Republicans on the receiving end of this MAGA spending effort are incredulous that Trump allies would engage in an intra-party retribution campaign during a midterm cycle that’s shaping up to be a barn burner for Democrats.
“It is completely irrational if the goal is to maintain a congressional majority, because these funds are a direct distraction from that goal,” says State Senator Spencer Deery, who voted against the Trump-backed map last year.
MAGA-aligned Republicans counter that the purpose of a political party is to move together to accomplish goals — an ideal that requires party leadership enforcement when dissenters emerge.
.@NRO: "[Last] July, the Mountain State finally made it to the top of a positive list, recording the largest reduction in fatal overdoses over a 12-month period of any state in the country. At that time, CDC data showed the state had seen two months of declines in the annual rate of fatal overdoses, for a 41 percent decrease compared to deaths reported in both preceding 12-month periods.
It was welcome news for the state that has long been considered ground zero for the American opioid abuse and overdose epidemic.
And the trend has held; new federal data released in late March show West Virginia’s opioid overdose deaths have continued to fall at a faster pace than the overall national decline. The most recent data from the CDC show West Virginia recorded 2,042 opioid overdose deaths from October 2024 to September 2025, a nearly 49 percent drop from the prior 12-month period. The U.S. as a whole saw a 44 percent drop in opioid overdose deaths over the same time period."
Scoop: In March 2025, a WH official called a DHS staffer to ask whether he'd heard that Lewandowski was using his influence within the agency to steer lucrative contracts to political allies & whether he had evidence that would substantiate the charge🧵
https://t.co/lATA1oZvOy
SCOOP: Trump's furious that Noem said under oath in her Senate Judiciary hearing that the he had advance knowledge of the $220M DHS ad campaign & approved its release
He's privately floated Markwayne Mullin as prospective replacement, @NRO has learned
https://t.co/7KyWyACkhB
Second in series on the president, the UAE billions, and the Binance crypto exchange - today: the pardon of Binance founder 'CZ' (Changpeng Zhao) ... https://t.co/cqOkzd8usr
Thanks to modern genealogical science, good old-fashioned police work, and the unwitting participation of dozens of Goodsell’s descendants, in early 2025, Scattered Man reclaimed his identity as Captain Henry Goodsell.
I'm in the February print edition of NR with the miraculous story of Captain Henry Goodsell, who set sail for Philadelphia in December 1844 and was not seen again...until his remains began washing ashore 150 years later.
https://t.co/IH6PUb1AZ2
Police knew that the bone fragments that washed up on three New Jersey beaches over 20 years belonged to the same man — but they couldn't identify him, so they took to calling him "Scattered Man."
Scoop: Special prosecutor appointed in a "matter currently pending" in New Kent County GD Court that names Jones & cites his reckless driving case, according to a circuit court order obtained by @NRO
New Kent County CA requested recusal citing unspecified "potential conflict"
@kamdenmulder_ spoke today with the Sacramento DA, who walked her through the compelling evidence that the ABC station shooter was motivated by anti-Trump animus.
He also referenced Charlie Kirk's assassination in a note.
https://t.co/hJUFeZYNeh
Blackmail Accusations & Awkward Phone Calls: A Summer of Tension on the Virginia GOP Ticket🧵 @NRO
John Reid on June 18 phone call w/ Earle-Sears: “I’m not going to lie and act like everything’s been hunky-dory. It’s been eight weeks since we’ve spoken.”
https://t.co/le9dSzCb9F
NEW: Following @NRO’s reporting last week on HHS/CMS forthcoming rule change to prohibit federally funded gender-transition interventions for minors…@NRO can confirm the proposed rule is under regulatory review
SCOOP: In '22, Trump's team weighed traveling to Hungary for that year's CPAC. But as Susie Wiles explained to ppl later in campaign, he didn't attend b/c of concerns Secret Service couldn't keep him safe amid threats from Iran
Much more in @NRO🧵:
https://t.co/rMjxT8FPzT
Asked by @NRO about Biden pushback to autopen probe, Trump says 46 was so cognitively impaired he wasn't aware of his admin's policies on various issues
“He didn’t have much of an idea of what was going on...Whoever used the autopen was the president”
https://t.co/mSrRvAubIQ
Last fall, a jury exonerated Ashkan Bayatpour after the undercover CIA officer was accused by a co-worker of a #MeToo assault. Outed by the AP, Bayatpour resigned. Despite the not guilty verdict, Bayatpour tells @NRO he could now lose his Navy career. https://t.co/xvmkx4dbLR
Steve Bannon tells @NRO that a tax hike on the rich would cement a "1932-type realignment" for the GOP.
In Bannon's view, Trump's populist tax proposals are signaling that today's Republicans aren't the "country club Republicans of the Bush junta."
https://t.co/ex0vEkyOCm