Free Republic

Elon Musk is stepping away from his role at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). But the technocratic system he helped construct is only gaining momentum. On Wednesday night, Musk thanked President Donald Trump for “the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending,” and added that “DOGE’s mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.” Indeed, beneath the early theatrics — silly memes, chain saws, and talk of rooting out fraud — the true mission of DOGE was clear: modernize the federal government by embedding artificial intelligence (AI) into its core functions. And in...

Preaching climate justice while arriving in a half-a-billion-dollar superyacht? That’s the kind of cinematic irony Lauren Sánchez served at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, pulling off a Leonardo DiCaprio moment of her own. The Amazon founder’s fiancée made her Cannes debut while being honored at the prestigious Global Gift Foundation charity gala for her environmental efforts through the Bezos Earth Fund and her work in social justice with This Is About Humanity, an organization that reunites families separated at the US-Mexico border. Interestingly, the soon-to-be Mrs. Bezos was joined by tech tycoon Jeff Bezos and their permanent third wheel, the...

Federalist Editor-In-Chief Mollie Hemingway used her opportunity as the new media journalist in Thursday’s White House press briefing to question whether the Trump administration plans to take any action to stop an ongoing effort by lower courts to impede President Donald Trump’s agenda.White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt greeted Hemingway by describing The Federalist as providing “fearless journalism and coverage of politics and culture to millions of readers all over the world.” Her response to Hemingway’s question about whether the White House planned to rein in the “rogue lower court judges” keeping President Donald Trump from executing his presidential goals,...

A federal appeals court on Thursday granted the Trump administration’s request to temporarily pause a lower-court ruling that struck down most of President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

There’s a battle brewing in Santa Monica with a fleet of unmanned, electric Waymo vehicles on one side, and exhausted, weary locals on the other. City officials, a judge and even police have been forced to intercede after residents who say the self-driving cars are a nuisance have banded together against the local 56-vehicle fleet. They’ve reached out to the city. They’ve called Waymo. Now, some are trying unconventional tactics. Using cones, cars and sometimes themselves, residents have taken to blocking the Waymos from entering their company-funded parking lot, so much so that the company has called the cops on...

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced on Thursday that a longtime USDA employee and five others were busted in one of the largest food stamp frauds in U.S. history. A short time ago, Perry Carbone, Attorney for the United States, Charmeka Parker, the Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Inspector General and Christopher G. Raia, the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the FBI revealed a superseding indictment was unsealed charging six people in connection with a $66 million-plus fraud and bribery scheme...

A new fiber optic cable has been installed to try to fix the air traffic control issues plaguing Newark International Airport. The new cable is already in place between Philadelphia and New York and should be ready for use by July, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told reporters at a press conference on Wednesday. “That was the trouble portion of the line,” Duffy said of the terrifying communication outages causing numerous flight scares and chaos. “It’s been laid, and we’re doing some of the connections right now, and then we have to test it. I don’t want to over promise and...

FIRST ON FOX— The Justice Department on Thursday formally notified the American Bar Association that it will no longer comply with its ratings process for judicial nominees, the result of what it argues is a biased system and one that "invariably and demonstrably" favors nominees put forth by Democratic administrations. The letter, sent by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to ABA President William R. Bay, was previewed exclusively to Fox News. It marks the latest escalation in a protracted legal fight that Republicans have waged against the nation's largest association of legal workers. "For several decades, the American Bar Association...

Back in 1974, it was decided [by The Sex Discrimination Act, passed by Britain's Parliament] that there must, in future, be the same number of female doctors as there are male doctors. There is no law ruling that there should be as many male nurses, models or ballet dancers as there are female nurses, models or ballet dancers, but there is a rule that there must be as many women doctors as there are men doctors. It was decided that this absurd and extraordinarily sexist law would be enforced by introducing sexual discrimination into medical school selection policies. More female...

“I want them now. I will get them at all costs,” said one influencer based in Hawaii.Some Mormon women are obsessed with something illicit. They’re phoning friends, calling in favors and paying for international shipping to get it: a sacred tank top.The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has redesigned its temple garments, which are worn by faithful members under their clothes. The garments are effectively underwear that until recently, looked like white short-sleeve shirts and knee-length shorts. Now, the church has removed the sleeve on some designs, turning them into tank tops.The church is releasing the tops to...

Private lawyers with the Massachusetts Bar Advocate Program say they will not take new court-appointed cases until they get a pay raise. The base hourly rate for court-appointed lawyers in Massachusetts is $65. In Rhode Island, it's $112, in New Hampshire, $125, and in Maine, it's $150 per hour. "It's woefully inadequate. No one's asking to be paid what private attorneys get paid. I have a private practice," said attorney and Bar Advocate Sean Delaney. "We're just looking for something that's fair and reasonable." The effects of the strike are already being felt in Massachusetts courtrooms. A Boston man accused...

BREMEN, Ga. (AP) — Singers at Holly Springs Primitive Baptist Church in West Georgia treat their red hymnals like extensions of themselves, never straying far from their copies of “The Sacred Harp” and its music notes shaped like triangles, ovals, squares and diamonds.In four-part harmony, they sing together for hours, carrying on a more than 180-year-old American folk tradition that is as much about the community as it is the music.It’s no accident “The Sacred Harp” is still in use today, and a new edition — the first in 34 years — is on its way.Since the Christian songbook’s pre-Civil...

Former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) received a primary challenge Thursday from volunteer firefighter and former “Jeopardy!” contestant Harry Jarin, who is seeking to make age a centerpiece of the campaign. In a statement announcing his bid, Jarin, 35, said Hoyer, 85, “represents a bygone era of politics that isn’t working” and that congressional seats should not be treated as “lifetime appointments.” “I’ve seen from the inside how the Democratic Party has totally lost touch with working people,” Jarin said. “We didn’t present a vision of the future or politicians that people could relate to, and that’s what opened...

SummaryTrump administration has said it will appeal court ruling Second federal court blocks some levies Markets see modest gains in response Analysts say even a pause provides valuable time May 29 (Reuters) - Senior Trump administration officials on Thursday downplayed the impact of a U.S. trade court ruling that blocked the most sweeping of President Donald Trump's tariffs, expressing confidence it would be overturned on appeal and insisting there are other legal avenues to employ in the interim. Financial markets, which have whipsawed wildly in response to every twist and turn in Trump's chaotic trade war, reacted with cautious optimism...

After gifting a $400 million Boeing 747-8 jet to the United States, the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, quietly retreated to the serene waters of the Mediterranean aboard his half-a-billion-dollar floating palace, Al Lusail. The move, extravagant yet calculated, underscored not only the emir’s immense personal wealth but also the broader display of Gulf state soft power woven into diplomatic gestures and billion-dollar luxury. While the jet grabbed headlines in Washington, the Emir’s superyacht made its way to the picturesque shores of Mallorca in Spain, docking discreetly at Port Andratx. In a week that blended global politics...

A federal judge on Thursday issued a preliminary injunction and ruled President Trump’s tariffs are unlawful under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). US District Judge Rudolph Contreras, an Obama appointee said Trump’s tariffs are “unlawful.” Contreras said his preliminary injunction only applies to the two companies that filed suit, however, his ruling could open the door to more widespread injunctions. Contreras’ injunction is separate from the permanent injunction issued by a three-judge panel on the Court of International Trade. The Court of International Trade in New York on Wednesday said President Trump exceeded his authority to impose tariffs...

FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino revealed shocking information Thursday morning that the FBI under James Comey had intentionally mishandled and hidden evidence from the American public in a secret room, and the contents would soon be known to the public. During an appearance on Fox and Friends, Bongino shared his takeaways from his new job, detailed the decision to reopen multiple Biden-era investigations of ‘significant public interest,’ and responded to Comey’s post threatening to assassinate Trump. Towards the end of the interview, Bongino then broke news that could soon send Comey to prison. While discussing the remaining Comey loyalists in...

The US under President Donald Trump has once again taken up the mantle of Western civilization. The State Department raised some eyebrows when it launched a Substack last month. Its latest Substack essay highlighting both the importance of renewing Western civilization and the failure of global liberalism might be enough to give liberal establishmentarians ulcers and national conservatives butterflies. Blaze Media senior politics editor Christopher Bedford said of the recent essay, "To put it simply, the Department of State has been ground zero for undermining Western values and putting American interests last. This turnaround is just incredible to see, and...

The Trump administration has cancelled a $766 million contract with Moderna for the development of its human bird flu vaccine, the company has announced. The pharmaceutical giant was awarded the multi-million dollar contract by the Biden administration last year, as the H5N1 virus began to ravage US dairy and poultry farms. It has since infected more than 70 people in America, killing one, and experts say it is only a matter of time before it starts to spread between humans – an event that could trigger a new pandemic. Moderna, founded just 11 years ago and based in Massachusetts, received...

Security video purportedly showing the outside of millionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's New York jail cell at the time of his attempted suicide in July has been lost, federal prosecutors claim.The five hours of footage taken by a camera outside of Epstein's cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in lower Manhattan between 11 p.m. on July 22 and 4 a.m. on July 23 was mistakenly not preserved, federal prosecutor Geoffrey S. Berman wrote in a letter sent Thursday to U.S. District Court Judge Kenneth M. Karas."The Government has learned that the MCC inadvertently preserved video from the wrong tier within...