Free Republic

With Ukraine's future in the balance, a high-stakes meeting on Friday between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy devolved into a shouting match. The stunning exchange, before cameras and one unlike any other in the Oval Office in modern times, saw Trump and Vice President JD Vance rebuke Zelenskyy for his handling of the war, again falsely blaming the Ukrainian leader for a conflict that began when Russia's Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion. Zelenskyy was in Washington to sign an agreement that would give the U.S. access to Ukraine's mineral resources. But that was before boiling tensions...

Clinton reduced the federal workforce by more than 377,000 employees. Within weeks of his inauguration, he signed an executive order calling on agencies to cut 100,000 jobs over three years, with 10% or more coming from high-level federal workers. In 1994, Clinton signed the bipartisan Federal Workforce Restructuring Act, which offered $25,000 to buyout non-Defense Department workers. By the end of his term, Clinton reduced the federal government's workforce by more than 377,000 employees. But that all unfolded over several years, and with the help of Congress. In an attempt to defend the Department of Government Efficiency's controversial moves, Elon...

The ceasefire and hostage release deal announced Wednesday between Israel and Hamas marks a major political and personal victory for President Joe Biden in his final days in office. "I laid out the precise contours of this plan on May 31, 2024, after which it was endorsed unanimously by the UN Security Council," Biden wrote in a statement. "It is the result not only of the extreme pressure that Hamas has been under and the changed regional equation after a ceasefire in Lebanon and weakening of Iran -- but also of dogged and painstaking American diplomacy." "My diplomacy never ceased...

The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing arguments Thursday on whether former President Donald Trump can be criminally prosecuted over his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss. The justices have taken up the monumental question of if, and if so to what extent, former presidents enjoy immunity for conduct alleged to involve official acts during their time in office. The high court's decision will determine if Trump stands trial before the November election on four charges brought by special counsel Jack Smith, including conspiracy to defraud the United States. Throughout arguments, multiple of the justices made clear they were looking...

Democrat Kris Mayes is the winner of Arizona's attorney general race, a state judge announced Thursday. Mayes defeated Republican Abraham Hamadeh by 280 votes after a mandatory recount was triggered due to how close they were separated after the initial tally in November, when Mayes led by roughly 500 votes out of 2.5 million cast. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Timothy Thomason unveiled the results of the recount in a hearing on Thursday. Mayes' lead from November was nearly halved in the recount. The results showed she had 1,254,809 votes to Hamadeh’s 1,254,529 votes. Mayes' victory is another win for...

Despite ongoing crises abroad and at home, a new poll found that President Joe Biden is still more popular than his Oval Office predecessor. The NBC News survey showed that 37 percent of Americans had a favorable view of Biden compared with 46 percent who had a negative view of the commander-in-chief. That's slightly better than Donald Trump's numbers: 36 percent of U.S. adults rated Trump positively compared with 50 percent who had a negative view.

Attorney General William Barr's defense of President Donald Trump amid impeachment is raising questions about potential conflicts of interest as legal experts accuse the Justice Department chief of ignoring his responsibility as the nation's top prosecutor. "This is a really strange situation with Barr, who has so many conflicts and is up to his eyeballs in all of the corruption surrounding Trump," attorney Nick Akerman told Newsweek. Akerman served an assistant special prosecutor in the Watergate scandal that brought down President Richard Nixon. The attorney general plays no official role in impeachment, but that hasn't stopped Barr from coming to...

“This hack @BrianKempGA is the next ‘governor*’ of Georgia. But he cheated & undermined democracy every step of the way. @staceyabrams should be governor, but isn’t due to actions that can’t be tolerated. She has a bright future. We need a new, enforceable Voting Rights Act. Now!” John Weaver wrote on Twitter on Saturday morning. Weaver was a strategist for former president George H.W. Bush and a presidential campaign adviser to the late John McCain. The Republican now works for Ohio Governor John Kasich