Just a few months after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton secured a settlement agreement with Texas Children’s Hospital, the facility has 90 days to implement a detransition clinic. In February, Paxton sued Texas Children’s Hospital and a Dallas-area doctor for illegally transitioning children and engaging in Medicaid fraud, which made taxpayers cover the costs for the procedures. The lawsuit stemmed from the Texas Legislature passing Senate Bill 14, which codified a statewide ban on gender-transition interventions for minors, including mutilative surgeries and cross-sex hormone therapies. In May, an out-of-court civil settlement was reached that required the hospital to pay “$10 million for billing Texas Medicaid for unallowable and illegal ‘gender-transition’ interventions, including by using false diagnosis codes; and compels the termination and revocation of privileges of multiple physicians.” The settlement also required the hospital to create the first-ever multidisciplinary clinic designed to provide medical care for children who underwent transition procedures. The destransition clinic will provide care to address the effects of those procedures, and the first five years of the clinic’s operation will be fully funded by the hospital and free to patients seeking medical care. The hospital also agreed to fire and “permanently and irrevocably terminate all existing privileges, and never again hire or credential” the five doctors who performed transition procedures on Texas children. Since May, Paxton has announced that the settlement has been finalized and that the hospital has 90 days to create the nation’s first detransition clinic. “This historic settlement is a resounding defeat for the radical gender ideology that has preyed on Texas children under the guise of ‘care,’” Paxton said in a press release. “Texas Children’s has agreed to pay millions back to Texas. The detransition clinic, which is the first of its kind, must open within months. Activist doctors who harmed children have been fired. This settlement sends an unmistakable message: if you put radical ideology over children’s health, my office will go after you. We will continue to lead the way in stopping the far-left’s radical gender agenda.”  The detransition clinic must open its doors by the end of October. Similar to the Texas settlement, the Cleveland Clinic reached a settlement with the state of Ohio and is required to commit funds toward a specialized detransition care for individuals who underwent transition procedures as minors. Twenty-five other states have passed laws banning transition procedures for minors, including Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Montana, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming. Kansas’ law is temporarily blocked as litigation continues, while Montana’s law is permanently blocked as litigation proceeds.

In light of accusations from his ex-wife, Rep. Max Miller, R-Ohio, is facing calls from a fellow Ohio Republican to consider not only dropping out of the race but resigning his House seat. Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, put out a statement to his official X page on Thursday night, calling on Miller “to step aside as a candidate and resign from Congress,” following domestic and child abuse allegations brought by ex-wife Emily Moreno. The House Ethics Committee is currently investigating the allegations against the Ohio 7th congressman. Anyone who commits domestic violence is not fit to serve in Congress. The House Ethics Committee should thoroughly investigate any credible allegations, and any member found to have committed domestic violence should resign from Congress immediately.I know both Max Miller and…— Senator Jon Husted (@SenJonHusted) August 6, 2026 “I know both Max Miller and Emily Moreno, as well as their families. I am deeply saddened that their personal lives have become such a public matter, especially as it relates to their daughter, Ruthie,” Husted’s X post said. “One thing they both seem to agree on is that Ruthie’s best interests should come first. Those interests will not be served by litigating these matters in public, but by addressing them privately.” “Given everything they are facing, I do not see how a campaign for Congress benefits any of them. I believe Max would be making the right decision to step aside as a candidate and resign from Congress to focus on what is in the best interest of his daughter,” Husted’s post continued. “Years from now, I believe he will look back and know it was the right choice for her.” Miller’s office and campaign did not return requests for comment from the Daily Signal about Husted’s post. Miller has denied the allegations from his ex-wife and maintained he plans to continue his campaign. He has also sued Emily Moreno and said he welcomes a House Ethics Committee investigation. Ohio’s other Republican senator, Bernie Moreno, is Miller’s former father-in-law. He publicly addressed the family matter on Sunday over X, saying Miller “should not serve in the House of Representatives” and made clear how the divorce has been “pure hell” for his family. Moreno has also continuously highlighted how his 2-year-old granddaughter is “caught in the middle.” As a father and husband, I can tell you the last two years have been pure hell for my wife Bridget, our daughter Emily, me, and our entire family in the aftermath of Emily's divorce.It has been horrific to watch this play out in full public view, all while knowing an innocent…— Bernie Moreno (@berniemoreno) August 2, 2026 Husted is facing a special election in November against former Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat who was unseated by Moreno in 2024. The race is regarded by forecasters as a “Toss-Up” and is a closely-watched race, especially as control of the chamber hangs in the balance. If Miller stays in the race, he will face Democrat Brian Poindexter in the November elections. Ohio’s 7th District was previously considered more safe for Republicans, but Miller is now only slightly favored by forecasters. The Cook Political Report shifted the race from “Solid Republican” to “Likely Republican” on June 18. Other forecasters, such as Decision Desk and Sabato’s Crystal Ball, see the race as “Lean Republican.”

A federal court struck down parts of a 92-year-old gun control law tied to a $200 tax on suppressors and certain firearms. The 1934 National Firearms Act imposed a $200 tax and required registration and approval for suppressors, short-barreled rifles, and short-barreled shotguns. U.S. District Judge James Hendrix, of the Northern District of Texas, on Wednesday ruled that the provision violates the Constitution’s commerce clause. President Donald Trump’s Justice Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives defended the law in the case of Silencer Shop Foundation v. ATF. However, Hendrix, a Trump appointee, argued in his opinion that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law last year by the president, effectively nullified the 1934 tax. Once Congress eliminated the tax on making and transferring sound suppressors and short-barreled firearms, the constitutional foundation for those old regulatory provisions disappeared, he said. “In 2025, Congress eliminated the NFA’s transfer and making taxes for four categories of firearms: short-barreled shotguns, short-barreled rifles, silencers, and a final, defined group of miscellaneous firearms,” wrote Hendrix. “Because today’s NFA does not generate any revenue from untaxed firearms, its regulatory provisions cannot be upheld under the taxing power,” Hendrix added. “And there is no sign in the NFA’s text, structure, or statutory history that Congress invoked any other power in crafting the NFA provisions at issue. Thus, the regulatory provisions must be enjoined as unconstitutional because they exceed Congress’s enumerated powers.” Days after Trump signed the 2025 bill, the Daily Signal reported on what Second Amendment advocates dubbed the “One Big Beautiful Lawsuit,” which challenged the tax. The National Rifle Association was involved in the lawsuit. “Our successful effort to eliminate the $200 NFA tax created the opening for our world-class attorneys to secure this historic federal court ruling that the NFA is unconstitutional,” John Commerford, executive director of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action, said in a public statement. The National Firearms Act was enacted during the Prohibition era in response to organized crime and gang violence. The law required registration with the Internal Revenue Service as part of paying the tax. Then-Attorney General Homer Cummings said the proposal likely could be upheld in courts, but only as a tax. In the 1937 case Sonzinsky v. United States, the Supreme Court upheld the law as a permissible exercise of Congress’ taxing power. An ATF spokesperson did not respond to an inquiry for this story by publication time. The federal government argued that the remaining regulations were justified under the Constitution’s commerce clause and the necessary and proper Clause. The government also argued that Congress enacted the 1934 provisions pursuant to the law’s taxing authority. The court determined that Congress enacted the National Firearms Act in 1934 under its taxing power, and that its requirements were constitutionally permissible only because they aided the collection of National Firearms Act taxes.

Word on Fire is continuing its mission to evangelize, but this September, that evangelization will take place on the silver screen. The Catholic media apostolate has a film set to release in theaters on Sept. 20 called “Heaven in Stone and Glass.” The film takes viewers through Europe’s Gothic cathedrals alongside Bishop Robert Barron, who provides meditations on how the Catholic Church’s teachings can be found in the art and architecture of medieval cathedrals. Tickets went on sale July 31. “Materialism, atheism, ideological naturalism have all crushed the human spirit,” Barron told the Daily Signal. “As St. Augustine said long ago, we are all wired for God, our hearts are restless until they rest in God. The Cathedrals address that longing in a very powerful way.” “I love monasteries, statues, all forms of Catholic art, but the Cathedrals seem to be the richest and [most] complex expression of the Catholic mind in artistic form,” Barron said. The film opens with clips of the 800-year-old cathedral of Notre Dame engulfed in flames when its wooden spire burned down in 2019. Barron walks through the cathedrals of Notre Dame, Amiens, Chartres, Reims, and Saint Denis, while the film flicks through their gargoyles, stained-glass windows, and murals. Barron is well acquainted with these buildings from the years he spent in Paris completing his doctoral studies and giving tours at Notre Dame. Tour guide is precisely the role Barron plays throughout “Heaven in Stone and Glass.” It’s a theology, history, and art course all rolled into one. “The Cathedrals were meant to ‘Christify’ those who walk through them and worship within their confines,” Barron said. “Every window, statue, symbolic device, etc. is designed to draw a person into the field of force established by Christ. If one enters a Cathedral in a spiritually receptive way, he will exit as a transformed person.” Spirit Juice Studios, a Catholic production and visual media company, was tasked with bringing the experience of Europe’s cathedrals to life in American theaters. Its focus was sparking a renewed appreciation of beauty within the church. “We become desensitized to beauty, and in doing so, we can forget just how powerfully it speaks,” Spirit Juice told the Daily Signal. “I think we saw a glimpse of that when Notre Dame burned. Across cultures, countries, and even religious beliefs, people felt a profound sense of loss watching that cathedral burn. There was something almost visceral about it.” “September was the chosen release month because it’s the returning of most of our country to an attitude of ‘learning,’” Spirit Juice said. “Back to school is upon us, and as we culturally gear up to reawaken our minds, ‘Heaven in Stone and Glass’ asks us all to go deeper.” Although hundreds of years have passed since these cathedrals were constructed, they have not lost their value. Not only do they signify the importance of creating things that can stand the test of time, but they serve as representations of the church herself by encapsulating the Catholic understanding of reality that is both physical and spiritual. “We live in a culture that moves incredibly quickly. So much of what we make is designed to be consumed, replaced, or forgotten,” Spirit Juice said. “Cathedrals represent almost the exact opposite impulse. Generations of people devoted their lives to building something they knew they might never see completed. They built for their children, their grandchildren, and ultimately for God.” “These Cathedrals have survived wars, revolutions, fires, and enormous cultural change, and yet they continue to draw millions of people through their doors,” Spirit Juice said. “I think that’s because they speak to something permanent in us.” Fyodor Dostoevsky famously wrote, “Beauty will save the world.” In “Heaven in Stone and Glass,” Barron suggests that the beauty of a Catholic cathedral will save something more permanent than the world: our eternal souls.

With California’s gubernatorial election drawing closer, the war of words between Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton is intensifying. A series of pointed statements by both campaigns underscores just how combative the race has become. Last week, Hilton made Becerra’s tenure as U.S. secretary of health and human services a centerpiece of his campaign, arguing that more than 319,000 unaccompanied migrant children were unaccounted for after leaving federal custody during Becerra’s time leading the agency. Hilton bases that claim on a Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General audit that found Immigration and Customs Enforcement could not effectively monitor many unaccompanied migrant children after they were released to sponsors—resulting in the children becoming unaccounted for after leaving the Department of Health and Human Service’s custody. The Daily Signal contacted Becerra’s campaign before publishing a story last week on the tussle between the two candidates but did not receive a response in time for publication.  On Aug. 3, Becerra spokesman Jonathan Underland responded. “Where Secretary Becerra rebuilt the child protection systems [President Donald] Trump gutted, Steve Hilton has proudly allied himself with the president who put those children in harm’s way—who illegally sent a father to a foreign prison, whose separation policies continue to take children away from their parents, and whose ICE agents shot two fathers dead this month. Hilton is bought in. He doesn’t get to cash out now,” he told the Daily Signal. Underland’s statement did not directly address Hilton’s references to the inspector general audit, leaked HHS audio, or whistleblower allegations highlighted in the Daily Signal’s previous reporting. However, Hilton campaign spokesman Hector Barajas told the Daily Signal that Becerra is ultimately responsible for the migrant children crisis. “Xavier Becerra can run and hide from reporters, but he can’t hide from his record,” Barajas said. “He ran the federal agency that released more than 319,000 migrant children and then lost contact with them, leaving them vulnerable to traffickers, forced labor, and abuse. That’s not child protection, it’s one of the greatest government failures in modern history.” “Before Xavier Becerra lectures anyone else, he needs to answer for the children his department failed to protect,” he added. The exchange illustrates that immigration is becoming one of the sharpest dividing lines in California’s gubernatorial race. Increasingly, Hilton is tying Becerra to his record in the Biden administration, while Becerra’s campaign is accusing Hilton of echoing President Donald Trump’s immigration message. Hilton has expanded his attacks on Becerra in recent days, accusing him of avoiding debates. Hilton also has released a video series featuring migrants who allege they were trafficked after entering the United States during Becerra’s tenure at HHS. “My sister and I were victims of child trafficking. Xavier Becerra didn’t care about our safety. What mattered most to him was getting us out as quickly as possible from the shelter and sending us to the traffickers,” one child stated in the video interview. MORE BECERRA CHILD TRAFFICKING VICTIMS SPEAK OUT:15 yr old boy forced into “debt bondage” after Becerra released him to child traffickers. He tells Becerra: "How could you do this?"No wonder Becerra is dodging questions from the press and a debate with me. Shameful. pic.twitter.com/dlXBgYWa96— Steve Hilton (@SteveHiltonx) August 5, 2026 But Underland fired back once more, saying Becerra is active out on the campaign trail and staying focused on problems that Californians care about most. “While Trump’s lapdog is busy chasing cars down the street, the press corps will have plenty of time to speak with Becerra as he traverses the state, speaking with Californians about their greatest challenges and his plan to solve them together.”