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A growing number of House Republicans are accusing their conservative colleagues of enabling Democratic wins, especially after this weekend's foreign aid votes. Why it matters: Multiple members believe they could have gotten concessions from Democrats on border policy in exchange for Ukraine funding, only to be blown up by backlash from conservatives. GOP leadership brought up border security provisions alongside their foreign aid package — but the package was blocked by Republicans from reaching the House floor under normal rules. It ultimately failed to get the two-thirds majority needed to pass the House under suspension of the rules. Zoom in:...

McCarthy says he's not Speaker anymore because “one person a member of Congress wanted me to stop an ethics complaint because he slept with a 17 year old…”

A former Air National Guardsman has allegedly defected and joined the Russian army in its fight against Ukraine, according to the Rhode Island attorney general's office. Wilmer Puello-Mota, 28, a former security forces technical sergeant with the Massachusetts Air National Guard, allegedly fled the country in response to a pending criminal case against him for possession of child pornography. Social media posts claim he volunteered with the Russian military and fought against Ukrainians in a fierce battle for a key eastern city. "We are aware Mr. Puello-Mota left the country in response to civil criminal charges filed against him," Don...

The terror group said its release of a Russian citizen from the war-ravaged enclave was taken in appreciation of Moscow’s position . Hamas thanked Vladimir Putin for his support for the “Palestinian cause” as the terror group released a Russian hostage from the Gaza Strip on Sunday afternoon...

Home Depot co-founder and billionaire Ken Langone plans to meet with former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley next week in New York, as he considers backing her in the Republican presidential primary. “The only person I see who can give [Donald] Trump a run for his money is Nikki Haley,” Langone told CNBC in an interview Monday, referring to the former president and current Republican frontrunner. Langone declined to give the date of the meeting, but the former South Carolina governor is scheduled to be in New York on Dec. 4, for a fundraising event co-hosted by...

Five vulnerable New York Republican House members are asking the conference to vote Wednesday to expel GOP Rep. George Santos from the chamber. “As Republican Members from the New York delegation, we fully support Santos’ expulsion, and ask all of our colleagues to join us in voting yes,” the lawmakers wrote in a new letter to their colleagues dated Thursday. Freshman Reps. Nick LaLota, Anthony D’Esposito, Marcus Molinaro, Brandon Williams and Mike Lawler signed the letter. The vulnerable members from New York’s congressional delegation address several specific concerns raised by their colleagues including the arguments to let Santos’ voters decide...

BREAKING: Jenna ELLIS is taking a guily plea in Georgia for a count of "aiding and abetting false statements/writings." The charge centers on the transmission of false information to Georgia legisaltors on Dec. 3, 2020.

BREAKING NEWS: Kenneth Chesebro, alleged architect of the “fake electors” plot, has struck a plea deal with prosecutors in Fulton County, Georgia, per source familiar with the arrangement. Chesebro is set to plead guilty to at least one felony charge as a part of the deal, the source told @lawfare. Watch live here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoNO945_vk0

One of the pro-Donald Trump fake electors charged in Michigan has agreed to cooperate with state prosecutors in exchange for getting his case dismissed. James Renner, 76, is the first defendant to strike a deal with prosecutors. Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, charged the group of 16 fake electors earlier this year. This is the most significant development in the case since Nessel filed the charges in July. She was the first prosecutor in the nation to charge anyone in connection with the Trump-backed fake elector scheme. As part of the deal, Renner agreed to provide “complete and truthful...

Rep. Jack Bergman (R-MI) on electing a Speaker Pro Tempore: "I don't want this job, I don't aspire to be in this job... but I will volunteer to step up until properly relieved until we get 217 votes out of this room to elect a Speaker."

Rep. Jim Jordan won’t pursue another speaker vote for now as House looks to empower temporary speaker Rep. Patrick T. McHenry

Sidney Powell, the Trump-aligned lawyer and conspiracy theorist indicted in Georgia and accused of participating in a plot to overturn former President Donald J. Trump’s election loss in 2020, pleaded guilty on Thursday morning to six misdemeanor counts of conspiracy to commit intentional interference of election duties. Ms. Powell, who appeared in a downtown Atlanta courtroom, was sentenced to six years of probation for the charges, a significantly less-severe outcome than she would have faced if found guilty of the charges for which she was originally indicted, which included a violation of the state racketeering law

Former Speaker Gingrich tonight in his column: "Speaker Pro Tempore McHenry is a lot better solution than gridlock and chaos. He should be empowered this week and let’s get on with the peoples’ business."

Republican Congresswoman Debbie Lesko is not running for reelection in Arizona. Lesko announced Tuesday that she will not seek another term for Arizona's 8th congressional district. She released the following statement: It has been a great honor to serve the people of Arizona's 8th Congressional District in Congress, however, I have decided not to run for reelection in 2024. I want to spend more time with my husband, my 94-year-old mother, my three children, and my five grandchildren.

Washington — The federal judge in Washington overseeing the case against former President Donald Trump related to the 2020 election agreed Monday to impose some limitations on what he can say publicly about the case, restricting the former president and his attorneys making statements that target special counsel Jack Smith, his staff, court personnel, and possible witnesses who may testify in the proceedings. The decision from U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan followed a lengthy hearing in federal court in Washington, D.C., regarding a request from Smith and his team to limit what Trump can say about the case brought against...

Four of the former Ohio State University wrestlers who have accused Rep. Jim Jordan of failing to protect them from a sexual predator when he was the team’s assistant coach in the 1980s and '90s said Tuesday he has no business being the next speaker of the House. “Do you really want a guy in that job who chose not to stand up for his guys?” said former OSU wrestler Mike Schyck, one of the hundreds of former athletes and students who say they were sexually abused by school doctor Richard Strauss and have sued the university. “Is that the...

Former President Donald Trump on Thursday unexpectedly dismissed a $500 million lawsuit against his former lawyer Michael Cohen while vowing to revisit it later. In a two-page document filed in federal court in Miami, an attorney for the former president said Trump was "voluntarily dismissing" the lawsuit, which alleged breaches of attorney-client privilege.

A three-judge federal court has picked the map Alabama will use for its congressional elections next year, one that will add a second district where Black residents make up close to half of the voting age population. The judges picked Remedial Plan 3, one of the three maps drawn by a special master appointed by the court to fix what the court found was a likely violation of the Voting Rights Act. The main changes are in the southern half of the state, where District 2 becomes the second district where Black voters will have an opportunity to elect a...

Members of Kevin McCarthy’s staff have been working the phones on behalf of Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan’s run for speaker, multiple sources confirmed to Semafor. It’s unclear if McCarthy himself has sanctioned their work. One source familiar with their efforts described the staff as “consulting and providing guidance” to Jordan’s operation, which they distinguished from an endorsement. Jordan’s top competition is Majority Leader Steve Scalise, a longtime McCarthy deputy. McCarthy said he “might” endorse a successor at his post-ouster press conference on Tuesday night but has not suggested which candidates he’s inclined to favor.