Free Republic

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's revenge tour is sputtering to an end this week, with just one primary win to show for it. Why it matters: McCarthy's former colleagues complain he's effectively lit millions of dollars on fire and made it harder for new leaders to do their jobs. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) is expected to win easily on Tuesday despite a McCarthy-linked PAC spending more than $3 million against him. "McCarthy thinks about me a lot more than I think about him," Gaetz told us. Between the lines: Multiple House Republicans and senior staff took issue with McCarthy's public...

Former President Trump's comments about Vice President Harris to the National Association of Black Journalists are being treated as radioactive by many Republicans. Why it matters: The tense interview is being met with GOP reactions ranging from qualified concern to outright shock, with some Republicans questioning Trump's ability to adapt to the new Democratic ticket. ...

Facebook announced Friday that it will ban former President Donald Trump until at least 2023 — with Trump shooting back, “Next time I’m in the White House there will be no more dinners, at his request, with Mark Zuckerberg and his wife. It will be all business!” The decision means that Trump might still be able to regain access to his Facebook and Instagram accounts in time for the 2024 campaign if he seeks a rematch against President Biden. But Facebook said it may decide to ban Trump even longer than the two years — and White House Press Secretary...

Arizona’s AG is arguing Biden's immigration policies are in violation of the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) — because illegals keep littering as they hop the border. Mark Brnovich said he would force Biden to resume construction of the border wall and reinstate Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy until DHS has complied with NEPA’s requirement that federal agencies assess the environmental impact of major policy changes prior to their implementation. “I think it’s imperative that we do everything we can to try to address the crisis at our border, so I’m using the tools that I have in my toolbox,”...

A defiant Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) says he has no plans to resign from Congress amid a federal investigation into whether he paid women — and a 17-year-old girl — for sexual favors. Yet behind the scenes, a growing number of Gaetz’s Republican colleagues are predicting his days on Capitol Hill are growing short. “In reality, yes, he won’t last long,” one member told The Hill on Friday. The forecasts seem to be based on some combination of political pragmatism and wishful thinking. Gaetz, who stands among the fiercest defenders of former President Trump, is no stranger to controversy, but...

Two House conservatives are calling on President Trump to “immediately withdraw" all troops from Afghanistan and Iraq, arguing the country needs to stop engaging in “endless wars.” In a letter sent to President Trump on Tuesday, House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) said keeping a military presence in the region could mean a loss of power for the U.S. “Throughout your entire presidency, you have worked tirelessly to Make America Great Again. We are confident you will repeat this feat again after this pandemic. However, the United States will not remain a great power for...

House Republicans are calling for the committee chairpersons overseeing the impeachment inquiry to release the guidelines and regulations under which depositions and transcriptions of testimony are being conducted. “We write to demand the release of the rules that are governing the depositions and transcribed interviews being conducted by the joint action of your three committees,” nearly 80 GOP lawmakers said in their Friday letter to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) and Oversight and Reform Committee acting Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) "The secrecy in which these depositions and interviews are being conducted,...

Republicans on a House Natural Resources Committee subpanel successfully managed on Tuesday to force a motion to adjourn at the start of a hearing on climate change due to the number of Democratic absences. Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations ranking member Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) kicked off the hearing — titled The Denial Playbook: How Industries Manipulate Science and Policy from Climate Change to Public Health — by arguing the topics didn't fall under the panel’s purview. “This is now the seventh Oversight hearing related to climate change that the majority is holding this month, starting with a full committee hearing....

The House and Senate this week voted overwhelmingly to provide back pay to about 800,000 federal workers who are going without paychecks because of the partial government shutdown. But seven lawmakers — all House Republicans — opposed the measure. Those "no" votes came from Reps. Justin Amash (Mich.), Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Paul Gosar (Ariz.), Glen Grothman (Wis.), Thomas Massie (Ky.), Chip Roy (Texas) and Ted Yoho (Fla.). President Trump on Thursday indicated he would sign the bill, leading to its passage by unanimous consent in the Senate later that day. On Friday, the House cleared the measure in a 411-7...

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) on Tuesday fiercely denied allegations that he failed to stop a sports physician from sexually abusing student athletes at Ohio State University when he was a wrestling coach there. Jordan told Politico in an interview that he would have intervened had he known about the doctor's alleged behavior. "It’s not true," Jordan told Politico. "I never knew about any type of abuse. If I did, I would have done something about it. And look, if there are people who are abused, then that’s terrible and we want justice to happen." Three former wrestlers at OSU told...

Allegations that Rep. Jim Jordan failed to stop a team doctor from sexually abusing student athletes when the Ohio Republican was a college wrestling coach is complicating his possible bid for Speaker of the House. The NBC News story dropped Tuesday just as Jordan began reaching out to GOP colleagues, urging them to ditch Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and instead back him for the top job in the House GOP conference. Jordan, 54, the powerful founding chairman of the ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus, has not formally announced a bid for Speaker but has said he plans to be “part of...