Republicans

Punchbowl News reports: President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks have largely enjoyed public deference from Senate Republicans and from conservatives generally. Not Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Ore.). Trump picked the Oregon Republican, who lost her reelection bid on Nov. 5, to be his Labor secretary. It immediately prompted criticism from conservatives who see Chavez-DeRemer as too close to labor unions. It’s a …

The Hill reports: Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) said Sunday that the Bible should “absolutely” be taught in schools as both a “historical” and “cultural” document. Lankford joined CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union,” where he was asked about Oklahoma requiring schools to incorporate the Bible into lessons. “As a historical document, as a cultural document, it absolutely should …

“Northwest Florida deserves another fighter in Congress. After three deployments to Afghanistan, I know what it takes to fight for America and our Christian values. Serving as Congressman Gaetz’s Director of Military Affairs was an honor. I’ll help President Trump finish the wall, get our Veterans the care and resources they deserve, and put an end to the deep state …

“With all due respect to my former colleague, we know that there were three cases of adultery for Pete Hegseth, and it is relevant. “And the reason why it’s relevant is, Article 134 of the UCMJ considers adultery against the military, which the Department of Defense is part of. You can’t lead an entire organization and all these people if …

Salon reports: When she’s not claiming that her opposition controls the weather or accusing her own party of covering up sexual assault, Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene is gearing up to work in President-elect Donald Trump’s second term, and she has some novel ideas about bringing down the deficit. Greene has been tapped by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to …

NBC News reports: Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., on Sunday suggested that one of President-elect Donald Trump’s first priorities of his new term should be to fire any staff in the Justice Department who worked on cases that involved charges against Trump. “First and foremost, the people involved with this should be fired immediately,” Schmitt said during an interview on NBC …

Austin’s ABC affiliate reports: Calling it “left-wing propaganda,” State Representative Brian Harrison, R-Waxahachie, said if any Texas public university offers “LGBTQ/Sexualities Studies” programs, he will try to zero out its budget. “If they have an LGBTQ minor, that is an abuse of taxpayer funding never authorized by the legislature and as far as I’m concerned, there have got to be …

ABC News reports: Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., a prominent ally of Donald Trump, said voters don’t care who conducts background checks into the president-elect’s Cabinet picks and that Trump would fire members of his administration who don’t follow the policy he sets out. “Don’t let these allegations distract us. What we need is real significant change. The Pentagon has been …

“First of all, the police report, if you look at it, it’s very clear that what Pete was saying, what his attorney was saying was accurate. There was no case here. He was falsely accused! If you go back and you read the report, there was two eyewitnesses said that she was being the aggressor — Pete wasn’t even flirting …

From Trump’s post on Truth Social: I am hearing that America First Patriot Randy Fine is considering launching his Campaign for Congress in Florida’s 6th Congressional District,. A Harvard Educated, Successful Businessman, and Highly Respected State Legislator, Randy has been an incredible Voice for MAGA, and the Great People of Florida. In Congress, Randy will be an INCREDIBLE Fighter who …

The New York Post reports: Former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz suggested Saturday that he might run for governor of the Sunshine State, days after he withdrew from consideration as President-elect Donald Trump’s attorney general pick. The 42-year-old Republican posted a GIF of the state flag waving on X, teasing he is open to running. He was responding to ex-Florida House …

The Daily Beast reports: A top Democratic representative is turning up the pressure on the House Ethics Committee to release a report into allegations of sex trafficking and other crimes leveled at former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz. Undeterred by Gaetz’s recent withdrawal from both Congress and the running to be Donald Trump’s attorney general, Sean Casten (D-IL) spoke with MSNBC …

Via press release from Sen. Rick Scott: It’s past time for big reforms that scale back big government regulation and get our country back on track. Our country is drowning in debt and massive government expansion during Democrat control of Washington is pushing us deeper every day. This is a serious threat to our national security and the American Dream, …

Politico reports: In a flurry of Truth Social posts last night, Trump made a furious pre-holiday-week dent in his list of Cabinet and key sub-Cabinet nominations — naming nine picks in the span of about 70 minutes and ruining happy hour for all the reporters who suddenly had to freshen their pre-writes. Whether by design or by compulsion, the volume …

“If you are going to help the ICC as a nation and force the arrest warrant against Bibi and Gallant, the former defense minister, I will put sanctions on you as a nation. “You’re gonna have to pick the rogue ICC versus America. I’m working with Tom Cotton to have legislation passed as soon as we can to sanction any …

Axios reports: House Democrats are gearing up to put maximum pressure on House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) agonizingly small House majority. Just a few complications on the GOP side could hobble Johnson’s efforts to pass President-elect Trump’s sweeping agenda, fund the government and raise the debt ceiling. Democrats managed to flip slightly more House seats than Republicans, and President-elect Trump …

The New York Times reports: Lori Chavez-DeRemer, a first-term Republican representative from Oregon who narrowly lost her House seat this month, was chosen on Friday to serve as labor secretary in the coming Trump administration. “Lori has worked tirelessly with both business and labor to build America’s work force, and support the hardworking men and women of America,” President-elect Donald …

From Matt Gaetz’s just-launched Cameo channel: Whether it’s a milestone birthday, an anniversary, or a long-awaited reunion, make it unforgettable with a one-of-a-kind Cameo video from Matt Gaetz. You’ll have the chance to customize your request for Matt Gaetz, like asking them to mention inside jokes, share words of wisdom, or work in their signature catchphrases. Don’t be afraid to …

Punchbowl News reports: Tulsi Gabbard is on record calling for the U.S. government to “drop all charges” against Edward Snowden, wanting to repeal key intelligence-gathering tools and sometimes embracing Russian talking points regarding the wars in Syria and Ukraine. That’s even before examining Gabbard’s foreign policy views, which are far outside the mainstream of American political discourse — and even …

Politico reports: Florida will conduct a special election on April 1, 2025, to fill the House seat vacated by Matt Gaetz, kicking off a sprint among Florida Republicans to represent the deep-red district. On Friday morning, Gaetz said he did not plan to return to Congress but hasn’t announced what he’ll do next. It takes several months to fill the …