Free Republic

Senate Democrats have voted down a Republican bill to keep funding the government, putting it on a near certain path to a shutdown after midnight Wednesday for the first time in almost seven years. The 55-45 vote Tuesday on the bill to extend federal funding for seven weeks fell short of the 60 needed to end a filibuster and pass the legislation. It came as Democrats are making good on their threat to close the government if President Donald Trump and Republicans won't accede to their health care demands. Senate Democrat Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Republicans are trying to...

Tough-talking fiscal conservative Senator Joni Ernst is set to stun Washington by announcing she won't seek reelection. The 55-year-old Iowa Republican does not plan on seeking reelection in the 2026 midterms, according to sources close to her who spoke with CBS News. Ernst, the first female combat veteran in Congress, has served in the Senate since 2015 and her second term will expire on January 3, 2027. The sources disclosed that the senator's announcement is scheduled for Thursday. Ernst's Senate office did not immediately return the Daily Mail's request for comment. A two-term senator from southwestern Iowa, Ernst went to...

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has authorized a special prosecutor to investigate allegations of mortgage fraud involving Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and New York Attorney General Letitia James, it was reported Friday. Grand juries in Maryland and Virginia, respectively, will investigate claims involving Schiff and James. Bondi named Ed Martin to serve as special prosecutor. Earlier Friday, Newsmax reported Bondi has issued subpoenas and impaneled a grand jury as part of a criminal investigation into multiple allegations against the state of New York, according to a source familiar with the matter who requested anonymity. Bondi is investigating whether Democrat James...

New York City Democrat mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani is leading former Gov. Andrew Cuomo by 13 points in Newsmax's average tracking the race. Mamdani has 38.1% support, followed by Cuomo, who is running an independent campaign after losing the Democrat primary, with 25%. In third place is Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa with 15%, followed by incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, who is also running as an independent, with 11.5%. Another independent, Jim Walden, a former assistant U.S. attorney, is in last with just 1%.

The House of Representatives has so far voted to codify 50 of President Donald Trump's executive actions, according to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. "The American people gave President Trump a clear mandate to enact his America First agenda — and House Republicans are answering that call. To date, we've voted to codify 50 of the President's executive orders into law, from reining in waste, fraud, and abuse to cutting bureaucratic red tape that has strangled America's innovators, job creators, and entrepreneurs," Johnson said in a press release. "The last four years under [former] President Joe Biden made painfully clear...

House Republicans have inserted a provision into the recently passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act that could significantly limit judicial oversight of the executive branch. The provision, found on page 562 of the 1,118-page bill, would effectively remove judges’ ability to hold parties in contempt for defying court orders. The new measure specifically targets injunctions and temporary restraining orders, requiring litigants to provide a security bond before a judge can exercise contempt powers. This requirement would apply to all orders, including those issued before the law’s enactment, potentially affecting numerous existing cases against the Trump administration.

A poll of young Americans conducted by the Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School shows that "[w]hile [President Donald] Trump's overall approval has remained stable, support for Democrats has eroded." "The share of young Americans who approve of Congressional Democrats has dropped nineteen points since Spring 2017—from 42% to just 23%. In that same period, approval of Congressional Republicans has held steady, inching up slightly from 28% to 29%," reported The Spring 2025 Harvard Youth Poll. Of the respondents, 51% said the country is on the wrong track and almost one-third said they aren't sure. Study authors said that...

The Department of Veterans Affairs has established a task force to determine whether "anti-Christian bias" exists within the federal government's second-largest Cabinet department and is asking its employees to report alleged discrimination by other staff members. The move follows an executive order issued Feb. 6 by President Donald Trump that created a government-wide task force that it claims will "end the anti-Christian weaponization of government." It was unclear what effects it would have on Christian or non-Christian employees at the VA. The VA task force investigation is among the latest efforts by Trump and his administration to dramatically reshape the...

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., announced Wednesday that he will not seek re-election in 2026, ending his decadeslong career in Congress. The decision from Durbin, who is the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate and the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, will open up a leadership position in the chamber and is expected to set off a competitive primary for his seat in solidly blue Illinois.

An Arizona congressman introduced legislation Monday to remove the federal judge who has blocked President Donald Trump's efforts to deport Venezuelan gang members, offering a novel path that avoids the impeachment process and the need for two-thirds support in the U.S. Senate. Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., filed a resolution that would remove U.S. District Judge James Boasberg for “failing to maintain the standard of good behavior required of judges" under Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution. “Most Americans believe that there is lifetime tenure for a federal judge. That unless impeached, a federal judge can serve until death," Biggs...

The Trump administration could be sanctioned by a federal judge later this week after lawyers with the Department of Justice advised a federal judge Tuesday evening that they will not make a top administration official available for sworn testimony. U.S. District Judge Charles Alsup had sought to have the acting head of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), Charles Ezell, testify on Thursday about the mass firing of probationary employees. But the DOJ said Tuesday that they would not make Ezell available for testimony. By making Ezell unavailable, DOJ attorneys also withdrew his sworn affidavit, a move that Judge Charles...

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s Senate passed a bill that could allow President Donald Trump and more than a dozen people to seek compensation for legal bills stemming from an attempt to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state. The bill passed unanimously by state legislators Thursday would enable compensation from counties for attorneys’ fees and other legal costs in criminal cases in which a district attorney has been disqualified if the case gets dismissed, or compensation for the cost of arguing the district attorney should be disqualified. Trump and 18 co-defendants were indicted in Fulton County in August 2023....

The Supreme Court on Wednesday temporarily blocked a judge's order giving the Trump administration an 11:59 deadline to release billions of dollars in U.S. foreign aid. Chief Justice John Roberts said the order issued by U.S. District Judge Amir H. Ali will remain on hold until the high court has a chance to weigh in more fully. Ali had ordered the federal government to comply with his decision temporarily blocking a freeze on foreign aid, ruling in a lawsuit filed by nonprofit groups and businesses. An appellate panel refused the administration's request to intervene.

The Trump administration reportedly plans to roll out an online registry of illegal immigrants as early as this week that would force undocumented migrants to submit personal information or face fines and arrest. The mandatory registry would require illegal immigrants, including minors over the age of 14, to submit fingerprints and home addresses, according to US Citizens and Immigration Services. Migrants who fail to register could be fined as much as $5,000 and be sentenced to up to six months in prison, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. “Aliens in this country illegally face a choice,” read a memo...

Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee quickly quashed an effort by Democrats to subpoena Elon Musk to appear before the panel to answer questions about a series of actions impacting federal agencies and their workforce. The move clearly caught Republicans by surprise. They initially did not have enough votes to quash the motion, sending lawmakers scrambling back to the hearing room. “Who is this unelected billionaire that he can attempt to dismantle federal agencies, fire people, transfer them, offer them early retirement and have sweeping changes to agencies without any congressional review, oversight or concurrence? Therefore, Mr....

The Department of Justice has been ordered to provide information on communications between former special counsel Jack Smith and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis about the prosecution of Donald Trump. The January 28 ruling is the latest development in a lawsuit against the Department of Justice filed by Judicial Watch in 2023. Why It Matters Willis led an investigation into allegations that Trump attempted to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia after losing the state to Joe Biden. The inquiry resulted in indictments against Trump and 18 alleged coconspirators on charges of racketeering and other crimes. Smith...

A Tennessee congressman has proposed amending the Constitution to allow Donald Trump to serve a third term as president. Rep. Andy Ogles filed a Joint Resolution in Congress this week advancing a change to the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, which currently restricts presidents to two terms. In his resolution, Ogles included several stipulations to the change if it passes, including barring any president being elected to a third consecutive term after serving two in a row. 'And no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to...

Here we go. Here is a thread of all of President Trump’s Executive Orders he signed on his first day.

The Senate Armed Services Committee is set to convene Tuesday morning for what is expected to be a closely contested confirmation hearing for Pete Hegseth, the veteran and former Fox News host tapped by President Trump for Secretary of Defense. Hegseth’s nomination has created much debate, with Democrats questioning his qualifications and raising concerns over allegations of financial and personal misconduct. However, the results of a routine background check, disclosed Monday morning, appear to provide a boost to his confirmation prospects. Officials involved in the review described the findings as “unremarkable.” For weeks, Democrats have pointed to Hegseth’s limited experience...

Fani Willis, the Fulton County, Georgia, district attorney who hired her paramour, at a cost to taxpayers of some $600,000, to create an organized crime case against now President-elect Donald Trump, has long fought against a request for public records regarding her investigation. Now, apparently, she's going to have to pay for her deeds. Some $21,578.00.