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

    Controversial Proposal for Nurses Could Expand Access to Care for Veterans
    For years, state and federal policymakers have discussed proposals to expand the role of advanced practice registered nurses, with major physician groups like the American Medical Association squaring off against nurse organizations like the American Nurses Association. But a proposed rule from the Department of Veterans Affairs to allow nurse practitioners, nurse midwives, and clinical…
    Melissa Quinn
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  • news

    Socialist, Refugee Advocate to Run UN for Next 5 Years
    While it’s hardly the election to get the most attention this year, the United Nations General Assembly has confirmed a nominee with a background in socialist politics and refugee matters to be the organization’s new secretary-general. The 193-member United Nations General Assembly approved Antonio Guterres, a socialist whom President Barack Obama called a man of…
    Fred Lucas
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  • news

    Voters to Decide Legality of Physician-Assisted Suicide in Colorado
    Colorado could become the sixth state to make physician-assisted suicide legal when voters go the polls next month. “Doctor-assisted suicide is sold as a personal decision to end suffering at the end of a person’s life,” @jeffhunt says. Called Proposition 106, the ballot question in Colorado would allow a “terminally ill individual” to request and…
    Rachel del Guidice
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  • opinion

    What the US Needs to Do About Russia’s Cyberattacks
    The U.S. finally is ramping up its response to Russian cyberattacks. Good. The bad news is our response shows how ill thought-out both our strategy toward Russia and our policies for retaliating against malicious cyber operations are. Russia has been linked to many cyber incidents, most notably the hack of the Democratic National Committee and…
    Ginny Montalbano | David Inserra
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  • news

    Think the First Amendment Protects Books and Movies? Government Officials Don’t Agree
    Books, movies, satellite radio shows, and streaming video about real-life politics aren’t protected by the First Amendment’s guarantee of a free press, some government officials argue. The Federal Election Commission hasn’t proposed banning books or movies, but in a 3-3 vote last month along party lines, the six-member panel left the regulatory option on the…
    Fred Lucas
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  • opinion

    Expedited Cargo Screening a Boon to Shippers and Security
    The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Agency has recently expanded its expedited clearance program for oceangoing freight, the Advanced Qualified Unloading Approval (AQUA Lane) program.  This expansion should allow for Customs and Border Patrol to focus resources on more high-risk cargo, while allowing a faster turnover rate at ports. AQUA allows qualified shipping lines…
    Riley Walters | William Samuel
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  • news

    How Obama Political Aides Get Preference Over Veterans for Government Jobs
    A disabled veteran didn’t get a job he sought in a federal agency, although he was qualified for the position and was supposed to receive preference. The job went instead to a political appointee of the Obama administration. “Hiring decisions must be free from political interference, legitimate, and justified,” @jasoninthehouse says. This was just one instance in which a…
    Fred Lucas
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  • opinion

    Time to Reform Social Security Benefits That Most Don’t Understand
    Social Security’s benefit structure is so complex that few Americans understand it. There’s a simpler way to provide benefits that also would help to improve the program’s worsening finances. Most Americans don’t understand the rules and details that affect their monthly Social Security retirement benefits, according to a Government Accountability Office report based on data…
    Lauren Bowman | Romina Boccia
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  • opinion

    Court Ruling Reins in Unaccountable Financial Regulation Agency
    The very first line of today’s court ruling in PHH Corporation v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) states: “This is a case about executive power and individual liberty.” Today, for once, liberty won in a big way. It would be hard to overstate the importance of the decision by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals…
    Diane Katz
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  • news

    7 Big Judicial Setbacks to Obama’s Executive Overreach
    Much of President Barack Obama’s executive action legacy will be decided by the courts after he leaves office, but he had a rough judicial record while serving. Though Obama has frequently touted his pen and phone policymaking, these actions on immigration, environmental policy, and presidential appointees have often been swatted away by the Supreme Court….
    Fred Lucas
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  • opinion

    Projections Differ, but Social Security Is in Deep Trouble
    Millions of Americans depend on Social Security, and the government program is going broke. If Congress doesn’t take action to reform the nation’s largest entitlement program, its looming insolvency likely will lead to large benefit cuts along with large payroll tax increases. The Congressional Budget Office and the Social Security Trustees each year report on long-term…
    Lauren Bowman | Romina Boccia
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  • news

    No Budget? This Senator Says That Should Mean Pay Cuts for Politicians, Staff
    After less than two years in Congress, Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., thinks he’s figured out what’s needed to fix the cumbersome way lawmakers fund the federal government: teeth. More specifically, the freshman senator from Georgia wants members of both the Senate and the House and their staff to suffer “severe consequences” if Congress fails to…
    Philip Wegmann
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  • opinion

    5 Statements From Top Military Brass That Should Concern You
    Four of America’s top military officers recently testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee on long-term budget challenges facing the military. While the hearing didn’t grab many headlines, some of the statements from these leaders should make all Americans concerned about the status of our military. Ultimately, these four officers (the chiefs of staff of…
    Andrew Santora | Justin Johnson
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  • opinion

    How a President’s Bad Judicial Appointments Threaten Your Liberty
    When Americans cast their ballots for the next president this November, they will not only select the next commander in chief and primary enforcer of the law, they will help select a new Supreme Court justice and countless other lower court judges. Selecting judges is not an ancillary responsibility—it is a central and critical duty,…
    Tiffany Bates | Elizabeth Slattery
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  • opinion

    This Plan for Streamlining Oversight Would Enhance Homeland Security
    Key government officials are ready to reform congressional oversight of the Department of Homeland Security, something that is long overdue. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, has suggested in recent days that he would like to streamline that oversight. While it may sound strange, the homeland security committees in the…
    Ginny Montalbano | David Inserra
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  • news

    Judiciary Committee Set to Audit Top IRS Tax Agent
    A last-minute deal between House conservatives and Republican leadership delayed a floor vote to impeach the head of the IRS last week. But the top taxman isn’t in the clear just yet. For the first time, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen will come under oath to plead his case, appearing before the House Judiciary Committee on…
    Philip Wegmann
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  • news

    7 Weeks Before Election, Republicans Help Advance Another Obama Judicial Nominee
    As President Barack Obama’s time in office nears its end, the Senate Judiciary Committee has advanced another one of his judicial nominees toward a lifetime post. She may not get to the finish line, though. While the Senate has entered that part of the political calendar when confirmations traditionally halt, the Judiciary Committee on Thursday voted…
    Philip Wegmann
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  • news

    House Judiciary Committee to Hold Impeachment Proceedings for IRS Commissioner
    Conservatives who belong to the House Freedom Caucus are trying to corner any Republicans thinking twice about impeaching the head of the Internal Revenue Service. They’ve framed the debate as a strict binary, telling fellow members of the GOP that they either can be with conservatives or with the IRS. Members of the Freedom Caucus took their…
    Philip Wegmann
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  • opinion

    What a No First Use Policy Would Mean for Global Security
    As the clock is ticking, President Barack Obama is striving to cement his legacy in the realm of nuclear weapons policy. In the past, the president has suggested his nuclear policy goal would be a “no first use” policy—a plan many experts as well as U.S. allies continue to meet with skepticism and resistance. While…
    Michaela Dodge
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  • news

    Votes of Thousands Who Haven’t Proven Citizenship Could ‘Swing’ Kansas Elections
    With the presidential election two months away, a Kansas law requiring voters to show proof of citizenship remains in legal limbo. Late last month, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach asked a U.S. appeals court to reinstate a provision of a law requiring Kansans to prove their citizenship when registering to vote while obtaining driver's…
    Josh Siegel
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