Politics

NBC News reports: The House voted 316-94 to tee up votes on four separate bills that include aid to Ukraine and Israel, a good sign for the prospects of Congress approving U.S. funding for the two countries after months of delay and partisan fighting. Speaker Mike Johnson, facing intense opposition from right-wing members, received crucial help from Democrats to move …

ABC News reports: The House Ethics Committee is investigating whether or not Rep. Matt Gaetz used illicit drugs as a member of Congress, multiple sources familiar with the committee’s work told ABC News. Committee investigators have inquired about whether Gaetz was under the influence of drugs at parties in Florida after becoming a member of Congress in 2017, according to …

The New York Times reports: The Israeli military struck Iran early on Friday, according to two Israeli and three Iranian officials, in what appeared to be Israel’s first military response to Iran’s attack last weekend but one whose scope, at least initially, appeared to be limited. The Iranian officials said that a strike had hit a military air base near …

The Kansas City Star reports: U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner, a Republican who represents Kansas’ 2nd District, announced Thursday he won’t seek reelection, creating another open race in a furious partisan fight for control of the House. LaTurner, 36, was first elected to the House in 2020. In a statement, LaTurner said it was time to “pursue other opportunities and have …

Green Bay’s NBC affiliate reports: In one of his last acts in Congress, Rep. Mike Gallagher — who represents Wisconsin’s 8th District — chaired a Tuesday hearing of the House Select Committee on China concerning the country’s possible connection to fentanyl overdose deaths in the U.S. After the hearing, Gallagher spoke with reporters about the hearing and the end of …

Politico reports: One of Mayor Eric Adams’ fundraising entities on Wednesday fired the security and private investigative firm run by longtime friend and donor Bo Dietl shortly after Dietl berated a POLITICO reporter. Dietl’s company was hired to vet donors to Adams’ legal defense trust — a fundraising entity to help pay legal bills connected to a federal probe into …

“We have a bipartisan government, and the only way good policy is gonna be made better, the only way we’re gonna stand shoulder to shoulder with our allies – Israel and Ukraine – the only way we push back against evil like Putin, is to do it in a bipartisan way. “And I want to be judged by my ability …

The New Jersey Globe reports: Rep. Donald M. Payne Jr. (D-Newark) remains unconscious after suffering a heart attack on April 6, indicating that the congressman’s medical condition is substantially more severe than had been initially revealed. Payne, a six-term Democrat from Essex County, has been on a ventilator in an intensive care unit at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center for …

The Daily Mail reports: Filings published by Companies House today for ‘Prince Henry Charles Albert David Duke of Sussex’ record that his ‘New Country/State Usually Resident’ is now the USA. It was previously recorded as the United Kingdom. The change comes as pressure increases on US President Joe Biden’s government to release Harry’s visa records after campaigners seized on comments …

The New Republic reports: A House Oversight Committee hearing on Wednesday quickly devolved into leading Representatives James Comer and Jamie Raskin arguing over Joe Biden’s (nonexistent) crimes. Although the hearing was on China’s political warfare against the United States, it wasn’t long before Comer managed to shift the topic to his pet project: trying to impeach Biden. Things started to …

The Texas Tribune reports: A Texas landowner may seek compensation from the state for damages to his property east of Houston, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously Tuesday. Richie DeVillier, a landowner in Chambers County, sued the state in 2020 after his land repeatedly flooded following changes Texas made to Interstate 10. The original lawsuit argued DeVillier had a right …

Florida Politics reports: The wrongs committed by the Soviets, the Chinese and other communist regimes will be discussion fodder for students in the Sunshine State going forward. Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed off on SB 1264, a “History of Communism” bill. The location and timing of the signing was no coincidence: the Hialeah Gardens Museum. The facility honors the 2506 …

The New York Times reports: Speaker Mike Johnson’s elaborate plan for pushing aid to Ukraine through the House over his own party’s objections relies on an unusual strategy: He is counting on House Democrats and their leader, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, to provide the votes necessary to clear the way for it to come to the floor. Given …

The Associated Press reports: The British government’s plan for a landmark smoking ban that aims to stop young people from ever smoking cleared its first hurdle in Parliament on Tuesday despite vocal opposition from within Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party. The bill, a key policy announced by Sunak last year, would make it illegal to sell tobacco products to …

The New York Times reports: Bob Graham, a Florida Democrat who as a little-known state senator cleaned stables and waited on tables in a clever populist strategy that helped to boost him into the governorship, the United States Senate and a run for the presidency, has died. He was 87. His daughter Gwen Graham posted a family statement on social …

“I am not resigning. And it is, in my view, an absurd notion that someone would bring a vacate motion when we are simply here trying to do our jobs. It is not helpful to the cause, it is not helpful to the country, it does not help the House Republicans advance our agenda, which is in the best interest …

Axios reports: Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) is willing to vote to dismiss impeachment articles against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas as long as time is given to debate the articles, he told Axios. A bipartisan vote to quickly squash the articles of impeachment would be a clear indictment of the GOP’s historic impeachment, which has been years in the making. …

Reuters reports: Conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices on Tuesday signaled skepticism toward an obstruction charge brought by the Justice Department against a Pennsylvania man in the 2021 Capitol attack – a case with possible implications for the prosecution of Donald Trump for trying to overturn his 2020 election loss. The justices heard arguments in Joseph Fischer’s appeal of a lower …

News Center Maine reports: Maine on Monday became the latest state to join an effort to elect the president by a national popular vote. State lawmakers recently passed a bill to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact and Gov. Janet Mills on Monday announced she will allow the bill to become law without her signature. Maine became the 18th …

Politico reports: Economic advisers close to former President Donald Trump are actively debating ways to devalue the U.S. dollar if he’s elected to a second term — a dramatic move that could boost U.S. exports but also reignite inflation and threaten the dollar’s position as the world’s dominant currency. The idea is being discussed by former trade chief Robert Lighthizer …