Free Republic

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have unveiled a new spending bill totaling at least $174 billion that could get a vote in the House of Representatives as early as this week. It’s a significant step toward avoiding another government shutdown come Jan. 30, the deadline congressional leaders set after ending the recent 43-day shutdown — the longest in U.S. history — in November. The legislation released on Monday is a package of three of the 12 annual spending bills that Congress is charged with passing: commerce, justice, science and related agencies; energy and water development and related agencies; and interior, environment...

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) did not leave Washington as a martyr to principle. She left as a case study in how rank opportunism masquerades as populism, and how loudly proclaimed integrity can coexist with some of the most cynical behavior the D.C. swamp has on offer. Greene entered Congress in January 2021, branding herself as a sworn enemy of the political class, promising to drain the swamp and to stand shoulder to shoulder with working Americans. Five years later, she timed her exit to meet the minimum service threshold for securing a taxpayer-funded congressional pension. That benefit was locked...

Congressman Ro Khanna raged at billions in alleged fraud in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s California when he called for a full audit of state spending seemingly aimed at the governor’s leadership. The Silicon Valley Democrat boosted claims on X of billions in fraud in California and vowed to hold congressional hearings on waste and abuse of taxpayer dollars in the state — sparking a spat with Newsom’s sassy spokesperson Izzy Gardon, who defended California’s exorbitant High-Speed Rail project that’s widely considered a boondoggle. Khanna is apparently mulling a presidential run, like Newsom, who said he is “considering” a run in 2028....

In an interview with Politico, President Trump commented about the upcoming 2026 mid-term elections:I think it’s going to be about the success of our country. It’ll be about pricing. Because, you know, they (the Biden administration) gave us high pricing, and we’re bringing it down. Energy’s way down. Gasoline is way down.He also said he is confident Americans will be receptive to his economic message - that his administration is cleaning up the mess he inherited from Biden. Addressing inflation and blaming former President Biden is a smart strategy for getting out the GOP base and other Trump voters, which...

Congress returns next week to Capitol Hill in the now-familiar position of having left for recess without meeting a deadline that is hitting millions of Americans in their wallets and pocketbooks. The scheduled return date for the Senate is Jan. 5 and for the House Jan. 6 – six days after the expiration of Biden administration "enhanced" subsidies for health-insurance policies through the Affordable Care Act marketplace that is estimated to impact 22 million enrollees. While the issue has immediate implications, it also looms large over next year's midterm elections in which control of Congress is at stake. Republicans in...

Brace for another government shutdown early in the new year, as the GOP’s narrow majorities and the Democratic base’s deep desire to derail the Trump presidency makes it near-impossible for Congress to get anything done. The first piece of coal in Americans’ stockings: The short-term funding bill that Democrats finally allowed to pass last month, ending the record-long shutdown, only runs through Jan. 30. The federal Fiscal Year 2026 started Oct. 1 this year, yet the House and Senate have so far passed only three of the 12 appropriations bills to fund various parts of the government. And they’re not...

A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked a Trump administration policy that sought to require members of Congress to submit requests a week before visiting and inspecting Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities. U.S. District Court Judge Jia Cobb ruled that the policy likely violated an appropriations law passed by Congress saying that the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, cannot use funds to require lawmakers in Congress to "provide prior notice of the intent to enter a facility" to conduct oversight. That DHS policy, announced in June, said members of Congress should file requests to inspect ICE facilities...

Four moderate House Republicans are rebelling against Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to join his Democratic counterpart in forcing a vote on enhanced Obamacare subsidies set to expire at the end of this year. Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., Ryan Mackenzie, R-Pa., Rob Bresnahan, R-Pa., and Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., all joined a discharge petition by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., on his push for a three-year extension of the subsidies. A discharge petition is a mechanism for overriding the will of House leaders to get a chamber-wide vote on specific legislation, provided it has support from a majority of lawmakers. In...

The House voted 237-140 to shelve Green’s impeachment resolution, with 47 Democratic lawmakers voting present… Republicans have begun to warn that Democrats are determined to impeach Trump a third time if they win the majority, pushing it toward the forefront of next year’s campaigns. Many of them dismissed Thursday’s vote as a distraction. Rep. Ted Lieu, a California Democrat and vice chair of the Democratic Caucus, said there are “a diversity of views” about impeachment in the caucus. He said that House Democrats intend to conduct oversight of the administration should they win a majority in next year’s midterms but...

House Republicans released legislation Friday aimed at lowering healthcare costs through expanded insurance options for small businesses and unprecedented transparency requirements for pharmacy benefit managers, setting up a crucial vote next week as enhanced Obamacare subsidies expire at year’s end.The Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act, introduced by Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa-01), is the GOP's alternative to Democratic proposals as Democrats push to extend expiring ACA premium tax credits that help 22 million Americans purchase insurance.Speaker Mike Johnson announced the measure would receive a floor vote next week, though GOP leadership indicated moderate Republicans seeking subsidy extensions may...

Former President Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary, are being pressured to appear for depositions related to the case of convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. In a press release Friday, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James Comer (R-KY) issued a statement regarding the depositions scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday. “It has been more than four months since Bill and Hillary Clinton were subpoenaed to sit for depositions related to our investigation into Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s horrific crimes. Throughout that time, the former President and former Secretary of State have delayed, obstructed, and largely ignored the Committee...

The US House of Representatives voted to pass a negotiated version of the National Defense Authorization Act on Wednesday, sending the Pentagon spending bill to the Senate for final approval. This bill was negotiated with Democrats in the House and the Senate, resulting in a bipartisan vote that some MAGA firebrands opposed.Per Fox:An earlier procedural vote on the legislation just barely passed 215–211 at the 11th hour after four Republicans: Reps. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla, Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., all changed their votes from no to yes. All Democrats voted no on the procedural...

Last month, I wrote about how Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.) introduced a non-binding resolution, asking the House of Representatives to condemn socialism in the wake of New York City electing Zohran Mamdani as its next mayor. It was more theater than anything, but it was also a chance for the House to show the people of the United States — well, most of us anyway — that they stand in solidarity with us in wanting to keep socialism out of our country. It was the opportunity to show that they still support the American dream and values. Advertisement Only...

Their record isn’t just spotty; it is downright awful. The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act of 1986 was designed to prevent “patient dumping” by hospitals of emergent patients without insurance. The unintended consequences of that law are hotly debated. What is not in controversy is the hospital lobby’s insistence that the law drives up their operating costs.That argument has done decades of service to protectionist policies that limit competition and protect prices.Then there is the Affordable Care Act. It was a compromise between advocates of “universal health care” and the “Third Way” or “New Democrats” who viewed big...

U.S. President Donald Trump's demand that Republican-led states redraw their congressional maps to help his party retain control of Congress in next year's midterm elections has triggered a national battle over redistricting, with the eventual winner still unclear. The fight began when Republicans in Texas, the most populous Republican state, approved a rare mid-decade new congressional map aimed at flipping five House seats now occupied by Democrats. California, the most populous Democratic state, soon responded by initiating its own redistricting effort targeting five Republican-held districts. Other states, both Republican and Democratic, have followed suit or threatened to do so. Republicans...

After successfully holding strong in the face of a Democrat-led government shutdown over Obamacare, a cabal of House Republicans is now waiving the white flag on the issue.On Thursday, nearly three dozen Democrats and Republicans introduced a proposal to extend taxpayer-funded Obamacare subsidies. As Federalist Senior Contributor Christopher Jacobs has regularly reported in these pages, these Biden-era subsidies — which are set to expire at the end of this year — have been a complete and total disaster. Spearheaded by Reps. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., and Jen Kiggins, R-Va., the measure “would extend and reduce the tax credits in a two-step...

The Indiana state House on Friday approved a new slate of congressional maps that tilts all nine congressional district races in favor of the GOP. The map passed in a 57-41 vote, the local Fox affiliate report. The move sends the bill to the state Senate, where some Republicans have voiced opposition. The redraw comes as President Donald Trump pushes Republicans in other states to redraw their maps to giver Republicans an edge in the 2026 midterms.

Former GOP Rep. Mark Green’s resignation in July triggered a special election for Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District, a longtime Republican seat that President Donald Trump carried by 22 points in the 2024 election. Still, millions of dollars from both parties flowed into the district ahead of the special election. Republican Matt Van Epps, a former state official, and Democratic state Rep. Aftyn Behn won their parties’ special primaries in October, with Van Epps beating a broad GOP field with the help of a late Trump endorsement.

President Donald Trump has been back in office for almost a year -- roughly 315 days -- and has governed with the urgency of a turnaround CEO. He hit the ground running, signing executive orders immediately after inauguration and maintaining a pace unmatched in modern politics. But what becomes of all this action? Executive orders can be reversed the moment a new president arrives unless Congress codifies them into law. That’s the key difference between temporary executive action and lasting legislative reform. According to Ballotpedia, “As of November 25, 2025, President Donald Trump had signed 217 executive orders, 54 memoranda,...

Voters in the Coastal Plains of North Carolina are on track for new congressional maps in the 2026 midterms. The 1st and 3rd Congressional Districts are changed from the 2024 presidential cycle in the map redrawn this fall by the Legislature. On Wednesday, Justices Allison Jones Rushing, Richard Myers and Thomas Schroeder in a 57-page opinion concluded plaintiffs did not make a “clear showing that they are likely to succeed on the merits of any of the claims advanced in their preliminary injunction motions” and denied the request for a preliminary injunction. Filing for the 2026 midterms begins Monday. Rushing...