Free Republic

As a candidate, US president Donald Trump insisted he’d make Mexico pay for a wall on its border. As president, he’s trying to strong-arm lawmakers into funding it. “If we have to close down our government, we’re building that wall,” he said (paywall) at a rally in Phoenix on Aug. 22. Even in normal circumstances passing a spending package is steeped in complexity, and when Congress returns from summer recess on Sept. 5 it will have less than a month to do it. Simultaneously, it must agree to lift the federal debt ceiling by Sept 29 to stop the country...

A few moments ago I noticed a new PPP poll showing that Mitch McConnell seems to have been damaged significantly in his home state of Kentucky by the effort to repeal Obamacare. The number that caught my eye was that McConnell has an astonishing 74% disapproval rating with just 18% approving of his performance in office. A hypothetical Democrat beats him by 7 percentage points. But that only tells part of the story. McConnell is down at 18% approval. But Trump has a 60% approval rating in the state. If voters are upset with McConnell’s dogged efforts to repeal Obamacare,...

Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski responds to Sen. Susan Collins' (R-Maine) hesitancy in naming Trump the Republican party's 2020 nominee for president. "It’s very hard to get things done in this highly politicized environment, but you have to remember when Donald Trump ran for office many of the people, many of the pundits, many of the so-called-experts said he would never run, he would never be successful, he would never be a real candidate and he defeated 16 Republican challengers in the primary, he won 38 primaries and caucuses and he went on to defeat Hilary Clinton with all...

The Congressional Black Caucus, a formidable bloc of lawmakers with a big say in the fate of President Donald Trump and his legislation, Monday sent him a terse, clear message: We don't think you understand us at all. The caucus' chairman Monday urged cancellation of next month's highly anticipated meeting between White House officials and leaders of the nation's historically black colleges. And he plans to have the 49-member caucus meet when Congress returns in two weeks to discuss whether to back Democratic-led efforts to impeach Trump. Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., the caucus chairman, said the president's remarks after the...

Maine Republican wrote in Paul Ryan for president in 2016 President Donald Trump is already stumping for re-election in 2020. But at least one member of his party says it’s uncertain if he’ll become the GOP’s standard-bearer. Maine Sen. Susan Collins, known as a Trump critic, was interviewed on MSNBC Monday morning and asked if she believed the president would end up as the Republican nominee in 2020. Her reply: Collins also told MSNBC she didn’t support Trump in 2016, instead writing in House Speaker Paul Ryan’s name. “That was very hard for me to do as a lifelong Republican,”...

A ribbon of darkness is about to cast its shadow: The path of totality. We’re not talking about talking about Monday’s solar eclipse. The path of totality we’re discussing about is the specter of congressional resolutions to censure or even impeach President Trump. Congress has a lot to deal with: North Korea, government funding, raising the debt limit, health care, tax reform, supposedly infrastructure. But the U.S. Capitol is soon to find itself directly in the path of totality when it comes to the president’s remarks about white supremacists and Charlottesville. The issue will likely monopolize Capitol Hill as the...

Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., is concerned that more violence is on the way, following last weekend's deadly clash between white supremacy and neo-Nazi groups, and left-wing counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Va. "It feels like violence is coming," Sasse wrote at the end of a long Facebook post Friday evening, titled "The next Charlottesville." "I'm not sure if this moment is like the summer of '67 or not. But it might be. Before that violence strikes again, it's up to us to reaffirm that exceptional American Creed again today, with our neighbors, and in our kids' hearts." Earlier in the online note,...

ADDISON — Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said Thursday that cities should not get rid of Confederate statues and monuments in order to "sanitize history." "I don't think we should go through and simply try to erase from history prior chapters, even if they were wrong," Cruz said during a news conference. "But I think that's a decision each community has to make. ... I suspect different communities will approach this decision differently." President Donald Trump said Thursday that he was disappointed with the removal of Confederate monuments, saying on Twitter that the nation's cities were losing some of their beauty.....

A prominent Republican senator delivered a stinging rebuke Thursday of Donald Trump’s short time in office, declaring he has not shown the stability or competence required for an American president to succeed. Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, also said Trump “recently has not demonstrated that he understands the character of this nation.” During comments to local reporters after a speech to the Chattanooga Rotary Club, Corker called for “radical changes” in how the Trump White House operates. His remarks, which were posted on Facebook, came two days after Trump declared at a New York...

President Donald Trump sparked a barrage of Republican outrage on Tuesday after he blamed “both sides” for the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia — including from House Speaker Paul Ryan. “We must be clear,” Ryan said after Trump’s remarks. “White supremacy is repulsive. This bigotry is counter to all this country stands for. There can be no moral ambiguity.” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said on Twitter, “Mr. President, you can't allow #WhiteSupremacists to share only part of blame.” Added Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.): “This is simple: we must condemn and marginalize white supremacist groups, not encourage and embolden them.” Many other...

Veteran journalist Carl Bernstein says “important Republicans” are saying privately that President Trump is “unfit” for office and urged reporters to look into how widespread those worries may be. Bernstein took to Twitter on Tuesday to make the claims, but did not identify any specific individuals who have called Trump unfit. He said reporters should look into how “pervasive such talk may be.” (TWEETS-AT-LINK) The famous Watergate reporter’s tweets come as Trump is under fire for his response to the deadly violence in Charlottesville, Va., at a white supremacist rally over the weekend. Trump initially blamed the violence on “many...

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein called Thursday for the federal government to reverse the deportation of an Oakland nurse and her husband, saying their removal after more than two decades in the country revealed the “cruel and arbitrary nature” of President Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration. Responding to a front-page Chronicle story about the couple — who plan to leave for Mexico on Tuesday with their 12-year-old son, while leaving behind three older daughters who have legal status — Feinstein’s office set up a meeting Thursday between the California Democrat and the family to discuss their plight. “These are the kind...

Ted Cruz’s Democratic challenger is working overtime to drive a wedge between the senator and his base on one of his central issues — criminal justice reform. Over the past six months, Rep. Beto O’Rourke has reached out to members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus to collaborate on the issue, hosted a Facebook Live event with them to talk marijuana policy, and sought support from the conservative advocacy group FreedomWorks for a criminal justice bill he introduced in the House. While O’Rourke is no stranger to working with Republicans on issues relevant to his El Paso district, the lawmaker’s...

Democratic members of Congress react to president’s provocative remarks about North Korean aggression MANCHESTER, N.H. — New Hampshire’s all-Democratic congressional delegation used terms such as “bellicose,” “chilling,” "dangerous” and "overly aggressive" to describe President Donald Trump‘s threat Tuesday to unleash “fire and fury” on North Korea if its provocative behavior continues. U.S. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan and U.S. Reps. Carol Shea-Porter said the president should chose his words carefully and act strategically in dealing with the increasingly volatile situation. U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster said his remark may undermine efforts to deescalate tensions in the region. Trump, during a...

Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel, during a conversation about Arizona GOP Sen. Jeff Flake, said Monday that 2016 Republican senate candidates who did not back President Donald Trump during his presidential run and lost should serve as a "cautionary tale." Flake, who just released a new book and is up for reelection in 2018, is a prominent critic of Trump. McDaniel made the comments during a interview on the "Laura Ingraham" show. Ingraham repeatedly questioned if Flake could be kicked off the Republican ticket, saying she believed Flake would lose because Trump supporters would not back Flake.....

Sources in Washington confirm that Senator John McCain voted against the Obamacare Skinny Repeal so that President Donald Trump could not score a legislative victory before he can be impeached by the House and Senate. Special counsel Robert Mueller has impaneled a grand jury for his “Russia” investigation, which still doesn’t have any evidence or any possible charges that could be associated with it. A grand jury indictment is the first step to obtaining articles of impeachment, and then it would take a majority of the House of Representatives and then two-thirds of our 100 senators. The Deep State might...

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., expressed his party's uncertainty about President Trump running for office again in 2020, according to a report Saturday. "They see weakness in this president," McCain told the New York Times. "Look, it's not a nice business we're in." The report takes into consideration interviews from over 75 Republicans from diverse levels of the party. It notes donors and strategists as being more hesitant to stand by a Trump 2020 run, and points out a break from tradition as possible candidates that in prior years may have respectfully laid low this earlier on in the presidency, have...

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz will be in East Texas on Friday, touring local businesses and taking part in a roundtable discussion at Tyler Junior College. “East Texas is home to many hardworking Texans and job creators that contribute significantly to the engine of Texas’ economy,” Phil Novack, a spokesman for the senator, said. “Sen. Cruz looks forward to visiting with folks in Kilgore and Tyler, listening to their concerns and discussing solutions that will help create jobs and spur economic growth for the region.” At 10 a.m., Cruz will tour the Skeeter Boats manufacturing facility in Kilgore. At 11:30 a.m.,...

Sen. John McCain pronounced President Trump's objections to the sweeping sanctions measure he signed Thursday "misplaced" and said it was "critical" that Mr. Trump comply with and implement the act, as signed. "The concerns expressed in the President's signing statement are hardly surprising, though misplaced," McCain said in a statement soon after the president signed a bill which limits his ability to unilaterally alter sanctions against Russia, Iran and North Korea. The Arizona senator also took the opportunity to take a stand for the powers of Congress, which rival the president's. "The Framers of our Constitution made the Congress and...

Pelosi’s pitch was straightforward: our economy is rigged against America’s workers and only Democrats can fix it. One small problem: America has heard this before. On countless commercials. In numerous debates. For months on end. As highlighted by even supportive media outlets, A Better Deal is largely a rehash of solutions offered by Hillary Clinton during her failed presidential campaign. That doesn’t mean A Better Deal is without merit, as Fox’s Chris Wallace noted. But clearly something was missing when Clinton made these same losing arguments. The American people were looking for something more. Something different. And that underlines why...