Republicans

The Hill reports: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), one of President Trump’s closest allies on Capitol Hill, says it would be “good for the country” for Trump to attend President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20 “if Biden winds up winning.” “If Biden winds up winning, yeah, I think so,” Graham said when asked about whether Trump should attend Biden’s swearing-in …

The Texas Tribune reports: The head of the Republican Party in Texas’ largest county has resigned after less than four months on the job. Keith Nielsen, chairman of the GOP in Harris County, home to Houston, submitted a letter of resignation and the party’s secretary, Josh Flynn, said he received it Monday morning. Nielsen was engulfed in controversy before he …

The Associated Press reports: Indiana’s attorney general submitted a brief to the U.S. Supreme Court arguing that it should reverse a federal appeals court’s ruling that allowed both members of same-sex couples in Indiana to be listed as parents on the birth certificates of their children. The petition from Attorney General Curtis Hill follows a January decision by the U.S. …

Raw Story reports: In particular, Kemp’s office took issue with Trump’s demand that he overrule Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger to conduct a signature-match audit of ballots, despite the fact that voters’ signatures were only used on the envelopes used to send in ballots, not the ballots themselves. “Georgia law prohibits the governor from interfering in elections,” said Kemp …

Newsweek reports: Sen. Rand Paul has been criticized for suggesting that “fraud” may be the reason Donald Trump lost to Joe Biden in key election states because of “data dumps” which occurred during a five-hour period. The Kentucky Senator tweeted about disputed claims of voter fraud which were made in a lengthy blog post entitled “Anomalies in Vote Counts and …

Business Insider reports: A group of incoming Republican House members are banding together and calling themselves the “Freedom Force” in an attempt to oppose the Democratic Party’s progressive “Squad.” One member of the new GOP group, Rep.-elect Burgess Owens of Utah, told Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” that they will offer “a contrast to the hard left.” “We have a …

NBC News reports: After months of shadowboxing amid a tense and toxic campaign, Capitol Hill’s main players are returning for one final, perhaps futile, attempt at deal-making on a challenging menu of year-end business. COVID-19 relief, a $1.4 trillion catchall spending package, and defense policy — and a final burst of judicial nominees — dominate a truncated two- or three-week …

The Hill reports: Georgia is emerging as an early proving ground for the 2024 presidential race, with a handful of potential Republican hopefuls flocking to the state to test their political coattails in its two Senate runoffs. Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who just landed the chairmanship at the National Republican Senatorial Committee, is among the prospective 2024 contenders who have …

The Associated Press reports: A Pennsylvania state senator abruptly left a West Wing meeting with President Donald Trump after being informed he had tested positive for the coronavirus, a person with direct knowledge of the meeting told The Associated Press on Sunday. Republican state Sen. Doug Mastriano had gone to the White House last Wednesday with like-minded Republican state lawmakers …

Politico reports: Sen. Roy Blunt repeatedly declined to refer to Joe Biden as the “president-elect” on Sunday, despite acknowledgments from some fellow Senate Republicans colleagues who have recognized the former vice president’s electoral win. “Well, we’re certainly moving forward as if that what is going to happen on January the 20th,” the Missouri Republican said when asked by CNN’s Dana …

The Washington Post reports: Raffensperger said Republicans were only harming themselves by questioning the integrity of the Dominion machines. He warned that these kinds of baseless allegations could discourage Republicans from voting in the Senate runoffs. “People need to get a grip on reality,” he said. More troubling to Raffensperger were the many threats he and his wife, Tricia, have …

The Hill reports: Republicans are preparing to re-embrace their inner deficit hawks after green-lighting big spending bills under President Trump. GOP senators say they expect to refocus on curbing the nation’s debt and reforming entitlement programs starting in 2021, as the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the debt has surpassed the size of the American economy. “I think that’s kind …

CBS News reported last week: Congressman Mike Kelly [photo] and congressional candidate Sean Parnell are requesting the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania to declare universal mail-in voting unconstitutional in the state and deny the votes of the majority of Pennsylvanians who voted by mail in the Nov. 3 election. In the official request, the plaintiffs specifically cite issue with Act 77 …

Salon reports: David Perdue, one of two multimillionaire Georgia Republican senators facing insider-trading scrutiny ahead of runoff elections in January, traded hundreds of thousands of dollars in bank stock while passing pro-bank legislation on the Senate Banking Committee, financial disclosures show. Between 2017 and 2020, while on the committee, Perdue co-sponsored 14 bills that benefited the financial industry, including through …

The Associated Press reports: South Florida Congressman-elect Carlos Gimenez has tested positive for coronavirus. His campaigned announced Friday that the former Miami-Dade County mayor and his wife, Lourdes, tested positive Thursday for COVID-19 after having mild symptoms. They said they’re self-isolating at home, in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and advice from medical professionals. Gimenez served …

The Idaho State Journal reports: Idaho Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin on Tuesday touted a proposal she’s crafted to funnel millions of the state’s CARES Act funds to a Nevada company for technology including “walk-through disinfectant cubes” to be installed at the state Capitol. McGeachin, who held a statewide virtual press conference with pastors and business owners around the state to …

The Wyoming Tribune reports: Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon has tested positive for COVID-19, his office announced in a news release Wednesday afternoon. Gordon received his positive result earlier in the day Wednesday, and he currently has only minor symptoms and plans to continue working remotely, according to the release. Gordon’s test result came a day after the governor’s office at …

The Associated Press reports: Perdue’s timing was impeccable. He avoided a sharp loss and reaped a stunning gain by selling and then buying the same stock: Cardlytics, an Atlanta-based financial technology company on whose board of directors he once served. On Jan. 23, as word spread through Congress that the coronavirus posed a major economic and public health threat, Perdue …

Georgia Sec. of State Brad Raffensperger writes: By all accounts, Georgia had a wildly successful and smooth election. We finally defeated voting lines and put behind us Fulton County’s now notorious reputation for disastrous elections. This should be something for Georgians to celebrate, whether their favored presidential candidate won or lost. For those wondering, mine lost — my family voted …

The Hill reports: Josh Holmes, former chief of staff to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), said in a new documentary that the Republican leader urged President Trump to nominate Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court on the night Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died. Holmes, who previously served as chief of staff to McConnell from 2010 to 2013, made …