Republicans

The Texas Tribune reports: A Republican-backed bill that could make vaccination exemptions easier to obtain in Texas made it out of the House Public Health Committee on Thursday in a 7-6 vote along party lines. If House Bill 1586, authored by state Rep. Lacey Hull, R-Houston, is approved by both chambers of the Legislature, the state’s current exemption form would …

NewsNation reports: Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed into law the Medical Ethics Defense Act, which lets health care practitioners refuse to perform or pay for a procedure or prescription that goes against their personal morals, ethics, or religious beliefs. The legislation, which applies to medical professionals, including doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and insurance companies, immediately went into effect with Gov. Lee’s …

New York City radio station 1010 WINS reports: Former U.S. Rep. George Santos will seek a pardon from President Donald Trump after he was sentenced last week to more than seven years in prison for wire fraud and identity theft. Santos’ lead attorney, Joseph W. Murray, told 1010 WINS he is preparing to submit a request for a pardon to …

Oklahoma City’s Fox affiliate reports: House Bill 1217, which is set to classify particular types of public performances as obscene including certain drag performances, has gone to the governor’s desk for approval. On Thursday morning, the State Senate had a dragged out debate over drag queens. “Nothing in the bills addresses drag or the dress. It addresses the behavior,” stated …

Axios reports: A group backing Texas Sen. John Cornyn’s 2026 primary opponent is out with its first TV ad — but it’s not airing in Texas. Instead, it’s airing in Palm Beach, Fla., where it’s aimed at an audience of one: President Trump. The strategy behind the ad shows the battle for Trump’s coveted endorsement has already begun between Texas …

The Washington Post reports: The Senate voted Thursday to overturn an Environmental Protection Agency rule limiting the seven most hazardous air pollutants emitted by chemical plants, oil refineries and other industrial facilities, reversing one of President Joe Biden’s major environmental regulations. The 52-46 vote delivers a key victory to major companies and trade groups in the fossil fuel and petrochemical …

“Once I finish my obligations with the US criminal justice system I will leave and never return. I rather take my chances in other countries than live in a country that has a weaponized justice system and is run by the industrial prison complex.” – George Santos, who last month was sentenced to over seven years on fraud and identity …

“We’re ready, willing and able to take it to the next level. We have submitted plans to DHS to say if this is approved, we will go off to the races. And we will be able to do really from soup to nuts, from apprehension to detention, even putting some of our people in the National Guard in line to …

MAGA outlet Florida’s Voice reports: The Florida House passed a bill Wednesday that bars geoengineering and weather modification activities in the state and sent it to the governor for final approval. SB 56 prohibits intentional geoengineering and weather modification activities within Florida’s borders, establishing felony penalties for violations. The bill outlaws the injection, release, or dispersion of substances into the …

CNN reports: Lawmakers in Florida approved a bill to prohibit certain additives in drinking water, effectively banning fluoride, and the measure now goes to Gov. Ron DeSantis for a signature. If it’s finalized, Florida will become the second state to ban fluoride in municipal drinking water. The Florida Farm Bill includes language banning the use of any additive in a …

Augusta’s CBS affiliate reports: Marjorie Taylor Greene fired back after a religious group called for her censure over an online post that followed the death of Pope Francis. “Today there were major shifts in global leaderships,” it reads. “Evil is being defeated by the hand of God.” The congresswoman then doubled down in a lengthy statement issued Wednesday, demanding an …

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.” – …