Midwest
Congressman Eric Burlison: In the Biden administration, 'the inmates are running the prison'
U.S. Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., sat down with Fox News Digital at FreedomFest in Las Vegas to discuss the 2024 election, immigration, Second Amendment rights, and the government response to the COVID pandemic.
As former President Trump and the GOP brand have expanded throughout the American heartland in many areas that were once swing states, Burlison said he believes that the Democratic Party has abandoned his home state ideologically.
“When I was first elected in the Missouri House, I sat across the aisle from people that were friends of mine that were part of the Democratic Party who were pro-life…There were members who were part of the pro-Second Amendment caucus…and that’s not an option today and I think that people that that once held, that still hold those values that once found a place in the Democratic Party, there’s no place for them anymore…It’s not that Missouri has moved ideologically, I think it’s the Democratic Party has left them.”
LIVE UPDATES: REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION
U.S. Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., participates in the Republican Study Committee news conference to unveil their FY2025 budget proposal in March. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Burlison has been a tireless critic of the Biden administration’s immigration policies, and said the issue will pay dividends for the GOP in 2024.
“This is unprecedented levels of illegal immigration and I think that his [Biden’s] executive orders directly undermined the authority of Customs and Border Patrol, and now we have this crisis situation … over 10 million people that we know of have come across the southern border illegally, and then we have over 2 million people that are known got-aways,” he said. “When the Biden administration talks about job numbers, and he’s taking credit for this surge in jobs…the fact is that more than half of those jobs are occupied by someone who was not living in the United States before Joe Biden became president. And so, that is a disturbing factor.”
WHITE HOUSE GRILLED ON FLOW OF TAXPAYER DOLLARS TO GOVERNMENT DEI PROGRAMS
Energy production and independence are also issues that Burlison is championing in Congress, and he said will resonate with the American electorate come November.
“I think we need to return to an America that was energy independent, that was the America of abundance and that was what we were on track for that under the previous administration under President Trump. Look, in my lifetime I’ve heard so many people running for president claim that they were going to make America energy independent: we would be a net exporter of electricity, net exporter of fuels, and natural resources. That didn’t happen until President Donald Trump,” Burlison said. “The one nexus [for the economy] is energy independence and having abundant energy in the future. If America can go back to being a net exporter, and we reduce our costs for oil…natural gas, and other things, then I think we’re going to solve a lot of our problems.”
While Biden pledged to govern as a moderate after defeating democratic socialist Bernie Sanders in the 2020 primary, Burlison argues that Biden reneged on that promise.
President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign in Philadelphia. (Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“I would love to have a moderate Joe Biden as president, but that’s not who we have. I think that his office…the inmates are running the prison I think that the staff are running the show, and those staff are a lot more progressive than Joe Biden has ever been as an elected official, so it’s a disturbing trend, and I hope that we change course,” Burlison said.
GOP LAWMAKER HIGHLIGHTS LINGERING DIVIDES: ‘IT’S THE CONFERENCE AGAINST THE CONFERENCE’
One of the most important issues for Burlison is Second Amendment rights. He said he believes that Republicans have work to do to fine-tune their messaging on the issue.
“I think that we need to do a better job of communicating the value of people having the right to carry a firearm. The FBI numbers, even under the Obama administration, they did a report that showed that two and a half million times a year someone uses a firearm to save a life or stop a rape, stop a violent act, and those are amazing numbers and there’s anecdotes for every one of the two and a half million stories like that,” he said. “But what ends up being covered in the media are the horrific shootings that occur and while they are absolutely horrible, and we should do everything we can to try to stop those, we can’t ignore the fact that firearms overwhelmingly save lives.”
The U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. (llison Robbert/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Burlison is a vehement critic of both parties on spending.
“It’s not only a financial crisis, but it is a security crisis. We are at a debt to GDP level that we have not seen since World War Two, and we didn’t just complete a war. In fact, we’re looking at wars that the United States may have to get into in the future, and we can’t afford it, so we have to fix this, and we don’t…we have a spending problem in D.C. and, the thing that I’m most disappointed in is my Republican colleagues who are not willing to make the necessary cuts,” he said. “They’re not willing to do what’s important and necessary for the future of America, and look, cutting is difficult, but it’s something that we’re going to have to do if we want to save this country.”
During the COVID pandemic, Burlison emerged as a champion of civil liberties, and an opponent of government overreach, and pledged that another attempt to enact policies, such as shutdowns and lockdowns, would not take place without a fight.
“This [the government reaction to COVID] was a horrific situation. We saw what a totalitarian regime might look like in America,” he said. “We got a taste of that and, I hope, I think that there’s a lot of patriots who are not going to let that happen again, and I think that there’s a lot of legislators that are trying to pass bills to make sure that…we don’t see those losses of liberty again.”
Read the full article from Here
PARKERSBURG, W.Va. (WTAP) – Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine is encouraging Ohioans to take advantage of this year’s sales tax holiday, which will take place from midnight Friday, Aug. 7, through 11:59 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 9, 2026.
The following items qualify for the sales tax exemption during the three-day holiday: clothing priced at $75 or less per item, school supplies priced at $20 or less per item, and school instructional materials priced at $20 or less per item.
According to the Ohio Department of Taxation, “clothing” includes but is not limited to, aprons, household and shop; athletic supporters; baby receiving blankets; bathing suits and caps; beach capes and coats; belts and suspenders; boots; coats and jackets; costumes; diapers, children and adult, including disposable diapers; earmuffs; footlets; formal wear; garters and garter belts; girdles; gloves and mittens for general use; hats and caps; hosiery; insoles for shoes; lab coats; neckties; overshoes; pantyhose; rainwear; rubber pants; sandals; scarves; shoes and shoe laces; slippers; sneakers; socks and stockings; steel-toed shoes; underwear; uniforms, athletic and nonathletic; and wedding apparel.
“School supplies” only includes binders; book bags; calculators; cellophane tape; blackboard chalk; compasses; composition books; crayons; erasers; folders, expandable, pocket, plastic, and manila; glue, paste, and paste sticks; highlighters; index cards; index card boxes; legal pads; lunch boxes; markers; notebooks; paper, loose-leaf notebook paper, copy paper, graph paper, tracing paper, manila paper, colored paper, poster board, and construction paper; pencil boxes and other school supply boxes; pencil sharpeners; pencils; pens; protractors; rulers; scissors; and writing tablets.
“School instructional materials” only includes reference books, reference maps and globes, textbooks, and workbooks.
In 2026, the sales tax holiday only applies to the above back to school items. It does not apply to items that are $500 or less, food in restaurants, boats/watercrafts, titled outboard motors, motor vehicles, alcohol, tobacco, vape products, or items with marijuana. It also does not apply to taxable services and items purchased for use in business.
For more information about this year’s sales tax holiday in Ohio, you can visit the Ohio Department of Taxation’s website.
Copyright 2026 WTAP. All rights reserved.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Nine Native American tribes in South Dakota, North Dakota and Nebraska are suing the federal government in a bid to stop exploratory drilling for graphite near a sacred site in the Black Hills.
A small group of demonstrators has been protesting at the drilling location and at the mining company’s headquarters since they learned ground was broken on the drilling project in late April.
The tribes filed their federal lawsuit Thursday in South Dakota against the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Department of Agriculture, alleging that the agencies violated federal law by greenlighting a project near a site called Pe’Sla, a meadow in the central Black Hills used for tribal ceremonies, prayer and youth camps year-round.
The project is the latest point of tension between tribes and mining interests in the lush pine-covered Black Hills, which encompass over 1.2 million acres (485,000 hectares), rising from the Great Plains in southwest South Dakota and extending into Wyoming.
The region is a yearly destination for millions of tourists boasting such attractions as Mount Rushmore and wildlife-filled state parks. Yet for even longer, it has been sacred to Sioux tribes who call the area He Sapa and consider it “the heart of everything that is,” according to the complaint.
Some of the landscape has already been altered by the gold rush of the 1870s that developed the region and displaced Native Americans. And in recent years, a new crop of miners driven by rising gold prices have sought to return to the landscape.
The complaint said the project by Rapid City-based mining company Pete Lien & Sons would impact the use of Pe’Sla for traditional, cultural and religious purposes by the tribes, and that the Forest Service did not consult with the tribes before approving the project.
Parts of Pe’Sla are owned by Sioux tribes after they bought the land in 2012, 2015 and 2018, and an agreement between the tribes and the Forest Service established a two-mile (three kilometer) buffer zone on public lands around the site, according to the complaint.
Because Pe’Sla was not included as an affected area and no environmental review was conducted, the approval violates the National Historic Preservation Act and National Environmental Policy Act, the lawsuit alleges.
Pete Lien & Sons, which supplies materials like limestone, sand and gravel, did not return email requests or voicemails for comment Thursday and Sunday.
Frank Star Comes Out, president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, said in a statement that the lawsuit is “a historic demonstration of unity” between the nine tribes. The tribes are separate, distinct federally recognized tribes sharing cultural and linguistic roots, but each with its own government and land base.
“We as Lakota people have been coming and praying and holding ceremony at these places for over 2,000 years,” said Wizipan Garriott, president of Indigenous advocacy group NDN Collective and a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. “And so us being here is a continuation of countless generations before us. And it’s important that these sacred places be protected for future generations to come.”
The project was granted a permit from the Forest Service in February without conducting an environmental review because the agency said it met the requirements for a categorical exclusion, like having a duration of less than a year and not posing impacts to environmental and cultural sites.
But tribal opponents disagree that those requirements were met and said drilling projects are often a first step leading to future mines.
Besides the lawsuit from the tribes, NDN Collective and other environmental groups filed a request for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to halt the project.
Some of the drilling pads are in the buffer zone around the site, according to NDN Collective. The project calls for the company to drill up to 18 holes down some 1,000 feet (300 meters) into the Earth to collect samples.
On Thursday, opponents demonstrated with signs reading “Protect Pe’Sla” and “Sacred ground not mining bound” near two drilling pads to block access. NDN Collective said the Forest Service told them drilling was paused for the rest of the day and the contractors were sent home.
The Forest Service said in a statement that it had no comment on the project when asked for a response.
“The Forest Service does not comment on the specifics of the case or on issues that are part of ongoing legal proceedings,” the statement said.
It is unclear when drilling began, but NDN Collective said it noticed drilling pads in operation last week. The group said protest actions will continue as needed to protect Pe’Sla.
“As Lakota, we pray as long as we need to,” Garriott said.
-
North Dakota2 minutes ago
North Dakotans split on Iran conflict amid economic concerns
-
Ohio8 minutes agoGov. Mike DeWine urges Ohio residents to take advantage of sales tax holiday
-
Oklahoma14 minutes ago
At least 10 hospitalized after Oklahoma shooting | The Jerusalem Post
-
Oregon20 minutes ago
Oregon Lottery Pick 4 results for May 3
-
Pennsylvania26 minutes agoPennsylvania amusement park named best in the US by TripAdvisor
-
Rhode Island32 minutes ago
RI Lottery Numbers Midday, Numbers Evening winning numbers for May 3, 2026
-
South-Carolina38 minutes agoLSU completes sweep of South Carolina, 7-0
-
South Dakota44 minutes ago
Tribes sue to halt exploratory drilling in Black Hills near sacred ceremonial site
