The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday in favor of a Maine Republican state representative whose voting privileges were shut down after she posted a photograph of a transgender athlete on social media. Democrats took away Rep. Laurel Libby's vote in the statehouse after the post she published in February showed the biologically male athlete competing as a male and then as a female. 'The Supreme Court has affirmed what should NEVER have been in question — that no state legislature has the power to silence an elected official simply for speaking truthfully about issues that matter.' The highest court in the land ruled 7-2 in favor of an emergency appeal from Libby to allow her to regain her voting privileges without apologizing to the athlete. The justices offered no explanation for the decision.Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented in the ruling. Libby's post pointed out that the athlete had placed fifth in boys' pole vaulting but "propelled his school's girls' team to win the overall state championship" only one year later. "The Maine Principals’ Association’s blatant disregard for federal rules means that deserving, BIOLOGICAL girls, have titles ripped away from them. This is outrageous, and unfair to the many female athletes who work every single day to succeed in their respective sports," Libby wrote.Trans allies used a centuries-old rule in the statehouse to remove Libby's right to debate as well as to vote. They said that Libby needed to apologize to the transgender athlete to regain her privileges. RELATED: Protests against Maine governor intensify after public feud with Trump over trans athletes The Maine state Capitol building. Photo by UPI/Bettmann Archive/Getty Images Justice Jackson said she dissented on the basis that the court was incentivizing the abuse of emergency relief grants and that it would lead to more misuse in the future. Libby praised the ruling as a victory for free speech. "This is a victory not just for my constituents, but for the Constitution itself. The Supreme Court has affirmed what should NEVER have been in question — that no state legislature has the power to silence an elected official simply for speaking truthfully about issues that matter." Others defended Libby on the same reasoning. "FIRE supports Rep. Laurel Libby's appeal of her censure by the Maine Legislature, which prevents her from voting or speaking on the floor of the state's House of Representatives," read a statement from the civil rights group. "Maine's Democratic majority banned Rep. Libby from the floor because they didn't like her First Amendment-protected social media post on trans teens in female sports — a matter of intense public debate."President Donald Trump had publicly confronted Maine's Democrat governor in March over the state's refusal to comply with his executive order against transgender athletes competing in girls' sports. "You better comply — because otherwise you're not getting any federal funding," Trump said to Gov. Janet Mills. "I'll see you in court," she responded. "Good, I'll see you in court. I look forward to that. That should be a real easy one," he replied. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya hosted his first staff town hall on Monday.The event, held on the NIH's main campus in Bethesda, Maryland, was packed with nearly 500 attendees and even more individuals tuning in online to watch Bhattacharya answer some of the 1,200 submitted questions, Science reported.'If it's true that we sponsored research that caused the pandemic, and if you look at polls of the American people, that's what most people believe.'Yet when Bhattacharya attempted to answer a question about the origin of the COVID-19 outbreak, many staffers fled the room in apparent protest.Ahead of his response, Bhattacharya noted that some of those attending the event would likely disagree with his perspective."It's possible that the pandemic was caused by research conducted by human beings. And it's also possible that the NIH partly sponsored that research," Bhattacharya told the crowd.He appeared to pause as dozens of NIH staffers stood up and left the room. "It's nice to have free speech. You're welcome, you guys," he said, apparently addressing the protesters. Some attendees who remained responded with applause.Bhattacharya continued, "If it's true that we sponsored research that caused the pandemic, and if you look at polls of the American people, that's what most people believe. And I've looked at the scientific evidence I believe in.""What we have to do is make sure that we do not engage in research that's posing any risk to any human populations," he added.RELATED: Vindictive researcher at high-security NIH lab risked deadly outbreak over petty dispute with coworker: Bhattacharya National Institutes of Health Director Jayanta Bhattacharya, U.S. President Donald Trump, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty ImagesAnything else?A Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee's minority staff report drafted by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) claimed that President Donald Trump's administration had "effectively" slashed the NIH's budget by $2.7 billion in the first three months of the year."Trump's war on science is an attack against anyone who has ever loved someone with cancer," Sanders said. "The American people do not want us to slash cancer research in order to give more tax breaks for billionaires."The Department of Health and Human Services has labeled Sanders' claims as "unequivocally false.""The report released by his office today is a politically motivated distortion that undermines the thousands of dedicated public health professionals across HHS, who remain steadfast in their commitment to delivering results for the American people," HHS stated.RELATED: Trump's NIH closes Fauci's apparent puppy-torture lab after 40 years of sadistic experiments Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

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