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

    Trump’s New Travel Ban Is Standard Security Policy

    If the recent announcement limiting travel to the U.S. from eight countries came from the pen of any other recent president, it would hardly make news. But in the case of President Donald Trump, the issue has blown up. Nevertheless, this administration’s policies have largely been right in line with what the U.S. has consistently…
    James Carafano
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    • Opinion

    No, the Electoral College Is Not a ‘National Security Threat’

    Following Hillary Clinton’s electoral defeat and Donald Trump’s ascension to the White House, numerous progressives came out of the woodwork to call for the end of the Electoral College in favor of a national popular vote. While most of the arguments against our over two-century-old system revolve around it not being purely democratic and being…
    Jarrett Stepman
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    • News

    Pentagon Critics See Better Way to Help Troops Quit Smoking

    As the federal government continues to tackle smoking as a public health issue, some experts argue it should be more open to allowing electronic cigarettes and smokeless tobacco as valuable tools for those trying to kick the habit. European studies have found both far less harmful than cigarettes, they say. And current government policy actually…
    Fred Lucas
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    • News

    Sen. Dianne Feinstein Defends Comments on Judicial Nominee’s Faith

    Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., on Sunday defended her controversial statements about one of President Donald Trump’s judicial nominees. Amy Barrett, Trump’s nominee for the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, was questioned about her Catholic faith by Feinstein at a confirmation hearing Sept. 6. “The dogma lives loudly within you, and that’s a concern,” Feinstein…
    Casey Ryan
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    • News

    Crossing the Border Illegally Is Harder Than It’s Been in 50 Years, DHS Report Says

    Improved security has made it harder than ever to illegally cross into the U.S. from Mexico, and Border Patrol agents are catching a higher percentage of those who try, according to a new report from the Department of Homeland Security. The report from the DHS Office of Immigration Statistics used arrest and migrant survey data to arrive…
    Will Racke
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    • Opinion

    Democrats’ Defense of DACA Shows Contempt for Constitution, Rule of Law

    Imagine a lawyer defending shoplifters, arguing that because his clients were successful in getting the merchandise out of the store undetected, they should be able to keep the stolen goods free and clear. That’s what 16 Democratic attorneys general are essentially advocating in defending the so-called “Dreamers,” the children of illegal immigrants surreptitiously slipped across…
    Peter Parisi
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    • News

    University Presidents Defend Trump Judicial Nominee Questioned About ‘Dogma’

    Two presidents of prestigious educational institutions have come to the defense of a Catholic nominee for an appeals court after she was questioned by a United States senator about her faith during a Senate confirmation hearing. In two separate letters, the Rev. John I. Jenkins, president of the University of Notre Dame, and Christopher L….
    Rachel del Guidice
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    • Opinion

    How to Stop Democrats From Stonewalling Judicial Nominees

    Oregon’s two Democratic senators, Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, have announced they will seek to block the confirmation of 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals nominee Ryan Bounds. Last week, the senators announced they will not return blue slips to Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, for Bounds, whom President Donald Trump nominated to a…
    Elizabeth Slattery
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    • Opinion

    We Hear You: Debating Transgender Military Personnel and Culture’s Role in American Dream

    Editor's note: The Daily Signal's coverage and commentary on President Donald Trump's plan to bar openly transgender individuals from military service got our audience talking, as did our examination of the role of culture in maximizing opportunity in America. Write us at [email protected]—Ken McIntyre Dear Daily Signal: Thank you to Walt Heyer for sharing his…
    Ken McIntyre
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    • News

    Trump Continues to Remake the Federal Judiciary

    President Donald Trump submitted another slate of judicial nominees to the Senate Thursday, naming candidates to the powerful federal appeals courts based in Washington, D.C., and San Francisco, California. The White House announced that Trump has named Gregory Katsas to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, the nation’s second most powerful judicial…
    Kevin Daley
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    • Opinion

    Al Franken Obstructs Judicial Nominee Because He’s ‘in the Mold’ of Thomas and Scalia

    Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., seems determined to block a judicial nominee from his home state. On Tuesday, Franken announced his intent to obstruct Minnesota Supreme Court Justice David Stras, the president’s nominee to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, by refusing to return Stras’ blue slip. Why jam up the confirmation of a well-respected state…
    Tiffany Bates
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    • Opinion

    Why Congress Should Include Base Realignment and Closures in Defense Authorization Bill

    “The [base realignment and closures] process offers us the opportunity to address readiness by providing our forces the best possible ranges and installations for them to be stationed at.” This is how Lucian Niemeyer, the new assistant secretary of defense for energy, installation, and environment, described the importance of Congress authorizing a new round of…
    Frederico Bartels
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    • Opinion

    2 Democrat Senators Show Hostility to Religion in Questions for Judicial Nominee

    “Do you consider yourself an orthodox Catholic?” is an unusual and inappropriate question for a senator to ask a judicial nominee. In fact, the Constitution forbids it. But that didn’t stop Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., from probing Notre Dame Law professor Amy Coney Barrett about her faith. Sen. Dianne Feinstein. D-Calif., also chided Barrett for…
    Tiffany Bates
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    • Opinion

    Trump Can Aid the Irma Relief Effort by Issuing Special Waiver

    As Hurricane Irma bears down on Puerto Rico, home to 3.4 million U.S. citizens, President Donald Trump should prepare the way for a rapid relief and rebuilding effort by issuing an emergency waiver of the Jones Act. The Jones Act (formally the Merchant Marine Act of 1920) requires that all shipping between U.S. ports be…
    Salim Furth
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    • News

    Florida Democrat Election Official Admits Noncitizens, Felons Voting

    A veteran Democrat chief election official in Florida has conceded in court that noncitizens and felons possibly voted, in a case that could have national implications for how localities clean up voter rolls. Broward County Elections Supervisor Brenda Snipes is defending her office against a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Rights Union, a conservative…
    Fred Lucas
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    • News

    Conservatives Push for Democrats to Stop Obstructing Trump Judicial Nominees

    Conservatives are launching a campaign to put pressure on Democrats and counter what they view as the obstruction of President Donald Trump’s judicial nominees. “This is an issue that has energized the American people in a unique way last November,” Carrie Severino, chief counsel and policy director of the Judicial Crisis Network, told The Daily…
    Rachel del Guidice
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    • News

    CIA Veteran Sees Russian Connection to 2 Groups Opposing Fracking, Pipelines

    Some environmental activists who pressure politicians to halt production of natural gas are acting as “agents of influence” on behalf of the Kremlin and Russian energy interests, according to a retired CIA officer’s analysis of the money trail. “We cannot allow foreign interests to deliberately manipulate our energy industry,” Rep. @LamarSmithTX21 says. As they lead…
    Kevin Mooney
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    • Opinion

    The Growing Racial Divide Within Black Lives Matter

    After the events in Charlottesville and Boston of recent days, expect Black Lives Matter to be both energized as a movement and for the broader left to double down on race as a means to achieving radical social upheaval. Yet even as the movement regains steam with a focus on the physical dismantling of statues…
    Anne Sorock
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    • News

    Why Patricia Heaton Is a Problem for Feminists

    Every week, The Daily Signal’s Facebook show, “Problematic Women,” highlights strong conservative women, current events, and the hypocrisy of the “feminist” left. On this week’s episode, the mainstream media can’t stop talking about President Donald Trump’s response to Charlottesville and Iceland is eliminating Down syndrome—not through medicine, but through abortion. We also address actress Patricia…
    Daily Signal Staff
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    • News

    Alabama Special Election GOP Primary Goes to September Runoff

    Two Republicans, Sen. Luther Strange, R-Ala., and former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, will compete in a runoff election in September after failing to garner 50 percent of the vote in Alabama’s special election to fill the seat of now-Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The winner of the GOP runoff, which will be Sept. 26, will…
    Rachel del Guidice
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