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
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… -
news
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… -
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… -
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… -
news
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.;… -
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… -
news
Republican Senators Hold Listening Session With Parents Fighting Indoctrination in Schools
Republican senators met Wednesday with a group of parents to discuss the state of education in the U.S. and school systems affected by woke ideology and critical race theory. Sens. Tommy Tuberville and Katie Britt of Alabama joined Sens. Ted Budd of North Carolina, Eric Schmitt of Missouri, and Roger Marshall of Kansas at the listening… -
opinion
Senate Opens Door to Massive Carbon Tax Despite Critical Economic Concerns
This week, Congress took a step toward passing a carbon tax—an inflationary, regressive tax on all products that would lower economic growth; make all Americans worse off; and disproportionately harm poor people, farmers, and small businesses. Politicians have rightly rejected carbon taxes in the past and should continue to do so. On Jan. 18, the… -
opinion
Concerns About Proposed Senate Border Security Compromise: The BorderLine
The BorderLine is a weekly Daily Signal feature examining everything from the unprecedented illegal immigration crisis at the border to immigration’s impact on cities and states throughout the land. We will also shed light on other critical border-related issues like human trafficking, drug smuggling, terrorism, and more. ——————————————————— In 1910, future president Calvin Coolidge told his father—a newly… -
opinion
3 Reasons Congress Can’t Seem to Dismount From Government Shutdown Merry-Go-Round
We’re in a new year, but the headlines from Capitol Hill feel old. Once again, Congress has been debating its annual spending bills. And once again, a fiscal deadline looms: There will be a partial government shutdown on Friday unless Congress passes something in time. Considering that the gross national debt is now more than $100,000 for… -
news
‘DEEPLY DISTURBING’: GOP Senators Slam Biden Admin for Using SPLC on ‘Domestic Terrorism’
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—Republican senators condemned as “deeply disturbing” the Biden administration’s decision to reach out to the Southern Poverty Law Center for advice in combating the “domestic terror threat.” “Since January 2021, the Biden administration has consistently attempted to weaponize the federal government against its political opponents,” Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., told The… -
opinion
Why Is Hunter Biden Defying Congress?
Two House committees approved resolutions Wednesday recommending that Hunter Biden be held in contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena to testify and that the matter be referred to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution. But the question is: Why isn’t President Joe Biden’s embattled son already in jail? The younger Biden displayed his… -
news
‘Breach of Trust’: Senate Republicans Demand Briefing From Pentagon on Defense Secretary’s Unknown Hospitalization
Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee demanded a formal briefing from Department of Defense officials on the circumstances surrounding Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s unexplained absence in a letter sent Wednesday. Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, the top Republican on the panel, led 11 of his GOP colleagues in requiring a briefing from all relevant… -
news
Congress Has to ‘Go to War’ With President Over Border, Says Lawmaker at Mayorkas Impeachment Hearing
House Republicans conducted a hearing Wednesday to press the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for allowing millions of illegal aliens to enter the United States. During a House Homeland Security Committee hearing chaired by Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., lawmakers discussed the need to impeach and remove Mayorkas from office in the wake of… -
opinion
What Video of Gay Sex in Senate Hearing Room Says About America
Next time you tune in to a high-profile Senate hearing—perhaps to view a Supreme Court nominee sit to be questioned during his or her nomination process—consider this: A man sodomized another man in that very room, in one of the very seats that a U.S. senator would sit to engage in constitutional duties. The person… -
opinion
Uncovering COVID-19 Origins: Why Congress Must Breach Biden’s Stonewall
Next month, the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic will interview Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. After two days of behind-closed-doors interviews, the subcommittee will schedule a public hearing to take his sworn testimony. Fauci’s testimony will doubtless cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from masking to vaccine… -
news
15 GOP Senators Warn Against Secret Border Deal With Democrats
Nearly one-third of Senate Republicans are asking their leaders not to finalize a border agreement with President Joe Biden and other Democrats without allowing members to review it. The 15 GOP members sent a letter dated Sunday to Republican Conference Chairman John Barrasso, R-Wyo., to ask for a meeting of all Senate Republicans no sooner… -
news
Senator Blocks Air Force Colonel’s Military Promotion Over ‘Divisive DEI Policies’
When the U.S. Senate unanimously approved 425 military promotions earlier this month, one person was missing from the list: Col. Ben Jonsson, the Air Force officer who espoused controversial views on race and diversity. Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., stepped in to hold Jonsson’s ascension to brigadier general after a 10-month blockade of all military promotions… -
opinion
By Ending Forced Representation, New Proposal in Congress Could Benefit Workers and Unions Alike
What if some of the antagonism around labor unions in the United States could be reduced by eliminating laws that force workers and unions alike to do things against their will? That’s what the Worker’s Choice Act, introduced Wednesday by Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., would do. Current law forces workers in unionized workplaces to be… -
opinion
Hits and Misses: What Congress Achieved in 2023, What’s Ahead for New Year
Only 17 days remain in 2023, and members of Congress are preparing to leave Washington to return to their districts for Christmas. It has been a lively, and sometimes contentious, first session for the 118th Congress. The removal in October of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., by his own party likely will be remembered as…