Free Republic

It really is stunning how open the republican leadership in both the House and Senate are with their disdain for the base of their own party. Reports now surfacing that the GOPe has entered negotiations with Nancy Pelosi to support Paul Ryan. According to Roll Call the Democrats are willing to elect Ryan if the GOPe promise to give them comprehensive immigration reform and amnesty legislation. Representative Steve King warns of the political bloodbath which would follow such a deal. As Rep. Paul Ryan’s history of working for open borders has come under increasing scrutiny, conservative lawmakers have begun to...

House Ways and Means Committee chairman Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) will not run for the House Speakership unless conservatives surrender “unconditionally” to him, Politico reports citing sources close to Ryan. “The conservatives who drove out Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) would need to get behind him unconditionally for speaker,” Politico’s Jake Sherman writes of the donor-class-backed Ryan. Ryan does not want to run for Speaker, he and his spokesman Brendan Buck have made “abundantly clear,” Sherman writes—before noting what exactly it would take for Ryan to get in the race. “But there’s one remote scenario, people close to him say, in...

In an attempt to dismiss the Benghazi Select Committee as a partisan witch hunt against Hillary Clinton, an ex-committee staffer has accused the panel of being obsessed with a political agenda. Bradley F. Podliska, an investigator and Air Force Reserves officer, told The New York Times that the Benghazi committee was becoming “primarily focused” on Clinton. His comments come on the heels of Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s controversial statement on "Hannity," when he said the Benghazi committee was directly responsible for sinking Clinton’s poll numbers. Chairman Trey Gowdy (S-SC), while accepting McCarthy's apology, insisted his words can't "fix the damage" done to the panel.Gowdy, again...

"Open borders seeps out of every pore of his being."

In an interview with NBC's Kristen Welker, South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy offered his honest — and correct — assessment of his party in Congress. Here's the key bit: I think the House is bordering on ungovernable right now. ... Being Speaker is a very difficult job. We need to have a family conversation and sometimes you have to hit rock bottom before that conversation starts. We're getting close ... Now, Gowdy was explaining to Welker why he wouldn't be interested in the soon-to-be vacant job as speaker of the House. But his reasoning is almost certainly why Paul Ryan...

Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Reps. Rep. Charlie Dent (R-PA) and Rep. Dave Brat (R-VA) battled over the divide between the moderates and Freedom Caucus conservatives in Congress deciding who will be the next Speaker of the House.

Newt Gingrich issued a warning to Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) Sunday morning, saying that he “should be very cautious” when considering running for speaker of the House.Asked by Fox’s Chris Wallace if he thinks Ryan should take the job, Gingrich was hesitant to push the Wisconsin congressman towards what many describe as a “thankless” position. (RELATED: Freedom Caucus Would ‘Look Favorably’ On Paul Ryan As Speaker)“I think Paul should be very cautious,” Gingrich told Wallace. “He is the most prestigious member of the House on the Republican side. He has the best future, he’s still very young.”“It’s easy to get 218 on the first...

Los Angeles (AFP) - President Barack Obama said the Republican Party has "gone off the deep end" with its messy failure to elect a new speaker of the House of Representatives. The Republican-controlled House was left in shock and disarray this week when Kevin McCarthy, the frontrunner to replace John Boehner, who has announced his resignation, suddenly withdrew from the race because of a revolt by conservatives. The challenge now is to find a consensus candidate who can soothe wounds and unite a fractious caucus. Obama addressed the drama at an expensive fundraiser at a private home in Los Angeles....

John Boehner is out (eventually). Kevin McCarthy is out. Conservatives in the House of Representatives are on a roll. But where is the roll going? I applaud the ouster of these insiders. The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the career ambitions of politicians. But what comes next, what follows bold action, is just as important, if not more. On that front, it seems conservatives were wholly unprepared. Nothing against Daniel Webster or Jason Chaffetz, but are they really people who leap to mind when you think “leader?” Or even “articulate and quick-witted conservative”? Have...

The surprise withdrawal of Rep. Kevin McCarthy from the race for Speaker of the House gave the New York Times an excuse to issue a series of front-page stories larded up with hostile "hard-line" and "hard-right" labels mocking the apparent chaos surrounding congressional Republicans, being held "hostage" by the party's conservative wing. - See more at: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/clay-waters/2015/10/10/nyt-bashes-white-rural-clutch-unyielding-hard-line-conservatives#sthash.8A8MH9Mf.dpuf

The news alert about Kevin McCarthy’s abandonment of his pursuit to become John Boehner’s successor hit my phone just as I was about to go for a run. Rather than read the whole story, I just smiled and hit the pavement. Within the first few steps I wondered how long it would take before the hyperbole-laden garment rending would begin in the left media about conservatives being the death of the Republican Party, congressional compromise, and the frolicsome joy we so love to see in puppies and kittens. It was a short run, but they were on it by the...

U.S. Capitol police on Wednesday arrested seven pro-life protesters while they were praying outside the office of House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio). Those arrested, who included prominent pro-life activist and nurse Jill Stanek, were protesting the House Republican leaderships’ failure to call a vote on the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which would prohibit aborting an unborn child in or after the 20th week of gestation. The House Republican leadership shelved the bill less than 24 hours before it was set to come up for a vote on Jan. 22 after some Republican congresswomen, led by Rep. Renée Ellmers (R-N.C.)...

Erick Erickson, the man described by The Atlantic as the Most Powerful Conservative in America, swung his verbal hammer on the Republican Party’s abandonment of the pro-life movement.  The blow hit directly on the fissure separating the party’s money and influence-peddlers from its principled core.  This single statement “[maybe] it is time for a third party to give the GOP competition” marks a cataclysmic shift in RedState.com, a media site dedicated to Republican principles, whose own posting rules prohibit its readers from posting the very statement Erickson made on its front page. 6. It is forbidden to promote or give...

House Republicans ran into divisions Wednesday over the new Congress’ first abortion bill, and leaders were trying for a way to advance the legislation without an embarrassing split over the issue. Legislation set for debate Thursday would ban virtually all abortions for pregnancies of 20 weeks or longer. It would offer some exceptions, including for victims of rapes that have already been reported to authorities. Some Republicans were upset about that requirement, saying that many women feel too distressed to report rapes and should not be penalized. …

Former “American Idol” runner-up Clay Aiken officially filed Thursday to run for Congress in North Carolina, saying that he wants to help end the gridlock in Washington and that no single political party has all the answers. The performer, a Democrat, turned in his paperwork at the State Board of Elections to seek the 2nd District seat currently held by Republican Renee Ellmers. Aiken, who lives in the Raleigh-Durham area, announced his bid three weeks ago and must first try to win the Democratic primary in less than 10 weeks. …