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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    • Opinion

    America’s National Security Is Dependent on Critical Rare Earth Minerals—and Worse, on China

    The U.S. is currently heading for a major national security train wreck.  Bewildering environmental policies, energy plans detached from reality, and an incomprehensible practice of trusting China to provide critical components for both civilian and military technologies is an unsustainable trajectory.  The administration has rejected fossil fuels, driving us commercially and across the defense industry…
    Steven Bucci
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    • Opinion

    7 Facts Biden Ignored About Social Security in His Speech to Florida Retirees

    President Joe Biden claimed that Democrats will protect Social Security and that Republicans threaten its future in a speech Tuesday in Hallandale Beach, Florida. But the “reality” Biden portrayed is misleading and undermines Social Security’s future. Social Security’s future is not secure. The program is running out of time and money, and recent increases in…
    Rachel Greszler
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    • News

    Arkansas’ Save Adolescents From Experimentation Act Is About Protecting Minors, Experts Say

    The battle over “gender transitions” for minors is playing out in dozens of American states. Some states are seeking to ban cross-sex hormones and transgender surgeries. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, meanwhile, hopes to make his state a “magnet” for minors seeking those interventions. Arkansas state Rep. Robin Lundstrum, a Republican, introduced the Save Adolescents From…
    Gillian Richards
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    • Opinion

    Hungary Leads Way in Defense of Conservative Values, Culture

    Although in many countries around the world, liberal political views are dominant, some nations in Eastern Europe have notably resisted the left-wing ideology. One of the most criticized among the latter is Hungary. The Hungarian government stands for national sovereignty and conservative values among the world’s nations. In a Heritage Foundation event on Monday, “Promoting…
    Rodney Rios
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    • News

    Top House Republican Condemns ‘Political Violence’ After Second Arrest in Attack on Rubio Volunteer

    Police have arrested a second suspect in connection with an assault Sunday night on a campaign volunteer for Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., that occurred while he was canvassing neighborhood voters in Hialeah, Florida. Rubio volunteer Christopher Monzon, 27, suffered a broken jaw and internal bleeding in the attack and will have to undergo facial reconstructive…
    Gillian Richards
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    • News

    Why Fentanyl Is Killing So Many Americans

    Two milligrams. That’s all the fentanyl it takes to be potentially lethal to the average adult in America, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.  It’s killing thousands of Americans, and it’s flooding into the country. More than 107,000 people in the United States died of drug overdoses and drug poisonings in 2021, according to…
    Samantha Aschieris
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    • Opinion

    Better Late Than Never: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Unaccountable Funding Scheme Ruled Unconstitutional

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is “completely off the separation of powers books.” So wrote the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit in a decision last week holding that the bureau’s independent funding mechanism was unconstitutional because it violated Congress’ exclusive power to appropriate federal funds. The decision heralds trouble ahead for this…
    GianCarlo Canaparo
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    • News

    ‘Every State Needs to Pass a Law’ Like This, Detransitioner Says of Arkansas SAFE Act

    Two men and one woman who underwent experimental medical interventions in pursuit of a transgender identity told The Daily Signal that they support Arkansas’ Save Adolescents From Experimentation Act, arguing that it is necessary to protect children from the horrors they themselves experienced. The SAFE Act prohibits anyone from performing controversial transgender medical interventions on…
    Tyler O’Neil
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    • Opinion

    America’s Military Strength Is Declining. Here’s How to Fix It.

    The U.S. military not only is weak overall but “at growing risk of not being able to meet the demands of defending America’s vital national interests,” according to a new report from The Heritage Foundation. On Tuesday, Heritage released its 2023 Index of U.S. Military Strength, a document of nearly 600 pages that assesses the strength…
    Samantha Aschieris
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    • Opinion

    ‘Not Sure Taiwan’s Going to Survive,’ Defense Expert Warns of Xi’s Push for ‘Reunification’

    Chinese President Xi Jinping renewed his calls for the “reunification” of China and Taiwan on Sunday during the opening session of the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. “We will continue to strive for peaceful reunification with the greatest sincerity and the utmost effort, but we will never promise to renounce the use…
    Samantha Aschieris
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    • News

    ‘Massive Fiduciary Breach’: Missouri Pulls $500M Worth of Pension Funds From BlackRock’s Control

    Missouri State Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick announced on Tuesday that the state’s pension fund is selling all of its assets that are managed by BlackRock, a move that will divest up to $500 million from the asset manager. The Missouri State Employees’ Retirement System is withdrawing its assets from BlackRock’s control because the state believes that…
    Jack McEvoy
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    • Opinion

    Neither Trick Nor Treat: What Parents Need to Know About ‘Rainbow Fentanyl’

    The end of October is nearing, which means Halloween is just around the corner for many American kids. The holiday, known for trick or treating and consuming copious amounts of candy, is a bit spookier than normal this year: Parents now have to worry about the possibility of so-called rainbow fentanyl ending up in their…
    Samantha Aschieris
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    • Opinion

    Central Bank Digital Currencies: Potential Financial Catastrophe in Search of a Problem

    The White House released a framework recently on regulation of digital assets that included a call for the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department to continue behind-the-scenes efforts to impose a government-run cryptocurrency known as a central bank digital coin. A central bank digital coin would be one of the most authoritarian—and one of the most…
    Peter St. Onge
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    • Opinion

    Social Security’s 8.7% COLA Will Protect Retirees From Inflation, but Will Hasten Program’s Insolvency

    The Social Security Administration announced Thursday that beneficiaries will receive an 8.7% cost-of-living adjustment next year. That’s good news for seniors today who—like all other Americans—are struggling with rising costs, but it comes at the expense of a diminished Social Security system for current and future retirees. Social Security is funded by current workers’ payroll…
    Rachel Greszler
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    • News

    Physician Assistant Sues Hospital for Religious Discrimination Over Transgender Stance

    First Liberty Institute filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of a physician assistant who was fired in 2021 from University of Michigan Health-West after she sought a religious exemption from referring patients for sex-reassignment surgeries and hormone interventions. According to a Wednesday press release from First Liberty Institute, Valerie Kloosterman worked at Michigan Health for…
    Gillian Richards
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    • Opinion

    ‘Stigma’ Prevented California Health Officials From Closing Bathhouses Amid Monkeypox Spread 

    San Francisco and California state health officials knew monkeypox was spreading through gay or bisexual men who went to bathhouses and international festivals but hesitated to create a “stigma” by communicating these details and closing such venues, according to emails obtained by The Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project.  Much of the internal communication between and among San Francisco…
    Roman Jankowski
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    • Opinion

    Fact Check: What Politico, FEMA Chief Got Wrong as Florida’s DeSantis Prepared for Hurricane Ian 

    Politico this week inaccurately reported remarks by FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell about Florida’s response to Hurricane Ian, but she also appeared to be inaccurate in saying that she hasn’t ever acted politically during a natural disaster.   Criswell, who runs the Federal Emergency Management Agency under the Biden administration, spoke Tuesday at a White House press…
    Roman Jankowski
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    • Opinion

    The Breakdown of the Social Contract

    Why is there so much division in America, and how is our society breaking down? R.R. Reno, editor of First Things and author of “Return of the Strong Gods: Nationalism, Populism, and the Future of the West,” joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to discuss the obligations of the elites, marijuana, and the future of religion…
    Katrina Trinko
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    • Opinion

    Fentanyl: Too Dangerous to Trust Moscow With, but You Can Score Some in Middle School

    The Commerce Department announced last week that from now on, the chemicals needed to make fentanyl can only be exported to Russia with a license. The Commerce Department considers them “potentially useful for Russia’s chemical and biological weapons production capabilities.” Meanwhile, also last week, a 13-year-old in Bakersfield, California, brought 150 fentanyl pills to his…
    Simon Hankinson
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    • News

    Senate Republicans’ Bill Would Make It Felony Murder to Distribute Deadly Fentanyl

    Sen. Marco Rubio and 13 other GOP senators are proposing legislation that would make dealing fentanyl linked to a death a felony punishable by life in prison or a death sentence upon conviction.   “Fentanyl is killing Americans at a record high,” Rubio, R-Fla., said in a prepared statement. “This deadly drug is widespread throughout…
    Virginia Allen
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