Written by White House correspondent Kerry Picket, The Advocates is a weekly look at the political action players who drive debate and shape policy outcomes in Washington.

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WNBA pressed to bar transgender athletes from the league

A conservative Washington-based organization has called on the WNBA to prohibit transgender women from playing in the basketball league.

Penny Nance, CEO and president of Concerned Women for America, said the WNBA needs to “look in the mirror and do some soul-searching about what it stands for — fairness in women’s sports or not?”

“To avoid further chaos, bias, and potential harm against WNBA players, the WNBA should immediately adopt a policy that establishes only biological women can play basketball in the league,” she said.

Activism in the WNBA has “poisoned” the league for years, Ms. Nance said, but up-and-coming athletes are now being inspired by Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham, who has taken a stand against transgender athletes competing in women’s sports.

Ms. Nance said it is time for the WNBA to defend women athletes, “not the activism that defends biological males stealing their opportunities.”

The friction over the issue was on display at a recent WNBA game, where Seattle Storm co-owner Celeste Keaton cursed at two young girls in the crowd for wearing “XX XY” T-shirts and holding a sign supporting Ms. Cunningham’s advocacy.

Ms. Nance called it “an outrage” that the girls were subjected to harassment by a WNBA team owner.

“While that owner has been fined and suspended for five games, that will not prevent further harassment of fans or players,” she said. “The WNBA must now clarify its position on sex-based eligibility in women’s basketball, establish that the WNBA stands behind biological female players, and ensure that it will not subject any players or fans to viewpoint discrimination.”

“We applaud Sophie Cunningham for her courage in standing up for girls and women in sport. She is unafraid to say what everyone is thinking and completely in tune with the spirit of sport. The WNBA must do the same,” she said.

FTC’s ‘ideological bias’ proposal called Orwellian

Washington Legal Foundation urged the Federal Trade Commission to withdraw a proposed policy statement that AI systems with “undisclosed ideological objectives” violate a federal law against unfair or deceptive business practices.

Under the proposed policy, if a company boasts its AI system as a superior model at answering user queries, but the platform provided responses the federal government found insufficiently supported, the FTC could bring an enforcement action.

WLF said the FTC’s proposed statement suggests that companies can avoid this liability by posting a conspicuous disclaimer advising users that the platform has a hidden agenda.

WLF General Counsel Cory L. Andrews and Senior Litigation Counsel Zac Morgan wrote their concerns in a letter to FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson opposing the Commission’s proposed policy on “Suppression of Accuracy in Artificial Intelligence Systems.”

“The proposed statement, if enacted, would be such a measure. At core, it rests on a dangerous proposition: that an ideological valence brings an AI product within the meaning of 15 U.S.C. § 45, which bars ‘unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce,’” they said.

“This understanding rests on an unstated assumption that there’s a natural and easily determinable distinction between fact and opinion, and government power can safely ensure the former keeps to the code.”

Mr. Andrews and Mr. Morgan said that historically, letting government sort political and ideological speech into “true” and “false” categories has often failed, and the First Amendment specifically exempts areas of politics, history and “the good life” from official orthodoxy.

The WLF warns the policy would turn the FTC into a “Federal Truth Commission,” evoking George Orwell’s Ministry of Truth from the dystopian novel “1984.”

“Our constitutional tradition stands against the idea that we need Oceania’s Ministry of Truth,” they said. “Yet the proposed statement would transmogrify the Federal Trade Commission into the Federal Truth Commission. The Proposed Statement should be withdrawn.”

Libertarian group floats environmental permitting overhaul

The Competitive Enterprise Institute has recommendations for rewriting federal environmental permitting.

In a new report titled “Permitting Reform for a Freer and More Prosperous Nation,” CEI said that lawmakers should eliminate the numerous governmental hindrances for projects and shield the ability of everyday Americans to use their private property.

“Most federal permitting programs are more than 50 years old, and the process has expanded well beyond the original intent,” said Daren Bakst, CEI director of the Center for Energy and Environment.

“Laudable goals, such as avoiding damage to the environment or to historic sites, have been misused to obstruct projects whose benefits far outweigh any real risks. Our leaders should eliminate the abuses and remove the obstacles that make infrastructure development and the ordinary use of private property more difficult,” he said.

CEI presented the report as a blueprint for legislators.

In general, the report said, updated rules should:

• Be broad-based, applying across projects and industries and covering numerous statutes;

• Establish clear, objective, and predictable standards.

• Ensure alleged harms from a proposed project are legitimate.

• Remove policies that undermine basic notions of fairness.

• Respect private property rights.

• Stop prioritizing environmental concerns over human welfare.

“We possess the know-how to efficiently and effectively develop major projects, yet critical infrastructure necessary to meet basic needs, such as for electricity and water, are often unreasonably delayed,” Mr. Bakst said.

Send tips to theadvocates@washingtontimes.com.

Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.

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Written by White House correspondent Kerry Picket, The Advocates is a weekly look at the political action players who drive debate and shape policy outcomes in Washington.

Send tips to theadvocates@washingtontimes.com.

Businesses want packaging label mandate to ID what is recyclable, compostable or reusable

Manufacturing and packaging businesses are calling on Congress to pass legislation that would keep consumers informed about what types of product packaging are recyclable, compostable and reusable while avoiding a harmful patchwork of state regulations.

The National Association of Manufacturers is part of an AMERIPEN-led coalition lobbying lawmakers to push through the PACK Act, a bipartisan measure that directs the Federal Trade Commission to set up a national standard for the labels.

The legislation was discussed recently at a House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade hearing on solidifying consumer protections.

Advocates of the PACK Act said it’s important because state regulations are inconsistent about which packaging types and materials are “recyclable,” “compostable” and “reusable” and have confused consumers and made interstate commerce more difficult.

“Manufacturers strongly support the bipartisan Packaging and Claims Knowledge PACK Act,” said NAM Vice President of Domestic Policy Chris Phalen.

NAM said a hodgepodge of state labeling requirements, thresholds and definitions for environmental marketing claims also increases production, logistics and compliance costs for manufacturers.

“A uniform national standard for recyclable, compostable and reusable claims on consumer packaging will provide manufacturers with the certainty and clarity they need to compete across state lines, while helping consumers and businesses manage packaging materials.”

Cheers for Education Department’s rollback of Title VI reviews

A Washington-based conservative think tank applauded the Department of Education’s recent announcements addressing compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Title VI prohibits discrimination based on race, color and national origin in any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.

“The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights announced the termination of the Methods of Administration program, which imposed unnecessary and burdensome compliance reviews on Career and Technical Education programs, said AFPI’s Michael Shires, vice chair of Education Opportunity.

“These reviews were never required of other postsecondary education programs, despite those programs also being subject to Title VI requirements. As such, the policy was duplicative and needlessly burdensome.”

The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights announced last week “significant deregulatory actions to ensure equal educational opportunities and treatment for students across the country.”

In accordance with an executive order from President Trump, the department rolled back several disparate-impact regulations for Title VI.

The order said that treating people equally under the law means equal opportunity, not equal outcomes, and condemns disparate-impact liability as considering race or sex to evade legal accountability over differences in outcomes, even when there is no discriminatory intent.

Disparate-impact liability is unconstitutional and contrary to core American values, and established a policy of abolishing its use “to the maximum degree possible,” Mr. Trump wrote in the order.

AFPI said that the Department of Education is playing a lead role in the “fight to ensure equal treatment under law for all Americans.”

Taxpayer group hails GOP bill to crack down on fraud

The nation’s oldest taxpayer advocacy organization wrote to Republican lawmakers in support of legislation to prevent fraud in government programs and strengthen anti-fraud efforts.

Co-sponsored by Rep. Blake Moore of Utah and Jodey Arrington of Texas, the Anti-Fraud Fund Act of 2026 received a big thumbs-up from the National Taxpayers Union’s Alexander Ciccone.

“Scandals involving fraudulent government payments and the widespread misuse of tax dollars routinely make headlines around the country,” Mr. Ciccone wrote to the lawmakers.

“With the national debt now exceeding $39 trillion, cracking down on fraud in federal health care programs is more important than ever, and taxpayers stand to benefit significantly from this practical, good-government legislation.”

The legislation would steer $28 billion to the Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Program, with $7 billion allocated every year for fiscal years 2027 through FY 2030.

Established in 1996, the anti-fraud program serves as the primary federal investment to address healthcare scams and abuse by identifying and reducing improper payments, as well as the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of fraudsters.

These additional resources would fund attorneys, agents, and technology for the Department of Health and Human Services to go after and prevent fraud in Medicare and Medicaid.

The Government Accountability Office reported that the federal government loses between $233 billion and $521 billion annually to fraud.

“Strengthening program integrity isn’t just a matter of preserving scarce federal resources for beneficiaries — it’s fundamentally about restoring public trust in government,” Mr. Ciccone said.

Other Republican co-sponsors of the bill include Reps. Jay Obernolte of California, Glenn Grothman of Wisconsin, Mike Carey of Ohio, Addison McDowell of North Carolina and Lloyd Smucker of Pennsylvania.

Send tips to theadvocates@washingtontimes.com.

Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.

Gatestone Institute, a pro-Israel foreign policy organization, is urging President Trump to scrap any potential plans to sell F-35 military jets to Turkey.

Mr. Trump hinted during his recent meeting with Turkish President Erdoğan in Ankara that he might allow the country to rejoin the F-35 program.

The Gatestone Institute’s Con Coughlin said that selling F-35s to Turkey should elicit strong opposition in Congress, “which one hopes will be unwilling to lift the ban imposed on Turkey because of its close ties with Russia and Iran, as well as its ongoing, if temporarily subdued, hostility to Israel and Greece, and expanding its hold on occupied Cyprus.”

Mr. Coughlin warned about Turkey’s Islamist ties and accused Turkey of slow-walking Hamas disarmament in Gaza alongside Qatar.

“Trump’s willingness to even consider lifting the F-35 ban is being seen in the context of his charm offensive to forge closer ties with Erdogan, an initiative the American leader has undertaken despite the Turkish leader’s well-documented support for radical Islamist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas,” he said.

“Efforts to pressure Hamas’s terrorist leadership into fulfilling its disarmament obligations have, though, been stymied by the interventions of Turkey and Qatar, the Gulf state that also supports a variety of Islamist groups, which have actively used their influence to delay the disarmament process.

“Apart from Erdogan’s long-held support for the Islamist ideology espoused by the expansionist Muslim Brotherhood and its allies, the Turkish leader has also been accused of actively thwarting the Trump administration’s attempts to disarm Hamas terrorists in Gaza as part of its peace initiative in the enclave.”

Colorado social media law gets free speech challenge

A coalition of free speech organizations has thrown its weight behind a legal challenge to a Colorado law that would force social media companies to warn young users about potential mental and physical health risks associated with platform use.

The ACLU, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Woodhull Freedom Foundation filed a joint amicus brief with the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals this week, supporting a lawsuit brought by tech trade group NetChoice against the state.

The 2024 Colorado statute would require online platforms to show recurring pop-up warnings to minors — using either state-drafted language or wording based on government-approved research — warning them about the effects of social media on their well-being.

The warnings would have to appear every 30 minutes for users who have been online for over an hour or who logged on late at night.

A federal judge has paused enforcement of the law, ruling it likely violates the First Amendment.

The amicus brief argues that the law goes well beyond standard product-safety labeling.

“It would compel speakers to opine on the supposed harms of speech itself—and to communicate the government’s views on that speech,” said Cody Venzke, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy and Technology Project.

“Young people are not better protected in a world where the government forces speech to be labeled as ‘harmful.’ The First Amendment has blocked government attempts to regulate the ‘harm’ from drive-in movies, video games, and music lyrics. The Constitution ensures that these decisions are for speakers and listeners — not the government.”

Mr. Venzke drew comparisons to past failed attempts to regulate perceived harms from drive-in movies, video games, and music. He said courts have consistently sided with speakers and audiences, not government mandates, in these disputes.

The Colorado case is part of a larger legal battle playing out across the country, with similar coalition briefs filed in recent months against comparable social media and age-verification laws in Virginia, Louisiana and Texas.

Olympic committee’s transgender woes spread to ultimate frisbee

Concerned Women for America called for sanctions against USA Ultimate after reports of a trans-identifying male athlete competing on Team USA’s women’s U20 squad at the 2026 World Junior Ultimate Championships in Logroño, Spain.

The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee “must sanction USA Ultimate for directly violating President Trump’s Executive Order,” said CWA President and CEO Penny Nance.

She called the organization’s stance on transgender athletes “an affront to all female athletes and a disgrace to our country.”

The account HeCheated.org identified the transgender athlete as Leo “Nora’ Luloff and described her as a standout on the team — even, by some accounts, the best women’s player in the country.

CWA said the situation puts USA Ultimate, the national governing body for ultimate frisbee, in direct conflict with Mr. Trump’s executive order protecting women’s sports.

Ms. Nance said that biological sex gives a competitive advantage that no policy of inclusion can erase, and said the situation amounts to the U.S. “making a mockery of fair play” on the world stage.

This is not the first time CWA went after USOPC. The group previously demanded that CEO Sarah Hirshland resign over what it called a failure to fully commit to protecting women’s categories in sport.

USA Ultimate maintains a rule that it will not restrict participation based on gender identity, regardless of sex assigned at birth — a policy now increasingly out of step with the USOPC’s broader move toward the more restrictive standards adopted elsewhere, including by the NCAA, in the wake of Mr. Trump’s executive order.

Trans-identifying male athletes have taken more than 1,941 gold medals and $493,173 in prize money from women nationally, and have competed in over 10,000 female sporting events — displacing more than 500 women and girls in California alone, according to CWA.

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