National Security News

The Daily Signal provides reports on national and homeland security issues, including military readiness, intelligence operations, border protection, and global conflicts. Featuring news, analysis, and commentary, this section explores how security policy decisions affect America’s national defense and freedom.
Filter articles by
  • news

    Border Crossings Stop After Texas Man Takes Security Into His Own Hands
    City of Hidalgo, Texas—Othal E. Brand Jr. is a man in control, and as such, when drug cartels began exploiting the stretch of river at the water pump station he runs, he built a Border Patrol-friendly boat ramp, watchtower and helicopter pad to beef security there. In the Rio Grande Valley, Brand wields more power…
    Josh Siegel
    Read More
  • opinion

    Holder Claimed Some Americans Oppose Him Because of ‘Racial Animus’
    Were you aware that your opposition to Attorney General Eric Holder and President Obama is due at least in part because of your “racial animus,” and not because you disagree with their policies and abuse of their constitutional authority? That, anyway, is Holder’s latest claim, which shows how disconnected the attorney general is from reality….
    Hans von Spakovsky
    Read More
  • news

    Va. Farmer Says Green Group Urged County to Harass Her With Zoning Citations
    A well-funded, politically influential environmental group based in Fauquier County, Va., stands accused of colluding with government officials and real estate moguls to force a local farmer into selling a highly coveted parcel of land. The Piedmont Environmental Council, a 501(c)(3) tax exempt group, and the husband-wife real estate team of Phillip and Patricia Thomas,…
    Kevin Mooney
    Read More
  • opinion

    States Already Have Transportation Funding Independence
    Campaigning this week for more federal transportation spending, President Obama said, “There’s something called the Highway Trust Fund [HTF]—I suspect this crew is familiar with it. It helps states support transportation projects. If Congress fails to fund it, it runs out of money.” Indeed, the House just passed a $10.8 billion bailout of the HTF…
    Emily Goff
    Read More
  • opinion

    Is Sending the Military to the Border a Good Idea?
    James Carafano is a 25-year Army veteran, a graduate of and former professor at West Point, and a leading expert on military strategy, including border issues. In his decade at The Heritage Foundation, he has conducted extensive research on border issues, including making frequent trips to the U.S. borders with Canada and Mexico. On the…
    James Carafano
    Read More
  • opinion

    Five Factors from the New CBO Report on Veterans’ Healthcare
    Last week the Congressional Budget Office issued an updated budget score for lawmakers’ proposal (H.R. 3230) to expand veterans’ access to healthcare outside the VA for two years. CBO’s verdict: If the measure passes, VA would receive expanded authority and unlimited funds for two years to pay for health care from non-VA providers. CBO’s 16-page…
    Romina Boccia
    Read More
  • opinion

    Why a President’s Judicial Appointments Matter
    One issue voters often overlook when selecting presidential candidates is what type of judges those candidates will support. These are lifetime appointments, and a two-term president could nominate hundreds of judges to the federal judiciary – with advice and consent of the Senate. From trial-level district court judges to the justices on the U.S. Supreme…
    Hans von Spakovsky | Elizabeth Slattery
    Read More
  • news

    Conservative Groups Respond to Liberal Criticism of Kansas Tax Cuts
    Conservative groups came together for a conference call Thursday, arguing against left-leaning media claims that Kansas’ steep income tax reductions have contributed to the downfall of the state’s economy. Kansas Governor Sam Brownback slashed the income tax in 2012 in an effort to reverse the state’s 15 year trend of trailing national economic averages. Some…
    Natalie Johnson
    Read More
  • opinion

    Why Mexico’s Southern Border Security Strategy Is Not Enough
    Last week, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina launched a program aimed at regulating the influx of immigrants from Guatemala to Mexico called Southern Border or “Frontera Sur.” Intended to improve the system for cataloging migrant movements between both countries, the program aims to increase information on migrants, and thus help…
    Andrea Rodriguez | Ana Quintana
    Read More
  • opinion

    Our Politicians Keep Surrendering U.S. Independence to Other Nations
    Four weeks after D-Day, having fought fiercely for 28 consecutive days, American troops were still within eyeshot of the Normandy coast. They were already short of artillery rounds, but Gen. Omar Bradley didn’t care. The commander of U.S. ground forces was determined to send the enemy a message. And so, to mark U.S. independence on…
    James Carafano
    Read More
  • opinion

    Collective Self-Defense Is Good for the U.S.-Japan Alliance
    On July 1, a prime-minister-appointed security advisory panel determined that Japan has the right to collective self-defense, a right guaranteed to all nations under the U.N. charter but previously not exercised under Japan’s pacifist constitution. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s decision to implement collective self-defense will strengthen the U.S.–Japan alliance, but he faces strong opposition domestically…
    Riley Walters
    Read More
  • news

    Cruz Knocks Obama’s $3.7B Border Request as ‘Social Services Bill’
    The Daily Signal this afternoon asked Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, what he thinks of President Obama’s request for $3.7 billion in “emergency” funds – about $12 for every American  – to address the surge of children from Central America illegally crossing into the U.S. from Mexico. Cruz accused the president of selling a “social services bill” as a “border…
    Kelsey Bolar
    Read More
  • opinion

    Steve Moore Demolishes Obama’s Argument for More Border Security Funding
    “When you look at the actual funding for border security over the last 10 years, it has more than doubled. And over the last 15  years, it’s almost tripled. So it’s not a lack of funding. It’s the fact that this administration has sort of turned a blind eye to this and in fact has…
    Stephen Moore
    Read More
  • opinion

    Cartoon: Border Security Under President Obama
    Despite statements from past and present Obama Administration officials that the U.S. border is secure, the recent influx of thousands of illegal aliens from Central America proves otherwise.
    Glenn Foden
    Read More
  • news

    Homeland Security Secretary Won’t Say If Illegal Children Will Be Deported
    “Meet the Press” host David Gregory had a simple question for Department of Homeland Secretary Jeh Johnson: Do the children flooding the U.S. border need to be deported? What followed was a testy exchange between Gregory and Johnson. “I’m trying to get an answer,” Gregory said at one point. He eventually moved on, but not…
    Kelsey Bolar
    Read More
  • opinion

    Obama Isn’t Prepared to Face Security Challenges
    Flip through the latest National Security Strategy and the Pentagon‘s Quadrennial Defense Review — these are the documents describing how President Obama envisions using foreign and defense policy to keep the United States safe, free and prosperous in a world that appears increasingly unfriendly to America’s interests. The words “strategic early warning” don’t figure in…
    James Carafano
    Read More
  • news

    Federal Officials Propose 8-Foot Fences to Protect Endangered Mice
    SANTA FE NATIONAL FOREST, N.M.—For more than a century, the Lucero family has grazed livestock in the majestic landscape near Fenton Lakein the Santa Fe National Forest. They started with sheep and, in the 1920s, switched to cattle. But that may all come to an end because of an endangered mouse. “You’re taking a lot…
    Rob Nikolewski
    Read More
  • news

    Obama Taps Corporate Executive to Overhaul Veterans Affairs
    President Obama will nominate former Procter & Gamble chief executive Bob McDonald as the next secretary of veterans affairs, calculating that a corporate manager and outsider can turn around the beleaguered department. If confirmed by the Senate, McDonald, a 61-year-old Army veteran, would be tasked with overcoming a scandal over long wait times at Veterans…
    Josh Siegel
    Read More
  • news

    VA Spent Millions on Solar Panels as Veterans Waited for Care
    Veterans Affairs hospitals have spent millions on solar panels while veterans waited months to see a doctor. Delayed care resulted in at least 23 deaths, according to one VA fact sheet. In Phoenix, 18 patients died while waiting for treatment, acting Veteran Affairs Secretary Sloan Gibson revealed on June 5. The VA scandal has resulted…
    Tori Richards
    Read More
  • opinion

    Obama Administration Landmine Policy Harms U.S. National Security
    Right now, myriad crises around the globe require U.S. leadership: a radical Islamic army on the march in Iraq, chaos in Syria, Russia and China bullying neighbors, and near daily violence in Nigeria. Yet, the Obama Administration has chosen to focus its attention on landmines. The White House announced today that the U.S. will no…
    Daniel Kochis
    Read More