News & Brews April 13, 2026
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Education Secretary McMahon urges Shapiro to ‘opt in’
U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon was in Pennsylvania on Friday, headlining a press conference urging Gov. Shapiro to opt in to the new federal tax credit scholarship program. (You can watch the full presser here.) After the event, McMahon spoke at the annual Pennsylvania Leadership Conference, the largest gathering of conservatives in the state, where she reiterated her call to Shapiro and also spoke about her goal to put herself out of a job.
Court: GOP primary challenger can stay on ballot
On Friday, the Pa. Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that Republican Al Buchtan can remain on the primary ballot challenging incumbent Republican state Senator Camera Bartolotta, WESA reports. The court rejected the allegation that Buchtan had sought to mislead voters about where he lives. “Buchtan owns a home in Greene County, but his nominating papers identified him as living in a smaller rental property in Washington County. While both homes are within the district, Buchtan’s foes accused him of trying to pass himself off as a resident of Washington, which has a much larger number of voters.” Democrat Justice Kevin Dougherty joined Republican Justices Sallie Updyke Mundy and Kevin Brobson in dissenting.
Leave the nuns alone
The Wall Street Journal Editorial board writes that Democrats are at it again: “going after Catholic nuns performing works of mercy.” This time, the case is in New York and concerns the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, who “operate a 42-bed nursing facility in New York that gives free palliative care to poor people with cancer.” Turns out the state is harassing the sisters with mandates that they “defer to their residents’ choices of pronouns and bathrooms.” Seriously. Nuns. Caring for the poor. What does this have to do with Pa.? Well, here’s how the editorial closes: “That’s today’s political left. The Little Sisters of the Poor, who oppose ObamaCare’s contraception mandate, have won twice at the Supreme Court, yet that saga isn’t over. Their next appellate argument is coming soon.” And lest anyone forget, the Democrat going after the Little Sisters is none other than Gov. Josh Shapiro.
Could Pa. lose the Eagles?
The Inquirer reports on the latest chatter around the Philadelphia Eagles stadium “after Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie made clear that all options are on the table when it comes to the future home of the team, including the possibility of leaving the team’s longtime home of South Philadelphia.” Of course, this would look super bad for Gov. Shapiro, who responded to the possibility with, “We’re not going to lose the Birds. They’re going to stay in Philly, and we’re going to make sure of that.” It’s unclear exactly how he intends to “make sure of that.”
Philly DHS sent baby home with wrong adoptive family
Well here’s a mess of a story for all involved. Broad + Liberty reports that the Philadelphia Department of Human Services admitted that it sent a newborn baby home with the wrong adoptive family, and after the child lived with that family for several years, a judge ruled it would be in the child’s best interest to stay there. Look, anyone who has ever dealt with adoptions knows that a child’s best interests are critical, so you can’t blame a judge for not wanting to tear a child away from the only family she’s ever known. Yet, the fact that DHS made such an astounding error underscores that the government isn’t always the best actor when it comes to child welfare.