The Knoxville News Sentinel reports A.B. Culvahouse, an attorney originally from East Tennessee, will lead the team tasked with helping Donald Trump choose his vice-presidential running mate. Culvahouse led the vice presidential vetting process in 2008 for Arizona Sen. John McCain. U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) praised the decision to put Culvahouse over the process, describing him as "a good listener" with "unquestioned integrity."

A Donald Trump delegate from Tennessee is drawing national attention for his involvement in militia groups and statements promoting a violent overthrow of the U.S. government. Mother Jones magazine quotes Riceville delegate M. David Riden as saying, in part, “The Constitution should remain, but the people that are abusing it should be, the polite word is, eliminated. The harsh word is killed. And they're killed by American citizens with weapons. And if people have tanks, assault weapons, if they have bombs — they need to have the weaponry necessary to be able to overthrow the federal government.”

Politico reports the FBI and Securities and Exchange Commission are scrutinizing U.S. Sen. Bob Corker’s personal finances after the Tennessee Republican failed to report millions of dollars in assets and income on his annual financial disclosure. Corker has blamed the inaccuracies on "filing errors." 

CNN reports Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin today vetoed a bill that would criminalize abortion procedures in the state. "The bill is so ambiguous and so vague that doctors cannot be certain what medical circumstances would be considered 'necessary to preserve the life of the mother,'" Fallin, a Republican, said.  

Following a U.S. Department of Education memo offering to school districts guidance on transgender students, Gov. Bill Haslam today said he “disagree(s) with the heavy-handed approach the Obama administration is taking.” The news release from Haslam’s office also said the governor believes the emerging area of law will be settled by the courts. USA Today reports the federal government’s letter, issued Friday, was released in an effort to provide clarity on what the law requires regarding transgender students, bathroom policies and more. 

The Tennessean reports the American Counseling Association canceled its Nashville conference next year, citing concerns about a new state law that allows licensed counselors or therapists to deny service based on counselor’s “sincerely held principles.” Also citing concerns over the new law, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney yesterday announced a ban on publicly funded, non-essential travel by city workers to Tennessee. Read more from the Associated Press.

“Congress did not do enough to help the more than 47 million Americans living in poverty,” according to the Shriver Center’s Annual Poverty Scorecard released this week. The scorecard identifies important poverty-related legislation considered by Congress in the past year and provides a comprehensive look at how each representative voted. Of Tennessee’s 11 lawmakers, nine received a grade of ‘F’. Representatives Jim Cooper, D-Nashville, and Steve Cohen, D-Memphis, received an ‘A’ for their efforts to fight poverty. 

The U.S. Justice Department today sent a letter to North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory stating that the state’s House Bill 2 violates federal civil rights laws. Summarized by Talking Points Memo, HB2 is a “sweeping piece of legislation that prevents cities and counties from passing their own anti-discrimination laws and eliminated the right to sue for workplace discrimination of any kind.” The Justice Department gave state officials a Monday deadline to confirm they will not comply with or implement the law, the Associated Press reports. 

The American Counseling Association said a new Tennessee law that allows counselors to deny service based on their own “sincerely held principles” is in direct violation of the ACA’s code of ethics. The association has also called the measure an “unprecedented attack” on the counseling profession. “(The measure) not only disproportionately affects LGBTQ Tennesseans seeking counseling, but will also have unintended consequences that will reach Tennesseans in all walks of life,” ACA spokesman Art Terrazas said. Read more from Associations Now. 

“Do some votes matter more than others?” The Tennessean's Frank Daniels III breaks down the argument over whether Tennessee should be required to recount votes in its 2014 election, which included Amendment 1. The measure amended the state constitution to "explicitly eliminate abortion as a right in Tennessee." U.S. District Judge Kevin Sharp recently ruled that the secretary of state must do a recount; but, Sharp’s ruling came a day after Circuit Court Judge Michael Binkley ruled the state's vote counting procedure was sound. The article includes a look at John Jay Hooker’s 2014 gubernatorial run against Gov. Bill Haslam, when Hooker asked for clarification on how votes for amendments would be tabulated.