Scott Perry

Bridge security was among the topics discussed by the Sioux City Council at a Nov. 26 retreat session at the Siouxland Expo Center.

Peggy Prichard asks 10 community members: What positive impacts do you believe Trump’s policies will have on our community and country?

A judge has refused to dismiss President-elect Donald Trump’s hush money conviction because of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling on presidential immunity.

President-elect Donald Trump said Monday he would consider pardoning embattled New York Mayor Eric Adams and declared the country was "not going to lose" the polio vaccine.

More than a month after the November election, Iowa-based pollster Ann Selzer still is searching for answers.

President-elect Donald Trump's lawyers urged a judge again Friday to throw out his hush money conviction, balking at the prosecution's suggestion of preserving the verdict.

In an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press," he again suggested political rivals should be imprisoned and repeated his deportation promises.

If confirmed next year by the new Republican-led Senate, Atkins would replace Gary Gensler, who has been leading the U.S. government’s crackdown on the crypto industry.

Meanwhile, Trump threatened 100% tariffs against the BRIC alliance of nine nations if they act to undermine the U.S. dollar.

Trump made the threats in a pair of Truth Social posts in which he railed against an influx of illegal migrants, even though southern border apprehensions are near four-year lows.

Monday's court filing cites longstanding Justice Department policy shielding presidents from prosecution while in office.

What is clear is that the epic legislative gerrymander that followed the 2020 census has had its effect. Unfortunately, the GOP has missed a golden opportunity to recapture the majority.

WYOMING

The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure is demanding that FEMA provide documentation after an employee instructed hurricane relief workers to avoid homes with Trump flags.

Republicans will have full control of Congress and the White House, giving them their best shot yet to make big moves on immigration and tax cuts.

Republicans will maintain control of the House of Representatives by the thinnest of margins, NBC News projected Wednesday, handing President-elect Donald Trump and his party all the levers of power in Washington.A Republican-controlled Congress will allow Trump to quickly fill out his Cabinet and other top administration roles and advance his agenda for at least the next two years. Last week, Republicans flipped three Democratic Senate seats to win control of the upper chamber.House Republicans’ razor-thin victory was propelled by Trump’s decisive win over Vice President Kamala Harris in both the Electoral College and the popular vote. It represents a stinging blow to Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and the Democrats, who now will have virtually no check on Trump, a man they warned on the campaign trail is a threat to democracy, an extremist and a fascist.“It is a beautiful morning in Washington. It is a new day in America,” a celebratory Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said on the steps of the Capitol, flanked by his leadership team, as the House returned to Washington on Tuesday. “The sun is shining, and that is a reflection about how we all feel.”How Republicans wonDemocrats had believed they were in a good position to win back the majority they lost just two years ago. They needed a net gain of only four seats to flip control of the House given that Republicans now hold 220 seats to the Democrats’ 212 — one of the smallest majorities in modern history.But the two parties basically have fought to a draw in the House, preserving a status quo that favored Republicans.In New York, Democrats were able to knock off a trio of vulnerable freshman GOP incumbents: Rep. Brandon Williams in the Syracuse region, Rep. Anthony D’Esposito on Long Island, and Rep. Marc Molinaro, whose district includes parts of the Hudson Valley and the Catskills. They were among the 18 GOP House districts that President Joe Biden carried in 2020.Democratic challenger George Whitesides also ousted vulnerable GOP Rep. Mike Garcia in Southern California.But Trump’s triumph — including wins in battlegrounds like Pennsylvania and Michigan where there were key House races — helped buoy GOP incumbents and new candidates in the places that mattered.Two of the biggest GOP prizes came in the Keystone State. Republicans unseated two vulnerable, veteran Democrats in neighboring districts in eastern Pennsylvania. GOP businessman Rob Bresnahan ousted six-term Rep. Matt Cartwright, a former member of leadership, in the 8th District, which Trump carried in 2020. In the neighboring 7th District based in Allentown, GOP state Rep. Ryan Mackenzie upset Democratic Rep. Susan Wild, the top Democrat on the House Ethics Committee.Meanwhile, In the capital of Harrisburg, Democrats believed they had a good chance to knock off former Freedom Caucus Chairman Scott Perry, a Trump ally who played a role in the effort to overturn the 2020 election. But the six-term incumbent beat back a strong challenge from former local TV anchor Janelle Stelson, who attacked Perry on everything from the Jan. 6 Capitol attack and abortion rights to his votes on veterans issues.Republicans also captured a Michigan seat that had been held by Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin, who successfully ran for an open Senate seat. And GOP challenger Gabe Evans narrowly defeated freshman Rep. Yadira Caraveo, D-Colo., by less than 1 percentage point in a heavily Hispanic district north of Denver.The task of governingThe tiny House victory is hugely consequential as Republicans turn to the task of governing. When Trump and his congressional allies take the reins in January, they will have another rare opportunity to push through major policy initiatives through “reconciliation” — an arcane process that would allow the GOP to fast-track legislation without Democratic support.Discussions about what reforms to pursue began even before the election, with some Republicans pushing to use reconciliation to renew expiring Trump tax cuts and others like Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a Trump ally, calling for Republicans to take up border security legislation. It’s not yet clear what would be in that border bill, but Trump has said repeatedly that he will “seal” the southern border on day one as president and launch “the largest deportation program in American history.”In the closing days of the campaign, Johnson told supporters a “massive” reform of the Affordable Care Act would be part of the GOP’s first 100-day agenda, though he has since denied that Republicans would try to repeal Obamacare as they failed to do in 2017.With very little wiggle room, Republicans are sure to run into challenges. And Trump has already selected two members of the new majority to serve in his administration, Reps. Elise Stefanik of New York and Mike Waltz of Florida. Both are in solidly Republican districts the party will likely carry in special elections to replace them, but vacancies following their departures could be an issue for Johnson.Decision 20243 hours agoTrump returns to White House, thanks Biden for ‘smooth transition'Donald Trump4 hours agoSpecial counsel Jack Smith and team to resign before Trump takes officeThe GOP had a minuscule majority in this Congress, and it struggled to push its agenda forward. Instead, the past two years were defined by a successful conservative coup against Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California, the expulsion of a New York Republican congressman and intraparty squabbling over GOP spending bills.Johnson and Republicans will now have partners in a Senate majority and the White House, which they hope will allow them to rally behind Trump and put some of that infighting behind them. Johnson and his top lieutenants — Majority Leader Steve Scalise, a fellow Louisiana Republican, and Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn. — are all running unopposed for re-election in their top jobs on Wednesday.Johnson will still need to secure 218 votes on the House floor on the first day of the new Congress, in early January, to win his first full term as speaker.“If there’s unified government ... if we have a bicameral approach — Republicans in both chambers working together to develop that agenda and implement it, and President Trump is guiding the way — I think you will certainly have a lot less dissension in the ranks on our side,” Johnson said in an interview with NBC News at a Pennsylvania campaign stop before the election.“I think everybody’s going to want to be a part of that majority that is solving the problems of the country,” the speaker added. “And I think governing is going to be a whole lot easier come January.”This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:Senate Republicans choose John Thune as their new leaderElon Musk may already be overstaying his welcome in Trump’s orbitHouse Democrat to introduce resolution reiterating that Trump can only serve two terms as president

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump will return to the White House accompanied by a crew of longtime friends and aides as well as newfound, splashy allies.

Three Pennsylvania races for the U.S. House remain uncalled by The Associated Press. That's as vote counting continued Wednesday and Republicans fight to keep their slim majority in the U.S. House. In all three of Pennsylvania’s uncalled races, the Republican...

It could take days or longer to count critical votes in California, which is likely to decide House control

With votes still being counted, here's a look at the key races that remain uncalled by the NBC News Decision Desk (read more on how those races are called on NBCNews.com).

Fox News projects that former President Donald Trump has won the critical battleground state of Pennsylvania and will take home the state's 19 electoral votes.

But Democrats still have a shot at taking over the House.

Republican Donald Trump won North Carolina, capturing one of the seven heavily contested battlegrounds while votes in six other swing states were still being counted. In the race for Senate control, Republicans picked up a crucial win in West Virginia....

Voters head to polls on Nov. 5 to decide between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. The balance of power in Congress all hangs in the balance.

Democrats are running strong challengers in a handful of districts that could swing control of the House

538's final deep dive into swing states in the 2024 election focusing on Pennslyvania voters.

The judge said the plaintiffs lacked standing and suggested their requested relief would be too disruptive before the election, which is a week away.

On Tuesday, a federal judge threw out a lawsuit by six Republican members of Congress over how to count votes from military members and others who cast ballots from overseas.

A federal judge in Pennsylvania is throwing out a lawsuit by six Republican congressmen over how to count votes from members of the military and others who cast ballots from overseas.

Five former House Republicans threw support behind Republican Rep. Scott Perry's Democratic challenger, Janelle Stelson, in the Pennsylvania House race.

Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, R-Pa., the named plaintiff on the overseas ballot lawsuit in Pennsylvania.

Key Trump adviser says a Trump administration will seek to make civil servants miserable in their jobs

'Only for illegal aliens'

A key Trump ally detailed plans to deploy the military in response to domestic unrest, defund the EPA and put career civil servants “in trauma” in a series of previously unreported speeches that provide a sweeping vision for a second Trump term.

A Pennsylvania county is investigating roughly 2,500 voter registration forms flagged for potential fraud, the state's Department of State confirmed to Fox News Digital Friday.

Laura Gillen, Democratic candidate for New York's 4th District, greets a guest during a campaign rally with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., in Hempstead, N.Y., on Oct. 17. Gillen is challenging Rep. Anthony D'Esposito, R-N.Y., and has made reproductive rights a part of her campaign.

Overseas voting has become the latest battlefront in Republicans’ legal challenges leading up to the election. Judges in two crucial battleground states, Michigan and Pennsylvania, this week heard Republicans’ claims that officials are improperly accepting thousands of overseas ballots and could be opening the door to fraud. And in North Carolina, a judge is scheduled [...]

Democrats hope Janelle Stelson can beat Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Scott Perry, a Donald Trump ally and Freedom Caucus leader, in the 2024 election.

The sum is aimed at ad reservations in key House races

Democrats are pouring money into taking down former House Freedom Caucus Chair Scott Perry (R-Pa.) — and this time, they just might succeed.Why it matters: Perry has been a major thorn in the side of GOP leadership, leading the Freedom Caucus as it staged revolts against former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and current Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).State of play: Republican strategists told Axios they have not been viewing Perry as vulnerable, noting that the district went for former President Trump by 4 points in 2020.But polling suggests the race is highly competitive, with one recent survey even showing Perry's Democratic opponent, former local news anchor Janelle Stelson, up by 9 percentage points.Stelson has hammered Perry's co-sponsorship of the anti-abortion Life at Conception Act, and in a new ad first shared with Axios she frames herself as an outsider and voices support for term limits.Zoom out: Perry was first elected to a safely Republican seat in 2012, but court-ordered redistricting in 2018 placed him in a more divided territory.He has consistently won single-digit victories since 2018, though Democrats are quick to note they have never made this serious an investment in taking him down.Despite the shift in his district, Perry has remained a staunch conservative, positioning himself as a visible right-wing antagonist to GOP leadership for the last two years.In addition to his abortion record, Perry has been dogged by the FBI's seizure of his phone as part of a probe into his role in the events leading up to the Jan. 6 attack.Between the lines: Perry would be the second Freedom Caucus leader to be ousted from Congress this year after Rep. Bob Good's (R-Va.) chairmanship was cut short in July when he lost his Republican primary.The right-wing group has been losing members and struggling to maintain the leverage it wielded at the start of the 117th Congress.By the numbers: Perry has gotten little financial help from GOP leadership so far, with the National Republican Congressional Committee and Congressional Leadership Fund spending effectively nothing on ads in his district as of Saturday, according to ad tracking firm AdImpact.Democrats, meanwhile, have funneled millions into the seat, with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and House Majority PAC collectively spending or reserving nearly $3.8 million in ads for Stelson.Stelson's campaign has spent another $3.6 million on ads, compared to just $860,000 spent by Perry, per AdImpact.GOP leadership is not shunning Perry completely, however – Johnson, who appointed Perry to the prestigious House Intelligence Committee, campaigned for him in the district Friday.Zoom in: A handful of outside Republican groups have backed up Perry, including House Freedom Action, the political arm of the Freedom Caucus, which has put $630,000 into ads.Democratic strategists told Axios they think the strident tone of House Freedom Action ads, which label Stelson a "single issue pro-abortion Democrat" who supports "DEI and the trans agenda," renders them ineffective, though Republicans believe they are working.Another Republican group, the Eighteen Fifty-Four Fund — founded last cycle to fight against right-wing candidates in GOP primaries — has reserved a behemoth $2.3 million in ads, but a spokesperson for the group declined to comment on the specifics of their investment.What they're saying: To Democrats, this all spells opportunity. "Central Pennsylvanians know Scott Perry is a career politician who embodies chaos, dysfunction, and everything that's wrong with Washington," said DCCC spokesperson Aidan Johnson."The only thing Perry cares about is advancing his extreme agenda and his constituents no longer want anything to do with him." The other side: "The Democrat Party left behind voters in PA-10 by embracing radical left-wing policies that drove up crime, the cost of living and unleashed chaos at the border," NRCC spokesperson Will Reinert told Axios."As they have in previous cycles, Pennsylvania voters will reject an out of touch Democrat who doesn't even live in the district."

The race for Iowa's 1st Congressional District heats up Saturday as incumbent Miller-Meeks campaigns in Walcott while her challenger Christine Bohannon attends forum in Davenport.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In some of the closest House races in the country, Democratic candidates are leaning into an issue that Republicans have made a centerpiece of their efforts to expand their majority — immigration.

In some of the closest House races in the country, Democratic candidates are leaning into an issue that Republicans have made a centerpiece of their pitch to voters — immigration

“I don’t even know how many pages it is,” the Pennsylvania Republican told a constituent, a month after praising the far-right policy roadmap for its “accountability.”

Mail ballots are available in some of Pennsylvania's 67 counties. The state's 19 Electoral College votes are considered critical for candidates running for president in 2024.

GOP efforts to recruit and support female candidates in primaries stalled this year, while Democratic women could expand their ranks after a strong showing.

A watchdog group is suing the Department of Defense after it allegedly failed to hand over demographics data on who is receiving promotions in the military.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) is not ruling out kicking certain House Republicans off of committees if Democrats retake the House majority.Why it matters: It's something the Democratic leader hinted at after House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) appointed Reps. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) and Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) to the House Intelligence Committee."To be continued," Jeffries replied cryptically when asked during a press conference Thursday whether he would kick Perry and Jackson off the Intelligence panel and whether Democrats may exclude other Republicans from committees. Johnson's appointment of Perry and Jackson to Intel prompted bipartisan backlash due to the FBI's seizure of Perry's phone and allegations of workplace misconduct against Jackson from his time as White House physician.The intrigue: One senior House Democrat told Axios they expect Jeffries to — at a minimum — boot Jackson and Perry from the Intelligence panel.In June, Jeffries called the picks "frightening" and said, "If the American people give us the opportunity to govern with the gavels in November, we can assure you that a different decision would be made."As speaker, Jeffries would have the ability to unilaterally reject any Republican picks for the Intelligence Committee.Zoom out: Any move to kick Republicans off committees would be a continuation of a tit for tat that has roiled the last two congressional terms.The Democratic-led House voted in 2021 to strip all committee assignments from Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.).When Republicans took control in 2023, then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) booted Reps. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) from Intel, with the House also voting to kick Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) off the Foreign Affairs Committee.Yes, but: Some Democrats, while infuriated at the bomb throwers on their committees, would prefer to pump the breaks on the back-and-forth dynamic.House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) lamented Greene's chaotic influence on his panel in an interview with Axios, but said he is "not interested in" kicking her off."Republicans kind of set a lower precedent, lower bar this Congress," Raskin argued. "I'm hoping we can elevate the quality of our political discourse a little bit."

Plus Vinyl of the Week: Lightnin’ Hopkins featuring Sonny Terry: 'Last Night Blues'/Albert King: 'Live Wire/Blues Power'

The fate of a GOP plan for a 6-month government funding patch coupled with an election integrity measure is uncertain as some Republicans come out against it.