Free Republic

House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) is bracing for what could be the toughest weeks of his speakership as several dozen conservatives in his party are threatening to topple him unless he is more ferocious with Democrats during the upcoming fiscal showdowns. That internal Republican feud has increased the chances that Washington, for the second time in two years, could stumble into a shutdown of the federal government. The speaker’s lieutenants are openly girding for battle with the small but influential bloc of anti-Boehner conservatives, who have signaled that if Boehner cuts any deal that they don’t like with Hill...

The 2016 Republican primary has turned into a puzzle about how to deal with Donald Trump. The new dynamic has come into focus this week as Trump’s opponents debut strategies for engaging the white-hot front-runner whom they believe, and in some cases fear, could be a dominant force for some time to come. Though flummoxed by Trump’s staying power and aghast at the coarse tone he has brought to the race, party elites said they have no plan to take him down. Donors feel powerless. Republican officials have little leverage. Candidates are skittish. Super PAC operatives say attack ads against...

After the Washington Post reported that House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) spoke at a 2002 event hosted by a white nationalist group, RedState editor Erick Erickson knocked Scalise's supposed ignorance about the organization. According to the Post's Robert Costa, Scalise appeared at an event for the European-American Unity and Rights Organization, a group founded by former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, but didn't know at the time that the organization was a hate group. Erickson was not willing to give Scalise the benefit of the doubt. "How do you not know? How do you not investigate?" Erickson wrote...

Reports have emerged that Donald Trump has given the “you’re fired” treatment to his ally and adviser Roger Stone. However, Stone said that he was the one who called it quits with Trump, saying that his constant feuding is distracting from the core issues. Trump told The Washington Post‘s Robert Costa that Stone would dispute how the split happened, and indeed, Stone said he was the one who called it quits. The real estate mogul insisted that the move was a result of Stone not being a serious contributor to his campaign, while also citing the publicity his statements have...

PHOENIX — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, whose caustic comments about Mexicans have inflamed the immigration debate, told thousands of cheering supporters here Saturday that “we have to take back the heart of our country.” In a rambling, defiant speech delivered in this border state that has been the epicenter of the nation’s divisive battle over immigration reform, Trump declared: “These are people that shouldn’t be in our country. They flow in like water.” One man in the crowd of 4,200 shouted back, “Build a wall!” Basking in polls that show he has risen to the top of the crowded...

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is scheduled to attend a private dinner Wednesday with longtime advocates of supply-side economics. The gathering, set for the upscale “21” Club in Manhattan, is the latest effort by the potential Republican presidential contender to bolster his relationships with the GOP’s anti-tax wing. It also reflects the interest business-friendly conservatives have in his possible candidacy, in spite of the recent ascent of former Florida governor Jeb Bush. Economists Larry Kudlow, Arthur Laffer, and Stephen Moore will host Walker, according to several people with knowledge of the event. For decades, that trio of friends — all associated...

You almost never see this in politics. David Krone, the chief of staff to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D), launches a major attack on the White House in this blockbuster story by my colleagues Philip Rucker and Robert Costa: At a March 4 Oval Office meeting, Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) and other Senate leaders pleaded with Obama to transfer millions in party funds and to also help raise money for an outside group. “We were never going to get on the same page,” said David Krone, Reid’s chief of staff. “We were beating our heads against...

According to one of the tea party's leading voices, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R), who is being challenged by conservative Matt Bevin in Kentucky's Senate GOP primary, is not an "Arlen Specter" Republican."It's not like we're talking about Arlen Specter here," said Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), in an interview with The Washington Post. "Senator McConnell has a longstanding conservative record and for an opponent to beat him, they'll have to prove somehow that he's not a conservative."Specter, the late Pennsylvania senator who left the GOP for the Democratic Party in 2009, was a villain-like figure to many on the...

"Republican lawmakers Thursday blamed the Obama administration for the stunning resurgence of Iraq’s al-Qaeda franchise and called on the White House to take assertive steps to help Baghdad beat back militant uprisings in the country’s west." That's how Ernesto Londono opened his January 10 story "Republicans blame Obama administration for al-Qaeda resurgence in Iraq," a front-page-worthy story which Washington Post editors buried on page A10. By contrast, the Post ran not one but two Chris Christie bridge-scandal stories on the Friday edition's front page. The other stories rounding out the front page centered on efforts to hash out a long-term...

In a clear attempt to woo largely establishment conservative commentators who have loudly opposed the GOP’s current government shutdown strategy, President Obama held an off-the-record meeting with the Washington Post’s Charles Krauthammer, the Wall Street Journal editorial page editor Paul Gigot, National Review’s Washington editor Robert Costa, syndicated columnist and former CNN co-host Kathleen Parker, and Byron York of the Washington Examiner.

In a secret meeting on Tuesday morning, Senator Rand Paul (R., Ky.) hosted a bipartisan group of senators and House members in the Capitol’s basement. According to several participants, the lawmakers plotted ways to stop the use of U.S. military force in Syria. Since the diplomatic situation is fluid, there was no final consensus on how best to combat the administration, but potential legislative maneuvers, press appearances, and letters were discussed. Several undecided members asked questions. Aides say Paul planned the gathering over a week ago, and the list of attendees grew by the day. He is pleased, especially, by...

Republican Scott Brown became the junior senator from Massachusetts today, a week earlier than expected, and two weeks after his upset victory in the Bay State’s January 19 special election. Brown’s swearing-in marks the official end of the Democrats’ super majority by giving the GOP 41 votes in the 100-member Senate — enough to sustain a filibuster. At the Capitol, Brown was joined by his wife, Gail, and sworn in by Vice President Joe Biden on the Senate floor, using bibles beloved by his two daughters, Ayla and Arianna, who were not able to attend the ceremony. Biden joked that...

— “Brown is the new black.” — “2009 was about going green, 2010 is about going Brown.” — “Driving to Logan last night, I was flipping radio channels. It was wall-to-wall Coakley ads (including WRKO, home of Rush and Howie Carr, who had Gerald Amirault on his show). I heard the same Emily’s List ad three times. It may sound a bit desperate on her part but you would think that the overwhelming coverage has to ultimately rub off on voters?” — “I'm just a littl' old Conservative down here in FL (sending $$ to Rubio when I can squeeze...