republicans

An emboldened Donald Trump offered himself Wednesday as the inevitable Republican presidential nominee and called on balky GOP leaders to embrace the voters' "tremendous fervor" for his candidacy. But the billionaire businessman's latest wins didn't stop anti-Trump Republicans from seeking scenarios to deny him the GOP nomination.

President Barack Obama has made his decision on a Supreme Court nominee and planned to introduce his pick at a Rose Garden ceremony Wednesday, setting up a showdown with Senate Republicans who have told the White House not to bother filling the vacancy in an election year.

The day after high-stakes contests in five states, the math and momentum point to a Donald Trump Republican presidential nomination as GOP officials grapple with whether to embrace the billionaire businessman or rally behind a longshot alternative.

Last week, No. 2 Senate Republican John Cornyn of Texas objected when Democrats called for a vote on two nominees for federal district court, Waverly Crenshaw of Tennessee and Paula Xinis of Maryland.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio was among the Republican Party's biggest stars when he burst onto the national stage in the tea party wave of 2010. Now, he is facing a home-state showing on Tuesday that could devastate his 2016 presidential campaign and damage his political brand for years to come.

"There's no question that the decisions that were made were made to benefit the two main Florida sons -- Bush and Rubio," said Joe Gruters, vice chair of the Republican Party of Florida and co-chair of Trump's Florida campaign. "I'm sure they weren't expecting the Trump movement to be so strong. This is exactly the opposite of what they wanted.

With characteristic brashness, Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump has staked out uncompromising positions on Asia policy that could potentially roil U.S. relations with the region if he won the White House.

Should he succeed, Kasich would deprive Donald Trump of the 66 winner-take-all delegates, slowing the businessman's path toward clinching the GOP nomination outright.

In an election-year embarrassment for Republicans, Senate GOP leaders have put off action on the annual budget blueprint.

The Florida senator has struggled to reconnect with the kind of voters who sent him to Capitol Hill six years ago as a tea party favorite, instead watching them fuel Trump and his closest challenger to winning the GOP presidential nomination, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.