Free Republic

The multi-year drought may be easing thanks to recent storms, but scientists suggest that Lake Mead and Lake Powell, reservoirs on the Colorado River, may not refill “in our lifestimes,” according to the Los Angeles Times. The reservoirs have been dwindling over many years — not just due to the drought, but also due to demand that has increased over the many decades since the dams were built, and due to decreased rainfall in recent times.

On Saturday, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed Senate Bill 16 into law. Under SB0016, sex change operations or “gender-affirming” surgery for minors is banned in the Beehive State. The bill also places limitations on the use of hormone treatments and puberty blockers. Along with banning sex change surgery for minors, the key takeaways from the bill are that the state Department of Health and Human Services will “conduct a systematic review of the medical evidence regarding hormonal transgender treatments and provide recommendations to the Legislature.” The bill also directs the Department of Professional Licensing to create a certification for providing...

“You teach it to a group of seniors at West Jordan High and they don’t tell their parents.” Administrators, educators, and union officials in Utah were caught on video boasting about how they managed to keep teaching critical race theory or LGBTQ concepts to students, despite Utah’s bans on CRT in the classroom ... The Utah legislature passed two resolutions in May 2021 to ban CRT from schools, and the Utah Board of Education then approved similar restrictions in June 2021, ... her team gets around the rules by only telling parents what wokeness they taught kids after the fact,...

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) on Thursday defended the continued aid that the United States is providing to Ukraine to defend itself against Russia, saying that as a country “we care about human life.” Romney said in a video post on his Twitter account that the U.S. support for Ukraine is both the “right thing” to do and necessary for U.S. national security interests. “I begin, of course, with just the humanitarian reality, which is we care about human life and about the suffering that’s going on in Ukraine,” he said. “We’re just appalled by the fact that Russia has invaded...

Twenty-five attorneys general and several other plaintiffs have sued the Biden administration asking the court to halt a federal ESG policy that could negatively impact the retirement savings of 152 million Americans. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court Northern District Amarillo Division naming Secretary of Labor Martin Walsh and the U.S. Department of Labor as defendants. It alleges the U.S. Department of Labor created a rule prioritizing “woke” Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing that jeopardizes the retirement savings of 152 million workers, or two-thirds of the U.S. population. Last November, the Department of Labor finalized a rule...

Former President Donald Trump has a double-digit lead in the hypothetical 2024 Republican primary race in Utah, an OH Predictive Insights survey released this week found.They survey took an early reading of the general sentiments of Republican Utah voters, over a year ahead of the 2024 presidential primaries. The survey listed 12 potential candidates, including Trump, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), former Vice President Mike Pence, former Rep. Liz Cheney, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), former Gov. Chris Christie, Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA), Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD), former Secretary of...

On November 8, 2022, in Utah’s State Representative race, 29th district, the Constitution Party nominee, Kirk Pearson, outpolled his Democratic opponent. The Republican nominee won with 10,832 votes, followed by Pearson with 2,254, and then the Democratic nominee with 2,131.

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, are still seething over the Senate passing last week's $1.7 trillion omnibus bill, and apparently not waiting until 2023 to negotiate terms for such a massive spending initiative. And from the two senators' perspective, the brunt of blame lies squarely on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. "The arrogance of our [Senate GOP] leadership who said, 'We know better than House members. We're going to pass this. We'll get religion next year when it comes to fiscal sanity,'" Johnson told John Catsimatidis in a Sunday interview that aired on national radio....

Sen. Mike Lee called out Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for cutting off the pay of Navy Lt. Ridge Alkonis while he serves a three-year prison sentence in Japan. “Secretary Austin callously informed me that day that the request for the exception to policy would not be granted. I asked him why. He believed it wasn’t appropriate for the department to do that,” the Utah Republican said last week in a Senate floor speech, referring to a Nov. 29 phone call with the secretary. The Department of Defense’s decision to not extend Alkonis’ pay and benefits while he serves his sentence...

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (TND) — Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, is convinced he would win a second term in the U.S. Senate if he runs again, despite failing twice at becoming the Republican nominee for president and being known for breaking from his GOP colleagues during certain standoffs with Democrats. "I’m convinced that if I run, I win," Romney told Politico while discussing his potential bid for reelection that would come up in 2024. Probably the most noteworthy divergence Romney has taken from his own party was when he voted in favor of impeaching former President Donald Trump, becoming the...

An effort led by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) to maintain Title 42 is threatening efforts to pass a sweeping government funding bill before a shutdown deadline later this week. Congressional negotiators on both sides say the biggest holdup is ongoing negotiations to decide what the voting threshold would be to pass the amendment. Lee’s amendment to the bipartisan deal would cut funding for Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’s office unless the Biden administration reinstates the border control policy known as Title 42, a Trump-era policy that allows for migrants to be quickly expelled at the border without asylum processing. The...

Republican leadership in the House is barreling ahead with efforts to prevent Democrats from passing a lame-duck omnibus spending bill this year.“We’re 20 days before the new members are being sworn in. We’ve got two members leading appropriations in the Senate who will no longer be here or be able to be held accountable to the constituents,” Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said at a press conference on Wednesday. He was referring to Sens. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., negotiating what will be in the omnibus, despite the fact that they will be leaving office next month.“We’ve got an...

A small but vocal group of Republican senators is furious with GOP leadership over the agreement with Democrats to approve a massive year-end spending bill that will fund the federal government through next September. The bipartisan deal has created a schism between Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Republican colleagues in both chambers — including House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy — who accuse Mr. McConnell and his leadership of rolling over to help Democrats pass a major budget on the brink of a government shutdown and the holidays without knowing what’s in it. “I don’t see any reason why Republicans...

Sen. Mitt Romney has once again cozied up to Democrats by recently condemning his Republican colleagues who are launching investigations into Hunter Biden. Romney told The Bulwark, he believes investigations by the now Republican-controlled House are a waste of time and resources. Romney would go on to say “I think the American people want us to tackle some of the big challenges we have—immigration, inflation, and so forth—and the other things that divert from those priorities I think are a waste of time.”

Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney will break from the GOP if Donald Trump is the nominee in 2024Sen. Mitt Romney has unequivocally ruled out supporting 45th President Donald Trump’s third bid for the White House, even if the former president secures the Republican Party’s nomination.The establishment U.S. Senator from Utah, who once sought Trump’s support in his failed bid failed to oust 44th President Barack Obama from the White House in 2012, made the remarks during a climate change event in Washington, D.C.“Absolutely not,” Romney said, according to The Washington Examiner. He then touted his impeachment record, telling attendees,...

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) said Thursday he would not support former President Donald Trump if he were to become the Republican nominee for president in 2024. “Absolutely not,” Romney told a reporter during an event on climate change in Washington, D.C. “Look, I voted to remove him from office twice.” “And it’s not just because he loses,” the senator said of his refusal to support Trump. “That’s my reason that I offer to other people who are big fans of his. But it’s also [that] he’s simply not a person who ought to have the reins of the government of...

I have no nice words, so I'm going to show you the video: VIDEO AT LINK.......... BREAKING: 9 Month Investigation Into @HHSGov Whistleblower Child Trafficking Evidence Reveals ‘Sponsor’ of 16 Year Old Unaccompanied Migrant Would "Pimp" Her to Men to Repay $10,000+ "Debt" for Getting Across Border HHS Whistleblower: "We don't get sued by [child] traffickers." I mean it: I have no nice words. The media tells you that a wide-open border is about compassion and tolerance. But I've seen enough dead babies in the desert and teen girls being sold as prostitutes to tell you that this "compassion" is...

Republican Utah Senator Mitt Romney has come out to criticize former President Donald Trump for his recent meeting with white supremacist Nick Fuentes and Kanye West.The video has begun circulating on social media since being posted on Monday and has already been viewed more than 80,000 times.Speaking to MSNBC, Romney said: "It is disgusting to invite people like that to meet the former President of the United States.Romney: I think it's been clear that there is no bottom to the degree to which president trump will degrade himself and the nation. pic.twitter.com/6Jw5vDQ6If— Acyn (@Acyn) November 29, 2022"I think it has...

12 RINOs …

A handful of Senate Republicans reportedly started talks with illegal aliens enrolled in and eligible for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program as House and Senate Democrats, along with corporate special interest allies, hope to pass an amnesty in the lame-duck Congress. This week, DACA illegal aliens and open borders activists descended on Washington, DC, in their efforts to lobby ten Senate Republicans to join Democrats in passing an amnesty — before the GOP takes control of the House — that would secure them green cards and, eventually, naturalized American citizenship. According to Politico, Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX),...