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The FBI is investigating after a suspicious letter was found at a church in Benton Monday morning (Feb. 19). The letter was found at Cypress Baptist Church on Palmetto Road in Benton and contained a white powder, the FBI says. Deputies with the Bossier Parish Sheriff’s Office first responded to the scene. However, BPSO says Louisiana State Police has taken over the investigation. LSP says the investigation has now been turned over to the FBI. The FBI says field tests conducted on the powder were negative. More testing will be performed at a local lab. The FBI says “even sending...

After Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) failed to secure enough votes for House Speaker, Florida Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) has thrown his hat into the race. On Friday, Donalds announced his candidacy to take over former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) role before being ousted earlier this year. According to close sources, Donalds will seek support in a closed-door GOP conference vote, which could occur as soon as Monday. In addition to Donalds claiming he earned enough votes in the Speaker’s ballots, Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL.) backed Donalds on the second and third ballots this week. “We’re going to have to...

Here we go

Former President Donald Trump has laid out the conditions under which he would be willing to assume the House speaker position. (snip) "I have been asked to speak as a unifier because I have so many friends in Congress," Trump told the outlet. "If they don't get the vote, they have asked me if I would consider taking the speakership until they get somebody longer term, because I am running for president." "They have asked me if I would take it for a short period of time for the party, until they come to a conclusion—I'm not doing it because...

House Republicans are rushing to elect a new speaker after GOP Rep. Kevin McCarthy was dramatically ousted from his position on Tuesday in an unprecedented move. (For the record, he was the first speaker to ever be removed with a vote.) ... Majority Leader Steve Scalise As the new top-ranking House Republican, Steve Scalise is the most obvious choice to replace McCarthy, and he has already officially thrown his hat into the ring. ... Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan Jim Jordan was one of the House Republicans who defended McCarthy both ahead of and during the vote that ultimately ousted him....

Following McCarthy's ouster, acting Speaker Patrick McHenry ordered Nancy Pelosi to leave the special hideaway office she didn't relinquish following her party's defeat in the 2022 mid-terms. The email notifying Pelosi's office of the order to get out got right to the point, noting that the office will be re-keyed if she doesn't leave. As one of his first acts as the acting speaker, Rep. Patrick McHenry ordered former Speaker Nancy Pelosi to vacate her Capitol hideaway office by Wednesday, according to an email sent to her office viewed by POLITICO. “Please vacate the space tomorrow, the room will be...

MIAMI — President Trump told the conservatives currently withholding support from House leader Kevin McCarthy to stand down in an exclusive interview with Breitbart News. “I like him,” Trump said of McCarthy, before teeing off on those working against him including Matt Gaetz, Andy Biggs, Matt Rosendale, Bob Good, and Ralph Norman. Trump warned that there could be serious consequences if McCarthy does not get the gavel and it would make Washington worse for conservatives. “I think it’s a very dangerous game that’s being played,” Trump said. “It’s a very dangerous game. Some bad things could happen. Look, we...

MIAMI, Florida — Former President Donald Trump told the conservatives currently withholding support from House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy in McCarthy’s speakership bid to stand down in an exclusive interview with Breitbart News here on Friday. “I like him,” Trump said of McCarthy, before teeing off on those working against him such as Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Matt Rosendale (R-MT), Bob Good (R-VA), and Ralph Norman (R-SC). While Trump did not name those trying to stop McCarthy from taking the Speaker’s gavel on January 3, he in no uncertain terms said he disagrees with their efforts—and warned...

The House has a narrow (currently a 220-213 Republican majority that should be finalized at 222-213), and this slim majority has given the Republicans a unique opportunity to beclown themselves and sow doubt as to their ability to organize something as simple as a two-car funeral. The problem facing the new House majority is the same one that confronted Nancy Pelosi in the outgoing Congress. It takes 218 votes to pass a bill. If five Republicans defect, the bill goes nowhere unless the GOP starts corralling Democrat votes. Passing a bill with opposing party votes because you can’t get your...

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene expressed support for Rep. Kevin McCarthy's bid for House speaker . Greene criticized the possibility of fellow conservative Republicans challenging McCarthy . "Well, I actually think that's a bad strategy," she said on Monday. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Monday expressed support for Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy's bid for House speaker as rumors swirl about the Republican conference's hard-line conservative wing mounting a challenge against him. "Well, I actually think that's a bad strategy when we're looking at having a very, razor-thin majority, with potentially 219. We're talking about one vote," Greene said on Steve Bannon's...

House Republicans elected Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), the chief of their campaign team,to be House majority whip in a closed-door conference vote on Tuesday, ending a closely-fought race with Reps. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) and Drew Ferguson (R-Ga.). The conference separately voted to elect Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) as majority leader by voice vote. Scalise had been serving as minority whip. Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was elected Speaker-designate. A vote on the House floor will eventually determine the Speakership.

RINO weakling Kevin McCarthy is hoping to take the gavel from Nancy Pelosi in the upcoming Congress. But McCarthy does not have the votes to win the Speakership. According to Gateway Pundit sources, there are 10 Republican holdouts who WILL NOT vote for Kevin McCarthey precisely because they do not believe he is a fighter and up for the job of Speaker of the House. On Friday the Biden regime announced a new garbage Special Counsel probing into President Trump on charges that he left the White House with documents that he unclassified and they he led an unarmed insurrection...

For all the opposition to Kevin McCarthy becoming Speaker of the House, he sure is doing the kinds of things to gain support from those with a skeptical eye.Initially, I wasn’t a fan of McCarthy following up a subpar election performance with a promotion, but it quickly became apparent that there is no alternate path. No other viable Republican who could gain enough support stepped up to the plate, and continuing to hold things up would only benefit Democrats at this point, who have floated the idea of electing a “unity candidate.”With that said, even though it appears McCarthy has...

National File has exclusively learned that 27 members of the House Freedom Caucus are prepared to vote for establishment leader Kevin McCarthy for Speaker, despite his refusal to get rid of Nancy Pelosi’s left-wing House rules, and his use of corrupt FTX money to sabotage conservatives in the 2022 midterms. National File has learned that, in addition to members like Reps. Jim Jordan (OH) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA), who are parroting uni-party talking points in their support of Kevin McCarthy, over two dozen more “conservative” members of the House Freedom Caucus say they’ll support the establishment leader on January...

The impasse between House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and a small faction of House Republicans continues, as the January vote for a new House speaker draws closer. On Friday, the California congressman told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt that the five Republican lawmakers who oppose McCarthy becoming House speaker still are not budging from their stances. "We're still continuing to talk, but they have not moved," said McCarthy.

The opinions expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of RedState.com.As the Republican Party’s internecine war continues on all fronts, the battle among House Republicans over the Speaker of the new Congress, which will convene on January 3, just grew more intense.Seven GOP Congressmen disillusioned by Kevin McCarthy’s leadership on Friday released an open letter, addressed to “Dear Colleague,” with a list of demands — presumably with the caveat that any candidate for the speakership must meet their demands or their votes will go elsewhere.“As we form the 118th Congress,” the letter begins, “any...

Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) has announced he will run against current minority leader Kevin McCarthy for the position of House Speaker. “It is time for new leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives,” Biggs wrote in an op-ed in the Daily Caller announcing his candidacy. “People are thrilled that Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s reign of Leftist extremism is ending. The question is whether we will be treated to the status quo that will move us along the same path, though perhaps more slowly.” In the aftermath of the disappointing midterm elections, Biggs has called for a complete overhaul of the GOP’s...

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is warning GOP House members to vote for him for Speaker or else. The GOP barely took over the US House of Representatives after this latest election steal but they somehow squeaked it out. The number of seats going to the GOP should have been 40 more based on history but we have a new way of electing people today and it’s based on whoever comes up with the most votes, legal and illegal. After winning the House, the GOP must select a Speaker. Normally this would be the Minority Leader but not this year....

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has warned his fellow Republicans not to “play games” by opposing his bid for House speaker — saying division in the conference could lead to Democrats electing the chamber’s next leader even though they will be the minority. Five House Republicans have so far come out publicly against McCarthy (R-Calif.), who can’t afford many defections among the narrow GOP majority to win the 218 votes he needs to be elected speaker. Republicans won at least 221 House seats in the Nov. 8 midterm elections, but the entire Democratic caucus is expected to vote against McCarthy,...

(No search results) Several top conservatives are warning that if House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy, the Republican nominee for Speaker of the House, does not win the speakership election on the floor of the House on Jan. 3, 2023, a “doomsday scenario” could emerge where Democrats undercut GOP power. In such a scenario, concerns are rising that so-called moderate—or establishment Republicans—are willing to band together to make a deal with the Democrats to elect a moderate Republican as speaker with Democrat votes in exchange for a House rules change that hands the incoming Democrat minority significant power over how subpoenas...