Former Communications Director for Gov. Kay Ivey running for State Auditor
The State Auditor of Alabama is responsible for ensuring the integrity and accountability of state finances and property.
Pendergrass, 40, is seeking the Republican nomination for the office. There is currently an open seat since State Auditor Andrew Sorrell announced he will run for the Republican nomination for Secretary of State.
With over 14 years of legal experience, Pendergrass spends his time focusing on family law, juvenile law, church law, and estate planning.
While serving as the Director of Communications for Gov. Kay Ivey, he crafted messaging strategies to enhance the state's image and promote effective governance.
'Alabama shines as America's Conservative Heart, — bold, proud, and true. As your state auditor, I'll lead with transparency, honesty, and integrity, fighting for Alabama first.' Together we will secure our elections and set the nation's standard for trusted, open government,' said Pendergrass.
According to Pendergrass, the value of property the state auditor is responsible for tracking is around $1.3 billion.
As both a full-time and part-time pastor, Josh has revitalized congregations across Alabama, fostering spiritual growth and community engagement.
Josh is a graduate of Lambuth University (TN), where he served as Student Government President and Jones School of Law, where he served as an Honor Court member.
If elected, Josh will hone in on putting Alabama first, Advancing President Trump's Agenda, Strengthening Voter Integrity, and Championing Government Transparency.
Pendergrass and his wife, Leslie Brown, have an 8-year-old son.
The election for Alabama State Auditor will take place on November 3, 2026.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Boston Globe
5 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
In Mississippi, one of the neediest states, Trump's federal funding cuts hit with extra heft
Then, in March, EPA terminated the grant 'on the grounds that the award no longer effectuates the program goals or agency priorities.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Holes puncture the stained glass windows of the chapel on Voice of Calvary Ministries' campus in Jackson, Miss. in July. A $20 million EPA grant was supposed to help renovate the century-old former school building before it was canceled by the Trump administration this spring. Julian Sorapuru/Globe Staff Mississippi, a stronghold of President Trump's political power that he won by more than 20 percentage points in 2024, is also one of the nation's Dominika Parry, founder of the environmental justice nonprofit Advertisement Parry is working without pay as a result of the cut and, months later, she remained baffled by it. 'How is this project wasteful in any way?' she asked. 2C Mississippi is with more than 20 other nonprofits and municipalities that also lost grants. Grant cancellations like the resilience hub have become common in Mississippi and across America since the Trump administration empowered the Department of Government Efficiency, under the early leadership of Elon Musk, to implement sweeping spending cuts and funding freezes that have touched almost every federal agency. In a statement to The Boston Globe, a senior White House official said, 'The Trump administration is committed to ending the Green New Scam and restoring American energy dominance. We will no longer fund 'environmental justice' projects in any state.' Debris from two powerful tornadoes in March was still visible in Walthall County, Miss., in July. FEMA aid to the area was slowed by President Trump's reticence to declare a national emergency. Julian Sorapuru/Globe Staff Mississippi receives Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves recently signed a law that would gradually Advertisement But the potential of declining state revenue coupled with the loss of federal funds has Representative Bennie Thompson — the sole Democrat in Mississippi's congressional delegation — worried. 'One of the neediest states will become even needier,' he predicted. 'There's no cavalry to come to help after the federal government.' So far, Republican state officials have largely supported Trump's policies, including the cuts. Mississippi's attorney general, like her counterparts in other GOP-controlled states, has US Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi, a Republican, is anticipating continued support for GOP spending cuts among constituents in his deep red state. 'I really think the majority of citizens in Mississippi are satisfied that we've made judicious savings,' he told the Globe, promising federal dollars would still flow into the state via infrastructure funds and military manufacturing contracts. It's Wicker's smiling face that graces a photo hanging on a wall at Community Students Learning Center in Lexington, a small town separated from Jackson by 63 miles of verdant farmland. One of the senator's hands rests on the shoulder of Beulah Greer, executive director of the center. Wicker signed the photo years ago and inscribed it with a message: 'To my friend Beulah Greer with best wishes.' Advertisement Now, Greer is anxious about the future of her nonprofit, which for over two decades has filled community needs big and small, doing everything from helping residents pay expensive utility bills to offering mental health crisis training to local law enforcement . About 85 percent of her organization's budget currently comes from a Department of Justice program None of their grants have yet been cut, but Greer said they were unable to re-apply for next year's funding cycle since DOJ paused solicitation for the grant for months starting in late January following Trump's inauguration. The disappearance of Community Students Learning Center would have ripple effects in the 1,400-person town where Greer and her husband, Lester, are well known as problem solvers. The organization has completed many successful projects backed by federal grants from agencies ranging from the Department of Education to the Department of Agriculture. The Greers' nonprofit also built five homes in Lexington for purchase at a reduced price as part of a 2010 Department of Housing and Urban Development program for rural areas. 'I had been trying to find a house when somebody told me, 'Go see Beulah and Lester,'' said Lillie Williams, a Lexington resident. That was more than 10 years ago. These days, Williams sits out on her front porch with her nine dogs and enjoys the peaceful woods surrounding her home. Lillie Williams sat on the front porch of her Lexington, Miss., home with two of her nine dogs in July. Williams bought the home over a decade ago from Community Students Learning Center as part of a HUD program selling single family homes in rural areas at a reduced cost. Julian Sorapuru/Globe Staff 'The Bible says to whom much is given, much is required. And I believe what we do is what people ask us to do,' Greer said. Advertisement It's a spirit Greer thinks is currently lacking in her leaders, including Wicker. 'He's working in the political forum, not on what's humanly right,' she said. 'This is hurting his constituents. I feel like he needs to speak up about what's right in his heart.' Greer hopes the Trump administration reconsiders its funding priorities. 'The resources are really squashing the people at the bottom, it's like you're getting mashed,' Greer said. A Trump administration official, she said, should 'come here and look how we're trying to survive, and then you might have a little more compassion.' DOJ did not respond to a request for comment. Mississippi state agencies have also felt the financial effects of federal pullback. The US Department of 'The COVID-19 pandemic is over and the American people have moved on,' the senior White House official told the Globe. 'It's time for the government to move on as well and stop wasting billions in taxpayer dollars.' When the nonprofit lost federal funding through the Mississippi State Department of Health this spring, it was forced to shut down its clinic-on-wheels program that provided sexual health services to medically underserved communities across the state. Advertisement The nonprofit also had to furlough or fire half its staff, according to chief executive June Gipson, due to uncertainty around various other federal grants, such as Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funds that arrived late. They also had a 10-year, $12 million National Institutes of Health grant aimed at Gipson said it was the first time she's had to reduce the organization's workforce since she started leading it more than a decade ago. Even though some of the nonprofit's federal funding remains untouched, Gipson is wary of what's to come. The Mississippi State Department of Health's budget is 66 percent federally funded. 'How do you move forward and trust the federal government at this point?' she asked. Deja Abdul-Haqq, a program director at the nonprofit, who was furloughed until recently, believes 'the entire United States is going to turn into one big Mississippi, riddled with infectious and chronic disease' as a result of the federal government's shifting health funding priorities. The My Brother's Keeper cuts hit close to home for DR, a Jackson resident who has lived with HIV for years and requested anonymity for fear of antigay stigma. He learned he had contracted HIV when he got tested at a state-sponsored STI clinic, known as which is operated by My Brother's Keeper. It was there he met his doctor, Laura Beauchamps. 'She says, 'You now have AIDS.' And Lord knows that's the last thing I wanted to hear,' DR said, his eyes becoming misty. 'She was like, 'It's not the end. We're gonna get you on the medication that you need.'' In the end, DR said, Beauchamps 'was more positive than the virus' and helped save his life physically and emotionally. Today, DR's viral load is so low that it's undetectable and untransmittable. The empathetic, compassionate care DR received at Open Arms is something he hopes other people with HIV get to experience in Mississippi, a state with 'Had it not been for Open Arms, Dr. Beauchamps, and all the other providers, who knows if we would be having this conversation," DR said. 'Or, if I were here, what would my quality of life be like? So, the cuts do not sit right with me. 'The safety net is gone,' he continued. 'If you jump off this ledge thinking that the bungee cord is gonna snap you back up, there is no cord.' Julian E.J. Sorapuru can be reached at
Los Angeles Times
5 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Republicans look to reverse federal commitment to EVs for the Postal Service
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Beyond that, many in the scientific community fear the government could pass on an opportunity to reduce carbon emissions that contribute to global warming when urgent action is needed. A 2022 University of Michigan study found the new electric postal vehicles could cut total greenhouse gas emissions by up to 20 million tons over the predicted, cumulative 20-year lifetime of the trucks. That's a fraction of the more than 6 billion metric tons emitted annually in the United States, said Professor Gregory A. Keoleian, co-director of the university's Center for Sustainable Systems. But he said the push toward electric vehicles is critical and needs to accelerate, given the intensifying effects of climate change. 'We're already falling short of goals for reducing emissions,' Keoleian said. 'We've been making progress, but the actions being taken or proposed will really reverse decarbonization progress that has been made to date.' 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In 2021, Oshkosh Defense was awarded a contract for up to 165,000 battery electric and internal combustion engine Next Generation vehicles over 10 years. The first of the odd-looking trucks, with hoods resembling a duck's bill, began service in Georgia last year. Designed for greater package capacity, the trucks are equipped with airbags, blind-spot monitoring, collision sensors, 360-degree cameras and antilock brakes. There's also a new creature comfort: air-conditioning. Douglas Lape, special assistant to the president of the National Assn. of Letter Carriers and a former carrier, is among numerous postal employees who have had a say in the new design. He marvels at how Oshkosh designed and built a new vehicle, transforming an old North Carolina warehouse into a factory along the way. 'I was in that building when it was nothing but shelving,' he said. 'And now, being a completely functioning plant where everything is built in-house — they press the bodies in there, they do all of the assembly — it's really amazing, in my opinion.' The agency has so far ordered 51,500 New Generation vehicles, including 35,000 battery-powered vehicles. To date, it has received 300 battery vehicles and 1,000 gas-powered ones. Then-Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said in 2022 the agency expected to purchase chiefly zero-emissions delivery vehicles by 2026. It still needs some internal combustion engine vehicles that travel longer distances. Frum, the Postal Service spokesperson, said the planned electric vehicle purchases were 'carefully considered from a business perspective' and are being deployed to routes and facilities where they will save money. The agency has also received more than 8,200 of 9,250 Ford E-Transit electric vehicles it has ordered, she said. Ernst said it's fine for the Postal Service to use EVs already purchased. 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The Hill
5 minutes ago
- The Hill
Republican civil war erupts over earmarks in funding bills
The return of earmarks to the annual appropriations bills has sparked a battle among Republicans on Capitol Hill, pitting fiscal hawks against members of the Appropriations Committees and their allies. It's a serious battle and one that could scuttle the chances of passing appropriations bills ahead of the Sept. 30 government funding deadline. Republican responsibility for the huge federal deficit has become a hot political issue after President Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which is projected to add $3.4 trillion to the debt over the next decade, into law. Conservatives are deeply disappointed that Trump's bill did not make deeper cuts to federal spending, and they want to make a statement with significant reductions in the annual appropriations bills for fiscal 2026. Adding to the frustrations of fiscal hawks, those bills are already loaded with earmarks directing the Trump administration how to spend funds. Conservatives view the return of earmarks as a return to the days of pork-barrel spending and a bad look for Republicans when the party is taking fire from Democrats for exploding future deficits. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), a leading conservative, argued that earmarks are still prohibited by Senate Republican conference rules, even though some members of the conference choose not to follow them. 'It's still prohibited by conference policy, and I think we need to stick to that,' Lee told The Hill. Lee said the proliferation of earmarks in the spending bills are 'incompatible with our approach as Republicans, and it's also incompatible with having $37 trillion in debt.' Some conservatives are pushing for Congress to pass a yearlong stop-gap spending measure that would freeze federal funding levels as a strategy to keep spending in check and the next wave of earmarks in limbo. Senate Republicans voted for a 'permanent ban' on earmarks in May 2019, when the proposal passed by a 28-12 vote after a heated debate behind closed doors. But earmarks have since made a big comeback. The House, then controlled by Democrats, voted in March 2021 to reverse an internal ban on earmarks. Senate Republicans, who were in the minority at the time, decided in April 2021 to stick with their conference pro forma ban on earmarks but left open a big loophole by allowing individual GOP senators to request money for home-state projects. That decision still rankles some Republicans years later. They believe they're in a position to change the rising tide of earmarks now that their party controls the White House and both chambers of Congress. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) called the earmarks buried in the spending bills 'offensive.' 'It is offensive that I don't know what they are yet,' he said of earmarks. 'I'm asking my staff and we don't have the specifics on this. 'That's the problem. This stuff is all secret until you're ready to vote on it,' he added. Johnson has a proposal that would automatically rescind earmarks if lawmakers 'brag' about the millions of dollars in federal funding they're steering to projects back home in any kind of political context. Under his proposal, 'the only time members can talk about the earmarks, their congressionally directed spending, is as part of official Senate business — a hearing, a subcommittee hearing and on the floor,' he said. 'They can't then go out and brag about it in the media … if they do that, if they issue a press release, if they put it in a campaign ad, that spending gets automatically rescinded,' Johnson explained. Twenty-one Republican senators voted for Johnson's amendment when he offered it to the appropriations bill funding military construction and the Department of Veterans Affairs, a bill that was expanded to fund the Department of Agriculture and the legislative branch. Senate Finance Committee Chair Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Lee were among the Republicans who voted for Johnson's proposal. The conservatives' backlash against earmarks in the package came after Punchbowl News reported that Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) loaded more than $810 million in earmarks and directed spending for Maine in the fiscal 2026 spending bills crafted by her committee. Collins, who faces a tough reelection battle next year, argues she has a better sense of her state's funding needs than unelected bureaucrats in Washington who otherwise would get to decide how to dole out federal funds without congressional guidance. Other Republicans are working hard behind the scenes to steer more money to their home states. More Republican senators have requested congressionally directed spending, aka earmarks, for the fiscal 2026 spending bills compared to last year. And earmarks have exploded in the Republican-controlled House. One Republican source familiar with the details of the spending bills noted House Republicans are also requesting more earmarks than they did last year and pointed out that Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris (R-Md.), an outspoken House conservative, has requested more than $55 million for his district. An analysis by Roll Call found House Republicans have packed the appropriations bills for next year with nearly $8 billion in earmarks. Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) — the chair of the Senate Steering Committee who voted for Johnson's proposal to rescind earmarks if senators use them to score political points — said conservatives will make additional efforts to pull earmarks out of the spending bills and find other ways to reduce federal spending. 'Hopefully we have time to review the bills [and] not get rushed into votes on these things,' he said. 'We've got to understand we have a $2 trillion [annual] deficit, so we've got to get spending under control. That's what I'm going to try to do, and there are a lot of people in the same camp that I am.' Scott indicated he sees the battle against earmarks as part of a broader effort to curb federal spending after conservatives failed to include bigger spending reforms in Trump's megabill. 'People are doing everything they can to try to get spending under control,' he said. Lee, Johnson and Scott pushed an amendment to Trump's bill in June to reduce Medicaid spending by another $313 billion by preventing new enrollees in Medicaid expansion states from receiving the 9-to-1 enhanced Federal Medical Assistance Percentage if they are not disabled or don't have dependent children. They delayed a key procedural vote to advance the bill in hopes of gaining Republican support for the proposal, but despite assurances of help from Senate GOP leaders and Vice President Vance, the amendment didn't receive a vote.
