Free Republic

The world’s richest man is dying to figure out how lawmakers on Capitol Hill got “strangely wealthy” despite their comparatively modest public salaries. Speaking at a town hall in Wisconsin Sunday night, Elon Musk suggested that his team at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) will investigate how certain members of Congress have achieved generational wealth. One attendee at the town hall had asked Musk if DOGE had uncovered evidence of funds wired from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). “They’ll [the government]...

A band of moderate Republicans in Congress sharply criticized the Trump administration this week for siding with Russia at the United Nations on resolutions regarding the war in Ukraine, even as the majority of the G.O.P. turned a blind eye to the United States’ sudden embrace of a longtime adversary.“The Trump Administration royally screwed up today on Ukraine,” Representative Don Bacon, Republican of Nebraska, wrote on social media on Monday night. “The vast majority of Americans stand up for independence, freedom and free markets, and against the bully and invader.”The reproach from Mr. Bacon and others came after the United...

Clinton reduced the federal workforce by more than 377,000 employees. Within weeks of his inauguration, he signed an executive order calling on agencies to cut 100,000 jobs over three years, with 10% or more coming from high-level federal workers. In 1994, Clinton signed the bipartisan Federal Workforce Restructuring Act, which offered $25,000 to buyout non-Defense Department workers. By the end of his term, Clinton reduced the federal government's workforce by more than 377,000 employees. But that all unfolded over several years, and with the help of Congress. In an attempt to defend the Department of Government Efficiency's controversial moves, Elon...

Senator-Elect John Curtis (R-UT) said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that he has no qualms about speaking up when he disagreed with President-elect Donald Trump. Curtis said, “You know, it’s very important to me that President Trump is successful. I want to see him wildly successful, and I’ll be supportive of him when he’s talking about inflation and the economy and everything like that. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be moments when I disagree with him. And I think it’s very important to me and my constituents that — that at those moments that I feel comfortable speaking up.”

Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) expressed deep concerns about facing accountability for her opposition to Trump’s cabinet nominees, during her participation in the controversial No Labels National Meeting. Her remarks, dripping with alarm and self-pity, laid bare her growing fear of primary challenges from conservative voters fed up with RINO lawmakers undermining the MAGA agenda. Senators who attended the event are: Bill Cassidy (R-LA) Susan Collins (R-ME) John Curtis (R-UT) Tim Kaine (D-VA) Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) Thom Tillis (R-NC) Todd Young (R-IN) [snip] “My friend Joni Ernst, who is probably one of the more conservative, principled Republican leaders...

It was a long shot, but we all held out hope that Matt Gaetz could beat the odds and become our next attorney general. Once again, though, the RINOs played their dirty games and eked out a victory. But don’t worry—this setback is only temporary, because we’re just getting started. The war is far from over. As we assess what happened and how this loss unfolded, one thing is crystal clear: the Gaetz nomination was killed by a fresh-faced RINO from the same state that brought us one of the most infamous #NeverTrumpers in history—Utah. ... Yes, we finally got...

As he led a crowd of picnicking families in the “YMCA” dance, Trent Staggs gleefully waved a “Utah for Trump” flag at a recent campaign rally — one more not-so-subtle reminder to voters that he is backed by the former president in the race to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney. That endorsement propelled Staggs, who was little known outside the Salt Lake City suburb he leads, to victory at the state's Republican convention in April, where delegates lean far-right. But his credentials with Donald Trump's “Make America Great Again” movement may not be enough to win Tuesday's primary, when...

Republican Utah Rep. John Curtis — the frontrunner in the race to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Mitt Romney — received thousands of dollars in contributions from donors to former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley’s presidential bid during the first fundraising quarter of his Senate campaign, according to a Daily Caller News Foundation review of Federal Election Commission (FEC) data. Curtis brought in over $98,000 from donors of Haley’s suspended campaign and aligned super PAC, SFA Fund, Inc., between Jan. 1 and April 7, FEC filings show. The congressman has refrained from endorsing former President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign while other leading...

Rep. John Curtis (R-UT), who is running for Senate to replace retiring Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), said in 2017 that former President Donald Trump’s border wall carries “pent-up racism.” Curtis is just one of the many candidates running to replace Romney. He was the mayor of Provo and considered himself a Democrat until 2006. During an online debate in 2017, he said, when running for Congress, that hopes to continue then-President Donald Trump’s agenda.

All four members of the U.S. House from Utah are facing Republican primary challengers Tuesday while the Democratic challengers they’ll face in November are running uncontested. It is the first primary election since the GOP-controlled state Legislature bypassed an independent redistricting commission and approved political maps that critics decried as gerrymandered because they split up Democratic-leaning Salt Lake City, effectively shoring up Republican advantages in each of the state’s four districts. The night’s headline race is for the U.S. Senate with Republican Mike Lee trying to fend off two challengers in his bid for a third term. In the U.S....

Rep. John Curtis (R-UT) says a plan that gives amnesty to illegal aliens and expands pipelines for foreign visa workers will be a boost for business. Last week, as Breitbart News reported, Rep. Maria Salazar (R-FL) and six House Republicans introduced “The Dignity Act” to provide green cards to the nation’s 11 to 22 million while expanding visa programs to more readily outsource American jobs. Curtis is co-sponsoring the bill alongside Reps. Dan Newhouse (R-WA), Pete Sessions (R-TX), Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon (R-PR), Tom Reed (R-NY), and Peter Meijer (R-MI). The bill is backed by the United States Chamber of Commerce and...

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and organizations funded by left-wing billionaire George Soros are bankrolling a plan to provide temporary amnesty to Venezuela’s population. Last week, the Democrat-controlled House passed a measure to create a Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program for Venezuela’s population — allowing nationals who are already in the U.S. to remain and incentivizing more to migrate. Thirty-nine House Republicans joined every Democrat to support the legislation, including: Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) Rep. Michael Bost (R-IL) Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) Rep. John Curtis (R-UT) Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI) Rep. Brian...

Though conservative firebrand Chris Herrod hasn’t conceded yet, the Associated Press and most political observers have named Provo mayor John Curtis the winner in yesterday’s special GOP primary in the third congressional district of Utah. Held to select a successor to Fox News’ latest “personality,” Jason Chaffetz, the primary was a three-way affair involving front-runner Curtis, Herrod (endorsed by an ideologue-dominated party convention), and basketball scion Tanner Ainge (son of former BYU and NBA star Danny Ainge). Most of the drama was generated by Herrod’s friends at the Club for Growth, who ran a lot of ads labeling Curtis a...

WARSAW - US and Polish troops did not damage the archaeological ruins of ancient Babylon despite setting up a military headquarters at the site for two years, Iraqi Deputy Minister of Defence Ziad Cattan said on Friday in Warsaw. “There was no damage done to archaeological artefacts in Babylon by either Polish or US troops,” PAP news agency quoted him as saying. Cattan echoed claims by Polish defence officials that the presence of troops at the site helped to preserve Babylon’s archaeological treasures. Earlier this month, John Curtis, a senior archaeologist with the British Museum, had alleged that more than...