A handful of Republican lawmakers joined forces with their colleagues across the aisle on Tuesday to shield Democratic House Delegate Stacey Plaskett of the Virgin Islands from consequence over her involvement with infamous sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Critics have suggested that Republicans spared Plaskett as part of a "back end deal" to save Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.), yet another humiliation.
'The Plaskett censure failed because house leadership exchanged that censure failure for the withdrawal of a vote to censure and refer Cory Mills.'
Among the over 20,000 pages of damning Epstein emails released by the House Oversight Committee last week were numerous text messages between the dead sex offender and Plaskett.
While the documents show Jeffrey Epstein was evidently on speaking terms with numerous Democrats after his 2008 felony conviction for procuring a child for prostitution, his text messages with Plaskett proved particularly controversial as they appeared to show that he influenced the delegate's behavior while she was conducting official business in Congress.
Epstein and Plaskett were exchanging messages during disgraced former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen's testimony to the House Oversight Committee in February 2019. At one point, Epstein — who was evidently watching the hearing remotely — alerted Plaskett to Cohen's mention of former Trump executive assistant Rhona Graff and suggested she was the "keeper of the secrets."
"RONA??" responded Plaskett. "Quick I’m up next is that an acronym."
"Thats [sic] his assistant," said the sex offender.
Plaskett's office characterized the exchange as a politician simply fielding inputs from the public in hopes of getting "at the truth." South Carolina Rep. Ralph Norman (R) and others alternatively recognized Plaskett's apparent efforts to coordinate her line of questioning with Epstein as a form of inappropriate collusion with a convicted sex offender.
Norman introduced a House resolution on Tuesday not only to censure and condemn Plaskett but to remove the Democrat from the House Intelligence Committee "for conduct that reflects discreditably on the House of Representatives for colluding with convicted felony sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during a congressional hearing."
Censures have become fairly routine in recent years, and it's hardly unprecedented to remove a lawmaker from a committee.
For instance, in 2021, 11 nominal Republicans joined with House Democrats to strip Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R) of her committee assignments over comments found to be too incendiary. The same year, Democrats joined then-Republican Reps. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and Liz Cheney of Wyoming in approving a resolution to censure Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar (R) and strip him of his committee assignments over a provocative social media post.
Republicans showed a united front in 2023 when they voted Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) off the Foreign Affairs Committee over her criticism of Israel and perceived lack of objectivity.
In addition to noting that Plaskett's relationship with Epstein stands at odds with her carefully constructed public image as a "defender of justice and accountability," Norman's resolution states that:
Plaskett's willingness to receive instructions on official congressional proceedings from Epstein, a convicted felony sex offender with deeply concerning international associations, is especially alarming and inappropriate given her own past service in the U.S. Department of Justice and her current role on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and raises serious questions about Delegate Plaskett’s judgment, integrity, and fitness to serve.
Plaskett said in her defense on the House floor, "I know how to question individuals. I know how to seek information. I have sought information from confidential informants, from murderers, from other individuals because I want the truth."
The House voted 214-209 against censuring Plaskett on Tuesday night.
'The American people DO know what happened here!'
Joining the 211 Democrats who voted against Norman's resolution were three Republicans: Reps. Don Bacon of Nebraska, Lance Gooden of Texas, and Dave Joyce of Ohio.
Another three Republican congressmen voted "present": Andrew Garbarino of New York, Daniel Meuser of Pennsylvania, and Jay Obernolte of California.
"The House failed to pass my censure of Dem. Stacey Plaskett, a sitting member of Congress who took direction from Epstein in the middle of a 2019 Oversight Committee hearing," Norman said in an X post after the vote. "This is the problem in Washington!! The establishment protects ITSELF, and the American people get pushed ASIDE."
Norman added, "What happened to accountability?"
Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert (R) similarly expressed revulsion over the failure by some of her peers to hold Plaskett accountable, writing, "Members of the House Intelligence Committee are supposed to be held to the highest standards of integrity, independence, and protection of our nation’s classified information — not communicating with known sexual predators during a committee hearing."
"It's disgusting our conference couldn't come together to remove Jeffrey Epstein's puppet off of the Intelligence Committee," continued Boebert. "I'm calling on the Department of Justice to investigate into Delegate Plaskett's relationship with Jeffery [sic] Epstein."
Some Republicans have suggested that elements of their party spoiled the vote as part of a deal with Democrats.
RELATED: Rep. Cory Mills' legal woes may not be over now that restraining order is granted
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) noted on the House floor, "I was wondering if the speaker of the House of Representatives can explain why leadership on both sides, both Democrat and Republican, are cutting back-end deals to cover up public corruption in the House of Representatives for both Democrat and Republican members of Congress."
Luna clarified her meaning on X, writing, "The Plaskett censure failed because house leadership exchanged that censure failure for the withdrawal of a vote to censure and refer Cory Mills to house ethics for investigation. The swamp protects itself."
Boebert responded, "The American people DO know what happened here!"
In retaliation for the effort to censure Plaskett, Congressional Black Caucus Chair Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) revived her resolution to censure Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) and remove him from the Armed Service Committee on Tuesday. Axios indicated that the revival of the censure resolution made it a "privileged motion" enabling Clarke to bypass the Republican leadership and force a vote.
A spokesperson for Mills did not respond to Axios' request for comment.
With Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) and possibly other Republicans also willing to vote for the measure, it's unclear whether the vote would have gone in Mills' favor — but Democrats spared him from finding out, moving to withdraw the censure vote after Republicans helped kill the Plaskett censure effort.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!Republicans underperformed in the 2022 midterms. No red wave. Not even close. Since then, special election after special election has gone badly for the GOP. Losses pile up everywhere — like what just happened in deep red Western Iowa. Uh-oh.
Donald Trump won Woodbury County in 2024 by a wide margin, 60% to 37%. But in a special election this week, Democrats carried the county by nine points — a swing of more than 30 points in a place where Democrats don’t even control the election machinery.
Men, spend at least half the time on self-government that you spend on football this fall. Hold your candidates accountable.
That should terrify every Republican. If Donald Trump isn’t on the ballot, or if the candidate isn’t a strong standard-bearer like Ron DeSantis in Florida or Kim Reynolds in Iowa, the GOP struggles to turn out voters. The Republican brand is busted unless tied to someone who transcends it.
Rep. Randy Feenstra (R), the congressman from Western Iowa, is the antithesis of a transcendent candidate. He’s nothing in Washington yet somehow thinks he’s suited to be governor. That is exactly the sort of mediocrity voters are rejecting.
Enough. We cannot accept Republicans who bide their time, hoping Trump passes from the stage, only to drag us back to the timid talking points of 2005. No more Mitt Romneys. The choice is stark: Either embrace Trump’s America First agenda without apology or get out of the way.
The Woodbury County loss is a four-alarm fire. If Republicans don’t wake up, Democrats will catch them flat-footed again in the 2026 midterms.
Look north. Minnesota is already succumbing to progressive chaos. The state covers for an Islamic takeover of its largest city. Catholic children were just shot at Mass by a trans terrorist. Politicians there proudly defend the worldview that produces bloodshed, blasphemy, and disorder. And still, red states remain complacent — unprepared for the next wave of evil attacks on faith, family, and freedom.
RELATED: Democrat's shocking victory in Iowa raises alarm for GOP
Republicans can’t afford that softness any longer. Too many in the GOP act like the proverbial dog returning to its vomit. That weakness must end. Candidates must raise the stakes, not bury them in cowardice and equivocation. They must be warriors ready to defend this country against every enemy, foreign and domestic.
So here’s my challenge: Men, spend at least half the time on self-government that you spend on football this fall. Fortify your homes, your churches, and your communities. Hold your candidates accountable.
If you don’t, your sons may not inherit the blessing of football season — or the freedoms you’ve taken for granted.
The DOGE revolution has identified federal waste, forced Washington politicians to rethink their spending habits, and exposed the decades-long crusade by Democrats to funnel taxpayer money into activism. In a state like North Dakota — a deep-red stronghold — you’d expect Republicans to seize November’s America First mandate and gut bloated budgets.
Think again. Too many unprincipled legislators are choking on the swamp’s fumes, betraying the voters who rejected the status quo. It’s time to call them out.
Politicians care more about re-election and climbing the ladder than they do about your wallet. They’ll dodge tough cuts to keep their seats, leaving taxpayers to foot the bill.
North Dakota’s Legislative Task Force on Government Efficiency — a state-level DOGE — was established by House Bill 1442 to tackle the state’s $20.3 billion 2025-27 budget. The mission: Slash waste, end duplication, and put taxpayers first.
For fiscal conservatives, it looked like a dream come true. But after its first meeting July 30, conservatives are sounding the alarm. This committee is packed with spendaholics who will keep the gravy train rolling for as long as they can.
If we want real cuts, we need to stop coddling politicians and start fighting in Republican primaries.
Credit where it’s due: the leadership is solid. Chairman Rep. Nathan Toman (R-Mandan) is a budget hawk. Vice Chairman Sen. Chuck Walen (R-New Town) has a good record with his conservative base. Both men understand that North Dakota’s budget bloat calls for a chainsaw, not a Band-Aid.
But their grit is drowned out by a committee built to fail — thanks to GOP leaders afraid of losing votes by cutting unnecessary funds. Legislative Management appointed Senate Minority Leader Kathy Hogan (D-Fargo), a Democrat who has never met a spending bill she didn’t love, especially in human services and health care. Her role is to protect the status quo, not shrink it.
RELATED: Don’t let rural America become the next New York City
Then there are Republican Reps. Glenn Bosch and Robin Weisz — appropriations loyalists who rubber-stamped 99% of the state budget. They are not reformers. Expecting them to cut waste is like asking a fox to guard the henhouse.
This isn’t just North Dakota’s mess — it’s politics everywhere. Red-state Republicans talk tough about fiscal discipline but crumble when the time comes to act. Why? Cutting spending risks votes, dries up PAC money for re-election, and alienates lobbyists.
It’s why North Dakota GOP leaders play nice with Hogan. It’s why Bosch and Weisz keep the spending spigot open. And it’s why our $36.2 trillion national debt keeps climbing.
Politicians care more about re-election and climbing the ladder than they do about your wallet. They’ll dodge tough cuts to keep their seats, leaving taxpayers to foot the bill.
The DOGE is a great idea. But across red states, task forces like North Dakota's stall when Republicans fear backlash more than they fear waste. Without legislators willing to fight, this will become another powerless committee generating reports nobody reads.
The fix? Get serious in Republican primaries.
In North Dakota, Citizens Alliance is backing challengers to big spenders like Bosch, Weisz, and their allies. In Pennsylvania, the group has added more than 55,000 GOP voters — 250 per day — because primaries are the contact sport that scares RINOs straight. In Idaho, Citizens Alliance helped oust Senate President Pro Tempore Chuck Winder in 2024 and backs more than 40 lawmakers with proven conservative records.
North Dakota needs that same fire if it wants the state task force on government efficiency to roar instead of roll over. Republicans who dodge the DOGE mandate aren’t just failing — they’re betraying voters who demanded lasting reform. If they can’t bring a bulldozer to budget bloat, they don’t belong in leadership.
Ask a MAGA supporter what the biggest threat to the Make America Great Again movement is, and there’s a good chance he’ll say Democrats or progressivism.
But according to Andy Roth, president of the State Freedom Caucus Network, that’s incorrect. It’s the fake Republicans running red states whom we should be concerned about.
On a recent episode of “Blaze News: The Mandate,” Roth joined Jill Savage and Blaze News editor in chief Matthew Peterson to expose how RINOs are sabotaging MAGA internally.
“Red states, almost all of them literally, are governed by Democrats that have an R after their name because they live in districts that are very red. They want to get into office, and they know they can’t have a D after their name, so they put an R after their name, get elected, and then vote like Democrats,” Roth says.
He points to states like South Carolina, Idaho, Montana, and South Dakota as examples of red states with RINO leadership.
“It’s one of the most under-reported stories, I think, in the country,” he says.
Thankfully, the State Freedom Caucus Network is working overtime to address this issue. The conservative organization supports the creation of freedom caucuses in state legislatures across the U.S. These caucuses, modeled after the House Freedom Caucus in Congress, are groups of Republican state lawmakers who push for limited government, fiscal responsibility, and conservative policies such as opposing federal overreach, promoting election integrity, and resisting certain social policies.
“When we have … a state freedom caucus, we come in there, and we contrast ourselves with these fake Republicans so much to the point where the voters are like, ‘Wait, I guess I have a squishy Republican for a state rep or a state senator because this freedom caucus is speaking the truth,’” Roth tells Jill and Matthew.
And it’s working. Roth points to Wyoming as an example. “In Wyoming, we had only eight members in our freedom caucus, but they quickly doubled to 16, and now they’re in charge of the Wyoming House,” he says. “The speaker is a Freedom Caucus member; the pro tem [pro tempore] is a Freedom Caucus member.”
As a result, “For the first time ever, [Wyoming] passed the property tax cuts, universal school choice,” and “banned noncitizens from voting.”
“We have the model. We know how it works. We just need to do it in all 50 states,” Roth says.
“Is Wyoming indicative of a trend you see across the country?” asks Peterson, who’s hopeful a freedom caucus might find its way to Texas, the state he and Jill call home.
“We need another election cycle in Texas before we can do anything here, but Texas needs a freedom caucus, and the country needs a Texas Freedom Caucus,” Roth says.
“It feels like you can mess with Texas right now, and I don’t want that to happen,” Jill says.
To hear more of the conversation, watch the episode above.
To enjoy more provocative opinions, expert analysis, and breaking stories you won’t see anywhere else, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.
Shallow, performative politicians are the norm, but there’s a new wave of conservative leadership — embodied best by Vice President JD Vance — that does it for the love of the country rather than the money or accolades associated with it.
“When we’re constantly trying to be held captive by ideology, it would be prudence, which would be practical judgment, and I think JD Vance embodies that incredibly well,” Turning Point USA CEO Charlie Kirk tells BlazeTV host and Blaze Media editor in chief Matthew Peterson on “Blaze News: The Mandate.”
“When you’re in elected office, you have to be prisoner to the party dogma and the political expectations of the time. For example, when President Trump entered into the political space 10 years ago,” he continues, “you would never be able to talk about a border wall, let alone mass deportations.”
“So, a true statesman is able to identify the problems and then, with the proper amount of moral courage and with precision, rhetorically be able to address these things and then move the Overton window,” he adds.
This is what separates the likes of Trump and Vance from the rest of the Republican Party, as they are “unafraid to challenge their own political dogma if it’s actually benefiting the nation or the body politic.”
And while many RINO politicians only take action for the optics, statesmen like Vance do it out of real concern for the country and the people — and young people are among those making the difference.
“I feel as if a lot of these younger people are much more in tune with statesmanship in the sense that they actually want to make the country better, and they don’t care about the old prestige structure,” Peterson tells Kirk.
“If you’re young and you want to get involved in politics or being a statesmen, that means that you are likely forsaking making more money and more wealth in another field,” Kirk says. “The high-IQ, high-driven, virtuous people are now saying, ‘You know, okay, fine. I could go make $200 million at Goldman Sachs, but that’s not deep. That’s not fulfilling. Instead, I would rather go be a statesman.’”
“These are people that could go make a ton of money elsewhere, which means that just monetary gain is not the most important. It's not the driving factor or motivator of so many in this generation,” he continues.
“Imagine if all of a sudden the people that have a capacity and the wherewithal dedicated itself towards a national revival,” he adds.
To enjoy more provocative opinions, expert analysis, and breaking stories you won’t see anywhere else, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.
'It's fitting that we are launching the West Virginia Freedom Caucus on the 250th anniversary [of our nation] to restore those same rights to West Virginia,' WVFC Chair Chris Anders told The Federalist.
Until conservatives root out the rot within their own party, the D.C. status quo will continue to remain the same.
If immigration officers can risk their lives for America's sovereignty, the least Republicans can do is have their backs in the left's dishonest information war.
The phrase, “I voted Republican and all I got was this dumb t-shirt,” is a good summation of the disappointment that comes with supporting the feckless Grand Old Party. But in the case of Indiana, we didn’t even get the t-shirt. On Thursday, the Hoosier State’s Republican-controlled Senate shot down efforts to pass a new […]
Tillis' little therapy session with Tapper shows he has every intention of being a giant pain for conservatives on his way out the door.
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