Free Republic

It is in this spirit that I have decided to depart the House at the end of this year to serve America in new ways. I know my work is only getting started. I will continue to recruit our country’s best and brightest to run for elected office. The Republican Party is expanding every day, and I am committed to lending my experience to support the next generation of leaders.

Supreme Court rules against affirmative action. Chief Justice Roberts writes the majority decision for the six conservative justices: "Harvard’s and UNC’s admissions programs violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Pretty much a 6-3 Supreme Court ruling on ideological lines to nuke affirmative action, with some nuances. Roberts is joined by Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett in the decision. Kagan, Sotomayor and Jackson dissent.

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to impose new limits on state courts reviewing certain election-related issues by ruling against Republicans in North Carolina fighting for a congressional district map that would heavily favor their candidates. The justices ruled on a 6-3 vote that the North Carolina Supreme Court was acting within its authority in concluding that the map constituted a partisan gerrymander under the state constitution. In doing so, the court declined to embrace a hitherto obscure legal argument called the “independent state legislature” theory, which Republicans say limits state court authority to strike down certain election...

Breaking: Supreme Court rules Louisiana’s congressional map must be redrawn to add a second majority-Black district, with the justices lifting a hold they placed on a lower court’s order for a reworked redistricting regime.

The Supreme Court on Thursday issued a surprising 5-4 ruling in favor of Black voters in a congressional redistricting case, ordering the creation of a second district with a large Black population. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh joined with the court’s liberals in affirming a lower-court ruling that found a likely violation of the Voting Rights Act in an Alabama congressional map with one majority Black seat out of seven congressional districts in a state where more than one in four residents is Black.

BREAKING: House overwhelmingly passes Biden-McCarthy debt limit deal 314-117 On to the Senate

Nevada's Joe Lombardo on Tuesday became one of the first Republican governors to enshrine protections for out-of-state abortion patients and in-state providers, adding the western swing state to the list of those passing new laws to solidify their status as safe havens for people seeking abortions. The legislation codifies an existing executive order from former Gov. Steve Sisolak last year — who lost reelection to Lombardo — that bars state agencies from assisting in out-of-state investigations that could lead to the prosecution of abortion patients who travel to Nevada. It also ensures medical boards and commissions that oversee medical licenses...

Florida's Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has signed a bill banning most abortions after six weeks, paving the way for drastic changes in access to the procedure across the state. Opponents argue six weeks is before many women know they are pregnant.

BREAKING: A federal judge has just blocked the use of Title 42 at the border as a result of ACLU litigation. Title 42 allows the U.S. to immediately expel migrants on the basis of public health. It has been used millions of times under both Trump & Biden. T42 is gone, for now.

Agrawal, Segal and Gadde own roughly 1.2 million shares of Twitter, more than half of that a $34.8 million stake owned by Gadde. The trio’s roughly $65 million stake would be purchased by Musk like any other shareholder’s stock. Additionally, a clause in the merger agreement provided accelerated vesting of promised future stock compensation — and that’s where the biggest chunk of money comes in. The “Golden Parachute Compensation” clause in Twitter’s SEC filing — which was the deal approved by Twitter shareholders — shows the trio would automatically vest stock worth $119.6 million as severance if terminated, with the...

Student calls to 911: 12:03—whispered she's in room 112 12:10—said multiple dead 12:13—called again 12:16—says 8-9 students alive 12:19—student calls from room 111 12:21—3 shots heard on call 12:36—another call 12:43—asks for police 12:47—asks for police

— Frustrated onlookers urged police officers to charge into the Texas elementary school where a gunman’s rampage killed 19 children and two teachers, witnesses said Wednesday, as investigators worked to track the massacre that lasted upwards of 40 minutes and ended when the 18-year-old shooter was killed by a Border Patrol team. “Go in there! Go in there!” nearby women shouted at the officers soon after the attack began, said Juan Carranza, 24, who saw the scene from outside his house, across the street from Robb Elementary School in the close-knit town of Uvalde. Carranza said the officers did not...

Flying with American Airlines? Get your vaccine card ready. On Thursday, the Fort Worth-based carrier announced that it’s adding a vaccine passport capability to its health passport mobile app, Verifly. Flyers can now securely upload their CDC vaccination card before a trip, which will then be verified and processed before departure. Verifly is an independent mobile app that American has deployed since November 2020 to streamline the check-in and document verification process before departure, including international entry requirements, COVID-19 tests and now vaccines. It can be downloaded for free on both the Apple App Store and Google Play store.

Currently, Hawaii allows visitors to skip quarantine if they get tested before traveling at a "trusted partner" site. Those heading to Maui will also soon have to take a second test upon arrival at the airport, while Kauai offers travelers discounts to local businesses if they volunteer to take a second test three days after arriving. It may be awhile before mainland travelers can take advantage of Hawaii's vaccine quarantine exception, but Lt. Gov. Josh Green told Hawaii News Now the state hopes to open it up to inter-island travelers by May 1, with the goal of eventually opening it...

With school cancelled for the week, our girls asked to take a trip with friends. Wanting to be a good dad, I flew down with them last night and am flying back this afternoon. My staff and I are constant communication with state and local leaders to get to the bottom of what happened in Texas.

BREAKING: Supreme Court denies request to stop certification of Pennsylvania vote, with no noted dissents.

I would offer my congratulations to President-elect Biden on his apparent victory..the President-elect and the Vice-President-elect should be given every opportunity to ensure that they are ready to govern on January 20th. I understand that the President and others have questions about the results in certain states. There is a process in place to challenge those results and, consistent with that process, the President should be afforded the opportunity to do so. I know that many are eager to have certainty right now. While we have a clear direction, we should continue to respect that process. I urge people to...

One man – McCrae Dowless – filed in-person requests for 592 absentee ballots at the Bladen County Board of Elections in the month's leading up to this year's midterm election. That's more than twice any other single applicant and accounts for 44 percent of the 1,341 in-person absentee ballot requests made at the Bladen County Board of Elections.

An American man was killed on an island inhabited by a tribe known to resist outside contact in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. And, his body still lies there. The American was identified as 27-year-old John Allen Chau, who sources said was a Christian missionary who wanted to convert the Sentinelese tribe that inhabits the island where he was killed. Chau was killed by members of this tribe, which is protected under Indian law, a senior police officer told India Today TV. The officer stressed that the Sentinelese must be left alone and that any forced contact with the outside...

WikiLeaks has published a catalog of U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement officials with employment history scraped from their LinkedIn profiles. The group known for blasting classified records debuted its “ICEPatrol” project Thursday night with a database of photos, titles, job and school history for more than 9,000 current and former federal employees associated with the agency.