Tag: republicans

Top Kentucky GOP Lawmaker Wants State Officials Prosecuted For Abiding By Governor’s Medical Marijuana Expansion Order

Kentucky’s House Majority Whip Jason Nemes (R) asked Attorney General Russell Coleman (R) to help ensure agencies “not cooperate” with Gov. Andy Beshear’s (D) expansion of qualifying conditions for medical marijuana recommendations.

Nemes, a Louisville Republican, made the comments Tuesday morning during the Interim Joint Committee on Judiciary.

He called Beshear’s June 2 executive order, which added several conditions to the state’s list of approved conditions for medical marijuana, an “unlawful expansion of conditions.”

The Lantern asked Beshear’s office for a response around noon and will update this story with its statement.

“Any organization, any licensee, that participates in this unlawful expansion should be prosecuted,” Nemes said during Tuesday’s meeting. “This is not the way forward.”

He also said: “The General Assembly does not approve of” the expansion.

In 2023, the legislature legalized medical marijuana for Kentuckians suffering from chronic illnesses including ​any type or form of cancer, chronic or severe pain, epilepsy or other intractable seizure disorder; multiple sclerosis, muscle spasms, or spasticity; chronic nausea or cyclical vomiting syndrome; or post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

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7 Republicans vote no on FISA extension

Seven Republican senators sided with Democrats early Friday to vote against advancing an extension of warrantless spy powers set to expire next week, complicating efforts to keep those powers alive.

The procedural vote failed by a vote of 47-52 after Sens. Josh Hawley (Mo.), Sen. John Kennedy (La.), Mike Lee (Utah), Rand Paul (Ky.), Eric Schmitt (Mo.), Rick Scott (Fla.) and Tommy Tuberville (Ala.) broke with their GOP colleagues.

Some of the pushback was attributed to President Trump’s tapping of Federal Housing Finance Agency chief Bill Pulte to serve as acting director of national intelligence, which received backlash from both sides of the aisle.

Lee brushed off speculation that anger over Pulte’s appointment was the motivator behind the defectors who voted with Democrats, instead pointing to privacy concerns.

“FISA 702 reauthorization failed because it did not contain a warrant requirement for spying on Americans,” the Utah Republican wrote on the social platform X. “The people who spied on the Trump campaign, Members of Congress, and countless other Americans hate the idea.”

He added, “Come back with warrant requirement, and we’ll pass the bill.”

The motion to proceed would have paved the way for enhanced federal surveillance authorities under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) before it lapses June 12.

Trump’s decision to name Pulte to replace outgoing Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard triggered fights on Capitol Hill.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Democrats could not support extending surveillance authorities with Pulte in a position to access sensitive intelligence information that could be used against Trump’s political foes.

“I thought I had gotten to the stage where I could no longer be shocked by Donald Trump’s choices, but this may be the most outrageous of all,” he told MS NOW, speaking of the recent appointment.

Every Senate Democrat except Sen. John Fetterman (Pa.) voted against the motion, as they argued Pulte could not be trusted to oversee the nation’s intelligence apparatus, among other reasons.

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MacCormack Facing Intense Pressure To Abandon House Race After Calling For The Death Penalty For “Sodomites”

“It’s American to be Anti-Pride Month,” wrote Jadon MacCormack, the 23-year-old GOP candidate for Connecticut’s 50th House District, in a now-viral social media post announcing his intention to “stand firmly against the Transgender and LGBT movement” and celebrate “Straight Month” this June.

His post drew immediate blowback and calls for him to drop out of the race:

  • Governor Ned Lamont called the comments “hateful” and “completely out of step with Connecticut values. Elected democrats, Democrat Town Committees and candidates from all across the state similarly condemned the comments, and called on MacCormack to pull the plug on his campaign.
  • House Speaker Matt Ritter and House Majority Leader Jason Rojas said it was “sickening to think that this candidate wants to spew this kind of poison in the people’s chamber.’
  • Vanita Bhalla, the vice chair of the Connecticut Democrat Party, said MacCormack represents an element of the contemporary GOP — he’s a “MAGA extremist.”
  • The Young Democrats of CT said the comments were “part of a clear, unvarnished pattern of hate” and pushed Ryan Fazio and CT GOP leadership to take concrete action against MacCormack’s dialogue.
  • The Connecticut Republican Party issued a statement strongly condemning “any rhetoric… encouraging hostility, intimidation, or violence toward any individual or group,” asserting that McCormack “crossed a line.”
  • CT GOP Chair Ben Proto said MacCormack”immediately withdraw his candidacy and step aside.”
  • Gubernatorial candidate Ryan Fazio echoed the CT GOP’s sentiment, as did Republican State Senator Jeff Gordon, whose district covers much of the same area as the 50th House District. Gordon strongly condemned the “reprehensible” comments.
  • House Minority Leader Vince Candelora said it was “immature and reckless”, “hate speech” and a sign MacCormack “isn’t ready for the responsibility he’s asking voters to give him.”

Rep. Candelora noted in a subsequent social media post that he will “always call out anyone who supports violence.” He included an image MacCormack had posted of a noose with the comment, “The Bible has a better idea,” in reference to gay marriage.

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Senate GOP Narrowly Defeats Schumer’s Amendment to Ban Trump’s Weaponization Fund – These Three Republicans Voted with Dems

Senate Republicans on Thursday voted 49-50 to defeat an amendment that would ban Trump’s weaponization fund.

Three Republican Senators voted with the Democrats: Susan Collins (ME), Dan Sullivan (AK) and John Husted (OH).

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche this week said the DOJ is dropping the $1.8 billion weaponization fund created to pay people who were persecuted by the Biden Regime.

President Trump and the DOJ have suggested that they are working on a backup plan to pay back Americans who were brutalized by Biden’s DOJ.

Democrat Minority Leader Chuck Schumer introduced the amendment to ban Trump’s weaponization fund during Wednesday’s vote-a-rama.

The Hill reported:

Senate Republicans voted on Thursday morning to defeat an amendment sponsored by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) to prohibit the Department of Justice from establishing a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund for MAGA allies, a proposal that acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told lawmakers this week the administration would abandon.

Notably, Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and John Husted (R-Ohio), who all face tough re-election races in November, voted for Schumer’s amendment.

The proposal, which would have amended a $70 billion budget reconciliation package to fund immigration enforcement, still failed by a vote of 49 to 50.

All Democrats voted for it.

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Senate Votes 48-50 to Reject SAVE America Act – FOUR Republicans Join the Democrats

The Senate on Thursday evening rejected the SAVE America Act as part of the reconciliation package.

Four Republicans voted to reject the Graham Amendment: Murkowski, McConnell, Tillis, and Collins.

The amendment needed 60 votes to pass, but this voted showed that the Republicans likely wouldn’t pass the SAVE America Act if the filibuster was nuked.

Thursday’s vote on the SAVE America Act is part of the Senate’s vote-a-rama.

It’s official. The SAVE America Act is still stalled in the Senate.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune and others have previously floated passing the SAVE America Act through reconciliation which only requires 51 votes.

This requires approval from the Senate Parliamentarian and she would immediately slash the SAVE America Act from the reconciliation package because it is not a budgetary item.

The only option is to nuke the filibuster and pass bills with 51 votes in the Senate.

However, Thursday’s vote showed that the Senate Republicans still don’t have the votes to pass with a simple majority.

President Trump has repeatedly called on the Senate to pass the SAVE America Act.

“Requirement for Voter I.D. to vote should be something that NO American should oppose. If you want to register to vote in the United States, you have to be a citizen in the United States,” the White House previously said in a statement.

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Freedom Caucus Cheers Committee Passage of Provision to End Biden-Era Auto ‘Kill Switch’

House Freedom Caucus conservatives cheered the passage of an amendment to an appropriations bill that would terminate the so-called the Biden-era auto “kill switch.”

“Taxpayer dollars should not fund a surveillance system that treats every law abiding American driver as a suspect. As we work to address very real problems, we cannot allow our Constitutional liberties to be shredded or create a world where every American driver becomes a node for data gathering,” Rep. Michael Cloud (R-TX) told Breitbart News in a written statement.

When Congress passed the so-called Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act during the Biden administration in 2021, it contained the HALT Drunk Driving Act.

The legislation requires the National Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA) to write new rules that would require automakers to install anti-drunk driving technology within five years. The law orders the agency to require a “passive system” in cars that would monitor a driver’s performance, detect their blood alcohol level (BAC) equal to and exceeding .08, which is the legal limit, and prevent or limit vehicle operation whenever it detects driver impairment.

The law enflamed controversy that the government was planning to mandate a government “kill switch” on all vehicles.

Some auto systems already monitor driver’s eyes and others use accelerators to detect stable inputs to steering. As part of the legislative mandate, NHTSA could mandate such systems.

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‘Trade over Aid’: GOP Resolution Introduced to Phase Out U.S. Military Aid to Israel

Republican Reps. Marlin Stutzman (R-IN) and Abe Hamadeh (R-AZ) have introduced a resolution calling for the phased elimination of the $3.8 billion in annual U.S. military aid to Israel and its replacement with a partnership focused on trade, joint technology development, and strategic cooperation — a proposal endorsed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The nonbinding resolution, introduced Wednesday, urges the United States and Israel to negotiate a memorandum of understanding before the current ten-year agreement expires in 2028. Under the proposal, direct military assistance would be gradually phased out and replaced by a framework centered on joint defense cooperation, co-development, co-production, and mutual investment.

The effort comes with Netanyahu’s backing.

Following a May 27 meeting in Jerusalem with Stutzman and Hamadeh, Netanyahu sent a June 1 letter expressing support for the initiative and embracing its broader vision of transitioning the U.S.-Israel relationship from one based on aid to one based on partnership.

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DOJ investigating fmr Rep. George Santos under suspicion of insider trading on Kalshi

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is reportedly investigating former New York GOP Representative George Santos after a prediction market website reported him to federal authorities for suspected market manipulation.

Santos is accused of using the popular prediction/betting platform, Kalshi, to engage in some form of insider trading ahead of President Donald Trump’s State of the Union (SOTU) address on February 24th this year. 

The day before, he notably posted a video to X in relation to the SOTU.

At the time, Kalshi users had already placed millions of dollars worth of wagers on potential high-profile attendees at the SOTU.

While contracts predicting Santos’ attendance opened at 16 cents in January and hovered around 33 cents the day before the event, his posted X video sent prices soaring to 76 cents around 10:00 a.m. ET on the morning of the address.

However, the former congressman failed to show up.

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Senate Returns To CLARITY Act Debate Amid Democratic Push For Ethics Reforms

The U.S. Senate is set to resume consideration of the Digital Asset Clarity (CLARITY) Act this week as lawmakers return from an extended Memorial Day recess, with Democrats conditioning their support on stronger provisions addressing potential conflicts of interest among elected officials.

The Republican-led bill, which passed the House of Representatives in July 2025, aims to establish a comprehensive market structure for cryptocurrencies by granting greater authority to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) over digital assets. It cleared two key Senate committees—the Agriculture Committee in January and the Banking Committee in May—before the break, but faces ongoing pushback from both the crypto industry and traditional banking sector over issues including stablecoins and tokenized equities, reported CoinTelegraph.

“This will actually be the biggest financial regulatory bill that Congress has done in quite some time, certainly since Dodd-Frank,” Coinbase Chief Policy Officer Faryar Shirzad told Fox Business on Monday.

Banking industry leaders have also voiced reservations. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon stated on Friday that the sector would not accept the bill as written, citing provisions that would allow crypto companies to pay interest on user deposits and stablecoin balances.

Bipartisan Hurdles and Ethics ConcernsLawmakers this week are expected to begin reconciling the differing versions of the legislation from the two committees, with some Senate insiders anticipating a floor vote as early as August. However, the path forward remains uncertain due to Democratic demands for ethics safeguards.

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Ohio allows child marriage. Some lawmakers are OK with that

Some Republican state senators blocked a bill that would have closed a loophole that allows teens to marry at age 17, which means Ohio might remain among states that permit child marriage.

“All I know is some people in the Republican caucus think it’s OK to have child marriage,” said state Sen. Bill DeMora, D-Columbus, who is co-sponsoring the bill with Sen. Bill Blessing, R-Colerain Twp.

The bill calls for raising the marriage age to 18 and older for all parties.

Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee planned to vote on Senate Bill 341 but senators pulled it off the agenda, along with other pending bills. This week, SB341 isn’t on the committee agenda.

Blessing declined to comment but the bill came off the committee voting agenda after Republican senators held a private caucus meeting.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Nathan Manning, R-North Ridgeville, said advocates will meet with senators to explain why changing the law is needed.

Senate President Rob McColley, who is running for lieutenant governor with Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, said even straightforward issues sometimes need further exploration. “We’ve still got time left in this legislative session.” 

Fraidy Reiss, founder of Unchained At Last, a national organization seeking to end forced and child marriage, said she doesn’t know who in the senate is holding up a bill that had no opposition and would end an abusive practice that harms children.

“It is shameful. It is a slap in the face to girls in Ohio,” she said.

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