AlterNet

As right-wing figures blamed factors ranging from Islam to the Biden administration's nonexistent "open borders policy" for the deadly New Year's Day attacks in New Orleans and Las Vegas, progressive observers noted Thursday that the men who carried out those attacks both served in the U.S. military, which one historian called "a consistent incubator of violence that returns home."

For many years, Republican and former Democrat Rudy Giuliani was known for his law-and-order image — first as a federal prosecutor for the Southern District of New York, later during his two terms as a GOP mayor in heavily Democratic New York City. But in recent years, Giuliani has been inundated with legal problems — some criminal and some civil.

Even though he was reelected in November, former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) resigned from Congress to pursue his short-lived bid to be attorney general. But even his former Republican colleagues don't appear to be missing him.

Mike Johnson, the Trump-backed, controversial Republican from Louisiana, secured his second term as Speaker of the House of Representatives on Friday afternoon.

Even though he's due to be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States in a little more than two weeks, President-elect Donald Trump is still being ordered to appear in court next Friday to be officially sentenced for his 34 felony convictions.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) may have won reelection as speaker, but he only managed to do so after corralling the most fringe elements of his conference. And if he holds true to his word, that faction will have outsized influence in future legislative negotiations.

President-elect Donald Trump ended up siding with billionaire Tesla and SpaceX CEO and X owner Elon Musk in their feud with MAGA activists over a contentious immigration issue. But Trump's anti-immigrant base isn't planning to give up easily.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) narrowly avoided the embarrassment of failing to get a majority of votes to keep the speaker's gavel on Friday, when the 119th Congress was sworn in. But a new report suggests that a faction of far-right House Republicans is likely to give him plenty of headaches over the next two years.

A federal judge has officially ruled that a participant in the January 6, 2021 siege of the U.S. Capitol who brought a knife and a tactical vest to the riot will not be allowed to attend President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration.

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