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

    After Shoring Up Support, Paul Ryan Is Officially Running for House Speaker
    Rep. Paul Ryan is officially in the race for speaker of the House. In a letter to his Republican colleagues Thursday night, Ryan, R-Wis., the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said he’s “eager and ready to be our speaker.” Earlier this week, Ryan told House Republicans he would take the gavel only…
    Philip Wegmann
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  • news

    Ben Sasse Calls for ‘Ceasefire’ Between Social and Economic Conservatives
    A new report by the American Enterprise Institute documents the connection between stable families and economic growth. The authors of the report, titled “Strong Families, Prosperous States,” contend that though the word “economics” comes from the Greek word “oikonomia,” which means “management of the household,” economists “have paid little attention to the links between household…
    Kate Scanlon
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  • opinion

    Defense Analysts Explain Real Cost of Nuclear Forces
    The United States is facing an increasingly constrained fiscal environment, with the 2011 Budget Control Act (BCA) placing mandatory limits on spending. At the same time, all three legs of the U.S. nuclear triad—land-based, sea-based, and airborne—are due for extensive modernization. Further programs are needed to sustain the U.S. stockpile of nuclear warheads. These necessary…
    David Poortinga
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  • opinion

    The Insane Amount the White House Is Spending on Standing Desks
    The White House reportedly wants to shell out a whopping $700,000 for standing desks. While it’s true that sitting all day long can have adverse health effects and it’s smart business to keep employees healthy, it’s an extraordinary amount of money to pay for something that can be recreated with a free cardboard box. Additionally,…
    Greg Ferenstein
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  • opinion

    Californians on Insane Water Policy: ‘Whatever’
    SACRAMENTO—If California flew a state flag that truly represented its popular culture, it’s possible we’d have not the Bear Flag, but a guy shrugging his shoulders and the word “Quicquid”—Latin for the state’s unofficial motto, “Whatever.” California residents have reacted to the state’s increasingly draconian water cutbacks with the well-known “whatever” spirit. They’ve significantly exceeded…
    Steven Greenhut
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  • opinion

    Does the Public’s Demand for Transparency Threaten America’s National Security? Gen. Michael Hayden Weighs In
    Gen. Michael Hayden, former director of both the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency, says Edward Snowden has caused a huge trust gap between the American people and their government and between the U.S. and our allies. In an interview with The Daily Signal, Hayden also talks about the impact of social media…
    Genevieve Wood
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  • opinion

    Washington Sets the Stage for Another Financial Crisis
    My 13-year-old son told me at the dinner table the other day that Franklin Roosevelt was one of America’s “greatest presidents” because “he ended the Great Depression.” He’s usually a good student, so I checked where he got this tripe, and sure enough, the fairy tale was right there in his American history book. The textbook tells kids that the New Deal ended…
    Stephen Moore
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  • news

    Why Social Security Benefits Aren’t Rising Next Year
    The government announced on Thursday that nearly 65 million Americans will not receive an increase in Social Security benefits next year. The reasoning? Consumer prices have been down over the past year. The following can help break down a couple calculations that measure why Social Security beneficiaries will be without an increase in their 2016…
    Leah Jessen
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  • opinion

    John Bolton on the Biggest National Security Crisis Facing the Next President
    John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, sat down with The Daily Signal Thursday to discuss national security, the Middle East, and what questions 2016 candidates should have to answer. 0:13—What Bolton thinks about President Barack Obama’s decision to leave troops in Afghanistan. 1:04—What question Bolton would ask presidential candidates about national security….
    Genevieve Wood
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  • opinion

    Why VA Police Thought an Active Shooter Drill Was Real
    Police cars, fire trucks, and ambulances converged at my office complex. As I stood in awe with my colleagues, someone said “There’s an active shooter in the building over there!” In disbelief I searched Twitter for clues. I found one tweet: Report of active shooter on 5th floor of skyline complex on Rt.7 in Fairfax…in…
    Daniel Kaniewski
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  • opinion

    How Social Security’s Current Way of Calculating Cost of Living Hurts Taxpayers
    Social Security beneficiaries will not see a cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) to their benefits this year. Social Security beneficiaries won’t see a boost in their benefits because there has been no measurable increase in the cost of the basket of goods that is used to calculate changes in the cost of living. In fact, the index measuring…
    Romina Boccia
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  • news

    A CIA-Trained Tibetan Freedom Fighter’s Undying Hope for Freedom
    PANGONG LAKE, India—At dawn, the old man stood outside his home on the Indian side of Pangong Lake, thumbing his prayer beads and chanting, “Om mani padme hum.” The sun was rising from behind a wall of Himalayan peaks on the opposite shore, which was Tibet. The old man’s face, which had been darkly tanned…
    Nolan Peterson
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  • opinion

    Another Foreign Policy Failure for Obama: Pentagon Training for Syrian Rebels Ends
    After the grim announcement last month that only four or five Syrian rebels trained by U.S. military personnel remained inside Syria, the Obama administration has decided to call it quits on the program altogether. There were supposed to be roughly 5,400 trained fighters this year and 15,000 within 3 years in order to effectively combat…
    Elizabeth Hortopan
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  • opinion

    To Avoid 19% Cut in Benefits, Lawmakers Must Overhaul Social Security Disability Program
    The trust fund that helps pay for disability insurance under Social Security is on track to run out of money next year, a shortfall that would trigger a 19-percent cut in benefits. To avert these painful cuts, policymakers should overhaul the program by dropping the progressive benefit structure and replacing it with a flat benefit…
    Rachel Greszler
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  • news

    House Judiciary Rolls Out Bipartisan Criminal Justice Reform Bill
    Lawmakers in the House Judiciary Committee stamped their mark on a criminal justice initiative to reform federal sentencing. With bipartisan signatures of support, Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., says the committee has pursued “responsible, common sense reforms to ensure our criminal justice system reflects core American values.” Goodlatte and ranking member John Conyers, D-Mich.,…
    Leah Jessen
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  • news

    Senator Reveals Full Scope of Democrats’ ‘Manufactured’ Judicial Confirmation Crisis
    Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa is pushing back on Democratic charges that the GOP-led Senate has dropped the ball on judicial confirmations under President Barack Obama. Grassley took to the Senate floor Monday after his colleagues confirmed the 314th judicial nominee since the president took office, noting that by this time in 2007, under…
    Natalie Johnson
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  • opinion

    Climate Change Is Not a National Security Issue
    On Monday, Oct. 5, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change released its most recent draft of a global climate change agreement ahead of the 2015 Paris World Climate Summit to “support the global response to the urgent threat of climate change by further addressing its causes and by further increasing resilience and the ability…
    Aaron Strickland
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  • opinion

    How California’s New Assisted Suicide Law Could Especially Hurt the Poor
    “My concern is for people who don’t have resources, who don’t have a choice.” “You read about Oregon denying someone a lung transplant, but, ‘Here, you can you have these pills.’” “That’s my fear about what this would become.” That’s what Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, a Democrat who represents the San Diego area, told the Sacramento…
    Katrina Trinko
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  • opinion

    3 Reasons Why Social Security’s Shortfall Could Actually Be $2.6 Trillion Greater Than Expected
    The Social Security Advisory Board’s Technical Panel concluded that the Social Security Trustees’ “assumptions and methodologies are basically sound.” But these “basically sound” assumptions understate Social Security’s projected 75 year shortfall by $2.6 trillion compared to the technical panel’s recommended assumptions. According to the trustees, Social Security’s 75 year shortfall amounts to 2.68 percent of…
    Rachel Greszler
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  • news

    Judge Orders Arkansas to Pay Planned Parenthood for Treatment of Three Patients
    A judge has ordered the state of Arkansas to continue payments to Planned Parenthood on behalf of three Medicaid patients who sued the state after Gov. Asa Hutchinson attempted to defund the organization. U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker issued a preliminary injunction mandating that the state continue to pay for three unidentified women—referred to as Jane…
    Kate Scanlon
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