Free Republic

America last! The U.S. Senate has cast a contentious vote, advancing a massive $95 billion foreign aid package that supports Ukraine, Israel, Gaza, and Taiwan, but notably omits any provisions for bolstering U.S. border infrastructure. In a 67-32 cloture vote, the Senate crossed party lines, with several RINO senators joining Democrats to move the foreign aid bill forward. Republicans who joined Democrats in voting in favor include: Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) Mitch McConnell (R-KY) Bill Cassidy (R-LA) Roger Wicker (R-MS) Todd Young (R-IN) Susan Collins (R-ME) Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) John Kennedy (R-LA) John Thune (R-SD) Dan Sullivan (R-AK) Mitt Romney...

Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA) said Sunday on MSNBC’s “Alex Witt Reports” that Republicans claiming President Joe Biden’s promise to choose a black woman for the Supreme Court is an example of affirmative action is both disrespectful and dishonorable. Waters said, “For a black woman to become a Supreme Court justice would be one of the most historic and important things this country can do and experience. It is just so exciting to think about it. I guess what is it? Over 260 years, we’ve never even had a black woman nominated. And there are only two black males on the...

Not good at copying articles. He said this on Cavu/ this afternoon. The GOP-E are warmongering genocidal maniacs.

A total of 32 House and Senate Republicans helped push Biden’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure package over the finish line, most of whom have been showered with campaign cash from the leading lobbying group behind the bill — the US Chamber of Commerce. Lawmakers run for office, grabbing donations from interest groups, then, after their election, voting for legislation supported by those special interest groups despite their constituents’ opposition. The Chamber had been lobbying for Biden’s infrastructure bill, since the start of the year. By July, Open Secrets reported the Chamber had spent more than $12 million lobbying for the bill...

Republicans on the Senate Commerce Committee, led by Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), have still not moved forward on the nomination hearing of Nathan Simington, President Trump’s proposed new member of the Federal Communications Committee (FCC). As one of the three Republicans on the commission including the Chairman, Simington’s vote will be crucial in determining whether the FCC moves forward on tackling the issues of tech censorship and Section 230 reform.

The sweeping hack of verified Twitter accounts Wednesday night was one of the largest security lapses in the platform’s history and led to thousands of users being partially locked out for hours. But the social media giant, and its users, may have gotten off easy. Now lawmakers and top officials are mulling how to ensure Twitter is not hacked by groups with more malicious intentions and how to protect other potential cyber targets from the same fate. The conversation has taken on a particular urgency as geopolitical tensions increase during the COVID-19 pandemic with only months left until a presidential...

GOP rallies around Trump after firing of Manhattan US attorney BY ALEXANDER BOLTON - 06/22/20 08:05 PM EDT — GOP rallies around Trump after firing of Manhattan US attorney Senate Republicans on Monday largely defended President Trump following his controversial decision this week to fire Geoffrey Berman, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) said Trump was within his right to fire Berman, who was involved in a number of politically sensitive investigations that touched on Trump and his advisers. “It’s kind of like previous firings, I would say,” Thune said....

The senators who are most likely to reject President Trump's nominees are the very ones who want to challenge him in 2020. The Hill's review of two-and-a-half years of vote totals shows Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) voted against more Trump nominees than any other senator. At the same time, Republicans voted virtually in lock step for Trump's nominees; the average GOP senator backed 99 percent of his picks, and the one who went rogue most often -- Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) -- still voted to confirm 93 percent of his nominees. Trump's picks...

Looking to bolster its Senate majority, the GOP wheeled out its biggest gun Monday in Mississippi as President Trump rallied to bolster Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith ahead of Tuesday’s run-off election. In Tupelo, Mr. Trump said he needs Ms. Hyde-Smith in Washington and urged voters to keep her there. “I’m here to ask the people of Mississippi to send Cindy Hyde-Smith back so we can make America great again,” Mr. Trump said, after some praise for Tupelo’s most famous son, Elvis Presley. “Don’t empower the radical Democrats to return us to the failure of the past.” As expected, Mr. Trump basked...

While he survived a brutal and controversial Senate primary in 2014, Thad Cochran of Mississippi, citing his failing health, is resigning effective April 1. A special election will be held to finish the remainder of his term that ends in 2020. If no one gets above 50 percent, a runoff will be held. For now, Gov. Phil Bryant will appoint an interim senator to fill the vacancy until the election. Cochran’s colleague, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MI), is up for re-election this year and is facing a challenge by state Sen. Chris McDaniel. McDaniel challenged Cochran in 2014 (via NPR): I...

Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS) resigned from office on Monday, effective April 1. He has been in failing health for several months. “Longtime Republican Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, told The Associated Press on Monday that he will resign April 1 because of health problems,” the wire service reported from Jackson, Mississippi late Monday afternoon: Cochran, who turned 80 in December, stayed home for a month last fall with urinary tract infections, returning to Washington in October to give Republicans the majority they needed to pass a budget plan. “I regret my health has become...

More than two dozen Senate Republicans are urging President Trump to re-engage in Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations. The 25 GOP lawmakers sent a letter to Trump on Friday saying they support his recent comments that he may consider U.S. participation if the 11-nation Asia-Pacific pact is improved.

A new poll shows some bad news for Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker, and his low approval numbers could mean he will face a primary fight. According to the latest poll from JMC, only 43% of respondents have a favorable view of Wicker, and it only gets worse: just 38% of those polled would vote for Wicker in the primary.

State Sen. Chris McDaniel is inching closer to a 2018 bid against U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, spurred on in part by meetings this week with former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon. “I’m still undecided, but that victory (by Roy Moore in Alabama) last night makes the 2018 race much more compelling,” McDaniel told Mississippi Today.

Broadband in the United States still lags behind similar service in other industrialized countries, so Congress made broadband expansion a national priority, and it offers subsidies, mostly in rural areas, to help providers expand their offerings. To qualify for the funds, however, ISPs must offer service that's faster than 4 Mbps. Of course, the ISPs want the threshold to be as low as possible so it's easier for them to qualify for government subsidies. In addition, some cities and counties want to build and deploy their own fiber-based broadband networks and skirt the big ISPs. Until the FCC overruled them,...

U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, Mississippi Republican, said Wednesday he believes the state flag of Mississippi, which features the Confederate emblem, should be replaced. “After reflection and prayer, I now believe our state flag should be put in a museum and replaced by one that is more unifying to all Mississippians,” Mr. Wicker said in a statement. “As the descendant of several brave Americans who fought for the Confederacy, I have not viewed Mississippi’s current state flag as offensive. However, it is clearer and clearer to me that many of my fellow citizens feel differently and that our state flag increasingly...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) applauds the passage of the FY 2016 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) by the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) on Thursday after a week of debate and consideration by both parties. Sen. Cruz introduced or cosponsored more than a dozen amendments that were successfully adopted by the committee. “Congress’ first priority is to provide for the national defense and ensure our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines have everything they need to defend our freedom,” said Sen. Cruz. “I am grateful for the committee’s support for my amendments, including measures that will ensure...

Forty-seven Senate Republicans are signaling in an open letter to Iran and the White House that a deal over Tehran’s nuclear program will be at risk once President Obama leaves office. “It has come to our attention while observing your nuclear negotiations with our government that you may not fully understand our constitutional system,” the senators wrote in the letter, which was first reported by Bloomberg. “Thus, we are writing to bring to your attention two features of our Constitution — the power to make binding international agreements and the different character of federal offices — which you should seriously...

Democrats hope to take back control of the Senate in 2016, but their plans could be complicated by potential retirements. The two Democratic senators most likely to retire are Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who represent both sides of the party’s ideological spectrum. Boxer, whose fourth term expires at the end of 2016, has a paltry $149,000 in her campaign account, less than almost every other senator facing election next year. As the nation’s most populous state, California is expensive to cover with advertising. If Boxer decides to run for reelection, she would face a major fundraising...

A bipartisan group of senators from across the political spectrum—from Elizabeth Warren and Patrick J. Leahy to Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio—wants President Barack Obama to speak out and act to support Hong Kong’s democracy movement.They don’t specify exactly what they want Obama to do—they say “demonstrable, meaningful steps”—but note that a 1992 law “authorizes you to suspend trade and economic provisions should Beijing not provide sufficient autonomy for Hong Kong.”Leahy, the Vermont Democrat who is president pro tempore and Judiciary chairman, leads the letter with Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Rubio.“The people of Hong Kong have sent a strong...