President Donald Trump late Wednesday took to Truth Social to announce Georgia state Sen. Brandon Beach as the next U.S. treasurer.

The 63-year-old Louisiana native was elected as a Republican Georgia state senator in 2013. He represents District 21, which includes parts of Cherokee and Fulton counties.

“Brandon helped us secure a Massive and Historic Victory for our Movement in the Great State of Georgia, and has been doing an incredible job in the Georgia State Senate since 2012. As our next Treasurer, Brandon will uphold the Values of Fiscal Responsibility, Economic Growth, and help unleash America’s Golden Age,” Trump wrote in the post. “Congratulations Brandon!”

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A graduate of Centenary College of Louisiana State University and Louisiana Frost School of Business, Beach won the Legislator of the Year Award from the Georgia Chamber of Commerce in 2017 and the Emerging Leader Award from GOPAC Inc. in April 2023.

He also serves as the president and CEO of the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce and president and CEO of the North Fulton Community Improvement District.

Under his leadership, the district invested more than $2 million to bring $30 million in new infrastructure to the area, according to the Georgia Department of Economic Development.

President Trump nominated Georgia state Sen. Brandon Beach for U.S. treasurer. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Community boards he serves on include the Regional Business Coalition, Grady Hospital Board of Visitors, the Greater Metro Atlanta American Heart Association, Georgia Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives, Encore Park, and the Historic Roswell Convention and Visitors Bureau, according to the department.

Beach currently lives in Alpharetta, Georgia, and shares two children with his wife, Shuntel Paille Beach.

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Following Beach’s nomination, Trump announced via Truth Social that Brent Bozell will serve as U.S. Ambassador to South Africa. 

“Brent is the Founder of the Media Research Center [MRC], which has exposed Fake News hypocrites for many years,” Trump wrote in the post. “Brent brings fearless tenacity, extraordinary experience, and vast knowledge to a Nation that desperately needs it. Congratulations Brent!”

Prior to founding the MRC, Bozell served as president of the National Conservative Political Action Committee and the National Conservative Foundation.

Brent Bozell speaks during a panel discussion at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C.  (Kris Connor/Getty Images)

The University of Dallas alumnus serves as chairman of ForAmerica, an organization “committed to restoring America to its founding principles.”

He is married with five children and seventeen grandchildren.

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The Georgia Senate Press Office and Beach did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged the Georgian Parliament on Wednesday to reject the ‘foreign agents’ bill.

Europe and Central Asia director at HRW Hugh Williamson argued that if the bill passes, “it could spell the end of Georgia’s independent civil society”. Besides posing problems for independent civil society in Georgia, HRW believes the government is “plunging Georgia ever deeper into a human rights crisis”. Williamson said that activists and groups will have “the false choice of accepting the unfounded and stigmatizing label of foreign agent, facing prison or exile, or abandoning their work altogether”. HRW claims Georgia ought to scrap the bill to ensure respect for human rights.

The proposed ‘foreign agent’ bill introduces strict measures forcing individuals and entities to register as under the influence of a foreign principal while engaging in political activities for the interests of that foreign agent. These individuals and entities must submit annual financial declarations and mark their public statements as “coming from a foreign agent”. Sanctions amount to fines up to €8,250 ($8,886) and five years in prison.

Arguably, the bill is set to impose stricter sanctions than the controversial ‘foreign agent’ law adopted in 2024. The bill is a response to the failure of several civil society organizations to register under previous laws. These restrictions could amount to human rights violations within the European framework. For instance, possible violations of the rights to freedom of expression and association protected under Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The ‘foreign agent’ law was already criticized both by the Council of Europe and the UN for violating human rights.

As the new ‘foreign agent’ bill awaits approval, the Georgian Parliament has introduced more restricting legislative amendments. HRW argues these amendments are set to oppress peaceful protesters. In 2024, following the ‘foreign agent’ law’s adoption, human rights groups condemned the use of force and harsh sanctions against protestors.

With this proposal, Georgia distances itself more from the European sphere. Kaja Kallas and Commissioner for enlargement Marta Kos recently mentioned that these legislative proposals demonstrate a “serious setback for Georgia’s democratic development and falls short of any expectations of an EU candidate country”. This also follows the Georgian Dream Party’s decision not to pursue the opening of EU accession in December 2024.

The proposal is set to be voted on in the Georgian Parliament during the week of March 31, 2025.

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – Georgia is the only state in the country where cockfighting is not, by law, a felony. That could change as Senate Bill 102 creeps towards passage.

The bill would outlaw cockfighting and bring it under the same state statute that makes dogfighting a felony in Georgia. It would also make bringing a minor to an organized cockfight an aggravated misdemeanor.

The brutal sport of cockfighting features roosters with gaffs — essentially razor blades or daggers — attached to their legs in a fight to the death.

“Unfortunately, it’s way more common than people are aware of,” said Jessica Rock, an animal crimes prosecutor in Georgia. “There are organized cockfights going on in the State of Georgia every weekend.”

Rock is the first and one of the only state-funded prosecutors solely dedicated to animal cruelty cases. She’s been lobbying for the passage of SB 102 after another attempt at outlawing cockfighting, SB 255, failed in the legislature last year. Rock said people would be surprised at the scale of cockfighting events in Georgia.

“You’re talking about stadium seating, concessions stands, people from multiple other states bringing trailers of birds into Georgia to fight them,” she said. “You can make upwards of $100,000 or more on a derby, which is a series of cockfights that can occur over a day.”

As of now, there’s not much law enforcement in Georgia can do to prosecute serious cases of cockfighting. Sometimes, the best they can do is charge misdemeanor animal cruelty or misdemeanor gambling. But Rock also said it can be a gateway to much more serious crimes.

“Obviously, there’s gambling involved and then unfortunately, what we see a lot of times is drug trafficking, gun trafficking and human trafficking as well,” she said.

Cockfighting is already a federal felony, but bill sponsor State Sen. Randy Robertson (R-Cataula) said he wants Georgia to be able to handle their own investigations without the help of federal investigators.

“I think it’s something we can do on our own,” he said.

Cockfighting is vastly popular in many foreign countries. Robertson said a lot of the pushback he’s getting is from people for whom cockfighting is culturally ingrained. And he understands — his family used to attend cockfights when he was young and even raised fighting roosters.

“I understand the sport very well, but you know what? There are a lot of things we did many years ago that just don’t fit into the fabric of what Georgia is today,” he said. “I think it’s time we move beyond that.”

Like Rock, Robertson believes the only other opposition to this bill is from those who are making large sums of money on the sport.

“I would think it’s because they’re making – they or somebody that they care about – is making a profit off of it,” he said.

Said Rock: “They wouldn’t want to sign onto it if they’re engaged in cockfighting. I think it’s that simple.”

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