Free Republic

The midterm election is less than four months away, and Republicans hold majorities in both houses of Congress, yet their track record has been abysmal. Other than the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” congressional Republicans have delivered little for their supporters. Republican voters are surely wondering why they gave the GOP the majority in both houses of Congress in the 2024 election. ADVERTISEMENT President Donald Trump is doing everything he can, with a flurry of Executive Orders, but it is impossible to implement his ambitious agenda without the support of Congress. This type of opposition occurred during his first term. Trump...

The House Freedom Caucus is publicly calling on the Senate to return to work, as the upper chamber is now in a two-week Independence Day recess. President Donald Trump and many Republicans still want to find a way for the SAVE America Act to get passed in the Senate. “The Senate sucks. I’m just going to come out and say it - they suck. This is not hard!” Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) said during a Thursday news conference. The federal elections bill already cleared the House, but it is struggling for support among a handful of Republicans and all Democrats...

The Senate GOP on Thursday delayed the reconciliation vote to fund ICE and Border Patrol – and Senate Majority Leader John Thune admitted it is a political hit against President Trump. The Senators will be on recess until June. Last week, the Senate Parliamentarian struck down three key provisions of the Senate’s reconciliation bill The House of Representatives previously passed the Senate-approved package to fund the Department of Homeland Security by voice vote, ending the 75-day shutdown. ICE and Border Patrol were to be funded separately through a reconciliation package. Senate Republicans put together a $72 billion reconciliation package to...

The Senate is heading home until June without finishing a reconciliation bill, after Republican tensions over the package coincided with President Donald Trump’s endorsement of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R-TX) against incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX). Punchbowl News founder Jake Sherman posted on X: “BREAKING NEWS: THE SENATE will go home until June, leaving the reconciliation bill unfinished. THUNE just told senators in the room. All because of the DOJ weaponization fund. House is expected to follow suit soon.” Brendan Pedersen, a senior reporter with Punchbowl News, posted on X: “Thune asked if Senate Rs are responding to politics...

While the SAVE America Act continues to languish in the Senate under the supervision of Republican Leader John Thune, leaders and voters in several states have taken it upon themselves to secure their own elections from noncitizen voting. ...***FloridaGov. Ron DeSantis signed Florida’s own version of the SAVE Act into law last week. The law, which requires citizenship verification against REAL ID data when registering to vote, will go into effect in January of next year.***MississippiMississippi Gov. Tate Reeves also signed election integrity legislation into law last week. Named the Safeguard Honesty Integrity in Elections for Lasting Democracy (SHIELD) Act,...

PRETORIA — Michelle Obama began what officials have billed as her first major overseas trip as US first lady Monday, a visit to South Africa and Botswana focused on young women leaders and the legacy of the anti-apartheid struggle. She is travelling with her daughters, Malia and Sasha, and her mother, Marian Robinson -- but without her husband, US President Barack Obama.

Howie Carr thread starting off with his Sunday Herald column. I believe he's on vacation all week from the radio show

WASHINGTON – Over the years, presidential downtime has fleshed out the image of the man - whether it be clearing brush (Reagan and Bush II) or speed-boating (Bush I) or hunting (Teddy Roosevelt). All presidents need to show the public they're not captured by work, and that they know how to recharge their batteries. But what about presidential- candidate downtime? As Democratic standard-bearer John Kerry relaxes at his home in Ketchum, Idaho, there's a calculation at work that he can vanish from public view for five days without the Bush campaign filling the void with the definitive (read: negative) take...