Former UN ambassador and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is expected to announce her candidacy for president in Charleston Wednesday, February 15. Haley would become the second candidate for next year’s GOP nomination after former President Trump, whom she served as UN ambassador. The story was first reported by The Post and Courier of Charlotte, which cites an “invitation going out soon to her backers…”.
Haley said in 2021 she would not run in 2024 if Trump does, Politico notes, but she “telegraphed” her change-of-mind in a January Fox News interview. Since at least the November midterms, Gov. Ron DeSantis has consistently led Trump in polls of potential Republican presidential hopefuls – often by a large margin -- though the Florida governor has yet to announce himself. By announcing this early, Haley would likely gather support from more moderate Republicans, and potentially bring some longtime never-Trumpers back into the fold.
--TL
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Moving On From Trump?
TUESDAY 1/31/23
How large is Donald J. Trump’s loud and faithful base? A poll published Tuesday by The Bulwark/North Star Opinion Research puts it at 28% to 30% of Republicans potentially voting in the 2024 GOP primaries, which seems about right considering Trump’s approval ratings while president.
The poll offers three scenarios;
*One-on-one versus Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis – who has led Trump in various polls for months – with a 52% to 30% lead.
•DeSantis vs. Trump vs. a “generic” third candidate.
•A 10-candidate ballot, including DeSantis, Trump, Mike Pence, Nikki Haley and Liz Cheney.
We’ll leave it to The Bulwark (thebulwark.com -- subscription required) to earn your readership with the poll’s details, but you should know that a warning comes with the poll, comparing results for Trump to his take of the early presidential primaries in 2016.
--TL
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House Committees Begin Investigations
MONDAY 1/30/23
With their thin majority in the 118th Congress resulting from last year’s midterm elecitons, Republicans leading the House Oversight and Judiciary committees begin investigations this week into pandemic relief spending under the Biden administration.
“There’s been reports of lots of waste, fraud and abuse with respect to the stimulus funds, the PPP loan funds unemployment and all of that,” Oversight chair James Comer (R-KY) said, per NPR’s Morning Edition. Comer’s committee also will investigate Hunter Biden’s laptop, a MAGA-right issue since before the 2020 presidential election.
Meanwhile, the Judiciary Committee under Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) will investigate “Biden’s border crisis,” according to NPR.
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