the government, not them. The Clintons ultimately returned the furnishings.

A spreadsheet compiled by White House aides in the final days of the Trump administration listed gifts that Mr. Trump needed to decide whether he wanted to keep. Among the items that he had already decided to accept and publicly disclose was a gold pendant necklace that he had received during a trip to Saudi Arabia in 2017.

The necklace, which was valued at $6,400, was on moving truck to Mar-a-Lago, according to the spreadsheet. There is no evidence Mr. Trump paid for the necklace. In response to questions from the committee, the National Archives said it believed it was in possession of the necklace but had not gone through its warehouse to find it.

Matthew Cullen contributed reporting.

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Trump Failed to Follow Law on Foreign Gifts, House Democrats Say - The New York Times

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is leading a group of Republican senators in introducing a constitutional amendment that would rebuff any attempt by a future president or Congress to pack the United States Supreme Court.

Cruz's proposed amendment simply states, "the Supreme Court of the United States shall be composed of nine justices." The amendment is co-sponsored by Sens. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., Mike Lee, R-Utah, Tom Cotton, R-Ark., Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Josh Hawley, R-Mo., Thom Tillis, R-N.C., John Kennedy, R-La., Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., and Mike Braun, R-Ind.

"The Democrats answer to a Supreme Court that is dedicated to upholding the rule of law and the Constitution is to pack it with liberals who will rule the way they want. The Supreme Court should be independent, not inflated by every new administration. Thats why Ive introduced a constitutional amendment to permanently keep the number of justices at nine," Cruz said in a statement.

If passed by Congress, his amendment would head to the states for ratification. Cruz originally introduced the amendment in 2021, in response to statements from Democrats suggesting that they might seek to add more justices to the Supreme Court to reduce the influence of the three conservative justices appointed by former President Donald Trump.

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ASKS SUPREME COURT TO OVERTURN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE GUN RULING

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on Wednesday will introduce an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would set the number of Supreme Court justices at nine.

In October 2020, just before the presidential election, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said "everything is on the table" during an appearance on MSNBC when asked what Democrats could do about the court if they regained control of the Senate that year.

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Calls then intensified after the Court overturned Roe v. Wade in a landmark decision last year. "Right-wing extremists have hijacked the Supreme Court of the United States," progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., tweeted last year after a draft opinion by Justice Samuel Alito was leaked. "We must #ExpandTheCourt to rebalance it and defend our basic rights, including the constitutional right to an abortion."

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TEXAS UNIVERSITY DEFENDS DEI, AFFIRMATIVE ACTION AS A MATTER OF NATIONAL SECURITY ADMID SCOTUS CASE

The U.S. Supreme Court has had nine justices since 1869.

"For years the left has been desperate to pack the court to promote their radical agenda. We must ensure that we stay true to the courts founding principles, maintain the precedent of nine justices, and keep the Democrats from their brazen attempts to rig our democracy," said Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo.

House Republicans introduced a companion amendment in January, waring that Democratic lawmakers will "weaponize" the high court if they gain control of Congress.

POOP AND PARODY TO BE ARGUED AT SUPREME COURT IN HIGH-STAKES INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY DISPUTE

A constitutional amendment passed by Congress must be ratified by 38 of 50 states.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed back in June 2022 that President Biden does not support court-packing during an Air Force One press gaggle.

"That is something that the president does not agree with,,"Jean-Pierre told reporters during the gaggle. "That is not something that he wants to do."

Fox News' Haley Chi-Sing contributed to this report.

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Cruz to introduce constitutional amendment to prevent Democrats from packing Supreme Court - Yahoo News