TV News LIES

Florida Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna wrote in a letter on Monday that she was leaving the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus amid reports that members of the group were looking to squash her efforts to let new parents vote by proxy.

Earlier this month, Luna had successfully garnered 218 signatures on a document called a discharge petition needed to force a vote on a bipartisan resolution that would allow a House member to vote by proxy if they or their spouse has given birth in the last 12 weeks. Proxy voting allows lawmakers to designate another member to vote on their behalf.

However, members of the House Freedom Caucus had reportedly urged leadership to kill the effort, proposing that the threshold of support needed for a discharge petition be raised. The caucus has roughly 35 members and it includes high-profile Republican firebrands such as Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado.

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Facing pressure from his right flank to take on judges who have ruled against President Donald Trump, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Tuesday floated the possibility of Congress eliminating some federal courts.

It’s the latest attack from Republicans on the federal judiciary, as courts have blocked a series of actions taken by the Trump administration. In addition to funding threats, Trump and his conservative allies have called for the impeachment of certain federal judges who have ruled against him, most notably U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, who attempted to halt Trump from using the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan migrants.

A 12ft-tall statue of John Lewis was unveiled in Georgia on Saturday morning, honoring the legacy of the civil rights leader and congressman who died in 2020.

The statue stands in Decatur Square outside the historic Decatur courthouse in outer Atlanta, in a district Lewis represented in Congress from 1987 to his death. Lewis was 80 when he died due to complications related to pancreatic cancer.

The statue replaces a Confederate obelisk that was originally erected in 1908 and was taken down in June 2020 amid the Black Lives Matter protests that spread across the country after the murder of George Floyd.

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Rep. Bill Posey (R-Fla.) announced Friday that he is retiring at the end of this year, adding to a wave of congressional retirements.

“It has been the greatest honor of Katie’s and my life to represent you in Congress,” Posey said in a statement. “And, polls suggest that because of YOUR support, I could remain in the job forever, and we were looking forward to another spirited campaign for a final term in office.”

Mike Gallagher has suggested that he is resigning from his seat in Congress because of death threats and swatting targeted at his family.

The Republican US representative for Wisconsin shared more insight into his decision to vacate his seat while talking with reporters on Tuesday, the NBC affiliate WLUK reported.

Gallagher, 40, said: “This is more just me wanting to prioritize being with my family ... I signed up for the death threats and the late-night swatting, but they did not. And for a young family, I would say this job is really hard.”

The Republican majority in the US House of Representatives is set to dwindle further with the early exit of Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, once a rising star of the party.

A former US marine who twice deployed to Iraq, Gallagher, 40, is a relatively moderate voice in party at the mercy of the far right.

He had already announced his decision to retire but in a statement on Friday he said: “After conversations with my family, I have made the decision to resign my position … effective 19 April. I’ve worked closely with House Republican leadership on this timeline.”

The announcement came shortly after Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, an extremist even in a party held hostage by its far right, responded to the passage of a Democrat-backed funding bill by filing a motion to remove Mike Johnson, the speaker from Louisiana.

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