Free Republic

Long time columnist for the New York Times Thomas Friedman publicly discussed his moral dilemma this week, saying "I really want to see Iran defeated militarily because this regime is a terrible regime for its people and the region. And nothing would improve the region more than the replacement of this regime with a regime that is focused on enabling its people to realize their full potential, and integrating peacefully with other countries, and stop occupying Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen. So I'm all for that." "On the other hand, I really don't want to see Bibi Netanyahu or Donald...

Democratic lawmakers will introduce a bill Wednesday to ban the president, vice president and their families from collecting lawsuit settlement payments from the government. The bill, dubbed the "Ban Presidential Plunder of Taxpayer Funds Act," comes after President Donald Trump sued the IRS and the Treasury Department for $10 billion over the leak of his tax records, and those of his sons and his company, to news outlets. Trump said he would donate any money he received to charity, but the lawsuit enraged critics who argued that any money he might receive from a settlement would come from taxpayers. Months...

But now the Democrat from New York is feeling buoyed by his party’s unity in the latest government funding fight, as well as by President Donald Trump’s worsening political standing, and he’s brimming with confidence about Democrats’ odds of retaking the Senate, seeing as many as eight seats in play in November.

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- New York businessman and prominent Democratic fund- raiser Hassan Nemazee was indicted Monday for allegedly defrauding three banks out of $292 million in loans. Nemazee, 59 years old, was charged with aggravated identity theft and three counts of bank fraud in the indictment. Each bank fraud count carries a term of up to 30 years in prison. A lawyer for Nemazee didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Nemazee, who was involved in various presidential campaigns and once served as finance chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, was initially charged criminally in August related...

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. has decided not to seek the death penalty against a former Guantánamo detainee who was ordered by President Obama to face trial in a civilian court in New York. Mr. Holder communicated the decision to federal prosecutors in Manhattan on Friday, and they in turn informed the federal judge who is presiding in the case. “You are authorized and directed not to seek the death penalty against Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani,” Mr. Holder wrote to Preet Bharara, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York. Mr. Ghailani faces federal charges of conspiring...

The March report on employment from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics shows non-farm payrolls increasing by 178,000 jobs. This exceeded expert predictions of a 60,000 increase. Since Trump's inauguration in January of 2025 the US private sector has added 609,000 jobs. Average hourly wages are 3.5% higher than a year ago. During the Biden Administration annual blue-collar wages declined by $1,703. In the past year these wages have risen by $1,186. The annual inflation rate that peaked at over 6% during the middle years of Biden's term have fallen to 2.5% in the first year of Trump's current term....

President Trump's suggestion that the US might withdraw from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) drew criticism from former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) and Sen. Chris Coons (D-Conn), both members of the Senate defense appropriations subcommittee, who asserted that "Americans are safer when NATO is strong and united. NATO troops fought and died in Afghanistan and Iraq alongside American forces." Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) pointed out that "NATO stood by America and came to our aid after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Remember, the obligation of NATO members is to aid each other...

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer faced a brutal reality check on national television after refusing to admit that weakening Iran's military is a "good thing." From his "Schomer Israel" roots to pleasing the radical left, here's why Schumer is now putting party politics over Middle East security. Schumer used to say his name is Schumer because he is "Schomer Israel" in Senate. Today he not only doesn't defend Israel, he defend those who want to destroy Israel in order to please the radicals in his party. On March 23, 2026 the Gateway Pundit reported "The radical left’s hatred for President...

This week, one of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents Trump sent to JFK Airport in New York City to assist the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) saved a one-year-old child from choking to death by using the Heimlich maneuver. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), who had previously asserted that "the last thing that the American people need are for untrained ICE agents to be deployed at airports all across the country potentially to brutalize or in some instances kill them," now cautions "against letting down our guard against these dangerous and undisciplined brutes. A lion may peacefully lie...

Hello Senator Thune, At 3 AM on Friday, March 27th, in a near-empty chamber, you passed a bill by voice vote that excludes all funding for ICE and CBP. Let me repeat that: voice vote. No roll call. No record of who was there. No accountability. Just you, Barrasso, and a handful of senators shuffling paper in the dead of night while America slept. You could have demanded a recorded vote. You chose not to. You could have held the line for five more days until the House returned. You chose not to. You could have used the same procedural...

WASHINGTON — Democrats keep making demands to fund the Department of Homeland Security — leaving in limbo thousands of federal workers who can’t afford to miss another paycheck on Friday. Senate Republicans accused Democrats of derailing a once-promising sign earlier this week of getting a deal done to end the partial shutdown of DHS with their latest proposal. Democrats unveiled their counteroffer Wednesday that GOP sources described as more demands, though Dems insisted they are just digging in on existing asks to reform Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Nonetheless, the proposal threw a wrench in the talks — and a...

WASHINGTON — Airline passengers are experiencing some of the highest security wait times in the 25-year-history of the Transportation Security Administration — with some taking more than four-and-a-half hours to make it through checkpoints, a top official told Congress Wednesday. TSA acting administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill testified to the House Homeland Security Committee that her beleaguered agency is “being forced to consolidate” and “may have to close smaller airports if we do not have enough officers.” “It is a fluid, challenging and unpredictable situation. We understand this is frustrating and disruptive,” she added. “This is unacceptable.” More than 480 Transportation...

WASHINGTON — Security lines at the world’s busiest airport stretched for five hours on Sunday as the TSA crisis escalated over the weekend. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that massive waits at airports across the country are about to “get much worse” due to the partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security. Lines stretched around the building at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport on Monday. And TSA agents told travelers that the wait for some areas at the airport — which handled 106 million travelers last year — was five hours, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Nearly 400 TSA workers...

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) isn't in a good place right now. He's ticked off the people in his party on the left who believe he has been ineffective and should retire. They likely will try to primary him, but that isn't coming until 2028. Meanwhile, they're fuming at him, and even if he wins, they may not re-elect him as leader. On the other hand, he appears to be trying to appease the left by pulling bad moves like blocking funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) right as we are in the middle of a battle...

Democrats have kept the Department of Homeland Security shuttered since mid-February because they were outraged that two Americans were killed by ICE agents while interfering with their work. Since then, terrorists have claimed four American lives – a number that could have been significantly higher had fortune not prevailed. So, where are the protests over these deaths? “What’s happening in Minnesota is appalling — and unacceptable in any American city,” is how Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer justified his party’s decision to force the DHS closure. Democrats are insisting on a raft of ICE “reforms,” but their goal is simply...

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s push to revive expired enhanced Obamacare tax credits by contrasting their cost with Pentagon spending is colliding with fresh scrutiny of the Affordable Care Act, as policy experts warn the program is riddled with improper enrollments, fraud vulnerabilities and rising taxpayer costs. "We need to reform the ACA, not throw more taxpayer money at it," Brian Blase, president of the health policy research group Paragon Health Institute, said. He added that "government subsidies don’t make the coverage more affordable. They make it more expensive overall because you have to consider the taxpayer amount." Blase spoke...

WASHINGTON — Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman is trashing “ignorant” far-left New York City Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for her “tone-deaf” approach to Israel — and predicted she won’t challenge Big Apple Dem Sen. Chuck Schumer in 2028. “To accuse Israel [of] genocide, and you’re sitting in Germany, like, can you talk about tone deaf and just ignorant to the history?” Fetterman told podcast host Sean Hannity, referring to AOC’s disastrous gaffe-prone foreign-policy outing in Munich last month. “I mean, more than 6 million Jews [were massacred] — you know the Holocaust — and now to accuse Israel during that just war...

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called the SAVE America Act “one of the most despicable pieces of legislation” he has seen ahead of the bill being brought to the floor for a vote this week. Speaking to reporters on a Sunday phone call, Schumer claimed that President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans are attempting to “disenfranchise millions of Americans and undermine democracy by pushing this despicable SAVE Act,” also called the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility Act. He also called the election integrity bill “one of the most despicable pieces of legislation I’ve come across in the many years I’ve...

The latest poll of registered voters from NBC News found that President Trump was viewed less unfavorably than the two leading Democrats contenders for the 2028 presidential nomination. Trump's percentages were 41% positive to 53% negative for a net -12%. Gov. California Gavin Newsom's were 27% positive to 45% negative for a net -18%. Former Vice-President Kamala Harris' were 34% positive to 51% negative for a net of -17%. Comparisons for the Republican and Democrat Parties were similar. Voters rated Republicans as 37% positive to 51% negative for a net -14%. Democrats were rated 30% positive to 52% negative for...

Senate Republicans are accusing Senate Democrats of trying to rip apart the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) piece by piece after again blocking a bid to reopen the agency. Little has changed in the stalemate over the last 27 days of the partial shutdown, and communication breakdowns are dominating what could be opportunities for negotiations. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus are still demanding stringent reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, while Senate Republicans are dug in against their top demands.