Republicans

The Texas Tribune reports: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Tuesday he will challenge U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in next year’s midterm elections, setting up a barnburner clash of two Republican titans that is poised to reverberate across state and national politics. Appearing on Fox News host Laura Ingraham’s show, Paxton said it was “time for a change in Texas” …

“There were definitely some warning signs about Amy Commie Barrett, but, it is a despicable thing that this has happened again. You know, there’s this — Sandra Day O’Connor was this Ronald Reagan appointee to the court, and she was supposed to be this, like, rock ribbed conservative, and they all go left. They all swing left. “What happened yesterday …

The New York Times reports: Beijing has denounced Vice President JD Vance’s rhetoric as “ignorant” after he said the United States was borrowing money from “Chinese peasants” in a television interview last week. “China’s position on Sino-U.S. economic and trade relations has been made very clear,” said Lin Jian, a spokesman for China’s foreign ministry, during a news conference on …

Manchester’s ABC affiliate reports: Former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu has decided he will not run for U.S. Senate in 2026. “I’ve done eight years and it was a hard eight years as governor. To sign up for the Senate, you’re really signing up for 12 more years, so that’s a commitment I hadn’t really put into the mix, and, again, …

The Guardian reports: A libertarian group that has been funded by Leonard Leo and Charles Koch has mounted a legal challenge against Donald Trump’s tariff regime, in a sign of spreading right wing opposition to a policy that has sent international markets plummeting. The New Civil Liberties Alliance filed a suit against Trump’s imposition of import tariffs on exports from …

The Daily Beast reports: Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon went in on far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer Monday, saying she was right out of the horror movie Poltergeist. On Monday’s episode of The Chuck ToddCast, host Chuck Todd asked Bacon what he thought of the recent firing of top aides after Trump’s Oval Office meeting with Loomer Wednesday. “Sometimes, I look at …

From my December 2024 report: Republican Randy Fine has filed a bill in the Florida Senate to ban local governments, public schools and state universities from displaying flags promoting a “fictional” Palestine, “pro-violence” Black Lives Matter, LGBTQ rights and other “woke” topics. “Supporters of Muslim terror, child mutilators, and groomers have no right to taxpayer sponsorship of their repugnant messages,” …

Florida Politics reports: James Uthmeier revealed that he had signed an opinion from Texas, Utah, and other states regarding a significant legal challenge against the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The AG said Monday that a big reason was to let the federal government know Florida was ready to move and was tired of dithering from D.C. “For decades, Washington has …

The Associated Press reports: A former Wisconsin state Supreme Court justice who spread election conspiracies and led an investigation into President Donald Trump’s 2020 loss in the swing state agreed Monday to surrender his law license to settle multiple misconduct violations. The complaint stems from Gableman’s investigation into allegations of fraud related to the 2020 election that Trump narrowly lost …

NBC News reports: Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday said he had selected Nov. 4 as the date for the special election to fill the House seat that had been occupied by the late Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Texas, who died unexpectedly in March. The decision means the deep-blue, Houston-based congressional seat will be vacant for roughly eight months. House …

The Bulwark reports: Like many Republican officials, Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears is no fan of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts. Earle-Sears, who on Saturday officially became the GOP nominee to succeed Glenn Youngkin in the governor’s mansion, has repeatedly blasted DEI initiatives. “Democrats think minorities can’t succeed without DEI,” her campaign wrote in an X post in March. …

The Texas Tribune reports: A Travis County district court judge on Friday awarded $6.6 million to four former senior aides to Attorney General Ken Paxton who said they were improperly fired after reporting Paxton to the FBI. Judge Catherine Mauzy stated in her judgment that the plaintiffs — Blake Brickman, Mark Penley, David Maxwell and Ryan Vassar — had proven …

Politico reports: Speaker Mike Johnson said Monday that the House will provide Trump with “space” to carry out his massive global tariff regime, even as some GOP lawmakers openly plead with Trump to negotiate off-ramps before the levies kick in on Wednesday. “We’re going to give him the space necessary to do it, and we’ll see how it all develops,” …

Courthouse News reports: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against the city of San Antonio on Friday, accusing the municipality of undermining Texas law through a fund that could help people travel out of state to get abortions. “The city of San Antonio is blatantly defying Texas law by using taxpayer dollars to fund abortion tourism,” Paxton said …

Axios reports: President Trump would veto a bill introduced by Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) that would limit the president’s authority to unilaterally impose tariffs, according to a White House statement seen by Axios. “If passed, this bill would dangerously hamper the President’s authority and duty to determine our foreign policy and protect our national security,” according …

The Texas Tribune reports: Texas lawmakers could imperil the future of public transportation in two of the state’s largest urban areas, transit officials and advocates warn. Republican legislators are entertaining proposals to sap hundreds of millions of dollars from Dallas Area Rapid Transit, the state’s largest public transit system, and thwart the voter-approved expansion of public transportation in Austin known …

“It’s the priority of the Democrats, the letter salad of LGBTQ groups, you can’t let one of them down. And the Democrats know that transgender boys and women’s sports is wrong, but they can’t abandon them because the rest of their group would probably say, if you’re not going to stand with us, we’re out of here for you Democrats. …

The Oklahoman reports: Journalists would write fewer “fake news” stories if disputes over coverage could be handled through violence, U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin suggested on social media. In a video posted over the weekend to his official X account, the Oklahoma Republican describes the 1890 killing of a former congressman, who was shot by a reporter in the U.S. Capitol. …

“We have a total of seven Republicans in the Senate and I have some beginning support on the House side, which we’ll unveil tomorrow. It will be harder to pass this in the House, no doubt. I think if we get 60 votes in the Senate, they’ll put pressure on the House to look at this. And if we continue …

The Orlando Sentinel reports: A Florida law that has pushed public schools to remove thousands of books, including literary classics, from their shelves could get even more restrictive soon, as Republican lawmakers move to close a “loophole” they say still allows volumes depicting nudity or sexual conduct to remain on campuses. New bills backed by GOP legislators would mean school …