Free Republic

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday signed a law that lowers the country’s conscription age from 27 to 25 as Kyiv struggles to replenish its troops in its war against Russia. Zelenskyy said last year that his government was exploring ways to mobilize more than 450,000 new troops to support soldiers facing exhaustion on the frontlines. But the proposal to lower the mobilization age is highly unpopular, and Zelenskyy was reportedly hesitant about signing the bill into law. Some had proposed mobilizing NATO troops in Ukraine to support Kyiv’s war efforts, but several bloc members dismissed the idea.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Sunday that he expects to move a package including aid for Ukraine with “some important innovations” when the House returns from recess. In an interview on “Sunday Night in America With Trey Gowdy,” Johnson stressed the difficult position he’s in, with a historically narrow House majority, but said he was working throughout the current work period to come up with a package and plans to put it on the floor when the House gavels back into session.

An appeals court in Texas upheld an injunction by a lower court that prevents the state from investigating parents who allow their children under 18 to receive "gender-affirming care." In 2022, Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott ordered state agencies to investigate parents who allow their children to have transgender surgeries or hormone blockers, following state Attorney General Ken Paxton calling it child abuse, according to The Hill. A judge ruled against the statewide injunction and on Friday an appeals court upheld it, as first reported by Reuters.