Politics

The Hill reports: Newly-elected Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Sunday said a standalone bill for Israel aid will come to the House floor this week, in an indication that President Biden’s request for aid to Ukraine will be further delayed. “We’re going to move a stand-alone Israel funding bill this week in the House. I know our colleagues, our Republican …

Florida Politics reports: On Sunday’s Meet the Press, Ron DeSantis defended his record in dealing with the state’s recurrent neo-Nazi protests under his governorship, saying he acted “swiftly and decisively.” “Our record is second to none and we will continue to lead on these issues,” DeSantis told host Kristin Welker Sunday. Welker pressed DeSantis to respond to claims from Rep. …

Haaretz reports: Facing a barrage of criticism, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu deleted a controversial social media post on Sunday in which he blamed the defense and intelligence establishment for giving him faulty assessments before the deadly Hamas attack on October 7. The prime minister then published a new tweet, saying that he apologizes for his claims and that he fully …

Florida Politics reports: The ongoing feud between Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump took a turn into Cheech and Chong territory Saturday. In the latest of a series of statements from Team Trump suggesting the DeSantis campaign is experiencing the “kiss of death,” spox Steven Cheung trolled the Florida Governor by telling him to sample local cannabis products while in Nevada …

The Daily Mail reports: Ron DeSantis says the United Nations is a ‘mess’ and a ‘total farce’ as he vowed to strip U.S. funding from the General Assembly if he becomes president. The Florida Governor and 2024 hopeful told DailyMail.com that the UN has become a “den” where “bad actors in the world get together and misbehave.” The UN General …

Reuters reports: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that Israel’s bombardment of Gaza runs counter to international law and risks creating a catastrophe that could last decades. Lavrov made the comments, some of Moscow’s most critical of Israel yet, in an interview with the Belarusian state news agency Belta, which released them on Saturday. “While we condemn terrorism, we …

Axios reports: Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn, who testified to the Jan. 6 select committee about his experience during the Capitol riot, is considering a run for Congress. Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Md.) announced Thursday he will not run for a 10th term, opening up his safely Democratic district in the central Maryland suburbs for the first time in nearly two …

CNN reports: More than 100 countries cast votes at the United Nations on Friday to support a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, even as Israel’s military announced it is “expanding ground operations” in the besieged enclave. In New York, 120 UN member nations voted for a “sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities” in the war …

Reuters reports: Israeli air and ground forces are stepping up operations in the Gaza Strip, Israel’s chief military spokesperson said on Friday, amid reports of heavy bombing of the besieged enclave. Internet and mobile phone services were cut off in the Palestinian territory, a local telecoms firm and the Red Crescent said. “In the last hours, we intensified the attacks …

Politico reports: The presidential campaign Dean Phillips launched on Friday is such a longshot that some of his colleagues call it a vanity project. Other top Democrats privately deem it a mid-life crisis. It may also be the clearest distillation to date of the undercurrent of discontent with Joe Biden among Democratic Party voters, even if it’s not likely to …

The Washington Post reports: Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Md.) announced Thursday he will not seek a 10th term in 2024, creating an open congressional seat and ending a tenure that earned him praise as a champion of campaign finance reform. Sarbanes’s announcement, which surprised Maryland politics watchers, was posted in a statement on his House website that said he hoped to …

The Charlotte Observer reports: A second member of North Carolina’s congressional delegation is leaving Washington to run for state attorney general. Rep. Jeff Jackson, a Democrat from Charlotte, announced his candidacy for attorney general on Thursday, the day after the state’s legislators approved a new congressional map that favors Republicans in his district. Jackson’s fellow House member, Rep. Dan Bishop, …

The New York Post reports: Presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy Jr. submitted a third request for Secret Service protection from the Biden administration on Wednesday after an intruder was arrested twice in one day trespassing on his Los Angeles property. The Los Angeles Police Department identified the alleged trespasser as 28-year-old Jonathan Macht of Pacific Palisades, Calif. Wednesday’s incident follows …

The Hill reports: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R) office says it is sending drones, weapons and ammunition to Israel to support its war against Hamas, a move that would bolster the governor’s pro-Israel stance in the battle for the GOP presidential nomination. Jeremy Redfern, a spokesperson for DeSantis’s office, said that the Israeli Consul General in Miami requested Florida send …

The Washington Post reports: A federal judge has struck down Georgia’s political district maps as unconstitutional, and ordered state lawmakers to redraw them by Dec. 8, in a win for voting rights activists who argued the state’s maps dilute the power of Black voters. In a ruling issued Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge Steve Jones wrote that Georgia’s congressional and …

The Hill reports: Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor for falsely pulling a fire alarm in the Cannon House Office Building last month ahead of a key House vote. Bowman appeared in D.C. Superior Court Thursday morning for his arraignment, one day after he was charged. Under an agreement with prosecutors, he will to pay a $1,000 …

ABC News reports: The U.S. economy grew at a blistering pace over three months ending in September, more than doubling growth in the previous quarter and rebuking worries about a possible recession. The robust performance, however, complicates the fight to dial back inflation. Fresh GDP data released on Thursday, which exceeded economist expectations, reinforces other recent indicators of a strong …

Democracy Docket reports: On Wednesday, Oct. 25, North Carolina Republicans passed new, highly gerrymandered congressional and legislative maps as well as a county board of commissioners map. The drafts were unveiled just last week. The new congressional map has 10 Republican districts, three Democratic districts and only one competitive district. Democratic Reps. Kathy Manning, Jeff Jackson and Wiley Nickel are …

NBC News reports: Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., has been criminally charged with a misdemeanor in connection with pulling a fire alarm in a congressional building on Capitol Hill last month. The charge — one misdemeanor count of falsely pulling a fire alarm — carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail. Bowman has been ordered to appear in D.C. …

The New York Times reports: The terms of the private loan were as generous as they were clear: With no money down, Justice Clarence Thomas could borrow more than a quarter of a million dollars from a wealthy friend to buy a 40-foot luxury motor coach, making annual interest-only payments for five years. Only then would the principal come due. …