Wisconsin Rejects MAGA!

4.1.25

Ally Sammarco Apr 2

Happy Tuesday and welcome back to Today’s American News, your source for news and analysis on the circus that is American politics and entertainment.

ELECTION UPDATE FROM WISCONSIN: Democrat Susan Crawford is projected to win over Elon Musk’s preferred candidate, Brad Schimel, in a nationally watched state Supreme Court race. See election results here.

Trump funding cuts force closure of dozens of free measles vaccine clinics in Texas amid outbreak… NBC News reports, “Steep federal funding cuts have forced public health officials in one of Texas’ most populous counties — Dallas — to cancel dozens of vaccination clinics and lay off 21 workers on the front lines of combatting the state’s growing measles outbreak. ‘...we’ve had to cancel over 50 different clinics in our community,’ said Dr. Philip Huang, director and health authority for the Dallas County Health and Human Services Department. Many of the clinics had been planned for schools in areas with low vaccination rates, he said. The vaccines, which included measles, mumps and rubella shots, were meant to be given free to families. The money being cut — $11.4 billion nationwide — was originally allocated to aid community health departments during the pandemic. Local public health officials have more recently been using the Covid funds for other public health initiatives, such as measles prevention, surveillance and testing.”

Sen. Cory Booker sets record for longest Senate floor speech at 25 hours to protest Trump administration… Politico reports, “Cory Booker wrote himself into the Senate annals Tuesday, setting a new record for the chamber’s longest speech when he held the floor for more than 25 hours and surpassed the late Sen. Strom Thurmond’s 1957 filibuster against civil rights. The New Jersey Democrat took the floor at 6:59 p.m. on Monday, saying he was doing so with the ‘intention of disrupting the normal business of the United States Senate for as long as I am physically able’ in order to protest the actions of President Donald Trump and his administration.”

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GOP holds two heavily Republican districts in Florida special elections… CNN reports, “Republicans will hold onto two seats in their narrow House majority as former Florida state Sen. Randy Fine will win the special election for an open US House seat in Florida’s 6th Congressional District and Republican Jimmy Patronis will win Florida’s 1st Congressional District, according to a projection from the CNN Decision Desk. Fine will replace national security adviser Mike Waltz in the House, and Patronis fills a seat that has been vacant since mid-November, when Trump announced former Rep. Matt Gaetz as his initial choice for attorney general. Both wins will deliver much-needed reinforcements for House Speaker Mike Johnson’s narrow majority in the House of Representatives. Few anticipated a competitive race for Waltz’s seat when he resigned in January. President Donald Trump won the district by 30 points in November.”

11 House Rs stop Johnson effort to kill remote voting for House members who are new parents… NBC News reports, “A band of Republican lawmakers sank an effort Tuesday by Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to kill a plan to allow remote voting for lawmakers who become new parents, a bitter dispute that brought the House floor to a halt. A procedural rule vote to advance the House GOP’s package of bills for the week failed 206-222, with nine Republicans bucking Johnson and voting with all 213 Democrats. The failed vote means that, for now, those pieces of legislation cannot move forward for final votes… ‘Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., who has led the proxy-voting push and clashed with Johnson’ said, “‘parents deserve a voice in Washington.’ …Luna, who gave birth to her first child in 2023, had planned to force a floor vote this week on a resolution that would allow new mothers and fathers in the House to be able to vote remotely, through proxies, for up to 12 weeks.”

Today’s Furry Friend

Meet Blue, who lives on a boat and his buddy Fez, the neighbor cat who loves coming on the boat for playdates.

Today’s Buzz

F1 is hyped at CinemaCon as audience is treated to first 10 minutes of Brad Pitt’s Formula One action flick… The Hollywood Reporter writes, “F1 director Joseph Kosinski and producer Jerry Bruckheimer returned to the CinemaCon stage… Warner Bros. is distributing the Apple film that stars Brad Pitt, Damson Idris and Javier Bardem. ‘We believe this is going to be the cinematic experience of the summer,’ Bruckheimer teased. He promised the movie would offer ‘action, romance and humor. It’s truly the ultimate theater experience.’ Additionally, Kosinski praised Pitt for ‘driving himself at 180 miles an hour.’ The pair then revealed the film’s action-packed first 10 minutes. ‘Just let me drive, will you?’ Pitt says in the footage as no-longer-retired driver Sonny Hayes. Later, he warns a fellow driver while stepping out of his vehicle, ‘Lose that lead, I’ll kill you.’ The film hits theaters and IMAX from Warner Bros. on June 25. Kerry Condon and Tobias Menzies round out the cast. F1 features Pitt as Sonny, a former Formula One racer who was forced into early retirement until a team owner (Bardem) asks him to return to the sport and help mentor a rookie driver (Idris).” The movie hits theaters in June.

Check back in tomorrow evening for the next edition of Today’s American News.