Free Republic

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) announced Wednesday that he is canceling votes on nearly two dozen of President Trump’s judicial nominees that were expected to come up in the Judiciary Committee this week. The cancellation of the committee’s Thursday business meeting comes as Senate Republicans are in a standoff with outgoing Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), who has vowed to oppose all court picks until he gets a vote on legislation protecting special counsel Robert Mueller. The notification from the Judiciary Committee didn’t specify when, or if, the committee votes on the nominations would be rescheduled. Six circuit court nominees had been...

Sen. Jeff Flake on Sunday did not rule out launching a Republican primary challenge to President Trump in 2020 and said he does hope a GOP alternative to Mr. Trump emerges for the next presidential election.

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) took aim at President Trump on Wednesday, saying the president has "debased" the office with his "bottomless appetite for destruction and degradation." “Our presidency has been debased by a figure who has a seemingly bottomless appetite for destruction and division, and only a passing familiarity with how the Constitution works" Flake said in a commencement address to Harvard Law School graduates, according to prewritten remarks. “Our Article I branch of government, the Congress (that's me), is utterly supine in the face of the moral vandalism that flows from the White House daily,” Flake continued. The Republican...

GOP Sen. Jeff Flake (Ariz.) announced Wednesday he will oppose the nomination of Gina Haspel, President Trump's pick to lead the CIA, citing her ties to the controversial "enhanced interrogation" program used during the George W. Bush administration. "Congress needs to be able to provide fully informed oversight. My questions about Ms. Haspel's role in the destruction of videotapes relevant to discussions occurring in Congress regarding the program have not been adequately answered," Flake said in a statement. Flake, a vocal critic of Trump who is set to retire after this year, is the third Republican senator to come out...

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) chided President Trump in a tweet Friday night after the president asserted that the U.S. has a "rigged system." "This is not a sick system, Mr. President, nor is it a rigged system. Let's not sow distrust in our democratic institutions," Flake tweeted.

… Flake was caught on an open microphone Friday saying the GOP is “toast” if the party follows Trump and Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore. It was not a surprising sentiment given Flake’s previous criticism of Trump. In a Sunday night tweet, Trump fired back: “Sen. Jeff Flake(y), who is unelectable in the Great State of Arizona (quit race, anemic polls) was caught (purposely) on “mike” saying bad things about your favorite President. He’ll be a NO on tax cuts because his political career anyway is ‘toast.’” …

As I contemplate the Trump presidency, I cannot help but think of Joseph Welch. On June 9, 1954, during the Army-McCarthy hearings, Welch, who was the chief counsel for the Army, famously asked the committee chairman if he might speak on a point of personal privilege. After asking Sen. Joseph McCarthy for his attention and telling him to listen with both ears, Welch spoke: “Until this moment, senator, I think I never really gauged your cruelty, or your recklessness.” And then, in words that today echo from his time to ours, Welch delivered the coup de grace: “You’ve done enough....