Free Republic

When Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) met with key Democrats last month to make her case to help lead a committee that will be critical in countering President-elect Donald Trump, she faced sharp questions from members of her party. As Ocasio-Cortez lobbied the powerful Steering Committee that decides panel assignments, Rep. Linda T. Sánchez (D-California) pressed her on her past decisions to endorse primary challengers against Democratic incumbents. Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), one of the incumbents Ocasio-Cortez tried to defeat, followed up by asking why Democrats should elevate her given her previous animosity toward her less-liberal colleagues, according to two...

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) responded to pregnancy rumors, stating that she is “not pregnant” and had just eaten “a lot of food at Thanksgiving.” “Everyone keeps asking me if I’m pregnant,” Ocasio-Cortez said in an Instagram story in response to a question asking if she was pregnant. “Actually, a member, a Republican, came to me on the floor this week and asked me if I was pregnant. I’m not pregnant guys, I had a lot of food at Thanksgiving. Okay? It happens.”

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., spoke out Sunday to deny rumors spread on social media that she was expecting a baby. Ocasio-Cortez, 35, took to her Instagram story to blame what some believed was her pregnant appearance on extra portions eaten on Thanksgiving.Responding to a commenter who said she was “glowing,” the progressive Democrat revealed that a Republican congressman recently asked her the same pregnancy question on the House floor.“Everyone keeps asking me if I’m pregnant. Actually, a member, a Republican came to me on the floor this week and asked me if I was pregnant,” she said in a video....

A number of progressives mourned Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-NY) bid to become the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee on Tuesday. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) defeated Ocasio-Cortez in a vote taken by the entire Democratic caucus on Tuesday by a margin of 131-84, one day after the Democrats’ Steering an Policy Committee voted for Connolly over Ocasio-Cortez by a margin of 34-27. Prior to being easily dispatched by Connolly, many had speculated that Ocasio-Cortez might pull off an upset in the vote among the larger caucus, with Politico Playbook calling the contest a “crapshoot.” But Connolly ultimate prevailed handily,...

Progressive darling Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 35, flopped in her bid to helm the powerful House Oversight Committee, losing to Rep. Gerry Connolly, 74, who is foreshadowing political “trench warfare” against the GOP. Connolly (D-Va.) won the spot in a House Democratic caucus vote Tuesday, one day after notching the support from the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee. “Tried my best. Sorry I couldn’t pull it through everyone — we live to fight another day,” the Empire State rep posted on her BlueSky account after losing the vote. Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) had been the No. 2 Democrat on the committee for the...

The U.S. Capitol Police lieutenant who shot and killed Ashli Babbitt at the Capitol on Jan. 6 was recommended for termination in 2001 for abandoning his post in the Speaker’s Office for a card game in a nearby cloakroom, then lying about it to Internal Affairs Division investigators, Blaze News has learned. The 2001 investigation of Michael L. Byrd, 56, was the first known disciplinary case brought against the lieutenant who crept from his blind near the doors to the Speaker’s Lobby on Jan. 6, 2021, and shot Babbitt to death. The 2001 incident is the fourth such disciplinary case...

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) underwent hip replacement surgery Saturday after falling during a congressional delegation trip to Luxembourg. “Earlier this morning, Speaker Emerita Pelosi underwent a successful hip replacement and is well on the mend,” said the congresswoman’s spokesman, Ian Krager.

Nancy Pelosi was hospitalized after falling and fracturing her hip during an event in Luxembourg, sources close to the congresswoman told The New York Times. She is “currently receiving excellent treatment from doctors and medical professionals,” a Pelosi spokesperson wrote in a statement Friday. Pelosi tripped while descending a marble staircase at the Grand Ducal Palace and took a hard fall, The Times reported.

Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi was hospitalized after falling and fracturing her hip during an event in Luxembourg, sources close to the congresswoman told The New York Times. She is “currently receiving excellent treatment from doctors and medical professionals,” a Pelosi spokesperson wrote in a statement Friday. Pelosi tripped while descending a marble staircase at the Grand Ducal Palace and took a hard fall, The Times reported.

[cut] We know what the reported injury was, and it’s not uncommon for someone in their 80s. It’s also a serious injury: She tripped, fell down some steps, and fractured her hip (via NYT) [emphasis mine]:" Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi was hospitalized on Friday after being injured while traveling abroad on a bipartisan congressional delegation to Luxembourg, a spokesman said on Friday. Ms. Pelosi, 84, “sustained an injury during an official engagement,” the spokesman, Ian Krager, said in a brief statement that provided no details on the nature of the injury or how it occurred. He said she was admitted...

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 84, was rushed to the hospital on Friday while on a foreign trip. Pelosi was in Luxembourg with a bipartisan congressional delegation to mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge. 'Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi sustained an injury during an official engagement and was admitted to the hospital for evaluation,' her spokesperson Ian Krager said in a statement. Krager said she is receiving 'excellent treatment' from doctors and medical professionals. As a result of the injury, she will be canceling the rest of her engagements on the congressional delegation trip. A source told...

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “sustained an injury” during a congressional delegation trip to a World War II battlefield in Luxembourg, her office revealed on Friday. Pelosi, 84, joined a bipartisan group of lawmakers to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge in the Western European nation — but was injured and later “admitted to the hospital for evaluation,” according to her spokesman Ian Krager. “Speaker Emerita Pelosi is currently receiving excellent treatment from doctors and medical professionals,” Krager said in a statement. “She continues to work and regrets that she is unable to attend the remainder...

[Catholic Caucus] Nancy Pelosi's Communion ban to be resolved by VaticanThe former speaker is challenging the archbishop of San Francisco's 2022 order prohibiting her from receiving the Holy EucharistFormer Speaker Nancy Pelosi has quietly turned to Rome to resolve her two-year-old dispute with the San Francisco archbishop over her receiving Holy Communion.Pelosi for the first time has revealed that Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone's order that she be banned from receiving Communion now is pending a final resolution at the Vatican. She did not say and it is unclear when she sought Vatican intervention."My understanding, as long as Rome has the case,...

Former U.S. House of Speaker Nancy Pelosi was rushed to a hospital in Luxembourg on Friday after she took a “hard fall” down a marble staircase. Pelosi, 84, tripped as she walked down the staircase at the Grand Ducal Palace in Luxembourg City, a source told The New York Times. The paper reported later Friday that the longtime lawmaker fractured her hip in the tumble.

The good news is, she’s a wealthy, politically-connected woman. All three matter: when you’re wealthy, you have more options; when you’re politically-connected, you don’t wait in line; and women are way better at longevity than men are. And not just because men are dopey, drink more, and think it’s wicked cool to play with fireworks. (Or play with fireworks while drunk.) There’s a genetic component, too. There’s a reason why 85% of centenarians (and 90% of supercentenarians) are women. And this reason isn’t purely behavioral. When it comes to longevity, genetics are king. (Or, more commonly: queen.) Still, the short-term...

During an interview on "Fox News Live," Sunday, House Oversight Chairman and member of the GOP, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., threw his support behind committee member, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The Democratic congresswoman from New York is seeking to take the ranking member from fellow Democrat Jamie Raskin.

The Saturday edition of The Weekend devoted a segment to the Dems' intraparty squabble over House committee positions, and in particular to AOC's attempt to supplant Gerry Connolly as the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee. The co-hosts and guests all expressed support for AOC. Former Obama HUD Secretary Julian Castro: "I think it's inevitable, though, after an election where you had voters send a strong message, that Democrats need to adjust their message. And they need, I think, more of a fighting spirit, and a focus like I think AOC and others have had. So I'm hopeful that...

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sparked controversy Thursday with her remarks on the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson when she suggested that those shocked by people’s lack of sympathy toward the slain CEO simply don’t understand Americans’ frustration with the healthcare system. “This is not to say that an act of violence is justified, but I think for anyone who is confused or shocked or appalled, they need to understand that people interpret and feel and experience denied claims as an act of violence against them,” the New York congresswoman told CBS News’ Jaala Brown Thursday. Ocasio-Cortez maintained that systemic...

Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi is reportedly working behind the scenes to put the kibosh on Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez' dream of taking a powerful Democratic House position in the new Congress. The 35-year-old progressive Squad member is looking to become the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee, having served as vice ranking member. But she would have to beat out Virginia Congressman Gerry Connelly, who also launched his own bid for the top committee job. Their face-off sets Democrats up for a generational battle between the millennial member of Congress and the 74-year-old lawmaker who has served in the House...

Progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said New York City subway riders should be scared of Daniel Penny after he was found not guilty in the chokehold death of Jordan Neely — sparking swift backlash from straphangers who blasted the lefty lawmaker as “delusional.” Penny, 26, was acquitted of all charges by a Manhattan jury Monday following the high-profile trial over the fatal, caught-on-camera encounter with the troubled homeless man on an uptown F train last year. In a previous clip that has gone viral on X after the acquittal, Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said Penny’s apparent lack of remorse could mean he could...