May 28, 2018

Republican congressman will quit Congress: "I am an alcoholic"

Rep. Tom Garrett attends a House Foreign Affairs Committee markup in Rayburn Building on May 17, 2018. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call

Rep. Tom Garrett of Virginia announced Monday that he is an alcoholic and won't run for re-election, just days after a Politico report on his treatment of staff. In a statement, the Virginia Republican denied the staff treatment allegations.

Why it matters: Garrett's exit from the race moves his district from a "Likely R to Leans R," tweeted election analyst Kyle Konkik.

“The recent attacks on my family are a series of half-truths and whole lies... But there’s one area where I haven’t been honest: The tragedy is that any person Republican, Democrat or independent who’s known me for period of time and has any integrity knows two things: I am a good man and I am an alcoholic.“

— Garrett

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Rashaan Ayesh

5 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Gov. Tim Walz to mobilize Minnesota's full National Guard

Photo: Steel Brooks/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announced on Saturday he is activating the full National Guard to respond to street violence in Minneapolis that broke out during protests of a police encounter that left a black man, George Floyd, dead.

Why it matters: This is the first time the state has activated the full National Guard since World War II. The Minnesota National Guard tweeted, "We are "all-in" to restore order and maintain and keep the peace in Minnesota." There are already around 700 National Guard troops in the city, and the order could bring another 1,000, The Star Tribune writes.

Go deeper...The aftermath of George Floyd's death: Everything you need to know

Miriam Kramer

Updated 22 mins ago - Science

Live updates: SpaceX attempts to launch NASA astronauts Saturday

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket on the launch pad. Photo: NASA/Joel Kowsky

At 3:22 p.m. ET today, SpaceX is expected to launch NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station for the first time.

Why it matters: The liftoff — should it go off without a hitch — will be the first time a private company has launched people to orbit. It will also bring crewed launches back to the U.S. for the first time in nine years, since the end of the space shuttle program.

Follow along below for live updates throughout the day...

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Rashaan Ayesh, Sarah Grillo

46 mins ago - Politics & Policy

In photos: We've seen images like the protests in Minneapolis before

Photo: Kerem Yucel/AFP/MPI/Getty Images

The photos of protests around the country following the death of George Floyd during an encounter with Minneapolis police are hauntingly familiar. We’ve seen them many times before, going back decades.

Why it matters: "What is also unmistakable in the bitter protests in Minneapolis and around the country is the sense that the state is either complicit or incapable of effecting substantive change," Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, an assistant professor of African-American studies at Princeton University writes in the New York Times. The images that follow make all too clear how little has changed since the modern Civil Rights Movement began in the 1950s.

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