Free Republic

@RandPaul Gain-of-function research in foreign labs is a public health threat. Funding it with taxpayer dollars without oversight is reckless. Hiding the evidence is a crime against the American people. Dr. Fauci's NIH did all three. They funded dangerous experiments in Wuhan, buried the evidence, and silenced anyone who tried to tell the truth. I have spent years fighting to expose it, and I am not finished.

The White House on Wednesday officially asked Congress for $87.6 billion in supplemental funding to pay for the Iran war, curtail the ongoing Ebola outbreak and provide aid to U.S. farmers, among other requests, according to a copy obtained by The Hill. In a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought asked for $67 billion for the Defense Department, down from an expected $200 billion first floated by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in March. But even with a smaller price tag, the bill will need some support from Democrats to...

The Israeli defence minister, Israel Katz, has said that Israeli troops would not withdraw from southern Lebanon, further complicating Iran peace talks as fighting in Lebanon continues to be an obstacle to permanent peace. Speaking on stage in an interview in Tel Aviv, Katz said Israeli troops would remain in south Lebanon – echoing sentiments from the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. The US and Iran signed an accord last week extending a fragile ceasefire and setting the stage for 60 days of talks meant to lead to a permanent peace. The first hiccups to the memorandum of understanding (MOU)...

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) didn’t mince any words Tuesday in calling out what he characterized as the “bulls—” arguments of fellow Republican Sen. Mike Lee (Utah) on social media, revealing the tensions within the Senate Republican Conference over how to push forward on the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act. Tillis said Lee’s push for Republicans to force Democrats to actively hold the floor in continuous debate to block the bill — in other words, to force Democrats to employ a talking filibuster — is “goofy.” “I think it’s silly. All of it’s just goofy stuff,” he said. “It’s...

Republicans on Capitol Hill are split over Vice President Vance’s rebuke of Israeli officials who criticized the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the U.S. and Iran, highlighting the broader debate on the right about foreign entanglements and the U.S.’s relationship with Israel. The MOU establishes a 60-day window for peace talks — which Vance is helping lead — and pauses active hostilities, including by securing a ceasefire in Lebanon where Israel has been battling the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah. But the deal has drawn sharp criticism from some Israeli officials, including national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who argued that Israel is...

@SenRandPaul Last week, Anthony Fauci notified us that he will not voluntarily testify before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, even though he had previously agreed to do so. Therefore, today we have issued a subpoena for him to publicly testify.

@opinion_black The circus has begun. You have little to no idea who this WEF puppet Andy Burnham is. A left wing tax and spend socialist who is a Manchurian candidate operating on behalf of the corporatists and oligarchs that control this country. A man sent to destroy what’s left of this once great country. A man who will surround himself with other puppets dedicated to that same ideal. The UK needs an election not a coronation. If that does not work then certainly a revolution.

@EvanAKilgore Tucker Carlson says he no longer supports the Republican Party and that it is "no longer loyal to the United States." He says the GOP puts foreign nations over America and that there is no way he can defend the GOP anymore.

Conservative pundit Tucker Carlson says he's "out" of the Republican Party moving forward, arguing the GOP no longer reflects his views.

Iranian officials reportedly abandoned peace talks in the wake of President Donald Trump's threat to 'blow the s*** out of them,' just hours after Vice President JD Vance arrived in Switzerland for negotiations with Tehran. The president threatened Iran to restart his bombing campaigns on the country through profanity filled phone calls and posts on social media while Vance began negotiations. Iranian officials back out of the talks after having filed a formal complaint with Pakistani and Qatari mediators and also refused to pose for photographs, according to the Telegraph. Tehran's Chief negotiator Mohammed Ghalibaf warned that the US should...

Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir openly called for genocide, demanding that all of Lebanon “must burn” while the United States works to end the war with Iran. Ben-Gvir issued a scathing rebuke of the current Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) negotiated between Iran and the United States after Israel says four of its soldiers were killed in Southern Lebanon in an attack by Hezbollah — although some reports suggest Israel and Lebanon have subsequently agreed to a new ceasefire late Friday morning. In his statement, Ben-Gvir said the goal should be to indiscriminately “obliterate” Lebanon. “For every tear of...

Social media platform X has declined to remove a post by Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir calling for the destruction of Lebanon, despite its rules prohibiting threats and incitement targeting people on the basis of ethnicity, national origin or religion.Published on Friday, the call came amid fragile efforts to halt fighting in the region. Despite a US-Iran-brokered ceasefire intended to cover all fronts, including Lebanon, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to withdraw forces from its northern neighbor, prompting Tehran to delay follow-up peace talks in Switzerland.Reuters reported later in the day that Hezbollah and Israel had agreed...

US Vice President JD Vance pushes back on what he calls an Israeli “freakout” over the recently signed US-Iranian memorandum of understanding in an interview with The New York Times, suggesting Israel relies too much on military force to address its problems, that it should give more “credit” to the US as an ally, and that concerns that the agreement emboldens Iran or its Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah, are misplaced. “I find this whole freakout in Israel a little bit odd because I think that it comes from a place of mistrust, and I think that America has earned the trust...

Iran's top joint military command, ​Khatam al-Anbiya Central ‌Headquarters, said on Saturday that the Strait ​of Hormuz would ​be closed to vessel ⁠traffic, citing ​alleged violations of a ​ceasefire agreement by the U.S. and Israel, Iran's ​Mehr state ​news agency reported. It said that ‌the ⁠closure was the "first step" in response to what it ​described ​as ⁠breaches of commitments and warned ​that further measures ​would ⁠be taken if "aggression" continued.

Throughout the early Cold War, conservatives in Congress—including Republicans—opposed American entanglements in the Middle East, drawing on an earlier noninterventionist consensus that valued restraint overseas and fiscal prudence at home. Conservative Republicans presented a vocal bloc of opposition to the Eisenhower Doctrine, which expanded American influence in the Middle East, ostensibly to counter Soviet influence and fill the vacuum left by the departure of the European colonial powers. One such dissenter was Iowan Representative H.R. Gross, one of the most fiscally conservative congressional members in history. Dissenting Republicans voiced similar critiques during the American response to the 1973 Yom Kippur...

The Department of War is reportedly seeking $80 billion to cover costs associated with the Iran conflict and other unrelated expenses, according to The Wall Street Journal.Deputy War Secretary Stephen Feinberg has told lawmakers in recent phone calls that the Pentagon needs additional funding to sustain military operations tied to the conflict with Iran and cover other expenses, people familiar with the discussions told the Journal. Congress has been pressing the Trump administration for a comprehensive accounting of the war's costs since the conflict began Feb. 28. Lawmakers from both parties have expressed concern about the depletion of U.S. munitions...

It would seem that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accomplished what his predecessors could only have dreamed of: U.S. and Israeli fighter jets flying tandem over Tehran, Israeli officers ensconced in U.S. Central Command’s Florida headquarters. Since the days of David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s leaders have sought backing from the world’s preeminent superpower, which they hoped would guarantee their state’s survival into perpetuity. None could have imagined the level of cooperation currently on display. If one were to wake up the Old Man, as Ben-Gurion was known, from his otherworldly slumber in the sands of Sde Boker, he would surely...

[Translated from Hebrew by Twitter.] For every tear of an Israeli mother, a thousand Lebanese mothers must weep. All of Lebanon must burn! With all due respect to the Americans, Israel must make it clear to the entire world that the blood of our sons and the security of our citizens are not forfeit. All of Lebanon must burn. Our supreme duty is to protect the citizens of Israel and the soldiers of the IDF, and this commitment takes precedence over every other consideration. I told the Prime Minister, even in our private meetings: For every tear of an Israeli...

This week the national average dipped below $4/gallon for the first time since March. This is an auspicious sign for Trump and his political fortunes, but to Iran hawks on the right, it comes at an unacceptable price. Fox News host Mark Levin, a usual Trump booster, is gravely disappointed that Trump seems to be abandoning his hopes for a regime change in Iran in order to salvage the midterm elections, and his own presidency. Neoconservative columnist David Harsanyi has turned against both Trump and Vice President J D Vance with blind fury for not pursuing the war further and...

President Trump’s scuttling of a hearing to review his pick for director of national intelligence has once again plunged Congress into chaos over who will lead the intelligence community and how lawmakers can renew the nation’s lapsed spy powers. The Senate spent the morning ping-ponging over whether members would even hear from nominee Jay Clayton, who serves as a U.S. attorney. Trump said the hearing was canceled, but Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), an ally of the president, initially rebuffed him, saying the hearing would still go on. Cotton later backtracked and announced the “regrettable” decision that the...