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Standing together Friday inside the Republican Party of Kentucky's headquarters in Frankfort, the message from the GOP's six candidates for statewide office was clear."We are going to win as a united team," said Daniel Cameron, the victor of Tuesday's Republican gubernatorial primary. "I can't tell you how excited I am about this slate of candidates that are behind me. We are going to make sure we maintain these statewide offices in Republican hands, and we're going to reclaim the governor's office."It's a message these candidates, as well as other Republican leaders, will likely repeat over and over again between now and Nov. 7.In order for Cameron to beat Democratic incumbent Gov. Andy Beshear, he and the state GOP will need to get their registered voters not only to turn out in a big way but to vote straight-ticket Republican.We've seen what happened before, when some GOP voters opted for a Democrat instead. In 2019, former Gov. Matt Bevin lost to Beshear by a narrow margin of only 5,136 votes. There were six statewide constitutional offices on the ballot that year in all. But while all the other Republican candidates garnered between 750,000-850,000 votes, Bevin only pulled in 704,754 votes. There's been a lot of speculation about why Bevin fared so poorly in 2019, from his prickly personality to his battles with Kentucky's teachers over their pensions. Perhaps Beshear was simply the better candidate.Either way, Republicans want to see more uniform results this year. "Each of us has consensus support within our party, and that augers well for us in November because it suggests we're going to have a united base voting for us on a straight ticket," Michael Adams, who is running for reelection as secretary of state, said. "The last couple of these elections, the Republican base voting straight ticket was about 48 to 49 percent of the vote. That's where we start."

Standing together Friday inside the Republican Party of Kentucky's headquarters in Frankfort, the message from the GOP's six candidates for statewide office was clear.

"We are going to win as a united team," said Daniel Cameron, the victor of Tuesday's Republican gubernatorial primary. "I can't tell you how excited I am about this slate of candidates that are behind me. We are going to make sure we maintain these statewide offices in Republican hands, and we're going to reclaim the governor's office."

It's a message these candidates, as well as other Republican leaders, will likely repeat over and over again between now and Nov. 7.

In order for Cameron to beat Democratic incumbent Gov. Andy Beshear, he and the state GOP will need to get their registered voters not only to turn out in a big way but to vote straight-ticket Republican.

We've seen what happened before, when some GOP voters opted for a Democrat instead.

In 2019, former Gov. Matt Bevin lost to Beshear by a narrow margin of only 5,136 votes.

There were six statewide constitutional offices on the ballot that year in all. But while all the other Republican candidates garnered between 750,000-850,000 votes, Bevin only pulled in 704,754 votes.

There's been a lot of speculation about why Bevin fared so poorly in 2019, from his prickly personality to his battles with Kentucky's teachers over their pensions. Perhaps Beshear was simply the better candidate.

Either way, Republicans want to see more uniform results this year.

"Each of us has consensus support within our party, and that augers well for us in November because it suggests we're going to have a united base voting for us on a straight ticket," Michael Adams, who is running for reelection as secretary of state, said. "The last couple of these elections, the Republican base voting straight ticket was about 48 to 49 percent of the vote. That's where we start."

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Republican candidates present united front in bid to unseat Gov. Beshear - WLKY Louisville

California

California representative targeted after the release of the Durham report, which investigated FBI inquiry into Trump and Russia

Adam Schiff said he was not backing down, after a Republican from Florida filed a motion to expel the California representative from Congress.

Referring to the failure the same day of a motion to expel George Santos, the New York fabulist indicted on multiple criminal counts, Schiff said: When Democrats do something for the right reason, [Republicans] use the precedent to do something for the wrong reason.

Ana Paulina Luna moved against Schiff after the release of the Durham report, which Republicans claim shows the investigation of Russian election interference and links between Donald Trump and Moscow was a conspiracy between Democrats and the FBI.

Schiff was House intelligence chair and led Trumps first impeachment, for seeking political dirt in Ukraine. He published a book about the Russia investigation and is now running for Senate.

Luna said Schiff lied to the American people. He used his position on House intelligence to push a lie that cost American taxpayers millions of dollars and abused the trust placed in him as chairman. He is a dishonour to the House of Representatives.

The Durham report makes clear that the Russian collusion was a lie from day one and Schiff knowingly used his position in an attempt to divide our country.

John Durham was appointed to investigate the FBI inquiry, which led to the appointment of the special counsel Robert Mueller. Mueller did not establish collusion between Trump and Moscow but did secure criminal convictions and lay out evidence of potential obstruction of justice.

Schiff said: When Republicans lacked the courage to stand up to the most unethical president in history, they consoled themselves by attacking those who did. Im not backing down.

Speaking to MSNBC, he added: The Durham investigation was an investigation Donald Trump demanded, investigating the investigators.

Durham, he said, spent four years trying to prove this deep state conspiracy theory that Trump kept telling his base was going to be proven The whole thing of course, was a big bust.

And so their response is, Lets go after Adam Schiff. Lets go back to the person they most view as standing up for the rule of law, standing up against Trump, leading the first impeachment, participating in the January 6 committee. Thats what this is about.

Republicans have removed Schiff and another California Democrat, Eric Swalwell, from the intelligence committee.

Only five members of the House have ever been expelled, three for fighting for the Confederacy in the US civil war. The other two were convicted criminals. Expulsions require two-thirds majorities. Lunas resolution is likely to fail.

Schiff said: When Democrats do something for the right reason, [Republicans] use the precedent to do something for the wrong reason.

This serial fabricator George Santos, this person whos just been indicted, whos admitted guilt to a foreign crime, to distract attention from that in the wake of the added disappointment of the Durham report, lets go after Adam Schiff, lets please the Maga crowd and send a message to anyone else that stands up to Donald Trump.

Luna has experienced controversy of her own. In February, the Washington Post reported that she swapped liberal positions and claims to be Middle Eastern, Jewish or eastern European for a Hispanic identity and Trumpist beliefs.

Lunas sharp turn to the right, the paper said, her account of an isolated and impoverished childhood, and her embrace of her Hispanic heritage have come as a surprise to some friends and family who knew her before her ascent to the US House.

Luna called the report racist.

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Schiff not backing down in face of Republican bid to expel him from Congress - The Guardian US

By Scott Bauer and Todd Richmond, AP

MADISON, Wis. (AP) Wisconsin Republicans voted May 18 to put $125 million aside to combat pollution from so-called forever chemicals, but delayed a decision on how exactly to spend the money.

The influx of money to deal with PFAS pollution comes after Republicans for years have declined to spend as much on water pollution as Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has called for. But the Republican spending in the budget would exceed the $107 million that Evers proposed to spend on additional statewide water testing, investigation, mitigation, new positions and grants.

Allocating money to fight PFAS, while eliminating testing for it and new positions to work on the pollution, doesnt make a bit of damn sense, Democratic Sen. LaTonya Johnson of Milwaukee said.

Republicans heralded the $125 million, calling it a historic investment in the fight against PFAS pollution.

The Legislature is taking this problem very seriously, committee co-chair Sen. Howard Marklein said.

There will be follow-up legislation to spell out how the money will be spent, said Rep. Mark Born, co-chair of the budget-writing Joint Finance Committee.

We need to give ourselves time to find the right solutions, Republican Sen. Eric Wimberger of Green Bay said at a news conference.

Johnson called the funding pretty significant, but said more should have been done sooner.

We dont get to sit here and act like were doing the Lords work when our constituents and their children are being harmed every single day, she said. We should be ashamed that we did not address these issues earlier.

Democrats also faulted Republicans for not specifying what the $125 million should be spent on, saying they feared it would sit unused or at least delay action.

Meanwhile, our communities continue to struggle with this significant problem, Democratic Sen. Kelda Roys of Madison said.

The committee approved the spending with all Republicans in support and Democrats opposed. The committee is working to crate the two-year spending plan, which must next be approved by the Senate and Assembly and then signed by Evers.

The committee is expected to complete its work in June. The budget takes effect in July.

Democrats, including Evers, have called for enacting tough standards about acceptable levels of PFAS in the water, moves that have met resistance from Republicans and the states business community.

PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are man-made chemicals that dont easily break down in nature. Theyre found in a wide range of products, including cookware, firefighting foam and stain-resistant clothing. The chemicals have been linked to health problems including low birth weight, cancer and liver disease, and have been shown to make vaccines less effective.

Municipalities across Wisconsin are struggling with PFAS contamination in their groundwater, including Marinette, Madison, Wausau and the town of Campbell on French Island. The waters of Green Bay also are contaminated. The state Department of Natural Resources has issued an advisory warning people to limit their consumption of fish from the bay of Green Bay as well as from portions of the Peshtigo, Oconto and Menominee rivers due to PFAS contamination.

Republicans have passed bills in recent years restricting the use of firefighting foam that contains PFAS, but have resisted doing anything more substantial amid concerns from industry and wastewater treatment operators that clean-up and filtration efforts and new well construction would cost tens of millions of dollars.

The Evers administration adopted regulations in 2022 establishing limits on PFAS in surface and drinking water. Conservatives on the Department of Natural Resources policy board blocked a proposal to limit the chemicals in well water, however.

Evers administration has since relaunched an attempt to write standards for PFAS in well water. The governors budget lays out a multipronged approach for dealing with the chemicals as well.

Republicans previously stripped language from Evers budget that called for restricting PFAS levels in state waters and air and requiring the DNR to create rules on how to determine financial liability for PFAS contamination.

Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul sued about 20 companies in 2022 alleging their products contaminated the environment with PFAS. Those cases are still pending.

Excerpt from:
Republican budget-writers approve $125 million to fight PFAS but ... - PBS Wisconsin

Republican minority leaders in the Michigan House and Senate are expressing another concern about a large battery plant slated for construction near Big Rapids.

Republican legislators have voiced dismay about the large amount of state tax incentives for the Gotion project, as well as fears that the company is tied to the Chinese Communist Party.

That's because Gotion is owned by a China-based parent company.

Now, their third concern is the prospective plant's impact on the environment. In a letter to the acting director of the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, the legislators asked for the release of all the documents the agency has in its possession about those impacts.

But the department says it hasn't received a single permit request from Gotion yet. EGLE says all the documents related to the Gotion project will be made available to the public once they exist.

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Republican say they're concerned about environmental impact of ... - Michigan Radio

The expansion of basic scientific research enshrined in a 2022 bipartisan law, funded through the National Science Foundation, is at pretty serious risk, Atkinson said in an interview. Biomedical research at the National Institutes of Health and clean energy programs at the Energy Department also are at risk, he said.

After signing the legislation, which authorized $81 billion for the National Science Foundation over five years to advance research in several critical areas, President Joe Biden called it a once-in-a-generation investment in America itself.

Lawmakers from both parties called it a long overdue response to Chinas growing strength in high-tech areas including artificial intelligence, quantum computing and biotech.

The legislation also separately appropriated $52 billion in federal grants to U.S. semiconductor manufacturers to rebuild domestic chip production that has moved abroad over the years.

House Republicans, faced with a vote to raise the national debt limit, are using it to put pressure on Biden and congressional Democrats to cut spending. The House passed a bill last month that would reduce the deficit by $4.8 trillion in exchange for lifting the debt limit until the first quarter of next year.

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House Republican deficit plan seen as shift in thinking on China - Roll Call