7. Graham is out on SCOTUS nominee

• U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) announced that he would not vote to confirm U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, despite previously voting for her appointment to an appellate court.
• Graham said, “My decision is based upon her record of judicial activism, flawed sentencing methodology regarding child pornography cases, and belief that Judge Jackson will not be deterred by the plain meaning of the law when it comes to liberal causes.” Another potential swing vote, U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine), has announced she will vote for the nominee to be confirmed.

6. Passports have gone woke

• The United States will now offer more than two options for gender on passports, including the third option of “X” for individuals who choose not to identify as either male or female. The new option on passport applications will start on April 11.
• Secretary of State Antony Blinken outlined, “The Department of State has reached another milestone in our work to better serve all U.S. citizens, regardless of their gender identity.” The option of an “Unspecified or another gender identity” is “respectful of individuals’ privacy while advancing including,” according to Blinken.

5. Alabama facing a lawsuit over unemployment checks

• A new lawsuit is being brought against the Alabama Department of Labor (ADOL) by Legal Services Alabama with the claim that there was a delay in the process of unemployment benefits, including communication between applicants and the agency.
• In the complaint, Legal Services Alabama said, “Plaintiffs have experienced extreme delays at every step of the unemployment process.” The state responded to the lawsuit, saying, “In the wake of a once-in-a-century pandemic, ADOL faced a tsunami of unemployment claims.”

4. Biden could remove Title 42 and open the border to chaos

• There has been more speculation that President Joe Biden could remove the Title 42 order that was put in place during the coronavirus pandemic at the southern border to prevent massive migration, but now there is a concern of a steep increase of caravans this summer if the order is removed. A source at the Department of Homeland Security suggests that medical personnel from the Veterans Administration to handle the surge.
• U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) said “they should reconsider” and stated that he doesn’t support removing Title 42. Manchin went on to say, “If anything we should be looking at permanency on Title 42. Maybe that would spur us to get a good immigration policy that works for Americans and secure our borders – the borders have to be secure.”

3. Tuberville: We should be drilling

• U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) recently appeared on “Fox Business Tonight” where he discussed the high prices in the country and the 2023 fiscal year budget that’s been proposed by President Joe Biden. Tuberville said, “We need to drill, drill, drill – not tax tax tax,” and went on to add, “Now is the time to be frugal. Now is the time to help the American people. Now is the time to lower taxes, try to get more jobs, try to get inflation down.” Tuberville mentioned, “We have to be energy independent. I know everybody’s saying that, but until we do that; until the Democrats decide and understand that we have to be energy independent, inflation’s going to keep rising.”
• But Biden is not interested in any of this. His administration’s plan to lower gas prices includes half-steps like blaming unnamed oil and gas companies, fining those companies for not drilling on land they own leases on even though the lease process is the first part of exploring to see if there is oil there, adding ethanol to gasoline, and releasing an amount of oil from the federal strategic petroleum reserve that will do little to prices but will place the supply at the lowest point since 1984. Depleting the reserves is expected to lower costs by 10 to 35 cents.

2. School discipline bill is receiving pushback

• State Senator Roger Smitherman (D-Birmingham) has introduced a piece of legislation that would attempt to align school disciplinary action with a statewide system as a way to eliminate disparities.
• Some education officials have voiced concerns about how this legislation could prevent disciplinary action allowed at all, but Smitherman has said this isn’t true. The bill would require a trial for suspensions of over 11 days, parents or guardians have to be given notice of at least 10 days if the student is being subjected to long-term punishment, bans suspension and expulsion for Pre-K through 5^th grade students with some exceptions, and all suspensions and expulsions would be prohibited for truancy and tardiness.

1. School choice has to come up until it’s passed

• State Senator Will Barfoot (R-Pike Road) stated that bills like State Senator Del Marsh’s (R-Anniston) “The Parent’s Choice Act” have to keep being reintroduced in the Alabama Legislature until Alabama parents have school choice.
• Barfoot explained, “We have a responsibility to make sure that our kids have the best education we can and parental choice is part of that.” Barfoot added, “I believe that you will see it next year and the year after and the year after until we make those changes and I’m passionate about it.”