Political News
Reports on political developments, legislation, and leadership. The Daily Signal provides news and conservative analysis of American politics.
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news
Thoughts on Fatherhood: A Post-Birth Dispatch
One year ago, almost to the day, I used this column as a “post-wedding dispatch” to offer some (very) preliminary thoughts on marriage. The column was published five days after my wedding. Now, almost exactly one year later, I am using this column as a “post-birth dispatch” to offer some (very) preliminary thoughts on another… -
opinion
5 Lies Biden Used to Break the Border—and How Trump Can Fix It
Over the past four years, President Joe Biden conducted an experiment: What happens if you open the U.S. border to nearly all who seek entry? He released millions of illegal aliens at the border, paroled over a million more using programs Congress never authorized, and allowed at least 2 million more to evade the Border Patrol. That resulted in… -
opinion
California’s Downfall Funded by ‘George Soros and the Cartels,’ Former Democrat Claims
Following Donald Trump‘s election victory in November, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, convened a special session of the California Legislature to “Trump-proof” the state. At the top of the agenda: Newsom’s effort to prevent the second Trump administration from deporting illegal aliens who live in California. “This is going against the rule of law and… -
news
House Passes Spending Bill Without Debt Limit Raise
After a tumultuous 48 hours and change, the House has voted in favor of a continuing resolution that funds the government until March. The continuing resolution passed under suspension of the rules, which requires a two-thirds majority of the lower chamber. With the Senate’s approval and President Joe Biden’s signature, the government shutdown scheduled to… -
opinion
Education Department Cancels Loan Cancellation Scheme
The U.S. Department of Education announced that it will be withdrawing both parts of its Plan C for student loan cancellation. One part involves various ways the department would have declared that a borrower has a “hardship” deserving of complete loan cancellation. The other part would have identified additional categories for waivers of loan repayments,… -
news
UnitedHealthcare Covers Double Mastectomies for 17-Year-Olds With Gender Dysphoria
America’s largest health insurance company covers double mastectomies for some 17-year-old girls who identify as transgender. UnitedHealthcare’s “Gender Dysphoria Treatment” guide, which took effect Dec. 1, says: “For mastectomy or breast reduction, individuals must be at least 18 years of age; however, individuals within one calendar year of turning 18 can be considered on a… -
opinion
Blame Biden for Drone Hysteria
New Jersey is now subject to nonstop and often sensational civilian reports of swarms of nocturnal drones crossing city skies and violating the airspace of airports and military bases. Terrified thousands demand to know what these drones are doing and to whom they belong. In response, the Biden administration had initially kept mum. Then, under… -
opinion
Biden’s Border Legacy Is More Crime, Strained Cities: The BorderLine
Joseph R. Biden (reminder: still the president of the United States) will leave office in a month, leaving behind a legacy of achievements and failures, as all presidents do. Nowhere has his footprint been greater than on the issue of borders and immigration. History will judge more clearly with the perspective of time exactly what… -
opinion
A Government ‘Shutdown’ Isn’t Really a Shutdown. Here Are the Facts.
The current battle in Congress over the continuing resolution to fund the government is a fight worth having to stop the bloated spending of the federal government—spending that increases our unsustainable, monumental debt; funds dangerous and unnecessary government programs; and keeps unaccountable bureaucrats in office whose goal in life is to control our lives from… -
news
Disney Under Fire for Partnering with Ad Association That Discriminated Based on Political, Religious Beliefs
Religious liberty law firm Alliance Defending Freedom will meet with The Walt Disney Co. in early January to question its collusion with a now-defunct advertising giant known to censor news outlets and personalities. The Global Alliance for Responsible Media likely violated federal antitrust laws by censoring and boycotting the speech of conservative news outlets and personalities,… -
opinion
Supreme Court Set to Consider Medicaid Coverage for Abortion
A case just taken up by the U.S. Supreme Court—Kerr v. Planned Parenthood—might just be the sleeper hit of the October 2024 term. At issue is public funding for abortion, something that pro-life states have been keen to limit for some time. The justices will consider the following question: Do Medicaid recipients have the right… -
opinion
‘Gladiator II’ Rips the Heart Out of the Russell Crowe Classic
Are you not entertained? But is that really why you are here? The genius of the 2000 movie “Gladiator” wasn’t just the music, the acting of Russell Crowe, or the ancient Roman setting. The movie had all of these things in spades, and to call it entertaining would be a gross understatement. The beating heart… -
opinion
When a Judge Incorrectly Rules Race as Legit in Naval Academy Admissions (Part 3 of 3)
Can the U.S. Naval Academy continue to use race and ethnicity in admissions decisions, even though the Supreme Court last year expressly forbade the use of race in college admissions in two related cases, Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and Students for Fair Admissions v. UNC? The answer is "yes," according to U.S. District Court Judge Richard D. Bennett,… -
opinion
The Dumbest Fallacy in Foreign Policy
Last week, after 50 years of tyranny and repression, the government of Bashar Assad fell in Syria. It fell thanks to a combination of three forces. First, Israel’s military utterly eviscerated Assad’s foreign military support base, the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia. Second, Ukraine has bled dry the Russian military coffers over the course of the last… -
news
NEW PATH FORWARD: Conservative Member Charts a Different Course After 2 Failed Must-Pass Spending Bills
After the second must-pass bill to fund the government failed in the House of Representatives Thursday night, a conservative member who voted against the spending bill called for a new path forward. Republican and Democratic leadership in the House and Senate drafted a compromise bill, known as a continuing resolution, to fund the government through… -
opinion
Explaining the Beef Between Donald Trump and Chip Roy
The drama surrounding the government funding deadline escalated Thursday when President-elect Donald Trump attacked Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas. The shocking development came as Trump insisted on including a debt limit increase, which Roy firmly opposes. “The very unpopular ‘Congressman’ from Texas, Chip Roy, is getting in the way, as usual, of having yet another Great… -
news
Tom Homan Tells Tucker Carlson He ‘Used to Respect’ Mayorkas
During the Obama administration, Alejandro Mayorkas and Tom Homan had a positive working relationship. Not so much now. Mayorkas, then director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and Homan, then associate director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, largely appeared to agree on immigration policy, as Homan recalls. “I used to respect him,” Homan,… -
news
PARTISAN PUSH: All But 2 Democrats Vote Against Trump-Endorsed Government Funding Bill, Despite Debt Ceiling Increase
Hours after President-Elect Donald Trump endorsed a new bill to fund the government, the House of Representatives took the first of multiple expected votes on the bill. The House first voted on whether to suspend the rules to pass the bill, the American Relief Act of 2025. That vote failed, 174 to 235, with both… -
opinion
See How Easy Biden Made It for Cartels and Traffickers: My Trip to the Border in Pictures
Earlier this month, I descended upon the southern Arizona city of Tucson and then drove to the border town of Sierra Vista in Cochise County, one hour south of the city. The path to Sierra Vista is covered by the arid, venomous desert, mostly unconquered and home to man’s natural enemies, the snake and scorpion…. -
opinion
Trump Administration Nomination Signals Return to Respect for Effective Patent Rights
When President-elect Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Abigail “Gail” Slater to lead the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division last week, he expressed a return to his first administration’s policy of supporting innovation and rejecting support for predatory patent infringement by Big Tech companies. In his statement in support of Slater’s nomination, Trump recognized…