Category Archives: Republicans

Trans congresswoman Sarah McBride responds to Capitol Hill bathroom ban

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Following statement from Mike Johnson, McBride says: ‘I’m not here to fight about bathrooms, I’m here to … bring down costs facing families’

Sarah McBride, the incoming congresswoman and first openly transgender person elected to the US House of Representatives, on Wednesday shared a statement on social media in response to the House banning trans people from using single-sex bathrooms on Capitol Hill that match their gender identity.

Earlier in the day, the House speaker, Louisiana Republican Mike Johnson, issued a statement “regarding facilities throughout the US Capitol complex”.

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Outcry over stalemate on Gaetz report; Trump reportedly considering Martin Makary for FDA – US politics live

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Democrat Susan Wild says committee chair Michael Guest mischaracterized meeting and committee will reconvene in December; Markary opposed Covid vaccine mandates

The Federal Reserve must not remove Wells Fargo’s $1.95tn asset cap until the bank has fixed its risk management and compliance issues, top Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren told the US central bank on Wednesday, reports Reuters.

In a letter to Fed chair, Jerome Powell, and the central bank’s regulatory chief, Michael Barr, Warren said the Fed must reject Wells Fargo reported appeal to have the punishment imposed in 2018 lifted until it “can show that it can properly manage the risks associated with running a large bank”.

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House ethics committee deadlocked on whether to release Matt Gaetz report

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Panel met on Wednesday but didn’t reach a decision on releasing the report on Trump’s controversial AG pick

The House ethics committee deadlocked on releasing a report examining allegations of sexual misconduct against Matt Gaetz, the former Republican representative and Donald Trump’s choice to lead the US justice department, after the panel met behind closed doors on Wednesday.

Emerging from the meeting after roughly two hours, most members of the panel declined to offer details on their discussion, but the Republican chair, Michael Guest, told reporters that there was “not an agreement by the committee to release the report”.

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Trump picks Linda McMahon for education, and says he won’t reconsider Matt Gaetz nomination – live

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President-elect picks prominent donor and co-chair of transition team as education secretary; Trump won’t rethink Gaetz for attorney general despite mounting scrutiny

President-elect Donald Trump will join billionaire Elon Musk for a SpaceX launch in Texas later today, as reported by Reuters.

This will be the sixth test flight to space for SpaceX’s Starship rocket. The test launch is planned for 5pm ET.

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Trump reportedly picks Howard Lutnick as commerce secretary

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Billionaire founder of financial firm Cantor Fitzgerald was one of president-elect’s biggest fundraisers

Donald Trump has reportedly picked one of his biggest fundraisers for the position of commerce secretary.

Howard Lutnick, the billionaire founder of the financial firm Cantor Fitzgerald, will be nominated to serve as one of Trump’s principal advisers on commerce and international trade, the news website Axios reported.

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Trump reportedly doubts senators will back Matt Gaetz but still lobbies hard

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President-elect’s nominee for attorney general is dogged by sexual misconduct allegations

Donald Trump has reportedly told associates that Matt Gaetz, his nominee for attorney general, has a less than 50-50 chance of being confirmed by the Senate, even while pushing forward with his nomination amid damaging sexual misconduct allegations.

The president-elect has continued making calls in support of his beleaguered nominee despite resistance from Republican senators because he is confident his insistence will alter the standard for acceptable cabinet choices even if Gaetz fails, the New York Times reported.

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Trump selects Fox News contributor Sean Duffy as transport secretary

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Former Republican congressman from Wisconsin was also a cast member on MTV’s The Real World: Boston

Donald Trump has named Sean Duffy, a former Republican congressman from Wisconsin,and former cast member of the MTV show The Real World, to serve as the secretary of transportation. He was also a co-host on Fox Business but left that role on Monday, according to Fox News Media.

Duffy served in Congress from 2011 until 2019. Before being elected to public office, he was district attorney for Ashland county, Wisconsin, from 2002 to 2008 and previously had a reality TV show role. Duffy was a cast member on The Real World: Boston in 1997 where he would meet his wife, Fox news contributor Rachel Campos-Duffy.

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Matt Gaetz ‘paid for sex’, says lawyer for two women who testified to House committee – as it happened

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This live coverage has ended. Thanks for following along. You can read our full story on the latest allegations against Matt Gaetz below:

The reported tension between Elon Musk and Boris Epshteyn as they vie for status in Donald Trump’s inner circle of un-elected influencers involves the tech entrepreneur, Musk, challenging lawyer Epshteyn on the merits of his suggestions for senior appointments in the incoming Republican administration, according to Axios.

It quotes several unnamed sources, who’ve been giving accounts of the apparent strain between the two men bursting out into public rows, saying that Musk argues Epshteyn has too much sway over the names Trump is picking and considering for his cabinet and senior administration posts, while Epshteyn is “bristling” at Musk challenging him.

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Trump’s defense pick reportedly paid sexual assault accuser but denies claims

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Peter Hegseth, pick for defense department, says encounter was consensual but woman was paid undisclosed sum

Peter Hegseth, the military veteran, Fox & Friends chat host and Donald Trump’s pick to head the department of defense, reportedly paid a woman who accused him of sexual assault – an encounter that he insists was consensual.

According to the Washington Post, the unnamed woman was paid an unknown sum after signing a nondisclosure agreement.

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‘A Russian asset’: Democrats slam Trump’s pick of Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence

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Some of his other nominees – Matt Gaetz for AG and Peter Hegseth for defense head – were also condemned

Democratic lawmakers are slamming Donald Trump’s nominee for director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, saying their former House colleague is a vocal supporter of Russia who poses a threat to US national intelligence.

Jason Crow, a House Democrat from Colorado and a member of the House intelligence committee, told NBC News that he has “deep questions about where her loyalties lie”.

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The ‘foolproof’ election forecaster who predicted Trump would lose – what went wrong?

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Allan Lichtman’s forecast model was meant to be foolproof. He explains to David Smith what was different this time

Surely not even Nostradamus could get it right all of the time.

Allan Lichtman had correctly forecast the result of nine of the past 10 US presidential elections (and even the one he didn’t, in 2000, he insists was stolen from Al Gore). His predictive model of “13 keys” to the White House was emulated around the world and seemed all but indestructible.

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Democratic leaders across US work to lead resistance against Trump’s agenda

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Democrats from California to Illinois prepare to ‘Trump-proof’ and ‘fight to death’ against his extreme proposals

After the November elections ushered in a new era of unified Republican governance in Washington, Democratic leaders across the country are once again preparing to lead the resistance to Donald Trump’s second-term agenda.

California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, said he would convene a special legislative session next month to “safeguard California values and fundamental rights”.

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Trump names Karoline Leavitt as White House press secretary – live

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Leavitt was Trump campaign’s national press secretary and assistant press secretary in first administration. This blog is now closed.

Republicans are set to take control of the Senate next year, where one of their first jobs will be to confirm Donald Trump’s nominees for cabinet posts. Should they object to the president-elect’s picks, he has threatened to make use of recess appointments, an archaic tactic that would allow him to circumvent the chamber and its objectors. Here’s more on how that would work, from the Guardian’s Joan E Greve:

Several Republican senators expressed shock on Wednesday when Donald Trump announced he would nominate Matt Gaetz, the hard-right congressman known for instigating fights with members of his own party, as attorney general.

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Pete Hegseth, Trump’s Pentagon pick, sparks alarm over far-right extremism

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Experts concerned over the Fox & Friends host, his Christian nationalist ideology and militant language

Extremism experts are sounding the alarm about Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, whose writings and online presence reveal someone immersed in a culture of rightwing Christianity, political extremism and violent ideation.

The Fox & Friends host, who has served in the US army but has no experience in government, drew shock from Pentagon officials when Trump nominated him. Hegseth’s books on American culture and the military, his commentary on Fox and his frequent posts on social media showcase his far-right ideology. On these platforms, Hegseth telegraphs paranoia and anger toward “leftists”, an ultra-masculine Maga persona and apparent revulsion toward service members who do not fit his vision – including women.

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Fears mount over Trump’s second term amid flurry of shock selections

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Dismay as president-elect picks Matt Gaetz as attorney general and Tulsi Gabbard and Pete Hegseth for key roles

Fears that Donald Trump’s second presidency will be more extreme than his first have intensified amid a flurry of senior nominations that opponents have criticised as going from bad to worse.

Dismay over some of the president-elect’s early picks escalated to outrage after the far-right Florida congressman Matt Gaetz was unveiled as his selection to be attorney general – a position Trump has previously said he views as the most important in his administration.

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Trump announces RFK Jr as his pick to lead US health department

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A scion of Democratic dynasty, RFK Jr is known for embrace of anti-vaccine beliefs and other conspiracy theories

Donald Trump announced on Thursday he will nominate former independent presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr as the US secretary of health and human services (HHS) in his administration.

Kennedy, an anti-vaccine activist, will be a contentious pick to lead the US health department, and the role will need to be confirmed by the Senate.

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Donald Trump announces vaccine skeptic RFK Jr to lead US health department – live updates

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Pick needs Senate confirmation and could spark controversy among Trump’s Republican allies, given Kennedy’s anti-vaccine stance and conspiracy theories

An independent central bank is “fundamental” to getting good economic outcomes, a senior Federal Reserve official said on Thursday, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The Fed has a dual mandate from Congress to act independently to tackle both inflation and unemployment – primarily by raising and lowering interest rates. Anything that undermines the Fed’s independence could spook traders in the financial markets, who might come to question if it could effectively tackle inflation over the longer term.

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Loyalty the key as impulsive Trump picks team for America First agenda

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President-elect’s team has China hawks, an alleged Assad defender and a Fox News host – all have been vocally loyal

As Donald Trump rushes to fill out his cabinet and enact his America First agenda in the United States and abroad, a clear throughline for his foreign policy and national security team has been a vocal loyalty to the president-elect – at least in this election cycle.

The rapidly expanding roster includes established – and some Maga supporters would say establishment – foreign policy hawks, and a neophyte defense secretary who until this week was still a conservative commentator on Fox News.

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Trump announces Matt Gaetz as attorney general and Tulsi Gabbard for top intelligence post – US politics live

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Far-right Florida congressman to get top justice job; former Democrat Gabbard frequently appeared with Trump on the campaign trail

Mehdi Hasan writes for the Guardian today, asking “Is Donald Trump a foreign policy dove?”

You can read it here …

Everything about men and women serving together makes the situation more complicated, and complication in combat, that means casualties are worse.

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Trump’s early second-term choices fuel fears of extremist agenda

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Trump has chosen loyalists and hardliners to lead departments that will shape US policy on immigration, defense and more

Donald Trump may have won a second term in the White House just last week, but his recent administration appointments have already heightened fears among some who believe his return to the White House will lead to an extremist agenda.

On immigration, Trump has chosen loyalists and hardliners: Stephen Miller will serve as deputy chief of staff for policy and Department of Homeland Security adviser; Tom Homan as “border czar”, and Kristi Noem, the South Dakota governor, will lead the Department of Homeland Security.

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