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Politico's Playbook reported on Wednesday that House Republicans are seeking an "off-ramp" for their impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, and a separate report from Punchbowl News adds more color to the GOP's floundering impeachment efforts.

Like Politico, Punchbowl News reports that many Republicans have concluded that there is simply not enough evidence to impeach Biden at this time.

The Republican National Committee has hired a notorious election denier to focus on alleged claims of fraud, and MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski was audibly stunned.

Christina Bobb, a former OAN reporter who has spread false claims about the 2020 election, has been hired by the RNC as senior counsel for election integrity, and the "Morning Joe" co-host expressed shock as colleague Willie Geist read the news.

Pollster Sarah Longwell, a one-time Republican who has shunned the party ever since its embrace of former President Donald Trump, has written a piece for The Bulwark urging former Trump officials to come out against him in force.

At the start of her piece, Longwell documents a lengthy list of one-time Trump appointees who have since soured on their former boss, including Attorney General Bill Barr, Defense Secretary James Mattis, and chief of staff John Kelly.

Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) caught Republican leadership off guard when he announced he would leave Congress next week.

The Colorado Republican had already announced his intention to retire after nine years in office, but Politico politics bureau chief Jonathan Martin told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" his departure came as a complete surprise to House speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA).

Top executives at dozens of major, profitable U.S. businesses received more in total compensation in recent years than their companies paid in federal taxes, underscoring the twin outrages of skyrocketing CEO pay and rampant corporate tax dodging.

A report published Wednesday by Americans for Tax Fairness (ATF) and the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) identifies 35 profitable U.S. corporations that paid their top executives more than they paid the federal government in taxes between 2018 and 2022. The list of companies includes Ford, Netflix, NextEra Energy, and Tesla—whose CEO, Elon Musk, is the second richest man in the world.

House Republicans' impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden has so far failed to turn up concrete evidence of high crimes and misdemeanors, and Politico's Playbook is reporting that the GOP is now looking for an "off-ramp."

According to the publications sources, "Republicans of all ideological persuasions are increasingly admitting that they pulled the trigger on Biden’s impeachment too soon and that the effort has been hobbled by embarrassing setbacks."

Speaker Mike Johnson's ability to lead the House of Representatives is growing even more tenuous, and he's getting hit from all sides.

Johnson is currently facing a possible forced vote, initiated by House Democrats, to pass the Senate's bipartisan border bill, especially because it includes now desperately-needed funding for Ukraine. House members from both parties are being urged by Democrats and Senate Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, to sign a discharge petition, against Johnson's wishes.

Less than a month after Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel's resignation, The Guardian reported Monday, March 11 that ex-President Donald Trump's "new leadership team at the Republican National Committee started the process of ousting scores of staffers on Monday night, clearing out its ranks as they prepare to bring the Committee under the wing of the Trump 2024 presidential campaign, sources familiar with the matter said."

This move came immediately after Trump ally Michael Whatley and Lara Trump — the MAGA hopeful's daughter-in-law were selected to replace McDaniel to lead the committee.

Former President Donald Trump took to Truth Social late Tuesday night to claim that a video montage of his gaffes that aired at a congressional hearing was manipulated by artificial intelligence.

The montage — which features clips from news outlets that include PBS, MSNBC, Fox News, Newsmax — appeared in rebuttal to special counsel Robert Hur's suggestion in his 345-page report that President Joe Biden had memory loss problems.

More than 80 music artists and multiple panelists have canceled appearances at South by Southwest Festival over the U.S. Army’s sponsorship of the event.

Gov. Greg Abbott’s response is “Bye. Don’t come back.”

Bands, musicians and speakers slated to appear at the festival — which runs from March 8 through March 16 — are pulling out in protest of the U.S. military’s support for Israel in the ongoing Israel-Hamas War.

“It is done in solidarity with the people of Palestine and to highlight the unacceptable deep links the festival has to weapons companies and the U.S. military who at this very moment are enabling a genocide and famine against a trapped population,” Ireland-based rap group Kneecap said in a statement on X.

California punk band Scowl, Brooklyn-based artist Okay Shalom and indie band Lambrini Girls are among the dozens of performers who have called off shows this week. Panelists Chris Smalls, president of the Amazon Labor Union, Princeton University professor Ruha Benjamin and others also canceled their appearances.

Many groups have issued statements on social media citing the inclusion of military defense manufacturers like Collins Aerospace, RTX and BAE Systems in the festival as a reason they canceled performances.

The United States is the largest supplier of military aid to Israel. Israeli Defense Forces began a military campaign in Gaza after a surprise attack by Hamas militants on Oct. 7 resulted in the deaths of 1,200 people in Israel, with 253 more taken hostage.

Since then, more than 30,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

The U.S. is providing humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, where the United Nations declared in February that more than one quarter of residents are close to famine.

Abbott’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

“We are proud of the U.S. military in Texas,” the Governor wrote on X. “If you don’t like it, don’t come here.”

The festival’s organizers responded to Abbott with their own statement on the social media platform, writing that South by Southwest “does not agree with Governor Abbott.”

SXSW typically draws over 300,000 attendees and generated nearly $381 million in spending for the Austin economy last year.

“We are an organization that welcomes diverse viewpoints,” the organizers wrote. “Music is the soul of SXSW, and it has long been our legacy. We fully respect the decision these artists made to exercise their right to free speech.”

On X, South by Southwest also defended its decision to accept the U.S. Army’s sponsorship. Festival organizers said that the sponsorship is part of their “commitment to bring forward ideas that shape our world.” The defense industry, they wrote, is often at the forefront of new technology.

The festival added that they “have and will continue to support human rights for all,” and called the war in the Middle East “tragic.”

Disclosure: Amazon Web Services (AWS) has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Rep. Randy Weber, R-Friendswood, was kicked out of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus last week.

During a one-on-one chat that Caucus Chair Bob Good requested with Weber to address his sparse attendance to weekly meetings members are expected to attend, first reported by Politico, Weber said Good asked him if he had lost interest in the caucus. The Texas Republican said it wasn’t so much a lack of interest as a dislike for the “burn the house down” procedural tactics the rightmost flank has come to be known for. In response, Weber said Good told him he’d need to reapply for admission back into the caucus.

“It was a shock because I've disagreed with some of the Freedom Caucus chairs … but I've never had them tell me you need to get out of the Freedom Caucus,” Weber told The Texas Tribune.

Good did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday afternoon. The House Freedom Caucus declined to comment on membership and internal processes.

Weber said he still hasn’t decided whether he’ll reapply to the caucus.

“I’m going to wait, give it some time and see,” he said.

Weber was a Freedom Caucus member for nearly a decade. He said he has seen the group shift from being party rabble-rousers to playing a major hand in holding up budget fights and forcing an unprecedented Speaker election last year. The rightmost flank holds more weight now given House Republicans' razor-thin majority, dangling the threat of a motion to vacate or a government shutdown if leadership doesn’t concede to their hardline demands.

Weber said Good had been checking in with caucus members who had missed previous weekly meetings, but Weber is the only known member to have been removed altogether.

Weber said he had “no interaction with Bob Good” beyond the Freedom Caucus’ weekly meetings until he was called into his office last Tuesday.

Weber said he believes Good “had an agenda” and removed him from the caucus unilaterally. He said the clash over that strategy with Good and perhaps some bad blood left from the presidential Republican primary — Weber is a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump and Good initially supported Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — led the caucus chair to single him out.

The last email invite Weber received for a caucus meeting was Dec. 4 — nearly a month before Good succeeded Rep. Scott Perry as caucus chair.

Weber added he’s had conversations with Board of the Caucus members who said they were surprised by Good’s move.

“I know that there's bylaws about missing so many meetings, but there's a lot of people who've missed a lot of meetings and why it would be me singled out I don't know,” Weber said.

Weber said he missed the meetings to have dinner with his wife, who has started frequenting Washington, D.C., more. But he added his lack of attendance was also spurred by his disillusionment with the caucus’ tactics, like the motion to vacate that ousted former Speaker Kevin McCarthy with just one vote — a move Weber did not support because he said there was no strategy beyond “throwing a monkey wrench into the gears.”

Several Texas Republicans hold membership in the caucus, including Reps. Chip Roy of Austin, Keith Self of McKinney, Troy Nehls of Richmond and Michael Cloud of Victoria. Roy serves as the Freedom Caucus’ policy chair and declined to comment on Weber’s removal. A 2014 article in The Hill about Weber quoted him saying he didn’t see himself staying in Congress for more than a decade, but the recent dysfunction among Republicans has incentivized him to stay longer.

“If anything, it redoubles my resolve to stay here and try to make this place work because it is broken beyond belief,” he said.

The only other House Republican known to be kicked out of the caucus was Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene of Georgia. She was booted over comments she made about Freedom Caucus colleagues.

Disclosure: Politico has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Tuesday shared with her X followers a photograph of herself smiling directly into the camera next to an announcement for a new investigative hearing.

"Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene leads a hearing on investigating the black market of baby organ harvesting," the announcement declares. Greene adds, "Join me and special guests."