Daily news coverage of politics, policy, and issues shaping the nation.
President Barack Obama detailed his plan to work around lawmakers to implement tougher gun control measures, but the Republican-held Congress holds the keys for funding the administration’s changes. Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas, chairman of the appropriations subcommittee in charge of financing the Justice Department, threatened to defund the agency should the White House move forward with…
Republican lawmakers hit back on President Barack Obama’s plans to unveil a series of executive actions this week aimed at tightening gun laws. Ahead of Obama’s meeting Monday with top law enforcement officials to finalize expanded gun control measures, House Speaker Paul Ryan called the president’s extent of executive overreach “dangerous.” “While we don’t yet…
One day after Christmas, Washington state quietly adopted a set of new policies regarding transgender individuals using sex-specific facilities. The rules, adopted by the state Human Rights Commission, make it illegal for business owners to limit sex-specific facilities such as bathrooms, showers, and locker rooms to persons with the anatomical parts of one sex. “To my…
The 2015 year in crime was marked by a sharp rise in murder rates in many U.S. cities, including those touched by high-profile incidents between police and citizens, such as Baltimore and Chicago. But the rate of crime overall in America’s largest cities declined in 2015 (as of Dec. 23) compared to the year before,…
WESTERN KANSAS—Tim Huelskamp has the look of a hunted man. Since 2012, the Kansas representative has been crisscrossing back roads, ducking into hundreds of town halls, and talking to anyone who will listen. And he has had reason to run. He’s bucked the party line so many times he’s been branded an enemy of the…
Sweden, Europe’s greatest benefactor toward Syrian refugees, is moving to tighten its borders as 2016 rolls in. “We’re willing to do more than anyone else,” says Sweden’s migration minister. “But even we have our limits.” Strained after the nation accepted more refugees per capita than any other European country, Sweden closed its open-door policy and is…
A new poll shows that Americans prioritize protecting Christians’ religious freedom. The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research’s poll found that 82 percent of Americans believe that religious liberty protections are important for Christians. Sixty-one percent of respondents said religious liberty protections are important for Muslims, “ranking Muslims as the least deserving of the…
KYIV, Ukraine—There’s a saying in Ukraine about the four stages of being poor. It goes like this: First, you don’t have any hryvnias (the Ukrainian currency). Second, you don’t have any food. Third, you don’t have any dollars. And finally, you don’t have your $2 bill. For Ukrainians, dollars are a precious and jealously guarded rainy-day…
For the first time, Congress will send a bill that repeals Obamacare and defunds Planned Parenthood to President Barack Obama’s desk. Republicans used the budget reconciliation process—a fast-track method to avoid a filibuster from Senate Democrats—to pass the Restoring Americans’ Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act earlier this month. The GOP-controlled House will vote on the bill next week. “You can…
Republicans in Congress vowed to investigate the Obama administration after a report revealed that U.S. intelligence collection ensnared private conversations between lawmakers and top Israeli officials during negotiations on the Iran nuclear agreement. The House Intelligence Committee opened a probe Wednesday into The Wall Street Journal report that the White House eavesdropped on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu…
The Oregon bakers who refused to bake a same-sex couple’s wedding cake have paid over $135,000 in fines. Aaron and Melissa Klein, former owners of Portland-area Sweet Cakes by Melissa, paid state-ordered damage fees and interest totaling $136,927.07 to the Bureau of Labor and Industries on Monday, reported KOIN 6 News. The bureau “was attempting…
NAMCHE BAZAR, Nepal—A network of cameras now monitors China’s side of the Nangpa La pass, say Tibetan traders who used to cross it regularly. A series of guard towers manned by border patrol troops lines the way. The Nangpa La bridges the Himalayas between Tibet and Nepal. Chinese soldiers on this mountain pass shoot at anyone…
A gender identity law in Anchorage, Alaska, has met with opposition from a dozen women who say they are concerned about safety and privacy in bathrooms and locker rooms. The group—made up of mothers, sisters, aunts, grandmothers, and wives—submitted an application to Anchorage officials for a ballot question to repeal the law, which grants protected status to those…
New legislation aimed at regulating tax preparers has opponents of licensing and regulations warning that the new requirements would hinder competition and lead to increased costs for consumers. Earlier this month, Reps. Diane Black, R-Tenn., and Pat Meehan, R-Penn., introduced a bill that would give the Internal Revenue Service the authority to regulate tax preparers….
In a reprise of the humanitarian crisis of summer 2014, rising numbers of Central American children and families are crossing the Rio Grande Valley into Texas, causing a reckoning over whether the U.S. is facing a “new normal” of illegal migration from countries facing violence and poverty. Though the U.S. is better prepared to handle…
Bestselling author and talk radio host Eric Metaxas calls religious freedom the core of America’s freedoms. In an interview with The Daily Signal, Metaxas addresses why a secular America is inconsistent with the Founders’ vision and how culture has far-reaching consequences in politics. We also discuss the role of undercover filmmaker David Daleiden and how his…
NAMCHE BAZAR, Nepal—The hike to the Nangpa La refugee route was not an easy one. I felt fine and strong, but the weight of my pack took its toll, and the altitude often left me short of breath. I carried, among other things, a tent, a sleeping bag, a gas stove, clothes, food, a first…
The Federal Aviation Administration appeared unprepared to accommodate the flood of new drone owners during the holiday season after requiring that Americans register their drones before lift off. The FAA shut down its registration page twice within two days after it launched last Monday because of high traffic. The FAA said last week an “overwhelming number…
“Step-by-step” changes to Obamacare are the way to improve the health care system, the chairman of the Senate’s committee on health issues says. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., predicts that bipartisan changes to President Barack Obama’s signature health care law will occur over the span of a few years. “I think over the next four or five years…
The Justice Department is halting a controversial program that allows law enforcement to keep most of the proceeds of cash and property they seize from Americans under federal law, sometimes without charging anyone with a crime. Now the law enforcement community, which benefits from the program, is pushing back against the Justice Department, saying its decision…