Free Republic

CNN — House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy has won his party’s nomination for speaker, beating conservative challenger Rep. Andy Biggs in a 188-31 vote, according to multiple sources in the room. It was a secret ballot, and McCarthy only needed a simple majority.

GOP Rep. Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio announced on Thursday that he will not seek reelection, becoming the first of the 10 House Republicans who had voted in January to impeach then-President Donald Trump to decide to retire. Trump has targeted the Republicans, trying to purge them from the party. "1 down, 9 to go," Trump said in a statement after Gonzalez's announcement. The other nine House Republicans have also faced backlash, including from Trump, members of their party and primary challenge threats. But they're also well positioned in that their campaigns have raised in most races more money than their...

(CNN)Sen. Susan Collins declined last week to back President Donald Trump for reelection, saying she would focus on her own race while suggesting that she only picked sides in 2016 because she was not on the ballot. "I was not up for reelection," the Maine Republican told reporters, referring to the 2016 race, when she publicly voiced her opposition to Trump's presidential campaign. "I didn't have my own race to worry about at that point." But a dozen years ago, as she was running for reelection, Collins endorsed Republican Sen. John McCain over then-Sen. Barack Obama. She served as a...