Category Archives: Republicans

Republican predicts Trump won’t be party’s presidential nominee in 2024

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Senator Bill Cassidy points to seats lost in House and Senate during Trump presidency and says ‘if we idolize one person, we will lose’

Bill Cassidy, the Louisiana Republican senator, predicted on Sunday morning that Donald Trump will not be the party’s nominee for president in 2024, pointing to the number of seats lost by Republicans in the House and Senate over the four years Trump was in office.

Cassidy was asked on CNN’s State of the Union show whether he would support Trump if the former president runs for another term in 2024, or if he would support him if he did run and won the Republican nomination to challenge Joe Biden.

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Golden Trump statue turning heads at CPAC was made in … Mexico

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Artist Tommy Zegan reveals figure was constructed in country the former president has assailed and demonized

A golden statue of Donald Trump that has caused a stir at the annual US gathering of conservatives was made in Mexico – a country the former president frequently demonized.

Related: Mitch McConnell says he'd 'absolutely' support Trump as 2024 nominee

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House approves $1.9tn Covid aid bill despite minimum wage setback

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Relief bill represents Biden first big legislative win but wage hike proposal to be removed from Senate version

The US House of Representatives has passed Joe Biden’s $1.9tn coronavirus aid bill in his first major legislative victory.

Related: Criticism builds over Biden's failure to lift Trump sanctions on ICC prosecutors

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‘The base is solidly behind him’: Trumpism expected to thrive at CPAC

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Lineup at annual gathering features former president’s allies – and Trump himself – suggesting his dominance is undiminished by his election loss

Ronald Solomon spent five days making the 2,300-mile drive from Las Vegas, Nevada, to Orlando, Florida, where he will sell about 75 different hat designs, 15 types of flag, 10 T-shirt designs and a range of eight face masks.

Solomon is the president of the Maga Mall, a retailer of Donald Trump and “Make America great again” merchandise. Undeterred by the former president’s 2020 election defeat and disgrace, he expects to do brisk business when the biggest annual gathering of grassroots conservatives opens on Thursday.

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Manhattan district attorney reportedly subpoenas Bannon’s financial records – live

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Joe Biden is meeting with a bipartisan group of Congress members to discuss improving US supply chains to better prepare for future crises.

“The last year has shown some of the vulnerability we have with some of the supply chains, including the PPE we needed badly but had to go abroad to get,” Biden told reporters at the start of the meeting.

Biden, meeting in Oval with members of Congress about supply chain problems, including a shortage of computer chips for the autos industry, says it’s causing some production lines to slow down and “people might be laid off.” pic.twitter.com/nHNN2CofN5

Congresswoman Deb Haaland, Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the interior department, faced more pointed questions from Republicans during her second confirmation hearing today.

Republican Senator John Barrasso pressed Haaland, who would be the first Native American cabinet secretary if confirmed, on her past statements against fracking on public lands.

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Trump to tell CPAC he is Republican ‘presumptive 2024 nominee’ – report

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Unnamed source tells news site Axios Trump’s speech to the rightwing event will have the message ‘I’m still in charge’

Donald Trump will reportedly tell the Conservative Political Action Conference in Florida this week he is the man to drain the Washington swamp – as Republicans’ “presumptive 2024 nominee”.

Related: Republicans failing to toe the Trumpist line feel wrath of their state parties

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Republicans aim to purge anti-Trump officials from state parties in sign of battles ahead

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Analysis: members of Senate and House are targets but some doubt wisdom of enforcing fealty to the one-term president

Republican state parties have been lashing out at elected officials of their own party in a sign of ongoing fealty to Donald Trump.

The moves by state party officials are highly unusual and an indication of the heated internal battles the Republican party is facing in the months and years to come as it struggles with the legacy of its capture by Trump, his allies and his loyal supporters.

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Republicans eye federal funds to help pay Texans’ exorbitant energy bills

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Texas Republicans will use federal funds to help pay exorbitant energy bills hitting ordinary Texans after a deep freeze crippled the state this week, a senior congressman said on Sunday.

Related: Texans rally to help neighbors amid big freeze as officials are caught cold

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Donald Trump to address CPAC on future of Republican party

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Former president Donald Trump will address the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, in Florida next week, about the future of the Republican party and the conservative movement, a source familiar with the plan told Reuters on Saturday.

Related: Trump ally Nunes sees CNN Ukraine lawsuit thrown out by New York judge

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Trump ally Nunes sees CNN Ukraine lawsuit thrown out by New York judge

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  • California congressman sought $435m in damages
  • Story linked him to hunt for Biden dirt in Ukraine

A defamation lawsuit brought against CNN by the California Republican Devin Nunes, a leading ally of former president Donald Trump, was tossed out by a Manhattan judge on Friday.

Related: Icy blast of anti-Ted Cruz outrage shows little sign of abating

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Texas storm: political tensions boil over as vast power outages continue – live

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More details on Cancun-gate: Ted Cruz’s office reportedly contacted the Houston Police Department to request security assistance at the airport yesterday.

The HPD told ABC News that its officers “monitored his movements through the terminal.” Cruz then boarded a flight to Cancun, as his state deals with a winter storm and widespread blackouts.

JUST IN from @houstonpolice, via @emcabcnewsprod:

"Cruz’s staff contacted HPD personnel at IAH on Wednesday ... and requested assistance upon the Senator’s arrival at the airport."

"HPD officers monitored his movements through the terminal."

In case you missed it this morning: the number of initial weekly jobless claims in the US rose to 861,000 last week, the labor department announced.

The number represents an increase of 13,000 from the previous week, the latest sign that the US economy continues to suffer as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

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Biden’s offer to work with Republicans faces first real test on Covid relief

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Analysis: The president stressed a willingness to work with Republicans – but some say his outreach has its limits

Joe Biden and his team have promised to extend the bipartisan olive branch like no previous administration in a move that on the surface appears to match the new president’s long political history of seeking support from Republicans.

Since taking office, the Biden administration has stressed a willingness to work with Republicans on its major initiatives like a Covid relief bill. Behind the scenes, it has initiated a broad push to reach out to as many congressional offices as possible, getting in contact with both former and current Republican lawmakers and their staffs, and hosting a high-visibility meeting between almost a dozen Republican senators and Biden himself.

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Rush Limbaugh dies after suffering from lung cancer – US politics live

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Joe Biden had an hour-long conversation with Benjamin Netanyahu today, the Israeli prime minister said.

In a tweet, Netanyahu’s office shared a photo of the prime minister on the phone with Biden. Netanyahu said the conversation was friendly, and the two leaders committed to strengthening the alliance between their nations.

ראש הממשלה בנימין נתניהו שוחח הערב עם נשיא ארה"ב ג'ו ביידן.

השיחה הייתה ידידותית וחמה ביותר ונמשכה כשעה. שני המנהיגים ציינו את הקשר האישי רב השנים ביניהם ואמרו שיפעלו יחד להמשך חיזוק הברית האיתנה בין ישראל לארה"ב pic.twitter.com/8LolsBhi0r

Related: Call me maybe? Disquiet in Israel that Biden has yet to phone Netanyahu

Jill Biden will soon sit down with Kelly Clarkson for her first solo television interview since Joe Biden was sworn in, the first lady’s office announced today.

A spokesperson for Jill Biden said the interview will be aired next Thursday, on “The Kelly Clarkson Show: White House Edition with the First Lady, Dr. Jill Biden”.

NEW! @FLOTUS will sit down with @KellyClarkson for her FIRST solo TV interview, when @KellyClarksonTV comes to the White House! “The Kelly Clarkson Show: White House Edition with the First Lady, Dr. Jill Biden” will air Thursday, Feb. 25 #kellyoke

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Trump and Giuliani sued by Democratic congressman over deadly Capitol riot – live

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The White House briefing has now concluded. Here’s where the day stands so far:

White House press secretary Jen Psaki would not say when specifically Joe Biden will address a joint session of Congress for the first time as president.

Biden said last month that he would lay out his Build Back Better plan in a February address to Congress.

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US lawmakers call for 9/11-style commission to investigate Capitol riot

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Democrats and Republicans both voice support for panel to ‘make sure it never happens again’

Democratic and Republican lawmakers have issued fresh calls for a bipartisan 9/11-style commission to investigate why government officials and law enforcement failed to stop the attack on the US Capitol in January, following Donald Trump’s acquittal in his impeachment on charges that he incited the insurrection.

The commission would be modeled after a panel created in the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks, which reviewed what caused the atrocity and laid out recommendations on how to foresee and prevent any future incursions.

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Democrats defend decision not to call witnesses as tactic under scrutiny

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‘We needed more senators with spines,’ said Stacey Plaskett after vote to convict fell short of two-thirds majority needed

Democrats defended their prosecution of Donald Trump’s impeachment trial on Sunday and hinted at the possibility of criminal charges, after failing to convince enough senators the former president was guilty of inciting the deadly Capitol attack.

Related: Boris Johnson calls Trump impeachment over Capitol attack 'kerfuffle'

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Trump triumphant – but senior Republicans still see battles ahead

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Former president celebrates second impeachment acquittal as supporters and moderates prepare to contest party direction

Donald Trump emerged from his second impeachment trial almost completely politically intact. But amid widespread laments (or celebrations, depending on the affiliation of the speaker) about the former president’s grip on the Republican party, some prominent voices suggested a changing of the guard may still be due.

Related: Mitch McConnell's impeachment speech was just a hostage video | Lloyd Green

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Failure to convict Trump in impeachment trial will live as a ‘vote of infamy’, says Schumer – video

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The Senate’s top Democrat, Chuck Schumer, decried the decision to acquit Donald Trump of inciting a riot at the US Capitol on 6 January. House Democrats, who voted a month ago to charge Trump with ‘incitement of insurrection’, needed two thirds of the Senate, or 67 votes, to convict him. Only seven Republicans joined all 50 Democrats in voting to convict Trump.

The Democrats argued in the short trial that Trump caused the violent attack by repeating for months the false claims that the election was stolen from him, and then telling his supporters gathered near the White House that morning to ‘fight like hell’ to overturn his defeat. Five people died when they then laid siege to the Capitol.

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Trump’s acquittal seals his grasp on the Republican party

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The former president and his supporters are likely to claim victory as they did after his first impeachment trial a year ago

Donald Trump’s highly anticipated acquittal at his US Senate impeachment trial is the least surprising twist in American politics since … well, his acquittal at his first US Senate impeachment trial a year ago.

Related: Democrats fail to secure enough votes to convict Trump in historic second impeachment trial - live

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Five Republicans join vote for witnesses in Trump Senate trial – video

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Five Senate Republicans voted with the Democrats on Saturday, that the Senate should call witnesses in the impeachment trial of Donald Trump.

Before the 55-45 vote, Trump’s impeachment lawyer Michael van der Veen warned senators that if Democrats wished to call a witness, he would ask for at least 100 witnesses and insist they give depositions in person in his office in Philadelphia – a threat that prompted laughter from the chamber.

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