Republicans

Fox News reports: Two Republican state senators in Oklahoma have introduced a bill to create a “Make America Great Again” license plate. Senators Nathan Dahm [photo] and Marty Quinn filed the bill, which also includes a “Keep America Great” plate, on Tuesday. The bill calls on the Oklahoma Tax Commission to design the special license plates and issue them to …

The Virginian-Pilot reports: Two of Nathan Clark’s peers on the Portsmouth City Council criticized his decision to wear an AR-15 into a public meeting — without telling them ahead of time — to show his enthusiasm for the Second Amendment. One asked him to apologize. “It was a disgrace, disheartening and an embarrassment,” Vice Mayor Lucas-Burke wrote to the council …

Vox reports: McSally’s stunt received praise from the MAGA media, including Fox News staple Mark Levin (“Kudos to Martha McSally! Love this!”) and Breitbart, who wrote that McSally “slammed a CNN reporter to his face — and it was glorious.” McSally, for her part, leaned into the incident by posting video of it on her Twitter page. Within a couple …

The Buffalo News reports: A judge Friday sentenced former Rep. Chris Collins to 26 months in federal prison for igniting an insider trading scheme that also prompted his son, Cameron, and his son’s future father-in-law to break the law. The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Court Judge Vernon S. Broderick, according to a journalist tweeting from the courtroom, …

Politico reports: As President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial kicks off in earnest, Senate Republicans are still wrestling with how to follow the precedent set by Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial while also giving Trump the swift acquittal he desires. Senate GOP leaders are weighing accelerating the pace of the trial, eyeing a schedule that would maintain the same overall number of …

The Daily Beast reports: The View’s Meghan McCain took some shots at Sen. Martha McSally (R-AZ) on Friday after the lawmaker personally insulted a CNN reporter, pointing out that McSally didn’t “earn” the Senate seat she was appointed to after McCain’s father passed away. View co-host Ana Navarro speculated that McSally likely lashed out at Raju because she’s on “thin …

Denver’s CBS affiliate reports: Republican Sen. Cory Gardner, who has dodged requests for scheduled interviews, flew from Washington D.C. to Denver on Thursday evening, ahead of the Senate’s long weekend. 9NEWS reporter Steve Staeger met the senator when his flight landed at Denver International Airport to ask once more. “We have a trial. That’s where we’re at right now,” Gardner …

USA Today reports: Republican Sen. Susan Collins has surpassed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell as the most unpopular U.S. Senator, according to a new tracking poll. The Maine Senator’s net approval rating has dropped 10 points since the end of September, leaving her with a 52 percent disapproval rating, a quarterly Morning Consult tracking poll found. The poll comes as …

Mediaite reports: Former Air Force combat pilot and appointed Senator Martha McSally chose the GOP-friendly confines of Fox News to dismissively mock the outrage over her insult of CNN reporter Manu Raju—but then repeatedly ducked and dodged when Laura Ingraham pushed her to answer his “easy question” about whether or not there should be witnesses in the Senate trial of …

Via press release from GOP Sen. Susan Collins: There has been a lot of mischaracterization and misunderstanding about my position on the process the Senate should follow for the impeachment trial. Rather than have my position relayed through the interpretation of others, I wanted to state it directly: From the outset, I have said that we should follow the model …

Fox News reports: Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., says that the four Democratic senators running for president should recuse themselves from being jurors in President Trump’s upcoming impeachment trial in the Senate. “One hundred United States senators will be sworn in to serve in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. Four of those senators must recuse themselves for their unparalleled …

The Washington Examiner reports: Sen. Martha McSally ripped a CNN reporter after he asked whether recent developments would make her reconsider her position on impeachment. On Thursday morning, CNN reporter Manu Raju tried to ask the Arizona Republican about the developments and how it could change her impeachment vote. He asked, “Senator McSally, should the Senate consider new evidence as …

Fox News reports: Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., mocked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., for using commemorative pens with her name inscribed on them to sign a resolution to transmit two articles of impeachment against President Trump to the Senate for trial. “It’s a very solemn and prayerful moment, guys, when you saw those gold-encrusted commemorative pens that Nancy Pelosi had …

The Washington Examiner reports: Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming has decided against running for Senate in 2020. The No. 3 ranking House Republican had considered her options for several months after Sen. Mike Enzi announced he would not seek reelection. Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, was a strong interest in foreign policy, leading to assumptions that …

Just in via press release: Join Team Walsh as we visit the Republican National Committee’s headquarters to protest RNC Chair Ronna Romney McDaniel’s refusal to meet with our campaign to discuss the cancellation of nearly twenty Republican primary contests in 2020. Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel and senior RNC staff continue to refuse to meet with or take calls from Joe …

The Hill reports: Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) said Wednesday that a lawyer for Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) threatened to sue him if he did not apologize for saying last month that the Republican conspired with an associate of Rudy Giuliani. Lieu’s comments were made in light of an interview Nunes gave on Fox News claiming he had spoken with Lev …

Politico reports: Congressional Republicans are distancing themselves from Robert Hyde, a controversial House candidate and GOP donor who has become the latest figure to get wrapped up in the Ukraine saga that led to President Donald Trump’s impeachment. The top three Republican leaders in the House — Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California, Minority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana and …

Courthouse News reports: Three voters and two nonprofits brought a federal complaint Tuesday that says the failure by Texas to register voters through its online driver’s license application is illegal. The lawsuit comes eight days after a cadre of Democrats sued the Texas secretary of state on voter-suppression claims; thousands of Texans were improperly barred from voting in the 2018 …

The Tennessean reports: The Tennessee state Senate started the 2020 legislative session passing its first bill of the year: a controversial measure that protects religious adoption agencies if they choose to discriminate against same-sex couples. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Paul Rose, R-Covington, declares that no licensed adoption agency would be required to participate in a child placement if doing …

Mediaite reports: Florida state representative Chris Latvala accused Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) of creating a game “where members of the FL House got ‘points’ for sleeping with aides, interns, lobbyists, and married legislators,” Tuesday. After Gaetz called out Latvala for posting a photograph with Al Sharpton on Twitter, Latvala replied, “And you created a game where members of the FL …