Another prominent House Republican from Georgia will retire, adding to the mass exodus Speaker Mike Johnson is seeing under his leadership.

U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) announced on Wednesday that he will not seek re-election. Loudermilk was first elected to Congress in 2014. He is the fourth Georgia Republican not seeking re-election, and joins (former) U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, U.S. Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA), and U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA).

Loudermilk become the thirtieth House Republican to retire or seek a different office, according to the U.S. House Casualty List.

Last week, Cook Political Report’s Dave Wasserman reported: “Today, we only see 18 out of 435 races as toss-ups, but Republicans would need to win two-thirds of the toss-up column to hold their House majority.”

He suggested that Democrats are “modest favorites” to regain the House majority.

Speaker Mike Johnson’s margin over House Democrats is so thin that he directed Republican lawmakers to “take vitamins” in January.

According to Politico, “Republicans will expect to retain Loudermilk’s seat in suburban Atlanta in November, which he won by 34 points in 2024.”

Image via Reuters

A rare White House event turned awkward and was ultimately shut down after First Lady Melania Trump faced pointed questions about using the White House to promote her documentary, “Melania,” and about convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s partner and accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell.

The first lady was meeting with the freed American-Israeli hostage Keith Siegel, and his wife, Aviva Siegel.

According to The Daily Beast, “things took an unfortunate turn when reporters took the opportunity to ask questions, setting their sights on the first lady’s box office debut and Epstein’s accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, who is now serving a 20-year prison sentence after being convicted for abusing young girls.”

Asked whether she felt it was appropriate to use the White House to promote her film, the first lady dismissed the question.

“It is not promotion,” she said. “We are here celebrating the release of the hostage; of Aviva and Keith. They were in Washington, D.C., and they said they would like to come over to thank me and to give hugs. There’s nothing to do with promotion.”

A reporter then waded into the Epstein controversy.

“There’s a call from Epstein survivors to have Ghislaine Maxwell moved to a high security prison. What do you want to happen,” they asked, which prompted her staff to try to end the press conference immediately.

“Thank you, press,” a staffer said, as the First Lady responded, “We are here celebrating the release and the life of those two incredible people, so let’s honor that.”

According to The Daily Beast, Melania Trump appears in the Epstein files, including in a “chummy” 2002 email to Maxwell, signed “Love, Melania.”

“Dear G! How are you?” it says. “Nice story about JE in NY mag. You look great in the picture.”

Wow Melania Trump gets a Ghislaine Maxwell question

Melania Trump: We are here celebrating the life of these two incredible people. pic.twitter.com/2nbsPV7mOA

— Acyn (@Acyn) February 4, 2026

Image via Reuters

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent faced a heated confrontation with a Democratic lawmaker and acknowledged that his earlier congressional testimony may have been mistaken.

His error, Bessent insisted — despite the view of many economists — was his claim that he had not said “tariffs are inflationary.”

“Earlier,” The New York Times reported, “he had denied having written to his hedge fund investors in 2024 that tariffs are inflationary. Presented with his exact words, however, he said that he was wrong to deny making those comments and that he had been wrong at the time about tariffs and inflation.”

U.S. Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) read from a letter Bessent wrote in 2024 — before Trump won the White House.

“I want to read you a quote,” Casten began. “‘Trump will pursue a weak dollar policy rather than implementing tariffs. Tariffs are inflationary and would strengthen the dollar.’ Do you recognize that quote?”

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“I believe you’re referring to a letter that I wrote, and tariffs could be inflationary,” Bessent replied.

“No, no,” Casten insisted. “It says ‘tariffs are inflationary.'”

Casten then asked, “Do you want to correct what you said to the ranking member when you specifically said that you did not say tariffs are inflationary?”

“You said tariffs are inflationary,” Casten continued, after having to repeat himself.

“Do you want to correct what you said to the ranking member? Or did you lie?” Casten then pressed.

“If I was mistaken, I want to correct it,” Bessent said. “And I was also mistaken when I said the tariffs could be inflationary, because — we’ve seen inflation drop to 2.1 percent.”

Many economists say that tariffs are inflationary because they function as a tax, in this case, largely on American firms and consumers.

According to HuffPost, Trump’s $181 billion tariff increase “ranks as the 13th biggest tax hike since before World War II.”

Casten: You said tariffs are inflationary. Do you want to correct what you said to the ranking member, or did you lie?

Bessent: If I was mistaken, I want to correct it. I was also mistaken when I said tariffs could be inflationary. pic.twitter.com/yibPo4HAGZ

— Acyn (@Acyn) February 4, 2026

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