Free Republic

A battle over “sanctuary cities” is dividing Senate Republicans. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has teed up legislation that would crack down on cities that don't comply with federal immigration law. But its unclear whether the bill can get through the Senate — and not just because of opposition from Democrats. In addition to limiting federal money for sanctuary cities, Sen. David Vitter's (R-La.) bill would increase the amount of prison time an undocumented immigrant could serve if they re-enter the United States after having previously been deported. Conservatives like his plan, but it has drawn opposition from Sens. Jeff...

IN an earlier, cozier Washington, D.C., John Boehner could have been the kind of House speaker whose memory is held dear by high-minded chin strokers on Sunday morning television programs: An icon of sadly bygone bipartisanship, a cutter of the grandest bargains, a man who, by God, made legislation move. In this Washington, D.C., alas for him, Boehner was a humble bomb defuser, and the only grand bargains he cut were between his more intransigent backbenchers and the demands of political and constitutional reality. And now D.C. looks at his record, his resignation and his possible successors and asks: Can...

This week, Politico released on article suggesting that Ted Cruz has lost the trust of his peers, save for libertarian-leaning Mike Lee, who chimed in to his defense. The comments on the article, mostly from liberals who will never agree with a conservative philosophy anyway, resorted to ad hominin attacks. Criticism from the left is to be expected; however, the concerning part of this story is that conservatives and libertarians are voicing their opposition to Cruz fighting the status quo. The irony? Both camps claim to share the belief that Washington is dysfunctional, and many public opinion polls show that...

On Wednesday, Sen. Mike Lee delivered a speech on the Senate Floor urging that the silence on Planned Parenthood’s organ-trafficking scheme be broken. After the Center for Medical Progress released undercover video footage revealing that Planned Parenthood has been harvesting organs from aborted babies to sell, the media and government has stayed largely silent, Lee said. The silence has kept Planned Parenthood safe from an investigation and kept Americans in the dark on what the abortion industry is really doing, he said. (video at link) Lee’s full remarks are as follows: “Last month, before the August recess, the Senate took...

Ted Cruz says his hard-line strategy to defund Planned Parenthood and risk a government shutdown is about doing the “right thing” and following through on Republicans' vows to conservative voters. But many of his Republican colleagues say it’s really all about Cruz. Even some of his closest allies from past battles— fellow tried and true tea party Republicans like Sen. Mike Lee of Utah — aren’t exactly jumping to join Cruz’s latest crusade. Same goes for Cruz’s onetime allies-turned-presidential rivals, Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Rand Paul of Kentucky. As the Texas Republican prepares for a potentially decisive month...

Planned Parenthood's Moral and Economic Corruption: " . . . turned barbarism into commerce." Hat tip here to Guy Benson at Hot Air, who noticed this from a Monday post, and recognized as I do here that it’s just too good not to share even if it is a few days old. The debate over Joni Ernst’s measure to de-fund Planned Parenthood really came down to a choice each senator had to make between the reality of what’s happening in those human slaughterhouses, and the political imperative Democrats feel to turn a blind eye to any and all evil because...

WASHINGTON – Just days after publicly calling the majority leader a liar on the Senate floor, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has upped the stakes in his war on GOP brass by accusing Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., of spearheading the effort to keep taxpayer funds going to Planned Parenthood. In a statement that mentioned “gruesome videos of senior officials of Planned Parenthood discussing the selling of body parts of unborn children,” Cruz blasted McConnell for blocking an amendment by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, to defund the abortion provider.

The House will not vote on a multi-year Senate highway bill that revives the now-expired Export-Import Bank, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said Monday. “We’re not taking up the Senate bill,” McCarthy declared to a roomful of reporters in his office. Instead, McCarthy urged the Senate to take up a short-term House-passed bill which extends federal highway funding for five months, without renewing the Ex-Im Bank charter. He called the House bill the “best option” for Congress before money for highways, bridges and mass transit runs out on Friday. McCarthy’s declaration is a blow not only to the Senate,...

Sean Hannity has just said that 3 senators confirmed Ted Cruz's account that McConnell lied. "There is no deal; there is no deal; there is no deal." Only Mike Lee is willing to be on the record. Unlike Rush, Sean Hannity started his program with Ted Cruz's audio and attacking GOP leadership.

Think of it as the Empire strikes back. Two days after Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas took to the floor of the Senate and called Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell a liar, Republican senators, apparently on the behest of the Republican leader, refused to second a motion to back a Cruz amendment to the highway bill to make the lifting of sanctions against Iran contingent on that country recognizing Israel’s right to exist and freeing four American hostages. As the Washington Examiner reported on Sunday, the lesson was struck home by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah when he delivered a soliloquy about...

<p>Senate Republicans had a chance to stop Planned Parenthood from butchering unborn children and selling their body parts to the highest bidder. Instead, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to put up a vote -- thumbing his nose at Senators Mike Lee and Ted Cruz, along with every pro-lifer in the nation.</p>

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) was rebuked by his Senate colleagues on Sunday as he tried to force a vote on defunding Planned Parenthood. Lee had tried to attach an amendment eliminating all federal funds for Planned Parenthood to the vote on Congress’s must-pass highway legislation. The amendment was rejected by the chair of the Senate, who called it out of order because it was not germane to the highway bill. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) decided last week that he would only allow two amendments to the bill – a repeal of ObamaCare and a reauthorization of the Export-Import...

Senate conservatives couldn’t stop a vote on the Export-Import bank. So they’re going to try to force a vote on Obamacare instead. Conservative firebrand Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) announced on Friday that he plans to use a complicated procedural maneuver known as the nuclear option to repeal the Affordable Care Act with just 51 votes. Democrats famously used the strategy in 2013 to break a Republican blockade of President Obama’s nominees to fill judicial openings. Now Lee wants to use the partisan procedure get rid of Obamacare. It’s unclear whether Lee’s gambit will work — but if it does, there...

Next week, Senate Republicans could pass Obamacare repeal with a simple 51-vote majority as part of the long-term highway bill, according to Sen. Mike Lee. The Utah Republican laid out the argument in a press release after party leaders set the sequencing of votes: "The first Obamacare vote on Sunday will have a 60 vote threshold, and Democrats will likely block it," Lee continued. "But thanks to the sequencing of the votes we just locked in, Republicans will have the opportunity resurrect that Obamacare amendment later on in the process, and put it back before the Senate in a manner...

On June 26th, same-sex marriage legislation as well as amendments to the state public accommodation laws were enacted in all 50 states, under the Supreme Court’s ruling of Obergefell v. Hodges. While gay couples all around the nation stormed the streets and churches with a whole universe of rainbow colored banners and outfits, many Americans observed in horror what they saw as a direct violation of their First Amendment guarantee of religious liberty. “The legalization of same-sex marriage and the amending of state civil rights laws to include sexual orientation have resulted in situations where Americans have been forced to...

If I don't have time to read legislation before voting on it, my default vote is no. We received the highway bill today at 3:06 p.m., and it is over 1,000 pages long. Our first vote on this legislation is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.

This will necessarily preclude everyone, including religious institutions, from upholding their beliefs about marriage on their private property.

Two 2016 presidential competitors have joined forces to get a ban on the indefinite detention of U.S. citizens included in an annual defense policy bill. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.), both of whom are running for president, have joined up with other senators to introduce an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), currently before the Senate, that would ban indefinite detention of U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents, without being charged or given a trial, unless authorized by Congress.Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) also put their names on the...

The most potent illustration that Republicans have shifted their attitudes on immigration came Tuesday morning when all GOP members of the Senate Judiciary Committee rejected an amendment from Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., to severely limit the number of legal immigrants allowed into the country. The committee’s overwhelming ‘No’ vote shows that the battle for Republicans’ souls on immigration has shifted away from groups that want to reduce the influx of foreigners, like the Heritage Foundation, NumbersUSA, and Fairness for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), toward free-market groups that applaud increased immigration, such as Americans for Tax Reform and the CATO Institute....

Republican Sen. Mike Lee, strongly suggesting that the U.S. Supreme Court is likely to approve same-sex marriage this month, warned Thursday that liberals will use the victory to impose other restrictions on those opposed to gay weddings including churches, colleges and military chaplains."They seem tempted by the intolerant impulse to punish Americans," Lee said in a thoughtful speech at Hillsdale College's Kirby Center in Washington.Sen. Mike Lee. (AP Photo) Lee, of Utah, used the speech to preview legislation he is drafting to protect religious-affiliated schools and institutions that don't support same-sex marriage from federal attack if the court approves the...