Free Republic

Three Democratic senators on Monday filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the constitutionality of President Trump’s appointment of Matthew Whitaker as acting attorney general. Whitaker was appointed by Trump to lead the Justice Department after Attorney General Jeff Sessions was forced out of the role earlier this month. Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse and Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono filed the complaint against Whitaker in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Monday. All three issues fiery statements. “Installing Matthew Whitaker so flagrantly defies constitutional law that any viewer of School House Rock...

For the American Left, gun control has always been nothing more than a statist impulse in search of a reason to justify it. And there have always been reasons they’ve offered as to why the government should prohibit Americans from owning this type of gun or that one. Today, the talk tends to be about the AR-15, and the reason that is most commonly parroted tends to be along these lines, this one offered in a tweet by Max Boot: There is no reason why any civilian should own an assault weapon. And gun prohibition and buyback much more effective...

Republican senator insists there is no threat to the special counsel after Sen. Flake threatens to oppose judicial nominees until a vote on legislation to protect Mueller.

Anybody hear that fella call in a couple days ago? We're worried about stealing elections, Beto's close finish, and the loss of the house. The fact that they are doing all these crazy things like ballot counting past the deadline would suggest that they're the ones who may be finished. A Trump win in 2020(as most expect) gives them more reason to panic. The only thing left for them to do is riot. Are we too angry over McSally, a loser who will be GIVEN a January Senate seat only to lose again in 2020 or are the rats toast?

Sen. Tom Cotton, Arkansas Republican, said Wednesday GOP senators will work through New Years Eve to confirm all of President Trump’s pending judicial nominees before the end of the year if Democrats try to obstruct the confirmation votes. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, has made it a priority to remake the federal bench with a conservative bent, and has more than 40 judicial nominees awaiting floor votes. Before leaving Capitol Hill prior to the midterms, Republicans vowed to get them all confirmed once they returned during the lame duck session before the incoming Congress begins in January. “I...

Trump’s DOJ says Whitaker can serve in acting role without Senate confirmation. Matthew Whitaker can properly serve as acting attorney general without Senate confirmation, the Justice Department said in a legal opinion released Wednesday, though the document is unlikely to end the debate over Mr. Whitaker’s installation as the country’s top law-enforcement officer.

The night before the midterm elections, House Speaker Paul Ryan touted “tax reform 2.0,” the economy, and the rebuilding of the United States military as the agenda accomplishments of the Republican-controlled Congress. “Frankly, our members feel pretty good because they have a really good message … I mean look at what we’ve just been able to achieve in Congress with the President in the last two years,” Ryan told Fox News’ Bret Baier. “A record economy, the military being rebuilt, people feeling better about things … wages growing faster than they have since before the recession.” The accomplishments of the...

Arguably the most important power at stake in Tuesday’s election was Congressional oversight, and the most important change may be Adam Schiff at the House Intelligence Committee. The Democrat says his top priority is re-opening the Trump-Russia collusion probe, but more important may be his intention to stop investigating how the FBI and Justice Department abused their power in 2016. So let’s walk through what we’ve learned to date. Credit for knowing anything at all goes to Intel Chairman Devin Nunes and more recently a joint investigation by Reps. Bob Goodlatte... and Trey Gowdy... Over 18 months of reviewing tens...

For months, gun control advocates in Washington State have peddled initiative 1639, which moves to create stricter firearms laws. On Tuesday, 60 percent of Washingtonians voted in favor of ballot measure, the Seattle Times reported. Specifically, i-1639 will: • Raise the age someone can purchase a rifle to 21. • Create an "enhanced background check system similar to what is used for handguns." • Require a person to complete a firearms safety training course. • Create a common stand for secure gun storage. Those in favor of the measure believe that even further gun laws will prevent mass shootings. “My...

Hours before polls closed on Tuesday, President Trump already was blaming retiring Speaker Paul D. Ryan for not doing enough to support his agenda and keep the House in Republican hands.

Did nothing of value as Speaker. Didn't discourage at least half of those looking to retire into sticking around another two years where we could have maintained control. He lined up his K Street job and started throwing bombs towards Trump (which he also did a few days before the 2016 election). Trump worked and saved the Senate and made the difference in some key governor races. Tonight was not a Trump defeat. Part of it was history -- midterm election usually results in out of power party winning. But this was winnable. Ryan blew the House. /rant

The Electoral College quickly became the left’s least favorite part of the American government after Donald Trump won the 2016 election. By 2017, gerrymandering in the House of Representatives was the cause celebre. In 2018, they’re still mad about both of these things—some people will always be mad about something—but the confirmation of two conservative judges to the Supreme Court has banked the fires of resentment even higher against another part of our constitutional structure: the U.S. Senate. NBC’s Ken Dilanian captured the mainstream media zeitgeist when he tweeted: "It may not happen in our lifetimes, but the idea that...

Mr. Graham, crisscrossing the country to turn out the Republican vote against the centrist Democratic senators who were once his natural allies, lapped it up. He has been basking in the exaltation of Trump backers ever since his lacerating defense of Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh. His own transformation from Trump-basher to Trump defender seems complete.

My God. Four days before an election, he went full cuck.This clip would have been better in every way if he had described their native lands as “sh*thole countries”: Bob Corker defending the fleeing migrants: "They're being tortured….I have a feeling that if you were living in one of these Central American countries and you had little girls and little boys you're raising you might be trying to figure out a way to come to the great US of A" pic.twitter.com/VzocuyUiOZ— Alan He (@alanhe) November 2, 2018 I assume Corker would say (and maybe did go on to say)...

More than 100 House Democrats told Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Thursday he should not send additional military personnel to the U.S.-Mexico border. A handful of ranking members from related House committees and 104 rank-and-file Democratic lawmakers sent the top Pentagon official a letter Thursday to say, first and foremost, they do not approve of the operation

Waters, who could be the next chair of the Financial Services Committee if Democrats win control of the House, drew applause as she noted that “most of the members of the Congressional Black Caucus will be chairs” of congressional committees following an election win. . . “I will be the first African-American, the first woman to chair the powerful Financial Services Committee,” she continued. “That’s all of Wall Street. That’s all the insurance companies, that’s all the banks. And so, of course, the CEOs of the banks now are saying, ‘What can we do to stop Maxine Waters because if...

The White House and Republican members of the House committee responsible for tax policy promised Wednesday to work on a 10 percent middle-class tax cut in the next Congress. “We are not done yet,” the Trump administration and the House Ways and Means Committee Republicans said in an unusual joint statement. “We are committed to delivering an additional 10 percent tax cut to middle-class workers across the country. And we intend to take swift action on this legislation at the start of the 116th Congress.” The joint statement follows previous middle-class tax cut promises from President Trump that took his...

President Trump said Wednesday he’s still committed to ending birthright citizenship for babies born to illegal immigrants, but would prefer to go through Congress rather than use an executive order. That’s a softening of his stance from an interview published Tuesday, where he told Axios, an online political outlet, that he was preparing an executive order to test the boundaries of the Constitution’s definitions of automatic citizenship. Mr. Trump, who during the 2016 campaign had called President Obama’s executive actions on immigration unconstitutional and illegal, also cited those as precedent for his own plans. “If he can do DACA we...

Paul Ryan should be focusing on holding the Majority rather than giving his opinions on Birthright Citizenship, something he knows nothing about! Our new Republican Majority will work on this, Closing the Immigration Loopholes and Securing our Border! -- Donald J. Trump, @realDonaldTrump, Twitter, 31 Oct 2018

SAYING GOOD-BYE TO THE PRETENDER PAUL RYAN... Take this little quiz and see how you view Congressman Ryan’s record when another perspective is considered. Yes, I refer to Paul Ryan, the running mate of Willard “Mitt” Romney; Paul, “I voted against my principles to preserve my principles.” Ryan, but this quiz is illustrative of how politicians and their work can be viewed differently, depending on your perspective and your willingness to see the truth when it slaps you in the face. In this case, let’s compare or contrast Paul Ryan to some other well-known politicians and see if we don’t...