Republicans

Mediaite reports: Sen. Joni Ernst’s (R-IA) spokesperson said the lawmaker misspoke when she claimed White House counselor Kellyanne Conway is being “removed” from her post in the administration soon. While Ernst made the comments during an interview with NBC’s local Des Moines affiliate WHO-TV Sunday, the network included an editor’s note along with their coverage of Ernst’s comments noting her …

CBS News reports: Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, one of the most hawkish members of Congress, urged the Trump administration to order a military strike against Iran over recent attacks against oil tankers in the Middle East — a move he said will send the government in Tehran a message that the U.S. will not stand idle as commercial …

ABC News reports: A newly elected State Senator held a town hall meeting and while they said everyone was welcome, it did not appear that way on the invite. “I did not win this race. God won this race,” said Brian Dahle during the Town Hall meeting. “If I wasn’t supposed to be in the Senate, I wouldn’t be in …

The Peoria Journal-Star reports: Former U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock quickly threw cold water on reports published elsewhere, including by a Peoria TV station, that he was taking steps to run for Congress again in Peoria. The former lawmaker said that a recent Federal Election Commission filing has been misconstrued and does not signal an intent to run for his old …

Mediaite reports: President Donald Trump took time to praise Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) for blocking a Democratic bill that would have mandated reporting foreign election interference. Blackburn blocked Sen. Mark Warner’s (D-VA) attempt to pass a bill requiring campaigns to report any offers of foreign assistance to the FBI. McConnell has long opposed efforts …

The Associated Press reports: President Donald Trump says Vice President Mike Pence doesn’t automatically have his backing should he mount his own run for the White House in 2024. Asked on Friday in an interview with Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends” whether he would lend his endorsement to Pence in advance, Trump said, “You can’t put me in that …

USA Today reports: Indiana Rep. Susan Brooks, one of only 13 Republican women in the House as well as the head of GOP recruitment for 2020, found someone she could not convince to run: herself. The Carmel Republican will not seek a fifth term next year, she told USA TODAY. “While it may not be time for the party, it’s …

Axios reports: Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) blocked an effort by Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) to pass a bill via unanimous consent requiring campaigns to report any offers of foreign assistance to the FBI. “We are all for free and fair and honest elections. These reporting requirements are overbroad. Presidential campaigns would have to worry about disclosure at a variety of …

San Diego’s Fox affiliate reports: Rep. Duncan Hunter’s wife, who pleaded not guilty last summer along with her husband to charges of using more than $250,000 in campaign funds for their personal use, changed her plea to guilty in a hearing Thursday morning. Attorneys for Margaret read a brief statement outside the courthouse after the hearing. She said in part: …

The Hill reports: Rep. Justin Amash, the lone Republican in Congress to call for President Trump’s impeachment, says he has no desire to play “spoiler” if he launches a third-party bid against Trump in 2020. “I have no interest in playing spoiler. When I run for something, I run to win,” the Michigan Republican told The Hill on Wednesday as …

The Washington Post reports: Rick Scott, when he was Florida’s governor, made the proclamation a year ago to mark the anniversary of the massacre at the Pulse nightclub two years before. A gunman killed 49 people at the LGBTQ-oriented club in 2016, what was then the largest mass shooting in U.S. history, and Scott, now a Republican senator, noted that …

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports: Margaret Hunter, the wife of longtime East County Congressman Duncan Hunter who was co-indicted with her husband last summer, has agreed to change her plea of not guilty and is scheduled to appear in federal court Thursday morning. The announcement was posted on the U.S. District Court docket late Wednesday morning without any supplemental documentation. …

LGBTQ Nation reports: The scandal-ridden former Representative Aaron Schock (R-IL) appears to be preparing to run for office again. Schock served as a U.S. Representative from Illinois from 2009 to 2015, when he resigned in disgrace after being accused of misusing campaign and public funds. He was the subject of a congressional ethics investigation and was indicted by a federal …

USA Today reports: Greg Pence, a freshman congressman and brother of Vice President Mike Pence, reported spending more than $7,600 in campaign funds on lodging at the Trump International Hotel in the first few months after his election in November, although lawmakers are supposed to pay for their own housing in Washington. After USA TODAY asked about the expenses included …

CNN reports: Rep. Steve King, the Iowa Republican who was stripped of his congressional committee assignments earlier this year, was not allowed to fly aboard Air Force One on Tuesday as President Donald Trump traveled to Iowa, two GOP officials say. King, who represents the state’s 4th District in Western Iowa, asked the White House to join the President’s entourage, …

CNN reports: Rep. Justin Amash on Monday stepped down from the conservative House Freedom Caucus less than a month after becoming the first Republican member of Congress to say President Donald Trump has committed impeachable offenses. “I have the highest regard for them and they’re my close friends,” he told CNN. “I didn’t want to be a further distraction for …

The New York Times reports: A raft of legislation intended to better secure United States election systems after what the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, called a “sweeping and systematic” Russian attack in 2016 is running into a one-man roadblock in the form of the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. McConnell, long the Senate’s leading ideological opponent …

The Hill reports: President Trump on Thursday reiterated his willingness to impose tariffs on Mexico if the country does not crack down on the flow of migrants toward the U.S. despite opposition from within his own party, saying some senators “have no idea what they’re talking about” on the issue. “We’ll see what happens. But something pretty dramatic could happen,” …

“I just have a reminder for the media. He’s your president, too. This is our president. This is our country. We’re celebrating the anniversary, 75 years of D-Day. This is a time where we should be celebrating our President, the great achievements of America. And I don’t think the American people like this constant negativity. There are times when we …

Mediaite reports: Republican National Committee spokeswoman Liz Harrington compared 2020 Democratic presidential candidates to murderous fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, and Fox News hard news anchor Harris Faulkner partially agreed with the assessment. On Wednesday’s edition of Fox News’ Outnumbered Overtime With Harris Faulkner, Harrington told Faulkner that voters are “going to be faced with a choice in 2020, and the …