Free Republic

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is about to become about ten percent less crazy.  President Trump has nominated three new judges for the 29-seat circuit court, over the objections of the two senators representing their home state of California.  Until Trump discarded the practice, home state senators were allowed to veto judicial nominations for courts in their states, a custom known as the "blue slip."  That seems quaint these days, a relic of a bygone era in which actual qualifications, not ideology, were the issue in Senate confirmation votes that, anyway, required a filibuster-proof 60 votes.As a result, President Trump and...

California Sen. Kamala Harris took aim at the White House's handling of the FBI investigation into sexual misconduct allegations surrounding Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh during a passionate Senate floor speech.

The Senate Judiciary Committee questioned Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh last Wednesday regarding a letter delivered to Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) in which an anonymous woman claims she was repeatedly raped by the judge without providing any details to investigate. According to committee transcripts released Sunday, the accuser, who signed the mysterious letter as “Jane Doe,” alleges Kavanaugh and a friend raped her “several times” after giving her a lift home from a party — making no attempt to claim a time or place for the lurid story. The letter, marked with the word “urgent,” did not include a return...

Not long ago, I quoted Swedish economist Assar Lindbeck’s conclusion about the results of rent control. He wrote that in many cases, it “appears to be the most efficient technique presently known to destroy a city — except for bombing.” Lindbeck, however, seems to have missed an even better way to wreak havoc on major cities. It would be rent control combined with massive subsidies for renters. Rent control dramatically limits the supply of new housing units by discouraging people from building new apartments and punishing landlords for offering them for rent by limiting the price they can charge. But...

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) has scored a book deal, taking another step to raise her national profile amid speculation that she could mount a bid for the White House in 2020. Penguin Press announced Tuesday that it will publish Harris' book "The Truths We Hold: An American Journey" in January 2019, according to multiple media reports. The title will delve into what Harris sees as "the core truths," and will recount her upbringing as a child of immigrants, The Associated Press and New York Times reported. Harris's father is from Jamaica and her mother is from India. Harris, 53, served...

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) announced Monday she will boycott the UC Berkeley graduation ceremony, where she was scheduled to deliver the keynote speech, due to a massive union-backed labor strike that forced the rescheduling of over 12,000 surgeries, cancer treatments, and appointments. Harris tweeted, “If we are going to live up to our ideals as a nation, it’s critical we focus on economic equality and economic justice. One key is making sure everyone has access to a good job, with fair wages, and safe working conditions.” According to the San Francisco Chronicle, campus chancellor Carol Christ will address the nearly...

“You guys are living in a pivotal moment in the history of our country, and you’re witnessing something we’ve never seen before.” The group nods solemnly. Harris says she’s resolved to leave anger behind. “At the end of the year, I thought back to 2017, and I was like, ‘Bye, Felisha.’ ” The Friday reference draws big laughs. “This year, I’m just gonna be a joyful warrior.”

Sen. Kamala Harris slammed the idea of arming teachers as one that doesn’t make sense and because, naturally, it is racist. The California Democrat managed to find a way to inject a theme of racial bias in a Senate hearing on the deadly school shooting in Parkland, Fla., and the failures by the FBI and law enforcement to prevent the tragedy by following through on the many warning signs.

There are still many months and many miles of campaign trail to go before the midterms, but much like the Republicans in 2010, it’s not too soon for the Democrats to begin ginning up their base for the presidential primary to come. Assuming that Donald Trump doesn’t find some way to boost his popularity up out of negative territory, the Democrats feel that he should be easy pickings. (Much as they thought in 2016.) Today, The Hill looks at one of the least surprising names we expect to see in that contest and one who is making little effort...

Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., said Monday she would vote this against a bill to keep the government open past Thursday unless language is added to help "Dreamers.""I'm going to have a problem with it," she said on MSNBC when asked whether she would accept a short-term spending bill this week while immigration talks continue. "We have to protect these kids." Congress is expected to vote early this week on a bill to keep the government open after Feb. 8. Democrats insisted last month that if no broad immigration deal were reached by that date, they would need a separate vote...

Saturday was International Holocaust Memorial Day. The global community January 27 to commemorate the tragedy of the Holocaust during the Second World War. At least six million Jews were murdered during World War II by the German Nazi regime.This year on Holocaust Memorial Day California Democrat compared US treatment of Muslims to the Jewish Holocaust. Kamala Harris tweeted: On #HolocaustMemorialDay, Trump restricted refugees from Muslim-majority countries. Make no mistake — this is a Muslim ban.But Kamala wasn’t done yet. Kamala Harris continued: During the Holocaust, we failed to let refugees like Anne Frank into our country. We can’t let history...

At Tuesday's Senate Intelligence Committee hearing with Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Cali.) was reprimanded by her colleagues for a combative line of questioning that often left the witness unable to answer without being interrupted by the freshman California Democrat.