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Congressional Republicans, led by Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) and Rep. John James (R-Mich.), introduced a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution Wednesday that would undo the Biden administrations rules regulating tailpipe emissions.

This is a de-facto electric vehicle mandate that will put all 77,580 manufacturing jobs in [Michigans 10th District] at great risk of extinction, James said in a statement. I am proud to lead this effort to prevent Bidens rule from ravaging the livelihoods of thousands in Michigan and across the country.

The Biden administration announced the proposed rule in March, intended to ensure the majority of cars and light-duty trucks sold in the U.S. are hybrid or fully electric by 2032. Electric cars comprised only 7.6 percent of total American sales last year, while the timeline established by the rule would put that figure at 56 percent by early next decade.

Former President Trump has sought to capitalize on American trepidation around electric vehicles and their potential impact on auto industry jobs, particularly in Michigan, the hub of U.S. auto manufacturing and a key battleground state in 2024. The United Auto Workers union has endorsed President Biden for reelection, but it has frequently cautioned that the process of transitioning to electric vehicles must ensure the preservation of autoworker jobs.

The Republican House majority has passed a number of CRA resolutions attempting to undo Biden administration environmental regulations. The CRA allows a simple majority of both chambers to vote to repeal a rule from the executive branch.

Several of these resolutions have gone on to pass the Democratic-majority Senate, frequently due to the support of Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), a frequent critic of the administrations energy and environmental policies.

Thus far, Congress has passed CRAs targeting Biden rules on heavy-duty trucks, Endangered Species Act rules and a pause on tariffs on solar panel components. On Tuesday, Manchin announced he would sponsor another CRA resolution opposing a Biden rule on energy permitting reform.

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Congressional Republicans announce resolution to overturn Biden tailpipe rule - The Hill

After Democrats held on to all three Las Vegas-based House seats for two consecutive election cycles, national Republicans again took aim at flipping the seats in 2022, with one key GOP PAC pouring more money into the districts of Rep. Susie Lee (D-NV) and Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) than any other in the country.

But while Republicans ultimately did win the House, with a net gain of nine seats, the path to the gavel did not run through Las Vegas. Lee won re-election by 4 percentage points; Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV) by nearly 5, and Titus by more than 5, despite even our boss / Nevadas Nostradamus Jon Ralston predicting Lee would lose her seat.

After so many unsuccessful pulls at the electoral slot machine, have national House Republicans moved on from Las Vegas?

Not quite.

The three Las Vegas seats are still on the list of 37 pickup opportunities identified by the National Republican Congressional Committee, and two Republican operatives who work on Nevada races, granted anonymity to speak freely, are optimistic about the prospect of several self-funded candidates who could emerge as challengers.

But with both parties increasingly homing in on seats in New York and California, Republicans with knowledge of the races also said they expect less national GOP investment in the Nevada House races compared with last cycle.

Congressional Leadership Fund, the Kevin McCarthy-backed (R-CA) super PAC that pumped more than $6 million into Lees race last cycle, has yet to announce its initial spending, despite having done so by this point last year.

That may not necessarily translate to lower spending totals given the costly and crowded Las Vegas media market and the fact that fundraising only increases every cycle.

But between competing for ad space and air time with the presidential race and the U.S. Senate race not to mention the frustrating results from last cycle in a midterm historically linked to big losses by the incumbent presidents party Lee, Titus and Horsford are likely not going to be as significant of a target for Republican leadership as last cycle.

Whats different

The 2022 cycle was the first assessment for both parties of Nevada Democrats redistricting plan adopted in 2021, operating under the strategy that three districts with narrow-ish Democratic majorities was a more favorable map than maintaining the traditionally deep blue Congressional District 1 and two extremely competitive districts. By shifting some suburban areas with more independent and Republican voters into Titus safely Democratic district, Democrats gambled that they could shore up Lees and Horsfords margins while still protecting Titus.

The maps paid off and now Republicans must consider if they want to keep putting money into testing them.

While intense spending and campaigning is already underway in swing districts around the country, the Nevada House primary races have been kind of sleepy right now, in the words of one Republican strategist. Only one candidate, Congressional District 4s David Flippo, has reserved television ad time with less than a month to go before mail ballots are sent out around the state.

Still, that doesnt mean theyre giving up on the seats. In Lees race in particular, Republicans are excited about GOP candidate Marty ODonnell, a video game music composer who is working with the consultants who engineered Gov. Joe Lombardos (R) successful gubernatorial bid.

ODonnell is in a crowded primary with former Treasurer Dan Schwartz, a fellow self-funder, tax analyst Drew Johnson and former state Sen. Elizabeth Helgelien. All but Helgelien have loaned their campaigns hundreds of thousands of dollars, with Schwartz leading the pack at $800,000 (though Lees cash on hand remains significantly greater than any potential opponent).

In Congressional District 1, repeat 2022 candidate Mark Robertson and self-funded restaurateur Flemming Larsen are squaring off to take on Titus, while in Congressional District 4, Horsford will likely face either Air Force veteran Flippo or former North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee, who has the distinction of having won elected office before and boasts an endorsement from Lombardo.

In Congressional District 1, Larsen actually has a larger war chest than Titus, though most of his $1.5 million is loaned. Powered by a $500,000 loan from himself, John Lee technically outraised Horsford in the first quarter of 2024, but Horsford retains a significant cash on hand advantage and the benefit of having contributions rather than loan money that can be pulled back at the discretion of the candidate.

Given that the presidential election will lead to higher turnout, Republicans are hopeful that voters who sat the 2022 midterms out might finally turn out and help oust Lee, who has won three straight terms in a seat that has been competitive since its creation in 2002, although its boundaries have changed slightly over the years.

Biden is more unpopular now than he was in 2022, a Republican strategist familiar with the race said, adding that the conventional wisdom of high turnout boosting Democrats might no longer be true. We haven't completely grappled with the idea that higher turnout helps Republicans.

On the Democratic side, meanwhile, operatives believe a superior ground game and well-established incumbent candidates will keep the three districts in their win column.

Political analysts who run major ratings so far seem to agree. The Cook Political Report rates Lees race as Lean Democrat, when she used to occupy the Toss Up category; Horsford and Titus are considered Likely Democrat.

House Majority PAC, the high-spending outside group connected to Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), made the first move of the cycle by reserving over $6.8 million in ad spending for the fall in Las Vegas, including earmarking more than $750,000 for Spanish-language content.

The ad buy signifies both the costly nature of the Las Vegas market, the fact that there are three seats in the area and its continued importance to Democratic ambitions the group is only spending more in Los Angeles, New York City, Portland and Detroit.

Democratic strategists are confident theyll retain the Las Vegas seats and believe the incumbents are particularly effective and well-disciplined in their messaging, compared with members in other states.

One Democratic strategist said that none of the potential Republican candidates concern them, and that once outside Republican spending does come in, they expect the GOPs focus to be in other states.

They're probably not going to spend as much [in Nevada] as they are doing elsewhere, the strategist said. That's going to be really indicative of them kind of conceding that they're not going to win these seats.

Editors note: This story appears in Indy Elections, The Nevada Independents newsletter dedicated to comprehensive coverage of the 2024 elections. Sign up for the newsletter here.

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After losing three straight times, are Republicans as invested in Vegas House seats? - The Nevada Independent

Republicans in the North Carolina Senate Judiciary Committee advanced a bill on Tuesday that would require cooperation between law enforcement and federal immigration authorities.

North Carolina sheriffs are already required under current state law to try and determine the legal status of people they arrest and inform U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). However, current law doesnt require them to honor ICE detainer requests, which ask local authorities to hold someone believed to be in the country illegally for up to 48 hours while federal agents pick them up.

House Bill 10 would change that.

If it becomes law, the bill will require all 100 sheriffs in the state to notify ICE if they are unable to determine the legal status of a person charged with certain high-level offenses. It would force sheriffs to honor ICE requests to detain individuals suspected of being in the country illegally for up to 48 hours.

During Tuesdays meeting, several immigration rights groups and advocates spoke out against the bill, telling lawmakers that the bill raised constitutional concerns.

HB10 will not make North Carolina safer. Instead, this bill will interfere with decisions about local resources and priorities, expose sheriffs and counties to expensive lawsuits for constitutional violations, and weaken community trust in law enforcement, said Veronica Aguilar, an immigrant rights advocate with El Pueblo.

By forcing sheriffs to collaborate with ICE, it will make people in our community distrust law enforcement even more and prefer not to report crimes or cooperate with police investigations for fear of deportation. It will make everyone less safe, she added.

Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page, a longtime supporter of GOP legislation on ICE cooperation, spoke in favor of the bill at Tuesdays meeting, saying that it was about protecting our state and protecting our citizens.

The bill, which passed the House during the 2023 legislative session, is seen in large part as aimed at several sheriffs elected in 2018. These sheriffs, representing largely Democratic counties, were elected on platforms that criticized the immigration policies being pursued at the time by the Trump administration. Many argued that detaining individuals on immigration charges who would not ordinarily take up jail space is both a burdensome expense and an action that tends to discourage cooperation from immigrant communities in law enforcement.

At Tuesdays meeting, the Senate Judiciary committee also approved an amendment to the bill that allows anyone, including law enforcement, to file a complaint with the North Carolina attorney general if they believe sheriffs or jail administrators are not complying with the bills requirements. The committee also approved an amendment to move the bills implementation date to July 1, 2024.

Instead of prioritizing important issues for North Carolina, like passing the state budget, members of the Senate are rushing to pass an anti-immigrant bill like HB10, to force all sheriffs in the state to collaborate with ICE, under the false premise that immigrants are a threat to public safety when in reality they are critical to the states economy, said a statement by the local non-profit organization El Pueblo.

The bill may come up for a full Senate vote this week, possibly as early as Thursday.

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NC Senate Republicans advance bill forcing law enforcement cooperation with ICE NC Newsline - NC Newsline

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) went after President Biden and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in an interview airing Sunday over spending “borrowed” money on Ukraine.

“My primary reason for opposing sending money to Ukraine is that we don’t have any money,” Paul said in an interview with radio host John Catsimatidis on “The Cats Roundtable.” “The money has to be borrowed. So basically, you know, we owe China a trillion dollars, they bought a trillion dollars worth of our debt. We have to basically borrow money from China in order to send it to Ukraine”

Paul also said in the interview that McConnell and the Biden administration have been telling the Ukrianians that they would end up in NATO “‘no matter what.’”

“Well, that’s the one thing that, actually, Ukraine has that they could negotiate. If they were willing to negotiate that they would be a neutral country and not allied with the… with the Russians and not allied with the West but be open to trade with both,” Paul continued. “I think what they could do is that could be negotiated for withdrawal of troops. There’s no guarantee the Russians would withdraw troops, but it’d be worth the offer.”

Biden signed a $95 billion last emergency foreign aid package last month with aid for Ukraine and Israel, and called out “MAGA Republicans” for holding up the aid to Ukraine.

“To my desk, it was a difficult path. It should have been easier, and it should have gotten there sooner. But in the end, we did what America always does; we rose to the moment, came together and we got it done,” Biden said.

“For months, while MAGA Republicans were blocking aid,” the president continued. “Ukraine’s been running out of artillery shells and ammunition Meanwhile, Putin’s friends are keeping him well supplied.”

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Rand Paul slams Biden, McConnell for spending borrowed money on Ukraine aid - The Hill

The scruffy headquarters of HUR, Ukraines military intelligence agency, stands on a jagged piece of land in central Kyiv known as Fishermans Island. Strictly speaking, it is not an island but a peninsula. And there isnt much fishing going on these wartime days. But sporting a piratical beard, the agencys deputy head, Major-General Vadym Skibitsky, plays a nautical theme. Blunt, enigmatic and sharp as a captains hook, he exudes many of the qualities that have made HUR one of the most talked about secret services in the world. But he sounds troubled as he assesses Ukraines battlefield prospects. Things, he says, are as difficult as they have ever been since the early days of Russias full-scale invasion. And they are about to get worse.

He predicts that Russia will first press on with its plan to liberate all of Ukraines eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions, a task unchanged since 2022. He says a Russian order has gone out to take something in time for the pomp of Victory Day in Moscow on May 9th, or, failing that, before Vladimir Putins visit to Beijing a week later. The speed and success of the advance will determine when and where the Russians strike next. Our problem is very simple: we have no weapons. They always knew April and May would be a difficult time for us.

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A fresh Russian push will test Ukraine severely, says a senior general - The Economist