Free Republic

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is taking bold action to address the ongoing immigration crisis by unveiling plans for a new detention facility in the Everglades. The governor has been unapologetic about using state authority to manage the surge in illegal immigrant crossings, creating what he calls “Alligator Alcatraz” to enforce immigration laws, even in unconventional locations. He argued that this is essential to defend Florida’s borders and America’s sovereignty. On Friday, Governor DeSantis gave Americans a first look at "Alligator Alcatraz"—a new detention center surrounded by natural barriers, including alligators and pythons. The facility sits conveniently next to a...

California’s fight to rein in President Trump’s deployment of troops to Los Angeles hinges on a 19th century law with a a blood-soaked origin and a name that seems pulled from a Spaghetti Western. In a pivotal ruling this week, Senior U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer ordered the federal government to hand over evidence to state authorities seeking to prove that the actions of troops in Southern California violate the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which forbids soldiers from enforcing civilian laws. “How President Trump has used and is using the federalized National Guard and the Marines since deploying...

Emboldened by Friday’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling, the president said his administration will flex its authority on issues ranging from immigration to higher education.An emboldened Trump administration plans to aggressively challenge blocks on the president’s top priorities, a White House official said, following a major Supreme Court ruling that limits the power of federal judges to issue nationwide injunctions.Government attorneys will press judges to pare back the dozens of sweeping rulings thwarting the president’s agenda “as soon as possible,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal deliberations.Priorities for the administration include injunctions related to...

The court tied the hands of judges at a time when Congress has been cowed and internal executive branch constraints have been steamrolled.The Supreme Court ruling barring judges from swiftly blocking government actions, even when they may be illegal, is yet another way that checks on executive authority have eroded as President Trump pushes to amass more power.The decision on Friday, by a vote of 6 to 3, will allow Mr. Trump’s executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship to take effect in some parts of the country — even though every court that has looked at the directive has...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Just hours after she pleaded not guilty to federal charges brought by the Trump administration, New Jersey Rep. LaMonica McIver was surrounded by dozens of supportive Democratic colleagues in the halls of the Capitol. The case, they argued, strikes at the heart of congressional power.“If they can break LaMonica, they can break the House of Representatives,” said New York Rep. Yvette Clarke, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. Federal prosecutors allege that McIver interfered with law enforcement during a visit with two other House Democrats to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Newark, New Jersey. She...

Senators were expected to take a procedural vote Saturday to begin debate on the legislation.Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., center, joined at left by Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., the GOP whip, speaks to reporters after Republican senators met with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and worked on President Donald Trump's tax and immigration megabill so they can have on his desk by July 4, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 24, 2025. The Senate is expected to grind through a rare weekend session as Republicans race to pass President Donald Trump's package of tax breaks and spending cuts by...

SummarySupreme Court ruling causes confusion over birthright citizenship Lawyers and advocates field calls from anxious clients Uncertainty remains on policy across different states WASHINGTON, June 28 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling tied to birthright citizenship prompted confusion and phone calls to lawyers as people who could be affected tried to process a convoluted legal decision with major humanitarian implications. The court's conservative majority on Friday granted President Donald Trump his request to curb federal judges' power but did not decide the legality of his bid to restrict birthright citizenship. That outcome has raised more questions than answers about...

Supporters say lab-grown meat can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the risk of disease, pollution and the destruction of wild habitats.Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has signed a bill making it illegal to sell lab-grown meat in the state. In 2023, the U.S. Department of Agriculture approved the country’s first lab-grown chicken, meat produced from chicken cells without harming or slaughtering the animals. Supporters say lab-grown meat can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the risk of disease, pollution and the destruction of wild habitats. But the concept of lab-produced meat has raised concerns among many policymakers. In Texas, where ranching is a major...

The departure of James Ryan, who had led the school since 2018, represents a dramatic escalation in the Trump administration’s effort to reshape higher education.The president of the University of Virginia is resigning his position under pressure from the Justice Department, which had pushed for his departure amid scrutiny of the school’s diversity, equity and inclusion practices, a person familiar with the matter said Friday.The departure of James Ryan, who had led the school since 2018, represents a dramatic escalation in the Trump administration’s effort to reshape higher education. Doing it at a public university marks a new frontier in...

CompaniesStellantis NVVolkswagen AG BERLIN/BEIJING, June 27 (Reuters) - The threat of mass shutdowns across the automotive supply chain is fading as Chinese rare earth magnets begin to flow, though automakers and suppliers say production plans still face uncertainties and a continued risk of shortages. European suppliers have received enough licences to avoid the widespread disruptions predicted earlier this month but hundreds of permits remain pending, said Nils Poel, head of market affairs at supplier association CLEPA. The rate of issuance is "accelerating" and has risen to 60% from 25%, he said, but cases where the end users are based in...

Li-Meng Yen, who fled China in the wake of COVID-19, warns that Chinese scientists in the U.S. have sworn to help the Chinese Communist Party by stealing trade secrets and research. A Chinese doctor who fled his home country after blowing the whistle regarding COVID-19 research says that Chinese scientists working in America are trained to steal research from U.S. institutions and represent a significant national security threat. Li-Meng Yan, a Chinese-educated doctor born in Qingdao, China, says that Chinese scientists are obligated by the government through a “contract” to help steal U.S. intellectual property, research, and anything else of...

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — They are a day away from becoming Catholic priests, rehearsing for their ordination Mass under the gothic cathedral’s arches.It’s a balmy Friday afternoon in June, and they are practicing where to stand, when to kneel. The weekend’s rituals will be the culmination of six years of seminary and a lifetime of discernment.There are so many of them — more than their diocese has ordained at one time in nearly 30 years — that it’s a challenge to fit the whole group in front of the altar.Their bishop likes to call them “the 12.” Like the 12...

Too many Democratic party leaders would rather be the captains on a sinking Titanic than change course The Democratic party is at a crossroads. It can continue to push policies that maintain a broken and rigged economic and political system and ignore the pain of the 60% of Americans who live paycheck to paycheck. It can turn its back on the dreams of a younger generation which, if we don’t change that system, will likely be worse off than their parents. It can continue to depend upon billionaire donors and out-of-touch campaign consultants and spend huge amounts of money on...

The Left always likes to portray itself as the angry party. It defines itself by its ability to champion causes that recall the French Revolution’s trilogy of liberty, equality, and fraternity and the mob storming the Bastille.Wherever there are restrictions -- even legitimate ones -- the Left calls for liberation and license. Where differences appear -- even natural ones of talent or effort -- the Left denounces them as injustice and demands absolute equality. The angry party is always looking for a good revolution to incite or a crisis not to waste.However, this angry party image is now in trouble...

Musk’s mission, and why America’s budget crisis can’t be fixed.When Donald Trump vowed to tackle excessive federal spending, few expected Elon Musk, the world’s most prominent entrepreneur, to lead the charge. Yet, in a move that reflected Trump’s unconventional style, Musk was appointed head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), tasked with dismantling the bloated federal bureaucracy.DOGE launched ambitiously, aiming to cut $2 trillion from the federal budget, eliminate inefficiencies, and overhaul vast parts of the public sector. However, just months into the experiment, the initiative has faltered. DOGE now finds itself politically isolated, legally tangled, and...

The Trump administration just dealt another blow to the anti-energy, anti-prosperity agenda pursued by the Biden administration underpinned by the man-made “climate change” hypothesis. Under the proposed repeal of previous “climate” regulations on energy production announced this month, many of the power plants targeted for destruction could remain open, and CO2 would no longer be considered dangerous “pollution.” Naturally, that has the “climate” movement screaming bloody murder. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the effect of the so-called greenhouse gases coming from U.S. energy production using hydrocarbons (or “fossil fuels”) is so small as to be negligible. The agency...

A farmer family gives ‘The American Spectator’ a profile in melancholy.Gideon Jacobs has lived a life of the land. Farm-to-table was never a long sojourn for the barrel-chested Afrikaner, whose accent carries the history of his people. A base of Dutch, dashes of English, Malay, and a dozen more tongues built a language as uniquely native to South African soil as the people who claimed it as their own. Less than 100 Dutch pioneers began the saga of Afrikanderdom in 1652, a century before Zulu expansionism brought that nation to fame. Former South African President Jacob Zuma, whose rule was...

‘When a court concludes that the Executive Branch has acted unlawfully, the answer is not for the court to exceed its power, too.’On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court declared rogue lower courts’ universal injunctions against President Donald Trump’s birthright citizenship order to be unlawful.“[F]ederal courts do not exercise general oversight of the Executive Branch; they resolve cases and controversies consistent with the authority Congress has given them. When a court concludes that the Executive Branch has acted unlawfully, the answer is not for the court to exceed its power, too,” Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote.The final decision was 6-3,...

The agency is working with the ATF general counsel to cut upwards of 50 regulations as the administration drastically reduces the number of inspectors.The U.S. DOGE Service has sent staff to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with the goal of revising or eliminating dozens of rules and gun restrictions by July 4, according to multiple people with knowledge of the efforts, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss plans that have not been made public. The initial target was to change 47 regulations, an apparent reference to Donald Trump’s status as the 47th president of...

Maryland parents have a religious right to withdraw their children from classes on days that storybooks with gay and transgender themes are discussed, the court ruled.Public schools in Maryland must allow parents with religious objections to withdraw their children from classes in which storybooks with L.G.B.T.Q. themes are discussed, the Supreme Court ruled on Friday. The vote was 6 to 3, with the court’s liberal members in dissent. The case extended a winning streak for claims of religious freedom at the court, gains that have often come at the expense of other values, notably gay rights. The case concerned a...