Free Republic

On the first day of a federal government shutdown, New York City is finding out how expensive its commitment to leftist principles of "diversity, equity, and inclusion" is going to be under President Donald Trump's administration. Russ Vought, the White House Office of Management and Budget director, took to social media on Wednesday to announce the administration has frozen federal funding for two major transportation projects in the Big Apple. And even in New York City, $18 billion is a lot of money. Russ Vought (on X) @russvought Roughly $18 billion in New York City infrastructure projects have been put...

Cracks are starting to form in the Senate Democratic caucus over whether to hold the line against a seven-week clean government funding stopgap passed by the House, according to Democratic sources who say a threat by President Trump to lay off thousands of federal workers is changing the Democratic political calculus on a shutdown. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), who faces a potential primary challenge from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) in 2028, has made it clear he won’t vote for the House-passed GOP stopgap, but centrists in his caucus are looking for a way to avoid a catastrophic shutdown....

When the Obama Foundation snagged a sweetheart deal to build its beleaguered Obama Presidential Center on a Chicago public park, it pledged to create a $470 million reserve fund to spare taxpayers should the project ever go belly up. But new tax filings show the foundation has only deposited $1 million into the fund and has not added to it in years, with critics saying the empty promise could potentially leave Chicagoans on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars. Under its agreement with the city, the foundation was required to create the fund, known as an endowment, in...

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday handed another win to the Trump administration by allowing it to withhold $4 billion in spending on foreign aid that was appropriated by Congress. A federal judge had previously ruled that the administration would have to spend the funds by the end of the month, but the Supreme Court's decision puts that on hold. The brief order noted that the government has made a "sufficient showing" that the groups that sued were barred from bringing the lawsuit in question under a law called the Impoundment Control Act. The court, which has a 6-3...

Donald J. Trump Truth Social 09.16.25 08:26 PM ESTI am pleased to inform our many U.S.A. Patriots that I am designating ANTIFA, A SICK, DANGEROUS, RADICAL LEFT DISASTER, AS A MAJOR TERRORIST ORGANIZATION. I will also be strongly recommending that those funding ANTIFA be…— Commentary Donald J. Trump Posts From Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) September 18, 2025

The co-founder of Code Pink is married to Neville Roy Singham who provides funding to communist and far-left leftist groups and efforts. Singham reportedly funded the recent anti-ICE protests across the US. House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer and Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, the chairwoman of the Taskforce on the Declassification of Federal Secrets, called on Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to freeze all assets of Neville Singham, the billionaire funder of the communist Code Pink organization, ANSWER Coalition, National Students for Justice in Palestine and several other anti-American leftist organizations. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) posted the news on a...

An appeals court panel has ruled that the Trump administration can prevent Planned Parenthood Federation of America from receiving Medicaid funding, overturning a lower court decision.A three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit issued an order against two injunctions issued by a district court against the defunding of Planned Parenthood.“We denied without prejudice as premature the defendants' motion to stay the injunctions pending the disposition of those appeals, while a motion for similar relief was pending in the district court,” read the brief order.“The July 21, 2025, preliminary injunction and the July 28, 2025,...

FOX News contributor Mollie Hemingway told FOX News host Martha MacCallum that people need to take the powerful, well-funded interests more seriously following the assassination of Charlie Kirk. MARTHA MACCALLUM, FOX NEWS HOST: Charlie Kirk, known for vibrant debates and his willingness to exchange ideas with anyone doing so across college campuses and even here on "The Story." CHARLIE KIRK: The MAGA doctrine that he has started is only going to continue to grow. Philosophically, I believe he has changed the Republican Party for the better, ending the endless wars, renegotiating trade deals, challenging entrenched corporate interests and giving a...

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, wants the House to form a select committee on “The money, influence, and power behind the radical left’s assault on America and the rule of law.” “In the wake of numerous attacks on our way of life, the destruction of the rule of law, and the murder of innocent Americans, prominent and unknown alike, we must take every step to follow the money and uncover the force behind the NGOs, donors, media, public officials, and all entities driving this coordinated attack,” Roy said Thursday in a press release.

In a bombshell development that has rocked the political landscape, federal investigators have uncovered financial transactions linking Tyler Robinson, the confessed assassin of conservative firebrand Charlie Kirk, to the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). According to sources familiar with the ongoing probe, Robinson received multiple wire transfers from DSA-affiliated accounts in the months leading up to the fatal shooting in Orem, Utah. The funds, totaling over $50,000, were funneled through shell organizations ostensibly for "community organizing" efforts but appear to have directly supported Robinson's logistics, including travel and weapon acquisition. Prominent DSA members, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) and New...

Charlie Kirk’s assassination was a terrorist attack meant to discourage the conservative movement. Even before authorities had suspected sniper Tyler Robinson in custody, we knew it was likely the work of a radicalized mind brainwashed by far-left extremist rhetoric so vile that he thought it was okay to kill someone. Where does this radicalization come from? Follow the money.Conservative Mike Cernovich was correct in his Wednesday X post calling for a congressional investigation into the funding of far-left extremism. Our political climate is not an accident. Provocative leftist ideologies pushed with guerrilla marketing are used to manipulate weak minds. Influence...

President Donald Trump suggested on Friday his administration will pursue federal charges against billionaire Democratic donor George Soros, part of a long history of threatening his political opponents with criminal proceedings. “We’re going to look into Soros,” Trump said on “Fox & Friends,” “because I think it’s a RICO case against him and other people.” “Because this is more than like protests,” Trump added. “This is real agitation. This is riots on the street. And we’re going to look into it.” Trump previously floated charging Soros and his son under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act in August on...

President Donald J. Trump made finishing the border wall a central campaign promise — and he continues to deliver. Using existing funding halted by the Biden Administration and new funding from the One Big Beautiful Bill, the Trump Administration is swiftly moving forward to build hundreds of miles of new border wall and make other technological and safety improvements that will make the southern border the most secure in modern history.From The Washington Times:“Just months into his new term, Mr. Trump already has 100 miles of border barrier in the works and Capitol Hill just approved an additional $46.5 billion...

PBS informed 34 staffers Thursday they were being laid off as part of a broader downsizing effort that's resulted in 100 jobs being cut in recent months. The cuts were triggered in part by the Trump administration’s rescission package, which slashed over $1 billion in federal funding for public broadcasting. "Due to the loss of federal funding, PBS eliminated close to 100 positions over the last several months, including 34 valued PBS staff members notified yesterday their employment is ending. In this unprecedented moment, we remain focused on what matters most: ensuring our member stations can deliver quality content and...

There are times when reading a list of projects funded by the United States federal government sounds more like parody than reality. The Department of Government Efficiency — unlike Congress, it seems — is still working hard every day to identify and eliminate waste and fraud from the federal government funded by our taxpayer dollars. And this week’s update included some profoundly idiotic programs and grants that were, until now, recipients of our hard-earned cash. DOGE normally releases a contracts update on X on Fridays highlighting some of the stupidest agency contracts that it has discovered in the last week,...

House GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) has called on U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to open a full-blown federal investigation into Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) and to scrutinize New York Attorney General Letitia James’ complicity in a billion-dollar terrorist financing scandal. House Republican Chairwoman Elise Stefanik’s urgent letter to Bondi comes on the heels of a bombshell Gateway Pundit report into the Standard Chartered Bank sanctions evasion case, now before the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals. That case uncovered at least $9.6 billion in illegal payments by the bank to Iranian and Hezbollah entities—payments that directly violate U.S....

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order called Improving Oversight of Federal Grantmaking, aimed at improving oversight of federal grantmaking, reshaping how grants are awarded by the U.S. government. Despite the U.S. government's saying that it will prevent waste and ensure tax money is used properly, it will have a profound impact on international research collaboration, particularly for African researchers, institutions, and communities, writes Juanita Williams for allAfrica.

The Saudi Al-Hadath news channel reports: "Iran sent messages to Hezbollah last night, stating that it will start channeling additional funds to the organization through various countries around the world, as well as transferring weapons and means of warfare to Lebanon – with the aim of effectively taking control of all parts of the country and establishing a new coalition in Lebanon where Hezbollah is the sovereign."

A Texas judge ruled Friday against Beto O’Rourke and his nonprofit in a case brought by state Attorney General Ken Paxton, who accused them of illegally raising funds to support Democratic lawmakers fleeing the state to block GOP redistricting legislation. Tarrant County District Judge Megan Fahey handed down a temporary restraining order Friday evening against O'Rourke, a former congressman and Democratic presidential candidate, and his group, Powered by People, over alleged "unlawful fundraising practices" tied to efforts to support Texas Democrats who fled the state — including funding air travel, lodging, logistics and daily fines. "Defendants have and will continue...

President Donald Trump’s administration is considering a move, called a “pocket rescission,” that would effectively rescind federal funding and potentially bypass congressional approval, Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought said on July 27.The strategy occurs when a president submits a rescission proposal under the Impoundment Control Act—requesting Congress to cancel previously appropriated funds—within 45 days of the end of the fiscal year, Sept. 30. The funds are withheld during the 45-day congressional review period, and if Congress doesn’t act before the fiscal year ends, the funds expire.When a rescission request is made outside of the fiscal year-end window,...