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Republican House speaker Mike Johnson girded for what could be a fraught battle Friday ahead of a vote for who will have the top spot in the chamber. geared up for a likely tense
Donald Trump, meanwhile, who is backing Johnson in his fight to keep his post, continued to rage on Truth Social that the U.S. is “a disaster, a laughing stock all over the World!” in response to Wednesday’s suspected terror attacks in New Orleans and Las Vegas, the second of which saw one of his friend Elon Musk’s TeslaCybertruck’s blown up outside a Trump-owned luxury hotel in the Nevada city.
“This is what happens when you have OPEN BORDERS, with weak, ineffective, and virtually nonexistent leadership,” the president-elect declared.
“The DOJ, FBI, and Democrat state and local prosecutors have not done their job,” he added.
“They are incompetent and corrupt, having spent all of their waking hours unlawfully attacking their political opponent, ME, rather than focusing on protecting Americans from the outside and inside violent SCUM that has infiltrated all aspects of our government, and our Nation itself.”
He continued: “The USA is breaking down.”
The tumult continued on the eve of Johnson’s House showdown. Friday’s vote could go to multiple rounds given his slim majority, forcing him to negotiate with holdouts in his own party.
Chief Justice Roberts warns elected officials not to ignore Supreme Court decisions
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts warned that elected officials should not to disregard the rulings made by the court in a report.
Roberts, who will mark 20 years at the top of the court later this year, released his year-end report where he warned of increasing attacks to the legitimacy of the court.
The court has come under increased scrutiny ever since it moved to a decisive 6-3 conservative majority largely put in place by President-elect Donald Trump during his first tenure in the White House from 2017 to 2021.
Eric Garcia reports from Washington, D.C.
ICYMI: Fox News melts down over Don Lemon profanely mocking MAGA supporters
Justin Barangoa has the story.
Alina Habba slams Biden for saying Trump’s cases went too slow
Alina Habba has reacted to claims Attorney General wasn’t “tough enough” in prosecuting her boss, President-elect Donald Trump, insisting the incoming president had it “so rough.”
Michelle Del Rey reports.
Jill Biden got the priciest gift from a foreign leader in 2023
President Joe Biden and his family were given tens of thousands of dollars in gifts from foreign leaders in 2023, according to an annual accounting published by the State Department on Thursday, with first lady Jill Biden receiving the single most expensive present: a $20,000 diamond from India’s leader.
Read on…
How might Republicans pay for Trump’s tax cuts?
Trump is determined to cut taxes for Americans but doing so means the government will need to cut federal spending elsewhere, or risk raising the national debt by trillions of dollars.
Ariana Baio reports.
Trump’s plan to name cartels ‘terrorists’ could open door to military operations in Mexico
Donald Trump’s plan to designate Mexican drug cartels as “foreign terrorist organizations” could provide the legal framework to allow the U.S. to conduct military operations in Mexico, according to experts.
For years, the President-elect has threatened to designate cartels that traffic illicit drugs into the U.S. foreign terrorist organizations. That distinction would allow the government to place additional economic and social sanctions on them.
Ariana Baio has the details.
Watch: Biden awards Liz Cheney Presidential Citizens Medal
Fox News claims Democrats are ‘real losers’ in the MAGA civil war over visas
After carefully tip-toeing around the growing tensions that have rocked the GOP in recent days, Fox News appears to have finally found a narrative it can sell right-wing viewers on the MAGA civil war over immigrant visas.
According to the conservative cable giant, “infighting” is “how politics ought to work,” and Democrats who were “giddy” over the right tearing itself apart over highly skilled immigrant workers are the “real losers” now that MAGA is having a “civilized debate” over the issue.
Justin Barangoa has the story.
C-SPAN given permission to cover House Speaker election and Electoral College vote count
Vance calls Musk’s op-ed praising far-right German party AfD ‘interesting’
Vice President-elect JD Vance took to X to call an op-ed by Elon Musk in Die Welt explaining his support for the far-right German party Alternative for Germany (AfD) “interesting.”
Musk shared a post on X by Martin Varsavsky, who posted what he said was the article submitted by Musk to the German paper. The AfD is a far-right populist, eurosceptic party that opposes immigration and has called for mass deportations.
Gustaf Kilander reports.
Source: independent.co.uk
