Potential Mitch McConnell successors begin lining up for Kentucky’s Senate race
Sen. Mitch McConnell’s decision not to run for re-election in Kentucky next year opens up his Senate seat for the first time since 1984 — and it is already drawing interest from heavy hitters looking to fill the seat.
Former state Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who served as a McConnell aide before launching his own career in elected office, including a run for governor in 2023, announced his Senate candidacy less than an hour after the news about McConnell’s retirement broke.
And Republican Rep. Andy Barr reiterated his interest in the seat too, saying that the state “deserves a Senator who will fight for president Trump and the America First Agenda” and teasing a decision “soon.”
First CDC vaccine committee meeting since RFK was confirmed has been postponed
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vaccine advisory committee meeting scheduled for next week — the first since Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was sworn in — has been postponed, a senior HHS official said.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, was scheduled to meet Feb. 26 through 28. The group of independent experts convenes three times a year on behalf of the CDC to weigh the pros and cons of newly approved or updated vaccines.
D.C. leaders warn against Trump's support for moving the district to full federal control
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., condemned Trump’s comments yesterday that the District of Columbia should be moved under direct federal control, which would strip D.C. of quasi-independent governance and leave its laws solely up to Congress.
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One yesterday that he thinks “we should take over Washington, D.C., make it safe,” echoing his campaign trail rhetoric about crime in America’s capital city. “I think that we should govern the District of Columbia.”
Trump said D.C. officials are “not doing the job,” saying “there’s too much crime” and “too many tents on the lawns.”
The comments prompted swift reaction from Norton and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, who have long advocated for the federal territory to be granted statehood. Currently, D.C. has some autonomy to implement its own laws but is overseen by Congress.
Moving the city under full federal control, Norton argued, would leave D.C. residents “to depend on members of Congress elected by other jurisdictions to run the District.”
“We have made significant progress in our historic march toward making D.C. the 51st state, and President Trump’s comments, a continuation of the anti-democratic rhetoric from Republicans concerning the District of Columbia, despite their basis in falsehoods, is evidence of that progress,” said Norton, who is a nonvoting member of Congress and has sponsored legislation to make D.C. a state. “These types of remarks are attempts to remove what small measure of democracy the more than 700,000 D.C. residents, a majority of whom are Black and brown, have.”
Bowser held an emergency press conference today to address Trump's remarks. The mayor told reporters D.C. will collaborate with congressional efforts to crack down on violent crime, but that the district's lack of autonomy leaves it vulnerable to "the whims of the Congress or a president."
"The only way we're not in this position is when we become a state, as long as we have limited home rule in this city ... we're always vulnerable," she said.
Alina Habba says 'a bunch of the IRS' will be fired today
Alina Habba, a counselor to Trump, said during a CPAC panel that the administration would be firing IRS employees today.
"It happens to be tax season, so everybody’s filing their taxes, going, ‘If I don’t pay the correct amount or miss a couple cents, they’ll threaten to throw me in prison, and now’s a great time — ," the panel host was saying before Habba jumped in.
"Don’t worry, we’re firing a bunch of the IRS today, so don’t worry," Habba said, laughing.
The Associated Press has reported that the IRS plans to lay of thousands of workers starting today.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., told NBC News today that he was concerned about the IRS layoffs and its potential effect on tax refunds.
Police are investigating a bomb threat at Washington's Kennedy Center
The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts received a bomb threat this morning, according to D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, which said it received reports of the threat at 10:44 a.m.
The U.S. Park Police, the primary law enforcement agency on scene, has shut down several streets around the center as it investigates the incident.
The performing arts center was thrust into the national spotlight after Trump gutted its board of trustees, fired its longtime president and became the center's new chairman. Multiple artists have canceled performances at the center and artistic advisers have resigned in the wake of the leadership changes.
The U.S. Park Police referred NBC News to the Kennedy Center for comment on the bomb threat.
A center spokesperson said in a statement that it "evacuated due to a bomb threat targeting Shen Yun performances. Security acted swiftly, following existing protocols.”
Senate advances Patel's nomination for FBI chief to a final vote
The Senate voted 51-47 to advance Kash Patel’s nomination for FBI director to a final confirmation vote.
Sen. Susan Collins, of Maine, was the only Republican senator to oppose Patel's confirmation. Sens. John Boozman, R-Ark., and John Fetterman, D-Pa., missed the vote.
The Senate will take the final confirmation vote on Patel's nomination at around 1:45 p.m.
Mitch McConnell announces he will retire, ending his decadeslong Senate career
Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the longest-serving Senate leader in history, announced today on his 83rd birthday that he won’t seek re-election next year, bringing an end to his four-decade career in the chamber.
McConnell, first elected in 1984, climbed his way up to the Senate Republican leader position in 2007 and remained there until early 2025, serving during four administrations in the majority and the minority.
He will leave behind a complex legacy and a party that has transformed away from traditional conservatism into one led by Trump, with whom the Kentucky Republican has long had a frosty relationship.
“Representing our commonwealth has been the honor of my lifetime. I will not seek this honor an eighth time,” McConnell said on the floor. “My current term in the Senate will be my last.”
Sen. Susan Collins to oppose Kash Patel's confirmation for FBI
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, announced that she will vote no on Kash Patel's nomination to serve as the director of the FBI.
Collins, a moderate Republican, said that "there is a compelling need for an FBI Director who is decidedly apolitical."
"Mr. Patel has made numerous politically charged statements in his book and elsewhere discrediting the work of the FBI, the very institution he has been nominated to lead," she said in a statement. "These statements, in conjunction with the questionnaire sent to thousands of FBI employees, cast doubt on Mr. Patel’s ability to advance the FBI’s law enforcement mission in a way that is free from the appearance of political motivation."
The Senate is voting today on Patel's nomination.
House Speaker Mike Johnson to appear today at CPAC
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has been put on the schedule for a fireside chat at CPAC this afternoon. He will appear at around 2:50 p.m., after Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., speaks and before Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., appears.
Vice president warns of a culture promoting 'androgynous idiots'
Vance defended his vision of masculinity in remarks at CPAC today, decrying a “cultural message” that he said “wants to turn everybody … into androgynous idiots who think the same, talk the same and act the same.”
Vance’s comments came during a question-and-answer session at the conference for conservative activists.
“I think that our culture sends a message to young men that you should suppress every masculine urge, you should try to cast aside your family, you should try to suppress what makes you a young man in the first place,” said Vance, responding to a question from CPAC’s Mercedes Schlapp, who asked what message he had for the surge of young men who voted for him and Trump last fall.
“And I think that my message to young men is: Don’t allow this broken culture to send you a message that you’re a bad person because you’re a man, because you like to tell a joke, because you like to have a beer with your friends or because you’re competitive,” Vance said.
After his “androgynous idiots” remark, Vance added: “This is why the media went after him [Trump] so hard. Because when I think about what is the essence of masculinity, you could answer this in so many different ways. But when I think about me and my guy friends, we really like to tell jokes to one another — like, we like to laugh.”
Schlapp then interrupted to ask who is funnier, Trump or Vance? Vance gave the nod to Trump.
“I think this is why young men in particular are so inspired by President Trump,” Vance said. “Because he doesn’t allow the media to tell him he can’t make a joke, or he can’t have an original thought. President Trump just says what’s on his mind. That’s a damn good thing, and it’s a good example to set for young men in America.”
Schlapp also asked about second lady Usha Vance’s influence and the best advice the vice president has received from her.
“One piece of advice she gave me like a week ago was, ‘You should be nicer on social media,’” Vance said, prompting knowing laughs from those familiar with his combative presence on X. “I don’t know that I’ll take that advice. Some advice is good ... but you don’t have to always take it.”
Vance then struck a more serious tone.
“The best advice she gave me when it came to politics is, ‘Don’t let them filter you,’” he said. “And in politics, you’ve got consultants and you’ve got media professionals, you’ve got pollsters, you’ve got a lot of people who try to tell you what to say or how to behave or what to do. And Usha just said, ‘Just be yourself. Be authentic. Go out there and say what’s actually on your mind — maybe a little nicer from time to time.’”