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.
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  • news

    Recruitment Up Across 5 Branches of the Military
    The military reported its best recruitment numbers in more than 15 years in 2025, according to the Pentagon.   “In 2025, the department exceeded our annual active-duty recruitment accession goals across all five services,” Undersecretary of War for Personnel and Readiness Anthony J. Tata said Monday.  Tata credited President Donald Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth with the influx of new recruits.  …
    Virginia Allen
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  • news

    DHS Encourages Illegal Aliens to Go ‘Home for the Holidays’ With $3,000 Stipend
    Illegal aliens who choose to self-deport “home for the holidays” will be given $3,000.   “During the Christmas Season, the U.S. taxpayer is so generously TRIPLING the incentive to leave voluntarily for those in this country illegally, offering a $3,000 exit bonus, but just until the end of the year,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement Monday…
    Virginia Allen
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  • opinion

    Why Conservatives Should Oppose the Netflix-Warner Bros. Merger
    Conservatives don’t reflexively oppose corporate mergers. We believe in free markets, in the power of competition, and in the freedom of businesses to grow when they win on merit. But we also believe in limits, especially when a single company seeks to consolidate cultural and economic power in ways that threaten the marketplace itself. This…
    Joel Thayer
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  • news

    EXCLUSIVE: DHS Expands ‘Worst of the Worst’ Searchable Website
    The Department of Homeland Security’s “Worst of the Worst” website is growing. DHS has added the names, photos, and criminal backgrounds of an additional 5,000 illegal aliens to the searchable platform, bringing the number of listed criminals to 15,000.   “This new update represents just a small sample of the total number of arrests we’ve made—70% of [Immigration and Customs Enforcement]…
    Virginia Allen
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  • opinion

    Maduro’s Narco-Terrorism Plot Against America Unraveled by Defectors
    One by one, they are singing, the men who used to do dirty deeds for the late Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chávez and his successor, Nicolas Maduro. Nobody knows what’s going to happen, whether the United States will attack, and whether Maduro will fall. But these Venezuelans sniff change in the air. As more countries exit Venezuela’s…
    Mike Gonzalez
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  • opinion

    Why Shrinking the US Army Undermines Peace Through Strength
    The United States continuously monitors and engages with global conflicts and peacekeeping efforts in regions such as Gaza, Ukraine, Russia, Iran, China, North Korea, and Venezuela. The U.S Army in particular is instrumental in such efforts. Unfortunately, the world faces increasing instability and adversarial actions. America has recently deepened its involvement with Venezuela, as evidenced…
    Brad Wenstrup
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  • news

    EXCLUSIVE: How Transportation Secretary Will Help Trump Defund Woke Universities
    FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is expected to revamp the agency’s university grant program after axing requirements that the schools fund diversity, equity, and inclusion and environmental initiatives, The Daily Signal can first report. Duffy plans to announce $33 million in grants to universities to “unleash American innovation.” This comes after the Department…
    Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell
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  • news

    Military Is Tossing ‘New Age Notions’ and Will Make Chaplain Corps ‘Great Again,’ Hegseth Announces
    Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has pledged to toss “New Age notions” in America’s Chaplain Corps and make the military body “great again.”   “In recent decades, its role has been degraded in an atmosphere of political correctness and secular humanism,” Hegseth said of the Chaplain Corps in a video message released Tuesday night.   “Chaplains have been minimized, viewed by many as therapists instead…
    Virginia Allen
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  • news

    Mark Kelly Faces Escalated Review of Alleged Misconduct From Pentagon
    The Pentagon is plowing ahead in its investigation of Arizona Democrat Sen. Mark Kelly, who told service members they “can refuse illegal orders.” “The Office of the Secretary of War, in conjunction with the Department of War’s Office of the General Counsel, is escalating the preliminary review of Captain Mark Kelly, USN (Ret.), to an…
    George Caldwell
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  • opinion

    This Anti-Christian Group May Be Out of Power Now, But Its Popularity Among Dems Bodes Ill for the Future
    Even a year later, it’s hard to wrap your head around the upside-down world of the Biden administration: The White House celebrated transgender ideology on Easter Sunday, your tax dollars funded the settlement of immigrants who broke the law to come here, and authorities turned to an Antifa-linked group whose “hate map” inspired an act…
    Tyler O’Neil
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  • news

    Gabbard: 2,000 Afghan Refugees in US Have Ties to Terrorism
    THE CENTER SQUARE—An estimated 2,000 Afghan nationals admitted to the United States following the deadly 2021 pullout of American forces from Afghanistan have ties to terrorism, according to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. Gabbard made the astonishing revelation during an interview on Fox News Friday morning, following a tense House Homeland Security Committee hearing…
    Sarah Roderick-Fitch
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  • news

    Drama-Filled Vote-Trading on House Floor Ends With Passage of Massive Defense Bill
    The House of Representative passed the National Defense Authorization Act, an annual defense bill, by a vote of 312-112 Wednesday evening after a drama-filled day on the House floor. The NDAA, with over a $900 billion price tag, received support from both Republicans and Democrats, a rarity this Congress, as House Speaker Mike Johnson has…
    George Caldwell
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  • news

    NDAA Aims to Block DOW Contracts With Groups That ‘Blacklist Conservative News Sources’
    The National Defense Authorization Act includes a provision aimed at defending conservative media.   The NDAA prohibits the Department of War from forming contracts for the purpose of advertising for military recruitment with “advertising firms like NewsGuard that blacklist conservative news sources,” according to the House Armed Services Committee summary of the bill.   “Major advertising agencies have been effectively censoring conservative media by blocking ads and their…
    Virginia Allen
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  • news

    The Navy Declares War on Bureaucratic Inefficiency
    The U.S. Navy publicly launched its new Rapid Capabilities Office, which is designed to improve the critical capabilities procurement process in a bid to ensure American maritime dominance into the next century. At the kickoff event hosted at the Capital Turnaround in Washington on Tuesday, Secretary of the Navy John Phelan explained that the new…
    Jacob Adams
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  • opinion

    Victor Davis Hanson: ‘They Weren’t Prisoners!’: Venezuela and the Second-Guessing of the Military
    In this episode of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words,” Victor Davis Hanson and Sami Winc weigh our military actions against Venezuela and the charge the U.S. military “executed” narco-terrorists who were “prisoners.” Editor’s note: This is a lightly edited transcript of today’s edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words” from Daily…
    Victor Davis Hanson
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  • news

    Victor Davis Hanson: The Left’s Growing Comfort With Political Violence
    On this episode of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words,” Victor Davis Hanson and Sami Winc explore the Left’s troubling and growing acceptance of political violence.  Editor’s note: This is a lightly edited transcript of today’s edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words” from Daily Signal Senior Contributor Victor Davis Hanson. Subscribe to…
    Victor Davis Hanson
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  • news

    Democrats Who Urged Military to ‘Refuse Illegal Orders’ to Be Interviewed by FBI
    The FBI and the Justice Department are seeking to interview six Democrat members of Congress about a controversial video they participated in, urging members of the military and intelligence community to “refuse illegal orders.” A Justice Department official spoke on condition of anonymity to Reuters and claimed the FBI interviews sought to determine “if there’s…
    Jacob Adams
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  • news

    FBI Probes Congressional Democrats Who Warned Military About Illegal Orders
    REUTERS—The FBI has requested interviews with six Democrat members of the U.S. Congress who in a video message told members of the military they can legally refuse to carry out unlawful orders, a Justice Department official told Reuters on Tuesday. The move comes a day after the Pentagon threatened to recall Sen. Mark Kelly, a…
    Jana Winter | Joseph Ax
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  • opinion

    Victor Davis Hanson: Democrats Who Told Military Not to Obey ‘Illegal’ Orders Are ‘Not Being Honest’
    On this episode of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words,” Victor Davis Hanson and Jack Fowler take aim at the six congressional Democrats who called on military members to defy “illegal” orders from the commander in chief. Editor’s note: This is a lightly edited transcript of today’s edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His…
    Victor Davis Hanson
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  • news

    ‘Not Aware’: Slotkin Pressed Over Urging Military to Defy ‘Illegal’ Trump Orders
    After urging members of the military to refuse “illegal orders” from the Trump administration, Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., admitted she is not aware of any such orders. “Do you believe President [Donald] Trump has issued any illegal orders?” ABC’s Martha Raddatz asked her. “To my knowledge, I am not aware of things that are illegal—but certainly there…
    Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell
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