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
Senate Rushes to Finish Infrastructure Package Before Recess
Senators are sprinting to finalize their bipartisan infrastructure deal with their scheduled August recess just over a week away. Those involved in the negotiations spent the weekend trying to reach a deal as soon as Monday, but hit roadblocks over public transit funding and spending levels for highways, broadband, and some other areas. “We’re about…Andrew Trunsky -
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‘Dystopian Cruelty’: Congressman Slams Pelosi Staffers’ Treatment of Kids on House Floor
Rep. David Schweikert, R-Ariz., called out House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over an incident in which her staff kicked his 5-year-old daughter off the House floor along with children of other lawmakers. “The inability to show kindness to children, which aren’t a problem, gives you almost a poster of what’s becoming wrong with this leadership,” Schweikert…Rachel del Guidice -
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Most Sailors Perceive ‘Crisis of Leadership and Culture’ in Navy, Congressional Report Says
A new congressional report on the U.S. Navy “found that a staggering 94% of sailors interviewed believe that the surface Navy suffers from a crisis of leadership and culture.” Increased administrative burdens (750 annual reports per ship, most of them useless) and training not related to combat have eaten into the time American sailors are able to devote…Tony Perkins -
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‘More and More Devastating’: Congresswoman Details Third Trip to Border
Rep. Lauren Boebert just returned from another fact-finding trip to the southern border. The Colorado Republican joins us today on “The Daily Signal Podcast” to discuss her trip, migrant children crossing the border that she ran into there, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s tally of the number of would-be illegal immigrants taken into custody…Rachel del Guidice -
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How Congress Keeps Putting Us Further Into Debt
We’ve made it to our first pit stop, but let’s not forget: Even the short trip to get here had its issues. Whether we make it to our final destination is still up in the air. For now, let’s use this stop to grab some popcorn and figure out how we got into this mess…Sen. Rick Scott -
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Congress, Don’t Let Liberals Shoehorn Harmful Energy Policies Into Budget and Infrastructure Bills
President Joe Biden has made it the policy of his administration to decarbonize the electricity sector fully by 2035 and to reach economy-wide net zero emissions by 2050. The trouble is, it’s very hard for a president to unilaterally require hundreds of millions of American businesses, industries, and energy users to comply without a law…Katie Tubb -
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Real Infrastructure Opportunity for Congress: Speed Deployment of 5G Network
Faced with rising inflation and trillion-dollar federal budget deficits, more and more Americans understandably are wary of Congress’ passing any new, massive infrastructure spending bills. This is especially so when “infrastructure” is defined so loosely as to encompass all manner of spending on social welfare programs. But there’s one sure way to promote real infrastructure…Randolph J. May -
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Fact-Checking 6 Claims at Senate Democrats’ Voting Law Hearing
Senate Democrats took their push to nullify state election laws on the road Monday, holding a “field hearing” in Atlanta to attack Georgia’s recent election reforms and promote their bill to eliminate voter ID and other requirements. Only Democrat members of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee showed up to question witnesses, also all Democrats. …Fred Lucas -
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Should Congress Legalize Illegal Aliens Through a Budget Process? Consider These 7 Points
Congressional Democrats are considering breaking budget rules to enact controversial changes to immigration law. President Joe Biden has endorsed using the so-called budget reconciliation process to enact his multitrillion spending agenda, which would allow Congress to pass spending and tax increases along party lines, bypassing the filibuster in the evenly divided Senate. But Democrats threaten…Matthew Dickerson -
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GOP Senators Cautioned on More Funding for IRS in ‘Infrastructure’ Deal
The $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure deal—with as many as 11 Republican senators on board—isn’t limited to building roads, bridges, and broadband. It also includes building up the Internal Revenue Service by $40 billion over 10 years. If passed, it would get President Joe Biden halfway to his goal of $80 billion over a decade in…Fred Lucas -
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Big Salaries at Conservation Group Created by Congress Raise Eyebrows
While working to restore wildlife and plant habitats, a federally chartered conservation foundation pays lavish salaries to officers at the expense of environmental initiatives that are central to its mission, policy analysts and former employees say. Compensation figures in Form 990 tax records prepared for the IRS ought to raise questions about the National Fish and…Kevin Mooney -
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Senate Unanimously Passes Bill Making Juneteenth a Federal Holiday
The Senate unanimously passed legislation Tuesday making Juneteenth a federal holiday. Juneteenth, already celebrated in the majority of states on June 19, commemorates the official end of slavery in Confederate states on that day in 1865. Though President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863, hundreds of thousands of slaves did not…Andrew Trunsky -
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Will Liberals in Congress Give Health Insurance Industry $200 Billion Windfall?
Liberals have long aspired to a single-payer health care system that would eliminate private health insurance companies altogether. As such, it’s incongruous that 113 sponsors of so-called “Medicare for All” voted to increase government payments to profitable health insurers through the end of next year. Those same members of Congress appear ready to embrace a…Doug Badger -
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North Carolina Senate Sends Bill Banning Abortions Based on Down Syndrome, Sex, Race to Governor’s Desk
North Carolina lawmakers have sent a bill banning abortions based on a diagnosis of Down syndrome to the governor’s desk for signing. House Bill 453, or the Human Life Nondiscrimination Act/No Eugenics, not only bans abortions based on Down syndrome but also prohibits the procedure based on the unborn baby’s sex or race. If a mother…Mary Margaret Olohan -
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What Being a New Congresswoman Is Really Like: Rep. Kat Cammack Explains
From fighting against the far-left agenda, to policy review sessions early in the morning and late at night, to baseball practice with colleagues, Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Fla., says her first six months as a House member have been anything but boring. There is a “side of being a member of Congress that a lot of…Virginia Allen -
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GOP Congresswoman’s Home Vandalized With Antifa Symbols on Memorial Day
South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace’s home was vandalized with Antifa symbols and profanity on Memorial Day, the freshman congresswoman announced on Tuesday. Multiple circle-A anarchist symbols and messages such as “all politicians are bastards,” “no gods no masters,” “f— you Nancy,” and “pass the pro act” were spray-painted on Mace’s home and sidewalk, according to…Andrew Kerr -
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FSU Settles Discrimination Suit With Student Senate President Ousted for Criticizing BLM
Florida State University settled a case with its former student Senate president who alleged he had been discriminated against because he is Catholic. Jack Denton settled with Florida State University on Tuesday, nearly one year after he was ousted from his student government leadership position for criticizing progressive groups like Black Lives Matter, his lawyers told The…Thomas Catenacci -
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Another Bill in Congress to Give Partisan Bureaucrats Control Over State Election Laws
One of the false narratives constantly pushed by liberals is that the efforts of states to reform and fix vulnerabilities in their election systems are somehow examples of “voter suppression.” Nothing could be further from the truth. Making sure that every eligible citizen is able to vote and that their vote is not lost or…Hans von Spakovsky -
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Congress Needs to Undo EPA’s ‘Science Massacre’
For many on the left, sound science is sound only when it supports their ideological preferences. We saw that during the Trump administration, when leftists opposed an Environmental Protection Agency transparency rule that would have helped the public to evaluate the credibility of the science used in rulemaking. Now we are seeing it in the…Daren Bakst -
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7 Points From Homeland Secretary’s Senate Grilling on Border Crisis
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas gave many I-don’t-know responses Thursday to senators on both sides of the aisle while blaming the Trump administration for the surge of illegal immigrants at the southern border. Mayorkas boasted of success, made a political reference to “build back better,” and accused former President Donald Trump of having “dismantled” border…Fred Lucas