logo
Heritage Foundation founder Edwin Feulner dies at 83

Heritage Foundation founder Edwin Feulner dies at 83

Economic Times6 days ago
Agencies Edwin J. Feulner, co-founder of the Heritage Foundation and architect of Project 2025, dies at 83 after reshaping U.S. conservative politics. His leadership influenced both Reagan and Trump, leaving a lasting impact on American policy and governance.
Edwin Feulner, founder and longtime president of the influential U.S. conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation, has died at age 83, Heritage said in a statement. The Friday statement did not say when Feulner died or the cause.
Feulner, a Chicago-born political scientist, founded Heritage in 1973 and became its president in 1977, a position he held until 2013. Republican President Ronald Regan awarded him the Presidential Citizens Medal in 1989.
Current Heritage president Kevin Roberts and Board of Trustees Chairman Barb Van Andel-Gaby, wrote in a joint statement that Feulner founded Heritage to plant "a flag for truth in a town too often seduced by power."
"What started as a small outpost for conservative ideas became - under Ed's tireless leadership - the intellectual arsenal for the Reagan Revolution and the modern conservative movement," they wrote.
Heritage continues to deeply impact American conservatism - including being the institution that created Project 2025, widely considered the policy blueprint of President Donald Trump's quick-moving second term.
Senator Mitch McConnell, a longtime leader of Congressional Republicans, wrote on social media that Feulner "was a great man" and that "his dedication to promoting peace through strength at the end of the Cold War offers a particularly enduring lesson." Representative Steve Scalise, a Republican and majority leader in the House of Representatives, wrote on social media that Feulner "was one of the architects who built the conservative movement in this country."
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

American-born babies are American: Judge halts Trump birthright citizenship order
American-born babies are American: Judge halts Trump birthright citizenship order

India Today

time39 minutes ago

  • India Today

American-born babies are American: Judge halts Trump birthright citizenship order

A federal judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration's attempt to end birthright citizenship for children born in the US to undocumented or temporary immigrant parents, calling the move unconstitutional and legally ruling by US District Judge Leo Sorokin in Boston marks the third federal court to stop the executive order in its tracks since the Supreme Court last month narrowed the authority of lower courts to issue nationwide Sorokin ruled that an exception applied in this case, where more than a dozen states demonstrated real financial harm tied to the order. 'A patchwork approach to the birthright order would not protect the states,' Sorokin wrote, noting the high mobility of residents between states and slamming the administration's failure to explain how a more limited injunction would function.'They have never addressed what renders a proposal feasible or workable The defendants' position in this regard defies both law and logic.'The decision maintains a nationwide injunction that preserves birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment, pending further review by the courts. Sorokin added that his ruling is not the final word on the issue, but emphasized the constitutional implications of the executive action.'The President cannot change that legal rule with the stroke of a pen,' Sorokin said. 'Trump and his administration are entitled to pursue their interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment but for purposes of this lawsuit at this juncture, the Executive Order is unconstitutional.'The lawsuit was brought by a coalition of states led by New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin, who hailed the ruling as a critical defence of constitutional norms.'American-born babies are American, just as they have been at every other time in our Nation's history,' Platkin said in a statement. 'I'm thrilled the district court again barred President Trump's flagrantly unconstitutional birthright citizenship order from taking effect anywhere.'Government lawyers had argued that the injunction should be limited in scope to states' financial interests. Still, Sorokin rejected the idea, saying the administration failed to offer any coherent legal or administrative plan for how such limits would is the third time the executive order has been blocked. Earlier this month, a federal judge in New Hampshire prohibited the rule in a class-action lawsuit. That decision went into effect after no appeal was filed. On Wednesday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco also ruled against the order, upholding a nationwide injunction.A fourth ruling may be on the way. A Maryland judge said she would issue a similar decision if the appeals court agrees. - EndsWith inputs from Associated Press

Billions in frozen school grants to be released, says Education Department
Billions in frozen school grants to be released, says Education Department

India Today

time40 minutes ago

  • India Today

Billions in frozen school grants to be released, says Education Department

After weeks of uncertainty, the Trump administration said on Friday that it will release billions in previously frozen federal education grants, reversing a July 1 funding freeze that left educators scrambling across the Education Department confirmed it will begin sending the money to states next week, after the White House's Office of Management and Budget completed a review. The freeze had affected over $6 billion earmarked for programs like English language instruction, adult literacy, and summer enrichment activities — sparking lawsuits and bipartisan agreement ends an unnecessary distraction for school leaders and ensures students won't pay the price for political wrangling,' said a Department spokesperson. The freeze, aimed at aligning spending with White House priorities, had alarmed superintendents and nonprofits nationwide. In Maryland's Harford County, the withheld funds accounted for more than half of the budget for the district's annual summer camp for English learners. 'Without the funds, we couldn't have hired certified teachers or kept our summer programs alive,' one district official week, the administration partially reversed course by releasing $1.3 billion for after-school and summer programmes. The rest of the funding — covering everything from bilingual education to teacher development — will now Republican senators had urged the White House to act, calling the programmes 'longstanding' and 'bipartisan.' Sen. Shelley Moore Capito said, 'These programs let parents work while their kids learn. They help adults gain skills and boost local economies.'The Office of Management and Budget had initially argued that some of the affected programmes supported a 'radical left-wing agenda.' But in a sharply worded letter, GOP senators responded, 'We do not believe that is happening with these funds.'Sen. Patty Murray slammed the administration for the delay. 'Because of President Trump, communities across the country were forced to spend their time cutting back on tutoring options and sorting out how many teachers they will have to lay off,' she grants under review included:$2 billion for teacher development and class size reduction$1 billion for academic enrichment, including STEM$890 million for English learners$376 million for migrant education$715 million for adult literacyMajor districts stood to lose millions. Los Angeles Unified received $62 million from these programs in 2022–23. Philadelphia schools got $28 million, and Miami's received over $24 districts also faced big gaps. Schools in Burlington, Vermont; Pine Bluff, Arkansas; and Norristown, Pennsylvania received over $300 per student from the same the funds are finally unlocked, educators across the country are breathing a sigh of relief — and refocusing on classrooms instead of courtrooms- EndsWith inputs from Associated PressMust Watch

A look at status of US executions in 2025
A look at status of US executions in 2025

News18

timean hour ago

  • News18

A look at status of US executions in 2025

Agency: PTI Last Updated: Washington, Jul 26 (AP) Twenty-six men have died by court-ordered execution so far this year in the U.S., and 10 other people are scheduled to be put to death in seven states during the remainder of 2025. The next scheduled execution is in Florida, when a man who killed his wife and two children is set to be put to death July 31. Florida also was the last state to execute someone, when Michael Bernard Bell died by lethal injection on July 15. Meanwhile, Florida recently set its 10th execution of the year when Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a death warrant for a man who abducted a woman from an insurance office and killed her 42 years ago. Kayle Bates is scheduled to be executed in August. Alabama, Indiana, Missouri, Tennessee, Texas and Utah also have scheduled executions for later this year. Executions have been carried out this year in Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. The number of executions this year exceeds the 25 executions carried out last year and in 2018. It is the highest total since 2015, when 28 people were put to death. The uptick in executions can be traced to aggressive Republican governors and attorney generals pushing to get through lengthy appeals processes and get executions done, said John Blume, the director of the Cornell Death Penalty Project. A sweeping executive order signed by President Donald Trump on his first day back in office aimed at urging prosecutors to seek the death penalty and preserving capital punishment in the states also may have fueled the increase, Blume said. All but one execution this year has occurred in states run by Republican governors, with Arizona the exception. Here's a look at recent executions and those scheduled for the rest of the year, by state: Florida Edward J. Zakrzewski is scheduled to be put to death in Florida on July 31 for killing his wife and two young children in 1994 after she sought a divorce. He eventually turned himself into law enforcement after the case was profiled on the television show 'Unsolved Mysteries." Bates, 67, who is scheduled to be executed Aug. 19, was convicted of first-degree murder, kidnapping, armed robbery and attempted sexual battery in the June 14, 1982, Bay County killing of Janet White. Tennessee Byron Black, 69, is scheduled to die by lethal injection on Aug. 5. Black was convicted in 1989 of three counts of first-degree murder for the shooting deaths of his girlfriend, Angela Clay, and her two daughters in Nashville. Black's lawyer asked a judge to require the Tennessee Department of Correction to deactivate an implanted defibrillation device similar to a pacemaker in the moments before his execution. A Tennessee judge ruled Tuesday that the state can deactivate the heart-regulating device at a hospital on the morning of his execution, rather than bringing a doctor or technician into the execution chamber. Black's motion related to his heart device came within a general challenge he and other death row inmates filed against the state's new execution protocol, which took effect this year. The trial isn't until 2026. Harold Nichols, 64, is also scheduled to die by lethal injection on Dec. 11. Nichols was convicted of rape and first-degree felony murder in the 1988 death of Karen Pulley in Hamilton County. Alabama An Alabama judge has postponed the execution of David Lee Roberts, who had been scheduled to be put to death by nitrogen gas Aug. 21. Roberts was convicted of killing Annetra Jones in 1992 while he was a houseguest at Jones' boyfriend's home in Marion County. Prosecutors said Roberts packed his belongings, stole money and shot Jones three times in the head while she slept on the couch. Roberts set fire to the home to hide evidence. A Marion County judge issued a stay so Roberts can have a psychiatric evaluation to determine whether he is too mentally ill to be put to death. The execution will be on hold at least until a report from the Alabama Department of Mental Health is finished. Geoffrey T. West, 49, is scheduled to die by nitrogen gas on Sept. 25 for the killing of convenience store clerk Margaret Parrish Berry during a 1997 robbery in Attalla. If carried out, it would be the nation's sixth execution by nitrogen gas, a method Alabama began using last year as an alternative to lethal injection. The method involves supplying nitrogen gas via a respirator mask to an inmate, causing the person to lose consciousness and die from a lack of oxygen. Utah Ralph Leroy Menzies, 67, is scheduled to die by firing squad on Sept. 5. He would become only the sixth U.S. prisoner executed by firing squad since 1977. Menzies, who has dementia, has been on death row for 37 years for abducting and killing mother of three Maurine Hunsaker, 26, in 1986. Judge Matthew Bates signed the death warrant a month after he ruled Menzies 'consistently and rationally" understands why he is facing execution despite recent cognitive decline. Attorneys for Menzies have petitioned the court for a reassessment. Texas Blaine Milam, 35, is scheduled to die by lethal injection on Sept. 25. Milam was convicted of killing his girlfriend's 13-month-old daughter during what the couple had said was part of an 'exorcism" in Rusk County in East Texas in 2008. Milam's girlfriend, Jesseca Carson, was also convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Robert Roberson is scheduled to be executed on Oct. 16. Roberson, 58, could become the first person in the U.S. to be put to death for a murder conviction tied to shaken baby syndrome. He was convicted of the 2002 killing of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis, in the East Texas city of Palestine. Prosecutors argued he violently shook his daughter back and forth, causing severe head trauma. His lawyers and some medical experts say his daughter died not from abuse but from complications related to pneumonia. Indiana Indiana set a tentative execution date of Oct. 10 for Roy Lee Ward, who was convicted of raping and killing a 15-year-old girl in 2001. But that date could change. Missouri Lance C. Shockley is scheduled to be executed on Oct. 14, according to the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center. Shockley was found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Dewayne Graham outside his home in Carter County in 2005. Testimony at the trial indicated Graham was killed because he was investigating Shockley for involuntary manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident. Ohio Earlier this year, Republican Gov. Mike DeWine postponed five executions scheduled for 2025. All five have been delayed until 2028. top videos View all In postponing the executions, DeWine has cited the state's inability to secure the drugs used in lethal injections due to pharmaceutical suppliers' unwillingness. DeWine has said that he does not anticipate any further executions will happen during his term, which runs through 2026. (AP) AS AS (This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed - PTI) view comments First Published: July 26, 2025, 04:15 IST News agency-feeds A look at status of US executions in 2025 Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store