Free Republic

We obviously have no dog in this fight, though some have noted the Soviet-style treatment David Hogg is getting at the Democratic National Committee. This party is a total mess, and the vote to put his ouster as vice chair on the fast track only added another chapter to the ongoing ‘Dems in disarray’ soap opera. The credentials committee paved the way to remove Hogg, though they claim it’s not about politics. It is—it seems this was done to appease the Native American woman who lost to Hogg (via Semafor) [emphasis mine]: The DNC’s credentials committee will meet virtually on...

This is Jake Tapper and The New Yorker we're talking about, but if half of this report is true, then holy moly. On Tuesday, The New Yorker published an excerpt from the CNN host's new book, and it's a doozy. Here's the part where Joe Biden didn't remember mega-famous actor George Clooney, a man he'd met numerous times before. I remember being told that I was a domestic extremist who peddles in harmful disinformation if I suggested that a dementia patient was running the country. I’ve been right so many times these past several, maybe even 10 years to the...

President Trump said in an interview aired Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" with Kristen Welker that he'd give TikTok relief if a deal isn't struck during the already extended timeframe. The big picture: Trump, who attempted to ban TikTok during his first term due to national security concerns, has pushed to keep the app alive in the U.S. despite bipartisan concerns about national security risks due to the app's ties to China. Driving the news: "Perhaps I shouldn't say this, but I have a little warm spot in my heart for TikTok," Trump said. Trump said he'd like to...

A magistrate judge warned US Attorney Alina Habba and ICE against ‘out-of-court’ statements about the case against Newark Mayor Ras Baraka during a hearing on Friday. Public statements made by Alina Habba and ICE spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin following Ras Baraka’s arrest are at issue. The Mayor of Newark was arrested for criminal trespass on Friday after storming the Delaney Hall ICE detention facility. ..... Snip..... On Friday, Alina Habba said Mayor Baraka was taken into custody after he ignored multiple warnings from DHS agents. “The Mayor of Newark, Ras Baraka, committed trespass and ignored multiple warnings from Homeland Security Investigations...

Vermont Governor Phil Scott paused the state’s electric vehicle sales requirements for passenger cars and medium and heavy-duty trucks on Tuesday, amid broader concerns about the feasibility of zero-emission vehicle rules pioneered by California. Vermont is one of 11 states including New York, Maryland and Massachusetts that have adopted California’s zero-emission vehicle rules, which seek to end the sale of gasoline-only vehicles by 2035. California’s rules require 35% of light-duty vehicles in the 2026 model year to be zero-emission models. Scott, a Republican, cited warnings from automakers that they could limit supply of gas-powered vehicles to dealers in the state...

The Trump administration scored a major victory on Monday after a federal judge ruled that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) can share its database with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to help locate and identify alleged illegal migrants. U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich sided with the Trump administration in a lawsuit brought by the immigrant-rights group Centro de Trabajadores Unidos, by declining to issue an injunction to block the two government agencies from partnering on illegal immigration. Friedrich ruled that the partnership, which allows Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials to submit names of illegal migrants to the IRS,...

MILWAUKEE —A federal grand jury indicted Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan on Tuesday. The FBI arrested Dugan on federal obstruction charges last month, after they alleged she helped an undocumented migrant avoid immigration agents who were trying to arrest him after his appearance in her courtroom. In a statement to WISN 12 News, Dugan's legal team said, "Judge Dugan asserts her innocence and looks forward to being vindicated in court." She is scheduled to appear in court on Thursday. The state supreme court suspended the judge from the bench. Dugan is not currently hearing cases.

Gone are rules banning a wide swath of gas stoves. Gone are the strict water standards governing dishwashers and shower heads. And gone is the government-wide effort to force electrification of the economy through appliance regulations. It is all part of a historic action the Trump administration announced Monday, reversing dozens of energy regulations, saving consumers more than $11 billion, and cutting more than 125,000 words from the United States Code of Regulations. As part of the Department of Energy's sweeping action unveiled Monday, it will rescind dozens of energy efficiency regulations targeting common household appliances that the Biden administration...

Microsoft on Tuesday began laying off nearly 3 percent of its total workforce — or about 6,000 employees. “We continue to implement organizational changes necessary to best position the company for success in a dynamic marketplace.” a Microsoft spokesperson told The Hill in an emailed statement.The Washington state-based tech company has a total of 228,000 workers globally, according to the corporation’s latest figures, with some 126,000 in the United States. Tuesday’s cuts will impact thousands. The layoff notices have already gone out to some employees. Microsoft also had layoffs earlier this year, initiating performance-based job cuts across multiple departments. The...

A major medical organization that accredits all graduate medical education programs, like internships and residency programs, announced Friday that it was suspending some of its “diversity” requirements. The board of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education released a statement announcing it was pausing certain “diversity” requirements due to concerns about compliance with federal law. The announcement comes after President Donald Trump called out the accreditation organization in an executive order asking the Education Department to crack down on accreditation bodies mandating universities adopt DEI programs. “The ACGME has heard significant concerns from multiple constituents in several states and from...

The thing about Democrats is they are like the Borg – a hive mind with absolute conformity. In spite of what some of the bumper stickers on their Priuses proclaim, they are not fans of questioning authority, at least their own. This is why they have now turned their resources on Pennsylvania Democratic Senator John Fetterman. The message is clear: conform or we will destroy you. Ronald Reagan famously said that his 80 percent friend is not his 20 percent enemy. To Democrats, their 99.9 percent friend is their 100 percent enemy. Stray from the acceptable thought plantation they place...

Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday ordered cities across the Golden state to start cleaning up its homeless encampments, stating that the "time for inaction is over" and that the state has a lot of federal funding to help with the efforts. California has become known for having the highest homeless rate in the country with 187,000 homeless people as of 2024, who largely occupy cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco. Los Angeles has the second highest homeless population in the country, behind New York City. Newsom laid out a plan to eliminate the homeless population from his...

Republican Iowa Sens. Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley called on the Justice Department Monday to hold Biden-era Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives officials accountable for allegedly orchestrating an “illegal scheme” to “misclassify” administrative positions as law enforcement ones for greater pay and benefits. “We raised concerns because as a result of ATF’s illegal conduct, ATF staff assigned to these positions performed administrative work but unlawfully received enhanced law enforcement pay and benefits to which they were not entitled, wasting millions of taxpayer dollars,” Ernst and Grassley wrote in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, ATF Acting Director...

The posts were apparently made on Sunday, as the Panthers evened the series at 2-2 with a 2-0 win over the Leafs.A Florida Panthers executive and team minority owner has been suspended by the National Hockey League for what they called "unacceptable and inappropriate" social media posts. Douglas Cifu, the team's vice chairman, partner, and alternate governor, was suspended by the NHL for posts he allegedly made on X. "The NHL has concluded that Mr. Cifu’s X posts were unacceptable and inappropriate. As a result, Mr. Cifu has been suspended indefinitely from any involvement with the Club and the NHL,”...

Congressional Republicans are making a last-ditch effort to gut the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) green energy subsidies via President Donald Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill.” The House Ways and Means Committee unveiled a draft bill Monday afternoon to repeal several IRA subsidies including those for electric vehicles and so-called clean hydrogen while preserving tax credits for carbon sequestration, biofuels and advanced manufacturing, which primarily benefit solar and battery storage projects. Republican Utah Sen. Mike Lee and Reps. Chip Roy of Texas and Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma’s Energy Freedom Act would take an even more aggressive approach by proposing a...

Decades before Jeanine Pirro became a co-host of Fox News’s “The Five,” cable’s highest-rated news show, she was a respected prosecutor, county court judge and then district attorney in New York’s Westchester County. This makes her better qualified to serve as the interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia than Ed Martin, whose nomination President Donald Trump withdrew last week following opposition from Republicans on Capitol Hill.But since Pirro left her last job as a prosecutor two decades ago, she has acted in ways that call into question whether she has the independence necessary to responsibly take on one...

The latest broadside from the federal government comes as Harvard faces multiple investigations from across the Trump administration.The Trump administration on Tuesday canceled an additional $450 million in grants for Harvard University, a fresh broadside in the clash between the federal government and the oldest university in the country.There were no new accusations leveled at Harvard in a statement announcing the latest cuts, issued by the administration’s task force on antisemitism. Instead, government officials accused the school of not resolving the “pervasive race discrimination and antisemitic harassment” they described as “plaguing” the campus in Cambridge, Mass.“There is a dark problem...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans in Congress are moving with rapid speed to advance President Donald Trump’s big bill of tax breaks, spending cuts and beefed-up border security funding as leaders work to enact many of his campaign promises. House committees have been laboring for months to draft the legislation, which Republicans have labeled “THE ONE, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL,’’ a nod to Trump himself. Speaker Mike Johnson is pushing to approve the package and send it to the Senate by Memorial Day. Democrats say they will fight what House party leader Hakeem Jeffries calls “this extreme and toxic bill.”Here’s a look...

SummaryFinance minister, US trade minister stay in place Carney plans tax cuts, internal trade barrier removal by July 1 Teamsters union concerned over labor minister position change Carney met Trump in Washington last week but did not secure any removal of tariffs the president has imposed on Canadian exports."Our government will deliver its mandate for change with urgency and determination," Carney told reporters."Our workers and businesses continue to face the unfair tariffs imposed by the United States. My government will fight for Canadians."Carney says Canada must spend billions to start shifting the economy's focus away from the United States as...

Hakeem Jeffries threatens retaliation should Dems who stormed the NJ ICE facility be arrested: "They'll find out. They’ll find out. They’ll find out. It’s a red line. They know better than to go down that road. There are clear lines that they dare not cross."