Republican Party News
Featuring coverage of Republican priorities, legislation, and internal debates, this section examines how the party shapes U.S. politics from a conservative perspective.
-
- News
Ted Cruz: GOP Leadership Won’t Fight to End Planned Parenthood’s Federal Funding
Sen. Ted Cruz delivered a blistering critique of Republican leadership Thursday, just hours before lawmakers held what he described as a “show vote” attempting to end Planned Parenthood’s taxpayer funding. The Texas Republican summoned a handful of reporters, including The Daily Signal, to his Senate office to blast his own party for surrendering on the…Robert B. Bluey -
- News
Rand Paul: ‘The President Is in Defiance of the Law’ on Iran Deal
Sen. Rand Paul says President Barack Obama has run afoul of the law, this time on the nuclear deal he struck with Iran. Paul contends that the president is in violation of the Iranian Nuclear Agreement Review Act (the Bob Corker-Ben Cardin bill), because the administration didn’t provide Congress with all documentation of the deal…David Brody -
- News
Rand Paul: ‘We Need to Be Talking About Planned Parenthood’
Sen. Rand Paul says it’s time to put the Democratic Party on the defensive when it comes to the fight over abortion and defunding Planned Parenthood. “The abortion issue—for years and years, Republicans have kind of said, ‘Well, we’re kind of squeamish, we’re not going to get too involved in this.’ These videos have brought…David Brody -
- News
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott: States, Not Federal Government, Traditionally Regulate Marriage
AUSTIN, Texas—Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says the federal government has no business regulating the issue of marriage. “In the United States Constitution and the amendments there are more than 7,500 words,” Abbott explains to The Daily Signal. “Not a single one of them mentions the word marriage or gives the federal government authority to regulate…David Brody -
- News
Rand Paul: Don’t Trade Liberty for Security, ‘You’ll Wind Up With Neither’
NASHUA, N.H.—Sen. Rand Paul said “we can catch terrorists, we can protect ourselves, and still have our freedom” during a town hall Wednesday in New Hampshire. Some want Americans to trade “their liberty for security” by continuing to permit surveillance of Americans’ phone records, Paul, R-Ky., said. “But the truth is, you’ll wind up with…Kate Scanlon -
- News
5 Actions Ted Cruz Says He Would Take on His First Day in the Oval Office
ATLANTA, Ga.—During a speech today, Sen. Ted Cruz told a group of conservative activists the first actions he would take should he be elected president. Speaking at the Red State Gathering, Cruz said that there are five policies he would implement on his first day in the Oval Office. The first action would be to…Kate Scanlon -
- News
Rand Paul: Congress Will Reject the Iran Deal
Sen. Rand Paul believes that the United States Congress will reject the Obama administration’s nuclear deal with Iran. “There’s a very good chance that Congress will vote to disapprove of the agreement,” Paul tells The Daily Signal. “I think there’s a very good chance the president will then veto it, and then the real question…David Brody -
- News
Lindsey Graham and John McCain Team Up to Deride Obama’s ‘Feckless’ Foreign Policy
MANCHESTER, N.H.—At a campaign stop here, Sen. Lindsey Graham brought along a longtime friend and fellow foreign policy hawk to double up on deriding President Obama’s policies. Graham, a Republican nominee for president, was joined by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. McCain was the Republican Party’s presidential nominee in 2008, and he won the New Hampshire…Kate Scanlon -
- News
Rand Paul: The Tax Code Is ‘Chasing American Jobs Overseas’
WATERLOO, Iowa—Sen. Rand Paul said he would cut spending in a “dramatic fashion” while speaking at the Five Sullivan Brothers Convention Center here Friday morning. He spoke on his “fair and flat” tax plan. “The 70,000 page tax code is chasing American jobs overseas, it’s chasing companies overseas.” With the highest taxes in the world,…Leah Jessen -
- News
Rand Paul: Pro-Life Democrats Crucial to Defunding Planned Parenthood
Sen. Rand Paul says pro-life Democrats hold the key to passing legislation in the Senate that would completely defund Planned Parenthood. “There are several Democrats who say they are pro-life,” Paul tells The Daily Signal. “It’s not a guarantee that we get all the Republicans on this,” he adds. “The vast majority of Republicans will…David Brody -
- News
Tim Scott: $100-Million Body Camera Bill Will Make Police, Communities Safer
The viral cellphone video showing a police officer fatally shooting Walter Scott, an unarmed black man, in Sen. Tim Scott’s South Carolina hometown spurred the GOP’s sole black senator to introduce police body camera legislation Tuesday. Scott’s bill would send $100 million a year in federal funds to local and state police departments to outfit…Natalie Johnson -
- News
Lindsey Graham: Iran Deal ‘Worst Mistake’ Obama’s Made
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., slammed President Obama for being a clueless president when it comes to policy in the Middle East. “President Obama doesn’t know what he’s doing,” Graham told The Daily Signal in an interview this past weekend in Iowa. “He doesn’t understand the Mid-East. He’s miscalculated who the ayatollah is. The ayatollah is…David Brody -
- News
Ted Cruz: Supreme Court Nominees Should Have ‘Paper Trail’ to Prove Conservatism
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who recently called for amending the Constitution to allow the public to vote on Supreme Court judges, says strict constructionist Supreme Court justices with a solid paper trail are needed. Cruz believes that the main problem is that Supreme Court justices are being chosen without a proven paper trail. He points…David Brody -
- Opinion
Watch Ted Cruz’s Epic Rant About How GOP Leadership Keeps Failing Conservatives
On the Senate floor this morning, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, blasted Republican leadership. “We’ve had a Republican majority in both houses of Congress now for about six months,” said Cruz in a speech. “What has that majority done? First thing we did – in December, we came back and passed a trillion dollar cromnibus plan,…Daily Signal Staff -
- News
Ted Cruz Questions ICE Official Over Illegal Immigration: ‘There Is a Reason the American People Are Upset’
Sen. Ted Cruz questioned U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Sarah Saldaña during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing about illegal immigration on Tuesday. Family members of victims of crimes committed by immigrants illegally in the country testified at the hearing, including Jim Steinle, the father of Kate Steinle, who was recently murdered by an illegal…Kate Scanlon -
- News
Rand Paul: ‘We’ve Got to Fix the Overcriminalization Problem’
Sen. Rand Paul continued to drive momentum for criminal justice reform Wednesday, saying the greatest barrier to jobs and voting in the U.S. is a criminal record. “If we want to help people work and help people vote, we’ve got to fix the overcriminalization problem,” Paul said before an intimate crowd during the Bipartisan Summit…Natalie Johnson -
- Opinion
Ted Cruz Pushes to Rename Street Outside Cuban Embassy After Slain Dissident
On Wednesday, Sen. Ted Cruz introduced a resolution to rename the street in front of Cuba’s embassy in Washington, D.C. after slain Cuban dissident Oswaldo Payá. Often described as the Nelson Mandela of Cuba, Payá, along with fellow dissident Harold Cepero, was killed in a car accident in 2012. Payá’s death is widely believed to…Ana Quintana -
- News
Ted Cruz: Because of Iran Deal, Jihadists ‘Will Use Our Money to Murder Americans’
GOP presidential candidate Ted Cruz says if the nuclear weapons deal with Iran goes through, the White House will become directly responsible for supporting terrorism around the globe. “The Obama administration will become the world’s leading financier of radical Islamic terrorism,” Cruz tells The Daily Signal. “Billions of dollars will flow to Iran. Iran is…David Brody -
- News
Rand Paul Vows to End Taxpayer Funding of Planned Parenthood
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is vowing to do everything in his power to cut off federal funding for Planned Parenthood in the wake of another undercover video showing a senior executive haggling over the price of aborted baby body parts. “This is baby parts we’re talking about,” Paul said in an interview on Fox News…Daily Signal Staff -
- News
Why Lindsey Graham Believes the Iran Deal Supports Terrorism
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa—Sen. Lindsey Graham says the deal the White House cut with the Iranian regime amounts to America cutting a check in the name of radical Islamic terrorism. “The most logical consequence of this deal is that the most radical regime in the region, the Iranian ayatollah and his henchmen, are going to get…David Brody