Free Republic

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul (R) immediately announced his opposition to the House-passed bill Thursday, vowing to vote against it unless Senate Republican leaders remove a provision to raise the federal debt limit by $4 trillion over the next two years. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), an outspoken fiscal hawk, said Thursday that there are four Senate Republican conservatives who will vote against the House bill as currently drafted, which would be enough to sink the bill if there is full attendance. Johnson said: “I think I’ve got at least four right now that this is not going anywhere.”

The 1,116-page bill the House passed early Thursday morning to enact President Trump’s ambitious legislative agenda faces a swarm of objections from Senate Republicans. GOP senators are calling for a rewrite of the bill to address concerns ranging from Medicaid reforms and the phase-out of clean energy incentives to the sale of government owned spectrum bands and the bill’s projected impact on the federal debt. The deal that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) struck with Republicans from blue states to raise the cap on state and local tax (SALT) deductions from $10,000 to $40,000 is also a sticking point with Republican...

There is no more important place for senators to be than the Senate floor, doing the work they were elected to do so Trump can do the same.. The first American-born pope, Leo XIV, celebrated his inaugural Mass on Sunday in St. Peter’s Square before a large crowd that included Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, two prominent Catholics in the Trump administration. Missing, however, was our country’s official envoy. When the new pope met with the Vatican’s diplomatic corps on Friday, America’s ambassador wasn’t there. We don’t have one right now. Brian Burch has been...

The first American-born pope, Leo XIV, celebrated his inaugural Mass on Sunday in St. Peter’s Square before a large crowd that included Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, two prominent Catholics in the Trump administration. Missing, however, was our country’s official envoy. When the new pope met with the Vatican’s diplomatic corps on Friday, America’s ambassador wasn’t there. We don’t have one right now. Brian Burch has been nominated by President Trump to be the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, but his is one of nearly 80 nominations now languishing on the Senate’s Executive Calendar....

Russia is going after TV series Game of Thrones, Sex and the City, and the Harry Potter franchise in an effort to purge what it claims is the promotion of "childfree ideology." The development comes months after Russia passed a bill banning what state-run news wires describe as the "public propaganda of the ideas of voluntarily choosing not to have children." It comes as Russia grapples with a dwindling birth rate and as President Vladimir Putin scrambles to encourage women to have children.

As President Donald Trump attempts to muscle his GOP agenda through a narrow House majority, Rep. Chip Roy is perhaps the most important holdout to win over. He may also be the toughest. Speaker Mike Johnson and his team have been confident they can pass Trump’s massive reconciliation bill, because they don’t believe any Republican will want to stand in the way and face Trump’s wrath. But Roy, the unapologetic fiscal hawk, is the rare GOP lawmaker willing to publicly challenge the president. He has already survived multiple calls by his own party to oust him — including from Trump...

President Trump has returned from the Middle East to mounting questions about whether it’s appropriate for him to accept a luxury Qatari jet to serve as the next Air Force One, including from Republicans increasingly dubious that the move is a smart and worthwhile idea. Republicans have given the president a wide berth on a multitude of issues throughout his first four months in office as they push to enact his agenda. However, very few are rushing to his defense after he made clear he plans to accept the $400 million gift. “It’s an unnecessary distraction,” one Senate Republican told...

This column really has two audiences. The first is moderate Republicans who are getting in the way of major fiscal reforms necessary to correct decades of financial irresponsibility. The second is Republican leadership who, in all honesty, are in a tough position trying to herd a bunch of unruly cats with personality disorders ranging from extreme anxiety to a desire to fight everything that moves. Throughout this entire chaotic budget fight over the One Big Beautiful Bill, a dangerous delusion has begun creeping back into the Republican Party, especially among the moderate class and some in GOP leadership. It’s this...

Gun lobbyists are expressing dismay with a compromise on silencers included in the fast-tracked budget bill and the GOP’s slow-walking of another demand to stop the taxing and registration of commonly owned AR-15 style pistols. On Monday, the House Ways and Means Committee released its plan, and while it stripped a $200 tax on the sale of silencers, it still required registration and sale approval by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. That angered some gun groups who have been calling for an end to the tax and ATF registration of suppressors, which many consider a hearing safety...

Laura Loomer @LauraLoomer NEW: Republicans appear to be letting their guard down ahead of the 2026 midterms at the expense of President Trump. According to FEC filings reviewed by @LoomerUnleashed , the DSCC @dscc has paid $698,847.64 to the Elias Law Group since January 1, 2025, for services listed as “LEGAL SERVICES LEGAL FUND” and other legal work. @marceelias Marc Elias, the firm’s founder, spent his time after the 2024 Presidential election contesting the defeat of Pennsylvania Democrat Senator Bob Casey. Elias is a massive Trump hater and one of the most notorious anti-Trump lawfare operatives in the Democrat Party....

Good Monday morning, everyone! The title of this missive is not some signal of defeat, hardly so. However, it is a realization of a ground truth that Texans must accept, or run the risk of being a Colorado or other former red states. It was not too long ago, in November 2024, that we celebrated a resounding political victory here in Texas. Donald Trump increased his margin of victory from 2020 from 6 percent to 15 percent. We also saw 12 of 14 border counties in Texas go for Trump. In the so-called “hotly contested” Texas Senate race, Ted Cruz...

Treacherous Republicans like Brian Kemp and Chris Sununu have decided to put their own personal whims ahead of saving the country and not run in 2026. The seat he has his rear end planted in is now more important than ever. He has so alienated conservative voters that it’s not clear that they will show up in the general. He’s not a charismatic man. He reminds everybody of that guy who wants to be president of your HOA.

President Trump said he will pull Ed Martin’s nomination for DC US Attorney and announce his replacement in a few days.Time was running out as the May 20 deadline to confirm Ed Martin approached.If Ed Martin wasn’t confirmed, Judge Boasberg would have picked the next US Attorney for DC.This way President Trump will be able to choose the US Attorney.“I was disappointed,” Trump said of the lack of support for Ed Martin after Senator Tillis opposed his confirmation.On Tuesday Senator Tillis, who voted to confirm Biden’s radical pick for Attorney General Merrick Garland, told reporters that he opposes the nomination...

Former president George W. Bush is not expected to attend a Thursday event at the White House honoring his late mother, two White House officials familiar with the plans told The Washington Post. First lady Melania Trump is hosting the event in the East Room, where she will unveil a postage stamp honoring former first lady Barbara Bush, the wife of President George H.W. Bush. Other Bush family members and friends are expected to attend, Trump’s office said. Attendees include Doro Bush Koch, George W. Bush’s younger sister who is listed as one of several featured speakers at the unveiling,...

Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” former Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) said President Donald Trump’s tariffs caused the world to see the United States as an “unreliable partner.” Host George Stephanopoulos said, “I think you identified the tariffs as the number one issue. Liberation Day is probably the most consequential day of the first 100 days. Is there an exit strategy for Donald Trump on this? He asked, “Can he make this sort of series of deals that limit the damage?”

House Republicans are planning to include several of President Trump’s campaign promises in the first draft of the bill, which they hope to release soon.It was easy to miss, but last weekend President Trump floated a fundamental rewrite of the American tax code. In a social media post, and again in remarks to reporters, Mr. Trump suggested the United States could stop taxing income under $200,000 and instead rely on revenue from his extensive tariffs. “It’ll take a little while before we do that, but we’re going to be cutting taxes, and it’s possible we’ll do a complete tax cut,”...

The Democrat and RINO effort to blow up Trump’s global tariffs suffered an embarrassing failure in the Senate this evening after two senators failed to vote. As The Gateway Pundit reported, Senator Rand Paul (RINO-KY) had sponsored a resolution that would have terminated ALL of Trump’s tariffs, including those on America’s top adversary, China. The vote deadlocked 49-49, meaning it failed by one vote. But there were three Republicans who voted to stab Trump in the back and end the global tariffs: Rand Paul of Kentucky Susan Collins of Maine Lisa Murkowski of Alaska Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Senator...

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is continuing his push against President Donald Trump's tariffs, with legislation he is co-sponsoring against them to come before the Senate next week. Paul says lawmakers should be in control of tariffs, rather than Trump, through the use of a national-emergency law. The discussion will come less than a month after Paul was one of the only two chamber Republicans to vote against his party's budget, which is seen as a key part of the president's tax cuts, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. "I don't have any bad feelings towards the president, but this is...

Sen. Ron Johnson is actively investigating 9/11. A day after the Wisconsin Republican went on a far-right podcast promoting conspiracy theories about the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people, a spokesperson for Johnson said the lawmaker is currently seeking information and documentation in order to hold hearings on the event nearly 25 years later. He would do so in his capacity as chair of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, one of Congress’s most storied and powerful panels with far-reaching jurisdiction that gives its chair wide latitude to probe a diverse array of matters. It has...

Trump's tariff announcement introduced uncertainty to the markets. Leading to the worst April performance in a long long time for stocks. The media believe this is a threat to Trump's support, but is it?