Free Republic

Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) said Sunday that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) will be blamed if the U.S. fails to provide aid to Ukraine and it loses its war against Russia. “Now, he has to think about his conscience, because I got to tell you, if Ukraine loses this fight, he will be the guy in the history books that are written about why Ukraine lost this fight,” Kinzinger said in an interview on CNN. “They won’t necessarily say that he’s the one that pulled the aid, but he’s the one that could have done something which changed it.” “We...

Former Vice President Mike Pence blasted former President Trump on Monday for embracing the position that abortion policy should be determined by states and avoiding taking a stance on whether the federal government should enforce a national ban at a certain cutoff point. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Pence — who was Trump’s running mate in 2016 and 2020 —said Trump’s newly announced position on abortion was a “slap in the face” to opponents of abortion rights who voted for their ticket. “President Trump’s retreat on the Right to Life is a slap in the face to the...

President Joe Biden’s administration announced its plan on Thursday to protect bureaucrats from being fired by a potential second Trump administration. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) finalized a rule that protects employees in the civil service by preventing the removal of their status and protections involuntarily, according to a press release. Under the new rule, an administration wishing to shift federal employees to a new category making them easier to fire would have to go through an elongated process, a move meant to be more time-consuming for a future president, Politico reported. “Career federal employees deliver critical services...

Gordon Sondland, the former ambassador to the European Union who testified against former President Donald Trump during the Democrats’ first impeachment attempt, has registered as a foreign agent of Ukraine.During the impeachment hearings, Sondland gave contradictory testimony about a White House meeting in exchange for investigations of 2016 election interference and Burisma Holdings, a company tied to the Biden family business.It is unclear what specific work Sondland produces for Ukraine. His registration leaves blank for what “purpose” he works for the embattled county and only notes he works for a “Foreign Principal.” It also does not specify any compensation.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was spotted on Capitol Hill ahead of Wednesday’s House impeachment inquiry hearing — sort of. Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) donned a Putin mask ahead of the House Oversight Committee hearing on allegations about the first family’s business dealings overseas in a swipe at Republicans leading the inquiry. “I just came to thank [Oversight Committee Chairman] James Comer for taking all of our intelligence and using it in the committee,” Moskowitz, 43, told reporters as “Putin.” “Maybe he can come see the technology in the grocery stores,” the Democrat added in a reference to conservative pundit Tucker...

As America closes in on a major election, mistrust is brewing around the mysterious government entity that’s now denounced in scary-sounding terms — “the deep state” and “the swamp.” What do those words even mean? Who exactly do they describe? We went on a road trip to find out. As we met the Americans who are being dismissed as public enemies, we discovered that they are … us. They like Taylor Swift. They dance bachata. They go to bed at night watching “Star Trek” reruns. They go to work and do their jobs: saving us from Armageddon. Sure, our tax...

Former Vice President Mike Pence was on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday morning. He told moderator Margaret Brennan that the use of the term hostages for January 6th defendants was “unacceptable.” “What do you think when you hear him refer to those people facing charges as hostages and patriots?” Brennan asked Pence. “Well, I think it’s unfortunate at a time that there are American hostages being held in Gaza that the President or any other leaders who would refer to people that are moving through our justice system as hostages and it’s just, it’s just unacceptable,” Pence responded.

Louisiana GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy on Sunday criticized his party’s presumptive presidential nominee, saying that former President Donald Trump’s rhetoric about illegal immigrants “reflected poorly” and that he’s spoken about migrants in a “dehumanizing fashion.” Asked about Trump’s recent comments that not all undocumented immigrants are people, Cassidy told NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” “The president’s rhetoric has reflected poorly ... regarding folks who are coming here illegally — illegally — and they shouldn’t be, but in a dehumanizing fashion. And that’s why again, many people continue to have reservations.” “The best thing going for Donald Trump running for president...

On March 8, 2024, U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman decided against a federal ban on gun ownership for illegal immigrant Heriberto Carbajal-Flores. The case at hand centered on Carbajal-Flores, who was “charged with possession of a firearm while illegally or unlawfully in the United States.” He had a handgun in his possession “in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois,” on June 1, 2020. He was charged for being a non-citizen in possession for a firearm. Coleman ultimately concluded, “The noncitizen possession statute, 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(5), violates the Second Amendment as applied to Carbajal-Flores. Thus, the Court grants...

Democrat Sen. Mark Warner, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is warning that U.S. forces could be “in combat” if Congress fails to pass $61 billion in aid to Ukraine."Ukrainians in two years have been really remarkable," Warner said on a press call Thursday. "They've literally destroyed 87%. Russia's pre-existing ground forces have either been killed or wounded or are basically out of the conflict, and now the world is waiting to see whether the United States is going to honor its commitment to Ukraine."The Virginia lawmaker said he "fears" that if the U.S. doesn't pass additional war funding for...

Mike Pence says he will not endorse Donald Trump in 2024

In the classroom, the boardroom, and at the speaker’s dais, the former chair of the joint chiefs cashes in. SINCE RETIRING FROM the military last year, former Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Mark Milley has become a senior adviser to JPMorgan Chase bank, joined the faculties of Princeton and Georgetown, and embraced the lucrative paid speaking circuit. From military pay of $204,000 a year, Milley is sure to skyrocket to compensation in the millions, especially because he is represented by the same high-powered speakers’ agency as Hillary Clinton, who faced criticism in 2016 for her paid...

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) reportedly said the House of Representatives would cobble together a Ukraine aid bill while speaking with Republican senators on Wednesday during a retreat on Capitol Hill. The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reported on the conversations that occurred at the Library of Congress during the annual Republican Senate retreat and emphasized the speaker “cautioned that what comes out of the House will look substantially different than the $95 billion foreign aid package the Senate passed last month.” Per Bolton, Johnson suggested a lend-and-lease program during the meeting but did not mention whether border security measures would be...

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) on Thursday again pressed Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to take up the Senate-passed national security spending package, which includes $60 billion for Ukraine, despite Johnson’s message to GOP senators this week that he’s moving in a different direction. McConnell didn’t express much interest in waiting weeks or maybe months for the House to come up with an alternative proposal to help Ukraine. “The chilling reality here is abundantly clear. Withholding critical weapons has not helped manage [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s escalation. It has only emboldened him,” McConnell warned on the Senate floor. That alternative...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon will rush about $300 million in weapons to Ukraine after finding some cost savings in its contracts, even though the military remains deeply overdrawn and needs at least $10 billion to replenish all the weapons it has pulled from its stocks to help Kyiv in its desperate fight against Russia, the White House announced Tuesday. It's the Pentagon's first announced security package for Ukraine since December, when it acknowledged it was out of replenishment funds. It wasn't until recent days that officials publicly acknowledged they weren't just out of replenishment funds, but $10 billion overdrawn....

Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) blamed former President Trump and conservative media host Tucker Carlson for the rise in anti-Ukrainian sentiment in the House, dubbing the pair the leaders of a “pro-Putin faction” of the Republican Party. Ukraine aid has languished in the House for months as Republicans refuse to pass foreign spending without major border security reforms. Jeffries called on Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to bring a Senate bill to the floor once again on Sunday.

"Joe the Closer?" Oversight Chairman James Comer told Just the News on Friday that President Joe Biden played a specific role in his son’s business dealings. Witness testimony from the ongoing impeachment inquiry has indicated there is a key role in Biden family business dealings that Joe Biden played: showing that his son had access to him to close deals with characters from unfriendly countries. The latest in a string of interview transcripts released by the House Oversight Committee, bolsters this claim from Republicans. Jason Galanis—a former business partner of Hunter Biden—testified to Joe Biden’s special role in their deals,...

Ever since 2016, talk to a liberal and there’s a good chance that they will blame “Russia” for something. Election interference, inflation, record-high gas prices, the list goes on and on. Since taking office, Joe Biden continues to take this deflection to a new level. As a gallon of gas soared past $5 in the summer of 2022 it was all Russia’s fault. And who can forget the ill-fated #PutinsPriceHike campaign as Team Biden tried to dodge criticism for skyrocketing inflation.Yet according to recent revelations, there may be more to Biden’s “America Last" energy policy than meets the eye, and...

Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) said Wednesday on CNN’s “The Source” that he would never vote for former President Donald Trump for president over President Joe Biden. Anchor Kaitlan Collins asked, “Would you vote for Donald Trump over Joe Biden?” Romney said, “No, no, no, absolutely not.” He continued, “For me there two the factors for decided who I want to have as the leader of my country, and the person who is the example of the president for my kids, my grandkids. One is their position and policies. And on foreign policy I’m not aligned with Donald Trump, at least...

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) on Thursday officially announced a run to replace Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) as Republican leader, setting up what is expected to be a hotly contested race for the top spot in the conference. “I am asking my Republican colleagues to give me the opportunity to succeed Leader McConnell,” Cornyn said in a statement. “Throughout my time I’ve built a track record of listening to colleagues and seeking consensus, while leading the fight to stop bad policies that are harmful to our nation and the conservative cause.” Cornyn pointed to his work in leadership as...