Free Republic

President Donald Trump proposed Friday a $1.5 trillion defense budget for 2027, a dramatic increase that would mark one of the largest Pentagon funding requests in decades and underscores his push to prioritize military spending over domestic programs. The budget blueprint, released by the White House, would cut non-defense spending by 10 percent and shift some responsibilities to states and local governments. The plan also calls for maintaining immigration enforcement funding, increasing Justice Department spending by 13 percent, adding money for air traffic controller hiring and setting aside $10 billion for National Park Service beautification projects in Washington. The increases...

On March 18, 2026, the House of Representatives voted on H.J. Res. 139, a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced federal budget. The roll call was 211-207. Every Republican voted yes. Every Democrat voted no, save one — a defection that will presumably not be celebrated at the next caucus retreat. Under suspension of the rules, passage required 291 votes. The final count was 80 votes short. This is not a near miss. It is a structural diagnosis rendered as a procedural vote.AdvertisementThe same week, gross national debt crossed $39 trillion — $39,016,762,910,245.14 on March 17. That milestone arrived five months...

President Donald Trump is asking for an eye-popping $1.5 trillion to fund the Pentagon in the budget proposal the White House released Friday. With the war with Iran ongoing, Trump has pushed that more money is needing to fund the US military and less on social programs. 'We're fighting wars, we can't take care of daycare,' he muttered at Wednesday's Easter lunch, which was closed to press, but video was accidentally posted online.

@RepNancyMace Washington’s war machine has spent decades sending our sons and daughters into endless conflicts in the Middle East, with no clear exit strategy, all to serve the interests of powerful politicians. We will not stand for it. We will not sacrifice American lives for the same failed foreign policies. The war machine may be willing to give the lives of your sons and daughters for the price of oil, but we are not.

Low-cost alternatives to the multimillion-dollar missiles the U.S. is using in its war against Iran are still years away, key Pentagon officials said Tuesday, leaving the military reliant on high-cost munitions that are increasingly in short supply. The U.S.-Israel campaign against Iran has burned through complex weapons that cannot be replaced quickly or affordably enough to maintain the Pentagon’s usual stockpiles. Military officials said at a Senate Armed Services Committee briefing that cheaper munitions are on the long-term horizon, but the U.S. industrial base still needs time to scale up to the Defense Department’s increasing needs. Expanding the American industrial...

The U.S. government is insolvent. That’s not hyperbole — it’s the conclusion drawn directly from the Treasury Department’s own consolidated financial statements for fiscal year 2025, released last week to near-total media silence. The numbers: $6.06 trillion in total assets against $47.78 trillion in total liabilities as of September 30, 2025. Importantly, the $47.78 trillion in reported liabilities does not include the unfunded obligations of social insurance programs like Social Security and Medicare — those are disclosed separately in the off-balance-sheet Statement of Social Insurance (SOSI). The government’s consolidated balance sheet position, excluding the SOSI, deteriorated by nearly $2.07 trillion...

@Acyn Boebert: I am so tired of spending money elsewhere. I am tired of the industrial war complex getting all of our hard earned tax dollars. I have folks in Colorado who can't afford to live. We need America first policies right now.

WASHINGTON, March 18 (Reuters) - The ​Pentagon has ‌asked the White House ​to ​approve a more ⁠than $200 ​billion request ​to the U.S. Congress to ​fund ​the war in ‌Iran, ⁠the Washington Post reported ​on ​Wednesday, ⁠citing a senior ​administration ​official.

WASHINGTON, March 18 (Reuters) - The ​Pentagon has ‌asked the White House ​to ​approve a more ⁠than $200 ​billion request ​to the U.S. Congress to ​fund ​the war in ‌Iran, ⁠the Washington Post reported ​on ​Wednesday, ⁠citing a senior ​administration ​official.

In just the first five months of the new fiscal year, the federal government has already spent more than $3 trillion – more than it spent in all of 2009 – $1 trillion of which it had to borrow. And what is all this money going toward? The federal government was told 15 years ago to take a full, annual inventory of everything it does. It’s never been able to get that done. “Each year, the federal government spends trillions of dollars on federal programs that support the American people and address policy goals,” notes the Government Accountability Office in...

https://x.com/jayblackisfunny/status/2031479216647094640Jay Black@jayblackisfunny5hPete Hegseth spent $100,000 on a piano, $2 million on Alaskan King Crab, $7 million on lobster tail, $15 million on steak, $120,000 on ice cream machines, and $12,000 on fruit basket stands… JUST IN SEPTEMBER! (But, tell me again how Somali day care centers are the problem.)@amuse@amuse36m@grok did Pete by a $100K piano? $2M on crabs? $15M on steaks? $120K on ice cream? And $12K on fruit? All in September?Grok@grok35mNo, Secretary Hegseth didn't personally buy these. Per OpenTheBooks analysis of DoD data, these were Pentagon-wide contracts in Sept 2025 (end of fiscal year "use-it-or-lose-it" spending spike to $93B...

U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) announced legislation on Monday to eliminate federal income taxes on the first $75,000 of income. The ‘Keep Your Pay Act’ would raise the standard deduction to $75,000 for married couples filing jointly, with proportional amounts for single filers and heads of household. The measure would cut federal income tax on the median American family by an estimated 85%. “New Jerseyans are working harder than ever, but they’re struggling to get by because they’re facing out-of-control costs and an economy that is stacked against them — so we need big ideas to start making the American...

President Donald Trump met Friday afternoon with CEOs of major defense industry companies at the White House as the war against Iran ended its first full week.After the meeting, Trump said in a social media post that “we discussed Production and Production Schedules” and “they have agreed to quadruple Production of the ‘Exquisite Class’ Weaponry in that we want to reach, as rapidly as possible, the highest levels of quantity.”Trump did not explain what he meant by “Exquisite Class Weaponry.” The term is used in the defense industry to describe one-of-a-kind technology or systems.Trump said the meeting included CEOs of...

The War Between Iran and the Western World was renewed and the US has launched Operation Epic Freedom and Israel has begun Operation Shield of Judea. Apparently the US has launched a decapitating Operation and the Houthis and Hezbollah have launched counter attacks.

Many Americans were skeptical of Elon Musk’s grandiose claims that DOGE would take a “chainsaw” to federal spending. One “tax nerd” was so skeptical he decided to “bet his life savings” on Musk’s promises being a flop — and it paid off big time, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. Musk has seen his approval rating descend as he has taken a more publicly active role politically, plus ongoing criticism and litigation over his management of his social media platform X and support for far-right politics in Europe. He jumped into his work with the Department of...

President Trump said on Saturday that he is going to raise his global tariff to 15%, up from 10% he imposed on Friday, after the Supreme Court struck down a set of sweeping global tariffs.

The Trump administration has made no secret of its desire to push the monetary easing pedal to the metal, even as the engine is already near the red line. They intend to push the system as hard as possible today and worry about the consequences later. One reason may be to inflate the stock market ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. There are several indicators that the Trump administration intends to run it hot in 2026. The first — and most important — is that Trump will likely succeed in consolidating control over the Federal Reserve. Jerome Powell’s term as...

What to know about the partial government shutdown:President Trump signed a massive funding bill to end the partial government shutdown on Tuesday, bringing an end to the standoff after four days with a new fight over immigration on the horizon.The House voted earlier in the day to approve the package by a vote of 217 to 214, with 21 Republicans and 21 Democrats crossing the aisle. Getting the bill across the finish line presented some challenges earlier in the day for Speaker Mike Johnson, who ultimately convinced a handful of GOP holdouts to advance the measure for a final vote.The...

President Donald Trump on Friday formally nominated former Federal Reserve governor Kevin Warsh to succeed Jerome Powell as chair of the U.S. central bank, bringing a turbulent and politically charged transition at the Fed closer to resolution. The decision concludes a months-long search process that unfolded amid extraordinary pressure on the Federal Reserve, rising concerns over inflation persistence, and growing debate about the future independence of the central bank. Trump announced the nomination in a Truth Social post, praising Warsh as a steady and capable choice during a volatile period for monetary policy. “I have known Kevin for a long...

U.S. senators have left town for a week-long recess, leaving themselves only five days to pass the six remaining federal government funding bills. Four of those massive bills, which are also the thorniest, have not even passed the lower chamber, though House leaders hope to advance them in a package next week while the Senate is off. If Congress fails to meet the deadline – which many, including the National Governors Association, anticipate – they face a partial government shutdown. In that instance, the only way lawmakers could prevent a shutdown would be by punting the deadline via a Continuing...