(The Center Square) – A northeast Wisconsin judge is not going to stop a team of medical workers from taking new jobs.

Outagamie County Judge Mark McGinnis on Monday refused to continue an injunction that would have stopped seven former employees at ThedaCare from leaving.

ThedaCare asked the judge to intervene this month, complaining that losing the seven members of their interventional radiology and cardiovascular team would leave stroke patients in the Appleton-area without care.

Judge McGinnis ruled on Monday that the argument didn’t carry enough weight to force the seven to stay.

Technician Kailey Young testified on Monday that she left ThedaCare for a new job at Ascension Northeast because it was a better offer.

She said her new job had “life changing money,” and a better "work-life balance.”

Other nurses and techs told the judge the same thing.

ThedaCare accused Ascension of “poaching” the team.

Ascension maintained that it simply offered team members opportunities, and they accepted.

McGinnis said he originally gave ThedaCare a temporary injunction that stopped the seven team members from leaving in an attempt to allow the two hospitals to work things out.

He said in his ruling on Monday that ending the disagreement in court is “sad.”

(The Center Square) – U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer is expected to formally announce his retirement from the high court Thursday. News broke of his imminent retirement Wednesday, setting off a flurry of speculation and political posturing over who would replace the Democrat-appointed justice.

Biden pledged multiple times on the campaign trail to nominate a Black female justice, emphasizing he is “looking forward to making sure there’s a Black woman on the Supreme Court.”

Analysts have circulated several names, including D.C. Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger, and South Carolina District Judge J. Michelle Childs.

“Number one, I am committed that if I'm elected president and have an opportunity to appoint someone to the courts, I'll appoint the first Black woman to the courts,” Biden said in March 2020. "It's required that they have representation now. It's long overdue."

Shannon Bream, a host at Fox News, tweeted Wednesday that Breyer had not intended to announce his retirement yet and was “surprised” by the revelation.

“Why are political operatives in the White House trying to bully Justice Breyer into retirement?” said U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, raising speculations about the motive and source of the leaked news.

The speculation highlights a deadline for Democrats. With the possibility of ceding control of the Senate to Republicans in November, Democrats will likely need to get their nominee through the approval process before the midterm elections. The Senate must ratify any Biden appointment to the bench with a simple majority.

“I can't imagine why Senate Republicans would agree to move on Biden's replacement for Breyer until after the November elections,” said Tom Fitton, head of Judicial Watch.

The rumors continued inside Washington, with others speculating that Vice President Kamala Harris could become the nominee, though the White House has given no credence to that idea.

In response to those rumors, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked if Harris’ nomination was a possibility during the White House press briefing Wednesday.

“Again, I’m not going to speak to any considerations, preparations, lists,” Psaki responded. “And as we’ve stated earlier, and as you heard the president say, there is a long history of Supreme Court Justices determining when they will retire, if they will retire, and announcing that and that remains the case today.”

The Breyer news comes on the heels of a few major rulings from the Supreme Court, including its decision to block Biden’s vaccine mandate for private employers with at least 100 employees.

Notably, the court is considering an abortion case that some say could lead to the reversal of Roe v. Wade, upending federal abortion law and sending the power of abortion lawmaking back to the states.

While several Republicans are expected to vote against the nomination, moderate Democrats like Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., will be closely watched. They have shut down other parts of Biden’s agenda, including his push to axe the filibuster to push through a federal takeover of state elections.

“I take my Constitutional responsibility to advise and consent on a nominee to the Supreme Court very seriously,” Manchin said Wednesday. “I look forward to meeting with and evaluating the qualifications of President Biden’s nominee to fill this Supreme Court vacancy.”

Some Republicans called on Biden to use the nomination to extend an olive branch to the other side.

“Moment of truth for Joe Biden. Will this deeply unpopular & divisive president finally reject the radical elements of his party and nominate someone who loves America and believes in the Constitution?” Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., wrote on Twitter. “Or will he continue to tear apart this country w/ a woke activist?

“If he chooses to nominate a left wing activist who will bless his campaign against parents, his abuse of the FBI, his refusal to enforce our immigration laws, and his lawless vaccine mandates, expect a major battle in the Senate,” Hawley added.

At 83, Breyer is the oldest member of the Supreme Court. President Bill Clinton nominated Breyer, who has served since 1994. Only two other current justices on the nine-member bench were nominated by a Democratic president.

“I'm sending my sincerest thanks to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer for his many years of service to our country,” said Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I.

The (Center Square) – Justice Stephen Breyer, the most senior member of the U.S. Supreme Court's liberal wing, will step down from his post after his replacement is confirmed, multiple national media outlets are reporting.

President Joe Biden will be tasked with nominating Breyer's successor, who then would face a confirmation hearing in the U.S. Senate. With a 50-50 political split in the Senate (two independents caucus with Democrats), Vice President Kamala Harris could break any ties.

Breyer, at 83 the oldest member of the court, was nominated to the post by former President Bill Clinton and has served since 1994. He is one of three of nine justices on the bench nominated by a Democratic president.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the administration had no further information on Breyer's decision.

"It has always been the decision of any Supreme Court Justice if and when they decide to retire, and how they want to announce it, and that remains the case today," Psaki tweeted. "We have no additional details or information to share from @WhiteHouse."

(The Center Square) – The first and last pieces of the package of crime legislation from Democrats at the Wisconsin Capitol focus solely on money.

Democratic lawmakers on Monday unveiled a series of plans that they say will make the state safer.

“With the pieces of legislation that promote victim safety, and with the shared revenue enhancement that supports local units of government, we believe this package of bills would really help address crime in Wisconsin,” Rep. Evan Goyke, D-Milwaukee told reporters at the Capitol.

Goyke says the package of legislation comes with a roughly $100 million price tag.

The largest piece would increase state aid to cities and counties, the so-called shared revenue.

“One of the bills in this package would increase shared revenue by 2% in the first year of the biennium, and 2% in the next year. A roughly $30 million increase in shared revenue over two years, and that’s just the beginning,” Goyke explained.

The Democratic crime package also includes a series of new grants through the state’s Department of Justice. Those grants would largely focus on victim services and monitoring people who are out on bail.

The Democrats also want to focus on domestic violence.

One plan would institute new reporting requirements for domestic violence suspects who are banned from having a gun, while another would spend more on the state’s Safe at Home program.

“This provides substitute addresses and mail forwarding services for victims of various forms of abuse,” Rep. Robyn Vining, D-Wauwatosa, said.

None of the Democratic plans touched on Milwaukee’s record-breaking homicide numbers in 2021. The lawmakers were also silent on the effort to change Wisconsin’s bail system to keep people like the Waukesha Christmas parade suspect behind bars and away from being able to commit new crimes.

Republicans at the Wisconsin Capitol are planning on voting-out their package of crime legislation on Tuesday.

(The Center Square) – The majority of surveyed Americans think Anthony Fauci should be removed from his role in helping lead the federal government’s COVID-19 response, a new poll released Monday by Convention of States Action, along with Trafalgar Group, shows.

Fauci currently serves as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and chief medical advisor to the president. While 76.6% of surveyed Republican voters want Fauci to quit, only 17.5% of Democrats feel the same.

Notably, the poll found “58.9 percent of Independent voters believe Dr. Fauci should resign his position and role in leading the government’s COVID-19 response to allow for new leadership," while "41.1 percent believe Dr. Fauci should not resign.”

The poll results came from a survey conducted Jan. 12-14 of more than 1,000 likely 2022 voters.

“Once known as ‘America’s Doctor’, Dr. Anthony Fauci has become a highly partisan figure among voters,” said Mark Meckler, president of Convention of States Action. “His own admissions that public opinion influences his decisions, his almost daily shifts on policy, and his criticism of those who disagree with him has – for Republicans and Independents – removed the sense that Fauci is objective and scientific. Democrats, on the other hand, who agree with Fauci’s point-of-view and critiques, support him with overwhelming numbers.”

Fauci has become an increasingly controversial figure since the start of the pandemic. His approval rating has steadily declined in recent months.

A poll from The Hill/HarrisX in June of last year reported that 42% of voters want Fauci to resign with 58% saying he shouldn’t. By October, though, the same survey found that 52% said Fauci should resign.

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who is a doctor, has been at the forefront of criticisms of Fauci, repeatedly calling for his firing. Critics have pointed to Fauci’s change in guidance, questions surrounding American funding of the virology lab in Wuhan, China, and the wisdom of shutting down the economy, particularly in the early months of the pandemic.

Earlier this month, Paul and Fauci got into a heated exchange during a Senate hearing. Fauci defended himself at the hearing, saying “you’re distorting everything about me.”

Paul argues that Fauci has shut down voices disagreeing with him and that his lack of judgment has made the pandemic worse.

“The idea that a government official would claim to unilaterally represent science and that any criticism of that official would be considered a criticism of science itself, is quite dangerous,” Paul said at the hearing. “Central planning, whether it be of the economy or of science, is risky because of the fallibility of the planner. It would not be so catastrophic if the planner were simply one physician in Peoria, then the mistakes would only affect those patients who chose that physician, but when the planner is a government doctor, who rules by mandate, the errors are compounded and become much more harmful.”