Republicans

Courthouse News reports: House Republicans, taking a cue from Elon Musk, formally moved to impeach the federal judge responsible for halting the Department of Government Efficiency’s effort to access the Treasury Department system for government payments. In Republicans’ crosshairs is Southern District of New York Judge Paul Engelmayer, who this month issued an order keeping Musk’s team out of the …

Reuters reports: U.S. Food and Drug Administration scientists have been told to stop using the words “woman,” “disabled” and “elderly” in external communications, part of a list of banned terms that a White House spokesman said had misinterpreted Trump’s executive order. A list with the file name “Prohibited words” has been circulating since at least last week in official work …

Mediaite reports: Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) called for an end to all military aid to Ukraine after falling for a Russian propaganda video on social media on Wednesday. Lee shared a video purporting to show Ukrainian soldiers burning an effigy of Trump referring to him as a “bastard” and adding, “You will never be president again.” The video was a …

Gabriel Sherman reports at Vanity Fair: Senate and House Republicans know Trump will orchestrate the running of a primary challenger backed by Elon Musk’s unlimited resources if a member defies him. But this is not the whole story of Republican subservience to the president. In private, Republicans talk about their fear that Trump might incite his MAGA followers to commit …

The Jackson Clarion-Ledger reports: Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann collapsed Wednesday morning while the Mississippi Senate was in session. Before he collapsed, Hosemann was standing at his podium. He was seen leaning forward and then onto the ground before several Senate staffers and senators rushed to his aid and requested emergency services. A Capitol staffer could be seen on the live …

“We are gonna be talking about – from woke capitalism to the culture warriors – to there’s some really fun panel names. One of them actually mentions Joy Reid, where it’s basically this fight against this Trump derangement syndrome, media narrative of their goal to destroy the president, destroy MAGA supporters. “The young voters were such a decisive factor in …

The Indiana Digest reports: Governor Mike Braun’s “Freedom and Opportunity” budget proposal is throwing the future of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library around the state into flux. Under the previous budget, the state matched donations from local partners making the program budget 50% donations and 50% funds from the state. The proposed budget removes that funding altogether. The program came to the Allen …

The Iowa Capital Dispatch reports: A bill to outlaw minors from being present at drag shows could have wider implications for access to art and transgender rights, opponents of the legislation said Tuesday. The legislation, House Study Bill 158, moved out of an Iowa House subcommittee, where lawmakers said they expect changes to the bill. Under the current proposal, any …

The Huffington Post reports: Republicans in the House are considering big cuts to Medicaid — and that isn’t sitting well with one Republican senator, who’s arguing they’d harm many people who voted for President Donald Trump. “I would not do severe cuts to Medicaid,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) told HuffPost in an interview. He said he agreed with MAGA whisperer …

The Independent reports: An 11-year-old girl took her own life in Texas after she was tormented by classmates who threatened to call Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities and have her family deported from the U.S, her grieving parents have said. Jocelynn Romo Carranza passed away on February 8 after spending five days being treated in a Dallas hospital. This came …

Florida Politics reports: St. Cloud Police Chief Douglas Goerke will be one of eight inaugural members of Florida’s new State Immigration Enforcement Council. Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson named Goerke to the panel, where he’ll join four appointees chosen by the Legislature’s top two officials in advising the Cabinet on how best to coordinate immigration enforcement with Trump’s administration. Established under …

The Washington Post reports: Republican senators find themselves in an unusual position these days: begging Trump officials to release funds they themselves appropriated. Senators have in recent days made the case to Cabinet secretaries and other Trump officials to let money flow back into their states. They are trying to finagle exceptions to President Donald Trump’s sweeping executive orders or …

“Putin is a war criminal who should be in jail for the rest of his life, if not executed. What we can trust the Russians to do is to do anything to their advantage, to take temporary steps. Vladimir Putin has violated every tenant of international law and should be indicted and prosecuted and jailed, possibly executed.” – GOP Sen. …

St. Louis’s Fox affiliate reports: Legislation introduced in Missouri would create a list of “at risk” pregnant women in the state in order to “reduce the number of preventable abortions.” House Bill 807, nicknamed the “Save MO Babies Act,” was proposed by Republican state Rep. Phil Amato. The bill summary states that, if passed, Missouri would create a registry of …

Bloomberg News reports: The Trump administration is planning to lay off at least 40% of the workers at the federal agency that provides mortgage insurance on loans for people who otherwise wouldn’t qualify for one, according to two sources familiar with the agency’s plans. The FHA is one of the largest mortgage insurers in the world and has insured more …

“Everybody is going to take a little bit of a kick in the stomach here. Everyone. You want to be statesmen in the spirit of our revolutionary forefathers who gave up everything to fight the world’s greatest empire at the time — the British Empire? “We’re just asking you to sacrifice for a little bit for the long-term prosperity of …

Charleston’s CBS affiliate reports: On Friday, February 14, several members of the West Virginia House of Delegates introduced House Resolution 33, which proposes renaming Spruce Knob to “Trump Mountain” five years after the president’s passing. The resolution states, “Spruce Knob symbolizes strength, endurance, and resilience—qualities that epitomize the leadership and perseverance demonstrated by President Donald J. Trump during his time in …

Sen. Bill Cassidy today links to this Fox News report: An outbreak of measles in the South Plains of Texas is continuing to grow, with the number of cases doubling in less than a week. At least 48 cases were identified with symptom onset within the last three weeks, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. More than …

Florida Politics reports: The Senate Community Affairs Committee is moving forward a bill giving the state preemption powers over local governments regarding a future Donald Trump presidential library. Without discussion, the panel advanced Sen. Jason Brodeur’s legislation (SB 118). The Central Florida Republican said the bill was a way to “roll out the welcome mat” and afford Trump “maximum flexibility.” …

NOTUS reports: Trump’s efforts to dismantle USAID could hurt a surprising group: American farmers. As part of his broad slashing and freezing of federal spending, Trump froze food purchases for foreign aid through USAID last month. Over 40% of the food distributed through USAID programs is purchased from farmers in the U.S., amounting to about $2 billion per year. “President …