Speaker of the House Gilbert Reappoints Retired Judge Hupp to Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission

Speaker of the House of Delegates Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah) reappointed retired judge Dennis Hupp to a two-year term on the Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission (VCSC), a body that creates felony sentencing guidelines.

“As someone who has had the pleasure of practicing before Judge Hupp, I know what an exceptional jurist he has been, and I’m grateful to him for agreeing to return to the Criminal Sentencing Commission where we previously served together,” Gilbert said in a Monday announcement.

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Biden Admin Scraps Another Trump-Era Policy

The Biden administration has ended a program used to expel migrants to Mexico as they await immigration proceedings, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement Monday.

The Trump-era policy, which is also known as “Remain in Mexico,” was long fought in the courts after the Texas attorney general sued the Biden administration for ending the program.

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Commentary: A History Lesson for President Joe Biden

A nation emerging from a significant pandemic and an economic downturn awaited President Joe Biden in early 2021. President Warren G. Harding inherited a similar situation after winning the 1920 election in a landslide. But Harding overcame it by getting government out of the way. The economy recovered quickly—whereas Biden enacted bad progressive policies that have resulted in a double-dip recession with 40-year high inflation.

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Top 10 Tough Votes Democrats Had to Take During Vote-a-Rama for Massive Spending Bill

During a “vote-a-rama” on their $739 billion reconciliation spending bill that has hundreds of billions for climate and health care programs, Democratic senators had to take a series of uncomfortable votes on hot-button issues — particularly tough for those representing swing states.

The bill, which also includes federal funding for 87,000 new IRS agents, passed on a party line vote 51-50 with Vice President Kamala Harris breaking the tie.

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Fed Study: Ending Pandemic Unemployment Aid Connected to ‘Substantial Rise’ in Employment

States that ended pandemic unemployment aid saw “a substantial rise” in employment, according to a recent working paper from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

The study, which used data from 46 states and Washington, D.C., found that “in the three months following a state’s [emergency unemployment benefits] termination, employment increased by about 37 people for every 100-person reduction in EUB recipients.”

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Commentary: Associated Press Injects Woke Ideology into Its Stylebook

Since 1953, the AP Stylebook has been a go-to manual for journalistic grammar and style at most media outlets. It lays out basic rules about grammar, punctuation, phrasing, and the like, intended to have universal applicability. In the past, it was aimed at reducing bias and creating a framework for evenhanded reporting.

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Report: Labor Productivity Dropped Most Since 1948

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released new economic data Tuesday showing the sharpest quarterly decline in labor productivity since 1948.

BLS reported a 4.6% decrease in labor productivity in the second quarter of this year as the economy shrank and labor costs rose. This data follows a decrease in productivity the first quarter of 2022 as well.

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Miyares Joins Amicus Brief Supporting Decision to Vacate Travel Mask Mandate

Attorney General Jason Miyares joined an amicus brief opposing the Biden administration’s ongoing lawsuit over the CDC’s mask mandate for interstate travel. A district court vacated the requirement, but the CDC appealed, and the Health Freedom Defense Fund v. Biden case is now in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.

“Mask Mandates across the country have been lifted in virtually every aspect of daily life. For months, Americans have been traveling safely while making their own, autonomous decisions. The CDC mask mandate on public transportation, like air travel, is obsolete and no longer necessary – not to mention a clear example of federal overreach,” Miyares said in a press release.

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