Tom Emmer

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky just stopped by an ammunition factory in Scranton, Pennsylvania — which CNN points out is President Joe Biden’s hometown.Now, a group of House Republicans is demanding answers about what taxpayer dollars and US resources were used in what they allege was essentially a campaign event for Democrats.The Hill reports that this past Sunday, Zelensky “was flown to Pennsylvania in an Air Force C-17 plane.” He was also protected by the US Secret Service.

Who knew there were so many fluent Somali speakers in Washington? Talking to a crowd of Somali émigrés in Minneapolis over the weekend, progressive representative Ilhan Omar dived into African politics in her mother tongue, lambasting Somaliland, an unrecognized state that declared independence from Somalia in 1991, as well as regional actors that she claims are infringing on Somali sovereignty. A subtitled video was then widely shared on X Sunday, appearing to contain usage of the "blood and soil" nationalistic rhetoric that would trigger a response from other progressives. “Somalia is for Somalia only (a genocidal mantra) as over 45 percent of Somalia’s population are not even ethnic Somalis,” the translation indicated. That video was shared by Rhoda J.

Will today be the day we get a permanent speaker of the House? It’s tough to say. House Republicans huddled this morning to figure out who they will put forward as their speaker-designee in the hopes that someone — perhaps, anyone! — can steer the rowdy House at a time of growing international strife. They eventually settled on Minnesota representative Tom Emmer. There’s no guarantee that Emmer will even get the required votes from the full House, however. To minimize that possibility, Representative Mike Flood circulated a “loyalty pledge” of sorts that all current speaker candidates signed, which requires them to support whoever the conference selects. Flood noted to me, though, that even Jesus Christ would struggle to get to 217 votes in this House GOP conference.