Free Republic

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) pushed back on President Trump’s claim that grocery prices are falling, arguing that affordability — an issue she believes contributed to GOP election losses this week — is a problem for many Americans. “I go to the grocery store myself,” Greene told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Thursday. “Grocery prices remain high. Energy prices are high. My electricity bills are higher here in Washington, D.C., at my apartment, and they‘re also higher at my house in Rome, Ga., higher than they were a year ago.” “So, affordability is a problem,” the lawmaker continued. She said she...

A defense attorney in Michigan is pushing back on the FBI’s allegations that his client and a group of young men arrested Friday were planning to carry out a violent attack over the Halloween weekend. FBI Director Kash Patel announced the arrests of multiple people Friday who he said were plotting a “potential terrorist attack.” He said more details would be forthcoming. Amir Makled, the lawyer for a Dearborn, Mich., man who was still detained Saturday, said he hasn’t gotten many details about the case, but he told The Associated Press that, after reviewing the matter, he doesn’t expect any...

At least eight moderate Senate Democrats are meeting in hopes of finding a deal to end the monthlong government shutdown, but sources familiar with the closely held conversations say they will need strong assurances from the GOP before voting to reopen the government. The eight Democrats, who include Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.) and Jon Ossoff (Ga.), the latter a top Republican target in 2026, will need to feel comfortable with whatever is offered by Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), and they may need to hear from President Trump himself, sources told The Hill. The group huddled in the Capitol...

White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller on Friday dodged a question from reporters about the potential for ground troops on Venezuelan soil, as tensions escalate amid the Trump administration’s war on drugs in the Caribbean. While he said he “would not now or ever get into any detailed discussion” about potential military options, Miller called Venezuela a “central hub” for the trafficking of narcotics, weapons and humans. The White House aide called the drug cartels linked to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s regime, which are designated terrorist organizations, the “ISIS of the Western Hemisphere.” When asked directly about the...

President Trump is facing a growing political problem in America’s agricultural heartland, as he looks to import Argentinian beef to help bring down prices for U.S. grocery shoppers. The Trump administration is reportedly looking to quadruple low-tariff imports from Argentina, raising the quota to 80,000 metric tons per year. The news has enraged America’s beef farmers — and the Republican senators who represent them. “This isn’t the way to do it,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said of Trump’s efforts to drive down prices. “It’s created a lot of uncertainty in that market. So I’m hoping that the White...

Joy Behar, a co-host on ABC’s “The View,” on Wednesday lauded Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) for standing up to the Trump administration. “He’s the one Republican that you can respect right now,” Behar told viewers.

Some Democrats skeptical about their leadership’s hard-line stance against reopening the federal government privately acknowledge that they fear getting “hammered” by their liberal base if they vote for a Republican funding bill. Grassroots Democrats frustrated with the Trump administration have been demanding a fight, and on Saturday millions showed up at “No Kings” demonstrations across the country to protest the president’s government. In that context, Democrats know they will get hit hard by a number of voices on the left if they do not get something for opening the government. “People are going to get hammered” if they vote for...

The shutdown became one of the three longest in U.S. history on Friday, with lawmakers indicating they believe it will drag on and few signs emerging of progress toward reopening the government. That isn’t stopping questions about what could force lawmakers toward the negotiating table to figure out a resolution, especially with a number of potential pressure points front and center for lawmakers in the coming weeks. Here are some key dates to keep an eye on in the coming weeks that could force action. Oct. 24: Next paycheck for federal employees Government employees — whether they are furloughed or...

Knives are coming out for former Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) in the California gubernatorial race after several videos released this week generated widespread criticism over her behavior. Porter’s opponents and other Democrats rebuked the former congresswoman this week after she sought to end an interview early over a question that was visibly frustrating her.Shortly after, Politico obtained a video of Porter berating a staffer in 2021 for entering her live shot while she was recording a video with then-Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm (D), fueling further backlash. Though the California primary is months away, the incidents are threatening to hinder her...

Demonstrators will once again take to the streets for “No Kings Day,” a nationwide series of protests against the Trump administration, on Oct. 18. While protests against President Trump have not been uncommon since his first term, “No Kings Day” kicked off on June 14. These gatherings were organized in response to the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary military parade in Washington, D.C., which coincided with Trump’s 79th birthday. Across the country, 2,000 “No Kings” protests are scheduled for next Saturday, according to a post from the Indivisible project. There are plans in major cities like Los Angeles; Boston; Washington; Chicago;...

Robert De Niro on Thursday called on people to take to the streets to protest President Trump in an upcoming “No Kings Day” on Oct. 18. “The original No Kings protest was 250 years ago,” De Niro said in a video shared on the Indivisible Project’s Instagram page. “Americans decided they didn’t want to live under the rule of King George III. They declared their independence and fought a bloody war for democracy.” “We’ve had two and a half centuries of democracy since then, often challenging, sometimes messy, always essential,” the actor continued. “And we fought in two world wars...

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday the U.S. will host a new Qatari air force facility in Idaho, where pilots will train to fly F-15s. Hegseth said the Trump administration has signed the letter greenlighting the building of a Qatar Emiri air force contingent at the Mountain Home Air Force Base located in southwestern Idaho. Qatar Emiri air force is the air arm of Qatar’s armed forces. “Location will be host to a contingent of Qatari F-15s and pilots to enhance our combined training, increase lethality, interoperability,” Hegeseth said Friday. “It’s just another example of our partnership.”Mountain Home Air Force...

“Mr. Trump has promised working-class tax cuts and protection for working-class social insurance, such as Medicaid,” Hawley wrote. “But now a noisy contingent of corporatist Republicans — call it the party’s Wall Street wing — is urging Congress to ignore all that and get back to the old-time religion: corporate giveaways, preferences for capital and deep cuts to social insurance.” Hawley has consistently spoken up about his opposition to the House plan to use Medicaid cuts to pay for the party-line megabill. The House Energy and Commerce Committee has been charged with finding at least $880 billion in federal spending...

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said Tuesday that she has faced more pressure over a petition to trigger a House vote compelling the release of files linked to Jeffrey Epstein than any other issue. “My signature is on that discharge petition, and there has not been another issue where I have ever received more pressure than that one, and I’m pretty much shocked by it. I can’t imagine — I’ve never understood how this is an issue,” Greene told NewsNation’s Blake Burman on “The Hill.” “I think when it comes to women being raped, especially when they were 14 years...

Republican senators are increasingly uneasy about President Trump’s standoff with Democratic governors over deploying National Guard troops from other states to Portland, Ore., and Chicago. The conflict between federal and state authorities escalated dramatically over the weekend when Trump moved to send National Guard soldiers to Oregon and Illinois despite opposition from their respective governors, Tina Kotek and JB Pritzker. Trump’s use of military forces was all the more controversial because a Trump-appointed federal judge for the District of Oregon ruled Saturday that the administration could not federalize Oregon’s National Guard to support Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in...

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s “my way or the highway” message to hundreds of generals and admirals at a summit in Virginia last week has sparked fears that some top leaders may choose to bow out of the U.S. military entirely. The departure of two senior leaders last week stoked those worries, though the Pentagon says they were unrelated to Hegseth’s ultimatum.“His speech directly attacked the values of many of the senior officers and enlisted members in the audience, and I would expect many of them to demonstrate their disgust by retiring,” Don Christensen, a retired Air Force colonel and former...

Some estimates suggest that half of all white-collar jobs will disappear as artificial intelligence advances. How will older white-collar workers displaced in the AI revolution fare? Our recent book, “American Idle: Late-Career Job Loss in a Neoliberal Era,” summarizes interviews we conducted with 62 baby boomers who lost their white-collar jobs during another unemployment crisis: the 2008 Great Recession and its sluggish recovery. Statistics show that workers over age 50 experienced the highest rates of long-term joblessness. Their layoffs also coincided with a precarious stage of the life course: “too young to retire but too old to start all over,”...

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said on social media this weekend that she is “not suicidal,” raising the prospect of “heinous actions” in response to her support for a measure that would force the release of files related to Jeffrey Epstein. “I am not suicidal and one of the happiest healthiest people you will meet,” Greene said Saturday on social platform X, also noting her faith in God. “With that said, if something happens to me, I ask you all to find out which foreign government or powerful people would take heinous actions to stop the information from coming out.”...

New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani holds a 20-point lead over his closest opponent, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in a Suffolk University CityView poll released this week. The survey, which includes likely voters in November’s general election, shows Mamdani in the lead with 45 percent support, followed by Cuomo with 25 percent, Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa with 9 percent and incumbent Mayor Eric Adams with 8 percent. Cuomo and Adams are running as independents. Three other candidates — Conservative Party nominee Irene Estrada, independent Joseph Hernandez and independent Jim Walden — earn a combined 1 percent...

It was June 2015. Online, there were countless videos of smug Democrats, self-proclaimed “experts” and know-nothing pundits literally laughing out loud at the prospect of New York City businessman Donald Trump declaring his run for president. That fools’ parade found it hilarious that Trump truly thought he could beat “seasoned” Republican politicians in the primary. They guaranteed that the “delusional” Trump could never beat Hillary Clinton in the general election. In the process, they only proved themselves irrelevant and totally out of touch with the issues plaguing the nation.Back in 2016, Trump was propelled by a very powerful message —...