Free Republic

Jerome Powell is not quite done running the Federal Reserve yet. The Federal Reserve Board voted on Friday to designate Jerome Powell as chair pro tempore until Kevin Warsh is sworn in as the new chair. The move was announced in a terse press release: “This temporary action to name the incumbent as chair pro tempore is consistent with past practice during similar transitions between chairs.” The press release did not explain what statutory authority the Board was relying on. Nor did it address the fact that the claim of consistency with precedent is, in critical respects, unsupported by the...

California remains the largest offender of DHS sanctuary jurisdictions violations House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Chairman Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA) chaired a high-stakes hearing Thursday exposing the deadly consequences of so-called sanctuary policies, using Fairfax County, Virginia, as a case study in how local officials prioritize illegal aliens over public safety. In his opening statement and pointed questioning, McClintock dismantled the “nullification” doctrine embraced by sanctuary jurisdictions, likening it to John C. Calhoun’s failed states’ rights theory that once threatened the Republic. “These nullification or sanctuary jurisdictions now extend to 11 states–coincidentally the same number as...

A New York man was convicted Wednesday of helping operate a secret Chinese government-linked police station in Manhattan used to monitor dissidents, federal prosecutors said. Lu Jianwang, 64, a U.S. citizen also known as "Harry Lu" from the Bronx, was convicted by a jury on two counts related to operating an overseas police station in New York City on behalf of China’s Ministry of Public Security (MPS), as well as obstruction of justice for destroying evidence. According to prosecutors, Lu and his co-defendant, Chen Jinping, acted as illegal agents of the Chinese government beginning in 2022 and established what authorities...

n a move that's left progressive D.C. absolutely reeling, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro just announced that if your little angel is out running wild in one of those charming "teen takeover" thingies that have been terrorizing our nation's capital, you - yes, you, the parent - are going to face consequences. VIDEO AT LINK........ Parents, do your job. Or we will do ours. As Pirro says, taxpayers shouldn't have to keep footing the bill for what she calls "parental neglect." Breathe it in, folks, this is what sanity smells like! For those of you unaware,...

We are in the midst of a headlong global birth crash—a plunge underway all around the world, in rich and poor regions alike, very possibly presaging an indefinite global depopulation, with our “peak human” moment coming much sooner than almost anyone imagined even a few years ago. This is not what demography’s experts long predicted. For decades, demographers simply assumed that the postwar drop in worldwide birth rates would lead to an eventual equilibrium, with childbearing converging in one region after another at a little over two births per woman, the level required for long-term replacement. They envisioned a mere...

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,...

In [2021-2023], thousands of children crossed the border alone and ended up working in some of the most dangerous jobs in the country. Migrant children as young as 13 suffered chemical burns on overnight factory shifts, had their limbs mangled by conveyor belts or fell to their deaths from roofs......[HHS Secretary] Xavier Becerra [who was in charge of finding homes for the kids] began urging staff members to move them more quickly through shelters... Employees told me they loosened protections that had been in place for years, including in screening sponsors... Most of [the kids Becerra placed with sponsors] were...

We’ve been having a debate about “book bans” in recent years, but given the steep decline in student literacy, the deeper question is how any child would even notice whether a book is available in a school library. The Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford recently published an eye-opening study documenting steep declines in student test scores, especially in reading. Over the past 10 years, reading scores have declined in 83% of America’s school districts. What looked like a COVID-driven catastrophe is instead part of a long-running trend. Reading scores were falling at a similar clip prior to the pandemic, from...

Los Angeles mayoral hopeful Nithya Raman wanted to ban backyard barbecues for residents during certain high fire danger days across the city. Raman introduced a motion Wednesday directing city officials to examine emergency restrictions on grilling during Red Flag Warning days, when high winds and dry conditions significantly increase wildfire danger across Los Angeles. The proposal specifically asks officials to consider possible limits on backyard barbecues, fire pits and other open flames in residential neighborhoods during those high-risk weather events.

Following a third round of talks between Lebanon and Israel held Thursday and Friday in Washington, the United States said the ceasefire between the two sides has been extended and that separate security discussions will be launched later this month. “The April 16 cessation of hostilities will be extended by 45 days to enable further progress,” State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in an X post following the talks. The two sides will reconvene political talks on June 2 and June 3, Pigott said.

Key Points Canada is allowing 49,000 Chinese-made electric vehicles to be imported for retail sales annually at a tariff rate of 6.1%. That’s opening the market for auto dealers in the country to sell Chinese EVs. “I think it is going to a be a huge eye-opener,” Michael MacGillivray, who oversees 10 dealerships in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, Canada, told CNBC. ============================================================ HALIFAX, Nova Scotia — Michael MacGillivray sees the arrival of Chinese electric vehicles in Canada as a potential game changer. “I think it is going to a be a huge eye-opener,” said MacGillivray, who oversees 10 dealerships...

Dr. Mehmet Oz, President Donald Trump’s point man for Medicare and Medicaid, says the billions of entitlement fraud being uncovered in Democrat states may be intentionally driven by politics rather than incompetence. “I do think it's a feature for some of these states,” Oz told Just the News in a wide-ranging interview Thursday night in which he detailed why the administration led by Vice President JD Vance temporarily pulled $1.3 billion in Medicaid funding from California and uncovered foreign fraudsters stealing taxpayer welfare monies. “Republicans always suspected there was fraud of this magnitude. Democrats feel embarrassed that it's gotten this...

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., introduced legislation to improve menopausal and mid-life health care for women, featuring AI for better diagnostics. The Advancing Menopause Care and Mid-Life Women’s Health Act calls for a strengthened public health apparatus for women’s midlife care, including public outreach campaigns, research programs and treatment. It specifically calls for more government oversight efforts to gauge the safety and efficacy of AI-powered devices for new treatments and diagnostic tools designed for addressing midlife, perimenopause or menopausal symptoms.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker had a "minor complication" from a recent procedure and was taken to a Springfield hospital earlier this week, a spokesperson for the governor confirmed to NBC Chicago Friday. The complication stemmed from an earlier urology procedure, with Pritzker going to a Springfield hospital overnight Wednesday and into Thursday morning.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has secured a $10 million settlement in a case against Texas Children's Hospital over illegal sex changes in the form of surgeries and prescriptions being given to minors. As part of the settlement, the hospital will also be forced to fund a "detransition" clinic and treat those patients free of charge for the first five years. The settlement follows an investigation into the hospital begun in 2023 by Paxton's office accused of providing sex change treatments to minors after Governor Greg Abbott signed legislation banning children from getting puberty blockers and cross-sex hormone treatments. “Today...

On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision allowing the abortion pill to continue to be dispensed through the mail as a Louisiana lawsuit proceeds. Key Takeaways: * The U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision on May 14 stating that the abortion pill can continue to be dispensed through the mail as Louisiana's lawsuit proceeds. * Following the filing of a lawsuit by the State of Louisiana that sought to reverse the FDA's 2023 changes to abortion pill regulations, the Fifth Circuit paused mail order dispensing. * The abortion pill manufacturer Danco Laboratories filed an emergency application before the...

The French Senate on Tuesday rejected a bill to legalize assisted suicide for the second time, voting down Article 2 of the legislation — which established a right to the procedure — by 151 votes to 118. The upper chamber overwhelmingly approved a separate measure to improve access to palliative care, passing it 325-18 without amendment. The bill, which has twice passed the more left-leaning National Assembly, would allow adults with an incurable or terminal illness to request lethal medication they could self-administer or have a medical professional administer if they are unable. However, as experience has shown when other...

MONTGOMERY, Ala. —President Trump in his first term proved a windfall for the Southern Poverty Law Center, the antiracism nonprofit famed for its courtroom wins against the Ku Klux Klan decades ago. In 2017, the same year Trump took office and a white-nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., turned violent, annual contributions and grants to SPLC surged from $50 million to more than $130 million and have remained above $100 million nearly every year since.

Pete Hegseth’s last-minute decision to cancel the deployment of 4,000 troops to Poland caught Pentagon staff and European allies by surprise — the latest example of an abrupt personnel move from the Defense secretary that blindsided both sides of the Atlantic. It wasn’t clear exactly why Hegseth issued the order, according to three defense officials familiar with the matter. President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed anger and frustration with European allies for their failure to help with the Iran war, although Trump has labeled Poland a “model ally” for its high defense spending. The decision was even more surprising because...