Republican Party (United States)

Liberal congressional Democrats unveiled a proposal Thursday to expand the number of seats on the Supreme Court from nine to 13 — a move Republicans have blasted as "court-packing" and which has almost no chance of being voted on after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she "has no plans to bring it to the floor."

"We are not packing the Supreme Court, we are unpacking it," Jerrold Nadler said at a news conference in front of the Supreme Court.

U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday that CEOs should "stay out of politics" after several companies issued statements regarding the new election law in Georgia.

"My advice to the corporate CEOs of America is to stay out of politics. Don’t pick sides in these big fights," so McConnell. "Corporations will invite serious consequences if they become a vehicle for far-left mobs to hijack our country from outside the constitutional order."

The state of Arkansas has passed a legislation, banning almost all abortions in the state. Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson said he signed the law due to "overwhelming legislative support and my sincere and long-held pro-life convictions" after voicing concerns over the bill not including certain exceptions for certain cases. The new law only allows abortion if a mother's life is at risk.

“(The ban) is in contradiction of binding precedents of the US supreme court, but it is the intent of the legislation to set the stage for the supreme court overturning current case law,“ Hutchinson said. “I would have preferred the legislation to include the exceptions for rape and incest, which has been my consistent view, and such exceptions would increase the chances for a review by the US supreme court.”

The US Senate has voted, 50 to 49, to approve the $1.9 trillion relief bill on Saturday, and will now head to the House of Representatives. The Democratic-held House aims to pass the bill on Tuesday and send it to President Joe Biden for his signature before a March 14 deadline to renew unemployment aid programs.

Republicans senators opposed another major spending plan, contending the state of the economy does not warrant it.

After the Republican Governors of Texas, Greg Abbott, and Mississippi, Tate Reeves, announced Tuesday they would allow businesses to reopen at 100% capacity and lift mask mandates, President Joe Biden slammed states that repealed Covid-19 restrictions on businesses and rescinded mask mandates for residents, calling the moves a "big mistake."

On Monday, before the two governors announced it, Dr Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, warned state officials against lifting public health restrictions too quickly.

"The last thing, the last thing we need is Neanderthal thinking, that, ‘In the meantime, everything’s fine. Take off your mask. Forget it.’ It still matters," Biden said.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told Fox News' Bret Baier on Thursday that he would "absolutely" support Donald Trump if he became the "nominee of the party" in 2024. McConnell recently criticised the former President, saying his actions around the Capitol insurgence were "a disgraceful, disgraceful dereliction of duty." Trump responded by calling McConnell "a dour, sullen, and unsmiling political hack."

"I'm pretty sure he will win the nomination," Utah Sen. Mitt Romney told The New York TimesTuesday. "I look at the polls and the polls show that, among the names being floated as potential contenders in 2024, if you put President Trump in there among Republicans, he wins in a landslide."

Former President Donald Trump will speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida, on February 28th. Trump is set to speak about the future of the Republican party and attack President Biden's migration policies.

The speaking engagement would mark Trump's first public appearance following his departure from the White House last month.

The lineup of speakers at the event so far consists of vocal Trump allies, including Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Rush Limbaugh died Wednesday after a battle with cancer. He was 70 years old.

Limbaugh, a conservative media icon who for decades used his perch as the king of talk-radio to shape both the Republican Party and nation's politics, had been diagnosed in February 2020 with advanced lung cancer. He continued to host his show while undergoing treatment, and he told listeners that he remained hopeful he would defeat the disease.

The US Senate approved a budget resolution on Friday, that sets up the ability to pass President Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill without the threat of a filibuster from Republicans. Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote.

After a 230-199 vote, the House of Representatives has voted to strip Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of her committee assignments, following uproar over her past incendiary comments and apparent support of violence against Democrats.

Greene had promoted baseless QAnon conspiracy theories and endorsed violence against Democrats. Still, before the vote, she said she regretted her views, which included claims that school shootings and 9/11 were staged.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell denounced Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Monday, calling her embrace of conspiracy theories "loony lies" and a "cancer of the Republican Party".

"Loony lies and conspiracy theories are cancer for the Republican Party and our country," McConnell said in a statement. "Somebody who's suggested that perhaps no airplane hit the Pentagon on 9/11, that horrifying school shootings were pre-staged, and that the Clintons crashed JFK Jr.'s airplane is not living in reality. This has nothing to do with the challenges facing American families or the robust debates on substance that can strengthen our party."

Only five Republican senators voted with the 50 Democrats to continue the impeachment proceedings against the former American president Donald Trump for "incitement of insurrection" at the US Capitol. The other GOP members considered it unconstitutional, making a conviction unlikely as it would take two-thirds of Senators (67 in total) to convict Trump.

Newly-elected Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has filed articles of impeachment against President Joe Biden, accusing him of corruption and abuse of power. Greene, who has ties to the QAnon conspiracy theory, announced her move on Twitter, which previously blocked her account for "multiple violations of our civic integrity policy" following the Capitol Hill riots.

Greene previously alleged that Biden allowed his son, Hunter Biden, "to siphon cash from America’s greatest enemies Russian and China".

"President Joe Biden is unfit to hold the office of the presidency. His pattern of abuse of power as President Obama’s vice president is lengthy and disturbing," so Greene.

United States President Donald Trump has handed out 143 pardons shortly before leaving office. The list includes former advisor Steve Bannon, rappers Lil Wayne and Kodak Black (illegal gun possession), Kwame Kilpatrick the former mayor of Detroit (corruption), Elliott Broidy the ex-Vice-Chairman of the Republican Party (illegal lobbying for Malaysia), Solomon Melgen a prominent ophthalmologist and Trump's neighbour from Palm Beach, Florida (health insurance fraud against senior citizens) and Paul Erickson, conservative activist and ex-boyfriend of alleged Russian spy Maria Butina (money laundering).

Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell said on the Senate floor that President Donald Trump helped provoke the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol, blaming the president directly for the attack on the Capitol.

"The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president and other powerful people," so McConnell.

Twitter has on Sunday temporarily blocked the account of Republican Congresswoman and "QAnon" supporter Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Greene had violated company rules on multiple occasions, the online platform said. The congresswoman had written on Twitter that voter fraud had occurred in the Senate elections in Georgia. According to U.S. broadcaster CNN, Greene had spread several conspiracy myths and false reports at once in a lengthy thread.

The congresswoman's Twitter messages were then flagged with a notice that their content was controversial. A few hours later, the online network decided to suspend Greene's account for twelve hours.

Citigroup, JPMorgan, Mariott International and a major health insurance company confirmed on Sunday that they were rethinking their political donations following the deadly Capitol siege on Wednesday.

Candi Wolff, head of Citigroup's global government affairs, sent a memo to employees on Friday saying that "we will not support candidates who do not respect the rule of law."

The board of the PGA of America voted to not hold one of golf's four major championships at Trump's New Jersey course. Seth Waugh, CEO of the PGA of America, defended the decision, saying: "We're fiduciaries for our members, for the game, for our mission and for our brand.

At least 140 House Republicans plan to vote against the certification of President-elect Joe Biden, two Republican members of the House of Representatives told CNN, even though there is virtually no chance of overturning the 2020 presidential election. House Republicans would need the support of both one senator and a House member to mount an objection when Congress counts the votes.

Senator Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, has stated he would object to the Electoral College results next week when Congress meets to officially certify President-elect Joe Biden's victory, forcing lawmakers in both the House and Senate to vote on whether to accept the results of the 2020 election. Even though Hawley's objection won't change the election's outcome, it can delay the affirmation of Biden's win.

On Thursday House Republicans blocked a bill put forward by Democrats that would have resulted in $2,000 stimulus checks for individuals as part of a Covid-19 financial aid package. President Trump had demanded to increase the proposed $600 stimulus checks to $2000 earlier this week but the GOP has rejected the move.

"On Monday, I will bring the House back to session where we will hold a recorded vote on our stand-alone bill to increase economic impact payments to $2,000. To vote against this bill is to deny the financial hardship that families face and to deny them the relief they need," Pelosi said in a statement.