Republicans

The Washington Post reports: Senate Republicans are growing increasingly frustrated with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin as he makes what they see as unacceptable compromises in his quest for a stimulus deal with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, multiple people familiar with the talks said Thursday. Mnuchin has committed to a top-line figure of around $1.9 trillion, much too high for many …

The New York Daily News reports: Mitch McConnell asserted Thursday that he is healthy after speculation swirled over what is wrong with the Senate majority leader’s hands. McConnell showed up to work at the Capitol Thursday with both hands appearing severely discolored in a deep purple, with band-aids covering some of the knuckle areas. The Kentucky Republican’s lips and the …

The Washington Post reports: After reporting more than 16,000 coronavirus-related deaths, the Florida Department of Health said Wednesday that the fatality data “presents confusion and warrants a more rigorous review.” State Surgeon General Scott Rivkees said in a news release that health officials will begin an additional review of all coronavirus-related deaths to ensure that Florida’s public health statistics are …

Vice News reports: Almost 21,000 Election Day polling places have been eliminated heading into the 2020 U.S. election, a drastic dip in voting locations driven by a heavy shift to mail voting, coronavirus-related consolidations, cost-cutting measures, and voter suppression. VICE News obtained data from all 50 states and Washington, D.C., on the number of physical polling locations they will have …

The Texas Tribune reports: Lacey Mase, one of the top aides who accused Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton of crimes including bribery and abuse of office, has been fired, she told The Texas Tribune on Tuesday evening. “It was not voluntary,” she said, but declined to comment further. Mase was hired in 2011 and worked most recently as the deputy …

Reuters reports: The Republican-led Senate Judiciary Committee is set to vote on Thursday on President Donald Trump’s nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to a lifetime U.S. Supreme Court post, with Democrats boycotting the proceedings after fiercely opposing her confirmation. Barrett, a federal appeals court judge whose confirmation would expand the top U.S. judicial body’s conservative majority to 6-3, was poised …

The Washington Post reports: Former New Jersey governor and longtime Trump ally Chris Christie published a striking op-ed in Thursday’s Wall Street Journal in which he laments “the polarization of something as practical as a mask” and admits that his own failure to wear one at a White House event last month could have been fatal. “I am lucky to …

Fox News reports: Utah Sen. Mitt Romney says he has already voted in the upcoming election, but the Republican added that he did not vote for President Trump. CNN reporter Manu Raju tweeted out a conversation he had with Romney Wednesday. Romney told Raju he had voted, but would not say whether he had voted for Joe Biden or a …

Fox News reports: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell urged the White House not to strike a big coronavirus deal before the election, despite President Trump’s public wishes to do so. McConnell is concerned that Pelosi, D-Calif., is not negotiating in good faith with the White House. And if a big deal is struck — which Trump has said he wants …

Susan Collins has done a fawning interview with Maine’s Christian Civic League, the group once headed by this guy: Mike Heath, a long–time anti-LGBTQ activist in Maine who now runs Helping Hands Ministries, has been a regular participant in Dave Daubenmire’s daily program. On Friday, Daubnemire turned the mic over to Heath so that he could announce his plans. “I’m …

Reuters reports: A U.S. federal appeals court late on Tuesday left in place North Carolina’s plan for counting absentee ballots that arrive after Election Day, dealing a setback to President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign. In a 12-3 decision, the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals denied a bid to halt the North Carolina State Board of Elections from tallying ballots …

The Hill reports: Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who has seen a tsunami of Democratic small-dollar donations flood the South Carolina Senate race, says the sources of the massive amounts of money flowing through ActBlue and other groups need to be reviewed by policymakers. Graham says that Congress has little idea who’s behind the huge inflows of money …

Fox News reports: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said that the upper chamber of Congress will vote next Monday, Oct. 26, to confirm President Trump’s nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, to the Supreme Court. The Judiciary Committee is expected to vote her out of committee on Thursday at 1 p.m. ET, as it’s customary for the committee to hold over …

The Hill reports: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) posted a video on Twitter Monday which showed two women confronting him in an airport over the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. One woman can be heard at the beginning of the video loudly telling the senator, “Look me in the eye.” Graham asks the woman where she …

Politico reports: House Republicans face the possibility of sinking further into the minority on Nov. 3. President Donald Trump is trailing in key polls. But Kevin McCarthy is confident he’ll remain House GOP leader in the next Congress. McCarthy has already won the support of Rep. Jim Jordan, his one-time rival, after helping the Ohio Republican secure top positions on …

Michael Steele writes for NBC News: I am an American, a conservative and a Republican, in that order. And I am voting for Joe Biden on November 3. Rather than binding up the nation’s wounds, Trump exacerbates division. Rather than standing up to the world’s dictators, Trump cravenly seeks the favor of thugs. Rather than fostering free enterprise, Trump embraces …

Orlando’s NBC News affiliate reports: Each day the Florida Department of Health updates a dashboard that tracks the number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the state. It also sends out a release saying how many cases and deaths were counted from the previous day. With Florida now in Phase 3 of reopening, Gov. Ron DeSantis has suggested scaling back …

“If the godly men of this nation would actually love their wife, love their children and would actually walk with God in the workplace, we would not have the nation that we’re in right now. “If your faith is something that affects your weekends; That’s not a faith – that’s a hobby. A hobby is something you do on weekends. …

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports: During a meeting with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Editorial Board, Cornyn was asked if he and other Republicans regretted not pushing Trump to combat the COVID-19 virus more aggressively, or rein in some of his political stances that were unpopular or stood little chance of passing in Congress. Cornyn initially described his relationship with Trump …

The Daily Beast reports: Over the past few weeks, Donald Trump and his allies have kept close tabs on prominent conservatives the president believes are gearing up to throw him under the bus in the event he loses his bid for re-election. Two individuals who have spoken to Trump say the president has expressed suspicion that members of his own …