Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) broadened his support for a pathway to citizenship on Tuesday, the Wausau Daily Herald reports.

In a interview with the Daily Herald's editorial board, Walker said the government should "fix things for people already here." He continued that if the current process for citizenship wasn't so "cumbersome," there wouldn't be problems with people living in the United States without documentation.

Walker also dismissed concerns over border security, an argument frequently used by other Republicans against reforming the U.S. immigration system.

“You hear some people talk about border security or a wall or all that,” Walker said. “To me, I don’t know that you need any of that if you had a better, saner way to let people into the country in the first place.”

Walker then drew attention to Wisconsin's reliance on the labor of individuals who may or may not have entered the country legally.

“If people want to come here and work hard and benefit, I don’t care whether they come from Mexico or Ireland or Germany or Canada or South Africa or anywhere else,” Walker said. “I want them here.”

For more on Walker's interview on reforms, click over to the Wausau Daily Herald.

Walker has changed his tune on immigration reform over the years. In December 2012, Walker said talks on immigration would be a distraction for his state. In February of this year, however, Walker began to speak up about the need for a "simple" way to address immigration, calling for the federal government to fix what he called a broken immigration system.

(h/t: The Hill)

Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld revealed his disdain for the phrase "war on terror" during an interview with ABC News on Tuesday.

"I was uncomfortable with the word 'war', because it suggested that it was going to be one with bullets," Rumsfeld said, describing deliberations by former President George W. Bush's administration about what to call the operation mounted in response to 9/11.

"The enemy is not terror, the enemy is radicals," Rumsfeld added.

The United States military engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan were both started as part of the broader war on terror.

Rumsfeld was the secretary of defense from 2001 to 2006.

Watch the clip of the interview above

Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) and his wife donated a combined $605 to President Barack Obama's inaugural committee in January, making Fleischmann the only congressman from Tennessee from either party to contribute at least $200 to the president's inauguration, according to the Chattanooga Times Free Press.

Fleischmann donated $300, and his wife, Brenda, contributed $305. The donations, according to a Fleischmann aide, were made "in the spirit of democracy," and covered the cost of tickets to a "bipartisan" inaugural event.

The donations may come as a surprise, as Fleischmann has actively opposed Obama's positions in the past. In 2012, the representative wrote a blog post calling the remarks the president made during a speech in Roanoke, Va., on small business, an "arrogant attack." In April, Fleischmann criticized Obama's overdue "dud of a budget" on his congressional blog.

Fleischmann's predecessor, former Rep. Zach Swamp (R-Tenn.), said he never contributed to an inaugural committee during his 16 years in office.

Rep. Leonard Lance (R-N.J.) credited a Morris County, N.J., tea party group Monday with sparking concerns among conservative Republicans about the Department of Homeland Security's supposed plans to purchase more than 1.6 million rounds of ammunition.

Addressing the same tea party organization in March in Hanover, Lance agreed with a member of the audience that DHS should explain the large ammo purchase orders described in a Forbes article. A video of the exchange circulated on YouTube, netting over 114,000 hits. Five days after the event, Lance sent a letter to DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano, calling on the department to explain the allegation to Congress.

DHS is rumored to have asked for hollow-point rounds, forbidden for war use by international law, as well as products specialized for snipers. The amount ordered was estimated by Forbes to be enough ammunition to sustain a hot war for more than 20 years in America.

DHS officials have been quoted in the news saying that buying in bulk is cheaper and a safeguard against future market fluctuations. Some conservatives are not convinced, however, and have suggested several possibilities for the federal government's intentions, from using the weapons against United States citizens to buying up reserves to prevent the general population from accessing the ammunition.

"I believe the question I was asked here in March is one of the reasons that legislation has been introduced," Lance said to the tea party group Monday night.

Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) introduced the Ammunition Management for More Obtainability Act (AMMO Act) in April, which would require the Government Accountability Office to investigate ammunition purchases by federal agencies, excluding the Department of Defense. Last month, Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) introduced an amendment to the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, compelling the DHS to report to Congress before entering into new contracts to purchase ammunition.

"Anyone who questions the effectiveness of tea party groups across the nation, I think this is one of the premier examples of how you are trying to make America a better place," Lance said to a tea party group Monday night according to NJ.com.

Lance, considered a moderate, defended his congressional seat in the 2012 primaries against tea party member David Larsen and managed to win the 7th District, which became more conservative in the recent redistricting.

Americans have mixed feelings about the Supreme Court's latest rulings, with a majority disapproving of its opinion on the Voting Rights Act, but in favor of two pro-gay marriage opinions, according to an ABC/Washington Post poll released Wednesday.

Just a third said they agree with the court's decision to strike down part of the Voting Rights Act, while 51 percent disagreed.

Knowledge about, and disapproval of, the VRA decision was especially high among African Americans, 71 percent of whom expressed disagreement with the ruling. Just 3 percent were undecided, while 16 percent of all adults had no opinion.

Other racial groups, however, also disapproved: Hispanic Americans disagreed by 50 percent while 40 percent agreed, and whites disagreed by 48 to 33 percent.

The Supreme Court decisions to expand gay marriage were far more popular, with a majority approving of both. Fifty-one percent supported the ruling that allowed gay marriage in California, while 45 percent opposed it. Approval for the overturn of the Defense of Marriage Act, allowing same-sex couples to receive federal benefits, was even wider, with 56 percent approving and 41 percent disapproving.

Opinions on the gay marriage rulings, like those on the topic generally, remain sharply divided among party lines. Democrats supported the rulings on DOMA and Proposition 8 by 68 percent and 62 percent, respectively, compared to just 36 percent and 29 percent among Republicans. Younger adults were also more likely to approve: 67 percent of those ages 18 to 39 approved of the decision on DOMA, while just 41 percent of those 65 and over agreed.

These views on the rulings echo other polling on gay marriage, which generally shows a rising tide in public support that's recently become a majority. An ABC/Post survey in June found that 57 percent of Americans say gay and lesbians should be allowed to marry legally, and 63 percent say that the federal government should give equal benefits to married gay couples.

The most recent poll surveyed 1,005 adults by phone between June 26 and June 30.

A 24-year-old Maine state legislator has announced he's running for Congress, though he's not yet legally old enough to hold the job. For obvious reasons, state Rep. Alex Willette (R-Mapleton) is playing up his youth in his campaign.

Willette, who also serves as House assistant minority leader, said Monday that he will seek the Republican nomination for the congressional seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud (D), the Bangor Daily News reported. Willette, who was born in April 1989, is not currently eligible to hold the seat, but by the 2014 election will have turned 25, the minimum age set forth in the U.S. Constitution to serve in the House of Representatives.

"We need fresh, new leadership in Washington," Willette told the Bangor Daily News. "I represent the generation of Mainers who will be forced to pay off the enormous debts now being created by the reckless politicians in Washington. It's very important for our generation to figure out this debt problem."

Michaud will not seek reelection because he's running for governor of Maine next year.

Willette, who claims to be the youngest state legislative leader in the country, is one of several candidates looking at the congressional race, which could draw a large field. Businessman Blaine Richardson (R) and state Sen. Emily Cain (D-Orono) are both announced candidates. Cain, a former state House minority leader, was first elected to the state Legislature in 2004 at the age of 24. Other potential candidates include Maine Secretary of State Matt Dunlap (D) and state Attorney General Janet Mills (D).

If elected, Willette would not be the youngest elected U.S. House member in history. That honor belongs to former Rep. Jed Johnson Jr. (R-Okla.), who was elected at the age of 24 in 1964 and turned 25 between his ballot victory and Congress' swearing-in ceremony. Johnson served only one term. Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Fla.), 30, is currently the youngest member of Congress; Reps. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) and Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), both 32, are the second and third youngest, respectively.

Willette is also not the only millennial Republican state legislator to be mentioned as a congressional candidate this year. Kansas state Senate Majority Whip Garrett Love (R-Montezuma), 25, has been noted as a potential candidate in the event that U.S. Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R) were not to seek reelection, but is considered unlikely to challenge Huelskamp in a primary.

A 17-year-old high school student challenged Rep. Todd Rokita (R-Ind.) on Monday over his views on the Second Amendment, asking how Rokita's belief that gun rights are God-given fits with the separation of church and state.

The exchanged happened outside an event Rokita held at the Tippecanoe County Courthouse, in which he and others read the Declaration of Independence out loud.

"How do you justify using faith as a reason to have guns when the government is what regulates the guns?" asked the high school senior, who identified herself as Helen.

Rokita argued that such rights were not "humanly given," and the "government cannot give or take those kind of rights away."

When Helen argued that the government "controls the rights," Rokita dismissed her.

"See, that's why you'll never be able to communicate with me this way, because you have a fundamental different perspective on who gives someone the rights found in our Constitution," he said.

Rokita also implied that the student had never read the Declaration of Independence (she had), saying, "Well, if you read it, you'd understand that this country was founded on the idea that there are certain inalienable rights."

Helen then moved on to the issue of reproductive rights, asking him whether it's an inalienable right for her to control her own body.

"You don't have a right to kill anybody. You don't have a right to kill another person. That is not something that can be given to or taken away by a government," he said. "So, other questions?"

The group Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America also attended the event in hopes of speaking with Rokita about his opposition to background checks for gun purchasing.

"I did not make any commitment to support such a bill, because I'm not convinced that that would have stopped Newtown," Rokita told the group, "nor am I sure that it is in accordance with the Second Amendment at this point."

CLARIFICATION: An earlier version of this story did not include the full name of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.

Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) went after conservative groups in a town hall meeting on Monday, saying he was being assaulted by organizations like the Heritage Foundation.

“I’m under attack by those people,” Lucas said. “They’re coming after me. They are all special interest groups that exist to sell subscriptions, to collect seminar fees and to perpetuate their goals."

His remarks were prompted by constituents who came to the town hall event and were upset that he didn't work to cut more from the farm bill. As the Tulsa World pointed out, the House agriculture committee -- which Lucas chairs -- cut $40 billion.

The Heritage Foundation's advocacy arm has threatened to support a “real conservative” to run against Lucas and has aired radio spots denouncing the congressman's support for the farm bill.

"Lucas is working hard to pass a trillion dollar piece of legislation that he's calling a farm bill. But only 20 percent of the funds would go to support farmers," one of the group's radio ads said. "The rest would go to bankroll President Obama's food stamp agenda."

Lucas argued that the Heritage Foundation was just trying to go after him for financial purposes.

“You’ve got to understand," Lucas said, "they don’t necessarily want a Republican president or a Republican Congress …They made more money when (Democrat) Nancy (Pelosi) was speaker. … It’s a business.”

The Tulsa World reported that roughly a half-dozen people at the town hall Monday told Lucas he should continue cutting money from the farm bill.

"If you want the conservative Republican vote, you need to come forward with a conservative Republican bill," activist Ronda Vuillemont-Smith, who lives outside Lucas' district, told the congressman.

Lucas may have reason to fear conservative pressure. Former Rep. John Sullivan (R-Okla.) lost to tea party candidate Jim Bridenstine in last year's primary election, due in part to Bridenstine's support from conservative groups.

A few individuals at Lucas' event also reportedly wanted to know why Obama has not yet been impeached.

State Sen. Wendy Davis (D-Ft. Worth) has seen her name recognition soar, according to the first Texas poll taken since her 11-hour filibuster against an anti-abortion bill, but she would still trail Gov. Rick Perry (R) by 14 points in a hypothetical match-up.

Texas voters were somewhat more likely to support than oppose Davis' use of the filibuster, the Democratic firm PPP found, with 45 percent approving and 40 percent disapproving.

Her stance on abortion has also helped Davis's standing in the state. The percentage of voters who've heard of her doubled this year, from 34 percent in January to 68 percent currently. Thirty-nine percent hold a favorable opinion of her, compared to 29 percent with an unfavorable opinion, making her better-known and better-liked than a number of other Texas Democrats, including Houston Mayor Annise Parker, San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, and former Houston Mayor Bill White.

The nationwide attention Davis received for her filibuster has sparked talk that she could challenge Perry in next year's gubernatorial race. But she remains considerably behind Perry, who leads her 53 percent to 39 percent.

Perry fared similarly well against two other possible Democratic candidates, leading Parker by 52 percent to 35 percent and White by 50 percent to 40 percent. Perry had a smaller, 7-point lead against Castro, who announced earlier this year that he would not run for governor.

Perry's position also appears to have improved since earlier this year. Forty-five percent of voters approve of his performance as governor, while 50 percent disapprove -- still a negative rating, but up a net 8 points since January. Support from his Republican base, which earlier seemed to have cooled, has rebounded to 81 percent, and he now leads conservative state Attorney General Greg Abbott by 12 points in a primary matchup, 46 percent to 34 percent.

PPP used automated phone calls to survey 500 Texas voters between June 28 and July 1.

The front-runner for the Republican nomination for New Jersey's open U.S. Senate seat told a tea party audience Monday that young voters were "indoctrinated" against the United States of 40 years ago.

Former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan told the Morristown Tea Party Org at a rally that older voters and tea party members will be the ones who decide the winner of the Oct. 16 special election, NJ.com reported. He said those voters are the ones who remember past decades and "want to keep [the United States] that way." Lonegan, who has headed New Jersey's chapter of Americans for Prosperity, the Koch brothers' group, is facing off against physician Alieta Eck in the Aug. 13 special GOP primary election. The elections were called by Gov. Chris Christie (R) after the death of Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D) in June.

NJ.com reports that Lonegan also dived into a series of issues that have been tea party staples in recent years.

"It's older people who are going to be voting," he told an audience member who asked how he'd reach young voters. "Don't be so disturbed that it's more older people who remember what America was 40 years ago and want to keep it that way, rather than the younger people who have been indoctrinated."

He gave the conservatives and constitutionalists in the crowd plenty to applaud. He said American freedoms are "under assault like never before." He criticized what he called the "commie ... I mean common core curriculum," a federal effort to standardize educational requirements. He said Obama's reluctance to approve the Keystone Pipeline System, to bring oil from Canada to the United States, is "destroying our access to real, affordable energy."

Lonegan, one of the most conservative politicians in New Jersey, has quickly become the establishment-backed Republican Senate candidate. While on the outs with the more moderate party establishment in his unsuccessful bids for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in 2005 and 2009, he quickly garnered a series of endorsements in the Senate race. The endorsements came after top Republicans declined to run in the fast-paced election.

Lonegan's candidacy is helped by his two previous statewide runs and the network he built running AFP in New Jersey. The former Bogota mayor has taken a series of positions to the right of most Garden State Republicans, including opposing federal aid for Hurricane Sandy relief last year unless other funding projects were taken out of the package.

On the Democratic side Newark Mayor Cory Booker, Rep. Frank Pallone, Rep. Rush Holt and state Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver are facing off for the nomination. Booker has been leading the Democratic field and Lonegan in recent polls.

As more cash-strapped municipalities consider outsourcing services to try to save money, one public interest group is hoping to turn privatization efforts into a debate over taxpayer control.

In the Public Interest, a non-profit that tracks privatization, plans to roll out a legislative agenda on Tuesday, pushing for transparency and accountability laws where outsourcing is under consideration for services that include managing prison systems, transit systems and water authorities.

"We want to go on the offense," said Donald Cohen, the group's chair. "We really find that when we take it out of the partisan frame -- the labor [versus] business frame -- these are good-government measures and we can get support from folks that just want to manage government well. That includes conservatives who don't want to see corporations take over public control."

Potential savings from privatization can be dubious. Still, state and local governments across the country have outsourced public services to private companies in an effort to straighten out their budgets. Through its own recent polling, Cohen said In the Public Interest has found that respondents are far less likely to support privatization when it's framed as an issue of taxpayer control of tax-funded services.

Cities and states often must relinquish control over public services and space in such deals, as Chicago did leasing its parking meters to a private company for 75 years. In the for-profit prison world, companies have been known to seek contracts guaranteeing a certain level of occupancy over the long term, an arrangement that government watchdogs say works against the public interest.

Privatization plans have been a growing concern for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union, or AFSCME. Like state laws that have weakened public-sector collective bargaining, privatization has helped erode AFSCME's membership as public agencies are transformed into non-union workforces. The union recently dispatched one of its D.C. communications deputies, Blaine Rummel, to In the Public Interest to work as a senior strategist under a grant.

"One of our big objectives is to engage in some narrative change around the issue of outsourcing," Rummel said. "This legislative agenda is part of that -- to move some simple commonsense ordinances and bills in places where not only they can pass, but where folks might not expect these sort of measures to be introduced, including red states."

The group plans to advocate that local governments post details of their contracts online, that contractors open their books to the public, and that contract workers be paid a living wage when paid with public money.

Rep. Alan Grayson's campaign promoted a video on Twitter last week that explained how to compromise with Republicans, but not without calling them "'idiotic.'" The tweet was deleted in a few hours and replaced with a toned-down version.

Grayson, a Florida Democrat known for controversial remarks about his GOP colleagues, originally tweeted: "Ask Alan Anything, Vol. 3, @alangrayson explains how to work with 'idiotic' Republicans." The tweet included a link to a campaign video titled "Ask Alan Anything — Working With Republicans," which is part of an ongoing series for his reelection campaign.

The original tweet went out on Wednesday, but was deleted three hours later. It was caught by Politwoops, a Sunlight Foundation tool that captures the deleted tweets of politicians. The same day, a new tweet promoting the video appeared on Grayson's account:

How to work with Republicans, stick to your principles & actually get things done! . http://t.co/FgV7SdORkx Donate: http://t.co/UUF0M1u1WY

— Rep. Alan Grayson (@AlanGrayson) June 29, 2013

According to Todd Jurkowski, who helps with communications for Grayson's campaign, the deletion aimed to correct a mistake in the original tweet. In the video, Grayson does not call Republicans ''idiots." The term "idiots" was used by the person who asked Grayson the question.

In the video, Grayson says that many Republicans are "callous, bigoted tools" -- but adds that he respects some of them and tries to work across the aisle.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) is downplaying expectations for his reelection bid, saying he's not looking to set a record in this year's gubernatorial contest.

Christie, who is facing off against Democratic nominee Barbara Buono in November, told a New Jersey television news show over the weekend that he doesn't expect to win by more than 40 points, the Star-Ledger reported. Christie told NJTV that he would be happy winning with just over 50 percent of the vote, noting that winning by a majority -- rather than plurality -- would be a first for a Republican statewide candidate in a quarter-century.

“Let’s keep in context what big means for a Republican in New Jersey. No Republican statewide candidate has gotten 50 percent plus one vote since George (Herbert Walker) Bush in 1988,” the Star-Ledger reported Christie said on NJTV.

Christie received 48 percent of the vote in his 2009 victory over former Gov. Jon Corzine (D). Former Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, the last Republican to win the office before Christie, received under 50 percent in her two wins in the 1990s.

Christie has been leading Buono, a state senator from Middlesex County, by over 30 points, prompting speculation that he was attempting to run up a bigger landslide than former Republican Gov. Tom Kean received in his 1985 reelection campaign. In that race, Kean defeated his Democratic opponent, then-Essex County Executive Peter Shapiro, by 40 points and carried the state's 21 counties and all but three of the its 567 municipalities.

Democrats are attempting to unify behind Buono, who has seen over 30 Democratic elected officials back Christie, including two of the state's most powerful Democrats.

Buono supporters told the Philadelphia Inquirer that Democratic legislative leaders denied Buono a chance to fight Christie over the state budget and to overturn the governor's veto of a bill allowing same-sex marriage in the state.

"Not enough Democrats are behind Barbara Buono, that's for sure," Assemblyman Timothy Eustace (D-Maywood) told the Inquirer.

Speaking on his Fox News show over the weekend, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) attacked the Supreme Court for its recent landmark rulings on gay rights, labeling the justices "extremists" and claiming they thought themselves to be wiser than "God almighty himself."

After insisting he was neither a "homophobe nor a hater" because of his anti-gay marriage stance, Huckabee compared homosexuality to polygamy and prostitution.

“If we’re determined to change the definition of marriage to accommodate how people feel and what they wish to do because of their mutual consent, then we should immediately release those incarcerated for practicing polygamy or bigamy,” Huckabee said. “And, frankly, let’s make all consensual adult behaviors legal, whether prostitution, assisted suicide, or even drinking 16 ounce sodas in New York City.”

Huckabee said he was on the "right side of history," arguing that gay marriage is "newer than Google or the iPod ... and the first nation to even codify it into law didn't do so until the year 2000." He also said that the issue "is not equality, but sameness."

"Equality means intrinsic worth and value ... but equality of worth doesn't create sameness," he said. "There are differences between men and women and votes of Congress nor the 'extreme court' can change that."

Huckabee added marriage to his list of incorrect Supreme Court decisions that included allowing abortion, condoning slavery and denying prayer in public schools.

"As much as I'd love to be loved and admired by all, I can't defy the definition of marriage any more than I can defy the definition of gravity," he said.

Huckabee, a former pastor, responded to the Supreme Court rulings last week on Twitter, saying, "My thoughts on the SCOTUS ruling that determined that same sex marriage is okay: 'Jesus wept.'"

Watch the full clip above or click here.

[H/T The Raw Story]