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Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) is stepping down as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and stepping up to lead the Senate Finance Committee. Now: @ChuckGrassley announces he will opt to serve as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee next Congress, meaning @LindseyGrahamSC would be in line for chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. pic.twitter.com/69FASxl2rz— Todd Ruger (@ToddRuger) November 16, 2018 Grassley said he's switching committees to help steer the booming economy. “The economy is better than it’s been in years and there’s a sense of optimism about the future of our country that people haven’t felt in a long time...

Rep. Marcia Fudge is in a serious bind as she faces mounting pressure to challenge Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for the Speaker’s gavel — a move that could divide the Ohio Democrat's allegiances between the insurgency she supports and the Black Caucus she once led. A group of anti-Pelosi insurgents has been ramping up efforts to recruit Fudge, a former chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), amid criticism that the majority-male cohort is trying to oust the top-ranking female Democrat in the “Year of the Woman.” Pelosi allies have been deriding the rebels as “five white guys,” a...

**SNIP** Ms. Fudge is thinking about challenging Mrs. Pelosi, said Assistant Minority Leader James Clyburn (D., S.C.), who spoke with the Ohioan on Thursday. Mr. Clyburn, the top-ranking black lawmaker in the House, said he didn’t encourage or discourage Ms. Fudge, who is also black, to run. Both are members of the influential Congressional Black Caucus, whose ranks include about 45 House Democrats. A representative for Ms. Fudge didn’t respond to requests for an interview. She told Cleveland.com, her hometown news outlet, on Wednesday that she was giving it some thought. “I am at the very beginning of this process,”...

SPARTANBURG, SC (WSPA) - NASCAR Hall of Fame driver and Spartanburg native David Pearson has died at the age of 83. Pearson died Monday, according to a source who knew the famed driver. Pearson was part of NASCAR's inaugural Hall of Fame class in 2010. He was the 1960 NASCAR Rookie of the Year. Among his 105 career wins - second all-time in NASCAR's highest division - was a Daytona 500 victory. Pearson also won 3 Grand National Series championships.

GOP congressional candidate Katie Arrington is blaming her defeated GOP primary opponent, U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford, for her stunning loss to Democrat Joe Cunningham on Tuesday in South Carolina’s coastal 1st District. Meanwhile, S.C. Democrats on Wednesday were savoring a stunning upset, as they reclaimed a U.S. House seat they have not held for almost 40 years.

Democrat Joe Cunningham is projected win his bid to represent South Carolina’s 1st district, defeating a candidate closely aligned with President Trump and shifting a ruby red coastal district into Democratic hands for the first time in decades. Cunningham, a former ocean engineer turned lawyer, defeated Republican state Rep. Katie Arrington. The seat opened up this year after Arrington toppled Rep. Mark Sanford, an outspoken Trump critic and member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, in the GOP primary. While Trump carried the Charleston-area district by about 12 points in 2016, Arrington – who ran on a pro-Trump platform –...

Sen. Lindsey Graham said in an interview Monday that Attorney General Jeff Sessions may step down after this week’s midterm elections. “Jeff will probably step down. We’ll have a new attorney general most likely early next year,” Mr. Graham, South Carolina Republican, said on conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt’s radio program.

Mr. Graham, crisscrossing the country to turn out the Republican vote against the centrist Democratic senators who were once his natural allies, lapped it up. He has been basking in the exaltation of Trump backers ever since his lacerating defense of Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh. His own transformation from Trump-basher to Trump defender seems complete.

Yet another convert to Islam gets the idea that his new religion commands him to commit treason and mass murder. Despite the fact that this is a frequently occurring phenomenon, authorities have nowhere shown the slightest degree of interest in studying it. “One of his bombs went off, but SC man had planned to do much worse, prosecutor says,” by Noah Feit, The State, October 29, 2018: He built bombs, planted them at various locations, and set one of them off. That is what led Wesley Dallas Ayers to federal court Monday, where he pleaded guilty to multiple charges related...

The FBI has confirmed a sighting of a suspected sexual predator wanted in the armed sexual assault of a woman in her West Los Angeles home. The cross-country search for Greg Alyn Carlson, 46, appears to be focused on the southeastern United States. The FBI received a confirmed sighting of the suspect -- who was added to the agency's Top-10 Most Wanted Fugitives list -- in the Mount Pleasant area of South Carolina. Carlson has ties to the area.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) announced on Tuesday that he plans to introduce legislation ending birthright citizenship for children born to illegal immigrants on American soil, citing it as a “magnet for illegal immigration.” President Donald J. Trump announced on Tuesday that he plans to draft an executive order to end birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants born in America. Trump told Axios’ Jonathan Swan: But now they’re saying I can do it with just an executive order. Now, how ridiculous–we are the only country in the world where a person comes in, has a baby, and the baby is...

Federal agents have been called in to investigate after the local sheriff's department pulled over a truck in South Carolina. A pickup truck was stopped by sheriff's deputies on Interstate 85 in Anderson County on Monday. Sheriff Chad McBride said he could not reveal what deputies found in the truck because Homeland Security had taken over the investigation. snip

The Anderson County Sheriff's Office said a traffic stop on I-85 has led to an investigation by a federal agency. Monday night, deputies said they initiated a traffic stop on I-85 near mile marker 11 in Anderson County. After making contact with the occupants of the vehicle, deputies said they called in a federal agency. The Department of Homeland security is currently investigating. Details are limited at this time.

....The initial incident happened Friday, Oct. 19, according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg police. The two sisters, Leisa and Mary Garris, were waiting outside of their apartment for AAA to jump-start.... The Garris sisters told WSOCTV.com they are pursuing legal action for the threats that were made last Friday night. Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said officers responded to the issue and gathered information from the Garris sisters. CMPD said four criminal summonses have been issued for the woman, including two counts of communicating threats and two counts of simple assault.

News Video Link And a story link via Gateway Pundit: HORRIBLE! Raging, Screaming Leftists Interrupt Moment of Silence for Tree of Life Victims – Screaming Insults at Marsha Blackburn and Lindsey Graham (VIDEO)Link

Newt Gingrich said Thursday that Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has better odds of becoming speaker of the House than the GOP's front-runner Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. During an event held by the Washington Post, Gingrich, himself a former speaker of the House, suggested that he thinks the Democrats will take the House. "I think the odds are 2 out of 3 she'll be speaker," he said of Pelosi, who is House minority leader. "And 1 out of 3 Kevin McCarthy will be," he continued. Democrats need to flip two dozens seats in the House during the Nov. 6 midterm elections...

Lottery officials on Tuesday drew the Mega Millions numbers in the historic jackpot of $1.6 billion — the biggest lottery in U.S. history. The numbers were: 5-28-62-65-70, with a Mega Ball number of 5. Officials have yet to say if there were any winners.

A winner has been announced for the $1.6 billion Mega Millions lottery, the largest jackpot in the history of the game. Lottery officials said the winning ticket was sold in South Carolina. The winning numbers are 5, 28, 62, 65 and 70, with a Mega Ball number 5, according to the official Mega Millions website. The chance of matching all six numbers and winning the top prize is 1 in 302.5 million.

FOX Carolina)- The South Carolina Education Lottery website is reporting a winning MegaMillions ticket in the state. According to their website, one MegaMillions jackpot-winning ticket was purchased in South Carolina for the drawing on Oct. 23. The jackpot is up to an estimated $1.6 billion. The winning numbers are: 05-28-62-65-70, Mega Ball: 5, Megaplier: 3. We have reached out to SC Education Lottery officials for confirmation of the jackpot winner. Mega Millions tickets are sold in 44 states across the U.S. This is a developing story. Stay with FOX Carolina for the latest.

Authorities on Monday said a second South Carolina police officer died from her injuries suffered in an ambush attack at the hands of an ex-Army sharpshooter earlier this month. Florence County Sheriff Kenney Boone said Deputy Farrah B. Turner died Monday. She had been hospitalized since the attack. Boone said in a statement that Turner "was the ultimate professional, excelling at everything she did. She dedicated her life to serving the victims of the worst crimes imaginable." Turner was among seven law enforcement officers shot by 74--year--old Frederick Hopkins. They say the decorated Vietnam War opened fire without warning when...