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
Heritage Launches $1 Million Campaign to Expedite Senate Confirmation of Trump’s Cabinet Picks
The Heritage Foundation and its independent partner, Heritage Action for America, on Thursday launched what they describe as a $1 million campaign aimed at expediting Senate confirmation of President-elect Donald Trump’s second-term Cabinet appointments. The campaign will officially start in the middle of January 2025 and will continue for the entirety of the Senate… -
opinion
Democrats’ Brazen Hypocrisy on Senate Filibuster
Addressing the Democratic National Committee’s summer meeting Sept. 10, 2022, in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, Vice President Kamala Harris boasted about how, as president of the Senate, she had broken “John Adams’s record of casting the most tiebreaking votes in a single term.” Harris was reliving how, a month earlier on Aug. 7, she had… -
news
How Many of 20 Senate Republicans Who Voted for Merrick Garland as AG Now Have Doubts About Matt Gaetz?
Some of the 20 Senate Republicans who voted to confirm President Joe Biden’s pick of Merrick Garland for attorney general already are shaking their heads at President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee as the nation’s top law enforcer. Several of those GOP senators have spoken out against Trump’s choice last week of Matt Gaetz for attorney… -
opinion
EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Ted Cruz on the Judicial Appointments Senate Fistfight
Sen. Ted Cruz joins “The Tony Kinnett Cast” to discuss President Donald Trump’s first 100 days, whether President Joe Biden’s remaining judicial nominees will get confirmed, and what the American people want lawmaekrs to do. Watch above or read a lightly-edited transcript below. Tony Kinnett: Welcome back to “The Tony Kinnett Cast” here on The Daily… -
news
Senate Republicans Choose New Leader for First Time in 18 Years
For the first time in 18 years, Republicans in the Senate have a new leader. Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., will replace outgoing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., as the conference’s frontman. The new leader will have the hard task of passing President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda through the upper chamber of Congress. Though Republicans have… -
opinion
Key Endorsements for Rick Scott Shake Up Senate Leadership Race
As the race to become the new Republican Senate leader goes down to the wire, Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., is gaining momentum. A slew of endorsements came in for Scott over Veterans Day weekend as the Senate GOP conference prepared to choose a new leader for the first time in 18 years. Scott is pitted… -
news
First Transgender-Identifying Man Elected to Congress
Sarah McBride will become the first openly transgender-identifying person to serve in Congress after winning Delaware’s at-large U.S. House seat Tuesday night. McBride, a Delaware state senator, is a biological man who identifies as a woman. Delaware’s only House seat was vacated by outgoing Democratic Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, who made a successful bid for her… -
opinion
With Razor-Close Margins, Will Senate Leadership Elections Be Delayed?
While the dust is still settling from the 2024 election, Senate Republicans are tasked with choosing who will lead them in their new majority. Thanks to wins in Senate races in Montana, Ohio, and West Virginia, a Republican majority in the Senate is guaranteed. But there are still outstanding races that raise questions about representation… -
news
Texan to Become One of Youngest Lawmakers in Congress
Republican Brandon Gill defeated Democrat Ernest Lineberger, 62.9% to 35.6%, in unofficial results Tuesday night to secure an open seat representing Texas in the U.S. House of Representatives. At 30, Gill will be among the youngest Republicans ever to hold a seat in Congress. The Associated Press called the race for Gill after 9 p.m…. -
news
House, Senate, Electoral College: What to Watch on Election Day
Seven swing states are too close to call headed into Election Day, Nov. 5. Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, and former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, spent much of the last month vying for votes among the states that are expected to determine who the next president will be. Polls indicate Trump and… -
opinion
We Need a Congress That Will Stop Borrowing Money
With the Nov. 5 election approaching, much attention is focused on the presidential contest—but at least as significant are the contests that will determine who controls Congress. That is because Congress controls federal taxing and spending. “The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and… -
opinion
Kamala Harris Doesn’t Care About You, Only Herself, Senator Says
Over the past nearly four years, Vice President Kamala Harris and the Biden administration have created more crises than I can count. Because it’s an election year, they are running around like firemen desperately trying to put out a fire. The only problem is, they’re the ones who lit the match. Now, less than a… -
opinion
Democratic Senate Candidates Shunning Harris on Campaign Trail
With only about 25 days until this damnably necessary act of democracy descends into recriminations and conversations about 2028, Donald Trump is barnstorming across the nation while Kamala Harris sits for interviews designed to generate turnout from her base. Where are Barack and Michelle Obama? Does democracy not matter? Where is Hillary Rodham Clinton? Where… -
opinion
Rick Scott: The Senate Is Run by ‘Dictatorships’
On this week’s episode of “The Signal Sitdown,” I speak to Sen. Rick Scott of Florida about his bid to replace Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky as leader of Senate Republicans and how the Nov. 5 election will shape the next Congress. In our discussion, Scott suggests McConnell has become tyrannical as Senate minority leader,… -
news
Eric Schmitt, GOP Senators Press FBI Over ‘Indefensible’ Mishandling of Child Sexual Abuse Cases
DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION—Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri released a letter Friday pressing the FBI in response to an audit from the Office of the Inspector General that found “egregious failures” in the agency’s handling of child sexual abuse cases. Schmitt, who was joined by 10 other Senate Republicans, addressed FBI Director Christopher Wray after the OIG… -
opinion
‘Got to End’: Ron Johnson Says Senate Leadership Needs Dramatic Change in ‘The Signal Sitdown’ Premiere
For the premiere of The Daily Signal’s new show, “The Signal Sitdown,” I sat down with Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., to discuss the state of the Nov. 5 presidential election, the race to replace Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and new revelations about both assassination attempts on former President Donald Trump. Following reports that… -
news
Florida’s Scott Leads Democratic Rival in Senate Race in New Poll
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—Florida Sen. Rick Scott, a Republican, is leading his Democratic opponent in a new poll. Napolitan News Service surveyed 774 likely voters in Florida between Sept. 25 and 27 as to whether they preferred Scott or his reelection challenger, former Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell. If the election for U.S. Senate were held… -
opinion
Social Security’s Financial Time Bomb Is Ticking. Why Doesn’t Congress Hear It?
Editor’s note: This is a lightly edited transcript of the accompanying video from professor Peter St. Onge. Social Security is almost out of money. They broke it, we bought it. This comes from the Congressional Budget Office, who just released a new report saying Social Security has just nine years until it runs out of… -
news
‘Stunning Failure’: Senate Report Blasts Secret Service
THE CENTER SQUARE—A bipartisan Senate report released Wednesday blasts the U.S. Secret Service for several significant failures that led to the near-fatal assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump in Butler County, Pennsylvania, over the summer. The bipartisan report indicates that security knew the shooter was on the roof minutes before Trump was shot. Meanwhile,… -
news
Blinken Ignores Congress, Hobnobs With Elite at UN
Secretary of State Antony Blinken was a no-show at a congressional hearing Tuesday morning, triggering House Republicans to move toward holding the nation’s top diplomat in contempt of Congress. Blinken originally was subpoenaed Sept. 3 by House Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, for a hearing on the committee’s investigation into the Biden-Harris administration’s poorly…