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

    Sweden Isn’t Socialist

    For years, I’ve heard American leftists say Sweden is proof that socialism works, that it doesn’t have to turn out as badly as the Soviet Union or Cuba or Venezuela did. But that’s not what Swedish historian Johan Norberg says in a new documentary and Stossel TV video. “Sweden is not socialist—because the government doesn’t…
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  • opinion

    New Mexico’s New Physician-Assisted Suicide Bill Would Hurt the Entire Country. Here’s Why.

    An earlier version of this op-ed and its headline misrepresented HB 90 as opening the door for “suicide tourism.” Although the bill’s language in this regard is somewhat ambiguous, it does not remove the current residency requirement in New Mexico. A new bill introduced in New Mexico  could make our culture even more dangerous for…
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  • opinion

    Thanks to Senate Democrats, Our Judicial Vacancy Crisis Is More Out of Order Than Ever Before

    Some people in government don’t even need a shutdown to avoid work. Consider how Senate Democrats are handling President Trump’s judicial nominees. Or, to be more precise, not handling them. Just before the Christmas break, The Hill reported, Democrats vowed to “reject any end-of-the-year deal on judicial nominations, signaling they’ll toe a tougher line on court appointments amid…
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  • news

    MSNBC’s Chuck Todd Keeps ‘Climate Deniers’ Off His Hourlong Global Warming Special

    NBC’s “Meet the Press” devoted the full hour of its Sunday program to talk about climate change, and the show focused the bulk of its time discussing the matter with a who’s who of climate activists. MSNBC host Chuck Todd kicked off the program with a promise to the audience: the show will avoid debating the science…
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  • opinion

    3 Times Special Prosecutors Were Fired

    Democrats and a few Republicans—most notably among the latter outgoing Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona—have pushed legislation to protect special counsel Robert Mueller from being fired by the president. For his part, President Donald Trump has repeatedly insisted he doesn’t intend to fire Mueller. Still, critics of the president are not convinced. The legislation isn’t…
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  • news

    Democrats Question Judicial Nominee About Membership in Catholic Association

    Two Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee are pressing a nominee for the Nebraska federal trial court about his membership in the Knights of Columbus, a fraternal service organization of the Catholic Church. Democratic Sens. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii and Kamala Harris of California submitted written questions in December to Brian Buescher, an Omaha lawyer nominated to the U.S. District Court for…
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  • news

    House Freedom Caucus Pushes GOP Leadership on Border Security as Shutdown Looms

    Now in the final days of their control of the House, Republicans have failed to make good on a major promise they made to voters—namely, funding the border wall to curb illegal immigration, the former chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus said. But some caucus members are holding out hope for a last-minute breakthrough….
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  • opinion

    By Democrats’ Own Standard, We Have a Judicial Vacancy Crisis

    Words like “crisis” are in the eye of the political beholder. But it’s hard to pick a better one to describe the current state of vacancies in the federal courts. Today, 126 positions on the U.S. District Court and U.S. Court of Appeals are vacant. In fact, we’re in the longest period of triple-digit vacancies…
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  • opinion

    The Peace Cross Honoring Fallen Veterans Should Not Be Bulldozed

    Forty-nine families in Prince George’s County, Maryland, lost their sons in World War I. With their loved ones buried in European theaters of war, most of the families could not visit the graves. So in 1925, the American Legion and the Gold Star families erected a monument in the county to them—and all soldiers who…
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  • opinion

    The Breakdown of Family and Religion Explains France’s Social Unrest

    As France is gripped by civil disorder, many commentators identify, quite correctly, as the culprit the outsized burden that France’s bloated welfare state places on its citizens. According a recent report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the highest tax burden in the industrialized world is in France—46.1 percent of gross domestic product….
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  • opinion

    America’s Debt to Veterans Doesn’t Require More Red Ink

    As the 115th Congress comes to a close, America is once more faced with the prospect of legislators who have retired or been voted out of office being in a position to make bad decisions on their way out the door. So-called “lame duck” legislative sessions frequently produce laws that benefit narrow special interests and…
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  • opinion

    France Protests Are Warning to American Politicians Who Ignore Forgotten Man

    The European elites can’t be happy with what is happening in France. Over the last month, hundreds of thousands of angry French citizens have joined in “yellow vest” protests, initially sparked by proposed carbon taxes on fuel. This weekend, protester turnout was down, but the violence was up. While the destructive rioting should be deplored,…
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  • opinion

    What the New Socialists in Congress Need to Know About Poverty

    In a few short weeks, America will welcome the 116th Congress. Among the loud and celebrated voices in the new Congress are those who not only accept socialism as a viable option for America, but also those who celebrate their ties to organizations like the Democratic Socialists of America. Incoming Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New…
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  • opinion

    Our Ignorance of Socialism Is Dangerous

    A recent Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation survey found that 51 percent of American millennials would rather live in a socialist or communist country than in a capitalist country. Only 42 percent prefer the latter. Twenty-five percent of millennials who know who Vladimir Lenin was view him favorably. Lenin was the first premier of the…
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  • news

    Flake Continues to Hold Judicial Confirmations Hostage to Vote on Mueller Protection Bill

    Retiring Sen. Jeff Flake is staying true to his pledge to not advance judicial nominees in the Senate Judiciary Committee, unless a bill that would prevent President Donald Trump from firing special counsel Robert Mueller gets a Senate vote. “It is not productive,” said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, per Politico. “One of the greatest substantive…
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  • opinion

    Where Trump’s Judicial Picks Stand at the End of This Congress

    The 115th Congress is almost finished, with the Senate expected to adjourn by Dec. 14. What does that mean for the process of filling positions in the judicial and executive branches? First, here’s how it usually works. The majority and minority typically agree to confirm a group of nominees in the last few days of…
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  • opinion

    Personnel Issues Are Stymieing the Pentagon’s Cybercapabilities

    The Pentagon in October revealed the details of a cyberbreach of the Defense Department’s travel system, which compromised the credit card information of more than 30,000 current and prospective Pentagon employees. Ironically, this revelation came on the heels of a concerted Defense Department effort to both increase the security of its systems and onboard new…
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  • news

    5 Key Themes at the First Lady’s Opioid Town Hall With Eric Bolling

    First lady Melania Trump welcomed media attention to how the administration is confronting the opioid drug crisis during her appearance Wednesday at a “town hall” on the subject at Liberty University. That would be a change of approach, she said. “I would like that they’re focused more on what we’re doing, and what we want…
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  • opinion

    Dear TSA, Please Stop Molesting Kids at the Airport

    The other day—after slogging through a check-in line at one of the nation’s busiest airports, dutifully removing my shoes and belt, and checking my bag and pockets for other potentially dangerous items (water and loose change)—I was pulled aside by a crack Transportation Security Administration agent so he could further investigate the contents of my…
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  • opinion

    Podcast: The Military Spouses Behind R. Riveter

    November is Military Families Month and today we’re recognizing the achievements of R. Riveter, a handbag company founded and run by military spouses. On today’s show, we feature an interview with Lisa Bradley, a finalist for this year’s Small Business Award for Veteran and Military Spouse Employment from Hiring Our Heroes.  Bradley, along with fellow military spouse…
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