Free Republic

HARRISBURG — When Republican state legislator Jim Gregory nominated his Democratic friend and colleague Mark Rozzi to be speaker of the Pennsylvania House this month, the move stunned close political observers and seemed to offer new hope for bipartisanship. As with the nation, politics in this critical swing state, the country’s fifth-most populous, have become bitterly divided in recent years along ideological, geographical and racial lines. Donald Trump won the state in 2016, and Joe Biden took it back in 2020. False claims over the legitimacy of the 2020 contest became prominent Pennsylvania GOP rallying cries in 2022 and reinforced...

Donald Trump Jr. praised Conservative Republicans on Friday for achieving the “best deal” conservatives “have ever” received from GOP leadership as Republicans begin to coalesce behind Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) for Speaker of the House. “Proud of my conservative friends in the house who just won the best deal the right has ever gotten from Republican Leadership,” he wrote. “We need to put petty personal disputes aside & do what’s best for the movement. This is a transformational deal that will change Congress for the better!” Proud of my conservative friends in the house who just won the best deal...

WASHINGTON — President Biden said last month that the Iran nuclear deal “is dead” but added that “we are not going to announce it — long story,” according to a video that resurfaced Tuesday. Biden made the remark Nov. 4 to Iranian American protesters who trailed him to an event in California. “President Biden, could you please announce that JCPOA is dead? Can you just announce that?” a woman asks, using the formal acronym for the 2015 agreement that softened US policy toward Iran in exchange for promises that Tehran wouldn’t seek a nuclear bomb. “No,” Biden replied. “No? Why...

Former President Trump on Sunday said he turned down a deal to release former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, who’s been detained by Moscow since 2018, in exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout during his time in the White House. “I turned down a deal with Russia for a one on one swap of the so-called Merchant of Death for Paul Whelan. I wouldn’t have made the deal for a hundred people in exchange for someone that has killed untold numbers of people with his arms deals,” Trump said on Truth Social.

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Thursday he will keep senators working in Washington until they pass legislation to avoid a nationwide rail strike, which he warned could begin disrupting the nation’s supply chain as soon as next week. “The Senate cannot leave until we get the job done and Democrats will keep working with Republicans to find a path forward that everyone can support,” he announced on the Senate floor. The Democratic leader began the so-called Rule 14 process on Wednesday evening to put a House-passed bill to avert the rail strike on the Senate calendar. The legislation...

Amid pressure on Congress to pass a bill that would avert a rail shutdown, ​​Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said Tuesday that he won’t back any deal that lacks support from rail workers. “Just because Congress has the authority to impose a heavy-handed solution does not mean we should. It is wrong for the Biden Administration, which has failed to fight for workers, to ask Congress to impose a deal the workers themselves have rejected. I will not vote for any deal that does not have the support of the rail workers,” Rubio said in a statement.

President Joe Biden and his administration worked extensively to work out a secret deal with Saudi Arabia to ease oil and gas prices right before the midterm elections, even though the Saudis ultimately backtracked. Biden officials scrambled to convince the Saudis not to cut oil production before the midterm elections and thought they had succeeded once Biden agreed to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Biden officials pushed for the Saudis to accelerate production in July and August and additional increases from September to December, which would significantly impact oil production ahead of the midterms.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/far-left-dems-urge-biden-push-peace-deal-ukraine-throw-party-uproar#:~:text=The%20Democratic%20Party%27s,the%20group%20wrote.

Lawmakers are frustrated about being kept in the dark as Democratic leaders strategize how to jimmy an energy deal struck with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) behind closed doors through Congress — while also averting a government shutdown. Democratic leadership is aiming to use a must-pass government-funding bill to advance an energy permitting proposal by Manchin by the end of the month. But with roughly two weeks standing between Congress and the critical funding deadline, tensions are simmering over the closely-kept negotiations.

The White House-brokered agreement to avert a railroad strike has the potential to fall apart, threatening widespread economic disruption right before the midterm elections. Rail workers are set to vote on the tentative deal reached between unions and railroads Thursday morning. If any of the 12 rail unions fail to ratify a new contract, nearly 125,000 rail workers could be headed for a strike. The agreement would mandate two-person crews, cap health care costs and allow workers to take time off for medical appointments or other scheduled events without being penalized, all key concessions won by unions. The deal also...

Railroads and unions reached a tentative contract agreement Thursday morning, averting the threat of an imminent strike that would have ravaged the nation’s economy. The Biden administration intervened in negotiations to push both parties toward a compromise ahead of Friday, the first day that workers could legally walk out. The two largest rail unions said Thursday that the deal provides key wins for workers that weren’t included in the previous contract proposals. Here are five key gets in the agreement, according to the unions.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) signaled Wednesday that she could back a side deal between Democratic leaders and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) if it is included in a Senate bill funding the government, setting up a potential clash with liberals in the debate over climate change. “If the Senate passes a CR, we have to keep government open,” Pelosi told The Hill, referring to a continuing resolution — a stopgap funding measure to prevent a shutdown.

Nearly a third of House Democrats warned Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday against tying this month's must-pass government funding bill to legislation spurring oil and gas drilling that is desired by Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. Seventy-one House Democrats penned a letter to Pelosi, D-Calif., warning that the bill's inclusion will force them to seriously consider voting against the short-term government funding measure, known as a continuing resolution. "In the face of the existential threats like climate change and MAGA extremism, House and Senate leadership has a greater responsibility than ever to avoid risking a government shutdown by jamming divisive policy...

Elon Musk has notified Twitter and the SEC [SEE LETTER HERE] that he is exercising his “right to terminate the merger agreement and abandon the transaction contemplated” due to the social media company not providing transparent access to background data that would allow authentication of “monetized daily active users” (mDAUs). It appears that Twitter Inc did not want to reveal how Jack’s Magic Coffee Shop was able to sustain operations, at an extremely high cost, without making money. That’s the essential source of the issue. The social media company did not want anyone looking at the data stream inside the...

The negotiations for bipartisan gun control ended with an agreement on Sunday, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is making clear he wants a floor vote as soon as possible. Politico reports that Schumer has already said he will “put this bill on the floor as soon as possible.”

Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal didn’t have many concrete answers for staff about what will happen once Elon Musk takes over the company later this year. During a virtual all-hands call Monday, hours after the company announced it had agreed to be bought by Musk for $44 billion, Agrawal fielded questions on the future of his job, the company’s board, and possible layoffs. Layoffs aren’t planned “at this time,” Agrawal said, according to a person who heard the remarks and who asked to remain anonymous. Agrawal also said that he’d remain as CEO until the deal’s close, but he didn’t comment...

Republicans on Tuesday blocked the Senate from advancing a $10 billion deal on coronavirus aid amid a stalemated fight over whether to attach a Trump-era immigration policy to the agreement. Absent a breakthrough, the stalemate would delay the coronavirus bill until after a two-week break that is expected to start by Friday. To pass the deal before that, they would need buy-in from all 100 senators. Senators voted 47-52 to advance legislation that’s being used as a vehicle for the coronavirus agreement, falling short of the 60 votes needed to move forward.

After weeks of pleas from the White House for Congress to approve more money toward COVID-19 programs that were at risk of being cut, senators have put forward a new bill for $10 billion. The package, which sets aside money to support the nation's testing infrastructure and the development of new, variant-specific vaccines, falls far short of the initial $22.5 billion requested by the White House.

CNN)Utah GOP Sen. Mitt Romney said Thursday that Republicans have struck an "agreement in principle" with Democrats on a $10 billion package to help US efforts to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, a breakthrough that could pave the way for new funds to help the United States' response efforts amid growing fears that critical resources are being depleted. Romney, the lead GOP negotiator, told reporters the plan is "entirely balanced by offsets." He said the bill text still needs to be drafted and there needs to be a cost estimate from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office before the Senate can vote...

Nikki Haley, who served as President Donald Trump’s U.N. ambassador at the time the U.S. withdrew from the Iran deal, blasted President Joe Biden for “rewarding terrorists” through a new “illegitimate” deal with Iran over its nuclear program as reports swirl of an imminent revival of the 2015 nuclear pact, only weaker than the original. In an exclusive statement to Breitbart News on Sunday, Haley claimed that “a new Iran [nuclear] deal would be a disaster.”