U.S. Senate News
This section focuses on the upper chamber of Congress, from major policy debates to confirmation hearings. The Daily Signal provides a conservative look at Senate priorities.
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- Opinion
Congress to Decide TikTok’s Fate in US
TikTok might soon be facing a choice: Divest from its Chinese Communist Party-controlled parent company, or cease to operate in the U.S. “This is not about the content that is being posted on TikTok,” Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, says. “It’s about the conduct of the company that controls TikTok, that makes the decisions, that has…Virginia Allen -
- News
‘MORALLY REPREHENSIBLE’: Senators Rip FEMA on Poor Handling of Illegal Immigrant Travel
Key Senate Republicans blasted the Federal Emergency Management Agency for shoddy record-keeping regarding the transportation of illegal immigrants throughout the U.S. FEMA distributes grants to nonprofit organizations for shelter and travel expenses for illegal immigrants, but last month informed The Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project that it has no documentation about how that taxpayer money has…Fred Lucas -
- Opinion
Republicans Must Use Leadership Change as Opportunity to End Business as Usual in Senate
With Wednesday’s announcement from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell that he will step down as the Republican Senate leader in November, conservatives have a generational opportunity. McConnell has been the Senate’s GOP leader for over 17 years. The choice senators will face now is between continuing business as usual or setting up the Senate to…Clint Brown -
- News
McConnell to Step Down as Senate Republican Leader
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell will step down from his position in November, The Associated Press reported Wednesday. The 82-year-old senator will announce the decision on Wednesday, the publication reported. He will have been the longest-serving Senate leader in United States history. “One of life’s most underappreciated talents is to know when it’s time to…Mary Margaret Olohan -
- Opinion
IVF Isn’t the Pro-Life Option for Addressing Fertility Issues. Duckworth’s Senate Bill Isn’t the Solution.
The Left, and even many Republicans, have misrepresented the Alabama Supreme Court recent decision in the LePage v. Center for Reproductive Medicine case involving frozen embryos. The court sided with parents who pursued a wrongful-death lawsuit against a negligent in vitro fertilization clinic, where their frozen embryos were killed when a patient entered the unsecured…Arina Grossu Agnew -
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McConnell Says Full Senate Trial on Mayorkas Impeachment Is ‘Best Way to Go Forward’
Senate Democrats need only a simple majority to dismiss the House’s impeachment charges against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, a move that appears likely. The House voted Feb. 13 to impeach Mayorkas 214 to 213, with every Democrat voting no. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., hasn’t said whether he would act to dismiss…Virginia Allen -
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Mayorkas Had 3 Years to Secure Our Border. Americans Deserve a Real Senate Impeachment Trial.
Members of Congress have promised to “hold accountable” those in power so often that the phrase has become hollow. Exhibit A: Alejandro Mayorkas. For many months, President Joe Biden’s secretary of homeland security has dodged responsibility for his direct implementation of a historic border crisis. Until now. On Feb. 13, the House successfully impeached Mayorkas for the irreparable…Lora Ries -
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Why Senate Has a Solemn Obligation to Conduct a Mayorkas Impeachment Trial
Rumors abound that Senate Democrats want to avoid holding a trial on the impeachment of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas by “tabling” or otherwise dismissing the House impeachment articles. But doing so would be contrary to the Senate’s impeachment trial rules and its own historical practice. The Senate has never refused to hold…Thomas Jipping -
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These Republicans Demand a Full Senate Impeachment Trial for Mayorkas
Republicans controlled the Senate during President Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial in 2020. Then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., allowed a full Senate trial in public view even though he would vote that Trump wasn’t guilty of the House’s charges. Today, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., faces a similar choice with the House’s…Virginia Allen -
- Opinion
Senate Will ‘Pay for It’ If It Doesn’t Act on Mayorkas Impeachment, Rep. Mark Green Says
The House on Tuesday voted to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, but the Democrat-controlled Senate is not expected to vote to remove him from office. “There isn’t a whole lot of power we have,” Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said of House members’ ability to push the Senate…Virginia Allen -
- Opinion
5 Charts Show Why Congress Must Stop Deficit Spending
Both chambers of Congress are locked in fierce battles over spending legislation. A “supplemental” package has found bipartisan support in the Senate after the removal of flawed border and immigration provisions. However, its $95 billion price tag—$60 billion of which would go to Ukraine—means there will be stiff resistance in the House. Meanwhile, Congress is…David Ditch -
- Opinion
With Bipartisan Measure, Congress Could Expand Successful ‘One Door’ Policy on Welfare, Workforce
The federal government has more than 90 welfare and workforce programs spread across dozens of federal agencies, with funding flowing to thousands of state and local agencies and programs. Navigating the web of welfare and workforce assistance can be a nightmare. And, too often, Americans end up trapped in the welfare web instead of being assisted…Rachel Greszler -
- News
WATCH: GOP Senator Rips Into White House Blackmail on Deportations
In an exclusive interview with The Daily Signal on Thursday, Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., called the White House’s threat to “reduce” deportations of illegal aliens if Republicans didn’t vote for the recent Senate border and foreign aid bill “ridiculous”: I guess we shouldn’t be all that surprised that this White House would do something like…Tony Kinnett -
- Opinion
How One Senator’s Command Economy Proposal Could Put Air Travel Out of Reach and Cost Airport Workers’ Jobs
Airline prices—which are already 22% higher than they were two years ago—could get a whole lot more expensive and many airport workers could lose their jobs if a proposed amendment allowing the federal government to set the wages and benefits of airport workers makes its way into a Federal Aviation Administration bill. That proposal from…Rachel Greszler -
- News
Border Bill Fails in Senate
The Senate’s $118 billion spending bill failed to advance past a procedural vote on the Senate floor Wednesday. The bill included funding for border-related measures, Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. The bill fell short of receiving the 60 votes needed to keep moving forward in the Senate. If the bill had passed in the…Virginia Allen -
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Senate Border Bill Would Hand $1.4 Billion to Nonprofits That Help Illegal Migrants
The Senate’s border funding bill released Sunday night would allocate $1.4 billion for nonprofit organizations that help migrants who enter the U.S. illegally. Page 67 of the 370-page bill contains a provision stating that $1.4 billion “shall be transferred to [the category of] ‘Federal Emergency Management Agency–Federal Assistance’ to support sheltering and related activities provided…Jennie Taer -
- Opinion
‘THE BORDER NEVER CLOSES’: Democrat ‘Outs’ Senate’s Immigration Bill
The Senate finally released its so-called border security bill on Sunday night. The “compromise” bill between Democratic and Republican leadership would do little to stop the massive flow of illegal immigration across our border, and to top it off, it has been paired with $60 billion in funding for the war in Ukraine. It appears…Jarrett Stepman -
- News
House Leadership Declares Senate’s Border Bill ‘Dead on Arrival’ Amid Bipartisan Criticism
The Senate released the text of a $118 billion spending bill Sunday night that includes funding for U.S. border security as well as security-related aid for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. But House leadership calls the Senate bill “dead on arrival” if it reaches the lower chamber. “I’ve seen enough,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., wrote…Virginia Allen -
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How Big Tech CEOs Respond in Senate Hot Seats: 6 Big Takeaways
Two Big Tech CEOs apologized to grieving parents Wednesday while others insisted to senators that they are working to prevent exploitation of teens and children on their social media platforms. The CEOs testifying at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, titled “Big Tech and the Online Child Sexual Exploitation Crisis,” included Jason Citron of Discord Inc.;…Fred Lucas -
- Opinion
Congress: Stop Expecting Big Tech to Protect Kids Unless You Make Them
The harm social media does to kids has been well documented. Perhaps the most well-known exposé is The Wall Street Journal’s The Facebook Files, published in October 2021. Congress has held several hearings since that publication. On Wednesday, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary is holding another hearing centered around Big Tech’s failures to protect…Annie Chestnut Tutor