Free Republic

Medicare for All, debt-free college and lower everyday costs are among the priorities Oregon's two U.S. senators hope to advance as Democrats prepare to take control of Congress. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley see the election results as a major opportunity, but also as a test of whether Democrats can deliver on their promises. Both have ambitious agendas, though passing legislation in a divided Washington could prove challenging. "My agenda is gonna be affordability for us and accountability for Republicans and special interests," Wyden said. Merkley echoed that focus, saying Democrats need to show voters they can make a...

Members of the Kennedy family called President Donald Trump's plans for a 250-foot arch. close to the Arlington National Cemetery a 'permanent denigration' of their relatives' grave sites, in a court filing Tuesday. The filing to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by late Senator Robert F. Kennedy's children called for an injunction on the work planned by the Trump administration to build the arch. on a traffic circle between the cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial. The family argued that the arch. would cast shadows that would fall on the grave sites of Senator Kennedy, President John...

Mayor Zohran Mamdani signed a controversial law Tuesday that gives nonprofits first dibs at buying distressed residential buildings in the Big Apple. Hizzoner put his John Hancock on the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act — only the second bill he’s signed in the 11 months since he took office — after the City Council quietly resurrected a watered-down version of the bill last month. The “COPA” law will affect about 2,100 properties across the five boroughs, officials said at a Brooklyn news conference outside a Cypress Hills housing development. “I am so proud today to sign COPA into law —...

U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley on Monday blamed Republican election losses on his party abandoning working Americans, criticizing cuts to Medicaid that he voted to approve last year. The Missouri Republican also called for what he described as a “historic response” to last week’s election: a one-hour gathering for fasting and prayer at the U.S. Capitol next month. Hawley’s comments came as Democrats prepared to take control of both chambers of Congress and Senate Republicans confronted growing pressure to reconsider their leadership and legislative priorities. “When you abandon pro-lifers, when you abandon the needy, when you abandon the poor, when you...