U.S. Intelligence Agency News
The Daily Signal provides coverage of intelligence operations, surveillance controversies, and the role of U.S. agencies in national security and civil liberties.
-
opinion
Special-Interest Bill Could Put Workers’ Pensions at Risk
Reducing the minimum monthly payment on someone’s massive credit card debt and issuing them an additional credit card won’t solve that person’s financial problems. It will only make them worse, by allowing the individual to accumulate more debt. Yet, that’s effectively what a special-interest bill scheduled for markup by Congress on July 18 would do… -
news
University of Kansas Flies Defaced Flag in the Name of Art
The University of Kansas flew a defaced American flag in the name of art, according to students on Tuesday. Ian Ballinger, a student at the university, found the flag outside Spooner Hall on Tuesday. After talking to school administrators, he discovered the flag was first installed on July 4. “Frankly, I think it is an… -
news
Black Leaders Call for More Civility, Official Rebuke of Maxine Waters
Responding to inflammatory remarks by Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., other African-American leaders gathered Thursday morning on Capitol Hill to appeal for civility and for Congress to censure Waters. Many saw Waters’ remarks as calling on supporters to continue confronting and harassing members of President Donald Trump’s administration, heightening a lack of civility in American public… -
news
Associates Vouch for Integrity of Ohio Lawmaker Amid Accusations He Ignored Sexual Abuse of Student Athletes as College Coach
Former associates are coming to the defense of Congressman Jim Jordan amid accusations that the Ohio Republican ignored sexual-abuse scandals at Ohio State University while serving there as an assistant wrestling coach more than two decades ago. “From the first day I met Jim Jordan as a student athlete, he has been the most honorable… -
opinion
Left-Wing Politicians Wage War on Plastic
After a ban on non-biodegradable utensils went into effect over the weekend in Seattle, local officials are advising food service businesses to “[s]top using plastic straws and plastic utensils.” An ordinance pending before the New York City Council would make that city’s food service businesses the next front line in liberal politicians’ war on plastic… -
news
Protesters March to Portland City Hall, Demand City Disassociate From ICE
Abolish ICE protesters in Portland marched to City Hall, demanding Portland City Council disassociate from Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The protest came after making several demands to Mayor Ted Wheeler, one of which was not using the “Portland Police to assist with any eviction of the ICE camp.” The protesters, however, feared Wheeler would break… -
opinion
17% of Judicial Positions Are Now Vacant
As Sen. Bob Dole once said, the judges a president appoints may be his most profound legacy. Federal judges have become increasingly powerful, much more so than America’s Founders intended. For our system of government to work as designed and to produce the liberty it promises, presidents must appoint the right kind of judges. President… -
opinion
We Hear You: Climate Change, Wedding Cakes, Social Security, Planned Parenthood, and Transgender Soldiers
Editor's note: Our interview with a straight-talking climate change skeptic captured a big audience, and this week's roundup begins with that. Unrelated question: Have you been pressured to participate in an LGBT Pride Month celebration at work? Tell us what happened by writing [email protected].—Ken McIntyre Dear Daily Signal: Thank you, thank you, thank you for… -
news
Advocates for Disabled Warn Against AMA’s Softening Opposition to Physician-Assisted Suicide
The American Medical Association’s decision this week to reconsider its long-standing opposition to assisted suicide doesn’t sit well with some advocates for the disabled. The AMA voted Monday by a margin of 56 percent to 44 percent to continue studying the issue, though without reaffirming that its current policy opposing assisted suicide would remain in place…. -
opinion
The Grim Consequences of Not Reforming Social Security
Each year, the trustees of Social Security and Medicare issue their report delivering the news, invariably dismal, about the financial condition of the nation’s two largest entitlement programs. This year, in the report just issued, it’s worse than usual. Last year, the trustees forecast that Social Security and Medicare’s hospital insurance would have to start… -
news
If Russia Invades, US Special Operations Forces Have an Unconventional Plan to Liberate the Baltics
DOLASZEWO, Poland—In less than 72 hours, U.S. special operations forces transformed a nondescript reserve base at this village in the bucolic Polish countryside into the headquarters of a simulated, special operations war to liberate NATO’s three Baltic countries from a land invasion. Looking in from outside the perimeter wire, however, you’d never know it. Only… -
opinion
Trump Official Affirms Commitment to NATO Allies in Major Speech
President Donald Trump’s vision for European policy is a welcome change from the muddled approach taken by the Obama administration. That was the assessment of A. Wess Mitchell, the assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, in a sharply focused major policy address Wednesday at The Heritage Foundation. Mitchell’s speech came against a… -
news
Obama Administration Allegedly Let Iran Access US Financial System Because It Was ‘Desperate to Get a Deal’
The Obama administration secretly allowed Iran to access the U.S. financial system to convert assets to U.S. dollars, despite repeated assurances that it would not permit such transactions, a new Senate subcommittee report alleges. “The Obama administration misled the American people and Congress because they were desperate to get a deal with Iran,” Sen. Rob… -
opinion
Here Are 5 New Signs Social Security Is Going Insolvent
The Social Security Administration released its annual trustees report this week, and the prognosis is not good. Trust fund depletion—the date when Social Security’s reserves will be exhausted and the program will only be able to spend what it receives in payroll taxes at that time—is approaching at a rapid pace. This year, Social Security will… -
opinion
Venezuela’s ‘21st-Century Socialism’ Is an Unmitigated Disaster
The sham re-election of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on May 20 has made it clear that the humanitarian crisis in that country will only get worse. Maduro has been running a dictatorship since the election of the constituent assembly in July of 2017, and Venezuelans are suffering because of it. Many on the left have… -
opinion
Why Capitalism Is Morally Superior to Socialism
Several recent polls, plus the popularity of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., demonstrate that young people prefer socialism to free market capitalism. That, I believe, is a result of their ignorance and indoctrination during their school years, from kindergarten through college. For the most part, neither they nor many of their teachers and professors know what… -
news
Trump Issues Commercial Space Policy Directive on Eve of Anniversary of JFK’s Space Program Speech
President Donald Trump on Thursday signed a space policy directive, calling for “updating and refocusing” those policies in a bid to promote innovation and modernize American commercial space policy. The White House said the move “reforms America’s commercial space regulatory framework, ensuring our place as a leader in space commerce.” This is the second space… -
opinion
Social Justice Warrior Accuses Conservative Women of ‘Appropriating’ Feminism—but We’re Not Having It
Fake news, move over—there’s a new con (wo)man in town. It’s called fake feminism, and according to a woman on the left, conservative women are the culprits. Liberal feminist writer Jessica Valenti, author of books such as “Sex Object: A Memoir,” and “Why Have Kids?”, took to The New York Times Sunday to argue Republicans… -
opinion
Senators Need to Stop Asking Judicial Nominees Their Personal Views
On Thursday, in the Senate Judiciary Committee’s business meeting, Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, addressed efforts to force judicial nominees to express personal views on issues or cases in their confirmation hearings. Senators routinely press nominees, for example, to say whether particular Supreme Court precedents, such as Brown v. Board of Education or Roe v. Wade, were correctly decided…. -
news
California Officials Back Trump on Crackdown on ‘Sanctuary’ Policies
California law enforcement and local officials gathered at the White House on Wednesday to make it clear that Sacramento doesn’t speak for them on illegal immigration. The Democrat-controlled state Legislature passed and Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat, signed a “sanctuary state” law that prohibits state and local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities…