Political Commentary & Opinion
Analysis, commentary, and opinion essays on politics and policy from The Daily Signal’s contributors and experts.
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opinion
California Considers Downgrading Soliciting Minors for Sex to Misdemeanor
Editor’s note: This is a lightly edited transcript of today’s video from Daily Signal Senior Contributor Victor Davis Hanson. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to see more of his videos. Hello, this is Victor Davis Hanson for The Daily Signal. Recently, a rather bizarre topic came up here in California. There was a bill introduced in… -
opinion
Most Favored Nation Is a Most Flawed Notion
Last November, American voters overwhelmingly sent the GOP to Washington, D.C., to Make Government Small Again. So, why are Republicans importing socialist drug prices from foreign, single-payer, medical bureaucracies? This, alas, is exactly what President Donald Trump did on Monday, with a stroke of the First Sharpie. His executive order ties U.S. pharmaceutical costs to the… -
opinion
Trump’s Core Strategy in the Middle East
There is an opportunity for the Middle East to be defined “by commerce, not chaos,” President Donald Trump said, speaking at the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday. The president is using the universal language of economic prosperity as he visits Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates this week, reminding… -
news
EXCLUSIVE: Lankford to Introduce Bill Protecting Conscience Rights
Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., was set to introduce legislation on Wednesday to safeguard religious freedom and conscience protections. The Conscience Protection Act of 2025 would bar any federal, state, or local government from discriminating against or penalizing a health care provider if they won’t perform, refer for, pay for, or participate in abortion services. As… -
news
House Considers Bipartisan Jewish American Heritage Month Resolution
The House of Representatives is expected to vote on a resolution Wednesday evening that would call on elected officials and other civic leaders to counter antisemitism and educate the public on the contributions of Jewish Americans for Jewish American Heritage Month. The resolution calls on the executive branch and state and local leaders to take… -
news
Johnson Threads Needle in Stitching Together ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ to Placate Factions
House Republican leadership is facing a herculean task right now, as it seeks to appease various factions with strong opinions on the budget reconciliation bill: fiscal hawks, Medicaid defenders, and tax cut advocates. Pleasing all of those groups would be an Olympian achievement, given Republicans' narrow majority in the House of Representatives. Speaker of the… -
news
What Colorado’s New Voting Law Means for Jail Inmates and Gender Identity
A new Colorado voting law carves out special voting rights protections for jail inmates, as well as for gender identity. On Monday, the state’s Democrat Gov. Jared Polis signed the law, which is framed as a state version of the federal Voting Rights Act. Democrat lawmakers in the state contend the Trump administration and federal courts… -
opinion
Diversity Initiatives Persist at UVA Despite Promised Reforms
The University of Virginia was supposed to have dismantled its diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives by now. Two weeks ago, amid accusations that the university had simply renamed many of the DEI offices but not closed them, the U.S. Department of Education asked it to present proof of compliance by May 30. But one must… -
opinion
An American Pope Confounds the Press
The quick election of a pope born and raised in the United States was a shock to almost everyone outside the Sistine Chapel in Rome. Conclaves begin with secular and Catholic experts making a list of possible front-runners, and no one had Robert Prevost on their bingo card. For Americans, it was shocking and… -
opinion
The Left Says Quiet Part Out Loud: Whites Need Not Apply for Asylum
It looks like your liberal neighbors will have to take down their “refugees welcome” signs now. A small group of South African refugees arrived in the United States on Monday bearing American flags. They came to the U.S. after President Donald Trump signed an executive order in February designating them as in need of asylum. One would… -
opinion
The Media ‘Jumps the Shark’
Editor’s note: This is a lightly edited transcript of today’s video from Daily Signal Senior Contributor Victor Davis Hanson. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to see more of his videos. Hello, this is Victor Davis Hanson for The Daily Signal. I’ve been critical of the media, as many of you are. But recently it’s jumped the… -
news
‘RAISES SERIOUS QUESTIONS’: White House Calls Out Episcopal Church Over Refusal to Help White Refugees
The White House condemned the Episcopal Church on Tuesday after it withdrew from federal refugee resettlement programs in protest when the government asked the church to resettle white refugees from South Africa. In a Monday letter, a top church leader noted South Africa’s history of Apartheid and said that assisting the refugees cuts against its… -
news
Partisan Fighting Flares Over Medicaid Funding
At the beginning of critical markups on Republicans’ “one big, beautiful” budget bill, Democrats made clear that they would resist all of the proposed cuts to Medicaid funding. Passage of the budget reconciliation bill is necessary to extend President Donald Trump’s first term 2017 tax cuts and to fund border security. The main disconnect between… -
news
Family of US Journalist Long Missing in Syria Still Holds Out Hope
A body discovered in Syria is not the remains of kidnapped American journalist Austin Tice, his family confirms. Tice, a freelance reporter who received accolades for his early coverage of the Syrian civil war, has been missing since Aug. 14, 2012. According to a family spokesman, "[A]n initial and erroneous report that Austin Tice was… -
news
RFK Jr. Seeks to Free Doctors From Useless Barriers
The Department of Health and Human Services is launching a review of unnecessary regulations slowing down the Food and Drug Administration. “To Make America Healthy Again, we must free our doctors and caregivers to do what they do best—prevent and treat chronic disease,” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy said Tuesday morning. “We cannot allow their time and… -
opinion
Thank a Cop This Police Week
Last year, 147 law enforcement officers died in the line of duty in the United States, an increase of 25% from 2023. Their names will be added this week to the 24,067 names of officers inscribed on the marble walls at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C. As we pause to celebrate… -
news
House Panel Plans to Raise SALT Deduction Cap for Members in Blue States
House Republicans are proposing to raise the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap to $30,000, up from its current rate of $10,000. The move was announced on Monday by the House Ways and Means Committee, chaired by Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo. The deduction would apply to single and joint filers who make $400,000 or… -
news
House Panel’s Medicaid Reform Proposals Set Off Predictably Fierce Debate
The House Energy and Commerce Committee unveiled its proposals to revamp Medicaid on Sunday night, drawing the predictable cheers and jeers from Congress' varying factions—establishment Republicans, Democrat Medicaid crusaders, and hard-line fiscal conservatives. The debate over how to handle Medicaid has emerged as the most hot-button issue in Republicans' rush to pass a budget reconciliation… -
news
Rejecting Calls for Medicaid Cuts, Hawley Castigates GOP’s ‘Wall Street Wing’
Sen. Josh Hawley is sounding the alarm that Republicans should avoid deep cuts to Medicaid in the budget reconciliation process. In an op-ed published in The New York Times on Monday, the Missouri Republican senator took aim at what he called the “party’s Wall Street wing” for advocating to have the federal program face deep… -
news
State Legislators From Across Country Urge End to Federal Funds for Planned Parenthood
More than 180 pro-life state legislators from 49 states have sent a letter to congressional leaders urging them to end Planned Parenthood’s receipt of federal funds. The letter comes as Congress is considering restricting, through the budget reconciliation process, federal dollars from going to the nation’s largest abortion provider. “We’re absolutely making it clear to…