On Thursday, Congress unveiled the much-anticipated spending bill to avert a government shutdown. The bill, which includes funding for major government departments such as Health and Human Services and Education, featured fierce negotiations over conservative "policy riders." These policy riders included bans on coverage for gender-affirming care, DEI bans, sports bans, and more. Despite some indications that Democrats might compromise due to the sheer number of conservative policy riders, it appears those fears did not come to fruition. Democrats held firm in negotiations, and the most impactful anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ riders were nowhere to be found.

One policy rider proposed for the Food and Drug Administration would have defunded any hospital that "distributes, sells, or otherwise uses drugs that disrupt the onset of puberty or sexual development for those under 18," a measure targeting not only transgender youth but also those experiencing precocious puberty. Another rider sought to bar any government funding toward "surgical procedures or hormone therapy for the purposes of gender-affirming care" in the Department of Health and Human Services. This move would have significantly impacted private and subsidized insurance in the Healthcare Marketplace. It also aimed to bar the enforcement of President Biden's executive order titled "Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity," which broadened anti-discrimination protections for transgender individuals. Additional riders included bans on funding for any organization that "promotes transgenderism," Title IX protections for transgender youth, bans on legal challenges against states over anti-LGBTQ+ laws, book bans, DEI bans, and more. In total, over 40 riders were proposed and negotiated in the spending bills. None of these were found in the final bill.

Ultimately, the final spending bill released contained only a single anti-LGBTQ+ rider: a ban on pride flags being raised or displayed above foreign embassies. The policy, while certainly qualifying as anti-LGBTQ+ and a regression to Trump-era policies, notably does not bar personal displays of Pride flags by embassy workers. In the past, some embassies have gotten around such bans by not "flying a flag over the embassy" but rather, painting portions of the embassy in rainbow colors or draping flags on the side of buildings.

Massive Defeat For Anti-Trans And Anti-LGBTQ+ Riders In Spending Bill As Dems Hold Firm

Raj Shah, a spokesman for Johnson, said the speaker's focus is "on governing. He will continue to push conservative legislation that secures our border, strengthens our national defense and demonstrates how we'll grow our majority."​

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., who forced the vote to remove McCarthy as speaker, told reporters on Thursday that he doesn't support a motion to vacate the chair and evict Johnson.​

"If we vacated this speaker, we'd end up with a Democrat," Gaetz told reporters. "When I vacated the last one, I made a promise to the country that we would not end up with the Democrat speaker. And I was right. I couldn't make that promise again."​

Asked how that could happen, Gaetz said: "We'd have Republicans cross over. I worry that we've got Republicans who would vote for Hakeem Jeffries at this point. I really do. I take no joy in saying that. But you can only vacate the speaker if you know that the party leadership won't change hands. I knew that with certainty last time. I don't know it with certainty this time."

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene files motion to oust Mike Johnson as House speaker (nbcnews.com)

The goal of the far-right is the same in every democratic country: Destroy democracy from within.

So what if they are the reason for all the current problems. They've already brainwashed their voters into believing everything they say and distrusting everything someone else says. That's the strategy.

The USA as a whole has behaved stupid enough to give the biggest loons of the republican enough confidence to go for it. The perception of January 6th among American voters is the foundation of this, because it shows how far gone many Americans already are.

Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., who announced last month he would not run for re-election, will resign from Congress early, he confirmed in a statement Friday.

Gallagher’s departure before the end of his term in January is another blow to Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and House Republicans, who have been struggling to govern and demonstrate stability this Congress.

Two sources familiar with the matter told NBC News of Gallagher's plan to resign early on Friday. The Wisconsin Republican then released a statement announcing that he will depart on April 19.

His resignation could cause more headaches for House Republicans. Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., who also is not seeking re-election, is resigning from Congress on Friday, cutting the GOP’s minuscule majority to 218-213. When Gallagher leaves, the majority would further shrink to 217-213, meaning Republicans could only afford a single defection on any vote if Democrats vote together.

Gallagher’s decision to leave on April 19 also means that there will not be a special election to fill his seat. Under Wisconsin state law, vacancies after the second Tuesday in April are filled in the general election, so Gallagher’s replacement will be decided in November and his seat will remain empty until January.

But Gallagher, an institutionalist first elected to Congress in 2016, has grown frustrated with his own party. He was one of three Republicans who voted against the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas last month.

Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher Will Resign Early, Leaving House Majority Hanging By a Thread

I mean... are you a violent extremist with extreme racial bias, an antigovernmental extremists, a violent extreme environmentalist or animal rights advocate, a person who wants to force women to bare children at gunpoint, or a violent bigot? LOL.  Please explain to us why you feel the need to ask lol.  I mean I love animal

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump's new joint fundraising agreement with the Republican National Committee directs donations to his campaign and a political action committee that pays the former president's legal bills before the RNC gets a cut, according to a fundraising invitation obtained by The Associated Press.

Trump's invite to major donors prioritizes the committee paying his legal bills over the RNC | AP News

Lists only have value when they are exclusive. If everybody is on a list, it ceases to have function. The FBI doesn't care about your hot takes. It is a violent extremism list. Don't threaten to bomb anything and you should be fine. 

I have a question how do you think people born post 2010- will vote more like?

Heavily Democrat. In general, young people are more progressive and with Republicans trying to rewind us back to the 1950s, I don’t see that changing.

More like 1850s in some cases, but yeah, the point still stands.

Millennials and especially Gen Z are heavily favoring the Democrats, so Republicans must increasingly resort to trickery to stay in power as their voter base, as in Boomers, are slowly becoming less and less prominent in votership.

Over half of the electorate was 50+ in 2020, and that age bracket is favoring the Republican party. The 30-49 age bracket (early Millennials/late Xers) looks fairly split at first glance, but when you compare to earlier elections, you can see that they are slowly transitioning from Republican to Democrat due to the influx of Millennials replacing the more conservative Xers. And then those age 30 and less are really no contest, with almost 2:1 lead for the Democratic party.

One can clearly see how their votership expanded and the age group of 30-49 shrank over the years due to the fertility going down sharply between the mid-70s and late 90s. This shift is what gives the Republican party a fighting chance in the presidential elections, as without this shift, they wouldn't have enough voters anymore to compete in most swing states and even some current Republican-leaning states.