Free Republic

Billionaire Tom Steyer pledges $12 million to support Proposition 50, which could give Democrats five more congressional seats in California. Charles Munger Jr. has donated $32 million to the opposition, arguing that the measure undermines California’s voter-approved independent redistricting commission. As California voters receive mail ballots for the November special election, which could upend the state’s congressional boundaries and determine control of the House, billionaire hedge-fund founder Tom Steyer said Thursday he will spend $12 million to back Democrats’ efforts to redraw districts to boost their party’s ranks in the legislative body. The ballot measure was proposed by Gov. Gavin...

At Wednesday’s argument in Bost v. Illinois Board of Elections, not many of the justices worked hard to hide their cards. It appears there is a substantial majority, perhaps as many as seven justices, leaning toward reversing the lower federal courts’ holding that Rep. Michael Bost, a Republican member of Congress, lacked a legal right to sue, known as standing, to challenge an Illinois law allowing mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted even if they arrive as many as 14 days later. Perhaps the bigger mystery is what precise test for “standing” the court will adopt for...

This mailman thought he'd be eating good for quite some time, but then he got pulled over. The stolen checks were in the mailman's lunchbox. A Knox County patrol deputy conducted a traffic stop along Clinton Highway on the afternoon of October 5 and detected an odor of marijuana, according to a sheriff's office spokesperson. The front seat passenger, identified as Dontray Ligon, stated that the car belonged to him and allowed deputies to search it. Two large lunchboxes containing check-related mail that investigators believe to be stolen were found during the search. The sheriff's office spokesperson said Wednesday that...

Judge Reed O’Connor, a Chief United States District judge in the Fifth Circuit, has determined the ban on possession and carry of arms in common use in Post Offices and on property owned by the Post Office is an infringement on the rights protected by the Second Amendment. From the decision: The Court determines that both 18 U.S.C. § 930(a) and 39 C.F.R. § 232.1(1) are inconsistent with the principles that underpin this Nation’s regulatory tradition. Thus, they are unconstitutional as-applied to carrying firearms inside a an ordinary post office or on post office property.The decision was published on September...

Twenty-five nations have declared a temporary suspension on all postal shipments to the United States amid tariff uncertainty. As of August 29, 2025, the United Stated will remove the de minimis exemption from law that allowed goods under $800 to enter tax-free. Tariffs range between 10% to 50% on the declared value, or $80 to $200 per parcel. Goods above $2,500 are subject to a Merchandise Processing Fee and additional formal customs checks. Processing delays and increased costs were incurred immediately, but now, a growing number of nations have decided to simply discontinue parcel service. In Europe, the United Kingdom,...

The crackdown on small-dollar imports has left businesses and consumers scrambling. Postal services in Japan and Switzerland are the latest to pause shipments to the United States this week, days before an exemption for certain import taxes is about to expire. The loophole, known as “de minimis,” has allowed goods worth less than $800 to enter the United States duty-free since 2016. President Donald Trump signed an executive order last month to abolish the practice. It is set to end Friday. The change has rocked small businesses and consumers, leaving many concerned about shipping backlogs and higher costs. Some business...

A Carson woman, who is a former U.S. Postal Service employee, is facing decades in prison after pleading guilty to bank fraud. Mary Ann Magdamit, 31, who worked as a letter carrier at the Torrance Main Post Office, stole checks, debit and credit cards from the mail from at least 2022 through July 2025, according to a press release from the United States Department of Justice. Magdamit pleaded guilty Monday to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. She's been in federal custody since July 1. Federal prosecutors allege she would activate the stolen bank-issued cards online and use...

I am going to lead a movement to get rid of MAIL-IN BALLOTS, and also, while we’re at it, Highly “Inaccurate,” Very Expensive, and Seriously Controversial VOTING MACHINES, which cost Ten Times more than accurate and sophisticated Watermark Paper, which is faster, and leaves NO DOUBT, at the end of the evening, as to who WON, and who LOST, the Election. We are now the only Country in the World that uses Mail-In Voting. All others gave it up because of the MASSIVE VOTER FRAUD ENCOUNTERED. WE WILL BEGIN THIS EFFORT, WHICH WILL BE STRONGLY OPPOSED BY THE DEMOCRATS BECAUSE...

As we know, Grabbin' Noisome is planning a special election to return the power to draw Congressional districts to the State Legislature. Anybody with functioning brain cells knows that the only way to win that special election would be an epic level of ballot fraud and manipulated vote counting. To the former (and this might help nationwide), Trump could instruct the Postal Service to refuse to process mail-in ballots without sending them certified mail in order to guarantee a chain of custody. That takes a signature and voter ID if Trump specifies it. I just want to see the meltdown...

This actually falls under the "you won't believe this" section, but I felt it was worth sharing.

There are always four phases to the Left's argument against an issue: 1. That thing isn't happening; it's a Right-wing conspiracy. 2. Okay, that thing is happening, but it's not happening much. 3. Yeah, that thing's happening and it's a good thing. 4. It's happening, it's a good thing, and we're not gonna let you stop us. Bigots. This story is somewhere between Steps 2 and 3. ne of the women accused of stealing and fraudulently casting more than a dozen ballots ahead of last November’s election pleaded guilty Monday. Vicki Stuart, 64, was charged with 34 counts related to...

The Postal Inspection Service recently joined a federal task force to locate undocumented immigrants using data from mail and packages, according to people familiar with the effort and records obtained by The Washington Post... The law enforcement arm of the U.S. Postal Service has quietly begun cooperating with federal immigration officials to locate people suspected of being in the country illegally, according to two people familiar with the matter and documents obtained by The Washington Post — dramatically broadening the scope of the Trump administration’s government-wide mass deportation campaign...

At the Remote Encoding Center in Salt Lake City, keyers process 1.2 billion images of mail every year. It's a more difficult job than I thought.

A former United States Postal Service employee is facing a lengthy prison sentence after a jury convicted him of stealing over $1.6 million in checks intended for individuals on his mail route. Hachikosela Muchimba, 44, of Washington, D.C., fraudulently obtained and deposited close to 100 checks over a span of just under three years, according to a criminal complaint obtained by PEOPLE. Most of the checks were tax returns issued by the Treasury Department. "Muchimba used the proceeds of the stolen checks to fund a lavish lifestyle that included international travel, stays at luxury hotels, and purchases at gentlemen’s clubs,"...

U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy informed members of Congress on Thursday he has signed an agreement with the General Services Administration and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to cut 10,000 workers and billions of dollars from the U.S. Postal Service budget. In a letter to Congress, DeJoy lamented that the Postal Service has a "broken business model that was not financially sustainable without critically necessary and core change." "Fixing a broken organization that had experienced close to $100 billion in losses and was projected to lose another $200 billion, without a bankruptcy proceeding, is a daunting task," DeJoy wrote....

US Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has signed an agreement with the Department of Government Efficiency and the General Services Administration to work with the US Postal Service In a letter DeJoy sent to Congress on Thursday, he said DOGE teams will “assist us in identifying and achieving further efficiencies,” saying the Elon Musk-led agency will focus on improving the management of USPS retirement assets and the Workers’ Compensation Program, as well as addressing the agency’s legislative mandates and regulatory requirements.

AMSTERDAM — Breda Court was sealed off on Friday and about 400 people ordered to remain inside the building after a suspect "anthrax" letter addressed to a judge was discovered in the postal room. The letter was written in English and contained a suspect powder. Alarmed authorities prevented anyone from entering the building for several hours and urged the 400 people trapped inside to restrict their movements. Police gave the all clear at about 2pm, but anyone who possibly came in contact with the letter were ordered to shower before leaving the building, Dutch associated press ANP reported. A police...

A Florida election lawsuit has exposed a loophole in federal voter registration law that allows people to register to vote without providing a driver’s license or Social Security number for verification. A Republican congressional candidate is suing Florida election officials over “clone” voters found on voter rolls and questionable mail-in ballot requests, as the number of votes he lost by is less than the allegedly compromised vote-by-mail ballots. However, the lawsuit also reveals a loophole in both Florida law and federal law that allows people to register to vote without providing either a driver’s license number or Social Security number....

There is deep suspicion that this method of fraud has happened across the country, costing Republicans four Senate seats, about a dozen House seats, and countless state legislative, local municipal seats, and referendums. A longtime Trump associate, Peter Ticktin, is representing Rochford. The Ticktin Law Group has identified a systematic breakdown of internal election controls that affected the FL-14 race and other races far beyond. They have found duplicate voters called “clones” in the voter rolls.

The Washington Post reports Trump plans to fire the postal service's governing board and take control under his administration. USPS loses billions of dollars, however, it is considered a basic service to the American people, created by Congress, not to be undone by executive order. Trump considers taxpayer refund for 'wasteful' spending