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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    • News

    McCarthy Speakership Could Challenge GOP Senate Leadership

    House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy announced Monday that he will be running for House speaker. If elected, McCarthy will replace Speaker John Boehner, who is set to resign at the end of October. “We have made real progress towards shrinking an overgrown federal government and reforming our broken entitlement system,” McCarthy wrote in an email…
    Sara Jones
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    • News

    Senate Advances Spending Bill With Funding for Planned Parenthood

    The Senate voted 77-19 Monday to advance a short-term government spending bill, narrowing the chances of a federal shutdown days before Wednesday’s deadline. The Senate’s continuing resolution leaves intact taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood, shelving a fight that conservatives wanted Republican leadership to wage with President Barack Obama. Planned Parenthood, America’s largest abortion provider, is under scrutiny following a series…
    Natalie Johnson
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    • Opinion

    Failure Theater in the Senate

    Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has scheduled a vote for Monday that would fund the government through Dec. 11. The vote would not end taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood, but rather kick the can down the road for two-and-a-half months. Make no mistake: If Planned Parenthood is not dealt with now, Congress will have zero political will to…
    Jim DeMint
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    • News

    Senators Block Spending Bill Defunding Planned Parenthood for One Year

    A government spending bill that prohibited Planned Parenthood from receiving federal dollars for one year and kept the government operating failed in the Senate today. The continuing resolution, introduced earlier this week by Senate Republican leaders, fell short of the 60 votes needed to advance in the upper chamber after senators blocked the measure, 47-52. Republican…
    Melissa Quinn
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    • News

    Senate Republican Leaders Introduce Government Spending Bill Withholding Planned Parenthood Funding for One Year

    Senate Republican leaders unveiled a continuing resolution today that would fund the government for just under three months and prohibit Planned Parenthood from receiving federal funding for one year. The Senate is expected to vote on the bill Thursday, which funds the government at a rate of $1.017 trillion annually until Dec. 11 and places…
    Melissa Quinn
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    • News

    Senate Democrats Block Bill Banning Late-Term Abortions

    Senate Democrats have blocked the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act from moving forward in the Senate. The Pain-Capable Act needed 60 votes in order to invoke cloture, but failed Tuesday in a 54-42 vote. Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.; Bob Casey, D-Pa.; and Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., were the only Democrats to support the bill. Sens. Mark…
    Kate Scanlon
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    • Opinion

    Personal Trainers Next on Washington’s Over-Regulation List?

    When Andrew Killion opened District Crossfit in 2010, he was training a few handfuls of people in a converted auto garage. Today, Killion oversees one of the largest Crossfit gyms in Washington, D.C., with six full-time employees—called “coaches” in the Crossfit lingo—who help more than 400 members sweat their way through daily workouts in a…
    Eric Boehm
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    • News

    Lawmakers Push to Declare ISIS’ Targeting of Christians ‘Genocide’

    U.S. lawmakers introduced a bipartisan resolution Wednesday to formally declare the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria’s targeting of Christians “genocide.” “Christianity in the Middle East is shattered,” Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb., said in a statement. “The ancient faith tradition lies beaten, broken, and dying.” In its fight to establish a caliphate governed by strict Sharia…
    Natalie Johnson
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    • News

    Conservative Lawmakers Criticize Leadership on Planned Parenthood Fight: What Would Be Different If ‘Reid Were in Charge’?

    Conservatives in Congress are gearing up for battle this fall over the issue of Planned Parenthood’s federal funding—hoping to leave President Obama in a difficult position. The goal is to back the president into a corner by forcing him to choose between signing a bill that would strip Planned Parenthood of its taxpayer dollars and…
    Kelsey Bolar
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    • News

    Will Boehner’s Leadership Be Challenged? Conservative Lawmaker Says It Depends on Budget, Planned Parenthood

    GLEN ALLEN, VA.—For one conservative lawmaker, Congress’s upcoming debate on funding the government and stripping Planned Parenthood of federal dollars could play a significant role in whether a challenge to House Speaker John Boehner is mounted. In an interview with The Daily Signal, Rep. Dave Brat, R-Va., warned that Boehner’s, R-Ohio, future as the party…
    Melissa Quinn
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    • News

    Bipartisan Group of Senators Set to Announce Deal to Reduce Prison Population

    When Congress returns from recess early next month, lawmakers will face a bevy of partisan-infused battles on issues such as the Iran nuclear deal, Planned Parenthood, and government funding. But along with the bickering, there will also likely be harmony—and action—on an issue uniting both sides of the aisle and even President Obama: criminal justice reform….
    Josh Siegel
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    • News

    4 Ways the Senate Could End Taxpayer Funding of Planned Parenthood

    As the war on Planned Parenthood heats up, so does the Republican divide on how to best go about taking away the organization’s federal funding. Leadership in both chambers of Congress signaled they’re willing to go only so far in their fight to strip the organization of its government dollars—putting them at odds with conservatives…
    Kelsey Bolar
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    • News

    The Iran Deal Whip Count: How Will Lawmakers Vote on the Accord?

    Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said this week President Barack Obama has “a great likelihood of success” in overcoming congressional opposition to his historic Iran nuclear deal. But as a growing number of Democrats have announced their opposition to the deal, Republicans are holding out hope to override a presidential veto. Republicans in both the House and Senate are expected…
    Natalie Johnson
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    • News

    Second Senate Democrat Comes Out Against Iran Nuclear Deal

    Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, a key Democrat in the upper chamber, announced his opposition to the nuclear deal with Iran today, becoming the second Senate Democrat to do so. “I have looked into my own soul, and my devotion to principle may once again lead me to an unpopular course, but if Iran…
    Melissa Quinn
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    • News

    11 Questions Lawmakers Want Answered in Probe of Planned Parenthood’s Federal Funding

    Republicans on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform are investigating how Planned Parenthood is using the federal funds that the organization receives. Reps. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, and Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, sent letters to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell and Planned Parenthood President and CEO Cecile Richards inquiring about Planned Parenthood’s “potentially…
    Kate Scanlon
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    • News

    Local Voters Throw Water on Higher Taxes Sought by Firefighters Union, State Lawmakers

    PROVIDENCE, R.I.—In a battle of political wills in Rhode Island, local voters so far have held their ground against efforts by union leaders and state officials to make them pay more for fire and rescue services. State lawmakers and local activists who side with the voters, however, see the situation as an ongoing threat to…
    Kevin Mooney
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    • News

    Bipartisan Group of Lawmakers Asks Treasury Department to Return $29,500 Taken From Innocent Dairy Farmers

    A bipartisan group of lawmakers on the House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee is coming together to ask the Treasury Department to return nearly $30,000 it seized from Maryland dairy farmers in 2012. The letter, sent August 11 to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, calls on the agency to return $29,500 the Internal Revenue Service seized…
    Melissa Quinn
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    • News

    Democratic Senator Defends Planned Parenthood Funding, After Revealing She Has Not Seen Videos

    Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said Tuesday the federal government should continue to fund Planned Parenthood, revealing she had not watched the covert videos showing top officials from the group discussing the sale of fetal tissue. Gillibrand told The Blaze she had no intention of watching the series of videos. “I think what Planned Parenthood does around…
    Natalie Johnson
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    • News

    Senate Republicans Allege Collusion Between EPA and Environmental Group Over Climate Regulations

    A day after the Obama administration finalized a “historic” plan to regulate carbon dioxide emissions, Republicans on a prominent Senate committee are alleging that an outside group colluded with the Environmental Protection Agency to create the standards. The allegations are detailed in a report released by the majority staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on…
    Alex Anderson
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    • Opinion

    How Lawmakers Can Beat Planned Parenthood’s Stalling Tactics

    On Monday, federal district court Judge William Orrick ordered the Center for Medical Progress (CMP) not to publish undercover video taken at the National Abortion Federation’s (NAF) annual meetings in 2014 and 2015. CMP has released five undercover videos exposing Planned Parenthood’s program of selling aborted babies’ body parts—and they promise that more videos are…
    Hans von Spakovsky
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