Congressional & Capitol Hill News

The Daily Signal delivers comprehensive congressional news with reporting and conservative commentary on House and Senate activities, legislative priorities, committee investigations, leadership battles, and the fight for conservative policy in both chambers of Congress.
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    • Opinion

    Liberal Senators’ Push to Investigate Sinclair Chilling Attempt to Silence Speech

    Last year, the Sinclair Broadcast Group agreed to acquire the Tribune Media Company. Since then, the competitors of free-to-the-home broadcast television have been among the loudest voices crying “the sky is falling,” and the government—the Federal Communications Commission and Justice Department—should deny approval of the merger. This chorus has been joined by adversaries wishing to…
    Armstrong Williams
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    • News

    How 4 Big Comey Claims Stack Up to His Senate Testimony

    Portions of former FBI Director James Comey’s new book on the end of his law enforcement career conflict with the facts as presented by the Trump administration, Comey’s recently fired top deputy, and both Republican and Democrat leaders. “My experience with Comey is [that he is] a patriotic, engaging, smart American who tried to find…
    Fred Lucas
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    • Opinion

    Senators Wanted the FCC to Investigate Sinclair. Read Chairman Pai’s Brilliant Response.

    Perhaps dangers to our democracy need to be better defined. After the popular news site Deadspin released a video showing multiple journalists reading the same lines for local stations owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, social media became inundated with overheated takes from members of the media, celebrities, and politicians saying that it was a harbinger…
    Jarrett Stepman
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    • News

    Unhappy With Quick Vote on Spending Bill, Lawmaker Proposes More Time to Read Bills

    One conservative lawmaker, upset by the $1.3 trillion spending bill last month, wants to pass legislation that would give lawmakers more time to read bills before they vote on them. “This isn’t a very big ask,” Rep. Tom Garrett, R-Va., told The Daily Signal in a phone interview. Garrett’s bill would amend House rules, requiring…
    Rachel del Guidice
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    • News

    Conservative Leaders, GOP Lawmakers Voice Support for Scott Pruitt

    A growing number of conservative leaders and GOP lawmakers are voicing their support for Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt amid some calls for him to resign. The Conservative Action Project released a letter Friday with 113 signatures of conservative leaders calling on President Donald Trump to keep Pruitt in the administration. “Conservatives stand behind…
    Rachel del Guidice
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    • Opinion

    Vermont Lawmakers Leave Law-Abiding Young Adults Defenseless

    Law-abiding young adults living in Vermont will soon find it much more difficult to defend themselves and their families after state lawmakers passed a bill prohibiting the sale of any firearm to individuals under 21, unless he or she completes a nearly 15-hour hunter safety course with little practical bearing on personal self-defense. The bill…
    Amy Swearer
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    • News

    Lawmaker Shielded Chief of Staff Accused of Hitting, Threatening to Kill Female Employee

    Rep. Elizabeth Esty, D-Conn., kept her chief of staff on the job for three months after he was accused of punching and threatening to kill a female staffer, and then recommended him for his next job, according to news  reports. Esty’s former chief of staff, Tony Baker, allegedly abused and sexually harassed the female staffer…
    Peter Hasson
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    • News

    NC Lawmaker Fights Earmark for Rail, Tunnel Project

    A North Carolina lawmaker is determined to derail $900 million in federal funding for a rail and tunnel project from New York to New Jersey considered likely to be part of a $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill the House is expected to pass this week. Rep. Ted Budd, R-N.C., has been working since September to…
    Kyle Perisic
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    • Opinion

    Senate ‘Loan’ Bill Is a Poorly Disguised Bailout for Private Pensions

    Making loans to private individuals or entities has no foundation in the Constitution, but that doesn’t stop government from using lending to encourage desirable behaviors, such as investing in a college education or buying a home. But one proposal before Congress, introduced at the urging of private-sector unions and employers, goes further, calling for taxpayers…
    Rachel Greszler
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    • Opinion

    Senate ‘Reform’ Bill Would Barely Change Dodd-Frank

    It looks as if the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act is heading toward a vote in the Senate, making it clear that Congress no longer views the Dodd-Frank Act as sacred text. But although this development is welcome, it is a stretch to say the bill undoes, or even amends, much of…
    Norbert Michel
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    • Opinion

    Let’s Make Washington Work Like We Do

    Last week, Washington, D.C., reminded us it lives by a different set of rules. That’s when Congress passed a spending bill that provided much-needed military funding—but also busted the budget caps that had previously held the line on federal spending. The result? An estimated $1.5 trillion will be added to the national debt, which is…
    Kay C. James
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    • News

    See How Your Lawmakers Voted on the Budget Bill

    During a brief halt in government funding early Friday morning, the Senate voted 71-28 to pass a budget deal, pushed by Republican and Democrat leaders, that will raise caps on spending by $300 billion over two years. The Senate approved the deal at about 1:30 a.m. Friday, and the House passed it 240-186 around 5:30…
    Rachel del Guidice
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    • News

    House Committee Votes to Release Democrats’ Memo on FISA Application

    The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence voted unanimously Monday evening to release Democrats' Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act memo to the public, sending the document to the president to decide whether he wants to approve its release. Republicans voted to declassify the Democrats' memo, which reportedly weakens allegations made in the memo crafted by the…
    Amber Randall
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    • News

    Canadian Senate Passes Bill to Make Anthem ‘Gender-Neutral’

    The Canadian Senate passed a bill Wednesday to change the lyrics of its national anthem so that they will be “gender-neutral.” The bill would replace the lyrics “in all thy sons command” with “in all of us command,” according to CBC News. Former member of the Canadian House of Commons Mauril Bélanger first introduced the legislation in…
    Grace Carr
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    • News

    Earmarks Promote ‘Banal Interests,’ Not ‘Highest Interests,’ Former Senator Warns

    Reinstating earmarks would encourage corrupted self-interest, a former U.S. senator warns. “Earmarks are about going to your banal interests rather than your highest interests; they’re about you, rather than the country,” former Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., told The Daily Signal in an interview Wednesday. “The people that want to do earmarks say it is Congress’…
    Rachel del Guidice
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    • News

    Senate Democrats’ Bid to Overturn Net Neutrality Repeal Unlikely to Prevail

    Senate Democrats say they have 50 votes to block the Federal Communications Commission’s December repeal of net neutrality, the 2015 policy of the FCC under the Obama administration that required internet service providers to treat all data on, and users of, the internet equally. They are still one vote short of the 51 needed to…
    Kyle Perisic
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    • News

    Lawmaker Shares Why She Chose Life for Her Child When Doctors Said She Should Abort

    A member of Congress said she chose life for her child even though doctors said she should have an abortion, and is encouraging society to take a chance for life. “We were told that our unborn baby had zero percent chance of survival, zero,” Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash., said during a speech Friday at…
    Rachel del Guidice
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    • News

    Washington Post: We Didn’t Attack The Daily Caller, and Don’t Know Why Google Is

    Google’s relatively new “fact check” feature proves there’s something fundamentally wrong with at least some of its highly influential algorithms, after an investigation by The Daily Caller News Foundation found that the widget is both blatantly biased and tremendously faulty. The most powerful search engine in the world and a massive arbiter of online information, Google…
    Eric Lieberman
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    • News

    This Conservative Lawmaker Explains Why the Embassy Move to Jerusalem Matters

    President Donald Trump’s administration is working to build peace in the Middle East, and a big part of that process is the administration’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, one lawmaker says.   “In the Arab world, if you are acting swiftly and with strength, that is something that makes a big impression…
    Rachel del Guidice
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    • Opinion

    1 Action Lawmakers Could Take to Make Food Stamp Reform Much More Likely

    Congressional Republicans could imperil both the welfare reform and the farm bill reform efforts by failing to learn from history and making the same unforced errors they did three years ago. Next year, Congress is set to consider a comprehensive agriculture bill (aka “farm bill”), as well as reforms to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program…
    Marie Fishpaw
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