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

    Senate Must Act on Long-Overdue Reforms to Department of Homeland Security
    It’s time to reform and reauthorize the Department of Homeland Security, says the department’s acting secretary, Elaine Duke. On that score, she has the support of her predecessor, retired Gen. John Kelly, now the White House chief of staff. In Sept. 27 testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Duke addressed the…
    David Inserra | Ceara Casterline
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  • news

    Trump’s National Security Team Argues for Keeping Foreign Spying Tool
    An Islamic State operative encouraged his followers on social media to carry out attacks in Europe and the United States, posting names and addresses of U.S. soldiers and writing: “Behead them in their own homes” and “Stab them to death as they walk their streets thinking they are safe.” The ISIS operative, Shawn Parson, could…
    Fred Lucas
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  • opinion

    McConnell Wants to Ditch the Blue Slip for Judicial Nominees, and He’s Right
    Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., supports an important step toward fixing the backlog of judicial nominations that are piling up in the Senate. McConnell told The Weekly Standard that blue slips—the practice of asking senators from a nominee’s home state for their opinion before the Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing—should no longer be…
    Elizabeth Slattery | Tiffany Bates
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  • opinion

    Homeland Security Needs a Tougher New Leader. It Looks Like It’ll Get One.
    Want a really tough job? Try secretary of homeland security. The Department of Homeland Security comprises a sprawling enterprise touching on many of the federal government’s duties to keep the nation “safe, free, and prosperous.” Homeland security is a 24/7/365 mission. And when done right, there are few tasks more thankless. Every day, Americans get…
    James Carafano
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  • news

    Armed Services Chairman Sounds Alarm on Military’s ‘Marginal’ Strength
    The military posture of the United States is rated as marginal in a new report from The Heritage Foundation, and that worries the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. The nation has “not been resourcing our military commensurate with what we ask our military to do,” Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, said at an event…
    Rachel del Guidice
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  • opinion

    Failure to Adequately Fund Our Military Puts America at Risk
    Arguably the federal government’s first obligation to Americans is to keep us safe from foreign attack and to defend our vital national interests wherever they are threatened. Alarmingly, our government is on the verge of failing in this core responsibility. Our military is minimally ready, rapidly aging, and has so shrunk in size that even…
    Dakota Wood
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  • opinion

    There Should Be No Religious Tests for Judicial Nominees
    Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, spoke Monday on the Senate floor about the case of Amy Coney Barrett, President Donald Trump’s nominee for the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In a hearing, Democrat Sens. Dianne Feinstein of California and Dick Durbin of Illinois, brought up the religious beliefs…
    Sen. Jeff Flake
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  • opinion

    Trump’s Decision to Ban Venezuelan Government Officials Was Long Overdue
    The president took long-needed action on Sunday when he put in place travel restrictions on a number of high-profile Venezuelan officials. As part of ban, which targets eight countries, these representatives and their relatives will no longer be allowed to obtain U.S. tourism or business visas. This move should not be interpreted as a ban…
    Ana Quintana
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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 | Tiffany Bates
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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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