Opinion and commentary on news, politics, culture, and policy impact.
Determining one’s own sex or that of another used to be a simple matter. First, there was the matter of appearance, whether a person looked like a male or looked like a female. If appearance produced some uncertainties, one could determine sex by examining a person’s birth certificate. If appearance and a birth certificate produced…
Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee met today to question Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch in the second day of his confirmation hearing. From the travel ban to abortion to statutory interpretation, here are some of the key exchanges between Gorsuch and the Senators. Judicial Independence Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, kicked off the…
With Congress enmeshed in determining the “what” of Obamacare repeal—that is, what gets included in the Republican bill—pausing to revisit the “why” of Obamacare repeal offers important guidance for the path forward. While Obamacare has been politically polarizing from the beginning, the broader public opposition to the law is not driven mainly by partisan animus….
The Trump administration has invited 68 countries and international organizations to attend a summit in Washington on Wednesday to coordinate policies to defeat the Islamic State, also known as ISIS. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will lead the two-day gathering of foreign ministers in synchronizing coalition efforts to destroy ISIS on the battlefield, prevent it…
Russia is seeking to gain diplomatic leverage in Afghanistan by hosting a regional meeting next month with governments that have a stake in Kabul’s future. The U.S. should avoid attending the meeting and instead develop its own plan for driving regional economic and political initiatives that aim to promote peaceful cooperation among Afghanistan and surrounding…
In his first in-person meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel last week, President Donald Trump conveyed America’s commitment to the transatlantic alliance, stating, “I reiterated to Chancellor Merkel my strong support for NATO.” The president also repeated his call for European members of NATO to increase spending on defense. As I stated last week, Trump…
In the last few months of the Obama administration, the Federal Housing Finance Agency advanced a final rule for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac called “Enterprise Duty To Serve Underserved Markets.” This rule establishes a duty for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two government-sponsored enterprises, to support a secondary market for certain mortgages—ones related…
The Oxford dictionary defines populism as support for the concerns of ordinary people. The Trump administration has been described as populist in many ways, particularly with its embrace of “America first” trade policies. A look at history shows how such populist policies can put America’s interests first when it comes to international trade. In the…
The Russian government is a notoriously bad actor in cyberspace, but this hasn’t stopped it from advocating greater cyber cooperation abroad. Last year, the United States agreed to resume the 2013 discussions on cyber cooperation that were halted after Russia invaded Crimea. Russian connections to the recent breaches of the Democratic National Committee and Yahoo show…
Of all the security threats facing the U.S. today, cyber threats are among the most pernicious. Thankfully, the administration is taking some concrete steps to confront them. Last week, the Justice Department indicted four individuals on charges relating back to the 2016 hack into Yahoo’s network that compromised at least 500 million user accounts. Of…
Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Bob Menendez, D-N.J., have reintroduced a bill to rename the street outside the Cuban Embassy in Washington, D.C., after Oswaldo Payá. This bill conveys a sense of solidarity with the Cuban people whose rights have long been abused by their corrupt and evil government. Human rights violations…
A federal audit by the Department of Justice inspector general has revealed that the Franklin County, New York, district attorney’s office misused or mishandled $454,673 in equitable funds over a five-year period. The report is yet more evidence that civil forfeiture laws are too easily abused and in serious need of reform. Forfeiture laws empower…
As a member of The Daily Signal team, I took offense to The Washington Post’s recent questioning of our “legitimacy” as a news organization. The Washington Post began its story stating that, “In an age of partisan media, the lines between ‘partisan’ and ‘media’ can sometimes blur.” I wonder if the reporter has taken a look…
Britain’s fourth annual Freedom Festival, organized by the Freedom Association and held in the traditional seaside resort of Bournemouth, concluded on Sunday. Like the U.S. Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, the festival brings together conservatives and libertarians to discuss, debate—and this year, to celebrate. Founded in 1975 by Norris McWhirter, the creator of the…
On Monday, the Senate Judiciary Committee will begin its hearing on the confirmation of Neil Gorsuch to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is confident that the Senate will confirm Gorsuch before the Easter recess, which is set to begin April 10. As Senate Democrats have scrambled to…
Editor's note: We heard from many of you about Editor-in-Chief Rob Bluey's March 12 commentary on The Washington Post story questioning inclusion of The Daily Signal's White House correspondent, Fred Lucas, in the press pool that covers President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence wherever they go. Here's a hefty sampling. —Ken McIntyre Dear…
President Donald Trump has made some promising proposals to trim government spending in his recently released budget blueprint. Trump’s significant 2018 budget cut of 28 percent for the Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and other U.S. government foreign affairs agencies makes a lot of sense. The cut seems dramatic, but comes…
For the past decade, John Fund, J. Christian Adams, and I have been writing about the misbehavior, unethical conduct, and lack of professionalism exhibited by lawyers inside the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Justice Department, including the Voting Section. The situation apparently has not improved, given the serious accusations of unprofessional conduct made by…
A recent Washington Post article by media reporter Paul Farhi raises the alarm that the White House Correspondents’ Association has not once, but twice, assigned a Daily Signal employee, Fred Lucas, to be the pool reporter, i.e., the reporter who serves as the “proxy for the rest of the press corps.” The Daily Signal is…
