Free Republic

WASHINGTON — Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 85, is heading for the exits after nearly four decades in Congress. So is her longtime deputy, Rep. Steny Hoyer, 86, and former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, 83. But of the two dozen members of the Silent Generation now serving in the 119th Congress, more than half (13) have decided to run again in 2026, according to an NBC News review. In total, this Congress is the third-oldest in U.S. history, with an average age of 58.9 years at the start of this session one year ago. The median age in the...

Senate Republicans voted to dismiss a war powers resolution Wednesday that would have limited President Donald Trump’s ability to conduct further attacks on Venezuela after two GOP senators reversed course on supporting the legislation. Trump put intense pressure on five Republican senators who joined with Democrats to advance the resolution last week and ultimately prevailed in heading off passage of the legislation. Two of the Republicans — Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Todd Young of Indiana — flipped under the pressure.Vice President JD Vance had to break the 50-50 deadlock in the Senate on a Republican motion to dismiss...

Federal prosecutors have charged a Maryland man with orchestrating a years-long theft scheme inside the U.S. House of Representatives, alleging he stole hundreds of government-issued cell phones and sold them for personal profit. The findings of this case were revealed by the Department of Justice on Monday. Christopher Southerland, 43, of Glen Burnie, was arrested Friday after a federal indictment was unsealed in U.S. District Court, according to U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro. Authorities said the stolen devices were worth more than $150,000. According to the indictment, Southerland worked as a system administrator for the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure...

U.S. Senate and House negotiators on Sunday night jointly released the overdue text for the fiscal 2026 foreign aid and diplomacy spending bill. And, somewhat surprisingly, it largely rejects the draconian cuts sought by U.S. President Donald Trump and even provides funding for several journalism organizations and democracy-promotion efforts that billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency tried to shutter. House Republicans highlighted the $9.3 billion (or 16 percent) in spending cuts that the compromise legislation would make to top-line funding levels compared to fiscal 2025 enacted levels. Senate Democrats, meanwhile, touted that the spending measure is still $3.8 billion...

Prominent Dallas pastor Frederick Haynes kicked off his campaign Monday to be the Democratic nominee for Texas' 30th congressional district — seeking to replace Jasmine Crockett, who is running for U.S. Senate. Haynes passionately made his case to the crowd at the Black Academy of Arts and Letters in Fair Park, framing himself as an outsider to Washington who would shake things up. He told the crowd he supports quality health care for all, economic equality and abolishing the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. ICE has come under fire in response to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdowns, and most...

Fox News host Mark Levin delves into who historically has had the power to declare war in accordance with the Constitution on 'Life, Liberty & Levin.' Explains the distinction between "making war" and "declaring war," "power of the purse" and other basic constitutional principles, concerning which a host of so-called "experts" are studiously ignorant. Expounds on the substance of the Constitutional Convention, the debates and different factions, which resulted in the text of the Constition as it now is. Transcript linked below video.

Washington, DC - Today, Congressman Fine (FL-06) introduced the Greenland Annexation and Statehood Act, landmark legislation focused on securing America’s strategic national security interests in the Arctic and countering the growing threats posed by China and Russia. As global competition intensifies in the Arctic, the United States cannot afford to allow adversarial powers to gain influence over one of the world’s most strategically important regions. “Greenland is not a distant outpost we can afford to ignore—it is a vital national security asset,” said Congressman Fine. “Whoever controls Greenland controls key Arctic shipping lanes and the security architecture protecting the United...

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem isn't having it from Democrat lawmakers who wish to further inflame rising tensions in the wake of the shooting death of far-left agitator Renee Nicole Good last Wednesday in Minneapolis. A day after the shooting, Noem quietly updated DHS's policy, which will now require Members of Congress to submit visit requests at least one week prior to the intended visit date.The move by Noem comes after a December decision by U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb, a Joe Biden appointee, that blocked a previous DHS directive requiring a one-week notice of congressional visits...

Five Senate Republicans joined with Democratic lawmakers in a surprise rebuke of President Donald Trump Thursday, voting to advance legislation that would force the commander in chief to seek Congress’ OK before taking any additional military action in Venezuela. Trump attacked the lawmakers in a Truth Social post after the procedural vote, saying they “should never be elected to office again” and that the measure they supported “greatly hampers American Self Defense and National Security.” Here’s a closer look at each of the GOP lawmakers and how they explained their votes: Rand Paul of Kentucky: Paul was a co-sponsor of...

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...