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Democrats voted this past weekend to say goodbye to Iowa as the first state on their presidential nominating calendar, a move likely to end the state's almost 50-year history leading off the Democratic race for president. Iowa has had a strong history of picking Democratic candidates that ultimately win the party's nomination — Jimmy Carter, Walter Mondale, Al Gore, John Kerry, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton all won Iowa caucuses the year their party tapped them as its presidential nominee. But that wasn't the case in 2020, when Democrat Pete Buttigieg ultimately won a caucus mired by technological mishaps that delayed the reporting of the results for days. It was that mishap, along with concerns from many Democrats about the lack of diversity among the electorate picking winners in each of the first two nominating states (Iowa and New Hampshire) that helped pave the way for this weekend's vote. For more on the Democrats' history with the Iowa caucus, and how it's mattered in key presidential races over the years, check out this deep dive from ahead of the 2020 caucus written by NBC News and MSNBC National Political Correspondent Steve Kornacki.

☆ Indiana's Senate race will show the depths of the fault lines within the GOP. Early signs show it's still Trump's party.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Mitch Daniels would have been an ideal GOP Senate candidate. Daniels' decision offers a look at the obstacles that the party continues to face headed in 2024. Mitch Daniels would have been seen by most traditional conservatives as an ideal candidate to run for the Senate. Eric Holcomb is a potential candidate in the 2024 Indiana Republican Senate primary. AP Photo/Manuel Balce CenetaIndiana could drive the GOP Senate roadmapAhead of the 2022 midterm elections, Republicans anticipated making major gains in Congress, which eventually didn't come to pass.

☆ Top U.S., Chinese and Russian officials tour Africa as global charm offensive gathers pace
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +12 min

Janet Yellen, US Treasury secretary, during a news conference with Enoch Godongwana, South Africa's finance minister, at the National Treasury in Pretoria, South Africa, on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023. Yellen met with South African officials including President Cyril Ramaphosa last week, just days after the country's Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor stood alongside Lavrov and vowed to strengthen bilateral relations between Pretoria and Moscow. South Africa was one of 17 African nations to abstain from the U.N. vote in March to condemn Russia's war of aggression. As such, many African nations desire a strong relationship with both the U.S. and China, and U.S. diplomacy will be more effective when not framed as an "us-or-them" proposition. What's more, the BRI projects were "largely uncoordinated and unplanned," he said, with competing Chinese lenders offering credit to African nations, challenging the notion of a coherent centralized "debt trap" policy from Beijing.

The difference with TikTok is that the app has kept out of the crosshairs of commercial interests in Europe. "The user base of TikTok is a lot bigger than a lot of people in Europe think," he said. More than half of people aged 16 to 24 in France and Germany use TikTok, according to data.ai. He is worried the platform poses "several unacceptable risks for European users," including "data access by Chinese authorities, censorship, [and] tracking of journalists." Why Europe's tone is changingLast month, ByteDance admitted to using two journalists' TikTok data to locate their physical movements, according to a widely-reported internal memo.

“If it’s a room of five people, Anita and Bob are two of them,” said a former White House aide, who asked to remain anonymous because the person was not authorized to speak on the record about White House business. The White House declined to comment for this piece. The group of White House aides that were looped in on the discovery immediately was slightly larger and included Dunn, this person said. “Whatever strategy they had has not served him well — the lack of transparency from November to January,” said a second former White House official. Bauer, who didn’t join the administration, has acted as a sounding board for White House lawyers on potential hires.

As in 2011, the GOP speaker runs a House majority full of ideologically-driven conservatives who want to use the debt limit as leverage to force budget changes on a Democratic-led Senate and White House. “It is possible we will eventually see House Republicans put forth a plan for dealing with both the debt limit and the spending problem. After 2011, the Obama White House drew a hard line when the debt limit deadline came up again in early 2013. Andrew Harnik / APAsked about Biden's position and the GOP criticisms, the White House said the president “takes a backseat to no one” on pursuing bipartisanship, but said that the no-negotiations stance from 2013 onward on the debt limit succeeded. “Everyone seems to have forgotten that there was a debt limit standoff in 2013 where Obama adopted the no-negotiation approach and prevailed with a clean debt limit,” he said.

☆ Arizona Democratic Senate candidate Ruben Gallego, who's trying to unseat Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, says 'nobody' in the state 'has really spoken to' her she joined the upper chamber
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

"She doesn't speak to Arizonans anymore. This is why she is where she is," he said, arguing that she would have been unable to win a Democratic Party primary. Since the announcement, Sinema has so far continued to caucus with Senate Democrats, but her switch still puts the party in a bind. Such a contest would pit Gallego and Sinema against a Republican candidate — creating an unpredictable three-way race. Potential GOP entrants into the 2024 Senate election include Kari Lake, the party's gubernatorial nominee last fall, along with 2022 Senate nominee Blake Masters and 2022 gubernatorial candidate Karrin Taylor Robson.

☆ Trump's political ascent was fueled by Southern Republicans. Now they're his main 2024 opponents
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

REUTERS/Randall HillIn the pivotal 2016 South Carolina primary, Trump won the contest — beating Bush, Rubio, and Cruz in their own Southern backyard. AP Photo/Richard Drew, FileTrump is no longer a Washington outsiderIn 2016, Trump was a novelty to many Republican voters. And in recent months, DeSantis has increasingly eclipsed Trump as the top presidential choice among GOP primary voters. Haley and Scott could potentially be competitors to win the 2024 GOP presidential nomination. By the time the Florida GOP primary was held, Jeb Bush had already suspended his campaign, humbled by his fourth-place showing in South Carolina.

WASHINGTON — A top Republican who negotiated the bipartisan gun law that passed last year said he doesn't expect to see new legislative action on gun violence despite the recent mass shootings in California. Asked whether the House intends to take up legislation to combat mass shootings, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., gave no indication that it would. Biden negotiated the assault weapons ban of 1994, which expired in 2004. “It’s time we pass an assault weapons ban in this country. I’m the author of the assault weapons ban in 1994.

In 2016, New Hampshire Republicans lifted Donald Trump’s candidacy after he lost in Iowa, becoming the first state to embrace the future president. Chris SununuWhile Trump is considered the early favorite, the doubters, naysayers and haters in the New Hampshire Republican Party could steer him off course. “Just fill in the blanks.”Sununu argued that New Hampshire Republicans are tired of drama and are ready for a new face. New Hampshire Republicans are reeling from the losses in November. I do not think it’s a foregone conclusion,” said New Hampshire Republican Mike Dennehy, a onetime adviser to the late presidential candidate Sen. John McCain.

WASHINGTON — Republicans, newly empowered with a House majority, are demanding spending cuts as a price for lifting the debt ceiling and averting a catastrophic default on U.S. debt. Republicans are divided over whether Medicare and Social Security spending should be on the chopping block. Jose Luis Magana / APLuna said she wants to do it without tax increases or Social Security or Medicare cuts. The White House has vowed that Biden won’t grant concessions on the debt limit and that paying the country’s bills is non-negotiable. But I think we’ve got to also honor our commitment to Americans when it comes to Social Security and Medicare,” Garcia continued.

☆ Sen. Rick Scott is running for re-election pushing his controversial 'Rescue' plan
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Marc Caputo | Marc Caputo Is A Senior National Political Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

Sen. Rick Scott of Florida is running for re-election, he said in an announcement first shared with NBC News. Scott also promised to push a controversial conservative plan that brought bipartisan condemnation last year. Scott, who denied he would raise taxes but then walked back that part of the plan anyway, told NBC News he’s not backing away from the American Rescue plan. “If you look at when I ran in 2010, there are 4.6 million Democrats [registered to vote] in the state and 4 million Republicans,” he said. “Now what’s happened is we have 4.9 million Democrats and 5.2 million Republicans.

“We spoke with a clear voice in November,” Whitmer said in her annual State of the State speech, which she delivered in person for the first time since the beginning of the Covid pandemic. Whitmer, who was on President Joe Biden’s shortlist for vice president, is seen as a rising national star. “I know we might have different perspectives here, but I sure hope we can all get around supporting 4-year-olds across Michigan,” she said. “But the truth is that she set a record during her first term for vetoing bills, many which Republicans and Democrats worked together to pass.”In several policy areas, Whitmer spoke more defiantly or struck more partisan tones. I’m looking at you, Ohio and Indiana.”Those remarks drew a rebuke on social media from the Michigan Republican Party, which during the speech tweeted: “No.

☆ Russia, South Africa and a 'redesigned global order': The Kremlin's hearts and minds machine is steaming ahead
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited Pretoria as part of an African tour, his second since the invasion, which will also reportedly take him to Botswana, Angola and Eswatini. On Feb. 24 2022, shortly after the Ukraine invasion, South Africa urged Russia to immediately withdraw its forces from Ukraine. South Africa was one of 15 African nations to abstain from the subsequent U.N. vote in March to condemn Russia's war of aggression. watch nowShe emphasized the multilateral responsibilities of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) bloc of leading emerging economies in a changing global landscape. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday that "the United States has concerns about any country … exercising with Russia as Russia wages a brutal war against Ukraine."

CHICAGO — The city of big shoulders is going on the offensive in its endeavor to host the 2024 Democratic National Convention, with union leaders making a case that the city and state are more labor friendly than others in contention for the event. That's why it makes sense for him and the convention to come to Chicago," Bob Reiter, president of the Chicago Federation of Labor, said in an interview. But Illinois officials have pushed Chicago as the place for the next convention to make sure there is Midwest representation as the 2024 presidential contest unfolds. The battleground state was technically the site of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, but the Covid pandemic scrapped most in-person events, and Biden accepted his nomination from Delaware. A group with the Democratic National Committee has visited the cities still in contention and is to make a forthcoming recommendation, likely this spring.

☆ Trump hosts conservative influencers behind ‘Libs of Tik Tok’ and Babylon Bee for dinner
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Summer-Concepcion-Byline-Jm.Jpg | Summer Concepcion | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

In addition to the creator of the controversial Twitter account "Libs of TikTok," Trump also hosted Seth Dillon, who owns the conservative political satire website Babylon Bee, according to the source. This was among the first of many wine-and-dine events that Trump has planned with social media influencers, the source said. Twitter owner Elon Musk reinstated Trump’s account in November, but he has yet to post anything to the social media platform. The Twitter account has more than 1 million followers, and more than 300,000 followers on Instagram. In now-deleted tweets under a former Twitter handle, Raichik reportedly stated her support for Trump, according to the Post.

WASHINGTON — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy should lead the way on crafting a solution to the debt ceiling deadline so the United States can keep paying its bills. But Democratic leaders and President Joe Biden say they will not entertain cuts or other negotiations tied to the debt ceiling. While McConnell has negotiated past deals with Biden, including when he was vice president, McCarthy has little experience negotiating complicated deals with Democrats. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., agreed with McConnell that the onus is on McCarthy to move on the debt limit. The Treasury Department says it is using "extraordinary measures" to keep paying the country's bills after it hit the statutory debt ceiling last week.

WASHINGTON — Rep. Victoria Spartz, an Indiana Republican, said Tuesday she'll oppose Speaker Kevin McCarthy's efforts to keep a handful of Democrats off key House committees. But he may need the support of a majority of the House to block Omar from Foreign Affairs. Given McCarthy's slim Republican majority, every vote is important. The speaker's plans are widely seen as retaliation against Democrats for kicking Republican Reps. Paul Gosar, of Arizona, and Marjorie Taylor Greene, of Georgia, off their committees in the last Congress over incendiary or violent rhetoric. “Speaker Pelosi took unprecedented actions last Congress to remove Reps. Greene and Gosar from their committees without proper due process.

☆ Here's the AP African American Studies course Florida rejected
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Marc Caputo | Marc Caputo Is A Senior National Political Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

For months, the Florida Education Department and the College Board have been at loggerheads over instituting a proposed Advanced Placement African American studies course for high school students. Ron DeSantis and Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. discussed the issue publicly for the first time at a news conference Monday. They argue that the course is a Trojan horse for "indoctrinating" students with a left-wing ideology under the guise of teaching about the Black experience and African American history (which is mandated in the state). In a statement last week, the College Board said the course was "undergoing a rigorous, multi-year pilot phase, collecting feedback from teachers, students, scholars and policymakers." Read through the curriculum that Florida has rejected below.

☆ 3 potential frontrunners for the presidency in 2024 are now embroiled in classified documents controversies
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Three potential frontrunner candidates for president are embroiled in classified documents controversies. Classified documents were found in the homes of Joe Biden, Donald Trump, and Mike Pence. Former President Donald Trump, President Joe Biden, and former Vice President Mike Pence each improperly stored classified documents. In December 2022, Biden's attorney alerted Lausch that Biden's team found more classified documents near the garage of the president's Wilmington, Delaware home. After going through four boxes at his home, they found the small tranche of classified documents and alerted NARA.

☆ Donald Trump will stop in New Hampshire ahead of his South Carolina rally
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Marc Caputo | Marc Caputo Is A Senior National Political Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Trump has added a stop in New Hampshire on Saturday morning before his rally that evening in South Carolina. Trump will give the keynote address at the annual meeting of the New Hampshire GOP, whose chairman, Stephen Stepanek, praised Trump’s support for the state’s first-in-the-nation primary status. For months, New Hampshire Gov. “That’s usually the most successful approach is someone who can be on the ground, who can shake hands, be social, have real conversations, sometimes about politics and policy, sometimes about the Patriots and the Red Sox.”From New Hampshire, Trump heads to South Carolina, where Gov. “Our message to everyone is: ‘Run against Trump.

WASHINGTON — Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego announced Monday he will run for the Arizona U.S. Senate seat currently held by centrist Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who left the Democratic Party in December to become an independent. In his statement Monday, Gallego said: “The problem isn’t that Senator Sinema abandoned the Democratic Party — it’s that she’s abandoned Arizona. Karrin Taylor Robson, who narrowly lost to Lake in the 2022 primary after spending $20 million of her family’s money, is seriously considering a Senate run, a source close to her said. And Mark Lamb, the Pinal County sheriff, is also considering a Senate run in 2024, said an Arizona Republican source. A Gallego adviser said he's prepared for a two-way race if Sinema steps aside or a three-way race if she chooses to run.

WASHINGTON — Conservative hard-liners are consolidating power in the narrow new House majority, presenting early challenges for Republicans in swing districts ahead of the 2024 election as Democrats seek to paint the entire party as beholden to extremists. Twenty House GOP hard-liners have set the tone, extracting a series of concessions from Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., to change House rules while securing plum committee assignments and winning assurances about advancing their legislative priorities. “If you can’t win independent voters, you can’t win elections.”Democrats are targeting 25 districts to win back the House majority next year, including 18 Republican-held seats that Biden carried in 2020. In the narrow Republican majority, McCarthy has only four votes to spare before he requires Democratic support to pass measures. Lance, the former congressman, argued that renominating former President Donald Trump could cost Republicans the House.

☆ Biden's Cabinet is sticking around, bucking the turnover trend of his predecessors
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Peter Nicholas | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Carol-Lee-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

By early 2019, Trump had cycled through seven of 15 Cabinet secretaries and was on his third chief of staff. A White House official said Mayorkas would fight any such attempt and has no wish to step down. The durability of Biden’s Cabinet is something of a surprise. Going back decades, presidents have steadily concentrated power in the White House, at the Cabinet’s expense, historians say. Some Cabinet secretaries have felt marginalized as presidents stocked the West Wing with trusted advisers and usurped the prerogatives of Cabinet members who had thought they were brought in to run things.

☆ Ron DeSantis just notched a win in court. But the judge says he still violated a prosecutor’s free speech rights.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Marc Caputo | Marc Caputo Is A Senior National Political Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +15 min

In a statement posted on Twitter, DeSantis' office lauded the ruling without addressing those nuances. By suspending Warren, DeSantis also elevated the Democrat’s political profile in his own party. And no one in Hillsborough County was charged with violating that state law when Warren was the county prosecutor. Court testimony from DeSantis administration officials showed that the abortion letter was the major cause of Warren's suspension. Abortion was the only issue mentioned in the first draft of DeSantis' suspension order.

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