The House Ethics Committee said Tuesday it’s launching a probe in to Rep. John Duncan Jr. (R-Tenn.,) who had previously said he’s not running for re-election. The committee said that it was prompted to investigate Duncan by a referral in January from the Office of Congressional Ethics, however they did not explain the details.
What’s happening: The Knoxville News Sentinel reported last year that the congressman paid his son almost $300,000 over five years after pleading guilty to a felony charge of misconduct in office and later resigned as a Knox County Trustee. The ethics committee said it will announce its course of action by April 4.
This week, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court released a new congressional map to replace the GOP-drawn map. Tuesday, Republicans announced that they'll sue to stop the map from taking effect for this year's midterms. The GOP currently holds 13 of the state's 18 seats.
Bottom line: There are 6 Pennsylvania districts held by Republicans that, under the new map, were carried by Hillary Clinton in 2016 or moved from being double-digit to single-digit Donald Trump territories. Additionally, there is one Democrat-held district carried by Trump.
At a Valor Awards Ceremony Tuesday, President Trump announced that he has ordered Attorney General Jeff Sessions to craft regulations banning “bump stocks” and other devices that speed up the rate of fire for semi-automatic firearms.
The president told Sessions he wants new federal guidelines finalized “very soon,” adding that “we can do more to protect our children. We must do more to protect our children." Trump said school safety is now a top priority of his administration.
The vast majority — 80% — of American voters want unauthorized immigrants who came to the U.S. as children — "Dreamers"— to stay in the country and get a pathway to citizenship, according to the latest Quinnipiac poll. But 63% think that Trump wants them to be deported.
Why it matters: While Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other Republican Senators are trying to blame Democrats for the failed immigration negotiations last week, 55% of voters think that Republicans in Congress want Dreamers deported and 58% blame them if there isn't legislation before the March 5th deadline.
Press Secretary Sarah Sanders faced questions from reporters Tuesday after President Trump spent the weekendtweeting several times about the Russia probe and the Parkland school shooting.
"It's very clear that Russia meddled in the election ... It's also very clear that the Trump campaign didn't collude with the Russians."
A new ABC News/Washington Post survey taken in the wake of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida found that the majority of Americans think Washington isn't doing enough to prevent mass shootings.
Why it matters: While polling consistently shows most Americans want action from Congress on guns, pro-gun rights voters are historically more likely to base their vote on the issue than pro-gun control voters. Time will tell if that holds up in 2018.
In a rare rebuke of their party leader, at least five Democrats have gone on the record to say House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's latest line targeting the GOP tax cuts is not an effective messaging strategy. Pelosi has repeatedly described the bonuses companies are doling out as a result of the plan as "crumbs."
Why it matters: Many Democrats are worried that they need to fix their messaging to hold onto their edge ahead of the 2018 midterm election cycle, especially as the latest polls show how voters are responding favorably to the GOP tax cuts.
I've been calling people in the White House and sources close to Mitt Romney to find out the backstory behind the Trump endorsement of Romney.
What I've learned: Both sides agree Romney, who has a tumultuous history with Trump, didn't ask for an endorsement. A senior administration official told me the endorsement "is something the President wanted to do. He proactively reached out and Mitt Romney happily accepted.”
Federal and state GOP officials will be filing a lawsuit in federal court as soon as tomorrow in an attempt to stop the new Pennsylvania district map from taking effect in the 2018 midterms, according to a statement released by the National Republican Congressional Committee's spokesperson, Matt Gorman.
Why it matters: The new map could give Pennsylvania Democrats a chance at flipping 8-11 House seats in November, according to the Cook Political Report. The GOP currently holds 13 out of the total 18 seats.
President Trump addressed one of the sexual misconduct allegations against him in a tweet Tuesday, responding to a Washington Post feature on Rachel Crooks, who claims that Trump forcibly kissed her in Trump Tower in 2006, and her place in the wider #MeToo movement.
Crooks claims that Trump kissed her outside of the elevators on the 24th floor — not in the building's main lobby. From WaPo: "During one news conference, [Crooks] had asked Trump to release the security videotapes from the 24th floor that day, but he never responded. She had not heard from him, or anyone representing him, since she came home from New York."
President Trump had a busy Tuesday morning on Twitter, with seven tweets before 9am, touching on topics from the Russia investigation to Pennsylvania's new congressional district map.
Why it matters: His tweets perfectly aligned with Fox & Friends' morning lineup. Media Matters' Matthew Gertz tweeted screen-shots of the show next to Trump's remarks, revealing the president was watching on a delay. It started with a thanks to the hosts, and went from there:
It's #1 on the N.Y. Times' "Most Emailed," "Most Viewed" and "Most Shared on Facebook." And its author, Tom Friedman, tells CNN's Brian Stelter it's "the most widely circulated column I've ever written."
President Trump on Monday tweeted his endorsement of Mitt Romney's run for Senate. Romney and Trump don't have a great relationship (see more below), but Romney accepted Trump's endorsement and thanked him on Twitter.
