Maryland lawmakers are protesting pro-life updates to federal regulations by turning down nearly $4 million a year in family planning funding from the U.S. government that could have gone to women’s healthcare and crisis pregnancy centers.

The U.S. Supreme Court granted a stay of execution March 25 to a Buddhist prisoner on Texas’ death row after state officials refused to allow his spiritual adviser to accompany him in the death chamber. The decision could pave the way for more high court rulings in favor of individuals’ religious liberty.

WASHINGTON—A White House official said the Trump administration granted dozens of security clearances despite concerns about the individuals’ pasts. House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Md., released a memo and letter Monday with testimony from Tricia Newbold, who has worked for the government for 18 years.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party is challenging the outcome of Sunday’s municipal elections after losing its hold on some significant cities. Bayram Senocak, the party’s top official in Istanbul, said Tuesday that he filed an appeal to challenge the results in Istanbul’s 39 districts based on reports of irregularities and invalid votes. The ruling Islamist Justice and Development Party won a majority of votes in the election but lost control of the capital, Ankara, to the opposition Republican People’s Party.

As April 15, income tax day, approaches, Congressional Democrats are proposing significant increases in taxes to fund new programs. U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., has proposed a 70 percent federal income tax on incomes above $10 million. Other Democrats have proposed similar levies. Proposals such as providing Medicare for all and the Green New Deal would require significant new expenditures and revenue to support them.

Is it really possible to tax the rich to fund fully such new initiatives?

WASHINGTON—On Monday, the Justice Department sided with a federal judge’s ruling that the Affordable Care Act, former President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law, is unconstitutional and should be struck down. The department filed a determination with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals saying that “the district court’s judgment should be affirmed.” Last December, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor sided with a coalition of Republican states in Texas v.

In The Once and Future Worker: A Vision for the Renewal of Work in America, Oren Cass offers the best explanation I’ve seen of why Donald Trump is in the White House now. Cass points out how our educational system has a college fetish that leaves most students poorly prepared to enter the workforce. He shows that our gross national product has increased but many workers have had difficulty supporting their families.