Cross-Examination

• States finally sue Biden over student-loan handouts: Joe Biden’s unconstitutional vote-buying scheme has so far continued apace — this despite Congress having passed no law allowing the massive debt transfer and despite the Supreme Court having rightly ruled against such unilateral “forgiveness” by the executive branch. In February, Team Biden once again thumbed their noses at the High Court by adding another 153,000 deadbeat borrowers and $1.2 billion to that ever-growing roster of sanctioned default and vote-buying graft. “The Supreme Court blocked it. They blocked it,” Biden bragged on February 21. “But that didn’t stop me.” No, it didn’t. All told, Biden has now announced $144 billion in forgiveness since SCOTUS struck down his original scheme and he began implementing a workaround that could cost taxpayers another $475 billion. Finally, though, a group of Republican states has signaled that enough is enough, with Kansas taking the lead in suing the Biden administration for its lawlessness. As the lawsuit puts it, “Although this round of unilateral debt nullification takes on a new name, with a different putative authority, it is every bit as improper as his first unlawful attempt at debt forgiveness in Biden v. Nebraska.” Biden’s end run around the Rule of Law has put our nation in uncharted waters, as one of its three independent branches ignores the constitutionally prescribed powers of the other two branches. If the Supreme Court couldn’t stop him, we’re not sure that the states can. But perhaps they can slow him down until next January 20.

• Trump posts bond: On Monday, Donald Trump posted a reduced bond of $175 million, allowing him to appeal his civil fraud judgment and also preventing New York Attorney General Letitia James from initiating any asset forfeiture. “As promised, President Trump has posted bond,” Trump lawyer Alina Habba stated. “He looks forward to vindicating his rights on appeal and overturning this unjust verdict.” Trump was able to pay the bond after an appellate court lowered the bond from the full $454 million judgment on March 25 and gave him 10 days to pay the reduced amount. Should Trump fail to win his appeal, he will be on the hook for the full judgment plus interest. Meanwhile, in Trump’s Manhattan criminal “hush money” case in relation to his former lawyer’s payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels, the judge overseeing the case, Juan Merchan, issued an expanded gag order against the former president. This was done in response to Trump having recently criticized the judge’s relatives online.

• NOW no longer knows what a woman is: Democrats have long sneered at Republicans as the anti-science party. Yet ultrasounds put the lie to their “clump of cells” argument for abortion on demand, and Democrats are the same people who not long ago began trying to tell us that men can get pregnant. And so it goes with the National Organization for Women, which is now enjoying an onslaught of derision for its stance in defense of men competing against women in sports. So much for “Our bodies, our sports.” Indeed, the shark-jumpers at NOW have gone so far as to label those who don’t support “transgender” bullies beating up on women athletes as “white supremacists.” Here’s the X post for the benefit of those who think the, er, transition to racism is too audacious even for a hard-left pressure group like NOW: “Repeat after us: Weaponizing womenhood [sic] against other women is white supremacist patriarchy at work. Making people believe there isn’t enough space for trans women in sports is white supremacist patriarchy at work.” Apparently, NOW was triggered by an Associated Press report about a dozen collegiate swimmers and volleyball players who were suing the NCAA over its anti-women policies and in violation of Title IX. Former Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly no doubt spoke for legions of girls and women when she responded, “Hey NOW, you don’t stand for us, understand us, care about us or speak for us.”

• Nex Benedict’s real abuser: Following her death, Nex Benedict became a prop for the “transgender” lobby to push the false narrative of anti-trans hate. When the story first broke, the Leftmedia pushed the false claim that Nex died as a result of being bullied and beaten. However, when the truth came out that her death was a result of suicide and not a beating, the Leftmedia simply changed the details while continuing to push the false narrative of an anti-trans hate crime. Well, now there is more information shedding light on this sad story. Recently obtained court records show that Nex had been sexually abused by her father from the ages of nine to 11. Eventually, her father pleaded guilty to the abuse and was given a five-year prison sentence. He was released in January, but it is not clear if Nex was aware of this. The pertinent fact here is the real psychologically damaging sexual abuse to which Nex was subjected. This, rather than some supposed failure of society to embrace “transgenderism,” was the likely culprit leading to her suicide. It’s terribly tragic in just about every way.

• DHS unveils “X” gender: One day after Joe Biden deservedly received a mountain of backlash over his official recognition of Transgender Day of Visibility on Easter, his administration trotted out its official recognition of a third gender option to be marked simply as “X.” The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services posted an update to its policy manual on Monday. That post noted that the policy changed “accordingly to account for this form revision and other forthcoming revisions that will add a third gender option.” The agency added, “For all other forms, individuals must wait until USCIS revises those forms to include the X gender option.” Fox News reporter Bill Melugin observed: “The US agency tasked with handling asylum claims, visas, and citizenship announces it will now offer ‘X’ as a third gender identity. No, it’s not an April Fools joke.” Representative Andy Biggs (R-AZ) responded: “Biden’s Department of Homeland Security is too busy implementing woke DEI gender policies to protect Americans and secure the border. I’m sure Laken Riley’s family is relieved to know that immigrants can now register as ‘Gender X.’ Close the border.” Back in 2022, the Biden administration offered this third-gender designation option on U.S. passports.

• Law forces greater border transparency: Republicans got another win buried in the recently passed budget deal. That win is a new rule forcing the Department of Homeland Security into greater transparency over its border activity, specifically regarding the number of illegal immigrants Border Patrol catches and releases and why officials can’t or don’t keep track of them. Under the new law, the DHS secretary is required to report to Congress on a quarterly basis the number of estimated “gotaways.” Furthermore, the secretary must reveal the total number of aliens caught and released and the reason for each release. It will also require the DHS to estimate how much detention capacity is needed to house every illegal alien and make that report public. This should expose to the public information and data regarding DHS activity with migrants after they have been released.

• Cheating Dems won’t like Georgia’s new voting rules: It’s too early to tell whether we’ve reached peak cheating in our presidential elections, but Georgia seems disinclined for a repeat of 2020 — or 2022, for that matter, when its citizens coughed up two precious Senate seats and thereby handed control of the upper chamber to Chuck Schumer. As the AP grimly reports: “Georgia lawmakers on Thursday approved new rules for challenging voters and qualifying for the state’s presidential ballot that could impact the 2024 presidential race in the battleground state. Senate Bill 189 passed the House by a vote of 101 to 73 and the Senate by a vote of 33-22, sending it to Gov. Brian Kemp for his signature or veto.” Get a load of that gallows humor there at the end: “or veto.” As if a Republican governor would actually veto such a solid measure in favor of voting integrity. Not only do the reforms make it easier for third-party candidates like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to appear on the ballot and thereby eat into Joe Biden’s vote totals, but they also make it harder to cheat by spelling out the “probable cause” for challenging suspicious ballots. It’ll be interesting to see just how much time and energy Team Biden chooses to expend in Georgia this cycle. It’s becoming clear that they won’t have their way with the state like they did in previous cycles.

• RIP: Last living survivor of USS Arizona passes away: One day in the not-too-distant future, we’ll lose the last of The Greatest Generation. Even the youngest of them are now approaching age 100, as we were reminded by the passing yesterday of 102-year-old Lou Conter. Conter was the last survivor of the December 7, 1941, attack by the Japanese on the battleship USS Arizona, which killed 1,177 sailors and Marines, or nearly half of all those killed in the sneak attack. He was a quartermaster on the ship’s main deck when carrier-based Japanese planes attacked the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor. As Fox News reports: “Conter’s illustrious career would continue long after Pearl Harbor. A trained pilot and member of a ‘Black Cats’ squadron, Conter was also the Navy’s first survival, evasion, resistance and escape — or SERE — officer. He retired in 1967.” In his later years, Conter regularly attended annual memorial services but consistently rejected the “hero” moniker. “The 2,403 men that died are the heroes,” he said from his California home in 2022. “And we’ve got to honor them ahead of everybody else. And I’ve said that every time, and I think it should be stressed.” Rest in peace, American Patriot.

Headlines

• Israeli strike on Iran’s consulate in Syria killed two generals and five other officers, Iran says (AP)

• Investigation links Russian hit squad to U.S. officials’ “Havana Syndrome” (Washington Free Beacon)

• Judge shuts down Hunter Biden’s motions to dismiss federal tax charges (National Review)

• Designed to take a shot at Northern Virginia Democrats? House Republicans push to rename DC international airport after Trump (Fox News)

• Trump’s Truth Social lost $58 million last year (National Review)

• White House pushed Trans Day messaging on English accounts, but not to Spanish speakers (PM)

• Florida Supreme Court allows six-week abortion ban to take effect, opens door for ballot referendum (Daily Wire)

• Oregon governor signs bill reversing drug decriminalization experiment (RedState)

• Bird flu confirmed in Texas worker who had contact with dairy cows (NBC News)

• PolitiFact is fact-checking Babylon Bee jokes again (Not the Bee)

• Humor: 4D chess: Trump makes Mar-a-Lago worth $500 million by hanging up three Hunter Biden paintings (Babylon Bee)

For more editors’ choice headlines, click here.