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

    School Discipline Policy Belongs at the Local Level, Not Washington
    Teacher unions and progressive special-interest groups cried foul earlier this year when the White House suggested that federal directives on school safety could be rescinded. But if a recent hearing held by the Federal Commission on School Safety is any indication, state and local policymakers don’t need Washington to micromanage student discipline policies. These state…
    Jonathan Butcher
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  • opinion

    Media Misses: 222 Mentions of Impeachment in 1 Day
    We break down the top media moments this week—and plenty of misses. Media hysteria was at an all-time high. According to the Media Research Center, on Wednesday, Aug. 22, CNN and MSNBC mentioned “impeachment” 222 times over a period of 18 hours as news broke about former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen. How will President Donald…
    Ginny Montalbano
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  • opinion

    Podcast: A High Schooler Goes to Washington
    On today’s edition of The Daily Signal podcast, Rob Bluey and Ginny Montalbano interview high school student Genna Montalbano (Ginny’s younger sister) about her experience at Turning Point USA’s High School Leadership Summit. Genna reveals her favorite conservative speakers and what advice she’ll share with her peers. We also have: Clips from Attorney General Jeff Sessions,…
    Robert B. Bluey | Ginny Montalbano
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  • opinion

    Senate Is Dragging Its Feet on Major Prison Reform Bill
    It is rare these days in Washington to see bipartisan support for anything, let alone for a major issue with far-reaching implications for the nation. This is why the bipartisan passage in the House, 360-59, of the First Step Act to reform our federal prisons is such big news. The 360 “yes” votes included 134…
    Star Parker
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  • news

    Democrat Senator Worries His Party Is Going Too Far Left
    Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., is worried his party is alienating moderate voters by moving too far to the left. “If we as a Democratic Party are going to move from a minority at every level that is dedicated to resistance, to a majority that is capable of governing, we have got to move from grievance…
    Peter Hasson
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  • opinion

    Senate Is Killing State Welfare Reform
    Few policy reforms have been as popular as welfare-to-work. Why, then, is the U.S. Senate trying to kill state efforts at encouraging able-bodied adults to get a job? Welfare-to-work was one of the signature policy wins of the 1990s, resulting in the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act. The legislation was signed by…
    Jameson Taylor
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  • opinion

    Liberals’ Misleading Spin on Senate Republicans’ 2016 Supreme Court Confirmation Approach
    Recent remarks by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., show the script that the left will be using to oppose President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee to fill the vacancy from the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy. The most prominent point so far is that the Senate should wait until after the 2018 election to consider Trump’s…
    Thomas Jipping
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  • opinion

    Senate Should Be Wary of These 3 Subsidy Myths
    As the Senate is considering the farm bill, it should be wary of the many misleading claims made by agricultural special interests. Here are three common myths, debunked: Claim: Farmers are struggling financially. Reality: The opposite is true. Farm households have far greater median income and wealth than non-farm households. In 2016, the median income of farm…
    Bryan Cosby | Daren Bakst
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  • opinion

    What It Takes for the Senate to Solve Our Disastrous Debt Crisis
    The Congressional Budget Office’s latest long-term budget outlook, released this week, shows that the nation is still on an unsustainable budget path, with no improvement since CBO’s last long-term report. Without swift action to reverse the current course, the nation is headed toward a fiscal disaster. CBO projects that over the next 30 years, debt…
    Justin Bogie
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  • opinion

    Senate Farm Bill Ignores Conservatives: It Is Bad on Food Stamps and Farm Subsidies
    Why would any conservative support the current Senate farm bill? It’s a failure when it comes to food stamps and farm subsidies. This may come as a surprise to some, but the farm bill should really be called the food stamp bill. Food stamps account for about 70 percent of farm bill costs. The Senate…
    Daren Bakst
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  • opinion

    Will the Senate Seize or Squander the Opportunity for Much-Needed Reform of the Farm Bill?
    The Senate is expected to take up its farm bill this week, and if the Senate follows the House’s lead, there will be a relatively closed amendment process, making it impossible for legislators to reduce the waste and abuse in the farm subsidy system. In the House, agricultural special interests and the House Agriculture Committee…
    Daren Bakst
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  • opinion

    Podcast: New Hope for Washington Florist Who Refused to Make Arrangements for Same-Sex Wedding
    Thanks to the Supreme Court today, florist Barronelle Stutzman’s case will be taken up again by the Washington state Supreme Court, in light of the Jack Phillips ruling. The Heritage Foundation’s Monica Burke joins us to discuss. Plus: Liberals are kicking White House officials out of restaurants and Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., says that’s not…
    Katrina Trinko | Ginny Montalbano
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  • news

    Conservative Lawmakers Offer Solution to Child Separations Without Amnesty
    The chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus says he will continue to push for a solution to address concerns of separating illegal immigrant parents and children, even as one immigration bill failed to pass Thursday and a vote on a more moderate proposal is scheduled for next week. “If both of these bills fail,…
    Rachel del Guidice
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  • news

    Don’t Ignore the Grave Danger Unaccompanied Illegal Alien Children Face, Idaho Lawmaker Says
    “If you were parents,” Rep. Rep. Raul Labrador asked Thursday, “would you send your child hundreds and hundreds of miles with [human] traffickers … that are evil people, that are doing harm to them during the trip?” “So, don’t just think about the kids in the detention facilities, think about all of the children [traveling to…
    Katherine Rohloff
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  • news

    GOP Senators Urge $15 Billion in Spending Rescissions as ‘Start’ on Debt Reduction
    The Senate rejected an effort to $15 billion rescission bill on Wednesday with a 48-50 vote. A group of Republican senators led by Sen. Mike Lee of Utah called Tuesday for passage of the bill clawing back unspent funds that were identified by the White House earlier this year. The House narrowly passed the rescission measure…
    Fred Lucas
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  • news

    Conservative Lawmaker Launches Podcast to Explain What’s Going On in Congress
    Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., has a big idea. On Friday, the conservative lawmaker planned to launch the first episode of his new weekly podcast series, “What’s the Biggs Idea.” Initially, the idea began as a radio show for his Arizona constituents geared toward opening up Congress so they could better understand what was happening in…
    Katherine Rohloff
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  • news

    GOP Lawmakers Pass $15 Billion Spending Rescission Package
    The House of Representatives voted 210-206 Thursday night to claw back $15 billion in appropriated spending, making good on the lead of President Donald Trump, who submitted the rescission request last month. “The administration applauds today’s passage of H.R. 3, the Spending Cuts to Expired and Unnecessary Programs Act, in the U.S. House of Representatives and…
    Rachel del Guidice
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  • news

    Andrew McCabe Seeks Immunity for Senate Testimony
    Andrew McCabe, the former deputy director of the FBI, is seeking immunity in order to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee, according to documents released Tuesday. “This is a textbook case for granting use immunity,” Michael Bromwich, an attorney for McCabe, wrote Monday in a letter to Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the chairman of the judiciary panel….
    Chuck Ross
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  • news

    Clinton Insists He ‘Defended the Constitution’ by Fighting Impeachment
    Former President Bill Clinton insists he “defended the Constitution” by refusing to resign and choosing to fight his impeachment two decades ago. Clinton, who faced impeachment counts of perjury and obstruction of justice in 1998-1999 after an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, said he wouldn’t do anything differently if he had faced the…
    Jeremiah Poff
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  • opinion

    The Reason Liberal Lawmakers Are to Blame for High Gas Prices
    With consumer confidence at a 17-year high and economic prospects looking relatively strong, congressional Democrats have taken to grousing about the gas pump as a midterm strategy. “These higher oil prices are translating directly to soaring gas prices,” declared Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, “something we know disproportionately hurts middle- and lower-income people.” If this…
    David Harsanyi
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