Yahoo News reports: Nancy Mace’s hopes of banning transgender women from sharing a bathroom with her on Capitol Hill appear dashed for now. The South Carolina Republican’s controversial bathroom ban was not included in the GOP’s House rules package unveiled this week—a surprise omission less than two months after Speaker Mike Johnson reportedly assured Mace it would be included. The …

Fox News reports: Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., is receiving medical attention after suffering a fall at the U.S. Capitol on Friday, Fox News has learned. Foxx, who chairs the House Education Committee, reportedly fell on the grand staircases on the GOP side of the Capitol, shortly after the House voted to re-elect Rep. Mike Johnson as Speaker of the …

The Associated Press reports: A highly decorated Army soldier who died in an explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck at the Trump hotel in Las Vegas left a note saying it was stunt to serve as “wakeup call” for the country’s ills, investigators said Friday. Matthew Livelsberger, a 37-year-old Green Beret from Colorado Springs, Colorado, also wrote in the note that …

Mediaite reports: The candid moment happened while Harris was swearing in the recently elected senators for their new terms. Harris began by greeting Gallego, his wife who was carrying their young daughter, and his son. Harris was asking Gallego’s young son about how their day was going when he said, “I’m sorry you didn’t win.” Harris and the boy then …

Axios reports: Apple CEO Tim Cook will personally donate $1 million to President-elect Trump’s inaugural committee, sources with knowledge of the donation tell Axios. The donation reflects a long, collaborative relationship between Trump and Cook that included many meetings during Trump’s first term, and dinner at Mar-a-Lago last month. Cook, a proud Alabama native, believes the inauguration is a great …

The Washington Post reports: President-elect Donald Trump will be sentenced on 34 counts of falsifying business records ahead of his swearing-in on Jan. 20, a judge ruled Friday. The decision to schedule the sentencing Jan. 10 almost certainly means Trump will be the first felon to serve as a U.S. president. Trump was convicted in May of falsifying business records …

Bloomberg reports: Senior politicians on the UK right have privately contacted Donald Trump’s allies, urging the US President-elect’s team not to endorse British far-right activist Tommy Robinson, after billionaire Tesla boss Elon Musk called for him to be released from prison. Several prominent Brexit-supporting politicians with links to Trump spent Thursday warning their Republican counterparts against following Musk’s endorsement of …

“The Democrats are all ‘giddy’ about our magnificent American Flag potentially being at ‘half mast’ during my Inauguration. They think it’s so great, and are so happy about it because, in actuality, they don’t love our Country, they only think about themselves. “Look at what they’ve done to our once GREAT America over the past four years – It’s a …

Law.com reports: Eli Lilly & Co. has been hit with a suit claiming it fired a New Jersey drug sales representative for holding a biblically based view on sexual morality. In a case that pits an employee’s right to religious expression against the company’s support of its LGBTQ+ workers, plaintiff Jonathan Samaniego claims he was terminated based on his religious …

The Daily Beast reports: Sen. Chuck Grassley, 91, was sworn in as Senate president pro tempore on Friday, making him third in line to the presidency. The position goes to the longest-serving senator of the majority party. The Iowa Republican previously served as president pro tempore from 2019 to 2021, before Democrats took control of the Senate. Even after months …

NBC News reports: Reps. Keith Self, R-Texas, and Ralph Norman, R-S.C., who each voted for other Republicans earlier in the voting process, just changed their votes to back Johnson. The switch likely gives Johnson the votes to become speaker. This switch happened after Johnson went to the cloakroom for discussions with Reps. Norman, Self, Perry, Harris, Higgins and Cloud. Many …

“I think for them to undermine this on the opening day is almost suicidally stupid. And I can’t explain it except that over the years and Karl watched all this and lived with it in the Bush White House over the years has been a group in the party who have grown more and more hostile, more and more self-righteous. …

The New Republic reports: House Speaker Mike Johnson lost the first floor vote Friday to retain the gavel. A handful of aimless Republican votes for other candidates (who weren’t running for the House’s most prized position) made it mathematically impossible for Johnson to win. Johnson had faced near-impossible margins from the jump: With a full House floor and a unified …

Politico reports: Mike Johnson came up short in his bid to remain speaker on the first ballot. Reps. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Keith Self (R-Texas) voted against Johnson in the alphabetical roll call vote. Johnson can only afford to lose one GOP vote and still reclaim the gavel, meaning he needs to flip at least two of …

“Just think about it, we are still funding the Taliban through NGOs in Afghanistan. We are funding Islamist rebels in Syria, and what we need to do is focus on security here at home. For me Lawrence, it’s really personal. Donald Trump is about to assume office January 20. I am bringing my family, my children, over to the inauguration …

CBS News reports: The 119th Congress will convene on Capitol Hill on Friday, with Republicans in control of both the House and Senate for the first time since 2019. The House will meet at noon and hold its election for speaker, with current Speaker Mike Johnson hoping to hold onto his gavel. Johnson needs to win a majority of the …

The New York Times reports: As Speaker Mike Johnson labors to lock down enough support to be re-elected to his post, every vote is critical. That has prompted speculation that former Representative Matt Gaetz, the Florida Republican who engineered the ouster of Mr. Johnson’s predecessor, could play a role in the outcome this time as well. Mr. Gaetz resigned his …

NBC News reports: President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will head to New Orleans on Monday, the site of a New Year’s Day terror attack that killed 14 people and wounded dozens more, the White House announced Friday. The White House said in a statement that the Bidens will “grieve with the families and community members impacted by …

Via email from the Family Research Council: Ultimately, as believers, we know that success for our country will only come from humbling ourselves before the Lord. Acknowledging Him as sovereign, provider, protector, and creator. We need to pray our leaders seek the Lord in the new year, that they appeal to Him every step they take in Washington, D.C., and …

“The first thing we’ve got to do is starting on Jan. 6, we’ve got to start going through committee by committee and get Pam Bondi out of the committee, get Pete Hegseth out of committee, to get every nominee done as quickly as possible. Then on Jan. 20, we’ve got to stay here and just be voting on these nominees. …