Free Republic

Conservatives warned the White House on Wednesday against striking a deal with California’s two Democratic senators to water down President Trump’s judicial picks for the West Coast’s federal appeals court. Sen. David Perdue, a Georgia Republican close to Mr. Trump, said he will call and try to scuttle the negotiations, reported by The Wall Street Journal, that would have the White House pick one conservative, one consensus nominee and one liberal nominee for three openings on the already liberal U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. “Why do we need to do a deal? This is totally within our purview. We...

Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) needled fellow Republican Sen. Mitt Romney (Utah) in an op-ed in The Washington Post on Friday, arguing that the GOP doesn't need "more distractions." "The mainstream media and Democrats want to further divide Republicans, and now Romney has played right into their hands," Perdue wrote. "Jeff Flake (Ariz.) filled that role before his retirement; the last thing we need now in the Senate is a Jeff Flake on steroids. We certainly don’t need more distractions. We need constructive leaders who want to get things done." Perdue invoked Flake, a vocal critic of President Trump who retired...

n a recent op-ed for The Post, “The president shapes the public character of the nation. Trump’s character falls short,” Mitt Romney made the same mistake that many Republicans did in 2012 — a mistake that cost him the White House. With his attempted character assassination of the president, a fellow Republican, Romney put self-interest ahead of the larger national interest: conservative Republican governance. The op-ed brought to mind 2012, when many Republicans chose to divide the party by continually bashing each other. Romney eventually discovered that many discouraged GOP voters decided to stay home on Election Day.

A member of the Young Democratic Socialists of America at Georgia Tech University is furious at Sen. David Perdue after the Georgia Republican nationalized his phone while campaigning for gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp: “Give me my phone back, senator” exclaimed the young man who wants the government to take other people’s property: So it’s only OK if the government takes someone else’s property and not your own? WEIRD! Also, these are the people who are pissed at Sen. Perdue right now: It’s going to be a really, really short “Revolution” if this is how they act. Sen. Perdue did quickly...

The Senate on Wednesday took a symbolic shot at President Trump’s trade policy amid anxiety on Capitol Hill over his tariff strategy. Senators voted 88-11 to instruct lawmakers hashing out a deal on a government funding bill to include language “providing a role for Congress” on tariffs implemented for national security reasons, known as Section 232 of the trade laws. The vote is nonbinding, meaning lawmakers don’t have to add trade language into the funding bill. But the vote margin, with more senators supporting it than the amount needed to override a veto, underscores the depth of concern on Capitol...

Appearing on this evening’s Hardball, Rep. Karen Bass, a Democrat and leader of the Congressional Black Caucus, twice accused Republican Senators Tom Cotton and David Perdue of “flat-out lying” by saying that they didn’t hear President Trump refer to various countries as “s—holes.” Bass then took things an ugly step further, insinuating that President Trump might have bribed the two senators in some way. Said Bass: “I think that they’re flat-out lying. And maybe they’re getting something from the President for it.” Get the rest of the story and view the video here.

Georgia Republican Sen. David Perdue said Sunday that President Donald Trump did not use the phrase "shithole countries" during a meeting with lawmakers on immigration reform last week. "I'm telling you he did not use that word, George, and I'm telling you it's a gross misrepresentation," Perdue told moderator George Stephanopoulos on ABC's "This Week." During an Oval Office meeting on immigration Thursday, Trump expressed frustration with people coming to the United States from "shithole countries," sources told CNN.

“I’m telling you he did not use that word, George. And I’m telling you it’s a gross misrepresentation. How many times do you want me to say that?” Sen. David Perdue told host George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s “This Week” Sunday. “The gross misrepresentation was that language was used in there that was not used and also that the tone of that meeting was not contributory and not constructive,” he said. Perdue, a Georgia Republican, attended the meeting last Thursday with other GOP and Democratic lawmakers seeking to hammer out a deal on immigration when Trump reportedly wondered out loud why...

Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., repeatedly said Sunday morning that reports President Trump referred to Haiti and various African countries as "shithole countries" during a meeting with senators this week on immigration was a "gross misrepresentation." Perdue use the phrase "gross misrepresentation" several times during an interview with ABC's "This Week."

Two Republican senators who hastily joined an immigration meeting at the White House this week said Friday they do not recall President Trump using vulgar language to describe countries in Africa and elsewhere. ut Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Sen. Davild Perdue (R-Ga.) issued a joint statement Friday suggesting otherwise. “We do not recall the president saying these comments specifically,” Cotton and Perdue said. “But what he did call out was the imbalance in our current immigration system, which does not protect American workers and our national interest.”

Some Democrats and their advocates in the press have been quick to denounce the RAISE Act, the new immigration reform bill proposed by Republican Sens. Tom Cotton and David Perdue and endorsed by President Trump. "The Trump, Cotton, Perdue bill is rooted in the same anti-immigrant, xenophobic, and isolationist rhetoric that was a cornerstone of the Trump campaign," said senior House Democrats John Conyers and Zoe Lofgren. "A xenophobic half-measure," added Rep. Ed Markey. "A play to the xenophobic sentiments that lifted Trump to the presidency," wrote the Washington Post's Jennifer Rubin. Now, though, a new poll shows broad...

President Trump threw his support Wednesday behind a Senate bill that would cut legal immigration in half and implement a new merit-based system that emphasis English-speaking immigrants who can demonstrate job skills. Meeting at the White House with GOP Sens. David Perdue of Georgia and Tom Cotton of Arkansas, the bill’s sponsors, the president said the revised legislation “would represent the most significant reform to our immigration system in half a century.” The measure, known as the RAISE Act, “will reduce poverty, increase wages and save taxpayers billions and billions of dollars,” Mr. Trump said. The legislation would slash legal...

As if the 2016 cycle couldn’t get any uglier, a nasty war of words broke out Friday when Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid accused a Republican senator of “praying” for President Obama’s death. ADVERTISEMENT The allegations followed Georgia Sen. David Perdue’s remarks Friday to a Faith and Freedom Coalition conference in Washington. “We are called to pray for our country, for our leaders, and yes, even our president,” Perdue said. “I think we should pray for Barack Obama.” He added, “We need to be very specific about how we pray. We should pray like Psalms 109:8 says. It says, 'Let...

A Republican senator told conservatives Friday they should pray for President Barack Obama and suggested a biblical passage that says, “Let his days be few.” Georgia Sen. David Perdue told a gathering of religious conservatives that “we need to be very specific about how we pray.” He suggested using (Psalm 109:8), which reads: “Let his days be few, and let another have his office.” As the audience at the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s conference laughed and applauded, Perdue said, “In all seriousness, I believe that America is at a moment of crisis.” …

The Washington political establishment has hit the panic button. Not because they are afraid of any one individual or candidate, but because they are afraid of losing their own political power. This town is filled with well-intentioned people who believe they are doing the right thing, but far too many have lost their way after years in Washington. Politicians pay more attention to special interests groups and powerful lobbyists writing checks to their next campaign, than listening to the people back home who sent them here in the first place. A recent survey of likely Republican primary voters showed that...

The Washington political establishment has hit the panic button. Not because they are afraid of any one individual or candidate, but because they are afraid of losing their own political power. The Washington political establishment has hit the panic button. This town is filled with well-intentioned people who believe they are doing the right thing, but far too many have lost their way after years in Washington. Politicians pay more attention to special interests groups and powerful lobbyists writing checks to their next campaign, than listening to the people back home who sent them here in the first place. This...

Sen. Marco Rubio is backing a push to increase penalties for undocumented immigrants who reenter the country after previously being deported. The Florida Republican signed onto legislation from fellow 2016 White House hopeful Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Thursday, according to the Congressional Record. Under Cruz's legislation, undocumented immigrants face additional prison time if they reenter the country after being deported, including a minimum five-year sentence if they were previously convicted of an aggravated felony or of illegally reentering the country twice. The Texas Republican is expected to come to the Senate floor next week to try to pass the...

Senators on Wednesday blocked a Republican push to tie Iran's support of terrorism to a final deal on the country's nuclear program. Senators voted 45-54 on the amendment from Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), which would have required President Obama to certify as part of a diplomatic deal that Iran hasn't carried out or directly supported an act of terror against the United States or a U.S. citizen. Republican Sens. Lamar Alexander (Tenn.), Dan Coats (Ind.), Bob Corker (Tenn.), David Perdue (R-Ga.), Jeff Flake (Ariz.), Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Orrin Hatch (Utah) and John McCain (Ariz.) voted with Democrats against the amendment....

Republican Sen. Rand Paul split with senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio to vote for a healthcare bill Tuesday night that will add about half a trillion dollars to the national debt over the next several decades.Paul sided with the overwhelming majority of senators and representatives who voted for the bill, in a decision almost certain to come up in the primary race, where he is currently joined by Cruz and Rubio.The “doc-fix” bill solves a recurring problem in the way Medicare payments are made to doctors, extends a children’s health insurance program, and requires higher-income seniors to pay higher...

Forty-seven Senate Republicans are signaling in an open letter to Iran and the White House that a deal over Tehran’s nuclear program will be at risk once President Obama leaves office. “It has come to our attention while observing your nuclear negotiations with our government that you may not fully understand our constitutional system,” the senators wrote in the letter, which was first reported by Bloomberg. “Thus, we are writing to bring to your attention two features of our Constitution — the power to make binding international agreements and the different character of federal offices — which you should seriously...