Free Republic

Aseismic shift has occurred in the Trump administration’s new defense spending plan that is just emerging when it comes to the USAF’s airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) predicament. The service’s E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft are dwindling in number and rapidly aging into unsupportability. The proven and in-production E-7 Wedgetail, based on the Boeing 737 and serving with multiple allies, was supposed to bridge the gap between the E-3’s retirement and pushing the sending part of the mission to space-based distributed satellite constellations. You can read all about this here. Now, if the administration gets...

The Democrat and RINO effort to blow up Trump’s global tariffs suffered an embarrassing failure in the Senate this evening after two senators failed to vote. As The Gateway Pundit reported, Senator Rand Paul (RINO-KY) had sponsored a resolution that would have terminated ALL of Trump’s tariffs, including those on America’s top adversary, China. The vote deadlocked 49-49, meaning it failed by one vote. But there were three Republicans who voted to stab Trump in the back and end the global tariffs: Rand Paul of Kentucky Susan Collins of Maine Lisa Murkowski of Alaska Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Senator...

The White House is warning that President Donald Trump will veto a bipartisan Senate resolution that would terminate his sweeping global “Liberation Day” tariffs. The statement of administration policy from the Office of Management and Budget, sent to congressional offices Monday, comes ahead of an expected vote this week forced by several Democrats led by Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon and Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky. “This resolution would undermine the administration’s efforts to address the unusual and extraordinary threats to national security and economic stability, posed by the conditions reflected in the large and persistent annual U.S. goods...

Establishment anti-Trump Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) said she is “anxious” about using her voice, claiming that “we are all afraid” because “retaliation is real.”When asked what she would say to people who are afraid or who represent people who are afraid, Murkowski took on an incredibly somber tone. “We are all afraid,” she said, pausing dramatically. “It’s quite a statement.”“But we are. … We’re in a time and a place where I don’t know, I certainly have not — I have not been here before,” she said.“And I’ll tell you I’m oftentimes very anxious myself about using my voice...

Four Republicans – Sens. Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell, of Kentucky; Susan Collins, of Maine; and Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska, sided with Democrats in voting for a resolution that would repeal the emergency declaration that permitted Trump to levy taxes on Canada by citing deadly fentanyl flowing across the border. The measure, introduced by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., passed the upper chamber of Congress by a 51-48 vote.

A group of Republican senators voted along with Democrats on Wednesday for a resolution to undo President Trump’s 25 percent tariffs on Canadian imports, dealing an embarrassing blow to Trump. The resolution expresses the sense of the Senate and doesn’t have the force of law, but its 51-48 passage is unwelcome news for the president on the very day he announced a host of new tariffs.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) is again speaking out against the Trump administration — this time blasting efforts led by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to gut the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) by slashing jobs and foreign contracts. Murkowski, a crucial swing vote in the Republican-controlled Senate, said Thursday in a post on social platform X that she recently met with USAID employees from her state. “They not only informed me of the confusing and callous handling of personnel matters by [the Office of Personnel Management] and DOGE, but they also painted an incredibly troubling picture of what...

Sen. Lisa Murkowski delivered a scorching rebuke Saturday of President Donald Trump’s explosive exchange with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a rare voice of Republican dissent as party members lined up in support of the president’s increasingly combative relationship with Ukraine. “I am sick to my stomach as the administration appears to be walking away from our allies and embracing Putin, a threat to democracy and U.S. values around the world,” the Alaskan wrote in a Saturday afternoon post to X.

Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Tuesday and called on lawmakers not to give President Donald Trump their authority.Co-host Jonathan Lemire said, “Certainly there’s a lot of debate among Democrats right now as to who is that face, who is the leader for the party right now? Who’s going to play the role that Nancy Pelosi did during those first couple of years of Trump’s initial term in office? So now let’s take a look at more from Ryan Noble’s interview with Senator Murkowski, who warned her Republican colleagues not to cede their authority to President...

Primarying these two POS RINOS needs to be a top priority going forward. They both voted NO for Pete Hegseth as well.

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...

"[It] doesn't demonstrate much due process.... It doesn't show respect for those who have worked hard...."

Alaska U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski on Wednesday said she intends to vote for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of the federal Department of Health and Human Services. The Senate voted along party lines to advance Kennedy’s nomination for a final vote, which is expected Thursday. Murkowski was one of 53 Republican senators to support his nomination, along with Alaska’s other senator, Dan Sullivan.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) intends to support Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation as head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the senator announced Wednesday. “I intend to support Robert Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation as Secretary of Health and Human Services. While there is no dispute that the U.S. spends more per capita on healthcare than any other country, our health outcomes do not reflect this investment,” she wrote in a lengthy statement on X. “Instead of focusing on who covers our exorbitant healthcare costs, we need to reduce these costs by directing our attention to prevention and...

As President Trump works nonstop to keep his promises and clean up the chaotic mess Biden left behind, another major battle is unfolding: confirmation hearings. (snip) This time, things are different—thanks to billionaire Nicole Shanahan. Like the rest of America, she’s had enough of the political games, and she’s putting her money where her mouth is. She’s now vowing to make it her personal mission to take down any Senator who refuses to support RFK Jr. If these turncoats won’t back him, she’ll make sure they lose their seats. And she’s not just making threats—Nicole has a plan and is...

The Wall Street Journal revealed that GOP Senator Thom Tillis was behind helping Pete Hegseth’s former sister-in-law get her 11th hour affidavit with allegations of abuse to Senators before the confirmation vote.As previously reported, Senators received an 11th hour affidavit with spousal abuse allegations against Trump’s Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth ahead of his confirmation vote.An affidavit from Hegseth’s former sister-in-law, Danielle Hegseth, alleging “instances of abuse” and “mistreatment of a former spouse” involving Hegseth’s second wife, Samantha Hegseth, was submitted to senators.Samantha Hegseth responded to the allegations via email, according to NBC News: “First and foremost, I have not...

Sen. Lisa Murkowski issued a joint statement with the Danish member of parliament who holds two seats representing Greenland, emphasizing that the United States should view the icy landmass as a “an ally” rather than “an asset.” “The appeal of Greenland is easy to understand. It is strategically located for defense, shipping, and more. It is also a storehouse for all sorts of minerals, the building blocks of society that will determine who leads—and controls—the industries of the future,” the statement began. “Of course, a businessman turned president would be interested. But Greenland is not for sale. The question has...

President Trump’s decision to rename Mt. Denali back to its former name of Mt. McKinley has touched off the usual outrage from politicians, media types and activists whose only knowledge of the country’s Pre-Columbian tribal population comes from Kevin Costner movies and shows. Mt. Denali, they insist, was the original ‘indigenous’ name for Mt. McKinley. But the National Park Service notes that, “no fewer than nine Native groups… used unique names for the mountain. There are five Athabascan languages surrounding the park, each with its own oral place name.” And Mt. Denali is not even the right tribal name. Sen....

Mitch McConnell, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski voted no. All Dems voted no.

Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine are hinging their opposition to the confirmation of President Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, on their alleged concern that he is not fit to handle the pressures of the Pentagon job.Their paragraphs-long attempts to justify why they are going against the will of their GOP voters, however, pale in the face of their voting records for a cabinet member who abandoned his post twice without notifying Congress.Murkowski announced Thursday on X that she “cannot in good conscience support [Hegseth’s] nomination for Secretary of Defense” because...