Trump, DeSantis and top Republican candidates to share stage at Iowa event

Tim Scott, currently third in polling, will also be among 13 presidential hopefuls participating in Lincoln Dinner on Friday

Nearly every major Republican presidential candidate will share a stage in the early voting state of Iowa on Friday night, as Donald Trump continues to dominate in the polls despite his numerous legal liabilities.

Thirteen candidates will appear at the Iowa Republican party’s 2023 Lincoln Dinner fundraiser, giving them an opportunity to address donors and local party leaders with less than six months left before the state’s crucial caucuses.

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‘Project 2025’: plan to dismantle US climate policy for next Republican president

Rightwing groups penned a conservative wish list of proposals for the next conservative president to gut environmental protections

An alliance of rightwing groups has crafted an extensive presidential proposal to bolster the planet-heating oil and gas industry and hamstring the energy transition, it has emerged.

Against a backdrop of record-breaking heat and floods this year, the $22m endeavor, Project 2025, was convened by the notorious rightwing, climate-denying thinktank the Heritage Foundation, which has ties to fossil fuel billionaire Charles Koch.

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Mitch McConnell abruptly stops mid-sentence during press conference

Senate Republican leader appeared to lose train of thought and stared for 20 seconds before being escorted away from podium

The Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, briefly left his own press conference on Wednesday after stopping his remarks mid-sentence and staring off into space for several seconds.

McConnell approached the podium for his weekly press conference and began speaking about the annual defense bill on the floor, which he said was proceeding with “good bipartisan cooperation”. But he then appeared to lose his train of thought, trailing off with a drawn-out “uh”.

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Hunter Biden pleads not guilty to tax and gun charges amid uncertainty over previous plea agreement – as it happened

Judge presiding over hearing involving US president’s son said she needed more time to evaluate previous deal

Ken Buck, a Republican representative of Colorado asked Mayorkas about the the China-Mexico fentanyl pipeline that has been entering the country and the rising fentanyl overdose deaths currently plaguing the US.

“The fentanyl killing thousands of Americans every year as a direct result of your dereliction when people die of fentanyl poisoning. It is your fault,” said Buck as he went on to ask Mayorkas what his response would be to the families of fentanyl victims in the US.

“We grieve the loss of any life as a result of the toxicity, the devastation… The challenge of fentanyl is not new. It has been escalating for more than five years…. This is a scourge and all of us have to work together to combat…

I stand by my statement…that China does bear responsibility because many of the precursor chemicals and the pill press equipment that is used to manufacture fentanyl does originate from there. This is a complex problem. We are taking it to the criminals…”

“I see other countries with systems that are more advanced than ours that can match the need for labor with the supply for labor… It is proven that lawful labor pathways cause a reduction in the number of irregular arrivals at our border…”

“We have used our parole authority consistent with the law and consistent with past practices of different administration.”

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‘Not acceptable’: Texas lawmaker speaks on reports of inhumane border tactics

Tony Gonzales said governor Greg Abbott is ‘doing everything he can’ at the US-Mexico border despite justice department backlash

A Texas Republican representative, Tony Gonzales, has called the current tactics used to deter migrants at the US-Mexico border “not acceptable” and urged the Biden administration and Congress to focus more heavily on legal immigration.

In an interview with CBS’s Face The Nation on Sunday, Gonzales, whose 23rd district in Texas includes 800 miles of the US-Mexico border, said that the border crisis “has been anything but humane” and called recent reports of Texas troopers allegedly pushing small children and nursing babies back into the Rio Grande “not acceptable”.

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Struggling DeSantis and Pence attack criminal justice law they championed

Candidates for Republican nomination attack First Step Act enacted under Trump in attempt to look tough on crime

As a Republican congressman, Ron DeSantis was a supporter of legislation that made moderate reforms to the federal prison system intended to reduce recidivism and mass incarceration – a cause that was also championed by then president Donald Trump and his deputy, Mike Pence.

Five years later, DeSantis, now Florida’s governor, and Pence are struggling to overtake Trump’s lead among Republicans as they vie for the party’s presidential nomination, and have turned against the criminal justice measure they both supported in an effort to win over conservative voters.

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Kamala Harris says claiming slavery had some benefit is ‘propaganda’ being pushed on US children – as it happened

Vice-president condemns ‘extremist so-called leaders’ in speech in Florida speech amid outcry over new school board guidance

For decades, US politicians have been reluctant to get involved in the topic of UFOs and aliens.

After a series of disclosures in recent months, however, Republicans and Democrats now appear to be lining up to inquire into the question of extraterrestrial life, as the world seems closer than ever to finding out whether we are alone in the universe.

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Ron DeSantis says Trump January 6 charges would not be good for country

Florida governor and presidential hopeful tells CNN he hopes his rival is not charged after Trump says he is target of DoJ inquiry

Ron DeSantis said charges against Donald Trump over his election subversion that culminated in the deadly January 6 attack on Congress would not be good for the US.

“I hope he doesn’t get charged,” the Florida governor told CNN in a much-trailed interview on Tuesday. “I don’t think it’ll be good for the country.”

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Robert F Kennedy condemned for Covid conspiracy theory; Democrats fear Manchin run could help Trump – live

Democratic hopeful widely criticised for spreading disinformation; West Virginia senator is speaking at New Hampshire third-party town hall

House Democrats plan to unveil a resolution to formally censure Republican congressman George Santos for lying to voters about his education, work history and family background.

The resolution from Representative Ritchie Torres will be privileged, meaning that the Republican-controlled House must act on it, NBC News reported.

In a rare and historic special session, the Iowa legislature voted for a second time to reject the inhumanity of abortion and pass the fetal heartbeat law.

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DeSantis reduces staff as campaign struggles to meet fundraising goals – report

Fewer than 10 staffers were laid off, Politico reports, as more shake-ups within campaign are expected in coming weeks

Florida Governor and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis has reduced campaign staff as his campaign has struggled to meet fundraising goals.

Fewer than 10 staffers were laid off, according to an anonymous staffer, reported Politico. The staffers were involved in event planning and may be picked up by the pro DeSantis super-Pac, Never Back Down. Two senior campaign advisers, Dave Abrams and Tucker Obenshain left the campaign this past week to assist a pro-DeSantis nonprofit group.

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State guard set up by DeSantis is being trained as personal militia, veterans say

Veterans resign from force established as civilian disaster relief, citing concerns over ‘militaristic’ training and ‘abuse’

A Florida state guard established by the rightwing governor, Ron DeSantis, under the guise of a civilian disaster relief force is instead being trained as an armed, combat-ready militia under his personal command, according to military veteran recruits who have quit the program.

Several veterans resigned after an encampment last month having become concerned at the “militaristic” training and “abuse” one disabled veteran suffered at the hands of instructors, according to an investigation by the Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times.

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Biden stability beats Trump volatility in 2024 match-up, experts suggest

Political scientists read the Republican runes and suggest Trump will win the nomination – but how would he fare in a 2020 rematch?

As it stands, political scientists expect Donald Trump to win the Republican nomination for president. Most GOP candidates are in lockstep with Trumpist policies and culture wars, failing to differentiate in an already scattered field; despite the appearance of a united front, factions within the party cannot agree on when and how to pass hardline legislation. Traditional conservative forces are looking for a less volatile alternative with a more viable path to win the general election, and as that concern mounts, some experts say Biden could be narrowly re-elected if the race is a rematch of 2020.

“Trump is the mainstream,” said Allan Lichtman, distinguished professor of history at American University, pointing out that “so-called mainstream Republicans” such as Liz Cheney are now out of office.

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Donald Trump’s legal team urges Georgia court to block 2020 election investigation – as it happened

Lawyers for former US president ask Georgia’s highest court to prevent district attorney from prosecuting him

Republican House speaker Kevin McCarthy condemned congressman Eli Crane for using an outdated and offensive term to refer to African Americans on the House floor:

Politico reports that Crane has apologized for using the language:

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Republicans attack FTC chair and big tech critic Lina Khan at House hearing

Khan accused of giving herself ‘unchecked power’ by taking aggressive steps to regulate Twitter, Meta and Google

Lina Khan, the chair of the Federal Trade Commission, faced a grueling four hours of questioning during a House judiciary committee oversight hearing on Thursday.

Republicans criticized Khan – an outspoken critic of big tech – for “mismanagement” and for “politicizing” legal action against large companies such as Twitter and Google as head of the powerful antitrust agency.

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Wray calls conspiracy theories of FBI involvement in January 6 ‘ludicrous’ – live

FBI director Christopher Wray appears before House panel as White House condemns Republican attacks on law enforcement

In his testimony to the House judiciary committee, the FBI director, Christopher Wray, decried conspiracy theories promoted by rightwing figures such as former Fox News host Tucker Carlson as well as some Republican lawmakers that the bureau’s agents were involved in the January 6 insurrection.

Wray’s comments came in an exchange with Democratic congressman Steve Cohen, who asked Wray whether Ray Epps, a man Carlson and others have claimed was a government agent and provoked the storming of the US Capitol, worked for the FBI.

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House Republicans grill FBI director as Democrats deride attacks on agency

Hearing comes as Republicans have accused FBI and DoJ of political bias in investigations of Trump and Biden’s son

House Republicans grilled the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Christopher Wray, at a frequently contentious committee hearing on Wednesday. While Republicans accused the FBI of political bias in its handling of investigations into Donald Trump and Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, Democrats derided the attacks on the bureau as a smokescreen driven by conspiracy theories.

The Republican chair of the House judiciary committee, Congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio, kicked off the hearing with a litany of complaints about the FBI’s alleged targeting of rightwing leaders and activists, lamenting the supposed “double standard that exists now in our justice system”. Jordan suggested that the allegedly misguided leadership of Wray, a Trump appointee, could jeopardize government funding for the FBI’s planned new headquarters.

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Iowa Republicans consider six-week abortion ban during special session

Bill faces few hurdles from being passed as state’s house, senate and governor’s office are all Republican-controlled

Iowa’s state legislature held a special session on Tuesday ahead of voting on a bill the same day that would ban most abortions at around six weeks of pregnancy, when most people don’t yet know they are pregnant. The state is the latest in the country to vote on legislation restricting reproductive rights after the overturning of Roe v Wade last year, which ended the nationwide constitutional right to abortion.

Iowa’s Republican governor, Kim Reynolds, called for the special session last week, vowing to “continue to fight against the inhumanity of abortion” and calling the “pro-life” movement against reproductive rights “the most important human rights cause of our time”. Lawmakers in the GOP-controlled legislature will debate house study bill 255, which was released on Friday and seeks to prohibit abortions at the first sign of cardiac activity except in certain cases such as rape or incest.

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Republican fabulist George Santos compares himself to Rosa Parks

Congressman who has pleaded not guilty to 13 fraud-related counts condemned as ‘disgrace’ by prospective opponent

George Santos, the Republican congressman whose résumé has been shown to be largely fabricated and who has pleaded not guilty to 13 counts of fraud, money laundering and theft of public funds, stoked outrage by comparing himself to the great civil rights campaigner Rosa Parks.

“Rosa Parks didn’t sit in the back, and neither am I gonna sit in the back,” Santos told Mike Crispi Unafraid, a rightwing podcast.

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Ron DeSantis cannot ‘out-Trump Trump’ in primary, Ocasio-Cortez says

Democratic congresswoman says rightwing Florida governor, trailing Trump in the polls, has made ‘very large, critical errors’

Ron DeSantis has made “very large, critical errors” in the Republican presidential primary, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said, the biggest of which is the Florida governor’s attempt to “out-Trump Trump” and appeal to the hard-right GOP base.

“The dynamics of these races change from day to day,” the New York progressive congresswoman told MSNBC. “I think that Governor DeSantis has made some very large, critical errors.

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Trump attacks ‘no personality’ DeSantis and repeats election lies in Nevada

Former president who dominates Republican primary finds receptive audience at Las Vegas rally

Donald Trump attacked Ron DeSantis at a rally in Las Vegas on Saturday, saying his closest challenger for the Republican presidential nomination had “no personality” – but claiming responsibility for the Florida governor’s career on the national stage.

Trump also repeated his lie about electoral fraud in his 2020 defeat by Joe Biden, to a receptive audience, before high-fiving fans at a mixed martial event.

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