Free Republic

Senator Rand Paul, R-Ky., has introduced a detailed concurrent budget resolution known as the "Six Penny Plan" that lays out a clear, decade-long roadmap to end chronic federal deficits, achieve surpluses, and begin reducing the national debt. Paul's plan, announced late 2025, sets firm, enforceable spending and revenue targets for fiscal years 2026 through 2035 without raising taxes beyond current projections. "It balances in five years" Paul told Just The News. "But it's important to know that it has to be every bit. It's 6% of the entire budget. It doesn't work on just the discretionary budget." The U.S. national...

Iranian state-aligned media and senior regime figures have again invoked supernatural and conspiratorial language in describing the conflict with Israel, with recent and past material referring to a “war of occult sciences”, “Zionist sorcery,” jinn, and Jewish talismans. The theme has also surfaced in Iranian claims that Israel used “occult and supernatural spirits” during the 12-day war. The clearest recent example appeared in a Mehr News Agency report published this week, which said the confrontation with Israel extends beyond military, cyber, diplomatic, and cognitive fronts to what it called a “war of occult sciences.” The rhetoric echoes earlier material preserved...

Iran executed a 19-year-old champion wrestler in a public hanging Thursday along with two other people who were arrested during the brutal crackdown on anti-regime protesters in January. Saleh Mohammadi, a rising star from Qom, was allegedly tortured to confess to the capital crime of waging war against God, with the teen executed without a fair trial, according to human rights groups. “His execution was a blatant political murder, part of the Islamic Republic’s pattern of targeting athletes to crush dissent and terrorize society,” Nima Far, a human rights activist and Iranian combat athlete, told Fox News. Mohammadi, along with...

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chair Rand Paul (R-Ky.) confronted Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) Wednesday about his past comments calling him a snake, saying “tell it to my face.”Paul said Mullin has “anger issues” and said the public must be wondering whether the nominee has the temperament to lead the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).The beef between the two men stems from comments Mullin made after Paul was attacked by his neighbor.Paul said Mullin made the comments when confronted by constituents rather than defend a vote.“Instead of explaining your vote to continue these welfare programs for refugees, you...

en. Markwayne Mullin's, R-Okla., confirmation hearing to serve as Homeland Security secretary began with a tense exchange between him and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. Paul pressed Mullin to account for his prior comments referring to Paul as a "snake in the grass" and saying that he "understood" why one of Paul's neighbors assaulted him. "I think that everybody in this room knows that I'm very blunt," Mullin told Paul. "I simply addressed that-- I said I could understand, given the behavior you were having that I could understand why the neighbor did what he did." "As far as my term...

Washington, D.C. – Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., introduced legislation today to repeal Donald Trump’s global tariffs, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sens. Tim Kaine, D-Va., Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., Peter Welch, D-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. The binding measure will be treated as a privileged resolution that must receive a vote on the Senate floor. The measure would terminate the emergency that Trump declared in order to slap tariffs of up to 40% on products Americans buy from other countries. In the wake of Trump’s tariff declaration, costs have...

Senator Rand Paul, R-Ky., introduced legislation this week that would eliminate federal liability protections for vaccine manufacturers, which is a legal shield that has been in place for four decades. The bill, cosponsored by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, was referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. If passed, the bill will make changes to the federal law to abolish the liability shield provided to vaccine manufacturers under the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act, which largely protects vaccine manufacturers from product liability lawsuits and requires most injury claims to be directed to a federal compensation program....

Two stories about NGOs—the nongovernmental organizations that news reporters love to quote to smuggle their own views as someone else’s analysis—caught our eye this week. And not only for reasons of schadenfreude. The first concerns Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute, which supports an isolationist U.S. foreign policy. Mr. Parsi previously founded and led the National Iranian American Council, or NIAC, which advocates friendlier U.S. policy toward the Tehran regime. ... The second story concerns Human Rights Watch, the watchdog captured long ago by anti-Israel obsessives. On Tuesday its “Israel/Palestine director” resigned, denouncing Human Rights Watch for...

Susan Collins (ME) Lisa Murkowski (AK) Rand Paul (KY) Mitch McConnell (KY) Thom Tillis (NC) Todd Young (IN) Chuck Grassley (IA) Jerry Moran (KS)

Tuesday on MS NOW’s “The 11th Hour,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) should not be wearing masks during their operations in American cities. Paul said, “I think the main thing is if you want trust to develop again, I’m not somebody who wants to abolish ICE. I want ICE to behave within the rules and enforce the law. But I want them to behave in a normal, rational law enforcement manner.” Host Stephanie Ruhle said, “Do you think it’s OK for ICE to be wearing these masks? Paul said, “I think that anonymity and wearing...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) says he does not support President Trump’s proposal for Republicans to “take over” voting procedures in more than a dozen states and “nationalize” the midterm elections, declaring Trump’s call to action as blatantly unconstitutional.

Paul addressed federal officials’ claims that Pretti posed a threat to ICE officers.... I saw no evidence of him assaulting the police,” Paul said. “The president’s advisor, Stephen Miller, called Pretti an assassin. That’s a lot of people–not telling the truth,” Pelley added. Paul shook his head at Miller’s statement and added, “It sounds like terrible judgment. I mean, terrible conclusions, incorrect conclusions, stating things that no one else believes.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio argued with Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul Wednesday over whether the U.S.’ capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro was an “act of war.” Paul expressed disagreement with Rubio by stating that if any country captured the U.S. president in the same kind of operation carried out in Venezuela, he would declare war. President Donald Trump’s administration, including Rubio, have repeatedly stated that Maduro’s arrest was simply a “law enforcement action” and not an act of war against Venezuela. Trump said that the move brought Maduro to “justice” and that the U.S. acted within its constitutional...

Donald Trump was "wrong to diminish the role of troops, including British forces" in Afghanistan, Downing Street has said. The prime minister's official spokesperson told political lobby journalists: "Trump was wrong in diminishing sacrifice as part of NATO in Afghanistan." "The president was wrong to diminish the role of troops, including British forces". "457 British personnel were killed in Afghanistan, more wounded. Many suffered life changing injuries, their sacrifice and others were made in service of security and in response to an attack on an ally," they said. The spokesperson said Sir Keir Starmer was very proud of service personnel...

@SenRandPaul Just read the minibus Congress plans to pass this year. An unbelievable over $5 billion is going toward refugee welfare programs. I am going to fight like hell to get this removed. In the meantime, call your Senators and tell them to vote NO, and to put an end to the refugee rip-off.

Youtube and its parent company Google deserves to be sued. For the past three weeks YouTube has been hosting a video that is a calculated lie, falsely accusing me of taking money from Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro. It refused to remove the video. It is, of course, a ludicrous accusation, but paid trolls are daily spreading this lie across the internet. This untruth is essentially an accusation of treason, which then leads the internet mob to call for my death. Advocating for liability for Google is no small step for me. I have long defended the private-property rights of internet companies...

"They ought to take it to court," the Kentucky senator said.Making an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience Tuesday, Sen. Rand Paul (R–Ky.) expressed his frustration that the Trump administration has failed to refer Anthony Fauci for criminal prosecution for lying to Congress. Paul told Rogan that he believes Fauci's blanket pardon—issued by former President Joe Biden during the waning hours of his presidency—should be challenged in court. Paul said he has provided Attorney General Pam Bondi with evidence that Fauci misled Congress about gain-of-function research and also instructed his deputies to destroy public records in order to stymie scrutiny....

Making an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience Tuesday, Sen. Rand Paul (R–Ky.) expressed his frustration that the Trump administration has failed to refer Anthony Fauci for criminal prosecution for lying to Congress. Paul told Rogan that he believes Fauci's blanket pardon—issued by former President Joe Biden during the waning hours of his presidency—should be challenged in court. Paul said he has provided Attorney General Pam Bondi with evidence that Fauci misled Congress about gain-of-function research and also instructed his deputies to destroy public records in order to stymie scrutiny. "I've summarized it again in a criminal referral to Trump's...

By the slimmest of margins, the U.S. Senate successfully derailed a resolution that would have curtailed the Trump administration’s power to continue military action in Venezuela. Of the five Republicans who originally voted to advance the war powers resolution, U.S. Sens. Josh Hawley, R-Mo.; and Todd Young, R-Ind.; flipped and voted for the majority leadership’s motion to tank it. “After numerous conversations with senior national security officials, I have received assurances that there are no American troops in Venezuela…[and] that [if] American forces are needed in major military operations in Venezuela, the Administration will come to Congress in advance to...

Sen. Rand Paul ripped into his fellow Republicans Tuesday over their tepid response to the Trump administration’s series of strikes against suspected drug-running vessels, saying his colleagues on Capitol Hill “don’t give a s— about these people in the boats.” “We’ve been blowing up these people in boats off the coast of Venezuela. They’re accused of running drugs, but nobody knows their names and nobody’s put up any evidence,” Paul (R-Ky.) said during an apperance on the “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast. “And so what I think is bizarre is I hear mostly my Republican colleagues say, ‘Well, we shouldn’t have...