On Friday, tens of thousands of Americans once again gathered for the 53rd annual March for Life in the District of Columbia. This year’s theme, “Life is a Gift,” points to the heart of why people young and old, from all walks of life and across the political spectrum, brave the cold every year. Until every human being is protected and cherished from the moment of conception, happy warriors will continue to come together to celebrate wins, strengthen resolve, and demand for Congress and those who influence our culture to do more to protect women, girls, and unborn children. On the policy front, both the Trump administration and Congress have been working to roll back President Joe Biden’s pro-abortion policies and advance additional pro-life protections. Earlier in January, the administration announced: — The HHS Office for Civil Rights put Illinois on notice for a state policy requiring medical providers to provide abortion referrals. Such laws violate federal conscience protection laws. If Illinois doesn’t follow the law, HHS can withhold millions in federal funding. — The administration is further expanding the Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance policy which was reinstated last year. Nongovernmental organizations today receive global health assistance funding to certify that they won’t perform or promote abortion. Now, that policy will also apply to radical gender ideology and DEI policies as well. — The National Institutes of Health is reinstating a policy requiring no federal funding to go to entities conducting unethical research on obsolete fetal tissue obtained from elective abortion. NIH will prioritize ethical alternatives instead. — As reported exclusively by The Daily Signal, the Small Business Administration “is reviewing whether Planned Parenthood affiliates illegally received $88 million in loans during the COVID-19 pandemic.” — HHS confirmed it will reverse a Biden-era regulation that allowed “taxpayer-funded abortion travel for unaccompanied illegal alien children.” — CMS put Maryland on notice that its “abortion grant program violate[s] the protections against federal funding of abortions.” — These announcements build on actions taken at the start of President Donald Trump’s second term, including: — Pardoning 23 pro-life activists who had been convicted after the Justice Department under Biden weaponized the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act against them for peacefully protesting at abortion clinics. — Issuing an executive order to disentangle taxpayers from abortion funding and revoking two pro-abortion executive orders issued by Biden. — Reinstating the Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance Policy, which requires nongovernmental organizations to certify they won’t perform or promote abortion as a condition of receiving U.S. dollars. — Defunded the United Nations Population Fund over its complicity in China’s coercive and inhumane population control policies. — Renewed membership in the Geneva Consensus Declaration, a partnership of more than two dozen countries united in the goal of improving women’s health, preserving human life, strengthening the family, and protecting national sovereignty. — Took steps to ensure the Title X program grantees comply with the letter and spirit of federal law. The administration paused funding to certain grantees like Planned Parenthood to review compliance with grant terms and executive orders. And it restored funding to pro-life states like Oklahoma and Tennessee after the Biden administration improperly conditioned grants on abortion counseling requirements. — Rescinded pro-abortion guidance and policies such as the Department of Defense abortion travel policy allowance as well as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services guidance that wrongly claimed federal law on emergency medical care requires that doctors perform elective abortions. — Rescinded a Biden administration regulation requiring abortion benefits and abortion counseling for veterans and certain beneficiaries. Congress, for its part, delivered a massive win by defunding Planned Parenthood of Medicaid payments for one year thanks to a provision in 2025’s One Big Beautiful Bill. The abortion giant receives over half a billion dollars courtesy of American taxpayers every year, and most of that is from Medicaid. Cutting off those reimbursements for a year has left Planned Parenthood reeling. About 50 clinics have closed in the past year. Looking ahead, there’s still a lot of work to do. In addressing health care reform, Congress must deliver on its commitment to protect innocent life by not expanding or entrenching taxpayer funding for abortion coverage. While Congress can be flexible on which road to take on health care reform, all of them must lead to a destination that protects innocent unborn life. Congress must remain committed to preserving the Hyde family of amendments – which prohibit taxpayer dollars from being spent on elective abortions—in annual appropriations legislation. First enacted in 1976, Hyde will mark its 50th birthday later this year assuming members hold the line. Importantly, thanks to Hyde, 2.6 million Americans get to celebrate their birthday every year, too. Federal lawmakers must also work to defund Planned Parenthood beyond the one-year provision of the One Big Beautiful Bill. Otherwise, the bulk of its taxpayer funding will resume on July 4. On the day Americans mark our nation’s 250th anniversary, it would be a tragedy to simultaneously gift Big Abortion with a massive payday. There’s plenty of additional action for the administration to take as well. There are still regulations and administrative policies from Trump’s first term that haven’t been revived yet. There are also new challenges that have become more pronounced in recent years. Addressing dangerous abortion drugs must be a top priority because women, girls, and unborn children’s lives are at stake. These pills are corrupting medicine by destroying any semblance of a doctor-patient relationship. They hurtwomen who are coerced or forced into an abortion they didn’t want. And they are stifling otherwise strong efforts pro-life states have taken to protect life following the Dobbs decision. It’s of course encouraging that the FDA is conducting a holistic assessment of these dangerous drugs. Such a review is long overdue, especially in light of incomplete adverse event data that has corrupted decision making to weaken safety protections over the years. In the meantime, the FDA should do the bare minimum and restore the safety requirements that were in place during Trump’s first term, including in-person visits to rule out dangerous complications. Thanks to Biden, abortion pills can now be obtained online with little more than a few clicks of a mouse, stripping away basic safeguards such as knowing how far along a woman actually is in her pregnancy, whether or not she has a life-threatening ectopic pregnancy, or if the person ordering pills is even a pregnant woman at all. This status quo is unacceptable, and returning to pre-Biden rules does not require a full-scale safety review. It would simply restore basic safeguards while the FDA tackles the broader concerns about mifepristone’s many safety concerns. During Trump’s first term, the administration and Congress made significant pro-life policy progress. Now is the time to restore and expand on what Biden and his pro-abortion allies spent four years undoing. The post All Eyes on Trump, Congress as Americans March for Life appeared first on The Daily Signal.

U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez pressed attorneys for Minnesota and the Justice Department on Monday about the state’s claims that federal government violated the Tenth Amendment by surging Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to Minneapolis. Lindsey Middlecamp, a special counsel at the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office, reportedly described ICE’s deployment as an “unlawful occupation” at the outset of the hearing. She argued that the the administration of President Donald Trump is using the ICE deployment to pressure the state on policy. “They are not letting the courts work this stuff out,” Middlecamp said, according to Politico’s Kyle Cheney. “What they’re trying to get in court … they’re trying to get that same thing by putting 3,000 heavily armed agents on the streets of Minnesota.” As evidence of alleged coercion, the state’s attorneys presented a Jan. 24 letter from U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, urging Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, to consider three major policy changes. Bondi urged him to share Minnesota’s records on Medicaid and Food and Nutrition Service programs with the federal government; to repeal “sanctuary” policies restricting state and local law enforcement from assisting federal officers; and to allow the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division to access voter rolls to confirm Minnesota’s voter registration practices comply with federal laws. Then on Saturday, following the death of Alex Pretti, 37, at the hands of Border Patrol agents, Minnesota Solicitor General Liz Kramer sent Judge Menendez a letter requesting a temporary restraining order to grant “immediate relief without delay” from the surge in immigration enforcement officers to the state. “We need the Court to act to stop this Surge before yet another resident dies because of Operation Metro Surge,” the letter states. The Department of Homeland Security launched Operation Metro Surge in December, deploying federal agents to arrest and deport illegal alien criminals. The agency initially targeted the Twin Cities area, but since expanded the operation to the rest of the state. Judge Menendez, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, repeatedly questioned whether she has the right to block the surge. Last year, the Supreme Court struck down the practice of district courts applying universal injunctions against the federal government, finding it extended beyond federal courts’ Article III powers. The judge said she is weighing how to draw a line between legitimate federal immigration enforcement efforts and illegal federal coercion of a state under the Supreme Court’s “anti-commandeering” doctrine. “What helps me decide when this very rarely used doctrine gives me the power to kick ICE out of the state?” she asked. “It is personal animosity. It is retribution,” Brian Carter, an attorney in Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office, argued. He cited a Truth Social post from Trump saying, “THE DAY OF RECKONING & RETRIBUTION IS COMING!” “How can that not violate the Tenth Amendment?” Carter asked. The judge asked Brantley Mayers, a Justice Department lawyer, about Pam Bondi’s letter: “Is the executive trying to achieve a goal through force that it can’t achieve through the courts?” “No, your honor, the goal is to enforce federal laws,” Mayers said. Menendez asked Mayers why DHS needs so many officers, Reuters reported. Mayers cited complications surrounding how immigration officers stage for enforcement operations, particularly gathering in parking lots. Twin Cities officials have tried to prevent DHS from using city-owned parking lots and garages in immigration enforcement operations. The judge adjourned the hearing and said that a ruling in the case may take time. The Lawsuit Earlier this month, Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul sued Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other DHS officials over the surge. Minnesota argued that the surge violated the law in at least 10 different ways. The complaint claims the surge violated the Tenth Amendment, which reserves certain rights to the states; the Constitution’s sovereignty clause, which extends equal sovereignty to the states; the Administrative Procedure Act; and others. Federal officials “engaged in unlawful conduct that harms Plaintiffs’ residents, infringes on Plaintiffs’ police powers, and violates state sovereignty,” the complaint states. DHS’s actions “are designed to coerce Plaintiffs into adopting and enforcing President Trump’s policy priorities.” “Defendants’ actions force such an impermissible ‘choice’: use state and local law enforcement resources to carry out the federal government’s civil immigration priorities or accept occupation by federal troops,” the complaint states. Minnesota is seeking a court order declaring that Noem’s ICE surge is unconstitutional, a preliminary and permanent injunction to block the surge, and an injunction preventing law enforcement from using choke holds and concealing their identities, among other things. Yet federal authorities enjoy wide latitude to enforce immigration law. Trump’s Latest Move Trump announced Monday that Walz called him with a request to “work together.” “It was a very good call, and we, actually, seemed to be on a similar wavelength,” the president wrote on Truth Social. He said he directed Tom Homan, the border czar, to call Walz. The president told the governor “what we are looking for are any and all Criminals that they have in their possession. The Governor, very respectfully, understood that, and I will be speaking to him in the near future.” The post Judge Weighs Whether to Block ICE Surge in Minnesota appeared first on The Daily Signal.

President Donald Trump said he had a “good call” with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Monday, just two days after a second fatal shooting in Minneapolis by a federal immigration officer.   “Governor Tim Walz called me with the request to work together with respect to Minnesota. It was a very good call, and we, actually, seemed to be on a similar wavelength,” Trump posted on Truth Social.   Trump said that he was going to have border czar Tom Homan call Walz, adding, “what we are looking for are any and all Criminals that they have in their possession,” noting that Walz understands.   pic.twitter.com/TpRlU7QxUP— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 26, 2026 Walz also acknowledged the call with Trump, calling it “a productive conversation,” adding, “I explained to him that his staff doesn’t have their facts straight about Minnesota.”   On Saturday, Border Patrol agents shot and killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.   Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Pretti “approached U.S. Border Patrol officers with a 9mm semi-automatic handgun and DHS claimed the man “wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.”    Video of the incident appears to conflict with the initial accounts of Noem and DHS, leading Democrats and some Republicans to criticize the Trump administration’s characterization of the incident.   Sen. Bill Cassidy, R- La., called the latest event in Minneapolis “incredibly disturbing,” adding that the “credibility of ICE and DHS are at stake. There must be a full joint federal and state investigation. We can trust the American people with the truth.”   Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said the shooting “should raise serious questions within the administration about the adequacy of immigration-enforcement training and the instructions officers are given on carrying out their mission.”   Following the criticism of ICE and DHS, Trump announced Monday morning that he is sending Homan to Minnesota.  Walz “was happy that Tom Homan was going to Minnesota, and so am I,” Trump said. “We have had such tremendous SUCCESS in Washington, D.C., Memphis, Tennessee, and New Orleans, Louisiana, and virtually every other place that we have ‘touched’ and, even in Minnesota, Crime is way down, but both Governor Walz and I want to make it better!”   The tone of Trump’s statement on Monday is in stark contrast to his social media posts from over the weekend, accusing Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey of “inciting Insurrection, with their pompous, dangerous, and arrogant rhetoric!”   Walz and Frey have been critical of the Trump administration’s large immigration enforcement operation that began in the Twin Cities in December and has since been expanded to the rest of the state. Walz and Frey, both Democrats, have asked the Trump administration to end the operation, repeating their demands after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement-involved shooting in Minneapolis on Jan. 7 that killed 37-year-old Renee Good.  “Minnesota believes in law and order. We believe in peace. And we believe that Trump needs to pull his 3,000 untrained agents out of Minnesota before they kill another American in the street,” Walz wrote on X Sunday.   Minesota is a “sanctuary” state, according to the Justice Department, meaning that state and local law enforcement don’t cooperate with federal immigration officials.   On Sunday, Trump accused “Sanctuary Cities and States” of “REFUSING to cooperate with ICE, and … encouraging Leftwing Agitators to unlawfully obstruct their operations to arrest the Worst of the Worst People.”   As a result of not cooperating with immigration officials, “Democrats are putting Illegal Alien Criminals over Taxpaying, Law-Abiding Citizens, and they have created dangerous circumstances for EVERYONE involved. Tragically, two American Citizens have lost their lives as a result of this Democrat ensued chaos,” Trump said, referring to Good and Pretti.   Trump then formally called on Walz and Frey to “cooperate with the Trump Administration to enforce our Nation’s Laws,” and put forth a four-step plan of action.   First, Trump is asking Walz and Frey to “turn over” criminal illegal aliens in state prisons to federal immigration authorities and illegal immigrants with an active warrant for arrest or criminal history.   Additionally, Trump is asking both state and local law enforcement to “turn over all Illegal Aliens” who are arrested. “Local Police must assist Federal Law Enforcement in apprehending and detaining Illegal Aliens who are wanted for Crimes,” Trump added.   Finally, the president is asking Democrat politicians to “partner with the Federal Government to protect American Citizens in the rapid removal of all Criminal Illegal Aliens in our Country.”   Trump added that he is calling on Congress to pass legislation to “end Sanctuary cities,” which, according to the president, are “the root cause of all of these problems.”   The post Trump Talks With Key Democrat Politician Following Second Deadly Shooting in Minnesota   appeared first on The Daily Signal.

There are three certainties in life: death, taxes, and the claim that any school choice proposal will spell doom for public schools. With each new legislative proposal, the Chicken Littles arrive like clockwork, squawking that the sky is falling. Case in point: Mississippi, where the state legislature is considering the Mississippi Education Freedom Act, a bill sponsored by Mississippi House Speaker Jason White that would significantly expand education choice. The bill would create Magnolia Student Accounts, a form of K-12 education savings accounts that families could use for private school tuition, tutoring, homeschool curricula and supplementary materials, education services for students with special needs, and more. School choice policies are popular in Mississippi and nationwide. According to Morning Consult, 73% of Mississippi parents of school-aged children support K-12 education savings accounts. The bill has the support of President Donald Trump and Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves. It passed the Mississippi House earlier this month and will soon be taken up by the state senate. HB 2 has passed in the Mississippi House of Representatives! I am incredibly proud of the House members who stood up for kids and families in Mississippi. With more than four hours of debate, I commend both sides of the aisle for civil discussion. The Mississippi Education… pic.twitter.com/1rxChqMdnk— Jason White (@JasonWhiteMS) January 15, 2026 Predictably, opponents of education freedom are predicting doom and gloom. “School choice will set Mississippi back decades,” claimed Biloxi Superintendent Marcus Boudreaux in a recent video. According to Boudreaux, school choice would “derail” the recent progress Mississippi has made in improving student outcomes. These false prophecies are nothing new. In 1999, as Florida lawmakers were considering enacting a school choice policy, then state Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Democrat, predicted, “This is the day that will go down in the annals of Florida history as the day we abandoned public schools, and the day we abandoned, more importantly, our children.” More than a quarter-century later, Florida is the highest-ranked state over and for education choice on The Heritage Foundation’s Education Freedom Report Card and the American Legislative Exchange Council’s Index of State Education Freedom. If the Chicken Littles were right, Florida’s education system should be in the gutter. But as the left-wing Urban Institute recently observed, Florida is among the “top-ranking states across the four National Assessment of Educational Progress tests.” The Chicken Littles should go touch grass. The sky isn’t falling. There are now 34 states with a school choice policy, including 17 publicly funded “universal” school choice programs that make every K–12 student eligible—yet there is zero evidence that school choice harms district schools, let alone “destroys” them. In fact, the best available evidence shows that—as in nearly every other area of life—greater choice and healthy competition foster better outcomes. An analysis of the research literature found a “strong and statistically significant association” between education freedom (including the robustness of a state’s school choice policies) and “both academic scores and academic gains.” Indeed, 27 out of 30 empirical studies found that education choice policies have statistically significant positive effects on the academic performance of students who remain at their traditional public schools. One found no visible effect, and only two found a small negative effect. But for the Chicken Littles, the evidence doesn’t matter. Nor do they have any sense of proportionality. As detailed in an EdChoice report last year, there is no correlation between the scope of school choice proposals and the rhetorical intensity of school choice opponents. Critics of school choice programs tend to oppose them with equal intensity regardless of scale. Whether a proposal would serve all students or only a small subset, opponents raise concerns about negative impacts on public schools. Indeed, many predict catastrophic consequences despite evidence suggesting otherwise. Fortunately, the Mississippi governor knows better. In recognizing this week as Mississippi School Choice Week, Reeves observed that “research demonstrates that providing children with multiple educational options can improve academic performance.” The Mississippi Senate should follow the lead of Reeves and the Mississippi House of Representatives. Policymakers should resist calls to scale back eligibility for the Magnolia Student Accounts proposal. Scaling back a school choice program won’t mollify critics—opposition will remain fierce regardless—but it would reduce support for the proposal. When asked about their support for an education savings account policy open to all children, 74% of Mississippi parents supported it. But when asked about a program that is only available based on financial need, only 55% of Mississippi parents supported it. Fortune favors the bold. Magnolia State lawmakers should pursue comprehensive reform that ensures every Mississippi child can access a quality education that meets his or her individual learning needs. The post Be Not Afraid: School Choice Is a Winning Issue appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Amid debate over border patrol and Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) operations in Minnesota, it appears Congress is frozen in a standoff that could lead to another government shutdown. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., vowed on Saturday to “vote no” on an upcoming funding package if a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is not given a separate vote. Schumer’s remarks came after death by shooting of Alex Pretti, 37, in Minneapolis, Minnesota following an interaction with federal officers. The House has sent the Senate a package of six appropriations bills which the president must sign into law in order to avert a partial government shutdown. These six bills cover the last of the 12 areas that Congress funds each year. Since Schumer’s announcement, scores of Democrat senators have joined Schumer in expressing their opposition to the funding package, raising the likelihood of a partial government shutdown. This is the strength of response we need.People’s calls and organizing worked. Thank you to all who mobilized.No action is ever too small. This is why we never give up. Thank you @SenateDems https://t.co/UBKJYYenRw— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 25, 2026 “I’m not voting for the ICE funding bill,” wrote Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., on social media. Klobuchar was one of the eight Democratic caucus members who voted with Republicans in November to reopen the government. “I can’t vote for a bill that includes ICE funding under these circumstances—what they’re doing in my state, what we saw yesterday in Minneapolis,” Sen. Angus King, I-Vt., said in an interview Saturday. King was also one of the Senate Democratic Caucus members who voted to end the last shutdown. What’s more, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the top Democrat appropriator in the Senate, is sending out mixed messages regarding whether Democrats should support the bill. The homeland security bill, as well as the five others coming to the Senate, was negotiated by a bicameral and bipartisan conference that included Murray. On Saturday, Murray demanded the DHS bill “be split off from the larger funding package before the Senate,” but on Sunday she said, “Americans must be eyes wide open that blocking the DHS funding bill will not shut down ICE. ICE is now sitting on a massive slush fund it can tap, whether or not we pass a funding bill.” Murray’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment clarifying her position. Americans must be eyes wide open that blocking the DHS funding bill will not shut down ICE. ICE is now sitting on a massive slush fund it can tap, whether or not we pass a funding bill.But we all saw another American shot and killed in broad daylight.There must be… https://t.co/b9OHrEYysI— Senator Patty Murray (@PattyMurray) January 25, 2026 Failure to pass the six-bill minibus by the Jan. 30 deadline would dry up funding for the State Department and financial regulators, as well as the departments dealing with war, education, labor, health, and housing. So far, it appears Senate Republicans are not interested in budging. “The Republican objective is to fully fund the government this week. The six-bill minibus is currently the only option that does so,” one Senate Republican aide told The Daily Signal. A second Senate Republican aide told The Daily Signal, “Government funding expires at the end of the week, and Republicans are determined to not have another government shutdown. We will move forward as planned and hope Democrats can find a path forward to join us.” Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., characterized DHS funding as essential for fulfilling Republican campaign promises, writing Monday, “Americans sent President Trump back to the White House to stop the reign of terror by criminal illegal aliens unleashed by Joe Biden. Now, Democrats want to shut down part of the government to defy the will of the American people and reward illegal aliens for breaking our laws.” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has called the homeland security bill the “hardest” and has said it is possible Congress will have to pass a funding extension in order to fund DHS. The post Senate Dems Could Freeze ICE Funding, Trigger Shutdown appeared first on The Daily Signal.