Infighting Is Funny

The Washington Post reports: Republican senators find themselves in an unusual position these days: begging Trump officials to release funds they themselves appropriated. Senators have in recent days made the case to Cabinet secretaries and other Trump officials to let money flow back into their states. They are trying to finagle exceptions to President Donald Trump’s sweeping executive orders or …

The Daily Beast reports: Steve Bannon unleashed a new torrent of insults at Elon Musk on Tuesday, escalating an ongoing feud with President Donald Trump’s new favorite confidant. “Musk is a parasitic illegal immigrant,” the former media impresario turned Trump White House adviser turned podcaster, told UnHerd. “He wants to impose his freak experiments and play-act as God without any respect …

The Daily Beast reports: Social media commentators slammed Elon Musk as a hypocrite following claims that the DOGE leader fathered his 13th child with a fourth woman—right-wing influencer Ashley St. Clair, 26. Although Musk, despite a stream of tweets since, has yet to respond to St. Clair’s claim that she had his baby five months ago, the news has set …

McConnell writes for the Louisville Courier-Journal: But no matter our best intentions, tariffs are bad policy. As Sen. Rand Paul, put it: “Tariffs are simply taxes… Taxing trade will mean less trade and higher prices.” So Republicans ought to be clear-eyed about the full, unadulterated impact of tariffs as we work to restore sound fiscal policy to our government. Blanket …

The Oklahoma Voice reports: Gov. Kevin Stitt on Tuesday replaced three of his appointees to the Oklahoma State Board of Education, criticizing the state’s top school board for driving up “needless political drama” rather than academic results. The board shakeup follows “ongoing controversy at the Oklahoma State Department of Education and disappointing scores on the (biennial) National Assessment of Educational …

Current reports: Thousands and thousands of Christian organizations, including Trump acolyte Franklin Graham’s Samaritan’s Purse, have taken federal money to help advance their missions. Christian charities have lost funds as a result of Trump’s cuts to USAID. They include World Vision, World Relief, International Justice Mission, Samaritan’s Purse, and Catholic Relief Services. Some Trump evangelicals are also attacking evangelical organizations …

Mediaite reports: Elon Musk is going after a Republican Senator who could potentially end Tulsi Gabbard’s bid to be Director of National Intelligence. In a post to X on Sunday, Musk raged at Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) — who grilled Gabbard on Thursday during her Senate confirmation hearing after she refused to call Edward Snowden a traitor. “Todd Young is …

Politico reports: Florida’s Republican era of good feelings appears over. President Donald Trump’s home state is caught up in a never-before-seen power struggle between Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Legislature. It’s led to insults, promises of political payback and a mounting media offensive by the governor. The scene is unlike any since Republicans gained control of state government nearly …

“That’s the reason why we did this proposal. He (DeSantis) is not going to work with ICE. He wants a little mini-version of ICE. He wants his own state guard with his own bureaucrats picking up the illegal aliens and shipping them off to another portion of the world, wherever it is that they originate from. That’s not working in …

NewsNation reports: An advocacy group founded by former Vice President Mike Pence is escalating its fight against Robert F. Kennedy Jr., this time with an ad that uses President Trump’s past criticisms of Kennedy to argue against his nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The 60-second ad from Advancing American Freedom consists almost entirely of …

Florida Politics reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis is at war with an Agriculture Commissioner for the second time in his tenure. But this time it’s a Republican. The feud comes amid a rift driven by competing visions of who should be in charge of immigration enforcement in the state. DeSantis and his staff continue to escalate the conflict with Wilton Simpson, …

Florida Politics reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis is fueling the civil war between his executive office and the legislative branch, and he may be benefiting from friendly air cover as he makes less-than-friendly points about Senate President Ben Albritton and House Speaker Daniel Perez. The Governor spoke to Mark Levin and Sean Hannity about his gripes with the GOP supermajority that …

“The girlboss feminism routine isn’t just cringy. It also directly undermines our argument. The Citadel was a male-only space forced by law to admit females in the name of diversity and inclusion. That is the exact argument trans-identifying males use to invade female spaces. Nancy Mace was literally a beneficiary of a DEI program. It’s a ridiculous and tone deaf …

Politico reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis wanted Florida to be the state that led the nation in enacting the MAGA agenda. But it seems the normally compliant Florida Legislature has other ideas. It’s a staggering turn of events for a governor used to getting his own way — and a test of his national staying power as he stares down the …

Politico reports: President Donald Trump’s key aides and allies are furious with Elon Musk for publicly trashing his $500 billion artificial intelligence mega-deal. A White House official said Musk “very much” got over his skis when the tech tycoon launched a daylong screed against the AI project. One Trump ally said Musk abused his closeness to the president. Another Republican …

“I have no desire whatsoever to watch or listen to Donald Trump. Donald Trump has, time and again, convinced me that he is the most dishonest elected official that I have ever — excuse me — that the public has ever had to interact with. “And the paradox with Donald Trump is he seems to make dishonest statements just for …

Politico reports: Senators should reject Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to lead the government’s health agencies because he’s an anti-vax conspiracy theorist, former heroin addict, supporter of marijuana and psychedelic drug legalization, and backer of abortion rights, a conservative group is arguing. Advancing American Freedom, the advocacy group founded by Mike Pence, is throwing everything at the wall in a …

“Vivek Ramaswamy played a critical role in helping us create DOGE. He intends to run for elected office soon, which requires him to remain outside of DOGE, based on the structure that we announced today. We thank him immensely for his contributions over the last 2 months and expect him to play a vital role in making America great again.” …

Politico reports: Vivek Ramaswamy is out at Donald Trump’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency. Ramaswamy, the entrepreneur who was tapped by the president-elect to co-lead his cost-cutting efforts with Elon Musk, is leaving the initiative to run for governor of Ohio. Ramaswamy’s exit clears the path for Musk, the top donor and confidant to Trump, to run the show at …

The New Republic reports: Republicans may not know it yet, but they’re in the process of handing Steve Bannon a powerful weapon to wield in his war with Elon Musk over visas granted to high-skilled immigrants. The weapon in question, it turns out, is buried in the Laken Riley Act, the controversial bill that would mandate the detention of undocumented …