Good afternoon everyone. I am tracking major breaking news from the House of Representatives where Republican women are leading an open revolt against Speaker Mike Johnson. They are fed up with his leadership and are challenging the status quo in ways that could ultimately collapse his speakership, especially as several of them prepare to leave Congress. In just a couple of hours polls will close in a critical election in Miami, and I will have another update then along with an interview with Jasmine Crockett, so stay tuned.
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Here’s what you missed:
House Republican women are openly rebelling against Speaker Mike Johnson over feeling marginalized and shut out of leadership with several breaking ranks on key issues, launching discharge petitions accusing Johnson of bias or dishonesty, and heading for the exits as frustrations grow about limited representation lack of elected committee chairs and resistance within the GOP to building infrastructure that supports female candidates threatening to shrink the party’s already small ranks of women in Congress.
GOP Rep. Nancy Mace, now running for South Carolina governor, argues in a New York Times op-ed that Nancy Pelosi was a more effective House speaker than any Republican this century, criticizing current GOP leaders for hoarding power, sidelining rank-and-file members (including women), passing only timid legislation out of fear of losing the majority, and urging a more open House floor so both conservative and bipartisan bills can actually get votes.
Marjorie Taylor Greene continued distancing herself from Trump and the GOP by praising CNN appearances and criticizing Fox News for allegedly blacklisting her saying the network stopped inviting her after she broke with Trump over releasing the Epstein files, while she also condemned the president’s rhetoric as fueling death threats against her discussed her resignation from Congress and framed her shift as a rejection of toxic politics. She further called Mike Johnson a loser:
Rep. Elise Stefanik, who is leaving Congress and running for New York governor, has become a leading internal critic of Speaker Mike Johnson calling him a political novice and saying most Republicans would replace him fueling broader unrest among departing GOP members as Johnson struggles with a razor-thin majority repeated revolts from his caucus and major legislative fights that highlight his weakened grip on the speakership.
The Kansas City Star has confirmed that Missouri organizers submitted more than 300000 signatures nearly triple the requirement to block the Republican-drawn congressional map that eliminates a Democratic district, and to force a 2026 referendum despite GOP efforts to disqualify signatures and legally halt the process keeping the map on hold while verification proceeds.
In a wide-ranging Politico interview Donald Trump attacked Europe as weak and decaying framed immigration in racial terms, echoed “great replacement” rhetoric, pressed Ukraine’s president to accept a peace deal requiring territorial concessions to Russia, refused to rule out military action in Venezuela, and drew sharp rebukes from European leaders who condemned his administration’s new national security strategy and warnings that Europe faced “civilisational erasure.”
NBC News has confirmed that ICE agents allegedly forced entry into a Burnsville, Minnesota home without presenting a warrant detained four people, including a couple returning from the grocery store and two additional men frightened U.S. citizen family members by pointing guns, and demanding phones and left several children including a 7-year-old boy whose parents were taken and a pregnant woman’s two young children temporarily without caregivers prompting concern and statements from local officials about community fear and limited city involvement in federal immigration actions.
The Supreme Court heard arguments on JD Vance’s challenge to long-standing limits on how much national party committees can coordinate spending with candidates with conservative justices questioning the restrictions liberal justices warning about corruption risks debate over whether the case is moot due to Vance’s ambiguity about a 2028 run and lawyers noting the decision could further weaken campaign finance rules by potentially eliminating caps that currently limit coordinated party spending which Republicans argue violates free speech and Democrats defend as essential to preventing undue influence.
Trump claimed his economy deserves an “A-plus-plus-plus-plus-plus” despite polling showing most Americans feel squeezed by rising prices with data contradicting his claims that costs are falling and voters widely blaming his policies for worsening affordability.
According to Politico, the Justice Department rescinded decades-old “disparate impact” civil rights protections which allowed challenges to policies that disproportionately harmed people of color arguing such rules forced race-conscious decision-making while civil rights groups warn the rollback strips essential safeguards against systemic discrimination across housing policing employment and environmental policy.
The mother of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s nephew was released from ICE custody on a $1,500 bond after disputing DHS claims that she is a “criminal illegal alien,” with her attorney insisting she has no criminal record and was detained only for a decades-old visa overstay.
According to Punchbowl, Senate Republicans will force a vote on their health care alternative that replaces expiring ACA subsidies with expanded health savings accounts even though both the GOP plan and Democrats’ bill to extend ACA funding are expected to fail leaving millions facing steep premium hikes when the subsidies expire at the end of the year.
A Pennsylvania officer testified that accused murderer Luigi Mangione made comments about the crowd and his situation during his 2024 arraignment as new evidence and testimony were presented in a hearing over whether key evidence should be excluded from his New York murder trial including bodycam footage details of his arrest a search of his backpack and items recovered that prosecutors say link him to the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
A suspect was taken into custody after a shooting at Kentucky State University’s Young Hall dorm that left at least two people injured prompting a campus lockdown and a large law-enforcement response to what police described as an “active aggressor” incident.
A consumer class-action lawsuit seeks to block Netflix’s proposed $72 billion acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery arguing it would harm competition by eliminating HBO Max as a major rival and giving Netflix control of major franchises while regulators and a competing Paramount bid add further scrutiny.
See you this evening.
— Aaron
