Free Republic

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s (R) political brand is facing a potential setback after a series of disappointing GOP losses in the commonwealth. The latest blow came earlier this week, when Democrat Aaron Rouse flipped a GOP seat in Virginia’s Senate, bringing the Democratic majority to 22-18 in the chamber. Youngkin had thrown his endorsement behind Republican challenger Kevin Adams, who lost the state’s 7th Senate district, previously held by now-Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-Va.) by 348 votes. That followed the party’s underwhelming performance in the state during November’s midterms. “He’s yet to be successful in transferring his popularity around the state,”...

CNN Chief Business Correspondent Christine Romans had a hissy fit over House Republicans voting to gut the $80 billion IRS funding following their pledge to nix plans to hire 87,000 new employees over the next ten years. Romans flailed at House GOP “pass[ing] a bill based on a demonstrable falsehood. There is no army of 87,000 IRS agents coming after American families and small businesses.” Of course, Romans said nothing about how 57.3% of the estimated “86,852 new IRS” hires, “(49,754 in total) would be assigned to enforcement,” according to The Heritage Foundation. Romans instead chose to gaslight on the...

Republicans are calling on Attorney General Merrick Garland to appoint a special counsel to probe President Biden’s handling of classified materials after the discovery of at least two sets of sensitive documents belonging to the 80-year-old president. “Special counsel,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) tweeted on Wednesday, in a terse and pointed message aimed at the Justice Department after it was revealed that another batch of classified documents was discovered by Biden aides. Wednesday’s reports of more classified documents being found come on the heels of Monday’s revelation that 10 sensitive files from Biden’s time as vice president — some marked...

House Republicans this week sought to make a statement about which flag our government should fly. GOP Rep. Jeff Duncan of South Carolina introduced the Old Glory Only Act, which would permit only the American flag to be flown above U.S. embassies and other diplomatic outposts...

Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., revealed on Sunday that he is being placed on the House Republican Steering Committee in exchange for supporting Kevin McCarthy for House speaker. Donalds revealed the new appointment during a Sunday appearance on "Sunday Morning Futures" with Maria Bartiromo. His appearance followed an epic 15-ballot election for McCarthy to become House speaker. To become speaker, McCarthy had to make concessions to a small group of hardliners who refused to support him until he yielded to their demands. "I’m frankly just happy that it’s all over with, and that we got something transformational and sound for the...

An experiment in bipartisan government in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives is less than a week old, and cracks are beginning to appear. If the compromise falls apart, the chamber will be plunged into chaos. Republican and Democratic leaders, at Speaker Mark Rozzi’s request, must find a way to move forward together, if they plan to serve the people of Pennsylvania this session. It’s time for Mr. Rozzi to honor the commitments he made in accepting the role of speaker, especially his pledge to change his registration from Democrat to Independent as a symbol of unity. After last week’s display...

Representative Eric Swalwell (D-CA) said Tuesday on MSNBC’s “The ReidOut” that the Republican-controlled House investigating the Department of Justice and FBI is “like letting Al Capone investigate Elliot Ness.” Anchor Joy Reid said, “You have something about the ‘weaponization of the federal government,’ that’s Jim Jordan, who might actually be a subject of an investigation by the DOJ.” She asked, “It’s not the crime. It’s the cover-up. Is the goal here to prevent accountability for some of the crimes that may have been committed in the insurrection? Is that the bottom line?”

The White House is turning the tables on House Republican lawmakers when it comes to conservative-led spending proposals that Democrats warn could mean cuts to crucial programs like Medicare and Social Security. The Biden administration is already building on a strategy it deployed during the midterm election season in which it highlighted talk from multiple GOP congressional lawmakers about how they plan to use their new House majority to consider cuts to entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare. It’s also putting a spotlight on the possibility of military spending cuts by Republicans in an effort to balance federal spending...

The opinions expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of RedState.com.As I’ve said in the past, I’ve never been a fan of the silliness of labeling political opponents. This is not to be confused with humorous “nicknames” — the most clever of which I enjoy, and have coined a few — but rather attempting to paint an adversary into a particular corner defined by you. Third-party “you,” that is.And of course, the most popular label by far among certain factions of the Republican Party is “RINO.”The definition of “RINO” — Republican in Name Only...

Congress is broken. The vision of James Madison enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, the most important document in the world second only to the Bible, has been blurred, distorted, and almost forgotten. Partisanship has eclipsed any thought of working together in the interest of the nation. Party loyalty is sacrosanct and any deviation in either Party is frowned upon and sanctioned. Gone are the days when members of Congress could reach across the aisle to produce legislation founded on common sense rather than sheer Party dogma. 'Negotiation' does not equate with 'capitulation.' But insistence on 'my way or the highway'...

It was a rough week for Congressmen Dan Crenshaw and Mike Rogers. Mike Rogers was last seen on early Saturday morning screaming, threatening, and lunging at Rep. Matt Gaetz in the US House of Representatives. And Dan Crenshaw repeatedly threatened holdout Republicans and labeled them “terrorists” for not supporting Kevin McCarthy for Speaker. Dan was pictured bloodied by the end of the week. Their antics from last week did not play out well in Monday’s voting. Freedom Caucus member Rep. Mark Green defeated Dan Crenshaw for House Homeland Security Committee chair after he called his fellow Republicans “terrorists.” And Mike...

It took 15 ballots and the full first week of the 118th Congress to finally elect GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as Speaker of the House, but crossing the finish line doesn't mean the new speaker's work opening the new Congress is close to being done. The negotiations that took place on the margins of the public House floor spats between Republicans included several provisions that were worked into the House rules package — the document adopted at the beginning of each Congress that sets the ground rules for how the lower chamber will function for the next two years....

Representative Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that he apologizes for calling his fellow Republicans “terrorists” during the intense negotiations over Kevin McCarthy’s speakership. During a Fox News Radio interview, Crenshaw said, “Those of us who are standing against this, we’re standing for principle. They are standing for notoriety. They’re standing for that extra news that because nobody ever cares about them, and they’re frustrated by that, and they want that extra news that we know that we can’t give in to this because then they will always run the conference, and they’ll just get...

Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) said Friday on MSNBC’s “Deadline” that the “disarray” during the process of choosing a Speaker is a harbinger for how Republicans will run the House. Schiff said, “The business of the country needs to move forward. I am desperately concerned with all of the concessions that McCarthy has made to these hard-liners, all with the object of giving him the title of speaker without the powers to conduct that office, and I’m afraid it’s a harbinger of what we’re going to see, going from crisis to crisis. We may risk a default on our national debt....

Conservative radio host Mark Levin has apparently had it with leftist billionaire George Soros wielding colossal influence over American politics and society. Levin tweeted on Jan. 5 that “Soros has spent decades using enormous sums of money to overthrow our society.” He then called on the “[t]he GOP [to] look at what [Soros’s] massive network of anti-American groups are doing.” MRC Business can help with that. Levin’s tweet came just before MRC Business released its second report in its three-part research series on Soros’ enormous ties to the global media.

Bad enough the GOPe campaigned against good candidates, bad enough they pulled funding from others, bad enough they have allowed the political imprisonment of J6 protestors to go unchallenged, bad enough they continued to capitulate to the Democrats -- but when they allowed the passage of the omnibus bill, tying the hands of the 2023 House of Representatives -- they went too far. Good for the small group willing to risk all for principles too often trampled for short-term gain and self-promotion. For us to see conservatives stand up and fight, fearing nothing, encourages us. Let us not fail to...

On Tuesday, Trump-endorsed Kevin McCarthy failed three times to win the vote for US Speaker of the House. It was the first time in 100 years that Speakership was not decided in the first vote. Kevin McCarthy lost the third vote for House Speaker on Tuesday afternoon, with 20 Republicans voting for Rep. Jim Jordan. The winning Republican can only afford to lose four votes! He must reach 218 votes to win the Speakership. And the GOP holds a narrow 222 to 212 majority in the chamber. On Wednesday morning McCarthy lost a 4th time! Then a fifth time. And...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In an unexpected turn of events, congressional Republicans saw their approval ratings soar to an all-time high after bringing Congress to a grinding halt while the battle to determine the Speaker of the House dragged on. "This isn't something we thought would happen," said Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, one of the lawmakers responsible for the impasse. "But now we're a hit with voters and we're holding back the swamp? We'll take any positive results we can get." Though establishment Republicans warned of the backlash the small group of holdouts may face as they stood in the way...

Joy Behar told her co-hosts Wednesday on ABC’s “The View” that she thinks it is “nice” Republicans are embroiled in a drama over the House Speaker race. Behar said, “I had a little what they call schadenfreude watching this. I sort of enjoyed that they’re in such disarray because they deserve it. It was nice they took a break from destroying the country and started to turn on each other. I was reading one time about turtles one time, and apparently, if you have turtles in an aquarium and then you don’t feed them long enough, they will start to...

Former MSNBC host Chris Matthews claimed Wednesday on “Morning Joe” that if the House Republicans “make trouble for Hunter Biden,” that will help his father, President Joe Biden, get reelected. Matthews said, “I think about history, and I look at the 50th Congress that came in in 1946, and it was called a do-nothing Congress, and this looks like a do-nothing Congress.” He added, “This leadership is a problem. I’m not sure they have a positive objective. I think if Joe Biden runs again, he probably will. He’ll run against the do-nothing House of Representatives, who they used to say...