Politics

By Yelena Dzhanova On the campaign trail Saturday night, Sen. Lindsey Graham said women are welcome anywhere in the country — provided that they’re anti-abortion. The Republican senator took the stage at a campaign event in Conway, South Carolina, his home state, and praised Amy Coney Barrett, the newly appointed Supreme Court justice. “You know what I …

By Matt Barnum The law is clear: In order to be eligible for federal charter grants, charter schools must not be “affiliated with a sectarian school or religious institution.” But Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said earlier this week that she will no longer enforce this prohibition. Religious organizations should feel free to apply for federal money to open charter …

By Zalman Rothschild The U.S. Supreme Court is poised to decide a case this term that, once again, pits religious freedom against the rights of the LGBTQ community. Earlier this month, Justice Clarence Thomas, in a concurrence written on behalf of himself and Justice Samuel Alito, attacked Obergefell v. Hodges, the decision that established a constitutional right …

By Sydney Bauer A Texas regulatory board has reinstated protections that bar social workers from refusing services to LGBTQ people and people with disabilities. The Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council, or BHEC, on Tuesday unanimously reversed an Oct. 12 decision made by the Texas State Board of Social Work Examiners, which had stripped language from its …

By John Gramlich The United States holds a presidential election every four years, but it’s not just the candidates and issues that change from one campaign cycle to the next. The electorate itself is in a slow but constant state of flux, too. The profile of the U.S. electorate can change for a variety of …

By Jack Jenkins Christian musician Sean Feucht held a politically charged concert in front of thousands on the National Mall Sunday night (Oct. 25), framing his performance as a protest against restrictions on churches but also voicing opposition to abortion and celebrating the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court. Throngs of …

By Sarah Pulliam Bailey The new congregation is gathered in a barn in Lenoir City, Tenn., with a roof that has a 60-foot American flag painted on it. And they are praying for a Trump landslide. Standing in a circle, the dozen or so men and women, young and old, lay their hands on their …

By Nicholas Fandos Judge Amy Coney Barrett, a conservative appeals court judge and protégée of former Justice Antonin Scalia, was confirmed on Monday to the Supreme Court, capping a lightning-fast Senate approval that handed President Trump a victory ahead of the election and promised to tip the court to the right for years to come. …

By Hemant Mehta One of the U.S. House seats Republicans hope to keep on their side of the fence next week is the one representing North Carolina’s 11th District. There’s reason to believe 25-year-old Madison Cawthorn (below) — a MAGA cultist in every sense of that word — will retain support from the red-leaning district, but it’s not …

By Levi Ismail Parents in Williamson County are applying for mask exemptions based on religion and school officials from both districts say little stands in their way. Franklin Special School District is hardly the only district where these rules apply. They just happen to be one of the few willing to be transparent about what …

By Patrick Szabo On Sept. 28, the Alexandria-based Calvary Road Baptist Church, the Staunton-based Community Fellowship Church, the Charlottesville-based Community Christian Academy and the Lansdowne-based Care Net pregnancy center filed a lawsuit against Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring, Senior Assistant Attorney General Thomas Payne and the State Corporation Commission in Loudoun County Circuit Court alleging …

By Jack Jenkins Since the moment Judge Amy Coney Barrett was announced as President Donald Trump’s nominee to fill the Supreme Court seat left vacant by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, debate has swirled around how Barrett’s Catholic faith might affect how she would rule on various issues — especially abortion. But some scholars and …