Free Republic

WASHINGTON (AP) — A bipartisan group of six senators on Sunday called for President Donald Trump’s administration to “immediately reverse course” on a plan to purchase diesel from Russia as part of an effort to lower high fuel prices. Trump shocked lawmakers when he announced on social media Friday that he struck a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call. He said Russia will immediately supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel to the American and global market, followed by an additional 500,000 tons in November and 1 million tons “immediately thereafter.” Russia will deliver an additional...

More Republicans are speaking out against President Donald Trump’s decision to let Vladimir Putin’s Russia temporarily export diesel fuel on the global market, expanding the bipartisan blowback over the deal. Six GOP senators joined six of their Democratic colleagues in a letter Tuesday urging Trump to cancel the arrangement allowing Russia to supply 4.8 million metric tons, or nearly 36 million barrels, of diesel through mid-April. “This deal is a gift to our adversary and a betrayal of our Allies; it should be rescinded,” the lawmakers wrote. Republican Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Susan Collins of Maine, Oklahoma’s Alan...

This woman has become a disaster. It’s part of an embarrassing track record for Democrats in some crucial Senate races. In Maine, they had Graham Plater, who had Nazi tattoos, booted only to replace him with Troy Jackson, whose relationships would put 23 and Me through a loop. James Talarico has gone missing in Texas, which is fitting since he has an affinity for all things woke and weird; he thinks God is non-binary. And now Mary Peltola, the former Alaska congresswoman, is vying to unseat Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, who puts the ‘temp’ in temperamental. The New York Times...

The nation’s two largest states by land area gave Democrats a boost in the battle for Senate control Saturday, with candidates in Texas and Alaska hitting 50% or more in new polls. Both races would represent pickups if Democrats are able to hold on and win on Nov. 3, which is just a month away. In Texas, Democratic state Rep. James Talarico leads Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, 51% to 45%, according to a New York Times/Siena College poll released Saturday. President Trump’s approval rating in the state stands at 40%, compared with 57% who disapprove. The poll, which examined...

President Trump will announce a $54 billion overseas investment in the battleground state of Alaska later Wednesday, part of a slew of manufacturing and jobs plans the White House is unveiling ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm election. The money from South Korea will build a liquified natural gas facility as part of $350 billion in US investments pledged by Seoul as part of a trade deal agreed in July 2025. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), who is facing a tough re-election campaign, is expected to join Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in the Oval Office for the announcement. Wednesday’s...

Two Democrats and two Republicans have taken the top spots in Alaska’s crowded open primary for governor, according to The Associated Press. But the ballot this fall will reflect a different reality in a state that leans red, yet offers what Democrats believe is a rare opportunity this year. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, a Democratic former state legislator from Sitka, Alaska, finished first in the 17-person primary, a nonpartisan election in which the top four finishers advance to November’s ranked-choice vote. Close behind Mr. Kreiss-Tomkins was Tom Begich, a Democratic former state lawmaker from Anchorage and singer-songwriter with a rich family legacy...

Alaska’s first two ranked-choice elections were embarrassments, marked by complexity, confusion and delay. But, oh, for the good old days of mere humiliation. This year operatives finally cracked the many devious ways the system can be outright gamed. Alaska is now the poster child for dirty-pool politics. Alaskans won’t know until the end of August which “final four” candidates for each office will be on their ranked-choice November ballot after this week’s jungle primary. Residents will need that time to recover from the trauma of a monthslong campaign in which they were not valued as “we the people,” but duped...

Alaska’s first two ranked-choice elections were embarrassments, marked by complexity, confusion and delay. But, oh, for the good old days of mere humiliation. This year operatives finally cracked the many devious ways the system can be outright gamed. Alaska is now the poster child for dirty-pool politics. Alaskans won’t know until the end of August which “final four” candidates for each office will be on their ranked-choice November ballot after this week’s jungle primary. Residents will need that time to recover from the trauma of a monthslong campaign in which they were not valued as “we the people,” but duped...

Alaska Senate Primary Results 2026 Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan is seeking a third term and faces a serious Democratic challenger, former Rep. Mary Peltola, who has won statewide previously despite Alaska’s usual GOP lean. Alaska runs all-party primaries, with the top four finishers regardless of party advancing to a general election decided by ranked choice voting. MARY PELTOLA and DAN SULLIVAN are advancing to the general election Mary Peltola DEM 63,364 48.0% Dan Sullivan GOP 56,510 42.8% (Incumbent, the real Dan Sullivan) Daniel Sullivan Jr. GOP 3,222 2.4% (the fake Dan Sullivan, did not have the Rep designation on the...

Tech billionaire Elon Musk has given $1.5 million to a group supporting the repeal of Alaska’s voting system, according to a report filed with the state Friday. Ballot Measure 2, which will appear on the November ballot, seeks to repeal Alaska’s ranked choice voting method, along with open primaries and campaign finance laws that were themselves adopted by ballot measure in 2020.

Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said Friday she will vote against Todd Blanche’s nomination to be attorney general, narrowing his chances at Senate confirmation for the role. With Sen. Mitch McConnell absent and all Democrats expected to vote against the confirmation, Blanche cannot afford to lose any more Republican votes. The nomination now hinges on how Sen. Bill Cassidy, one of the most prominent GOP critics of President Donald Trump, will vote. Maine Sen. Susan Collins, who’s facing a competitive reelection, has already announced she’ll vote against Blanche.

Democratic Senate contenders are dramatically out-raising their Republican peers, according to Federal Election Commission data — with Georgia’s Jon Ossoff and James Talarico in Texas leading the pack. Eight of the top 10 Senate candidate fundraiser this year are Democrats, whose top contestants have raked in $574 million, compared to the Republicans’ $336 million, per the FEC. Incumbent Sen. Ossoff (D-Ga.) is the biggest fundraiser on both sides, having raked in a jaw-dropping $77 million as of June 30, and has a staggering $42.5 million in cash on hand. He’s raised nearly $98 million as a Senate candidate, including the...

Due to a key vote by U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, the one-year ban on federal funding for Planned Parenthood expired on July 4, meaning the abortion giant can resume consuming hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars through Medicaid reimbursements for non-abortion-related services. Without this funding, the entity has struggled to keep its nationwide network of abortion clinics operational. While Murkowski continues to identify as a Republican, she has long supported federal funding for Planned Parenthood and regularly joins Democrats in efforts to ensure the abortion business benefits from taxpayer dollars. Last year, pro-life advocates celebrated when the Republican-controlled Congress narrowly...

The Alaska Division of Elections has preliminarily determined that Dan J. Sullivan from Petersburg is not eligible to run for office, following a probe into allegations from Republicans that he is attempting to rig the election to draw votes from the U.S. senator of the same name. “Based on a review of the evidence presented and in the Division’s possession, the Division has determined that the preponderance of evidence does not support your eligibility for the office of United States Senator,” Carol Beecher, director of the Division of Elections, said in a letter to Dan J. Sullivan on Wednesday.

The Trump administration on Friday auctioned off rights to drill in a pristine wildlife refuge in Alaska, but the lease sale attracted only two bidders on a few tracts of land. Of the about 60 tracts of land opened up for leasing by the Trump administration, only five received bids.

Four Senate Republicans broke ranks to kill another effort to pass President Donald Trump's marquee voter ID and election integrity legislation as the GOP marches to fund immigration enforcement. Just like last time, Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Thom Tills, R-N.C., joined all Democrats to thwart the move. It’s the second attempt by Republicans to attach the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act to their budget reconciliation package, and the second time that they’ve failed to get the legislation across the line months after launching a quasi-floor takeover to debate the bill....

Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan’s re-election campaign is accusing one of his opponents in Alaska and Democrats in Washington of recruiting a candidate with the same first and last name: Dan Sullivan. “Mary Peltola and D.C. Democrats know they can’t win this race on the issues, so they’ve resorted to dirty, dishonest tactics — recruiting a sham candidate with the sole purpose of deceiving voters and manipulating Alaska’s election system,” Nate Adams, the senator’s campaign spokesman, said in a statement Tuesday.

These figures are based on annualized data from January to November 2025, compiled by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) and reported by Visual Capitalist and other sources. The United States is the world’s largest oil producer, followed by Russia and Saudi Arabia, with the top 10 countries supplying over 70% of global crude oil.United States 16.1%Russia 11.7%Saudi Arabia 11.3%Canada 5.9%Iraq 5.2%China 5.1%Iran 5.0%United Arab Emirates 4.5%Brazil 4.4%Kuwait 3.1%

Republicans’ support for President Donald Trump's war on Iran fractured on Wednesday. Senate Democrats have tried to splinter off Republicans from their near-unified backing of Operation Epic Fury for months with a campaign of attrition, putting war powers resolution after war powers resolution on the floor ever since fighting began. And after two months of trying, they finally got some in the GOP to flip on Trump with Sen. Jeff Merkley's, D-Ore., latest attempt. Still, it wasn’t enough to terminate ongoing operations in the Middle East. Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Rand Paul, R-Ky., who has consistently...

Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) broke ranks Thursday morning and voted against a budget resolution that could set the stage for ending the two-month shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security. Murkowski, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, opposed the budget resolution because it would lay the groundwork for passing a budget reconciliation package to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol for 3 1/2 years — effectively taking those two key agencies out of the annual congressional appropriations process. Murkowski supports funding those critical immigration enforcement agencies, but she didn’t like that...