Daily news coverage of politics, policy, and issues shaping the nation.
President Donald Trump will meet with the leader of the Palestinian Authority this week, ahead of his first trip to Israel expected later this month. “The president’s ultimate goal is to establish peace in the region,” @PressSec says. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will visit the White House Wednesday, with a U.S. president that seems…
NICE, France—On the battlefields of eastern Ukraine, former French special operations troops and French foreign legionnaires have fought on opposite sides of the war, joining the ranks of both pro-Ukrainian volunteer battalions as well as Russia’s proxy separatist army. Meanwhile, on the battlefields of Syria and Iraq, about 700 French citizens remain among the Islamic…
In 1986, the San Diego Border Patrol sector accounted for approximately one-third of all apprehensions along the U.S.-Mexico border. Today, it accounts for only a small fraction. How did the region go from one of the busiest sectors for illegal border crossings to one of the most secure? In our latest edition of “Underreported,” The…
For political and practical reasons, lawmakers across the partisan divide have permitted President Barack Obama, and now, President Donald Trump, to carry out a bombing campaign against ISIS without specific congressional approval. More than 40 times in U.S. history, Congress has authorized the use of military force in the form of what’s known as an…
Contrary to what “pragmatists” in U.S. government agencies concluded, top officials with the Soviet Union were behind the 1981 assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II, a biographer of Ronald Reagan told The Daily Signal in an exclusive interview. Paul Kengor, a Grove City College political science professor and author, has acquired what he calls…
Hours before the federal government’s spending authority expired Friday at midnight, the Senate advanced a one-week continuing resolution by voice vote, putting spending on autopilot and avoiding a looming government shutdown. The Senate action followed a 382-30 House vote to pass the one-week extension. Without the measure, the government would have run out of money…
Citing safety for women, 40 leaders of groups across the country have signed a letter asking Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson to rescind and revise a gender identity rule adopted by the Obama administration for government shelters. The rule, published in September 2016, allows all individuals to use HUD men’s and women’s…
Congress plans to pass a final spending bill to keep the government running beyond the next week, but without funding for a border wall. The White House, however, says it will demand money for President Donald Trump’s signature campaign issue in next year’s budget plan. “The president is committed to having a physical border wall….
After wrapping up his first 100 days in the White House on Saturday, President Donald Trump plans to hit a new set of issues, including religious liberty, tax reform, and school choice, a White House official told The Daily Signal. “We want to have legislation that has a profound impact on religious liberty, one that…
For Republicans in Congress, the path to repealing and replacing Obamacare could be made more difficult by less conservative members who say a revised proposal would cause health insurance premiums to swell for sick patients. GOP leaders were prepared to put a bill dismantling the health care law before lawmakers for a vote by Saturday,…
The State Department is planning to reduce staffing by thousands as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson moves forward with efforts to streamline the agency that conservative critics say has outgrown its core functions. As many as 2,300 foreign and civil service positions—about 9 percent of the Americans in State’s workforce worldwide—will be cut over the next…
The Texas House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday that places a statewide ban on sanctuary cities and allows state officials to jail police chiefs and sheriffs who refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. The measure also lets police officers inquire about the immigration status of anyone they detain or arrest, including the subjects…
President Donald Trump has scoffed at the measurement even as the White House heralded the successes of his first 100 days in office. No matter how much I accomplish during the ridiculous standard of the first 100 days, & it has been a lot (including S.C.), media will kill! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 21,…
One of the hallmarks of President Donald Trump’s campaign was his promise to repeal and replace Obamacare. But as Trump nears his 100th day in office, he has yet to accomplish a key priority—passing legislation dismantling the Affordable Care Act. Health policy experts say the blame for this setback lies with both Trump and Republican…
Conservative groups have asked lawmakers on the House Appropriations Committee to eliminate a solar subsidy program worth $270 million. In a letter sent Tuesday, the conservative groups say they want Congress to pull funding from the Energy Department’s SunShot Initiative, citing recent investigations that found the program provided subsidies for rooftop solar power. The letter…
Obama-era appointees remain in top posts at the Department of Veterans Affairs three months into Donald Trump’s presidency. This includes Allison Hickey, disgraced former undersecretary for benefits, who is now helping choose her successor, The Daily Caller News Foundation’s Investigative Group has learned. Then-candidate Trump called the VA the “most corrupt” and “most incompetently run” agency and…
Two federal agencies spent $13.5 million to maintain 2,441 vehicles they may not need, a congressional watchdog reported Tuesday. “Given the billions of dollars spent annually to operate and maintain federally owned vehicles … it is critical for agencies to have sound fleet management practices,” the Government Accountability Office report said. Customs and Border Protection…
President Donald Trump’s dedication to enforcing immigration law is one of his significant accomplishments as he nears his 100th day in office Saturday, experts and lawmakers say. Trump is “taking the handcuffs off of [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] and the Border Patrol because the immigration enforcement officers were prohibited from doing their job to a…
High-income earners in high-tax states would see a federal tax rate cut, but may pay more in the end if they’re unable to deduct state and local taxes under President Donald Trump’s tax reform proposal announced Wednesday. “We’ll be attacked from the left. We’ll be attacked from the right,” @GaryDCohn says. The White House released…
Republican leaders in the House received a boost to their attempts to repeal and replace Obamacare on Wednesday as the Freedom Caucus, an influential bloc of conservatives, announced its support for a revised plan. The group of more than 30 lawmakers said it would support a new version of the bill, called the American Health…