Free Republic

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said on Sunday he does not think the law would allow President Trump to send United States citizens convicted of violent crimes to Salvadoran prisons, despite the president’s suggestion that he might be open to that possibility. “No, ma’am. Nor should it be considered appropriate or moral,” Kennedy told NBC News’s Kristen Welker when asked on “Meet the Press” whether he thinks such a move would be legal. “We have our own laws,” he continued. “We have the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution. We shouldn’t send prisoners to foreign countries in my judgment.” Trump, in a...

WEST POINT, Ky. (WDRB) -- Some Kentucky flood victims say they’re being denied federal assistance, not because they weren’t impacted by the recent natural disasters, but because of where their mailbox happens to be. Tommy Stucker lost two homes on Dixie Beach Road near West Point — one damaged by a tornado, the other by flooding. But despite the devastation, Stucker said he’s been told by FEMA that he does not qualify for aid. “They said that my area was not under a disaster relief yet,” Stucker said. Stucker’s property is technically in Jefferson County — just feet away from...

The president will direct agencies to boost coal leasing, mining and exports. But these steps are unlikely to usher in a coal renaissance.President Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order Tuesday aimed at boosting the struggling U.S. coal industry, according to White House officials.Flanked by coal miners wearing hard hats at the White House, Trump will direct federal agencies to loosen various restrictions on coal mining, leasing and exports. He will instruct the Interior Department to resume coal leasing on millions of acres of public lands, and he will order the Energy Department and other agencies to study whether...

Sen. Rand Paul — a right-wing firebrand from a deep red state — is in some ways an unlikely figure to articulate a searing case against Donald Trump’s agenda. But the senator from Kentucky is issuing a stark warning to fellow Republicans that Trump’s tariff policies could lead to a generational political loss for the party. And he’s raking in surprising praise from his Democratic colleagues as he pushes back relentlessly on the airwaves and the Senate floor against what he describes as Trump’s executive overreach and infringement on Congress. In an impassioned floor speech ahead of his vote to...

President Donald Trump has fired several members of his National Security Council team. DailyMail.com confirmed an Axios report released Thursday morning. The dismissals come after National Security Advisor Michael Waltz accidentally added The Atlantic's editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg to a Signal chat where top administration officials were discussing an attack on the Houthis in Yemen. Trump has publicly supported Waltz, a former Florida congressman, in the aftermath of Signalgate, despite some White House insiders labeling him a 'f***ing idiot.' However The New York Times reported Thursday morning that far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer visited the Oval Office on Wednesday and pressed...

Just hours after President Donald Trump announced massive new tariffs on nearly all imports to the United States, a bipartisan group of senators made the first push to stop the most nonsensical part of Trump's global trade war. With a 51-48 vote, the Senate approved a resolution to block Trump's tariffs on imports from Canada, which he imposed by declaring an economic emergency in early February. The measure to cancel that emergency declaration, sponsored by Sens. Tim Kaine (D–Va.) and Rand Paul (R–Ky), faces an uncertain future in the Republican-controlled House and a near-certain veto if it reaches Trump's desk—but...

A bipartisan pair of senators is warning the White House that recent US strikes on the Houthis in Yemen risk “emboldening” the Iranian-backed group and flouted the law regarding congressional oversight of military operations. The letter from Sens. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and Rand Paul, R-Ky., shared first with Semafor, concerns the strikes that have made headlines recently.... “Neither the U.S. strikes since October 2023 ordered by President Joe Biden, nor the previous years-long campaign against the Houthis conducted by Saudi Arabia were successful in establishing deterrence against the Houthis,” Merkley and Paul wrote in the letter sent to President Donald...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) spoke out against President Trump’s imbalance on tariffs arguing that established levies have kept the world a stable place with a secure market. “International trade since World War II has made us phenomenally rich. President Trump paints it another way,” Paul said during a Sunday interview with radio host John Catsimatidis on WABC 770 AM’s “The Cats Roundtable.” “He says, ‘We’ve been taken advantage of.’ But I really strongly disagree because trade has made us so rich and really has made the world a better place. The more we trade … the less we fight.” Trump...

At the request of Planned Parenthood, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear vetoed a bill this week that aimed to clarify the state’s law protecting preborn children from abortion and also could have allowed the opening of freestanding birth centers in the state. House Bill 90, an act relating to maternal health and declaring an emergency, sought to clarify the state’s pro-life law, which abortion advocates claimed was confusing for doctors. Most preborn children are protected from abortion in Kentucky, except in cases in which their mothers’ lives are considered to be at risk. The Prohibition against intentional termination of life of...

A federal appeals court stacked with Biden and Obama judges on Wednesday kept in place a block on President Trump’s federal funding freeze. “Chief Judge David Barron, an appointee of former President Obama, and Circuit Judges Lara Montecalvo and Julie Rikelman, both appointees of former President Biden, presided over the case brought on by Democratic attorneys general from 22 states, the District of Columbia and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D),” The Hill reported. Last month US District Judge of the District Court for the District of Rhode Island, John McConnell, an Obama appointee, accused President Trump of violating his court...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) proposed legislation on Tuesday, the Nutritious SNAP Act, aimed at reforming SNAP to ensure that those who use it are doing so for healthy food options. Paul’s office issued a release on Tuesday asserting that SNAP has been a contributing factor “in a new public health crisis — obesity and chronic disease — by subsidizing the purchase of junk food with taxpayer dollars.” “SNAP was designed to fight hunger and improve nutrition — not to subsidize soda and junk food,” Paul said. “It makes no sense that taxpayer dollars are being used to fund an epidemic...

Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul isn’t fully endorsing President Donald Trump’s recent use of the rarely used Alien Enemies Act to deport a group of Venezuelan nationals accused of gang ties, warning that the move raises “big legal questions.” “The Bill of Rights applies to everyone,” Paul said during an interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation” with moderator Margaret Brennan on Sunday. “The Bill of Rights doesn’t specifically designate citizens … On the other end, the Alien Enemies Act says you don’t get much process … The president can declare that you are somehow a problem for foreign policy …...

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear vetoed a GOP-backed bill Thursday to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at public universities, declaring that diversity should be embraced as a strength while branding the legislation as being “about hate.” Beshear, who is seen as a potential candidate for the White House in 2028, announced his veto in a social media video. His forceful defense of diversity initiatives comes as Republican President Donald Trump seeks to end government support for programs promoting diversity, equity and inclusion. “I believe in the Golden Rule that says we love our neighbor as...

Major federal law enforcement raids in Kentucky have taken down dozens of dangerous illegal aliens and executed a large-scale deportation operation. 81 illegal aliens were arrested in a four-day sweep as part of “Operation Take Back America.” ... United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Kentucky confirmed that 25 of those arrested are now facing serious federal criminal charges. The crackdown, based out of Louisville, saw immigration enforcement officers detaining individuals from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Cuba, India, and Palau. Among them, 25 are now charged with crimes such as unlawful reentry, illegal firearm possession, and drug-related...

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., told Fox News Digital on Thursday morning that he had hauled in $261,000 in campaign donations in recent days since President Donald Trump targeted him for ouster for opposing a government-funding measure. "In less than three days, I’ve received $261,000 through 3,203 individual donations, without sending an email, a text, or a phone call. It’s a fundraising record for me and it’s boosted my current cash on hand north of $1.1 million," Massie said in a statement. After Trump took a swing at Massie in a Truth Social post on Monday night, the congressman responded in...

President Trump said Monday he will "lead the charge" to oust Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) for his refusal to support Republicans' government funding bill.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said he’s hearing a deluge of complaints from business leaders in Kentucky about the potential impact of Trump’s trade policies on the local economy. “I have every major industry in Kentucky lobbying me against them: the cargo shippers, the farmers, the bourbon manufacturers, the homebuilders, the home sellers — you name it — fence manufacturers,” Paul told The Hill. “The bourbon industry says they’re still hurt from the retaliatory tariffs” during Trump’s first term, he said. “So do the farmers.” He said the federal government had to pay $20 billion to $30 billion in the “last...

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”...

Dear ProLife Friends, Your Voice Matters—From the March to the Legislature! (We need your help- please see below) It’s been a week since one of the largest annual human rights demonstrations in Kentucky, “Life, Why We March” and we are still feeling the impact of your presence and dedication! We want to extend our deepest gratitude to everyone who joined us at the Kentucky March for Life last Wednesday at the Capitol in Frankfort. Your voice, your commitment, and your unwavering support for the unborn make a difference. Together, we stand for the dignity of every human life, and your...

Elon Musk and Republican senators are eyeing a package to claw back tens or hundreds of billions of dollars in federal spending after meeting in a closed-door lunch on Wednesday. Why it matters: Musk has been leading the charge on spending cuts from the White House. Some lawmakers want to make his actions more permanent by making them law. No decisions have been made, but there was some early, general support for the idea being pushed by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) after the lunch. An infamous deficit hawk, Paul pitched Elon Musk on a massive rescission package during a lunch...