Free Republic

The battle between Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) and the GOP’s right flank is heating up, with hard-line House conservatives throwing their support behind his primary opponent after the moderate Republican called two of them “scumbags” on national television. Gonzales kicked the hornet’s nest over the weekend when, during an interview on CNN, he went after Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Bob Good (R-Va.) — “it’s my absolute honor to be in Congress, but I serve with some real scumbags” — launching personal attacks on the conservative duo. “Matt Gaetz, he paid minors to have sex with them at drug parties....

U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales announced on Monday he would resign from Congress, avoiding an expected vote on his expulsion after he admitted to having an affair with a staffer. Gonzales, a Republican from San Antonio, has faced intensifying scrutiny in recent months after the San Antonio Express-News first revealed evidence that he engaged in a sexual relationship with a staffer who later died by suicide, prompting a House Ethics Committee review and calls from colleagues for him to step down. Pressure further mounted when another aide came forward, saying Gonzales pressed her for nude photos and sex during his first...

Five men were arrested Friday for allegedly stealing and slaughtering roughly 70 head of cattle across Williamson County over several months. Detectives found evidence of a sophisticated operation, including cut fences, animal processing tools, and photos of slaughtered cattle on suspects' phones. While the five suspects face third-degree felony charges, authorities are seeking more information from the public regarding the organized agricultural theft ring. WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas - A months-long investigation into a sophisticated livestock theft operation has resulted in the arrest of five men accused of stealing and slaughtering approximately 70 head of cattle across Williamson County, authorities announced...

Published in the April 3 edition of the Santa Fe New Mexican. Below text from NMOGA website I grew up in Carlsbad. I went away for college, but I came back as quickly as I could. Coming home was always the goal, and I’m proud to be back. I love this state. I love its people, its landscape and its stubborn independence. The oil and gas industry I represent is made up of people just like me: New Mexicans who were born here, who raised families here, who chose to build their lives and livelihoods here. So, I’ll confess that...

YELLOWSTONE, Wyo. — The U.S. Attorney’s Office recently announced that a Texas man was sentenced after pleading guilty to walking off the designated boardwalk in a thermal area in Yellowstone National Park. A release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office says that Eric Bedient, 50, of Frisco, Texas, was sentenced to five days’ incarceration on March 31 by U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephanie Hambrick. According to court documents, Bedient left the boardwalk and walked directly on several fragile and dangerous hydrothermal features in the Mammoth Hot Springs area. Those features included Canary Spring, Mound Terrage, Palette Hot Spring and Jupiter Terrace. The...

Rep. Brandon Gill is picking a public fight with fellow House Republicans over immigration, torching the DIGNIDAD Act as “mass amnesty” and daring its backers to say out loud what he says the bill does. “The Dignity Act is mass amnesty and would constitute a terrible betrayal of our voters,” Gill wrote on X, after GOP lawmakers, including Rep. Mike Lawler of New York, talked up renewed interest in the proposal. Gill then turned his fire directly at the bill’s supporters: “If your bill were so popular, you’d be straightforward about what it does. The DIGNIDAD Act provides mass amnesty...

A contingent of House Democrats and Republicans have banded together to advance an amnesty bill that they definitely want you to think is not actually an amnesty. 20 Republicans so far have joined in as co-sponsors on the bill, betraying the agenda of the Trump administration and the will of the electorate. @realBrandonGill Make no mistake about it: The so-called 'Dignity Act' is amnesty. It gives amnesty to any illegal alien that crossed the border before 2021, any illegal married to a U.S.citizen, and also massively expands visas—-including permanent residence for F-1 international students. It would bring mass deportations to...

Despite President Donald Trump winning on the promise of “mass deportations,” a handful of spineless Republicans, alongside Democrats, are trying to push a mass amnesty act known as the DIGNIDAD Act — or, for English speakers, the DIGNITY Act. The legislation is billed as not being amnesty, but would give millions of illegal aliens — both so-called DREAMers/DACA and non-DREAMers/DACA — a legal status. But co-sponsor Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., insists it’s not amnesty, so much so that she’s screaming at people on X to “READ. THE. BILL. BEFORE. YOU. OPEN. YOUR. MOUTH.” So I read the bill. And...

NEW YORK, March 20 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge has struck down a Treasury ​Department rule aimed at curbing money laundering in real estate by ‌requiring that the beneficial owners of companies buying real estate in cash be disclosed. Jumpstart your morning with the latest legal news delivered straight to your inbox from The Daily Docket newsletter. Sign up here. The Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) implemented the rule in ​2024 to prevent criminals from anonymously stashing ill-gotten gains in U.S. ​property. Lawyers at the libertarian Pacific Legal Foundation challenged the ⁠rule, arguing it exceeded FinCEN's statutory authority....

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Wednesday said Texas Republicans are “going to have a tough time” holding onto their majority in the state House this fall, the latest and perhaps most notable sign yet of GOP unease about the midterm elections. Speaking at the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s annual conference in Austin, Patrick said it is imperative for the loser of Republicans’ rancorous Senate primary runoff — whether it’s U.S. Sen. John Cornyn or Attorney General Ken Paxton — to support the winner against Democratic candidate James Talarico. The Austin state representative locked up his party’s nomination in March and...

One of the Central Coast’s most iconic landmarks is up for sale or lease. The owner of the property that houses the Giant Artichoke Restaurant says the building is available, opening the door to a new chapter for the well-known Castroville landmark. The post, shared in the Facebook group Prunedale Bargains, Deals and Independent Businesses, reads: “For sale or for lease. Interested parties only, please no solicitation for listing here.” It also includes several photos of the restaurant, including its iconic giant artichoke at the front of the building. In a message to KSBW 8, Boudreault confirmed he owns the...

He snatched the youngster while delivering a Barbie to her home that was to be one of her main festive gifts. Horner told investigators that he accidentally hit the girl with his truck, 'panicked,' grabbed her, and put her in his vehicle. Fearing what would happen if he told Strand's parents, he said strangled her inside the truck and dumped her body seven miles from her home, beside a country road. Her body was found two days later.

A man who had a history of impersonating law enforcement has been arrested in a 1990 cold case double murder known as the "Lovers' Lane" killings, authorities said. Floyd William Parrott, 64, is charged with capital murder for the killings of Cheryl Henry, 22, and Garland "Andy" Atkinson, 21, Houston police said. The victims' car was found parked in a cul-de-sac on Aug. 23, 1990, police said. Henry and Atkinson, who had been dating for a few weeks, were found near the car, according to court documents. Both of their necks were cut with knives and they were tied up...

I’ve been spending a lot of time reflecting on how good my life is right now. It’s been spring in Central Texas since February, and the program I teach at has had classes outside, like next to a turtle pond and a running creek. I‘ve found myself thinking of how wonderful it is to see the fish swimming in the stream, to see the turtles sunning themselves on the rocks, to feel the sun and the breeze on my face, to smell the Texas Mountain Laurel bushes with flowers that smell like grape candy, to have a job where I...

Lunar Starship (the Starship Human Landing System, or HLS, for NASA's Artemis program) is in active development but remains several years from its first crewed lunar landing. As of early April 2026, the program has made substantial progress on hardware testing and subsystem qualification, yet key challenges like in-orbit propellant transfer, long-duration flights, and an uncrewed lunar demonstration are still ahead—contributing to schedule delays. Current Status and Major Achievements SpaceX has completed 49 contractual milestones for the HLS contract with NASA (out of many total), with most achieved on or ahead of schedule. These cover: Life support and thermal control...

A self-driving car struck and killed a beloved duck near a park in Texas, furious residents say. One witness wrote in a local Facebook group that they watched an Avride vehicle drive over the aquatic bird as it rested near Mueller Lake Park in Austin earlier this week, KXAN reported. 'I saw an Avride self-driving car, with a person in the driver's seat not touching the wheel, run over and kill a duck near the park,' the witness wrote. 'It didn't slow down or hesitate at all, just steamrolled right through, and the person inside did not stop to see...

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has released additional evidence it says confirms that a staffer for Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, lied about being an attorney for detainees at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) center in an effort to meet with them and sneak in smuggled cell phones. In March, acting ICE Director Todd Lyons informed Escobar in a letter about Benito Torres, a senior caseworker on the congresswoman's staff, who Lyons said lied about being a lawyer for detainees in ICE custody at the Camp East Montana center at Fort Bliss in El Paso. Lyons requested that...

Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s plan to tax his way out of the Big Apple’s self-imposed fiscal crisis is facing a fresh and little-discussed threat, according to well-placed financiers – and it’s coming from artificial intelligence. As I reported earlier this week, investors lately have begun to shun city debt – either selling it in the secondary market or balking at buying its newly issued bonds – over concerns that Mamdani’s numbers aren’t adding up. The worry is that his $127 billion budget still faces a $5.4 billion deficit and that his solutions – like raising taxes on anyone who works –...

On the one hand, America enshrines religious freedom and equal treatment for all religions. On the other, supremacist indoctrination is central to Islam. What to do? A federal district judge has ruled that at least four Islamic schools in Texas are eligible to receive tax payer funding with dozens of others waiting to join, according to media reports. These include the Maryland-based virtual school Bayaan Academy, K–12 college prep school Brighter Horizons Academy in Garland, the Excellence Academy north of Dallas, and the K–12 Houston Quran Academy. With public alarm growing over the Islamization of Texas due to mass immigration,...

By embracing diversity, equity, and inclusion, Democrats have started a game that, in the long run, they cannot win. After all, decent people will not long tolerate an ideology that requires them to accept two toxic and contradictory assertions. For instance, Wednesday on the social media platform X, Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas, a black woman who regularly obsesses over skin color, tried defending Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson by insisting that Jackson, a black woman appointed to SCOTUS on account of her sex and skin color, “had to be 10 times better than most” on account of...