Political Commentary & Opinion
Analysis, commentary, and opinion essays on politics and policy from The Daily Signal’s contributors and experts.
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news
Scalise Announces Speaker Bid, While Hern Privately Gauges Support for Bid
Update: Republican House Majority Leader Steve Scalise has officially announced he's running to be the next House speaker. Republican House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Republican Study Committee Chairman Kevin Hern of Oklahoma are privately gauging support for potential speakership bids after Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s ousting Tuesday, a person familiar with their actions… -
opinion
Go Ahead, Shut It Down!
This week, Republicans and Democrats got together to avert a government shutdown. Too bad. There’s so much that ought to be shut down. Useless Cabinet departments, for example, like Housing and Urban Development, Labor, and Agriculture. Agriculture employs almost 100,000 people. Why? Independent farmers grow our food. They don’t need a giant department. Let’s get… -
news
Florida Law Allowing Death Penalty for Child Rapists Goes Into Effect
Florida’s new law permitting the death penalty for pedophiles went into effect this week, the state’s governor announced Tuesday evening. “Florida’s law allowing the death penalty for child rapists is now in effect,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a post on social media. “The minimum sentence is life in prison without parole. In Florida, anyone… -
opinion
Is America Nearing Fall of Rome Status?
America’s financial mismanagement has gotten so bad that some say our country’s decline is now inevitable, drawing parallels to the Roman Empire’s collapse. That comparison is unfair for two reasons. First, Rome had good roads that lasted over a millennium. Second, and more seriously, America has changed course before and hopefully still has time to do so… -
news
Jim Jordan Announces Bid for Speakership
Congressman Jim Jordan is officially running for speaker of the House of Representatives, the congressman’s office confirmed to The Daily Signal Wednesday. The Ohio Republican’s confirmation comes just one day after Kevin McCarthy’s ouster. Eight Republicans and all Democrats present voted to remove McCarthy, who has said that he will not run again for speaker…. -
opinion
How Project 2025 Is Gearing Up for Next Conservative Presidential Administration
New leadership is needed in America, says Spencer Chretien, associate director of the 2025 Presidential Transition Project, also known as Project 2025. “We see every day the effects of the current administration, whether it’s the open southern border, rampant inflation, a woke and weaponized government, foreign policy disaster,” he says. “And we need new leadership… -
opinion
Speaker McCarthy Has Been Ousted as House Speaker. So What Happens Next?
A political earthquake happened Tuesday night. The fallout from Saturday’s unsatisfying status quo budget deal came swiftly as the House voted to oust the speaker in the middle of a term for the first time in U.S. history. Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was deposed by eight Republicans who voted with Democrats to remove him. The vote was… -
news
BREAKING: McCarthy Rules Out Second House Speaker Bid
Rep. Kevin McCarthy, who was ousted as House speaker earlier Tuesday, says he will not run again to be House speaker. “I may have lost a vote today, but I fought for what I believe in—and I believe in America. It has been an honor to serve,” McCarthy posted on X, the platform formerly known… -
opinion
How Would Frederick Douglass Regard Today’s Left?
Frederick Douglass was one of the greatest Americans who ever lived. This man began life as an illiterate slave—nearly all slave owners prevented slaves from learning to read—and rose from slavery to become, along with Abraham Lincoln, the greatest orator of his time and one of the wisest and most eloquent writers in U.S. history…. -
opinion
Congressman’s Carjacking Suggests DC’s Home Rule Is a 50-Year Failure
The national crime wave has crashed into Congress. A House Democrat was the victim of a carjacking in Washington, D.C., on Monday night. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, was reportedly carjacked by three men brandishing guns. The incident took place in the Navy Yard section of the city, just blocks away from the Capitol. This is… -
news
State Department First Denies Iranian Spy Infiltration, Then Confirms Ongoing Investigation
The Biden administration doesn’t “have any reason to believe” that Iran infiltrated the State Department, an agency spokesman said. During a press conference Monday, spokesman Matthew Miller first said no evidence suggests an Iranian influence network had infiltrated the State Department, then immediately confirmed that an investigation into Rob Malley, the department’s special envoy for Iran, is… -
opinion
Why Gavin Newsom Is Fascinated by Conservative Media
California Gov. Gavin Newsom engages with a considerable amount of conservative media daily and has called for Democrats to “infect” it in order to persuade voters. “The California governor consumes more right-wing media than most people who aren’t either retired or named Donald J. Trump,” said reporter Max Tani in a piece for the news… -
opinion
WATCH: Inside Defamation Lawsuit That Could Blow Southern Poverty Law Center Wide Open
The Southern Poverty Law Center is notorious for branding mainstream conservative and Christian organizations, such as the Alliance Defending Freedom and Moms for Liberty “hate groups” or “antigovernment extremist groups,” placing them on a map alongside chapters of the Ku Klux Klan. Many of the SPLC’s targets have sued for defamation, but almost every lawsuit… -
opinion
UAW, Automakers Should Fight Washington, Not Each Other
In October 2021, I warned that the inflationary fallout from Bidenomics would lead to an increase in labor unrest and strikes. Two years later, we have the biggest auto strike in history. That’s because inflation leaves both employers and employees poorer, and each wants the other side to make concessions. Instead of casting blame on each other, they… -
opinion
4 Key Things You Need to Know About Government Shutdowns
With the nation’s capital fixated on tense negotiations over funding the federal government, apocalyptic warnings over a possible shutdown are filling headlines. Time is “running short,” we’re in “crisis mode,” and the House and Senate are on a “collision course,” to quote just a few prominent news outlets. But for the 99% of Americans who live far from… -
news
Army Veteran, 95, Forced Out of Nursing Home to House Illegal Aliens
A 95-year-old veteran of the Korean War says he received less than two months’ notice that he had to move out of a nursing home in New York City after the city struck a deal to house illegal aliens there. “I thought my suitcases were going to be on the curb, because I’m not that… -
news
Pro Surfer Makes Different Kind of Waves as Brand Ambassador for Pro-Life Diaper Company
FIRST ON DAILY SIGNAL: Pro surfer Bethany Hamilton is teaming up with a new pro-life diaper company as a brand ambassador, The Daily Signal has learned. "Every baby is a miracle, and I couldn't be more excited to represent EveryLife as a brand ambassador," Hamilton said in a statement. "EveryLife’s dedication to cherishing and safeguarding… -
opinion
Smithsonian’s Planned Latino Museum Is Woke Move Intended to Radicalize US Hispanics
The growing controversy over the Smithsonian Institution’s planned National Museum of the American Latino is making one thing perfectly clear: The once-august organization cannot now be trusted to refrain from “decolonizing” history. The recent revelation that it hired two radical professors to create a second forerunner to the museum, an exhibit aimed at making Hispanics question capitalism,… -
news
Dianne Feinstein Is Dead. What Happens Next?
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., has died at 90. Hospitalization for shingles and other health problems led to her prolonged absence from the Senate in early 2023 and an inconsistent voting record when she returned in May. California’s longest-serving senator announced that she planned to retire at the end of her term in 2024. The 17th Amendment sets… -
opinion
Steve McKee: ‘If You Don’t Like Where You Are, You Can Always Initiate a New Turn’
All of us encounter twists and turns every day—whether in our personal lives or at work. Steve McKee’s new book “Turns: Where Business Is Won and Lost” offers a guide for which turns to take to live a better life. McKee, co-founder of the McKee Wallwork marketing agency in New Mexico and author of several…