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House GOP leaders endorse Trump-backed candidate Jimmy Patronis for Matt Gaetz’s old seat

House GOP leaders endorse Trump-backed candidate Jimmy Patronis for Matt Gaetz’s old seat

House Republican leaders have endorsed Florida Chief Financial Officer and State Fire Marshal Jimmy Patronis for election in the Sunshine State’s 1st Congressional District. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., are all backing the candidate. Patronis shared the endorsements on social media, thanking each of the House GOP figures. WITH TRUMP PLEDGING ENDORSEMENT, FLORIDA CFO WILL RUN FOR MATT GAETZ’S FORMER HOUSE SEAT Last month, President-elect Donald Trump urged Patronis to run, pledging to endorse him. “Should he decide to enter this Race, Jimmy Patronis has my Complete and Total Endorsement. RUN, JIMMY, RUN!” Trump declared in a Truth Social post Special primary and general elections will be held next year to fill the seat vacated last month by Matt Gaetz, who resigned from Congress after Trump nominated him to serve as attorney general.  FLORIDA CFO REQUESTS REPORT ON POTENTIAL FOR INVESTING SOME STATE RETIREMENT SYSTEM FUNDS INTO DIGITAL ASSETS Gaetz, who had just been re-elected prior to leaving office, ultimately withdrew himself from consideration for the Cabinet-level post.  But Gaetz is not the only Trump nominee who has bowed out. FLORIDA SHERIFF CHAD CHRONISTER WITHDRAWS AS TRUMP’S NOMINEE TO LEAD DEA Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister, who Trump recently nominated to serve as administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, withdrew himself from consideration for the job.

Trump floats DeSantis as potential defense secretary replacement if Hegseth falters

Trump floats DeSantis as potential defense secretary replacement if Hegseth falters

President-elect Donald Trump is considering nominating Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida as defense secretary to replace Pete Hegseth, Trump’s embattled current pick to steer the Pentagon, multiple sources confirm to Fox News. DeSantis, a bitter Trump rival last year and early this year during the GOP presidential nomination battle, made peace with Trump after the primaries and helped raise funds for Trump during the general election.  The popular conservative governor, a Navy veteran who served in the Iraq war, was re-elected in a landslide in 2022 but is term-limited and cannot run for re-election in 2026. HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING ON THE TRUMP TRANSITION DeSantis is “very much” in contention to replace Hegseth, multiple sources told Fox News. One source added that it was the president-elect himself who floated the governor’s name, and that Trump and DeSantis discussed the idea as they met Tuesday while appearing together in Florida at a memorial service for fallen law enforcement officers in Palm Beach County. CLICK HERE FOR A FULL LIST OF WHOM TRUMP’S PICKED TO STEER HIS ADMINISTRATION The reporting from Fox News and other organizations comes as Hegseth on Wednesday returns to Capitol Hill to continue meeting with Republican senators as he makes his case for confirmation as defense secretary. Hegseth, an Army National Guard officer who deployed to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and who previously was a Fox News host, is facing a series of drinking and sexual misconduct allegations.  WHY BIDEN’S PARDON OF HIS SON IS A POLITICAL GIFT FOR TRUMP Hegseth has denied allegations that he mistreated women. “I spoke with the President-elect this morning. He said keep going, keep fighting,” Hegseth told reporters as he arrived on Capitol Hill.  “Why would I back down? I have always been a fighter,” he added. Hegseth also made his case in a social media post Wednesday morning, writing “I’m doing this for the warfighters, not the warmongers.” But a top Trump ally in the Senate is concerned. “He obviously has a chance to defend himself here. But some of this stuff is – it’s going to be difficult,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, a longtime military veteran and South Carolina Republican, told reporters on Tuesday. Among the senators Hegseth was meeting with on Wednesday is GOP Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, a military veteran and sexual-assault victim whose support would be crucial to his Senate confirmation. Ernst told reporters on the eve of the meeting that she would likely have a “frank and thorough conversation” with Hegseth. Hegseth’s mother, Penelope Hegseth, appeared Wednesday on Fox and Friends to defend her son and “set the record straight.” “I am here to tell the truth. To tell the truth to the American people and tell the truth to senators on the hill, especially female senators. I really hope that you will not listen to the media and you will listen to Pete,” she added. If Trump moves ahead and nominates DeSantis and the governor is confirmed by the GOP-controlled Senate next year, it would lead to the ascension of Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez. She would make history as Florida’s first female governor – and the first of Cuban descent. The Wall Street Journal was first to report the news that Trump is considering DeSantis for defense secretary.

Ted Cruz, GOP lawmakers urge SCOTUS to end ‘Mexico’s assault on our Second Amendment’

Ted Cruz, GOP lawmakers urge SCOTUS to end ‘Mexico’s assault on our Second Amendment’

FIRST ON FOX: Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz, along with other Republican Congress members, filed an amicus brief in support of U.S. gun manufacturers, urging the Supreme Court “to uphold American Sovereignty and the Second Amendment.” The case, Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos, stems from a lawsuit filed in 2021 by the Mexican government, in which the government alleged U.S. gun manufacturers, like Smith & Wesson, Ruger and others, should be liable for gun violence carried out by cartels south of the border, because the companies were allegedly aware their firearms were being trafficked into the country. “I am leading this amicus brief to uphold American sovereignty and our Second Amendment. The lawsuit filed by Mexico seeks to trample on our Constitution,” Cruz told Fox News Digital. “I look forward to the Supreme Court ending this madness, putting an end to Mexico’s assault on our Second Amendment, and sending a clear message that American sovereignty will not be eroded by any country.” POPULAR GUN MANUFACTURER THANKS ELON MUSK AFTER BEING SUSPENDED BY FACEBOOK Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., Mike Braun, R-Ind., Bill Cassidy, R-La., John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Rick Scott, R-Fla., are just several Senate members joining Cruz in filing the brief. Reps. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., Clay Higgins, R-La., Pete Sessions, R-Texas, and Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., have also joined Cruz’s brief.  “I joined Senator Cruz and my House GOP colleagues in this case because it was the right thing to do and the only choice to make,” Issa said in a statement. “This lawsuit has unified our friends and allies almost as never before, including from the National Shooting Sports Foundation and the Firearms Regulatory Accountability Coalition, and now the Supreme Court will listen to our petitions to hear this case.” BIDEN-HARRIS POLICIES MAY BE BEHIND SURGE IN REPUBLICAN WOMEN OWNING GUNS, CONCEALED CARRY ADVOCATE SAYS “This is a landmark legal question and weighs whether to allow foreign governments to violate American sovereignty, bankrupt our firearms industry with lawfare, and undermine our Second Amendment rights. Today, we reaffirm our commitment to our constitutional freedoms. Our cause will prevail,” Issa continued. The filing slams the lawsuit as a whole, calling it “an attempt to coopt the power of the federal judiciary to both circumvent the role of Congress and usurp the role of the Executive.” The filing continues on to say that the suit disregards the “respective roles” assigned by the Constitution to the federal branches and thus proves to be “an affront” to American sovereignty.  JUDGE REJECTS 2ND AMENDMENT ARGUMENT FROM ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT LIVING IN OHIO CHARGED OVER POSSESSION OF 170 GUNS The brief also says that the right to bear arms under the Second Amendment is “fundamental to our scheme of ordered liberty,” quoting a separate Supreme Court case. Via the present lawsuit, the brief says Mexico is attempting to impose “massive costs and injunctive relief” against American gun manufacturers, something “no public body in the United States could do via legislation or regulation.” More than two dozen top Republican prosecutors had previously urged the Court to take up the case in May of this year. That amicus brief, filed by Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen along with other GOP colleagues, urged the high court to hear the case in order to stop “a foreign sovereign’s use of American courts to effectively limit the rights of American citizens.” Mexico’s lawsuit was initially dismissed by a Massachusetts federal judge, but Mexico successfully appealed its case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, with the support of California and other Democrat-led states. The high court set oral arguments for the case for February 2025. 

Freshman Focus: Republican Rob Bresnahan, who ousted six-term House Democrat, reveals how he did it

Freshman Focus: Republican Rob Bresnahan, who ousted six-term House Democrat, reveals how he did it

Voters in Pennsylvania’s 8th Congressional District gave six-term incumbent Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Pa., the boot last month in favor of a young, energetic and successful businessman who says he’s ready to defend their interests in the nation’s capital. Republican Rep.-elect Rob Bresnahan, 34, tells Fox News Digital in an interview that “kitchen table issues” helped him connect with northeastern Pennsylvanians and oust Cartwright, a progressive who had served in Congress for more than a decade.  “When we were knocking on doors and talking to people every single day over a period of 13 months, the first thing anyone had to say was, ‘I can’t afford my bills. I can’t afford rent. I can’t afford my mortgage. I can’t afford school property taxes. I can’t afford groceries,’” Bresnahan said.  Rising prices for food and gas have made living costs unaffordable for Pennsylvanians, he explained. And as voters have watched illegal immigrants overrun the southern border and be provided free food, housing and benefits, while billions in foreign aid flows out from the U.S. to other countries, they felt that foreigners were being treated better than Americans by their government, said Bresnahan.  PENNSYLVANIA DEMOCRAT REP. MATT CARTWRIGHT CONCEDES RACE TO GOP CHALLENGER “We’re looking around at our neighbors saying, ‘hey, what about us here?’ And they couldn’t help but feel that they have been put second for a long time.”  Bresnahan was a success story before he won election to the House of Representatives. A fifth-generation native of Luzerne County, at just 19 years old he was entrusted to be CFO of his grandfather’s construction company, which builds electrical infrastructure for municipalities and highways throughout Pennsylvania.  He spent his college years at the University of Scranton dashing back and forth between the office and class as he worked to help the business recover from the global financial crisis. His hard work paid off, the business grew and Bresnahan became CEO after graduating in 2013. “I was still living at home with my parents and I was in and out of a dorm room and running a company with 58 employees even though I couldn’t legally drink a Coors Light yet,” he told the Citizen’s Voice in 2021. “The combination was a heavy workload but it was a sacrifice that I would make again in a second.”  But as the years passed, Bresnahan, like many Americans, felt the country was headed on the wrong track. The decisions coming from Washington, D.C., were bad for his business, his employees and the people they serve. And so, he decided to enter politics to make a difference. “I felt that the country was not heading in the right trajectory with what is happening on our southern border. We had life essentially unaffordable for the average person. And I’ve always been a person to roll up my sleeves and throw myself into fire,” Bresnahan said. PA DEM IN DISTRICT THAT VOTED FOR TRUMP SAYS HE’S A MODERATE, BUT VOTING RECORD TELLS ANOTHER STORY His winning congressional campaign focused on securing the border, cutting taxes and trimming government spending, creating “family-sustaining jobs” in the Keystone State and supporting law enforcement. In April, Bresnahan received an endorsement from President-elect Donald Trump. “A successful Businessman, Rob has worked hard to Create Jobs and Grow the Economy, unlike his opponent, Matt Cartwright, who is completely beholden to Nancy Pelosi and the Radical Left,” Trump posted on Truth Social. With the campaign behind him, Bresnahan says he and the other members of the incoming Republican majority in Congress are ready to hit the ground running with a pro-growth agenda in January.  “Securing the border. That needs to be done day one, Jan. 3 at 12:01 p.m., the day after we are all sworn in,” he told Fox News Digital. “I think there’s going to be a big playbook, but that is a tangible win right off the bat.” SINGLE HOUSE RACE STANDS BETWEEN REPUBLICANS AND 1-SEAT MAJORITY On inflation, Bresnahan says Congress and the Trump administration can tackle unaffordable prices by lowering energy costs. “Talking about just Pennsylvania alone, 52% of homes are heated from natural gas. $45 billion a year are generated from the natural gas industry, and $76 billion in GDP comes out of the fracking and natural gas industry,” he said, insisting that policymakers must stop “vilifying natural resources.”  The rising national debt, at $36 trillion, is another burden on the economy Bresnahan says Congress must address. “We’re spending more on debt servicing – just our national debt and the interest – than we are on our national defense budget.” The young lawmaker said there will be “tough votes” on discretionary spending when Congress convenes in January. But two of the largest contributors to the federal debt and deficit will remain untouched. “Obviously, we can’t cut Medicare. We can’t cut Social Security. We have to preserve that for our current generation, and we have to find ways to preserve it for our generation and the next generation. But I don’t believe that there’s a one-size-fits-all policy on any circumstance, let alone the national debt and the expenditures of the federal government,” Bresnahan said. However, he added that illegal immigrants should not benefit from programs that Americans have paid in to, including Social Security and Medicare. REPUBLICANS PROJECTED TO KEEP CONTROL OF HOUSE AS TRUMP PREPARES TO IMPLEMENT AGENDA Republicans are expected to extend the 2017 tax cuts that became law during Trump’s first term in office. Bresnahan says he supports those tax cuts and insists that economic growth spurred by deregulation and investments in infrastructure and American jobs can make up for any potential revenue losses. “We have to get people back to work,” he said. “We have to create economic climates that are conducive to the American people to incentivize them to go to work.”  Part of that is to support jobs that don’t require a college degree, such as carpenters, plumbers or electricians. “These are great, family-sustaining careers with annuities starting on day one, with health