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Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) needled fellow Republican Sen. Mitt Romney (Utah) in an op-ed in The Washington Post on Friday, arguing that the GOP doesn't need "more distractions." "The mainstream media and Democrats want to further divide Republicans, and now Romney has played right into their hands," Perdue wrote. "Jeff Flake (Ariz.) filled that role before his retirement; the last thing we need now in the Senate is a Jeff Flake on steroids. We certainly don’t need more distractions. We need constructive leaders who want to get things done." Perdue invoked Flake, a vocal critic of President Trump who retired...

Mark Sanford blew up his marriage and became a national laughingstock when he sneaked off his job as South Carolina governor for a tryst with his Argentine lover. After he forsook his presidential ambitions and spent time in political purgatory, voters forgave Sanford’s trespass and, in 2013, elected him their representative in Congress. But on Tuesday, Sanford was tossed from office by his Republican constituents for committing a far graver sin: criticizing President Trump. With his bulldozing personality, Trump has transformed the GOP from a party of anti-communist cold warriors to one that coos over North Korea’s communist dictator, from...

Ohio Gov. John Kasich hinted again Sunday at a possible 2020 presidential run by ripping the Republican Party and declaring “I can bring that party back.” The Republican governor accused the GOP of being “anti-immigrant, anti-trade, in favor of debt,” and implored party members to “come home.” “We should care about people from top to bottom, not just at those at the top but everybody,” Mr. Kasich told CNN’s “State of the Union.” “I can bring that party back, that’s what I’m going to do, in one way or another.”

The top Republican in the Senate on Tuesday rejected President Donald Trump's suggestion that his party change the chamber's rules to undercut the ability of Democrats to block legislation with filibusters. "There is an overwhelming majority on a bipartisan basis that is not interested in changing the way the Senate operates on the legislative calendar," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters.

GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump has called his rival, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, weak on immigration, but Rubio isn't much impressed with Trump's plan to deport all illegal immgrants, then allow those back in who don't have criminal backgrounds. "If you think about where he was six months ago, it's nothing like what he's saying now," Rubio said on CNN's "State of the Union." "Even what he's saying now borders on the absurd. He's going to deport all these people and allow back in the ones that are good. His plan makes no sense." Asked whether he agrees with former...

John Boehner is leaving as speaker because he can't control the tea party. Should the whole GOP give in? It has happened before. The Republican Party is barreling head-first toward a worst-case scenario – or is that a best-case scenario? The tea party wing of the party has essentially toppled House Speaker John Boehner. His replacement will almost certainly need the tea party's stamp of approval. Meanwhile, the Republican presidential campaign continues to confound the establishment. Donald Trump, Ben Carson, and Ted Cruz together have more support than all other Republican candidates combined, according to polls....

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) says that defunding Planned Parenthood will have to wait for a new commander in chief in 2017. “The president’s made it very clear he’s not going to sign any bill that includes defunding of Planned Parenthood, so that’s another issue that awaits a new president, hopefully with a different point of view about Planned Parenthood,” McConnell said Monday on the Kentucky station WYMT’s “Issues and Answers.” Defunding Planned Parenthood has become a leading cause among some Republicans in the wake of controversial undercover videos showing Planned Parenthood officials discussing the price of fetal tissue...

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio says Donald Trump's comment that Sen. John McCain is not a war hero should disqualify him from the 2016 presidential race. "It's not just absurd, it's offensive. It's ridiculous. And I do think it's a disqualifier as commander-in-chief," Rubio said in an interview Sunday with CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union." The Florida senator was the latest Republican White House contender to hit Trump after the real estate mogul said Saturday that McCain "is not a war hero" because he was captured and held prisoner in Vietnam. "He is a war hero because he...

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Georgia middle schooler CJ Pearson is no fan of Hillary Clinton, and her pledge to be a “champion” for “everyday Americans” likely isn’t going to change his mind. “Hillary Clinton, I’m done with you,” the 12-year-old student declares in his latest viral video. “Why? Because you are one of the most narcissistic, power-hungry, self-absorbed politicians of this day. “You have no accomplishments to point out, except, oh, I was married to Bill Clinton.”

LOS ANGELES — They pushed strollers, tugged toddlers and streamed into the convention center in the heart of this city on Sunday, thousands of immigrants here illegally and anxious to find out if they could gain protection from deportation under executive actions by President Obama. The crowd, waiting in a long snaking line to check in, was drawn by an information session organized by advocacy groups offering people initial assessments to see if they meet the requirements to apply to stay in the country and work. The day became a kind of coming-out party for about 5,000 unauthorized immigrants, the...

Several Republican senators said Wednesday they were surprised and angered after a news report revealed that their GOP colleague, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, made a recent fundraising appeal for a tea party group that is trying to defeat GOP incumbents it doesn't believe are conservative enough. The senators said Cruz's efforts appeared to violate his own pledge to no longer target sitting Republican senators in favor of tea party-backed candidates in the hard-fought 2014 campaign in which Republicans believe they have a chance to win back control of the Senate. In addition, the fundraising appears at odds with Cruz's...

WASHINGTON — The explosive politics of health care have divided the nation, but America's governors, Republicans and Democrats alike, suggest that President Barack Obama's health care overhaul is here to stay. While governors from Connecticut to Louisiana sparred on Sunday over how best to improve the nation's economy, governors of both parties shared a far more pragmatic outlook on the controversial program known as "Obamacare" as millions of their constituents begin to be covered. "We're just trying to make the best of a bad situation," Republican Gov. Terry Branstad, of Iowa, who calls the health care law "unaffordable and unsustainable,"...

High-level negotiations between the White House and Capitol Hill in times of divided government tend to follow a script. This year’s talks about how to avert the fiscal cliff, for the most part, appear to track a familiar line: The outside message from the top players is often different from what's happening on a parallel track inside the room where the final deal is being crafted. Publicly, both President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner continue to argue their positions on taxes and entitlement reforms, hoping they can win the public relations battle that frames their respective party as...

The talk has already started about a possible 2016 presidential bid by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, but before that happens friends say he’ll be busy rebuilding his personal wealth and restoring his family’s relationship with the Republican Party. If he decides to seek the GOP nomination, it could put a damper on any plans by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio to run in four years, according to The New York Times. … After this year’s loss to President Barack Obama, Republicans are looking for a candidate who can appeal to a different voter demographic that’s no longer dominated by white...

Fresno (Los Angles Times) -- Gubernatorial candidates Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown tangled in a blistering dispute Saturday over Whitman's employment of an illegal immigrant housekeeper as they met for the campaign’s first and only Spanish-language debate. The most intense exchange of the debate, held at Cal State Fresno, came when the moderator asked Whitman about the revelations earlier this week that she had employed Nicandra Diaz Santillan for nine years before firing her in 2009. Whitman has denied knowing that Diaz Santillan was undocumented until just before the dismissal. Whitman turned to face Brown and accused Brown of being...

Elaine McKearn is the kind of socially conservative Republican who used to dominate California Republican Party conventions such as the one that concluded Sunday. The Thousand Oaks resident opposes abortion rights and gay marriage and sees illegal immigration as one of California's main problems. In 2002, the now-66-year-old was so inspired by GOP gubernatorial hopeful Bill Simon that she jumped aboard as a campaign volunteer. At this convention, however, McKearn said she felt lost. All three of the party's gubernatorial candidates are pro-abortion rights social moderates who make only passing references to immigration, gay marriage, religion and other red-meat conservative...

McCain Strategist Warns GOP Risks Becoming 'Religious Party' Steve Schmidt urges Republicans to begin voicing more support for civil unions and gay rights. FOXNews.com Friday, April 17, 2009 John McCain's top adviser from the presidential campaign urged fellow Republicans on Friday to warm up to gay rights and warned that the GOP risks becoming the "religious party" with its opposition to same-sex marriage. Steve Schmidt, in his first political appearance since the election, spoke at the Washington, D.C., convention for the Log Cabin Republicans -- a grassroots group for gay and lesbian Republicans. He urged Republicans, in the near-term, to...

John McCain's daughter, Meghan McCain, 24, has agreed to headline the annual convention of the Log Cabin Republicans, a GOP group which advocates on behalf of gays and lesbians. "Her willingness to reach out to organizations like ours shows her commitment to growing the Republican Party," Log Cabin convention manager Christian Berle told ABC News. "The title of Meghan McCain's speech is 'Winning the Next Generation -- How can the Republican Party attract more young voters.'" Joining Meghan McCain at the conference will be Steve Schmidt, her father's top 2008 strategist. The topic of Schmidt's address is "Moving Forward." The...

H.R.6257 Title: To reinstate the Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act. Sponsor: Rep Kirk, Mark Steven [IL-10] (introduced 6/12/2008) Cosponsors (4) Rep Castle, Michael N. [DE] - 6/12/2008 Rep Ferguson, Mike [NJ-7] - 6/12/2008 Rep Ros-Lehtinen, Ileana [FL-18] - 6/18/2008 Rep Shays, Christopher [CT-4] - 6/12/2008 Latest Major Action: 6/12/2008 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. TITLE(S): * SHORT TITLE(S) AS INTRODUCED: Assault Weapons Ban Reauthorization Act of 2008 * OFFICIAL TITLE AS INTRODUCED: To reinstate the Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act.