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Editors note: This article has been updated to correct a political action committee affiliation.

More than 25 Tennesseee state House and Senate Republicans seats have more than one challenger in the primary this year, while about half-a-dozen of those have no incumbent running.

These seats, which include several pro- and anti-school voucher Republicans, are the next frontier in the debate over whether state lawmakers should adopt a universal plan to provide parents with $7,200 in cash to subsidize private school tuition.

Two years ago, pro-charter and school voucher groups spent $1.3 million on the Tennessee state elections, campaign finance records show, backing the winning candidate in several open seats anddefeating two pro-public school House Republicans.

After last cycles spending, everyones antennas are up for sure, said J.C. Bowman, the executive director of Professional Educators of Tennessee. Most people believe in some version of school choice. But its whether the advertisements from these groups will be honest that the plan is a universal, no means-tested, school voucher plan, which isnt that popular.

The money to back these candidates will come in the form of independent expenditures, which allow political action committees to sidestep campaign finance limits and spend unlimited money in races.

Americans for Prosperity (through the Americans for Prosperity Action Fund), Tennesseans for Student Success (Team Kid PAC), TennesseeCan (Tennesseans for Putting Students First PAC) and Tennessee Federation for Children (PAC with the same name) were some of the largest independent spenders in the 2022 election, and are gearing up to be again.

Tennesseans for Student Success spent the most money in2022.The political advocacy organization previously saidit wasonly a pro-charter school group butbacked all the same candidates as other pro-voucher groups.

Most of these groups are formed in a way that kept their donors hidden.

The Federation for Children is the only group that has released some of its donors. A list of the largest donors to the groups Tennessee political action committee (PAC) dating back to 2012 are Arkansas-based Walmart heir Jim Walton, Nashville lawyer Lee Barfield, Nashville businesswoman Dorothy Scarlett, Nashville businessman Lee Beaman and former U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy Devos, a Michigan Republican.

The 2022 state election results delivered optimism for voucher advocates that the new makeup of the Republican-controlled state general assembly, which narrowly passed a plan allowing the private school subsidies in the states two Democratic-controlled counties home to Nashville and Memphis in 2019, would approve a further expansion of the plan.

This proved true in 2023 when state Republicans passed legislation with nearly 60% support to add a third county, home to Chattanooga, to the list of places allowing school vouchers. The Chattanooga GOP delegation supported the bill.

The election results and the relatively easy passage of voucher expansion then gave Gov. Bill Lee enough confidence to introduce a universal statewide school voucher program during the 2024 legislative session.

But that plan never received a final vote, failing because of differences in the House and Senate versions that couldnt be hammered out, particularly around the plans final cost.

There werent enough votes for it to pass the finance committee, said Rep. Sam Whitson, a Franklin Republican and committee member. It would have been close, but several members were concerned about the plans price tag.

The 2024 elections, in which every House member and half the Senate are up for reelection, provide pro- and anti-school voucher groups with a chance to make a statement about the future of vouchers.

Republicans Reps. Dale Carr of Sevierville, Bryan Richey of Maryville and Whitson all opposed school vouchers and are not running for reelection in their House seats.

The $27.1 million clash between education reform and public school advocates

Whitsons retirement provides an opportunity to replace him with a pro-voucher member no matter the outcome of the race to replace him. Whitson said two candidates in the crowded primary for his seat have already praised the concept of vouchers.

In the upper chamber, Sens. Ken Yager of Kingston, Becky Massey of Knoxville, and Frank Niceley of Strawberry Plains face Republican challengers. All three didnt vote in favor of the 2019 initial voucher bill or the 2023 expansion. But, Massey did sponsor the 2024 statewide voucher legislation.

For anti-voucher supporters, Republican Rep. Scott Cepicky of Culleoka faces a primary challenge from a local county commissioner. Cepicky was one ofthe loudest supporters of vouchers.

Other members who face opposition are Republican Reps.Mark White of Memphis and Johnny Garrett ofGoodletteslville,who sponsored the voucher legislation, and Mike Sparks of Murfreesboro who supported the bill. Each has a Democratic challenger.

White faces Noah Nordstrom, Garretts challenger is Alison Beale and Sparks goes up against Luis Mata.

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Tennessee's school voucher debate turns to competitive Republican state House and Senate primaries Tennessee ... - Tennessee Lookout

Rep. Chip Roy laid out a game plan Tuesday for conservatives to go to war against the radical left if the GOP gains control of the White House and both chambers of Congress in the November elections.

The Texas Republican and House Freedom Caucus policy director said hard-liners will have to roll over fellow Republicans who want to scale back their agenda because of the 60-vote requirement for most legislation in the Senate.

Youre going to have to get over the excuse that will be dropped on day 1, which is, Chip, we dont have 60 in the Senate, Roysaid at a Heritage Foundation event Tuesday.We got to plan now driving a steamroller over the weak-kneed individuals in the Congress that will use 60 as the excuse not to fight for you.

Heritage billed the event Roy spoke at as Defunding the Left: The Strategy to Save America.

Roy said his priorities in the next Congress are to cut spending to stop funding left-wing policies such as tighter emissions requirements for cars, securing the border and restoring a peace through strength model for the military. He said he wants a strong, focused military, sparingly used.

Calling it a third way, Roysaid: Its not isolationist and its not endless wars.

Roy said funding national defense has wrongly been used as an excuse to go along with Democratic spending priorities that conservatives oppose.

We just default to fear and we use the national security and defense complex to run over everything else, he said. We just did it last week with the foreign aid bill, the $95.3 billion emergency supplemental providing aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan and requiring TikToks Chinese owners to sell the app or face a U.S. ban.

Getting the defense increase was the leverage and excuse for funding the entire omnibus in the first place without getting the reforms we wanted on any of these other issues, he said. According to Roy, Republicans tell him when appropriations are being negotiated, We just cant risk defense.

Well if thats what you do, youre never going to change the town, he said.

Roy, among a handful of Republicans appointed to the House Rules Committee who have blocked leadership efforts to pass legislation, made no apologies for breaking the place.

He said it was an enormous accomplishment that a majority of the House GOP conference opposed the $60.8 billion Ukraine aid portion of the supplemental, though by a narrow margin with 112 Republicans opposed and 101 in favor. He applauded the fact that 55 Republicansvoted against the rulefor floor debate on the package.

And people say, well, Chip, thats breaking the place. Yes, yes, Roy said. We need to change the way this place is not working.

Reviewing the current Congress, Roy said Republicans have in my opinion kept the ball on our side of the field. Specifically, he said, the GOP has heldnondefense discretionary spending flatand kept amnesty for undocumented immigrants off the table.

All we talked about this last year and a half was border security, he said. We didnt achieve it. But we didnt allow the Democrats to start moving the ball down the field and have a debate about amnesty. He added, It matters where you set the goal post and how you set your mission.

But Roy complained about some areas where he thinks Republicans have fallen short. That includes appropriating billions of dollars for the Department of Homeland Security, spending money to provide food, shelter and health care to illegal aliens, and funding the Pentagon without peeling back the diversity, equity, inclusion requirements, which he said are tearing down the morale of the Department of Defense.

Roy said the biggest challenge for conservatives is to reverse the policy trajectory espoused by a small little enclave of elites that are using an outsized amount of money to go disrupt this great country.

He said those policies are driving up the cost of everybodys way of life and making it impossible for the hard-working American to figure out how to achieve the American dream.

Roy said the answer is to use the power of the purse.

Literally just stop writing the check and then you can wrest away that growing and obscene government thats killing the American dream for the average American, he said.

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Roy eyes steamroller agenda if Republicans sweep in November - Roll Call

Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly said Kansas Republicans are trying to subvert the will of state voterswho upheld an abortion rights referendum in August 2022via two new bills that critics say stigmatize abortion.Emily Curiel/Kansas City Star/ZUMA

On Monday, Kansas Republicans voted to override Democratic Governor Laura Kellys vetoes of four anti-abortion measures. Three billswhich will requiredoctors to gather and report information from patients about why they are getting an abortion; make it a crime to force someone to obtain an abortion; and allow people to receive tax credits for donations to anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centerswill now become law. And a measure in the state budget reallocating $2 million tocrisis pregnancy centers will also move forward, despite the governors opposition.

Gov. Kelly and other criticssay that the measures will contribute to an erosion of abortion rightseven though, in August 2022, Kansans rejected a referendum to remove the right to abortion from the state constitution. In other words: These bills are an attempt by Kansas Republicans to further stigmatize abortionand, in doing so, subvert the will of the 59 percent of state voters who already upheld abortion rights. And its not the first time: Earlier this year, eight Kansas House Republicans introduced a bill toban all abortions except those necessary to save the patients life, forbid the distribution of drugs that end pregnancies, and allow individuals to file suits against doctors or anyone who helps someone get an abortion (it ultimately died in committee).

By continuously finding ways to raise the issue and attempting to subvert the will of Kansans, Gov. Kelly said in a statement provided to Mother Jones, these legislators are not representing the vast majority of those who elected them to office.

Anti-abortion group Kansas for Life, though, called the four veto overrides big wins.

One of the bills pushed through by Republicans this week, nicknamed the reasons bill, will force patients to pick the most important factor in their decision to seek an abortion from a set of 11 pre-written options. Patients can decline to answer, and their responses will remain anonymous. Medical facilities will now be required to report the responses twice a year to the state secretary of health and environment. Proponents of that billwhich include anti-abortion groups such as the Alliance Defending Freedom, Kansas Family Voice, and Kansas for Lifesay it will facilitate useful insights into what leads people to obtain abortions. But opponents, likePlanned Parenthood, say the questions are unnecessary and invasive, and only serve to further stigmatize abortion. They also say the questions are redundant, because data already exists showing why people get abortions: Research from the University of California, San Francisco says the most common reasons for seeking an abortion are not being able to afford to have a child, the pregnancy coming at the wrong time in life and the man involved not being a suitable partner/parent.

Gov. Kelly agreed, saying in a statement that she vetoed that bill because there is also no valid reason to force a woman to disclose to the legislature why she is seeking an abortion. Rep. Ron Bryce, the original sponsor of the bill, did not immediately respond to questions from Mother Jones Thursday afternoon.

Another bill makes coercion to obtain an abortion a crime punishable by up to a year in prison and a fine of up to a $10,000. It defines coercion as physical or financial threats of harm or abuse or threat of the legal system. But experts who work in domestic and sexual violence treatment and prevention in Kansas say the bill is too narrow in scope and ignores more common forms of reproductive coercion, including forcing someone to become or stay pregnant and prohibiting their access to birth control.Ignoring these forms of coercion undermines the effectiveness of the legislation and leaves individuals vulnerable to manipulation and control, according to testimony against the bill by Sapphire Garcia-Lies, executive director ofthe Kansas Birth Justice Society.

Additionally, data shows coerced abortions are quite rare in Kansas (and elsewhere): A June 2023 report from the state Department of Health and Environment shows that less than 1 percent of the more than 12,300 abortions in Kansas in 2022 involved reports of physical, mental, or emotional abuse or neglect. Kansas Republicans, though, just dont seem to carebecause when Democratic lawmakers introduced two different amendments to broaden the bills focus to outlawing reproductive coercion, Republicans in both the House and Senate struck them down.

This isnt the first time Republicans have tried to co-opt the concept of reproductive coercion in their attempts to restrict abortion access: As I reported back in Marchbefore the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the caseseeking to restrict the availability of mifepristoneanti-abortion activistsspread myth and misinformation about why people get abortions in multiple briefsto the high court.

Gov. Kelly said she opposed the coercion bill because it is already a crime to threaten violence against another individual, adding she also has concerns that the vague language could be marshaled for wrongful criminalization of Kansans. Rep. Rebecca Schmoe, the lawmaker who originally introduced the bill, did not respond to questions.

The other measures Republicans rammed through after the governors vetoes include a bill providing a 70 percent state income tax credit for donations to anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers plus sales tax exemptions to the centers themselves.Republicans also passeda line item in the state budget reallocating $2 million toCPCs. Anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers are dedicated to discouraging abortion, often with the help of volunteersnot medical professionalswho peddle misinformation. Gov. Kelly said in statements explaining those vetoes that it is not appropriate for the state to divert taxpayer dollars to largely unregulated crisis pregnancy centers. Rep. Henry Helgerson, a Democrat who introduced the tax credit bill, and Sen. Jeff Longbine, a Republican who chairs the Financial Institutions and Insurance committee, did not immediately respond to questions about those measures.

Abortion is currently legal in Kansas through 22 weeks gestation. But some barriers remain: The state restricts public funding of abortions, and minors need consent from parents or guardians to obtain abortions. The biggest barrier of all, though, may be Republicans in the legislature who seem hell bent on ignoring the rights voters have made clear they want to protect.

This is a deliberate move to ignore the expressly stated will of the people despite the damaging consequences of these bills, Micah Kubic, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas, told me this week. In their defiance of the clearly established right to reproductive healthcare in the our state constitution, these extremist lawmakers remain out of step with the everyday Kansans they serve.

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The Governor of Kansas Vetoed Four Anti-Abortion Measures. Republicans Rammed Them Through Anyway. Mother ... - Mother Jones

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson said House Republicans will speak to this fateful moment with moral clarity as they work to combat antisemitism on college campuses.

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

House Speaker Mike Johnson and other lawmakers are planning a wide-ranging effort to crack down on campus antisemitism that will likely involve nearly every committee in the House.

The crackdown will increase the pressure and scrutiny on colleges, particularly wealthy elite institutions, which are already under fire on numerous fronts as administrators grapple with a nationwide wave of protests and encampments, as well as criticism of college leaders responses to the escalating tensions, and in some cases, violence, on their campuses.

Over the last few weeks weve seen absolute lawlessness and chaos on college and university campuses across America, Johnson said at a press conference Tuesday, where he was flanked by nine powerful House Republicans. Its not right and everybody in this country knows it.

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Congress has ratcheted up its scrutiny of colleges in recent months in response to increased student protests against Israels war in Gaza and reports of increased antisemitic incidents on campuses. But this latest effort is the most coordinated and expansive inquiry into the nations colleges and universities, and the consequences could be vast. Several lawmakers hinted Tuesday at the possibility of cutting off billions of federal dollars for financial aid and research to institutions they say are violating federal civil rights laws by not adequately protecting Jewish students.

If they dont correct this quickly, you will see Congress respond in time, Johnson said at the press conference. Youre gonna see funding sources begin to dry up. Youre gonna see every level of accountability that we can muster.

Johnson and the other Republican lawmakers criticized what they see as inaction and equivocation by the Biden administration on this issue, and they pledged to fill the void.

Antisemitism is a virus and because the administration and woke university presidents arent stepping up, were seeing it spread, he said. We have to act, and House Republicans will speak to this fateful moment with moral clarity.

The Education and Workforce Committee has been investigating antisemitism at select colleges and universities since December. The inquiries have alarmed higher education experts and advocates who worry they could infringe on academic freedom and institutional autonomy.

The committee, which already held two hearings aimed at holding college administrators accountable, is planning a third hearing on May 23. This time, the leaders of Yale University, the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of Michigan will testify. Previous hearings have spurred intense backlash against those who testified.

We have a clear message for mealy-mouthed, spineless college leaders: Congress will not tolerate your dereliction of duty to your Jewish students, Virginia Foxx, the North Carolina Republican who chairs the committee, said at the press conference. American universities are officially put on notice that we have come to take our universities back.

In addition to the education committee, leaders of the Ways and Means, Judiciary, Oversight, Energy and Commerce, and Science, Space and Technology committees will be launching or continuing inquiries as part of the House-wide effort. The specifics of their investigations arent entirely clear, though lawmakers indicated where they might go. For example, Ways and Means will be looking into the tax-exempt status of institutions while Judiciary wants more information about the role of international students in the protests.

In a shift that could be more concerning for institutions, other committees will be focused on the federal research dollars that flow to colleges and universities.

Representative Frank Lucas, the Oklahoma Republican who chairs the Science, Space and Technology committee, said that funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) is conditioned on colleges complying with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race and national origin. NSF funding accounts for about 25percent of all federal support to Americas colleges and universities for basic research, Lucas added.

Schools like Columbia and UC Berkeley annually receive more than $50million each in NSF grants, Frank said. Its time we review whether universities that allow the harassment, assault or intimidation of their Jewish students are in compliance with their federal obligations.

Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the Washington Republican who leads the Energy and Commerce Committee, listed off how much money the National Institutes of Health doled out to Columbia, Harvard University and the University of Southern California in her remarks at the press conference.

We will be increasing our oversight of institutions that receive public funding and cracking down on those who are in violation of the Civil Rights Act, she said. Ill leave you all with this: Imagine being a Jewish American, knowing that part of your hard-earned paycheck is going to fund an antisemitic professors research while they threaten students and actively indoctrinate and radicalize the next generation.

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House Republicans expand investigations into campus antisemitism - Inside Higher Ed

A bipartisan push in Congress to enact a law cracking down on antisemitic speech on college campuses has prompted a backlash from far-right lawmakers and activists, who argue it could outlaw Christian biblical teachings.

The House passed the legislation, called the Antisemitism Awareness Act, overwhelmingly on Wednesday, and Senate leaders in both parties were working behind the scenes on Thursday to determine whether it would have enough backing to come to a vote in that chamber.

House Republicans rolled the bill out this week as part of their efforts to condemn the pro-Palestinian protests that have surged at university campuses across the country, and to put a political squeeze on Democrats, who they have accused of tolerating antisemitism to please their liberal base.

But in trying to use the issue as a political cudgel against the left, Republicans also called attention to a rift on the right. Some G.O.P. members said they firmly believe that Jews killed Jesus Christ, and argued that the bill which includes such claims in its definition of antisemitism would outlaw parts of the Bible.

Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican of Georgia, said she opposed the bill because it could convict Christians of antisemitism for believing the Gospel that says Jesus was handed over to Herod to be crucified by the Jews.

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Bill to Combat Antisemitism on Campuses Prompts Backlash From the Right - The New York Times