Free Republic

What in the Benjamin C. Bradlee is going on with The Washington Post editorial board? After shocking the internet by conceding that Obamacare was really just an expensive mess, the newspaper seems to have red-pilled itself hard again. The Post once again tackled the ongoing political standoff between the GOP and Democrats over the Schumer shutdown, surprisingly chastising liberal lawmakers for being stubborn by continuingly voting down the Republican clean continuing resolution (CR). Then came a jaw-dropping admission from the liberal newspaper: “The government is too big. There is plenty of fat to cut.” But the newspaper even took it...

As the federal government shutdown drags on into a second week, a critical animal recovery program based in Colorado has ground to a halt, delaying a reintroduction plan that could be crucial to the survival of an endangered species. Fewer than 1,000 black-footed ferrets remain on the planet, including around 280 captive-bred ones currently being housed at the National Black-Footed Ferret Conservation Center in Carr, Colorado. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had planned to reintroduce them at 15 sites across federal, tribal and private lands this fall, according to the conservation organization Defenders of Wildlife. Instead, the creatures are...

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) brought his trademark wit to Fox Business on Tuesday, offering his unique take on how the ongoing government shutdown led by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is likely to end. Kennedy, who has a new book out titled How to Test for Stupid: And Why Washington Never Will , didn’t hold back when discussing the Schumer Shutdown with host Larry Kudlow. “They want $1.5 trillion to open government back up, Larry,” Kennedy said, referring to Schumer’s demands. “And that’ll happen when donkeys fly backwards. We’re not gonna give in.” Kennedy explained that the shutdown is purely...

The longer the government stays shut down, the shorter House Republicans' patience seems to be getting with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.). Why it matters: Johnson's decision to keep his chamber on an indefinite break in the middle of a government shutdown isn't sitting well with some in his conference — and that could put pressure on the speaker to change course. From frustration over the stalled vote on releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files, to questions about whether — as Johnson argues — the chamber really has no business to attend to in Washington, GOP lawmakers are beginning to get antsy....

Sen. Susan Collins is reportedly shopping around a potential off-ramp to the government shutdown that has paralyzed Washington, but the Maine Republican is not ready to give in on the primary demand by her Democratic colleagues. Collins has been circulating a “discussion draft” of a proposal that would include GOP pledges on a deal related to enhanced Obamacare tax credits, Punchbowl News reported. But Collins is insisting that any extension of the Affordable Care Act subsidies should be negotiated after Congress passes a funding resolution that would allow the government to reopen. Collins told reporters Monday that she has a...

Senate Republicans confirmed a staggering tranche of President Donald Trump’s nominees on Tuesday as the government shutdown continues. Lawmakers voted along party lines to confirm the batch of 107 of Trump’s nominees, a move that whittled down the remaining pending nominees on the Senate’s calendar to double digits. It also came as the upper chamber was deadlocked in the midst of a government shutdown, during which floor votes have largely been dedicated to trying to reopen the government. The slate of confirmed nominees included many of Trump’s top allies and former candidates that he hand-picked to run in previous elections....

Attorney General Pam Bondi came out swinging today during her testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Democrats' plan was clear from the start: to distract and divert from their government shutdown, lawlessness in cities, rogue judges, and the death and destruction Joe Biden's open border policies unleashed. Pam Bondi was having none of it and continuously brought the conversation back to what Democrats tried to avoid. It’s one of those things: Democrats need to shift the focus on who’s to blame to mask their incompetence. She came prepared, bringing a gun to the Democrats’ knife fight. When liberal media...

Monday's off to a busy start! As investors and traders await any developments from Washington DC, Tom White points out the fact that in the previous 5 government shutdowns equity markets actually rose higher. He joins Diane King Hall to set up the trading week before turning to a pair of big premarket movers. AMD (AMD) is jumping on news that it reached a deal to sell a potential 10% stake to OpenAI in tranches. And, Micron (MU) begins Monday's action with an upgrade at Morgan Stanley and a new price target to $220. Market Rally: AMD/OpenAI Deal, MU Upgrade...

Tens of millions of seniors may have to wait longer to find out how much their Social Security checks will rise next year. The Social Security Administration (SSA) is expected to announce the 2026 cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) on Oct. 15, the same day the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) planned to release September's inflation data. But with most BLS employees furloughed amid the government shutdown, economic reports — including the inflation update — could be delayed, USA Today reported. The SSA cannot calculate the annual COLA without the inflation report, according to USA Today.Although the COLA announcement may be delayed,...

Government shutdowns are a familiar autumn rite of dysfunctional government. But this one is different from any that have come before. That makes it a harder test of both sides’ resolve and discipline. President Donald Trump is reveling in a legally shaky plan to employ the shutdown to punish his enemies — or more accurately, their constituents. The administration has put a halt on tens of billions of federal dollars that are going to blue states, including roughly $18 billion for New York’s subway and Hudson Tunnel projects. Not coincidentally, those are in the hometown of the Democratic leaders of...

The list of projects Kennedy claimed Democrats are insisting on restoring includes: $3.6 million for cooking and dance workshops for male prostitutes in Haiti. Over $4.2 million for LGBTQ projects in the Western Balkans and Uganda. $6 million to subsidize Palestinian media outlets. $3 million for circumcision and vasectomies in Zambia. More than $833,000 for transgender people in Nepal. $500,000 to purchase electric buses in Rwanda. $300,000 to sponsor a pride parade in Lesotho.

President Donald Trump’s second term had already brought misery to the nation’s 2.1 million civilian federal workers: unprecedented mass layoffs, strict return-to-office requirements and more red tape regulating everything from travel to printer paper. Now, with the government shut down, 750,000 federal staffers have been furloughed and many others are working without pay, even as Trump and his top lieutenants vow to put more federal jobs on the chopping block. “When did we become the enemy?” said one National Institutes of Health employee who, like other workers interviewed for this article, spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of...

Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer says that there’s only one party that wants to shut the government down. He’s right: it’s only Democrats who won’t allow the Senate a few more weeks at current spending levels to agree on a new budget. The shutdown highlights three weaknesses undermining the Democrat Party as we head toward next year’s midterm elections. First, the left wing of the party is running the show. Schumer is terrified of being primaried by New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC); his obstinance is a matter of survival, not conscience. Second, President Trump has pushed Democrats to burrow...

OMG.. you cannot make this up.. These are some of the things the Democrats are demanding we fund: - $3 million for circumcisions and vasectomies in Zambia - $833k for transgender people in Nepal - $4.2 million for lgbtq people in the Western Balkans and Uganda - $3.6 million for pastry cooking classes and dance focus groups for male prostitutes in Haiti - $500k for electric buses in Rwanda - $6 million for media organizations for the Palestinians - $300k for a pride parade in Lesotho - $882k for social media and mentorship in Serbia

The Trump administration has put on hold $2.1 billion in Chicago infrastructure projects, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought. Vought’s announcement comes on the heels of two other moves by the Trump administration during the federal government shutdown targeting funding in cities and states led by Democrats. The Department of Transportation has frozen $18 billion in federal funding for two major infrastructure projects in New York City. The Energy Department cancelled nearly $8 billion in funding for projects in states won by Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. Vought on Wednesday first revealed that the Department of...

Fake News CNN cut off House Speaker Mike Johnson on Thursday as he attacked the Democrats for shutting down the government over healthcare funding for illegal aliens. Earlier this week, Vice President JD Vance made it clear that Democrats are refusing to keep the government open because they are prioritizing illegal aliens. “Democrats want a $1.5 trillion spending package that funded free health care for illegals. We told them that was absurd, and now they’re willing to shut down the government over it. It’s unacceptable,” Vance said earlier this week after a meeting with top Democrats Schumer and Jeffries.

This ruling is part of a series of cases in which the Court is scaling back Congress's efforts to control the presidency in the wake of Watergate. An entire structural edifice of government was created to constrain the executive. And the Roberts Court is now dismantling those structures. I was not alive at the time, but I imagine that Watergate felt something like the resistance to the Trump Presidency. I agree with that Trump is completing Nixon’s aborted second term “by attempting to gain control of the executive branch and tame the Administrative State.” But unlike Nixon, Trump is supported...

Explanation: Galaxies like colorful pieces of candy fill the Hubble Ultra Deep Field 2014. The dimmest galaxies are more than 10 billion times fainter than stars visible to the unaided eye and represent the Universe in the extreme past, a few 100 million years after the Big Bang. The image itself was made with the significant addition of ultraviolet data to the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, an update of Hubble's famous most distant gaze toward the southern constellation of Fornax. It now covers the entire range of wavelengths available to Hubble's cameras, from ultraviolet through visible to near-infrared. Ultraviolet data...

Forget pickleball and wine tasting. The government shutdown may force lawmakers in both parties to scrap luxury retreats planned this month in Napa Valley and Sea Island, Georgia. The Senate GOP’s planned getaway to the ultra-exclusive Sea Island is slated to begin on Friday, but it’s not clear whether lawmakers will go through with the trip while the federal government remains shuttered amid a partisan spending standoff that began Oct. 1. Senate Democrats have more time to decide whether to go forward with their Napa Valley political conference, which is slated to start Oct. 13 at the Hotel Yountville, a...

The Trump administration has telegraphed that mass firings are coming, but officials have cautioned that such moves could violate appropriations law.Senior federal officials have quietly counseled several agencies against firing employees while the government is shut down — as President Donald Trump has suggested he will — warning the strategy may violate appropriations law, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive internal deliberations. The officials cautioned that firings — known as RIFs, or reductions in force — could be vulnerable to legal challenges under statutes labor unions cited this...