Press Releases
Senator Hawley Slams Garland for Lying About FBI Targeting Parents, Demands He Testify Before Senate
Today U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland, demanding he answer questions about whistleblower documents showing the FBI is using its counterterrorism division to investigate and add “threat tags” to parents who speak out at school board meetings. “Nearly every week, we discover new information that undermines your assertion that you are not using the FBI to target parents who wish to speak up in response to school boards that are pushing divisive ideologies like critical race theory or other highly controversial measures,” wrote Senator Hawley. “I am calling for the Judiciary Committee to expeditiously schedule a hearing so you can answer these questions.” In a separate letter to Chairman Durbin (D-Ill.), Senator...
Hawley Introduces Parents’ Bill of Rights to Defend Parents’ Role in Education
Today U.S. Senator Josh Hawley introduced the Parents’ Bill of Rights Act to defend parents’ fundamental rights against efforts to shut them out of their children’s education. Senator Hawley’s bill would empower parents to sue federally-funded schools that do not protect certain basic rights, such as the right to know what their child is being taught and the right to know what outside groups are receiving school contracts. Senator Hawley said, “America has long recognized the right of parents to direct their children’s education but we are now seeing a concerted effort by the Left to shut parents out. Whether it’s Joe Biden’s Justice Department attempting to classify parents as ‘domestic terrorists’ or activists funded by dark money who seek to quietly introduce critical...
Hawley Grills Mayorkas on Failure to Fully Vet Afghan Refugees, Biden Border Crisis
Hawley also questioned Mayorkas on Biden’s proposed $450K payments to illegal immigrations and VP Harris’s failure as border czar Today at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) grilled Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over DHS’s failure to fully vet thousands of Afghan refugees following President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from Afghanistan. Secretary Mayorkas told Senator Hawley DHS is not conducting in-person interviews for all refugees and could not answer what percentage of refugees received an in-person interview. Senator Hawley said, “The fact that you are not conducting the most standard interviews for tens of thousands of people brought to this country is astounding to me and it seems to me you have not learned...
Five Senators Join Hawley Amendment This Week to Remove NDAA Provision that Forces Women to Register for Military Draft
Five Senators have signed on to a new amendment led by U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (Mo.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, to this year’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would remove a provision currently in the bill that requires women to register for the Selective Service System. U.S. Senators Ted Cruz (Tex.), Tom Cotton (Ark.), Roger Wicker (Miss.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (Miss.), and Roger Marshall (Kan.) cosponsored Senator Hawley’s amendment this week. Should this year’s NDAA pass without it and the U.S. government initiates a military draft in the future, women would be forced to register. Sen. Cruz said, “America’s military is a volunteer force made up of service members who decided for themselves to take the oath. My daughters know that they’re...
Senator Hawley Joins Braun and Colleagues in Officially Challenging Biden’s Vaccine Mandate
U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) joined Senator Mike Braun (R-Ind.), and 38 Republican colleagues in formally moving to disapprove and nullify President Biden’s vaccine mandate on private employees under the Congressional Review Act, the official process for Congress to eliminate an Executive Branch rule. The Biden administration has announced U.S. businesses have until Jan. 4, 2022, to comply with their vaccine mandate. “Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate is an unconstitutional infringement on the fundamental rights of American citizens. More than that, it unlawfully bypasses established regulatory procedures. Congress, not the President, has the authority to make law," said Senator Hawley. "He is ignoring this basic principle by forcing employers to...
Hawley to Protect Parents’ Role in Education With New Parents Bill of Rights
Today U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) announced he will introduce a new Parents Bill of Rights to turn back efforts to shut parents out of their children's education. Senator Hawley's bill will protect the right of parents to know what their children are being taught, who is teaching them, and which organizations are receiving school contracts.
Senator Hawley Joins Daines and Colleagues to Block Taxpayer-Funded Payments to Illegal Immigrants in FY22 NDAA
U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) joined Steve Daines (Mont.) and a group of Senators today in introducing a new amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2022 that blocks President Biden’s reported plan to give illegal immigrants up to $450,000 per person in taxpayer dollars for settlements by the U.S. government, totaling upwards of a billion dollars. The news first gained attention at the end of last week. “Joe Biden and his administration’s priorities are completely out of sync with American families, and their plan to pay people who come here illegally nearly half a million dollars is just the latest example,” said Senator Hawley. “It’s frankly insulting they would plan something like this when Americans are facing a supply...
Hawley Rips Garland for Encouraging Non-Criminal Prosecutions of Parents, Calls for Oct. 4th Memo to be Withdrawn
Today U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland calling on him to immediately withdraw his October 4th memo directing the FBI to involve itself with local school board meetings, which has led federal prosecutors to threaten to prosecute parents under laws that were repealed long ago. Senator Hawley writes that a memo from the U.S. Attorney in Montana, which directed law enforcement to “contact the FBI” if a parent calls a member of a school board “with intent to annoy," was issued in response to Garland’s October 4th memo and “entirely misstates the law.” Senator Hawley wrote, “When you testified last week about your October 4th memo directing the FBI to involve itself with parents protesting at local school boards, you told me that...
Senator Hawley Continues to Stand with Taiwan, Introducing New Bill to Help Nation Arm Itself
New legislation establishes Taiwan Security Assistance Initiative, accelerates Taiwan’s deployment of asymmetric defenses Today U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) – a member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee – introduced the Arm Taiwan Act of 2021 to strengthen Taiwan’s defenses against a Chinese invasion. It does so by allocating $3 billion annually for a new Taiwan Security Assistance Initiative to accelerate Taiwan’s deployment of asymmetric defense capabilities. It also conditions future conventional arms sales on Taiwan’s progress preparing its military and fielding the weapons required to defeat China’s war plans. “Taiwan is in grave danger, but the future is not yet written,” said Senator Hawley.“The Arm Taiwan Act will ensure Taiwan has the asymmetric...
Hawley, Kennedy, Colleagues Rebuke Biden Plan to Pay Illegal Immigrants with Taxpayer Dollars
U.S. Senators Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), John Kennedy (R-La.), and the nine other Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans wrote to President Joe Biden to oppose his administration’s reported plan to offer illegal immigrants up to $450,000 per person in taxpayer dollars to settle lawsuits resulting from those individuals’ violating U.S. immigration law. Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) joined Senators Hawley and Kennedy in asking the president to refuse to issue any settlement payments for illegal immigrants who broke U.S. laws. “At a time when respect for our country’s immigration laws is at an all-time...