Political News
Reports on political developments, legislation, and leadership. The Daily Signal provides news and conservative analysis of American politics.
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analysis
Congress Makes Last-Ditch Effort to Defund Planned Parenthood With Rare Tool—Can It Work?
Speaker Mike Johnson is planning to lead a rare fourth reconciliation package to defund Planned Parenthood, according to sources, but it is unclear if he can succeed. The 2025 One Big, Beautiful Act defunded Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider, for one year, but that provision expired on July 4, 2026. Pro-life members pushed… -
opinion
Victor Davis Hanson: The ‘Performance Art Joke’ At the Heart of the Democratic Socialist Movement
Editor’s note: This is a lightly edited transcript of Thursday’s edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words” from Daily Signal senior contributor Victor Davis Hanson. Subscribe to Victor Davis Hanson’s own YouTube channel to watch past episodes. Jack Fowler: Everyone should notice, if you’re watching this on YouTube or Rumble, that over Victor’s right shoulder are the galleys… -
exclusive
Hospital Lobby Takes Hit After Senate Panel Passes Drug Price Transparency Bill
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions passed legislation on Wednesday to require drug providers, hospitals, and insurers to clearly disclose to patients the cost of their products. The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., would also require hospitals to compile and make public the costs of their products and services on… -
news
‘Confronted With This Indecency’: Smithsonian Director Grilled Over Sexually Explicit Exhibits at American History Museum
A leader at the Smithsonian Institution faced scrutiny over sexually explicit exhibits promoting gay and transgender issues at the National Museum of American History. For the second day in a row, Anthea Hartig, director of the history museum, was grilled on Capitol Hill after the release of a White House Domestic Policy Council report that… -
Virginia’s Abortion Amendment Would Strike Down Statutory Rape Laws, Warns Lawsuit Seeking to Invalidate It for Deceptive Language
Virginia Democrats have supported a “Reproductive Freedom” constitutional amendment, but critics warn that it would vacate laws against statutory rape, and a lawsuit seeks to invalidate it. “Virginia’s so-called reproductive freedom amendment goes far beyond the issue of abortion,” Josh Hetzler, executive director of the Founding Freedoms Law Center and an attorney for the nonprofits challenging… -
opinion
Tim Walz’s Pedophile Pardon Gets Skipped on TV
Sexual abuse of minors is a serious crime. But when it comes to the national media, the crime is only serious if it can make Republicans look bad. Recently, Curtis Houck of the Media Research Center found that ABC, CBS, and NBC devoted 1,627 minutes of airtime on their morning, evening, and Sunday shows over… -
news
Alaska Senate Candidate Backed Income Tax Plan Critics Say Would Hit Lower-Income Earners Harder Than Millionaires
Alaska Senate Democrat nominee Mary Peltola once voted in the state Legislature for an income tax proposal that critics called regressive because its highest earners would have paid lower tax rates than many working families. Legislative records show that while serving under the name Mary Kapsner in 2002, Peltola voted in the state House of… -
news
Heritage Foundation Brings Election Transparency Initiative Into Fold
The Election Transparency Initiative, which advocates for voter integrity issues at the federal and state levels, is joining The Heritage Foundation. The initiative was first founded in 2021 and has been led by its chairman, Ken Cuccinelli, former Virginia attorney general and former acting deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. “ETI is excited… -
news
Hegseth Says American Troops Need $67 Billion to Recover from Iran War
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on Tuesday defended America’s need for a $67 billion supplemental funding request, revealing that the conflict in Iran has cost $37.5 billion already. “The inability to properly fund this department, the Department of War, is probably the single greatest threat this country faces,” Hegseth said during a hearing with members of the Senate Appropriations… -
opinion
How Cuba Became the Nerve Center of the Anti-American Left
If you want to know where a good deal of the modern rise of socialism is coming from, look no further than 90 miles off the coast of Florida, to Cuba. That’s certainly where American leftists have been looking for a long time. The State Department released a thorough and perhaps, to many, startling report… -
analysis
Will Amy Acton Lose This Democrat Candidate’s Support Over Protecting Women’s Sports?
Ohio gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton called the Supreme Court’s decision on protecting women’s sports “settled law,” but many on her left disagree—and now they’re making demands. Some candidates and caucuses are taking issue with Acton’s words and are seeking to meet with the Democrat nominee. Arienne Childrey, who is transgender, is meeting with Acton on… -
news
6,600 Noncitizens Added to NJ Voter Rolls, Sherrill Admits
More than 6,000 noncitizens were mistakenly added to New Jersey’s voter registration rolls between June 2023 and June 2024, Gov. Mikie Sherrill said Tuesday. Roughly 400 of those noncitizens voted, the Democrat governor said, before adding, “We have no evidence at this time that any elections were swayed.” The names have been removed from the… -
opinion
‘Nutty. Moronic. Dangerous. Bigoted’: Major Democrat Figures Slam the Democratic Socialists Taking Over Their Party
Van Jones, the proudly progressive CNN pundit, has a message for the Democratic Socialists of America candidates who have crashed his party: “Stop pooping in the punch bowl and telling us the turds are ice cubes,” he declared on X. After sharing his progressive bona fides, Jones took on some of the “terrible” ideas pushed… -
news
Democrats’ Communism Might Drive Bill Maher to Vote for Vance
A long-time Democrat said he might vote for Vice President JD Vance in the 2028 election because he doesn’t want to live in “communist America.” Comedian and HBO show host Bill Maher sat down for an interview with ABC News on Sunday following his reception of the 2026 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, and… -
news
LA County Is Spending $1.78M on This—Critics Say Businesses Get Nothing
As brick-and-mortar businesses continue to close their doors, Los Angeles County is spending $1.78 million on free food carts for sidewalk vendors—a move critics say rewards rule-breakers and prioritizes people in the country illegally over law-abiding business owners. The funding will provide vendors with free, health code-compliant food carts, permit assistance, grants of up to… -
opinion
Socialism, Federalism, and the Future of the Electoral College
In the early 20th century, two of England’s intellectual giants engaged in a series of debates. Playwright George Bernard Shaw was the resident apologist for income redistribution and central planning. G.K. Chesterton, a Catholic writer, argued in favor of property rights and the decentralization of political power. “I found they were utterly insensate and grotesque,” Shaw… -
news
‘Societal Transformation’: House Panel Grills Smithsonian Leader Over Bias Claims
The Smithsonian Institution, the world’s largest museum complex, is seeking societal transformation in the United States and promoting a narrative of “American wickedness,” Mike Gonzalez, a senior fellow at The Heritage Foundation, told a House panel Tuesday. “Teaching lessons about American wickedness is now the mission of the Smithsonian,” Gonzalez said during a hearing of… -
news
Trump Deals Massive Blow to Minnesota, California for Alleged Fraud
The Trump administration is pausing more than a billion dollars in Medicaid funding to California and Minnesota because of suspected fraud. “That includes more than $860 million for California and over $200 million for Minnesota,” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Tuesday at a press conference. “If those states want that… -
opinion
Victor Davis Hanson: Changing Voting Laws Only Benefits the Left
Editor’s note: This is a lightly edited transcript of today’s edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words” from Daily Signal senior contributor Victor Davis Hanson. Subscribe to Victor Davis Hanson’s own YouTube channel to watch past episodes. Jack Fowler: Donald Trump gives a speech to the nation on the 2020 election and the involvement of our… -
opinion
Look Who’s Back! Winsome Earle-Sears
Winsome Earle-Sears is back. As the news that former Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin had returned to the private sector, aka joining technology capital firm Red Cell Partners as a partner, chairman, and board member, his lieutenant governor returned to the world of three-speeches-a-day campaigning. Why? “Babies and Families,” Winsome Earle-Sears told the crowd at the…