Free Republic

More Republicans are speaking out against President Donald Trump’s decision to let Vladimir Putin’s Russia temporarily export diesel fuel on the global market, expanding the bipartisan blowback over the deal. Six GOP senators joined six of their Democratic colleagues in a letter Tuesday urging Trump to cancel the arrangement allowing Russia to supply 4.8 million metric tons, or nearly 36 million barrels, of diesel through mid-April. “This deal is a gift to our adversary and a betrayal of our Allies; it should be rescinded,” the lawmakers wrote. Republican Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Susan Collins of Maine, Oklahoma’s Alan...

WASHINGTON (AP) — A bipartisan group of six senators on Sunday called for President Donald Trump’s administration to “immediately reverse course” on a plan to purchase diesel from Russia as part of an effort to lower high fuel prices. Trump shocked lawmakers when he announced on social media Friday that he struck a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call. He said Russia will immediately supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel to the American and global market, followed by an additional 500,000 tons in November and 1 million tons “immediately thereafter.” Russia will deliver an additional...

Outgoing RINO Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) apparently wants President Donald Trump to know that the phone-number game can go both ways. During an appearance Monday on ABC’s far-left daytime program “The View,” Tillis delivered what sounded like a thinly veiled warning to President Trump after the hosts brought up Trump’s decision to publicly post Senator Tom Cotton’s phone number over the weekend.

It’s moments like these when you really miss Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). The memorial service for the late South Carolina Republican was held on Tuesday, and Mr. Graham’s ability to navigate the Senate, his skills in retail politics, and his experience made him invaluable, especially in his semi-ambassador role between the Senate GOP and the Trump White House. Much of Trump's legislative agenda is uncertain after his passing on July 11 at age 71 from an aortic dissection. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s full confirmation was one of the first issues at risk, and it has now become a reality....

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) said Thursday that he will not support Todd Blanche for attorney general unless President Donald Trump’s nominee first meets with women who say the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein abused them as minors. Tillis announced his position during the second day of the acting attorney general's confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, saying the meeting must occur before he is prepared to advance the nomination. “I have not made a final decision,” Tillis said of whether he will vote to advance Blanche to lead the Justice Department. “Todd Blanche said he’d meet with the...

Sen. Thom Tillis (N.C.), a retiring Republican who has become one of the most vocal critics of the Trump administration in his party, delivered harsh words for President Trump’s top-priority voter ID legislation on the Senate floor Thursday morning, saying he would stall it if the legislation came again to the Senate. “If I see a reconciliation bill come from the House with another failed attempt to confuse this election, I will use every device I have available to slow down the wheels of government until people cop a clue and do the math,” Tillis said, nearly shouting, on the...

With Lindsey Graham's death, and John Cornyn's defeat, Mike Lee is second in seniority, next to 92 year old Chuck Grassley (elected in 1980). Grassley has been maintaining the old blue slip tradition, preventing the confirmation of US Attorneys that Democrats don't like. If Grassley dies, or chooses to be chair of another committee come January, Mike Lee will be chair (assuming the Republicans hold the Senate). Thom Tillis (who also blocked nominees) will also be gone, and Ken Paxton will likely be added. On the Democrat side, Dick Durbin is retiring (moving Whitehouse to ranking member) and Amy Klobuchar...

@OcrazioCornPop Senator Ashley Moody (R-FL) just gaveled in her SECOND pro forma session in two days for @LeaderJohnThune, BLOCKING work on the SAVE America Act AND Trump's recess appointments! The Senate is OFF FOR 19 DAYS! SHOULDN'T @realDonaldTrump use Article II Section 3 and CALL THEM BACK NOW TO Pass the SAVE AMERICA ACT!?

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) on Sunday said ensuring the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (SAVE America) Act gets passed in the Senate is an “impossible task.” “You know, I have people telling me I need to implement the SAVE Act immediately in North Carolina, in a state that has voter ID,” Tillis told CNN’s Jake Tapper during an interview on “State of the Union.” He then asked why “do I, over the next four months, have to try to pursue the impossible task of implementing a bill that simply can’t be imlemented in that timeframe?” “Why are we doing more...

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) didn’t mince any words Tuesday in calling out what he characterized as the “bulls—” arguments of fellow Republican Sen. Mike Lee (Utah) on social media, revealing the tensions within the Senate Republican Conference over how to push forward on the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act. Tillis said Lee’s push for Republicans to force Democrats to actively hold the floor in continuous debate to block the bill — in other words, to force Democrats to employ a talking filibuster — is “goofy.” “I think it’s silly. All of it’s just goofy stuff,” he said. “It’s...

Six Republicans joined with Democrats on Thursday to support a measure that would block the construction of President Donald Trump's planned White House ballroom. The measure needed 60 votes to pass and came as part of a string of amendment votes ahead of the main vote on a reconciliation bill to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol. The final vote was 52-47 in favor, with GOP Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, John Husted of Ohio, Jerry Moran of Kansas, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, and Thom Tillis of North Carolina voting to block construction,...

The Senate on Thursday voted on a proposal to block the construction of President Trump’s 90,000 square foot ballroom.The proposal, which needed 60 votes, failed 52-47.However, SIX Republican Senators voted with the Democrats to block the construction of the ballroom: Collins, Husted, Moran, Murkowski, Sullivan and Tillis.The proposal was introduced by Democrat Senator Jeff Merkley during Thursday’s vote-a-rama.

Summary of Video Transcript North Carolina Republican Senator Thom Tillis told CNN's "State of the Union," in response to President Trump calling him a RINO (Republican in Name Only), that if being in the party means defending Trump's positions on Iran, January 6, and Russia, "then don't call me a Republican." "Just call me a conservative. And I'm waiting for my Republicans to come back, if in fact they think they can argue that effectively. They can't. The American people want right-of-center conservative policies that have been successfully proposed by this president," Tillis said. "But these distractions are harmful to...

The D.C. establishment is showing its true colors in their latest swampy move. Senate Republicans are considering adding eligibility restrictions to the new “Anti-Weaponization Fund” as part of the ongoing reconciliation bill process. As part of the settlement agreement in “President Donald J. Trump v. Internal Revenue Service,” the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the formation of “The Anti-Weaponization Fund,” funding it with approximately $1.776 billion from the federal Judgment Fund. This agreement was formed in place of Trump or his family receiving any of the $10 billion in restitution they sought through the original lawsuit. FLASH: DOJ expands...

Days before Donald Trump is scheduled to visit mainland China, a group of mostly Democrat senators reportedly is urging the president to move ahead with a long-delayed $14 billion weapons package for Taiwan.The bipartisan group pressed Trump in a Friday letter to formally notify Congress of the major arms sale ahead of his summit this week with Chinese President Xi Jinping, warning that U.S. support for Taiwan "is not up for negotiation," The New York Times reported. The senators argued Taiwan has already demonstrated its commitment to self-defense after lawmakers in Taipei approved a massive $25 billion special defense budget...

U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro on Sunday appeared to abandon a plan to appeal an adverse ruling in her attempts to criminally investigate Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Pirro has long said she planned to ask a higher court to review recent rulings by Chief Judge James Boasberg of the District of Columbia quashing her subpoenas to the Fed. She has argued that the judge’s decision makes it difficult for her to conduct grand jury investigations in general. Her appeal was due by Monday. ...... Boasberg ruled against Pirro because her office presented no specific evidence...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Jerome Powell said Wednesday he plans to remain on the board of the Federal Reserve after his term as chair ends next month “for a period of time, to be determined,” saying the “unprecedented” legal attacks by the Trump administration have put the independence of the nation’s central bank at risk. “I worry these attacks are battering this institution and putting at risk the things that really matter to the public,” Powell said in remarks at a press conference after the Fed announced its decision to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged. Powell’s decision to stay —...

The Justice Department on Friday dropped its criminal investigation into Fed Chairman Jerome Powell. This clears the way for Trump’s Fed Chair nominee Kevin Warsh to be confirmed. Senator Thom Tillis vowed to block Trump’s Fed Chair confirmation until the Justice Department dropped its investigation into Powell. US Attorney Jeanine Pirro made the announcement on Friday morning: "This morning the Inspector General for the Federal Reserve has been asked to scrutinize the building costs overruns – in the billions of dollars – that have been borne by taxpayers. The IG has the authority to hold the Federal Reserve accountable to...

The Justice Department on Friday dropped a criminal investigation into the Federal Reserve and its leader, Chair Jerome Powell, regarding a renovation project at the central bank's Washington headquarters. "This morning the Inspector General for the Federal Reserve has been asked to scrutinize the building costs overruns – in the billions of dollars – that have been borne by taxpayers," said U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro in a post on X. "Accordingly, I have directed my office to close our investigation as the IG undertakes this inquiry."

A US district judge on Friday denied the Trump administration’s request to reconsider the legality of two subpoenas targeting the Federal Reserve, after he blocked them last month. In a biting six-page opinion, US District Judge James Boasberg wrote that the government had failed to provide any new evidence or identify any error in his March ruling. The chief judge of Washington’s federal trial court wrote that the government’s “cursory brief” does “not come close to convincing the Court that a different outcome is warranted.” *** Last month, US Attorney Jeanine Pirro appealed the initial ruling, which blocked two subpoenas...