Free Republic

Elon Musk's much heralded chainsaw couldn't make the cut. Despite the Trump administration's efforts to slash government spending through the Department of Government Efficiency, federal expenditures actually increased in fiscal year 2025. A new investigative report from the New York Times released this week showcased that many of the contracts cut by the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, led by tech billionaire Musk for the start of Trump's term, were already winding down, or were not on track to reach their maximum spending allotment. The findings were stark: Of the top 13 contract cancellations in DOGE's database all 13...

As part of its celebration of the 250th anniversary of American independence, the Claremont Institute’s Center for the American Way of Life has published my Provocation, “Government by the Unelected: How it Happened, and How it Might be Tamed.” This full-length essay seeks to assess how the Founders’ principles have fared after 250 years. I argue that government by the consent of the governed has gradually diminished—especially in the 20th and 21st centuries—and has been substantially replaced by the government of a permanent, unelected, and allegedly expert class. The fuller work traces the history of this development, pointing both to...

At least six career staff were placed on leave after DHS opened an investigation into whether they misled the agency’s acting director, Madhu Gottumukkala, into taking the test. At least six career staffers at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency were suspended with pay this summer after organizing a polygraph test that the agency’s acting director, Madhu Gottumukkala, failed. The Department of Homeland Security opened an investigation into whether the staff provided “false information” about the need for the test — which was scheduled after Gottumukkala sought access to certain highly sensitive cyber intelligence shared with the agency. This article...

“Leftists are evil scum who castrate children and invite Mexican rapists into the USA to peddle fent to your kids.” — Aimee Terese on “X”. Dan Bongino leaves the J Edgar Hoover Building.The frantic ceremonies of Christmas shopping climax now. . . the stockings are hung by the chimney with care. . . and the republic judders into the darkest season of an evil era. You fear the one gift you have waited for lo these twelve months will not be delivered: the frog-marching of Brennan, Clapper, Comey, Strzok, HRC, Mayorkas, Monaco, Rosenstein, Priestap, Halper, Yates, Lynch, Garland, Wray, Haynes,...

Rob Reiner did for Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) what Ray Kroc did for hamburgers, what Henry Ford did for the automobile, and what Genghis Khan may have done for sexually transmitted diseases; he brought it to the masses. Reiner's tweets weren't informative, clever, or funny; they were over-the-top insulting and, more importantly, accusatory, so much so that an acne-besotted incel from Butler, Penn., might want to take a shot at Trump. FACT-O-RAMA! Though other Hollywood celebrities have tried (looking at you, Robert DeNiro), no one has attacked Trump as frequently — or as loopily — as Reiner. Take a peek...

Upon her departure from the Democratic Party, the Justice Department and FBI considered opening a criminal investigation into the then-Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., over alleged campaign finance violations, according to reports. The New York Post reported that emails obtained by the newspaper revealed communications between DOJ’s Criminal Division; a prosecutor in then-Washington, D.C., U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves’ office; and FBI agents in the bureau’s Washington Field Office that discussed investigating Sinema in February 2024. Sinema left the Democratic Party in 2022 and chose not to seek re-election in 2024. The email exchanges came in response to the Post’s Feb. 1,...

This announcement (Dan Bongino's resignation from the FBI) does not come as a surprise to those follow the details of corrupt systems closely and who have watched the scale of the problems surface through the years.The problems within the FBI as an institution are systemic. Both Kash Patel and Dan Bongino faced a monumental challenge in trying to get their arms around the scale of the problem within the institution. There is no apple, only worms. Any type of institutional confrontation at this scale can only succeed if the problems are first admitted. Bongino faced a big challenge with Director...

FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino will resign his position with less than a year on the job — after reportedly packing up his belongings and bidding adieu to his team. “I will be leaving my position with the FBI in January,” Bongino announced on social media Wednesday night. “I want to thank President Trump, AG Bondi, and Director Patel for the opportunity to serve with purpose. Most importantly, I want to thank you, my fellow Americans, for the privilege to serve you. God bless America, and all those who defend Her.” SNIP A different source said that it’s understood that...

The House voted 231-195 on Thursday to pass legislation that would nullify President Trump’s efforts to strip more than 1 million federal workers of their collective bargaining rights, sending the measure over to the Senate, where its prospects are less rosy. Twenty Republican lawmakers broke ranks to support the Protect America’s Workforce Act (H.R. 2550) on the floor. Introduced by Reps. Jared Golden, D-Maine, and Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., the measure effectively nullifies Trump’s March executive order barring unions at more than 40 federal agencies under the guise of national security and bars federal agencies from terminating any union contracts that...

Would some of you give me an opinion of Candice Owens? I know we have some loose cannons on the right. I feel like overall we have healthy disagreements that are based on honest differences compared to libs that line up perfectly for the strict purpose of power. Steven Crowder had Nick Fuentes on and asked him straight questions about some controversies and the exchange was refreshing. Not a gotcha interview but an informative one. Lots of decent conservative shows like Tim Pool, Dave Rubin, Micheal Knowles invite other conservatives to discuss their issues so that they can argue openly...

Donald Trump did not rule out expanding US military operations beyond Venezuela to Mexico and Colombia. The president sat down with Politico in an interview released on Tuesday where he said he would consider using military force on two US allies in Latin America. Trump cited Mexico and Colombia's drug trade into the US as he continues threatening to overthrow Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Mexico is the primary country for drug trafficking into the US for a variety of narcotics, including heroin, cocaine, and fentanyl. Since early September, the Trump administration has launched 22 strikes on alleged drug-trafficking vessels in...

Everyone knows that so called “double tap” strikes on land are legal, Obama did it all the time, but CNN keeps inviting land lawyers on to say narco terrorists have special privileges at sea. Let’s look at the admiralty law: 🧵 Source: International law studies @NavalWarCollege “Rudderless and Adrift: States’ Unwarranted Timidity Respecting Stateless Vessels Andrew Norris” Ships without a recognized flag, “stateless vessels”, are the outlaws of the ocean. They don’t have a clear nationality, so no country claims responsibility for them. International law already allows governments to stop, board, and enforce laws against these vessels.

Espionage agencies seek secrets and keep secrets. To the extent that they inform the public what they know, they decide which secrets can be disclosed.Western nations that call themselves “democracies” try to obfuscate this issue by pretending two things: (1) that intelligence agencies work, at all times, for the public good and (2) that a small body of elected officials effectively supervise the work of government spies. These are comforting delusions. #Citizens expect clandestine services to spread disinformation and propaganda if doing so serves their interests. However, when the very institutions that construct alternative realities manufactured from endless lies tell...

EXCLUSIVE: 🚨SECRETARY OF THE ARMY’S OFFICE PLOTTING COUP AT THE PENTAGON TO REMOVE @SecWar PETE HEGSETH AND REPLACE HIM WITH @SecArmy DAN DRISCOLL 🚨 Individuals in the office of US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll have been orchestrating a Coup against Secretary of War Pete Hegseth @PeteHegseth in an effort to have him removed by President Trump and replaced by Dan Driscoll. Over the last 2 weeks, the legacy media, which is incredibly hostile to Hegseth, has been posting puff pieces about Dan Driscoll and how he is a “rising star” at the Pentagon. Sources have told me that Jake Sullivan...

FBI Director Kash Patel is facing withering criticism from an alliance of active-duty and retired agents and analysts, days after the White House denied media reports that the president is about to fire him. A troubling new report card on the first six months of Patel’s leadership concludes he is “in over his head” and his deputy, Dan Bongino, is “something of a clown,” according to the alliance, which in two previous reports warned about crippling DEI and politicization of the FBI during the Biden administration. The Patel-led FBI is described in the 115-page report as a “rudderless ship” and...

“This isn’t just about Maduro. This is the final nail in the coffin for the CIA-black-budget narco pipeline that’s been running since the 80s.” —The Ghost of Ezra on “X”. CIA Headquarters, Langley, Va. You must wonder: what exactly has CIA Director John Ratcliffe been doing over in Langley, VA, lo these many months since things changed bigly in Swamptopia? Does he wander the hallways of that giant black box howling ineffectually. . . sit barricaded in his office playing sudoku. . . or is he doing what needs to be done: methodically uncovering and disassembling the diabolical racketeering operation...

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,...

On Wednesday, an Afghan national ambushed two National Guardsmen just steps from the White House. What was he doing here? Well, the suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, arrived in the U.S. in September 2021 through Operation Allies Welcome, in the aftermath of Biden’s botched withdrawal from Afghanistan. Of course, Biden's administration assured Americans that every Afghan entering under that program went through strict vetting. Few believed it then, and it certainly rings hollow now; the shooting looks like a direct consequence of recklessness that defined Biden’s withdrawal. And Charlie Kirk not only warned us about this, but also believed it was intentional....

Today, his prediction came true. It’s the same playbook as the phony Ukraine impeachment. They’re trying it again! With @JackPosobiecGrok Summary of AI-Generated Video TranscriptJack Posobiec predicted on a show that, following a certain video, opponents would repeat the 2019 Ukraine impeachment playbook by leaking a classified Trump-related phone call to derail his administration. Less than 24 hours later, Bloomberg published a leaked transcript of a phone call between Steve Witkoff (Trump’s special envoy) and Vladimir Putin’s senior foreign policy advisor. The leak is being framed by critics as a scandal involving Witkoff allegedly advising Russia on how to pressure...

A federal judge dismissed the Virginia criminal cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James on Monday, finding that interim US Attorney Lindsey Halligan was improperly appointed to her position and “had no lawful authority” to secure indictments of either of President Trump’s longtime adversaries. The humiliating defeat for the administration came 11 days after attorneys for both Comey and James had argued that Halligan had to be confirmed by the Senate after Attorney General Pam Bondi used up her allotted 120-day interim appointment on Erik Siebert, who resigned Sept. 19 after Trump publicly...