Incumbent republican senators

Nearly a month after objecting to electoral votes cast for President Biden, Rep. Mike Garcia wanted to clear the air. In a lengthy Jan. 30 op-ed in a local newspaper, the Santa Clarita Republican and former Navy fighter jet pilot denounced the blowback on social media that branded him “a seditionist, a traitor, or even worse.” Roughly 150 miles to the north, Rep. David Valadao also had some explaining to do after voting to impeach President Trump for his part in inciting the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol. He, like Garcia, was disparaged by some constituents as a traitor. Two votes in Congress in successive weeks — one to certify Biden’s election and another to impeach the president — snared the two California Republicans into the pitched battle over the future of their party: whether the GOP will demand allegiance to Trump or break from his influence. On one side sits Garcia and the majority of House Republicans, who on Jan. 6 aligned with Trump in rejecting the will of the … [Read more...] about For two California Republicans, diverging approaches to Trump lead to the same place: Backlash

Donald Trump has given an 11th-hour endorsement to a host of sitting members of Congress on the eve of the next round of Republican primaries. The former president backed candidates hoping to win their respective elections in Utah, Oklahoma and Illinois on Tuesday. While the apparent influence of a Trump endorsement has been the focal point in some GOP primaries, such as J.D. Vance's victory in the GOP Senate primary in Ohio or Mehmet Oz's eventual win in the Pennsylvania Senate primary, the latest batch of endorsements from the current president pose almost next to no risk. As with a large majority of Trump's endorsed candidates in primaries across the country, the former president has backed incumbents, who very rarely lose midterm elections, never mind party primaries. The lateness of the announcements may suggest Trump is attempting to boost the figures on his apparent knack for picking eventual winners in GOP primaries following a recent bout of losses in Georgia . … [Read more...] about Donald Trump backs surefire primary candidates in bid to boost success rate

Arizona Republican Senate candidate Blake Masters has made no secret of his connections to his longtime business partner and biggest political benefactor, billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel. But new reporting shows that Masters can’t seem to quit promoting Thiel businesses on the campaign trail—and that Thiel or Masters can’t seem to stop making questionable in-kind contributions. Masters announced last month that he had left his top positions at two organizations named after Thiel, who has poured more than $10 million of support into the Senate bid. But a Daily Beast review of business, campaign, and tax records reveals that Masters appears still far from severing his shared interests with his mentor. Brendan Fischer, deputy executive director at Documented, told The Daily Beast that the facts demonstrate an inextricable connection. “This further underscores how Masters’ candidacy is almost inseparable from its billionaire backer,” Fischer said. “Thiel helped launch … [Read more...] about The Epic Back-Scratching Fest Between Blake Master and a Trumpy Billionaire

When a democracy rolls back a constitutional right that has been in place for almost half a century, it must consider itself in deep peril. The U.S. stands at that fraught juncture now, after its Supreme Court, in a 6-3 majority, overturned the 1973 ruling in Roe vs Wade , and took away the constitutional right to abortion . In one blow, on June 24, it withdrew from women anywhere in the country their right to reproductive and bodily autonomy. With Roe , as well as the 1992 decision in Planned Parenthood vs Casey that upheld Roe , gone, the court returned “the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives”. States can now decide whether to ban abortion , and at what stage in a pregnancy and under what circumstances. The fight over abortion has been the U.S.’s most passionately waged ideological battle. With a focus that denies any space for compassion or respect for liberty, conservatives have prioritised the task of having Roe overturned for decades. … [Read more...] about Regressive, inhumane: On the U.S. Supreme Court removing right to abortion

The Supreme Court 's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade on Friday has prompted calls to reform the nation's highest court to ensure that its decisions are fair and balanced. Some Democrats favor expanding the number of seats in the court to restore what many Americans say is a loss of legitimacy. Although the court currently has a conservative majority of 6-3, President Joe Biden has said that he doesn't support the expansion of the number of judges. There's no legal requirement for the Supreme Court to be composed of nine justices and the size of the institution isn't specified in the U.S. Constitution. So, while the number of judges has been fixed for the past 150 years, it's not formally bound to stay that way. Historically, there has been a minimum of six justices and a maximum of 10. Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington called for the expansion of the Supreme Court on Twitter on Sunday. Her post was re-shared by over 2,000 people, including Dem. Rep. … [Read more...] about Joe Biden clashes with progressives over Supreme Court expansion

This week saw the highly politicized Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade , a landmark 1973 ruling protecting a woman’s right to an abortion (in other words, granting women bodily autonomy and keeping the government out of their uteruses). The move was met with widespread condemnation, especially given how right-wing organizations have launched an ugly decades-long campaign against a woman’s right to choose (including bribing Jane Roe, aka Norma McCorvey, to speak out against the decision) , and four of the five conservative Supreme Court justices who voted to strike down Roe —Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett—stating during their Senate confirmation hearings that it was settled law. The move will result in 22 states banning abortion, along with 13 states that immediately banned it due to trigger laws. “It’s absolutely horrifying,” exclaimed John Oliver on Sunday evening’s edition of Last Week Tonight , before taking aim at some of the … [Read more...] about John Oliver Rages Against Dems’ Embarrassing Roe v. Wade Response