James Zogby: "mister Smith" Leaves Washington

Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX) has been missing votes in Washington because she’s been living in a nursing home for dementia patients for the past six months, the Daily Mail reports. The current longest-serving GOP representative had not been on record voting for or against anything since July. Dallas Express: Where is Kay Granger?

“Lara Trump, President-elect Trump’s daughter-in-law, said Saturday she is removing herself from consideration for Florida Republican Marco Rubio’s seat in the U. S. Senate,” Fox News reports. Said Trump: “After an incredible amount of thought, contemplation, and encouragement from so many, I have decided to remove my name from consideration for the United States Senate.”

Last month, Missourians voted to add the right to abortion until viability into their state constitution—making their state one of ten to enshrine abortion rights since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. But simply having the constitutional right to abortion does not alone change anything on the ground: The courts must enforce this right by affirming that anti-abortion laws violate states’ newly amended constitutions.

“Justice Clarence Thomas failed to disclose two additional trips from a billionaire patron that had not previously come to light, Senate Democrats revealed on Saturday after conducting a 20-month investigation into ethics practices at the Supreme Court,” the New York Times reports.

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) said he voted against the stopgap spending bill in “protest” of how the government is run, CNN reports. Said Romney: “While I support keeping government open, I voted no on the CR—a simple protest of the absurd way this is to run government.”

Only Allah knows for sure, but there are indications that the claim that he’s an ex- and anti-Muslim is untrue.