Mitt Romney

Geoff Duncan also warned that “the intensity of the challenges that this country faces” are “more serious than Donald Trump is.”

Sen. Mitt Romney predicts that Vice President-elect JD Vance will become the Republican Party's 2028 presidential nominee.

At a farewell news conference in Salt Lake City on Friday, outgoing U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney said the GOP is now Donald Trump's party.

Three members of Utah’s congressional delegation invited a California man convicted in the Jan. 6 riot back to the U.S. Capitol to attend Donald Trump’s inauguration, according to a letter by Chris Stewart asking a judge to give the man permission to travel.

Why it's hard for Democrats to win elections for U.S. Senate control.

More than one-and-a-quarter centuries after Martha Hughes Cannon became the first woman to be elected to a state senate, a statue of the Utahn — flanked by the state’s highest ranking woman elected officials — was unveiled at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.

Biden said he would be taking more steps in the weeks ahead and would continue to review clemency petitions.

Sen. Jon Tester said the Big Sandy School Board was the hardest job he ever had, and the Montana Legislature was the most fun.

Maine's senior senator hails Romney's intelligence, imagination and integrity.

Sen. Mitt Romney's colleagues praised the departing Utahn for his bipartisanship and willingness to compromise in Congress.

Sen. Mitt Romney warned in his farewell address of those who "tear at our unity," urging America to uphold the nation's values as he capped more than two decades in public service.

Bondi has been a major name for the GOP for years. See photos of her from then and now.

It doesn’t matter how many terrible wars we’re mired in overseas. It doesn’t matter how many seemingly unsolvable social and political problems we face at home. At this time of year, we Americans have the usual Walmart store of blessings to be thankful for. An extra reason for the entire country to give thanks next [...]

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin dropped a video inviting the Trump transition team and new administration members to settle in Virginia -- just across the Potomac from the White House.

Former acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell is reportedly under consideration by President-elect Trump to be special envoy for the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Nothing captures the dramatic ideological transformation of the Republican Party more vividly than President-elect Trump's proposed cabinet.A pro-abortion-rights Kennedy running HHS (RFK Jr.).A pro-union centrist running Labor (U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon).A former elected Democrat as director of national intelligence (Tulsi Gabbard).A former George Soros adviser, who now promises Trumponomics will turn around the economy, running the Treasury (Scott Bessent).Why it matters: Lost in the noise of Trump's most controversial picks is the simple, undebatable fact that this might be the most ideologically diverse cabinet of modern times. As Axios' Zachary Basu told you, Trump's Cabinet increasingly resembles a European-style coalition government, staffed with a dizzying array of ideological rivals united — for now — by a grand MAGA vision.Between the lines: It's Trump's team of (ideological) rivals.The team represents the Trump worldview: Traditional conservatism is dead — and its biggest, lifelong advocates neutered to the point of irrelevance. A Trump transition source told us most of the picks are "a version of Trump in their thinking and approach":"They're fearless disrupters who can walk into these buildings, and know they have a mandate for reform and change."What we're hearing: Trump's earlier hostile takeover of the Republican establishment is now morphing into a fast-forward "hostile takeover" of the federal bureaucracy.Trump insiders tell us they're confident RFK will get confirmed — possibly with the help of at least one Democratic senator. The big picture: In just under a decade, Trump, once a donor to Democrats, has transformed the GOP of George W. Bush, John McCain and Mitt Romney into a populist party with radically different views on trade, immigration and spending. In policy, tone and personnel, this is the MAGA Party — not a GOP that any of the party's past legends would recognize."The GOP establishment is now Trump's team of populists," a behind-the-scenes Republican power broker told us. "The old Bush establishment are the outsiders."Zoom in: This phenomenon was apparent in last night's fusillade of transition announcements, when Trump announced nine major picks in 66 minutes, starting at 6:55 p.m. ET. They included: For Treasury, Scott Bessent will bring deep knowledge of bond and currency markets and a close relationship with Trump — as well as a surprising connection to hedge fund manager George Soros, megadonor to liberal causes and bogeyman to the political right. Go deeper with Axios' Neil Irwin & Courtenay BrownFor Labor, Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Ore.), who lost her reelection bid this month, has a pro-labor record that unions like. She backed the PRO Act, a President Biden priority that would make it easier to unionize on a federal level. Go deeper.For FDA, Dr. Marty Makary, a surgeon and author who gained prominence on Fox News for his contrarian COVID views. Go deeper.For HUD, Scott Turner, a Texan who is the highest-ranking Black person Trump has yet selected for his administration. Turner — a motivational speaker and former NFL cornerback for Washington, San Diego and Denver — ran the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council during Trump's first term. Go deeper.Go deeper: Axios Cabinet tracker.

East Bay Times Letters to the Editor for Nov. 24,. 2024

It took Rep. John Curtis, R-Utah, just a few weeks to make his mark on the Senate — even before he'd actually take the oath of office to replace retiring Sen.

The race to get bills signed into law before President Joe Biden leaves office is on, and two water bills sponsored by Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Denver, are trying to get on that list.

Embry Kidd was confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump will return to the White House with a Senate Republican majority that is larger than the start of his first term and friendlier to him overall, a combination that gives him a powerful advantage to filling his Cabinet and other positions. There’s a high likelihood that Republicans will have a 53-seat majority when they start the confirmation process for Trump ...

Trump can afford three defections within the Senate GOP conference and still get his picks confirmed.

Don't get distracted by President-elect Donald Trump's decision to choose for his team a Fox News anchor who thinks germs aren't real because he can't see them, a vaccine-denier who confessed to Roseanne Barr that he once staged a bear cub crime scene, and a Florida man subjected to a federal probe over accusations he had sex with a minor — the real problem is Tulsi Gabbard, a new report contends. The intelligence community is terrified at the prospect that a former congresswoman from Hawaii with a problematic habit of spreading Russian propaganda could be the next Director of National Intelligence, Time Magazine reported on Friday.“We are all reeling,” a current intelligence official told Time.Gabbard, a former Democrat, could claim control of 16 intelligence agencies and gain access to the nation's most secret security programs, Time reported. Insiders told Time they're afraid Gabbard will do work for the Kremlin — and are considering resigning rather than work for her. "Intelligence analysts are most concerned that Gabbard, in the role of director of national intelligence, might be motivated to censor intelligence conclusions critical of Russia and shut down funding for potentially fruitful investigations," Time reported. "Gabbard has stood out for her foreign policy views. She has long-been skeptical of American intelligence analysis and has taken public policy positions that echo Russian propaganda."ALSO READ: A second reign of terror: Inside Trump’s blueprint for home raidsThe role typically requires Senate Intelligence Committee confirmation to insure the nominee has no problematic ties to foreign governments, Time reported. "While in Congress in 2017, Gabbard met with Syrian dictator Bashar Assad after the U.S. had broken diplomatic relations with the country over his bloody crackdown against his own people," Time reported. "Russia is a long-time backer of Assad and has supplied troops and weapons to prop up Assad’s government during Syria’s 13-year-long civil war."Gabbard said the U.S. should not support opposition fighters in Syria and wrongly denied its military attacked citizens with chemical weapons, Times reported. In 2022, Gabbard shared a disproven conspiracy theory advanced by Russia and targeting Ukraine, according to the report. "Then-Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., said Gabbard had embraced 'actual Russian propaganda' and called it 'traitorous,'" Times reported. "Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said Gabbard was 'parroting fake Russian propaganda.'"In 2019, Gabbard's longshot presidential bid drew favorable coverage from Russian propaganda sites, spurring then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to suggest Russians were ‘grooming’ a Democrat to help Trump win."Two years ago, Gabbard announced that she was leaving the Democratic Party, which she decried as 'under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers driven by cowardly wokeness,'" Time reported. "Last month, she announced at a Donald Trump rally in North Carolina that she was a Republican," it further stated.

'He ran on the idea of blowing up Washington'

According to The New York Times, “a newly triumphant Republican president” is “once again in the headlines.”

Next year's outlandish confirmation fights could thrust incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) between his Republican conference and his president.Why it matters: Thune can afford to lose three Senate GOP votes on Trump nominees. But at least six Senate Republicans, depending on the specific nominee, could be in line to blockade President-elect Trump.The institutionalist: Outgoing GOP leader Sen. Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) every move will get top scrutiny. He isn't constrained by future leader elections, and loathes Trump.The moderates: Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) are in the position to be the critical swing votes for Thune on most issues, as we told you two weeks ago. Collins is also on retirement watch for 2026.The 2026 factor: Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) is up for reelection and is likely to face a strong Democratic challenger without Trump on the ballot.The holdout: Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.) refused to endorse Trump this cycle.The newcomer: Newly elected Sen. John Curtis from Utah is expected to at least partially follow in the shoes of retiring Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) as a more moderate voice in the conference, less willing to fall in line with Trump's whims.Between the lines: The question is whether this group sticks with the tradition of giving the president deference for his appointments — or whether they use their "advice and consent" role to say Trump's picks go too far.

Republicans who criticized Gaetz in the past urged colleagues to keep an open mind about him as attorney general

The 2024 election had at least three split-ticket results, though presidential and Senate votes still closely aligned.

Stefanik, who is the House Republican Conference Chair, has been a key ally of Trump’s over the years and was reported to have been a contender as his running mate during the presidential election.

Even if Kamala Harris was a gifted politician and an adept speaker — and she isn't — she faced three damning realities that she could never have changed.

Opinion by Ross Douthat on Nov. 8, 2024. For the first time since the night of Nov. 4, 2008, a presidential election went exactly the way that I expected it to go. Having been surprised so many times before, I can’t boast about my prescience. But I do think the 2024 election’s outcome was uniquely [...]The post How Democrats Helped Trump appeared first on GV Wire.

President-elect Trump’s resounding victory last week threatens to further isolate his few remaining GOP critics on Capitol Hill. The shrinking group of Republicans who have bucked the president-elect underscores Trump’s dominance over the party and raises questions about how this GOP faction will navigate the new political reality in Washington. Only a handful of vocal Trump skeptics will remain in the [...]

Republican Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dave McCormick's team say they are confident he will win his race against Sen. Bob Casey as the state continues counting votes.

A movement among moderate Republicans to throw their support behind Vice President Harris didn't work with similarly minded voters, who broke for President-elect Trump.

It’s certainly what his more ideologically motivated supporters want to hear.

Would you wish Adolf Hitler well after the March 1933 Reichstag elections? Would you concede graciously to a dictator who was going to round you and the rest of his [...]The post Kamala Just De Facto Admitted to Trump That All of the Nazi, Fascist Rhetoric Was a Lie appeared first on The Western Journal.

Republicans have at least a 52-seat Senate majority and are looking to expand it to 54 seats, as GOP candidates are leading the vote counts in Pennsylvania and Nevada. Such a cushion would strengthen Donald Trump's hand as he fills a Cabinet and other executive and judicial branch positions. A narrower Senate GOP majority would have put [...]

FCC Republican commissioner Brendan Carr ripped "Saturday Night Live" for hosting VP Kamala Harris, but not offering an equal amount of time to former President Trump.

Donald Trump and his allies “have done grave damage to the Republican Party,” Gary Reed wrote in a letter to the editor Tuesday.

The 17th Congressional District is one of the nation’s most evenly divided. It straddles communities that represent weaknesses for each party: affluent suburbs repelled by Trump and working-class and rust-belt communities alienated by Democrats. And it offers a case study in how politicians reach out to voters who’ve been drifting away from their party – without alienating their base.

Sens. Jon Tester, left, and Sherrod Brown are at the top of the Roll Call Most Vulnerable Incumbent Senators list.

A secretive Democratic super PAC has been quietly running a massive Spanish-language ad campaign in support of Vice President Kamala Harris, pumping tens of millions of dollars into trying to reach persuadable Latino voters.

The last time Donald Trump ran for president, the lawyers most directly involved in his efforts to overturn the election wound up sanctioned, criminally prosecuted or even sued for millions of dollars.

Republican party leaders are aiming to turn the page from that chaotic and failed effort and say they'll have a professional legal operation.

Trump's agreeing to an early face-off and failing to deliver a knockout blow may be his undoing.

Suppose you are a staunch Republican who voted for Donald Trump twice but now have doubts about him.

Letter: I'm not sure about you, but this writer has had his full of the political commercials on television and radio.

Mormon voters are increasingly seen as a crucial swing vote in the presidential election, with both Vice President Harris and former President Trump stepping up their outreach to the demographic in multiple battleground states. The Harris and Trump teams have launched coalitions and deployed surrogates to engage with members of the community, formally known as [...]

Pennsylvania is unique in many ways — it's closely divided, and it's geographically diverse. It is also changing.

Former Representative Mike Rogers is attempting to become the first Republican to win a U.S. Senate race in Michigan in 30 years. Rep. Elissa Slotkin stands in his way on the Democratic side and holds a significant fundraising advantage. The...