Free Republic

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) paid hundreds of thousands of dollars a month for website changes before canceling the contract and having an internal staffer take over, according to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). While combing through loads and loads of data, DOGE discovered a previous contract by the VA for its website maintenance. "Good work by @DeptVetAffairs," DOGE said in a post on X on Wednesday. "VA was previously paying ~$380,000/month for minor website modifications. That contract has not been renewed, and the same work is now being executed by 1 internal VA software engineer spending ~10...

John Browne, an adviser to the late British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, praised on Newsmax Wednesday President Donald Trump's actions to instill fair trade for the United States."Who can possibly argue with someone who's fighting for fair trade? Even trade unfettered by tariffs on either side," Browne said of Trump on "American Agenda.""Great Britain has, I think, very sensibly, despite a socialist prime minister, agreed to negotiate," Browne continued. "And I understand, contrary to what I was hearing just now, the negotiations are going very well.""People must wake up that America is the largest economy in the world — commanded...

Xavier Becerra, who recently served as President Joe Biden’s Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), announced Wednesday that he is running for governor of California, hoping to succeed termed-out Gavin Newsom. Becerra ran HHS during the era of vaccine mandates, when the administration forced Americans out of jobs for refusing to comply. In a recent interview with the New York Times, he said he had no regrets about forcing people to take vaccines […] His tenure did have one lingering effect: Becerra lost track of tens of thousands of migrant children who were allowed into the U.S. under Biden’s...

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Newsmax on Wednesday that President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” is “a great day because the rest of the world has been leaning on us, exploiting us, and taking advantage of us.”Earlier in the day Trump announced his much-anticipated reciprocal tariffs designed to reset global trade and return manufacturing of all forms to the United States. Lutnick said the goal is to “reorder global trade. And it’s going to be great for American workers.”Lutnick said anyone who has known Trump should recognize the president has always seen tariffs as way to help the American worker.“There’s no...

A 25-year-old Gillette man who is already in prison for assaulting jail officers is now accused of attacking prison guards when they wouldn’t let him keep gingerbread-making supplies in his cell. He’s serving a five-to-10-year prison term in the Wyoming State Penitentiary in Rawlins. The Carbon County Attorney’s Office charged him with felony police interference Monday, on evidence that he kicked and thrashed at prison guards. If convicted, he could receive an additional prison term of up to 20 years — 10 years on each of the two counts of felony interference he now faces. The incident dates back to...

Just hours after President Donald Trump announced massive new tariffs on nearly all imports to the United States, a bipartisan group of senators made the first push to stop the most nonsensical part of Trump's global trade war. With a 51-48 vote, the Senate approved a resolution to block Trump's tariffs on imports from Canada, which he imposed by declaring an economic emergency in early February. The measure to cancel that emergency declaration, sponsored by Sens. Tim Kaine (D–Va.) and Rand Paul (R–Ky), faces an uncertain future in the Republican-controlled House and a near-certain veto if it reaches Trump's desk—but...

Long before fiat currency, digital dollars, or cryptocurrency, America’s Founders sought to anchor the young nation’s economy in gold and silver, i.e. sound money. In fact, on April 2, 1792 – 233 years ago – President George Washington signed legislation that established America’s monetary system. Also known as the Mint Act and officially titled An Act Establishing a Mint and Regulating the Coins of the United States, The Coinage Act of 1792 is regarded as one of the most foundational laws in U.S. history. Of the Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John Adams, and George Washington each advocated that...

Due to his criminal history, Hunter Biden has agreed to revoke his license to practice law in Washington, D.C. Hunter was previously convicted on three felony tax offenses and six misdemeanor tax offenses, according to the Department of Justice. He was also convicted of three felony charges related to the purchase of a revolver in 2018. Nevertheless, his father, former President Joe Biden, pardoned him in December 2024 — despite the fact that the former Democrat president had vowed not to pardon him numerous times prior. “I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I...

We're now getting a wider picture of how investors are reacting to Trump's sweeping tariffs. In Asia, major stock indexes have fallen in morning trading as concerns grow over the threat of a global trade war. Stock markets in mainland China have just opened with the Shanghai Composite index trading broadly flat, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng is down by 1.2%. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo is down by 2.9%, the Kospi in South Korea is down by 1.7%, and Australia's ASX 200 is around 1.2% lower. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down by around 800...

The SSA introduces a stricter identity verification policy to combat fraud—millions could risk losing benefits if they don’t comply ... Starting April 14, 2025, millions of Social Security beneficiaries in the United States will need to meet a new requirement to continue receiving their monthly payments. ... This new measure is part of a broader initiative led by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under the Trump administration.

Michelle Obama launched a new podcast with her brother, Craig Robinson, and it’s a total flop. The new venture, the “IMO” podcast, was launched by Higher Ground, the Obamas’ media company. Virtually no one is tuning in to listen to Michelle Obama and her brother drone on about their lives. The latest episode titled, “Pursue What You Love Before You Pursue Love” has only garnered 11,000 views in 11 hours. Michelle Obama took another jab at Barack Obama amid divorce rumors. “Would you be attracted to a guy who’s not financially sound when you meet him?” Craig Robinson asked Michelle...

The controversial move to ban National Rally leader Marine Le Pen from standing in the French presidential election has been accused of demonstrating double standards, with reports claiming that over a hundred other European politicians violated the same rules without facing prosecution. A Paris court enacted a five-year ban from running in any election against populist firebrand Marine Le Pen after finding her, and other members of her National Rally party ... one in five members at the time, had been found to have broken the same rules, the Times of London noted on Tuesday. ... BBC journalist Michael Crick...

Wisconsin independent journalist and election fraud investigator Peter Bernegger expounded on his Telegram channel evidence of election fraud in last night's Wisconsin election results. Liberal Susan Crawford did not win the election last night. See how she committed election fraud at the end of this post. 2023 WI state supreme court race Brown County (Green Bay) results on the right. ~77,000 voted. Note the percentages. 2024 WI state supreme court race Brown County results on the left. ~100,000 voted. Virtually the same percentages. ...almost like an algorithm is running.

President Donald Trump has called for the impeachment of a federal judge who ruled the administration overstepped its authority in deporting alleged members of a Venezuelan gang, but social media claims that Judge James Boasberg's orders are invalid because he filed an improper oath of office are false. The wording of the document matches that required by law and legal experts say it is not basis to challenge the legitimacy of the jurist who has been on the bench since 2002.

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:Section 1. Purpose. The United States is the most powerful economy in the world, but slow, complex, and burdensome American regulatory processes at every stage of a company’s development and operation make significant domestic and foreign investment harder than necessary. Regulations hamper investment, permitting, and site selection, and numerous overlapping Federal, State, and local legal regimes with complex and often duplicative requirements significantly delay construction. It is in the interest of the American people that the Federal...

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.)(IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.)(NEA), section 604 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (19 U.S.C. 2483), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, find that underlying conditions, including a lack of reciprocity in our bilateral trade relationships, disparate tariff rates and non-tariff barriers, and U.S. trading partners’ economic policies...

Last night, a high-ranking leader of La Mara Salvatrucha, also known as MS-13, was arrested in New York for his alleged role in a conspiracy responsible for 11 murders.Joel Vargas-Escobar, also known as Momia, was indicted the District of Nevada and charged with racketeering conspiracy that involved 11 murders. Vargas-Escobar is also charged with two counts of murder-in-aid of racketeering and associated firearms charges. Vargas-Escobar – who previously had been deported to El Salvador and illegally re-entered the United States – had been a fugitive from justice for nearly four years.“The American people are safer following the arrest of yet...

Last night, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit in the Western District of Texas on behalf of eight agencies against affiliates of the American Federation of Government Employees.Yesterday, the President issued an Executive Order entitled Exclusions from Federal Labor-Management Relations Programs. This order reflected the President’s determination that several federal agencies and subdivisions perform investigative and national security work and that those agencies may not be required to collectively bargain consistent with our national security.The plaintiff agencies have collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) with the defendants, which are locals, councils, and Division 10 of the American Federation of Government Employees;...

Michigan union workers are hailing President Donald Trump’s tariffs on foreign-made cars, telling a crowd in the Rose Garden on Wednesday evening that the president’s economic nationalist agenda will revitalize communities gutted from decades of free trade policies.During the speech, Trump brought up a man named Brian — a leader in the United Auto Workers (UAW) — who said the 25 percent tariffs on all foreign-made cars will drive an economic boom in areas like Macomb County, Michigan, and save American industry.“I grew up just north of Detroit, Michigan in Macomb County — known as the home of the Reagan...

Failed Vice Presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) framed Democrat-aligned Susan Crawford’s Wisconsin Supreme Court election win on Tuesday as the state overcoming billionaire Elon Musk, who tried to boost her conservative opponent Brad Schimel. “Wisconsin beat the billionaire,” said Walz in a post to X. Walz notably campaigned for Dane County Circuit Court Judge Crawford, along with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and drag queens.