Free Republic

Donald Trump is backing a GOP proposal depositing $1,500 checks into the health care accounts of millions of Americans. The legislation, which is being led by Republican Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy and Idaho Senator Mike Crapo, gives qualifying Affordable Care Act (ACA) enrollees a $1,000 deposit for those aged 18 to 49, as well as recipients aged 50 to 64 for $1,500. While speaking to reporters on board Air Force One on Tuesday, the president

The Trump administration on Monday unveiled a new initiative dubbed the “U.S. Tech Force,” comprising about 1,000 engineers and other specialists who will work on artificial intelligence infrastructure and other technology projects throughout the federal government. Participants will commit to a two-year employment program working with teams that report directly to agency leaders in “collaboration with leading technology companies,” according to an official government website. Those “private sector partners” include Amazon Web Services , Apple , Google Public Sector, Dell Technologies , Microsoft , Nvidia , OpenAI, Oracle , Palantir , Salesforce and numerous others, the website says. The Tech...

Democrats just flipped the Miami mayorship from 🟥🔜🟦. The last time democrats won Miami was 1998. Republicans are completely squandering all of the work we did to win the 2024 elections. It’s especially frustrating as democrats are raising taxes in New Jersey & Pennsylvania.

Working Americans are going to get “very large refunds” of $1,000 to $2,000 per household early in the new year, according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The checks will come in the first quarter of 2026 as a result of tax cuts in President Donald Trump’s sweeping, budget-focused One Big Beautiful Bill Act, he said. “I think we’re going to see $100-$150 billion of refunds, which could be between $1,000, $2,000 per household,” Bessent said Wednesday.

The United States trade deficit shrank dramatically in September, falling 10.9 percent to $52.8 billion as President Trump’s sweeping tariff policies began to reshape trade flows in line with the administration’s goals, according to data released Thursday by the Commerce Department.The deficit reduction reflected gains on both sides of the ledger. U.S. exports jumped 3.0 percent to $289.3 billion, the highest level in months, while imports rose just 0.6 percent to $342.1 billion. The combination produced the kind of outcome the Trump administration has sought: American goods finding stronger markets abroad even as the flow of foreign goods into the...

The trade deficit has narrowed to its smallest since mid-2020, down more than 35% over last year — and more proof that President Donald J. Trump’s America First trade agenda is working.Here’s what you need to know:U.S. exports are up 6% over last year — rising to their second-highest value on record — while Inflation-adjusted exports of consumer goods are the largest ever.The seasonally adjusted trade deficit with China has narrowed to its second-smallest since 2009.In the third quarter of 2025, real exports grew by a 4.1% annual rate and imports fell by around 5% — adding about 1% to...

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...

On Sunday, December 7, US lawmakers unveiled the final text of the defense policy bill, which includes record funding for national security as well as aid for Ukraine, according to Reuters, Fox News, and AOL.Media reports state that the bill allocates $901 billion for military spending for fiscal year 2026-$8 billion more than what President Donald Trump requested in May of this year.The legislation also assists Ukraine.“The legislation reauthorizes the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative at $400 million per year for fiscal years 2026 and 2027,” Fox News reports.Additionally, the US Congress will require more frequent reporting on allied contributions to...

@RepThomasMassie Republicans campaigned on reducing spending, but after the election almost all Congressmen voted to spend hundreds of billions more in 2025 and 2026 than in 2024.

Three provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill are designed to boost worker pay and encourage business investmentNational Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett joins 'Sunday Morning Futures' to weigh in on the potential economic fallout if Trump’s tariffs are struck down in the Supreme Court and rising tensions over China’s rare-earth minerals.Democrats’ favorite word lately is "affordability." They have painted the false narrative that the election of socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani in solidly blue New York City or Democrat Gov. Abigail Spanberger in solidly blue Virginia were somehow referenda on President Donald Trump’s agenda. This fallacy not only ignores the...

For millions of Americans relying on Social Security, small changes to the formula that calculates annual benefit increases can have an outsized impact. Social Security checks are a cornerstone of retirement income for over 50 million Americans, and Congress is now considering legislation that could reshape how those benefits adjust for inflation. It comes as Americans of all ages continue to navigate rising costs. In October, the Social Security Administration (SSA) announced that benefits would grow by 2.8 percent in 2026 through the annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). Yet for many retirees, even modest increases barely keep pace with the real...

During last week’s excruciating Oval Office make-nice between an insultingly buddy-buddy American President and a fraudulently obsequious New York City mayor-elect, the contest was over which pol was the more patronizing. At one point Trump graciously granted his petitioner permission to call him a “fascist” while clearly implying the guy’s OTT campaign rhetoric had been embarrassing. Donald Trump sat regally on his throne, patting Zohran Mamdani’s arm while commending “Attaboy!” as if petting a golden retriever that had fetched a ball. For his part, Mamdani stood mutely by the Resolute desk with cartoonish humility, hands over crotch. This cowed performance...

At least one Republican senator has said that the U.S. government cannot afford a Trump administration proposal to send out $2,000 tariff-derived rebate payments. “If we’re bringing in revenue through the tariffs, that ought to be applied to reduce the deficit, not just to make cash payments to Americans,” Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) told Fox Business’s Maria Bartiromo on Monday. Bartiromo then told him: “It sounds like you would vote ‘no’ in terms of $2,000 checks going to individuals.” He added that “we can’t afford it” and that he wishes the U.S. government was “in a position to return the...

DoGE has been DoGE’d. The once fearsome government efficiency office has been shut down eight months before its contract officially ends in July 2026. What was supposed to be an organization that exploded traditional ways of running the federal government has turned into a damp squib. It was established by President Trump on the first day of his second term in office. Headed by Tesla chief Elon Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy (who resigned early on to run for Ohio governor), it struck the kind of fear into government bureaucrats that a visit from the Red Guards might instill during...

Summary DOGE disbanded eight months ahead of scheduled end in July 2026 Former DOGE employees take new roles in administration Elon Musk initially led DOGE, promoting its work on social media WASHINGTON, Nov 23 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency has disbanded with eight months left to its mandate, ending an initiative launched with fanfare as a symbol of Trump's pledge to slash the government's size but which critics say delivered few measurable savings. "That doesn't exist," Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor told Reuters earlier this month when asked about DOGE's status. It is...

Notionally, Americans have never been better off. The ructions in tech stocks over the past few weeks cannot detract from the fact that the US economy has been outgunning other developed economies all century. The overall graph of real disposable income for Americans continues to trend upward, almost as if the sharp dip during the pandemic had not happened. That is certainly not true everywhere: in many countries, Covid has been followed by stagnation in GDP and wages. Yet, for all the wealth generated, many Americans simply do not feel that they are living in a thriving country. On the...

What’s clear is that the 2024 election was not the final boss. It didn’t destroy wokeism. You have to picture the spider in The Lord of the Rings, Shelob, crawling back into her cave after being stabbed by Samwise. Is she injured? Yes. Dead? No. She will probably be back to kill you. Republicans and pundits and podcasters will come up with all sorts of reasons for the latest losses (including blaming the Jews), but it comes down to fundamentals. Ground game. Optics. And of course, “It’s the economy, stupid!” The GOP has no ground game in part because it...

“We’re gonna be issuing dividends later on, somewhere prior to — the middle of next year, a little bit later than that,” he said, noting it would include “Thousands of dollars, for individuals of moderate income.” [Scott] Bessent also floated a rough income limit of $100,000 that would disqualify higher income families from receiving the dividend.

Mississippi turns a corner, but can the federal government?The future for our state looks bright. In just the past five years, Mississippi has seen more economic growth than in the entire 15 years before that combined.We’re on track to phase out the state income tax entirely, allowing families to keep more of what they earn. Mississippi has attracted a surge of new investment, and for the first time in years, our workforce participation rate is finally heading in the right direction.Zoom out, and the picture gets even better. Contrary to the endless gloom from the pundits, the American economy has...

Time is short for the Trump administration. Last week's elections were a setback, but not a devastating one: New Jersey is still a blue state, and while Virginia went red four years ago, it's been trending Democratic for more than a decade. Republicans also fared poorly in Pennsylvania, however, an all-important presidential battleground. Democrats even made inroads deep into the South, taking two state senate seats in Mississippi -- ending a GOP supermajority -- and picking up city council spots in South Carolina and Florida. With results like these, the Republicans' razor-thin majority in Congress won't survive the midterm elections...