Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-WY) firmly opposed President Donald Trump's recent suggestion to raise taxes on high-income earners, reaffirming the Republican Party's commitment to tax cuts and fiscal conservatism.
As House Republicans work to meet the $5.8 trillion budget framework laid out by President Donald Trump, attention has turned to Medicaid, the costly federal healthcare program that now consumes nearly $900 billion annually. With the Energy and Commerce Committee required to find $880 billion in spending cuts over the next decade, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that $581 billion will need to come from Medicaid alone.
Key moderate Republicans are quietly pushing back against efforts to defund Planned Parenthood through the upcoming reconciliation package, according to sources cited by NOTUS. During a closed-door meeting with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA), lawmakers including Reps. Mike Lawler (R-NY), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), and Jen Kiggans (R-VA) reportedly voiced concern about using the budget process to cut Medicaid funding to the nation’s largest abortion provider.
Reps. Mark Messmer (R-IN) and August Pfluger (R-TX) have introduced a bill to block the federal funding of universities requiring students to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
Republican lawmakers are advancing a $150 billion defense package that allocates $27 billion to President Donald Trump's Golden Dome missile defense system.
North Carolina Labor Commissioner Luke Farley condemned a Wake County Superior Court ruling that he says threatens to centralize executive power in the hands of Democratic Governor Josh Stein. Farley, a first-term Republican, warned Thursday that the ruling would demote nine of the ten Council of State offices to "second-class" status and defy the principles of North Carolina’s constitution.
Rep. Abe Hamadeh, R-Ariz., is calling on lawmakers from both sides of the aisle to back a series of pro-Second Amendment bills aimed at reducing federal overreach and clarifying firearm suppressor regulations. Arguing that current laws are confusing, excessive, and harmful to lawful gun owners, Hamadeh is throwing his weight behind legislation that redefines, deregulates, and simplifies how suppressors are treated under federal law.
Just three weeks before a shooting injured multiple students at Florida State University, Republican state Sen. Ileana Garcia joined Democrats to block a bill that would have allowed students to carry firearms for self-defense. Senate Bill 814, which aimed to restore Second Amendment rights on campus, was shut down in committee due to Garcia's pivotal vote. The FSU shooting has reignited calls to reexamine Florida’s gun policies, particularly concerning self-defense on college campuses.
