Free Republic

This week, Silicon Valley heavyweights mingled with top Trump administration officials at a conference at the Ritz-Carlton in Miami. The event was hosted by the Rockbridge Network, a secretive yet increasingly powerful organization at the center of business, technology, and Republican politics. Those in attendance included venture capitalists Chamath Palihapitiya and Keith Rabois, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and real estate developer-turned-United States Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff. The Rockbridge Network was founded in 2019 by now-Vice President J.D. Vance and financier Chris...

Grammy-nominated musician and former OneRepublic bassist Tim Myers is making the leap from the stage to the political arena with a high-profile challenge to long-serving Republican Rep. Ken Calvert in California’s 41st Congressional District. Myers, a Corona native turned music industry entrepreneur, announced his candidacy Thursday in a video posted on Instagram, setting the stage for one of the most closely watched House races in the 2026 election cycle. “Ken Calvert has been in Washington for 30 years, and all he’s done is make himself millions,” Myers says in the campaign video, filmed in a recording studio. “The status quo...

Federal authorities have charged 40-year-old Jamison Wagner of Albuquerque with two counts of arson tied to politically charged firebombing attacks on both a Tesla showroom and the Republican Party of New Mexico headquarters, labeling the incidents as acts of domestic terrorism. Wagner, a self-styled radical, was arrested on April 12 following an extensive federal investigation involving the FBI, ATF, Albuquerque Police, and other law enforcement agencies. According to a profile he has on “500 Queer Scientists,” he describes himself as “queer and I am an electrical engineer.” It has been independently verified through voter registration records that Wagner is a...

Fighting against the wishes of their voters is a classic Republican pastime — and this week is no different.When they apparently thought nobody was looking, a cabal of GOP senators comprised of Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski, Utah’s John Curtis, Kansas’ Jerry Moran, and North Carolina’s Thom Tillis — who’s up for reelection next year — quietly sent a letter on Wednesday to Senate Majority Leader John Thune regarding ongoing negotiations over the party’s reconciliation package.Their concern? That the final version of the legislation containing priorities backed by President Trump (tax cuts and border security) will also include provisions fully repealing President...

House Republicans on Wednesday advanced the Senate’s blueprint to enact key parts of President Trump’s legislative agenda, teeing up the measure for a final vote — even as its fate hangs in the balance amid conservative opposition. The chamber voted 216-215 along party lines to adopt the rule, which governs debate for legislation, the last step before the entire House weighs in on whether to adopt the measure. Three Republicans voted with all Democrats against adopting the rule. A final vote is slated for around 5:30 p.m. Three Republicans voted with all Democrats against adopting the rule: Reps. Thomas Massie...

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) claimed Tuesday on MSNBC’s “The Last Word” that Republican lawmakers are feeling bullied and therefore “unhappy with President Donald Trump’s leadership. Host Lawrence O’Donnell said, “I know you were at the Senate Finance Committee hearing today, and you made some very good points, especially about small business. But what I wanted to show viewers tonight was exclusively what the Republicans had to say. I thought that was so important about what is becoming now, this observable fracture in the Republican Party, Donald Trump finally, finally has some Republican senators voicing opposition questions, challenges to his policy.”

If Republicans like Tillis actually care about lowering Americans’ cost of living, they should slash the federal budget they’ve spent years ballooning.It’s been less than a week since President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff blitz against foreign nations, and Republicans on Capitol Hill are already in full-on freakout mode. Throughout the past several days, GOP members of Congress have run to their favorite legacy media talking heads to express their supposed concerns that the president’s tariff policies could result in higher costs of living for everyday Americans. The latest example of this came on Tuesday, when Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., while...

Billionaire Republican megadonor and Home Depot founder Ken Langone has ripped the Trump administration’s sweeping tariffs as “bulls–t” — claiming the president has been ill-advised amid the raging trade war. “I don’t understand the Goddamn formula,” Langone, a veteran GOP campaign donor, told the Financial Times on Monday. “I believe he’s been poorly advised by his advisers about this trade situation — and the formula they’re applying.”

MSNBC host Jonathan Lemire claimed Monday on “Morning Joe” that President Donald Trump is quelling a rebellion from Republican lawmakers over tariffs. Lemire said, “This morning Goldman Sachs again raised the odds of a us recession now to 45%. It’s the second time it has raised its forecast in the last week. We’ve heard from President Trump again this morning. He’s taking it to social a couple of times, including just a moment ago. I’m going to read it. It’s on the screen. ‘The United States has a chance to do something that it should have been done decades ago....

On the Senate floor, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) expressed deep concern about the Republican budget resolution, and put forward an amendment to raise the debt ceiling.

The Senate passed a framework for a sweeping bill promoting President Donald Trump’s agenda after an hourslong series of amendment votes during which Democrats sought to put Republicans on record on issues like tariffs and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). It passed mostly along party lines in a 51 to 48 vote around 2:30 a.m. ET on Saturday morning. Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Rand Paul, R-Ky., were the only two Republicans to join Democrats in opposing the measure. The amended framework would raise the debt ceiling by up to $5 trillion within the reconciliation process, taking future leverage...

The Republican Party of New Mexico said an arsonist targeted its headquarters in Albuquerque on Sunday. The perpetrators set fire to the building and vandalized it with spray paint, CBS News reported. The entryway to the party's headquarters was destroyed early Sunday morning, the party said in a statement. The party alleged that the words "ICE=KKK" had also been spraypainted, calling it a "horrific attack, fueled by hatred and intolerance."Amy Barela, the chairwoman of the Republican Party of New Mexico, said in a statement that no one was harmed in the incident. Barela said her team is working closely with...

On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) stated that he would have preferred if Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) had told Republicans “we need A., B., C., and D. for the Democratic Party and force the Republicans to meet him halfway on those issues and deliver something for the folks who are worried now” or else he’d vote for a government shutdown. Host Bill Maher asked, “Republicans proposed a budget and Chuck Schumer said he would vote for it and then did and got ten Democratic senators to vote with him. The other...

A pair of Senate Democrats from a key battleground state on Thursday said that they would vote against the GOP’s six-month spending bill, raising questions about the possibility of a government shutdown when funding expires on Friday. Arizona Sens. Mark Kelly (D) and Ruben Gallego (D) said they will oppose both the spending bill itself and a procedural motion to advance the measure, which requires 60 votes. “I cannot vote for the Republican plan to give unchecked power to Donald Trump and Elon Musk,” Kelly said in a statement. “I told Arizonans I’d stand up when it was right for...

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Wednesday that most Democrats in the upper chamber will not support a House Republican-passed bill to fund the federal government through the end of September, all but ensuring a partial shutdown beginning at 11:59 p.m. Friday. “Funding the government should be a bipartisan effort, but Republicans chose a partisan path, drafting their [continuing resolution] without any input — any input — from congressional Democrats,” Schumer (D-NY) said on the Senate floor Wednesday. “Because of that, Republicans do not have the votes in the Senate to invoke cloture on the House CR. Our caucus is...

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) announced on Wednesday that she will not seek reelection in 2026 in a blow to Democrats, who will now have to defend her New Hampshire seat against the GOP. “Serving the people of New Hampshire, first as state senator, then as governor, and now in the United States Senate is an incredible honor,” Shaheen, 78, said in a video announcement on her retirement.

Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) claimed Monday on CNN’s “The Situation Room” that “xenophobic and racist” Republican voters respond with campaign donations to GOP members and petition signatures when Republican lawmakers call her out. Co-host Pamela Brown said, “I want to follow up with something else, because we recently had one of your Republican colleagues, Brandon Gill, on the show. He said that America would be better off if you were arrested and deported. He also said that there was audio of you advising what he said are illegal immigrants here from Somalia on how to evade ICE detection. I want...

Anyone who thinks President Trump's mesmerizing hold over the GOP will slip if his poll numbers slide is missing one of his biggest innovations in American politics: The creation of a cash-flush political operation that has raked in around a half-billion dollars — about the same amount the GOP's House and Senate campaign arms spent during the entirety of the last midterm campaign. Why it matters: It's unheard of for a president not running for reelection to raise that kind of money. But the cash is just one piece of a bigger power play that's arguably the most powerful, well-funded...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) signaled Thursday that President Trump’s threat to levy tariffs on key trading partners of the U.S. is hurting his constituents, saying “when we start losing, you back off.” “Almost every industry in Kentucky has come to me and said, ‘It will hurt our industry and push up prices of homes, cars,’ and so, I’m going to continue to argue against tariffs,” Paul said late Thursday in an interview with CNN. The Kentucky Republican argued the U.S. has “more leverage” than any other nation, but not “all the leverage.” He urged the Trump administration to be “smart”...

Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) claimed on CNN’s “News Central” that some of her Republican colleagues privately say President Donald Trump’s actions on Ukraine have gone too far. Shaheen said, “Vladimir Putin is a murderous dictator. He is a thug who understands one thing, and that is strength, and anytime he thinks he can get the better of Donald Trump, he is going to do that.” She continued, “We have ten Democrats and ten Republicans, a fifth of the senate on that resolution, because there is bipartisan support in the United States Senate for Ukraine. I think most of us were...