Free Republic

The Trump administration apologized in court for a “mistake” in the deportation of a Massachusetts college student who was detained trying to fly home to surprise her family for Thanksgiving, but still argued the error should not affect her case. Any Lucia Lopez Belloza, a 19-year-old Babson College freshman, was detained at Boston’s airport on Nov. 20 and flown to Honduras two days later. Her removal came despite an emergency court order on Nov. 21 directing the government to keep her in Massachusetts or elsewhere in the United States for at least 72 hours. “On behalf of the government, we...

President Trump announced early Wednesday that his administration will strip federal funding from sanctuary cities and states, in line with policies he promoted on the campaign trail. “EFFECTIVE FEBRUARY FIRST, NO MORE PAYMENTS WILL BE MADE BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO STATES FOR THEIR CORRUPT CRIMINAL PROTECTION CENTERS KNOWN AS SANCTUARY CITIES,” the president wrote in a post on Truth Social.“ALL THEY DO IS BREED CRIME AND VIOLENCE! If States want them, they will have to pay for them! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!” he added.The post follows his Tuesday speech at the Detroit Economic Club when he said sanctuary cities...

Ukrainian air defenses were in action around Kyiv on Wednesday morning as Russian forces launched another mass drone attack targeting the city's already ravaged power and heating infrastructure with multiple explosions heard downtown. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that following the raid -- the third major attack in five days -- 6,000 buildings, about half of all buildings, were without power amid freezing temperatures. Deputy Energy Minister Mykola Kolisnyk said Tuesday that Russia was "going all in" to take out Ukraine's energy infrastructure after mass attacks targeting power and gas facilities overnight Monday and Jan. 9. The state-run electricity network operator...

House Oversight Republicans will begin contempt of Congress proceedings against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton after she failed to appear for a deposition Wednesday as part of the committee's investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Why it matters: Both Clintons will face contempt of Congress proceedings — a rarely used congressional enforcement tool. The Clintons are refusing to comply with subpoenas, laying out in a Monday letter, obtained by Axios, to Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) why they considered the subpoenas "invalid and legally unenforceable." "Since this started, we've been asking what the hell Hillary Clinton has to...

This is the week that the General Assembly opens and Virginia will likely take one step closer to becoming the abortion center of the south. Please take a moment to read the message below and do your part to speak out against this dreadful amendment. Use the action center link here. https://vshl.org/legislative-action-center2/#/121 Hundreds of Virginians are in Richmond this week to speak up for Life. If you can’t be there, please send a message to your legislator, regardless of how they voted last year on the Amendment. Pro-abortion forces in the newly-elected 2026 General Assembly have vowed to make passage...

Jan 13 (Reuters) - Sugary drinks and alcohol are not being sufficiently taxed and remain affordable, making it harder to tackle the chronic health problems caused by these beverages, according to two reports from the World Health Organization. The WHO has called for higher taxes on alcohol and sugar-sweetened drinks multiple times in recent years, arguing it would help cut consumption of the products which contribute to diseases such as diabetes, as well as raise money at a time when development aid is shrinking and public debt is rising. According to a report from WHO, sugary drinks have become more...

House Speaker Mike Johnson poured cold water on President Donald Trump’s proposal to cap credit card interest rates, telling reporters Tuesday that Trump “probably had not thought through” the negative consequences for consumers. Trump, as part of his affordability push, floated a temporary 10% cap on credit card rates Friday, adding that he wants a freeze to begin for one year starting on Jan. 20. The proposal would likely require Congress to act, but Johnson signaled his chamber would not be taking up legislation anytime soon. “You’ve got to be very careful if you go forward in that, in the...

The Supreme Court released opinions in three cases this morning.The first case is by Justice Jackson in Barrett v US, a case about whether a defendant who commits a single act that violates two separate provisions of 18 USC 924 can be convicting under only one provision or the other, or instead can be convicted under two.The court holds that Congress did not clearly authorize convictions under both.Barrett opinionNext in Case v. Montana, by Kagan, the Court ruled:"The court holds that the "objective reasonableness" standard for warrantless entries to render emergency aid applies "without further gloss." And it was satisfied...

Energy Louisiana Trial Lawyers Steered Thousands to Judge Overseeing Their Case Against Oil Companies—Then Won a $744 Million Judgment 'The whole thing is set up as a kangaroo court,' former AG Bill Barr tells Free Beacon L: Offshore oil and gas platform (Mario Tama/Getty Images) R: Chevron logo Thomas Catenacci January 12, 2026 The Louisiana attorneys who helped secure a landmark verdict requiring U.S. oil company Chevron to pay $744 million in environmental damages gave nearly $15,000 to the state judge who presided over the case, ethics filings reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon show. The Baton Rouge-based law firm...

Pete Hegseth flashed a Vulcan salute Monday as he joined Elon Musk at SpaceX headquarters, where the war secretary touted the Pentagon’s wartime approach to unleashing technological innovation. “We want to make Star Trek real,” Musk said as he welcomed Hegseth to Starbase, the small South Texas town incorporated by SpaceX employees and home to the tech tycoon’s massive rocket-building facility and launch site. “Star Trek real,” Hegseth quipped after being introduced by Musk. The war secretary’s remarks – part of his “Arsenal of Freedom” tour – emphasized the need for the US to “win the strategic competition for 21st...

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, the Massachusetts-based Obama judge who blocked the Trump administration from cutting federal funds to Planned Parenthood last month, issued a temporary restraining order on Saturday preventing the Department of Homeland Security from revoking the legal status of tens of thousands of foreigners. The Trump administration announced last month that it was terminating all categorical family reunification parole programs and corresponding work authorization for aliens from Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, and Honduras as well as for their immediate family members, effective Dec. 15. Per the announcement, the "temporary parole period of aliens who...

The Trump administration has intensified its efforts to enhance vetting of foreign nationals entering the U.S., resulting in a record number of visa revocations. The Department of State announced that in 2025, it revoked over 100,000 foreign visas, including 8,000 student visas and 2,500 specialized worker visas. That figure is more than double the number of visas that were revoked in 2024 — 40,000 — under former President Joe Biden's leadership. Foreign nationals whose visas were canceled included those who had encounters with U.S. law enforcement for criminal activity, the State Department reported. "We will continue to deport these thugs...

In the last few months, we have gained valuable insights into former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s unprecedented effort to criminally prosecute President Donald Trump, at the time a former president and leading contender for the presidency. In Injustice, Washington Post reporters Carol Leonnig and Aaron Davis, appearing to rely heavily on accounts from Smith’s top deputies, paint a picture of a prosecutor doggedly focused on one objective: prosecuting Trump. On New Year’s Eve, however, the House Judiciary Committee released the transcript of Smith’s closed-door deposition. While a prosecutor’s crusade to imprison a presidential candidate is troubling in itself, Smith’s deposition...

Federal regulators on Tuesday told drugmakers Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly to remove label warnings about potential suicidal thoughts and behaviors from their blockbuster weight-loss medications. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said a comprehensive review “found no increased” risk related to suicide among users of the GLP-1 drugs for obesity, including Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Saxenda and Eli Lilly’s Zepbound. A preliminary review in January 2024 showed no link between the drugs and suicidal thought or actions, the FDA said. At that time, however, officials said they could not rule out that “a small risk may exist.” The new...

Left-wing activists in Minneapolis are targeting ICE with a highly organized on-the-ground harassment and tracking operation, complete with hotel and license plate lists, “noise demonstrations,” and training on how to “stop ICE.” The extremist groups at the forefront of this operation have received millions of dollars from the left’s most powerful money machines, including George Soros’s Open Society Foundations, the Ford Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, the Tides Foundation, and the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a Washington Free Beacon review found. At the center is the Sunrise Movement, which has shifted from climate activism into anti-ICE agitation in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Sunrise operatives...

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry signed extradition paperwork Tuesday to seek the prosecution of a California abortionist accused of illegally shipping abortion pills into the state. Landry is vowing to hold accountable those who undermine Louisiana’s pro-life laws and endanger women and unborn children. “I am signing the extradition paperwork to bring this California doctor to justice,” Landry posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Louisiana has a zero tolerance policy for those who subvert our laws, seek to hurt women, and promote abortion.” The Republican governor added: “I know Gavin Newsom supports abortion in all its forms, but that doesn’t...

President Donald Trump says the US will take "very strong action" against Iran if it executes protesters, after earlier telling Iranians "help is on the way" It comes as relatives of 26-year-old Erfan Soltani, who was detained last week, tell BBC Persian he is due to be executed today More than 2,400 anti-government demonstrators have been killed in a violent crackdown by Iranian authorities, according to a US-based rights group Trump has been weighing military and other options in response, having already announced 25% tariffs on any country trading with Iran Iran's government has accused the US of seeking to...

I don’t think anyone would confuse Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson with a sharp legal mind. She often comes across as the poster child for what’s wrong with DEI hires. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Little v. Hecox, a case that will likely decide whether laws barring biological males from competing on girls’ sports teams are constitutional. Given that Jackson famously admitted during her confirmation hearings that she didn’t know what a woman was — because, as she put it, she’s “not a biologist” — you knew she was bound to be a real spectacle. And true...

According to an exclusive by The Daily Beast, a Department of Homeland Security whistleblower leaked personal information and sensitive details of roughly 4,500 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol employees, including agents.Sensitive details of around 4,500 ICE and Border Patrol employees—including almost 2,000 agents working in frontline enforcement—have allegedly been released by a Department of Homeland Security whistleblower following last week’s fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good.So, you could be a secretary, a stenographer, an interpreter, or an analyst, but you may now be a target of left-wing crazies who want anyone involved with ICE or Border Patrol...

U.S. Senate and House negotiators on Sunday night jointly released the overdue text for the fiscal 2026 foreign aid and diplomacy spending bill. And, somewhat surprisingly, it largely rejects the draconian cuts sought by U.S. President Donald Trump and even provides funding for several journalism organizations and democracy-promotion efforts that billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency tried to shutter. House Republicans highlighted the $9.3 billion (or 16 percent) in spending cuts that the compromise legislation would make to top-line funding levels compared to fiscal 2025 enacted levels. Senate Democrats, meanwhile, touted that the spending measure is still $3.8 billion...