Republicans

CNN reports: Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa has been discharged from the hospital after being treated for an infection, his office announced Thursday. He is expected to be back at work next week, according to the short statement from the office. At 90 years old, Grassley is the oldest member of the US Senate. He was elected to the …

Florida Politics reports: Members of the House Civil Justice Subcommittee voted 12-4 for a measure (HB 757) that would lower the legal bar in defamation lawsuits by shifting the burden of proof from the plaintiff to the defendant. That’s appropriate given how little faith there is today in media to get the story right, argued Pensacola Republican Rep. Alex Andrade, …

“Whether it’s George Washington, whether it was Madison, whether it was Abraham Lincoln, whether it was Ronald Reagan—who was the first president I got to vote for—you go back through history and you look at the men and the struggles that they faced and the faith that they had. “Those are the type of people that you want in government …

Axios reports: Mike Pence’s former chief of staff Nick Ayers is endorsing former President Trump, Axios has learned. It’s a sign that after this week’s swift and decisive Iowa caucuses results, Trump is starting to pick up endorsements from Republicans who have previously stayed neutral. “What happened in Iowa was an overwhelming mandate that every dollar should be spent on …

Politico reports: “If Gov. Haley does not succeed in obtaining the Republican nomination for president and she declares any interest in being part of our bipartisan unity ticket, I’m sure the people at No Labels would give that the most serious consideration, but obviously she’s not done that because she’s an active Republican candidate for president,” said Joe Lieberman, a …

Florida Politics reports: “What is her path in South Carolina? Because I don’t think if you lose your home state that you can continue,” he said of Nikki Haley on Good Morning New Hampshire. However, a quick look at state-level polling shows DeSantis and Haley have the same problem in their respective home states, in that they both trail Donald …

The Messenger reports: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., were among 177 GOP members of Congress to sign their names to an amicus brief in support of Donald Trump ahead of a critical Supreme Court case. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, House Oversight Chair James Comer, R-Ky., and other Trump allies signed themselves to the …

CBS News reports: House Republicans are moving quickly on advancing impeachment proceedings against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. At Thursday’s hearing before the House Homeland Security Committee said, lawmakers will hear from an Arizona sheriff and people whose family members have died as a result of fentanyl overdoses or violent crime. Republicans have repeatedly accused Mayorkas of failing to enforce …

The New York Times reports: This week, with lawmakers absent for medical reasons and the recent not-so-voluntary departures of the ousted former speaker Kevin McCarthy and the expelled Mr. Santos, the best G.O.P. attendance that Speaker Mike Johnson can muster as he tries to avoid a government shutdown is the bare-minimum 218 votes. That is before factoring in the impact …

NBC News reports: During a candlelit dinner with Mar-a-Lago members in late December, former President Donald Trump walked around the table as the conversation turned to one of the biggest decisions he’d have to make should he become the Republican nominee: Whom should he pick to be his running mate? At the thought of Rep. Elise Stefanik as a possible …

The Messenger reports: CNN’s Kaitlin Collins asked the House Speaker if he was concerned over threats to his position. “No, I have a job to do,” Johnson said. “We all have to do our jobs. Marjorie Taylor Greene is very upset about the lack of oversight over the funding and over the lack of an articulation of a plan, as …

NBC News reports: Texas is refusing to comply with a cease-and-desist letter from the Biden administration over actions by the state that have impeded U.S. Border Patrol agents from accessing part of the border with Mexico. In a letter to the Department of Homeland Security, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton rejected the Biden administration’s request for the state to “cease …

Via press release from the state of Florida: Today, the State Board of Education implemented strict regulations to limit the use of public funds for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs, activities, and policies in the Florida College System (FCS). The rule adopted by the Board defined, for the first time, DEI and affirmatively prohibits FCS institutions from using state …

Austin’s CBS affiliate reports: The Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals blocked the Texas Education Agency on Wednesday from enforcing a state law requiring booksellers to rate the explicitness and relevance of sexual references in materials they sell to schools. The appellate court, one of the most conservative in the nation, agreed with booksellers who sued the state, claiming the …

The Baltimore Banner reports: In a tense, three-hour meeting with staff Tuesday afternoon, new Baltimore Sun owner David Smith told employees he has only read the paper four times in the past few months, insulted the quality of their journalism and encouraged them to emulate a TV station owned by his broadcasting company. Smith, whose acquisition of the paper from …

“I think a lot of people in this country are out of touch with reality and will accept anything Donald Trump tells them. You had a jury that said that Donald Trump raped a woman. And that doesn’t seem to be moving the needle. There’s a lot of things about today’s electorate that I have a hard time understanding.” – …

“The House Freedom Caucus board is filled with Never Trumpers led by their new chairman angry disloyal MAGA traitor Bob Good. HFC and their donors are victims of a hostile takeover by Never Trumpers and that’s going to be a disaster for Pres Trump’s next administration. “Bob Good ran on MAGA and Trump’s endorsement in 2020 AND 2022 and now …

The New York Times reports: Representative Dan Goldman, Democrat of New York, on Wednesday announced he would file a formal censure of Representative Elise Stefanik, Republican of New York, accusing her of peddling voter fraud conspiracy theories that fueled the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the Capitol and supporting rioters who violently threatened members of Congress, referring to them as …

“MSNBC has hit its lowest moment. You have Joy Reid on there who’s literally having a race rant against white Christians. What is wrong with them being Christians and they happen to be white? Matter of fact, her hair is whiter than those Christians. “On the other hand, you look at Rachel Maddow. You know, she always bashing white men …

The Hill reports: Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) voiced his skepticism of a deal being crafted in the Senate to pair border and migration policy changes with Ukraine aid, and said that now is not the time for comprehensive immigration reform. Johnson said in a press conference Wednesday morning that while there has been a lot of “thoughtful and deliberative discussion …