Republicans

Mediaite reports: Vice President JD Vance is never beating the allegations that he’s getting sidelined in what critics have been deriding as the “Trump-Musk administration” — posting a tweet Monday that said threatening to jail people for dissenting views was a “threat to free speech” the morning after Elon Musk literally tweeted that sort of threat. Vance spoke out on …

The Hill reports: Former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is set to launch his expected 2026 run for Ohio governor next Monday, The Hill has learned. After weeks of hints at the move, Ramaswamy is on track to kick off his campaign in Cincinnati on Feb. 24, a spokesperson told The Hill. He filed campaign paperwork over the weekend. The …

Boise’s ABC affiliate reports: A co-owner of a Boise mental health clinic serving children and teens, who previously ran for the Idaho State Legislature as a Republican, was arrested Wednesday on multiple felony charges involving alleged sexual abuse of minors. Ryan D. Jenks, 45, was charged with three felony counts: lewd conduct with a child under 16 and two counts of …

Newsweek reports: The Trump administration has urged Romanian authorities to lift travel restrictions on influencer Andrew Tate and his brother, Tristan Tate, as they await trial on charges including human trafficking, sexual misconduct, and money laundering, according to a report by the Financial Times. The 37-year-old is currently under house arrest in Romania and is awaiting trial on human trafficking …

Oscar winner Julianne Moore writes on Instagram: It is a great shock for me to learn that my first book, Freckleface Strawberry, has been banned by the Trump Administration from schools run by the Department of Defense. Freckleface Strawberry is a semi-autobiographical story about a seven year old girl who dislikes her freckles but eventually learns to live with them …

From the Senate Commerce Committee: In his opening statement at today’s Senate Commerce Committee hearing titled “Nuuk and Cranny: Looking at the Arctic and Greenland’s Geostrategic Importance to U.S. Interests,” Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas) argued that acquiring Greenland would serve America’s national security and economic interests well due to the island’s location in the Arctic, access to sea routes, and …

Via press release from GOP Rep. Claudia Tenney: Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (NY-24) today introduced the Trump’s Birthday and Flag Day Holiday Establishment Act to officially designate June 14 as a federal holiday to commemorate President Donald J. Trump’s Birthday and Flag Day. Born on June 14, 1946, President Donald J. Trump’s birthday coincided with Flag Day, which is observed annually …

Utah Public Radio reports: Utah students in as early as kindergarten would be required to learn about firearm safety in the classroom under a bill that passed the state House with overwhelming support Friday. The Republican-controlled chamber approved the measure in a 59-10 vote and sent it to the Senate, despite concerns from some gun violence prevention advocates that it places …

Politico reports: Pennsylvania Rep. Rob Bresnahan is the latest swing-district Republican to issue a warning over deep spending cuts GOP leaders are targeting for key safety net programs in a bill to enact Trump’s massive domestic agenda. “I ran for Congress under a promise of always doing what is best for the people of Northeastern Pennsylvania,” said Bresnahan in a …

Via press release from Sen. Lisa Murkowski: U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) today introduced legislation that would officially designate North America’s highest mountain as Denali, the name bestowed by Alaska’s Koyukon Athabascans. The bill would require that any reference in U.S. laws, maps, regulations, or other records refer to the mountain as Denali. “In Alaska, it’s Denali,” Senator Murkowski said. …

The Washington Post reports: Missouri’s attorney general has sued Starbucks, accusing it of engaging in discrimination with its diversity, equity and inclusion policies and alleging that such initiatives have made the coffee giant’s workforce “more female and less white.” The federal lawsuit filed by Andrew Bailey, a Republican, accuses Starbucks of engaging in “systemic racial, sexual, and sexual orientation discrimination” …

The Texas Tribune reports: The Texas Supreme Court on Friday dismissed the State Bar of Texas’ lawsuit against Attorney General Ken Paxton for his attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, extending a cascade of legal and political wins for the once-embattled Republican leader. The state bar had sought to sanction Paxton, which could have carried a …

The Washington Post reports: A Louisiana law professor’s return to teaching in the aftermath of using profanities to criticize President Donald Trump and his state’s governor is on hold after an appellate court intervened Thursday. Tenured professor Ken Levy was placed on leave by Louisiana State University Jan. 17, three days after he made comments about Trump and Gov. Jeff …

The Hill reports: House Republicans are pledging to bring up impeachment articles against federal judges who have blocked Trump administration actions, including those of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), backing up tech billionaire Elon Musk’s call for a “wave of judicial impeachments.” Rep. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.) said he is drafting articles of impeachment against Judge Paul Engelmayer of the …

Kansas City’s NBC affiliate reports: A group of Christian counselors and Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey have filed a lawsuit against the city of Kansas City and Jackson County over their conversion-therapy bans. In 2023, the Jackson County Legislature passed an ordinance banning the practice. The city of Kansas City banned conversion therapy in 2019, an effort led by KCMO …

The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports: Louisiana Surgeon General Ralph Abraham sent an internal directive to state health workers Thursday ending long-standing mass vaccination efforts and banning staff from promoting seasonal vaccines, while publicly issuing a letter criticizing the state’s COVID response and public health institutions. The letter was posted on the Louisiana Health Department’s website as the U.S. Senate voted …

The Salt Lake Tribune reports: An ongoing fight in Utah to ban pride flags in schools entered new territory Thursday after Rep. Trevor Lee proposed new legislation to ban the flags not just in public schools, but in any government building or on any government property. The bill, HB0077, originally applied only to schools. But an update to the bill …

Iowa Public Radio reports: LGBTQ topics would be banned from middle school and high school curriculum under a bill advancing in the Iowa House that seeks to expand a law that currently applies to Kindergarten through sixth grade. Republican legislators passed a law in 2023 that bans instruction about gender identity and sexual orientation before seventh grade. That law is …

The Birmingham News reports: Alabama lawmakers debated Wednesday whether to require schools to start their day with the Pledge of Allegiance and a Judeo-Christian prayer. If a school refuses, it could lose a quarter of its annual state funding. The measure, HB231, is a state constitutional amendment that would appear on ballots in a future election. But the legislation could …

Yashar Ali reports at The Reset: Matt Schlapp, the Chairman of the American Conservative Union, which hosts the CPAC convention, allegedly engaged in lewd conduct and allegedly sexually assaulted a man at a restaurant and bar in Virginia on Saturday night, six witnesses and the man who alleges he was assaulted tell me. Schlapp has repeatedly been accused of sexual …