Free Republic

The Democrat will run for the seat held by GOP. Sen Jon Husted, who was appointed to serve the remainder of Vice President JD Vance's term. Former Sen. Sherrod Brown has decided to run for the Senate next year in Ohio, according to three sources familiar with his plans, potentially putting the Republican-leaning state in play for Democrats. Brown lost his race for a fourth term last year by about 3.5 percentage points as President Donald Trump carried Ohio by 11 points. But a midterm year is typically tougher for the president's party, and Democrats have been aggressively recruiting Brown...

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has privately discussed the idea of running for political office next year in Tennessee, according to two people who have spoken directly with him about it. If Hegseth were to follow through on the discussions, it would amount to a major leadership shake-up at the department that oversees the American military and millions of federal employees. The Defense Department bars civilian employees from running for political office, meaning Hegseth would have to resign to do so. In a statement, Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, said, “Hegseth’s focus remains solely on serving under President Trump.” One...

GOP senators have raised concerns about the deficit impact of the emerging package, as well as the cuts to Medicaid and clean energy funding. WASHINGTON — As House Republicans scramble to corral the votes to pass a massive bill for President Donald Trump's agenda, their Senate counterparts are making clear the emerging package won’t fly as written when it reaches them.Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., was categorical that the product coming out of various House committees cannot pass the Senate as it currently stands.“No. We’ll make changes,” Hoeven said. “We’ve been talking with the House and there’s a lot of things...

They're scientists. Veterans. Park rangers. Lawyers. Researchers. Administrative staff. They work on fire safety. Safe drinking water. Veterans' health. Combating bird flu. They're from all over the country, in red states and blue. They're young and old. Thousands of federal workers have been fired in the last month. They're victims of efforts by President Donald Trump and his senior adviser, billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk, to cut the size of the government. And they want people to understand what they did and why they loved being public servants. Anna Conn, 35, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Asheville, N.C.:...

The left-wing media’s latest attempt to derail Pete Hegseth’s confirmation as defense secretary has crumbled under scrutiny after new allegations against him were swiftly debunked. In a familiar pattern, the media ran with an affidavit claiming that Hegseth’s second wife feared for her safety—only for the accusations to be immediately refuted by the very person they were meant to protect. On Tuesday, Senate Armed Services Committee members received a supposed affidavit from Danielle Hegseth, Pete Hegseth’s former sister-in-law, alleging that his behavior during his second marriage caused his ex-wife, Samantha, to fear him. Committee staffers had reportedly been in contact...

Tech billionaire Elon Musk was handed a major win Tuesday evening when President-elect Donald Trump announced that the Tesla and SpaceX CEO would co-lead a new “Department of Government Efficiency” with Vivek Ramaswamy. The announcement reinforces the closeness that Musk has managed to achieve with Trump, even after the election. But for some people in Trump’s orbit, Musk’s presence has felt overbearing. Musk has been so aggressive in pushing his views about Trump’s second term that he’s stepping on the toes of Trump’s transition team and may be overstaying his welcome at Mar-a-Lago, according to two people familiar with the...