Free Republic

A Texas state representative in Houston has decided to leave the “almost unrecognizable” Democrat Party for the Republican Party. In her announcement on Friday, State Rep. Shawn Thierry explained she made the switch because the Democrat Party “has veered so far left, so deep into the progressive abyss, that it now champions policies that I cannot, in good conscience, support,” the Texas Tribune reported. In a social media post, Thierry said she had voted Democrat her entire life because her parents believed it was the “party of the people.” “But as the years have passed, I have watched with dismay...

U.S. Rep. Donald Payne Jr., a Democratic congressman representing New Jersey's 10th District, died Wednesday following a hospitalization earlier in April for a "cardiac episode," Gov. Phil Murphy announced Wednesday. Payne was 65.

A newly elected Georgia state lawmaker has stepped down from office after being charged with stealing prescription drugs from a retirement complex, triggering a Jan. 31 special election to fill his seat.Gov. Brian Kemp (R‑GA) signed an order over the holiday weekend setting up the special election at the end of the month for Daniel Rampey’s state House seat in the GOP-led district.Rampey was elected to represent Georgia’s District 116 state House seat in November. He was elected without opposition, securing 18,484 votes, after winning the Republican primary.He manages operations at the family-owned Magnolia Estates of Winder Assisted Living Center,...

Alaska U.S. Rep. Don Young has died, former aides said on Friday. Details were not immediately available. Young, a Republican, had served in Congress since 1973, when he was sworn in after winning a special election. Young was the longest-serving member of the U.S. House, was in his 25th term and running for a 26th. He was his state’s sole member of the House for more than three-fourths of the time Alaska has been a state.

Hate to admit that I dont know.

Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) said Saturday that his official Twitter account had been suspended over a post he made about Department of Health and Human Services assistant secretary for health Rachel Levine, who is transgender. According to a screenshot posted of the tweet, Banks said “the title of first female four-star officer gets taken by a man,” a reference to Levine, who became the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps' first openly transgender four-star officer. “The account referenced has been temporarily locked for violating our Hateful Conduct Policy. The account owner is required to delete the violative Tweet before regaining...

Former staffers of the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus said the congresswoman’s office is a “miserable” and “harsh” environment, BuzzFeed News reported. BuzzFeed spoke with 14 anonymous ex-staffers who worked for Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington over the course of her nearly five years in Congress. The report, which took three months to compile, said the former staffers described the work environment as an “especially harsh office with a boss whose treatment of workers runs contrary to the public expectations she has set for others.” Ex-staffers speaking with BuzzFeed painted Jayapal as someone who publicly berated those who...

Rep. Kyle Biedermann floats a referendum on Texas secession Claiming that the federal government is “out of control and does not represent the values of Texans,” a state representative from the Hill Country wants to give Texans the option to opt out of the union. State Rep. Kyle Biedermann, R-Fredericksburg, told his supporters on Facebook that he plans to file a bill allowing for a referendum on secession. "The federal government is out of control and does not represent the values of Texans. That is why I am committing to file legislation this session that will allow a referendum to...

This threat is directed to us in FreeRepublic.Yes, we MUST take it personally.

Representative John Ratcliffe tweets a statement after President Trump announces his nomination for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI): There has been some speculation that ODNI Dan Coats needed to step aside because he was refusing to comply with the declassification process.  It’s worth waiting to see if that assumption is accurate, or if the speculation is unfounded.  However, there is validity to the speculation based on the structure of how executive declassification is done.Declassification of intelligence is a process, and each person -within the executive branch- inside the intelligence agency must agree to the process.  Technically...

3 in 4 Chance Democrats win control (74.6%)

<p>COLUMBUS, Ohio--This summer, the eyes of the political world were supposed to be focused on the special-election battle for the 12th Congressional District in Central Ohio.</p> <p>The election is scheduled for Aug. 7, a time when little else is on the national political calendar. And how Democrat Danny O'Connor does in the Republican-leaning district was supposed to give an indication of how his party will fare in the November midterms.</p>

For all of his success as a prosecutor, state legislator and congressman, it might have been his experience with a Black kid from Inglewood that has shaped Schiff most. In his mid-20s, fresh out of law school, he volunteered to become a “big brother” through Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles. He was paired with David McMillan, a child of a single mother who needed a male role model for her son. The two hit it off immediately, bonding over “The Big Lebowski,” Billy Joel and the beach. Three decades later, they are still part of each other’s...

Join us in prayer for the soul of our country. Join with fellow FREEPERS to pray for PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP/VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE and AMERICA: Government, Family, Military, Business, Education, Churches, and the Media. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 1 JOHN 5:14 Religion Forum threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind.

There was no press honeymoon for President Trump during his first month in office. A meticulous new study by the Media Research Center finds that 88 percent of the broadcast news coverage of Mr. Trump and his team was “hostile” during the first 30 days of office. The coverage was intense and plentiful. The study, which analyzed both tone and content for evening newscasts on ABC, NBC and CBS, found that the “Big Three” networks produced 16 hours of coverage on the new president and his staff. That is over half — 54 percent — of their total coverage for...

How May I Introduce An Idea to the Tea Party Representatives? Free Republic is an amazing national resource that I think should be able to help direct me. How do I seek the opinion of a Tea Party Republican member of Congress? I have an idea for a legislative proposal that I believe would benefit the Tea Party Movement, the Republican Party, and the nation. I emailed Ted Cruz some time back and received a nice form letter suggesting a later response that never arrived. I have given my idea considerable thought and I of course realize that it may...

Army Brigadier General Martin P. Schweitzer received a "memoranda of concern" following a lurid set of emails between him and another general, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post. Schweitzer was briefing Brigadier Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair on a recent meeting he had with tea party Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-N.C.) in 2011. From WaPo: “First — she is smoking hot,” Schweit­zer wrote. “Second — briefing went well . . . she was engaging . . . had done her homework. She wants us to know she stands with us and will work/push to get the Fort Bragg family resourced.”

I just took the time to call Blaine Luetkemeyer, my House Rep, to thank him (and his cohorts) for having a spine, and to continue to offer funding options devoid of obamacare. They can stop it by not funding it. Make the perpetual cry baby in the white house not get his way.

U.S. Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Vestavia Hills, said this morning that he will not seek re-election in 2014. Bachus, 65, said in a statement released by email that he will retire from congress at the conclusion of his current term in December 2014. Bachus, who has represented the state's 6th congressional district since 1993, is the senior member of Alabama's congressional delegation.

September 4, 2013, Richmond, Virginia TEA Party was holding its rally outside the locked doors of Mr. Cantor’s Richmond offices, Mr. Cantor’s staff, represented at the highest levels, was meeting – privately and very quietly – with far-left groups representing pro-Amnesty, pro-Obamacare and pro-entitlement groups. These groups included: Central American Solidarity Association (CASA): A special interest group in favor of Progressive and Liberal policies promoting the expansion of rights for undocumented (read: illegal) aliens currently residing in the United States. The Virginia Chapter of the AFL-CIO: A promoter and supporter of all causes Progressive and Liberal; integral for the passage...