News & Brews March 20, 2025
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AG Dave Sunday offers stark contrast to hyper-political Shapiro
In an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer, Attorney General Dave Sunday said, “Too much in society, people are desperate for a social media hit. They’re desperate to get a bit of attention that day. I want to be a boring AG. I’m focusing on my job and what I’m supposed to be doing.” Although not mentioning Shapiro in this context, it’s impossible not to draw the contrast with TikTok Josh, who’s more concerned with his social media image than with governing. In the interview, Sunday addressed his approach to his role: Rather than politicizing the AG’s office and filing lawsuit after lawsuit, “he’s found working behind the scenes to negotiate more successful.” And he’s made clear that his role is to enforce the laws, not change them through political activism.
UPenn may lose $175M over transgender policy
The Center Square reports, “The Trump administration froze $175 million in federal funds to the University of Pennsylvania on Wednesday, citing its promised crackdown on institutions that support athlete policies permitting boys in girls’ sports.” UPenn took center stage—and not in a good way—in the fight to protect women’s sports when it allowed transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, a biological male who spent several years on the school’s men’s team, to switch to the women’s team. For its part, the university said in a statement that it “has always followed NCAA and Ivy League policies regarding student participation on athletic teams.”
Two years later–are past lessons learned?
A column by Seth Higgins in Broad + Liberty looks back at the 2022 Pa. governor’s race, where Republican Doug Mastriano was soundly defeated by now-Gov. Josh Shapiro. Many, including Commonwealth Partners, had warned that this would happen if Mastriano won the GOP nomination. Mastriano attempted to be a Pa. version of Trump. “Trump,” however, “cannot replicated….Whether he is to one’s liking or not, Trump is a singular political force.” Higgins questions whether Mastriano has learned any lessons from 2022 as he considers another run for governor. Concluding that he has not, Higgins turns to the question of whether Pa. Republican primary voters have learned a lesson and will nominate someone with a greater chance of victory in 2026. That remains to be seen.
In second trip to Israel, Fetterman demands hostage release
As terrorists continue to hold dozens of Israeli hostages—with fewer than half of them believed to be still alive—this week Democrat U.S. Sen. John Fetterman made his second trip to Israel and reiterated his full support for America’s greatest ally in the Middle East. Writing from Israel, Fetterman posted on X, “Hamas does not want peace. I unapologetically, 100% stand with Israel, and demand the release of all remaining hostages.”
AG Sunday nominates new consumer advocate
Weeks after some in the left-wing media tried to make a ridiculous stink over the departure of former Pa. consumer advocate Patrick Cicero—ascribing nefarious intent to Pa.’s newly elected attorney general, in whose office the advocate works—AG Dave Sunday has nominated a new consumer advocate who “is being hailed even by some of those who decried the circumstances that led to the vacancy,” WESA reports. Sunday has nominated Darryl Lawrence, who has served in the role on an interim basis since Cicero left. In other words, despite the Left’s click-bait, there was really nothing to see here after all.