Republicans

The Washington Post reports: A Republican congressional candidate in Ohio said Wednesday that he would not end his campaign despite backlash over comments he recently made denigrating people with mental disabilities. “After carefully considering the pressure and attacks by the Washington Establishment Machine, my family and I have decided that there is no mission more important than continuing this race …

The New York Times reports: Congressional leaders said on Wednesday they had agreed to another short-term stopgap spending bill to head off a partial government shutdown at the end of the week, paving the way for a temporary path out of a stalemate that has repeatedly threatened federal funding over the past six months. The deal, initially floated by Speaker …

The Huffington Post reports: Rep. Maria Salazar (R-Fla.) this month celebrated delivering $1.4 million to a children’s hospital in her district, even attending a photo op where she handed over massive checks to leadership and staff at the Nicklaus Children’s Hospital. Except Salazar voted against the bill that provided this money. “The doctors and staff at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital are …

Politico reports: Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) blocked passage Wednesday of a bill to protect access to in-vitro fertilization nationwide — the first federal clash in the roiling debate over fertility care that an Alabama court sparked earlier this month by granting legal personhood to frozen embryos. “The bill before us today is a vast overreach that is full of poison …

The Texas Tribune reports: A federal court in Lubbock ruled Tuesday that proxy voting in Congress doesn’t count toward a quorum, weakening a law to protect pregnant workers that was passed with proxy votes. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the Biden administration last year over a massive government funding package that passed largely by proxy votes because of the …

The Hill reports: Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) celebrated the news that Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) is stepping down from his leadership post, recounting the recent shake-ups permeating across the Republican Party. The Florida Republican said that McConnell, the current Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Ronna McDaniel and former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) all got “86’d.” Gaetz has …

The Denver Post reports: In a statement provided by her campaign for reelection, Lauren Boebert said her son, an adult and father, will “take responsibility for his actions” and “should be held accountable for poor decisions just like any other citizen.” “I love my son Tyler, who has been through some very difficult, public challenges for a young man and …

The right wing Florida’s Voice reports: The Florida Department of Health scathed media outlets for false reporting and “politicizing” on new measles cases in multiple schools across the state. There have reportedly been at least 10 cases, and some have slammed the department and Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo for urging parental discretion on determining whether to keep their child home …

The Washington Post reports: A lawyer billed as the “star witness” in the case to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis (D) testified Tuesday that it was mere “speculation” when he told a defense attorney that Willis began a romantic relationship in 2019 with the outside lawyer she appointed to lead the case against Donald Trump, years earlier …

Mediaite has the transcript: I am here today to provide the Committees with the one uncontestable fact that should end the false premise of this inquiry: I did not involve my father in my business. Not while I was a practicing lawyer, not in my investments or transactions domestic or international, not as a board member, and not as an …

Florida Politics reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis is telling the nation that people in his state shouldn’t rely on the state-run insurer of last resort, raising new questions about Citizens Property Insurance ahead of what is expected to be a robust hurricane season. “It is not solvent and we can’t have millions of people on that because if a storm hits, …

NBC News reports: Hunter Biden will face questions Wednesday from members of two GOP-led House committees at a closed-door deposition that President Joe Biden’s son had rejected participating in for months. The deposition, scheduled for 10 a.m. ET, is being held by the House Oversight Committee and the House Judiciary Committee, the two panels that have been leading an impeachment …

The Detroit News reports: A Kent County Circuit Court judge ruled Tuesday that Kristina Karamo had been removed as the Michigan Republican Party’s chairwoman on Jan. 6 and barred her from continuing to assert that she holds the position. The decision from Judge J. Joseph Rossi settled, at least temporarily, a leadership dispute that’s been devouring the Michigan GOP for …

The New York Times reports: Former President Donald J. Trump won Michigan’s Republican presidential primary election on Tuesday, moving closer to a general election rematch against President Biden. Mr. Trump’s victory over Nikki Haley extends an unbroken streak in the nominating contests. Michigan is his sixth straight triumph, and it is his second, after Nevada, in a state expected to …

The New York Post reports: Rep. Lauren Boebert’s (R-Colo.) oldest son was arrested on Tuesday and faces 22 criminal charges, including five felonies, following a string of alleged thefts in Colorado. Tyler Boebert, 18, was slapped with five felony charges, four for Criminal Possession of ID Documents with Multiple Victims, and one Conspiracy to Commit charge, according to the Rifle …

Politico reports: Senate conservatives are signaling they’ll block Wednesday’s planned Democratic bid to enshrine protections for in-vitro fertilization into federal law – and they’re calling IVF a states-rights issue. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) is planning to seek unanimous consent to pass her proposal to federally protect IVF, which means any one senator can easily block its passage. This isn’t the …

The Boston Universal Hub reports: Republicans in the First Suffolk district (state Sen. Nick Collins’s district) who vote during the March 5 primary will get to decide who represents them on the Republican State Committee – one man and one woman. On the woman’s side, the candidates are Elizabeth Hinds-Ferrick and Lori Kauffman, both of Dorchester. Kauffman, who grew up …

Courthouse News reports: Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton this week sued a major online porn distributor in an effort to enforce a new state law mandating age verification and purported health warnings on adult websites. The lawsuit, filed in state court in Austin on Monday, accuses the adult-entertainment company Aylo of violating House Bill 1181, a new state content-warning …

Politico reports: Republican Ryan Binkley ended his longshot presidential campaign and endorsed Donald Trump on Tuesday, after failing to gain traction in any of the early nominating states. While the primary became a one-on-one race between Trump and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Binkley, a Texas pastor and businessperson, remained in the race since last April, generating minimal support. It …

The Hill reports: Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Tuesday said he is “very optimistic” Congress will avert a shutdown by Friday’s deadline after meeting with President Biden and top congressional leaders at the White House. “We have been working in good faith around the clock every single day for months and weeks, and over the last several days, quite literally …