Bannon boosts Flake challenger, snubs Trump plea to back off

In this Aug. 30, 2016, file photo, former state Sen. Kelli Ward concedes to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., during her primary election night party in Scottsdale, Ariz. President Donald Trump's former chief strategist Steve Bannon is boosting multiple challengers to GOP incumbents and the party's preferred candidates in next year's midterm elections /The Arizona Republic via AP) less FILE - In this Aug. 30, 2016, file photo, former state Sen. Kelli Ward concedes to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., during her primary election night party in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Ex-Donald Trump advisor Steve Bannon takes aim at Republican…

President Donald Trump 's former chief strategist Steve Bannon has declared war on the Republican establishment, and now he's amassing his troops. They include a convicted felon, a perennial candidate linked to an environmental conspiracy theory and a Southern lawmaker known for provocative ethnic and racial comments.

AP Source: Blackwater Founder Considering Wyo. Senate Bid

Blackwater Worldwide founder Erik Prince is considering a Republican primary challenge to Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, a senior member of the Senate GOP leadership team, in a race that could pit the party's establishment against insurgents fueled by allies of President Donald Trump. Prince was in Wyoming this weekend to discuss a possible Senate campaign with family members and has been encouraged to run by Steve Bannon, a former top White House strategist to Trump, according to a person who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the private deliberations.

Blackwater Founder Considering Wyoming Senate Bid, AP Reports

Blackwater Worldwide founder Erik Prince is considering a Republican primary challenge to Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, a senior member of the Senate GOP leadership team, in a race that could pit the party's establishment against insurgents fueled by allies of President Donald Trump. Prince was in Wyoming this weekend to discuss a possible Senate campaign with family members and has been encouraged to run by Steve Bannon, a former top White House strategist to Trump, according to a person who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the private deliberations.

Bannon expands his list of Senate Republican targets for 2018

Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon is expanding his efforts to unseat sitting Senate Republicans in primaries next year. In the two weeks since Bannon-backed former judge Roy Moore defeated Sen. Luther Strange in Alabama's Republican primary, Bannon has expanded his map of targets in the 2018 midterms and ramped up his efforts to establish a donor network to fund his slate of insurgent candidates.

Roy Moore in 2009: ‘Only thing I know that the Islamic faith has done in this country is 9/11’

Republican nominee for US Senate in Alabama Roy Moore said in a 2009 speech that the only thing that Muslims had done in the United States was the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Moore, a hard-right conservative who beat out establishment candidate Luther Strange in the Republican primary, is now facing Democrat Doug Jones in a special election set for December 12. The former Alabama chief justice has in the past made a series of controversial remarks about Islam, including earlier this year calling it a "false religion."

White House to release immigration demands to Congress by next week

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders announced Thursday that President Trump will roll out his priorities for immigration reform by next Wednesday. "The president will be laying out his responsible immigration plan over the next week," Sanders told reporters during the briefing.

Nine months in, Rep. Martha McSally is Arizona’s most reliable vote for Trump agenda

The state's GOP members voted less reliably with the Trump administration between July and September than during the first six months of the year. Nine months in, Rep. Martha McSally is Arizona's most reliable vote for Trump agenda The state's GOP members voted less reliably with the Trump administration between July and September than during the first six months of the year.

With or without Trump, GOP insurgency plans for a civil war in 2018 midterms

The next Republican revolution began last week on a bright blue bus parked at a nighttime rally in Montgomery, Ala., days before a firebrand GOP candidate won the state's Senate primary. But unlike previous Republican revolutionaries, the hard-line figures who stepped out to cheers did not want to yank the party to the right on age-old issues such as taxes or spending.

Scalise makes emotional return to Capitol Hill months after shooting

House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, who was at "imminent risk of death" when he was rushed to the hospital with a gunshot wound 15 weeks ago, made a dramatic return to the U.S. Capitol on Thursday. Scalise entered the House chamber on crutches to a roar of bipartisan applause, embraced several of his colleagues and delivered his first floor remarks since the June 14 shooting.

How Roy Moore won the first battle of the anti-McConnell war

All the Republican establishment's money and muscle couldn't stop culture warrior Roy Moore from ousting Sen. Luther Strange here Tuesday night. Now, suddenly, other outsider candidates see a much bigger opening to make Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell a villain and turn the party on its head in the 2018 midterms.

Republican leaders: Senate wona t vote on Obamacare repeal

Facing assured defeat, Republican leaders decided Tuesday not to even hold a vote on the GOP's latest attempt to repeal the Obama health care law, surrendering on their last-gasp effort to deliver on the party's banner campaign promise. Leaving a lunch of Republican senators who'd gathered to discuss their next steps on the issue, Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and other leaders decided that "the votes are not there, not to have the vote."

It’s Pence vs. Bannon in final day of Alabama Senate race

Sen. Luther Strange and Roy Moore are into the final hours of a hard-fought intra-party campaign that is testing President Donald Trump's influence with Republican voters and could set the stage for a series of GOP Senate primaries next year. The final day of campaigning here features Vice President Mike Pence as Strange's most visible advocate and Steve Bannon, the recently ousted former White House chief strategist, stumping for Moore.

Trump privately tries to mend fences with Senate Republicans

Over the summer, Trump had a contentious phone call with Murkowski and also berated her on Twitter, accusing her of letting the country down for voting against GOP plans to gut Obamacare. But behind the scenes, Trump has since tried to make nice, inviting her to a private lunch earlier this month -- something that seems to have defused tensions, at least for now.

Trump Drives Wedge Between Candidates and His Base

Charlie Cook : "There are now signs that President Trump is succeeding in driving a wedge in the GOP between his base and the Republican Congress, blaming his own party for a lack of progress on Capitol Hill, something that could spell trouble for incumbents like Dean Heller in Nevada, Jeff Flake in Arizona, and possibly others." "The danger is two-fold.