Free Republic

In the run-up to the vote to confirm Pete Hegseth as defense secretary, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., knew her party had a problem — and its name was John Fetterman. Fetterman, the Democratic senator from Pennsylvania, was open to confirming President Donald Trump’s embattled pick, according to two people familiar with his thinking. Murray wanted to speak with her colleague one-on-one. So she reached out to set up a time. But Fetterman refused, as the two people familiar with the episode told NBC News. “He figured that she wanted to yell at him about it,” one person familiar with the...

Another case in which a man allegedly slipped abortion pills to a woman causing her to miscarry. David Benjamin Coots, a Washington state nurse practitioner, “is accused of secretly administering abortion pills to his mistress during sex leading to assault and rape charges,” Lesley Cosme Torres reporting for People Magazine. Yet even with a string of serious charges– second-degree assault, third-degree rape, tampering with a witness and five counts of violating a court order–Judge Stanley Rumbaugh will allow Coots to remove an electronic home-monitoring device on May 14th so he can start a business. Coots was a nurse practitioner at...

A McDonald’s restaurant in the progressive Washington, D.C. suburb of Fairfax County, Virginia has banned under 21-year-olds from indoor dining after “repeated incidents of student violence.” Adults must ring a doorbell to be let in by staff. The McDonald’s is located just outside the Beltway in the Franconia neighborhood between Alexandria and Springfield. It has been a popular hangout for students of several nearby schools, including Thomas A. Edison High School. A sign posted at the door says, “RING THE DOORBELL SAFETY NOTICE: Effective immediately. Due to repeated incidents of student violence, this McDonald’s location is temporarily closed for dine-in...

Washington Governor Bob Ferguson signed a bill Wednesday that set limits on rent increases—one of the first in the country. Rent stabilization bill, HB 1217, caps rent increases at 7% plus inflation, or 10%—whichever is lower. Washington now joins Oregon and California in drafting legislation that curbs climbing rent prices. “There is no single policy that will fix our housing crisis, but we need this comprehensive approach,” Sen. Emily Alvarado said at the bill signing.

We previously discussed the legislation passed by Washington State democrats that requires priests to violate the sanctity of the confessional to report child abuse. I described the law as “blatantly unconstitutional” in eviscerating the right to the free exercise of religion. The state is moving to create an effective system of sacramental snitches and the Catholic Church is declaring “enough.” It has announced that any priest who complies with the law will be promptly excommunicated. We previously discussed the proposed legislation that would target priests who learn of any “reasonable” basis to believe that a child “has suffered abuse or...

Pro-Palestinian students at the University of Washington occupied the Interdisciplinary Engineering Building Monday evening, renaming it the Shaban al-Dalou Building, in protest against the university's ties to Boeing. A separate group dressed in all black stacked furniture to create a blockade in front of the building before toppling dumpsters to block off nearby Jefferson Road, then confronted a security officer until he drove away.

A new Washington state law now compels Catholic priests to report child abuse even if the information is revealed in the sacrament of confession. The controversial legislation, signed May 2 by Democratic Gov. Bob Ferguson, makes Washington the first state to explicitly eliminate legal protections for the sacred seal of confession in abuse-related cases. Some states have laws requiring clergy to report abuse that also don’t include exemptions for clergy-penitent privilege, but Washington’s Senate Bill 5375 — which passed 64-31 in the House and 28-20 in the Senate — was the first with direct legislative intent to remove protections for...

Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham was on the receiving end of some brutal treatment by the Washington Mystics in the first preseason game of her WNBA season. The Fever played without star Caitlin Clark, who was absent due to a minor injury that was described as 'a little tightness' in her left leg. So it was Cunningham that led the way for Indiana. However, she didn't do so without a bit of bruising. In the second quarter, Cunningham was fighting for a rebound with Mystics rookie Kiki Iriafen. Iriafen had her arm wrapped around Cunningham's torso and then flung her...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Trump signs executive order aimed at cutting federal subsidies for PBS and NPR, alleging 'bias.' May 2 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to halt federal funding to PBS and NPR, calling the public news organizations "biased." Trump, who has long criticized the two news organizations for alleged bias, signed the executive order Thursday, directing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to cease direct funding to NPR and PBS to the maximum extent allowed by law.

Sunday on NBC’s “Meet The Press,” reacted to the 9th Circuit Court ruling upholding the blocking of President Trump‘s executive order halting immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States senior advisor to President Donald Trump Stephen Miller said, there was no such thing as “judicial supremacy.” Partial transcript as follows: TODD: Let me start with the decision by the 9th circuit and the president himself saying to reporters that a new order may be drafted. Is that what you and others are doing right now? Drafting a new order since essentially the 9th circuit seemed to give...

Stephen Miller argued that a judge cannot singlehandedly strike down the president’s executive order on immigration because we “have equal branches of government in this country.”After a three-judge panel with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit unanimously ruled to reject the Justice Department’s request to lift a Seattle judge’s restraining order on President Trump’s immigration order this week, his senior policy adviser said that the judicial branch is “not supreme.”“The point I want to make to you, George, and the point I want to make to your listeners, is that we have equal branches of government in this...

Washington does not recognize Easter or Yom Kippur as state holidays. The state of Washington, which does not officially recognize Easter or Yom Kippur as state holidays, became the first state in the nation to recognize the two Islamic holidays of Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha as unpaid state-recognized holidays when Democrat Governor Bob Ferguson signed the legislation into law this month. “Senate Bill 5106, sponsored by Sen. Yasmin Trudeau (D-Tacoma), adds both Eid holidays to a list of 20 other state holidays. Rep. Osman Salahuddin (D-Redmond) sponsored the companion bill,” Ferguson’s website stated. “The new law does not establish...

The Brief -State Senator Bill Ramos has died suddenly. -His wife, Councilmember Sarah Perry, announced his passing on Sunday. -Tributes continue to pour in from local leaders. His wife, King County Councilmember Sarah Perry, issued a statement on the state senator's passing, reading, in part: "I am devastated to share that Bill passed away suddenly on the evening of April 19. He was doing what he loved – running on one of the many trails near our Issaquah home. For Bill, these runs were a way to relieve stress during a busy legislative session, a way to stay active –...

'They can’t wait two years for a hearing. They need ... relief right away.' Illegal aliens with criminal convictions in Washington state may soon get an "expedited review" of their application for a pardon or commutation from the governor, thanks to a bill passed exclusively by Democrats. In the last few weeks, both the Washington state House and Senate have passed H.B. 1131, making it ready to send along to the desk of Democratic Gov. Bob Ferguson. While the bill addresses a number of issues related to pardons and clemency, it specifically sends those at risk of deportation to the...

Every week, it seems there’s a contest between the states on the West Coast, Messed Coast™ to out-woke each other, and this week is no different. Washington leads the way again this week, with Democrats doing everything in their power to kill business and get rid of the riff raff normies by making it so expensive that people will be forced to leave. Things are looking up for black Washingtonians, however. Free down payments for houses! Oregon’s two-tiered school system is in full flower with astonishing race-based spending. And did you hear the one about California Gov. Gavin Newsom promising...

Video surveillance captured the attack on a student at Washington State University in Pullman, WA. Both attackers relived of their college jobs. The instructor Patrick Mahoney is now facing assault charges.

Get ready for a spectacular light show tonight as geomagnetic storms bring the northern lights closer to unexpected locations. The northern lights, or aurora borealis, are expected to put on a stunning display across several U.S. states tonight, thanks to geomagnetic storms that are disrupting Earth’s magnetic field. These solar-driven storms, forecasted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), will bring the auroras closer to areas typically outside their usual range. This rare opportunity offers a chance for skywatchers in unexpected locations to witness one of nature’s most mesmerizing phenomena. Where Will the Northern Lights Be Visible? According to...

A Washington state man accused of making more than 20 swatting calls across the U.S. and in Canada, leading to law enforcement responses to his false reports of bombings, shootings and other crimes, pleaded guilty. Ashton Garcia, 21, pleaded guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to two counts of extortion and two counts of threats and hoaxes regarding explosives, U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman said in a news release. Garcia was initially charged with 10 felony counts. Garcia placed the calls to agencies in Washington state, California, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Colorado,...

President Trump said Japan is set to kick off tariff negotiations with the US in Washington on Wednesday — becoming one of the first countries to test his willingness to relent on the sweeping tariffs. “Japan is coming in today to negotiate Tariffs, the cost of military support, and ‘TRADE FAIRNESS’,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. “I will attend the meeting, along with Treasury & Commerce Secretaries. Hopefully something can be worked out which is good (GREAT!) for Japan and the USA!” It comes a day after the Trump administration said it had been presented with offers from...

A bombshell report from the America First Policy Institute has exposed a staggering $100 million in foreign dark money laundered through the Sixteen Thirty Fund to bankroll radical ballot initiatives across 25 states. The Sixteen Thirty Fund, a notorious hub for progressive causes, has been caught funneling foreign cash into state ballot measures targeting divisive issues like abortion, election law, and drug policy. According to the America First Policy Institute: Non-citizens can influence U.S. elections and domestic policy through donations to ballot initiatives. Instead of the ballot initiative process being decided by state residents who are affected by the result,...