Trump to Pull Stefanik UN Ambassador Nomination to Protect Republican House Majority

Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell / March 27, 2025

President Donald Trump is pulling the nomination of Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., to be United Nations ambassador.

The move is designed to protect House Republicans’ slim majority, the president said.

“With a very tight Majority, I don’t want to take a chance on anyone else running for Elise’s seat,” the president said on Truth Social. “The people love Elise and, with her, we have nothing to worry about come Election Day.”

Others can do a good job in the position, so Stefanik “will stay in Congress, rejoin the House Leadership Team, and continue to fight for our amazing American People,” according to Trump.

“Speaker [Mike] Johnson is thrilled! I look forward to the day when Elise is able to join my Administration in the future,” he said. “She is absolutely FANTASTIC. Thank you Elise!”

While Stefanik would likely have had no trouble getting the necessary votes for confirmation, Republicans hold a narrow majority in the House with 218 seats while Democrats hold 213 seats. There are currently four vacant seats.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, was expected to slow-walk the special election to replace Stefanik.

Stefanik’s nomination was expected to move forward on April 2, the day after the Florida special elections, Axios reported last week. She would have been the last of Trump’s Cabinet to get confirmed.

Stefanik is the second of Trump’s Cabinet picks to have their nominations withdrawn, following Rep. Matt Gaetz’s withdrawal in November after it became clear he did not have the votes to be confirmed.

This is a breaking news story and it may be updated.

Watch Our Live Inauguration Day Coverage

Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell / Katrina Trinko / January 20, 2025

The Daily Signal’s Tony Kinnett will be doing live coverage today from Washington, D.C. Catch his show, which you can watch right here, starting at 10:30 a.m. Eastern and concluding half an hour after the inauguration. Stay tuned to get smart commentary from guests, including Scott Rasmussen and Kurt Schlichter, and watch the inauguration itself.

American Tea Parties, Greek Yogurt Parties

Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell / Katrina Trinko / David Azerrad / June 21, 2011

When it comes to crushing debts, unsustainable entitlements and ballooning deficits, Americans and Europeans are all in the same sinking boat. Where they part ways is in their response to the looming crisis.

Faced with out-of-control government spending and the prospect of a bleak economic future, Americans from across the country have rallied under the banner of the Tea Party and sent a clear message to Washington: Enough! In a vigorous manifestation of that greatest of all checks on government—the “vigilant and manly spirit which actuates the people of America”—citizens began a grassroots wave of orderly protests that have since only grown in number and promise to keep the pressure on Washington to pull its financial act together.

Meanwhile in Greece, proposed austerity measures to avert bankruptcy have left the country paralyzed by strikes and riots. Last week in Athens, Greek police fired teargas at protesters who responded by throwing stones and yogurt. This week, the country is being hit with blackouts as the main power company goes on strike. Violent protests have sadly become the norm whenever European governments attempt to tackle their financial woes. Their citizens, coddled by the nanny-state and its promises of cradle-to-grave no-hassle living, do not take well to being told it’s time to face the music.

Cynics will say that Americans aren’t hurling stones and yogurt because the government has yet to touch their benefits, and that when it does, things will get ugly here too. Perhaps. But there are reasons to believe that Americans, who by and large still view themselves as free citizens of a republic rather than dependent wards of the welfare state, will have the fortitude to accept whatever painful cuts are necessary. And thanks to the efforts of the Tea Party, these cuts, when they do occur, will not be as drastic as they would have been had the people sat by in torpor until the crisis hit.

What Jack Smith Didn’t Say About Paid Confidential Informants

Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell / Katrina Trinko / David Azerrad / Fred Lucas / January 22, 2026

Former special counsel Jack Smith couldn’t answer how much in tax dollars went to confidential sources in his nearly two-year investigation of President Donald Trump.

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, pushed Smith on the topic during the committee hearing on Thursday. Jordan noted that at least $20,000 went to a single source to review video and photos of the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol, as part of Smith’s investigation into the incident.

Smith answered that he couldn’t remember if there were more such expenses.

“What I want to know is how much of that $35 million of taxpayer money did you give to confidential human sources?” Jodan asked. “We know you gave $20,000 to someone.”

Smith said the $20,000 was a payment from the FBI to a confidential source that he approved.

“My recollection regarding the $20,000, which is not a payment from me, I was approving a payment by the FBI to a confidential human source, who was reviewing video and photography,” Smith said.

Jordan asked the identity of the source, but Smith said he did not know.

President Joe Biden’s attorney general, Merrick Garland, appointed Smith as special counsel to investigate Donald Trump over his challenge to the results of the 2020 election and his potentially unlawful possession of classified information.

Smith ultimately secured indictments against Trump in both investigations.

Republican lawmakers grilled Smith on Thursday over his securing warrants to review congressional phone records without telling judges whom he was investigating.

Jordan asked Smith how many payments went to confidential sources, to which Smith responded that he did not know.

Jordan noted that Smith had information from multiple government agencies, the Republican National Committee, and members of Congress.

“Why did you have to pay people for information?” Jordan asked.

“My recollection and understanding is the payment, the $20,000 that I approved, was for a confidential human source to assist in the review of video and photographic evidence showing people who were attacking the Capitol,” Smith said.

Could Republicans Turn Redistricting in Virginia on the Democrats?

Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell / Katrina Trinko / David Azerrad / Fred Lucas / Jenna Lee / January 22, 2026

The Daily Signal’s Virginia Correspondent Joe Thomas is out with a new podcast breaking down Virginia Democrats’ effort to redistrict the commonwealth.

Now that Democrats are fully in control of the commonwealth, they are moving forward with a plan that could add four Democrat seats and ultimately determine the balance of power in Washington after the 2026 midterms.

Thomas called the move, which could change the Virginia congressional delegation from six Democrats and five Republicans to 10 Democrats and just one Republican, “reactionary.”

The Democrat redistricting proposal would allow the Democrat-controlled government to redraw their districts if a red state decides to redistrict. “If another state changed their districts, Virginia could invoke this constitutional amendment to recreate theirs.”

“Now, what’s happened in Virginia is that they’ve pulled some rabbits out of the hat,” Thomas said.

“In Virginia, the law says that in order to amend the Virginia Constitution, you have to pass the amendment through both the House and Senate,” Thomas explained. The governor is not involved in that process, though Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger has said she backs the effort.

But, to amend the state constitution, the Virginia Legislature has to wait until after an election cycle, and the amendment “has to pass another general assembly session and then be brought to the voters,” Thomas continued.

In a special session late last year, however, “Virginia budget Speaker Don Scott used the parliamentary procedure to convene another meeting of that same special session in December to pass the constitutional amendment for a second time, just days before the culmination of Virginia’s 2025 election cycle.”

If voters approve of the proposed amendment to the constitution, it would “overturn an election that went down 65% in favor of a nonpartisan redistricting commission that each 10 years would redraw Virginia’s districts based on population shifts,” Thomas said.

The Democrats’ proposed 10-1 map looks to stretch districts such as VA-1, VA-10, and VA-11.

“They’re all along what is called the Blue Crescent in Virginia, that [go] from the Washington, D.C., suburbs all the way down to the Hampton Roads,” Thomas said of these districts.

But stretching these districts to the west and south is not without risk, Thomas claimed.

“What they’re going to do with these districts is they’re going to take these 20% and 40% Democrat districts by election results, stretch them to the point of breaking,” Thomas said. The 10-1 map would “stretch them to the point where they’re going to be right at the edge of being maybe 52%, maybe 53% Democrats by election results, historically.”

“And that’s the peril in this,” Thomas added. “They’re putting themselves in a position of taking all of those safe districts along the Blue Crescent from Northern Virginia” and “stretching them to the point of them being perilously close to a 50-50 split.”

A Republican with a good ground game in these new districts could prove redistricting was more trouble than Virginia Democrats bargained for.

‘All Signs Point’ to End of Communist Cuba, GOP Officials Say

Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell / Katrina Trinko / David Azerrad / Fred Lucas / Jenna Lee / Pedro Rodriguez / January 22, 2026

Republican officials believe President Donald Trump is close to “freeing the people of Cuba,” as whistleblowers claimed the Trump administration eyes regime change in Cuba by the end of 2026.

The administration has allegedly been in search of Cuban insiders who can help execute a regime change on the island, The Wall Street Journal recently reported.

“All signs point to that [end to the communist regime],” Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., told The Daily Signal.

“Cuba is at its lowest point in 65 years,” Gimenez, a member of the House Committee on Homeland Security and the House Committee on Armed Services, continued. “Cuba is collapsing under its own incompetence, under its own weight.”

“They [Cuban regime] should be sleeping with their pajamas on,” Kevin Cooper, chairman of the largest Republican county in the country, the Miami-Dade GOP, told The Daily Signal. “It is time to bring freedom to the people of Cuba. I think it’s expected to happen at this time. People want it to happen.”

The news of the potential fall of the Cuban regime comes after Operation Absolute Resolve, which captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Maduro was a key ally of the Cuban regime, and some say the operation should serve as a warning to the Cuban regime.

Unlike Obama administration officials who described that overthrowing the Cuban regime was “tougher than cracking a nut,” and President Robert F. Kennedy, who failed to topple Cuba during the Bay of Pigs invasion, Republican leaders remain optimistic that Trump’s administration could finally get the job done.

“President Trump is the president of peace, and if anyone can do it, it is him,” Cooper said.

Full Support From the Cuban-American Community

A majority of the 2.4 million Cuban Americans in the United States oppose the island’s communist regime and want to see an end to nearly seven decades of dictatorship.

Florida state Rep. David Borrero, a prominent voice against communism, said he “absolutely supports the Trump Administration in toppling the regime, which has been accused of egregious human rights violations.”

Last year, Borrero’s Victims of Communism Law, which mandates schools to teach Florida students about the horrors of communism, was signed into Florida law.

Gimenez, an immigrant from Cuba, told The Daily Signal that he’s been looking forward to the fall of the Cuban regime. “I’ve been looking forward to that day for a very long time. I came over when I was seven years old. The Cuban people also look forward to that day,” Gimenez said.

Cooper said for many Cuban Americans, it’s very personal.

“I’ve met people with one eye, one arm, who have spent time in Cuban gulags, and trust me, there is nothing good about communism,” Cooper said. “Those who don’t think communism kills can come to South Florida, and I’d be happy to introduce them to some people.”

Could Cuba-US Relations Improve?

Cuba’s regime has historically been receptive of American adversaries, such as China and Russia.

A new regime in Cuba, these GOP officials claim, would be friendlier to the United States.

“We can convert Cuba from an adversary to a friend of the United States, and it will happen,” Gimenez added. “This hemisphere will be a hemisphere of Democracy and of freedom, and not a hemisphere of dictators, narco-terrorists, and communist.

Borrero said that Cuba “has tremendous strategic importance from the national security perspective. With Cuba being only 100 miles away from Florida, it’s a key strategic position.”

“If the U.S. were to have an ally in the next leadership in Cuba, it would certainly make us safer,” Borrero added.

Could Cuba Have a Bright Economic Future?

The fall of the Cuban regime could have a positive impact on the U.S. and Cuban economies, these GOP officials suggest, which might serve as an incentive for Trump to act.

Cuba “has tremendous potential for having a very thriving economy, and with that, by extension, trade with the United States,” Borrero said. “I’m sure the hardworking Cuban spirit would turn the country into a thriving economy again, and allow us to trade with them, and both of our countries will prosper from it.”

Before communism took hold of Cuba in 1959, the island was home to a thriving economy with dominance in key agricultural industries such as sugar and coffee. In contrast, the Cuban people now earn less than $8 a month.

“The Cuban people are some of the most entrepreneurial in terms of creativity and development. The opportunities really are endless, for both us and for them,” Cooper added. “If that were to happen, the Western Hemisphere would freely do business with each other for the first time in history.”

Virginia Democrats Move to Embed ‘Transgender and Queer’ History Across Kids’ Curriculum

Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell / Katrina Trinko / David Azerrad / Fred Lucas / Jenna Lee / Pedro Rodriguez / Jaryn Crouson / January 22, 2026

DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION—Virginia Democrats have proposed a bill to permanently embed and test “inclusive history,” including racial and LGBTQ+ topics, in children’s classrooms across the state.

The state House bill was introduced on Jan. 13 and would require all public elementary and secondary schools to adjust history and social science classes to include “the contributions, perspectives, and experiences of historically marginalized communities, including racial and ethnic minorities; immigrants and refugees; women; individuals with disabilities; individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+),” and others.

The bill states this is necessary “in order to affirm such communities and promote a more holistic understanding of history” and “to ensure comprehensive, accurate, and inclusive education.”

If enacted, Virginia’s Board of Education must “adopt and enforce policies” requiring schools in the state to adopt textbooks and instructional materials that include “comprehensive, accurate, and affirming coverage of the histories and contributions of the communities” listed.

The board must also consult with “subject matter experts who represent marginalized communities” regularly.

The state Department of Education also “shall develop, curate, or identify supplemental instructional resources that support the teaching of inclusive history,” including “materials for observances such as Black History Month, Women’s History Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Disability History and Awareness Month, LGBTQ+ History Month, and other recognitions as determined by the Board.”

It is suggested that the department “partner with cultural institutions, historical societies, and community organizations to develop or curate these materials.”

State education standards would be updated as soon as March 1, 2027, “to explicitly include the political, economic, social, and cultural contributions of the communities described,” the bill states.

The “inclusive history” resources created by the Education Department should be fully integrated “across curricula” and must not be isolated “to a single month or observance.”

Teachers will then be equipped with “culturally responsive strategies for teaching inclusive history and for addressing complex or difficult historical topics” as part of their required professional development credit, the bill says.

State assessments by the 2028-2029 school year must then include questions relating to the inclusive history lessons, including about the “contributions and experiences of the communities” listed.

Virginia Democrats immediately began flooding the Legislature with bill proposals as soon as Democrat Gov. Abigail Spanberger was sworn in on Jan. 17.

Some of their suggestions include reducing the severity of some robbery offenses and increasing parole eligibility, removing mandatory minimum sentences for rape and the production and distribution of child porn, and banning ballots from being counted by hand if they are readable by a machine.

The governor has also rescinded an order requiring state law enforcement to comply with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Originally published by the Daily Caller News Foundation

Judge Outrages New York Republicans by Ordering New Congressional Map

Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell / Katrina Trinko / David Azerrad / Fred Lucas / Jenna Lee / Pedro Rodriguez / Jaryn Crouson / George Caldwell / January 22, 2026

New York likely has to draw a new congressional map thanks to a Democrat-appointed judge’s ruling—drawing Democrat applause and Republican outrage over the possibility of Empire State conservatives losing representation in Washington.

The ruling could spell trouble for Republican control of seven New York House seats, and be decisive in handing Democrats control of the House.

On Wednesday, New York Supreme Court Justice Jeffrey Pearlman ordered the state’s Independent Redistricting Commission to redraw its U.S. House districts due to “Black and Latino votes … being diluted” in the state’s Republican 11th Congressional District, represented by Rep. Nicole Malliotakis.

New York’s Constitution requires that district boundaries not dilute the votes of “racial or minority language groups,” and details a process for petitioners to request a redrawing of the state’s congressional map.

The Case

Pearlman, an appointee of Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul, who was her chief of staff when she was lieutenant governor, cites “racial appeals in Staten Island politics” as being “meaningful” for the question of whether the district’s boundaries dilute minority votes.

Pearlman also cites the fact that “minority-preferred candidates ‘usually’ lose” as evidence of “racially polarized voting” in the district, one of his justifications for ordering a new map.

The case’s petitioners are all New York electors.

Pearlman also cites expert witness Dr. Thomas J. Sugrue’s testimony claiming Staten Island “has a long history of racial segregation, discrimination, and disparate treatment against Blacks and Latinos.”

Pearlman writes in his ruling that “time is of the essence to fix congressional lines in this case,” and that the redistricting commission must redraw lines by Feb. 6.

The voters of New York deserve the fairest congressional map possible. pic.twitter.com/mvMMc9rmuA
— Hakeem Jeffries (@hakeemjeffries) January 22, 2026

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., was quick to applaud the ruling, calling it “the first step toward ensuring communities of interest remain intact from Staten Island to Lower Manhattan” on Wednesday.

Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., who represents much of the Bronx, told The Daily Signal on Thursday that he was generally supportive of redrawing maps.

“If there’s a congressional district that violates civil rights law, or either the federal or the state constitution, then, yes, it should be redrawn in accordance with our laws,” said Torres.

Republican Backlash

But Republicans denounced the ruling as a Democrat attempt to seize control of a House seat.

“Democrats can’t beat me on merit, policy and debate. So what do they do? They file a meritless lawsuit claiming our district disenfranchises minorities to take out the first minority to represent the district and steal our seat,” Malliotakis, who is of Cuban descent, wrote on X.

Malliotakis vowed to “use every legal option at our disposal, including an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court” to counter the decision.

Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., who represents the lower Hudson Valley, also denounced the decision when speaking to The Daily Signal on Thursday.

“I think what you’ve seen is Hakeem Jeffries and Kathy Hochul have corrupted the New York court system for political purposes. This is the third attempt at redistricting in New York because they don’t want free and fair elections,” Lawler said.

Lawler added, “They don’t want competitive congressional seats. They want it handed to them. They claim in this lawsuit that Hispanic voters are disenfranchised, yet Nicole Malliotakis is Cuban. So it’s not about disenfranchising voters, it’s about the fact that she’s a Republican and not a Democrat.”

What an absolute disgrace. The effort by Hakeem Jeffries and Kathy Hochul to once again gerrymander New York’s maps is an affront to the voters who very clearly wanted independent redistricting and opposed partisan gerrymandering. This should be taken to federal court immediately… https://t.co/Vi2mx0VPE3
— Mike Lawler (@lawler4ny) January 21, 2026

Lawler called for the decision to be reversed.

“This decision reeks of politics,” he told The Daily Signal. “It should be overturned at the appellate division. And as far as I’m concerned, it should be elevated to federal court.”

At a Thursday press conference, Jeffries provided The Daily Signal with a response to Lawler’s remarks about him corrupting the New York courts, sarcastically quipping, “I didn’t know I had that much power.”

Hochul’s office did not immediately respond to a request for a response to Lawler.

The National Democrat Redistricting Push

But Jeffries also told The Daily Signal he welcomes a new map shifting representation in Democrats’ favor, saying, “What you should continue to expect is that Democrats are going to fight for a fair national congressional map.”

“Republicans started this gerrymandering fight. Democrats are going to end it,” Jeffries continued.

“I’m looking forward to my meeting later on today with Gov. Wes Moore [of Maryland]. The people of Virginia are going to have an opportunity to vote on a fair map in the Commonwealth in the next few months.”

We can do this also- let’s go Virginia!!

10-1 https://t.co/26OFamrSqh
— L. Louise Lucas (@SenLouiseLucas) January 21, 2026

In Maryland, a commission assembled by Moore has drafted a map to boot the state’s sole Republican Rep. Andy Harris from Congress. Maryland redistricting efforts have been repeatedly stymied by court rulings.

In Virginia, Senate President Pro Tempore Louise Lucas has also repeatedly called for redistricting to reduce the state’s Republican U.S. House delegation from five members to one.

Democrat redistricting efforts pose a grave threat to Republicans, since an Indiana pro-Republican redistricting attempt failed in December, and Kansas’ state House Republican leaders have indicated redistricting may not be politically feasible.

Newsom’s Davos Disaster Exposes His Anti-American Grandstanding

Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell / Katrina Trinko / David Azerrad / Fred Lucas / Jenna Lee / Pedro Rodriguez / Jaryn Crouson / George Caldwell / Jarrett Stepman / January 22, 2026

“Governor Newsom, who strikes me as Patrick Bateman meets Sparkle Beach Ken, may be the only Californian who knows less about economics than Kamala Harris.”

That was Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday, delivering a remarkably on-point put-down of California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

And the put-down was warranted, given that Newsom was hopping from camera to camera at the conference, painting himself as the leader of the American resistance against the American president, and generally acting the fool.

I always thought Newsom looked like how the Devil’s lawyer would be portrayed in a movie, but a mix of the main villain from “American Psycho” and Barbie’s boyfriend certainly seems spot on.

Aside from Bessent’s barb, Newsom’s presence at Davos—where world leaders and the global elite generally gather to out-smug each other—didn’t do him any favors.

Somehow, in an environment that seems perfectly suited to his persona, Newsom flamed out. And that flameout wasn’t just because his speech, which was clearly intended to be in the style of a post-State of the Union address partisan rebuttal, got canceled.

No, I think the reason is that his newest schtick of being the American lefty memelord who is totally not running for president ran into the larger political forces at play. Newsom clearly wanted to present himself as the champion of the great global “liberal international order” empire fighting those mean nationalistic bullies like Russia and the United States.

But Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney delivered what was almost certainly the best address representing that view. And while Carney’s speech was wrong on much of its substance—President Donald Trump certainly had some harsh and apt criticism—it was at least serious and credible.

Not so with Newsom, who just seemed eager to please cameras while making strange analogies and telling crude inside jokes about how world leaders are “selling out” to Trump, which didn’t land.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday showed off knee pads that he suggested were for leaders “selling out” to the Trump administration. https://t.co/32kMvWfePA pic.twitter.com/60GKXdbQan
— CNBC (@CNBC) January 22, 2026

What made this “selling out” joke even more ridiculous is that Newsom decided it was the right idea to take a minute to pose for a picture with leftist billionaire megadonor Alex Soros while he was there.

Great catching up with the real star of the 2026 World Economic Forum, my friend Gavin Newsom.

So glad he’s here calling out world leaders for believing appeasement works when it comes to Trump. It doesn’t. It only emboldens him to become more chaotic and destructive.

World… pic.twitter.com/s8XqrC7bqX
— Alex Soros (@AlexanderSoros) January 20, 2026

Again, not great.

Some may say that Trump often creates a spectacle, that he’s not above trolling, and that Newsom is just acting in response. But Trump is the president and he’s actually getting things done on the world stage. Even the Greenland brouhaha that caused so much angst throughout Europe seems to have ended up as a deal that’s good for the U.S. and our allies.

In other words, there is a purpose to what Trump says in line with the administration’s foreign policy goals.

Newsom isn’t the president and he certainly doesn’t have any power over U.S. foreign policy. He’s just a state governor. Instead of being crowned the head of the global resistance to Trump, he just came off looking like an anti-American punk.

Stephen A. Smith, the sports commentator turned political commentator, likely echoed the sentiments of many when he lambasted Newsom for criticizing Trump and America on foreign soil.

“Our problems are our problems. But we ain’t taking dirty laundry outside,” Smith said on his SiriusXM show. “You don’t go on a world stage to disrespect your own house, which is the United States of America. I don’t like that at all, not even a little bit.”

Stephen A. Smith SNAPS on Gavin Newsom, tells him to SHUT HIS MOUTH about President Trump overseas.

Newsom has been trashing on Trump in Davos, and Stephen A. Smith has had enough.

“I’m NOT DOWN with that at all. Say whatever you want here… fine. But I’m one of those people,… pic.twitter.com/pAY5Pj0W6v
— Vigilant Fox ? (@VigilantFox) January 22, 2026

And the optics issue doesn’t even get to the bigger question about Newsom and Davos. What exactly was a state governor doing there at all?

California seems to be having a lot of problems. Shouldn’t Newsom be at home fixing those? He should at least refrain from delivering a moral lecture to the world about how Trump and his administration are so awful when his own state is so dysfunctional and frequently tyrannical, right?

While the Democrat Party is quite farcically pivoting to the idea that it’s all about “affordability,” California is practically the poster child of a runaway cost of living. In the Golden State, pretty much nothing is affordable thanks to Newsom’s policies. Meanwhile, the California governor is yucking it up with global elites about how proud he is to be giving taxpayer-funded health care to illegal aliens.

Democrats lied to you when they said illegals cannot recieve taxpayer-funded healthcare.

MODERATOR: "Do you think your party went too far?"

NEWSOM: "I'm proud of that… we're one of 16 states to provide care to people regardless of their immigration status." pic.twitter.com/ekm9xtKC61
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) January 22, 2026

Even some writers at The Atlantic had to concede this week that Newsom’s record on economics is a bad look—and on cultural issues an even worse look—if he ever intends to win over a national audience.

“California’s affordability problems are dire, but Newsom’s greatest vulnerabilities may be cultural issues,” wrote Marc Novicoff and Jonathan Chait. “His tenure has seen the state fall hard for faddish progressive policies on immigration, education, and crime that either didn’t work, violated the intuitions of most Americans, or both.”

Oof.

Now, Newsom could go back to California and start trying to clean up the mess, maybe do a little more to help the Palisades that burned down, or maybe try to curtail homelessness that he promised to fix decades ago, or perhaps even work to ensure that men don’t play in woman’s sports in his state given that he once called it “unfair.”

But as always with Newsom, you shouldn’t take him literally or seriously. Hopefully, a few more people learned that after his Davos debacle.

Emmer Says Fraudsters Are ‘Going Home’

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., has introduced a plan to end the rampant fraud not only in his home state of Minnesota but across the country.

In response to massive amounts of fraud uncovered in Minnesota—most prominently at the hands of the state’s large Somali population—Emmer has introduced the SCAM Act to denaturalize fraudsters, terrorists, and felons throughout the country.

“If you came to this country to harm and take advantage of the American people, I’ve got news for you: You’re going home,” Emmer said in a press release of the announcement.

Emmer introduced the SCAM Act, or the Stop Citizenship Abuse and Misrepresentation Act, on Tuesday.

“Some naturalized citizens have treated their new citizenship status as a purely administrative benefit they can leverage for their own personal gain,” Emmer told The Daily Signal. “They won’t get away with that anymore,” Emmer added.

? BREAKING: Rep. Tom Emmer is DEMANDING passage of the SCAM Act, DENATURALIZING and DEPORTING fraudsters, including MARRIAGE FRAUD (yes, looking at you, Ilhan Omar suspicions)!

Emmer: “I understand in Somalia, you gotta lie, cheat and steal, but HERE? You’ll be SHIPPED BACK to… pic.twitter.com/NIwbgV2uqM
— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) January 17, 2026

The legislation notes that, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, during the naturalization process, applicants must demonstrate that they are persons of good moral character, attached to the principles of the Constitution of the United States, and well-disposed to the good order and happiness of the United States.

The SCAM Act would clarify what good moral character means and allow the government to prove that a person did not meet the requirements. Anyone who has been convicted of government welfare fraud, is affiliated with a transnational criminal organization like a terror group or a drug cartel, or convicted of an aggravated felony within 10 years of naturalization is in jeopardy of being denaturalized.

“The SCAM Act will expand and clarify the grounds for denaturalization, making it easier to denaturalize criminals who commit fraud, an aggravated felony, espionage, or join a terrorist group within ten years of their naturalization,” said Emmer.

There are about 7 million people in the U.S. who have been naturalized in the past 10 years who would be subject to denaturalization if found guilty of any of the crimes Emmer lists.

SCAM Act-Emmer Download

The Department of Justice recently launched an investigation into multiple Minnesota state officials, including Democrat Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, to uncover if there is a connection to the fraud schemes.

The DOJ has charged roughly 100 people in Minnesota with fraud-related charges as of late. A large majority of them are of Somali descent.

The Treasury Department and the IRS have also launched multiple investigations and audits throughout the state related to fraud.

Senator Eric Schmitt just introduced ‘The SCAM Act’, which would revoke the citizenship of legal migrants who commit fraud and serious felonies, including the Somalis in Minnesota:

“It’s evidence they never qualified for citizenship in the first place”

pic.twitter.com/bheQEFS6Zr
— America (@america) January 19, 2026

The Senate is pushing a similar piece of legislation, also called the SCAM Act, introduced by Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., the day prior.

Jack Smith Forced to Explain ‘Enemies List’ of Congressional Phone Records

Lawmakers grilled former special counsel Jack Smith on Thursday for scooping up phone records of members of Congress while concealing his targets from a judge.

Smith testified publicly before the House Judiciary Committee after giving a private deposition last month regarding his nearly two-year probe of then-former President Donald Trump. Smith’s investigation focused on alleged possession of classified documents after leaving office, and Trump’s alleged lying about the 2020 election. He secured indictments in both investigations.

As part of the probe, Smith approved subpoenas for phone communications of members of Congress. His team subpoenaed the phone records of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.; House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio; and eight Republican senators.

Smith said his staff prosecutors didn’t tell judges signing the subpoenas that the special counsel’s office was seeking records from members of Congress.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., the committee’s senior member, said Smith violated the separation of powers in acting as a member of the executive branch to obtain phone records from the legislative branch while withholding information from the judicial branch.

“You, like the president’s men for Richard Nixon, went after your political enemies,” Issa said to Smith. Issa had a board behind him listing the members of Congress whose records were subpoenaed that read, “Biden’s enemies list.”

“They’re not your political enemies, but they sure as hell were Joe Biden’s political enemies, weren’t they? They were Harris’ political enemies. They were the enemies of the president, and you were their arm.”

Ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., interrupted Issa. After a heated exchange, Smith acknowledged not revealing the members’ names to the judge, but added that he was not required to do so.

“We did not provide that information to the judge when we requested a non-disclosure order consistent with the law and consistent with department,” Smith replied.

Smith’s targets also included eight Republican senators: Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Bill Hagerty and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming.

Raskin pushed back on GOP criticism of Smith’s subpoena of congressional phone records.

“So, it’s perfectly lawful what you did. Explain why you wanted those toll records?” Raskin asked Smith.

“We wanted to conduct a thorough investigation of the matters that were assigned to me, including the attempts to interfere with the lawful transfer of power,” Smith said. “For the conspiracy that we were investigating, it was relevant to get full records to understand the scope of that conspiracy.”

Raskin followed, “That’s normal investigative practice, right?”

Smith said, “In conducting a criminal investigation, securing non-content toll records, as you described, is a common practice in almost any complex concern.”

Smith was named special counsel in November 2022 to conduct the Justice Department’s investigation of Trump’s challenge to the outcome of the 2020 election, as well as allegations of mishandling of classified information after leaving office.

Trump Sues JPMorgan Chase, Bank Says

REUTERS—U.S. President Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase on accusations of debanking, the largest U.S. lender said in a statement on Thursday.

Trump’s attorney, Alejandro Brito, filed the $5 billion lawsuit Thursday morning in Florida state court in Miami on behalf of the president and several of his hospitality companies, a Fox Business report said.

“Despite claiming to hold these principles (the bank’s code of conduct) dear, JPMC violated them by unilaterally—and without warning or remedy—terminating several of Plaintiff’s bank accounts,” the lawsuit claims, according to the report.

Trump had said over the weekend he plans to sue JPMorgan sometime in the next two weeks for allegedly “debanking” him following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters.

“While we regret President Trump has sued us, we believe the suit has no merit. We respect the President’s right to sue us and our right to defend ourselves,” JPMorgan said in a statement.

“JPMC does not close accounts for political or religious reasons. We do close accounts because they create legal or regulatory risk for the company. We regret having to do so but often rules and regulatory expectations lead us to do so,” the bank added.

The White House said it will refer the matter to the president’s outside counsel. Reuters could not independently verify the report.

Last month, a U.S. banking regulator said the nine largest U.S. banks in the past had placed restrictions on providing financial services to some controversial industries in a practice commonly described as “debanking.”

Banks have faced growing political pressure in recent years, particularly from conservatives who argue that lenders have improperly adopted “woke” political positions and, in some cases, discriminated against certain industries such as firearms and fossil fuels.

That pressure has intensified during Trump’s second term, with the Republican president claiming in interviews that some banks refused to provide services to him and other conservatives. The banks have denied the allegation.

Originally published by Reuters

House Members Hail Return to ‘Regular Order’ in Funding

On Thursday, Congress could take a step toward restoring a now old-fashioned way of funding the government while eliminating a spending policy from President Joe Biden’s administration.

The House will consider its final batch of appropriations bills for fiscal year 2026 to fund several federal agencies. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., on Wednesday said the spending process has been restored to a “committee-led, member-driven approach.”

“It will spend less than another continuing resolution and it will continue to advance our ‘America First’ agenda,” Johnson said of the package. “Once we pass the final batch this week, Republicans will have finally replaced the last of any Biden-era spending levels with Trump-era spending levels.”

Johnson has promised to restore the practice of passing individual spending bills each year. This approach, known as “regular order,” is an alternative to the chamber’s more recent habit of funding the government through continuing resolutions, which simply extend previous funding, or omnibus bills, which jam together many different spending bills for one vote.

‘Regular Order’ or Not?

Upon passage, the House will then send the four bills to the Senate, combined with two bills passed last week to fund the State Department and financial regulators. The Senate will have time to pass the package before the Jan. 30 deadline to fund the government.

Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, who has long advocated for considering individual appropriations bills, told The Daily Signal that he views the current process as a marginal improvement from the previous funding approach.

“We’re at least getting a vote on every appropriations bill in the House. Not as stand-alone bills, which would be nicer, and not subject to amendment—which is essentially the definition of regular order,” he told The Daily Signal.

“So it clearly isn’t regular order yet,” he said, adding that “minibuses are at least progress to break it into smaller chunks.”

Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., told The Daily Signal that he views splitting up votes on bills as a step towards regular order but still desires individual bills in the future.

“I wish you’d say every spending bill is less than a paragraph. That’s the way we do it in Tennessee, and we’ve got a balanced budget, because nobody can hide behind a thousand-page bill in the Tennessee Legislature,” Burchett said.

In the House Rules Committee on Wednesday, Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, said the current process is “barely a toe in the water to regular order,” but nevertheless, “a trajectory towards regular order, and that is a good thing.”

Roy called the House’s work to modestly cut discretionary spending “an important signal to the markets” and an “understanding of where we are in terms of our overall debt load in this country that we’re trying to constrain.”

Homeland Security

Democrats will likely show their fiercest opposition to the bill funding the Department of Homeland Security—particularly funding of Immigration and Customs Enforcement—after the death of Renee Good in an ICE-involved shooting.

The homeland security section will be considered independently from the other three bills on the House floor.

California Rep. Pete Aguilar, who chairs the House Democratic Caucus, told reporters that his fellow caucus members expressed a largely negative view of the bill.

“In the last 24 hours, we’ve heard our members speak loudly that ICE isn’t doing enough. These reforms aren’t enough. Their lawlessness has to stop,” said Aguilar. “There aren’t enough guardrails within this bill. … It’s unfortunate that the behavior of ICE is jeopardizing the homeland security bill.”

In response to Aguilar’s comments, a DHS spokesperson gave The Daily Signal a list of illegal immigrants arrested for violent crimes, and said, “These are who the Democrats are protecting by trying to defund ICE law enforcement.”

Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, the top Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, has already said he will vote for the bill.

Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., who sits on the rules committee told The Daily Signal he sees giving Democrats an opportunity to vote separately on Homeland security as a positive.

“I think it’s good. Let them vote on that, get them on record. I mean, I don’t see anything wrong with that,” Norman said Thursday.

“I think we will get it passed,” Johnson told reporters Wednesday. House Republicans currently hold a thin majority in the chamber.

Virginia Could Lose Surprising Number of Republican Seats in Congress

Virginia’s new Democrat-controlled government could pursue a redistricting effort that could wipe out four of the five Republican congressional seats heading into the midterms.

Newly-minted Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger is backing the effort “100%.”

Democrats are pushing a redistricting effort that could change Virginia’s congressional representation from six Democrats and five Republicans to 10 Democrats and one Republican. House Republicans already have a slim majority in the 119^th Congress, and Virginia’s redistricting effort, if successful, could give Democrats the edge to take the House come Election Day.

Democrats in the state House and Senate have passed an amendment to the state constitution that, if signed by Spanberger, would lead to a referendum in April for constituents to vote on the amendment.

With the newly-proposed amendment, Democrats are attempting to upend a 2020 constitutional amendment that established a bipartisan redistricting commission. If the amendment succeeds, the map would instead be drawn by the Democrat-led Legislature.

“Democrats want to be kings of Virginia by gerrymandering the state’s congressional districts and disenfranchising almost half of all Virginians,” Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-Va., told The Daily Signal.

? BREAKING: As soon as Democrats take power in Virginia, they are moving to

– Draw a 10 DEMOCRAT-1 REPUBLICAN 2026 Congressional map
– Raise sales tax
– Strict gun control
– Potentially allow abortion to birth

Dems MUST LOSE 2026. This is insane. pic.twitter.com/scdt9CvaGw
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) January 20, 2026

If the redistricting effort succeeds, Kiggans and Virginia Republican Reps. Rob Wittman, John McGuire, and Ben Cline could be in hot water. Under the 10-1 map, Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Va., would likely remain safe.

Spanberger was formerly against gerrymandering in 2019 when she served in Congress.

“I agree with Abigail Spanberger, who rightly said in 2019 that gerrymandering is detrimental to our democracy and weakens the individual voices that form our electorates, and that opposing it should be a bipartisan priority,” said Kiggans.

“I call on her to stand by those words and not give in to the radical left in her first days as governor,” Kiggans continued.

Newly sworn in Virginia Attorney Jay Jones (D) released an official opinion on the constitutionality of the proposed redistricting amendment, but he didn’t take his predecessor Jason’s Miyares’s (R) name off the official letter head.

Evil & stupid.

It’s going to be a long 5… pic.twitter.com/hwdc6qI6Qw
— Being Libertarian (@beinlibertarian) January 20, 2026

“The Democrats are trying to ram through a hyper partisan redistricting process that undermines the will of the people,” former Republican Virginia Rep. Bob Good told The Daily Signal.

“It’s unfortunate that Democrats are going to wield their newfound power in a hyper-partisan way. Virginia is about a 55-45 Democrat-Republican split in the vote, and the Democrats want to try to make it a 90% Democrat state by achieving a 10-1 advantage,” continued Good.

“Democrats are ignoring the Virginia constitution,” said Kiggans, referencing the 2020 constitutional amendment.

“Virginia voters overwhelmingly rejected partisan gerrymandering by amending our Constitution to create an independent redistricting commission,” Kiggans continued. “Constitutional amendments should not be taken lightly or temporarily brushed aside to grab power and disenfranchise voters based on political disagreement.”

“The Democrats are fighting to overturn a constitutional amendment approved by more than 65% of voters 5 years ago,” echoed Del. Anne Ferrell Tata, R-V.B., to The Daily Signal. “Their motivation is clear—to create gerrymandered districts to maximize their power and eliminate Republican seats in Congress.”

“This blatant power grab defies the will of the people and is disastrous for Virginia,” Tata concluded.

Speaker of the House Don Scott feels even more confident in redistricting now that Spanberger is “100% behind” it. https://t.co/WQlM3wx1qB pic.twitter.com/pjcS7SSgX4
— Brandon Jarvis (@Jaaavis) January 20, 2026

Gov. Spanberger could not be reached to comment.

Ringleaders of Anti-ICE Church Invasion Arrested

Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Thursday that law enforcement had arrested some of the agitators who invaded a church service in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Sunday.

“Minutes ago at my direction [Homeland Security Investigations] and [FBI] agents executed an arrest in Minnesota,” Bondi posted on X Thursday morning.

“So far, we have arrested Nekima Levy Armstrong, who allegedly played a key role in organizing the coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota,” she added. “We will share more updates as they become available.”

“Listen loud and clear: WE DO NOT TOLERATE ATTACKS ON PLACES OF WORSHIP,” the attorney general wrote.

UPDATE: A second arrest has been made at my direction. Chauntyll Louisa Allen has been taken into custody.

More to come.

WE WILL PROTECT OUR HOUSES OF WORSHIP ??
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) January 22, 2026

Shortly afterward, Bondi posted that Chauntyll Louisa Allen had also been arrested. “More to come,” she added.

The attorney general also announced that authorities had also arrested William Kelly, the man who posted videos of the incident online on the handle “DaWoke Farmer.”

Allen identified herself as a member of the St. Paul school board and leader of Black Lives Matter Twin Cities in a TMZ interview. She is also running for a city council seat, according to her school board candidacy website.

Chauntyll Louisa Allen has been charged with conspiracy to deprive rights for her role in the St. Paul church riots. pic.twitter.com/DwTJxB3tW7
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) January 22, 2026

Between 30 and 40 anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement agitators interrupted a Sunday service at Cities Church, a non-denominational Christian church in St. Paul, and shouted, “Justice for Renee Good!” as they surrounded members of the congregation.

Videos of the incident show the pastor and others repeatedly asking the agitators to leave, and the agitators chanting, “Who shut this down? We shut this down!”

This is not peaceful protest. This is an invasion of a sacred space. Anti-ICE agitators disrupted Cities Church in the middle of service.

Warning: the agitators on the Left are serious. The man who posted this video bragged about doing this—comparing it to Jesus flipping over… pic.twitter.com/BeeIdubpwM
— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) January 19, 2026

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division is investigating the incident for potential violations of the FACE Act, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon announced Sunday. She also mentioned prosecution under the Ku Klux Klan Act.

Armstrong, leader of the Racial Justice Network and a former president of the Minneapolis chapter of the NAACP, told Democracy Now that she does not regret helping to lead the protest.

“We are unapologetic about going into the church,” Armstrong said. She called it a “conflict of interest” for a pastor to oversee “the brutal conduct of ICE agents.”

When asked about the prospect of facing charges, Armstrong called it “hypocrisy” that the Justice Department would investigate the agitators but not the ICE agent who shot Good. She also faulted President Donald Trump for enabling ICE to arrest illegal aliens inside churches with a warrant.

?CHURCH INVASION RINGLEADER ARRESTED

The FBI arrested Nekima Levy Armstrong, the ringleader of the invasion of City Church, @AGPamBondi announced.

Thanks to @HarmeetKDhillon for explaining why the anti-ICE agitators who invaded the church, terrified children, and bragged about… pic.twitter.com/Q0IJ3qRq6P
— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) January 22, 2026

William Kelly, the third arrestee, had dared Pam Bondi to charge him.

“So, you know, Pam Bondi, you want to come and arrest me, you want to come and give me charges, so be it,” he said.

The attorney general posted the video clip of his remark with the message, “Ok.”

Ok ? pic.twitter.com/tQZNbKFABA
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) January 22, 2026

Kelly responded to news of Armstrong’s arrest by releasing a video claiming that “the republic has f—ing fallen,” and urging Americans to protest. He said, “It’s time to shut this country down.”

William Kelly is being charged with conspiracy to deprive rights, a federal crime, for his involvement in the St. Paul church riots. pic.twitter.com/cXuuvQ9zxR
— Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) January 22, 2026

Attorneys for Cities Church celebrated the arrests.

“The First Amendment does not allow premeditated plots or coordinated actions to violate the sanctity of a sanctuary, disrupt worship, and intimidate small children,” Renee Carlson, general counsel for True North Legal, said in a statement Thursday. “There is no ‘press pass’ to invade a sanctuary or to conspire to interrupt religious services.”

“The Constitution protects citizens from threats against fundamental rights by the government, but it also requires government to protect those same rights when they are jeopardized by private actors,” she added. “True North Legal is proud to represent Cities Church and is grateful that the Justice Department for taking violations of religious liberty seriously.”

“The First Amendment protects the God-given rights of every American to assemble and to worship God,” Doug Wardlow, True North Legal’s director of litigation, said in the statement. “It does not give anyone the right to invade a church and terrorize worshippers. That’s a federal crime: the FACE Act prohibits intimidating or interfering with people worshipping in a church.”

“It is outrageous that, instead of doing their jobs and protecting Minnesotans’ rights, state officials like Keith Ellison choose to mock the invasion of a church,” he added. “Thankfully, the U.S. Department of Justice acted decisively by arresting those who coordinated and carried out the terrible crime.”

Wardlow said the arrests “will help ensure that mob aggression like Cities Church experienced will not be repeated in any other house of worship.”

EXCLUSIVE: Trump Scrutinizes Vast Sum of COVID-19 Funding for Planned Parenthood

FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—President Donald Trump’s Small Business Administration is reviewing whether Planned Parenthood affiliates illegally received $88 million in loans during the COVID-19 pandemic, The Daily Signal can first report.

“At the height of the pandemic, affiliates of Planned Parenthood took $88 million in taxpayer dollars to fund their abortion-on-demand agenda—and the Biden administration made sure they got nearly every cent forgiven, even after the first Trump administration protested,” SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler said.

“Six years later, the Trump SBA holds the same conviction: Planned Parenthood Federation of America was never eligible to receive a dime in pandemic-era relief from taxpayers.”

The administration’s move to challenge millions in funding for America’s largest abortion provider comes the week of the March for Life, when thousands of pro-lifers flock to Washington, D.C., to advocate for the right to life for the unborn.

SBA on Thursday sent letters to 38 Planned Parenthood Federation of America Inc. affiliates requiring them to prove they were eligible for the more than $88 million in COVID-19-era relief through the administration’s former Paycheck Protection Program.

In addition, the Biden administration forgave 34 loans to Planned Parenthood affiliates under the program.

Now, SBA is reviewing if Planned Parenthood affiliates misrepresented the size of their organizations or the nature of their affiliation with the national organization to unlawfully qualify for the loans.

“As part of the review underway, not only will we expose the Planned Parenthood affiliates who took advantage of the American people—we will take every necessary step to force every bad actor to pay them back,” Loeffler said.

Planned Parenthood chapters that don’t provide the requested documentation may be determined to have been ineligible for the loan and the subsequent forgiveness.

Additionally, affiliates that SBA finds to have provided incorrect or false eligibility certifications will face “severe penalties, including repayment of the loan, ineligibility for loan forgiveness, and possible referral for civil or criminal penalties.”

The Paycheck Protection Program, which ran from April 3, 2020, to May 31, 2021, was formed to help small businesses keep employees on payroll amid disruptions caused by the pandemic. Applicants were required to self-certify their size and eligibility to the administration.

Though each Planned Parenthood affiliate said they were an independent qualified entity with fewer than 500 employees, per the program’s requirements, the Trump administration found that none of them were eligible due to their affiliation with Planned Parenthood Federation of America, thus together exceeding the 500 employee limit.

President Joe Biden’s administration then forgave many of the loans to Planned Parenthood affiliates without “engaging in a meaningful review of their respective applications.”

The SBA is able to use its authority to open a review of loans despite prior loan forgiveness, according to a news release.

Members of Congress had previously requested an investigation of the PPP funds given to Planned Parenthood affiliates.

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, last March demanded “answers over how the funding was approved, and loans were forgiven despite PPFA being ineligible to receive PPP funds but were stonewalled at every turn by the Biden administration.”

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., sent a letter to the first Trump administration asking the Department of Justice to investigate if granting loans to Planned Parenthood violates SBA’s affiliation rules.

“As you know, fraudulent loan applications can trigger both civil and criminal penalties,” the letter said.

17 House Republicans Cave on Subsidies While California Loots Medicaid

Seventeen House Republicans gave California Democrats a late Christmas present this month when they crossed the aisle to vote for extending enhanced Obamacare premium subsidies for another three years.

Not only did they move these massive handouts one step closer to permanent entitlement status, but they failed to advance reforms that would actually lower health care costs, like closing the Intergovernmental Transfer loophole that has cost taxpayers tens of billions over time.

The Senate should stop this bill in its tracks and—in anticipation of pushback from those who have never seen a government expansion they didn’t like—prepare to argue to the public why propping up a broken system won’t reduce health insurance premiums. As I argued in The Hill, these subsidies just mask the true cost of government distortion.

Since the Affordable Care Act passed, average family premiums have exploded to more than $25,000 per year. Government subsidies haven’t stopped that rise. They’ve enabled it—by insulating insurers from competitive pricing and reducing any pressure for meaningful reform.

And while Washington debates whether to extend temporary tax credits, states like California are quietly siphoning off billions in federal Medicaid dollars through legalized budget fraud tied to the Intergovernmental Transfer loophole.

It works like this: State-run hospitals or county agencies send funds to the state Medicaid program. The state counts those as its own Medicaid spending, uses them to trigger a higher Federal Medical Assistance Percentage match from the federal government, and then sends most of the money back to the local provider—often with a bonus.

No new services are delivered. No patients are helped. But billions in federal money change hands—and California is the poster child for using this racket to cover its budget gaps it.

The Paragon Institute calls this the “Local Loop.” I call it Medicaid fraud with federal approval.

And it’s not new. The Government Accountability Office warned Congress about these tactics in 2004. Back then, Medicaid was a fraction of its current size. In March 2025, Paragon estimated that improper Medicaid payments totaled $1.1 trillion between 2015 and 2024—double what the federal government officially reports.

California leads the pack. Gov. Gavin Newsom just introduced a $348 billion state budget, despite running a $3 billion deficit—again. His administration continues to lean on Medicaid Intergovernmental Transfer schemes to extract more money from Washington instead of enacting real fiscal discipline.

This scam doesn’t just fleece taxpayers. It undermines care.

In California, public ambulance providers that participate in funding transfer schemes are reimbursed more than $1,000 per Medicaid transport. Private ambulance services often receive a quarter of that. The result? Private providers leave the market, rural patients suffer, and public-sector monopolies get even stronger.

The real path forward is not more subsidies, whether via the Affordable Care Act or Medicaid. It’s structural reform.

We should start by shutting down Intergovernmental Transfer abuse—ending circular transfers, enforcing transparency in Medicaid financing, and tying federal dollars to real services delivered to real patients.

Then we need to empower patients directly. In my Empower Patients Initiative with Dr. Deane Waldman, we propose giving Medicaid recipients no-limit Health Savings Accounts, funded through state block grants. These accounts allow individuals to pay providers directly, shop for care, and make health care decisions on their terms.

Paired with time limits and work incentives for work-capable adults, this model would reduce dependency, lower costs, and improve outcomes. It would also inject long-overdue competition and price transparency into a system that’s been shielded from both.

We shouldn’t spend another dollar on expanding a broken health care system where waste, fraud, and restricted access are the norm.

The Senate has a chance to do something the House didn’t: say no to making pandemic subsidies permanent. Say no to another taxpayer-funded bailout for insurers. And say yes to fixing the corruption and distortion that actually drive- up health care costs.

Let the subsidies expire. End the Medicaid shell games. And finally start empowering patients—not bureaucracies—to take charge of their care.

We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal.

Justices Unanimously Hold That Restitution Under Victim Act Is Part of the Punishment

Victims of crime, especially violent crime, are not mere witnesses. They have a special status under state and federal law and are entitled to certain rights, including the right to be heard, to be treated fairly, and in some cases, to get restitution. Until Tuesday, it was an open question of whether the restitution owed to them by the convicted defendant was part of the criminal punishment.

Whether the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act is considered legal punishment under the Constitution’s ex post facto clauses has been the subject of some debate in the lower courts. On Jan. 20, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling answering that question in the affirmative under the unique facts of this case.

But what is the MVRA, how did it come to be, and why is this case a textbook example of the ex post facto clause in action?

Enacted by Congress in 1996, the MVRA was designed to ensure restitution for victims of certain federal crimes.

The statute made restitution mandatory for specified offenses, including violent crimes, property crimes, and fraud. It also adopted a broad definition of “victim,” extending beyond those directly harmed to also include family members and others who suffered direct and proximate harm as a result of the offense.

Finally, restitution under the MVRA is imposed at sentencing and enforced as part of the defendant’s criminal punishment.

The ex post facto clauses, located in Article I, Sections 9 and 10 of the Constitution, forbid Congress and the states from enacting ex post facto—literally, “from a thing done afterward”—laws. To understand why, it is necessary to delve into the historical and legal context, and there is no better source for doing so than the third edition of the “Heritage Guide to the Constitution.”

In Essay No. 70 of the guide, Evan C. Zoldan, associate dean for Academic Affairs at the University of Toledo College of Law, explains that despite well-documented historical concern about retroactive laws dating back to the founding of the United States, such laws often prove attractive to legislatures because they can serve as a form of retrospective “payback” for heinous crimes.

Zoldan argues that the Supreme Court has struggled to interpret the clauses for “all they are worth,” which has led to a confused and inconsistent legal framework.

To prove his point, Zoldan turns to perhaps the most influential Supreme Court case on the matter, Calder v. Bull from 1798.

In Calder, the Supreme Court identified four categories of laws forbidden by the clauses: laws that criminalize previously innocent conduct; laws that “aggravate” a crime or make it greater than when committed; laws that increase punishment after a crime was committed; and laws that alter the rules of evidence to make conviction easier.

While the Supreme Court has experimented with other frameworks over time, ex post facto jurisprudence seems to lead the court back to the Calder framework. At the conclusion of Zoldan’s essay, the guide’s first open question note poses a prescient question of law: Since the clauses prohibit laws that are punitive in nature, what exactly qualifies as punitive?

This question brings us to Tuesday’s ruling.

In a unanimous ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court voted to reverse the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision in Ellingburg v. United States and held that the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act imposes criminal punishment and therefore cannot be applied retroactively under the ex post facto clause. Justice Brett Kavanaugh delivered the opinion of the court.

The facts of the case are simple: Holsey Ellingburg Jr. committed the federal crimes of bank robbery and using a firearm during a crime of violence in December 1995. He was later convicted and sentenced and ordered to pay restitution of $7567.25. The catch here is that the MVRA became law on April 24, 1996, after he committed the crimes.

Turning to the opinion itself, the court applied its standard as laid out in Smith v. Doe, which requires an analysis of a statute’s text and structure. Kavanaugh concluded that 18 U.S.C. § 3663A(a)(1) imposes criminal punishment.

First, the text of the statute itself denotes restitution as a penalty to be imposed during sentencing rather than as civil damages. Second, failure to make restitution payments can result in a court’s alteration of supervised release or probation terms. Third, when restitution is imposed by a district court, the court must abide by procedures of criminal law rather than civil.

Returning to Smith v. Doe, Kavanaugh concluded that while the opinion allows for a defendant convicted of a relevant crime to register as a sex offender, the registration requirements were imposed through civil procedures, as opposed to the MVRA, which is imposed upon a criminal defendant in a criminal proceeding at sentencing.

Justice Clarence Thomas concurred in the result, joined by Justice Neil Gorsuch. Thomas concluded that the decision reflects a correct application of precedent as established in Calder v. Bull. Thomas emphasized that ex post facto laws are prohibited under Article I, Sections 9 and 10 of the United States Constitution.

But Thomas did not stop at constitutional text alone. He also turned to the writings of James Madison in “Objections to the New Constitution,” in “Pamphlets on the Constitution of the United States,” and the writings of Alexander Hamilton in “The Federalist Papers” as further evidence of his originalist claim.

Thomas also addressed one of the three open questions of law posed by Zoldan in “The Heritage Guide” and how it can be reconciled with the Calder framework.

Thomas identified two key distinctions to clarify Calder’s rightful place in the court’s jurisprudence. First, Calder did not involve the retroactive punishment of criminal conduct. Second, Calder limited the ex post facto clauses to laws imposing criminal punishment.

Taking a page from Zoldan, Thomas noted that subsequent decisions have neglected these distinctions, producing a confused framework. But what is the standard going forward to distinguish punitive from civil remedies?

Once again, Thomas argued for a return to a historical and textualist perspective. Turning to Blackstone’s distinction between private wrongs, which injure individuals, and public wrongs, which injure the sovereign, Thomas proposed that laws imposing punishment for public wrongs should fall within the ex post facto clauses, while laws addressing private disputes should not.

The ruling in Ellingburg is a victory not only for applying the Constitution as it was intended, but also as a coherent and clarifying landmark for future rulings that protect citizens from unjust retroactive punishment.

From Rock to Tech, Talent Flees Taxes

California Democrats should listen to The Rolling Stones.

The band famously fled England in the 1970s, heading into tax exile in the south of France.

Mick Jagger and his mates weren’t alone—a generation of rock royalty abandoned the U.K. because of its steep taxes: David Bowie opted for Switzerland; Rod Stewart went to California.

“We left England because we’d be paying 98 cents on the dollar. We left, and they lost out. No taxes at all,” Stones guitarist Keith Richards recalled to Fortune.

Progressives are now transforming California into what Britain was before Margaret Thatcher—and it’s not celebrities who are leaving, but the billionaires who drive Silicon Valley’s economy, and therefore the state’s.

The 2026 Billionaire Tax Act ballot measure is a recipe for reverse alchemy, turning the Golden State into lead.

California’s descending into a vicious spiral all too familiar from other blue states and cities, whenever they try to make up for revenue lost as billionaires and businesses flee by raising taxes ever higher.

But this is no ordinary tax on incremental gains—the Billionaire Tax is straight-up confiscation, a one-time seizure of 5% of a taxpayer’s assets.

The law would hit anyone with $1 billion or more, which is admittedly a tiny population—fewer than 300 people—even in California.

But if millions of people voting in a referendum can expropriate a few hundred people this time, what’s to stop them from doing it to a few thousand the next, or many thousands after that?

What begins with the billionaires won’t end with them.

Even Gov. Gavin Newsom, who’s no stranger to scaring money away from the state—just ask Elon Musk—thinks the Billionaire Tax goes too far.

Or does he?

He tells The New York Times he fears it would harm California’s competitiveness with other states, but a national confiscation wouldn’t be so bad:

“It’s one thing to have a prism of the nation, and you can talk about 50 states,” he says. “It’s another when you’re competing against 49 other states.”

A prism of the nation?

It sounds like Newsom meant “a prison of the nation” where the prey can’t escape by just moving to Texas.

Newsom has made his state a sanctuary for illegal immigrants while his policies encourage the nation’s most successful businesspeople to self-deport.

The low-tax red states of Texas and Florida are booming thanks to exactly the opposite approach—they’re sanctuaries for entrepreneurs who create new jobs and whole industries.

The tech-talent exodus had begun long before the Billionaire Tax arose on California’s horizon.

But it’s hastening the rush out, and whether or not it passes, the initiative confirms Silicon Valley’s worst fears about where things are headed.

So the billionaires are headed someplace else:

Elon Musk left for Texas in 2020 and subsequently relocated Tesla, SpaceX, and other companies he owns.

Peter Thiel is now a Florida resident and has shifted his operations out of California by stages.

David Sacks has gone to Austin, and Google’s founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page are said to be cutting their ties to California, too.

Even the billionaire owner of California’s iconic In-N-Out burger chain announced last July she was leaving for Tennessee.

A June 2025 report by the Public Policy Institute of California notes the state lost 1.9% of its corporate headquarters between 2011 and 2021.

The Los Angeles Times says California suffered a net emigration of 741 firms in 2022 and 531 in 2023 as well.

Along with New York, California is the Democratic Party’s crown jewel at the state level.

Yet both states are bleeding business because of high taxes and stifling regulations.

“California and New York have, by far, the highest domestic outflow of domestic companies across the US” dating back to 2015, according to the Financial Times.

These states, like other blue states and cities before them, are wrecking the very prosperity that makes their extensive social services and government benefits possible.

And as in Illinois and so many other places, short-sighted unions are exacerbating California’s problems.

The Billionaire Tax is being pushed by the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, which wants to make up for Trump administration cuts to federal services by sapping the wealthiest Californians.

If that strikes fear into Newsom, so much the better—the union can use that fear to wring more concessions from him, his party and the state they control.

Meanwhile, the men and women whose abilities and resources contribute the most to making California a place that would rank as the world’s fifth biggest economy if it were a country of its own aren’t waiting around to find out who’ll carve them for dinner.

They’re following the Stones’ example and going wherever success isn’t punished.

We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal.

MAGA Baby Boom? Vance Baby News Takes Internet by Storm

For the first time in more than 150 years, the second family is growing.

On Tuesday afternoon, Vice President JD Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance announced that she is pregnant with her fourth child, a boy, due at the end of July. The Vances referred to this pregnancy as “this exciting and hectic time” before thanking military doctors, and the joyful announcement took Washington and the internet by storm.

We’re very happy to share some exciting news. Our family is growing! pic.twitter.com/0RohEBYXM7
— Second Lady Usha Vance (@SLOTUS) January 20, 2026

The pregnancy is historic, given that the last time a second family welcomed a child into the world was in 1870. Vice President Schuyler Colfax and his wife, Ellen, had a child while Colfax was vice president to President Ulysses S. Grant. Like Vance, Grant was from Ohio.

Before JD Vance and Usha Vance’s pregnancy announcement in 2026, the last U.S. Vice President to have a child while in office was Schuyler Colfax and his wife, Ellen, in 1870. pic.twitter.com/AgTx4HpJ1x
— History Calendar (@historycalendar) January 21, 2026

The news quickly became a trending topic on X.

The Trump War Room account boasted the growing second family is part of a “MAGA BABY BOOM!”

MAGA BABY BOOM https://t.co/hzTbYYo4lf
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) January 20, 2026

The White House X account, meanwhile, said the news is proof of “the most pro-family administration in history!”

Perhaps the Trump War Room and the White House are right as several other members of the Trump administration are also expecting children.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt is pregnant with her second child, a daughter, due in May. Katie Miller, the wife of Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, is pregnant as well. Like the Vances, this is their fourth child.

Fellow Ohio Republicans were quick to wish the vice president and second lady well, including Gov. Mike DeWine and Sen. Jon Husted.

Congratulations to Vice President @JDVance and @SLOTUS Usha Vance! Fran and I wish you and your family all the best. https://t.co/ZpHypSqga2
— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) January 20, 2026

Congratulations! Children are an amazing gift. May mom and child be blessed with good health. https://t.co/1jvxIP9uHZ
— Jon Husted (@JonHusted) January 20, 2026

Husted was not the only one to celebrate the “amazing gift” that children are. Florida Republicans Rep. Byron Donalds, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, and Sen. Rick Scott, also celebrated the news of new life.

Get married. Have babies. Make families great again ??

CONGRATS to the Second Family of the United States! @JDVance @SLOTUS https://t.co/xEnaWXzsq2
— Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (@RepLuna) January 20, 2026

Catholic University Professor Chad Pecknold, a friend of Vances, quoted another friend of the Vances, the late Charlie Kirk.

“Get married.

Have children.

Build a legacy.

Pass down your values.

Pursue the eternal.

Seek true joy.”

— @charliekirk11 pic.twitter.com/8ZDYq55vEH
— Chad Pecknold (@ccpecknold) January 20, 2026

And then the memes came pouring in.

Would Secretary of State Marco Rubio add another job as the Vance’s babysitter or godfather?

Marco Rubio knowing he is going to be the nanny for JD Vance's new baby. pic.twitter.com/0t5mdkQjEc
— Planet Of Memes (@PlanetOfMemes) January 21, 2026

Marco Rubio finding out he's about to be the godfather to the next Vance kid pic.twitter.com/TAWIZFswrG
— Elise McCue (@EliseMcCue) January 20, 2026

Baby Vance is due in July 2026—right around America’s 250th birthday.

Minneapolis ‘Protesters’ Must Be Prosecuted

First Amendment freedoms are sacrosanct—especially the right to gather together and worship God.

But over Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend, Minneapolis/St. Paul anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protesters and their supporters perversely invoked the First Amendment to justify desecrating a house of worship and interfering with others’ First Amendment rights.

While congregants of Cities Church—a Southern Baptist congregation—conducted their weekly worship service, protesters poured into the sanctuary with the express purpose of disrupting and disbanding it because one of the church’s pastors also works for ICE.

The church’s primary pastor called the disruptive actions shameful. And they are.

More than that, though, such actions are illegal under both state and federal law.

Potential Minnesota State Law Violations

While it’s doubtful that St. Paul’s district attorney or Minnesota’s attorney general will pursue state charges, they should.

A quick look through Minnesota’s statutes shows that at least three could potentially be applied:

Minnesota Statute § 609.28, Interfering with Religious Observance, makes it a misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and/or a $3,000 fine, if someone uses threats, violence, or physically obstructs or disrupts religious services.

Minnesota Statute § 609.605, Criminal Trespass, makes it a misdemeanor punishable up to 90 days in jail and/or a $1,000 fine if someone enters or remains on private property without consent. This offense can be escalated to a gross misdemeanor in certain circumstances.

Finally, Minnesota Statute § 609.72, Disorderly Conduct, makes it a misdemeanor to disturb “an assembly or meeting, not unlawful in its character” or to engage in “offensive, obscene, abusive, boisterous, or noisy conduct or in offensive, obscene, or abusive language tending reasonably to arouse alarm, anger, or resentment in others.”

All of these would seem to apply to this situation. But despite the straightforward nature of these charges, none have yet been brought by state or local officials. And sadly, no charges likely will be brought against the protestors.

Potential Federal FACE Act Violation

Instead, Minnesota’s attorney general, Keith Ellison, has been making the media rounds, suggesting that the disruptors—including disgraced former CNN host Don Lemon (who claims he was simply there as a journalist)—did not violate the federal FACE Act.

For those unfamiliar, the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act was originally proposed to protect those entering abortion clinics.

But Congress also included and made it clear that whoever “by force or threat of force or by physical obstruction, intentionally injures, intimidates or interferes with or attempts to injure, intimidate or interfere with any person lawfully exercising or seeking to exercise the First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship” has violated the law. The same is true if someone “intentionally damages or destroys the property of a place of religious worship.”

The disruptors’ conduct certainly seems to meet this definition. The U.S. Justice Department is investigating.

Attorney General Pam Bondi has said that “any violations of federal law will be prosecuted” and that if “state leaders refuse to act responsibly to prevent lawlessness, this Department of Justice will remain mobilized to prosecute federal crimes and ensure that the rule of law prevails.”

KKK Act

Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, has made clear that the Justice Department is also investigating whether those involved violated the Ku Klux Klan Act. Congress originally passed this act in the wake of the Civil War to allow the federal government to make sure all Americans’ civil rights are enforced and respected.

The overwhelming majority of Americans should agree that those who seek to worship God should not be intimidated or harassed while they do so.

And the First Amendment right to assemble and protest, or even a weaponized reading of the freedom of the press, does not provide protection for violating others’ First Amendment rights to freely worship.

Those who disrupted the church service this past weekend must be held accountable and quickly prosecuted.

As ICE Begins Crackdown in Maine, Where Might the Next Target Be?

The Department of Homeland Security announced “Operation Catch of the Day” on Wednesday, with federal immigration agents arriving in Maine to find and arrest criminal illegal aliens.

The agency noted that Immigration and Customs Enforcement has already arrested criminal illegal aliens convicted of endangering the welfare of a child and aggravated assault.

“We have launched Operation Catch of the Day to target the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens in the state,” said DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin.

DHS has launched similar “named” operations in cities and states across the U.S., including Operation Patriot in Massachusetts, Operation Catahoula Crunch in New Orleans, Operation Buckeye in Ohio, Operation Charlotte’s Web in Charlotte, North Carolina, Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago, and Operation Metro Surge in the Twin Cities.

OPERATION CATCH OF THE DAY.

On the first day of operations in Maine, we arrested illegal aliens convicted of aggravated assault, false imprisonment, and child abuse.@GovJanetMills and her fellow sanctuary politicians have made it abundantly clear that they would rather stand…
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) January 21, 2026

“The reality is that ICE is active nationwide, but it typically draws media attention only during large-scale operations,” Marguerite Telford, director of communications at the Center for Immigration Studies, says.

The Department of Homeland Security does not publicize future locations of where it plans to launch a large-scale operation, but there are a number of communities across the U.S. with high populations of illegal aliens that have yet to large immigration enforcement operations.

Boston

Telford gave a “reasonable guess that DHS may launch a large operation in Boston, “where both the governor and mayor have publicly opposed ICE enforcement efforts.”

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, a Democrat, has accused ICE of “cruel and callous behavior.”

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, also a Democrat, said ICE operations “are destabilizing communities, creating intimidation, fear.”

Boston is a sanctuary city, and the state has policies that limit local and state law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration officials.

“If local officials want to avoid enforcement surges in their cities, they should allow ICE access to local jails so officers can safely take custody of criminal aliens without risking public safety,” Telford says.

New York State

While immigration agents have conducted operations in New York City, Simon Hankinson, a senior research fellow for the Border Security and Immigration Center at The Heritage Foundation, says large operations outside the city might carry strategic value.

In communities in Upstate New York “without large leftie concentrations,” local law enforcement have a higher likelihood of working with federal immigration officials to find and detain illegal aliens, Hankinson explains.

Hartford, Connecticut

There are 64,000 “noncitizens” living in Hartford and 265,400 across Connecticut, according to the research and advocacy group Vera Institute of Justice.

In August, ICE conducted a four-day operation in Connecticut, resulting in the apprehension of 65 illegal aliens, according to DHS.

Connecticut is a “sanctuary” state, according to the Department of Justice.

New Jersey

In early 2024, busloads of illegal aliens were dropped off in New Jersey, which maintains a large migrant population, according to the Immigration Policy Institute.

New Jersey’s “unauthorized population” is estimated around 476,000, the policy group reports.

While New Jersey is not a sanctuary state, Newark and Jersey City, the state’s two largest cities, are sanctuary cities, according to the Justice Department.

Seattle

As of 2023, about 375,000 illegal aliens lived in Washington state, making up about 5% of the state’s population, according to Axios.

Seattle is the largest city in Washington, and an ICE field office already exists in the city, but DHS has not reported significant enforcement operations in the West Coast community.

Seattle is a “sanctuary city,” according to the DOJ.

These Democrats Voted To Hold Clintons in Contempt for Obstructing Epstein Probe

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to send a contempt of Congress citation against former President Bill Clinton to the House floor, for not cooperating with the probe into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The vote to hold former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in contempt for her failure to cooperate was closer, but still bipartisan, as three Democrats broke to vote with Republicans.

Nine Democrats on the Oversight committee joined 25 Republicans to hold Bill Clinton in contempt of Congress, for a 34-8 vote.

The vote to hold Hillary Clinton in contempt passed 28-15.

The two contempt citations now head to the House floor for potential consideration by the full chamber. Contempt of Congress is a charge that can carry up to 12 months in prison or $100,000.

Here are the Democrats who voted to hold Bill Clinton in contempt of Congress:

Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla.

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill.

Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa.

Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass.

Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass.

Rep. Emily Randall, D-Wash.

Rep. Lateefah Simon, D-Calif.

Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.

Here are the three Democrats who voted to hold Hillary Clinton in contempt:

Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa.

Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.

What We Know of the Rumored ‘Sonic Weapon’ in Maduro Capture

Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell / Katrina Trinko / David Azerrad / Fred Lucas / Jenna Lee / Pedro Rodriguez / Jaryn Crouson / George Caldwell / Jarrett Stepman / Virginia Grace McKinnon / Fred Lucas / Manya Saini / George Caldwell / Virginia Grace McKinnon / Tyler O'Neil / Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell / Vance Ginn / Cully Stimson / John Osorio / Daniel McCarthy / Rebecca Downs / Zack Smith / Virginia Allen / Fred Lucas / Virginia Allen / January 21, 2026

Use of a “sonic weapon” in the overnight capture of a country’s leader might sound like something out of a science fiction novel, but experts confirm that sort of technology exists.

U.S. military use of sound as a non-lethal weapon “is credible” and “has been demonstrated,” according to Brent Sadler, a senior research fellow at The Heritage Foundation who focuses on naval warfare and advanced technology.

Following the U.S. military operation in Venezuela to capture socialist leader Nicolás Maduro, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt shared a post on X describing what an alleged Venezuelan security guard said was “a very intense sound wave” deployed by the U.S. military during the operation.

“Suddenly, I felt like my head was exploding from the inside. We all started bleeding from the nose. Some were vomiting blood. We fell to the ground, unable to move,” according to the account initially posted by political activist Mike Netter and reposted by Leavitt.

“We had no way to compete with their technology, with their weapons,” the security guard continued. “I swear, I’ve never seen anything like it. We couldn’t even stand up after that sonic weapon or whatever it was.”

Stop what you are doing and read this…
?????????? https://t.co/v9OsbdLn1q
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) January 10, 2026

About three decades ago, the U.S. established the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate at the then-Department of Defense, which President Donald Trump renamed the Department of War in 2025. The initiative was re-designated in 2020 as the Joint Intermediate Force Capabilities Office.

The development and use of non-lethal weapons “enables U.S. and allied forces to deliver accurate, tailorable, and compelling effects in complex and ambiguous scenarios while preventing unintended escalation of hostilities, unnecessary loss of life, or destruction of critical infrastructure,” according to the Joint Intermediate Force Capabilities Office.

The original intent of the initiative was the development of non-lethal weapons for “operations such as peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance,” the government office says, adding that now there is a need for such weapons “in irregular warfare operations such as counterinsurgency, counterterrorism, stability operations, and counter-piracy.”

Retired Marine Corps Col. Mark F. Cancian says he has not heard of a weapon that matches the description of the one portrayed in the account Leavitt shared. However, the U.S. military does use a device called a Long Range Acoustic Device, or LRAD.

The device is a bit like a megaphone that “focuses all of its audio in a very tight cone,” Cancian, who now serves as a senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, says.

“It sounds like the voice of God. It is very loud,” Cancian said. “And I can imagine that if you cranked up the volume, you could have effects on people … perhaps some disruption in their functions.”

The U.S. military has also used “flashbangs” for years, Cancian explained. A “flashbang grenade” is a non-lethal device that shines a very bright light and makes a loud noise.

In the roughly 15 years since Cancian worked at the Pentagon, he says it is possible new technologies similar to an LRAD or “flashbang grenade” have been developed.

The Pentagon declined to comment on reports of the use of a non-lethal sound weapon in Venezuela.

The use of lights and sounds as “non-lethal options” has “matured a lot over the years, but they haven’t really been deployed at scale,” Sadler said. “So, the fact that the special forces might have used these is interesting,” he noted of the Jan. 3 operation in Venezuela.

The use of something like a high sound frequency provides a distraction and “buys your special operators seconds to make critical decisions,” Sadler said.

Of the U.S. non-lethal sound weapons he knows, Sadler said they are intended to be “reversible” in their effect, and once the sound is turned off or a person gets away from it, “there’s no lasting impact.”

EXCLUSIVE: Linda McMahon Explains Why Department Paused Involuntary Student Loan Collection

FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—The Department of Education paused involuntary collection of defaulted student loans, but Secretary of Education Linda McMahon told The Daily Signal the process will restart “sooner rather than later.”

McMahon said the department delayed the plan to garnish wages from defaulted borrowers in order to create time to make people aware of their options.

Why did the Education Department pause involuntary collection of student loans? @EDSecMcMahon said the department delayed the plan to garnish wages from defaulted borrowers to give more time to make people aware of their options.

Involuntary collections will resume "sooner… pic.twitter.com/9Ps0HQ0x10
— Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell (@TheElizMitchell) January 21, 2026

“Now, as the ‘One, Big, Beautiful Bill’ has been passed,” she said, “and there are different options, we wanna make sure that as we continue to reform this repayment plan, which was an unmitigated disaster under the Biden administration … then all of these different ways to pay came into play, [and] people just stopped paying.”

“They didn’t know what they were supposed to do or not supposed to do,” she continued. “So, we wanna take some time to make sure that the options are very clear under the One Big, Beautiful Bill, two primary options, and one is to tie it very closely to an income-directed payment plan.”

The department announced last week it would delay the implementation of involuntary collections on federal student loans, including Administrative Wage Garnishment and the Treasury Offset Program. In December, the agency said it would start garnishing wages beginning the week of Jan. 7.

The options for loan repayment will be made more clear through communication, McMahon said.

“We wanna make sure they’re clear, that those who are participating understand exactly what’s expected of them and that it’ll move forward,” she said.

When asked when involuntary collections will resume, McMahon said it’ll depend on “how quickly we can get the payment plans in place.”

“It’s not that we’re starting today,” she added. “We have been working on these for a good while. So I expect that we’ll have them in place sooner rather than later.”

‘Life Just Got Harder and More Expensive’ in Virginia Less Than 1 Week Into Spanberger’s Term

Only one week into the new Democrat-led legislative session in Virginia and Democrats are proposing tax hikes and a policy that is expected to cost households over $1,000 per year.

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger and Virginia Democrats won their elections in November 2025 because of their promises to make Virginia more affordable.

Spanberger was sworn in as governor on Saturday, and her first executive order was geared toward affordability. “My first executive order as governor directs my entire administration to identify where we can reduce costs for Virginians. We must lower costs in housing, health care, child care, and energy. Families deserve relief,” Spanberger said.

Republicans, however, are analyzing the policy proposals coming out of Democrat-controlled Richmond and suggest Democrats have introduced at least seven pieces of legislation that will increase living costs for Virginians.

One of Spanberger’s first moves as governor is expected to increase families’ electric bills by $1,100 per year. Spanberger wants Virginia to rejoin the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.

Former Gov. Glenn Youngkin pulled out of this initiative in 2023.

One of Spanberger’s first moves this week is to force Virginia to join RGGI (pronounced “Reggie”). If you hear it mentioned, it’s not a person. It’s a 501c3 “nonprofit” based in New York City.

RGGI forces its member states to buy emissions credits…from RGGI. It’s a…
— Glen Sturtevant (@GlenSturtevant) January 21, 2026

Critics call the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative a “backdoor carbon tax,” and rejoining the initiative will cost Virginians roughly $500 million per year for electricity; that’s $1,100 per household electric bill.

“As expected, Virginia Democrats spent months lying to Virginians that their policies would promote affordability,” Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-Va., told The Daily Signal. “In the first two days, they have voted to take more money out of your pocket through higher taxes.”

“Their first week of the legislative session was filled with proposals to raise taxes on everyone, increase regulation, and reinstate the costly RGGI initiative,” Kiggans continued.

“Democrats promised affordability, but one week into the session, we haven’t seen anything yet,” House Republican Leader Del. Terry Kilgore, R-Scott, told The Daily Signal. “Higher taxes and higher power bills don’t put money back into the pockets of Virginia family,” Kilgore continued.

Virginia Democrats have also proposed a slew of new taxes. These proposals include a 4.3% tax on delivery services on Uber Eats and Amazon, a new extended sales tax, raising the hotel tax, an 11% tax on gun purchases, new higher tax brackets of 8% and 10%, and a 3.8% investment tax.

?DEMOCRATS' BAD BILLS?

We're now one week into the 2026 legislative session. Here's just a small sampling of the terrible, dangerous legislation Democrats have introduced…

?HB 863 – abolishing mandatory minimums for manslaughter, rape, sexual assault, distributing child…
— VA Senate GOP (@VASenateGOP) January 21, 2026

“All Virginians will once again be left footing the bill for these Democrat socialist, progressive policies—handing over more of their hard-earned money to the government,” said Kiggans.

Republicans in the state Legislature are trying to combat these proposals.

“The House Republicans are taking decisive action to put more money back in the pockets of every Virginian,” Del. Anne Ferrell Tata, R-VB, told The Daily Signal. “I am proud to introduce HB 703 to eliminate the remaining 1% local grocery tax. Virginians should not be taxed on food and basic necessities,” she announced.

Kollin Crompton, Republican Governors Association deputy communications director, told The Daily Signal that Spanberger is “a radical who is willing to push the most extreme policies of her party while raising taxes on Virginia families.”

“Life just got harder and more expensive thanks to Spanberger,” continued Crompton.

Spanberger’s office coould not be reached for comment.

On the Anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Celebrate Its Demise

Fifty-three years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down one of its most consequential and controversial decisions: Roe v. Wade.

That Jan. 22, 1973, decision would not make it to its 50th birthday. Its victims, an estimated 63 million of them, however, would never reach the age of 1.

As a result of the decision handed down on Jan. 22, 1973, abortion became legal in all 50 states. Doe v. Bolton, a decision handed down that same day, signaled that women could obtain an abortion for pretty much any reason, given how purposefully vague the health exceptions were.

Roe wasn’t merely wrongly decided due to its enormous ramifications and controversial nature, but also because it was not legally sound. The justices based their decision on a “penumbra,” or a feeling about what the Constitution says about the right to privacy. The court first used the penumbra style of reading the Constitution in the 1965 case Griswold v. Connecticut. The court expanded it to abortion with Roe.

The Roe decision divided pregnancy into three trimesters. Although abortion had to remain legal during the first trimester, states could regulate abortion in the second trimester. During the third trimester, states could ban abortion with exceptions for the life of the mother or even just her health. That health exception could mean whatever a woman and her doctor said it meant.

America thus held the distinction of being one of only a few nations where elective abortion was allowed past 20 weeks, halfway through pregnancy.

Since that tragic day in 1973, the pro-life movement has worked to overturn the decision and protect unborn life.

Since the first anniversary of the Roe decision, pro-lifers have organized the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. This year’s March for Life will take place on Jan. 23.

From the start, pro-abortion advocates have tried to pit women against their unborn children. But these marches show the pro-life movement cares for both a mother who finds herself considering an abortion and the child she is carrying. A constant theme at the March for Life has been to “Love Them Both.”

And the pro-life movement has loved them both. From pregnancy resource centers to post-abortion healing, the pro-life movement has been there for women and children at every turn.

The pro-life movement has secured some major political wins as well. Polling conducted each year by Marist/The Knights of Columbus continues to show that a majority of Americans support prohibiting taxpayer dollars from going towards elective abortions. That policy is passed each year as a budget rider known as the Hyde Amendment.

Because of this steadfast work, the age of Roe ended with the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision in 2022.

While Roe was the law of the land for close to 50 years, Dobbs overturned Roe, just as other cases have rectified historic injustices written by the court’s hand.

Such an effort shows that faith, determination, hope, and resilience do pay off.

Thanks to the Dobbs decision, Americans are able to decide the abortion issue at the state level. Abortion is now banned in 13 states, and many more have other limits that would not have been able to go into effect under Roe.

The hard work of the pro-life movement is certainly not over, especially as there are nine states without a gestational ban on abortion. Further, even red states, such as Ohio, allow for abortions later in pregnancy due to a state constitutional amendment passed in 2023.

Even if there’s more work to be done to end the scourge of abortion, the anniversary of Roe v. Wade in a post-Dobbs world feels more celebratory and less somber. America is that much more beautiful when it protects life, and is able to do so now that Roe is no longer the law of the land.

America Just Hit a New Record, But Not a Good One

The following is a preview of Daily Signal Politics Editor Bradley Devlin’s interview with Rep. Pat Harrigan, R-N.C., on “The Signal Sitdown.” The full interview premieres on The Daily Signal’s YouTube page at 6:30 a.m. Eastern on Jan. 22.

America has hit another record, but it’s not a good one.

Last year, the median age of the first-time homebuyer in America hit 40 years old. In the 1980s, the average age of the first-time homebuyer in America was just 28.

What happened?

Higher interest rates in recent years have taken their toll, but today’s interest rates are nothing compared to the 1980s, when the first-time buyer’s age was much lower.

The answer is that housing prices have gone up, and for many different reasons. While an average house was around three times the average annual American wage, the average house now costs around seven times the average annual income.

Part of the reason that home prices have shot up is that large, multibillion-dollar institutional investors are increasingly snapping up homes.

These institutions have crowded out younger families who can’t compete, which has contributed to older first-time homebuyers. It’s an issue that Rep. Pat Harrigan, R-N.C., has thought a lot about, and he joins us this week on “The Signal Sitdown” to explain how this happened and his proposal to fix it.

“During the Great Recession, you had the middle class losing their rear ends because they were getting underwater on their houses,” Harrigan told The Daily Signal.

In response, both the Bush administration and the Obama administration were “really encouraging institutional investors to come into the market, particularly in certain ZIP codes. And in many respects that was actually very helpful because it actually propped up and helped to stabilize market prices, and probably prevented a lot of middle-class Americans from getting kicked out of their homes, honestly,” Harrigan explained.

But in Harrigan’s telling, there was a cultural understanding that underpinned this new arrangement.

“There was also kind of a cultural understanding that as soon as the market stabilized, they were supposed to divest of those investments,” Harrigan continued. “Instead, they liked the appreciation, they liked the revenue coming in from it, and when you amass enough homes in a certain ZIP code, you actually start kind of controlling the market a little bit. And so, they actually bought more.”

These financial institutions have increased the number of homes they own by eight times since the Great Recession.

“At the end of the great recession, there were about a hundred thousand homes that were owned by institutional investors,” Harrigan claimed. “Today, by some accounts, it’s almost 750,000 homes across the country.”

“Just in my state of North Carolina, in Charlotte, 18% of the single-family homes on the rental market are institutionally owned,” Harrigan added.

“I do think we can all recognize it’s now gotten to a point where it is crowding out middle-class homebuyers, particularly in certain ZIP codes across the country that are more popular than others,” Harrigan said. “That is having a very negative impact on the wealth-building trajectory of our middle class.”

As Americans pursue the dream of homeownership, they “shouldn’t be competing against the company that’s managing your 401k.”

“The longer that you delay somebody from getting into that first house, the longer you delay their wealth-building trajectory toward actually putting themselves in a very solid, fiscally responsible position, which is where you want the middle class,” Harrigan said of delaying homeownership.

In the House, Harrigan has just introduced the Families First Housing Act with Rep. Josh Riley, D-N.Y., in an attempt to give American families a leg up on institutional investors.

The Families First Housing Act, Harrigan explained, requires government entities auctioning homes “to provide 180-day first look to non-institutional investors.”

“We want to narrowly tailor this to get to a point where we don’t think it’s unconstitutional [or] gets thrown out by the courts at some point later down the road,” Harrigan added.

“I think that the solution that we laid out on the table, either in its current form or a slightly expanded form of it, is something that’s palatable,” Harrigan said, “I think it’s something that’s reasonable. I think culturally it’s something that all Americans could say, ‘Yeah, I think that’s a good idea.’ And I think that that serves the interests of the middle class.”

Virginia Democrats Quickly Proving That ‘Affordability’ Pivot Is a Farce

Remember when Democrats spent an entire election cycle talking about “affordability” as if that’s all they care about now? Well, if you bought that, then there’s a socialist mayor in New York who’s got a bridge to sell you.

But New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani isn’t actually the one completely blowing up the affordability farce, it’s assumedly “moderate” Virginia Democrats.

Much of the media touted Abigail Spanberger as the moderate Democrat gubernatorial candidate who could lead the party back to power. The Wall Street Journal even called her the “anti-Mamdani.”

“Abigail Spanberger is seen as a potential moderate face for her struggling party,” read The Wall Street Journal’s subheadline.

Moderate face, Maoist heart, I guess.

The moment Virginia Democrats gained control of the Legislature and the governor’s mansion, they went hard to work at making Virginia a California on the Potomac with a dizzying array of leftist bills that are sure to soon end up on Spanberger’s desk.

This was highlighted in a viral X post by conservative commentator Greg Price on Monday.

Democrats now control the legislature and Governor's office in Virginia.

Here are just a few of the bills they've introduced

– New 4.3% sales tax on Uber Eats, Amazon, etc deliveries.
– New sales tax on admissions to a wide variety of businesses.
– Create two new higher tax…
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) January 19, 2026

Nothing says “affordability” like a half-dozen new taxes, free education for illegal aliens, and speed cameras on every corner, am I right?

It’s not looking so good on the affordable energy front either. One of Spanberger’s first acts in office was to, of course, sign an executive order to stop cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. She also quickly opted to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI, a nonprofit organization that places greenhouse gas restrictions. This project was well described by Virginia state Sen. Glen Sturtevant.

“RGGI forces its member states to buy emissions credits … from RGGI. It’s a non-profit-run carbon tax system,” he posted on X. “Those credits then get charged directly to you on your electric bill. Youngkin pulled Virginia out of RGGI and saved Virginian’s nearly a billion dollars on their electric bills.”

One of Spanberger’s first moves this week is to force Virginia to join RGGI (pronounced “Reggie”). If you hear it mentioned, it’s not a person. It’s a 501c3 “nonprofit” based in New York City.

RGGI forces its member states to buy emissions credits…from RGGI. It’s a…
— Glen Sturtevant (@GlenSturtevant) January 21, 2026

Many of these items seem like handouts to patronage groups. In fact, they aren’t even hiding it. One piece of legislation would make it easier for state nonprofits to rip off taxpayers. They apparently looked at all that Somali fraud in Minnesota that drained billions of dollars from taxpayers and said, “More of that, please.”

Democrats in Virginia have introduced a bill that bans state agencies from imposing requirements on non-profits to verify their eligibility before receiving taxpayer dollars. https://t.co/z8o1wjdNGP
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) January 21, 2026

Even beyond the new taxes, green initiatives, and carve-outs for crooks, there’s clearly a renewed focus on returning Virginia to the cultural politics of the Great Awokening, too. They aren’t just ushering in “Indigenous Peoples Day,” they fully intend to double down on indoctrination in K-12 schools.

Virginia Democrats have introduced a bill that mandates children be taught "inclusive history" that includes every marginalized group on the planet including "transgender and queer" people. pic.twitter.com/7aAwaZ08yq
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) January 21, 2026

Don’t forget all the anti-policing stuff from 2020. There is legislation that removes mandatory minimum sentencing and another bill that would reduce penalties for robberies.

Virginia Democrats introduce bill weakening punishment and sentencing rules for degrees of robbery in Virginia pic.twitter.com/BhMoe5Ng27
— NOVA Campaigns (@NoVA_Campaigns) January 19, 2026

Just what the people have been clamoring for, I’m sure.

Another bill would allow for discrimination against white men when selecting government contracts. The Department of Justice may already be looking into that obviously illegal proposal.

This DEI is DOA. It is illegal
and will not survive court challenge. https://t.co/IxzwxBZxzx
— AAGHarmeetDhillon (@AAGDhillon) January 21, 2026

Keep in mind, this will have to go through the courts if passed, so it’s not like there will be no harm if it’s signed into law. They’ll likely just pass the thing and see what happens.

To show just how serious they are about ensuring that Virginia has DEI now, tomorrow, and forever, Virginia Democrats are also looking to defund the Virginia Military Institute for daring to resist them.

WaPo: “Virginia Democrats target military college’s funding after anti-DEI push” https://t.co/UjtxL8CVKN
— Josh Kraushaar (@JoshKraushaar) January 20, 2026

Remember how the Left went nuts when the Trump administration aimed to defund some Ivy League schools? It was an unacceptable attack on research and education, they said. Notice they have no qualms about immediately defunding a school they don’t immediately control.

Now, I truly feel bad for the people of Virginia who oppose all this and now find themselves falling into the long night of leftist rule. As a native Californian, I entirely understand the feeling. But there is a lesson to be learned here.

The Democrat Party is still wholly controlled by its left flank. Even calling it a “flank” at this point is incorrect. This is simply what they are when they gain power, even if many voters are uncomfortable with it or don’t even support what they are doing. And these folks who wag the dog haven’t been chastened after their defeat in 2024. They haven’t learned a lesson from the public’s turn against unrestrained leftism except that, for strategic reasons, it’s sometimes smart to shut up about what they intend to do for a few months until they can regain power and go right back at it.

Is the Virginia Democrat agenda that much different than that of the unrepentant socialist Mamdani in New York? Maybe. One would hope that many of these bills won’t pass. But many will undoubtedly get through, and Virginia has a lot farther to fall than New York. Dark times ahead.

Consider Virginia’s plight as a warning for what’s to come if Democrats—and really the massive blob of leftwing nonprofits, activists, and donors who guide them—regain power on the federal level.

In Bipartisan Votes, House Panel Advances Clintons’ Contempt Citations

In bipartisan votes, the House committee investigating convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein advanced contempt of Congress citations against former first couple Bill and Hillary Clinton for their failure to testify in the inquiry.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee voted Wednesday on the citations after the former president and former secretary of state refused a subpoena to testify about Epstein. The citations will next move to the House floor for a vote by the full chamber.

Nine committee Democrats joined 25 Republicans to hold Bill Clinton in contempt of Congress, in a lopsided 34-8 vote. However, most committee Democrats objected to holding Hillary Clinton in contempt, with three Democratic members joining Republicans in a 28-15 vote.

Contempt of Congress is a criminal charge punishable by up to a year in prison or a $100,000 fine.

“Today, the Clintons must be held accountable for their actions. And Democrats must support these measures, or they will be exposed as hypocrites,” House Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said during the markup of the citation.

“Subpoenas are not mere suggestions. They carry the force of law and require compliance,” Comer added. “Since issuing the subpoenas, this committee has acted in good faith. We’ve offered flexibility on scheduling. The response we received was not cooperation, but defiance, marked by repeated delays, excuses, and obstruction.”

The committee had originally subpoenaed the Clintons for a closed-door deposition on Capitol Hill.

To head off the contempt vote, the Clintons offered to allow only Comer and ranking member Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., to meet with Bill Clinton in New York. A key condition of the offer was no written transcript of the interview. Also, Hillary Clinton would not be interviewed under the offer.

Garcia preferred not to compel testimony from Hillary Clinton.

“It’s not clear to me and many others as to why Secretary Clinton has been a target of this investigation,” Garcia said. “The Secretary submitted a sworn declaration, under penalty of perjury, that she had no memory of ever meeting Mr. Epstein, never flew on his plane, never held any office with responsibility for investigating his activities.”

Comer noted that Garcia had voted to subpoena the fomer secretary of state.

Comer ultimately turned down the Clintons’ offer, insisting a written transcript was essential for Bill Clinton’s interview.

Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to felony solicitation of prostitution, as well as procurement of minors to engage in prostitution. He died in a New York prison cell in 2019 in what was determined to be a suicide.

On July 23, 2025, Republicans and Democrats on the House Oversight Subcommittee on Federal Law Enforcement unanimously approved a motion to issue subpoenas to ten individuals, including the Clintons, as part of its investigation into Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell.

The 42nd president was once photographed in a swimming pool at Epstein’s estate, appearing with both Maxwell, who was convicted of helping Epstein perpetrate crimes, and another woman whose face was blocked out. The photo was published in a batch of Epstein files released by the Justice Department in December.

Comer has argued that Hillary Clinton should also be questioned about Epstein, as she is a former secretary of state whose agency has an office to combat international sex trafficking.

Further, Epstein was a donor to the Clinton Foundation and has claimed to be a founding donor of the Clinton Global Initiative.

One of the Clintons' pawns claimed to the fake NYT that they never ruled out a transcript.

The receipts tell a different story—they demanded that there be only one staffer "to take notes" for each side during an "interview."

Subpoenas and depositions are not suggestions. pic.twitter.com/M8YWo3Sbh9
— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) January 20, 2026

The committee initially requested the 42nd president’s deposition on Oct. 14, 2025, while the former secretary of state’s was set for Oct. 9. Those depositions were later postponed to Dec. 17 and Dec. 18, respectively, but the Clintons said they had to attend a funeral at that time. The committee moved the dates once again to January 2026.

On Wednesday, Angel Urena, a deputy chief of staff for Clinton, posted on social media that the Clintons had attempted to cooperate with the committee, “and Republicans REFUSE to say yes.”

SPOILER ALERT: We have offered to help, we have helped, and to this very moment we are ready to help. But the Republicans REFUSE to say YES. pic.twitter.com/7JCHCVSShx
— Angel Ureña (@angelurena) January 21, 2026

After the Clintons refused to show up for their scheduled depositions—Bill Clinton on Jan. 13, and Hillary Clinton on Jan. 14—Comer announced the committee would move to hold the former first couple in contempt of Congress.

The Clintons argued last week in a letter to Comer that the move to require their testimony was partisan and could not be legally enforced.

The committee has investigated what missteps federal law enforcement may have taken in the Epstein case, and the vast connections the deceased convict had.

The Clintons are not the only prominent political figures to face contempt of Congress charges in recent years.

In a different investigation, Trump White House adviser Peter Navarro and former Trump campaign and White House adviser Steve Bannon were both prosecuted in 2022 and served prison sentences for not complying with subpoenas from the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.

Trump: Outline for Deal Reached Over Greenland

President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced that he had a “framework” of a deal with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization over the future of Greenland.

“Based upon a very productive meeting that I have had with the Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, we have formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic Region,” Trump posted on Truth Social.

“This solution, if consummated, will be a great one for the United States of America, and all NATO Nations.”

The president did not provide details of the deal, but said that Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff will be responsible for further negotiations.

Trump also withdrew his threat to impose tariffs on a number of nations that have rebuffed his efforts to purchase the island. This news sparked a stock market rally, with the S&P 500 index rising more than 1.5% following his announcement.

The news of a potential Greenland deal came hours after Trump assured allies that he would not use force to gain control of the autonomous territory in the North Atlantic owned by Denmark.

“We probably won’t get anything unless I decide to use excessive strength and force where we would be, frankly, unstoppable, but I won’t do that,” he said during his speech to business and political leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

“That’s probably the biggest statement I’ve made, because people thought I would use force, but I don’t use force,” Trump continued.

Trump has long insisted the U.S. needs Greenland under its control for national security reasons, including for constructing a “Golden Dome” missile defense system, as well as keeping the island from falling under the control of Russia or China.

He called the potential U.S. purchase of Greenland a benefit for NATO, saying, “You need the ownership to defend it. You can’t defend it on a lease.”

Reuters contributed to the reporting on this article.

Anti-ICE Agitator Stands by Church Invasion, While Her Allies Remain Silent

The activist groups organizing opposition to Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minneapolis have not condemned the anti-ICE agitators who disrupted a church service in St. Paul on Sunday.

Between 30 and 40 anti-ICE agitators interrupted a service at Cities Church, a non-denominational Christian church in St. Paul, and shouted, “Justice for Renee Good!” as they surrounded members of the congregation. Videos of the incident show the pastor and others repeatedly asking the agitators to leave, and the agitators chanting, “Who shut this down? We shut this down!”

An ICE agent fatally shot Good on Jan. 7 while she was driving her car, right after her car appeared to make contact with him. She had been using the car for hours to obstruct traffic and frustrate ICE’s law enforcement efforts.

The agitators on Sunday targeted the church because one of the pastors, David Easterwood, also works with ICE.

This is not peaceful protest. This is an invasion of a sacred space. Anti-ICE agitators disrupted Cities Church in the middle of service.

Warning: the agitators on the Left are serious. The man who posted this video bragged about doing this—comparing it to Jesus flipping over… pic.twitter.com/BeeIdubpwM
— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) January 19, 2026

Nekima Armstrong, leader of the Racial Justice Network and a former president of the Minneapolis chapter of the NAACP, told Democracy Now that she does not regret helping to lead the protest.

“We are unapologetic about going into the church,” Armstrong said. She called it a “conflict of interest” for a pastor to oversee “the brutal conduct of ICE agents.”

The Department of Justice is investigating the church invasion and is considering charges against Armstrong and others.

The Daily Signal reached out to the Racial Justice Network and to other activist groups organizing anti-ICE actions in the Twin Cities area for comment and did not receive responses by press time.

The activist groups have organized efforts to monitor federal agents, actively disrupt immigration enforcement operations, and conduct “sit-in” protests.

Indivisible Twin Cities

Indivisible Twin Cities has organized protests against ICE and urges supporters to join “ICE Watch” groups.

The group’s weekly newsletter for Jan. 5 included a list of “Weekly To-Dos,” including “Join Your Neighborhood Network” to “do hyper local ICE watch, rapid response, school patrols, mutual aid, and more.”

Good had joined one of these ICE Watch groups, which track and aim to disrupt ICE activities, the New York Post reported.

Indivisible Twin Cities also helped organize sit-ins at Target stores.

Agitators staged a sit-in at a St. Paul Target Monday, with agitators claiming that the retail stores have served as a “staging ground” for ICE.

Last week, Indivisible Twin Cities urged supporters to “Demand Target Commit to be a 4th Amendment Workplace.”

The group urges activists to speak with Target managers and demand that stores prohibit “immigration enforcement from entering private spaces without a warrant signed by a judge”; that Target “train all employees about how to respond if immigration enforcement tries to enter their stores”; and that Target Corporation “issue a public call for ICE to leave Minnesota and for Congress to hold ICE accountable and stop funding ICE.”

Defend the 612

Defend the 612 also organizes “ICE Watch” activities. It hosts a “de-arrest primer,” which encourages activists to physically prevent law enforcement from carrying out arrests, on a list of “MN Community Response Resources.” The resources page also recommends a tactic of “following ICE vehicles while honking and blowing on whistles when they are sighted,” aiming to create “traffic jams and slowdowns.”

The primer also says each "de-arrest" is "a micro-intifada," referring to historical violent opposition to Israel and the slogan "Globalize the Intifada," which arguably encourages antisemitism across the globe.

?4/10 pic.twitter.com/8l66hFItSo
— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) January 13, 2026

Unidos MN

Unidos MN, a left-leaning group that also pushes climate alarmism, has organized forms of opposition against ICE.

Like Indivisible, Unidos MN urges supporters to demand that Target oppose the ICE surge in Minnesota and that Target refuse to allow immigration agents to enter without judicial warrants. Unidos cites the detaining of two U.S. citizens at a Target in Richfield, Minnesota, as the reason for targeting the corporation. The Department of Homeland Security claimed one of the detained men had assaulted an officer.

Unidos has claimed to have trained 26,000 individuals to be “neighborhood observers” to monitor government officials amid the ICE surge. Unidos has claimed that the government falsely treats peaceful “trained observers” as “interference.”

The Party for Socialism and Liberation

The political Party for Socialism and Liberation has organized many anti-ICE protests and is currently promoting an “ICE OUT! Statewide Shutdown” on Friday.

Minnesotans are clear! ICE IS NOT WELCOME HERE!

Momentum is growing for the state-wide shutdown on January 23rd to demand ICE OUT! Across the Twin Cities, people are united in opposing Trump's racist immigration agenda and ICE's attacks on our communities.… pic.twitter.com/gugsmnEtuA
— Party for Socialism and Liberation (@pslnational) January 20, 2026

The party has posted video interviews with business owners who plan to close their businesses that day.

Democratic Socialists of America

Similarly, the Democratic Socialists of America’s Twin Cities chapter hosted a training for the Jan. 23 protest.

No work, No school, No shopping — only community, conscience, and collective action.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE
Mark your calendar. Make your plan. Encourage community to stand with you + Join the Twin Cities DSA contingency for the march!https://t.co/y5YHqO1ppr pic.twitter.com/lfaboweu4q
— Twin Cities DSA ? (@TwinCitiesDSA) January 18, 2026

The Daily Signal reached out to Indivisible Twin Cities, Defend the 612, Unidos MN, the Party for Socialism and Liberation, the Democratic Socialists of America, and the Racial Justice Network for comment on the church invasion, and none responded by press time.

An Inside Look at Congress’ New Anti-Sharia Law Caucus

Less than a month after it was launched, 24 Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have already joined the Sharia Free America Caucus. Republican Reps. Keith Self and Chip Roy of Texas created the caucus to “fight back against the radical ideology” and “save Western Civilization from the threat of Sharia.”

“Sharia law and groups linked to radical Islamist ideology seek to gain a foothold in our communities, challenging the Constitution and the Western values on which our nation was founded,” Roy told The Daily Signal. “I am encouraged that more Members of Congress are recognizing these threats and are joining the Sharia Free America Caucus to confront them head-on in Congress.”

‘Nations Are Losing Their Identity and Freedoms’ to Radical Islam

The threat of Sharia law in Muslim-dominated American communities has increasingly garnered conservative lawmakers’ attention.

Sharia law is a system of Islamic religious law that guides personal behavior and civil and criminal justice, often in conflict with Western concepts of liberty and government.

Self, the caucus’s co-founder, told The Daily Signal that the group’s “core mission is to sound the alarm on the alarming rise and spread of Sharia in the United States—before it erodes our sovereignty, culture, and way of life,” as it has been seen “in parts of Europe, where nations are losing their identity and freedoms.”

The caucus hopes to “educate” Congress, foreign lawmakers, and the American people on the “clear dangers of Sharia,” to “U.S. law and our constitutional rights, while preventing “any infiltration of Sharia,” through the reinforcement of America’s legal and immigration systems, and the advancement of “bold legislation.”

In March of 2025, the first major Sharia law-only compound, known as EPIC City, emerged in the United States.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted that he has “signed laws that BAN Sharia Law and Sharia Compounds in Texas.”

I signed laws that BAN Sharia Law and Sharia Compounds in Texas.

No business & no individual should fear fools like this.

If this person, or ANYONE, attempts to impose Sharia compliance, report it to local law enforcement or the Texas Dept. of Public Safety. https://t.co/cVV2MJItLH
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) September 8, 2025

In response, the Texas chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations condemned Abbott’s response.

What the Sharia Free America Caucus Wants

The “bold” initiatives championed by the group include the Preserving a Sharia-Free America Act and the No Sharia Act, which aims to bar the enforcement of Sharia-based judgments in U.S. courts.

Other legislation upheld by the caucus includes the No Tax Exemptions for Terrorist Acts, which would target the funding and tax-exempt status of groups tied to Sharia Law, such as the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR.

By enacting such legislation, the caucus aims to ensure that “no foreign legal system, religious code, or radical ideology will ever supersede the Constitution as the unchallenged foundation of American governance,” Self added.

Other members, such as Reps. Randy Fine, R-Fla., and Mark Harris, R-N.C., told The Daily Signal that the caucus ultimately aims to “call evil by its name” and “reduce the threat of radical Islam.”

Harris told The Daily Signal that “radical Islam isn’t just a threat in places like Mamdani’s New York City—it’s already here in suburban North Carolina and spreading rapidly across America.”

Fine told The Daily Signal that “mainstream Islam is one of the biggest threats facing the United States today.”

“We just saw the Muslim attorney general in Minnesota siding with the rioters who stormed a Christian church because he claimed it was their First Amendment right to desecrate a place of worship,” Fine added.

“We need to call evil by its name. Sharia Law seeks to subjugate women; it seeks to destroy what made America America,” Fine continued. “We can see it in the Muslim Somalis, who have come to this country, where 84% are on welfare, and compare that to the Hindus, where 10% are on welfare.”

“We cannot ignore the danger on our doorstep. Sharia Law encourages its followers to harm innocent people—the exact opposite of our Constitution, which protects the liberty and rights of all Americans,” Harris added. “Radical Islam is not compatible with Western civilization.”

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