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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news
We Asked Senate Dems About the Bill Banning Noncitizen Voting
All 47 Senate Democrats were silent when asked by The Daily Signal whether they support a pending bill to compel proof of citizenship for voters in federal elections. But the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, or SAVE Act, is gaining momentum among Senate Republicans. The House passed the SAVE Act on Wednesday by a 221-198… -
opinion
Senate Panel’s Probe Into COVID-19’s Origin Brings Us Closer to Truth
Did you know that four months before the world had ever heard of COVID-19—on Sept. 3, 2019—authorities in the Veneto region of Italy discovered COVID-19 antibodies in local blood samples. Of course, you didn’t. The deadly and mysterious COVID-19 was around much longer than anyone had previously suspected. We now know that fact,… -
news
3 Republican Senators Talk Weaponization of Government
Three Republican senators spoke Tuesday about the weaponization of government and related problems in Congress on a panel at the National Conservatism Conference in the nation’s capital. The panel, hosted by former Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., featured Sens. Ron Johnson, R-Texas; Mike Lee, R-Utah; and Rick Scott, R-Fla. DeMint began the discussion by saying that… -
news
2 Senators Say Biden Debate Performance Raises 25th Amendment Concerns
Members of President Joe Biden’s Cabinet should consider invoking the 25th Amendment to remove the president, two sitting U.S. senators suggested. They said Biden’s performance in the first presidential debate against former President Donald Trump raised questions about his ability to perform his office. “We’ve definitely entered 25th Amendment territory,” Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, wrote… -
news
Bans on Foreign Funding for Ballot Measures Gain Momentum in Congress, States
Opponents of foreign funding of U.S. ballot measures expect momentum at both the federal level and in states. In May, the House Administration Committee advanced a bill to amend federal election law to prevent foreign nationals from contributing to ballot initiatives by closing a loophole, since federal law and most state laws prohibit foreign contributions… -
opinion
Giving Teeth to a Finding of Contempt of Congress
The House of Representatives recently held Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt for failing to turn over audio recordings of special counsel Robert Hur’s interviews with President Joe Biden. Garland, appointed by Biden, refused to provide the recordings. So the House adopted a resolution June 12 holding him in criminal contempt (making him only the… -
news
GOP Senators Demand Information From HHS on In Vitro Fertilization Clinics
As Congress considers legislation on in vitro fertilization, five U.S. senators are asking the Department of Health and Human Services to assess fertility clinic safety standards in an effort to ensure the clinics are adequately protecting the human embryos in their possession. Republican Sens. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, James Lankford and… -
news
EXCLUSIVE: GOP Senators Call for Renewal of Pro-Life Budget Amendments
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—Protections for the unborn belong at the forefront of the federal budget, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., wrote in a letter sent to the Senate Appropriations Committee on Friday. “As the Senate Appropriations Committee continues to work on legislation for fiscal year 2025, we urge the committee to ensure that long-standing, bipartisan… -
opinion
Congress Wants You: ‘Draft Our Daughters’ Returns
Earlier this week, the Senate Armed Services Committee voted to require young women to register with Selective Service for the draft should one be officially reinstated. Slipped into the Senate’s version of the fiscal 2025 National Defense Authorization Act is an amendment to the Military Selective Service Act that would require women between the ages… -
opinion
Warning Labels on Social Media: Surgeon General Wants Them to Protect Young People. Will Congress Act?
Peggy Noonan recently wrote a Wall Street Journal op-ed column in response to Jonathan Haidt’s new book: “The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness.” The book overflows with data supporting Haidt’s conclusion that social media harms children’s and adolescents’ mental health. Noonan reflected on the phenomenon… -
news
No More Business as Usual: Republicans Ratchet Up Pressure in Senate
Two weeks after Democrats gloated over the guilty verdict of former President Donald Trump, six Senate Republicans are vowing to exact revenge for the Biden administration’s use of lawfare to target a political opponent. Their target: 44 nominees of President Joe Biden who are awaiting Senate confirmation. The six GOP senators—JD Vance of Ohio, Mike… -
news
Senators Urge Supreme Court to Stop Mexico’s Bid to Blame US Firearms Makers for Cartel Gun Violence
The Mexican government has sued U.S. gun manufacturers, blaming them for crime and cartel violence south of the border. A federal appeals court allowed the case to move forward, so Republican members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives are urging the Supreme Court to defend American sovereignty. “Mexico is trying to impose its… -
news
‘INSULTING’: Senate Republicans Say Biden Won’t Enforce Border Security Order
President Joe Biden’s upcoming executive order on the border is a political ploy to get more votes in the 2024 presidential election, Republican senators said at a press conference Tuesday morning. Biden is expected to announce executive actions on Tuesday to address the southern border crisis, though his previous orders have promoted open borders and allowed… -
news
Dozens of Energy Groups Ask Congress to Overturn Biden’s Green Power Plant Rules
Dozens of energy policy and advocacy groups are pushing Congress to repeal one of President Joe Biden’s signature climate policies. A coalition of more than 40 organizations signed on to a letter being circulated Thursday to lawmakers, taking aim at the Environmental Protection Agency’s recently finalized emissions-reduction regulations for coal-fired and new natural gas power plants. The letter urges… -
opinion
Battle for Senate GOP Leader: Rick Scott Aims to Shake Up Status Quo
For the past 18 years, Senate Republicans have had one leader: Mitch McConnell took the job in 2006 and has retained it ever since. But with his decision to step down from the post after November’s elections, there are three Republicans vying to replace him. One of them is Sen. Rick Scott of Florida. He… -
news
Senate Democrats Who Back Biden’s Crackdown on Fossil Fuels Suddenly Worried About High Gas Prices
Numerous Democrats who have helped the Biden administration restrict fossil fuel development and production are now concerned about high gas prices as the 2024 elections loom. A group of 23 Senate Democrats—including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, and Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania—signed a Thursday letter to Attorney General… -
news
These GOP Senators Rip ‘Neocon’ Foreign Policy on Both Sides
Leaders on both sides of the aisle haven’t learned from America’s foreign policy failures, Sens. Rand Paul and JD Vance asserted Thursday at a Capitol Hill event. Both GOP lawmakers called out their party leader—Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell—by name. Vance, R-Ohio, accused “neocons” of wanting to go to war with China and continuing to… -
news
Border Bill Goes Down in Flames on Senate Floor
The bipartisan border bill failed in the U.S. Senate Thursday, even losing the support of two key negotiators who helped craft the legislation. This marked the second time the Senate voted against moving forward with the bill. The vote on the border bill “is not an effort to actually make law, it is an effort… -
opinion
Who Is Running Congress?
Reflect on the words of Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., in his Washington Post article titled “Why Is Congress So Dumb?” Thereby hangs a tale of congressional anemia and languor. The veteran congressman laments, “our available resources and our policy staff, the brains of Congress, have been so depleted that we can’t do our jobs properly…. -
news
GOP Senators Label Border Bill an ‘Election Year Political Stunt’
The Senate will vote again Thursday on a border bill that Republicans say would do more harm than good. The bill “is not a border bill, and it is not a border security bill,” Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said at a press conference on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. “This is an election-year political stunt designed…