Free Republic

A deal made by congressional leaders to avert a partial shutdown of the U.S. government includes an attempt to ease some veterans' access to gun ownership, even when they are deemed "mentally incompetent" to handle their own finances. The $436 billion funding package agreed on by congressional lawmakers Wednesday extended the deadline for the expiration of funding for government agencies—including the military and Department of Veteran Affairs—from March 1 to March 8. It was the fourth extension painstakingly agreed on by a divided Congress during this fiscal year, but it spelled optimism that a deal for the long-term budget plan...

"China's state-owned banks are tightening curbs on funding to Russian clients as they fear being subjected to secondary sanctions from the U.S., according to a Tuesday report by Bloomberg... "...Chris Weafer, chief executive officer of strategic consultants Macro-Advisory Ltd., which focuses on Russia and the Eurasia region, previously told Newsweek that Russia should be wary of this increased reliance on China. "While China is eagerly buying energy and materials and selling Chinese-made goods to the Russia market, all of which suits Beijing, there is very little investment coming into Russia, certainly nothing like enough to replace the lost investment from...

Kari Lake, the Republican who lost the Arizona governor's race this past November, could beat both potential competitors Ruben Gallego and Kyrsten Sinema were she to run in 2024 for the latter's Senate seat, according to a recent poll. The survey, released January 11 by website Blueprint Polling, imagined a scenario in which Sinema, a former Democrat turned independent who's held her Senate seat since 2019, runs for reelection against Lake and Gallego, a Democrat who represents the state's 3rd Congressional District. Lake, who rumors say is considering running for the seat but has not confirmed this, polled at 36...

Long-time Republican consultant and lobbyist Roger Stone has accused Lindsey Graham of "wilful sabotage" for making his 15-week abortion time-limit proposal only weeks before the midterm elections in November. According to a long-running poll by Gallup, some 85 percent of U.S. citizens believe abortion should be legal in some cases, while more than 35 percent think it should be permitted under any circumstances. On Tuesday, the South Carolina senator approved a proposal for legislation that could institute a nationwide, federal time limit on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

As Washington Post's columnist Taylor Lorenz is expected to publish a new piece today revealing the identity of the person behind the Twitter account Libs of Tik Tok, the social media platform has been stormed by outraged conservatives accusing the journalist of "doxxing" and harassing the anonymous account holder. The conservative account Libs of Tik Tok, which mostly shares content attacking liberals and school teachers accused of the alleged "grooming" and "indoctrination" of children on LGBT rights, has become a social media sensation in the past two years, achieving a follower base of some 648,000 on Twitter, over 66,000 on...

A small fringe of Donald Trump's supporters is calling for the former president to get back on the highest stage of U.S. politics with a vengeance with the motto: #DarkMAGA. More of a meme than a political slogan, Dark MAGA is a post-alt-right aesthetic that promotes an authoritarian version of Trump in dystopian, Terminator-like images. In some, the Trump Tower is painted entirely in black and the former president is seen piercing through the screen with blue laser eyes. The hashtag first appeared on Twitter on January 21, and it had become increasingly popular by March. It can now be...