Politics

The Arizona Republic reports: Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs on Thursday signed into law a repeal of the state’s 160-year-old abortion ban, rescinding one of the nation’s most restrictive abortion laws after weeks of hard-fought political negotiation at the state capitol. “Today we are doing what 23 governors and 55 legislatures refused to do, and I am so proud to be …

The Hill reports: Arizona congressional candidate Blake Masters took a swipe at his Republican primary opponent Abe Hamadeh for not being married or having kids, claiming it shows his opponent does not have “skin in the game.” In a campaign video published Tuesday, Masters laid out his policy goals and what his campaign called the “differences” between him and Hamadeh. …

Fox News reports: Democratic lawmakers in Arizona’s state legislature hosted a “Drag Story Hour” in partnership with Planned Parenthood on Tuesday, sparking backlash from their Republican colleagues who said the event was “deceptively” planned. “Democrat Rep. Lorena Austin deliberately misled House leadership to reserve a conference room to host a drag story hour with Planned Parenthood,” House Speaker Ben Toma …

The Texas Tribune reports: A recent “deepfaked” ad targeting House Speaker Dade Phelan [photo] could inspire further legislation to crack down on doctored imagery in political ads. That mailer, paid for by the Jeff Yass-bankrolled Club for Growth Action PAC, depicted Phelan in an intimate hug with former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, apparently a remake of Pelosi hugging new …

Florida Politics reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed legislation giving bank customers who believe they’ve been discriminated against based on their political affiliations a way to file complaints against the financial institution. The measure (HB 989) also includes several provisions important to Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis and his Department of Financial Services. But DeSantis said cracking down on discrimination …

The Hill reports: Bipartisan lawmakers on Tuesday announced the start of a dog lovers caucus on Capitol Hill in the wake of a story about South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.) shooting and killing a family dog. “In light of recent events, we’re launching the Congressional Dog Lovers Caucus today!” Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) said in a post on the …

The Washington Post reports: GOP leaders this week announced plans for new oversight investigations of elite universities where — in the words of House Republican Whip Tom Emmer (Minn.) — “pro-terrorist anti-Semites [are] taking over.” And on Wednesday, they passed the Antisemitism Awareness Act, which its advocates said would empower the federal government to crack down on anti-Israel protests on …

Reuters reports: Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on Wednesday he will break diplomatic relations with Israel over its actions in Gaza. Petro has already heavily criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and requested to join South Africa’s case accusing Israel of genocide at the International Court of Justice. “Here in front of you, the government of change, of the president …

Phoenix’s NBC affiliate reports: The Arizona Senate has signed off on a bill to repeal an abortion ban dating back to the 19th century. Two Republicans, T.J. Shope and Shawnna Bolick, sided with Democrats on Wednesday to deliver enough votes to pass House Bill 2677, which would repeal a law that would only allow abortion in circumstances that would save …

“There’s a real Hamas wing of the Democratic Party who want to not help the Palestinians, but kill all the Jews. They say, ‘We are Hamas.’ There are radical elements within the Democratic Party and the country right now at large that would literally help destroy the Jewish state. We can’t wait to May 6 or 7. Mr. President, you …

“Everybody knows you’re going to wipe things down with Clorox before mold takes over your home. As soon as a protester goes to being a perpetrator, that needs to be shut down, it is time to shut it down and when they go to court and when they see a judge, a judge needs to say you will not go …

Mediaite reports: Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) expressed shocking indifference about who wields the gavel in the House of Representatives. The fate of Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) could soon be put to a vote after Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) filed a motion to vacate the chair and is now threatening to force that vote. “We are passing the Democrat agenda …

NPR reports: Starting today, people can no longer access legal abortions in Florida beyond six weeks of pregnancy, except in rare circumstances. The restriction replaces a 15-week ban that’s been in effect since July 2022, shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Abortion rights supporters say it will dramatically curb access to the procedure for thousands of …

The Huffington Post reports: “I guess it kind of makes it a little difficult for President Trump to find someone to be his [vice president]. He has to look for someone smarter than him, [a] better speaker than him and, like him, does not get burdened with principles,” Romney told HuffPost on Tuesday. The Utah senator also pushed back on …

NBC News reports: Democrats won a special election for a House seat in western New York on Tuesday, further shrinking the GOP’s narrow majority in the House. Democratic state Sen. Tim Kennedy defeated Republican town supervisor Gary Dickson in the 26th District, a reliably blue area that includes Buffalo and some of its surrounding suburbs. Democrats will now control 213 …

Florida Politics reports: A Republican Primary challenger to U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz failed to register several internet domains with his name. Now, Gaetz’s campaign has snapped them up, and will use them to publicize Aaron Dimmock’s record of supporting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). The website AaronDimmockForCongress.com now directs web users to a website with the headline “Meet DEI Dimmock” …

“Look what’s happened in Denver, Colorado. Look what’s happened in Los Angeles, New York City. You know, I’ve talked to people that have moved from New York and they’re like, they used to have, you know, an apartment somewhere and it used to smell differently. “Now, what does it reek of? It reeks of marijuana. I don’t want the state …

The Associated Press reports: The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to block a Texas law requiring pornographic websites to verify the age of their users. The justices rejected an emergency appeal filed by the Free Speech Coalition, a trade association for the adult entertainment industry. The provision of House Bill 1181, signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott, remains in …

“It happened on his watch. And I think it’s had a profound impact on him, despite everything. Because people said that shouldn’t have happened. They have the most sophisticated equipment. They had—everything was there to stop that. “And a lot of people knew about it, you know, thousands and thousands of people knew about it, but Israel didn’t know about …

The Washington Post reports: On Friday, Rep. Bill Posey became the latest member of Congress to announce his retirement plans unexpectedly in a way that benefited an ally and prevented voters from having as much of an electoral choice as they otherwise would have. Call it the filing-deadline two-step — an undemocratic dance if there ever was one. Posey qualified …