Free Republic

As previously reported by TGP’s Kristinn Taylor, President Trump tweeted Sunday afternoon he is ordering the Justice Department to investigate whether the Obama administration spied on his 2016 presidential campaign. The order comes on the heels of leaks to the New York Times and Washington Post that the Obama administration had an “informant” make several approaches to three Trump campaign officials, included one that involved an offer of cash and another an offer to “advise” the campaign. Trump tweeted: “I hereby demand, and will do so officially tomorrow, that the Department of Justice look into whether or not the FBI/DOJ...

This will be a weekly post. Count is now 35. We were told that McConnell was going to confirm six judges this week, but I guess they were just too busy during their noon Tuesday to 2 o'clock Thursday schedule. Cloture was called on two additional judges before they left, so at least two more will be confirmed next week. Slow, slow, slow. That's the turtle's way.

Having escalated the judicial confirmation wars at virtually every turn since the 1980's, Senate Democrats in the early 2000's pioneered a new form of self-interested obstruction to block a number of President Bush's nominees to the federal bench.  When Republicans retaliated in kind during the Obama era, many of those same Senate Democrats -- led by Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer -- voted to eliminate the filibuster rule they'd exploited to thwart Bush.  Detonating the 'nuclear option' was the latest ends-justify-the-means maneuver by upper chamber liberals, to whom then-minority leader Mitch McConnell made this final plea prior to the fateful...

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted in favor of Mike Pompeo's nomination for Secretary of State 11-9-1 on Monday, thanks to Sen. Rand Paul who flipped from opposing to supporting his nomination. Why it matters: At one point, it appeared that Pompeo did not have the votes for a favorable recommendation from the committee, which would have marked the first time in nearly 100 years they voted against a Secretary of State nominee. But with the endorsement in tact, Pompeo's nomination is now headed to the Senate floor for a full vote, where Majority Leader Mitch McConnell ensured a smooth...

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said on Monday that he will vote for CIA Director Mike Pompeo to be the next secretary of State, making him the second Democrat to support Pompeo's nomination. "After meeting with Mike Pompeo, discussing his foreign policy perspectives, & considering his distinguished time as CIA Director & his exemplary career in public service, I will vote to confirm Mike Pompeo to be our next Secretary of State," Manchin said in a tweet. Pompeo likely already had the votes to be confirmed by the full Senate. With Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) expected to oppose him, Pompeo needed...

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that he would not be making floor time for legislation designed to shield Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III from firing. McConnell’s determination that the action is not needed is apparently regardless of what happens in the Senate Judiciary Committee. “I don’t think he should fire Mueller, and I don’t think he’s going to,” the Kentucky Republican said. “So, this is a piece of legislation that’s not necessary in my judgment.”

GOP infighting broke out again Monday as West Virginia Republican Senate candidate Don Blankenship compared Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to a “Swamp captain” and “the Russians.” As Politico reports, Blankenship, who owns a lot of coal in the state, was incarcerated for a year after a 2010 explosion in one of his mines and the GOP establishment has not embraced his Senate candidacy — reportedly campaigning against Blankenship with a series of attack ads purchased by a political action committee (PAC) named Mountain Family PAC. Blankenship defines his war as one with McConnell, whom he encourages to stay in...

It comes as no surprise that Congress’ $1.3 trillion dollar omnibus budget package is rubbing raw the already thin patience of the Republican base. Rather than draining the swamp, which includes seizing this historic moment of Republican control of both Congress and the White House to dramatically cut government spending, Congress instead (with the support of the White House) is spending as recklessly as when Democrats were in charge. Couple this with scant legislative victories outside of President Donald Trump’s tax cuts, especially in regards to expanding gun rights, Republicans are doing little – literally – to motivate voters to...

President Trump signed the 1.2 trillion dollar Omnibus bill today with open frustration over both the process and the product of that bill. Meanwhile, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer heaped praise on Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan and Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for their help in what Pelosi called a great bill for the American worker. What wasn’t said was how the Republican and Democrat leadership worked together to force POTUS Trump’s hand and create a voter backlash they hope will fracture Mr. Trump’s base of support among millions of Americans. image: http://dcwhispers.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/aaa355.jpg “How could he sign this...

A new interview with Mitch McConnell this week showed the first cracks in the wall of his optimism about the midterms. While not going down a path of gloom and doom, he no longer sounds positive of breaking a long-standing trend of the party in power losing ground in such scenarios. He’s not coming out and saying the GOP’s majorities in both chambers are toast, but he seems to think they’ll be losing seats. (The Hill) Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) says in a new interview that he expects to see GOP majorities in the House and Senate shrink...

Imagine you open the faucet of your kitchen sink expecting water and instead out comes cash. Now imagine that it comes out at the rate of $1 million a minute. You call your plumber, who thinks you’re crazy. To get you off the phone, he opines that it is your sink and therefore must be your money. So you spend it wildly. Then you realize that the money wasn’t yours and you owe it back. Now imagine that this happens every minute of every day for the next three years. At the end of the three years, you owe back...

WASHINGTON — Senator Mitch McConnell said in an interview on Friday afternoon that President Trump should rally behind the Senate candidacy of Mitt Romney despite his blistering criticism in 2016, arguing that Mr. Romney’s potent bid was an illustration of the Republican Party’s improving fortunes entering a challenging midterm campaign. “I can’t imagine that he’s not,” Mr. McConnell said when asked whether Mr. Trump was comfortable with Mr. Romney, who on Friday made official his long-expected candidacy for a Senate seat from Utah. “We don’t want to lose the seat, and this looks like a pretty formidable candidate.” Mr. McConnell,...

House GOP leaders are forging ahead with their own hardline immigration bill, as the Senate threw in the towel Thursday on legislation to protect hundreds of thousands of young, undocumented immigrants from deportation. The main author of the House bill, Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), said Thursday that he’s building support for his measure, even as other GOP colleagues said an initial vote tally this week was well below the 218 votes needed to pass the bill. Speaker Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) “instructions to me are ‘get this bill done,’ and we’re working hard to accomplish that,” Goodlatte said in an...

The Schumer-Rounds-Collins immigration bill would be a total catastrophe. @DHSgov says it would be “the end of immigration enforcement in America.” It creates a giant amnesty (including for dangerous criminals), doesn’t build the wall, expands chain migration, keeps the visa... lottery, continues deadly catch-and-release, and bars enforcement even for FUTURE illegal immigrants. Voting for this amendment would be a vote AGAINST law enforcement, and a vote FOR open borders. If Dems are actually serious about DACA, they should support the Grassley bill!

The Senate shot down Sen. John McCain’s latest immigration legalization proposal Thursday as lawmakers finally began their long-awaited floor fight over the fate of “Dreamers.” Mr. McCain and Sen. Chris Coons, Delaware Democrat, had proposed an amnesty for perhaps 3 million illegal immigrants in exchange for a study of border security and a promise of action by 2021. But the plan had been rejected by President Trump and garnered only 52 votes in support, which was well shy of the 60 senators had set as the needed threshold for action. Votes were expected in quick succession on a plan to...

The Senate on Thursday rejected immigration legislation crafted by centrists in both parties after President Trump threatened to veto the bill if it made it to his desk. In a 54-45 vote, the Senate failed to advance the legislation from eight Republican, seven Democratic and one Independent senators. It needed 60 votes to overcome a procedural hurdle.

President Trump issued his first veto threat of the immigration debate on Thursday, with the White House saying the plan being offered by Senate Democratic leaders and a handful of GOP rebels would make border security worse, not better. In a statement from press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House said the plan would prevent agents from going after illegal immigrants unless they arrive after June 30, 2018. Analysts have said that creates an incentive for people to flood the border now, hoping to get into the U.S. before the deadline — and it also protects perhaps 10 million...

A bipartisan group of senators reached a deal on immigration Wednesday as President Trump attempted to preemptively undercut the proposal by delivering an ultimatum: Pass my plan or risk a veto. The self-dubbed “Common Sense Caucus” of senators late Wednesday circulated legislation that would fulfill Trump’s calls to grant legal status to 1.8 million young immigrants and would appropriate $25 billion for southern border security construction projects over the next decade — not immediately, as Trump wants. The bill also would curb family-based immigration programs, but not to the extent Trump is seeking, and would not end a diversity visa...

The President will veto the Senate Democrats’ draft amnesty bills, a White House official told Axios.com. The site reported late on February 13: A senior administration official said Tuesday night that President Trump “will veto any bill that doesn’t advance his common-sense immigration reforms” — a hardening of the White House bargaining position as the Senate begins an epic debate … In discussing the White House’s strategic thinking, the administration official asserted confidence on immigration, saying Democrats who resist Trump’s approach will “be walking into a political suicide march.”

A broad bipartisan group of senators reached agreement Wednesday on a narrow rewrite of the nation’s immigration laws that would bolster border security and resolve the fate of the so-called Dreamers, even as President Trump suggested he would veto any plan that does not adhere to his harder-line approach. Their compromise legislation sets up a clash pitting the political center of the Senate against Mr. Trump and the Republican congressional leadership. Senators in both parties have been racing against a self-imposed end-of-the-week deadline to write legislation that could win wide support by increasing border security while at the same time...