Free Republic

Former judge Jeanine Pirro was sworn in as interim U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C. on Thursday. Pirro, 73, will now lead a team of attorneys in defending President Donald Trump's administration in court as well as prosecuting local crimes in the nation's capital.

CV NEWS FEED // Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said Wednesday that he has ordered a top-down review of the abortion drug mifepristone in light of “alarming” research showing the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved pill does far more harm to women than previously reported. The latest research is “alarming,” Kennedy said during a hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. “And clearly it indicates at the very least the [FDA] label should be changed.” “I’ve asked Marty Makary, who’s the director of the FDA, to do a complete review and to report...

This week, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem got in a heated argument with Democrat Rep. Dan Goldman (NY). The hearing was meant to focus on the budget. Of course, the hearing got sidetracked when Democrats began to press Noem about Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the so-called “Maryland Man” who was living in the United States illegally and got deported to El Salvador. Democrats have flown to El Salvador to advocate for his release, despite the fact that judges determined that he is a member of MS-13. "It's gotta be extremely discouraging to be one of your constituents," Noem told...

Planned Parenthood’s leaders launch into its 2023-2024 annual report with a markedly sad tone: “It’s been over two years since the U.S. Supreme Court took away our constitutional right to abortion.” Very quickly, however, readers can see the truth: that never before in its history has the abortion giant been so well-funded by American taxpayers, and never before has it ended more unborn lives than this past year – nearly three years since the Supreme Court held there is no right to abortion in the US Constitution. “Abortion bans have made pregnancy more dangerous, put patients and providers at risk...

The House Energy and Commerce Committee has passed the reconciliation bill that Republicans plan to advance in Congress to cut the massive size of the federal government. The good news for pro-life Americans is that the measure includes language to defund Planned Parenthood and Big Abortion. The abortion giant just announced that it killed over 420,000 babies in aboritons in its most recent year and mamade over $2 billion. There were several amendments by pro-abortion Demcorats to take out the pro-life language in that committee. They all failed. Nearly all committee Republicans voted against an amendment brought by pro-abortion Democrat...

Zelensky, who had previously rejected a ceasefire proposed by Russia, says that "it is necessary to put pressure on the side that does not want to put an end to the war"MOSCOW, May 15. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump has exerted more pressure on Ukraine than on Russia, said Vladimir Zelensky at a briefing after talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "From the very beginning, you saw the position of the United States, the position of President [Donald] Trump, and that was to put pressure on both sides. I think there was more pressure on us than on Russia....

Lawmakers are investigating whether Pfizer waited to share results of the Covid vaccine in 2020 until after that year’s presidential election, based on new allegations that a former Pfizer scientist has said he was part of an effort to “deliberately slow down” the testing, according to a new letter from the House Judiciary Committee. The House panel is seeking information from Pfizer and from the scientist, Philip Dormitzer, after learning he allegedly told colleagues in 2024 at a subsequent job he was worried he would face an investigation of his role in the vaccine’s release and asked to be relocated...

“Oh, sure,” I hear you say. “We knew that already. We already knew that all our clothing and toys and housewares and home décor is made in China. We can live with that. It’s not like it’s a national security problem.”But that’s the problem. It is national security.We make our own washing machines and dryers, our own cars and planes, our own metal working machines and food processing equipment. That’s what counts, and it’s made here.Yes. But these machines are made here only if we can get the parts. And far too many of the parts, for far too many...

Ben Cohen, the Ben in the famous ice cream company Ben & Jerry's, was one of several people who disrupted a Senate committee hearing on Wednesday when US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr was speaking. The co-founder of Ben & Jerry's has been arrested after disrupting a Senate hearing with a pro-Gaza protest. Ben Cohen, Ben of the famous ice cream company Ben & Jerry's, was one of seven people arrested at a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on Wednesday, Sky News' US partner NBC News reported. Robert F Kennedy Jr was speaking to the committee...

Russia seems to be preparing a significant offensive in Ukraine as it is moving troops toward key positions on the front, the Financial Times reported on May 13, citing undisclosed Ukrainian intelligence officials. These reported preparations indicate Moscow's efforts to escalate the war despite expected ceasefire talks this week and calls by Kyiv and its partners for an unconditional 30-day truce. Russia has rejected ceasefire proposals unless accompanied by a halt on military aid for Ukraine and continues ground assaults along the front and long-range strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure. Some 163 clashes were recorded at the front over the past...

The U.S. Department of Justice is carrying out a criminal investigation into UnitedHealth Group (UNH.N), opens new tab for possible Medicare fraud, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. UnitedHealth said it had not been notified by the DOJ about the "supposed criminal investigation reported," and the company stood by "the integrity of our Medicare Advantage program." The stock fell 8% in after-hours trade following the report. The health insurer has been under pressure for months. On Tuesday, UnitedHealth Group's CEO, Andrew Witty, stepped down unexpectedly, and the company simultaneously suspended its 2025 financial forecast due to rising medical costs....

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s executive order for all California State Employees to return to the office (RTO) four days a week does not currently have a price tag for California taxpayers. Increased costs for expenses such as rent, furniture, moving services and supplies has not yet been calculated, but as a state employee at CalRecycle, I can tell you that the cost for state employees is very clear and very dramatic.

Pete Buttigieg is clearly laying the groundwork for a 2028 presidential run, even going so far as to grow a beard in what looks like a transparent rebranding effort. And frankly, it’s no wonder he thinks he needs a makeover; his time as Transportation Secretary was a train wreck — sometimes literally. His four years in the Biden administration were a nonstop showcase of incompetence and misplaced priorities. You’d be hard-pressed to find a single transportation crisis he didn’t bungle. Now, we've got one more. Do you remember how the Democrats and the media tried to blame Trump for January's...

Smartmatic, the electronic tabulator company suing Fox News for alleged defamation following the 2020 election, failed in a February court hearing to disclose a meeting with Democrat megadonor Reid Hoffman, newly unsealed court documents allege. Following the 2020 election, both Fox News and Newsmax “hosted commentators who aired concerns that tabulators were not secure, were vulnerable to voter fraud, and had possibly changed Trump votes to Biden votes,” as described in these pages by Logan Washburn. Smartmatic sued, arguing the comments amounted to defamation. Fox previously settled a suit with Dominion Voting over similar allegations while Newsmax recently settled with...

A bold legislative proposal, the “Restoring Constitutional Mandate for Congress to Set Rules for the Federal Courts Act,” seeks to rein in what its author warns is an existential crisis – a “judicial coup” targeting President Donald Trump and the American people. Drafted by Jonathon Moseley, a 24-year legal veteran and founder of the Patriot Legal Defense Fund, the bill aims to rescind the Rules Enabling Act. The Constitution empowers Congress to set the rules for the Federal courts. But Congress generously trusted the U.S. Supreme Court with this honor and prestige. The bill includes a rebuke of U.S. Supreme...

I never thought I’d end up in handcuffs and a jail cell for something I didn’t say. But last May, police in New Haven, Conn., arrested me — because a parking attendant falsely claimed I had used a racial slur against him nearly a year earlier. I denied it. I asked the cops to check the parking lot’s surveillance video. They didn’t — and the state charged me first with disorderly conduct, then with three counts of breach of peace in the second degree. It took almost a year, tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees and endless stress...

Prices paid to U.S. producers of goods and services unexpectedly declined in April, defying predictions that tariffs would reignite inflation. The producer price index for final demand fell 0.5 percent last month, the Labor Department said on Thursday, the largest decline since April of 2020. Economists had forecast a 0.2 percent increase for the month. The prior month’s reading was revised up from a decline of 0.4 percent to flat. Compared with a year ago, the producer price index (PPI) is up 2.4 percent, in line with expectations. In March, the index was up 2.7 percent. The producer price index...

Florida State Senator Jason Pizzo, the former Democratic Minority Leader who announced last month that he was leaving the party to register as a voter with no party affiliation, is planning to run for state governor in 2026. In a speech on the floor of the state senate in late April, Pizzo announced his change in party affiliation from Democrat to that of “No Party Affiliation.” He criticized the modern Democratic Party, describing it as “dead,” and praised the state’s independent voters, crediting them for his past electoral success. Pizzo was first elected to the state senate in 2018 as...

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. got into a heated debate with Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., during a hearing on Capitol Hill Wednesday after the senator accused Kennedy and the Trump administration of delaying critical cancer care for one of her constituents named Natalie. Following a recess, Kennedy said the patient, Natalie, was found to be ineligible for the clinical trial she was trying to get into. The patient was found to be "medically ineligible," Kennedy said. "It had nothing to do with the [reduction in force] and NIH had been trying to get her into...

@PeterSchiff Republicans are taking flak from Democrats over fake Medicaid cuts in the Big Beautiful Bill that will likely be repealed before cuts that don't begin until 2029 actually kick in. So if Republicans are going to take heat for cutting Medicaid, they might as well actually cut it.