The Texas Republican Party voted Saturdayto censure Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) in a rare move in response to his break from the GOP on several pieces of legislation.
Why it matters: Gonzales has voted against party lines several times since he was first elected in 2020, including for new gun safety laws following the Uvalde school shooting in his district.
Tensions reached a boiling point after his recent votes to codify same-sex marriage and oppose a border security bill proposed by fellow Texas RepublicanRep. Chip Roy.
Former President Trump proposed building "freedom cities" on federal land in a video highlighting some of his plans if elected to a second term in the White House.
Between the lines: Trump shared his plans Friday for a "quantum leap in the American standard of living" as he ramps up his 2024 presidential bid with a keynote speech at CPAC, where he's expected to draw a sharp ideological contrast between his MAGA movement and Bush-era Republicans.
A judge has ruled that staff and administrators at a Michigan high school cannot be sued for a mass shooting that killed four students and injured seven, AP reports.
The big picture: School officials have faced backlash from local authorities for not alerting or addressing concerns about Ethan Crumbley, the 16-year-old accused of opening fire in an Oxford High School hallway in November 2021.
A U.S. appeals court on Friday denied a petition to require minimum airplane seat size rules that a flyer advocacy group argued is necessary for passenger safety.
Driving the news: The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that FlyersRights.org did not make a "clear and indisputable" showing that the seat sizes are "dangerously" small and that regulations are necessary.
Sixteen Democratic attorneys general have condemned Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' request for information about students who sought or received gender-affirming care at public colleges in Florida.
Driving the news: DeSantis has asked state universities to complete a survey detailing the number of students who have accessed treatments for gender dysphoria, including gender reassignment surgeries and hormone prescriptions.The survey also asks for the ages of the students, but no other identifying details.
Former President Trump plans to draw a sharp ideological contrast between his MAGA movement and Bush-era Republicans in his speech at CPAC on Saturday — and will urge GOP voters to finish the job of remaking the party by backing him for president.
Why it matters: The CPAC conference, now dominated by the MAGA movement, offers Trump a home-field advantage. He first spoke there in 2011, where he previewed many of the populist themes that fueled his 2016 campaign.
President Biden's shock announcement on Thursday that he won't veto a GOP-led resolution blocking changes to D.C.'s criminal code has left House Democrats in a state of shock, anger and distrust.
Why it matters: The hostility threatens to damage the White House's relationship with House Democrats ahead of 2024, as Republicans force them to take votes on wedge issues that could come back to haunt the party on the campaign trail.
Attorney General Merrick Garland made a surprise trip to Lviv, Ukraine, on Friday at the invitation of Ukraine’s prosecutor general, according to a Justice Department official.
Why it matters: During the visit, Garland reaffirmed the U.S.' commitment to help Kyiv hold Russia accountable for crimes committed throughout its invasion of Ukraine.
