Republicans

The Associated Press reports: Gov. Tom Wolf’s pandemic restrictions that required people to stay at home, placed size limits on gatherings and ordered “non-life-sustaining” businesses to shut down are unconstitutional, a federal judge ruled Monday. U.S. District Judge William Stickman IV, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, sided with plaintiffs that included hair salons, drive-in movie theaters, a farmer’s …

Media Matters reports: The Arizona Republican Party recently ran a Facebook video spotlighting congressional candidate and self-described QAnon follower Daniel Wood. During that video, AZGOP state chair Kelli Ward [photo] told him that “you are a man after my own heart” and encouraged people to volunteer and contribute to his campaign. Daniel Wood is running against Democratic Rep. Raul Grijalva …

The Daily Beast reports: South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem called a surprise press conference on Sunday evening to announce that the state attorney general, Jason Ravnsborg, had been involved in a fatal car crash the night before. Details were scant but Ravnsborg released a statement saying, “I am shocked and filled with sorrow following the events of last night. As …

The Hill reports: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said Sunday that he wouldn’t accept a Supreme Court nomination after President Trump included his name on a list of potential nominees. The Texas senator told Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures” that he would not be interested in joining the Supreme Court as a Trump nominee. “It is deeply honoring,” he told Maria …

CNN reports: Republican Sen. Susan Collins said President Donald Trump “should have been straightforward with the American people” about the threat from the coronavirus, during a debate Friday night in Maine for her state’s competitive Senate race. “The American people can take hard facts. And he had an obligation as President to be straightforward with them and to tell all …

The New York Daily News reports: The Trump administration admitted Friday to stripping millions of dollars from an FDNY fund that foots healthcare bills for 9/11 survivors and promised to try to put an end to the heartless practice. The administration’s about-face came after the Daily News exclusively reported Thursday that the Treasury Department has over the past four years …

The Hill reports: Republican Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) on Friday responded to a tweet about a segment on gender reveal parties from Trevor Noah’s “The Daily Show,” saying “many liberal males never grow balls.” Cruz wrote his comment in a retweet of an article from conservative news website The Daily Wire, which critiqued Noah for railing against gender reveal parties. …

The Washington Post reports: A federal appeals court on Friday blocked hundreds of thousands of felons in Florida who still owe fines and fees from registering to vote, putting a halt to what was potentially the nation’s largest re-enfranchisement of voters in more than 50 years. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta agreed with Florida …

The Washington Post reports: Fearing a coming cash crunch, President Trump’s campaign has pulled back from television advertising over the last month, ceding to Democratic nominee Joe Biden a huge advantage in key states and sparking disagreements over strategy within the president’s senior team. Republican officials have been inundated with calls from worried activists and donors who complain about constant …

The Texas Tribune reports: A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled late Thursday that Texas can keep its strict eligibility rules for voting by mail. Siding with the state’s Republican leadership, the appellate judges rejected the Texas Democratic Party’s effort to expand eligibility for voting by mail to all registered voters based on their argument …

Mediaite reports: A multitude of reporters on Capitol Hill tweeted out their progress on Wednesday — or lack thereof — as they tried to get Republican lawmakers to react to President Donald Trump’s recorded admission that he downplayed the coronavirus. As the United States nears 200,000 coronavirus deaths, Woodward’s tape on Trump’s virus downplaying became an instant flashpoint among the …

The National Review reports: Senator Ben Sasse (R., Neb.) called to repeal the 17th Amendment on Tuesday, which would eliminate the requirement that U.S. senators be elected by popular votes. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed titled “Make the Senate Great Again,” Sasse called for an end to the amendment, among other changes to the Senate “aimed at promoting debate, …

The Washington Post reports: President Trump’s reelection campaign is paying to replace sod on the White House South Lawn and Rose Garden after damage to the greenery late last month from large crowds and heavy equipment used for Republican National Convention festivities, White House and campaign officials said Tuesday. Trump’s unprecedented decision to stage overtly political events on public property …

Reuters reports: The Republican leaders of the U.S. Senate will introduce a proposal for additional coronavirus relief on Tuesday and could schedule a vote as soon as this week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said. The two parties are sharply divided, but there are disputes also among President Donald Trump’s fellow Republicans. Many of the Senate’s 53 Republicans are on …

NPR reports: Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has made no secret of his affection for The Princess Bride – the 1987 cult classic starring Robin Wright. But he’s now making it clear he’s no fan of a plan by cast members to stump for Democrats in Wisconsin next week. According to a web post by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, several …

Axios reports: House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy is privately encouraging voting by mail and warned President Trump the party could be “screwed” by his fight against mail-in voting. “We could lose based on that,” McCarthy (R-Calif.) told me at a diner in Salt Lake City last week, during a campaign swing that began in the Pacific Northwest. McCarthy said the …

The Texas Tribune reports: The Texas Supreme Court on Saturday rejected an attempt by Republicans to kick 44 Libertarians off the ballot in the November elections. Several Republican Party candidates and organizations had sued to remove the Libertarians, arguing they did not pay filing fees — a new requirement for third parties under a law passed by the Legislature last …

The Times of Israel reports: Laura Loomer, a Jewish Republican congressional candidate in Florida with a history of bigoted statements, got a friendly visit on the campaign trail from Lara Trump, the US president’s daughter-in-law. In 2017, before she was banned from Twitter, she tweeted, “Good. Here’s to 2,000 more,” in response to news that more than 2,000 migrants had …

Media Matters reports: The National Rifle Association released its list of candidate ratings and endorsements for the 2020 elections, endorsing two congressional candidates who support the dangerous QAnon conspiracy theory: Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert. On September 3, the NRA’s political action committee Political Victory Fund announced it had released its candidate grades and endorsements for the 2020 election …

Forbes reports: Marjorie Taylor Greene, the House candidate and professed QAnon believer President Trump called “a future Republican star,” posted a photo of herself holding a gun she plans to raffle off saying she wanted to go on the “offense” against the three Congresswomen known as the “Squad” — and her campaign said anyone who takes offense is “paranoid and …