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House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has set off a new rift within the Republican caucus with his latest move to protect former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), now Donald Trump's nominee for attorney general, from public scrutiny.

The House Ethics Committee was set to vote Friday on whether to release the results of a lengthy investigation into Gaetz, who has been accused of underage sex trafficking, illicit drug use, campaign finance violations, and other misdeeds. The vote was canceled at the last minute and Johnson told the caucus he didn't support releasing the report because Gaetz resigned earlier this week and is no longer a member of Congress subject to the committee's jurisdiction.

A government watchdog group said Friday that President-elect Donald Trump has effectively signaled that the incoming administration is open for business by choosing longtime Republican strategist Susie Wiles—a former lobbyist for the tobacco industry and other sordid interests—as his White House chief of staff.

In a new report, Public Citizen shows that Wiles represented at least 42 clients as a registered federal government lobbyist between 2017 and 2024—corporate influence-peddling that continued even while she helped run Trump's 2024 presidential bid.

President-elect Donald Trump has already shot his second administration in the foot — specifically in its authoritarian Achilles heel, a political columnist contends.

Salon writer Amanda Marcotte argued Friday that Trump's decision to demand that former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) become his Attorney General was an attempt to strongarm Republican allies he'll need as president — and whose patience has already begun to run thin.

A Democratic Senate candidate in Arizona was hit and killed Friday by a driver suspected to be impaired, according to news reports.

Senate candidate John McLean, who ran as the Democratic challenger to represent the Tucson-area District 17 seat, was driving a Toyota Rav4 around 6 a.m. Friday when he was struck by a Ford Explorer, The Arizona Daily Star reported.

Former Obama administration adviser Van Jones and GOP strategist Shermichael Singleton went head-to-head on CNN Friday over reports that Donald Trump is considering ousting Christopher Wray as chief of the FBI — a position Trump put him in in the first place — and installing Kash Patel, a hardcore partisan loyalist who has called for the arrests of journalists.

"Where are America's patriots?" said Jones. "You are now talking about people who are completely incompetent, who most Americans, who business owners would not hire to run a taco stand, being put in charge of the FBI ... this is a joke.

Asking Democratic voters to better understand President-elect Donald Trump is like asking a hiker to stop and reflect why he is being chased by a bear that wants to eat his face, a humorist argued Friday.

USA Today columnist Rex Huppke drew this comparison Friday in a satirical takedown of Democrats' self-blaming response to Trump's victory over Vice President Kamala Harris on Election Day.

While even some Republicans have flinched at the thought of confirming scandal-plagued former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) to be America's top law enforcement official, liberal New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg is embracing Gaetz's nomination.

In her latest column, Goldberg makes reference to an alleged quote from communist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin that states, "The worse, the better" in justifying her enthusiasm for putting Gaetz in the spotlight.

Donald Trump's new picks to lead the military are a disaster waiting to happen, warned conservative columnist Max Boot for The Washington Post — and a clear sign he intends to make his Cabinet bend the knee to his political whims rather than make decisions for the security of the country.

Boot's warning came as experts sound the alarm about Trump's plan to create a "warrior board" that could oust generals on a whim, upending seniority and politicizing the chain of command.

With 25 focus groups and $45 million, political advisors to X owner Elon Musk pitted people against each other to cause a rift in the Democratic party and depress turnout for Vice President Kamala Harris' 2024 campaign, according to a report Friday.

The Washington Post sorted through a social media ad campaign that reporters spotted in Michigan in September. The newspaper uncovered what it called a manipulation effort that resulted in protest votes and pulled down Democratic excitement.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) cut off MSNBC host José Díaz-Balart Friday as he tried to move an interview on from Donald Trump's selection of Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL).

She stopped him, not willing to move on from highlighting her reasons why her fellow Floridian is unfit for further government service.

Republicans' dueling demands that the Justice Department preserve its records but the Ethics committee keep its mouth shut about theirs went about as well as could be expected.

House Speaker Mike Johnson and Judiciary Committee Chair Rep. Jim Jordan outraged onlookers Friday when they spoke out against releasing a report on accusations of sexual misconduct and illegal drug abuse levied against former Rep. Matt Gaetz.

A former aide said Donald Trump isn't playing the 4D chess that people think he is. He genuinely wants former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) to be the attorney general.

Speaking to MSNCB's Chris Jansing, former deputy press secretary under Trump's administration, Sarah Matthews, said she thinks that all of the opposition is only enshrining his belief that Gaetz is the right person.