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Kevin McCarthy Warns That MTG Is Likely Just the First of Many House Republicans to Quit

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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) may not be the only Republican planning to leave Washington soon, according to former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. During an appearance Monday night on Jesse Watters Primetime on Fox News, McCarthy said Greene’s resignation could signal broader unrest within the House GOP conference.

“She’s almost like a canary in a coal mine,” McCarthy told Watters. “And this is something inside Congress — they better wake up, because they’re going to get a lot of people retiring, and they’ve got to focus.”

McCarthy did not name any specific lawmakers he believes are considering departures, nor did he detail what is motivating them. But he warned Republicans to recognize the significance of Greene’s decision and to make better use of their time holding the House majority.

“I think keeping members out of Congress, you only get two years to be in the majority,” he said. “And if the Democrats get you not to work every day for two months, that’s losing two months of the majority.”

McCarthy also remarked on Greene’s national profile, saying she fits his belief that “if you’re known by three initials, you must be effective at what you do.” He added that he does not view her departure as “the end” of her political visibility and expects she will remain active after leaving office in January 2026.

Context on Greene’s Resignation

Greene announced her planned resignation on Nov. 21, a move that stunned many in the Republican Party. She attributed her decision to her increasingly public split with former President Donald Trump, whom she had long supported as a prominent “day one” MAGA loyalist.

“I have too much self-respect and dignity, love my family way too much, and do not want my sweet district to have to endure a hurtful and hateful primary against me by the President we all fought for, only to fight and win my election while Republicans will likely lose the midterms,” she said. “And in turn, be expected to defend the President against impeachment after he hatefully dumped tens of millions of dollars against me and tried to destroy me.”

Her break with Trump escalated after she pushed for releasing additional documents related to deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein — an effort Trump reportedly opposed. Tensions rose in the weeks before her announcement, culminating in Trump calling her “Marjorie ‘Traitor’ Greene” and describing her as a “ranting lunatic” on Truth Social while withdrawing his endorsement.

Greene’s exit removes one of the GOP’s most recognizable firebrands from Congress and highlights the deepening internal divisions within the Republican Party heading into the 2026 midterm cycle

Sununu Eyes New Campaign Seat After New Hampshire Senate Seat Opens Up

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Photo of Chris Sununu via Gage Skidmore Flckr

All eyes are on New Hampshire…

Former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) said he is considering running for Senate after previously rejecting the possibility.

“I have not ruled it out completely, but folks in Washington have asked me to think about it and to consider it, and that is just kind of where I am,” Sununu said Tuesday about a possible Senate run, according to The Washington Times.

Democrat Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire announced Wednesday she will not seek reelection to the United States Senate next year, concluding a historic political career that includes being the first woman elected as both a governor and U.S. senator in the United States. Shaheen, who turned 78 in January, has been a significant figure in New Hampshire politics for decades, serving three terms as governor before her election to the Senate in 2008.

Sununu has previously said he is not interested in representing his state in Washington.

“I would rule myself completely out of a U.S. Senate race, to be sure,” Sununu said last year, according to a local news outlet.

“Politically, we’ll see what happens down the road. But in terms of Senate or Congress, nothing I have any interest in whatsoever,” he added.

The Washington Times reported, however, that Sununu is now saying that Trump’s focus on making government more accountable and efficient has prompted him to reconsider.

“That makes me think, OK, maybe things are changing,” he said, according to The Washington Times. “Maybe there’s a path here.”

Billionaire Threatens To Primary Lawmakers Who Vote Against RFK Jr. Confirmation

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Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

The fight is on…

Billionaire Nicole Shanahan, who was the running mate of independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., threatened to primary senators who vote against his nomination as Secretary of Health and Human Services.

With Kennedy’s confirmation hearing set to begin on Wednesday morning, Shanahan wrote on X on Tuesday, where she posted a video warning senators not to oppose his nomination.

“He is more than qualified,” Shanahan said. “He’s proven, principled, and prepared to lead. I’ll list I’ll share a list below of key senators. If they represent your state, they need to hear from you. If they don’t, please call your own senator and ask them to vote yes.”

She then addressed several senators whose votes she said she would monitor.

“The two candidates I helped elect, Senator Raphael Warnock and Senator Jon Ossoff, please know I will be watching your votes very closely,” Shanahan added. “I will make it my personal mission that you lose your seats in the Senate if you vote against the future health of America’s children.”

Shanahan listed more senators, including “Lisa Markovsky” a clear nod to Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski also voted “no” on Trump’s nominee to lead the Pentagon.

“And more than that, I also want to say to Senators Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham, Lisa Markovsky, Susan Collins, Bill Cassidy, Thom Tillis, James Lankford, Cory Booker, John Fetterman, Bernie Sanders, and Catherine Cortez Masto,” she said. “This is a bipartisan message and it comes directly from me. While Bobby may be willing to play nice. I won’t. If you vote against him, I will personally fund challengers to primary you in your next election, and I will enlist hundreds of thousands to join me.”

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) has reservations and made it clear she’s hesitant about supporting RFK Jr. for the role/

“Well I’m certainly concerned about it. I know others have other, other points of concerns that they want to drill down on and try to get some commitments, public commitments, from him on,” the senator said. “But vaccines are important.”

Former Speaker Skewers Matt Gaetz During Podcast Interview

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Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

The claws came out…

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.

Steve Bannon Responds To Reports He’s Eyeing Presidential Run

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Thor Brødreskift / Nordiske Mediedager, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Not so fast…

Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon is reportedly eyeing a presidential run in 2028 against de facto Trump successor Vice President JD Vance, according to the Daily Mail. However, after the report aired, Bannon wasted no time and responded to the claims on The National Pulse website, simply responding: “Trump 2028.”

Elina Shirazi, a senior political reporter focused on Trump’s foreign policy, wrote in an “exclusive” story on Thursday, “Sources close to Steve Bannon and Trump have told Daily Mail the 71-year-old War Room host has begun soliciting political advice.”

The report made clear, according to a GOP strategist, that Bannon’s planning is purely in the “contemplative stage,” but added that Bannon is concerned about a Vance run. Shirazi wrote:

One source in Bannon’s inner circle told the Daily Mail that the former strategist has privately ridiculed the prospect of Vance at the top of the ticket.

‘Love him… but Vance is not tough enough to run in 2028,’ the source said Bannon has conveyed to multiple people in his circles.

The Daily Mail noted that Bannon did not respond to the report, a claim he pushed back on in his comments to The National Pulse.

“The Daily Mail claims Bannon did not comment on the matter, but The National Pulse can also reveal that, according to Bannon himself, no request for comment was made to Bannon before the story’s publication,” noted the post on Bannon’s response.

It would hardly be Bannon’s first entrance into the world of politics. He initially ran Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign before being replaced by Kellyanne Conway. Since then, Bannon’s War Room show has been a key platform for MAGA Republicans to launch campaigns for office and has hosted countless elected Republicans. 

Earlier this week, President Donald Trump made his clearest endorsement yet for a future Republican presidential candidate, declaring that Vice President JD Vance is “most likely” to carry the MAGA torch after his second term ends.

Speaking on Tuesday, Trump described Vance as “probably the favorite” to lead the Republican Party into the next election cycle.

“He’s most likely the heir,” Trump said, referring to Vance. “He understands the movement, he understands the people, and he’s doing a phenomenal job as Vice President.”

Conservative Pundit Ann Coulter Declares ‘Trump is Done’

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Former President of the United States Donald Trump speaking with attendees at the 2022 Student Action Summit at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Florida. [Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons]

Is the Republican Party officially moving on from Donald Trump? According to conservative pundit and author Ann Coulter, the answer is a resounding “yes.”

In Coulter’s latest podcast of Unsafe aptly titled “Trump’s Done” she dives into the signs Republicans are moving away from the former president and how his influence in slowly but surely dwindling.

Throughout the podcast Coulter notes how Trump’s star has begun to fade, comparing the phenomenon to Sarah Palin who saw her rockstar status revoked following John McCain’s unsuccessful 2008 presidential campaign.

Coulter also noted Trump’s once-infamous rallies dwindling turnouts as further evidence he’s losing power within the GOP.

According to Mediaite:

“They’re like Deadheads,” Coulter said of those still running to MAGA rallies. “They’re following him from place to place. He sings the same songs.”

Loyalty among Trump “fanatics,” she added, is not “indicative of a movement sweeping the nation.” Coulter mentioned a pair of Stone emails she received from the Trump team. The first was an email “slamming” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), considered by many to be Trump’s biggest 2024 competition, should both men run for the Republican Party nomination. A second email, Coulter said, was Stone “backpedaling” on his criticism of DeSantis after he heard complaints from conservatives supportive of the governor.

Trump being “done” could be the message some politicians have been waiting to hear before wading into the 2024 presidential campaign arena. While the former President has made a habit of hinting at his potential presidential campaign some conservatives have held their breath in regard to their own political aspirations.

“Republicans, it’s not the party of Trump. It’s safe to come back, and it’s safe for Republicans to stand up and run without Donald Trump,” she said.

Former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley previously said she would not launch a presidential campaign if Trump also were to run, and she’s likely not the only Republican sharing that mindset.

However, Coulter was careful to note that moving away from Trump isn’t necessarily a bad thing for the Party and predicted the GOP could still sweep the midterms.

“People are angry. Republicans are really angry. We are on a smooth glide path to really, really good midterm elections, and the only thing that can blow it is what probably will blow it: the Republican Party,” she said.

RFK Jr. Switches Affiliation to Independent Party

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Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

On Monday, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced he is switching from Democrat to Independent in a desperate move to breathe new life into a dying campaign.

“I’m here to declare myself an independent candidate,” Kennedy told a crowd of supporters in Philadelphia.

“I must declare my own independence. Independence from the Democratic Party,” he said to loud cheers. “And from all other political parties.”

Kennedy has formally rivaled President Biden from within the party since the spring, but he has not made a dent against the White House incumbent. His switch theoretically puts him closer to voters who are unhappy with both political parties, hyper-partisan politics, and want an alternative to the expected Biden-Trump options next November. 

“People suspect that the divisions are deliberately orchestrated,” he said. “They’re fed up with being fooled and they’re ready to take back power.”

Kennedy has been a frequent critic of the Democratic National Committee and has regularly lamented its decision not to hold debates with Biden as the presumptive nominee, throwing around claims that the party is “rigging” things in the president’s favor. 

Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel slammed RFK Jr. over his switch.

“Make no mistake – a Democrat in Independent’s clothing is still a Democrat,” McDaniel said in a statement. 

“RFK Jr. cannot hide from his record of endorsing Hillary, supporting the Green New Deal, fighting against the Keystone Pipeline, and praising AOC’s tax hikes – he is your typical elitist liberal and voters won’t be fooled,” McDaniel said.

GOP Congressman To Retire After Voting For Trump’s Big, Beautiful Bill

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House Republicans’ majority will soon shrink by one…

On Monday evening, Tennessee Rep. Mark Green announced he plans to retire from Congress in the coming weeks.

Green, who currently serves as the House Homeland Security Committee chairmain, said he is leaving Congress for the private sector after the House votes again on President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” in the coming weeks, in a statement first obtained by Fox News Digital.

“It is with a heavy heart that I announce my retirement from Congress. Recently, I was offered an opportunity in the private sector that was too exciting to pass up. As a result, today I notified the Speaker and the House of Representatives that I will resign from Congress as soon as the House votes once again on the reconciliation package,” Green said.

He called serving Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District “the honor of a lifetime.”

“They asked me to deliver on the conservative values and principles we all hold dear, and I did my level best to do so. Along the way, we passed historic tax cuts, worked with President Trump to secure the border, and defended innocent life. I am extremely proud of my work as Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, and want to thank my staff, both in my seventh district office, as well as the professional staff on that committee,” Green said.

Green acknowledged in his statement that he had previously planned to retire in the last Congress, but reversed course. Republicans are expected to maintain their grip on Green’s district which voted for President Donald Trump by more than 20 percentage points over former Vice President Kamala Harris last year.

“Though I planned to retire at the end of the previous Congress, I stayed to ensure that President Trump’s border security measures and priorities make it through Congress,” he said.

“By overseeing the border security portion of the reconciliation package, I have done that. After that, I will retire, and there will be a special election to replace me.”

Republican leaders are hoping to complete consideration of Trump’s massive agenda bill by the Fourth of July or shortly thereafter.

The bill passed the House in a narrow 215-214 vote, and it is now being considered by the Senate. If the Senate changes the bill, as expected, the House will have to approve that version before it hits Trump’s desk.

The bill — titled the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” adopting Trump’s slogan for the measure — extends the tax cuts enacted by the president in 2017; boosts funding for border, deportation, and national defense priorities; imposes reforms, like beefed-up work requirements, on Medicaid that are projected to result in millions of low-income individuals losing health insurance; rolls back green energy tax incentives; and increases the debt limit by $4 trillion, among many other provisions.

It also does away with taxes on tips and overtime — two of Trump’s campaign promises — among other provisions.

Denver Mayor Could Face Removal, Jail Time Over Deportation Stance

Trump at the border wall via Wikimedia Commons

Democrat Denver Mayor Mike Johnston recently said he was prepared to break with President-elect Donald Trump’s deportation plans and Republicans are warning he will absolutely suffer the consequences.

Johnston said during a recent interview that he was prepared to protest against anything he believes is “illegal or immoral or un-American” in the city – including the use of military force.

During a Sunday morning interview on Face The Nation, Paul told anchor Margaret Brennan that Johnston’s plan is a “form of insurrection” that could see him removed from office.

BRENNAN: The stated Trump plan is to use the military or military assets, deputize the National Guard, and have them act as immigration agents. Do you believe that is lawful?

PAUL: You know, I’m 100% supportive of going after the 15,000 murderers, the 13,000 sexual assault perpetrators, rapist, all of these people. Let’s send them on their way to prison or back home to another prison. So I would say all points bulletin all in. But you don’t do it with the army because it’s illegal. And we’ve we’ve had a distrust of putting the army into our streets because the police have a difficult job. But the police understand the Fourth Amendment. They have to go to judges. They have to get warrants. It has to be specific. And so I’m for removing these people. But I would do it through the normal process of domestic policing.

Now, I would say that the mayor of Denver, if he’s going to resist federal law, which there’s a long standing, standing history of the supremacy of federal law, he’s going to resist that. It will go all the way to the Supreme Court. And I would suspect that he would be removed from office. I don’t know whether or not that would be a criminal prosecution for someone resisting federal law. But he will lose. And people need to realize that what he is offering is a form of insurrection where the states resist the federal government. Most people objected to that and rejected that long ago. So I think the mayor of Denver is on the wrong side of history and really, I think will face legal ramifications if he doesn’t obey the federal law.

The president-elect’s pick to be the next border czar responded that he’s willing to put the Denver Mayor in jail for outright flouting Trump’s policies.

“You are absolutely breaking the law,” Tom Homan, Trump’s “border czar” designate, told Fox News’ Sean Hannity. “All he has to do is look at Arizona v. U.S. and he would see he’s breaking the law. But, look, me and the Denver mayor, we agree on one thing. He’s willing to go to jail, I’m willing to put him in jail.”

Homan pointed to a statute that says it’s a “felony if you knowingly harbor and conceal an illegal alien from immigration authorities.”

Homan said they have to secure this country and save lives. 

“President Trump has been clear, we want to concentrate on public safety threats and national security threats. I find it hard to believe that any governor would say they don’t want public safety threats removed from their neighborhoods,” he said.

Will Lackluster Midterm Results Deter Trump 2024 Announcement?

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Gage Skidmore Flickr

Tuesday’s midterms produced lackluster results as ballots continue to be tallied across the country. While the red tsunami appeared to be more of a wave Republicans and Democrats are still waiting to know which party will control the House of Representatives and the Senate on Wednesday morning.

The midterm results have spurred questions about Trump’s potential plan to announce his third presidential campaign next week. The former president has been heavily involved throughout the midterms but some are left wondering if Trump will push his announcement.

During an interview with Markie Martin on NewsNation ahead of the midterms Trump noted he’s made over 300 endorsements.

“You’ve endorsed more than 330 candidates this election cycle,” Martin said. “Tonight, win or lose, the results for Republicans, how much of that will be because of Donald Trump?”

“Well, I think if they win, I should get all the credit. And if they lose, I should not be blamed at all, okay?” Trump said. “But it’ll probably be just the opposite. When they win, I think they’re going to do very well, I’ll probably be given very little credit even though in many cases I told people to run and they ran and they turned out to be very good candidates. You know, they’ve turned out to be very good candidates.”

“But usually what would happen is when they do well, I won’t be given any credit and if they do badly, they will blame everything on me,” he continued. “So I’m prepared for anything, but we’ll defend ourselves.”

Advisers close to Trump say the former president is certainly running but he’s yet to make any formal announcement as doing so will link him to specific election laws.

During a Monday evening rally in Ohio, former President Trump declared he plans to make a “big announcement” next Tuesday.

“I’m going to be making a very big announcement on Tuesday, Nov. 15, at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla.,” Trump said toward the end of a rally near Dayton, Ohio, where he was campaigning for a host of candidates in the state, including Republican Senate candidate J.D. Vance.

“We want nothing to distract from the importance of tomorrow,” Trump said.

Vance won his race against Democrat Rep. Tim Ryan Tuesday night.

“I can’t thank President Trump enough for his support,” Vance said. “His endorsement and the work he did to drive turnout – including a huge rally in Dayton on election eve – made all the difference in this race, and led us to the largest battleground victory in the nation.”