Mike Rogers

Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kans., is moving to reintroduce a bill that would outlaw federal funding to trans surgeries and treatments nationwide.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said the Navy should buy the extra Arleigh Burke destroyer because the destroyer fleet needs to grow to deter China's burgeoning armada.

President Trump is ship obsessed.He's texting about rust into the wee hours of the morning, according to John Phelan, his pick to be Navy secretary.And he's sprung the idea of a White House shipbuilding office, spanning both commercial and military sectors.Why it matters: Amid years of American atrophy — shuttered shipyards, workforce woes accelerated by the pandemic, abandoned guns and schedule overruns — China has cornered the market.Beijing's capacity is hundreds of times larger than Washington's by some estimates.That spells trouble in the Indo-Pacific, a watery region where military leaders and Beltway diviners believe a war over Taiwan could erupt as soon as 2027.Driving the news: Trump in a combative nationwide address said he would "resurrect the American shipbuilding industry.""We used it to make so many ships," he said. "We don't make them anymore very much, but we're going to make them very fast, very soon."But details on the office — exactly how it would work and how far it would reach — are scarce. The president did mention tax incentives.By the numbers: The Navy would need to spend tens of billions of dollars a year for three decades to satisfy its expansion goals, according to a roundup from the Congressional Budget Office.The service tallied 296 battle force ships (aircraft carriers, submarines, surface combatants, amphibious ships, and logistics and support ships) in December.It's eyeing 381.That doesn't include the many unmanned assets key to the hybrid fleet envisioned by former chiefs of naval operations Adms. Lisa Franchetti and Michael Gilday.Data: UN Trade and Development; Chart: Danielle Alberti/AxiosFlashback: The U.S. built thousands of cargo ships during World Wars I and II, according to a 2023 congressional report."In the 1970s, U.S. shipyards were building about 5% of the world's tonnage, equating to 15-25 new ships per year.""In the 1980s, this fell to around five ships per year, which is the current rate of U.S. shipbuilding."What they're saying: The shipbuilding office "can only help," Roger Wicker, the Mississippi Republican who heads the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Wednesday at a Ronald Reagan Institute event. "How it will work, I do not know.""We are producing 1.2 attack submarines a year. We need to produce 2.7, or we need to produce almost three, a year," he added. "The way to get started doing it is to say we're going to get started."Support also rolled in from industry.Matthew Paxton, president of the Shipbuilders Council of America, said companies are "ready to answer the call to design and build America's commercial and military fleets."Fincantieri in a statement to Axios said it welcomed the creation of the office, "which will empower us to further expand the U.S. industrial base by creating hundreds of additional jobs in the" immediate term.What's next: Sens. Mike Lee and John Curtis, both Utah Republicans, want the option to build warships and major components overseas, in NATO countries and friendly Indo-Pacific areas (think Japan or South Korea).Go deeper: Saronic, now valued at $4 billion, wants its own futuristic shipyard

Republican lawmakers are starting to urge President Trump to reverse his decisions to pause U.S. military and intelligence assistance to Ukraine, warning that a prolonged stoppage of U.S. help for the war effort would have a seriously detrimental effect. They say that Trump has the right to temporarily halt weapons shipments to Ukraine to assess [...]

Find their way out of the political wilderness

Slotkin was elected to the U.S. Senate in the 2024 election after serving in the House since 2019.

Slotkin is expected to focus on economic issues in her rebuttal.

If you thought this would be the week Republicans grew a spine and stood up to President Donald Trump’s lawlessness, embrace of murderous dictators over American allies, infliction of suffering through thoughtless cuts to the federal workforce, and even declaration that he is a “king,” well ... you’d be wrong.Republicans have overwhelmingly held their tongues, refusing to criticize Trump for his destructive behavior and acting as if they are powerless to stop his rampage through the federal government.Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who once slammed former President Barack Obama as a “king,” had no complaint when Trump declared himself one on Tuesday.In fact, Paul wrote a post on X that same day, describing how awesome he thought Trump’s first month in office has been:A few people may have noticed that I resisted an enthusiastic endorsement of Donald Trump during the election. But now, I’m amazed by the Trump cabinet (many of whom I would have picked). I love his message to the Ukrainian warmongers, and along with his DOGE initiative shows I was wrong to withhold my endorsement. So today, admittedly a little tardy, I give Donald Trump my enthusiastic endorsement! (Too little too late some will say, but, you know, it is sincere, there is that.) Don’t expect this endorsement to be fawning. I still think tariffs are a terrible idea, but Dios Mio, what courage, what tenacity. Go @realDonaldTrump Go!Other Republicans were silent about Trump’s king declaration, which would have been the lead story for days on right-wing cable if a Democratic president had said the same thing.As for the Trump and co-President Elon Musk’s sloppy effort to gut the federal workforce—which accidentally led to the ouster of essential workers who are maintaining the country’s nuclear arsenal, trying to stop the bird flu from becoming the next pandemic, and managing a fund that pays for treatment for 9/11 survivors and first responders—Republicans threw up their arms and said there’s nothing they can do.“Congress can’t do anything except complain about it,” Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa told reporters in Iowa, according to Radio Free Iowa, “but I think we have to have sympathy andRepublican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, left, stands with Kash Patel, the newly minted FBI director, in the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 30, 2025.understanding for people that are laid off.”In fact, most Republicans said they are fine with slashing the federal workforce, and have had only tepid criticism of the Trump administration’s poor execution of those cuts. “I think we all know that the administration—the new administration—is giving a very careful scrub to the government, to all the agencies of the government, to figure out how we can do things more efficiently and save money for the American taxpayer,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said at a news conference. “It’s important, in doing that, that you don’t undermine important services. In many cases, as you point out, there are some that affect my state. There are some that affect all of my colleagues’ states around the country, and we will work with the administration as they move forward to ensure that important services that have to do with health and safety, for example, are protected and preserved.”Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said Trump and Musk, who is helping push the cuts to the federal workforce, need to slow down because “they're making mistakes.”“This latest example of individuals who were studying bird flu being fired from the Department of Agriculture is a perfect example. Another is that they mistakenly put in charge of the FBI, a person that they didn't intend to be in charge temporarily of the FBI, that's what happens when you move too fast and you don't take the time to do a careful evaluation,” Collins told HuffPost’s Igor Bobic.Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, said Trump and Musk have their hearts in the right place but that their execution has been off. Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, left, and Susan Collins of Maine talk in the U.S. Capitol on June 23, 2022.“I share the administration’s goal of reducing the size of the federal government, but this approach is bringing confusion, anxiety, and now trauma to our civil servants—some of whom moved their families and packed up their whole lives to come here,” Murkowski said in a post on X. “Indiscriminate workforce cuts aren’t efficient and won’t fix the federal budget, but they will hurt good people who have answered the call to public service to do important work for our nation.”Republican Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, who occupies a district that Democrat Kamala Harris won in the 2024 presidential election, echoed similar sentiments."Before making cuts rashly, the Administration should be studying and staffing to see what the consequences are. Measure twice before cutting. They have had to backtrack multiple times," Bacon said. But the dumbest comment came from Sen. Tommy Tuberville, the Alabama Republican who is excited that Trump and Musk are going to make cuts at the Department of Defense next.“I wouldn't be against them taking it from a Pentagon to a Trigon. Cut a couple sides off of it,” Tuberville said, apparently not aware that a shape with three sides is called a triangle.Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of AlabamaMeanwhile, even when Republicans disagreed with what the Trump administration was doing, they refused to say Trump was responsible, speaking in circles to try to avoid angering Dear Leader Don.A number of Republicans criticized Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s efforts to force an election in Ukraine, but did not criticize Trump for siding with Putin in that effort.“Putin is now asking for a new election in Ukraine, conducted in a specific manner that he can influence, so that he can install his puppet and accomplish that which he couldn’t militarily. Nice try, Vladimir. Try holding a free and fair election in your own country first without imprisoning your opponents. You have zero credibility and the United States and Europe will not cave to your ridiculous demands,” Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, Republican, of Pennsylvania, said in a post on X, even though Trump is also pushing for Ukraine to hold an election.Republican Rep. Mike Lawler of New York wrote a similarly tough post on X about Putin—but never once said Trump was wrong for embracing him.“Vladimir Putin is a vile dictator and thug, who has worked in a concerted effort with China and Iran to undermine and destabilize the United States, Europe, Israel, and the free world. He is not our friend, nor our ally,” Lawler wrote.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks to the press near a nuclear power plant in Ukraine on Feb. 13, 2025.Trump aired an opposing sentiment on Wednesday, when he falsely described Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a dictator. And when Thune was asked if he also views the Zelenskyy that way, Thune responded, “The president speaks for himself.”Murkowski played dumb when asked for her response to Trump’s Zelenskyy comment.“I would like to see that in context, because I would certainly never refer to President Zelenskyy as a dictator,” Murkowski said. And Sen. Roger Wicker, Republican of Mississippi, said he was going to ask the White House for “clarification” about what Trump meant when he called Zelenskyy a dictator—as if Trump’s comment didn’t speak for itself.As Trump once said, he could shoot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue and not lose any voters. The same, apparently, goes for Republican members of Congress.Thank you to the Daily Kos community who continues to fight so hard with Daily Kos. Your reader support means everything. We will continue to have you covered and keep you informed, so please donate just $3 to help support the work we do.

Here's what to know about the major natural gas pipeline.

Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers said a bill seeking to improve legislative oversight with government watchdogs is a good step toward preventing past conflicts, but he still has constitutional concerns.

Congress is struggling to strike a deal to keep the government funded as a looming deadline to prevent a shutdown next month gets closer. Lawmakers are less than a month away from a mid-March date to pass legislation to prevent a funding lapse — or risk the first shutdown in years. “We can’t have precisely [...]

The state Democratic Party said Republicans are out to create another level of bureaucracy. "Don't be fooled," the party warned. "This is political theater at taxpayers' expense."

The Bangor Auditorium hosted presidents, roller derby and high school basketball during its more than 60-year history.

A top non-partisan political handicapper predicts that New Hampshire’s U.S. Senate race in 2026 is already shaping up to be a very competitive contest.

Last week, the Senate Finance Committee voted along party lines to advance Kennedy to a full Senate floor vote, which could happen this week.

Going on offense

Welcome to At the Races! Each week we bring you news and analysis from the CQ Roll Call campaign team. Know someone who’d like to get this newsletter? They can subscribe here. The challenge that House Republicans on the Budget Committee are having as they seek to coalesce around the terms of a budget resolution to [...]The post At the Races: Budget blues appeared first on Roll Call.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies during his Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing on Jan. 29.

Officials in Douglas and Sarpy Counties are in talks with federal representatives about using local jails to detain people arrested on immigration cases.

Rep. James E. Clyburn, D-S.C., talks with reporters after a House Democratic Caucus meeting about then-President Joe Biden's candidacy at the Democratic National Committee on July 9, 2024.

Former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers is preparing to enter the race for U.S. Senate in Michigan just months after the Republican lost narrowly to Democrat Elissa Slotkin. Rogers said Thursday on the social platform X that he is “strongly considering...

Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump administration, exclusive interviews and more Fox News politics content.

Former Rep. Mike Rogers of Michigan says he's considering a second straight Republican run for U.S. Senate days after Democratic Sen. Gary Peters announced he wouldn't seek re-election in the 2026 midterms

Welcome to At the Races! Each week we bring you news and analysis from the CQ Roll Call campaign team. Know someone who’d like to get this newsletter? They can subscribe here. House Republicans retreated to Miami this week to work on finalizing their legislative agenda, while senators remained in Washington for hearings and votes on [...]The post At the Races: Democrats take a stand appeared first on Roll Call.

Oklahoma faces a small revenue downturn from the grocery sales tax cut and funding private school tax credits, but cautious progress is needed, says Steve Lewis.

We're approaching the first weekend of President Donald Trump's second term – and the Senate is already running behind in confirming his Cabinet nominees.

President Donald Trump has revoked a Biden-era order allowing transgender people to serve in the military. There are an estimated 9,000 to 14,000 transgender troops currently serving.

Moving beyond the attack on the Capitol has become a central approach for congressional Republicans who have enthusiastically re-embraced Trump after his 2020 defeat and his attempts to overturn Biden’s win.

As Republicans gear up for new jobs in the second Trump administration, people who worked for Donald Trump the first time around are dispensing advice about a must-buy item for those coming to Washington.It’s not an article of clothing or a trendy apartment, and it is something most hope they will never use.Incoming administration staffers are being warned to weigh the threat of a pricey legal defense and consider purchasing a form of legal insurance that would provide them a lawyer if needed, a protection that many now consider part of doing business after former Trump aides were hauled before congressional committees and grand juries over the past eight years, five former senior administration officials and longtime Washington advisers said.In a cautionary move, Trump’s transition has briefed some incoming administration staff members on the need to price and buy professional liability insurance, according to two people familiar with the warnings. The transition did not respond to requests for comment.It is a need that former aides said they realized they had during Trump’s first impeachment. “Everyone started getting it,” a former administration official said. This person went without insurance and emerged unscathed but said if they returned, they would not be so cavalier.“You need legal representation if you’re facing people who have the arms of the government at their disposal,” said a former White House official who also was not covered by insurance during the last administration but has purchased it since. “It’s very intimidating when you don’t have people on your side to tell you what you can do and what circumstances you might be walking into.”“It’s edging into absolute requirement territory,” said a second former Trump White House official. “It would be reckless if you have any assets to protect — the house, college funds, whatever.”Trump Administration2 hours agoThousands converge on Washington for a march days before Trump takes officeInauguration Day6 hours agoBiden got an Oval Office letter from Trump and may leave one in the desk himself. It'd be a firstInauguration Day5 hours agoTrump's second inauguration to see smaller protests and fewer Democratic boycottsBetter preparedWashington insiders have long sounded a note of caution when advising incoming administration officials about the legal risks they could face as they go about their jobs. “One thing I tell every client considering taking a political appointment in a new administration, whether Republican or Democrat, is to expect that they could get drawn into an investigation and to think hard about whether they are willing to take that risk and whether they’re prepared for it,” said Robert Kelner, the head of the congressional investigations practice at the law firm Covington & Burling. “It’s just become so routine that it’s almost to be assumed, and it can be very distracting and burdensome and occasionally expensive for political appointees.”It’s a lesson many learned the hard way. During Trump’s first term, White House aides said they would not cooperate with Democrats’ probes, and current and former officials rebuffed demands to testify before Congress during special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, the Trump-Ukraine impeachment inquiry, and the probe in the Jan. 6 attack.Two former Trump advisers — Steve Bannon and Roger Stone — ultimately served jail time for refusing to cooperate with congressional investigations.“I often say that congressional investigations are like the wild, wild West because there are no rules,” Kelner said. “It’s all about who’s the quicker draw, and who’s tougher, and who’s more clever. So there’s a lot of strategy, a lot of maneuvering, a lot of posturing, but not a lot of law, not a lot of rules governing the process.”Some in Washington see a business opportunity in helping to defray the cost of legal expenses for government workers. Anthony Vergnetti left his job as a lawyer more than a decade ago to launch an insurance firm protecting government workers from legal exposure. Vergnetti said in a “FEDTalk” podcast interview that aired in 2023 that the cost of a policy can range from $250 to $400 and often extends for a number of months after a person leaves their government job. Certain agencies help pay part of the cost, he said. Vergnetti declined to be interviewed by NBC News.Brace for the worstIn May 2017, Trump was barely five months into office and already the hint of potential congressional investigations was prompting aides to brace for cover. In a memoir of his 500-day stretch in the Trump White House, former White House director of message strategy Cliff Sims wrote that a leaked story falsely reported that he and another colleague would be helming a “Russia War Room” — and immediately yoked them to a political live wire.“We were livid,” Sims wrote in “Team of Vipers: My 500 Extraordinary Days in the Trump White House.” “First of all, it wasn’t true. But more concerning was that being connected to anything Russia-related opened up the possibility of legal bills that could easily be more than a year’s salary in the White House.”The hope is that this time around, aides will enter with some cover as Trump begins rolling out a promised immigration crackdown and a sweep of executive actions.A former senior Trump White House official said that Trump’s staff members — unlike the president himself, whose core presidential powers are protected — bear the brunt of any actions that could come under future legal fire.“If Trump gives an illegal order and you do it out of loyalty to him, you are liable,” the former senior official said. “He’s protected, you’re not. You can find yourself with a serious legal problem, while he’s protected.”Trump used a political account to help pay for lawyers for some of his allies who were summoned before the Jan. 6 committee and grand juries, but that assistance didn’t stretch to everyone. And even when it did, at least one recipient didn’t believe it helped.Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson appeared before the Jan. 6 committee with a lawyer who had been paid by Trump’s allies. She later secured a lawyer of her own and returned to the committee to offer more information, saying she felt the first attorney was giving her bad advice. In her book, Hutchinson wrote about the anxiety she faced about being unable to pay for her own lawyer, including traveling to her estranged biological father’s house to beg him to help her retain a lawyer and an offer from an aunt and uncle to mortgage their house to foot the bill.The investigations into Trump left other staff members staring down a gantlet of costly lawyer’s fees as they sought out representation that wouldn’t leave them saddled with a mountain of legal debt. Investigations into Trump continued after he left office, leading White House alumni to help set up a charity to help pay for the legal defense of certain co-defendants.“These are things that people that have been around Washington know, to get liability insurance,” the first former White House official explained. “That wasn’t necessarily told to everybody last time, but in a difficult way, we eventually figured out.”The advice this person is dispensing today? “Prepare for the worst. You never know.”One former Republican official who worked for the party made the argument that if you have any level of exposure to potential subpoenas, insurance is nondiscretionary. “You have got to buy insurance. It’s not one of these ‘I’m going to roll the dice’ scenarios. You self-insure,” said the former official. Certain insurers will even allow you to roll it into your current home or auto coverage.Said the former first White House official: “For most, that can do some damage to your bank account.”Mike Howell, a lawyer who represented a high-profile client pro bono in front of the Jan. 6 committee, said the dynamic generates perverse incentives among Republican attorneys at a time when incoming political appointees are more at risk than ever.“The right’s lawyers exist to make a lot money off these conflicts; they see it as a client base and a market,” Howell argued. “And so, when young people are subject to these lawfare exercises, there is nobody to protect them.”Not a new phenomenonThe threat of political investigations is hardly new. There was the Benghazi report, where Congress flexed its powers, the probe into whether George W. Bush’s Justice Department ordered the dismissal of U.S. attorneys, and an impeachment inquiry into Bill Clinton. Ronald Reagan’s presidency saw the Iran-Contra affair.“We’re kind of in low-intensity conflict, is what the Defense Department guys like to call it,” said the second former White House official. “This low-level warfare goes on all the time. The only question is, can they figure out some way to damage you personally, not just as an official of the government?”Yet incoming political staffers on both sides of the aisle, and especially those new to government, have not always thought to buy insurance. The thinking is that if an administration official were to be called in for questioning over a work matter, they could safely rely on the government’s counsel.But that promise has failed to halt concerns. One former Obama White House official recalled how friends at the State Department began searching for cover as congressional Republicans promised a drumbeat of investigations into the assault that killed Americans at the U.S. Mission in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012.And Kelner said he does not recall a situation where he represented someone in government and his firm’s fees were paid by an insurance policy — suggesting these were not likely geared toward the rates of Big Law.The person may instead find themselves with an attorney selected by their provider and not one of the handful of white shoe partners with experience before the most challenging government investigations, meaning some insurance may not offer the kind of coverage that some come to expect. The corollary is the more charged the inquiry, the higher the potential reputational cost.Kelner said Clinton’s presidency marked a turning point as partisan, politicized investigations ramped up with no sign of slowing. “It never really stopped after that,” he added.This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:Will TikTok ‘go dark’? What to know about the app’s ban as its deadline nearsDeportations, TikTok, Israel-Gaza: Trump weighs in on his Week 1 prioritiesVivek Ramaswamy’s interest in running for Ohio governor isn’t scaring away other Republicans

As the first session of the 119th Congress convenes this month, and we begin this Presidential quadrennium, Alabama’s power on the Potomac has gravitated to the United States House of Representatives.

Democrats grilled Trump’s defense secretary pick over ugly allegations against him. But barring a last-minute surprise, he appears on track to be confirmed.

Democrats say Hegseth’s lack of experience, comments about women and Black troops, and allegations of excessive drinking and sexual misconduct make him unfit to serve. Some takeaways from the hearing:

Despite Democrat Screeching, Years Of Hill Work Has Kash Patel Cruising Toward Confirmation

From the editorial: "We all have our lists of those who played roles big and small in our lives and in our communities, who left us this past year."

Two Republican senators are efforting quick passage of their bill to ensure military are paid in the event of a partial government shutdown.

In the 12 years since Austin Tice was abducted in Syria, his family and his coworkers at McClatchy Media Company have grieved at his absence, despaired at silence from the Syrian government and prayed that promises from three U.S. presidents...

This year boasted such a wealth of excellent new restaurants that our "best of" list needed to expand from 10 to 12.

They said the caucus was formed to cultivate partnerships with officials at the local, state, and federal levels who are interested in MAHA initiatives.

Plus, steals and deals TV pitches have no appeal, a ginned up Eagles controversy and on-air Philly people should step up their attire.

"If the GOP is hell-bent on driving out everyone who isn’t 100% MAGA-certified, they again will be out of favor with the electorate and out of power in Washington," Finley writes.

A newly elected state lawmaker in West Virginia is facing at least one felony and is accused of making terroristic threats. State police say 61-year-old Joseph de Soto was arrested in Martinsburg after an investigation found he made “several threatening/intimidating...

The bill passed by a vote of 281-140 and next moves to the Senate, where lawmakers sought a bigger boost in defense spending.

A new House GOP memo details what Republicans are claiming victory on in the new NDAA.

House and Senate negotiators have come to an agreement on how to spend $895 billion allocated federal dollars for U.S. national security.

This week begins the quadrennial tradition of various Cabinet nominees parading around the Senate to meet with lawmakers, answer questions, and get insight into their confirmation hearing.

Welcome to Briefly, Colorado Politics' daily news briefing. Here's what's happening today:

President-elect Donald Trump is selecting radical MAGA loyalists for top national security positions, signaling his intention to upend the professionalism and independence of institutions that wield some of the federal government’s most awesome powers. Political opponents, journalists and others could...