Republicans

Politico reports: Cruz at first insisted on Thursday that his trip to Cancun, Mexico, in the middle of a power and water crisis in Texas, was at the behest of his daughters and skirted the issue of when he originally planned to return. But earlier that day, Edward Russell, a reporter at travel news website Skift, tweeted that he had …

Deadline reports: A federal judge has dismissed a $435 million libel suit that Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) filed against CNN, rejecting his claim that he was defamed over a report on his contacts with a Ukrainian prosecutor. U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain wrote in her opinion that Nunes failed to demand a retraction from CNN, a key element in …

Politico reports: The new sites, which were announced Friday, will be in areas of Jacksonville, Tampa, Miami and Orlando picked through a federal vulnerability index that considered things like minority population, socioeconomic status and housing types. When up and running in roughly two weeks, the four sites are expected to collectively give 12,000 daily vaccines, giving a boost to areas …

The Orlando Sentinel reports: Addressing a rowdy, largely maskless crowd resembling a political rally, Gov Ron DeSantis and state Rep. Blaise Ingoglia laid the groundwork Friday for greater restrictions on voting in Florida. They also attacked local election officials, despite Ingoglia calling the state’s elections system “a beacon of light” in the U.S. At an event at the Hilton Palm …

Fox News reports: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, R., plans to lower the state’s flags to half-mast in honor of radio icon Rush Limbaugh, who died Wednesday at age 70 and called the state home for decades. DeSantis, who had been pressed to honor the revered conservative figure, confirmed Friday he would do it once Limbaugh’s burial date was announced. Lowering …

The Texas Tribune reports: Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday blasted the nonprofit operator of Texas’ energy grid for its handling of this week’s winter storm and called on the Legislature to consider updates to the state’s power plants to avoid future widespread power outages. “What happened is absolutely unacceptable and can never be replicated again,” Abbott said at a news …

CNN reports: Sen. Lindsey Graham is heading to Mar-a-Lago this weekend to meet with Donald Trump in hopes of bridging a growing rift in the top echelon of the Republican Party, CNN has learned. According to a person familiar with his plans, Graham plans to spend his time on the golf course with Trump — ideally convincing the former president …

“This is kind of day one stuff if you’re a politician. If there’s a weather disaster in your state, you don’t go on a tropical vacation.” – Jesse Watters. “Now he says he wants to help get the power and the water back on — right after he finishes a margarita in his Cancun office.” – Trace Gallager. “That is …

The Hill reports: Former White House chief of staff Reince Priebus is considering a run for governor of Wisconsin in 2022. A source familiar with Priebus’s thinking confirmed to The Hill on Friday that Priebus had begun conversations with top Wisconsin Republicans about the prospects of challenging Gov. Tony Evers (D) next year. Priebus got his start in GOP politics …

Mediaite reports: “You went and you took your daughters to Cancun and you came back,” Hannity said, clearly teeing up a friendly gloss on the GOP Senator’s conduct. “I think you can be a father and be the senator of Texas all at the same time and make a round-trip quick drop-off trip and come home.” But just moments after …

Dan Zak writes for the Washington Post: Nobody likes Ted Cruz. This is conventional wisdom in Washington. While not technically true — his family members like him, presumably, and his approval rating among Texas Republicans last month was 76 percent — it feels essentially true. Maybe it’s the exhausting smarm, the squirrelly ambition, the hollow theatrics. Maybe it’s how he …

CNN reports: As Texas begins restoring power after a devastating week of freezing temperatures and winter storms, the state is confronting a new crisis: overwhelmed water systems that could extend misery for much of the population. Leaks caused by frozen pipes have pushed the water supply to the brink. About 13 million Texans, nearly half the state’s population, remained under …

The Associated Press reports: U.S. Sen. John Thune on Thursday criticized Republican activists and party leaders for engaging in “cancel culture” by rushing to censure GOP senators who found former President Donald Trump guilty of inciting an insurrection. In his first interview since he voted to acquit Trump, the Senate’s No. 2 Republican defended fellow Republicans who sided with Democrats …

Houston’s CBS News affiliate reports: Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is taking heat after flying to Cancun as his home state suffers through a deadly winter storm crisis. He arrived back in Houston Thursday to a political storm. A handful of protesters with signs were waiting to greet Cruz outside his Houston home. He was roasted on social media once photos …

The Daily Beast reports: South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg will, in fact, be criminally prosecuted for killing a man with his car last fall. But the top law-enforcement official in the state ducked more serious felony charges in connection with the fatal crash. On Thursday, a Hyde County prosecutor broke more than five months of silence after the Sept. …

The Texas Tribune reports: Texas’ power grid was “seconds and minutes” away from a catastrophic failure that could have left Texans in the dark for months, officials with the entity that operates the grid said Thursday. As millions of customers throughout the state begin to have power restored after days of massive blackouts, officials with the Electric Reliability Council of …

Politico reports: Nikki Haley reached out to former President Donald Trump on Wednesday to request a sit-down at Mar-a-Lago, but a source familiar tells Playbook that he turned her down. The two haven’t spoken since the insurrection on Jan. 6, when Haley blasted Trump for inciting his supporters to storm the Capitol. The snub comes on the heels of Tim …

The Hill reports: Freshman Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) responded to criticism of her gun storage in her Zoom background during a House Natural Resources Committee meeting. During the committee’s organizing meeting held over Zoom, the Republican appeared to have several guns including rifles and a hand gun propped up behind her on a book shelf. Her background was immediately spotted …

Totally as everybody predicted: In a statement, the Texas Republican said he flew with his daughters on Wednesday and would be returning Thursday amid an uproar over the family trip.“With school cancelled for the week, our girls asked to take a trip with friends. Wanting to be a good dad, I flew down with them last night and am flying …

The New York Times reports: Ivanka Trump will not run for the U.S. Senate from Florida in 2022, according to people close to her as well as an aide to Senator Marco Rubio, who holds the seat. Since the final days of former President Trump’s term in office, speculation has been growing that Ms. Trump, his eldest daughter, might try …