House GOP takes ax to Democratic clean energy credits with debt ceiling proposal

Jeremy Beaman

April 19, 04:32 PM April 19, 04:32 PM

House Republicans proposed new debt ceiling legislation Wednesday that would repeal nearly a dozen clean energy subsidies recently authorized by the Democratic Inflation Reduction Act as a way to reduce federal spending.

The GOP proposal would cut or shrink numerous of the tax credits that President Joe Biden and Democrats in Congress signed off on in August to expand renewable energy technologies, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and accelerate their climate change agenda, including the new tax credit for consumer purchases of used electric vehicles.

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Other tax credits that would be repealed include the law's zero-emission nuclear power credit and the new tax $7,500 hundred tax credit for light-duty electric vehicles purchased for commercial use.

The debt ceiling bill also includes elements of HR 1, the House Republican sweeping energy proposal that would increase domestic production of fossil fuels and ease permitting for mining.

"The Limit, Save, Grow Act will limit federal spending, save taxpayers trillions of dollars, grow our economy, and lift the debt limit into next year," House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said. "This legislation will make us less dependent on the whims of the Chinese Communist Party and curb high inflation, all without touching Social Security or Medicare — because no one is hurt more by inflation than seniors."

Republicans have argued the Inflation Reduction Act's tax credits strengthen the advantage of China, which dominates various industries that produce batteries, solar products, and their upstream supply chains.

The law included language designed to bring those industries home or enable their expansion in trade partner countries, although some Democrats, most notably the chief author, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), have complained that the administration is implementing the law too liberally to achieve those goals.

The White House is blasting Republicans' effort to repeal Biden's signature achievement, flipping the script to say their proposal would favor China.

"Let's be clear what MAGA attacks on the Inflation Reduction Act would mean for American families," press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday. "Offshore tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs, including in districts many of these members actually represent."

The legislation unveiled Wednesday is McCarthy's first offer in talks with Biden to raise the federal debt ceiling. The limit must be raised by some time this summer or early fall to prevent the Treasury from defaulting on the debt, a prospect the Treasury has said would create massive economic turmoil. Biden has said that he won't negotiate with Republicans over raising the debt limit and has challenged the House GOP to produce a budget resolution to show their plans for taxing and spending.

WATCH: The View host accuses GOP of 'playing God' with abortion bans

Julia Johnson

April 17, 01:43 PM April 17, 01:43 PM

The View sounded off on stances Republican politicians took on abortion in the past week, slamming Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) in particular.

Sara Haines claimed that Republican states banning abortions after a certain number of weeks are "playing God."

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She further alleged that "11 of the 13 states that are making these rulings aren’t considering the mom." However, of the 13 states that have near-total abortion bans, each provides exceptions to save the life of the mother in emergencies.

Haines said that these states are "choosing between lives," adding that "it came from a place of religious saving a life ... and now you’re saving certain lives and not other lives."

"And it’s a party that won’t do any social programs, so, like, you care about life, but then they come in and we're not going to spend on a life," she added.

She also criticized Scott, who recently said he would sign the most conservative legislation that was passed on abortion, regardless of weeks.

"He just kept saying the 'most conservative,' which is not an idea or a philosophy on it. He just wanted to be like, 'I'll go the most conservative,' not telling you why, not delving into weeks — and just for his knowledge — that's how you track a pregnancy is by weeks, so maybe he should learn the weeks he wants to use when he's talking about this," she said.

The hosts also discussed DeSantis's recent signing of a six-week abortion ban in Florida.

Ana Navarro slammed the law's passage as both "indefensible" and "stupid." According to her, it's just an example of the "extremism that Ron DeSantis is capable of."

Scott recently announced his launch of an exploratory committee for a presidential run in 2024. While DeSantis hasn't made any such announcement, he recently traveled to the key primary state of New Hampshire and is expected to launch a campaign in the summer.

Nancy Mace blasts GOP for 'not offering any type of solution to reduce gun violence'

Ryan King

April 16, 12:02 PM April 16, 12:02 PM

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) took on her own party for failing to propose solutions for curtailing the epidemic of gun violence occurring throughout the nation.

"We've not learned anything from the midterm elections if we're going to sit here on our hands silently, not offering any type of solution to reduce gun violence in our country. And it's not about gun control," Mace said on WHD News Sunday.

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Over recent weeks, there have been multiple mass shootings, including one that left five dead at a Louisville bank, the Covenant school shooting, which left three children and three adults dead, and most recently, a shooting in which four people were killed at a birthday party in Alabama.

The congresswoman argued that there are plenty of solutions "besides offering prayers and silence." She cited efforts to bolster background checks as an example.

"We have all these databases at the federal and state level that are all over the place. There's not one piece of software where you can merge all that information together to know in 60 seconds whether or not this is a bad guy trying to buy a gun," Mace suggested. "It doesn't have to be complicated, but we need to show leadership."

Mace also recalled how she and her children were a "mile away down the road" from a mass shooting in South Carolina that transpired on Good Friday.

"I'm a constitutional conservative, but I'll tell you, Shannon, about a week ago, my kids and I were a mile away from a mass shooting in South Carolina where six people were shot. We saw the immediate aftermath," Mace recalled. "They said, 'Hey, Mommy, where is the Amber Alert to let us know that we're near a mass shooting and maybe we should have taken cover.'"

Mace is no stranger to bucking her party, particularly on hot-button social matters. She recently joined some progressives in urging the Biden administration to ignore a Texas court ruling freezing approval for a pill used to induce abortions.

During the interview, Mace described herself as a "pro-life legislator" who favors "15 to 20 weeks" of gestational restrictions on abortion.

"Republicans haven't won the majority — the popular vote — in years when it comes to the presidency, and that's something we need to work on and do better. And this is an issue that we can win on," Mace added, referring to firearms.

Biden tested by abortion pill access fight with uncertain GOP

Naomi Lim

April 13, 07:30 AM April 13, 07:30 AM

President Joe Biden is under pressure to secure access to an abortion pill that is part of a two-drug regimen relied on by more than half the women nationwide terminating pregnancies every year.

But while the White House remains mum on its contingency plan should it exhaust its legal options, Biden and Democrats are raising the ante on the political fight before next year's elections.

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Hours after a federal judge in Texas suspended the Food and Drug Administration's approval of mifepristone, Biden warned "virtually no prescription" will "be safe from these kinds of political, ideological attacks" if his decision is allowed to stand.

"The lawsuit, and this ruling, is another unprecedented step in taking away basic freedoms from women and putting their health at risk," Biden said in a statement. "It is the next big step toward the national ban on abortion that Republican elected officials have vowed to make law in America."

Biden, who has advocated Congress to codify Roe v. Wade, then underscored his opposition to U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk's decision before boarding Air Force One for his trip to Northern Ireland and Ireland.

“My thoughts are it’s completely out of bounds what the judge did,” Biden told reporters this week at Joint Base Andrews.

But similarly to how Biden and Democrats appear uncertain about how to respond to Kacsmaryk's highly anticipated decision, as they did after the Supreme Court overturned Roe, Republicans also differ on how to proceed following their underperformance in last November's midterm cycle due, in part, to Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. Conservatives additionally lost control of Wisconsin's Supreme Court last week after Justice-elect Janet Claire Protasiewicz defeated Daniel Kelly by more than 10 percentage points following a campaign that focused on abortion.

One Republican strategist emphasized Democrats' "extreme and unpopular positions," including encouraging people to "ignore" judicial decisions with which they disagree.

"However, Republican candidates in difficult races must remain conscious that blanket abortion bans are no longer a 50/50 issue in polling, and they must express a brand of compassionate conservatism that doesn't alienate voters in the middle," the operative said.

Republican pollster Whit Ayers advised GOP lawmakers and candidates to avoid "the extremes" concerning abortion, contending "the vast majority" of the public believes abortion should be permitted in "some circumstances" but not others. He asserted that not acknowledging that is to be "in denial."

"More than half of Americans know someone who has had an abortion or has had one themselves," he said. "So when you use very harsh language, calling people who have abortions 'murderers,' you're talking about people known to half of America, and that is politically toxic."

When asked whether abortion will motivate people to vote next November, Ayers replied he is "convinced" that "our grandchildren" will still be arguing about the topic because it is an emotional subject and there is no one answer that will satisfy everybody.

"The best we can do is try to reach some sort of consensus around an alternative position," he added.

As long as the debate is about abortion limits and not its legality, anti-abortion Republicans can "hold their own," according to Claremont McKenna College politics professor John Pitney.

"But after Dobbs, people worry that Republicans will go too far," he said. "Republican lawmakers need to be cautious in what they propose and how they talk about the issue. Unfortunately for them, the most extreme voices will get the most attention."

But for Heritage Action Executive Director Jessica Anderson, Republican lawmakers and candidates should point out Democratic "extremism," such as "abortion on demand" to "the final moment before birth" and "not providing lifesaving care" after a botched procedure.

"In situations where you had Republican candidates that were much more clear about supporting life and having reasonable exceptions, which is where the majority of Americans are, by the way — poll after poll shows that — then you saw electoral success," Anderson said. "It's really where you had Republicans that just refused to talk about the issue, they didn't engage, or they weren't clear and they were wishy-washy, that they lost — or they couldn't make a compelling argument to show the extremism [of Democrats]."

"The question now becomes 'Well, what's next?'" she went on. "Does this go to the Supreme Court and then become another iterative of this fight over how to protect life? Does the Biden administration weigh in a different route other than the FDA through an executive order?"

Another Republican strategist agreed the GOP should "be on offense" related to abortion.

"Be clear in your position, then call out the Left for being out of step with the American people," the operative said.

Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has repeated the White House is trying to avoid getting "ahead of the courts" amid Kacsmaryk's decision to issue a nationwide injunction despite mifepristone being available for the last two decades after what has been described as a quick approval process, the Justice Department's application for a stay and appeal, as well as a separate federal judge ruling that prevents the FDA from pulling mifepristone from the market.

"We are ready to prevail in the courts," Jean-Pierre told reporters on Air Force One en route to the United Kingdom and Ireland. "There's a process that we're going through that we're going to make sure that we win this, we win this on behalf of women across the country."

A day earlier, Jean-Pierre deflected questions about Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who last weekend put forward that Kacsmaryk's decision be ignored. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) amplified Ocasio-Cortez's position, telling CNN this week, "This thing should just be thrown out, quite frankly.”

"Look, we are going to always follow the law. Always," Jean-Pierre said. "But doesn't mean that we're not going to fight."

Nearly all Republican senators bow out of 2024 race, while governors gear up

Ryan King

February 26, 03:48 PM February 26, 03:48 PM

As the 2024 race heats up, Republican senators have kept a wide berth from the presidential arena.

Despite the Senate being packed with ambitious, big-name politicians, Republicans in the upper chamber have been hesitant about going toe-to-toe with former President Donald Trump in a marked departure from past elections. Meanwhile, hoards of Republican governors are gearing up for a potential run.

MANCHIN SIDESTEPS QUESTION ABOUT WHETHER HE WILL RUN FOR SENATE IN 2024

Back in the 2016 cycle, at least five of the 17 major Republicans served in the Senate at one point, including Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Rand Paul (R-KY), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Rick Santorum (R-PA), who is no longer a senator.

This time, however, virtually all of the top Republican senators have declined to run and have actively refrained from cultivating buzz about them running.

Multiple prominent Republicans, such as Cruz, Josh Hawley (R-MO), and Rick Scott (R-FL), are up for reelection in the Senate. The trio has maintained that they will stick to running for reelection rather than enter the 2024 presidential lions' den.

Some of those three, particularly Cruz, maintained an active profile in the 2022 election cycle, crisscrossing the country or headlining fundraisers on behalf of Republicans in the midterm elections.

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), the 2012 Republican nominee who is also up for reelection and has been an unabashed critic of Trump, has been clear he has no intentions of running either. He also has not committed to vying for a second term in the upper chamber.

Even prominent Republicans who aren't up for reelection in the 2024 cycle, such as Sens. Tom Cotton (R-AK), Rubio, and Paul, have seemingly passed on a 2024 stint.

Perhaps the one major exception is Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), who has embarked on a "Faith in America" listening tour that featured sessions in South Carolina and Iowa as he eyes an entrance into the 2024 fray.

This is a stark departure from most election cycles since 2000, in which Senators played a pronounced role in presidential primaries. Instead of Senators, the 2024 Republican season is shaping up to be rife with governors.

Trump's first major GOP primary challenge was former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. His top speculated foe is Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R). Meanwhile, a bevy of current and former Republican governors, such as Chris Sununu (NH), Chris Christie (NJ), Asa Hutchinson (AK), Larry Hogan (MD), Glenn Youngkin (VA), and Kristie Noem (SD), are eyeing the 2024 field.

Former Vice President Mike Pence, who is mulling a run, also previously served as governor of Indiana.

Trump and DeSantis consistently dominate the polling of the 2024 GOP field, with no other candidates clinching double-digits, according to the latest RealClearPolitics polling aggregate.

Who Jon Tester's top GOP challengers could be in 2024

Brady Knox

February 22, 07:35 PM February 22, 07:36 PM

Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), who announced he is running for reelection on Wednesday, will face his toughest challenge yet in 2024 in the deeply red state.

Tester, 66, has survived three terms in the state won by former President Donald Trump by 16 points in 2020 by positioning himself as a Democratic centrist. In 2024, however, the Republican Party will be eager to claim one of the Democrats' most vulnerable Senate seats, and several Republicans could potentially challenge the incumbent Democrat.

JON TESTER ANNOUNCES REELECTION BID FOR CRUCIAL DEMOCRATIC SEAT

The state's two Republican House members, governor, and attorney general are Tester's most likely challengers, having all generated some buzz about a Senate run, according to Politico.

Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT)

Matt Rosendale appears eager for a rematch after being defeated by Tester in 2018. He won a seat in the Montana House of Representatives in 2010, then a seat in the Montana Senate in 2012. In 2016, he was elected as Montana's state auditor, readily beating his Democratic opponent by 8 points, despite being outspent 4-to-1, according to his campaign website. In what became the most expensive election in Montana history, with nearly $70 million spent between the two, Rosendale was defeated by Tester in the 2018 Senate election. He lost by 3.5 points despite a Trump endorsement.

Rosendale went on to win a seat in the House of Representatives in 2020, then was reelected in 2022.

He is considered one of the front runners for the 2024 Senate, with strong conservative credentials.

Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT)

Ryan Zinke became the first Navy SEAL to be elected to the House of Representatives in 2014, going on to serve two years in the Trump administration as secretary of the interior. In 2022, he was reelected to the House of Representatives.

Zinke passed on the 2018 Senate race due to his position in the Trump administration but could now be poised to throw his hat in the 2024 race.

Gov. Greg Gianforte (R-MT)

Greg Gianforte won Zinke's seat in the House of Representatives in 2017, which was vacated after Zinke accepted a Cabinet position in the Trump administration. Gianforte gained widespread media attention after bodyslamming Ben Jacobs, a reporter for the Guardian, for which Gianforte pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge in 2017. He went on to win reelection the next year but chose not to run in 2020 in favor of running for the governor's seat, which he won.

Gianforte's website boasts that the state has seen its all-time lowest unemployment rate in the state's history under his tenure, at 2.3%. The state also created the most jobs in a single year, at 51,508, according to his website. Though not signaling a possible run, his high profile could mean he is a likely contender in 2024.

State Attorney General Austin Knudsen

After a stint in the Montana House of Representatives, Austin Knudsen was elected state attorney general in 2020. His website stresses his conservative law-and-order credentials, using his position as county prosecutor to increase prosecutions and jail time for violent offenders. He has continued this pattern in his position as attorney general. While not hinting at a Senate run, chatter has been swirling around him about 2024, according to Politico.

Asa Hutchinson slams Trump 2024 as ‘worst scenario' for Republicans

Rachel Schilke

December 14, 11:10 AM December 14, 11:12 AM

Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R-AR) is the latest GOP leader to speak out against former President Donald Trump's reelection campaign, stating that his 2024 bid for the White House is the "worst scenario" for the party.

Hutchinson, who is laying the groundwork for his presidential bid, said in an interview with the that he would not rule out supporting Trump if he were the GOP nominee but that his candidacy would only aid the Democrats and President Joe Biden in securing a win.

“That’s really the worst scenario,” Hutchinson said regarding another showdown between Trump and Biden. “That’s almost the scenario that Biden wishes for. And that’s probably how he got elected the first time. It became, you know, a binary choice for the American people between the challenges that we saw in the Trump presidency, particularly the closing days, versus Biden, who he made it that choice.”

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Hutchinson, however, has previously said he would not support Trump in 2024, stating that his irresponsible behavior is not something the people want to see in a president.

The Arkansas governor also denounced Trump's calls to terminate the Constitution, saying the former president's words were "so out of line and out of step with America that it almost does not deserve a response."

“It hurts our country,” he said. “I mean, any leader, former president that says suspend the Constitution is tearing at the fabric of our democracy. And so we want to make sure that the people know that it’s Republicans that support the rule of law.”

He is not the only GOP leader worried about how Trump's reelection bid will reflect on the Republican Party. Several are concerned that the House and Senate, as well as the White House, could slip from GOP grasp if the party splits over backing Trump or moving forward with someone else.

Many blame Trump for the lackluster performance of the Republicans in the 2022 midterm elections, particularly after the GOP lost heavily in key states such as Arizona, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, and New Hampshire.

However, Hutchinson does not think the midterm elections reflect citizens' rejection of the Republican Party as a whole, just their aversion to select candidates.

“The midterm elections made it clear to me that the GOP needs a bold agenda, but also new voices that’s articulating what our party stands for, the direction we want to take our country,” Hutchinson said.

Hutchinson joins several other Republicans who have teased or even announced bids for the 2024 presidency. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) is maintaining a high favorable rating, with many polls showing Trump trailing him significantly.

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Despite widespread negative feelings against Trump, Hutchinson said he does not believe the GOP will make the same mistake it did in 2016 and attempt to block Trump by splitting the vote. Early primaries in caucus states can be expected to bring out new Republican candidates, he said.

"I think it will be much more methodical this cycle than what we’ve seen in previous years,” he said. “And I think that competition is good and it’s healthy.”

‘Don’t like this’: RNC chief Ronna McDaniel eschews blaming Trump for midterm woes

Ryan King

December 12, 01:08 PM December 12, 01:08 PM

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel refrained from blaming former President Donald Trump for the GOP's midterm drubbing on Monday, insisting she's "not into the blame game right now."

Underscoring how many Trump-backed candidates, such as Sens.-elect J.D. Vance (R-OH) and Ted Budd (R-NC), won their respective races, McDaniel stressed that the party has still not fully grappled with the ramifications of the overturn of Roe v. Wade and that it's too early to assign blame.

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"I don't like this. I don't like these parceling out because he supported Ted Budd, who won, and he supported J.D. Vance, who won. I think there's a lot of things — that's why I put together an after-action report," McDaniel told Fox Business's Stuart Varney when pressed if Trump played any role in some of the GOP's midterm losses. "We should be talking about the amount of ticket-splitting."

Pondering why many voters opted for one Republican and not another, McDaniel contended the party needs to work to counter that in the future. An analysis from a Republican firm found that split-ticket voting helped spell doom for Republicans in the midterm elections, in which they dramatically underperformed expectations. McDaniel has also blamed the rampant split-ticket voting for the party's midterm ails.

This was apparent in Georgia, where Republican Gov. Brian Kemp won handily while Senate Republican contender Herschel Walker suffered a narrow loss.

At one point, Varney interjected and asked if Trump was the impetus for voters splitting their votes, but McDaniel refused to go there.

"I'm saying I'm not into the blame game right now. I think we've got to do an analysis. I think it's too quick," she shot back. "This infighting within our party is never going to help out."

A chorus of Republicans such as former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Vice President Mike Pence, and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, among others, have thrown shade at Trump for the lackluster midterm performance, implying his brashness has been off-putting to independent voters. Some, such as Christie, have also accused Trump of elevating weaker candidates in the primary cycle.

Trump debuted his 2022 campaign last month and has shrugged off such criticisms.

McDaniel is embroiled in a battle for another term atop the RNC amid simmering frustrations over the party's midterm performance and coziness with Trump. Outgoing Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) bowed out of the race, but McDaniel is still facing a challenge from California lawyer Harmeet Dhillon and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell.

Newsom nemesis Kevin Kiley vows to upend DC as California's newest House member

Tori Richards

November 24, 07:00 AM November 24, 07:12 AM

The biggest thorn in California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s side is now headed to Congress as part of the Golden State's mini-red wave.

For the past six years, Assemblyman Kevin Kiley has dogged Newsom and liberal legislators about everything from the gas tax to school closures to excessive spending. He mounted a campaign against a single-payer healthcare bill that went down in flames, giving the GOP a rare victory in the state.

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The maverick conservative was arguably the lone voice on social media blasting the supermajority Democratic machine for all the ills befalling California. Now Kiley says he is ready to do the same to the Biden administration and any congressional member who steps in line with outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).

“This has been a terrible last two years for our country, everything has moved in the wrong direction in public safety, immigration, and the economy,” Kiley, 37, told the Washington Examiner. “We need to get the country on the right track.”

He has been on a continuous crusade this year to bring down the cost of gas, introducing several bills to delete the gas tax as other blue states have done. All of his legislation has died in committee.

“Newsom says oil companies are 'ripping you off.' It's his government that is ripping us off. Californians pay the highest gas taxes and drive on the worst roads,” Kiley tweeted in September.

Kiley has a blunt yet facetious way of speaking to the electorate that let him cruise to victory in two assembly elections and then pull past congressional rival Kermit Jones, a Democrat, with a 5-point margin.

His Twitter feed is filled with observations about daily life that he finds unbearable: a state law muzzling doctors who speak out about COVID-19, low test scores for schoolchildren, or why the electrical grid is causing blackouts.

He plans to use this direct approach in working with other GOP members who have similar approaches, such as Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH). Kiley also said he will vote for Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) for House speaker.

“I’m talking to Jim Jordan and a lot of other members of our conference who are thinking the same way about getting results,” Kiley said. “The economy and immigration are top priorities right now.”

Other items on his to-do list include ferreting out corruption at the Department of Justice, “what they are doing with 87,000 IRS agents,” and “mistakes on healthcare with COVID.”

“There has been no oversight on Pelosi’s watch, and that is about to change,” Kiley said.

When asked what committee assignments he will request, Kiley demurred, saying he’s evaluating the process.

But it’s a safe bet he will use his background as an attorney in some capacity as he did as a state legislator, drilling into legislation and then arguing his point to voters.

Since he was elected in 2016, Kiley fought against taxation, spending, and downgrading state laws to clear out the prisons. But his activism ramped up a few notches when Newsom took office two years later.

In 2021, Kiley became one of the leading drivers of the Newsom recall movement and even wrote a book titled Recall Newsom: The Case Against America’s Most Corrupt Governor.

Kiley jumped into the recall race, finishing sixth in a crowded pool of candidates who wanted to take the governor’s job if he was voted out. Newsom prevailed with 62% of the vote.

“Why, in California, when we sacrifice the most, do we get the least in return?” Kiley said at the time. “We have the worst roads, poverty, homeless, and the most secure lockdowns during COVID. The answer is political corruption.”

He then accused Newsom of selling his office to the highest bidder in a June 27, 2021, tweet. Kiley also had a few words for Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA).

“Newsom’s appointed senator Alex Padilla says the Recall ‘threatens our values.’ He’s right. It’s a vital threat to a decadent political class that values nothing but its own power,” Kiley tweeted.

Leaving California politics for a bigger stage now begs the question for the state’s outnumbered conservative base: Who is going to fill the hole?

Kiley ticked off the names of several legislators he said are up for the fight, along with several newly elected members.

“I know that there is going to be a constitutional fight at the state Capitol, and I hope to assist those efforts as much as possible,” he said. “I want to continue to focus attention on state government in California.”

Former senior GOP aide convicted of funneling illegal Russian money to Trump campaign

Brady Knox

November 18, 01:35 AM November 18, 01:35 AM

A former senior Republican operative was convicted of helping a Russian national funnel funds to Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

Jesse Benton, 45, was found guilty of helping concoct the scheme on behalf of Russian millionaire Roman Vasilenko, the Washington Post reported. Benton schemed with another political operative to funnel $25,000 from Vasilenko to Trump through himself while pocketing an additional $75,000 from the Russian businessman, the Justice Department wrote. With that money, Vasilenko was able to attend a Republican National Committee event where he met and got a picture with Trump.

Benton was able to hide Vasilenko’s contribution by having him wire the money to his political consulting firm, at which point Benton donated some of it to the Trump campaign under his own name.

FORMER RON, RAND PAUL AIDE ACQUITTED IN CAMPAIGN FRAUD CASE

“To disguise the scheme, Benton created a fake invoice, which falsely identified the funds as payment for consulting services. Benton acted as a straw donor and contributed $25,000 of the Russian foreign national’s money to the campaign, falsely identified himself as the contributor, and pocketed the remaining $75,000,” a press release from the DOJ read. “Because Benton falsely claimed to have given the contribution himself, the relevant campaign entities unwittingly filed reports with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) that inaccurately reported Benton — instead of the Russian foreign national — as the source of the funds.”

On Thursday, Benton was convicted of “conspiring to solicit and cause an illegal campaign contribution by a foreign national, effecting a conduit contribution, and causing false records to be filed with the FEC,” which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. His sentencing is set for Feb. 17.

Benton’s attorney told the Washington Post that he “maintains his innocence and plans to appeal.”

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Benton was previously convicted of filing false statements in a scheme to funnel money from Ron Paul’s 2012 presidential campaign to an Iowa politician who supported Paul, Axios reported but was pardoned by Trump in the final days of his presidency.

The veteran GOP operative previously worked as a senior aide to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY). He is married to Paul’s niece.

One more to go: GOP on verge of clinching House majority

Ryan King

November 15, 10:20 AM November 15, 10:27 AM

A week out from the midterm elections, Republicans are close to grasping power in the House — with just one seat to go.

Following incumbent California Reps. Ken Calvert's (R) and Michelle Steel's (R) projected victories, Republicans hold 217 seats, just shy of the 218-vote threshold needed to capture the lower chamber. Democrats have at least 204.

CALIFORNIA WINS MOVE GOP CLOSER TO HOUSE CONTROL

The GOP entered the midterm cycle as the clear favorite to capture the House on an anticipated red wave propelled by favorable historical headwinds, dismal approval ratings for the party in power, a bleak economic outlook, and myriad troubles for the party in power. But on election night, the prophesied red wave did not materialize.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) had crowed that the GOP was likely to snatch dozens of seats in the midterm elections, but so far on net, it gained about half a dozen. Stunned by the dismal outing, some Republicans have begun pointing the blame at poor candidate quality, backlash to the overturn of Roe v. Wade, and ineffective strategy.

Others have directed their ire at former President Donald Trump, who flexed his kingmaker role in primaries and is famous for a slash-and-dash style of politics. Trump is set to make a "very big" announcement at Mar-a-Lago Tuesday evening that some have speculated could be his 2024 debut.

The slim margins Republicans are projected to attain in the House complicate McCarthy's pathway to the speaker's gavel, something that he has pursued for years. Conservative firebrand Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) has vowed to vote against him and hypothesized that he lacks the votes given that McCarthy needs 218 votes to win the gavel.

House Republicans are expected to hold a vote on party leadership Tuesday, and a candidate will need to cross the 218-vote threshold during a full floor vote with the new Congress to become speaker.

About a dozen races remain uncalled, according to the New York Times. Republicans lead on the popular vote count for House races, 52.6 million to about 48 million, per the Cook Political Report, but that edge is expected to narrow as further votes get tabulated.

One projection by NBC News has the GOP on track to win 220 seats in the House. The party has already lost its chance to retake the Senate, with Democrats securing 50 seats and holding the tiebreaker vote via Vice President Kamala Harris.

DeSantis leads Trump by double digits in key states, conservative polling memo shows

Asher Notheis

November 14, 07:13 PM November 14, 07:13 PM

Polls conducted for a prominent conservative organization show Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) boasting a large lead over former President Donald Trump in hypothetical one-on-one matches in several key states.

A polling memo from WPA Intelligence, which performed the surveys on behalf of Club for Growth Action, found Trump trailing DeSantis by double digits in the Iowa caucus, New Hampshire primary, Florida primary, and Georgia primary.

The biggest leads for DeSantis are in Florida, with 56% compared to Trump's 30%, and in Georgia, at 55% against Trump's 35%. In all four states, the numbers have only gotten better for DeSantis, while support for Trump has waned.

“Republicans need to be united behind a strong candidate and a platform that shows voters real solutions to beat Biden and the Democrats in 2024," said a statement from Club for Growth President David McIntosh. "Our polling shows that Republican primary voters recognize Trump’s insults against Republicans as hollow and counterproductive, and it’s taking a significant toll on his support."

MICHELLE OBAMA WITHHOLDS ENDORSEMENT OF BIDEN 2024 PRESIDENTIAL BID

Iowa and New Hampshire stand out as the early voting states, while Florida is where both men now reside, and Georgia is the location of a coming Georgia run-off election between Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker and incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA). in Georgia, Trump “could help Republicans” by delaying an announcement for the 2024 election until afterwards, McIntosh told the Washington Examiner.

The polls were conducted among 508 likely Iowa Republican caucus voters, 401 likely New Hampshire Republican primary voters, 1,044 likely Florida Republican primary voters, and 843 likely Georgia Republican primary voters. The data was collected from Nov. 11 through Nov. 13, and the margins of error were 4.4 percentage points for Iowa, 4.9 points for New Hampshire, 3 points for Florida, and 3.4 points for Georgia.

Trump is slated to make an announcement from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Tuesday night, and it is widely expected that this will be his declaration of a 2024 presidential bid. President Joe Biden, who beat Trump in the 2020 presidential election, has not announced a reelection bid but has said he intends to run again.

DeSantis, who just handily won reelection as Florida governor, has not made any announcement about the 2024 presidential election but is seen by many as a top contender if he does. Several people close to Trump have stated that DeSantis should not run for president in 2024.

A spokesman for Trump issued a defiant statement in response to the polling. Taylor Budowich, who heads MAGA, Inc., said polling from the Club for Growth is "consistently wrong" and insisted, “When they cross Trump, they lose, and that’s not going to change,” according to Politico.

GOP-led health committees would probe fentanyl crisis and COVID-19 origins

Abigail Adcox

November 06, 03:00 AM November 06, 03:00 AM

Republicans are aiming to conduct investigations into the Biden administration's pandemic spending, the origins of the coronavirus, and the tech industry's role in the fentanyl crisis if they take control of the House and Senate next week.

GOP leaders slotted to succeed their Democratic colleagues on key health committees have indicated they plan to scrutinize Big Tech to do more to crack down on illegal fentanyl sales on their platforms and oversee how the Department of Health and Human Services will implement new drug pricing policies under Democrats' Inflation Reduction Act, among other items.

As the majority party, Republicans would be able to drive their committees' legislative agendas and have the ability to issue subpoenas to compel testimony, setting up what could be a flurry of investigations into the Biden administration.

On the House side, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), the ranking member on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, is poised to take over as chairwoman. The committee has jurisdiction over a wide variety of areas, including substance abuse, biomedical research and development, Medicare, and Medicaid.

AUTHORITIES PROBE MISSOURI HOSPITAL FOR DENIAL OF ABORTION IN TEST OF BIDEN POLICY

Rodgers hinted in September that she plans to steer investigations into the administration's COVID-19 response.

"Overall, regarding the COVID response, the lockdowns, the decisions that were made in response to COVID, we want to look at the decisions that were made, what drove those decisions, and how we might want to approach that in the future," Rodgers told Punchbowl News.

A GOP aide on the committee said Republicans are looking at having Biden officials testify, including Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure.

"Nothing is off the table for our committee’s oversight work. From the prolonged school closures to the worsening fentanyl crisis, this administration’s agenda is harming our children, leading to more ‘deaths of despair,’ and betraying public trust. Energy and Commerce Republicans will lead a robust oversight strategy to hold the Biden administration accountable and inform policymaking to improve Americans’ quality of life,” Chris Krepich, a Republican spokesman for the House Energy and Commerce Committee, told the Washington Examiner.

Other priorities will be addressing the rate of deaths from fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that's 50 times stronger than heroin, through legislation and unwinding the COVID-19 public health emergency, according to the aide.

On the House Oversight and Reform Committee, the chamber's chief investigative arm, Rep. James Comer (R-KY) would be next to run the panel. Comer told the Washington Post he will prioritize investigations into the origins of COVID-19 and the federal dollars that supported research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which has been at the center of a lab leak theory, and the administration's COVID-19 spending.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) would be the most senior Republican in line to lead the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, with Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) retiring.

Paul has been a firebrand on the committee, getting into several heated exchanges with Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, accusing him of creating "superviruses" through National Institutes of Health funding that flowed to the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Fauci has repeatedly denied these claims.

While Paul has not indicated which committee spots he would want if his party has the majority, he has been adamant that investigations into the origins of COVID-19 will continue after Fauci retires at the end of this year.

“Fauci’s resignation will not prevent a full-throated investigation into the origins of the pandemic. He will be asked to testify under oath regarding any discussions he participated in concerning the lab leak,” Paul tweeted in August.

While Democrats on the health committees have led hearings focused on the coronavirus response during their tenure, Republicans would turn up the heat on the Biden administration, should they regain control.

Trump card: Forecast predicts Donald Trump is set to be the big winner on election night

Juliegrace Brufke

October 29, 01:17 PM October 29, 01:17 PM

Senate candidates endorsed by former President Donald Trump are largely faring well in their races, with most projected to prevail on election night, according to a new analysis by Newsweek released Friday.

The former president has thrown his support behind 22 candidates, with “more than 60 percent” expected to win their races on Nov. 8, the publication’s breakdown read.

Incumbents, including Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Rand Paul (R-KY), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Tim Scott (R-SC), Mike Lee (R-UT), James Lankford (R-OK), John Boozman (R-AR), John Hoeven (R-ND), and John Kennedy (R-LA), are expected to remain safe as they fight to retain their seats.

KARI LAKE TRIES TO TURN KINGMAKER BY BACKING BLAKE MASTERS, OTHER GOP HOPEFULS IN ARIZONA

While the incumbents backed by Trump mostly have a comfortable lead over their Democratic challengers, some of his endorsees remain in heated battles to retain or unseat Democrats in key swing states.

Polling has shown Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) with an edge over Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes (D-WI) in Wisconsin. Georgia GOP nominee Herschel Walker, who has faced a number of controversies, is neck-and-neck with Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA). Nevada GOP Senate nominee Adam Laxalt has closed the gap in his race against Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV). Pennsylvania GOP candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz has taken a slight lead over Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, who is recovering from a stroke, following a recent debate. Arizona GOP hopeful Blake Masters is within the margin of error in his race against Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ). And Ohio GOP Senate nominee J.D. Vance is now leading Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) by a small margin in the battleground state.

Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC), a Trump-backed candidate who was not mentioned in the Newsweek analysis, has also widened his lead over Democrat Cheri Beasley.

Now just two of Trump’s picks to serve in the upper chamber are expected to lose by significant margins, with Kelly Tshibaka (R-AK) trailing Trump critic Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) in Alaska, a state that uses a ranked choice voting system, and Connecticut GOP nominee Leora Levy significantly trailing Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT).

Despite Senate candidates backed by Trump mostly prevailing in their primaries and being expected to fare well on Election Day, the former president was less successful with his primary picks in the House, where six of his 27 endorsements lost. Some within the GOP voiced concerns over Trump’s involvement in the primaries, with critics of him taking aim at incumbents who backed impeachment fearing that it will be more difficult for far-right candidates to win swing and Democratic-leaning districts as a result.

The GOP's governing class

W. James Antle III

September 15, 11:00 PM September 15, 11:00 PM

Washington is the focus of the political competition this year, with both parties vying for control of a narrowly divided Congress two years ahead of the next race for the White House. But it is the governors’ mansions where much of the action is, including the Republicans’ most compelling attempts to provide a rival model of governance to that offered by the administration of President Joe Biden.

In the 50 states, there are 28 Republican governors and 22 Democratic chief executives. Thirty-six of these governorships are up for election in November, with a partisan breakdown of 20 Republican-held seats to 16 occupied by Democrats. Many in the former group are consciously trying to provide a contrast with Biden and a handful of them could wind up seeking the presidency themselves. The number of Democrats positioning themselves as emergency understudies for Biden should he not seek reelection is much smaller.

As Biden celebrated “historic progress pulling our economy out of the worst crisis in 100 years” over the summer, the Republican Governors Association was quick to shoot back that 16 of the 20 states with the lowest unemployment rates were led by GOP governors, while eight of the 10 states with the highest unemployment had Democratic governors, including Biden’s Delaware. Three times as many Republican-led states had unemployment rates below the national average as states holding that distinction with Democratic governors.

"Sky-high prices and still high inflation are crippling American families. While Republican governors work to provide relief, Joe Biden and Washington Democrats push through reckless tax and spend policies and continue with their lies and empty promises," RGA communications director Jesse Hunt said in a statement. "As Democrat governors double down on these failed policies, it comes as no surprise that red states have stronger economies."

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds led 21 other Republican governors in opposition to Biden’s student loan debt forgiveness plan. “As governors, we support making higher education more affordable and accessible for students in our states, but we fundamentally oppose your plan to force American taxpayers to pay off the student loan debt of an elite few — a plan that is estimated to cost the American taxpayer more than $2,000 each or $600 billion total, a price the people of our states cannot afford,” they wrote in an RGA-distributed letter. “Only 16-17 percent of Americans have federal student loan debt, and yet, your plan will require their debts be redistributed and paid by the vast majority of taxpayers.”

When the Biden White House sought to position itself as the lead defender of school reopening as the pandemic wound down — press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre described it as “the work of this president and that was the work of Democrats in spite of Republicans not voting for the American Rescue Plan,” the nearly $2 trillion spending bill that helped fuel record inflation — GOP governors made the case that they were on the cutting edge.

“By and large, Republican states really managed the pandemic better than some of these Democrat-led states because we listened to the individuals, we listened to businesses, we listened to families and kids and parents that were struggling through school and some of that remote learning and stuff,” New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu said at an RGA education presentation. “It was a quick stopgap to be sure, but we knew we had to get those schools open.”

“We've focused during the entire pandemic on making sure we balance lives and livelihoods,” Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey said at the event. “The key with COVID recovery was about transparency, being very upfront with what the situation was,” Sununu concurred. Oklahoma Gov. Kenny Sitt agreed, saying, “ COVID really shined a spotlight on parents’ rights and what was being taught in our school system.”

That’s what led to the victory of one of the most recently elected Republican governors, Glenn Youngkin of Virginia. Running in a state with two Democratic senators that Biden carried by 10 points, where a Republican governor hadn’t been elected since 2009, down in the polls as the early voting commenced, Youngkin ran successfully on the idea of parental control of education as his opponent embraced the teachers unions and bureaucracy.

Subsequent research indicated that while critical race theory and other liberal educational fads generated enthusiasm among the Republican base, it was parental involvement in the curriculum more broadly that moved independents’ votes. “At the end of the day, parents became the leaders of this movement,” Youngkin said at the RGA discussion. “We listened to parents, and we're going to include parents in our decision-making on a go-forward basis and give them a voice.”

"Much of the 2022 midterm attention has been directed at the balance of power in Congress, but one could argue that the battles for the various governors' mansions around the country are just as vital,” Republican strategist Ford O’Connell said. “Election watchers are rightly focused on the gubernatorial battles in Nevada, Wisconsin, Arizona, and Georgia.”

Tax and budget policy expert Chris Edwards authors the Cato Institute's biennial fiscal report card for the nation’s governors. “There is a deep bench of GOP governors who appear to be solid fiscal conservatives, such as the governors of Arizona, Arkansas, Iowa, South Dakota, Florida, Texas, Idaho, Nebraska, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, etc.,” he said. Edwards wouldn’t say who won in the newest (as yet unreleased) edition, but he noted New Hampshire’s Sununu, the last top performer, “has continued to perform very well — cutting taxes and restraining spending. And he's popular in public polling.”

Republican governors have their commonalities. “Democrats spend more, Republicans don’t,” said a GOP campaign operative involved in multiple gubernatorial races. “Democrats tax more, Republicans don’t.”

But the incumbent Republican governors can be broken down into three broad groups.

The Combatants

These are the governors who not only are the more combative with Democrats and left-wing power centers inside their own states, though in many cases their homes are conservative enough that there isn’t meaningful opposition. They have also been the first to push back against the Biden administration on economics, the environment, energy policy, healthcare, and on various fronts of the culture war.

The willingness of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, Arizona’s Ducey, Iowa’s Reynolds, and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp to mix it up with Biden and Democrats nationally puts them in presidential or vice presidential consideration. They will at a minimum be on vice presidential short lists in about a year’s time. Perhaps one or more will find themselves in the position to compile such a list.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis leads this group. Many Republican insiders the Washington Examiner spoke to put him in a category by himself. The 44-year-old would vault to early front-runner status for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination if former President Donald Trump retired tomorrow.

Either way, DeSantis is widely seen as marrying Trump’s pugilism and political instincts — “Crooked Hillary,” “Low Energy Jeb,” and belatedly “Sleepy Joe” sum up an opponent’s signature weakness as well as reams of professionally gathered opposition research — with the kind of sharp message discipline that persistently eluded the 45th president. And conservatives tend to group DeSantis with Trump in terms of understanding the stakes.

“The Left is playing for keeps,” DeSantis told the latest National Conservatism Conference in Miami. “This is not an easy fight because they have so much support across the commanding heights of society. It requires that, yes, we use common sense and, yes, we understand the issues and [are] correct on those.”

“But more and more, it requires that you do so by demonstrating courage under fire because if you stand up for what’s right, you are going to get attacked by the corporate press,” he continued. “You may get censored by Big Tech. You will get smeared by the opposition. If you’re not willing to take the arrows, you’re not going to get anything done. You’ve got to be willing to stand, and you’ve got to be willing to fight.”

DeSantis has taken on Walt Disney, the abortion rights lobby, LGBT activists, and the public health bureaucracy. He has done so not from the safest red state but in a traditional battleground where his 2018 margin of victory — yes, he was first elected statewide in a Democratic wave election year — was 0.4 percentage points.

In a lengthy presentation on DeSantis’s record, a spokesman tied together low 2.7% unemployment, sizable immigration to Florida in addition to high visitation, high educational attainment at a time when experts are lamenting a year or more of lost learning, and economic growth under the banner of the state’s COVID-19 response.

“When others locked people down, Florida lifted people up,” he said. “Florida followed data and science but refused to make policy decisions based on fear. Florida protected jobs, businesses, families and education, and freedom.”

Unaffiliated Republicans told the Washington Examiner much the same thing. “The governor's race in Florida may be the most important midterm race in the country because of its long-term implications,” O’Connell said. “Should Gov. DeSantis prevail, it sends a message to everyone that freedom, choice, and safety are what most Americans crave regardless of party."

Abbott in Texas has found himself at ground zero of the border crisis largely of Biden’s making. He has responded by constructing a state-funded border wall, a continuation of Trump’s signature campaign pledge at the federal level. His busing of immigrants to blue cities and to Vice President Kamala Harris’s doorstep has been denounced by the White House — Jean-Pierre has accused him of using the undocumented as political “pawns” — but has sent the message as these would-be sanctuary jurisdictions swiftly declare a state of emergency.

DeSantis for his part has sent the Florida National Guard to the southwestern border to help and has dispatched immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard, an affluent liberal playground. Ducey has sent busloads to Washington, D.C.

The Texas governor has also signed some of the strongest antiabortion measures in the country, even before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. He approved a “trigger law” if Roe fell. Abbott also signed the “heartbeat bill” banning abortions after six weeks, enforced civilly to evade the court’s pre-Dobbs strictures.

Kemp, as with Abbott and DeSantis, led the way on reopening after COVID-19 lockdowns. Despite standing up to Trump in the aftermath of the 2020 election, refusing to attribute Biden’s narrow win to massive voter fraud, his support for voter integrity laws made him a national Democratic target. Kemp’s voting laws were likened to Jim Crow by the president.

That has become illustrative of Kemp’s unique position. He has been attacked for voter suppression since his first election in 2018, when he was the incumbent secretary of state. He has been maligned for not signing up for “stop the steal.”

“He’s beaten Trump,” said a GOP operative, referring to Kemp’s easy primary win over Trump-endorsed former Sen. David Perdue (R-GA). “This will be the second time he’s beaten Stacey Abrams. Brian Kemp is someone who’s navigated the political environment extremely well.”

All of them have benefited from a climate of tax-cutting. “The dollar value of recent state tax cuts is the largest in at least four decades, prompted by large, often huge, budget surpluses in most states,” Edwards said. “More than 20 states have cut individual or corporate income tax rates the past few years.”

The Blue State Bulwarks

Some of the nation’s bluest states have repeatedly elected Republican governors. Five of the six Massachusetts governors since Michael Dukakis left office in 1991 have been Republicans. Every New England state has had at least one GOP chief executive since the turn of the century.

These governors tend not to be very conservative by national standards. They usually support legal abortion. They frequently flinch from culture war issues and are at best lukewarm supporters of Republican presidents and presidential candidates — if at all under Trump.

But they are some of the best-loved governors in the country. When Morning Consult last did its top 10 most popular governors feature, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, Vermont Gov. Phil Scott, and New Hampshire’s Sununu rounded out the top five. In April, Baker, Scott, and Hogan were the three most popular governors, in that order, all with job approval ratings among registered voters in excess of 70%. Sununu was sixth, with 63% approval. The Granite State isn't blue, but the others are reliably so.

For reference, that’s above Biden’s job approval rating nationally even after a modest rebound. Their numbers exceed Biden’s approval in all of those states, even after the president regained his popularity in them.

Competent technocrats all, these Republican governors hold the line on taxes, spending, and crime in highly liberal jurisdictions. They are often major obstacles to the corruption that can occur in one-party states and are more conservative than some of their predecessors. Hogan, for example, wrote in Ronald Reagan for president rather than Nelson Rockefeller.

It is nevertheless difficult to imagine any of them seriously running for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 or beyond, though Hogan would like to try. The Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision will likely further complicate this by making it even more challenging for an anti-abortion Republican — think former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who is also contemplating another presidential bid — to get elected governor of a blue state.

These Republican governors play an important role, but their national leadership potential inside the party is limited. They often decline even to mount home-state Senate campaigns, as Sununu did earlier this year.

The Institutionalists

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb — these leaders are considered, fairly or not, successful establishment Republicans. Those who define these ranks more exclusively by a GOP governor’s relationship with Trump may consider Ducey or Kemp miscategorized.

Then again, Trump endorsed DeWine, whose margin could help Senate candidate J.D. Vance across the finish line in November, for reelection by calling him an “outstanding person” who “quietly, but professionally and patriotically, goes about doing his job, and really well.”

The Atlantic described DeWine as “the ultimate Republican pragmatist, going as far right as necessary — but no further — to win and stay in office.” Most of them are centrists only in the sense that they are more conservative than the blue-staters and less so than the fighters. And any combatant could find themselves dropped into this category by picking too few fights for the base, as Noem risked with her veto of the transgender athletics bill in her state.

“There are two things that I think about when it comes to GOP governors,” Republican strategist John Feehery said. “First, how did they handle COVID? DeSantis, Kemp, Reynolds, Noem, and to a lesser extent Abbott all did a great job on COVID-19. Others, like Hogan, Baker, DeWine, the guy from Indiana? Not so much.”

“Second, how are they dealing with Trump? Are they slavishly devoted to him, relatively neutral, or openly antagonistic?” Feehery continued. “I think the politically strongest place is relatively neutral. I would put DeSantis and Reynolds in that camp.”

Federalism and fiscal conservatism help. “Data from the IRS clearly show that Americans are moving from high-tax to low-tax states,” Cato’s Edwards said. “For example, as widely known, they are moving out of New York and California and into Florida and Texas. But people are also moving into colder places that have very low taxes, including New Hampshire and South Dakota.”

“Interstate tax competition has been strengthened by the remote work trend, which has created more locational flexibility,” he added. “Furthermore, the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act magnified tax differences between the states by capping the federal deduction for state and local taxes.”

For years, gubernatorial experience was seen as a boon to presidential aspirations in both parties. But no governor has been president since George W. Bush left office after two terms in 2009. After his brother Jeb dropped out of the race following a poor performance in the South Carolina primary, none of the top-tier 2016 Republicans were current or former governors.

Trump was able to use his executive experience in business as a proxy for that kind of leadership when arguing he was more qualified than the senators who were his leading primary opponents.

Now Republicans could be looking for a different kind of executive leadership and have a deep roster from which to find it.

“Ultimately, somebody is going to have to beat Trump if they want to win the nomination,” Feehery said. “Trump mismanaged COVID. That’s his Achilles' heel.”

W. James Antle III is the Washington Examiner’s politics editor.

GOP demands instant solutions from FBI director Wray above Trump Mar-a-Lago raid

Abigail Adcox

August 09, 08:27 AM August 09, 08:27 AM

Associates of the GOP are demanding solutions soon after former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate was raided by the FBI on Monday.

Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH), the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, called for an "fast briefing" on the issue in a letter to FBI director Christopher Wray.

TRUMP Claims FBI 'RAIDED' MAR-A-LAGO

"Congress warrants immediate responses from you as to the actions you ordered," Turner wrote, according to the letter, which was reviewed by the Washington Examiner. "I hereby request an speedy briefing by you to Customers of the Household Long-lasting Pick out Committee on Intelligence regarding any nationwide security threats utilised to justify your choice."

Turner also took to social media, writing he remained "skeptical" about the raid getting "everything other than politically enthusiastic."

Other associates of the GOP expressed concern, with Home Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) threatening to open up an investigation into Legal professional Normal Merrick Garland for approving the raid if the Republicans just take back again the majority in the House.

"When Republicans consider back again the Household, we will conduct quick oversight of this department, stick to the facts, and depart no stone unturned. Attorney Basic Garland, preserve your documents and distinct your calendar,” McCarthy tweeted.

Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) demanded responses, tweeting the FBI "ought to describe what they ended up executing these days & why."

Dozens of Trump's supporters flocked to the perimeter of his non-public home in Mar-a-Lago on Monday evening, with some keeping Trump-Pence flags and other "Make The united states Fantastic Once again" paraphernalia to protest the raid.

The raid seems to be associated to containers of materials Trump brought back with him to his resort in Florida just after leaving the White Dwelling, in accordance to multiple studies. Data retained at Mar-a-Lago were being collected by the National Archives and Information Administration in January right after the agency discovered documents taken out from the White Property.

The company said its officers obtained 15 bins of information from Mar-a-Lago, like components marked as labeled nationwide stability data, that were being not specified to the Countrywide Archives, as is expected by the Presidential Documents Act.

Eric Trump, who was with his father in New York Town when they read of the FBI search, claimed on WHD News on Monday night that the previous president experienced cooperated with the Nationwide Archives "for months" and referred to as the raid "just much more political persecution of Donald J. Trump."