Free Republic

In Focus delivers deeper coverage of the political, cultural, and ideological issues shaping America. Published daily by senior writers and experts, these in-depth pieces go beyond the headlines to give readers the full picture. You can find our full list of In Focus pieces here. An op-ed in the New York Times on Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) this week, He’s One of a Dying Breed in Congress. America Needs Him Now More Than Ever, could not have been any more sycophantic.The Times hasn't endorsed a Republican presidential candidate since Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956. That means they loved the likes...

Jared Polls, the Democrat governor of Colorado, reduces the sentence of election denier Tina Peters. She will be released the 1 June, says the Governor.

The Biden administration may have failed to convince Congress to double Medicaid spending on home healthcare in 2021, but the funding increase occurred anyway. An RCI analysis of federal data has found that spending on the program, which pays health aides and family members to act as caregivers for elderly and disabled adults, nearly doubled between 2019 and 2024, to $46.4 billion a year – an amount nearly identical to the $50 billion per year Biden wanted. As a result, American taxpayers paid more than $217 billion for home-based care under the program during that five-year span. Lacking congressional approval,...

The National Rifle Association is suing Virginia Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger for her signing of a measure to make illegal the buying, selling, importing, manufacturing and/or the transfer of assault weapons in the state. The NRA filed lawsuits in both federal and state courts, arguing the law is unconstitutional. Supporters argue the legislation removes "weapons of war" from the streets, making Virginia safer from violence, but opponents argue the law punishes law-abiding citizens, WRIC reported. “As promised, we are taking Abigail Spanberger to court," the NRA, the Second Amendment rights group said in a statement. "Throughout the legislative session, the...

Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee announced on Friday that he signed a document requesting not to be included on the ballot in Tennessee's 9th Congressional District. The congressman described the district determined by "new lines" as "nothing like the 9th district that I've represented." The Democratic primary in the district is scheduled to take place in August. Speaking after his announcement, Cohen described President Donald Trump as "the greatest threat to democracy, and to … decorum … and grace, that we've ever seen."

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman Steve Cohen, who has represented Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District for more than 19 years, announced he is withdrawing from the race Friday morning. Cohen says his majority-Black district was gerrymandered into three Republican-leaning districts by the state General Assembly last week. The deadline to file to run in the redrawn District 9, as well as Districts 5 and 8 in the Memphis area, is noon Friday.

New poll indicates around half of right-wing voters see losing elections as 'upsetting but manageable,' while only negligible percentage of left-wing voters will respect results not in their favor. Ahead of the expected elections in about six months, data from the "Israeli Society Index" for May 2026 reveals deep ideological gaps regarding the rules of the democratic game. The index examined how Israelis would respond if the political side they support loses the elections, and the results point to a severe crisis of trust, especially on the left side of the political map. The data shows that as voters move...

The Senate Parliamentarian on Thursday struck down three key provisions of the Senate’s reconciliation bill Last month, the House of Representatives passed the Senate-approved package to fund the Department of Homeland Security by voice vote, ending the 75-day shutdown. ICE and Border Patrol were to be funded separately through a reconciliation package. Senate Republicans put together a $72 billion reconciliation package to fund ICE and Border Patrol. On Thursday, Democrat and Republican staffers met with Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough to go through the reconciliation package. Elizabeth MacDonough, the Obama-era Senate Parliamentarian, struck down key provisions: Main Border Patrol funding, additional...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A Tennessee judge has denied a request for a temporary restraining order in a lawsuit over the state's new congressional districts, court documents show. Judge William L. Campbell, Jr., the Chief U.S. District Judge for the Middle District of Tennessee, issued the order on Thursday. In it, Campbell said the reasons for the denial would be in a "forthcoming Memorandum." Additionally, Campbell's order also canceled a hearing set for May 20. The lawsuit was filed by multiple Tennessee Democrats, including the current representative for District 9, Steve Cohen, as well as the Tennessee Democratic Party following the...

The Supreme Court decided Thursday to allow women to have access to the abortion pill mifepristone through telehealth visits as the issue makes it way through lower courts. The high court previously placed a pause on an appeals court decision that would block access to the abortion drug amid an ongoing lawsuit, which was set to expire Thursday. Conservative Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented from the order, which granted emergency requests brought by drugmakers Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro seeking to block the appeals court ruling, per NBC News. The case involves mifepristone, one of the two...

Defendant Allegedly Attempted to Defraud the New York City Campaign Finance Board of $1 Million in Public Matching Funds Earlier today in federal court in Brooklyn, a criminal complaint was unsealed charging Angela Aquino, a 2025 candidate for New York City Public Advocate, with wire fraud in connection with her scheme to defraud New York City’s campaign finance system to obtain public matching funds. Aquino was arrested today and is scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon by United States Magistrate Judge Clay H. Kaminsky. Joseph Nocella, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; Nadia I. Shihata,...

The Supreme Court will be releasing Opinions this morning at 10:00.Scotusblog will be liveblogging the opinion release and we will be following along.There are opinions pending in 35 cases from the October 2025 term. A list of cases from this term can be found here.One case of interest is Trump v. Slaughter Issues: (1) Whether the statutory removal protections for members of the Federal Trade Commission violate the separation of powers and, if so, whether Humphrey’s Executor v. United States should be overruled. (2) Whether a federal court may prevent a person’s removal from public office, either through relief at...

Mike Pence anointed himself to stand athwart the populist Right with a whistle in his mouth, screaming for conservatives to “get out of the pool.” The imagery fits him perfectly. Pence increasingly resembles that obnoxious childhood lifeguard we all remember—the self-important scold, high on perceived power, perched way above everyone else. As such, Pence is convinced that enforcing his rules matters more than understanding why people jumped into the water in the first place.

CIA officer James Erdman told the Senate's Homeland Security Committee that his employer suppressed its own assessments that COVID likely came from a lab. The former head of the Trump administration's investigation into COVID-19's origins told Congress today that the CIA actively frustrated his work by withholding records, retaliating against agency personnel who cooperated with the investigation, and surveilling investigators' computer and phone usage and contact with whistleblowers. "These were Americans being spied upon illegally while executing duties directed by the president and under the director of National Intelligence," James Erdman III, a current CIA officer who led the Office...

Republican Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves called off a planned special session to redraw the state’s Supreme Court districts, even as he said Mississippi could still revisit its congressional map amid a broader GOP redistricting push in the South. Reeves announced Wednesday that he would cancel the special session scheduled to begin next week, which had been called to address Mississippi Supreme Court districts. Several Republican lawmakers and President Donald Trump had pushed Reeves to add congressional redistricting to the agenda as part of a broader effort to create safer Republican seats amid a nationwide redistricting battle. Reeves said the cancellation...

Georgia GOP Gov. Brian Kemp signaled his state is joining the nationwide redistricting battle Wednesday by calling for a special legislative session to redraw the congressional maps. Kemp signed a proclamation that calls a special session of the Georgia General Assembly for June 17 to address the Supreme Court's historic ruling that is expected to require changes to the state's electoral maps before the 2028 elections. The Supreme Court ruled last month that Louisiana's second majority-Black congressional district relied too heavily on race and was therefore an unconstitutional gerrymander. The special session will only be allowed to cover two topics....

Sounds like House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) has conceded defeat in the 2026 redistricting battle, but like George Costanza and the Jerk Store, he’s already plotting his revenge in 2028. If you take a deep breath, you can smell the failure laced with no small amount of humiliation… “In advance of 2028, where we will have additional states that will come online, including but not limited to New York, New Jersey, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Illinois, and Maryland,” says Jeffries. “That’s at least seven states. We will be able to unleash a decisive and forceful response to what they are...

The Trump administration has moved to seize more than 14 acres of land owned by the Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces to expand border‑wall infrastructure near Mount Cristo Rey in southern New Mexico, according to court documents reported by KVIA. The effort puts federal border‑security construction on a collision course with religious‑freedom protections tied to one of the region’s most significant Catholic pilgrimage sites. If approved by a judge, the action could disrupt annual pilgrimages and set a legal test for using eminent domain against religious institutions along the U.S.-Mexico border. The civil case was filed at the request of...

A decorated FBI official who is suing the agency for wrongful dismissal said he was asked to pledge loyalty to Donald Trump during his vetting for the role. In his first interview since leaving the FBI in 2025, Brian Driscoll, who served as the interim director of the agency under the US president, told CNN he was repeatedly asked about his personal political views while being interviewed for the role. Mr Driscoll and two other senior FBI officials are suing Kash Patel, the head of the agency, and the FBI over allegations of wrongful termination. The lawsuit accuses Mr Patel...

CAMARILLO, Calif., May 12, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Salem Media, Inc. (OTCQX: SALM) today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by The Christian Community Foundation, Inc., d/b/a WaterStone in a transaction that will take the company private and strengthen Salem’s long-term mission across radio, digital media, streaming, podcasting, television, and publishing. Edward Atsinger III, Salem co-founder and board member, said finding the right long-term steward for the company was a priority. “For the last ten years the Atsinger and Epperson families have been looking for a successor that would continue to carry the torch of...