Congressman John Rose ‘Confident’ Kevin McCarthy Will Do ‘Exceptional’ Job in House Speaker Role

Tennessee Congressman John Rose (R-TN-06) released a statement expressing his confidence in the newly-elected Speaker of the House, California Congressman Kevin McCarthy (R-CA-20). During the chamber’s 15th round of voting that took place late Friday night, McCarthy garnered enough votes to secure the role of Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives for the 118th Congress.

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TN-5 GOP Congressman Andy Ogles Explains 12th Round Vote for McCarthy in House Speaker Race

Tennessee Congressman Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) released a statement offering insight on his decision to switch his vote in the Speaker of the House race during the chamber’s 12th round of voting on Friday.

Ogles voted for California Congressman Kevin McCarthy (R-CA-20) in the speakership race during the chamber’s 12th round of voting on Friday, The Tennessee Star previously reported.

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State House Speaker-Elect Ben Toma Fills Committee Chairs for Upcoming Arizona Legislative Session

State Rep. Ben Toma (R-Peoria), elected to serve as the next Speaker of the House, has unveiled his list of committees and chair appointments.

“House Speaker-elect Ben Toma today announced committees and chair appointments for the upcoming 56th Legislature, 1st Regular Session, which opens on January 9, 2023,” according to a press release from the Arizona House Republicans.

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Commentary: The House GOP Majority Will Be at Least 221 Seats When All of the Counting is Done

There are just a few more results coming in from the 2022 Congressional midterms, and with just one more race to call — Republican John Duarte is narrowly leading Democrat Adam Gray by just 593 votes in California’s 13th Congressional District — House Republicans will take the gavel in the U.S. House of Representatives in January with either a 222 to 213 seat majority (nine seats) or a 221 to 214 seat majority (seven seats).

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Republicans Expected to Take Majority in Arizona Legislature, Senate Will Do Its Best to Work Under Potential Hobbs Administration

In the wake of the 2022 General Election, results project that both parts of the Arizona State Legislature will fall under a Republican majority, although it appears the governor’s seat will fall into the hands of Democrat Katie Hobbs. Kim Quintero, the spokesperson for the Senate Republican Caucus, said that while it is too early to know precisely how the Hobbs administration will change Arizona, Senate Republicans will do their best to continue bettering Arizona.

“Whatever the outcome, we will strive to work with a Hobbs administration as best we can for the betterment of all Arizonans. We have pressing issues to tackle such as our water shortage, border security, public safety, election integrity, education, transportation, and much more. We’re optimistic that we can still pass some good, common-sense policies with a governor who genuinely is in office to make Arizona a better place to live, work, play and raise a family. We’re hoping that will be the case with a Hobbs administration,” Quintero told the Sun Times via email.

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Kavanaugh Supreme Court Confirmation Vote Puts Red State Democrats in a Bind

by Robert Romano   Nine Senate Democrats are standing for reelection this year in states President Donald Trump carried in 2016: Jon Tester on Montana, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Bill Nelson of Florida. And they could be facing the vote of their political lives when it comes to the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court. So far, of those nine, Tester, Heitkamp, Nelson, Donnelly, Manchin and McCaskill have not said they will support or oppose Kavanaugh. They’ve been very quiet. For good reason. The political left in the U.S. is having an apoplectic fit that less than two years into President Donald Trump first term of office, he has had not one but two Supreme Court picks. More than any other decision, who a president puts on the Supreme Court is often one of his most enduring legacies, as the appointments often last decades. To them, Kavanaugh, a constitutionalist who promises to interpret the law as written represents everything they oppose—a firm, consistent, predictable rule of law within the boundaries set by the…

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Commentary: Will the Democrats’ Sad Shaming of Kavanaugh Ignite a Fury in the GOP Grassroots?

by Jeffery Rendall   With the confirmation hearings for Trump Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh now concluded talk slowly returns to the hot topic of the hour, the 2018 midterm elections. But first let’s digest the big glob of goopy phlegm America was forced to swallow last week, served up by shameless Democrats on a mission. In the course of shredding a good man’s reputation the ravenous pack of minority party wolves revealed they weren’t the least bit interested in learning about Kavanaugh’s judicial philosophies, logical reasoning, legal opinions or thought processes. Democrats spared nothing in savaging the Supreme Court as an institution while verbally disrobing and flogging the nominee before a horrified audience – which included his wife and young daughters. It was a sickening spectacle worthy of bad cinema fiction. If Hollywood produced a film with actors impersonating senators doing the dirty work it wouldn’t have been any more insulting and melodramatic for Kavanaugh himself. One wonders what motivates a respectable person like the judge (or Neil Gorsuch last year) to agree to a guaranteed scourging at the hands of swine in business dress who see it as their sole mission to create histrionics and assault a man’s character. The…

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All Eyes On Red State Dems As Kavanaugh Emerges From Hearings Intact

Brett Kavanaugh

by Kevin Daley   Attention is fixed on a handful of moderate senators expected to cast the decisive votes on Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court, after Kavanaugh emerged relatively unscathed from several days of testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Democrats tried to infuse the hearings with defiant gestures and dramatic reveals — like a 2003 email purporting to show Kavanaugh misled the committee about his views on Roe v. Wade — but their tactics gained little traction with key lawmakers, while the judge put in a disciplined performance throughout. “Over the past three days, Judge Kavanaugh demonstrated exactly why President Trump nominated him to the Supreme Court,” said White House deputy press secretary Raj Shah. “His fidelity to the Constitution, impeccable qualifications, and extraordinary temperament were on full display for the American people to see. Through long hours and days of questioning, Judge Kavanaugh consistently reinforced his firm belief in the bedrock principles of judicial independence and the rule of law.” For his part, Kavanaugh avoided serious blunders, meeting pointed questions about abortion, race, guns, and executive power with narrow, carefully planned answers, showing good command of legal doctrine but little about his actual views. Supreme Court nominees have generally avoided…

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Marsha Blackburn Launches Her General Election Bid for US Senate, Declares 2018 Will Be About Security

Brian Wilson, Marsha Blackburn

U.S. Senate hopeful Representative Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-07) appeared on WTN’s Nashville Morning News with Brian Wilson Thursday morning to discuss her reaction to the fallout from the foul-mouthed Democratic spokesman Mark Brown, as well as her plans for her campaign going forward in the general election against Phil Bredesen. After opening nicities, Brian Wilson asked, “So tell me, where does election day find you this morning? Where are you?” Rep Blackburn answered, “I’m going to be all over Middle Tennessee. Yesterday I was over in East Tennessee, and then today I’ll be in Middle Tennessee, I’m going to go vote – and looking forward to doing that – and then visit with volunteers as we get ready to go through this day. Looking forward to the results tonight.” BW: Well, this is really sort of the kickoff for you, because you are just starting your TV ads. Phil Bredesen has been out there for a while, trying to reach out to, you know, the moderate voters or some of the Trump supporters. He’s saying he can work with President Trump and he’s coming across – reaching out across the aisle – looking for voters on the other side. And yet…

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Commentary: The Only Thing Worse For Republicans Than John McCain In The Senate

Cindy McCain

by CHQ Staff   After showing up to torpedo the repeal of Obamacare, cancer-stricken Senator John McCain has been absent from the Senate for the better part of five months, leaving the Republican agenda frozen with a mere one vote majority over the obstructionist Democrats. Senator McCain is rumored to be now so ill that only family can see him and plans for his funeral and lying in state at the Capitol are being openly discussed. What hasn’t been publicly discussed until now is who will succeed Senator McCain, whose term runs until 2022, but rumors are now swirling in Arizona that the Senator’s wife – Cindy Hensley McCain – has privately made it clear she wants to be appointed to succeed him. Mrs. McCain, known for her white blonde hair and hard-edged fashion choices, is the daughter of the late Jim Hensley, who built one of the largest Anheuser-Busch beer distributors in the United States. And, in the minds of many, it was the Hensley wealth and ambition that built John McCain’s political career. In a 2008 article for The New Republic, Noam Scheiber wrote, “the reality behind this political creation myth is far more complex. McCain was a relative…

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Conservatives Spot New Tactic to Pass Bills Without Senate Filibuster

Some of the conservative movement’s biggest names urged President Trump Thursday to use NAFTA negotiations as a way to get around a Democratic filibuster and push through major cuts to government regulations. In a letter to the president, the conservatives urged him to tuck the REINS Act, which would give Congress a veto over any new major Executive Branch regulations, inside a newly negotiated North American Free Trade Agreement. Including it in NAFTA would allow Congress to pass the REINS Act on a majority vote, thanks to the fast-track trade negotiating powers Congress gave to the executive branch in 2015.

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