U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde of Athens, Georgia speaks at a House Freedom Caucus press conference outside the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023. Ariana Figueroa/States Newsroom WASHINGTON — The most conservative Republicans in the U.S. House announced Tuesday they won’t support the short-term spending bill that’s needed to stop a partial government shutdown from beginning on Oct. 1. Freedom Caucus Chair Scott Perry, a Pennsylvania Republican, said the group is not interested in a

“Gender Queer,” a graphic memoir by Maia Kobabe, was the most challenged book in America in 2022, according to the American Library Association. (Photo by New Jersey Monitor) WASHINGTON — U.S. senators at a committee hearing Tuesday discussed the consequences of book bans and parents’ desire to control what their kids read — though they also acknowledged it’s not an issue for Congress to settle. The Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony about book bans, focusing

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, an Alabama Republican, is blocking more than 300 military nominations over his objections to Pentagon abortion policies. Andrew Harnik-Pool/Getty Images WASHINGTON — The Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday conducted a nomination hearing for the next U.S. Air Force chief of staff, a key appointment caught up in the more than 300 military promotions currently blocked by Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville in protest of the Pentagon’s abortion policy. Gen. David W. Allvin,