Free Republic

The head of the House Armed Services Committee dealt another blow to immigration reform efforts in the Republican-controlled House on Friday by deciding not to include in this year's defense policy bill GOP-written proposals that would permit undocumented immigrants to become legal U.S. residents if they serve in the military. Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.) speaks during a recent subcommittee hearing. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP) Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.) speaks during a recent subcommittee hearing. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP) The decision could cause considerable political trouble for Reps. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.) and Jeff Denham (R-Calif.) and other Republicans who represent districts with growing...

Despite what constituents outside of Washington might think, members of Congress are underpaid, a House Legislative Branch appropriator suggested Thursday. Virginia Democrat James P. Moran said he plans to highlight the injustice by introducing an amendment to the Legislative Branch bill during its full committee markup, and at floor consideration of the bill. Moran made the comments while the bill that funds member’s $174,000 salaries was being marked up in the Legislative Branch subcommittee. “I think the American people should know that the members of Congress are underpaid,” Moran told CQ Roll Call. “I understand that it’s widely felt that...

Nearly a year after the Senate rejected an effort to expand background checks for gun buyers, top Senate Democrats said Thursday that they still lack the votes to successfully revisit the issue. A day after the latest shootings in Fort Hood in Texas, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., told reporters, “I would like to be able to bring it back up, but I need some more votes.” …

When U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power testifies before a House Appropriations subcommittee on Wednesday, the panel will consider a budget request for international organizations that is 33 percent bigger than last year’s, including a 43 percent hike in U.S. contributions to peacekeeping missions. […] As it has done for the past two years, the administration is asking Congress to waive legislative provisions making it unlawful for the U.S. to fund U.N. agencies that admit “Palestine.” …

Muriel Bowser won the District of Columbia’s Democratic mayoral primary Tuesday, defeating incumbent Vincent Gray in a race defined by a scandal involving Gray’s campaign four years ago. Bowser tapped into an electorate that tired of the allegations surrounding Gray. Five people who worked on the mayor’s 2010 campaign have pleaded guilty to felonies, and Bowser said the city needed a fresh start as the mayor faced potential criminal charges. Bowser, 41, is a D.C. councilmember and a protégé of former Mayor Adrian Fenty, whom Gray defeated in 2010. …

In June 2013, a bipartisan group of senators (including presidential hopeful Marco Rubio) passed a comprehensive immigration reform bill that President Obama promised to sign. Since then, Republicans have worked hard to distance themselves from that bill — Rubio stopped talking about it altogether, and Speaker of the House John Boehner says he won't bring it to the House floor. Now many Latinos are so disillusioned that they don't want to vote at all, making Boehner and the gang's gamble all too worth it. The New York Times noted Sunday that "immigrant-rights advocates report mounting disillusionment with both parties among...

After months of bitter campaigning, the race for the Democratic nomination for D.C. mayor ended at 8 p.m. Tuesday, with polls closing and voters deciding whether to grant scandal-tarred incumbent Vincent C. Gray the chance for another term. Early returns showed Council member Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4) with a 48 percent to 28 percent lead over Gray, with just 9,300 votes counted...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is giving advice to grandparents on how they can get their grandkids to eat healthier, including instructions to give them “hugs” instead of treats, and read government bedtime stories.

MILLER: Witaschek surrenders to D.C. police ‘Gun Offenders Registry’ Businessman convicted of having unregistered muzzleloader bullets By Emily Miller The Washington Times Friday, March 28, 2014 Mark Witaschek never had a firearm in the District of Columbia, but he is now on the city’s Gun Offenders Registry. This bizarre case has drawn national attention because an upstanding citizen was tried and convicted of possessing unregistered ammunition for muzzleloader bullets, which are simply pieces of lead and copper. On Friday afternoon, I accompanied Mr. Witaschek and his wife, Bonnie, to Metropolitan Police Department headquarters to abide by the terms of his...

Conservative-leaning newspaper the Washington Times announced on Thursday that it will be launching a magazine specifically targeting black conservatives, FishbowlDC reports. The new magazine, called the American CurrentSee, will bring together big names in the black conservative world, including former neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who will be publisher;

America is al-Qaeda’s primary target for car bombs, specifically Washington, New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, according to the latest issue of Inspire, a slick online English-language magazine published by the global terrorist organization.

It is quite hard to take the claims by Hobby Lobby seriously. The main drugs in question in the case brought before the Supreme Court are the emergency contraceptives Plan-B and Ella. One huge problem with this situation is that up until 2012, Hobby Lobby provided them as part of their insurance plan. Only when they realized that Obamacare was going to mandate this coverage did they suddenly become interested in not providing these drugs. In their initial complaint to the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma, Hobby Lobby stated, “After learning about the current HHS...

Matt Drudge’s widely discussed tweet that he has already paid Obamacare’s “liberty tax” highlights the uncertainties the self-employed face both from the health care law and the tax code in general. As pointed out by an editorial in Investor’s Business Daily, “self-employed entrepreneurs ranging from Drudge to small-shop proprietors and independent contractors have long been aware of the requirement to estimate their tax liability and send a quarter of it in every three months, and that this amount includes ‘other taxes’ such as the ObamaCare opt-out penalty.”

Sixty-three percent of the federal civilian workers who earned an annual salary of $100,000 or more in 2013 were men, according to data from the Office of Personnel Management. An OPM database—FedScope—contains historical data on the federal civilian workforce going back to 1998. The database contains information about civilian federal workers employed by most Executive Branch agencies (excluding intelligence agencies, the White House, and the Office of the Vice President) and some Legislative Branch agencies. It does not include employees of the Judiciary Branch or congressional staff. …

A major development occurred today in the scandal surrounding the Washington Post’s attempt to advance Democratic Party talking points by falsely linking Koch Industries to the Keystone Pipeline. In the unlikely event that you are not already familiar with the story, you should begin by reading this post and this one, as well as the one from last October where I dismantled the International Forum on Globalization report that was the basis for the Washington Post’s story of March 20. The facts, very briefly, are these: Koch Industries has no interest in the Keystone Pipeline; it has not lobbied in...

Rand Paul is the most intriguing — and for Democrats, perhaps the most frightening — figure in today’s Republican Party. The Kentucky senator, who is more than flirting with a 2016 presidential run, is making a smart play for the millennial generation that was key to President Obama’s twin victories and that his own party has convincingly repelled. Paul’s unlikely pilgrimage to the progressive precincts of the University of California at Berkeley offered the most convincing evidence so far that he is serious about carving out this (sorry, President Clinton) third way space — and a demonstration of his potential...

Full title: MILLER: Exclusive — Shock verdict — Mark Witaschek guilty of possessing muzzleloader bullets in D.C.… while NBC’s David Gregory got off scot freeIn a surprising twist at the end of a long trial, a District of Columbia judge found Mark Witaschek guilty of “attempted possession of unlawful ammunition” for antique replica muzzleloader bullets. Judge Robert Morin sentenced Mr. Witaschek to time served, a $50 fine and required him to enroll with the Metropolitan Police Department’s firearm offenders’ registry within 48 hours. Outside the courtroom, I asked Mr. Witaschek how he felt about the verdict. “I’m completely outraged by...

U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley is likely sweating it after a remark about the lack of towel service at an exclusive gym that has remained open to lawmakers during the government shutdown. The Iowa congressman defended the backlash for the gym's continued operation, while thousands of government employees are furloughed, including workers at the fitness center. He said on the "Bill Press Show:" "There's hardly anybody working down there. There's no towel service. So we're doing our own laundry down there. And we pay a fee to belong to the House gym. So this is no different than if you're working...

Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder released a statement late Monday night announcing that despite widespread calls for the team to change its name, the name and logo would remain the same. But in lieu of a name change, Snyder has created the “Washington Redskins Original Americans Foundation,” with hopes to “provide meaningful and measurable resources that provide genuine opportunities for tribal communities.”

The outgoing director of the National Security Agency wants former President Jimmy Carter to know: It's safe to use email. Gen. Keith Alexander, in an exclusive interview with Fox News' Bret Baier, addressed concerns raised by the former president, who on Sunday said he uses snail mail to communicate with foreign leaders for fear his emails are being monitored. "We're not [monitoring the emails]," Alexander said. "So he can now go back to writing emails. The reality is, we don't do that. And if we did, it would be illegal and we'd be ... held accountable and responsible."