News & Brews March 19, 2025
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Pa. AG joins amicus brief in support of deporting gang members
Pa. Attorney General Dave Sunday has joined 25 other attorneys general in filing an amicus brief urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit “to lift a nationwide restraining order that is ‘preventing’ the ‘immediate deportation’ of ‘Tren de Aragua gang members,’” the Center Square reports. The AGs contend that President Trump’s order to deport the gang members is “grounded in clear constitutional and statutory authority.” In January Trump “designated Tren de Aragua a foreign terrorist organization, along with seven other cartels from Latin America.”
Schumer postpones Philly trip amid vote backlash
Looks like Democrat Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is on the run from folks who are supposed to be his base. The Inquirer reports that the senator “postponed a book tour stop at the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History [in Philadelphia] amid backlash for voting with Republicans Friday to advance a stopgap spending bill that averted a government shutdown.” Typically, you get protested by the other side, but hey.
‘Blue state exodus should scare Democrats’
A piece in the Liberal Patriot notes, “Since Covid, the biggest blue states have dramatically lagged behind the biggest Republican states in population growth.” But Covid alone can’t be blamed. Instead, “policy failures are ultimately at fault.” The story looks at post-2030 redistricting projections, where, “The states projected to gain representation—and an Electoral College boost—are overwhelmingly Trump states. The states projected to lose representation are Harris states. If we exclude the battlegrounds of Arizona, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, red states will add 10 electoral votes and blue states will lose 9 electoral votes ahead of the 2032 election.” The projection notes that Pennsylvania is also on track to lose yet another congressional seat.
Abolish the Philly Sheriff’s office?
It’s no secret that Philly government has its issues—from patronage to financial mismanagement. Well now, the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority (PICA), which acts as the city’s fiscal watchdog, has recommended that the city sheriff’s office and register of wills office be eliminated. The Inquirer reports that the recommendation is symbolic rather than binding. But it cites “ongoing and serious operational and financial mismanagement” in the sheriff’s office and highlights longstanding patronage hiring in the register of wills office.
Pa. to hold special elections next week
On March 25, voters in the 36th Senate District (Lancaster County) and the 35th House District (Allegheny County) will hold respective special elections. In the heavily Republican Lancaster district, they will choose a successor to former state Sen. Ryan Aument, who resigned to become Sen. Dave McCormick’s state director. And in the heavily Democrat Allegheny County district, voters will choose someone to fill the seat of former state Rep. Matt Gergely, who passed away in January. Some news outlets, like the AP, are painting this race as one on which “hinges” majority control of the Pa. House. But there’s much less drama than the AP headline suggests, as while technically it’s true, the district is heavily Democrat, and the story does admit, “It would be a seismic upset for Republicans to flip it.” So if media tries to make the results of either of these elections a referendum on anything, it will be a stretch to say the least.