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By ZEKE MILLER, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team on Tuesday signed an agreement to allow the Justice Department to conduct background checks on his nominees and appointees after a weeks-long delay. The step lets Trump transition aides and future administration staffers obtain security clearances before Inauguration Day to access classified information about ongoing government programs, an essential step for a smooth transiton of power. It also allows those nominees who are up for Senate confirmation to face the background checks lawmakers want before voting on them. Teams of investigators have been standing by to process clearances for Trump aides and advisers. “This agreement with the Department of Justice will ensure President Trump and his team are ready on Day 1 to begin enacting the America First Agenda that an overwhelming majority of our nation supported on Election Day,” said Susie Wiles, Trump’s designate to be White House chief of staff. The announcement comes a week after the Trump transition team signed an agreement with the Biden White House to allow transition staff to coordinate with the existing federal workforce before taking office on Jan. 20. The White House agreement was supposed to have been signed by Oct. 1, according to the Presidential Transition Act, and the Biden White House had issued both public and private appeals for Trump’s team to sign on. Security clearances are required to access classified information, including on ongoing operations and threats to the nation, and the Biden White House and outside experts have emphasized to Trump’s team the importance of having cleared personnel before Inauguration Day so they could be fully briefed and ready to run the government. Republican Senators have also insisted on FBI background checks for Trump’s nominees before they face confirmation votes, as has been standard practice for decades. Lawmakers have been particularly interested in seeing the findings of reviews into Trump’s designated nominee for defense secretary, former Fox News host Pete Hegseth, and for Rep. Tulsi Gabbard to be director of national intelligence. “That’s why it’s so important that we have an FBI background check, a committee review of extensive questions and questionnaires, and a public hearing,” said. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine on Monday. John Thune, the incoming Senate Republican leader, said the Trump team “understands there’s going to have to be a thorough vetting of all these nominees.” AP congressional correspondent Lisa Mascaro contributed.
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Two weeks after she beat a transgender candidate to return to the Utah Legislature, the Republican state lawmaker behind the majority of the state’s anti-transgender laws is advocating for policies that strip additional rights from trans people. Rep. Kera Birkeland, of Morgan, posted to X on Thursday that transgender women, specifically, should not be able to amend their birth certificates or IDs to reflect their gender. “Men should not be allowed in women’s bathrooms,” Birkeland wrote. “However, achieving this goal requires more than just signing or passing a bill that articulates this stance. We need to address the underlying issue of allowing men to change their birth certificates and driver’s licenses to reflect a female identity.” Birkeland continued, “Until we achieve that, our primary action is to run message bills, that are almost unenforceable. If a man can obtain a driver’s license identifying him as a woman, secure a birth certificate identifying him as a woman, and undergo surgical procedures to alter his appearance to look similar to women, it becomes nearly impossible for the government to distinguish between him and Representative Mace. That presents a significant challenge in enforcement.” Birkeland’s post was written in support of U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-North Carolina, who responded to the first transgender woman being elected to Congress by pushing for her and other transgender women not to be allowed in women’s restrooms at the U.S. Capitol. I completely agree with @RepNancyMace that men should not be allowed in women’s bathrooms. However, achieving this goal requires more than just signing or passing a bill that articulates this stance. We need to address the underlying issue of allowing men to change their birth... The post comes one day after Transgender Day of Remembrance — an annual occasion memorializing transgender people lost to violence or suicide due to attacks on their identity. The Utah Supreme Court ruled in 2021 that transgender Utahns have “a common-law right to change facets of their personal legal status, including their sex designation.” “My life was going forward day by day sometimes is not easy,” said Angie Rice, a transgender woman and one of the plaintiffs in the case, at the time. “But (this decision)... gives young people and everybody who has been suffering in silence, or victimized, it gives them a chance to believe in hope and have the courage to now live their truth.” Since she was first appointed to the House in 2020, Birkeland has led a push to bar transgender girls from high school sports. Since the Legislature passed a law she sponsored to do so in 2022, and overrode the governor’s veto , the ban has been partially blocked by a lawsuit. Meanwhile, a commission weighs the cases of young transgender athletes who want to participate in sports. This year, Birkeland successfully proposed a bill that creates legal definitions “female” and “male” to categorize Utahns by the reproductive organs of their birth, and prohibits transgender Utahns from using locker rooms or bathrooms that align with their gender in government-owned buildings. Republican lawmakers repeatedly employed misinformation about transgender Utahns while working to rally support for the bill, an investigation by The Salt Lake Tribune found . Utah, which has passed restrictions on transgender people for three consecutive years, also prohibits transgender minors from accessing gender-affirming health care . Birkeland did not respond to questions about whether she would introduce bills to enact such policy shifts in the 2025 legislative session, but told KUER earlier this month that she isn’t planning on proposing legislation impacting the transgender community. A spokesperson for the Utah House of Representatives did not respond to questions as to GOP leadership’s feelings on such policies, or whether other members of their caucus would draft bills including them. On Monday, legislative leadership and Gov. Spencer Cox urged Utah State University to join a lawsuit against the Mountain West Conference over its transgender participation policy — weeks after players on the school’s volleyball team opted to forfeit a game against another team that allegedly includes a transgender athlete. The school filed a motion to join soon after. “Female athletes deserve the right to a safe playing field, fair competition and equal opportunities,” the officials said in a statement. “By intervening, Utah will send a clear message that these rights are non-negotiable.” Utah House Democrats responded with a statement of their own, writing, “Transgender athletes have participated in sports for years without facing the intense scrutiny they endure today. Targeting them harms their mental health, further isolates an already vulnerable population, and goes against the inclusive values we should all uphold. This is not the Utah way.” Birkeland’s post also follows an anti-transgender political action committee that appears to be violating campaign finance laws and aimed to influence the outcome of a state legislative race in a district bordering hers. Despite establishing a website, deploying mailers and sending texts attacking Democrats throughout the state for opposing restrictions on transgender Utahns, including the only Democrat outside of Salt Lake County , the out-of-state Preserving Utah Values PAC reports that it has raised and spent $0 during the 2024 election cycle. The United Nations recognizes transgender people’s ability to change official documents, including birth certificates, as a human right. “Failing to provide access to legal gender recognition hinders access to rights and services (e.g. education, employment, bathrooms) and puts trans people at risk of violence (e.g. when presenting documents that don’t match their appearance),” reads the website for the supranational organization’s high commissioner for human rights. “Trans people are at particular risk of violence in detention settings when their gender identity is not respected.” According to the Utah Bureau of Criminal Identification , hate crimes against LGBTQ+ Utahns more than doubled from 2022 to 2023. This year, law enforcement agencies have reported 15 incidents.
Eight mobile phones and 103 packets of tobacco were seized during a search operation at Ferozepur Central Jail on Monday. A case under Sections 42 and 52A of the Prisons Act has been registered following a complaint by the assistant jail superintendent. The police have launched an investigation to identify those responsible. According to police reports, this year, a total of 473 mobile phones, including 4 keypads and 4 touchscreens in the latest seizure, have been recovered from the jail along with other banned items. Monthly data reveals a disturbing trend, with significant recoveries across the months, peaking at 71 in January. Officials cite lax entry checks and insufficient monitoring as key factors enabling the smuggling of contraband, often thrown over prison walls. The prison’s location, surrounded by dense residential and commercial areas, compounds the issue. According to insiders, packets containing mobile phones and intoxicants are frequently hurled into the premises, exploiting security gaps. A former jail official emphasised that unrestricted access to phones undermines the purpose of imprisonment. “The availability of phones inside the prison defeats the purpose of punishment. A controlled phone facility should have proper recording and monitoring to prevent illegal activities,” he said. A security officer, on condition of anonymity, said: “Advanced screening technologies, enhanced surveillance systems, stricter visitation policies, restricted parole for inmates found with contraband, and data-driven analysis to detect smuggling patterns are essential to address this issue.” Satnam Singh, jail superintendent of Ferozepur, acknowledged the challenges posed by the prison’s urban surroundings but stressed ongoing efforts to counteract the contraband influx. “Being situated in a densely populated area makes it a daunting task to prevent contraband from being thrown into the premises. However, we are making every effort to tackle the issue,” Singh said.None
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ORLANDO, Fla. — UCF coach Gus Malzahn is resigning after four seasons with the school. ESPN’s Pete Thamel was the first to report the move, which will see Malzahn to leave to take the offensive coordinator job at Florida State. Malzahn previously worked with FSU coach Mike Norvell during their time at Tulsa under then-coach Todd Graham from 2007-08. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.
This isn’t word for word, but the preseason prediction for the 2024 Vikings from this corner of the football world went something like this: No Way In God’s Green Earth Sam Darnold Leads The Vikings To The Playoffs! Result: Wide wrong. Care to go double or nothing on this 2025 prediction? No Way In God’s Purple Earth Sam Darnold Doesn’t Get Franchise Tagged For An Estimated $39,637,000 ! Thoughts? “That’s above my pay grade,” former Vikings quarterback and 2002 NFL MVP Rich Gannon said a few weeks ago when our discussion about Darnold’s MVP chances turned to thoughts of where Darnold’s feet might land and for how much in 2025. Gannon, however, did offer some advice as a guy who, like Darnold, spent his first six seasons in a dysfunctional situation — with the Vikings, ironically — before eventually gaining his career foothold en route to winning MVP at 37 — 10 years older than Darnold is now. “Let’s throw out some arbitrary numbers,” Gannon said. “Let’s say he can re-sign for $40 million a year and stay with the Vikings, a place you like, a good organization, a head coach [Kevin O’Connell] you believe in, good play-caller who believes in you, you thrive in his system, you got those weapons, Justin Jefferson ... “Or you can get $50 million and go somewhere else. Do the latter and I think he’s making a huge mistake. What difference does it make if you take $50 million and you’re out on the street again in a year and a half because it’s not the right situation again?” Souhan: Time for the Vikings to lock up their future Darnold was considered pricey last spring when he got $10 million to A) serve as the Vikings’ short-term bridge to rookie J.J. McCarthy and, B) prove to everyone else he’s either starting-caliber or, at worst, the next Andy Dalton. The market has changed considerably since McCarthy’s season-ending knee injury in August and Darnold’s ensuing MVP-caliber play for a team that’s 13-2 and needs no outside help to win the NFC’s No. 1 seed . So those who suggested four months ago that Darnold might be lucky to get a Baker Mayfield-type deal ($33.3 million a year) probably aimed a little low. “If Sam can just keep the car on the road, he’s going to make a boatload of money,” Gannon said. “There’s been 30 coaches fired in the last four years. And 29 of them were fired because they couldn’t get the quarterback right, including Bill Belichick. Brandon Staley got fired for other reasons, because he had Justin Herbert. And there will be six or seven more this year, too.” O’Connell has said there will be a time and place for Darnold and the team to discuss 2025. That time and place isn’t heading into back-to-back games against Green Bay and Detroit. The Vikings have a problem to solve, but it’s the best problem to have. It’s also a problem that seems tailor-made for the one-year franchise tag. The team still has lofty dreams for McCarthy. It also has several other roster spots to address primarily in free agency since there’s limited draft capital. What the franchise tag does is buy the Vikings up to a year to figure things out. They can work slowly with McCarthy. They can build the roster without tying future cap space to Darnold. They can trade him like the Patriots did in 2009 when they franchised Matt Cassel and then traded him along with Mike Vrabel for the 34th overall pick. And if the Vikings don’t tag and trade, they get to keep a strong-armed 27-year-old who’s been mentally-reprogrammed by K.O. the QB Whisperer himself. Here’s a taste of what the two of them have done so far in Year 1 together: Rank fourth in passer rating (105.4), fourth in yards per attempt (8.2), fifth in touchdown passes (32) and sixth in yards passing (3,776). Rank second in game-winning drives (5). Only a guy named Patrick Mahomes (7) has more. Rank tied for first with Lamar Jackson in games with a 100-plus passer rating (12). Only two players in NFL history have had seasons with more than 12: Aaron Rodgers had 13 in 2011 and 14 in 2020. Mahomes had 13 in 2018. Vote for your most underrated Vikings Rodgers and Mahomes won league MVP each of those years. Darnold is an MVP dark horse, but the race isn’t over. Sure, Darnold probably won’t like being tagged. But, hey, he’s still young and he’d be getting roughly $40 million to soothe the pain for another year. And staying where his career went from flop to franchise tag wouldn’t be such a bad thing either. “Just running for the best financial situation at the quarterback position is not always the best thing,” Gannon said. “Being with the right person, the right people, the right coaches, is the way to go.” To get exclusive analysis on the Vikings in your inbox every Friday, sign up for the free Access Vikings newsletter . Email your Vikings questions to accessvikings@startribune.com .
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