News & Brews July 10, 2025
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DOJ asks Pa. how it manages voter rolls
Votebeat Pennsylvania reports that the U.S. Department of Justice has asked Pennsylvania “for a wide range of information on how it manages voter registration and voter rolls, as part of what it calls ‘nationwide efforts’ to monitor compliance with” the federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA). We are one of several states that received letters from DOJ asking for information. “The letter to Pennsylvania does not mention any complaint, or assert the state has done anything wrong.” A Pa. Department of State spokesperson indicated that the agency will respond to the request.
6 Secret Service agents were suspended after Butler
Nearly a year after the Butler, Pa. assassination attempt against President Trump, news has come out that six Secret Service agents were suspended following the attempt. CBS News reports that Secret Service Deputy Director Matt Quinn said the “penalty ranged from 10 to 42 days of leave without pay or benefits. The personnel were placed into restricted duty or roles with less operational responsibility upon their return.” Quinn “defended the agency’s decision not to dismiss anyone after the security failure.” Instead, he said, “We aren’t going to fire our way out of this. We’re going to focus on the root cause and fix the deficiencies that put us in that situation.”
Pa.’s Sunday hunting ban is no more
Yesterday, Gov. Shapiro signed legislation repealing Pennsylvania’s longtime ban on Sunday hunting. WJAC reports, “The bill now gives the Pennsylvania Game Commission the ability to add more Sunday hunting opportunities.”Interestingly, per a poll last year, ”Just under half (49%) said they at least ‘somewhat’ favor allowing hunting on Sundays, while one-third (34%) said they at least somewhat opposed it. Sixteen percent said they did not know.” Just under half. Meanwhile, more than three-fourths of folks want to protect girls from being forced to play sports against biological males, yet Pa. House Democrats won’t let that highly popular measure even come to the House floor for a vote. (Just tossing in some context there. No extra charge.)
Congressional campaigns (early) happenings
We’re still well over a year away from the 2026 mid-term elections, but it’s not too early for folks to start tossing their proverbial hat in the proverbial ring. Aside from the congressional race to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans, which I’ve already shared, here are two more for you. First, Nancy Mannion, a nurse from Manheim Township has filed paperwork to run in the Democrat primary for the chance to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Lloyd Smucker. And second, West Chester’s Martin “Marty” Young, a Senior Managing Director at M3 Partners and West Point graduate, has filed paperwork to run in the Republican primary for the chance to challenge Democrat U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan. The Cook Political Report does not have either race on its list of 2026 competitive House races.
Fitzpatrick engaged
Turns out that just a few days before voting against President Trump’s so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill,” Republican U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick was in the South of France getting engaged. PEOPLE reports that Pennsylvania’s congressman will tie the knot with Fox News White House Correspondent Jacqui Heinrich. You can check out some engagement photos against a backdrop of a lavender field by clicking here. (“[A] photographer suddenly popped up from within the rows of lavender, and a drone flew overhead.”) Congratulations to Rep. Fitzpatrick and Ms. Heinrich.