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
Student Loan Reform Is Underway – Now the Senate Can Strengthen It
The House version of the reconciliation package in Congress, passed on May 22, marks a long-overdue step toward fiscal responsibility in higher education. The policies in HR 1, also known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, should encourage students and taxpayers. These include eliminating the inflationary Grad PLUS loan program, placing borrowing caps on… -
news
Democrat Senator Criticizes Party Over Los Angeles Riots
Sen. John Fetterman on Monday condemned the Los Angeles riots that have broken out in reaction to the deportation of illegal aliens. “I unapologetically stand for free speech, peaceful demonstrations, and immigration—but this is not that,” Fetterman, D-Pa., wrote in a post on X. “This is anarchy and true chaos,” the Pennsylvania senator continued, including… -
news
Antisemitic Violence ‘Threat Level’ Prompts Congress to Act, Lawmaker Says Ahead of Hearing
Following two recent attacks that appear to have been motivated by antisemitism, Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, says such threats have reached a frightening level. “When it comes to the antisemitic violence that we have seen, I don’t think the threat level has been this high in decades,” Pfluger told The Daily Signal ahead of… -
opinion
Senate Report Confirms the Wisdom of Secretary Kennedy’s Revised COVID-19 Vaccine Schedule
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the new secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, recently announced that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will no longer recommend routine COVID-19 vaccination for pregnant women and healthy children. Kennedy also said that COVID-19 vaccine booster shots for those under 65 will undergo new clinical trials—an attempt… -
opinion
Fractious Factions: Why Passing ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Through Senate Will Be Difficult
As Senate Republican leadership rushes to pass the “big, beautiful” budget reconciliation bill, the math to get to a GOP consensus in both houses of Congress has suddenly gotten much harder. The “big, beautiful bill,” a 10-year budget package, is the main legislative vehicle for delivering on President Donald Trump's campaign promises and can be… -
news
Got Whole Milk? Senate Panel Moves to End Low-Fat Only Rule in School Lunches.
The Make America Healthy Again movement claimed another win this week when the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee unanimously passed a bill on Tuesday that would once again allow whole and reduced-fat milk to be served in school cafeterias. “I’m encouraged to see the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act advance. This common-sense, bipartisan… -
news
Senate Changes to ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Could Threaten House Passage
After its passage by narrowest of margins in the House of Representatives, Republicans' “big, beautiful” budget reconciliation bill is facing the prospect of major changes in the Senate, which could make it extremely difficult to pass when the revised bill is returned to the House. The bill passed the House by a 215-214 margin with… -
news
‘We Have an Agenda,’ Thune Says of GOP Senators on Budget Bill
“We’re anxious to have the ball and run with it,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters Tuesday, referencing the budget reconciliation bill that has passed the House and is now being considered by the upper chamber. The South Dakota Republican emphasized that he thought Republicans had a vision for what they would like to… -
opinion
Ditch COVID Spending Spree: Congress Can Save $1.16 Trillion by Returning to 2019 Budget Trajectory
Fiscal conservatives lately have argued that the federal government should spend as it did before COVID-19 ruined everything. Thankfully, the global pandemic is a speck in the rearview mirror. Only a few diehards cling bitterly to their masks and grow misty with lockdown nostalgia. Restoring spending to its trajectory in fiscal year 2019—the last before COVID-19 wandered… -
news
Musk Triggers Political Earthquake in Congress
After weeks of being withdrawn from Washington politics, Elon Musk suddenly sent a shock wave through the Senate. On Tuesday, CBS released a clip of Musk criticizing what President Donald Trump calls the “big, beautiful bill”—a budget reconciliation package that would ensure funding for major campaign promises, such as border security and the extension of… -
news
Senate Republicans Accuse Congressional Watchdog Agency of Partisan Bias
The Government Accountability Office—an ostensibly nonpartisan congressional watchdog—has come under fire in recent days from Republicans, who accuse it of showing bias and overstepping its bounds. Established in 1921, the GAO does not possess veto power over Congress, but it has generally been respected as a rules-keeper and referee for both chambers. The agency is… -
opinion
Senate Should Make House’s Big, Beautiful Bill Bigger, More Beautiful
On Thursday at 6:54 a.m., the U.S. House passed the Trump and Republican-backed One Big Beautiful Bill Act. (Yup, that is this 1,118-page measure’s official title.) By a snare-drum-tight, 215-214 vote, all but three Republicans and zero Democrats chose to give Americans $4.1 trillion in tax relief, along with their bacon, eggs, tea, and toast…. -
news
Ron Johnson Predicts GOP Senators Will Put Up Roadblock To ‘Stop the Process’ On Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’
DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION—Republican Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson said Sunday on CNN that he believes there will be enough GOP members to halt President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” until their concerns are addressed. Despite Trump pushing Republicans to pass his budget reconciliation package, some GOP lawmakers have remained unconvinced. While on “State of the… -
opinion
The Librarian of Congress Should Support the Founders’ Goal of Protecting American Creators
President Donald Trump fired Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden on May 9. Since then, he’s announced that Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche will assume the role of acting librarian of Congress. Trump’s ultimate decision of whom to appoint as the librarian of Congress is of more consequence than people might think. The classic image of… -
news
Who to Watch in Senate as ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Advances
Republicans this week made major progress when they passed the “big, beautiful” budget reconciliation package out of the House, but there's still a long road ahead to President Donald Trump’s desk. The package—dubbed the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act—now heads to the Senate. The GOP currently has a 53-47 majority in the upper chamber, and… -
news
Mike Collins Within Striking Distance of Sen. Jon Ossoff in Senate Matchup, Poll Finds
New polling shows Georgia Republican Rep. Mike Collins within “striking distance” of incumbent Democrat Sen. Jon Ossoff in a hypothetical matchup for one of the Senate seats representing the Peach State. The Cygnal poll, conducted from May 15 to May 17 among 800 likely voters, found Ossoff leading Collins 45.7% to 43.3%—well within the survey’s… -
news
EXCLUSIVE: Senators to Introduce Bill Promoting Holistic Fertility Methods
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—Two Senate Republicans will introduce legislation to promote a holistic approach to healing infertility. Sens. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., and James Lankford, R-Okla., will introduce the Reproductive Empowerment and Support Through Optimal Restoration (RESTORE) Act on Thursday to address underlying causes of infertility like endometriosis and polycystic ovarian syndrome. “So many couples… -
opinion
WATCH: Rubio Leaves Democrat Senators in Shambles
LIVE on “The Tony Kinnett Cast” at 7 p.m. EDT: Secretary of State and acting national security adviser Marco Rubio goes toe-to-toe with Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., Tuesday—and only one is left standing. Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., is charged with assault, and Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., flies in to simp for her. The Supreme… -
news
‘We’re Just Getting Started,’ Noem Tells Senate During DHS Budget Hearing
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem testified before a Senate panel Tuesday on her department’s budget request for fiscal year 2026, touting the work the Department of Homeland Security has already accomplished under President Donald Trump while responding to questions on the budget and legal matters related to the detention and deportation of illegal aliens. “Now, at… -
news
Senate Dems Critical of Bondi’s Easing of Journalist Subpoena Rules Were Mum on Obama, Biden Actions
Ten Democrat members of the Senate Judiciary Committee—including former Chairman Dick Durbin of Illinois—have accused Attorney General Pam Bondi of attacking constitutionally guaranteed freedom of the press by making it easier for the federal government to issue subpoenas to journalists for their testimony and sources. “When asked at your confirmation hearing to commit to ‘respect…