Free Republic

House Republicans released legislation Friday aimed at lowering healthcare costs through expanded insurance options for small businesses and unprecedented transparency requirements for pharmacy benefit managers, setting up a crucial vote next week as enhanced Obamacare subsidies expire at year’s end.The Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act, introduced by Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa-01), is the GOP's alternative to Democratic proposals as Democrats push to extend expiring ACA premium tax credits that help 22 million Americans purchase insurance.Speaker Mike Johnson announced the measure would receive a floor vote next week, though GOP leadership indicated moderate Republicans seeking subsidy extensions may...

Former President Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary, are being pressured to appear for depositions related to the case of convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. In a press release Friday, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James Comer (R-KY) issued a statement regarding the depositions scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday. “It has been more than four months since Bill and Hillary Clinton were subpoenaed to sit for depositions related to our investigation into Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s horrific crimes. Throughout that time, the former President and former Secretary of State have delayed, obstructed, and largely ignored the Committee...

The US House of Representatives voted to pass a negotiated version of the National Defense Authorization Act on Wednesday, sending the Pentagon spending bill to the Senate for final approval. This bill was negotiated with Democrats in the House and the Senate, resulting in a bipartisan vote that some MAGA firebrands opposed.Per Fox:An earlier procedural vote on the legislation just barely passed 215–211 at the 11th hour after four Republicans: Reps. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla, Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., all changed their votes from no to yes. All Democrats voted no on the procedural...

Last month, I wrote about how Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.) introduced a non-binding resolution, asking the House of Representatives to condemn socialism in the wake of New York City electing Zohran Mamdani as its next mayor. It was more theater than anything, but it was also a chance for the House to show the people of the United States — well, most of us anyway — that they stand in solidarity with us in wanting to keep socialism out of our country. It was the opportunity to show that they still support the American dream and values. Advertisement Only...

Their record isn’t just spotty; it is downright awful. The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act of 1986 was designed to prevent “patient dumping” by hospitals of emergent patients without insurance. The unintended consequences of that law are hotly debated. What is not in controversy is the hospital lobby’s insistence that the law drives up their operating costs.That argument has done decades of service to protectionist policies that limit competition and protect prices.Then there is the Affordable Care Act. It was a compromise between advocates of “universal health care” and the “Third Way” or “New Democrats” who viewed big...

U.S. President Donald Trump's demand that Republican-led states redraw their congressional maps to help his party retain control of Congress in next year's midterm elections has triggered a national battle over redistricting, with the eventual winner still unclear. The fight began when Republicans in Texas, the most populous Republican state, approved a rare mid-decade new congressional map aimed at flipping five House seats now occupied by Democrats. California, the most populous Democratic state, soon responded by initiating its own redistricting effort targeting five Republican-held districts. Other states, both Republican and Democratic, have followed suit or threatened to do so. Republicans...

After successfully holding strong in the face of a Democrat-led government shutdown over Obamacare, a cabal of House Republicans is now waiving the white flag on the issue.On Thursday, nearly three dozen Democrats and Republicans introduced a proposal to extend taxpayer-funded Obamacare subsidies. As Federalist Senior Contributor Christopher Jacobs has regularly reported in these pages, these Biden-era subsidies — which are set to expire at the end of this year — have been a complete and total disaster. Spearheaded by Reps. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., and Jen Kiggins, R-Va., the measure “would extend and reduce the tax credits in a two-step...

The Indiana state House on Friday approved a new slate of congressional maps that tilts all nine congressional district races in favor of the GOP. The map passed in a 57-41 vote, the local Fox affiliate report. The move sends the bill to the state Senate, where some Republicans have voiced opposition. The redraw comes as President Donald Trump pushes Republicans in other states to redraw their maps to giver Republicans an edge in the 2026 midterms.

Former GOP Rep. Mark Green’s resignation in July triggered a special election for Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District, a longtime Republican seat that President Donald Trump carried by 22 points in the 2024 election. Still, millions of dollars from both parties flowed into the district ahead of the special election. Republican Matt Van Epps, a former state official, and Democratic state Rep. Aftyn Behn won their parties’ special primaries in October, with Van Epps beating a broad GOP field with the help of a late Trump endorsement.

President Donald Trump has been back in office for almost a year -- roughly 315 days -- and has governed with the urgency of a turnaround CEO. He hit the ground running, signing executive orders immediately after inauguration and maintaining a pace unmatched in modern politics. But what becomes of all this action? Executive orders can be reversed the moment a new president arrives unless Congress codifies them into law. That’s the key difference between temporary executive action and lasting legislative reform. According to Ballotpedia, “As of November 25, 2025, President Donald Trump had signed 217 executive orders, 54 memoranda,...

Voters in the Coastal Plains of North Carolina are on track for new congressional maps in the 2026 midterms. The 1st and 3rd Congressional Districts are changed from the 2024 presidential cycle in the map redrawn this fall by the Legislature. On Wednesday, Justices Allison Jones Rushing, Richard Myers and Thomas Schroeder in a 57-page opinion concluded plaintiffs did not make a “clear showing that they are likely to succeed on the merits of any of the claims advanced in their preliminary injunction motions” and denied the request for a preliminary injunction. Filing for the 2026 midterms begins Monday. Rushing...

Censures were historically rare rebukes against lawmakers. But members of the House are increasingly using them in ways their peers say are political.Republicans and Democrats in Congress spent much of last week voting to formally reprimand each other, and both sides are tired of the back-and-forth.Congress voted on as many censure measures last week as it did during all of the 118th Congress. On Monday, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Washington) lobbed a disapproval measure against retiring Democratic colleague Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García of Illinois. The next day, Rep. Ralph Norman, who is running for governor in the state of South...

Like a master chef promising a five-course meal in fifteen minutes, Washington’s latest promise on affordability might be biting off more than it can chew. The word “affordability” has become the political equivalent of a Swiss Army knife—everyone’s wielding it, but few seem to know which tool to pull out first. From New York City’s mayoral race to the halls of Congress, “affordability” has emerged as the buzzword du jour, a catch-all solution to Americans’ economic anxieties. President Trump has seized on this narrative with characteristic gusto, promising sweeping changes to make life cheaper for working families. His One Big...

A senior House Republican predicts that more "explosive early resignations are coming" after Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's (R-Ga.) surprise announcement that she would leave Congress in January. Several GOP House members privately told Punchbowl News that they were also considering retiring before their terms end, after Greene's Nov. 21 announcement. It’s unknown which Republicans are currently pondering resignation, but a feeling that legislators' needs are being neglected by party leadership and an inability to pass legislation has led some to consider quitting, as they expect the GOP to lose its already slim majority in Congress. The anonymous GOP lawmaker said...

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, a staunch pro-life advocate known for leading investigations into the Biden administration’s aggressive imprisonment of peaceful pro-life advocates, revealed Thursday that former President Joe Biden’s Justice Department secretly subpoenaed his phone records over a 28-month period. The subpoena, part of the Justice Department’s Arctic Frost investigation, targeted Jordan’s “call detail records” from Verizon, covering calls, text messages, voicemails and location data dating back to January 1, 2020. The federal grand jury request was issued on April 25, 2022, and was accompanied by a nondisclosure order signed by Magistrate Judge David A. Baker that barred...

The infomercial pitchman behind “ShamWow!” is officially running for Congress. Filings released Friday show that 61-year-old Vince Offer, who also goes by Offer Vince Shlomi, has registered to run in the Republican.

Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA-14) is leaving Congress. The outspoken Republican, who has been at odds with her party and President Donald Trump in recent weeks, made the announcement on Friday night, expressing her frustration with the national debt and the recent government shutdown. "I ran for Congress in 2020 and have fought every single day believing that Make America Great Again meant America First," she wrote in a letter she made public Friday evening. "I have one of the most conservative voting records in Congress defending the 1st amendment, 2nd amendment, unborn babies because I believe God creates...

A cadre of democrats have produced a video in which they encourage members of the military to defy orders. But not directly. In a redux of the "51 former intelligence experts" letter, these democrats - Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) - Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) - Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.) - Rep. Maggie Goodlander (D-N.H.) - Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.) - Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) have created something that, just like the laptop letter, doesn't come right out and say it, but very strongly implies it. BREAKING: Elected Democrats just released a video encouraging members of the military to commit treason...

A former congressional staffer has been charged for allegedly staging her own violent assault, for which she paid someone $500 to slice dozens of cuts into her body, according to prosecutors.