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Before House Majority Leader Eric Cantor could tell his fellow Republicans that he was stepping down, Speaker of the House John Boehner began to cry Tuesday in the basement of the Capitol, as he praised his outgoing colleague at a caucus meeting behind closed doors, according to several members of Congress who were present. Republicans had gathered to honor their leader as he announced plans to leave his leadership on July 31, after losing his primary race on Tuesday. For at least short time, his colleagues stopped their jockeying to replace him and offered words of praise. “Eric Cantor was...

Rep. Eric Cantor will step down as majority leader, according to several Republicans sources, ending a meteoric 13-year Congressional career. Several GOP sources say his resignation from that job will be effective July 31.

The third-ranking House Republican is offering support for a path to legal status that would allow millions of undocumented immigrants in the country to work and pay their taxes. In a new interview published late Tuesday, House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) hinted that those contours of legal status may be included in the immigration principles that House GOP leaders are poised to soon release. “The principles aren’t combined or written out yet, but in my personal belief, I think you’ll go with legal status,” McCarthy told KBAK/KBFX Eyewitness News in Bakersfield, Calif. “That it will allow you to work...

Every political misstep by President Barack Obama and every dodge by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over Benghazi brings us closer to a Jeb Bush candidacy in 2016 and an unprecedented third president from the same family. With the 2014 midterm elections all but over except for counting the votes — yes, Republicans will win a majority in the Senate — there is a slow but steady momentum building for Jeb Bush to re-expand the Republican tent toward the center.

Eric Cantor's reelection campaign spent more at steak houses than opponent Dave Brat spent on his entire campaign. In a stunning upset, the second-highest ranking Republican in the House lost his primary challenge to tea party-backed economics professor Brat, who became the GOP nominee for Virginia’s 7th congressional district. Sign up for breaking news alerts from NBC News According to FEC campaign finance data, Cantor's campaign spent $168,637 in 17 payments to both Bobby Van's Steak House and BLT Steak up until May 21. Brat's campaign had spent a total of $122,793 in that same amount of time.

Twelve hours after House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s stunning primary defeat the leadership scramble is already shifting into high gear. House Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions is making an aggressive play for the No. 2 spot. The Texas Republican has been calling and emailing lawmakers seeking support for a potential bid to replace Cantor, according to several sources. House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, the chamber’s No. 3 Republican, has also been speaking with a lot of members. But McCarthy will not engage in a formal campaign until Cantor makes a decision about whether he will stay in leadership for the...

DES MOINES — Having just taken his place at the front of the Republican presidential pack, Newt Gingrich now faces a potential backlash from conservative activists here in Iowa over an immigration proposal that he called “humane” but that his opponents quickly decried as providing “amnesty.” The former House speaker appears to have alienated some of the conservatives who had warmed to his candidacy by saying Tuesday in a candidates debate that he would allow millions of illegal immigrants who have settled in the United States to become legal residents.