FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—The Department of Education is rescinding several regulations that justified racial quotas in school discipline, the Daily Signal can first report. Disparate-impact is an approach to civil rights enforcement that claims a neutral policy that does not discriminate on its face can still constitute illegal racial discrimination if it has a “disproportionate” statistical effect on different racial and ethnic groups.  “We should be making decisions based on meritocracy,” Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey told the Daily Signal in an interview. “We should be making decisions based on qualifications. This is just one additional important step, where we are demonstrating that any inclusion of race in any decision that is made within a school has to stop.” The Obama administration used disparate-impact policy to require schools to make race a factor when considering disciplinary actions. Under Democrat administrations, the Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights found schools guilty of violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 on race-neutral policies if data showed the school disciplined more minority students. Thursday’s deregulatory action aims to ensure equal education opportunities and treatment for students, according to the Education Department. The move is in line with President Donald Trump’s executive order last April titled “Restoring Equality of Opportunity and Meritocracy,” which made it the policy of the United States to eliminate all uses of disparate-impact liability. The department’s current Title VI regulations are in tension with the statute and the Constitution, Richey said. “What that has tended to do over the years is cause a lot of confusion and uncertainty in the enforcement of federal civil rights,” she said. Richey said the department is now setting clear expectations by aligning its regulations with the statutory provisions of Title VI so schools know how Title VI will be enforced. “When you tell schools that they are going to be held in violation of federal civil rights laws if their data doesn’t look good, if there’s any discrepancy in their data, schools are going to find a way to make the data look right,” Richey said. She said disparate-impact policies have caused schools to make discipline decisions based on race. “The message that has been sent with the application of the disparate-impact regulations, particularly in the discipline space, is that in order for you to stop discriminating, we’re going to make you discriminate more,” she said. “So what schools have done is start to take race into account on each of these decisions, where that’s exactly the opposite of what Title VI would require.”

Fox News Channel’s popular morning show, “Fox & Friends,” is closing in on “CBS Mornings” despite having a fraction of the broadcast network’s distribution. The latest Nielsen Media Research audience numbers show just how much Fox News has closed the gap with CBS over the past year. “CBS Mornings” viewership declined 13%, while “Fox & Friends” grew 4%. The CBS morning show averaged 1,591,000 viewers for the week of July 13, compared with 1,460,000 for its cable news competitor. A year ago, in July 2025, CBS held a 30% viewer advantage over Fox & Friends. That lead has since shrunk to just 9%—a gap of 131,000 viewers—during the week of July 13. It was the lowest-rated week in “CBS Mornings” history and the first time the program dropped below 1.6 million viewers. Its audience among adults 25-54, the demographic advertisers pay a premium to reach, fell to 220,000—also a low. The story doesn’t get much better for “CBS Evening News.” The nightly newscast posted its second-lowest-rated week since Tony Dokoupil became anchor. For the third straight week, “CBS Evening News” viewership dropped below 4 million, and the show averaged 471,000 viewers in the 25-54 demographic—the eighth week in a row it failed to top 600,000. Fox News Tops Broadcast Rivals Fox News Channel finished the week of July 13 with 2.9 million weekday primetime viewers and 293,000 in the 25-54 demo, beating all three broadcast networks. NBC finished with 2.5 million viewers, ABC had 2.4 million, and CBS rounded out the three with 2.1 million, according to Nielsen Media Research data. “The Five,” which celebrated its 15th anniversary on Fox News, continued to lead all cable news programming with 3.4 million viewers. Fox News reported the show has grown its audience 154% since its 2011 launch. Greg Gutfeld’s late-night show easily beat its competition. “Gutfeld!” drew 2.6 million total viewers, topping NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” (1.4 million), CBS’ “Comics Unleashed” (806,000), and NBC’s “Late Night with Seth Meyers” (799,000). ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” had its lowest-rated week of 2026, averaging 1.4 million total viewers and 192,000 in the 25-54 demo. Leading the Cable News Competition Fox News also led all of cable news for the second quarter of 2026, averaging 2.5 million primetime viewers and commanding nearly 60% of the cable news audience in both total day and primetime—ahead of CNN and MS NOW combined. Fox News drew 2,628,000 weekday primetime viewers in June, beating two broadcast networks: NBC had 2,419,000 and CBS finished with 2,049,000, according to Nielsen data. In June, both CBS and NBC recorded their lowest weekday primetime totals of the century in the 25-54 age demographic, with 261,000 and 396,000 viewers, respectively.

The budget reconciliation bill has passed the House of Representatives in a 216-214 vote, authorizing spending for government agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of War. The bill also contains the SAVE America Act, a key legislation that would require proof of citizenship to register to vote and voter identification to cast a ballot. Reps. Thomas Massie, R- Ky., and Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, voted against the legislation. “Safeguarding American elections and strengthening our national defense are the most basic responsibilities of Congress and are supported by an overwhelming majority of Americans,” Johnson previously wrote in a statement. The text, which was finalized by House leadership, the House Budget Committee, and White House, aims to enact aspects of the SAVE America Act and provide supplemental funding to strengthen and defend the American homeland. The House GOP budget resolution instructs four committees to write reconciliation legislation: the House Administration Committee, at $10 billion for SAVE America; the House Armed Services Committee, at $60 billion; the House Intelligence Committee, at $13 billion, both for defense and Iran spending; and the House Agriculture Committee, at $12 billion for farmers. House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., slammed the budget ahead of the vote during his opposing remarks on the House floor. “I rise today in strong opposition to this America Last Republican budget that will provide billions of additional dollars to Operation Epic Fury in the Middle East, which has been a complete and total disaster for the American people,” Jeffries said. “Donald Trump’s reckless and costly war of choice in Iran has skyrocketed gas prices on everyday Americans who are already suffering from the failed Republican economy and drowning in its poor management. “Donald Trump and his violent mass deportation machine are spending billions of dollars for ICE to brutalize and kill American citizens or to violently target law-abiding immigrants,” he added. Staunch supporters of the president, who voted in favor of the bill, celebrated the legislation’s passage, and are now calling on the Senate to get the bill across the finish line. “As the budget reconciliation process moves forward, we must ensure all pieces of the House-passed SAVE America Act remain intact and work toward including significant offsets,” Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., told the Daily Signal. “The American people are counting on us to rescue our Republic by bolstering election integrity. Republicans can deliver this feat through budget reconciliation if we have the will to fight.” “My House Freedom Caucus colleagues and I are ready to do just that, and I encourage our Republican colleagues in both chambers to join us without delay,” Clyde continued. Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., added, “The House has done our job in getting the framework for the SAVE America Act and crucial military funding passed and sent to the Senate. Leader [John] Thune is now the only obstacle between free, fair elections and a stronger military to defend our nation. I encourage the Senate to pass this legislation as soon as possible and give the American people what they have been asking for.” The Daily Signal has reached out to Sen. Thune’s office for comment, but as of publication time, has not received a response.

The University of Texas at Dallas Police Department currently uses Flock safety technology to capture evidence of crimes committed on campus. However, the department says it does not use the system for immigration enforcement. According to the university’s Flock transparency portal, the technology is used to provide “objective evidence without compromising on individual privacy.” The portal also states that the university police department “utilizes real time alerting of hotlist vehicles to capture wanted criminals.” The Flock camera system does not use facial recognition or identify people by gender or race. The university also states the cameras are not used for immigration or traffic enforcement. Campus police say the automatic license plate reader system alerts officers when a vehicle associated with criminal activity enters the campus, including vehicles linked to felony warrants, reported stolen vehicles, or suspect vehicles identified in a criminal investigation.  Although the system can alert officers to vehicles associated with criminal investigations, the university’s transparency policy states it is not used for immigration enforcement. Federal law distinguishes between civil immigration violations and criminal immigration offenses, some of which carry felony penalties. Under 8 U.S.C. § 1325, a person who enters or attempts to enter the United States at a location other than a designated port of entry, evades inspection, or uses fraud or false representation to gain entry commits a federal offense. Depending on the circumstances, repeat offenses or other immigration-related violations can carry felony penalties. By contrast, overstaying a visa is generally considered a civil immigration violation rather than a criminal offense. Individuals who remain unlawfully in the country may be subject to arrest by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and removal proceedings. According to the transparency portal, the university’s Flock system shares its data with several city and county law enforcement agencies, as well as the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the 1st Judicial District, the 47th District Attorney’s Office of Texas, and the Kleberg County Attorney’s Task Force. The university does not share data with the Texas Attorney General’s office. Texas public universities and their police departments are not required to report the immigration status of students enrolled. However, they are prohibited from adopting “sanctuary” policies for illegal aliens and must comply with federal immigration detainer requests.  Additionally, a 2025 directive from the Department of Homeland Security states that colleges and universities are no longer exempt from immigration enforcement activities.  Separately, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton also ordered the city of Conroe to release records from its Flock camera system after the city attempted to withhold them from a resident. The Texas Department of Public Safety declined to comment on the issue, and the University of Texas at Dallas Police Department and the Office of the Texas Attorney General did not respond to a request for comment.

Wayne National Forest, located in southeast Ohio, will likely see fracking opportunities thanks to a lease sale recently announced by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. According to Signal Ohio, the lease sale scheduled for Sept. 15 includes 41 parcels of land totaling 2,840 acres. The BLM announcement makes it that much more likely that the lease sale will make fracking available in the state’s only national forest for the first time, though “some bureaucratic hurdles remain.” In order to drill at Wayne National Forest, the winning bidder would need a BLM permit. The report also notes an effort’s been underway since at least 2016 to bring fracking to the forest. Meanwhile, other parts of the state have already introduced fracking and those efforts are expanding. Ohio has opened approximately 22,000 acres to oil and gas companies since 2024, Signal Ohio mentioned, thanks to House Bill 507, signed by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine in January 2023. That bill required the state to open up land, including state parks, for such development. According to a Signal Akron report at the start of this month, the ensuing fracking has generated $314 million for the state. A March 30 Signal Ohio report delves into the revenue stream for the state from opening up 6,600 acres of Salt Fork State Park, what was then the largest project unanimously approved by the Oil and Gas Land Management Commission. “The company agreed to pay a $58 million signing bonus and 20% of future production revenue,” the report mentioned. “At least 30% of revenue from any lease agreement must flow back into the state park or wildlife area at issue. The rest goes to Ohio’s general revenue fund.” Less than a month ago, the commission also approved 21 bids covering 15,000 acres of land, per a report from the Ohio Capital Journal. Most are part of the Egypt Valley Wildlife Area. Fracking also comes into play with the Marcellus Shale, a unit of sedimentary rock whose western portions are in eastern Ohio. Rep. Troy Balderson, R-Ohio, whose district includes a portion of the Marcellus Shale, has promoted the “boom” that it helped create, including in February while speaking to Victor Davis Hanson’s co-host, Jack Fowler. A public comment period regarding the BLM announcement for Wayne National Forest is open until Aug. 17, 2026.