A House Democrat is attempting to force a vote to impeach President Donald Trump.
Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.) introduced his impeachment resolution as privileged on Tuesday afternoon, meaning leaders have two days of the House in session to take up the legislation.
House GOP leaders could move to table the motion, a procedural vote aimed to scuttle a piece of legislation without having lawmakers vote on the legislation itself.
No Republicans are likely to support impeaching Trump, however, meaning Thanedar’s measure will likely fail.
“Donald Trump has unlawfully conducted himself, bringing shame to the presidency and the people of the United States,” Thanedar said when deeming his resolution privileged.
Thanedar also took a swing at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), calling it a “flagrantly unconstitutional creation.”
The India-born Michigan Democrat first introduced seven articles of impeachment against Trump in late April.
They include charges of obstruction of justice, tyranny, bribery and corruption, and abuse of trade powers, among others.
This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk donated $5 million to the main super PAC affiliated with President Trump in late June despite an ongoing public feud, according to recent campaign finance filings.
Musk made the donation to MAGA Inc. on June 27 — the same day he also donated $5 million each to the Senate Leadership Fund and Congressional Leadership Fund, the main super PACs dedicated to boosting Senate and House Republicans.
The donations appear to have come during a lull in the Tesla CEO’s spat with Trump.
After spending at least $250 million to boost Trump’s 2024 White House campaign, Musk joined the administration as head of the Department of Government Efficiency. Following a controversial four-month stint, the tech mogul announced his plans to step away in late May.
The two men appeared to hint at peace in mid-June, with Trump saying he had “no hard feelings” and Musk suggesting he “went too far.”
However, just one day after his donations to the president and congressional Republicans in late June, Musk was once again lambasting Trump’s tax and spending bill and reigniting the feud.
The tech billionaire also followed through on threats to launch a new third political party called the “America Party,” though he has done little since to establish it.
Last month, President Trump also famously threatened to deport the South African billionaire by using DOGE.
“We’ll have to take a look,” Trump said when asked about the deportation. “We might have to put DOGE on Elon. You know what DOGE is? DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon! Wouldn’t that be terrible?”
Reporter: Are you going to deport Elon Musk?
Trump: We'll have to take a look. We might have to put DOGE on Elon. You know what DOGE is? The monster that might have to go back and eat Elon. Wouldn’t that be terrible? He gets a lot of subsidies. pic.twitter.com/6I0OAIv7Js
Musk’s most recent donation comes months after he said that he will dial back his spending on future political campaigns.
Asked about his plans for political contributions at Bloomberg’s Qatar Economic Forum, Musk said over video that he’s “going to do a lot less in the future.” Musk spent nearly $240 million through his political action committee, America PAC, helping Trump and Republicans in the 2024 election cycle. His comments on Tuesday, however, indicate that he won’t be as aggressive in pushing Republicans in the 2026 midterm elections.
“I think I’ve done enough,” Musk said, adding, “If I see a reason to do political spending in the future, I will do it. I do not currently see a reason.”
Georgia National Guard from United States, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
A prominent Republican governor is preparing to meet with top Senate leaders this week.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is meeting with two top Republican leaders in the Senate in Washington, D.C. over the next two days, a spokesperson for the governor confirmed to The Hill.
Kemp will meet with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday and National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Chair Steve Daines (R-Mont.) on Wednesday.
The pair of meetings come after the Peach State governor told CNN’s Kaitlin Collins that he is “certainly” not running for president in 2024.
“In politics, there’s always doors opening and closing. I got a great job right now. I personally feel like having more people in the race does not help us win and beat Joe Biden,” Kemp told Kaitlan Collins on “The Source.” “So, you know, I’m certainly not running for president. But there’s always doors opening in politics depending on how things play out, and we’ll see what happens.”
The Georgia Governor reiterated that Trump should stop constantly referencing the 2020 election if he hopes to re-win the state.
“If he continues to do that, he’s going to lose Georgia in November,” Kemp said, later adding, “There is no path for us to win the White House if we can’t win Georgia.”
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) made clear Sunday on ABC News’s This Week that he does not see Vice President JD Vance as someone he would support in a hypothetical 2028 presidential bid, underscoring deep philosophical differences over trade and the future direction of the GOP.
When asked whether he views Vance — widely viewed within GOP circles as a leading contender to carry the Republican banner after President Donald Trump — as the so-called heir apparent, Paul was direct about the limits of their alignment.
“I think there needs to be representatives in the Republican Party who still believe international trade is good, who still believe in free market capitalism, who still believe in low taxes,” Paul said, emphasizing his long-standing libertarian philosophy.
Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Pressed on whether that description fits Vance, Paul answered, “No.”
Paul lamented what he sees as a shift in GOP economic thinking — away from traditional free-market conservatism toward protectionist policies that embrace tariffs.
“It used to separate conservatives and liberals that conservatives thought it was a spending problem — we didn’t want less revenue, we wanted less spending,” he said. “But now all these pro-tariff protectionists, they love taxes. And so they tax, tax, tax, and then they brag about all the revenue coming in. That has never been a conservative position.”
Paul said he intends to continue championing a free-market, low-tax wing of the party and will let time — and voters — determine where GOP leadership settles.
Context: Trump, Vance, and a Fractured GOP
Vance’s position as a prominent Trump loyalist — often touted by MAGA-aligned activists as the next leader of the movement — stands in contrast to Paul’s more classical libertarian outlook. Trump and Vance have worked closely throughout the administration, and Trump himself has suggested both Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio would make strong contenders in 2028, even as speculation swirls about Trump’s own future political plans.
Paul and Vance’s disagreements aren’t limited to trade. Earlier in 2025, Paul publicly criticized Vance’s support for a controversial U.S. military strike on an alleged Venezuelan drug-smuggling vessel — going so far as to call the actions Vance defended “despicable and thoughtless” for celebrating lethal force without due process. This public spar highlights deeper philosophical divides between the libertarian wing of the party and its more interventionist or nationalist elements.
Those tensions reflect a broader conversation within the GOP about its core principles — from foreign policy to economic strategy — as the party prepares for post-Trump leadership.
Erika Kirk Endorses Vance for 2028
Adding to the political backdrop, Erika Kirk — the widow of conservative activist and Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk and the organization’s CEO — officially endorsed Vice President Vance for president in 2028 during the group’s annual AmericaFest conference in Phoenix.
Kirk, speaking to thousands of activists, pledged Turning Point’s powerful grassroots support and framed Vance as a continuation of her husband’s conservative legacy:
“We are going to get my husband’s friend JD Vance elected for 48 in the most resounding way possible.”
Her endorsement — and Turning Point’s mobilization capacity on campuses and with younger conservatives — could be a significant boost in the early stages of a national campaign, even though Vance has not yet announced a formal campaign bid
On Tuesday, former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) said he will not run for Senate in 2026.
Sununu, who served as governor for four two-year terms before not seeking reelection in November, announced his decision in an interview with local news outlet the Pulse of New Hampshire.
“I’m not going to run,” Sununu said, according to NH Journal. “I really thought about it. I actually talked to the White House this morning. I talked to Tim Scott. Thanked him for all their support and confidence and all that. But I don’t have to be the candidate, and I’m not going to be the candidate.”
Speculation that Sununu may run was further stoked on Sunday after President Trump said that he met with Sununu in the Oval Office and declared his support for his potential candidacy. Trump said he hoped that Sununu would run and expected that he would win.
On the Democrat side, Rep. Chris Pappas announced his candidacy for the seat on Thursday after a listening tour in which he traveled to all 10 of the state’s counties as he considered running.
Former Sen. Scott Brown, a Republican who represented Massachusetts in the Senate from 2010 to 2013, recently announced his candidacy for Senate.
.@ChrisSununu and the entire Sununu family are patriots who have made our state a better place – looking forward to seeing what’s next for him and working alongside him for New Hampshire’s future #nhpolitics 💪🇺🇸
Oscar-winning actor George Clooney is weighing in on who he believes should take the reins of the Democrat Party next after helping push out Joe Biden ahead of the 2024 election.
In a candid interview with CNN anchor Jake Tapper on Wednesday, Clooney offered an unexpected endorsement for one Democrat he said was “levitating above” the rest: Maryland Governor Wes Moore.
He began: “I really … there’s one person in particular I think is spectacular. There are a few: I like [Kentucky Governor] Andy Beshear.”
“I’m a Kentucky guy, I like him, he’s a good guy. And they’re smart. And he’s won in a red state. He’s a Democrat. I like [Michigan Governor] Gretchen [Whitmer], I think is very good.”
He continued: “But who I think is who I think is levitating above that is Wes Moore. I think he is the guy that has handled this tragedy in Baltimore beautifully. He has two tours of duty in Afghanistan, active duty. He speaks sort of beautifully. He’s smart. He ran a hedge fund. He ran the Robin Hood Foundation. He’s a proper leader.”
Watch:
“He’s a proper leader.” George Clooney reveals his choice for the 2028 Democratic presidential nominee: Maryland Governor Wes Moore. pic.twitter.com/j8yiNw0b3V
Circling back to Moore, Clooney added, “I like him a lot. I think he could be someone we could all join in behind. We have to find somebody rather soon, you know, because we need to redo… Look, the other side, the side that I don’t support, they are, you know, running through government and doing their thing. So it’s our job now to put together a proper team to stand up because we’re right now polling very poorly.”
Statistician and FiveThirtyEight founder Nate Silver is predicting that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) would become the presidential nominee for the Democratic Party in 2028.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez @ Women’s March NYC, 2019 [Photo Credit: Dimitri Rodriguez, CC BY 2.0, AOC]
In a video published to his Silver Bulletin newsletter on Wednesday, Silver and former FiveThirtyEight podcast host Galen Druke both chose Ocasio-Cortez as their No. 1 pick for likely 2028 Democratic presidential nominee.
“I think there’s a lot of points in her favor at this very moment,” said Druke. “In a Yale poll just out this week, AOC has the highest net favorability rating of any of the Democrats that they asked about.”
He argued:
So that means that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has broad appeal across the Democratic Party and there’s a lot of people who could potentially get on board with her. But I think equally important is the fact that she has very fervent support. I think a lot of people are gonna run in 2028 and it’s going to be a contest for attention and getting those sort of people who might be in your boat to turn out and stay with you through thick and thin, and I think that’s Ocasio-Cortez. Like, the media is kind of obsessed with her, and they’re going to follow her every move, which means she will be able to keep the attention on her throughout the primary process.
Nate Silver reveals his top picks for the most likely 2028 Democratic presidential nominee:
Silver replied, “I agree with everything. She was going to be my first pick, and I can’t conceal that now, right? Because of some of the polling; because she has this kind of progressive lane, probably not to herself; because she is younger and media savvy. I mean, look, in polls, if she were to try to primary Chuck Schumer, she is now ahead in those polls and New York Democrats are actually a pretty moderate bloc.”
After Silver added, however, that he was not yet sure whether Ocasio-Cortez would even run, Druke said, “I think she’s gonna run. If you’ve been following her moves in terms of her ‘Fight Oligarchy’ tour, in terms of the kind of content she’s putting out on social media.”
A U.S. Secret Service employee has been placed on immediate administrative leave after reportedly celebrating the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk in a social media post, Fox News Digital confirmed Friday.
“The U.S. Secret Service will not tolerate behavior that violates our code of conduct. This employee was immediately put on administrative leave, and an investigation has begun,” a Secret Service spokesperson told Fox News when asked about the employment status of Anthony Pough.
Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
According to Real Clear Politics, Pough had posted on Facebook celebrating Kirk’s death, accusing the conservative leader of spreading “racism.”
“If you are Mourning [sic] this guy .. delete me. He spewed hate and racism on his show,” Pough wrote, according to the outlet. He also referenced the recent Evergreen High School shooting in Colorado that left two students injured, writing, “Especially when we should be mourning the innocent children killed in Colorado.”
Pough further claimed that Kirk’s death was “karma,” writing, “At the end of the day, you answer to GOD and speak things into existence. You can only circumvent karma, she doesnt [sic] leave.”
Kirk was attending a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday afternoon when a single shot rang out and struck Kirk in the neck. He was transported to a local hospital and was pronounced dead just hours later.
Real Clear Politics reported that Pough was in “Phase 2” of his career with the Secret Service, a stage where agents are focused on protective assignments. He had not yet been assigned to any regular detail protecting former President Donald Trump. According to the agency’s website, Phase 3 typically involves post-protective field, protection, or headquarters assignments.
Kirk was shot Wednesday afternoon while attending a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University. He was struck once in the neck and later pronounced dead at a local hospital. He is survived by his wife, Erika, and their two young children, ages 1 and 3. The couple married in 2021. (RELATED: MSNBC Fires Analyst Matthew Dowd For ‘Unacceptable’ Charlie Kirk Comments)
Kirk leaves behind his wife, Erika Kirk, as well as their two children, ages 1 and 3. The Kirks married in 2021.
Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance accompanied Kirk’s casket back to Arizona, where he resided with his family, on Thursday via Air Force Two.
Trump lawyers called for an “immediate dismissal” of New York v. Trump on Wednesday, saying the American people’s choice to elect the former president to a second term “supersedes” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s “political motivations.”
In a letter to Judge Juan Merchan on Wednesday, Trump defense attorney and now-nominee for Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche demanded the case against the president-elect be tossed.
“On November 5, 2024, the Nation’s People issued a mandate that supersedes the political motivations of DANY’s ‘People,’” Blanche wrote. “This case must be immediately dismissed.”
Blanche said that “immediate dismissal of this case is mandated by the federal Constitution, the Presidential Transition Act of 1963, and the interests of justice, in order to facilitate the orderly transition of Executive power following President Trump’s overwhelming victory in the 2024 Presidential Election.”
Blanche’s pre-motion letter Wednesday was sent in order to request permission to file a motion to dismiss by Dec. 20, 2024 and to request a stay on all deadlines, which Bragg and New York prosecutors have agreed to.
Blanche argued that Bragg “appears to not yet be ready to dismiss this politically-motivated and fatally flawed case, which is what is mandated by the law and will happen as justice takes its course.” Blanche pointed to Bragg’s own election campaign for another term as Manhattan DA.
Blanche argued that “continuing with this case would be ‘uniquely destabilizing’ and threatens to ‘hamstring the operation of the whole governmental apparatus, both in foreign and domestic affairs.’”
“The Court must address these new issues and dismiss the case, prior to issuing a decision on the previously filed Presidential immunity motion,” Blanche explained. “Any other action would obviously violate the presidential immunity doctrine and the Supremacy Clause.”
The letter comes after Bragg on Tuesday sent a letter to Merchan requesting a stay on the case until 2029. Bragg said he would oppose Trump’s motion to dismiss, but said he would be open to receiving the defense argument.
Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree stemming from the years-long investigation related to alleged hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
It’s not a secret that former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is no fan of Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz after helping lead the charge to oust him from the Speaker’s office.
While the Florida Republican who filed a motion to vacate the chair in October 2023, which triggered a vote of the House on whether to remove McCarthy as speaker claims his actions were motivated by McCarthy’s mishandling of the office, the former Speaker discussed his own opinion on the shocking events.
McCarthy claims Gaetz wanted him to end a House Ethics Committee probe examining whether Gaetz had sexual relations with a minor. In January, the left-leaning publication The Daily Beast reported that Gaetz privately told colleagues he was motivated by the ethics investigation.
Appearing on the PBD Podcast, McCarthy discussed the drama with host Patrick Bet-David.
The ex-speaker pointed to court filings unsealed last week in which witnesses testified that Gaetz was at a drug-fueled party that was attended by a 17-year-old.
“Everything I said has come to fruition,” McCarthy stated. “It’s unfortunate that one person would utilize something to stop what was coming after them and disrupt the entire Congress.”
“How is the relationship now?” Bet-David asked. “Because I know I saw you guys at the RNC where he walked up to you while you’re talking to somebody. ‘You wouldn’t be on the stage, you would be booed’ or something like that. Are you guys better know or–
“No!” McCarthy said. “I don’t hang around with pedophiles, I’m sorry.”
Watch:
The Department of Justice investigated Gaetz, but ultimately declined to prosecute.
Crowds erupted into chants of “2028” and “President!” Tuesday night as Rep. Thomas Massie delivered a defiant concession speech following his stunning Republican primary defeat — raising fresh questions about whether the longtime Kentucky libertarian could emerge as an outsider figure in the next presidential cycle.
Massie, who represented Kentucky in Congress since 2012, lost his seat to Trump-backed challenger Ed Gallrein in what was widely described as the most expensive House primary race in U.S. history.
The race became a high-profile test of President Donald Trump’s continued grip on the Republican Party, with Trump repeatedly urging supporters to back Gallrein while launching blistering attacks on Massie throughout the campaign.
Trump at one point called Massie a “major sleazebag” and “the worst Republican congressman in history” as tensions between the two escalated over a series of high-profile disagreements.
Massie had increasingly broken with the administration on issues ranging from the “Big Beautiful Bill” and military action to efforts surrounding the release of files related to Jeffrey Epstein.
But Tuesday night’s concession speech quickly shifted from political obituary to something closer to a campaign rally.
“Listen, I would’ve come out sooner, but I had to call my opponent and concede,” Massie joked to supporters. “And it took a while to find Ed Gallrein in Tel Aviv.”
The crowd erupted in cheers.
Massie later urged supporters to accept the outcome, telling them his defeat was “God’s will.”
Then someone shouted: “We’re just getting started!”
“I like that,” Massie replied with a smile.
Moments later, the room broke into chants of “2028.”
“What happens in 2028?” Massie asked with a grin.
The crowd immediately answered with another chant:
“President!”
Laughing, Massie played along.
“All right, you’ve made a compelling argument,” he said. “You spoke your piece, but I need a medical margarita first, and we’ll talk about it later.”
Watch via C-SPAN:
Whether the moment was simply a crowd of disappointed supporters refusing to say goodbye — or the earliest hint of a future national movement — remains unclear.
Massie has never publicly indicated interest in a White House run, and his loss Tuesday marked a major political setback. Still, figures who cultivate anti-establishment appeal and challenge party leadership have repeatedly found influence beyond Congress.
For now, Massie may be headed out of Washington. But if the reaction from supporters Tuesday night was any indication, some in his base appear convinced his political story may not be ending — only changing direction.
