Free Republic

I will admit, when I first read that Susan Rice was still ensconced on the Defense Policy Board well into the new Trump administration, I thought it must surely be fake news, some hallucination conjured by an overactive internet rumor mill. Yet, with the bitter taste of disbelief still fresh, the facts became clear. Not only had she lingered, she had lingered officially, and with all the institutional imprimatur the position carries. It is the sort of stunning oversight that shakes one's faith in the assumption that elections carry consequences. Rice, a veteran of Obama-era foreign policy failures and perhaps...

News ReleaseSecretary Chavez-DeRemer warns states could lose federal funds if illegal immigrants allowed access to unemployment benefitsWASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer is urging governors to comply with President Trump’s directives ensuring tax dollars are not spent on encouraging or rewarding illegal immigration. In a letter sent today, the Secretary reminds all states that failing to fulfill existing legal obligations will result in the loss of federal funding through the Title III UI administrative grant.“Our nation’s unemployment benefits exist solely for workers who are eligible to receive them,” Secretary Chavez-DeRemer wrote. “Unemployment benefits are not a handout for...

The Trump administration is reorganizing the State Department to eliminate offices it considers redundant and cut some programs it says do not align with U.S. interests, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday. "This approach will empower the Department from the ground up, from the bureaus to the embassies," Rubio said in a statement, describing the moves as part of President Donald Trump's "America First" agenda. "Region-specific functions will be consolidated to increase functionality, redundant offices will be removed, and non-statutory programs that are misaligned with America’s core national interests will cease to exist," Rubio said. Work that fell to...

Left-wing commentator and Harvard Law professor emeritus Laurence Tribe claimed Tuesday on MSNBC’s “Deadline” that President Donald Trump’s administration was causing “an impending police state.” Tribe said, “I been in school for 50 years studying the constitution, teaching about it. It doesn’t enforce itself. It takes human beings of character to take it seriously. And when for whatever combination of cultural and social reasons, the nation selects someone who clearly has no respect for the constitution, someone who is cruel, someone who is without moral principle this is what we see. We see a tinhorn dictator interacting with a wannabe...

Conservative critics have long accused the department of helping to censor the American right... The only office within the US State Department that monitors foreign disinformation is about to be eliminated, two State Department officials have told MIT Technology Review. The Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (R/FIMI) Hub is a small office in the State Department’s Office of Public Diplomacy that tracks and counters foreign disinformation campaigns.

An internal document reviewed by The Post targets spending on humanitarian assistance, global health and international organizations such as the U.N. and NATO... The memo, which was reviewed by The Washington Post, says that cuts contained in an early proposal from the White House Office of Management and Budget for the next fiscal year would leave a total budget of $28.4 billion for all activities carried out by the State Department and USAID, a separate agency that the Trump administration has sought to dismantle. That represents a decline of $27 billion, or 48 percent, from funding levels approved by Congress...

Talk about unintended consequences! In 2023, Maryland Democrats voted to stick it to the Catholic-Church by lifting the statute of limitations on suing for child sexual abuse after an investigative report of the Archdiocese of Baltimore showed over 600 children had been abused there since the 1940s. Now, this might have been well intentioned, but it was also a clear attempt, and a successful one, to damage the Catholic Church in Maryland. But while the lawmakers were busy high-fiving the destruction of those awful Catholics, they ended up stepping in their own trap. Much to their chagrin, they had forgotten...

On Wednesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “All In,” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) defended his comments about taking glee in Tesla’s stock — which his state’s retirement fund owns shares of — falling and stated that “It’s a little bit personal.” But it’s also because CEO Elon Musk is “attacking the portfolios of working Minnesotans and working Americans who’ve paid into these programs that he calls a Ponzi scheme.” Walz said, “It’s a little bit personal. I don’t want to be disingenuous. The guy does bother me. It’s a little bit personal. But look, my beef on this is, is that...

While Wisconsin's Supreme Court race is officially nonpartisan, Democrats and Republicans have both picked sides and are pouring fortunes into their efforts. As the votes are tallied Tuesday night, the ability to claim political momentum amid the upheaval of President Donald Trump’s second term will be on the line. What is being tested, though, is not so much whether large numbers of voters have changed their minds in the five months since the presidential election. When it comes to Trump himself, Wisconsin is an especially polarized state, with three straight presidential elections decided by less than 1 point. More likely,...

While numerous federal district court judges have issued ill-conceived restraining orders against the administration, I have long believed that it will prevail in its efforts to place control of the state in the hands of the elected executive, away from the deep state bureaucracy and its black-robed judicial allies. As the litigation of these matters proceeds, I think my belief will be justified. We will return to a constitutional republican form of government. For a day-to-day look at the progress of these multiple cases, I urge you to go to X and follow Professor Margot Cleveland, who is (bless...

Mississippi is bringing back a “competitive” edge with Gov. Tate Reeves’ (R) signing of legislation to phase out the state income tax, and he discussed what this means for the state during an appearance on Breitbart News Saturday. “So this is House Bill 1 that I signed into law on Thursday afternoon. And honestly, Matt, it’s really what I have called Mississippi’s one big, beautiful bill, and it is a bill that does a couple of different things,” Reeves began, explaining that it reduces the sales tax on groceries across the state and, over a period of time, eliminates the...

Benny Johnson @bennyjohnson 🚨BREAKING: In Washington, ICE agents shatter car windows of alleged Tren de Aragua gang members after they wouldn’t exit. This is what I voted for. From Collin Rugg 3:34 PM · Mar 18, 2025

More rallies in Hawaii as DOGE cuts hit NOAA in the islands HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) -- A march and rally in support of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) was held on Saturday. A newly formed citizen group called Allies in Resistance hosted the event in honor of human rights champion and former U.S. Rep. Patsy Mink. Mink was a champion of Title IX, which is part of the Education Amendments of 1972. It is a federal law that prohibits discrimination based on gender in any school or education program. Organizers said the march started at 11 a.m. at Iolani Palace. The...

Law enforcement in Colorado and other states could soon have an easier time coordinating with federal authorities on immigration issues, especially when it comes to busting gangs and drug traffickers. Rep. Gabe Evans, R-Colo., introduced the "Unhandcuffing Police to Locate and Interdict Foreign Transgressors (UPLIFT) Act" in Congress earlier this week to prompt public officials in Colorado and nationwide to communicate with feds about illegal immigrants who are believed to have committed other crimes, even though certain state laws limit their ability to do so. "State laws have a national impact, because if federal law enforcement uses information from a...

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) — an anti-Trump Democrat — was seemingly unable to remember what the price of eggs was in her home state, despite continually bringing attention to the high cost of eggs. The New York Times interviewed Klobuchar about her insistence on bringing up the price of eggs, using it — seemingly — to suggest that President Trump has failed, despite his being in office just over one month after four years of rising prices and rampant inflation under the Biden administration.

Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, were found dead in their home in New Mexico along with their dog, the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office told CNN. He was 95. Their causes of death have not been confirmed, but foul play is not suspected, Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Denise Womack-Avila told CNN on Thursday morning.

A Maine Republican says that her state’s transgender athlete policy is so “extreme” that it will cost the state millions in federal funding. Maine Republican state Rep. Laurel Libby is blasting Democrat Governor Janet Mills for refusing to obey President Donald Trump’s Title IX rules banning transgender athletes in girl’s sports or risk a loss of federal education funding. Maine’s Principals’ Association maintains that its state rules take precedence over the new rules written by Donald Trump’s administration, and the state’s schools will continue to allow transgender athletes to compete in girl’s and women’s sports, Fox News reported.

Charles Barkley is no stranger to blaming President Trump for everything, but now the former NBA star is blaming the president for Team USA’s loss to Canada. Canada defeated the U.S. 3-2 in the 4 Nations Face-Off championship game on Thursday night in Boston. The win was extra bitter for the Americans, considering they had just beaten the Canadians 3-1 on Saturday night in Montreal. One of the many subplots to the game was President Trump’s joking suggestion that Canada become the “51st state.” In addition, Canadians had been booing the U.S. anthem due to the “51st state” comment and...

Sen. Richard Blumenthal is calling for a response from the U.S. State Department after reports surfaced about $400 million worth of contracts for armored vehicles produced by Tesla. In a letter sent to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and obtained by CBS News, Blumenthal, D-Conn., demanded to know why the department was entertaining the idea, given the possible conflict of interest concerning Tesla owner Elon Musk's dual role in President Donald Trump's administration. "Mr. Musk's dual roles pose conflicts of interest so obvious that they hardly require explanation," Blumenthal wrote. "The State Department's intent to purchase armored Cybertrucks suggests the...

The Trump administration has filed suit against the state of Illinois, Cook County and the city of Chicago, arguing their sanctuary laws “interfere” with Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s ability to arrest and deport illegal migrants — the first of many such lawsuits to come, Justice Department officials told The Post. The suit singles out several state and local laws that the Justice Department identifies as inhibiting the federal government’s ability to enforce US immigration law. “We’ve identified Illinois, the city of Chicago and Cook County as all having laws and ordinances on the books that impede federal immigration enforcement, in...