Free Republic

The GOP Congress and Senate needs to be made to understand in the most unmistakable ways we can, that their feet are going to be held to the fire, through our unceasing scrutiny and reaction to any show of weakness or intimidation on their part.

Congressional pushback against excessive regulation is long overdue. That’s not the fault of Republicans, who have repeatedly pushed for laws that give greater legislative oversight since taking control of the House in 2011, only to be thwarted by Barack Obama and Democrats. Fresh off of another round of executive actions, Kerry Picket reports that Darrell Issa has reintroduced legislation that will allow Congress to block lame-duck regulation sprees in toto: Republicans have put forward a plan to stop Obama administration’s last minute regulations Tuesday. These “midnight regulations” published after the 2016 presidential election could cost the American taxpayer over...

President Obama met behind closed doors Wednesday morning with congressional Democrats to map out a strategy to defend the Affordable Care Act and other health-care policies — the day that Republicans began debate on how to get rid of the far-reaching law. As sharp political fault lines emerged — with Democrats saying they feel no obligation to devise a new health-care law and Republicans vowing to dismantle the existing one through legislation and executive actions — it could take six months or more to determine what sort of system might replace the ACA. Obama’s rare visit to Capitol Hill, less...

This is an amendment every rational thinking conservative and libertarian can and must support: U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) today proposed an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to impose term limits on members of Congress. The amendment would limit U.S. senators to two six-year terms and members of the U.S. House of Representatives to three two-year terms. In other words, if the amendment is eventually added to the Constitution, congressmen can remain in office for a maximum of six years while senators can do so for 12 years. Presidents are already bound to two...

President-elect Trump has won another victory before even taking office. This time, it wasn’t Ford, Carrier, or some other corporation forced to capitulate in the wake of a tweet, it was the majority of the House of Representatives.  Put simply, Trump has demonstrated the he is in charge, and the House majority caucus had better get used to following his lead. There has been some well-justified concern over the willingness of the GOP establishment [Congressional branch] to work with the Trump administration.  After all, he has been attacking them a denizens of the swamp that needs to be drained. And...

POTUS, Obama is back on the hill today, visiting congress to save his supposed, great, positive legacy which will never, ever exist. I can only vaguely remember the eight times the POTUS has visited the members of congress in the capital building...the eight times he delivered all his meaningless, useless "state-of-the-union" addresses. Now he traverses up to the hill to beg his Democrat sheep to do all they can to save the biggest farce and fiasco ever, "Obamacare"!!! And...Amazingly, his Democrat buffoons 100% idiots will listen and heed his babbles and lies, after the buffoon, Obama nver talked with them...

Lawmakers in several deep-blue states want to require presidential candidates to release their tax returns in order to appear on the ballot in those states, a sharp rebuke of President-elect Donald Trump's ongoing refusal to make his tax records public. A pair of Maryland Democrats on Tuesday announced they would introduce a bill mandating the release of five years of tax returns, mirroring similar proposals in New York, Massachusetts, California and Maine. If approved, the proposals could keep Trump from appearing on some ballots in 2020 if he continues breaking with the decades-long tradition of financial transparency and decides to...

During an interview aired on Tuesday’s edition of CNN’s “The Lead,” Senate Minority Leader Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) stated of President-Elect Donald Trump, “The only way we’re going to work with him is if he moves completely in our direction and abandons his Republican colleagues.” Schumer said, “The only way we’re going to work with him is if he moves completely in our direction and abandons his Republican colleagues...."

Charles Krauthammer reacts to newly-minted Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) remarking "making America great again" requires more than a tweet from President-elect Trump. BRET BAIER: On the Senate side, the top Democrat there, Chuck Schumer, took to the floor for his first speech talking about the president-elect's communication. SENATE MINORITY LEADER CHUCK SCHUMER: These issues are too important for mere words. Our challenge is too entrenched for mere tweeting. Making America great again requires more than 140 characters per issue. With all due respect, America cannot afford a Twitter presidency. BAIER: Charles. CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: Sore loser. The tweets are...

As opposed to corruption of the US Senate, I’ve paid little attention over the course of this blog to the House of Representatives. The House isn’t involved with high profile treaties or appointments, and is far too infrequently involved with impeachments. Aside from hoping it doesn’t fall into democratic hands, it’s just sort of “there.” We dutifully vote every two years for the congressman of our choice, and that seems to be that. While few today give much thought to the topic of representation, it was high on the list of concerns during the Framing era. At the federal convention,...

Is anybody aware of people being attacked in Trump's name? It is funny when Republicans obstruct, it is wrong and they are a do nothing congress and yet, these people demand obstruction now. It is also funny how they eschew limited government and now demand limited government. What a bunch of screwballs. What a bunch of liars.

<p>Paul Ryan was formally re-elected House speaker Tuesday as he intensifies his efforts to move past his differences with Donald Trump after a divisive campaign.  But Ryan’s victory was marred by controversy over a last-minute effort by Republicans to weaken the independent congressional ethics office, a reminder of the splits within the new Republican majority. Trump blasted Republicans for prioritizing the ethics change, leaving the caucus to reverse itself moments before formally opening the 115th Congress.</p>

We've been following this story since it broke last night, the trajectory of which has been quite remarkable to track. House Republicans foolishly opened the new year with a surprise move to weaken an internal ethics watchdog office, drawing immediate and widespread criticism from virtually all quarters -- from Elizabeth Warren to Judicial Watch. These condemnations were unfair, some supporters of the move argued, because the Office of Congressional Ethics was due to for significant and needed reforms. Members from both sides had become frustrated with the body's opacity, alleged foot-dragging, and selective leaks; some also contended that accused parties (often under investigation...

The House Republican Conference voted Monday night to approve a change to House rules to weaken the independence of the Office of Congressional Ethics and place it under the jurisdiction of the House Ethics Committee — a panel controlled by party leaders. It will be part of a broader House Rules package voted on by the full body on Tuesday, after the 115th Congress officially convenes and the House elects a speaker. It's a move that is already causing a backlash among Democrats, who say it's hypocritical given that President-elect Donald Trump was elected vowing to "drain the swamp" in...

For six years, since they took back the House of Representatives, Republicans have added to a pile of legislation that moldered outside the White House. In their thwarted agenda, financial regulations were to be unspooled. Business taxes were to be slashed. Planned Parenthood would be stripped of federal funds. The ­Affordable Care Act was teed up for repeal — dozens of times. When the 115th Congress begins this week, with Republicans firmly in charge of the House and Senate, much of that legislation will form the basis of the most ambitious conservative policy agenda since the 1920s. And rather than...

President-elect Trump is taking a far more hands-on approach to working with Congress than his senator-turned-president predecessor. President Obama spent four years in the upper chamber, working closely with many colleagues on both sides of the aisle, but when voters sent him to the White House, he notoriously gave Capitol Hill the cold shoulder. Former congressional colleagues, even some of his biggest supporters, often described him as distant and aloof, a no-drama leadership style that eschewed President George W. Bush's chummy nicknaming of lawmakers who he cultivated with regular White House lunch and dinner invitations.

For six years, since they took back the House of Representatives, Republicans have added to a pile of legislation that moldered outside the White House. In their thwarted agenda, financial regulations were to be unspooled. Business taxes were to be slashed. Planned Parenthood would be stripped of federal funds. The ­Affordable Care Act was teed up for repeal — dozens of times. When the 115th Congress begins this week, with Republicans firmly in charge of the House and Senate, much of that legislation will form the basis of the most ambitious conservative policy agenda since the 1920s. And rather than...

Wow, 2016 was something else, wasn’t it? If you had predicted a year ago that not only would Donald Trump be the president-elect, but Hillary Clinton would lose, you would’ve been institutionalized. Beyond politics, and perhaps more amazing than the election, the Chicago Cubs won the World Series. One for the books. But rather than take a last look into the rearview mirror, how about we peer through the windshield into 2017? A lot of things should change in the next 12 months. But many things will stay the same. Some may even be same-er.   What won’t change? First...

Peter Morici, economist at the University of Maryland, tells Newsmax TV that although President-elect Donald Trump is much smarter than Barack Obama, it will take some time to undo all of the regulatory damage the outgoing command-in-chief has imposed on America during the last eight years. "I have no doubt that Mr. Trump's a heck of a lot smarter than Barack Obama but Barack Obama had eight years to do this damage so it's going to take a lot of time to undo it," Morici told Bill Tucker on "The Steve Malzberg Show." "Executive orders can generally be reversed but...

Rhode Island is likely to lose one of its two U.S. House seats after the 2020 U.S. Census, according to projections by reapportionment guru Kimball W. Brace, who has for many years helped Rhode Island lawmakers draw both state legislative and congressional districts