Politics

Cheney: Republicans Wanted Me To Lie About Trump

“After the 2020 election and the attack of January 6th, my fellow Republicans wanted me to lie. They wanted me to say the 2020 election was stolen, the attack of January 6th wasn’t a big deal, and Donald Trump wasn’t dangerous. “I had to choose between lying and losing my position in House leadership. Cleta Mitchell, an election denier and …

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TX Gov Gets Bill To Overturn Elections In Blue County

CNN reports: Texas Republicans have approved a pair of bills targeting the elections process in Harris County, the state’s largest and home to Houston, with voting rights activists accusing the GOP of plotting a “power grab” in an increasingly Democratic county. The measures, which passed the Republican-controlled state House and Senate, now head to the desk of GOP Gov. Greg …

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Turkey’s Erdogan Claims Victory In Presidential Runoff

Reuters reports: President Tayyip Erdogan claimed victory in Turkey’s presidential election on Sunday, a win that would steer his increasingly authoritarian rule into a third decade. Addressing supporters, Erdogan said voters had given him the responsibility to rule for the next five years. The election had been seen as one of the most consequential yet for Turkey, with the opposition …

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Lindsey Graham Blasts Debt Ceiling Deal: I Will Vote No

“I want to raise the debt ceiling; it’d be irresponsible not to do it. And I know you can’t get the perfect, but what I will not do is adopt the Biden defense budget and call it a success. “Kevin said that the defense is fully funded. If we adopt the Biden defense budget, it increases defense spending below inflation. …

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Freedom Caucus Vows To Block McCarthy’s Debt Deal

Reuters reports: After tough negotiations to reach a tentative deal with the White House on the U.S. borrowing limit, the next challenge for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is pushing it through the House, where hardline Republicans are already threatening to sink it. As Democratic and Republican negotiators iron out the final details of an agreement to suspend the federal government’s …

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Will Paxton’s Wife Recuse From His Impeachment Trial?

The Texas Tribune reports: As Ken Paxton’s scandals have mounted, Angela Paxton has stood by his side, and over two terms in the Senate seat he once held, she has done little to disentangle her political legacy from her husband’s. He funded her first run with a $2 million loan from his campaign; once elected, she tried to pass legislation …

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Junior Tweets Deep Fake Of DeSantis In “Lady Clothes”

The Daily Beast reports: Donald Trump Jr. shared a deepfake video of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis edited into a scene from The Office in which Michael Scott, played by Steve Carrell, is humiliated by his coworkers for accidentally wearing a woman’s pantsuit. Both former president Donald Trump and Trump Jr. have consistently torn into DeSantis as the governor plans to …

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WH And GOP Reach Tentative Agreement On Debt

The New York Times reports: Top White House and Republican negotiators on Saturday reached a deal in principle to raise the debt limit for two years while cutting and capping some government spending over the same period, a breakthrough after a marathon set of crisis talks that has brought the nation within days of its first default in history. Congressional …

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Disney Oversight Board Member Resigns Days After DeSantis Appointed His Wife To Florida Supreme Court

Florida Politics reports: A Gov. Ron DeSantis-appointee on the Disney World board will have a short tenure. Michael Sasso has resigned after three months on the job. His unexpected departure comes as his wife, Judge Meredith Sasso, was appointed by the Governor to serve on the Florida Supreme Court this week. The Central Florida Tourism Oversight Board, formerly known as …

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DeSantis Signs Bill Creating $100 Million State Military

Florida Politics reports: The Florida State Guard’s (FSG) budget will grow to 10 times its current level, nearly quadruple in personnel, and become a permanent part of state government under legislation Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed. The measure (HB 1285), promulgated by Republican Rep. Mike Giallombardo, creates a Division of the State Guard within the Department of Military Affairs as …

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Tuberville: Inner City Teachers Can’t Read Or Write

The Hill reports: Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) said on Thursday that he does not know whether inner city teachers “can read and write.” In a Thursday appearance on Donald Trump Jr.’s podcast, “Triggered,” Tuberville took aim at the public school system in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. He said that he does not know how teachers in the inner …

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Freedom Caucus Threatens Debt Ceiling Compromise

The Washington Post reports: Conservative lawmakers have begun mounting a campaign against the emerging deal on the debt ceiling between President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), as objections from the right threaten to undermine an agreement even before its contents are publicly released. On Thursday and Friday, in response to reports about the details of the agreement, leading …

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Texas Lawmakers Repeal 2021 Law Requiring $116M Purchase Of Nonexistent “Write Once” Voting Machines

The Texas Tribune reports: Texas lawmakers have voted to reverse an expensive state law requiring election officials to replace all their current vote-counting equipment with technology that doesn’t exist. An unprecedented mandate the Legislature passed in 2021, without fully realizing its consequences, would have decertified equipment that counties currently use to count votes, to be replaced by machines on which …

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DeSantis: Report On Banned Biden Poem Is A “Hoax”

“This poem hoax. And so what this is, this is some book of poems. I never heard of it. I had nothing to do with any of this, but it was a book of poems that was in an elementary school library. “And the school or the school district determined that was more appropriate to be in the middle school …

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DeSantis Signs Bill Shielding SpaceX From Liability

Rolling Stone reports: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) signed a bill regarding spaceflight on Thursday just one day after he announced his presidential run in a glitch-filled interview with Elon Musk on Twitter Spaces. DeSantis signed into law CS/SB 1318 – Spaceflight Entity Liability along with 27 other bills. The law exempts “spaceflight entity from liability for injury to or …

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DeSantis Spox Has Flame War With Teen Trump Troll

Mediaite reports: Christina Pushaw, a top adviser to Ron DeSantis, argued with a 16-year-old Trump supporter about botox and Ukraine on Twitter just one day after the Florida governor launched his campaign for the presidency. The argument started on Thursday after “GOP Josh” — a 16-year-old supporter of former President Donald Trump — asked Pushaw, “How much of the $1M …

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WSJ: North Dakota Gov To Launch WH Bid On June 7

The Wall Street Journal reports: North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum is poised to enter the Republican presidential nomination race and is planning a June 7 event in Fargo, N.D., to make a major announcement, sources familiar with his plans told The Wall Street Journal. The wealthy former software entrepreneur from a heavily Republican state is expected to join a rapidly …

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McCarthy: “No Agreement Yet” On Debt Ceiling Deal

Huddle reports: The multi-trillion-dollar question on everyone’s mind is whether the negotiators can reach an agreement to lift the debt ceiling before the clock ticks too much further. There’s lots of rumblings from lawmakers on both sides that there could be a handshake deal today, with lawmakers returning to Washington Tuesday or Wednesday for votes — but that may well …

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DeSantis Admin Pressures FL Lobbyists For Donations

NBC News reports: Officials who work for Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration — not his campaign — have been sending text messages to Florida lobbyists soliciting political contributions for DeSantis’ presidential bid, a breach of traditional norms that has raised ethical and legal questions and left many here in the state capital shocked. NBC News reviewed text messages from four DeSantis …

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GOP Rep: Biden Won’t Appoint “White Guys” As Judges

The Daily Beast reports: Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI) cried oppression on the House floor Thursday when he complained to peers that Joe Biden isn’t appointing enough straight “white guys” to be judges. In the president’s first two years, he appointed 97 federal judges. “I was expecting maybe 25 or 30 were white guys,” Grothman said. “Five of the 97 judges …

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