In uniting his party behind an annual defense bill loaded with social policy restrictions, including on abortion, Speaker Kevin McCarthy scored a short-term victory that could put his majority in peril.
Some in the party are urging compromise, warning of dire electoral consequences for 2024, while other stances, on guns and gay rights, also risk turning off moderates.
In frequently bawdy terms at a press club dinner, Representative Nancy Mace brought down the house with her barbs at fellow House members and other Republicans.
A three-judge federal panel unanimously ruled that South Carolina’s redrawn First Congressional District illegally removed 62 percent of the Black voters in Charleston County.
Democratic Party leaders turned toward inflation and the economy after a summer focus on abortion. Representative Nancy Mace, a Republican, said the G.O.P. would seek spending cuts.