Politics

Axios reports: Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) plans to introduce his own bill to prevent members of Congress from trading stocks, while Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) teams up with fellow Democrat Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Axios has learned. Why it matters: This means there will be now be two similar bills to ban stock trades individually championed by two vastly different lawmakers—further …

The Columbus Dispatch reports: The Ohio Supreme Court struck down GOP-drawn state House and Senate district maps as unconstitutional gerrymandering in a 4-3 decision Wednesday, sending the maps back to the drawing board. Advocates of redistricting reform hailed the decision as a resounding victory for Ohio voters who overwhelmingly approved changes to the state constitution to limit partisan line-drawing in …

Yahoo News reports: Democrat Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick won Tuesday’s special election in Florida’s safely Democratic 20th Congressional District, defeating Republican nominee Jason Mariner 79 percent to 20 percent. Cherfilus-McCormick will be sworn in as soon as Florida’s secretary of state certifies the results, giving Democrats a 222-212 advantage in the House, effectively meaning House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) can pass legislation …

The New York Times reports: When Mayor Eric Adams named a Virginia parking administrator and retired police sergeant to a top position in the New York Police Department, he said the man had one qualification that no one else there possessed: He was the mayor’s brother. Bernard Adams, 56, a former police sergeant who retired from the force in 2006 …

The Raleigh News & Observer reports: North Carolina’s new political districts do not violate the state constitution, a panel of three judges ruled unanimously Tuesday. The GOP-drawn maps would give Republicans a built-in advantage in future elections — but none of the reasons why challengers said the maps are unconstitutional stand up to legal scrutiny, the judges ruled. In other …

CBS News reports: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday said he will run for another term as the chamber’s top GOP leader at the end of the year, shutting down the possibility of a shake-up in the Republican chain of command. “I’m going to be running again for leader later this year,” he told reporters Tuesday when asked …

The Associated Press reports: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and other top Republicans are stepping up a personal campaign to persuade Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan to run for the Senate and help the party’s chances of regaining control of the chamber. The recruitment effort has included McConnell’s wife, Elaine Chao, who held Cabinet positions in the Trump and George W. …

The Washington Post reports: Former “American Idol” star Clay Aiken announced Monday that he is making a second bid for a congressional seat from North Carolina, this time seeking the Democratic nod in a more liberal district than eight years ago. “As a loud and proud Democrat, I intend to use my voice to deliver real results for North Carolina …

The Insider reports: Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia is set to introduce legislation that would bar members of Congress from holding or trading individual stocks while they’re in elective office. In addition, the legislation would likely mandate that lawmakers place their financial assets in blind trusts — an action that Ossoff took himself after being elected to the Senate in …

“He will be in charge of my security, which is extremely important to me in a time where we see an increase in white supremacy and hate crimes. “I have to take my security in a very serious way, but at the same time, I need that right balance. “My brother has a community affairs background, the balance that I …

Gothamist reports: The new law took effect at the stroke of midnight Sunday, 30-days after it was passed by the City Council. It will enable anyone who has legally been living in the city for 30-days to register and vote in local elections. Mayor Eric Adams has spoken out in support of the legislation in past, but his most recent …

The Indianapolis Star reports: During a committee hearing Wednesday about Senate Bill 167, a wide-ranging bill inspired by the national discourse over critical race theory, history teacher Matt Bockenfeld raised concerns about what the bill would require of teachers. “For example, it’s the second semester of U.S. history, so we’re learning about the rise of fascism and the rise of …

CNN reports: South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, announced Saturday he is running for re-election in 2022. “I’ve always promised that I would do the work, even when it was hard, uncomfortable, or unpopular. That work continues, which is why after careful consideration and prayer, and with the support of my family, I’m asking …

The Daily Beast reports: Politico’s Playbook newsletter issued a correction on Saturday morning after misidentifying Democratic leader Chuck Schumer’s wife, Iris Weinshall, as Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. The publication claimed that the case of mistaken identity was sparked by a photo sent in by a tipster allegedly taken at the hip D.C. eatery Le Diplomate on Friday night. In …

The Washington Post reports: Conservative Supreme Court justices on Friday appeared skeptical that the Biden administration has legal authority to impose a broad vaccination-or-testing requirement on large employers. They seemed more in agreement with private businesses and Republican-led states that such policies need to be approved by Congress or implemented by state governments than a federal agency — in this …

The Associated Press reports: The Supreme Court is taking up two major Biden administration efforts to bump up the nation’s vaccination rate against COVID-19 at a time of spiking coronavirus cases because of the omicron variant. The justices on the conservative-oriented court are hearing arguments Friday about whether to allow the administration to enforce a vaccine-or-testing requirement that applies to …

Reuters reports: Kazakhstan’s president said Friday he had ordered his troops to “shoot to kill without warning” in an effort to quash anti-government protests that have been raging since the weekend. Chaotic and violent scenes persisted in the resource-rich Central Asian country of 19 million, as the first “peacekeeping” troops from a Russia-led military alliance arrived following the leader’s request …

The New York Times reports: The revolt began on Sunday in western Kazakhstan as a protest against a surge in fuel prices. Four days later, with government buildings, TV stations, the airport and numerous businesses stormed by thousands of anti-government protesters, the uprising has expanded into a full-throated attack on an entrenched Kazakh elite widely reviled as autocratic and corrupt. …

David Wasserman writes at Cook Political Report: The surprising good news for Democrats: on the current trajectory, there will be a few more Biden-won districts after redistricting than there are now — producing a congressional map slightly less biased in the GOP’s favor than the last decade’s. The start of 2022 is an ideal time to take stock of the …

Reuters reports: The government on Wednesday defended President Emmanuel Macron’s use of a coarse insult in a stepped-up campaign against France’s unvaccinated, after the phrase drew condemnation from the opposition and mixed reactions from voters. Parliament suspended debate on a COVID-19 bill as opposition lawmakers demanded explanations from Macron, who earlier said he wanted to “piss off” unvaccinated people by …