Wednesday News & Notes

Don’t have time to keep up with politics? Read our News & Notes! Excerpts from stories, with links to the originals if you want to learn more. We try to post N&N every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Republican leaders, including McConnell, denounce Trump’s dinner with white nationalist Nick Fuentes

House and Senate Republicans are speaking out against former President Donald Trump’s dinner last week with Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, and white nationalist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes. “There is no room in the Republican Party for antisemitism or white supremacy,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday. “And anyone meeting with people advocating that point of view, in my judgment, are highly unlikely to ever be elected president of the United States.” Earlier in the day, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy denounced Fuentes, who is labeled as a white supremacist pundit and organizer by the Anti-Defamation League, in language similar to McConnell’s, though he stopped short of condemning the former president. “I don’t think anybody should be spending any time with Nick Fuentes. He has no place in this Republican Party,” McCarthy said. “I think President Trump came out four times and condemned him and didn’t know who he was.” When a reporter pointed out to McCarthy that the former president only denied knowing Fuentes — not condemning his ideologies — McCarthy responded, “Well, I condemn his ideology, it has no place in society; at all.” (WFPL)

House passes rail contract with 7 days paid sick leave in win for workers

In a win for workers, the House passed a resolution on Wednesday to force the adoption of a railroad labor contract with, crucially, the inclusion of a hard-fought amendment for seven days of paid sick leave for rail workers. The resolution advanced with a 290 to 137 vote, while the amendment providing sick leave passed largely on party lines, with only three Republicans joining all Democrats in voting to grant rail workers sick days. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) had originally planned to bring the resolution, sans sick leave, to a vote as is, but the Congressional Progressive Caucus said that it was able to negotiate a deal with House leadership on Tuesday night to have the sick leave proposal included. The seven days of sick leave in the proposal is less than the 15 days that workers had sought, but is still an improvement over current conditions. (Truthout)

Kentucky attorney general asks FedEx to clarify gun tracking policies

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron has joined a group of attorneys seeking clarification on FedEx's new policy of tracking firearm sales. A release by Cameron's office stated FedEx recently adopted a new firearm shipping agreement that would require firearm dealers to create three shipping accounts: one for firearms, one for firearms parts, and one for all other firearm-related products. Cameron, along with 17 other attorneys general, argued that the new policy could enable federal agencies to use firearm sales records to formulate gun registries, which is prevented by federal law. (Fox56)

University of Louisville suing state board over accreditation issue

UofL is suing Kentucky's Board of Licensed Professional Counselors over accreditation requirements for licensing of graduates from the Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program. To issue a license, the state LPC board requires a counselor graduate from a program accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Counseling and Related Programs. UofL's accreditation was extended in January of 2022 until May, but expired on May 14.

In the suit, UofL is asking for "declaratory and injunctive relief" against the Board's policy that licensees have a degree from a CACREP accredited institution. The suit says state law requires licensees graduate from regionally accredited institutions, which UofL is through the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. (WHAS)

Oath Keepers founder convicted of seditious conspiracy for role in Jan. 6

A federal jury in Washington D.C. has convicted two members of the far right Oath Keepers — including founder Stewart Rhodes — of seditious conspiracy for their involvement in the attack on the U.S. Capitol building on January 6, 2021, and for their attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Three other members of the group were also convicted of obstruction of an official proceeding in Congress, but were found not guilty of seditious conspiracy. Both Rhodes and Kelly Meggs, the other member of the group who was convicted of seditious conspiracy, also received guilty verdicts related to disrupting an official proceeding. Rhodes’s attorney said he plans to appeal the ruling, and a sentencing date has not yet been set. If upheld, Rhodes could face up to 20 years in prison for the seditious conspiracy conviction alone. (Truthout)

Hakeem Jeffries elected to lead House Dems after Pelosi

Emboldened House Democrats ushered in a new generation of leaders on Wednesday with Rep. Hakeem Jeffries elected to be the first Black American to head a major political party in Congress as long-serving Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her team step aside next year.

Showing rare party unity after their midterm election losses, the House Democrats moved seamlessly from one history-making leader to another, choosing the 52-year-old New Yorker, who has vowed to “get things done,” even after Republicans won control of the chamber. The closed-door vote was unanimous, by acclamation.  (WHAS)

And from the Twitterverse ...

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