Free Republic

In a rare move, the Supreme Court expedites consideration for a major case coming from the Trump administration. On Friday, the justices ordered the ACLU to file responses to the Department of Justice regarding President Trump’s executive order on travel from six terror-prone countries. This comes after the DOJ asked for a stay on an appellate court’s decision to block part of the order until justices can decide the matter. However, the Supreme Court’s decision could push everything up by months and justices could hold arguments on the case before summer recess.

The Pentagon said Thursday that an expedited shipment of 2,000 lightweight shoulder-fired weapons should arrive in Iraq next week. The weapons, according to The Associated Press (AP), are intended to help the Iraqi army stop the Islamic State (ISIS) group's increasingly effective use of car bombs. The shipment is among a variety of weaponry and equipment the United States agreed to send to Iraq on an expedited basis after Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi visited Washington in April to plead for more help in fighting the extremists. Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, said the shipment of shoulder-fired AT-4 weapons...

AUSTIN, Texas – In a ceremony at the Texas State Capitol, Gov. Rick Perry signed Senate Bill 162, which was passed by the 83rd Texas Legislature to address employment challenges facing military service members, recently separated veterans and their spouses. The bipartisan legislation requires state agencies that issue occupational licenses to recognize substantially equivalent licenses issued by other jurisdictions – including the armed forces – and provide an expedited licensure process for these individuals.

U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson has issued a stay of his own ruling declaring the health care reform law unconstitutional, giving the Obama administration seven days to file an appeal. The stay means implementation of the law can proceed pending the administration’s appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. In his ruling, Vinson repeated what he has said previously — that “the citizens of this country have an interest in having this case resolved as soon as practically possible.” “That was nearly eleven months ago,” he wrote. “In the time since, the battle lines have been...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 19 — Five days after the power failure that blacked out all or part of eight states and two Canadian provinces, President Bush said today that Congressional Republicans had assured him that a conference committee would begin work within 20 days on a final package of energy legislation. Speaking near his vacation ranch in Crawford, Tex., Mr. Bush told reporters that he spoke by telephone Monday night with two crucial Republican lawmakers on energy issues — Sen. Pete V. Domenici of New Mexico and Representative Billy Tauzin of Louisiana — and that they had assured him they could...