Politics

The New York Times reports: Israel’s military said its forces were still battling gunmen from Gaza on Israeli territory on Sunday afternoon, more than 30 hours after the initial surge of armed militants across the border as part of the broadest invasion in 50 years. The ongoing fighting came as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned of a “long and difficult …

The Hill reports: Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) said Sunday that some Republicans’ floating to elect former President Trump as Speaker of the House won’t come to fruition. Buck told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that some GOP members’ push to nominate the former president as Speaker is “not going to happen” in the wake of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) ousting from …

Florida Politics reports: Florida’s First Lady is happy to be compared to the most recent former American First Lady. That’s the takeaway from Casey DeSantis’ comments Saturday in Iowa. “They call you, like, Walmart Melania, which by the way, if I’m in the same sentence with Melania, that’s a win for me,” she said, referring to Melania Trump. The First …

The Washington Post reports: Israel on Sunday issued a formal declaration of war against Hamas and pounded Gaza with strikes, promising retaliation for an unprecedented attack by the militant group that surprised Israeli security forces. The death toll has risen to 600 in Israel, according to local media, while Palestinian authorities said at least 313 were killed in Gaza. Thousands …

The Associated Press reports: California Gov. Gavin Newsom has vetoed a bill aimed at decriminalizing the possession and personal use of several hallucinogens, including psychedelic mushrooms. The legislation vetoed Saturday would have allowed those 21 and older to possess psilocybin, the hallucinogenic component in what’s known as psychedelic mushrooms. “California should immediately begin work to set up regulated treatment guidelines …

Politico reports: The attacks in Israel and demand for U.S. aid are injecting new urgency into recent talks among centrist House Republicans to attempt to reinstate Kevin McCarthy as House speaker, with scores of Republican lawmakers now discussing the effort. Calls and texts among GOP members picked up dramatically after news of the attacks reached the U.S. overnight Friday. The …

Politico reports: Former Vice President Mike Pence tore into Donald Trump and pointed to isolationism in the Republican Party as complicit in the sweeping Hamas attack on Israel, decrying American “retreat on the world stage.” In a scathing rebuke of isolationism in the Republican Party, Pence faulted “voices of appeasement like Donald Trump, Vivek Ramaswamy and Ron DeSantis that I …

The Washington Post reports: Amid concerns the rise of artificial intelligence will supercharge the spread of misinformation comes a wild fabrication from a more prosaic source: Amazon’s Alexa, which declared that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. Asked about fraud in the race — in which President Biden defeated former president Donald Trump with 306 electoral college votes — the …

Semafor reports: Members of Donald Trump’s team are quietly preparing to go on offense against Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as internal campaign polling suggests his expected third party bid could draw more votes from Trump than President Joe Biden in a general election. Semafor has not independently reviewed the polling. One person close to Trump’s campaign said it showed that …

The Associated Press reports: The ruling Hamas militant group in the Gaza Strip carried out an unprecedented attack on Israel at daybreak Saturday, firing thousands of rockets as dozens of fighters infiltrated the heavily fortified border in several locations by air, land and sea, catching the country off guard on a major holiday. Several hours after the invasion began, Hamas …

CBS News reports: Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy denied reports on Friday that he’s thinking about resigning from Congress before his term concludes in 2025, after after hardline Republicans and Democrats forced him out of the speaker’s chair earlier this week. “I’m not resigning,” McCarthy said twice Friday. When asked if he will run for reelection next year, McCarthy responded, …

Florida Politics reports: Attorney General Ashley Moody says she will ask the state Supreme Court to block a proposed abortion rights amendment from appearing on the 2024 ballot. Moody released an op-ed for Florida’s Voice where she argued that the measure’s ballot summary would mislead voters. If passed by 60% of voters, the amendment would prohibit the Legislature from banning …

Politico reports: Kevin McCarthy is considering resigning from the House before the end of his term, two people familiar with the matter told POLITICO. The deposed former speaker has made clear he plans to stay at least through the speakership election that begins next week before ending his House career in order to help the party steady itself after a …

NBC News reports: Days before Rep. Matt Gaetz led an effort to oust Kevin McCarthy as House speaker, Gaetz and Rep. Matt Rosendale, a fellow Freedom Caucus member, denounced as a political stunt Republicans’ high-stakes effort to impeach President Joe Biden, according to a video obtained by NBC News. At an invitation-only fundraiser held over Zoom last week, Gaetz, R-Fla., …

The Des Moines Register reports: Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign vehicle was hit Thursday afternoon in what the campaign said was an intentional act by protesters but police say was nothing more than an accident involving a driver unconnected to the protest. No one was hurt in the incident in which an unoccupied black Ford Expedition being used by the …

Axois reports: A growing number of anti-Trump Republicans are giving up — and giving into the belief that nothing will stop him from winning the GOP’s presidential nomination. Despite former President Trump’s poor record in the last three elections, his increasingly violent rhetoric and four felony indictments, many anti-Trump Republicans quietly are stepping back from pushing for an alternative. They’ve …

The Washington Post reports: Former president Donald Trump is throwing his support behind Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) to become House speaker after Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was ousted in a rebellion by far-right Republicans. In an early-morning post Friday on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump said Jordan had his “complete” and “total” endorsement. “He will be a GREAT …

The Associated Press reports: Protesters upset about Vivek Ramaswamy’s remarks in opposition to aid for Ukraine yelled and swore at the presidential candidate in Iowa on Thursday before jumping into a vehicle, ramming a campaign car and speeding off, according to his campaign. Ramaswamy spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said no one was in the campaign vehicle when it was hit in …

Florida Politics reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis was born and raised in Florida, and spent much of his adult life in the state. Yet in all his 45 years on the planet, he says he never met someone who was mugged on the street, drawing a dramatic contrast to California. “My wife and I were in Southern California. We’re doing different …

Courthouse News reports: North Carolina lawmakers have been exempted from public records requests, through an item in the North Carolina budget which took effect Monday at midnight and was three months late. Buried in the 625-page document allocating $30 billion in funding are provisions that shield legislators from public records requests, even once they’ve left office. Section 27.7 of the …