Free Republic

South Dakota Senator John Thune—not Senator Rick Scott, the preferred choice of some in the Make America Great Again (MAGA) faction—will be the next Senate majority leader following a vote by Senate Republicans on Wednesday. Thune, who has been serving as minority whip, has previously criticized President-elect Donald Trump but has supported an overwhelming majority of his policies. Here's how Thune has voted under the past two administrations. Thune's Voting Record During Trump's First Term During President-elect Donald Trump's first term, beginning in 2017, Thune largely voted in line with Trump's positions. In the 115th Congress, from 2017 to 2019,...

....Through the increasingly common process known as “ballot curing,” campaigns are contacting voters whose ballots were not counted because of a technicality and giving them a chance to correct their mistakes. That could mean asking them to correct their address or add their signature to an envelope they forgot to sign. The stakes are especially high in California’s battleground districts, where voters could determine which party will control the House of Representatives next year. Of the 11 congressional races nationwide where the Associated Press has not called a winner as of Wednesday, five are in California. Republicans need only one...

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"Attorney General, you've told us that it's a dangerous conspiracy theory to allege that the Department of Justice is communicating with these state and local prosecutions against Trump. You can clear it all up for us right now. Will the Department of Justice provide to the committee all documents, all correspondence between the department and Alvin Bragg's office, Fani Willis's office, and Letitia James's office?" "The offices you're referring to are independent offices of the state." "I get that, I get that. The question is whether or not you will provide all of your documents and correspondence. That's the question....

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) will resign from Congress “effective immediately” after being nominated to serve as attorney general by President-elect Trump, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) announced on Wednesday. DEVELOPING.

Wednesday announced the state is conducting a recount of the Senate race between incumbent Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and challenger David McCormick because the results were within 0.5%. McCormick, who was declared the winner by the Associated Press, is currently leading Casey by 29,000 votes as of Wednesday. According to the Pennsylvania Department of State, Casey received 3,350,972 (48.5%) votes and McCormick got 3,380,310 (48.93%), CBS News reported. Casey has declined to concede the race so far, but said on Tuesday that election workers are still working to count the seven million ballots that have been cast in the 2024...

Former President Trump shocked and appalled some Republican lawmakers on Wednesday by announcing plans to nominate Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) for attorney general. Why it matters: Republican reaction to even Trump's most controversial nominations has been muted so far, but placing the scandal-prone right-winger in the nation's highest law enforcement role is a step too far for many. We wanted him out of the House ... this isn't what we were thinking," quipped one House Republican, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak frankly about Trump's decision. What we're hearing: Trump's announcement was met with audible gasps by...

@kaitrumpgolfer: come along with me for election night with my entire family!

Somebody pointed out that every one of Trump's picks have either been attacked by liberals or they have been abused by government processes.

...Founded in 1998, the Alliance for Global Justice let Samidoun borrow its charitable tax privileges to operate and raise funds in the United States without obtaining its own organizational credentials. In other words, the Alliance for Global Justice and Samidoun are legally indistinguishable...The Tides Foundation said the purpose of its grant to the Alliance for Global Justice in 2023 was to support a "sustainable environment."...The Treasury Department in October described Samidoun as a "sham charity that serves as an international fundraiser for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization." The PFLP cut its teeth in the...

In total, the Minnesota Parents Alliance says it helped 80 candidates win elections to local school boards this election cycle.. In just its third election cycle since its inception, the Minnesota Parents Alliance saw its endorsed candidates win a number of pivotal school board races across the state. The grassroots organization said its candidates helped clinch parent-aligned majorities in four major school districts this election: Lakeville, Prior Lake-Savage, Elk River and Forest Lake. In Lakeville School District #194, MPA-endorsed candidates Paul Carbone and Matt Swanson won two of the three seats up for grabs among a field of nine candidates....

Nancy Pelosi, whose fingerprints are all over the defenestration of President Biden, has expressed deep sadness at the rupture in their relationship. The two go back decades, to a time when a then-young Delaware Sen. Joe Biden was on the rise and Pelosi, a mother of five and devoted Democratic Party volunteer, hosted one of San Francisco's must-stop political salons. (The kids were pressed into duty as waitstaff.)She now praises Biden as one of the nation's greatest and most consequential presidents, deserving, even, of a place on Mt. Rushmore.But when it comes to campaigns and elections, the former House speaker...

President Trump has announced his nomination of Florida Senator Marco Rubio for the position of Secretary of State.

A study led by Prof. Bernard Lerer shows promising results for using psilocybin, a psychedelic compound, as a potential treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and Tourette's syndrome. The research provides significant insights into the benefits of psilocybin for managing symptoms similar to those experienced by people with OCD and Tourette's syndrome. The study included 50 genetically modified mice that displayed excessive grooming and anxiety, similar to human OCD behaviors and head-body twitches similar to tics suffered by patients with Tourette's syndrome. These mice were randomly given either a single injection of psilocybin, a psychedelic mushroom extract, or a placebo. Raters,...

Must feel pretty good to be a Freeper right now... It's a clean sweep with House/Senate majorities and Trump in the White House You have 2 years to get your priorities through the system. It's going to be interesting. What's on your list? For me the pardons (hopefully coming immediately) just as important. Everything is going our way. It's crazy. Let's hope the 2 years isn't wasted from the appointments so far Trump will not be repeating mistakes often made and complained about during his first term that's for sure. It's all good! 😂

U.S. — In one of the most truly magnanimous gestures in all of human history, the Babylon Bee is officially offering to hire all the employees being laid off by Fake News rival CNN. "We're not here to gloat. We're here to help," said Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon. "Look, the Fake News industry is fiercely competitive, and CNN has incredible talent. We may be rivals, but at the end of the day, we're human beings -- human beings who love making up the news." CNN announced yesterday that due to massive declines in viewership, several top anchors would soon...

Attempting to undercut President-elect Trump's nomination of Pete Hegseth as defense secretary, Wednesday's Morning Joe misled on the key issue of the physical fitness of female soldiers. After playing a clip of Hegseth expressing his opposition to women in combat, and proposing that the military adopt the same gender-neutral fitness standards that were in place in 1995, the show brought on NBC national security editor David Rohde, who said: I think clips like the one you played will raise major issues. There are women in combat. And women who engage in ground combat have to take physical tests. Can they...

Doctors have used a new catheter-based approach to draw out resistant pockets of infection that settle in the heart, known as right-sided infective endocarditis, without surgery. Unless treated quickly, the walled-off infections can grow, severely damaging heart valves and potentially affecting other organs as well. In a recent study, over 90% of the participants had their infection cleared, and they had lower in-hospital mortality compared to those whose infections remained. The research is part of a Mayo Clinic-led study across 19 U.S. sites involving patients who were not good candidates for surgery and whose right-sided heart infections had not responded...

Republicans against Trump @RpsAgainstTrump Kevin McCarthy on Matt Gaetz: “I'll give you the truth why I'm not speaker. It's because one person, a member of Congress, wanted me to stop an ethics complaint because he slept with a 17-year-old…”

The Trump transition team is floating a draft executive order that would establish a “warrior board” of retired senior military personnel tasked with reviewing three- and four-star officers and to recommending removals of any deemed unfit for leadership, according to reports. The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that the EO would “fast track” the removal of officers found to be “lacking in requisite leadership qualities,” possibly referring in part to former President Trump’s vow to purge “woke generals” from power. “It’s gotten way too big,” one person familiar with the transition told the WSJ. “Trump also expects that many of...