Free Republic

Full title: Chief Justice John Roberts Caught in Secretive, Invite-Only Club for Elite Judges and Lawyers That Includes James Boasberg, Beryl Howell, Amit Mehta and Ketanji Brown Jackson .... This is a shocking development.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on Monday lauded her fellow Democrats for “showing up” while Republicans are “hiding” from the American people, referring to the GOP’s avoidance of in-person town halls. Warren, in an interview with MSNBC’s Alicia Menendez, weighed in on the large numbers of rally goers attending fellow Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) gatherings across the country, intended to combat the Trump administration’s sweeping efforts to overhaul the federal workforce. “Democrats are actually showing up to listen to people, to rally with people, while Republicans are hiding and being told by their leadership, don’t go out in public, don’t have...

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration and Ukraine plan to sign the much-debated minerals deal following a disastrous Oval Office meeting Friday in which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was dismissed from the building, four people familiar with the situation said on Tuesday. President Donald Trump has told his advisers that he wants to announce the agreement in his address to Congress Tuesday evening, three of the sources said, cautioning that the deal had yet to be signed and the situation could change. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Ukraine’s presidential administration in Kyiv and the...

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Jan. 15 that Ukraine's military now comprises 880,000 soldiers, tasked with defending the entire country against 600,000 Russian troops concentrated in specific areas. Speaking at a joint press conference with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Warsaw, Zelensky said that Russia's localized troop concentration creates a numerical advantage. "Russian troops are concentrated in several areas, so in some areas, they have a quantitative advantage," he said. Ukraine has been struggling with a manpower shortage, especially in the infantry, while Russia has intensified its offensive in Donetsk Oblast since the summer of 2024. Earlier on Jan....

Social Security has never missed a benefit payment since the program first began sending individuals monthly benefits more than eight decades ago. But the recent actions at the U.S. Social Security Administration by Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency are putting monthly benefit checks for more than 72.5 million Americans at risk, former commissioner and former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley told CNBC.com. “Ultimately, you’re going to see the system collapse and an interruption of benefits,” O’Malley said. “I believe you will see that within the next 30 to 90 days.” Ahead of any interruption in benefits, “people should start...

In a shocking revelation that has sent ripples through Washington, sources within the White House have confirmed that the Oval Office—including the historic Resolute Desk—was subjected to a high-level security sweep following suspicions of covert surveillance. The sweep reportedly uncovered sophisticated listening devices, leading to the immediate removal of the President’s desk for a comprehensive off-site scan. A senior official, speaking anonymously, revealed that the discovery followed routine electronic countermeasures that detected unusual signals. “The anomalies were subtle but consistent—enough to trigger a full investigation,” the source said. “We couldn’t risk compromising the integrity of the President’s workspace.” Specialized teams...

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said “nobody really knows” who is driving the raucous violence at protests related to the death of George Floyd and faulted the Justice Department for casting blame on left-wing militants. He said Attorney General William Barr, who pointed to “Antifa-like” tactics in the protests, should be investigating instead of “making incendiary comments.” “The truth is, nobody really knows,” Mr. Ellison told NBC’s Meet the Press. “What the exact political motivation is is unclear at this point.”

The phrase “Judeo-Christian” has been around since the 1930s but US President Donald Trump recently resurrected it in a deeply problematic speech on October 13, 2017 in which he said: “We are stopping cold the attacks on Judeo-Christian values … We’re saying ‘Merry Christmas’ again.” It might seem neighbourly, even pluralistic, to include Judaism in a declaration of purported Western values. But in reality this isn’t how the term has functioned, either historically or more recently. Instead, the phrase is used to exclude rather than include. Despite implying that Jews are part of this resurrection of Judeo-Christian values, Trump in...

Establishment Republican senators believe President Donald Trump is saving taxpayer money “too fast” while “rashly” purging rogue and corrupt bureaucrats. The senators requested Trump slow down on fulfilling his campaign promises of cutting waste, fraud, and abuse, as well as gutting the “deep state.” The administration is moving “too fast,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) told Axios about Trump’s campaign promises. Collins, an ally of Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), claimed the president is “making mistakes” and would be happy with “a more surgical approach” that does not “violate restrictions that are in current law.” “Before making cuts rashly, the administration should...

"The President picked the wrong bunch of lawyers to mess with.”

A foreign service worker whose pregnant wife allegedly was denied emergency medical transport while stationed abroad has filed an affidavit in federal court against the Trump administration, claiming its “rushed, haphazard and cruel” push to shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development has placed the mother and unborn daughter at grave risk. The worker, who identified themselves only as "Terry Doe" in a filing that's part of a larger case in federal court in Washington, D.C., charges that the U.S. government twice denied previously approved medical transport orders for the mother, who is 31-weeks pregnant. “Each day has brought...

...on behalf of all Americans” against Donald Trump & Elon Musk, alleging “breach” of American data by DOGE.

‘We can’t even buy the rakes’... ...Other fire prevention work will continue if it was funded by other sources, such as the agency’s annual budget. ...

Trump administration officials fired more than 300 staffers Thursday night at the National Nuclear Security Administration — the agency tasked with managing the nation’s nuclear stockpile — as part of broader Energy Department layoffs, according to four people with knowledge of the matter. Sources told CNN the officials did not seem to know this agency oversees America’s nuclear weapons. An Energy Department spokesperson disputed the number of personnel affected, telling CNN that “less than 50 people” were “dismissed” from NNSA, and that the dismissed staffers “held primarily administrative and clerical roles.” The agency began rescinding the terminations Friday morning. Some...

Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that the U.S. would hit Moscow with sanctions and potentially military action if Russian President Vladimir Putin won’t agree to a peace deal with Ukraine that guarantees Kyiv’s long-term independence. Vance said the option of sending U.S. troops to Ukraine if Moscow failed to negotiate in good faith remained “on the table,” striking a far tougher tone than did Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who on Wednesday suggested the U.S. wouldn’t commit forces. “There are economic tools of leverage, there are of course military tools of leverage” the U.S. could use against Putin, Vance said....

A federal judge on Thursday evening temporarily blocked President Trump from cancelling foreign aid contracts. President Trump last month froze US foreign aid for 90 days. .... Snip.... US District Judge for the District Court of Columbia, Amir Ali, a Biden appointee, said Trump’s order halting foreign funding has caused enormous harm. “At least to date, Defendants have not offered any explanation for why a blanket suspension of all congressionally appropriated foreign aid, which set off a shockwave and upended reliance interests for thousands of agreements with businesses, nonprofits, and organizations around the country, was a rational precursor to reviewing...

With president's 'peace talks' compared to Chamberlain appeasing Hitler Donald Trump's concessions on Ukraine have played into the hands of Vladimir Putin, experts have warned, at a time when intelligence chiefs say Moscow is preparing its military for a major war in Europe. US defence chief Pete Hegseth told European counterparts on Wednesday that Ukraine's dream of returning to its pre-2014 borders was an 'illusionary goal' and that Kyiv's wish for NATO membership was 'not realistic'. His statements are widely seen as a major victory for Putin and a devastating blow to Kyiv, which as a result could be forced...

“The message of Christianity is being distorted,” claimed Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde, known for her sermon at the Trump Inauguration. In a culture where people seek to reshape the Gospel, we must return to the heart of Jesus — a heart that values, cherishes, and defends life from his or her very beginning. Her perspective has been gaining traction, suggesting that a Christian can uphold the “spectrum of Life” while supporting a woman’s “right to choose” abortion. As Reverend Budde put it, “I think you can be adherent to the spectrum of Life and still respect a woman’s right to...

A federal judge temporarily reinstalled the head of the Office of the Special Counsel, allowing Hampton Dellinger to return to his post after he was fired Friday by President Trump. The order from Judge Amy Berman Jackson temporarily rebuffs Dellinger’s firing, allowing him to return to work through the end of the day Thursday. Dellinger sued Monday after he said he was fired from his post “in a one-sentence email,” removing him from an office that helps protect whistleblowers. Dellinger, a Biden appointee, said the move violates his appointment to a five-year term in the office.

CNN reported on Saturday that a federal judge halted Elon Musk’s government efficiency team from accessing a critical Treasury Department. US District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer, who Barack Obama appointed, cited a risk of “irreparable harm.” The order temporarily stops access to a sensitive payment system that distributes Americans’ tax returns, Social Security benefits, disability payments, and federal employees’ salaries. Moreover, Engelmeyer ordered the destruction of any downloaded information from the payment system by anyone given access to it since January 20, the date Trump was inaugurated.