Free Republic

In the November 2024 election, an overwhelming majority of voters in Washington, D.C. voted to pass Initiative 83 (I-83), which introduced ranked choice voting and semi-open primaries for elections in the District of Columbia. Campaign Legal Center, on behalf of our clients who proposed and supported I-83, has successfully defended the will of the voters in court against baseless claims that I-83 is unlawful. Ranked choice voting (also known as RCV) will be used for the first time in the District's history in primary and special elections this month. What is Initiative 83? Spearheaded by Campaign Legal Center’s clients in...

A longtime “Defund the Police” advocate who could be the next mayor of the nation’s capital has argued that American policing is “rooted in white supremacy” — and she, like NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani, is also a member of Democratic Socialists of America. Janeese Lewis George, who won her D.C. City Council seat in 2020 with the backing of the DSA and on a “Defund the Police” platform following the George Floyd protests and riots, is now a leading contender to replace outgoing multi-term Mayor Muriel Bowser. The Democratic mayoral primary will be based on ranked choice voting for the...

This video features commentary on the recent refurbishments at Meridian Hill Park (also known as Malcolm X Park) in Washington, D.C., attributing these improvements to the current administration. Key takeaways from the video: Park Improvements: The video highlights the cleaning and restoration of Meridian Hill Park, specifically noting that the iconic 13-tier cascading fountain is operational again for the first time in nearly a decade (0:00-0:25). Political Commentary: The creator frames the park's restoration as a fulfillment of campaign promises to "clean up" D.C. The narrative argues that the city has become cleaner and safer under President Trump's administration, often...

Virginia’s redistricting referendum, which could net Democrats a 10-1 House seat advantage, is spurring Republican legislation that would expand the borders of Washington, D.C., and cost the state Democratic voters. Georgia Republican Rep. Rich McCormick said Thursday he introduced the Make DC Square Again Act, a bill that would undo the 19th century return of the southwestern part of the district to the state of Virginia, known as retrocession. “The Make DC Square Again Act restores the original ten-mile-square District and ends the artificial advantage Virginia Democrats have recently gained from all the federal bureaucrats moving into Virginia,” McCormick said...

From 2018 and 2024, the politicians and bureaucrats in Washington D.C. arranged for the ‘resettlement’ of 6,299 ‘refugees’ in Maryland. Nearly 1 in 5 of them came from the Islamic terror state of Afghanistan and 1 in 10 came from the equally violent and dangerous terrorist state of Syria. Nearly 70% spoke no English. The second most common language was Arabic. However in Washington D.C., once part of the state and likely to be part of it again if retrocession reform advocates get their way, only 73 ‘refugees’ were resettled in 6 years. ... D.C. is small, but Vermont, which...

the issue continues to be dead in the water. Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, the top Republican on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee who helped organize the hearing, simply said that if Washington residents want full representation in the House and the Senate, Maryland should take back part of the district. “A better option, in my view, would be to retrocede a large portion of the district to Maryland. Retrocession is the preferable way to provide D.C. residents with voting representation in both chambers of Congress,” Portman’s suggestion has been offered before, largely because the federal city was...

In 1847, D.C. pressed for the abolition of slavery, Alexandria, was officially separated after President James K. Polk issued a PROCLAMATION and the Virginia LEGISLATURE accepted. Virginians were afraid that "slaves" would walk across the boundary into the District and become free. With the Potomac River parting Virginia from the District, slaves would be unable to gain their freedom. As a result slavery EXPANDED in Virginia even after DC abolished it. President Trump should consider issuing an executive order directing the DOJ to EXPLORE the CONSTITUTIONALITY of the 1847 retrocession.

All hell broke loose at the DC Navy Yard Chipotle restaurant this weekend after a group of 'youths' got into a violent brawl. A group of terrified patrons, including children, were pushed to the corner of the restaurant as the teen thugs threw chairs at each other. It is unclear what caused the brawl or if anyone was taken into custody. WATCH: Bystanders (including young children) get cornered as teens break out into a violent altercation at the Navy Yard Chipotle in SE Washington, DC. pic.twitter.com/9F7Ugn33yv — Katelyn Caralle (@Katelyn_Caralle) May 17, 2026 The Justice Department vowed to hold the...

The adult son of Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) launched a vile antisemitic and homophobic tirade at Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) at a DC bar Tuesday night, saying at one point that the Iran war was “about the gays and the Jews, and I hate them both, and I don’t care if they die.” In a phone conversation recounting the evening, Lawler told The Post that he was sitting at a popular DC bar with a friend and a reporter for NOTUS, which first revealed the incident involving William Paul. “So Rand Paul’s f—ing son is sitting next to us at...

The Agriculture Department is embarking on a multi-part plan to relocate employees across its component agencies outside of the Washington, D.C. area. USDA is moving many more jobs across the country than it did under the first Trump administration, but expects fewer employees will turn down relocation offers this time around. However, two unions representing impacted USDA employees say the relocations will cause more disruption than department leaders anticipate. For the second time in seven years, USDA is looking to move D.C.-based employees at the Economic Research Service (ERS) and National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) to Kansas City.

The Daily Wire was once ascendant in right-wing media. Now, the “anti-woke” company faces contentious layoffs, ideological battles and dwindling relevance online.The conservative media company Daily Wire was once a star of the MAGA digital universe, dominating social media feeds and podcast apps with a blend of “anti-woke” commentary, viral Facebook posts and culture-war stunts. In the run-up to the 2020 presidential election, the company co-founded by conservative pundit Ben Shapiro ranked as Facebook’s top English-language publisher for three straight months. Its sarcastic news items on then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s salon visits gained millions more views than the websites of...

WASHINGTON (7News) — A man is injured after a shooting involving a U.S. Secret Service agent in Southwest DC, not far from the Washington Monument, according to the U.S. Secret Service and Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). According to the Secret Service, plainclothes agents spotted a man near the White House carrying a firearm. Agents then went to make contact with the man, but he took off running. During the chase, investigators said the man opened fire on the Secret Service officers who then returned fire. The man was taken to the hospital, but officials did not provide details on his...

Dashcam video obtained by News4 shows the National Mall shooting Monday involving Secret Service officers. The Secret Service said a Texas man fired toward officers, who returned fire and hit him multiple times. A teen bystander was hit by the suspect’s gunfire and suffered a graze wound, authorities said. Gunshots can be heard in the video as drivers sit in traffic near Independence Avenue and 15th Street SW, just southeast of the Washington Monument. A man can be seen falling to the ground. “Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!” someone shouts. Police identified the man shot and wounded by the Secret Service as...

Not a single Democrat in the Senate is willing to support the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, and a new op-ed from The Washington Post might just explain why. The SAVE America Act would amend the 1993 National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) to require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote and voter ID to cast a ballot in federal elections. The current “safeguard” preventing noncitizens from registering to vote and voting is a tiny square box on the federal registration form asking applicants to attest they are telling the truth about their citizenship status. In other...

A Southwest Airlines flight attendant prayed for President Trump’s assassination on social media after a gunman breached security at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Michele Carpino made the perverse plea on her Facebook page just minutes after news broke that would-be assassin Cole Allen stormed the annual black-tie Washington press bash last Saturday. “Oh please sweet baby Jesus,” Carpino wrote in a since-deleted Facebook post, Libs of TikTok reported. “WE NEED BETTER ASSASSIN’S! [sic],” she commented after Allen was thwarted by Secret Service agents. Carpino has a history of posting disturbing anti-Trump screeds on social media. “One day we will...

Luigi Mangione, the man accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, chimed in on the Saturday shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. He released a statement through his attorneys condemning political violence in the wake of the shooting, according to The Hill. Luigi Mangione, the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, issued a statement this week decrying political violence in the wake of an assassination attempt on President Trump. Cole Tomas Allen, 31, is accused of trying to assassinate Trump and members of his Cabinet at the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) dinner Saturday. The plot...

Grindr’s in bed with strange fellows. The LGBTQ+ dating app has expanded its political presence in both Washington and California as it seeks to flex its influence muscles on a range of policy priorities. The app’s ambitions have grown since President Donald Trump’s return to office — and much of that is due to the registered Republican running the shop. Since April 2025, Joe Hack has navigated a GOP-controlled Washington as he pushes forward Grindr’s biggest legislative priorities. Out in California, George Arison, Grindr’s self-described “conservative” CEO, has waded into primary politics, pushing moderate San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan as...

A Georgia congressman is proposing a controversial new idea -- he’s calling the “Make D.C. Square Again Act." He said it would expand Washington, D.C. by adding Arlington and Alexandria into the nation's capital. In a post on X, Congressman Rick McCormick said Arlington and Alexandria were “always meant” to be part of D.C., arguing the change would simplify long-running debates over political maps and representation. "What we want to do is make D.C. square again. It's a simple concept. Square. We repeal that unconsituational law, gIve back Virginia exactly what it should have, give D.C. what it should have...

In 1846, a third of the District of Columbia was stolen by Virginia to appease slaveholders. It is time to right that wrong and return to the borders laid down by George Washington himself. The One-Way Ratchet The Constitution gave Congress a one-way ratchet: the power to create a permanent seat of government by accepting cessions from states. Once that ratchet clicked forward in 1790, it was locked. The Constitution provides no mechanism to pull it back. Article I, Section 8 grants Congress the power to "exercise exclusive Legislation" over a district "not exceeding ten Miles square" that becomes "the...

As stocks soared this week and oil prices dropped amid an apparent cooling of tensions between the United States and Iran, it may have left the impression that the energy shock that rattled the world would quickly fade, along with the risk of sending the global economy into recession.The optimism may have been short-lived. On Saturday, Iran’s military announced it would reimpose restrictions on the Strait of Hormuz, throwing the critical waterway’s status into doubt.The uncertainty highlights that beneath that surface, a starkly different reality is unfolding. It is defined by disrupted supply lines and damaged infrastructure, sparking increased concern...