Free Republic

California Democrats have written to outgoing Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg to ask for more than half a billion dollars in funding for an ailing high-speed rail project that President-elect Donald Trump defunded in 2019. As Breitbart News reported, Trump withheld $1 billion in funding from the project after Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) canceled the original project. Newsom had explained to the state legislature that the original plan for a Los Angeles-to-San Francisco “bullet” train “would cost too much and, respectfully, would take too long.” Trump then demanded the state refund the money federal taxpayers had given it — applying...

The House rejected a Republican plan to stave off a government shutdown on Thursday, hours after GOP members crafted a new spending proposal and President-elect Trump endorsed it. The first plan, a bipartisan effort, went down in flames when it was opposed by many members and Trump. Ahead of the vote, Democrats called the GOP plan “laughable.” Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) handling of the end-of-year spending deal has thrown his future into uncertain territory ahead of a critical Jan. 3 Speaker vote. Trump and Elon Musk put heat on the Speaker when they publicly lobbied on Wednesday against the first...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — With time running short, Congress has warned that failure to pass a massive spending bill could result in the U.S. surviving a bit longer. While millions of Americans including Elon Musk leveled heavy criticism at the bill, members of Congress sounded the alarm that the bill's failure could slow their efforts to wreck the nation. "Without this funding, it might take us much longer to completely destroy America," House Speaker Mike Johnson warned. "I cannot overstate how important it is for us to push this bill through if we want to make the type of progress we...

It’s no surprise that Americans often rely heavily on credit cards to make ends meet. And with a recent period of rampant inflation, it’s equally unsurprising that credit card balances are on the rise. In the third quarter of 2024, U.S. credit card balances rose by $24 billion, reaching the $1.17 trillion mark — the highest level recorded by the Fed in 20 years.

A bipartisan spending deal to avert a shutdown was on life support on Wednesday after President-elect Donald J. Trump condemned it, leaving lawmakers without a strategy to fund the government past a Friday night deadline. Mr. Trump issued a scathing statement ordering Republicans not to support the sprawling bill, piling on to a barrage of criticism from Elon Musk, who spent Wednesday trashing the measure on social media and threatening any Republican who supported it with political ruin. It was not yet clear how Speaker Mike Johnson planned to proceed as the package, which was stuffed full of unrelated policy...

House Republicans are currently debating a continuing resolution that would keep the government running through March 14, however many are heavily criticizing leadership for trying to push through unnecessary provisions negotiated behind closed doors. The over 1,500-page spending measure will receive votes from both Democrats and Republicans and is being pushed by Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. Johnson said in September that he has “no intention of going back” to the “terrible tradition” of a Christmas omnibus....... Here are some of the provisions drawing the biggest blowback from conservatives, many of which were identified on X by users like...

The government spending bill pushed by Speaker Johnson appears to have failed after Elon Musk and President Trump came out against it. What I would give to be a fly on the wall during this meeting.

As we reported, the 1,500-page continuing resolution to fund the government that had been negotiated in the House saw a fiery demise Wednesday afternoon/evening after numerous Republicans and Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and Vivek Ramaswamy savaged the measure for attempting to soak the people with bloated spending and J6 Committee-friendly provisions.It didn’t take long for Democrats to start whining, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) was at the forefront:House Republicans have been ordered to shut down the government.And hurt the working class Americans they claim to support.You break the bipartisan agreement, you own the consequences that follow.— Hakeem Jeffries...

The Senate approved the Pentagon’s massive $895 billion annual budget on Wednesday, which also prohibited the use of federal funds to provide transgender surgeries for minors with gender dysphoria, angering pro-LGBTQ Democrats. In an 85-to-14 vote, the Senate passed the 1,800-page National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which had cleared the House of Representatives last week and now just needs President Joe Biden’s signature. At the start of every new fiscal year on October 1st, Congress is tasked with passing the NDAA to authorize defense spending and specify expenditures. This year’s bill, which comes over two months late, amounts to a...

You almost got a 1547 page present from the Grinches who were going to Steal Christmas by continuing the terrible garbage that DC has been spewing out for years. Johnson never should have ever allowed this Bill to get this far. He should NOT be afraid of Shutdowns. He should be VERY afraid to let Pork and Poison happen. Without further comment - please download your own copy of this 1547 page document that ought to be the death sentence to Mike Johnson's career if he hasn't made a huge 180 degree turn today in getting his priorities straight. I...