Free Republic

Last week, I filed a brief in support of our neighbor Utah in their lawsuit against the federal government regarding the widespread federal ownership of “unappropriated” land—that is, land owned by the federal government but not used for any federal purpose—across their state and throughout most of the West. Utah’s suit asks the United States Supreme Court to release much of this land back to the ownership and management of the states. As many of you know, I spent 8 years in Washington, D.C. representing Idaho’s First Congressional District. You can’t throw a rock in that town without hitting federal...

The Idaho Supreme Court has issued an opinion that dismisses Attorney General Raul Labrador’s lawsuit against the Prop 1 ballot initiative. If enacted this November, the Prop 1 initiative would implement a “Top Four” primary process and change the general election process to Ranked-Choice Voting. Labrador, in his lawsuit, said the initiative’s organizers gathered signatures fraudulently and that the initiative violated Idaho’s “one subject” rule for initiatives. A summary of the opinion states that the lawsuit was dismissed on procedural grounds. Here is the summary, which is from court staff and not direct quotes from the opinion itself: “Today the...

In 2023, a coalition called Idahoans for Open Primaries, made up of mostly leftist groups led by Reclaim Idaho, submitted a proposed ballot initiative to impose ranked choice voting and a top four blanket primary on the state of Idaho. They decided to call it “Open Primaries” despite that moniker having nothing to do with the content of the initiative itself, likely because open primaries polls well with voters while ranked choice voting does not. The Attorney General’s office issued an opinion on the content of the proposed initiative that called out several problems: It violates the single-subject rule, presenting...

[BOISE] – Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador joined a 19-state coalition asking the Supreme Court to declare unconstitutional the efforts of California, Connecticut, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Rhode Island to dictate the future of American energy policy. Those five states have brought unprecedented litigation against the nation’s most vital energy companies for an alleged “climate crisis,” and are demanding billions of dollars in damages. As litigation proceeds in their individual state courts, California and the others threaten to impose ruinous penalties and coercive remedies that would affect energy and fuel consumption and production across the country. “It’s not a new...

he following press release was sent out by the Office of Attorney General Raúl Labrador. Press releases do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of those at the Idaho Dispatch. Boise, ID – Last week, the Attorney General’s office successfully defeated The Satanic Temple’s challenge to Idaho’s Defense of Life Act. The Satanic Temple claimed a constitutionally protected right for its female members to ceremonially abort their babies as part of a Satanic ritual that involves the eerie invocation: “By my body, my blood, by my will, it is done.” A federal court dismissed The Satanic Temple’s entire lawsuit...

Boise, ID – Attorney General Raúl Labrador joined a coalition of 20 state attorneys general led by Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti in commenting on proposed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations regarding Ethylene Oxide (EtO) and related emissions standards promulgated under the Clean Air Act (CAA). EtO is used to sterilize roughly 20 billion medical devices annually and there are no substitutes. Regulating EtO use and emissions could severely negatively impact the medical device supply chain and provision of healthcare in the United States. In a comment letter, the coalition urges the EPA to forgo or defer proposed regulations. “The...

We recently reported updates from the upcoming Bunkerville Standoff trial. This included updates on Todd Engel and his upcoming sentencing on two lesser charges. It was revealed that Engel’s first Pre-Sentencing Report (PSR) recommended roughly 12 years, after corrections were made to the calculations to remove points for an invalid charge. However, add in a letter written by Liberty Legislators who actually stand up for their constituents, and the Federal government throws a tantrum and decides to retaliate. A majority of elected officials in Idaho, including US Congressman Raul Labrador, stepped up to the plate and showed that they intend...

"Paid family leave." You must use those exact words in that exact order or Mika Brzezinski will go into nitpick overdrive. Such was the case on the March 28 edition of Morning Joe when Mika was interviewing Congressman Raul Labrador who committed the high sin of saying several terms meaning just that yet annoying her by not reciting the exact approved liberal term.

Rep. Raul Labrador (R-Idaho) said on Wednesday that it is too early to judge Paul Ryan's job as speaker of the House, but that to date, he doesn't seem any different from his predecessor Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio). A reporter asked Labrador and others on a panel at the Conversations with Conservatives press event on Capitol Hill whether the recent drop in Ryan’s favorability rating showed that the public -- and even Congress -- is already frustrated with the new speaker’s efforts. ...

The conservative House Freedom Caucus announced Wednesday that it would back Rep. Daniel Webster to be the next speaker, which would provide enough support to the Republican conference to deny the position to establishment favorite Kevin McCarthy, the current majority leader. Emerging from a closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill, conservative lawmakers pledged to present a united front in support of Mr. Webster, Florida Republican, signaling that the same rift in the conference that forced Speaker John A. Boehner to resign would continue to roil the largest Republican majorities in the House since the 1920s. Members of the Freedom Caucus, led...

The race has come down to preferred establishment candidate, Kevin McCarthy vs. Raul Labrador. (SNIP) On Wednesday, McCarthy assured Chamber of Commerce lobbyists that under his leadership, it would be business as usual… (SNIP) La Raza’s Labrador Retriever pledged to make amnesty the GOP’s #1 priority in 2015… Immigration reform should be “one of the first things” Republicans take up. Before coming to Congress, Labrador ran a website called rapidimmigration.com, with “easy to understand advice for illegal immigrants seeking amnesty”…

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday | May 12, 2015 A bill backed by Rep. Labrador would send EPA and the Army Corps back to the drawing board WASHINGTON, D.C. – A measure forcing the Obama Administration to withdraw its “waters of the United States” rule cleared the House Tuesday on a bipartisan 261-155 vote. Rep. Raúl Labrador, R-Idaho, is an original cosponsor of H.R. 1732, the Regulatory Integrity Protection Act. Labrador has been working since last year on a legislative remedy, which now heads to the Senate. H.R. 1732 would require the Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers to...

Conservative lawmakers are officially rolling out a new group aimed at advancing a conservative agenda in the House of Representatives after they expressed discontent with the direction of the Republican Study Committee.“Our main hope is that we can represent the voids and valleys for our constituents back home,” Rep. Raúl Labrador of Idaho told The Daily Signal today. “With a small group that is nimble and able to work on issues that are of importance to our constituents, we can make a difference in Congress.”Called the House Freedom Caucus, the group serves as a conservative alternative to the Republican Study...

With a lifetime Marxist rating of 72%, Raul Labrador is one of the most anti-American Republicans ever. In the mid-2000’s, Labrador ran a website called rapidimmigration.com which provided “easy to understand advice for illegal immigrants seeking amnesty”…

The cromnibus had an unlikely savior Thursday afternoon in the form of a lame-duck lawmaker who used to raise reindeer. Rep. Kerry Bentivolio (R-Mich.), who lost his primary earlier this year, was originally among the conservative Republicans who voted against the rule. Without the help of Democrats, Republicans could only lose 17 of their own to pass the rule, which sets up floor debate for the underlying "cromnibus" spending bill. Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) intervened once there were 18 Republican defectors — and not a single Democrat voting "yes." Many Democrats will vote against the government spending measure because they...

Rep. Raúl R. Labrador has a message for Republican leadership as they decide how to respond to the president’s executive action on immigration and funding the government beyond Dec. 11: Keep a government shutdown as an option. “I don’t think anything is off the table,” Labrador told reporters at the Capitol Tuesday. “I don’t think anybody is thinking about a shutdown, but, in negotiations, you never take anything off the table. That’s the first rule of negotiating, and apparently it’s not one that’s been learned in Washington, D.C.” Asked if leaders are too “gun shy” about a government shutdown, the...

As Republicans challenge the legality of President Obama's unilateral action on immigration, Democrats are firing back with a challenge of their own. "It is clear that they can complain, they can threaten, they can talk about lawsuits, cutting off funding, shutting down the government, in the extreme, even impeachment. But the real question is: Can they govern? Can they govern?" asked Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, on CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday. The GOP is weighing their options to undo the president's moves - "a bit of a threat to our democracy," as House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas,...

One voice chiming in against President Obama's expected immigration announcement is Rep. Raul Labrador, a Republican from Idaho. Labrador is backed by the Tea Party, part of the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute, and a former immigration lawyer who represented undocumented residents fighting deportation. He spoke with NPR's Melissa Block ahead of the president's speech, in which Obama is set to announce executive action granting temporary relief to some of the more than 11 million immigrants living in the U.S. illegally. Interview Highlights On how he feels Republicans should respond to the president's action The first thing we need to explain...

In one of the more impassioned speeches on the House floor Friday night, Idaho Rep. Raul Labrador blamed President Barack Obama for the harm that has befallen some of the undocumented child immigrants crossing into the United States. Labrador said Obama’s 2012 executive action suspending deportation for some undocumented immigrants brought here as children helped encourage the current influx of tens of thousands from Central America. Many of them are being abused on the journey, he said. “Many of these children that are coming to the border don’t make it across the river,” Labrador said. “There are reports of the...

In the wake of Eric Cantor's shocking primary election loss to Dave Brat earlier this week, the choice to replace him as House Majority Leader seemed a foregone conclusion, as Pete Sessions (R-TX) decision to bow out appeared to seal the decision and ascend Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to the second highest position in the House. This changed yesterday as Raul Labrador (R-ID) announced he will challenge for the role, a move Dignitas News Service both applauds and has no reservations in providing our endorsement for. Not only would the second-term Representative from Idaho bring solid conservative credentials and voting record...