Free Republic

Rep. Henry Cuellar's chief of staff quit after the Texas Democrat and his wife were charged by the Justice Department with bribery and fraud. Jake Hochberg served as Cuellar's top aide since 2021 but left the office on Monday, multiple people familiar with the situation confirmed to Punchbowl News. The sources say that more staffers are also considering leaving in coming days.

DEVELOPING🚨: Ron DeSantis has asked Bob VanderPlaats, Steve Deace, and Kim Reynolds to go on the campaign trail with him in New Hampshire after results of a Monmouth University poll came out showing him in fifth place.

Steve Cortes joined the pro-DeSantis effort in May, but bailed out just months later. A spokesman for a super PAC supporting Ron DeSantis has left the official position, though he’s still backing the Florida Governor’s 2024 presidential bid. As first reported by Maggie Haberman, Never Back Down spokesman Steve Cortes has moved on from the political action committee, with which he linked up back in May. In an op-ed published by Newsweek, Cortes called DeSantis “the best possible option to win the presidency in 2024 and to govern as a highly capable, patriotic populist leader.” His most memorable moment may...

Ron DeSantis has replaced his campaign manager Generra Peck, in what is the third major reshuffling of his operations, a campaign spokesperson and a person familiar with the move confirmed to POLITICO. Peck will be shifted to a role of chief strategist as part of the new order. Taking her place atop the campaign will be James Uthmeier, who has served as chief of staff in DeSantis’ governor’s office.

Breaking News: Ron Klain is expected to step down as White House chief of staff in coming weeks, according to Biden administration officials. More at link

CNN's Chris Cillizza has been laid off, according to Variety

President Joe Biden’s nationwide approval rating is dangerously low at 36 percent, impacting races down-ballot in battleground states, a Monday Civiqs poll revealed.While 55 percent disapproved of Biden’s performance, independents are majorly dragging down the president’s polling numbers. Among independents, only 24 percent approved of Biden. Sixty-six percent disapproved.The lack of support among independents for Biden is impacting battleground states where Republicans hope to defeat Democrats in November.

Approval of President Biden's performance in the White House continues to weaken as the administration works to deal with the Ukraine border conflict, rising inflation, the continuing COVID-19 pandemic and chaos at the Mexican border. For the first time since taking office, Biden's approval rating — based on an accumulation of polling data — fell below 40%. A Real Clear Politics average of all the most recent national surveys measuring Biden’s standing put the president’s approval at 39% and his disapproval at 54%. Biden has also found himself at the center of a Russia-Ukraine border conflict in Europe. Last month,...

Morale among staffers is reportedly low in President Biden’s White House as his first year in office comes to a close and polls show his popularity underwater with the majority of Americans. According to a Politico report late Wednesday, White House staffers are unhappy with their jobs to the point where they anonymously leaked to the online publication in hopes that senior staffers would be alerted to the lack of comradery and overall happiness in the workplace. "A lot of the natural coordination that happens in a typically functioning White House has been lost, and there has been no proactive...

Symone Sanders, Vice President Kamala Harris' chief spokesperson and senior adviser, is leaving the Biden administration at the end of the year, according to a source familiar with the decision. "Symone has served honorably for 3 years," the source told CNN. "The President and Vice President are grateful for Symone's service and advocacy for this White House. She is a valued member, a team player, and she will be missed. We are grateful to have her working through the end of the year."

Key Points Mick Mulvaney, President Trump’s former chief of staff, told CNBC he has resigned as special U.S. envoy to Northern Ireland. Mulvaney said he called Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday night to tell him of his decision. “I can’t do it. I can’t stay,” said Mulvaney, adding that Trump was “not the same as he was eight months ago.” He said other officials may follow suit.

<p>Schumer can save a little face by allowing overzealous prosecutors (mainly Schiff whom no one likes anyway) to take the fall. Schumer himself won't be blamed at this point if he lets the case be dismissed and the impeachment tossed out on the grounds of not only no crime, but Schiff's many procedural errors. Pelosi should never had let him proceed without an authorizing vote by the full house first.</p>

Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman John Podesta and former Democratic National Committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz both privately denied to congressional Russia investigators that they had any knowledge about an arrangement to pay for opposition research on President Donald Trump, three sources familiar with the matter told CNN. The interviews happened before this week's disclosure that the Clinton campaign and DNC paid for the research. Senate investigators may seek to further question the two top Democrats and dig deeper on the origins of the so-called Trump dossier, one of the sources briefed on the matter said. Their remarks to congressional investigators...

FR has been completely down for a few minutes. I checked it with a "Is It Down?" website or two. Now supposedly it's up, but you can't move from one link to another. Or if it manages to get to that other link, it's after you've knit a sweater starting with a ball of yarn. What's up with FR today?

DOUG SCHOEN: As you know, I have been a supporter of Secretary Clinton… But given that this investigation is going to go on for many months after the election… But if the Secretary of State wins, we will have a president under criminal investigation, with Huma Abedin under criminal investigation, with the Secretary of State, the president-elect, should she win under investigation. Harris, under these circumstances, I am actively reassessing my support. HARRIS FAULKNER, FOX NEWS: Whoa, whoa, wait a minute. You are not going to vote for Hillary Clinton? SCHOEN: Harris, I’m deeply concerned that we’ll have a constitutional...

I HAVE been here less than a month, but already I’ve discovered something that surely must be bad for business if your business is running The New York Times. ~snip this perception by many readers strikes me as poison. A paper whose journalism appeals to only half the country has a dangerously severed public mission. ~snip

Action movie and television star Chuck Norris has dropped out of a Ted Cruz super PAC sponsored rally at Charlotte Motor Speedway Saturday, saying that he was not endorsing any candidate for president. In a confusing series of events, Norris, who gained fame as “Walker, Texas Ranger,” was first featured as a speaker at the Cruz event on an Event Brite invitation from Keep the Promise PAC, one of several similarly named political action committees which support the Texas senator in his bid for the GOP presidential nomination. North Carolina is one of several states, including Florida and Ohio, holding...

Link only due to copyright issues: http://www.kens5.com/story/news/2016/02/23/ted-cruz-marco-rubio-super-tuesday-states-fundraising/80802330/

The highest-ranking official known to lose her job in Jeb Bush’s flagging campaign is Christine Ciccone, the campaign’s chief operating officer. News of Ms. Ciccone’s departure comes a week after the Bush campaign announced a re-organization that it said would reduce payroll by 40%. Ms. Ciccone served as Mr. Bush’s chief operating officer, effectively an office administrator responsible for logistics.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich's climb up the polls in the GOP presidential race has not gone unnoticed by supporters of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. A spokesperson for New Day for America, the super PAC supporting Kasich, told Fox News late Wednesday that several Bush donors have been in contact with the organization in recent days. The spokesperson declined to elaborate how many donors had contacted the PAC or whether they had donated any money. The apparent shift comes as Kasich has been collecting endorsements from several key Republican players. Earlier this week, Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley threw his support...