Josh Hawley is ruffling GOP feathers as he stakes out his ground: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to the online version of Political officeA newsletter that brings you the latest report and analysis of the NBC News Policy team from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign campaign.

In today’s edition, we deeply dive into the efforts of Senator Josh Hawley to acquit the field in the modern republican party. In addition, Adam Noboa breaks down how President Donald Trump’s renewed campaign against voting by mail between redistribution fights.

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– Adam Wollner

Josh Hawley drives republican colleagues while trying to cut a way

By Allan Smith, Julie Tsirkin and Matt Dixon

Since he took office in 2019, senator Josh Hawley, R-MO., Sought to place himself in the first line of orientation of the republican party around a mixture of economic populism and social conservatism to please an increasingly working class base.

But now, with the Republicans in full control of the Congress for the first time since his arrival in Washington, Hawley’s mission is conflict with members of his party, who are frustrated by his tendency to keep the pace of his own drum while he is more criticizing some of their political goals.

The Republicans, both in the Congress and the White House, are talking more and more about Hawley movements assuming that he is considering a presidential campaign, have said five people familiar with such discussions at NBC News.

An upper assistant from the Senate said he seemed that Hawley “was trying to charge political orders to lay the foundations for a presidential offer in 2028”.

“He aligned himself with the Democrats on most tax issues,” added the assistant. “Frankly, this has upset a large part of his republican colleagues.”

But Hawley’s allies say that no 2028 the plot is underway.

“Josh thinks that we are at a critical inflection point in our history on the place where the party is realizing,” said a person close to him. “He was on the same mission, focusing on the same project since he presented himself in the elections, believing that the Republican Party must become a group of workers. What he did is coherent with this each year, he is at the Congress.”

Through the aisle: Hawley had been struck off by Democrats after the attack on January 6, 2021, when he was seen entering the Capitol by raising a fist of the demonstrators assembled outside and then progressed with his objection to the number of electoral votes.

But this year only, Hawley has teamed up with Sens., Gary Peters, d-mich., On a bill to prohibit the negotiation of the actions of the congress; Cory Booker, DN.J., on legislation to improve laws on child labor; Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., On a bill to prohibit artificial intelligence companies from training models on material protected by copyright; Bernie Sanders, i-vt., In an effort to cap the interest rates of the credit card; and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., On legislation to further regulate pharmacy services, among other measures.

“Well, on January 6, on the back of many people remain in the back. At the same time, on questions where we can progress by stopping the greed of companies or monopolistic control in the markets, there is a need for allies,” said Blumenthal in an interview. “The emblematic photo of January 6 of him with a fist in the air cannot be erased from memory. But if he can provide republican support to the table for ideas that will help people, to work together is logical. ”

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The long number of California voting bulletins could be Trump’s next target in the war to vote

By Adam Noboa

The last salvo of the campaign of President Donald Trump against the vote sent by La Poste arrived on Monday, because he announced that he wanted to “direct a movement” against the ballots by mail and rather defend ballots in person and paper, which, according to him, are “faster, and leaves no doubt, at the end of the evening, for whom won, and who lost the elections”.

This Trump push can also have the convenience of being the last line of attack in the redistribution wars. In California, State Democrats attempt their own Gerrymander from mid-December to counter the push led by Trump by the Republicans to draw more friendly districts in Texas. And California presents itself as one of the most important embraces of the vote sent by post – and among the slowest to count them.

Overall, voting by mail represented 30% of the total national votes in 2024, down compared to its 2020 peak by 43%. However, in California, the practice represented 81% of the total vote, according to a recent report by the election assistance committee.

The voting by mail overall has proven to be a difficult process for many elections administrators, with obstacles, in particular the verification of voters and ballots and logistical problems such as the opening of envelopes, the maintenance of equipment in safety and, in many cases, hand accounts. Essentially, all the processes that occur in person when someone vote in a polling station – in particular the registration and verification of their registration – can accumulate quickly when this occurs by mail.

But California had some of the greatest difficulties in quickly sorting mail votes. Among the states with the largest voting by mail in the 2024 elections, California established a reference for the slowest progress in the morning after the elections.