Republicans

Politico reports: Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, one of President Donald Trump’s most vocal critics in the Senate GOP, said in a podcast on Monday that there are certain situations in which she’d consider becoming an independent and caucusing with Democrats. “There may be that possibility,” she told Galen Druke in an interview excerpt of his GD Politics podcast, scheduled to …

“President Trump is going to win the Nobel Peace Prize, no doubt! You look at what he’s done with the Congo and Rwanda. You look where he is with Pakistan and India and what he has done there. And then you look at this — what everyone talked about but no one thought was possible. He has brought peace to …

The Hill reports: Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) called for the delay of this week’s meeting of a federal vaccine advisory panel handpicked by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, citing concerns about members’ lack of experience and potential bias towards vaccines. “Wednesday’s meeting should not proceed with a relatively small panel, and no CDC Director in place …

The New York Times reports: The remote facility, comprised of large tents, and other planned facilities will cost the state around $450 million a year to run, but Florida can request some reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security. Florida’s attorney general, James Uthmeier, a Trump ally who has …

“Too many of these folks will compromise, they’ll remain neutral. They’ll avoid you when you get in trouble. I got some senators who burned my phone up wanting me to come to their fundraisers. If they’re listening to this, they know who they are. “And some of them are in deep red counties. Deep red counties! Wouldn’t have lost a …

Politico reports: Several House Democrats are posting replicas of a commemorative plaque for police officers who defended the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection — needling Speaker Mike Johnson for the prolonged delay in installing the official plaque that was commissioned by Congress more than three years ago. The plaque honoring U.S. Capitol Police and other law enforcement officers …

The Hill reports: Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier (R) asked the Supreme Court on Monday to allow the state to enforce its new immigration law as an appeal plays out in a lower court. The new law, SB 4-C, makes it a state crime for people to enter Florida after arriving in the U.S. illegally and evading immigration authorities. “Illegal …

Florida Politics reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis says former President Joe Biden’s open border policy could lead to dire consequences for Americans from violent Iranian assets. “They operate through these proxy groups, through these militia groups, through Hezbollah, through all this stuff,” DeSantis said of Iran at Clearwater’s Island Way Grill. “Who knows who they sent across the southern border during …

The Hill reports: The Senate parliamentarian has rejected several more provisions in the Republican megabill to enact President Trump’s agenda, including language authorizing states to conduct border security and immigration enforcement, which traditionally have been duties of the federal government. Additionally, the parliamentarian advised against a section of the bill that would allow the executive branch to reorganize federal government …

The Associated Press reports: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott vetoed a bill Sunday to ban all THC consumables, allowing the booming market flush with THC-infused vapes, gummies and other products to continue to be sold across the state. Abbott, a Republican, waited until the final moment to veto the bill in what would have been one of the most restrictive THC …

Axios reports: President Trump’s political operation has launched an aggressive effort to unseat Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, its first such effort to defeat a sitting Republican incumbent, Axios has learned. Massie has attacked Trump over his strike on Iran, saying on X that it was “not Constitutional,” prompting the president to fire back on Truth Social that the congressman is …

“Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky is not MAGA, even though he likes to say he is. Actually, MAGA doesn’t want him, doesn’t know him, and doesn’t respect him. He is a negative force who almost always Votes ‘NO,’ no matter how good something may be. He’s a simple minded ‘grandstander’ who thinks it’s good politics for Iran to have the …

The Huffington Post reports: A provision in the GOP’s tax-and-spending bill that would make it nearly impossible for anyone to sue the Trump administration for breaking laws is on track to be stripped from the bill after the Senate parliamentarian said it violates the chamber’s rules. This provision, which is in Senate Republicans’ version of the One Big Beautiful Act, …

Axios reports: While most congressional Republicans and some pro-Israel Democrats are praising President Trump’s strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, pockets of opposition are already emerging in both parties. The objections center on the argument that Trump needed congressional authorization for such a provocative use of military force, with one House Democrat pushing for a vote to restrict further unilateral action. …

The Associated Press reports: Texas will require all public school classrooms to display the Ten Commandments under a new law that will make the state the nation’s largest to attempt to impose such a mandate. Gov. Greg Abbott announced Saturday that he signed the bill, which is expected to draw a legal challenge from critics who consider it an unconstitutional …

The Texas Tribune reports: Former U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold, a four-term Republican congressman from Corpus Christi and local radio host, died this week from a heart attack after struggling with chronic liver disease, according to a close friend who worked on his radio show. He was 63. Farenthold’s time in Washington came to a fraught end in April 2018, when …

The Washington Post reports: The Postal Service in 2022 embarked on plans to purchase 66,000 electric mail delivery vehicles, many of them bespoke “Next Generation Delivery Vehicles” from the defense contractor Oshkosh. The Senate’s version of Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill would see the General Services Administration take possession of the nearly 7,200 new postal EVs and associated infrastructure and …

Politico reports: Senate Republicans’ plan to force states to share the cost of the country’s largest nutrition program to pay for their policy megabill has been halted by the chamber’s rules. The Senate parliamentarian determined that the cost-sharing plan would violate the so-called Byrd Rule, which limits what can be included in the reconciliation process, and would be subject to …

Axios reports: Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) is warning that the Senate’s version of “one, big beautiful bill” can’t pass the House with the Medicaid changes it unveiled this week — urging leadership to change it fast and not to let the fight drag on. “It seems to me that now we’re in a place where this provision is threatening the …

The Texas Tribune reports: A Texas court has temporarily stopped the City of San Antonio from funding efforts to help residents travel out of state to get abortions. In April, the San Antonio City Council voted to allocate $100,000 to its Reproductive Justice Fund to help support abortion-related travels. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the city the following day, …