Stephen Bannon is reportedly searching for pro-Trump challengers to take on Senate GOP incumbents
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Stephen Bannon may be physically out of the White House, but he's not going to stop fighting establishment Republicans he sees as a threat to President Trump, several people with ties to Bannon told Politico.
Trump's former chief strategist, Bannon is leading a team of the president's allies who want to recruit pro-Trump candidates to face off against sitting Republican senators in 2018 primaries, Politico reports. He's already had meetings with some challengers, including Danny Tarkanian, an attorney who is challenging Sen. Dean Heller in Nevada; one person with knowledge of their conversation said Bannon told Tarkanian he has his full support. Heller didn't endorse Trump during his presidential campaign, and was slow to back the GOP effort to repeal ObamaCare. A source close to Bannon tells CNN that other incumbents on Bannon's hit list include Sen. Bob Corker (Tenn.), Sen. Roger Wicker (Miss.), and Sen. Jeff Flake (Ariz.).
In August, not long after he was out at the White House, Bannon went to New York and spent five days meeting with Robert Mercer, a reclusive conservative billionaire who pours his money into right-wing causes and has already given $300,000 to a super PAC targeting Flake, a critic of Trump's. Mercer was one of Trump's biggest donors in 2016, and Bannon will most likely rely on his funding as he attempts to unseat Heller, Flake, and other Republicans on his list, Politico reports. You can read more about Bannon's plot and how it worries senior Republicans like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell at Politico.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Film reviews: ‘Send Help’ and ‘Private Life’Feature An office doormat is stranded alone with her awful boss and a frazzled therapist turns amateur murder investigator
-
Movies to watch in Februarythe week recommends Time travelers, multiverse hoppers and an Iraqi parable highlight this month’s offerings during the depths of winter
-
ICE’s facial scanning is the tip of the surveillance icebergIN THE SPOTLIGHT Federal troops are increasingly turning to high-tech tracking tools that push the boundaries of personal privacy
-
Trump sues IRS for $10B over tax record leaksSpeed Read The president is claiming ‘reputational and financial harm’ from leaks of his tax information between 2018 and 2020
-
Trump, Senate Democrats reach DHS funding dealSpeed Read The deal will fund most of the government through September and the Department of Homeland Security for two weeks
-
Fed holds rates steady, bucking Trump pressureSpeed Read The Federal Reserve voted to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged
-
Judge slams ICE violations amid growing backlashSpeed Read ‘ICE is not a law unto itself,’ said a federal judge after the agency violated at least 96 court orders
-
Rep. Ilhan Omar attacked with unknown liquidSpeed Read This ‘small agitator isn’t going to intimidate me from doing my work’
-
Democrats pledge Noem impeachment if not firedSpeed Read Trump is publicly defending the Homeland Security secretary
-
The billionaires’ wealth tax: a catastrophe for California?Talking Point Peter Thiel and Larry Page preparing to change state residency
-
Hegseth moves to demote Sen. Kelly over videospeed read Retired Navy fighter pilot Mark Kelly appeared in a video reminding military service members that they can ‘refuse illegal orders’
