Politics

CNN reports: A spokesperson for Gov. Ron DeSantis said Friday that there are no plans for the Republican to meet with President Joe Biden when he travels to Florida on Saturday, contradicting comments Biden made earlier in the day indicating they would. “We don’t have any plans for the Governor to meet with the President tomorrow,” DeSantis spokesperson Jeremy Redfern …

Axios reports: House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said in an interview published Friday that the House would have to vote before opening an impeachment inquiry into President Biden. Such a vote could prove highly charged for some of McCarthy’s most vulnerable members, many of whom represent in districts Biden won in 2020. Some Republicans have said that congressional investigations into …

The Washington Post reports: After Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) experienced his second freezing episode in five weeks, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) is declining to say whether he would follow a state law requiring him to appoint a Republican in the event of a Senate vacancy. A reporter asked Beshear on Thursday whether, if McConnell were to step …

Axios reports: Top GOP donors and their allies privately are pushing Sen. Tim Scott’s team for more detail about his bachelor status before deciding how much to support him in the presidential campaign, according to two people familiar with the conversations. The U.S. hasn’t elected an unmarried person as president in 139 years. It’s typical for candidates to trot out …

From the government watchdog group CREW: Representative Andrew Clyde (GA-9) violated House ethics rules by introducing, sponsoring and advocating for legislation that would benefit his firearms company, according to a complaint filed today by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington with the Office of Congressional Ethics. In January 2023, Attorney General Merrick Garland approved a rule that places stricter …

The Daily Beast reports: When a group of employees resigned in protest from conservative activist group CPAC last year, the organization’s power couple—Matt Schlapp and his wife, Mercedes—felt it was time for a new beginning. As part of the reset, the Schlapps turned to a priest to evict satanic spirits from the D.C.-area offices. And so, on an afternoon in …

The New York Times reports: Hours before the Republican Party’s first presidential debate, the chief strategist for the super PAC that has effectively taken over Ron DeSantis’s presidential campaign met with donors in Milwaukee. “Now let me tell you a secret — don’t leak this,” the strategist, Jeff Roe, told the donors last Wednesday, according to a recording of the …

NBC News reports: The No. 2 official in New Hampshire on Donald Trump’s presidential campaign told police to kill themselves in an expletive-ridden Jan. 6 video shot close to the U.S. Capitol, according to a recording posted this month by an X account associated with the “Sedition Hunters.” “If you are a police officer and are going to abide by …

“It’s sad. No one should feel good about seeing that any more than we should feel good about seeing Dianne Feinstein, any more than we should feel good about a lot of what’s happening or seeing Joe Biden’s decline. What I will say is, right now the Senate is the most privileged nursing home in the country. I mean, Mitch …

CNN reports: Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell is medically cleared to continue his schedule, the US Capitol physician said Thursday, after he froze for the second time in as many months in public. The statement comes as McConnell moved behind the scenes to reassure his allies and donors he can do his job – even as questions persist over how …

Politico reports: A handful of GOP senators is weighing whether to force a fraught internal debate about their leadership’s future after Mitch McConnell’s second public freeze-up in a month. Some rank-and-file Republicans have discussed the possibility of a broader conversation once senators return to Washington next week. Party leadership is not currently involved in those discussions, and nothing has been …

Atlanta’s NBC affiliate reports: Gov. Brian Kemp is telling several far-right Georgia lawmakers to lay off the calls to impeach Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. Georgia Sen. Colton Moore has led a charge via a letter to Kemp requesting a special legislative session to impeach Willis after a grand jury handed up an indictment against former President Trump and …

The Hill reports: Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has disclosed three trips he accepted from billionaire Harlan Crow last year, according to documents made public Thursday. Thomas has denied any wrongdoing in accepting the trips, two of which were to Dallas and one to Keese Mill, N.Y. His new financial disclosure form also includes supplemental information about a 2014 real …

Politico reports: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell froze for nearly 30 seconds during a press conference Wednesday, an episode his office attributed to him being “momentarily lightheaded.” The Senate minority leader, speaking in Kentucky, froze while answering questions from reporters. Aides stepped in to help McConnell out and repeat questions. Before McConnell froze, he was asked about whether he planned …

The Washington Post reports: The nation’s top health agency is recommending easing restrictions on marijuana in what could portend a landmark shift in federal policy on cannabis. The Department of Health and Human Services has recommended to the Drug Enforcement Administration that marijuana be reclassified as a lower-risk, Schedule III controlled substance. Marijuana is currently a Schedule I controlled substance, …

The Daily Beast reports: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), a vocal participant in the right-wing criticisms of Bud Light over its brief partnership with a transgender influencer, was back Wednesday with a new bone to pick regarding beer: Dr. George Koob, director of the U.S. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, suggesting that recommendations for alcohol consumption could be reduced …

“This part of Florida, you’ve got a lot of advocates and some proponents of the Second Amendment. And I’ve seen signs in different people’s yards in the past after these disasters, and I would say it’s probably here, ‘You loot, we shoot.’ You never know what’s behind that door. If you go break into somebody’s house and you’re trying to …

The New York Times reports: Vivek Ramaswamy has harnessed his populist bravado while frequently and unapologetically contorting the truth for political gain, much in the same way that former President Donald J. Trump has mastered. There are layers to Mr. Ramaswamy’s distortions: He has spread lies and exaggerations on subjects including the 2020 election results, the Jan. 6 attacks on …

First, a reminder about June’s court ruling: On June 29, 2023 an Iowa court ruled that Iowa’s English-only law does not apply to voting materials and dissolved the previous injunction that prohibited the Iowa secretary of state from providing non-English voter registration forms. As a result of this ruling, counties will now be permitted to provide voting materials— including voter …

CNBC reports: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on Wednesday appeared briefly unable to respond to reporters’ questions at a press event, marking the second time in weeks that the Republican leader has abruptly stopped speaking and required help from people around him. McConnell, 81, initially seemed to struggle to hear when asked at an event in Covington, Kentucky, about …