Republicans

The Houston Chronicle reports: A lawmaker pushing to ban non-human behavior in schools says he based his bill on a conversation with a school administrator, who has since denied so-called furries are a problem in her district. During an at-times tense hearing Tuesday night, Republican state Rep. Stan Gerdes said he filed the bill after hearing “reports of the presence …

The Hill reports: A Senate vote to scrap President Trump’s wide-ranging “Liberation Day” tariffs narrowly failed on Wednesday, sparing Republicans a second consecutive blow as the president’s trade policy continues to face opposition. Three Republicans — Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Rand Paul (Ky.) — voted in favor of the resolution alongside every present Senate Democrat. But …

The New York Times reports: House Republicans are proposing to charge migrants $1,000 to claim asylum, one of a series of new or increased fees on immigrants seeking to gain legal entry into the United States that is part of their effort to curb immigration and pay for the Trump administration’s border crackdown. The fees on immigrants are one of …

MAGA outlet Florida’s Voice reports: Self-employed process server and former Port St. Lucie GOP chair Kenneth Ford Nail was arrested over the weekend after deputies said he tried to smuggle contraband into a state prison under the guise of serving legal documents. He allegedly tried to serve an inmate with a set of documents that had the paperwork glued together …

Courthouse News reports: Just after 3:30 a.m., the Texas House Public Education Committee took up Senate Bill 10, a controversial proposal requiring a poster of the Ten Commandments in all the state’s public elementary and secondary school classrooms. Representative Candy Noble, a Republican from Lucas, made her case for the legislation she’s sponsoring in the House. In Noble’s words, Texas “classrooms …

Fresh Take Florida reports: Florida’s new Halo Law, the controversial statute intended to protect law enforcement from harassment, went into effect at the start of this year. Now the first people arrested and prosecuted under it say they were left in the dark. At least 11 people so far have been arrested on charges of violating the new law, which …

STAT News reports: Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), the Republican chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, rebuked the Trump administration for cutting federal biomedical research funding, cancelling grants, and laying off federal health department employees, and said the changes must be reversed. “Proposed funding cuts, the firing of essential federal scientists, and policy uncertainties threaten to undermine the foundation for our …

“I was excited to hear that President Trump is open to the idea of being the next Pope. This would truly be a dark horse candidate, but I would ask the papal conclave and Catholic faithful to keep an open mind about this possibility! The first Pope-U.S. President combination has many upsides. Watching for white smoke. Trump MMXXVIII!” – Sen. …

“Do not believe the lies the Democrat Party has said. We had their ads taken down. We sent them cease and desist letters.  They were running ads around the country in swing districts trying to convince people Republicans are going to ‘gut Medicaid.’ It’s just simply not true and that’s why their ads and billboards had to come down.” – …

Politico reports: The House Transportation Committee early on Tuesday released draft text of its portion of the GOP’s sprawling domestic policy bill, which it plans to mark up Wednesday. The proposal includes $15 billion for upgrading various parts of the aviation system, as well as new fees on electric vehicles and a first-of-its-kind $20 annual fee on all other passenger …

Via press release: Today, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) reintroduced the Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments (PELOSI) Act, which would ban members of Congress from trading or holding individual stocks. The move comes after President Trump announced he would sign such a bill into law if it crossed his desk. “Members of Congress should be fighting for …

Politico reports: Rep. Don Bacon, a key GOP moderate, is drawing a red line on Medicaid cuts. The Nebraska Republican has privately told the White House he won’t accept more than $500 billion in reductions to the program, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter. That could complicate the GOP’s effort to pass a domestic policy bill …

The Miami Herald reports: Another group critical of President Donald Trump’s mass-deportation campaign and funding cuts to pro-democracy groups in the Americas is launching an ad campaign on Miami’s highways and airwaves to pressure Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Miami’s Republican U.S. representatives to stand up to the president. A spokesman for Keep Them Honest said Sunday that the …

LARRY KUDLOW: “The liberal polls. The nightly news broadcasts are awful. They’re all beating up on Trump. How do you rank his first hundred days, Senator Tuberville? Nice, easy question. Hundred days. What do you think?” TOMMY TUBERVILLE: “A+. What else can he do, Larry? They left it in a total mess. I was up here for four years of …

CNN reports: House Republican leaders are moving to thwart Democratic efforts to probe Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s controversial use of Signal, using their power to stop the minority party from forcing a vote that could embarrass the Trump administration. GOP leaders tucked a provision into a rule that will come to the floor tomorrow that effectively denies Democrats from forcing …

Fox Business reports: Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., said he will decide this June whether to run for governor of New York, potentially setting up a competitive Republican primary against his fellow New York Republican, Rep. Elise Stefanik. “I’ll make my decision by June,” Lawler said. “I’ll make my decision solely based on whether or not I believe there’s a pathway …

Roll Call reports: With a vow to be a staunch supporter of Donald Trump, Jay Feely, a former NFL kicker and sports commentator, entered the Republican primary for Arizona’s deep-red 5th District, which Rep. Andy Biggs is vacating to run for governor. “In Congress, I will work tirelessly to codify his America First agenda — securing our border, rebuilding our …

Fox News reports: Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said President Donald Trump has accomplished more in the first 100 days of his tenure than “most politicians or presidents accomplish in their entire lifetimes.” The top House Republican said this first period of a new GOP trifecta in government has been a “flurry of activity” used to set the stage for the …

The Hill reports: House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) said Sunday that President Trump “does not want” the “one big, beautiful bill” encompassing his agenda “to be a health care bill.” “He will not be cutting benefits for individuals, will not allow that,” he added. “He does not want this to be a health care bill. This is …

Florida Politics reports: The Senate is again declining to take up two of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Ethics Commission appointees, including Moms for Liberty co-founder Tina Descovich. Katherine Betta, a Senate spokesperson, confirmed to Florida Politics that the chamber will not hold a confirmation vote for either Descovich or Figgers Communications CEO Freddie Figgers. In both cases, this marks the second …