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
Energy and Climate Policies, Cronyism Don’t Belong in Bloated Senate Infrastructure Bill
The infrastructure package being debated in the Senate this week weighs in at a whopping 2,702 pages and $1.1 trillion. While the layman might think of infrastructure as roads and bridges, Washington’s definition is about as nebulous as the measures by which lawmakers are claiming they pay for the bill. Nearly a quarter of those… -
opinion
9 Things to Know About Senate’s $1.1 Trillion Infrastructure Bill
The Senate unveiled its long-awaited $1.1 trillion infrastructure bill on Monday. In a textbook example of Washington dysfunction, members and the public will only have a few days to review 2,702 pages of programs and provisions before it’s voted on. Analysts from The Heritage Foundation have found a variety of flaws that should give pause… -
opinion
Congress Continues Spending Spree With Irresponsible Infrastructure Deal
Impulsiveness, one of the defining features of a spending spree, happens when a person stops caring about cost, value, or financing for a period of time. This person just wants as many things as possible. Reckless spending tends to occur when someone did not obtain the money through hard work or smart investing. There are… -
news
Infrastructure Bill Advances in Senate After Overcoming Filibuster
The Senate advanced a bipartisan infrastructure deal Wednesday evening, voting to open debate on the legislation after weeks of tumultuous talks that had at times thrown the entire plan into jeopardy. After last-minute snags over transit funding and other items, key negotiators announced they had reached a deal earlier Wednesday. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said following the… -
opinion
What You Need to Know About Boondoggles in Senate Infrastructure Bill
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is pushing to extend a subway from San Francisco, not far from her congressional district, to Silicon Valley, with funding in the Senate’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill. Adam Andrzejewski, founder and CEO of OpenTheBooks.com, and Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, are calling this Pelosi’s Bay Area Boondoggle. Why? Andrzejewski joins a bonus… -
news
Before Fauci, Here Are 8 Others Accused of Lying to Congress
Prosecutions for lying to Congress are rare, much less convictions, but some cases have been high profile. The issue is in the news because Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has asked the Justice Department to investigate whether Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, misrepresented facts to Congress. Fauci, responding angrily… -
news
3 Senate Conservatives Call for Supreme Court to Overturn Roe v. Wade
Leading Republican senators filed an amicus brief Monday urging the Supreme Court to overrule its decisions in two major abortion cases. Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri, Mike Lee of Utah, and Ted Cruz of Texas filed the brief in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which the high court is scheduled to hear beginning in October. The… -
news
Mike Enzi, Former Wyoming Senator, Dies After Bike Accident
Former Sen. Mike Enzi died late Monday night after being hospitalized due to a bike accident. Enzi, a Republican from Wyoming, retired from the Senate in January. The 77-year-old “passed away peacefully surrounded by his family,” a statement said. “His family expresses their deep appreciation for all of the prayers, support and concern,” a separate tweet said. “They now ask for… -
news
EXCLUSIVE: North Carolina Congressman Proposes to Kill 2,378 Pet Projects in New Budget
A North Carolina congressman is proposing a series of amendments to every appropriations bill for fiscal year 2022 that would do away with 2,378 earmarks amounting to $3.85 billion in government spending. “The first appropriations process in the new earmark era is unsurprisingly a pork-barrel fiasco,” Rep. Ted Budd, R-N.C., said in a statement provided… -
news
Investigating Whether Fauci Lied to Congress Difficult, Legal Experts Say
Sen. Rand Paul has asked the Justice Department to investigate whether Dr. Anthony Fauci lied to Congress about the possible origins of COVID-19, but legal experts involved in similar cases say they’re not sure this would be a strong one. For one, past prosecutions for lying to Congress have a mixed record, and the law… -
opinion
Senate Armed Services Committee Acts to Shore Up US Defenses
The Senate Armed Services Committee has approved a version of the fiscal year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act that would increase the Pentagon’s budget by $25 billion over President Joe Biden’s request. With this increase, the defense budget would reach $740 billion, a 5.1% bump over the $704 billion appropriated for fiscal year 2021. The… -
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… -
news
‘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… -
opinion
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… -
opinion
‘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… -
opinion
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… -
opinion
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… -
opinion
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… -
opinion
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. … -
opinion
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…