Trans youth care ban vetoed by Kansas governor again
Emily Curiel/The Kansas City Star/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
(TOPEKA, Kan.) — Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly has vetoed Senate Bill 63, which would have restricted gender-affirming care for transgender youth.
“Right now, the legislature should be focused on ways to help Kansans cope with rising prices,” Kelly said in a statement emailed late Tuesday. “That is the most important issue for Kansans. That is where my focus is.”
The bill would bar health care providers from administering gender-affirming medical care – including puberty suppressants and hormone therapies – for someone under the age of 18, only for the purposes of gender transitioning. The ban would also apply to gender-affirming surgeries.
“Infringing on parental rights is not appropriate, nor is it a Kansas value,” said Kelly in her veto message. “As I’ve said before, it is not the job of politicians to stand between a parent and a child who needs medical care of any kind. This legislation will also drive families, businesses, and health care workers out of our state, stifling our economy and exacerbating our workforce shortage issue.”
This is the third time Kelly has vetoed similar transgender youth care bills, but the bill may now have the support to pass.
The bill passed the state legislature with flying colors – passing the House 83-35 and the Senate 32-8.
In 2023, the attempt to override a past trans care ban veto lost in the House 82-43.
State Republicans quickly denounced Kelly’s veto.
“The governor’s devotion to extreme left-wing ideology knows no bounds, vetoing a bipartisan bill that prevents the mutilation of minors,” said State Sen. Ty Masterson in an online statement. “The Senate stands firmly on the side of protecting Kansas children and will swiftly override her veto before the ink from her pen is dry.”
Top national medical associations such as the American Medical Association, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and American Academy of Pediatrics and more than 20 others argue that gender-affirming care is safe, effective, beneficial, and medically necessary for transgender populations.
Kelly joins governors past and present in Ohio and Arkansas in vetoing bills that targeted gender-affirming youth care. However, both of their vetoes were overridden.
Across the country, trans youth care restrictions have faced legal hurdles in their enforcement.
The battle and debate has most recently made its way to the national stage, with the Supreme Court considering U.S. v. Skrmetti, which will decide if Tennessee’s law banning some gender-affirming care for transgender minors violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
(WASHINGTON) — Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency group has made swift work of the billionaire’s goal to scale back or dismantle much of the federal government, end diversity policies and otherwise further President Donald Trump’s agenda.
DOGE employees, many of whom have no government experience, have been going through data systems, shutting down DEI programs and in some cases, whole agencies.
The White House and Republicans have claimed, without citing details, that DOGE is accountable to the president and will be kept away from conflicts of interest. Musk, though, according to lawmakers and attorneys representing federal workers, has violated laws, union agreements and civil service protections.
Trump has repeatedly backed Musk.
“Elon is doing a great job, he’s finding tremendous fraud and corruption and waste,” he told reporters Friday.
One DOGE member, Marko Elez, resigned on Feb. 6 amid reports linking him to an account that allegedly posted racist comments.
The next day Musk sent a poll to his X followers asking if the employee should be reinstated and later claimed he would return but did not provide further details. Musk and Vice President J.D. Vance also attacked the female Wall Street Journal reporter who discovered the posts.
Congressional Democrats have staged protests outside affected agencies, tried to enter them but were prevented from doing so by DOGE and Trump officials, and attempted to issue a congressional subpoena for Musk but were blocked by Republicans.
At the same time, opponents have had success fighting Musk’s and DOGE’s moves in the courts, with judges stopping some of DOGE’s orders.
Here is some of what’s known about the DOGE efforts since Trump was sworn in, although there has been little transparency about Musk’s efforts.
Federal government wide
On Jan. 8, the administration sent out buyout offers to over 2 million federal workers, including employees in the CIA.
On Feb. 5, U.S. District Judge George O’Toole Jr. temporarily blocked the offer and extended the deadline to Feb. 10 following lawsuit filed by federal workers’ unions.
NOAA
At least one member of DOGE entered the Department of Commerce — the agency that houses NOAA, the federal agency responsible for forecasting the weather, researching and analyzing climate and weather data and monitoring and tracking extreme weather events like hurricanes. That person was granted access to NOAA’s IT systems, Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said on Feb. 5.
DOGE members accessed computer systems to search for staff and data related to diversity programs.
USAID
Musk announced on Feb. 2 that he was going to shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development, which is responsible for humanitarian efforts around the globe.
The agency’s website was shut down prior to his announcement, leaving many aid groups and American aid workers abroad in the dark about their programs and future.
A lawsuit was filed on Feb. 6 to prevent the move a day before USAID workers were forced to face being forced from their jobs. A day later Judge Carl J. Nichols, a Trump-nominated federal judge, said announced a temporary restraining order that prevents Trump and the DOGE from placing 2,200 employees on administrative leave.
FAA
The Department of Transportation and Musk announced on Feb. 5 that he had access to Federal Aviation Administration technologies to make “rapid safety upgrades,” the billionaire said on X.
Treasury
The Treasury Department gave Musk and DOGE access to the vast federal payment system responsible for handling trillions of dollars in government expenditures.
However, after three federal unions filed a lawsuit against the move, a federal judge ordered on Feb. 5 that read-only data be given to two DOGE employees.
One of those employees was Elez, who resigned from his post a day later.
On Feb. 8, a New York federal judge granted the states suing over DOGE a temporary restraining order that blocked DOGE from accessing taxpayer records, including the Social Security numbers and bank account information of millions of Americans.
Department of Education
DOGE gained access to the Department of Education, which Trump has vowed to dismantle despite such an action needing congressional approval, according to Democratic leaders.
Senate Democrats said Friday they launched an investigation into reports that DOGE gained access to federal student loan data.
(WASHINGTON) — The Senate, in an extremely narrow vote, confirmed Pete Hegseth, President Donald Trump’s embattled pick to serve as secretary of defense.
The vote was initially 50-50, with Vice President JD Vance then casting the tie-breaking vote.
Former GOP leader Mitch McConnell, of Kentucky, voted no. He joined Sens. Susan Collins, of Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska, along with all Democrats in voting against Hegseth’s nomination.
Hegseth, a former “Fox and Friends” television anchor, was nominated by Trump in November to lead the Defense Department. In the time since his nomination was announced, Hegseth has been scrutinized for a number of accusations made against him, including those of sexual assault and financial mismanagement of two different veterans organizations.
Hegseth has fiercely denied the allegations. He appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee for a public hearing earlier this month, where he asserted to the panel that he was a “changed man.”
“I am not a perfect person, but redemption is real,” he told the panel.
Speaking to reporters while on a visit to Los Angeles, President Donald Trump said he was “very happy” with the vote, and said he was not aware of McConnell’s vote.
In a statement released while the vote was still going on, McConnell said that Hegseth’s desire to be a “change agent” was not enough to qualify him for the role of secretary of defense.
“Effective management of nearly 3 million military and civilian personnel, an annual budget of nearly $1 trillion, and alliances and partnerships around the world is a daily test with staggering consequences for the security of the American people and our global interests,” McConnell said in the statement. “Mr. Hegseth has failed, as yet, to demonstrate that he will pass this test. But as he assumes office, the consequences of failure are as high as they have ever been.”
Hegseth was confirmed by one of the narrowest Senate margins of any defense secretary in modern history. Most defense secretaries have been confirmed with broad bipartisan votes.
Lloyd Austin, former President Joe Biden’s pick for defense secretary, was confirmed in a 93-2 vote and Trump’s first pick for defense secretary in his first term, James Mattis, was confirmed in a 98-1 vote.
Before the vote, Hegseth arrived at the Capitol with his wife and children to watch the proceedings in person, a rare move for a Cabinet nominee.
With the Senate’s vote Friday, Hegseth becomes the third member of Trump’s team to be confirmed by the Senate, following Marco Rubio as secretary of state and John Ratcliffe, as CIA director.
During the same hearing, he affirmed his promise to restore the “warfighting ethos” of the DOD, touting his experience in the National Guard.
It was enough to win over the support of most Republicans in the Senate, including several of those who were initially skeptical.
“He articulated a clear vision of the Pentagon, and it was clear to anyone who listened that he is going to bring energy and fresh ideas to shake up the department’s stagnant bureaucracy,” Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a floor speech endorsing Hegseth on Thursday. “He will restore a warfighting ethos and relentlessly focused on the military’s core mission: to deter conflict and, if necessary, to win a war.”
The Senate Armed Services Committee advanced his nomination on a party-line vote on Monday. Then, in a closely watched moment on Thursday, Hegseth’s nomination passed a key test vote that set the table for Friday’s vote of final passage.
The nomination only required a simple majority in the Senate to advance, and it cleared the threshold narrowly, with only GOP backing.
Collins and Murkowski also voted no on that occasion.
In a statement, Murkowski explained that she could not support Hegseth due to concerns about this character and lack of experience.
“I believe that character is the defining trait required of the Secretary of Defense and must be prioritized without compromise,” Murkowski said in the post. “The leader of the Department of Defense must demonstrate and model the standards of behavior and character we expect of all servicemembers, and Mr. Hegseth’s nomination to the role poses significant concerns that I cannot overlook.”
Collins took issue with comments Hegseth made in the past about his belief that women should not serve in combat roles in the military. Though Hegseth has since changed his tune on that, Collins said she was unconvinced.
“I am also concerned about multiple statements, including some in the months just before he was nominated, that Mr. Hegseth has made about women serving in the military,” Collins said. “He and I had a candid conversation in December about his past statements and apparently evolving views. I am not convinced that his position on women serving in combat roles has changed.”
Trump expressed confidence in Hegseth ahead of the vote on Friday, though he added, “You’ll never know what’s going to happen.”
McConnell, the former GOP leader, and North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, ultimately cast votes in favor of advancing Hegseth’s nomination in the earlier test vote, although the president questioned whether McConnell will vote no on Hegseth Friday morning.
Tillis said he was still considering the most recent slate of allegations against Hegseth, leveled in an affidavit from Hegseth’s former sister-in-law Danielle Hegseth. In that affidavit, which ABC News obtained, Danielle Hegseth attested that Pete Hegseth’s ex-wife Samantha told her she “once hid in her closet from Hegseth because she feared for her personal safety” in the home they shared during their marriage. It also detailed episodes of binge drinking by Pete Hegseth.
An attorney for Pete Hegseth denied these allegations, and allegations of abuse were also rejected by his ex-wife.
Tillis said he so far has not found credible evidence to back many of the allegations that have be levied against Pete Hegseth but that he’s still doing his vetting on these most recent developments.
“I am in the process of completing due diligence on what appears to be the last allegation. All the other ones I couldn’t conclude had validity,” Tillis said Thursday. “So I’m talking to people that can give me data inputs. It all goes back to the same thing — first-hand, eye-witness, corroborated account.”
(NEW YORK) — In a final lame-duck push, the Senate will attempt to pass legislation aimed at providing full Social Security benefits to millions of Americans this week.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in floor remarks Monday he’d push for a vote on the Social Security Fairness Act before the week is out.
“We will vote and every Senator will choose. Where are you? Do you stand on the side of public retirees who deserve their benefits, or bungle this golden opportunity by blocking this bill?” Schumer said in a floor speech.
The closely-watched legislation repeals provisions that limit the ability of some retirees who also collect pensions from claiming social security benefits. Among those impacted are retirees who at one time worked as firefighters, teachers, postal worker, a police officer, or in other public sector jobs. A provision that limits the benefits allotted to those workers’ surviving spouses would also be eliminated.
The legislation already passed the House with overwhelming bipartisan support in November, but Congress would need to act this week to avoid having to restart the process of passing the legislation in the new year.
The bipartisan bill has 62 Senate cosponsors, all but ensuring that it would have the necessary 60 votes it needs to overcome the Senate filibuster and pass.
It has strong advocates on both sides of the aisle.
“It is unfair to penalize Americans who have taught our children, protected our streets, and ran into burning buildings,” Sen. Bill Cassidy, the top Republican on the Senate’s Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee, said in a post on X earlier this month.
But there is some concern among Republicans about the cost of the bill and the increased strain it could put on the already underfunded Social Security trust fund.
The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has estimated that the bill would increase the deficit by $196 billion and increase the rate at which the Social Security trust fund becomes insolvent.
As a result, there could be challenges on the floor that limit the ability to expedite passage of this bill. And there’s certainly a time crunch to consider.
The Senate isn’t short on things to accomplish during this last week of the lame-duck session. It is currently working to process the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act. Senators must also approve a government funding bill before the end of the week if they wish to avert a shutdown.
If the Social Security Fairness Act is challenged in a way that slows the process of its passage, the Senate may run short on time to get this done.
It is not yet known when the Senate will vote on this legislation.
