At a White House meeting on Tuesday, President Donald Trump, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, and North Carolina Rep. Richard Hudson, the National Republican Congressional Committee chairman, will hatch plans for Republicans to keep their House majority in the 2026 midterms after a record-breaking fundraising haul. “Following a record-breaking fundraising quarter to begin 2026, I look forward to meeting with President Trump and the NRCC as we continue working hand-in-hand to defend and grow our House Republican majority with winning candidates across the country and a strong record of secure borders, lower costs, and a return to common sense,” Johnson told The Daily Signal. Trump, Johnson, and Hudson will discuss Republicans’ midterm strategy at the White House on the heels of an impressive quarter of fundraising by Johnson, someone familiar with the upcoming meeting told The Daily Signal. The trio will also discuss candidate recruitment, the source added. The Speaker raised over $34 million in the first quarter, breaking Republican leadership fundraising records as the party prepares for the midterm cycle. The Republican war chest is expected to help the party go on the offensive despite the historical disadvantage majority parties often have going into midterm elections. Last night the @NRCC broke fundraising records adding almost $37 million to their “MAGA Majority” midterm war chest. “Republicans have the momentum, the message, and the team to defy history. With President Trump leading the charge, we’re going on offense.” @RepHudsonNC told… pic.twitter.com/RagB8VPEcP— Virginia Grace McKinnon (@virginiagmck) March 26, 2026 The speaker has given nearly $30 million to the NRCC and a record-setting $18 million directly to incumbents in the House. Overall this cycle, he has given over $64 million toward the midterms to “defend and grow the House GOP majority.” In a press release detailing the fundraising records, Johnson says Republicans “remain on offense” heading into the midterms. He predicts that, come November, Americans will see “a clear contrast: between House Republicans’ return to common sense and real results—and Democrats’ radical, far-left agenda to reopen our borders and make life more expensive and more dangerous.” NEWS: Speaker Mike Johnson raised $34 million in the first quarter, his best fundraising quarter ever. Plus, SMP and Majority Forward raised a combined $70.4 million in Q1. @JakeSherman and @maxpcohen have the details:https://t.co/JPrmX8Fb37— Punchbowl News (@PunchbowlNews) April 14, 2026 The party was at first skeptical of Johnsons fundraising abilities when he launched into the spotlight as speaker in 2023. His predecessor, Kevin McCarthy, had raised over 100 times more than he had that year, the New York Times had reported. But Johnson quickly began raking in cash and breaking records. Johnson’s campaign says that in this cycle alone he has raised over $116 million in “hard dollars” for House Republicans. This does not include money raised by his endorsed super PAC, the Campaign Leadership Fund. The post SCOOP: Trump and Johnson to Discuss Midterms at White House Following Record Fundraising Haul appeared first on The Daily Signal.

After independent journalist Nick Shirley sparked a national news cycle in January over alleged state-administered fraud, California lawmakers have moved to restrict the activities of independent journalists who question government spending, according to state officials. In an exclusive interview with The Daily Signal, California state Assemblyman David Tangipa said the California Legislature is advancing what he described as “unconstitutional legislation” that would limit the release of video recordings by independent journalists who investigate taxpayer-funded programs. Assembly Bill 2646 was introduced in February by California state Assemblywoman Mia Bonta following the viral success of a Nick Shirley video questioning potential healthcare and daycare fraud. That video amassed more than 149 million views on X. “Ask yourself this—why are Democrats trying to protect people who are being questioned about state administrators and NGOs over their funding and what that funding actually achieves?” Tangipa told The Daily Signal. “Why is the government alleging that those who question how funds are being used are harassing people?” In the video, Shirley is seen directly questioning daycare and healthcare administrators, some of whom accused him of racism and harassment while attempting to stop him from recording. “When a government diminishes transparency, it has something to hide,” Tangipa added. “The government is trying to punish people for holding it accountable while adding protections for corrupt NGOs.” In March, Shirley traveled to California, where he alleged that at least $170 million in hospice and daycare fraud was taking place. “People are asking questions for a reason,” Tangipa said. “This type of bill would protect people preying on the dead and the sick.” Other Republicans in the Assembly have denounced the bill as an attack on transparency and the First Amendment. “California Democrats are trying to intimidate citizen watchdog journalists and protect waste and fraud happening in far-left NGOs,” Assemblyman Carl DeMaio wrote in a press release. “AB 2624 can only be described as the ‘Stop Nick Shirley Act’—a bill designed to silence citizen journalists exposing fraud and abuse of taxpayer dollars.” “If this bill becomes law, the message is clear to every journalist in California: Expose corruption and you will be punished,” DeMaio continued. “AB 2624 is an unconstitutional, direct attack on transparency and the First Amendment, and it needs to be defeated.” Shirley also responded to the legislation on X, calling it an effort by politicians to “protect fraudsters and illegal migrants,” and urging the public to resist what he described as government oppression. “The enemy truly is within,” Shirley wrote. The post ‘Unconstitutional Stop Nick Shirley Act’ Pushed by California Democrats appeared first on The Daily Signal.

The House Judiciary Committee is investigating why Colorado lawyers who want to file a case online must abide by the state’s sanctuary law or face perjury charges. In a letter on Monday, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement, said they are looking at Colorado’s sanctuary policy. Last year, Colorado’s Democratic Gov. Jared Polis signed the Protect Civil Rights Immigration Status Act into law, which attempts to shield illegal immigrants by extending existing prohibitions on information sharing to state officials and any third party with access through the Colorado Judicial Department. Lawyers who use information from the court filing system to assist with immigration enforcement could be charged with perjury. They must certify online that they will not share personal information from the database with federal immigration officials. “This certification commandeers private attorneys into Colorado’s radical sanctuary policies, handcuffs federal officials from enforcing immigration law in Colorado, and violates fundamental free speech principles,” the members’ letter says. The Colorado courts’ electronic filing policy website implemented this certification on March 30, according to the letter, which gave a deadline of April 27 for the state to respond. “In practice, this means that any attorney logging into Colorado’s state electronic court filing system must certify, ‘under penalty of perjury,’ that the attorney ‘will not use [or disclose] personal identifying information obtained from the database or automated network for the purpose of investigating for, participating in, cooperating with, or assisting in federal immigration enforcement, including enforcement of civil immigration laws’ under federal statute,” the congressmen’s letter says. 2026-04-13 JDJ TM to Colorado Court Administrator – VasconcellosDownload Jordan and McClintock wrote to Steven Vasconcellos, the Colorado state court administrator, seeking information including the number of private attorneys punished under enforcement of the law. The House Judiciary Committee is conducting oversight of state and local jurisdictions nationwide that are not cooperating with federal immigration officials. The letter references Colorado lawyer Ian Speir, who posted on X: “I cannot log into the state’s official e-filing system without saluting The Resistance. I now cannot represent my clients, file lawsuits, access cases, file documents in existing cases, etc.” He added that if he declines the certification, “it kicks me out of the system. I must click ‘Accept’ to access the system and continue representing my civil clients — again, in cases that have absolutely nothing to do with immigration law or policy.” Colorado is now requiring lawyers in the State, as a condition of logging into its court e-filing system, to promise not to cooperate with federal authorities in enforcing federal immigration law. Please understand:– I do not practice immigration law. – I do not practice… pic.twitter.com/khYDf5TkQd— Ian Speir (@IanSpeir) April 2, 2026 Specifically, the two House chairmen asked the court administrator to provide clarification on the penalties for third parties who violate the certification requirement. They also asked for the number of complaints received by the Colorado Judicial Branch since May 2025, when Polis signed the bill into law. The letter further requested documents and communications among Colorado judicial branch staff, referring or relating to the implementation of the certification. The post EXCLUSIVE: House Investigates Colorado Rule Coercing Lawyers to Block Immigration Enforcement appeared first on The Daily Signal.

The Trump administration won a court victory in an immigration case Tuesday when an appeals court found U.S. District Judge James Boasberg engaged in a “clear abuse of discretion” last year. The 2-1 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit comes more than a year after Boasberg first held the Trump administration in criminal contempt. Boasberg held the Trump administration in contempt when it did not comply with his order to turn around planes carrying deported illegal aliens from Venezuela. The planes were going to El Salvador. Boasberg, the controversial appointee of President Barack Obama, is the chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Circuit Judge Neomi Rao, an appointee of President Donald Trump, wrote for the majority that Boasberg’s contempt investigation is “intrusive,” the Associated Press reported. Rao added that the Trump administration had a “clear and indisputable” right to the termination of the contempt proceedings. “The district court proposes to probe high-level Executive Branch deliberations about matters of national security and diplomacy. These proceedings are a clear abuse of discretion,” said the majority opinion from Rao and Judge Justin Walker, according to CNN. “The district court has launched an intrusive criminal contempt investigation into whether the government acted willfully when it transferred suspected Tren de Aragua members to Salvadoran custody. But the end of this investigation is a legal dead end,” the opinion said. Circuit Judge Michelle Childs, a Joe Biden appointee, dissented in the case. The post Appeals Court: Boasberg ‘Abused Discretion’ in Trump Deportation Fight appeared first on The Daily Signal.

The Miss America Organization has changed its rules to clarify that only females can compete. This comes after Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier warned the organization that it might be violating the Sunshine State’s law by allowing men who identify as transgender. Uthmeier sent Miss America a letter Friday warning that its policies may violate Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. While Miss America’s public-facing documents state that a competitor must “be a female,” an aspiring contestant objected when she found language in the contract that seemed to permit men who undergo transgender surgery. Kayleigh Bush won the title of Miss North Florida 2025 in the Miss Freedom USA Pageant, a required preliminary qualifier for Miss Florida. Miss America, which runs the Miss Florida Pageant but not the Miss Freedom USA Pageant, requires contestants to sign a contract that defined “female” to include “an individual who has fully completed sex reassignment surgery via vaginoplasty (from male to female) with supporting medical documentation and records.” Bush hired the nonprofit law firm Liberty Counsel to represent her, and Liberty Counsel sent a demand letter to Miss America, demanding Bush be allowed to compete without signing a pro-transgender document. Liberty Counsel further claimed that Bush had been stripped of her Miss Florida title. The concerns come a few years after a man who claimed to identify as a woman won the Miss Universe pageant in the Netherlands. In 2024, Miss Maryland crowned a man who identified as a woman. To advance in competition, Miss North Florida 2025, Kayleigh Bush, was told to sign a contract that forced her to compete against men. She refused.“Miss” America and “Miss” Florida advertise as women-only competitions, which is misleading and may violate FL law. This is wrong! pic.twitter.com/UJoAzyUOl1— Attorney General James Uthmeier (@AGJamesUthmeier) April 10, 2026 Miss America’s Policy Change On Monday, Liberty Counsel published a screenshot of the updated competition requirements, which clearly exclude men who identify as women, but preserve the surgery requirement for biological women born with male genitalia, one of the rare conditions described as “intersex.” The previous language defined female this way: “Female” means a born female or an individual who has fully completed sex reassignment surgery via vaginoplasty (from male to female) with supporting medical documentation and records. The new language uses this definition: “Female” means a born female or born an intersex female individual (defined as one born with two X chromosomes with nonconforming genitalia) who has fully completed sex reassignment surgery via vaginoplasty with supporting medical documentation and records. Miss America’s Side of the Story Mallory Hudson, communications manager for Miss America HQ, confirmed to The Washington Times that the language had indeed been changed. “The current eligibility policy as to gender was formally updated in the second half of 2024 and was revised again in 2026 to ensure consistency, transparency, and respect for all individuals who meet the qualifications to compete,” she said. “Specifically, our participation policy affirms eligibility for Intersex females, which are those born with female chromosomes, but non-conforming genitalia.” Stuart Moskovitz, Miss America’s attorney, denied any misrepresentation in a response to Uthmeier. “At the time [Bush] entered the Miss Freedom USA contest, Miss America did not control local feeder competitions,” he wrote. “It did control its licensed competitions such as Miss Florida, which is why in attempting to compete for Miss Florida, [Bush] was then asked to sign the Miss America contract.” “If a person has two X chromosomes, she is a biological woman, regardless of the rare circumstance in which she is born with unmatched genitalia,” Moskovitz wrote. “If the woman corrects that anomaly, she is permitted to compete.” “Without the language to which Kayleigh objects, someone born with two X chromosomes, biologically a woman, could compete with male genitalia,” he argued. “Miss America has the absolute right to prevent that from happening.” Miss America LetterDownload Liberty Counsel’s Response Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver celebrated the policy change away from transgender orthodoxy. “We are pleased that Miss America has finally come to its senses and revised its contract to remove the ridiculous statement that a boy can be a girl,” he said in a statement Monday. “A boy cannot be a girl.” “Miss America now knows what a woman is—a common-sense understanding that Kayleigh Bush knew instinctually,” Staver added. “Miss America should now reinstate the benefits of Bush’s crown, including the scholarship that she rightfully deserves.” The post Miss America Changes Eligibility Rules to Clarify Transgender Stance Following Florida AG Letter appeared first on The Daily Signal.