Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones asked the Virginia Supreme Court to overturn a ruling by Judge Hurley in Tazewell that blocked the State Board of Elections from certifying the results of the April 21 redistricting referendum. That is notable—so is the justices’ denial of that motion. First, most anyone that remembers 2020 knows that the first response from anyone, when confronted with proof that shenanigans had taken place during the presidential election, is “the vote has been certified and there is no changing it.” That gets used to justify statements that the 2020 election was unchallenged. It appears that what the attorney general was trying to do was force the state Supreme Court’s hand by claiming that one district court didn’t have the standing to stop a whole state-wide certification. Jones also argued, with a straight face, that because the redistricting his party supported would eat into the time for candidates to know what district they were running for and if any primaries needed to take place. Any delay could be seen as “vote suppression.” Had he been successful, any ruling regarding the legality of the referendum would meet the same response the questions about 2020 meet: “So sorry, already certified.” That makes the second part of this compelling. The fact that the Virginia Supreme Court did not go along with the attorney general is being seen by tea-leaf readers as an indication that they will find that sufficient laws were broken that would render the whole vote moot. Then the fun begins. If you have not read the letter that the alleged assailant sent his family before trying to crash the White House Correspondents’ Dinner more than a week ago Saturday, the New York Post was the first to do so, and you should read it to get an idea of what might be coming to the streets of Virginia if the vote is thrown out. A continuously repeating loop based on unproven or debunked rhetoric about President Donald Trump led the assailant to travel across the country to attend the dinner. And there are many more like him. People that believe, in the words of the Trump assailant, “I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes,” and who are convinced extreme action needed to take place even without redistricting, can become dangerous extremists. Think of the Virginia riots in Richmond and Roanoke after George Floyd died in police custody. Should the redistricting referendum be ruled invalid, it would be their votes got tossed out. They won’t need a planted agitator to whip them up into an extreme frenzy. While the Virginia Supreme Court should not give in to the threat of extreme political violence, we need to be ready.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit the Vatican and Italy this week, the state department confirmed Monday. The White House has publicly feuded with both states on foreign policy. In a statement, the State Department said Rubio will meet with “Holy See leadership to discuss the situation in the Middle East and mutual interests in the Western Hemisphere.” Pope Leo XIV has criticized both the United States and Iran’s role in the ongoing conflict. In turn, President Donald Trump responded, “I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon.” Rubio will also meet with Italian officials for talks “focused on shared security interests and strategic alignment,” per the state department. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggested when asked by reporters Monday that she will likely meet with Rubio. Rubio’s trip to Europe comes as the administration is becoming increasingly critical of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) due to its members’ refusal to join in combat operations against Iran and secure the Strait of Hormuz. The administration has already announced its intent to withdraw 5,000 troops from Germany, a NATO member. Trump told reporters of the withdrawals on Saturday that “we’re going to cut way down. And we’re cutting a lot further than 5,000.” Trump also floated withdrawing American troops from Italy and Spain on Thursday, saying they have “not been of any help to us.”

President Donald Trump said the United States will come to the aid of ships stuck in the Strait of Hormuz due to security concerns. “For the good of Iran, the Middle East, and the United States, we have told these Countries that we will guide their Ships safely out of these restricted Waterways, so that they can freely and ably get on with their business,” Trump wrote Sunday on Truth Social. Trump said the tankers that the U.S. will guide are not involved with the war. “I have told my Representatives to inform them that we will use best efforts to get their Ships and Crews safely out of the Strait,” he wrote. “In all cases, they said they will not be returning until the area becomes safe for navigation, and everything else.” Trump named the process “Project Freedom,” and said it will begin Monday morning. “The Ship movement is merely meant to free up people, companies, and Countries that have done absolutely nothing wrong — They are victims of circumstance,” he said. “This is a Humanitarian gesture on behalf of the United States, Middle Eastern Countries but, in particular, the Country of Iran. Many of these Ships are running low on food, and everything else necessary for largescale crews to stay on board in a healthy and sanitary manner.” If Iran interferes with the project, it will be “dealt with forcefully,” he said. The Wall Street Journal reported that this is “effectively a coordination cell to move traffic through the Strait, involving countries, insurance companies and shipping organizations.” Naval warships will not be escorting vessels through the strait, officials told the outlet. As many as 20,000 seafarers have been stranded in the Persian Gulf on around 2,000 vessels, according to the International Maritime Organization.  Recently, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps deployed mines in the strait, endangering commercial shipping traffic. The blockage of the strait has led to rising oil prices across the world, as before the conflict, about 20% of the world’s oil supply passed through the waterway. Iran warned the U.S. Navy to stay out of the Strait of Hormuz and said commercial vessels would need to coordinate any passage with its military. It also issued a new map outlining what it said was Iran’s control area. Reuters contributed to this report.

On Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017, two state troopers—pilot Lt. H. Jay Cullen, 48, and trooper-pilot Berke M.M. Bates, 40—and one counterprotester, 32-year-old Heather Heyer, lost their lives in Charlottesville, Virginia. Hundreds more were injured in the aftermath of dueling rallies. One rally took place in a park at the corner of Market and Fourth streets in Charlottesville, and the other occurred on Market Street, in protest of the first. In February of that year, I became aware of a group that espoused no conservative principles beyond wanting then Charlottesville Vice Mayor Wes Bellamy to lose his seat. I even had several heated discussions with the organizer of the so-called “Unite the Right” rally because he thought I was infringing his First Amendment rights by not hosting him on my popular morning radio show. That Saturday morning in August, while I stood in the crowd in the intersection trying to feed news back to my station, I watched David Duke walk past me. Yes, that David Duke. I was about to become aware of what tear gas feels like, but it was OK because I felt vindicated. This was no bunch of true conservatives. Now we learn that a person identified as “F-37” by the Department of Justice in their indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) was the “transportation coordinator” for the “Unite the Right” team. SPLC claims they were paid $270,000 to “sing” (as police call testifying against your co-conspirators) or were they “composing” (when there was no song to “sing”). A researcher called “Data Republican” from Pennsylvania has posts from the website Discord, attributed to the transportation coordinator, warning of crowds that might try to block the streets. And if that were to happen, the message was to “run them down.” The indictment states these postings were made “under the supervision of the SPLC.” Tuesday, lawyers for the Southern Poverty Law Center claimed that “the government was aware of their activities.” Since this was a criminal style sting operation, the logical conclusion would be that the FBI might be involved. At the time the rally took place, the newly named FBI director was Christopher Wray. From May until then, the acting director was Andrew McCabe. And as the “Unite the Right” folks were building their team in the spring of that year, it was a fellow named James Comey. Those folks would never be involved in setting up anything that would make President Donald Trump look bad, would they?

After cutting 275 teaching positions and increasing class sizes this academic year, Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) has launched a program to fund PhDs for some of its highest-paid district administrators.  On Aug. 5, 2025, FCPS Chief of Schools Geovanny Ponce, who earns an annual salary of $289,565, emailed hundreds of district administrators to announce the program. “FCPS is launching a district-sponsored doctoral cohort program in partnership with George Mason University,” he wrote. “This program will lead to an Education Leadership PhD concentration, providing an opportunity to deepen your expertise and advance your career.”  On Dec. 16, 2025, Kathryn Blackburn, a program assistant at George Mason University, emailed dozens of selected FCPS administrators to notify them about the program’s upcoming virtual orientation. “During this orientation,” she wrote, “students and leadership will learn about program requirements and expectations, student responsibilities, as well as answer questions about the program.” The Executive Limitation 4 Monitoring Report—intended to demonstrate and certify whether the district’s superintendent is complying with School Board policy on human resources, specifically how the district manages its workforce—was presented at the Dec. 4, 2025 meeting of the Fairfax County School Board. It describes the district-funded program, stating, “FCPS supports high-achieving leaders through this rigorous academic experience, which will include dedicated FCPS-led in-person and hybrid sessions.”  The report, which appears to be the only publicly available information on the program, does not outline its cost to taxpayers or the application process for interested administrators. It does, however, specify that eligible participants must have at least five years of experience as a principal, director, or above, and “must commit to remaining in FCPS for a period of time following completion of the program.”  Given that Superintendent Michelle Reid, who earns an annual salary of $445,353, has argued that Fairfax County Public Schools—Virginia’s largest school district—is in crisis due to “years of chronic underfunding,” severe enough to increase class sizes, it is inconsistent to support funding a PhD program for some of the district’s highest-paid administrators. It is also concerning that the School Board certified her as compliant in managing the district’s workforce at its December meeting despite ongoing concerns about how limited resources are being allocated.  In fact, some of the selected candidates who received GMU’s orientation email earn more than $200,000 per year. Among the roughly 20 administrators selected are individuals listed in the table below. Their FY2026 salaries, along with their positions, were obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.  NamePositionSalary (FY2026)William Solomon  Chief Human Resources$278,323Rebecca G Baenig  Assistant Superintendent$233,309Pablo Resendiz  Assistant Superintendent$228,735Marie M Lemmon  Assistant Superintendent$228,735Kimberly P GreerExecutive Principal$223,318Bettrys Huffman  Executive Director$216,766April Lashana Cage  Executive Principal$210,407Candace J Hunstad  Executive Director$194,356 Ponce, who announced the program, selected two of his long-time colleagues for the district-funded PhD cohort. Superintendent Reid recruited Ponce, William Solomon, and Pablo Resendiz to join Fairfax County Public Schools in July 2023, shortly after their failing former district, Houston Independent School District (ISD), was placed under state intervention for sustained performance and governance concerns. Houston ISD’s trash is Fairfax County’s treasure, apparently. Despite Resendiz’s candidacy in this doctoral program, and the stated requirement to remain in FCPS, he has recently alerted colleagues that he would be taking leave from the district for at least a year. While Fairfax County’s taxpayers cover expenses for his PhD, Resendiz will be the regional chief for Fort Worth Independent School District’s North campuses.  Selecting colleagues from his former school district for the PhD program is not Ponce’s only decision drawing scrutiny. Ponce, who is slated to lead the public school district in Champaign, Illinois next year, has drawn scrutiny over hiring practices involving close associates. For example, inside sources claim the district hired Gustavo Suarez, Ponce’s father-in-law, to be FCPS’s business operations assistant in a non-competitive process. A FOIA response confirmed that an individual named Gustavo Suarez is working as a business operations assistant in FY2026, with an annual salary of $79,774. Such patterns of internal hiring and close professional relationships help contextualize broader concerns about how district resources and opportunities are allocated. The new doctoral program, for example, raises questions about FCPS priorities at a time when the district has reduced teaching positions and increased class sizes amid claims of chronic underfunding. While the initiative is framed as a professional development opportunity for senior leaders, it is being implemented for some of the district’s highest‑paid administrators with limited publicly available detail on its overall cost, selection process, or return on investment.  The overlap between senior leadership, internal recruitment networks, and eligibility for the doctoral program further underscores concerns about transparency and decision-making within the district. At moments like this, strong external monitoring of public school systems is essential to ensure that resource allocation aligns with community needs and that oversight does not rely solely on internal actors. As FCPS continues to cite fiscal constraints in instructional areas, the decision to finance PhDs for top district administrators earning over $200,000 annually is indefensible.  We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal.