Free Republic

Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer and her top aides and family members routinely sent personal messages and requests to young staff members that are now under review by the department’s inspector general. Ms. Chavez-DeRemer and her former deputy chief of staff sent texts asking employees to bring wine to them during trips for the department. Sometimes the requests came in the middle of the workday. Ms. Chavez-DeRemer’s husband exchanged text messages with young female staff members, as did her father. Some of the young women were instructed by Ms. Chavez-DeRemer and the former deputy chief of staff to “pay attention” to...

Tuesday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said the evidence that Iran was an imminent threat to the United States was not there.Co-host Joe Kernen said, “You have such a tough job. I asked Senator Scott, and he said, I love Senator Paul because you never waver, but everybody wavers. I was going to ask you about war powers, and the Constitution is messy, and to stick with it as you do in the real world, it’s hard. I don’t know why you even have this job. It must be so difficult at this point for you, right?...

Key points: >Consumer confidence plunged to a record low in April as fears mounted over rising energy prices and the broader impact of the Iran war, according to a University of Michigan survey. >The drop in sentiment coincided with a sharp spike in inflation expectations, with respondents seeing prices up 4.8% in a year from now, a full percentage point rise from the March reading. Consumer confidence plunged to a record low in April as fears mounted over rising energy prices and the broader impact of the Iran war, according to a University of Michigan survey Friday. The university’s headline...

Whether you like it or hate it, the war in Iran has definitely had the effect of exposing some of the ridiculous fantasies in the world to a serious dose of reality. Consider the UK. After implementing an expansive welfare state in the latter 20th century (e.g., free health care for all!), the UK since 2000 has gone all-in on the idea of an energy system free of hydrocarbon fuels. The 2008 Climate Change Act — passed with an overwhelming majority including support from all major political parties — committed the UK to 80% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050....

Many Americans were skeptical of Elon Musk’s grandiose claims that DOGE would take a “chainsaw” to federal spending. One “tax nerd” was so skeptical he decided to “bet his life savings” on Musk’s promises being a flop — and it paid off big time, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. Musk has seen his approval rating descend as he has taken a more publicly active role politically, plus ongoing criticism and litigation over his management of his social media platform X and support for far-right politics in Europe. He jumped into his work with the Department of...

The husband of Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer has been barred from the department’s headquarters after at least two female staff members told officials that he had sexually assaulted them, according to people familiar with the decision and a police report obtained by The New York Times. The women said Ms. Chavez-DeRemer’s husband, Dr. Shawn DeRemer, had touched them inappropriately at the Labor Department’s building on Constitution Avenue. One of the incidents, during working hours on the morning of Dec. 18, was recorded on office security cameras, the people said. The video showed Dr. DeRemer giving one of the women an...

It’s known as “Don Colossus.” At 15 feet tall, the statue of President Trump, mounted on its 7,000-pound pedestal, is about the height of a two-story building — a giant effigy cast in bronze and finished with a thick layer of gold leaf. For more than a year, the golden statue has been at the center of one of the stranger moneymaking ventures of the Trump era. A group of cryptocurrency investors paid $300,000 to have a sculptor create it as a tribute to Mr. Trump, an outspoken crypto proponent. Then they used it to promote a memecoin called $PATRIOT....

President Donald Trump has deleted a controversial video that depicted former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as apes. Thursday evening, Trump posted a video with baseless conspiracy theories about the 2020 election that included a short clip at the end of the Obamas’ faces superimposed on apes’ bodies. The video was furiously criticized by members of Congress on both sides of the aisle, members of the media, and other political commentators as racist. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the post as simply sharing an “Internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of...

The value of the U.S. dollar plunged Tuesday, after President Donald Trump said he was not concerned about the currency's recent drop. "I think it’s great," Trump said, speaking to reporters in Iowa, when asked if the dollar's value had declined too much. “The dollar’s doing great.” Before Trump's comments, the benchmark ICE U.S. Dollar Index was already on pace to record its worst three-day drop since Trump's April 2025 "Liberation Day" tariff rollout. After Trump’s comments, the value of the dollar as measured by the index sharply extended its slide to as much as 1.5%, putting it on track...

A key House Republican called on President Trump Sunday to begin yanking ICE agents out of Minneapolis — warning the chaos will only “get worse” after protester Alex Pretti was fatally shot by a federal agent a day earlier. *** James Comer (R-Ky.) suggested a de-escalation was needed after the 37-year-old ICU nurse was gunned down — especially if “there’s a chance of losing more … innocent lives.” “If I were President Trump, I would almost think about, OK, if the mayor and the governor are going to put our ICE officials in harm’s way and there’s a chance of...

CNN reported Monday that controversial Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino will be leaving Minneapolis, where he has been overseeing operations and vehemently defending officers following the shooting death of 37-year-old Alex Pretti. Anderson Cooper broke the news Monday afternoon, saying, “Sources tell CNN that top Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino and some of his agents are expected to leave Minneapolis tomorrow,” before tossing to reporter Priscilla Alvarez. “This really is a major shift in strategy here by the Trump administration,” Alvarez began. “Recall, Gregory Bovino has been a key player in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and became, in many...

As a retired federal agent and an attorney, this is my opinion based upon what is known right now. You don’t have to agree, and I will not debate, allow the full investigation to play out. I do know that the individual would still be alive today if he had exercised his right to protest from a distance and not interjected himself into the situation. The loss of life is always tragic. Understanding the Use of Force in the Minneapolis Federal Enforcement Incident Why the Law Matters More Than the Narrative Public debate around officer-involved shootings often turns on emotion,...

Brief summary of the video: The YouTube video (from WCCO - CBS Minnesota, uploaded January 24, 2026) is a ~7-minute clip of a press conference by U.S. Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino. He discusses a fatal shooting that morning in south Minneapolis during a targeted DHS operation involving Border Patrol agents. Key points from Bovino's statements: The suspect was identified as Jose Werta Chuma (described as an undocumented immigrant with prior criminal history including domestic assault and disorderly conduct). During the operation, the man allegedly approached agents armed with a 9mm semi-automatic handgun and extra loaded magazines. Agents attempted to...