Republicans

Florida Politics reports: K-12 students are one step closer to getting some lessons from designated “patriotic” groups after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed off on allowing certain groups access to K-12 campuses. Rep. Wyman Duggan’s bill (HB 1317) allows representatives of so-called “patriotic organizations” time to meet with students and distribute recruitment materials, with schools providing designated time for these groups …

Banking Dive reports: Fifteen Republican attorneys general sent a letter to Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan this week accusing the lender of “de-banking” certain individuals for their religious or political identities. “Your discriminatory behavior is a serious threat to free speech and religious freedom, is potentially illegal, and is causing political and regulatory backlash. Your bank needs to be …

NBC News reports: The House voted 316-94 to tee up votes on four separate bills that include aid to Ukraine and Israel, a good sign for the prospects of Congress approving U.S. funding for the two countries after months of delay and partisan fighting. Speaker Mike Johnson, facing intense opposition from right-wing members, received crucial help from Democrats to move …

“The truth is, I would blame head-on the people who are acting like selfish idiots. Johnson has the narrowest majority in modern times, and it’s not a true majority, because he’s got six or eight narcissists — people who think that they individually get to screw up everything. I’d start with Gaetz, but I would say the list goes on. …

“Some of these folks have nobody to blame but themselves for why Speaker Johnson’s hand in negotiations has been weakened. I look at this very simply. In October, the House was thrown into chaos by Matt Gaetz and seven useful idiots that teamed up with him within the Republican Conference and 208 Democrats. And at this moment, when you see …

“I don’t even know what you’re talking about – national abortion ban. No. Listen, President Trump has said this very well. Look, I’m pro-life personally, but I have 434 colleagues. You have to build a political consensus. After cultural consensus, Breitbart famously observed that politics is downstream from culture, and there is no consensus at the moment on what to …

ABC News reports: The House Ethics Committee is investigating whether or not Rep. Matt Gaetz used illicit drugs as a member of Congress, multiple sources familiar with the committee’s work told ABC News. Committee investigators have inquired about whether Gaetz was under the influence of drugs at parties in Florida after becoming a member of Congress in 2017, according to …

Courthouse News reports: Attorneys for Disney and ABC told a New York federal judge on Thursday that late-night host Jimmy Kimmel’s satirical prank Cameo videos of disgraced former Republican congressman George Santos are protected against copyright infringement claims by the fair use doctrine. The expelled lawmaker sued Kimmel, the ABC television network, and Walt Disney Co. in February for fraud …

“I want to be really clear, by the way, if we’re talking about 2020 and we’re talking about elections — I want to say this just flat out, for anyone who’s paying attention, because I know there’s some news outlets out there that like to tune into this show. “I can fully believe, and I do fully believe, that there …

“It was and it is painful to be able to watch. It got stirred up in all the presidential politics and several of my colleagues started looking for ways after President Trump said, ‘Don’t fix anything during the presidential election. It’s the single biggest issue during the election, don’t resolve this, we’ll resolve it next year.’ “Quite a few of …

“I guess their reasoning is they want Russia to win so badly that they want to oust the Speaker over it. I mean that’s a strange position to take. I think they want to be in the minority too. I think that’s an obvious reality. I’m still trying to process all the bullshit. “To be clear, he’s being threatened for …

“Here’s my recommendation. You need a replacement. I think you guys should have a temporary Newt Gingrich as speaker. I’m not kidding. I think that Newt Gingrich should be a temporary speaker until the end of the year. You need an alternative. Are you guys talking about alternatives here? “And, look, I know that it could be chaos. Potentially, Hakeem …

The Kansas City Star reports: U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner, a Republican who represents Kansas’ 2nd District, announced Thursday he won’t seek reelection, creating another open race in a furious partisan fight for control of the House. LaTurner, 36, was first elected to the House in 2020. In a statement, LaTurner said it was time to “pursue other opportunities and have …

Politico reports: Conservatives in the House Freedom Caucus are signing up to take shifts to monitor the chamber floor in order to prevent their own party leaders from making unilateral moves that could curb their power. The Freedom Caucus’ Floor Action Response Team, shorthanded as “FART,” aims to guard against an unannounced request to pass resolutions that would stealthily limit …

The right wing Washington Free Beacon reports: The right-wing group that leads a recruitment effort for Capitol Hill offices and allied nonprofits, the Conservative Partnership Institute (CPI), has for months left exposed the sensitive personal information of applicants to its online “jobs bank,” the Washington Free Beacon found, including members of the U.S. intelligence community, congressional aides, former Trump administration …

The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports: Lawmakers on a Louisiana House committee voted Thursday to repeal a law requiring employers to give child workers lunch breaks and to slash unemployment benefits — part of a Republican-backed push to roll back regulations on companies and reduce aid for injured and unemployed workers. The House Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations advanced the …

The Tallahassee Democrat reports: Satanic Temple members are planning on taking advantage of a bill Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Thursday that allows volunteer chaplains to provide support services for public K-12 students. But DeSantis says that’s not going to happen. “Some have said that if you do a school chaplain program, that somehow you’re going to have Satanists running around …

Phoenix’s KJZZ reports: A complaint filed in Maricopa County Superior Court on Monday accuses Rep. Austin Smith (R-Wittman) of forging signatures he needed to gather to qualify for the ballot and run for reelection. The complaint alleges that nine pages of signatures Smith gathered appear to be written by the same person and look like Smith’s own handwriting. And two …

Green Bay’s NBC affiliate reports: In one of his last acts in Congress, Rep. Mike Gallagher — who represents Wisconsin’s 8th District — chaired a Tuesday hearing of the House Select Committee on China concerning the country’s possible connection to fentanyl overdose deaths in the U.S. After the hearing, Gallagher spoke with reporters about the hearing and the end of …

Politico reports: In a letter received by Republican digital vendors this week, the Trump campaign is asking for down-ballot candidates who use his name, image and likeness in fundraising appeals to give at least 5 percent of the proceeds to the campaign. They add: “Any split that is higher than 5% will be seen favorably by the RNC and President …