Daily news coverage of politics, policy, and issues shaping the nation.
PARIS—Within hours of a contentious vote Wednesday night in the House of Commons authorizing military action in Syria, four British Tornado warplanes took off from an airbase in Cyprus to hammer an Islamic State-controlled oil field in eastern Syria with laser-guided bombs. “By extending RAF [Royal Air Force] offensive operations into Syria, our aircraft are now…
Sen. Mike Lee got the call to do the introduction honors today as House Speaker Paul Ryan gave his first major address since taking up the gavel. But the Utah Republican didn’t have much time to prep. Ryan’s office extended the offer the day before, The Daily Signal has learned. “It was kind of a last-minute thing,” a…
A pizza shop scrapped a surcharge of 3 percent on customers’ checks to cover Affordable Care Act fees for employees a day after adding it. On Tuesday, Brooklyn restaurant Franny’s put a note on its website saying the pizza shop would add the surcharge because of Obamacare. The message—“a 3 percent surcharge will be added to all checks to contribute to…
A Planned Parenthood affiliate has filed a federal lawsuit to overturn two Idaho laws that ban a practice known as webcam abortion. In the suit filed Tuesday, Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest and the Hawaiian Islands claims that the bans are unconstitutional. Idaho approved two laws forbidding webcam abortions earlier this year, Reuters reported. In a webcam abortion, a woman takes…
Conservatives have waited more than five years to deliver an Obamacare repeal bill to President Barack Obama’s desk. And until this week, it appeared that Republicans were about to squander what many conservatives believed was their best shot since the law’s passage. Conservatives say it’s a lesson in staying true to their principles and forcing…
Scarred by the Paris terrorist attacks, Republicans are straddling a sensitive line about how welcoming the United States should be to refugees fleeing war and violence in Syria and Iraq. After passing a bill that halts the admission of refugees to the U.S. from those two countries, some members of the Republican-led House argue that…
In order for House GOP leadership to earn conservatives’ support on the omnibus spending bill, conservative lawmakers are pushing for several policy riders to be included in the package, with their first priority centered on strengthening the system that allows Syrian refugees to resettle in the United States. At the monthly Capitol Hill event Conversations with…
A Tea Party organization is mobilizing its supporters nationwide in an attempt to stymie a proposed regulation from the Internal Revenue Service regarding the disclosures of donor information. Tea Party Patriots is launching an email and social media campaign—using #IRSPowerGrab—today, encouraging supporters and conservative leaders nationwide to push back against a rule proposed by the…
As debate heats up over “safe spaces” at campuses across the United States, one college president is standing up to students who claim they’re victims when their opinions are challenged. Everett Piper, president of Oklahoma Wesleyan University, called on students to “grow up” after he got a complaint from an undergraduate who felt “victimized” following an on-campus sermon on love. In a letter…
In broad strokes, it’s simple how a bill becomes law. But in detail, that process can be much more complex. One legislative provision in particular, the appropriations policy rider, is little understood but enormously significant. When appropriation bills sail through Congress, lawmakers often stow policy riders inside. This way, they can achieve policy victories that…
PARIS—A U.N.-sponsored climate change summit opened Monday amid gathering clouds of global conflict that threaten to overshadow the negotiations. More than 150 heads of state, including President Barack Obama, attended the opening of the summit. Its benchmark for success: to reach an international deal to limit emissions and hold the global temperature rise to two degrees Celsius. “I’ve come…
Conservative leaders, including a former U.S. attorney general and a previous chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, are warning that the United States is putting its national security at risk unless it strengthens the vetting of Syrian refugees. The 66 leaders who signed Monday’s memo from the Conservative Action Project believe that currently, “there is no possible way…
A Bermuda hotel canceled two events this week because the organizers believe marriage is the union of a man and a woman. Ryan T. Anderson, a senior research fellow at The Heritage Foundation, was scheduled to speak on marriage at public forums Tuesday and Wednesday at the hotel in Pembroke Parish, Bermuda. But the hotel canceled the…
In a bid to win over conservatives, Senate Republicans intend to introduce an aggressive plan to repeal Obamacare that includes phasing out the expansion of Medicaid for low-income recipients. Last month, the House sent a fast-track reconciliation bill to the Senate that repeals parts of Obamacare, formally known as the Affordable Care Act, and defunds Planned…
Garrett Swasey, the 44-year-old police officer killed Friday in a shooting at a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood clinic, also was a devout Christian pastor who “believed in forgiveness” and “was there to save lives,” those who knew him say. “He might not be in alignment with [abortion], but he’d be willing to go in and lay…
Pro-life leaders denounced the actions of the gunman who took the lives of three—a police officer and two civilians—and wounded nine others Friday in Colorado Springs, Colo. Police said Robert Dear, 57, gave up inside a Planned Parenthood clinic after a standoff that lasted hours. Here’s what leaders of pro-life organizations said in formal statements about Dear’s alleged…
A Florida state senator proposes to impose a fine of up to $5,000 a day on officials of “sanctuary cities” who don’t follow federal immigration enforcement policies. “In Florida, [sanctuary cities] enjoy sovereign immunity, meaning they’re shielded from being sued on any of their decisions in conducting their business,” state Sen. Aaron Bean, sponsor of the bill, told…
The federal government has “dropped the ball” by failing to curb wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars, Sen. James Lankford says. In a new report, he cites 100 examples. “With a massive $19 trillion federal debt and a half-a-trillion-dollar deficit, we must tackle our federal budget and root out inefficiencies, duplication and wasteful spending wherever they…
A radical California organization boasts of pouring millions into health care and education programs in the public interest, Obamacare among them, but pulls back the welcome mat from anyone who offers conservative or faith-based solutions to society's ills. Groups not in line with liberal causes apparently need not apply for grants from the flush health foundation, the California Endowment. That much is spelled out…
A pro-life group say it has convinced more than 300 companies to stop donating to Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider. The organization, Life Decisions International, tracks corporate sponsors of Planned Parenthood in an effort to encourage them to stop donating. In an interview with The Daily Signal, Doug Scott, president of Life Decisions International, said his…