Washington, D.C.
Bannon’s rebellion: Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon plans to back populist primary challengers to almost every Republican senator running for re-election in 2018, Bloomberg reported this week. Bannon, who returned to Breitbart News after being forced out of the White House in August, intends to support as many as 15 candidates, who must agree to two conditions: that they oppose Sen. Mitch McConnell as majority leader and that they vote to end the 60-vote threshold on the filibuster. Bannon is hoping to unseat some of McConnell’s staunchest GOP allies in the Senate, including Nevada’s Dean Heller, Nebraska’s Deb Fischer, and Utah’s Orrin Hatch, as well as prominent Trump critics such as Arizona’s Jeff Flake. Bannon has been holding meetings with donors and potential candidates; some meetings have been attended by hedge fund billionaire Robert Mercer and his daughter Rebekah, who have given $37.1 million to conservative campaigns and Super PACs over the past three election cycles.