Free Republic

According to the political ideology that I subscribe to (libertarian), I’m supposed to be in favor of ending government funding of NPR. And from a theoretical point of view, I agree with that position.But for me, the real world always supersedes any theory. NPR, along with its government funding, is a long standing tradition in this country, just like the national parks, the national museums, and the Post Office. So even though it goes against libertarian theory, I support a continuation of all of those things.I like to call myself a “bad” libertarian because I am always happy and willing...

There are mixed emotions here: It’s good that the Department of Homeland Security shutdown is ending. It’s ridiculous that Congress had to go through multiple rounds to fund just one agency, making the latter part of this saga a Republican circus. Make no mistake, this was a Democrat-caused shutdown. They supported it, kept TSA workers without pay, causing many to quit, and left our homeland vulnerable to terror attacks during Operation Epic Fury. We haven’t even considered the natural disaster scenarios that could’ve occurred; FEMA would’ve been paralyzed. Alas, the House GOP is going to support John Thune and the...

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is calling for Republicans to provide Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) with enough funding to last a decade. He believes Republicans can do that without the support of a single Democrat. "We can do it with just 50 votes," Cruz said. Lawmakers in the Senate agreed early on Friday to advance funding for DHS that includes the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the Coast Guard, the Secret Service and seven other agencies — even as gridlock over ICE remains firmly in place.

The House of Representatives has formally rejected a Senate-passed funding measure that would have reopened most of the Department of Homeland Security while leaving Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection without resources. Speaker Mike Johnson labeled the Senate’s late-night proposal a “joke” and confirmed the House will instead advance a clean 60-day continuing resolution to fund the entire department. The partial shutdown of DHS, now stretching into its sixth week, continues because Democrats have demanded new restrictions on immigration enforcement as the price for any deal. President Donald J. Trump issued an emergency directive directing the use...

Sadly, we dive into the chaos of procedures, party disputes, and institutional rivalries. The Senate approved a funding measure by voice vote to reopen most of the Department of Homeland Security, except for Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The frontline troops are financed through the big, impressive bill. Its civilian staff is not. The Senate passed this around 3 am and then left town. They aren't expected to return until April 13. Speaker Johnson: This gambit that was done last night is a JOKE!He's absolutely LIVID. pic.twitter.com/hGl7sWHtjX— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) March 27, 2026Meanwhile, House members were outraged that they...

The US Senate has voted to end a partial 40-day government shutdown, approving funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) - but with immigration enforcement excluded. The almost six-week funding lapse has had a knock-on effect on air travel in the US. Airport security workers' salaries are paid by the DHS, and hundreds have quit since the shutdown began. Democrats had refused to agree a funding deal without reforms to the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, but the Senate reached unanimous agreement in the early hours of Friday morning after stripping ICE and parts of border protection...

Senators approved a compromise measure early Friday to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security through the end of September, taking a major step toward ending the 42-day partial shutdown that has seen hundreds of airport security workers quit after missing paychecks and snarled travel nationwide. The agreement, passed by voice vote before senators departed Washington for a two-week recess for Easter and Passover, will be considered by the House later Friday morning. The last-ditch deal does not include any of the demands Democrats have placed on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — including that agents be barred from...

Senators passed a last-ditch Homeland Security funding bill early Friday, moving one step closer to ending the 42-day partial shutdown that has sparked major travel chaos at airports across the US. The last-ditch deal, struck before lawmakers headed off for spring break, will see most of the Department of Homeland Security reopened, but contains no funding provisions for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and parts of Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Democrats are framing the outcome as a win, but their demands for ICE agents to be unmasked were notably absent from the bill. “In the wake of the murders...

President Donald Trump rejected a pitch to fund other agencies under the Department of Homeland Security except for ICE, multiple sources confirmed to The Daily Wire on Monday. Senate Majority Leader John Thune indicated to the president that Senate Republicans and some Democrats would back the pitch in hopes of ending the shutdown that started in mid-February, according to Punchbowl News. In exchange, funding for ICE would be handled through a future reconciliation bill that would only need Republican votes to pass, the report noted. “I don’t think we should make any deal with the Crazy, Country Destroying, Radical Left...

Eunisses Hernandez has been called a hypocrite for repeatedly calling for police to be abolished — then using taxpayers’ money to pay for own her security in public. The socialist Los Angeles councilmember has built her political brand crusading against cops, winning election on an abolish-the-police platform and even voting ”no” to the city’s budget three years running because she claims the $2.4 billion needed to keep them takes funding from her priorities. But when it came time to securing the 36-year-old’s own public event, Hernandez turned to the LAPD — despite just months earlier voting against the use of...

The seeming impasse over funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is causing havoc in the nation's airports, with long lines at Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoints, as TSA employees are working without pay, and some of them are starting to walk off the job. We can scarcely blame them for not caring to work for free. Now, President Trump is looking to prod Democrats into getting DHS funded by threatening to put Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in the airports in place of the unpaid TSA workers. And, as you might expect, the ICE agents will be arresting...

On Monday night, Scott Jennings asked a simple question to a CNN panel, and it got me thinking. And what I thought about was quite disturbing. The Department of Homeland Security has been shut down since Presidents' Day weekend. Democrats triggered it, and they've kept it going as a pressure campaign against the Trump administration's deportation agenda, specifically to hamstring Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and use that as a cudgel to force policy changes in enforcement, most of which are absurd. The Senate voted three separate times on DHS funding bills, and each time, Democrats blocked them — every...

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told reporters on Wednesday that “everybody in America” should watch how their representatives vote on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding bill expected to come to the floor on Thursday. “You better watch that board. And everybody in America better watch that board. Anybody who votes to block funding for the homeland, it is shameful,” Johnson said. “I don’t know how to describe it. It speaks to a long record of Democrats’ deliberate efforts to undermine America’s safety and the essential operations of DHS.” Democrats have demanded that the White House significantly reform its immigration...

A long-running Pride Month event known as “Gay Days” at Disney World has been placed on pause for 2026, with event organizers citing a sponsorship loss and other logistics challenges. “After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to pause the GayDays Orlando event scheduled for June 2026,” Gay Days event organizers announced on Sunday. “Changes to our host hotel agreement, the loss of key sponsorship support, and broader challenges currently impacting LGBTQIA+ events nationwide made it impossible to deliver the experience our community deserves,” they added. Organizers went on to insist, in a ChatGPT-esque banality, “This is a...

The risk of a partial government shutdown is growing as a Friday funding deadline approaches and Democratic leaders push for rigorous Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reforms.Congress must provide funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) by Friday February 13 or face a partial shutdown that could delay disaster aid and furlough workers from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) are demanding concessions from Republicans in how ICE agents use masks and body cameras as well...

U.N. human rights chief Volker Turk despaired Thursday his agency is “in survival mode” due to funding shortfalls driven by a lack of U.S. taxpayer dollars. Such is his fear for the future Turk launched a $400 million appeal for cash to help the U.N. Human Rights Office survive 2026, AFP reports. The unelected Austrian’s panicked plea comes after U.N. chief Antonio Guterres warned last Friday the world body is on the brink of financial collapse and could run out of cash by July, as he urged countries to pay their dues, as Breitbart News reported. The U.N.’s largest contributor,...

The House of Representatives passed a $1.2 trillion funding deal to end the four-day partial government shutdown Tuesday, sending it to President Trump’s desk for his expected signature. Lawmakers voted 217-214 to pass the compromise funding package, which cleared the Senate late Friday and keeps about 97% of the government operating through Sept. 30. Now Congress faces a 10-day scramble to negotiate a deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security before its key agencies run out of cash Feb. 13, a timeline Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) described as “an impossibility.” *** The GOP holdouts were mainly miffed...

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations chief is warning that the world body faces “imminent financial collapse” unless its financial rules are overhauled or all 193 member nations pay their dues — a message likely directed at the United States and the billions it owes. ......President Donald Trump has repeatedly said the United Nations has potential but has not lived up to it. His administration has withdrawn from U.N. organizations like the World Health Organization and the cultural agency UNESCO, while pulling funding from dozens of others....

Maybe the UN can sell Dictator Scouts cookies as we stop footing its bills. The BBC reported, “The United Nations is at risk of ‘imminent financial collapse’ due to member states not paying their fees, the body’s head has warned. “António Guterres said the UN faced a financial crisis which was ‘deepening, threatening program delivery,’ and that money could run out by July. “He wrote in a letter to all 193 member states that they had to honor their mandatory payments or overhaul the organisation’s financial rules to avoid collapse. “It comes after the UN’s largest contributor, the U.S., refused...

As the Trump administration slashes funding and exits multiple international bodies over criticism that the U.N. has failed to promote U.S. interests, the United Nations is warning it could face a cash crisis by July.In a Jan. 28 letter from U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres to ambassadors, he cited record unpaid dues and rigid budget rules that have left the organization exposed.Guterres said the U.N. is trapped in a "Kafkaesque cycle" in which rigid budget rules force it to return "unspent" funds even when those contributions were never paid. He said outstanding dues reached a record $1.568 billion at the end...