Congress and Republican President Donald Trump have made it clear they intend to consider far-reaching policies to limit the scope of Medicaid in the name of slashing government spending.

Montana Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen argues that only lawmakers have sway over state elections under the U.S. Constitution. She asked the justices to consider the case after the state’s highest court struck down laws ending same-day voter registration and prohibiting paid ballot collection.

Holocaust survivor Stanislaw Zalewski attends the Commemoration Ceremony of the 80th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz, in Oswiecim, Poland, on Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)

The Montana Senate on Monday voted unanimously to open an ethics investigation into the actions of Sen. Jason Ellsworth — with him in support — when he signed a $170,100 contract with a business associate late last year.

Several Republican judicial reform bills got initial approval Thursday in the first test of the party's legislative priority, albeit with inconsistent measures of GOP support.

The legislation, Senate Bill 164, is one of several strategies Republican lawmakers in Montana and other states have advanced in recent years to prohibit transgender minors from receiving medical treatments that help align their appearance with their gender identity.

Montana GOP lawmakers are prioritizing bills that would give them more oversight of the judicial branch. More than half a dozen advanced on Friday.

The Montana Senate voted Monday to refer questions over Sen. Jason Ellsworth’s handling of a state contract to the Senate Ethics Committee for a full investigation.

Senate GOP leadership, however ... willing to take this on for an incredible cost savings,” Ellsworth told the Montana State News Bureau. The $170,100 was in the account appropriated for ...

Montana Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen argues that only lawmakers have sway over state elections under the U.S. Constitution. She asked the justices to consider the case after the state’s highest court struck down laws ending same-day voter registration and prohibiting paid ballot collection.

The former Republican state Senate president denied Friday any wrongdoing in connection with a $170,000 no-bid contract he signed in his final days in office, an expenditure that is now under scrutiny by new Senate leadership.

Senate President Matt Regier, a Kalispell Republican, said Thursday that he has “very, very serious concerns” about the contract arrangement.