In an attempt to attract semiconductor companies to Oregon, the state Legislature authorized the governor on Thursday to expand urban growth boundaries to provide land for chipmakers to build factories.

Lawmakers backing the bill, which also provides some $200 million in grants to chipmakers, said it’s needed to make Oregon more competitive among other states in luring more of the multibillion-dollar semiconductor industry to the state. Other lawmakers argued that the measure is an attack on the nation’s first statewide policy — created a half-century ago — that limits urban sprawl and protects farmland and forests.

‘These regulations have resulted in 50 years of success protecting our farm and forest lands, containing urban sprawl and protecting natural resources,’ said Rep. Anna Scharf, a Republican. ‘Senate Bill 4 throws that out the window.’

The bill, approved by the state Senate last week and passed by the House on a 44-10 vote Thursday, allows Gov. Tina Kotek to designate up to a maximum of eight sites for urban growth boundary expansion — two that exceed 500 acres and six smaller sites.

‘There is some extremely valuable farmland in the area that produces Oregonians’ food and provides those families and those employees jobs,’ Scharf said. ‘Farmland, once it is paved over, can never be reclaimed.’

Rep. Kim Wallan, a Republican and co-sponsor of the bill that a joint committee spent more than a month working on, said it gives Kotek only narrow authority and is aimed at expediting the process for setting aside land for semiconductor factories, called fabs, and related businesses.

State officials and lawmakers were stung by chipmaker Intel’s decision last year to build a massive $20 billion chipmaking complex in Ohio, and not in Oregon where suitable zoned land is scarce. Intel is the state’s largest corporate employer.

In Oregon, once land is included in an urban growth boundary, it is eligible for annexation to a city. Those boundary lines are regularly expanded. But the process can take months or even years. Under the bill, any appeals to the governor’s urban growth boundary expansions are expedited by going straight to the state Supreme Court.

The bill goes to Kotek for signing into law and takes effect immediately. In a statement Thursday, Kotek said the bill makes Oregon ‘poised to lay the foundation for the next generation of innovation and production of semiconductors.’

‘Oregon has been at the center of the semiconductor industry in the United States for decades,’ the Democrat said. ‘This bill is an absolutely essential tool for leading a coordinated effort with the private sector to ensure we can compete for federal funds to expand advanced manufacturing in Oregon.’

The CHIPS and Science Act, passed by Congress in 2022, provides $39 billion for companies constructing or expanding facilities that will manufacture semiconductors and those that will assemble, test and package the chips.

It was Republican Gov. Tom McCall, who served from 1967 to 1975, who had urged lawmakers to push for a tough new land-use law. In a 1973 speech at the Legislature, he denounced ‘sagebrush subdivisions, coastal ‘condomania’ and the ravenous rampage of suburbia.’ Lawmakers responded by passing the law that placed growth boundaries on Oregon’s cities.

Some opponents of the Oregon CHIPS bill objected on Thursday to changing a system that’s been in place for 50 years.

‘I cannot in good conscience give the governor what is essentially a super-siting authority to take lands and bring them into the urban growth boundary,’ said Rep. Ed Diehl, a Republican. ‘That is not the Oregon way.’

Several Republican politicians are criticizing the White House after it issued a long-awaited report on how the Biden administration handled the withdrawal from Afghanistan, but shifted the blame to the Trump administration.

The 12-page report released by the White House defends Biden’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan, calling it the ‘right thing for the country.’

When discussing the Biden administration’s execution of the withdrawal from Afghanistan, the report pins the blame on the previous administration. The report does acknowledge that the evacuation, however, should have begun sooner.

‘President Biden’s choices for how to execute a withdrawal from Afghanistan were severely constrained by conditions created by his predecessor. When President Trump took office in 2017, there were more than 10,000 troops in Afghanistan. Eighteen months later, after introducing more than 3,000 additional troops just to maintain the stalemate, President Trump ordered direct talks with the Taliban without consulting with our allies and partners or allowing the Afghan government at the negotiating table,’ the report states.

While efforts were underway to withdraw Americans and allies from Afghanistan, 13 American soldiers died in a suicide bombing outside the Abbey Gate at Hamid Karzai International.

READ THE WHITE HOUSE REVIEW BELOW. APP USERS, CLICK HERE

During a press briefing on Thursday, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that the lack of planning by the Trump administration made the withdrawal difficult.

‘While it was always the president’s intent to end that war, it is also undeniable that decisions made and the lack of planning done by the previous administration significantly limited options available to him,’ Kirby said. 

‘President Biden inherited a force presence in Afghanistan of some 2,500 troops. That was the lowest since 2001. He inherited a special immigrant visa program that had been starved of resources. And he inherited a deal struck between the previous administration and the Taliban that called for the complete removal of all U.S. troops by May of 2021, or else the Taliban, which had stopped its attacks while the deal was in place, would go back to war against the United States,’ Kirby said.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, criticized Kirby for the comments.

‘John Kirby’s comments during today’s White House press briefing were disgraceful and insulting. President Biden made the decision to withdraw and even picked the exact date; he is responsible for the massive failures in planning and execution,’ McCaul said. ‘It is also unfortunate it took my subpoena threat to prompt the administration to finally provide the classified after-action reports from the Afghanistan withdrawal. I look forward to reviewing the report and call upon the administration to declassify as much as possible for the American public. 

‘Finally, Congress must be given access to the full and complete record of documents from the withdrawal in order to get the answers on why the withdrawal was such a disaster.’

Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., said in a statement that the Biden administration isn’t taking responsibility for the withdrawal.

‘Once again the Biden administration is refusing to take responsibility for its failures and is destined to repeat them. President Biden’s weakness on the world stage cost 13 American lives and is putting our national security at risk — he must be held accountable,’ Daines said.

On Twitter, Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, called Kirby’s comments ‘sickening.’

‘Today White House spokesman John Kirby said he, ‘didn’t see’ chaos in the Afghanistan withdrawal. SERIOUSLY!? He’s the new ‘Baghdad Bob!’ Did he not see people hanging onto a C17 and falling to their deaths? REALLY!? He should tell this to the families of the 13 brave service members who lost their lives,’ Jackson tweeted.

Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., tweeted Kirby is ‘utterly detached from reality.’

’13 U.S. servicemembers were killed. Americans were left behind. This admin abandoned our allies to face the wrath of terrorists. The Biden admin is an embarrassment to this nation, to our military, and our allies across the world,’ he tweeted.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.

Fox News’ Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.

Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador suggested on Wednesday that the charges brought against former U.S. President Donald Trump were politically charged and presented during an election cycle, adding he opposed such charges, according to reports.

Trump was indicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree on Tuesday, while he continues to campaign for reelection to serve as the U.S. Commander in Chief.

López Obrador went on to explain the actions taken by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg were ‘the degradation of due respect for the law.’

‘I don’t agree with what they are doing to former President Donald Trump,’ the Mexican president said. ‘I do not know if crimes were committed, it’s not my place.’

López Obrador made the comments during a news briefing on Wednesday morning.

‘Supposedly legal, judicial issues should not be used for political, electoral purposes,’ he said. ‘Don’t make up crimes to affect adversaries.’

López Obrador made comments in March about Trump’s ongoing legal battle with Bragg’s office, appearing to side with Trump. López Obrador also suggested, before the indictment was handed down, that it was a way to prevent the former president from winning the White House in 2024.

López Obrador has served as Mexico’s president since 2018 and historically often disagreed with Trump.

But when it came to the indictment, López Obrador insisted the charges were fabricated, as he too has been the center of attempts to prevent him from obtaining political office.

Trump pleaded not guilty to the 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree.

The charge is typically a misdemeanor, though in New York it could rise to felony status when a defendant’s ‘intent to defraud includes an intent to commit another crime or to aid or conceal the commission thereof.’

Bragg has accused the former president and his associates of using a ‘catch and kill’ scheme to hide potentially damaging information ahead of the 2016 election.

Bragg said Trump created 34 false entries in New York business records to conceal a $130,000 payment.

The indictment is the result of a multi-year investigation conducted by Manhattan prosecutors, into hush-money payments allegedly made by the former president to former Playboy model Karen McDougal and adult film actress Stormy Daniels. The two women alleged they had affairs with Trump, though he denies the accusations.

The Associated Press and Paul Best of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.

The South Carolina House on Wednesday unanimously approved a bill allowing teachers or other school district staff up to six weeks of paid leave when they give birth or adopt a child.

The bill was passed 113-0 and faces one more routine approval before being sent to the Senate.

It mirrors a law passed last year that allowed parental leave for state employees. But the General Assembly didn’t include educators in that proposal and teachers were angry.

The House proposal allows teachers who give birth or are the primary caretakers of an adopted child six weeks of paid leave. The other parent can take up to two weeks and parents who foster a child in state custody also are eligible for two weeks of leave.

A number of school districts worried about how to pay for the leave, but supporters said they already have to pay for long-term substitutes and for sick leave. Plus, districts across the state have a total of about $1.5 billion in reserve accounts they can tap.

Teacher groups backed the bill, saying their surveys show teachers tend to begin looking to leave the classroom around the time they start families and providing leave could stem that tide.

If the bill becomes law, South Carolina would be the first state in the Southeast with parental leave for teachers, according to the Palmetto State Teachers Association.

A 30-year-old federal law allows up to 12 weeks of parental leave, but it is not paid.

A Nebraska lawmaker announced Wednesday that she is stepping down to focus on her race for mayor of Lincoln.

Sen. Suzanne Geist, a conservative lawmaker, made the announcement a day after Tuesday’s primary in the mayoral race, in which she came in second to incumbent Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird. That means both Baird and Geist will face off in the May 2 general election.

‘Those of you who know me well, you know that I give 100% to everything I do,’ Geist said. ‘I need to give my full attention to my other commitments.’

Her resignation takes affect at the end of Thursday, she said. Republican Gov. Jim Pillen will select a replacement to finish out Geist’s four-year term, which runs through the end of 2024. That replacement will have the option of seeking election to the seat in November 2024.

Pillen said in a news release that he plans to name Geist’s replacement on Thursday.

The announcement also followed Geist’s part in a controversy Tuesday night on the legislative floor as lawmakers debated into the night. Some progressive lawmakers said it was Geist’s plans to attend her mayoral election event Tuesday night, instead of participating in legislative debate, that led the conservative leadership to ditch a scheduled debate of a controversial bill that would give public money for private school tuition.

Because 33 votes are needed to stop debate on a bill before it can advance, conservatives need every vote they can get to advance bills. The Nebraska Legislature is officially nonpartisan, but lawmakers tend to self-identify as Republican or Democrat. There are currently 32 registered Republicans in the 49-member body and 17 registered Democrats.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., praised her Republican successor Wednesday after his meeting with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in California.

The veteran lawmaker released a brief statement on the meeting just after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., wrapped a press conference to conclude the day’s events at the Ronald Reagan library in Simi Valley.

‘Today’s meeting between President Tsai of Taiwan and Speaker McCarthy is to be commended for its leadership, its bipartisan participation and its distinguished and historic venue,’ Pelosi said. 

She previously made a historic trip to Taiwan last year, the first House Speaker to do so since Newt Gingrich in 1997 despite warnings from Beijing and even members of the Biden administration. It earned bipartisan praise, though the Chinese government’s aggressive response prompted fears of an imminent invasion.

This time, McCarthy led a group of House Democrats and Republicans to meet with Taiwanese officials against the backdrop of an increasingly aggressive China. He remarked on the strained relations between Beijing and its regional neighbors as well as the U.S. at the outset of the press conference.

‘We live in a decisive moment in history and must act with urgency,’ the House speaker said.

‘Tensions in the world are at the highest point since the end of the Cold War. As authoritarian leaders seek to use violence and fear to provoke needless conflict, the bond between the people of America and Taiwan is foundational and longstanding,’ he added.

He made clear, however, that he was not seeking a change in national posture when asked about the U.S. government’s ‘One China’ policy, the government’s protocol that does not recognize Taiwan as an independent nation.

‘We have no difference of opinion,’ he said regarding the policy first imposed under the Nixon administration.

McCarthy also cited President Reagan’s ‘six assurances’ to Taiwan related to its foreign policy and defense, saying, ‘That is currently American policy and that is still American policy. That’s the policy that we support here.’

Despite the growing tensions with China, McCarthy praised French President Emmanuel Macron for his diplomatic trip to Beijing.

‘I don’t think what Macron’s doing is conflicting here,’ he said when asked about whether the fellow Western leader’s trip undermines U.S. lawmakers’ solidarity with Taiwan.

‘I think it’s great that Macron is meeting with China. I hope he delivers a message not to fund Russia’s war in Ukraine,’ McCarthy said. ‘I hope he delivers a message that democracy makes the world safer and stronger. I hope he delivers a message that Americans meeting with President Tsai is positive for the same aspect that he is meeting with President Xi.’

President Biden has another Democratic challenger vying for the presidency following Robert F. Kennedy Jr. filing paperwork with the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday.

Kennedy, the son of late former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of the late former President John F. Kennedy, is now the second Democrat to toss his hat into the race for the White House, joining spiritual advisor and author Marianne Williamson in seeking the party’s nomination.

A source close to Kennedy wouldn’t independently confirm his candidacy, but told Fox News Digital ‘the campaign will issue a statement tomorrow.’

Kennedy, a former environmental lawyer, describes himself as a lifelong Democrat and has faced criticism for his activism against the COVID-19 vaccine. He had been mulling a run in recent months, and told a crowd in New Hampshire in March that his wife had ‘greenlighted’ any potential decision to run.

He most recently took aim at the Biden administration and Democratic National Committee over the decision to move the New Hampshire presidential primary out of its position as the first in the nation primary. The state will now vote second in the DNC’s calendar, along with Nevada, three days after South Carolina, under the new schedule.

Ahead of the DNC’s final approval of the schedule, Kennedy wrote an open letter to the committee, urging members to keep New Hampshire in the first spot because of the state’s long history advocating for civil rights and election transparency. 

The DNC changed the nominating calendar in an effort to reflect more diversity in the Democratic Party, but Kennedy said that New Hampshire already showcases the diversity in America. As a swing state, Kennedy said, New Hampshire’s ‘four electoral votes could decide the 2024 election.’ 

‘Most importantly, New Hampshire runs the most secure and transparent election in America. It should be a model for our country at a time when we need it most,’ Kennedy wrote. 

Biden has yet to announce whether he will run for reelection, however, the White House has repeatedly said Biden intends to run for a second term.

Fox News’ Thomas Phippen and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

One Democrat lawmaker in Kansas was not happy after an overwhelming number of her colleagues voted to override the veto of a bill banning transgender students from participating in girls’ sports, according to a report by the Kansas Reflector.

Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of HB2238 was overridden Wednesday after both houses of the Kansas state legislature, each with a Republican supermajority, cleared the two-thirds majority required for the bill to become law.

Following the Kansas House voting to override the veto in a lopsided 84-40 vote, Democratic Rep. Susan Ruiz stood up on the House floor and told her Republican colleagues they were ‘full of s—,’ according to the report.

The report stated that Ruiz’s vulgar reaction came about because she heard Republicans laughing after vote. She claimed one of her GOP colleagues was ‘gloating’ when he came into the chamber.

Another Democrat, Rep. Heather Meyer, who the report said has a transgender child, wore a shirt in the chamber that read ‘protect trans youth.’

The bill initially passed the state House on Feb. 23, with one Democrat joining all Republicans in support. It was passed by the Senate just days later before being vetoed by Kelly on March 17.

This is the third year in a row that Kelly has vetoed a ban on transgender students participating in womens’ sports.

‘It sort of breaks my heart,’ Kelly told reporters following the override. ‘It certainly is disappointing. I know that there’s some legislators for whom this was a very, very hard vote, and one that I think they will regret as they look back on their time in the Legislature.’

‘This is sort of a moral values vote,’ she added. ‘I think they voted against their own moral code and their own values. I think that’s going to be very tough for them long-term.’

As Puerto Rico emerges from a drawn-out bankruptcy process, a federal control board that oversees the island’s finances announced Wednesday that it will focus on growing the U.S. territory’s economy.

The board’s new executive director, former New York state budget director Robert Mujica, unveiled a new fiscal plan that will serve as the island’s economic blueprint for the near future.

It demands that Puerto Rico overhaul its education, tax and infrastructure sectors and attract more investors by strengthening its fragile power grid and making it easier to do business on an island known for its clunky bureaucracy.

‘There’s no time to waste,’ Mujica said at a press conference.

In recent years, the U.S. government allocated more than $120 billion to help Puerto Rico offset the impact of the pandemic and natural disasters ranging from earthquakes to major hurricanes. But Mujica noted those were ‘one-time infusions that temporarily boosted output’ and fueled economic recovery.

The island’s real GNP is declining, and economic growth is slowing as those funds evaporate, he added.

‘Those funds mask underlying, persistent weaknesses in Puerto Rico’s long term economic outlook,’ he said.

High inflation — plus a shrinking and aging population — also have contributed to the economic decline, the board noted.

Mujica said that to help improve the island’s economy, the board will meet with government officials, education leaders and nongovernment organizations to strengthen Puerto Rico’s education sector, which has long been lagging.

The board’s fiscal plan also seeks a comprehensive review of Puerto Rico’s tax system despite recent improvements.

‘While much progress has been made, significant reform is still required because Puerto Rico’s current tax system has historically suffered from complexity, instability and inconsistency,’ the board said in a statement.

The focus on economic growth comes after the board oversaw a bankruptcy-like process in which Puerto Rico’s debt dropped to $34 billion from more than $70 billion, an amount the government had said in 2015 that it could not pay. Two years later, it filed for the biggest U.S. municipal bankruptcy in history.

‘That took all the oxygen of the room,’ Mujica said, adding that the board is now targeting fiscal health and economic growth.

The board, which was created by U.S. Congress in 2016, will continue overseeing Puerto Rico’s finances until the U.S. territory approves four consecutive balanced budgets.

Mujica said it’s unclear if the first one has been approved because the government has yet to submit audited financial statements.

Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi said in a statement after the news conference that his administration is still analyzing the fiscal plan they received on Tuesday, adding that he supports reforms in various sectors.

‘My vision is that we continue to do all the necessary work so that our government has a solid fiscal situation in the short and long term, and that the board completes its work as soon as possible,’ he said.

An anti-abortion group sued the city of Minneapolis on Wednesday to overturn an ordinance that prohibits the obstruction of entrances and driveways to abortion clinics, saying it’s an unconstitutional violation of free speech and freedom of religion.

The ordinance, which was enacted in November, was designed to protect patients of the Planned Parenthood clinic in the Uptown neighborhood from ‘sidewalk counselors’ who try to dissuade them from getting abortions. Pro-Life Action Ministries and several of its staff members filed the challenge in federal court, arguing that the ordinance was a deliberate effort to stifle them.

‘The ministry of pro-life sidewalk counseling is a peaceful interaction with pregnant woman to convey life-affirming alternatives to abortion,’ Erick Kaardal, an attorney for the group, said in a statement. ‘Yet the City of Minneapolis has specifically enacted an ordinance designed to prevent any success at conducting this peaceful interaction by Pro-Life Action Ministries, its staff members or volunteers, and any others involved in similar activities.’

Planned Parenthood officials told the City Council in November that protesters outside the Minneapolis clinic had become more numerous and aggressive since the U.S. Supreme Court last summer overturned the Roe v. Wade decision. Security video showed protesters approaching cars with pamphlets and two people with umbrellas getting into an altercation.

‘There is no such thing as abortion rights without access,’ Council Member Lisa Goodman, the ordinance author, told the council the day the ordinance passed. She said she was confident it would survive a legal challenge.

Planned Parenthood said the ordinance was needed to protect safety in the busy neighborhood.

‘We stand by the necessity and constitutionality of the ordinance,’ Tim Stanley, executive director of Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota Action Fund, said in a statement. ‘The ordinance balances the rights of patients, staff, community and protestors. Everyone should be able to get health care, go to the grocery store, drive in their neighborhood and exercise their First Amendment rights.’

Mayor Jacob Frey agreed. ‘This is not about limiting free speech, it’s about protecting community members from being physically disrupted while seeking the reproductive care they need and deserve,’ he said in a statement.

The complaint said PLAM’s counselors walk up to women entering the clinic via the sidewalk or flag down cars entering the parking lot, then attempt to offer help, prayers and information on alternatives to abortion, believing it is their religious duty.

The complaint acknowledged that these actions delay women from entering the clinic, but denied blocking them. It said their actions have led thousands of women to change their minds about getting abortions and that they planned to violate the ordinance. Violations are misdemeanors, so they face a credible threat of prosecution.

A 1994 federal law prohibits using ‘physical obstruction’ to ‘intimidate or interfere with’ people entering health care facilities. Since the late 1990s, the U.S. Supreme Court has heard several cases involving buffer zones outside abortion clinics. In 2014, the high court struck down a law that created a 35-foot protest-free zone outside Massachusetts clinics. Other cases have led to mixed results

In 2020, the justices rejected pleas from activists in Chicago and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to make it easier to protest outside clinics. In 2011, the high court declined to hear a Pittsburgh case, letting stand a lower court decision that said the city’s 15-foot buffer zone for protests did not apply to ‘calm and peaceful’ one-on-one ‘sidewalk counseling.’ A federal appeals court in December temporarily barred the enforcement of a Louisville, Kentucky, buffer zone ordinance.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, 12 states, including Minnesota, plus the District of Columbia, prohibit blocking entrances and exits at abortion clinic facilities.