Republicans Disinvite Palin to Major Fundraiser

Congressional Republicans Tuesday decided to ditch Sarah Palin in favor of Newt Gingrich for the critical House-Senate fundraising dinner in Washington June 8.

(Fox News) - Sarah Palin is out and Newt Gingrich is in.

Congressional Republicans decided Tuesday to ditch the former GOP vice presidential nominee in favor of the former House speaker for the critical House-Senate fundraising dinner in June 8 in Washington. It's the marquee Republican event to raise money for GOP House and Senate candidates.

Just weeks ago, the House and Senate Republican campaign committees were giddy at securing the telegenic Palin for the dinner. But then things grew murky. At the time, the Alaska governor's office told FOX News that Palin was still considering the invitation and had not yet made a decision. Meantime, spokespersons for the committees insisted that Palin was scheduled and it was just a misunderstanding between the Alaska governor's office and Palin's political action committee, SarahPAC, that accepted the invite.