Free Republic

Over the past two months, Congress has approved some $2.4 trillion to combat the coronavirus crisis and the resulting financial fallout. Billions to bail out industries. Billions to rescue small businesses. Billions to boost unemployment assistance. That historical amount alone is larger than the economies, or gross domestic products (GDPs), of all but six other nations. The nation’s debt now stands at $25 trillion as spending concerns have naturally taken a back seat to the recovery effort. As most of the country begins a slow return to normalcy, some Republicans, including Texas Sen. Ted Cruz have begun to sound the...

Republican Sen. Mitt Romney on Saturday denounced President Donald Trump's firings of internal government oversight officials, calling it a "threat to accountable democracy." Romney's comments came in response to Trump's Friday firing of State Department Inspector General Steve Linick -- the latest in a series of dismissals of independent government watchdogs that have come in the wake of the President's acquittal on two articles of impeachment earlier this year. "The firings of multiple Inspectors General is unprecedented; doing so without good cause chills the independence essential to their purpose. It is a threat to accountable democracy and a fissure in...

It likely takes a lot of main justice approvals to serve a search warrant for the device of the Chairman of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI). The Chairman of the powerful committee also sits on the congressional oversight team known as the gang-of-eight. According to the Los Angeles Times the FBI served a search warrant on North Carolina Republican Senator Richard Burr Wednesday. The warrant appears connected to an ongoing investigation on whether or not Burr violated a law that prevents members of Congress from trading insider information they learn from their work. According to the report...

Protestors in Michigan planning to rally at the state Capitol on Thursday are being warned that if they bring firearms to the event they will be arrested. The warnings come after several members of the groups planning on attending the rally called for the assassination of Governor Gretchen Whitmer which saw one man writing: “Can we please just take up a collection for an assassin to put that woman from Michigan down.” On Monday, Whitmer said she respected people’s rights to protest but was becoming “increasingly concerned about the violent nature of the comments being made” and the “extreme rhetoric...

Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz shamed a "failure of our Republican leadership" When Devin Nunes, Mark Meadows, Jim Jordan and I wanted subpoena power it was Paul Ryan and Trey Gowdy that wouldn't give us that subpoena power. Democrats sent out hundreds of subpoenas. "When Paul Ryan had control and could have run this to ground in 2017, we didn't send out one single subpoena, not one… a failure of our Republican leadership."

President Donald Trump's decision to block Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, from appearing before the House of Representatives is ludicrous. [cut] If he wants to be a good leader in this time, Trump should promote free and open access to data about the virus and welcome input on how the U.S. can improve its response to the pandemic. Regardless of the political climate, the president should permit Congress to continue with its role in managing this crisis, which means that access to scientific testimony must come before politics. In the same way, Democrats and Republicans in...

Sen. Mitt Romney has proposed raising the wages of restaurant employees and other essential workers by $12 an hour through July as a way of raising their compensation above what they could collect in unemployment benefits and other forms of relief. Under the Utah Republican’s Patriot Pay Plan, employers would eat $3 of the increase, with the rest generated from a federal tax credit. For employees earning no more than $50,000 on an annualized basis, employers would get a refundable tax credit equal to $9 an hour, up to a maximum of $1,440 a month per employee.

Attorney General William Barr made a last-minute push Monday to persuade the administration to modify its position in the Obamacare dispute that will be heard at the Supreme Court this fall, arguing that the administration should pull back from its insistence that the entire law be struck down. ... Barr and other top advisers have argued against the hard-line position for some time, warning it could have major political implications if the comprehensive health care law appears in jeopardy as voters head to the polls in November. According to four sources familiar with the meeting, Barr argued for modifying the...

Former Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) says he will not be casting his vote for President Donald Trump in 2020, citing concerns he had with the president before the 2016 campaign. “I just couldn’t support [Trump] long before he started to run. The birtherism thing was just too much for me. And then it piled on,” Flake, a vocal critic of Trump, told the Washington Post. Flake also warned that a second Trump term could deter younger voters from the GOP, especially on issues concerning the environment and immigration. “So for young people who’ve grown up around minorities or had a...

. @FoxNews just doesn’t get what’s happening! They are being fed Democrat talking points, and they play them without hesitation or research. They forgot that Fake News @CNN & MSDNC wouldn’t let @FoxNews participate, even a little bit, in the poor ratings Democrat Debates….. ....Even the Radical Left Do Nothing Democrats laughed at the Fox suggestion. No respect for the people running @FoxNews . But Fox keeps on plugging to try and become politically correct. They put RINO Paul Ryan on their Board. They hire “debate questions to Crooked Hillary”…. . @FoxNews just doesn’t get what’s happening! They are being...

President Trump on Thursday hosted phone calls with dozens of bipartisan lawmakers, including every Republican senator -- except Mitt Romney. The president asked the lawmakers to serve on a panel to discuss how to move forward with reopening the economy, called the “Opening Up America Again Congressional Group.” “The president announced that he will soon provide guidance to America’s governors to determine their ability to reignite the economies in their respective states,” the White House said in a news release. “The dialogue between the president, senior administration officials and the bipartisan group of members of Congress also included a range...

Sen. Mitt Romney is among a bipartisan group of lawmakers demanding that President Donald Trump explain why he fired the intelligence community inspector general. The eight senators, led by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, say the explanation Trump gave for removing Michael Atkinson was insufficient and does not comply with the law. The president cited a lack of confidence in the intelligence community’s top watchdog. “Congressional intent is clear that an expression of lost confidence, without further explanation, is not sufficient to fulfill the requirements of the statute,” the senators wrote in a letter Thursday. “This is in large part because...

WASHINGTON (SBG)-- A new bill introduced by Michigan Republican Rep. Bill Huizenga Friday morning would treat essential health care workers and first responders like combat soldiers by giving them a federal tax holiday. The HEROES Act, which stands for "helping our emergency responders overcome emergency situations," aims to ease the financial burden put on those putting themselves in harm's way to respond to the coronavirus pandemic. “The idea is to say thank-you to those first responders, those technicians, EMTs, police officers, the firefighters that are going in on the front lines and then certainly in our medical facilities," Huizenga said....

Isn't it time for W to come off the sidelines, forgive the nickname for Jeb! and help Trump manage the politics of the moment, the hatred and vitriol aimed at him by, in some cases former members of his administration? Much like 9/11, this is a moment when the Nation must come together. We already know the left will never relent. Where are you, Mr. President?

COLUMBUS — After calling the Food and Drug Administration "reckless," Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine talked to President Donald Trump on a phone call early Sunday about mask-sterilizing technology and COVID-19 in Ohio. By: Zach McAuliffe items.[0].image.alt Photo by: Julie Carr Smyth/AP COLUMBUS — After calling the Food and Drug Administration "reckless," Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine talked to President Donald Trump on a phone call early Sunday about mask-sterilizing technology and COVID-19 in Ohio. WATCH LIVE "We had a good conversation," DeWine tweeted Sunday morning. Governor Mike DeWine ✔ @GovMikeDeWine I have just talked with @realDonaldTrump about this issue, and we...

KOKOMO, Ind. (WISH) — The Howard County commissioners on Friday approved a ban on the sale of nonessential goods from stores remaining open because they were deemed essential during the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. The commissioners’ order says the sale of nonessential goods at essential stores was “not fair” to the businesses selling only nonessential goods that have closed in compliance with the county’s public health emergency ordinance. The ban will begin at noon Saturday, the order says. Signs in the stores must notify shoppers of the ban. The nonessential goods include jewelry, furniture, home and lawn decor, toys/games, carpet/rugs/flooring, nonemergency...

President Donald Trump reacted to the news on Sunday that Sen. Mitt Romney was currently isolated after spending time with Sen. Rand Paul who tested positive for the virus. “Romney’s in isolation?” Trump asked. “Gee, that’s too bad.”When the reporter asked if the president was using a sarcastic tone, the president replied, “None whatsoever.”Romney’s office said Sunday the senator would self-quarantine after learning that Sen. Rand Paul had tested positive for the virus, noting that he had spent time with Paul and that the attending physician ordered him not to vote on the Senate floor.

Pennsylvania State Rep. Thomas Murt (R) is pushing a permit requirement for ammunition purchases throughout the state. His legislation — HB 2344 — has been referred to the PA’s House Judiciary Committee and is filed with the memo, “Addressing Gun Violence and Enhancing Public Health and Safety.” Page 21 of the 25-page bill sets forth details of Murt’s proposed “Ammunition Purchase Authorization Permits,” saying, “A person holding an ammunition purchase authorization permit issued under this section may purchase or otherwise seek the transfer of ownership of ammunition from a retailer that sells ammunition.” The proposed permits would be valid for...

A New York Congressman, he broke with his party in 2016 and endorsed Hillary Clinton for president, saying Trump was “unfit” for office. Representative Richard L. Hanna on Capitol Hill in 2011. He deplored what he saw as his Republican Party’s lurch to the right and endorsed Hillary Clinton for president over Donald J. Trump.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that he would push ahead with passing the $100-billion stimulus package negotiated between the White House and House Democrats last week, adding that Senate Republicans with reservations about the bill should “gag” them. “We’re going to go on and vote as soon as the Senate can get permission to vote on the bill that came over from the House, send it down to the President . . . and reassure the people around the country,” McConnell said. He added that “a number of my members think there are considerable shortcomings in the House...