Politics

Courthouse News reports: A federal court in Wisconsin declined to dismiss a teacher’s First Amendment retaliation claim against the school district that fired her for publishing a tweet critical of its decision to prohibit her first-graders from singing “Rainbowland” by Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton at a school concert. She has shown that her employment was terminated for exercising her …

The New York Times reports: Mr. DeSantis has slipped in some polls into third place, behind Nikki Haley, and has had to downsize his once-grand national ambitions to the simple hopes that a strong showing in a single state — Iowa — could vault him back into contention. For a candidate who talks at length about his own disinterest in …

CBS News reports: The U.S. on Friday accused Iran of close involvement in attacks on commercial ships by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, stepping up the tone as Washington considers tougher measures including possible force. The White House publicly released U.S. intelligence as the Iranian-linked Yemeni insurgents persist with ship strikes they say are in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, …

NBC News reports: Retirement announcements often come after the holidays, as lawmakers discuss their next steps with their families and weigh whether to continue in an increasingly dysfunctional Congress. And because Democrats need a net gain of just five seats to take control of the House in 2024, every seat is going to matter, and the dynamics can shift if …

The Orlando Sentinel reports: Time is running out for Florida to opt into a new federal program that would provide $248 million to help feed 2 million children next summer who might otherwise go hungry. But it isn’t likely to happen as the state agency best equipped to run the program said it wouldn’t be pursuing the funding for it. …

Bloomberg News reports: Veteran Russian pro-democracy politician Grigory Yavlinsky decided against running in the upcoming presidential race in which Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to secure a crushing victory. Yavlinsky, 71, the three-time candidate, won’t take part in the election, his press service said Saturday. He would only consider running if he got 10 million signatures to support his …

The Washington Examiner reports: Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) informed his fellow Californians that he would have no part in attempts to remove former President Donald Trump from the state’s primary ballot. “There is no doubt that Donald Trump is a threat to our liberties and even to our democracy,” Newsom said in a statement Friday afternoon, “but in California, we …

CBS News reports: Former President Donald Trump has been asking allies and advisers for their thoughts about Nikki Haley as a potential vice presidential candidate, two sources familiar with the conversations tell CBS News. The feedback from the MAGA crowd regarding putting Haley on the ticket if Trump wins the GOP nomination has been overwhelmingly negative, according to these GOP …

The Associated Press reports: A federal judge hearing a challenge to a transgender health care ban for minors and restrictions for adults noted Thursday that Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis repeatedly spread false information about doctors mutilating children’s genitals even though there’s been no such documented cases. The law was sold as defending children from mutilation when it is actually …

Milwaukee’s CBS affiliate reports: The liberal-controlled Wisconsin Supreme Court overturned Republican-drawn legislative maps on Friday and ordered that new district boundary lines be drawn as Democrats had urged in a redistricting case they hope will weaken GOP majorities. The ruling comes less than a year before the 2024 election in a battleground state where four of the six past presidential …

The Washington Post reports: Never Back Down, the embattled super PAC supporting Republican presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis, has canceled all of its planned television advertising in Iowa and New Hampshire just weeks before voting begins in the first nominating states. In a statement, Scott Wagner, the super PAC’s chairman, characterized the decision as part of a shift that would allow …

Florida Politics reports: Two Republican lawmakers from Miami-Dade County want to give Florida voters a chance to ban red light cameras across the state for good. Miami Sen. Ileana Garcia and Sweetwater Rep. David Borrero filed related resolutions (SJR 1042, HJ 805) proposing a constitutional amendment prohibiting any “traffic infraction detectors” from recording motorists who fail to stop at stop …

Politico reports: The challenge, which was shared first with POLITICO, takes on a law passed last year that requires people who register and vote on Election Day without a photo ID to send in missing documentation to the state within seven days. If they don’t, their votes will be thrown out and they’ll be referred to the state Attorney General’s …

The New York Times reports: More than 15 million people have signed up for health insurance plans offered on the Affordable Care Act’s federal marketplace, a 33 percent increase compared to the same time last year, according to preliminary data released by the Biden administration on Wednesday. Federal health officials project that more than 19 million people will enroll in …

NBC News reports: President Joe Biden will sign a proclamation to pardon certain marijuana offenses Friday, building on broader action he took last year for thousands of people convicted of possession under federal law, the White House said. The new pardons target “additional offenses of simple possession and use of marijuana under federal and D.C. law,” Biden said in a …

Politico reports: Rep. Adam Schiff holds a clear lead in the race to represent California in the U.S. Senate, according to a new POLITICO | Morning Consult poll, leaving him well-positioned to advance after the upcoming March primary. The fiercer fight is for the number two spot in the general election, with Republican Steve Garvey and Democratic Reps. Katie Porter …

The New York Times reports: George Santos, the disgraced former congressman trying to parlay his notoriety into a cottage industry, is now participating in a documentary film project on his colorful lies, life and times. The film is being led by Jenner Furst, a successful documentarian whose projects include a Peabody-award winning documentary about Kalief Browder, a young Bronx man …

Posted to the Family Research Council’s website: A Roman Catholic cardinal is claiming that Christ would be imprisoned in today’s Western society for His position on sex, marriage, and gender. Appearing on GB News America on Sunday, German Cardinal and former head of the Vatican’s doctrine office Gerhard Müller addressed the threat that transgender ideology poses to the family. “Christ …

Politico Europe reports: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said Thursday the European Commission is blackmailing Hungary by withholding billions in frozen funds over rule-of-law concerns. Orbán said the blackmail is “a fact,” even admitted by the blackmailers themselves — members of the European Parliament. “In our view, Hungary fulfills all the qualities of the rule of law, and when the …

The Daily Beast reports: On Wednesday, watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics, accusing Rep. Mike Garcia (R-CA) of breaking disclosure laws and the STOCK Act when he failed to properly report multiple transactions in the run-up to the 2020 election—including the sale of Boeing stock weeks before a …