Free Republic

A controversial plan by U.S. Senate Republicans to make President Donald Trump's 2017 tax cuts permanent by ignoring the cost to the deficit is raising warnings from party fiscal hawks and independent analysts of a potential "debt spiral" that could undermine economic growth. Top Senate Republicans, including Majority Leader John Thune, are determined to make permanent tax cuts due to expire at the end of the year, through a parliamentary maneuver that bypasses Democratic opposition. Because rules prohibit bills from expanding the deficit beyond a 10-year window, they intend to ignore a projected revenue loss of more than $4 trillion...

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) suggested Friday that open Senate seats in Michigan and Minnesota could serve as potential pickup opportunities for Republicans in 2026. “I think they are,” Thune said during an interview on Fox News’s “America’s Newsroom,” when asked if both states served as possible pickups for the GOP. “I mean, those are open seats. Minnesota is arguably slightly harder than Michigan,” he continued. “Both are our states that we haven’t elected a Republican senator to from — in a long time. But I think that these are different times and people are looking for change in...

There is a private property rights battle brewing in rural parts of southeastern Colorado, New Mexico and Oklahoma and portions of the Dakotas, Nebraska and five Tribal Nations. The U.S. Department of Energy has plans to establish the National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors or NIETCs, in these areas and the corridors span five to 15 miles in width. If approved, in New Mexico about 2 million acres of mostly private property would be transferred to the control of the federal government potentially via eminent domain. In Colorado, farmers, ranchers and rural residents stand to lose control of 325,000 acres in...

COLUMBIA, - South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson is leading a coalition of state attorneys general in an investigation into Dr. Anthony Fauci’s role in the COVID-19 pandemic response. They allege mismanagement, misleading statements and suppression of scientific debate by the infectious disease expert who spearheaded the nation’s response to COVID. ... In a letter to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, the attorneys general commend “ongoing congressional efforts to uncover misconduct” and request state-level cooperation in pursuing any violations of state laws. Wilson said in a news release. “President Biden’s blanket pardon of...

Sen. John Thune (R-SD) had some pointed comments for Democrats complaining about President Donald Trump’s decision to pardon almost 1,500 individuals convicted on charges related to the riot at the U.S. Capitol building on January 6, 2021. The president rankled more than a few feathers when he issued the pardons, with high-profile Democrats criticizing the move. Yet, as Thune pointed out, perhaps Democrats should be more upset with former President Joe Biden for paving the way for this move. While answering questions from reporters on Capitol Hill, Thune addressed the issue directly. He noted that he is not familiar with...

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) warned Senate Republicans not to overrule parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough if some desired border security provisions are thrown out. Such a move would be akin to nuking the legislative filibuster, the new Republican leader said... Senate Republicans could seek out sweeping border policy changes that would be prohibited under reconciliation rules. Thune’s ruling should stop such a move that would step over the respected MacDonough. She’s served the Senate since 2012 and holds bipartisan praise. Thune lauded her in 2015 when Republicans sought to repeal portions of Obamacare....

Senate GOP hawks who receive large sums from the defense industry could be mobilizing to tank one of President-elect Donald Trump’s national security nominees. Former Democratic Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, nominated by Trump to helm the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, could face opposition from Senate Republicans with hawkish views on national security over her beliefs on Ukraine and government surveillance powers. Though a considerable number of Trump-aligned senators have endorsed Gabbard, citing her decades-long military service and commitment to reforming the country’s intelligence agencies that have been frequently weaponized against the president-elect, GOP senators whose national security...

Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) pushed back against the idea that the Russian war in Ukraine could end in peaceful negotiation, saying those who hold that view “may be deceiving” themselves. In a speech at the Halifax International Security Forum this weekend, Rounds called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “tyrant” and suggested he would be surprised if Putin were satisfied with any concession from the West. “It’s time to take a hard look at this thing and really ask ourselves, do you believe that this tyrant, if you offer him a part of a free country, do you think he’s going...

The company behind the project cancelled it and the steel that was in ground has been removed, but it’s on the president-elect’s energy to-do list. Donald Trump is looking to revive the Keystone XL oil pipeline on his first day back in the White House, according to three people familiar with the president-elect’s plan, even though no companies are trying to build it anymore. Trump believes declaring the 1,200-mile Canada-to-Nebraska crude project back on the table would drive the pro-oil message he delivered in his campaign, said people involved in the transition team discussions about the idea. Trump also wants...

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) sidestepped any specifics Tuesday when asked about Rep.-elect Sarah McBride (D-Del.), who will be the first transgender member of the House, amid an effort by Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) to ban transgender women from single-sex facilities such as women’s restrooms in the Capitol. “We welcome all members with open arms who are newly elected representatives of the people. I believe it’s a — it’s a command. We treat all persons with dignity and respect,” Johnson said at a press conference Tuesday when asked about McBride. “And I’m not going to engage in silly debates about this,”...

Mitch McConnell is a RINO and is a traitor to the people of this country. He staged a COUP against the incoming president and should have been hauled out of the Senate in chains, for he has abused his personal power to try to obstruct what the American people voted for to protect the swamp. Mitch McConnell engineered a coup against Trump’s agenda by calling for early leadership elections in the Senate to ensure that the RINOS would select his replacement to obstruct the American people again as he did throughout the previous Trump Administration. ... There were three candidates:...

WEST VIRGINIA — Former West Virginia Delegate Derrick Evans has formally announced his intention to run for West Virginia Senator Shelley Moore Capito’s seat in the U.S. Senate in the 2026 election. In his candidacy announcement, he called Capito a RINO (Republican In Name Only), stating that she stayed silent during a “secret vote” for Senate Majority Leader John Thune. Evans said that Thune is a career politician and that he is poised to delay or obstruct President Trump’s future cabinet appointments. Evans has thrown his vote behind Matt Gaetz for Attorney General, stating, “he’s one of us.” Evans was...

South Dakota Senator John Thune—not Senator Rick Scott, the preferred choice of some in the Make America Great Again (MAGA) faction—will be the next Senate majority leader following a vote by Senate Republicans on Wednesday. Thune, who has been serving as minority whip, has previously criticized President-elect Donald Trump but has supported an overwhelming majority of his policies. Here's how Thune has voted under the past two administrations. Thune's Voting Record During Trump's First Term During President-elect Donald Trump's first term, beginning in 2017, Thune largely voted in line with Trump's positions. In the 115th Congress, from 2017 to 2019,...

Republicans have elected South Dakota Sen. John Thune as the next Senate majority leader, completing a momentous shift in their leadership that elevates a top deputy of Sen. Mitch McConnell into a key position as President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House. Thune, who’s 63 and in his fourth Senate term, has promised to work closely with Trump despite differences the two have had over the years. Thune will be a crucial part of the incoming president’s efforts to push through his policy agenda. He beat out two other competitors, Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Rick Scott of...

Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri announced his support for Sen. John Cornyn of Texas on Friday in the race to replace Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell. At this point, this is the first public endorsement for Cornyn. Cornyn is running to succeed McConnell alongside Republican Sens. Rick Scott of Florida and John Thune of South Dakota. "I'm backing John Cornyn for majority leader," Hawley said in a statement. "In the last two years, nobody has done more to win back the majority than he has."

oters in South Dakota joined their fellow Americans in Florida and Nebraska in rejected a radical pro-abortion measure that would have ushered unlimited abortions into the state. They rejected Amendment G that would have resulted in abortion on demand in the conservative Midwestern state. The vote wasn’t close. With 92% of the vote counted, South Dakota residents rejected the pro-abortion measure by a 59.7-40.3 percentage point margin. “The demise of pro-abortion Amendment G is an enormous victory for life,” said SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser. “Unborn children will still be protected in the great state of South Dakota thanks...

A recent column in the newspaper for the Diocese of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, urged Catholics to vote against a pro-abortion amendment on the November ballot. Michael Pauley, the executive director of the South Dakota Catholic Conference, compared the importance of voting in the upcoming election to the importance of stopping to help somebody if their car was overturned and there was nobody else around. “We’re morally obliged to stop and help,” he said about the people in the overturned car, “especially when we know that our decision could make the difference between life and death.” “Unfortunately, this sense of...

CV NEWS FEED // In a shift that has stunned the pro-abortion community, Dr. Forrest Smith, a veteran abortion provider, is now calling on voters across the nation to reject all 10 state abortion amendments on the ballot in the upcoming election. Having performed thousands of abortions over his long career, Dr. Smith has undergone a profound change of heart and now advocates for ending abortion, especially for viable babies. “There is no need to kill viable babies,” he declared, urging the nation to consider alternatives. Dr. Smith, who has also delivered thousands of babies over his 54-year career as...

The White House Office of Management and Budget has said that the Biden administration is opposed to the bill introduced by Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., to clamp down on the sale of U.S. farmland to China and other “adversaries.” The bill passed the House this week. A companion bill has been introduced in the Senate. The Biden administration is opposed to the bill introduced by Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., to clamp down on the sale of U.S. farmland to China and other “adversaries.”

Ranchers across the U.S. have expressed outrage over the Forest Service prosecuting a South Dakota ranch couple for allegedly stealing public land. The feds, who showed up armed and in tactical gear, say a fence that’s been on the owners' land for 75 years crosses a boundary with federal grasslands. A South Dakota ranch couple is fighting federal indictments served to them by a U.S. Forest Service agent who allegedly showed up unannounced on their front steps — armed and in tactical gear. The agent was there to serve them with indictments in a modern-day range war between the ranchers...