Free Republic

*** A coalition of 20 attorneys general, led by New York AG Letitia James and California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the lawsuit Monday, arguing that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s demand that states turn over personal information about SNAP recipients dating back five years, violates privacy laws. SNAP is a federally-funded, state-administered program that provides billions of dollars in food benefits to tens of millions of low-income individuals and families in the United States. The new USDA demands, released last week, require states to provide a list of individuals who have applied or are currently receiving SNAP benefits, in...

A total of eight people were shot after a party in downtown Los Angeles overnight, and police say two of them are dead. The shooting took place around 1 a.m. Monday in the area of East 14th Place and Paloma Street, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. The address provided by authorities is located in an industrial zone just north of the 10 Freeway. LAPD officers had previously been in the area around 11 p.m. Sunday to shut a party down, but it wasn’t immediately clear whether the gathering of people early Monday was connected to the earlier party...

The US plans to impose tariffs of 39% on Swiss imports as of August 7, the White House said on the night of Thursday-Friday – a rate even higher than the 31% announced by Trump in April. The tariff hike also deviates “significantly” from the draft of a joint declaration of intent which had been the result of intensive discussions between both sides in recent months, according to the Swiss government, which approved the draft on July 4. As such, a spokesman for the finance ministry spoke on Friday of “great regret” that the US intends to impose steep unilateral...

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is threatening felony charges and replacement of Texas state Democrats as they push to block a vote for a Trump-backed congressional map. House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) joins Ana Cabrera, slamming Republican leaders in Texas and the Trump administration for the gerrymandered map.

A 25% tariff on shrimp from India is shaking up the seafood industry and drawing praise from Texas shrimpers and one Gulf Coast congressman. “Our domestic shrimpers, including those in my district, have struggled to compete against the unprecedented amount of foreign shrimp that has been imported into our country for far too long,” said U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX). “By imposing a 25% tariff on imports from India, President Trump is demonstrating that the United States of America won’t be taken advantage of … I applaud President Trump’s decisive action that puts American shrimpers first.” The White House announced...

Surveillance video released of a immigrant kidnapping a girl at a shopping mall in Fairfax, Virginia In another alarming incident that raises serious questions about public safety and immigration control in the United States, surveillance footage from a shopping mall in Fairfax, Virginia, captured the exact moment when a man, identified as Andrés Casares Jordán —a suspected inmigrant— abducted a young girl in broad daylight. The shocking video shows the child walking out alone from the play area while her father was distracted with another child. Seconds later, the suspect appears, watches her, follows her, and effortlessly picks her up...

Is Jerry Jones a great NFL owner? Maybe: It kinda depends on your criteria. If you think the fundamental job of an NFL owner is generating wealth, then Jones is one of the most stunningly successful owners in the history of sports. He bought the Cowboys in 1989 for $140 million, and today his franchise is worth about $11 billion. Not too shabby of an ROI. More importantly, his aggressive approach to branding, merchandising, and marketing revolutionized the league. At first, the NFL threw a yellow hanky in the air, serving him with a $300 million lawsuit for carving independent...

Indian Oil Corp (IOC.NS), opens new tab has bought 7 million barrels of crude from the United States, Canada and the Middle East, four trade sources said on Monday, as U.S. President Donald Trump ramped up his criticism of the country over its purchases of Russian oil. India is the biggest buyer of seaborne crude from Russia, which is under Western-led sanctions over its war in Ukraine. Its main refiners paused buying Russian oil last week as discounts to other suppliers narrowed after Trump threatened hefty tariffs on imports from countries that make any such purchases, Reuters reported last week....

Indian officials said on Saturday that they would keep purchasing cheap oil from Russia despite a threat of penalties from President Trump, the latest twist in an issue that New Delhi thought it had settled. The defiance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government reflected increasing frustration with a relationship that was once much praised but has been souring rapidly. There is a growing sense in India that its leaders should not allow increasingly volatile American policymaking to shape its choices on vital energy supplies for its huge population, 1.4 billion people. Mr. Trump said last week that as part of...

In yet more good news for those wanting to see the Trump Administration do whatever it must to “drain the Swamp,” it appears that a federal investigatory body called the U.S. Office of Special Counsel is investigating former Special Counsel Jack Smith for his alleged violations of the Hatch Act. Such is what Fox News Digital reported in an article on August 2, noting in its report, which relied on sources within the investigatory body, that the investigation stems from the former special counsel’s alleged involvement in partisan political activities while in his official capacity, though it is not a...

President Trump went off on the fired Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner on Sunday afternoon. President Trump on Friday fired the Biden-appointed Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) after she ‘faked’ the jobs numbers before the 2024 election to try to boost Kamala Harris’s chances of a victory. Dr. Erika McEntarfer was promptly fired on Friday after an abysmal July jobs report. The US only added 73,000 jobs in July and the previous months were all revised down. “Nonfarm payrolls growth totaled 73,000 for July, above the June total of 14,000 but below even the meager Dow Jones...

The European Union announced Monday that it will suspend for six months its planned countermeasures against the United States’ tariffs, which which were set to take effect this week. “On 27 July 2025, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US President Donald J. Trump agreed a deal on tariffs and trade,” the EU Commission spokesperson for trade said in a statement. The spokesperson touted the agreement as restoring “stability and predictability for citizens and businesses on both sides of the Atlantic.” “The EU continues to work with the US to finalise a Joint Statement, as agreed on 27...

Six months into Donald Trump's return to the White House Marjorie Taylor Greene has about had it with the Republican Party. The conservative firebrand who surged onto the political scene in 2021 and has been an ever-present figure in the House GOP and MAGA orbit ever since told the Daily Mail in a 45-minute call this week that it may be time for her to walk away. 'I don't know if the Republican Party is leaving me, or if I'm kind of not relating to Republican Party as much anymore,' she revealed. 'I don't know which one it is.' Her...

Former Democratic Party presidential hopeful and current Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is giving the CIA an enema, and she's putting the hose where it is most needed: in the sketchy, unofficial offices of Operation Mockingbird, the CIA's not-so-secret department dedicated to propaganda. .. Operation Mockingbird was created in the late 1940s to spread anti-Soviet propaganda through news outlets. It was later weaponized for use against Americans. Operation Mockingbird is the grandfather of "fake news." The CIA has been bribing/threatening/installing journalists to do their bidding since the beginning of the Cold War. It is believed they had/have roughly 400...

India is not only buying massive amounts of Russian Oil, they are then, for much of the Oil purchased, selling it on the Open Market for big profits. They don’t care how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian War Machine. Because of this, I will be substantially raising the Tariff paid by India to the USA. Thank you for your attention to this matter!!! President DJT

Daily Readings from the USCCBTaking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds. They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the fragments left over—twelve wicker baskets full. Matthew 14:19–20An important aspect of this miracle that is easy to miss is that Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes through His disciples’ instrumentality. He did this by inviting them to assist in the distribution of the loaves and in the gathering of the fragments...

As the Russian advances accelerate for fourth straight month, Ukrainians have lost the strongholds of Donetsk region’s Toretsk and Chasov Yar, and the Russians have also entered the city of Kupyansk, on the northern Kharkov region. In the meantime, the siege of Pokrovsk continues, and even Kiev regime leader Volodymyr Zelensky had to confirm that ‘small groups’ of the Russian Armed Forces are ‘breaking through’ to Pokrovsk. As August arrives, the attackers advanced on the Sukhetsky suburb north of Rodinsky. Slavyangrad reported: “At the moment, it seems that the deepening of the defense crisis of the Armed Forces of Ukraine...

The declassified appendix to the much-anticipated report by Special Counsel John Durham has sent the internet ablaze over its documentation of Hillary Clinton's insidious scheme in 2016 to falsely tie then-candidate Donald Trump to Russia in order to boost her own presidential campaign. That vendetta would culminate in one of the most notorious political witch hunts ever foisted on the American people that would effectively hamstring the administration of a duly elected president for four years. But one of the most damning revelations was that leftist billionaire George Soros, the City Journal-dubbed "Connoisseur of Chaos" who has used his billions...

Say hello to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Say hello to a blue wave in the 2026 midterms. Say hello in 2028 to President Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. If President Trump and congressional Republicans keep this up, it will only be the start of the progressive takeover. Left-wing populists are already winning over voters by raising hell about the rising price of clothes and groceries due to tariffs. The growing appetite for populist left voices damning the high cost of living made headlines earlier this year in the successful “Fighting Oligarchy,” tour featuring Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Ocasio-Cortez.

Labubus took the internet by storm in 2025. But as the trending toy continues to sell out, fans are turning to their fake counterparts, dubbed “Lafufus,” to fill in the gap. Pop Mart sells the plush monster-like dolls that are so ugly they’re cute and have grown in popularity this summer among kids and adults alike, making it feel impossible to get your hands on one. The lucky folks who have scored a genuine Labubu likely spent hours refreshing the Pop Mart app and TikTok shop for the chance to purchase one. Due to limited stock, fans have chosen to...