Virginia Republican Corey A. Stewart, who lost his senate bid to Tim Kaine (D-Va.) in 2018, will head a conservative super PAC that aims to raise money for President Trump's reelection campaign, the Washington Post reports.
Details: The Keeping America Great PAC will also raise money for state and federal candidates who support Trump as the 2020 election looms closer. The PAC raised $130,000 last year, which was used to fund attack ads against Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.). Stewart briefly led Trump's 2016 presidential campaign in Virginia and faced controversy over his 2018 senate campaign's ties to right-wing extremists, per the Post.
An Australian senator who blames Muslim immigration for the fatal attack on 2 New Zealand mosques — an attack decried as Islamaphobia by Muslim world leaders — struck a teenager after being egged in the head on Saturday, the NYT reports.
Details: Sen. Fraser Anning hit the teenager twice after an egg was smashed on his head, as seen in Facebook video footage of the event. The shooter in the Christchurch attack identified himself via his manifesto as a 28-year-old white supremacist and Australian, per the Associated Press, and said he aimed "to avenge attacks in Europe perpetrated by Muslims."
Amid backlash for fiction he wrote as a teenager about murdering children, Beto O'Rourke has also acknowledged criticism of campaign trail comments about his wife, the AP reports.
Details: In his first days on the campaign trail, O'Rourke frequently joked that his wife Amy raised their 3 children "sometimes with my help." Despite laughs, this drew criticism for coming across as insensitive to challenges faced by single parents. At a podcast taping in Iowa O'Rourke said he plans to be "more thoughtful" in how he talks about his marriage and that he doesn't plan on making the same joke again, per the AP.
On Friday — Beto O'Rourke's second day along the presidential trail — the 2020 hopeful said that "Stuff I was part of as a teenager ... not anything that I'm proud of today," referring to fiction he wrote about murdering children, Politico reports.
Staffers on Sen. Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign voted to unionize on Friday, giving current and future workers bargaining power for pay and benefits, and "becoming what is possibly the first presidential campaign staff in history to organize," USA Today reports.
Diving the news: Workers will work through negotiations with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 400. If Sanders wins the presidential bid, employees who transitioned to the White House with him would not remain part of the union, per a UFCW spokesperson. Sanders publicly apologized in January after women from his 2016 presidential campaign said sexual assault allegations weren't appropriately managed.
President Trump vetoed the Congressional legislation on Friday afternoon, rejecting a resolution overturning his decision to declare a national emergency on the southern border.
Why it matters:12 GOP Senators went on the record to condemn Trump over the southern border wall emergency funding — the first time Congress has successfully moved to block a presidential emergency declaration, per the AP. This is also the first veto of Trump’s presidency and sets him up at loggerheads with Senate Republicans. Congress is not expected to achieve the necessary votes to override a presidential veto, which would require two-thirds in both chambers. However, the Democratically controlled House is anticipated to vote to override the veto on March 26.
Beto O'Rourke's got something that is capturing everyone's attention — including his fellow 2020 Democratic presidential candidates, some of whom went out of their way to address him.
Driving the news: Sens. Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker all sent fundraising emails to their supporters specifically citing Beto's presidential bid. (The subject line of Harris' email was simply: Beto O'Rourke.) They haven't done this for other presidential candidates, except Harris' team which sent a similar note when Bernie Sanders announced.
Mexican smugglers are now using express buses to take Guatemalan migrants directly to the U.S. southern border in a matter of days without stopping or staying the night in any in-between location — at the cost of up to $7,000 for the most comfortable package, the Washington Post's Nick Miroff reports.
Why it matters: The route takes less time and is less dangerous than other smuggling routes and practices, making it an easier sell for smugglers to make to families hoping to flee. Smugglers tell the migrants that if they turn themselves into border authorities once they walk across the border, they will be released into the U.S. after a few days. The reporting comes after a surge in border apprehensions last month, and as President Trump prepares to veto Congressional efforts to block a declared national emergency intended to fund a border wall.
A New York appeals court on Thursday said a defamation suit against President Trump filed by a former "Apprentice" contestant, who claims Trump groped her and pressed his genitals against her at a hotel in 2007, can move forward.
Details: When Trump denied the claims during the 2016 presidential campaign, Summer Zervos sued him for defamation. Trump’s lawyers reportedly intend to appeal. His legal team failed last year to block the suit, after suggesting that the president is protected from such lawsuits in state courts.
