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Trump Comes to Ken Paxton’s Defense

May 27, 2023 at 4:04 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Donald Trump rallied around Attorney General Ken Paxton as the Texas House prepares for a historic impeachment vote today, the Dallas Morning News reports.

Said Trump: “I love Texas, won it twice in landslides, and watched as many other friends, including Ken Paxton, came along with me. Hopefully Republicans in the Texas House will agree that this is a very unfair process that should not be allowed to happen or proceed — I will fight you if it does.”

New York Times: Paxton is counting on political support that he’s amassed as a Republican legal firebrand.

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McCarthy Led a House Into Chaos

September 30, 2023 at 11:26 pm EDT

Punchbowl News: “McCarthy had a brutal few weeks. Twenty-one Republicans voted against his proposed CR on Friday, which included border-security provisions and spending cuts. He failed to pass the Agriculture…

Government Shutdown Averted

September 30, 2023 at 9:22 pm EDT

The Senate has overwhelmingly passed the House’s 45-day stopgap funding bill, 88 to 9. The bill will now head to the White House for President Biden’s signature. This will avert…

U.K. To Offer Military Training Inside Ukraine

September 30, 2023 at 7:33 pm EDT

“Britain’s government wants to deploy military instructors to Ukraine, in addition to training Ukrainian armed forces in Britain or other Western countries as at present,” Reuters reports. Save to Favorites

Another Bonus Quote of the Day

September 30, 2023 at 5:50 pm EDTSeptember 30, 2023 at 5:51 pm EDT

“We’re tired of fucking around with these whack jobs.” — A House Republican lawmaker, quoted by Politico, after Republicans conceded they needed Democratic votes to pass a government funding bill.Save…

Weaker Than Ever

September 30, 2023 at 5:46 pm EDT

Los Angeles Times: “Kevin McCarthy’s struggle to become House speaker should have been the most embarrassing moment in his political career. The U.S. House of Representatives had to vote 15…

Andy Kim Raises $1 Million to Take on Menendez

September 30, 2023 at 5:32 pm EDT

Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ) “is closing in on a massive $1 million haul in just one week, a gargantuan fundraising performance in his first week as a candidate for the…

DeSantis Super PAC Cuts Back TV Ads

September 30, 2023 at 5:24 pm EDT

“Never Back Down, the super PAC supporting Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s presidential bid, cut more than $530,000 in reserved time on broadcast television stations in Iowa and New Hampshire on…

McCarthy Seeks to Punish Democratic Lawmaker

September 30, 2023 at 4:42 pm EDT

“Speaker Kevin McCarthy called for Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) to be punished after he pulled a fire alarm in a Capitol office building on Saturday, comparing it to the Jan…

Michigan Republicans Face Financial Turmoil

September 30, 2023 at 3:32 pm EDTSeptember 30, 2023 at 3:33 pm EDT

“The Michigan Republican Party had about $35,000 in its bank accounts in August, according to internal records that flash new warning signs about the dire state of the GOP’s finances…

One of McCarthy’s Own Leaders Voted Against Stopgap Bill

September 30, 2023 at 3:26 pm EDT

“The most surprising no vote against Kevin McCarthy’s short-term spending bill? A member of his own leadership team,” Politico reports. “Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI), the House GOP conference secretary, was…

Another Bonus Quote of the Day

September 30, 2023 at 3:23 pm EDT

“If someone wants to bring a motion against me, bring it. There has to be an adult in the room.” — Speaker Kevin McCarthy, quoted by Punchbowl News, on threats…

House Passes Stopgap Funding Bill

September 30, 2023 at 3:02 pm EDTSeptember 30, 2023 at 3:06 pm EDT

The House has passed a 45-day stopgap bill to prevent a federal government shutdown, 335 to 91. The bill will move to the Senate for passage ahead of the midnight…

Democratic Lawmaker Pulled Fire Alarm in House Building

September 30, 2023 at 2:13 pm EDT

Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) was caught on camera pulling the fire alarm ahead of this motion to adjourn vote as Democrats tried to delay the vote on the Republican stopgap…

The Republican Week That Was

September 30, 2023 at 1:52 pm EDT

Dan Balz: “There are good weeks and bad weeks and then there is the week that the Republican Party is just concluding, a kaleidoscopic display of self-inflicted wounds by politicians…

Biden Calls Out McCarthy for a ‘Terrible Bargain’

September 30, 2023 at 1:50 pm EDTSeptember 30, 2023 at 2:00 pm EDT

President Biden told ProPublica that Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) had made a “terrible bargain” and that “in order to keep the speakership, he’s willing to do things that he, I…

Democrats Shouldn’t Fear RFK Jr.

September 30, 2023 at 12:49 pm EDTSeptember 30, 2023 at 12:54 pm EDT

If the reports are correct, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will announce an independent run for president on October 9 in Pennsylvania. I’ve long thought a third candidate on the ballot…

Pelosi Urges Democrats Not to Bail Out McCarthy

September 30, 2023 at 12:16 pm EDT

Playbook: “With a possible vote to oust McCarthy now looking more likely than ever, expect a ton of attention on whether House Democrats would step in to help save his…

Republicans Turn on James Comer

September 30, 2023 at 12:12 pm EDTSeptember 30, 2023 at 12:18 pm EDT

“After a dud of a first impeachment hearing Thursday, some House Republicans are pushing to take the Biden inquiry away from House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-KY) and put it…

Menendez’s Troubles May Clear Roadblocks

September 30, 2023 at 12:10 pm EDTSeptember 30, 2023 at 12:21 pm EDT

New York Times: “From Latin America to the Middle East, Mr. Menendez has long been among the most hawkish Democrats on Capitol Hill, and never afraid to oppose or criticize…

Big Majority Wants Ethics Code for Supreme Court

September 30, 2023 at 12:09 pm EDTSeptember 30, 2023 at 12:23 pm EDT

Politico/Morning Consult poll: “In addition to the 75 percent of voters — a bipartisan consensus of 81 percent of Democrats, 72 percent of Republicans and 69 percent of independents —…

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Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

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