Free Republic

Former Sens. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) are joining the board of directors for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a prominent Washington, D.C.-based think tank focused on fiscal policy. Maya MacGuineas, the president of the organization, said in a statement on Wednesday that the additions underscore “the committee’s longstanding commitment to fostering bipartisan solutions to our nation’s fiscal decline and working to put forward solutions for America’s elected leaders.” “Both former senators have been staunch advocates for responsible budgeting, but more than that, they have not shied away from working across the aisle to find solutions...

Republican strategist Karl Rove said President Trump’s claims that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has discovered “hundreds of billions” in government “fraud” will backfire when Democrats spotlight a lack of prosecutions of those involved. During an appearance on Fox News’s “Sunday Night in America with Trey Gowdy,” Rove echoed Democratic strategist James Carville’s sentiment that Democrats should “allow the Republicans to crumble beneath their own weight.” In his joint address to Congress last week, Trump criticized the “appalling waste” in government spending, while praising DOGE head and tech billionaire Elon Musk for discovering “hundreds of billions of dollars of...

At the tail end of the fiery Oval Office exchange pitting Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky against President Trump and Vice President Vance, Trump spent two heated minutes on a theme the media will likely bury. “Putin went through a hell of a lot with me,” said Trump. “He went through a phony witch hunt where they used him and Russia. Russia. Russia. Russia.” What Trump did not say, but he might have, is that the constant scapegoating of Russia and Putin made America’s proxy war against Russia an easy sell. What Trump might also have said is that before he...

MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace said Wednesday on “Deadline” that Republican senators who voted to confirm Tulsi Gabbard as the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) were both “sick and “pathetic.” Wallace said, “Gabbard was confirmed by a vote of 52 to 48, with all 47 Democrats, as well as Mitch McConnell voting against her, a little bit of irony for the man who used to control the Republican Party now finding himself casting what is basically an ineffective dissent to oppose a nominee who Russia is cheering for within an hour of Gabbard’s confirmation, Donald Trump announced that he and Vladimir...

Lights, camera, agitprop! The curtains opened on yet another artfully-staged performance of Obamacare Theater this week. One hundred and fifty doctors took their places on the plush lawn outside the West Wing – many acting like Twilight groupies with cameras instead of credible medical professionals. The president approved the scenery: “I am thrilled to have all of you here today, and you look very spiffy in your coats.” White House wardrobe assistants guaranteed the “spiffy.” As the New York Post’s Charles Hurt reported, the physicians “were told to bring their white lab coats to make sure that TV cameras captured...

MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace said Monday on “Deadline” that it is important to study MAGA to expose “the movement’s vulnerability” and defeat it. Wallace said, “I think the study of MAGA is essential to defeat MAGA. Right? And if you want to go to the country in four years with the political movement that defeats MAGA, you have to understand MAGA. And so to me this is a story that is, the personalities in conflict, you just can’t look away, right? But the idea that one figure, and I think it’s Bannon in this case, is trying to preserve something...

On Friday’s “CNN News Central,” Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) said that there isn’t any evidence that China exercises control over the Panama Canal in a way that endangers American security, but there is a risk of a hit to America’s reputation if it looks like it’s bullying Panama. Host Jessica Dean said, “I’m curious if you think there is legitimate concern about China’s influence on the Panama Canal.” Auchincloss responded, “There are two shipping companies domiciled in Hong Kong that have a presence at the Panama Canal Zone, no evidence that I have seen that that represents a security threat...

House Speaker Mike Johnson’s best chance to keep the gavel is to allow House Democrats to vote for him, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) told reporters Friday. If Democrats, along with some establishment Republicans, enable Johnson to retain the Speakership, he would be in a power sharing agreement with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who would demand something of Johnson in return for Democrat votes.

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) criticized President-elect Trump for discord regarding the continuing resolution. “What does President Trump want Republicans to do: vote for the CR or shut down government? Absent direction, confusion reigns,” Romney wrote in a Wednesday post on the social platform X. House Republicans spent Tuesday debating last-minute changes to the stopgap bill with disagreements over disaster relief funding and aid for farmers prolonging a finalized text. However, once published, Elon Musk, set to co-lead the “Department of Government Efficiency,” encouraged legislators to vote against the bill.

Retiring Utah Sen. Mitt Romney said he was astonished how badly Democrats misread the electorate in the 2024 elections. Speaking in a wide-ranging interview that aired Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Romney said, “I look at this last election. Uh, I shake my head as I look at our Democrat friends. How could they have so badly misread the public mood?” He saw trouble ahead for the Democratic Party.“Look, the Republican Party has become the party of the working class, middle class voter, and you’ve got to give Donald Trump credit for having done that,” he told host...

In August, a day after Kamala Harris accepted the Democratic nomination for president, a conservative-against-conservative argument erupted on social media. Steve Hayes, the editor and CEO of The Dispatch, called out his fellow conservatives for “fluffing” the progressive Harris and “embracing” the “nutty” Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “What a mess the modern conservative movement is,” he sighed. The pile-on was swift. Sarah Longwell, publisher of The Bulwark, was first. “Honestly, what are you talking about Steve?” she wrote. The problem with the conservative movement, she said, was the capitulation to Donald Trump, not the opposition against him. Hayes shot back:...

Senator Mitt Romney (R-MA) said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that January 6, 2021 will be seen “as a very dark day in American history.” Host Jake Tapper said, “Four years ago next month you were running for your life from the mob on January 6. And now the person that you said was responsible for that day is about to return to the White House. He says he’s going to pardon a lot of the people that have been convicted for the crimes committed on that day. What do you think the legacy of January 6 will...

Utah Republican Senator Mitt Romney delivers farewell remarks on the Senate floor. Romney, who served just one term in the Senate and chose not to seek reelection, reflects on his time in the legislative body and some of his accomplishments, including working across the aisle on the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill and the Electoral Count Act, as well as his work on protecting religious freedoms. He says that while he may not miss the Senate, he will miss his colleagues and that he hopes to be a voice of unity after he leaves office.

It was a long shot, but we all held out hope that Matt Gaetz could beat the odds and become our next attorney general. Once again, though, the RINOs played their dirty games and eked out a victory. But don’t worry—this setback is only temporary, because we’re just getting started. The war is far from over. As we assess what happened and how this loss unfolded, one thing is crystal clear: the Gaetz nomination was killed by a fresh-faced RINO from the same state that brought us one of the most infamous #NeverTrumpers in history—Utah. ... Yes, we finally got...

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) on Wednesday congratulated President-elect Trump on his projected win in the 2024 presidential election. “Ann and I extend congratulations to President-elect Donald Trump and to Vice President-elect J.D. Vance,” Romney said in a post on the social platform X. “Congratulations, as well, to the new members of the U.S. Senate and House,” he added. “The people have spoken. It is now up to these leaders to thoughtfully chart the course ahead, as it is not without challenges. May God bless our great United States.” Trump secured another four years in the White House on Wednesday, defeating...

Maricopa County officials just revealed that some of the 40,000 incomplete or damaged voter registration forms they received on registration deadline day included fraudulent registrations "Voter registration forms that tried to register Mickey Mouse, Jerry Seinfeld, Donald Duck, among others. This put a lot of pressure on the staff." "This does include one of the groups that has made news in Pennsylvania, and it is a group that we have worked with before and we have admonished them to submit better voter registration forms" This is not a coincidence. The upcoming Trump DOJ needs to prosecute every single bad actor...

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said former President Trump should be taken seriously when he pledges to go after his political enemies if elected to another term in office. “I think he has shown by his prior actions that you can take him at his word,” Romney told The Atlantic staff writer McKay Coppins in an interview published Tuesday. “So, I would take him at his word,” he added. The remarks followed a conversation in which, according to Coppins, it became clear Romney had spent some time thinking about Trump’s threats to direct the Department of Justice (DOJ) to go after...

Donald Trump on Fox News this morning: “I don't know that I want to do another debate." She crushed him.

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) praised Vice President Kamala Harris’ debate performance Wednesday, arguing that the Democratic nominee demonstrated that she is “intelligent” and “capable” in her first showdown against former President Donald Trump. Romney, a longtime Trump critic who has refused to vote for the GOP nominee for president going back to 2016, told reporters on Capitol Hill that the ABC News debate proved Harris can “answer questions from the media.” “Those were answered well. She spoke well and clearly and I think she prosecuted her case well,” the Utah Republican said. Romney, who lost the 2012 White House race...

More than 200 former aides to the three GOP presidential nominees who preceded former President Trump in 2016 — former President George W. Bush, former Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) — endorsed Vice President Harris on Monday. The majority of the group also endorsed President Biden in 2020. The group wrote a letter announcing the endorsement, USA Today first reported. The letter said it was a reunion of sorts from 2020, though it added that additional Bush alumni in particular were added to the group this cycle that are opposing Trump and backing Harris. “Of course,...