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House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) reportedly said the House of Representatives would cobble together a Ukraine aid bill while speaking with Republican senators on Wednesday during a retreat on Capitol Hill. The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reported on the conversations that occurred at the Library of Congress during the annual Republican Senate retreat and emphasized the speaker “cautioned that what comes out of the House will look substantially different than the $95 billion foreign aid package the Senate passed last month.” Per Bolton, Johnson suggested a lend-and-lease program during the meeting but did not mention whether border security measures would be...

Americans have lost trust in some of the most important roles in a society, including those in the medical industry, teaching, and especially positions of institutional power. A Gallup poll in Honesty and Ethics conducted at the end of 2023 asked 800 respondents to rate the ethical standards of and their overall trust in a series of professions. "How you would rate the honesty and ethical standards of people in these different fields?" the survey asked. In terms of "very high" trust, all professions but one took a hit compared to previous years. The poll measured the downward trends dating...

Senate negotiators have agreed to empower the US to significantly restrict illegal migrant crossings at the southern border, according to sources familiar with the matter, a move aimed at ending the migrant surge that has overrun federal authorities over the past several months. The Senate deal, which is expected to be unveiled as soon as next week, would also speed up the asylum process to consider cases within six months – compared with the current system, under which it could take up to 10 years for asylum seekers. The details provide a new window into high-profile negotiations that have been...

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky will appeal directly to U.S. senators on Tuesday as he seeks assurances on approval for delivery of the next tranche of aid and lethal military equipment to his embattled country. The personal entreaty will take place via secure video as part of a closed, classified briefing on the war in Europe, UPI reports. Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer announced he extended the Biden administration’s invitation to Zelensky on Monday.

Concern is rising for senators in both parties that funding for Ukraine might get left on the cutting room floor this year as Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) “laddered” stopgap spending bill will keep the government open through late January, depriving the supplemental of a potential vehicle. Lawmakers still say the Biden administration’s $105 billion supplemental request, which includes aid for Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan, the border and other items, remains a priority. But there are serious obstacles standing between it and the finish line. Among them is that despite the urgency of the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, there...

Senate Republicans are disavowing former President Trump’s call to let the federal government default on its debts unless President Biden agrees to “massive” spending cuts, dismissing Trump’s suggestion as something far too risky to seriously consider. The cold reception to Trump’s bold statement is the latest sign of the widening rift between Trump and his party’s Washington establishment. While Trump maintains strong influence in the House, where he helped Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) nail down enough votes to be elected Speaker, it’s a different story in the Senate. GOP senators largely ignored Trump’s participation in a CNN’s town hall Wednesday and...

Join with fellow FREEPERS to pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Healthcare, Education, Churches, and the Media. I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone: for kings and all those in authority that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. ~ 1 Timothy 2:1-2 Religion Forum Threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 1 JOHN 5:14

Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) pressed Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw Thursday on the railroad’s history of lobbying against stricter safety regulations at a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing on the derailment of a Norfolk Southern train in East Palestine, Ohio. Whitehouse specifically cited a 2015 Obama-era regulation that required more modern electronic brakes for trains carrying hazardous materials, which Norfolk Southern called “not in the public interest” and lobbied to weaken before the Trump administration scrapped it outright in 2018.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), among other RINOs, lashed out at Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson for accurately describing the mostly peaceful protest at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, as “mostly peaceful.” Here we go: Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and other Senate Republicans lashed out at conservative Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Tuesday after he characterized the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol as “mostly peaceful chaos.” … A handful of other Senate Republicans on Tuesday pushed back against Carlson’s claim that Jan. 6 was “peaceful chaos,” with Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina blasting...

The top lawmakers on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee called out Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg during a Thursday hearing on the Southwest Airlines meltdown. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), the committee’s chairwoman, said that the Department of Transportation (DOT) isn’t doing enough to crack down on poor airline service. “This sector needs a more effective policeman on the beat. They need someone over at the Department of Transportation who is going to get the job done,” Cantwell said in her opening remarks. Buttigieg has come under fire from some Democrats and consumer advocates who say that he hasn’t been...

Senators on Feb. 15 will receive a classified briefing on the Chinese balloon that was shot down by the U.S. military, according to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), which will also include information on how the U.S. stacks up against China militarily. The briefing for all 50 senators comes after some lawmakers in recent days called on the Biden administration for more details on the matter. Republicans spent the week criticizing Biden for not taking the balloon down sooner, allowing it to fly over much of the United States before it was shot down over South Carolina. But Schumer...

Ten establishment senators on Thursday helped Sen. Mike Lee’s (R-UT) Title 42 amendment fail, enabling the $1.7 trillion omnibus bill advance in the Senate, while providing political cover for 2024 endangered Democrat senators. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) worked with Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) and Jon Tester (D-MT) Thursday morning to circumvent Lee’s amendment by crafting a side-by-side amendment to provide political cover for ten senators to ignore Lee’s Title 42 amendment, which was thawing a wrench into the passage of the omnibus bill. Lee’s Title 42 amendment tied funds for the Department of Homeland Security to the Biden administration maintaining...

BEIJING — China's President Xi issued a stern warning to American politicians this week, vowing that any members of Congress who dare to vote for a ban on TikTok will be fired from their jobs. "We hired all you American legislators to do one job: weaken and destroy America from within," said Xi gravely. "If you can't prove your fealty to the glorious CCP who graciously put you in your position, it will go on your performance review, and trust me — you don't want that to happen." Already, lawmakers in Washington are backing away from supporting legislation that would...

The Federalist asked the seven senators if they have a plan to remedy the unconstitutional censorship of voters and news during the 2020 election. Not one of them responded.Seven Republican U.S. senators who slammed former President Trump for suggesting that new censorship revelations warranted a reconsideration of the 2020 presidential election results have no plan to address the First Amendment-violating censorship Trump was reacting to in “The Twitter Files.”More and more evidence is exposing how our corrupt FBI brazenly violated the Constitution by dictating to social media monopolies what speech to censor from public and private discourse ahead of the...

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Thursday he will keep senators working in Washington until they pass legislation to avoid a nationwide rail strike, which he warned could begin disrupting the nation’s supply chain as soon as next week. “The Senate cannot leave until we get the job done and Democrats will keep working with Republicans to find a path forward that everyone can support,” he announced on the Senate floor. The Democratic leader began the so-called Rule 14 process on Wednesday evening to put a House-passed bill to avert the rail strike on the Senate calendar. The legislation...

The top Democrat and Republican on the Senate’s antitrust committee led a grilling of the CEOs of Kroger and Albertsons on Tuesday over their planned $25 billion grocery megamerger, which comes after months of rising inflation that has hit consumers hard. “The companies assure us that this is the merger that will make everything better,” said Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust and Consumer Rights.

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Monday said he is confident Republican senators will reelect him as GOP Senate leader on Wednesday after failing to reclaim the Senate from Democrats. “Of course,” McConnell responded to Capitol Hill reporters. McConnell only needs a simple majority of the Republican conference votes to remain the GOP leader. The vote will take place by secret ballot and behind closed doors. No Republican appears to be challenging McConnell.

Worried about the COVID vaccine for your children or grandchildren? The only way you can stop it is to contact your state representatives and senators to ensure state law does not simply follow the CDC recommendations. Some states do just that, meaning the schoolchildren will be mandated to get the vaccine. Otherwise they cannot attend school. This applies to both public and private schools. Many say home school is the answer, but there are many out there who simply cannot do this due to finances, being a single parent or grandparent, having a child with special needs who needs in-school...

When the Supreme Court delivered its blow to marriage in 2015, burning down three dozen state laws and tearing up 50 million ballots, the GOP’s reaction was straightforward. Outrage. With a handful of exceptions, the response that echoed across the two coasts was a collective “How dare they?” As far as Republicans were concerned, what the five justices did on that June day was a betrayal of the people, our system of government, and the pillar that’s upheld society since the beginning of time. “It’s an injustice,” they railed. Now, seven years later, they finally have a chance to prove...

Democratic senators are pushing back on whispers within their party that President Biden, 79, is too old to run for a second term. Senators say they will strongly support Biden if he opts to run for reelection, despite growing concerns over his low public approval rating and his ability to win a grueling presidential election when he will be 81 years old.