Daily news coverage of politics, policy, and issues shaping the nation.
As the United States begins to wade into the refugee crisis straining Syria’s neighbors, national security concerns competing against a swift resettlement response are dividing lawmakers along party lines. Obama administration immigration and refugee officials traveled to Capitol Hill Thursday to smooth security concerns at a congressional hearing as the U.S. begins to open its…
Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the United States has worked to isolate Russia from the Middle East. Now, in 2015 and five years into a devastating civil war in Syria, Russia has not only entered the most intractable situation in the Middle East, but also attacked the situation with indiscriminate authority. Under the…
The agency that ordered Aaron and Melissa Klein to pay $135,000 in damages for refusing to bake a cake for a same-sex couple began the legal process last week to seize the money the Oregon bakers are refusing to pay. “Our agency has docketed the judgment and is exploring collection options,” Charlie Burr, communications director…
Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis, who has found herself in the middle of a religious liberty firestorm for refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples based on her biblical beliefs, would have had a much easier time of it if she lived in a different state. For example, in Louisiana, Gov. Bobby Jindal issued…
House Speaker John Boehner’s resignation announcement came as a shock to many, but recent polls show that it also provoked sighs of relief from GOP primary voters, some of whom think Boehner’s planned October resignation is not soon enough. According to a poll from The Wall Street Journal, 72 percent of Republican primary voters…
Kim Davis, the Kentucky County clerk who wouldn’t issue marriage licenses to gay couples because of her deep Christian convictions, says she’s not going anywhere. “If I resign, I lose my voice, and there are accommodations that can be made very easily,” Davis tells The Daily Signal. “It wasn’t like I was asking them to…
A Wisconsin state lawmaker is criticizing General Electric for blaming its decision to move out of the state on the Export-Import Bank’s expiration. Wisconsin state Rep. Scott Allen accused the company of using the embattled agency as a “scapegoat.” In a statement released Monday, Allen said GE spokesman Patrick Theisen encouraged him to blame the…
The phrase “In God We Trust” has sparked a debate over First Amendment rights in Texas, where an atheist group demanded that local authorities remove decals of the motto from patrol vehicles. Texas news outlet KCBD reported that the Childress Police Department first received the demand in a letter written by the Freedom From Religion Foundation….
A bipartisan group of senators have reached a long-elusive deal on criminal justice reform, with a proposal that would reduce mandatory minimum prison sentences for certain nonviolent drug offenses and allow well-behaved inmates to earn time off their prison terms. After months of negotiations, the Senate Judiciary Committee’s agreement — dubbed the Criminal Justice Reform…
A group of conservative leaders have signed a letter to show their vision for new congressional leadership. The letters states disappointment in past leadership of Congress. “[Republicans] have failed to use their powers to stop the big-government, big-business agenda dominating Washington backrooms,” states the letter, which was expected to be released Thursday. After the announcement that…
“I got my big chance to be a starting quarterback with the Seattle Seahawks, and in one half of play against the 49ers, my old team, I stunk it up,” says Jeff Kemp, unfazed by the callused heartache he now accepts as mere fact. “I got booed, we got booed, and I got benched. I…
SEOUL, South Korea—In an exclusive interview with The Daily Signal, human rights activist Shin Dong-hyuk shows scars that he suffered from torture inside a North Korean prison camp. Shin was born in a North Korean prison in 1982 and made a daring escape in 2005. He allowed The Daily Signal to film his back and…
The labor union that led the charge for a $15 minimum wage hike in cities across California is now moving to secure an exemption for employers under union contracts. The Los Angeles County Federation of Labor buried the exemption on the eighth page of its 12-page proposal for the Santa Monica City Council to review…
On the last day of the fiscal year, Congress approved a short-term spending measure that keeps the federal government operating through Dec. 11. The bill passed easily in the Senate, 78-20: The bill faced strong dissension in the House, where 151 Republicans voted against it because the bill does not cut off federal funding for…
How Congress Elects a New SpeakerDo you know how Congress elects a new speaker? Posted by The Daily Signal on Wednesday, September 30, 2015 House Speaker John Boehner announced today that elections for the next speaker of the House will take place Oct. 8. Boehner told Republicans last week he would be resigning from Congress,…
In a new video from Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, President Obama appears to be a bit confused as to why Republicans would oppose the controversial Export-Import Bank, which provides taxpayer-backed loans and loan guarantees to foreign countries and companies for the purchase of U.S. products. But Obama shouldn’t be confused at all, because just…
A group of pro-life leaders have pledged to oppose any bill that funds Planned Parenthood. The Conservative Action Project has released a “Memo for the Movement” on its opposition to any bill that grants taxpayer funds to Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider. The project was founded by former Attorney General Edwin Meese and…
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy further separated himself from outgoing Speaker John Boehner Tuesday night, vowing to fight to the end for conservative policies if he takes the chamber’s top seat. Fox News’ Sean Hannity pressed McCarthy hard on conservative frustration that accelerated Boehner’s demise, repeatedly pointing to the House’s failure to unravel Obamacare despite…
The Center for Medical Progress has responded to Cecile Richards’ testimony at a House Oversight Committee hearing on Tuesday. Richards, the president of Planned Parenthood, was questioned by lawmakers for several hours over the use of taxpayer funding by her organization. David Daleiden, the founder of the Center for Medical Progress and the project lead…
A spokesman for the Vatican has confirmed that Pope Francis met Kim Davis during his visit to Washington. “I do not deny that the meeting took place,” Father Federico Lombardi, the director of the Holy See Press Office, said, according to The Wall Street Journal. According to a statement released by the Liberty Counsel, a religious liberty…