Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose continues to defend his decision to send voter data to the federal government despite increased Democratic opposition. LaRose has been complying with a directive from the Trump administration’s Department of Justice to hand over statewide voter registration lists to identify and remove ineligible voters from the rolls. The data includes names, addresses, driver’s license information, and the last four digits of Social Security numbers—information that the federal government already can access. “They don’t like it when I call out what they’re actually doing. There’s nothing wrong that happened,” LaRose told The Daily Signal on Tuesday, adding that Democrats are playing on the public’s concern about potential data leaks. LaRose argued that such fearmongering is “voter suppression.” “They’re creating fear among registered voters for their own political gain,” he said. “What they’re doing is creating fake outrage, when there shouldn’t be any, which causes people to say, ‘Well, maybe I shouldn’t register to vote because my data is going to be given away.'” The Ohio secretary of state has recently drawn the ire of Rep. Shontel Brown, D-Ohio, with back-and-forth posts on X, as well as an angry letter from the congresswoman. On May 13, Brown co-authored a letter with Committee on House Administration ranking member Joe Morelle, D-N.Y., which was signed by the other Democratic members of Ohio’s congressional delegation. “The information requested included highly sensitive information such as driver’s license and Social Security numbers,” the letter begins. “Election officials in both Republican- and Democratic-led states have rightfully met these demands with warranted skepticism, and most states have declined these demands in order to protect their voters. The DOJ has sued states for not complying. “Transferring this data goes far beyond publicly available information and exposes Ohioans to unnecessary risks, including misuse, unauthorized access, leaks, and identity theft, without any clear safeguards or accountability.” The letter was not only shared on Brown’s congressional website, but also in a thread on X. That thread was in response to LaRose reacting to the letter in a video message. A formal response to that letter is in the works, with lawmakers requesting one by May 29. Ohioans, read the letter here: https://t.co/iGSwzFqszz— Rep. Shontel Brown (@RepShontelBrown) May 13, 2026 LaRose told The Daily Signal in previous conversations that sharing voter roll data is “the right thing to do,” and that the DOJ has authority to access it under the Voting Rights Act. “If you look at this at its most basic level, I followed the federal law and exchanged data,” LaRose said. As for other states refusing to comply with the DOJ, LaRose said some have laws preventing data sharing. LaRose added that handling “all kinds of sensitive information” is “what they do” at the DOJ. “The U.S. Department of Justice is a trustworthy entity when it comes to maintaining the security of data, and this is data that is mostly all public record to begin with,” LaRose said. Rep. Shontel Brown’s office did not return The Daily Signal’s request for comment.

FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—The Department of Education is slashing federal regulations that could hinder states from improving their schools, the administration’s latest move in its dismantling of the agency and its effort to return education policy to the states. The Education Department has approved Education Flexibility applications for the states of Florida and Illinois, meaning they now can waive statutory or regulatory requirements for school districts without first having to submit those waivers to the federal government for review and approval. A total of 18 states have now opted into the program that seeks to give state and local education departments more authority over efforts to reform schools. The department also sent guidance to all chief state school officers that grants them freedom to move federal funds between programs, to better meet state and local needs. Small, rural schools will also gain more flexibility to use funds how they see fit. The letter builds on guidance that the department sent to states in July encouraging chief state school officers to implement existing statutory flexibilities and seek waivers from burdensome statutory and regulatory provisions.   Kirsten Baesler, assistant secretary for the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, called this a “bold step forward in strengthening states’ ability to fully harness the flexibilities already at their fingertips in support of better serving students, families, educators, and communities.” “With a record 18 states now taking advantage of Ed-Flex authority, we urge state leaders to build on this momentum by adopting forward‑leaning strategies that move decision-making closer to the classroom and elevate the power of local leadership,” she said.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche fielded tough questions from U.S. senators on Tuesday after announcing an “Anti-Weaponization Fund” of almost $1.8 billion to compensate victims of politicized lawfare. He also tackled other questions in his first appearance before Congress since becoming acting attorney general last month. Blanche assumed the role after the ouster of Attorney General Pam Bondi. Here are four key topics from the hearing of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies. 1. Anti-Weaponization Fund or ‘Slush Fund’? Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, noted that the Anti-Weaponization Fund is part of a settlement from President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over what she called the “completely inappropriate leak of the president and his organization’s tax data.” However, she seemed skeptical about the fund itself. “Has the DOJ ever used amounts in the judgment fund to pay claims that have yet to be brought against the United States government based on the settlement of a completely unrelated case?” Collins asked. Blanche responded the Obama administration had an “almost identical in structure” fund in the Keepseagle settlement, which offered compensation and loan forgiveness to Native American farmers and ranchers who claimed past discrimination by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. “This is unusual. That is true. But it is not unprecedented, and it was done to address years and years of weaponization,” Blanche said. “It’s not limited to the Biden weaponization. It’s not limited in any way, scope, or form to January 6th, or to Jack Smith.” Democrats argued this is a “slush fund” for the president’s allies, including pardoned offenders of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach. Several Democrats on the subcommittee asked if anyone who attacked police officers that day would be eligible for the money. Blanche replied, “Anybody in this country is eligible to apply, if they believe they are a victim of weaponization.” But, he said, a five-member commission would decide if the claim was valid. 2. ‘Tier One’ Medicaid Fraud Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., brought up examples of Medicaid fraud that have occurred in California. He noted that for every $1 in California’s Medicaid program, the federal government spends $9. Kennedy said California Medicaid will pay for housing, herbal medicines, in-home chefs, student loan repayments, and exorcisms. “This is a tier one slush fund,” Kennedy said. “It’s been going on for years and years and years. Billions and hundreds of billions of dollars is stolen.” Blanche replied, “Yes, Senator, and that’s why this department stood up a whole new fraud division and is prosecuting fraud because it’s so systematically taking money from the American taxpayer that we very much believe that it needs its own stand-up structure.” 3. Epstein Apology Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., sought an apology from Blanche for the release of names and sensitive personal information of sexual abuse victims listed in the Justice Department’s release of the files on Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender. Epstein died in a New York prison cell in August 2019 in what was determined to be a suicide. “Your predecessor refused to apologize to those victims. But I want to give you the same opportunity to apologize for the way the department handled the release of these documents,” Murray said. After some back-and-forth, Blanche said, “Of course,” in response to the question of an apology. Murray kept demanding that she wanted to hear the word apology from him. “I just said yes,” Blanche said. He then talked about how broad the law was requiring a quick release of the Epstein files. “What this act did is it required us to review over 6 million pieces of paper in a very short period of time, and so 0.001%, we made mistakes, and we owned up to them,” he said, “the second that a victim or their lawyer told us that we made a mistake.” 4. ‘Justice to be Done’ on Arctic Frost Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., asked about the Arctic Frost investigation, a Justice Department probe under former President Joe Biden which targeted President Donald Trump and his challenge to the 2020 election outcome. This investigation included gathering phone data on at least eight Republican senators, including Hagerty. “They used this Arctic Frost to persecute the president and also go after his closest allies, including me, and I was shocked to find out last year that under President Biden, the DOJ had secretly obtained my phone records from Verizon, and even though Verizon was obligated to let me know that, they chose not to,” Hagerty said. “It’s contemptible. It’s damning, but I think there may have been a real reason there. I want justice to be done,” he added. Blanche replied the Justice Department is working to ensure that never happens again. “Understand that there are times when we subpoena phone records, we do not want the bad guys to know that we did,” Blanche said. “But the idea that that could be done to a United States senator, and that it would be OK for a prosecutor to just do it without even a scintilla of evidence, and then not provide notice is, in some ways, the worst form of abuse by the Department of Justice.”

Congress has called on The Daily Signal’s Tyler O’Neil to testify Wednesday before the House Judiciary Committee as lawmakers investigate the Southern Poverty Law Center following a Department of Justice indictment. “I’m honored to testify before the full House Judiciary Committee tomorrow, and I look forward to exposing the SPLC’s corruption to Congress,” O’Neil told The Daily Signal. “My years of research highlight the SPLC’s financial incentive to exaggerate ‘hate,’ and the Justice Department’s indictment vindicates what I’ve been saying for years.” O’Neil, a senior investigative reporter at The Daily Signal, has written extensively on a network of left-wing nonprofits and dark money groups he says influenced the Biden administration. A preview of his opening testimony appears at the end of this article. MASSIVE HATE HOAXAfter the DOJ indictment, I figured I'd go over my years of research on SPLC. In this thread:Exaggerating HateInspiring ViolenceDemonizing the RightCancel CultureInternal RevoltsTies to AntifaDefamation Lawsuitshttps://t.co/uRCbnWaBzr1/25 pic.twitter.com/FAJMPNmTPD— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) April 27, 2026 Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, was another early voice calling out the SPLC. “I’m proud to have been among the first to speak out against the SPLC’s pattern of targeting and spreading hatred about conservatives, Christians, and others who do not conform to their radical progressive agenda,” Roy told The Daily Signal. The DOJ recently announced 11 federal charges against the SPLC, including wire fraud, false statements, and conspiracy related to an alleged $3 million money laundering scheme involving individuals tied to violent extremist groups, including the Ku Klux Klan. “Now we know the SPLC funneled money to extremists, raising questions about whether the organization has artificially elevated the domestic extremist threat and misled donors,” a spokesperson for the House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, told The Daily Signal. The @splcenter now faces charges of wire fraud, bank fraud, and conspiracy—accused of paying $3 million to members of white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups. This is the same SPLC that put @Moms4Liberty, @PragerU, @TPUSA, and even @againstgrmrs on its "hate map."The same SPLC…— The Daily Signal (@DailySignal) May 18, 2026 O’Neil has long criticized the SPLC’s widely cited “hate map,” which places mainstream conservative organizations alongside extremist groups. “The SPLC’s ‘hate map’ equates mainstream conservatives with the KKK by placing them alongside Klan chapters,” O’Neil said. “It routinely defames individuals who oppose positions such as transgender ideology, open borders, and critical race theory.” The committee spokesperson echoed those concerns, saying the SPLC has “wrongfully targeted conservative groups as hate groups.” Organizations identified on the SPLC map include Turning Point USA, Moms for Liberty, Alliance Defending Freedom, Family Research Council, and PragerU. In a 2023 analysis, O’Neil argued the SPLC inflates its figures by counting chapters as separate groups and including defunct organizations, estimating the map exaggerates hate by at least 267%. O’Neil is the author of “Making Hate Pay: The Corruption of the Southern Poverty Law Center and The Woketopus: The Dark Money Cabal Manipulating the Federal Government.” This will be his fifth time testifying before Congress on issues related to left-wing activism, including a December hearing before the House Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government. Bryan Fair, the SPLC's CEO, was kind enough to mention my congressional testimony in his video. He also mentioned my exclusive on @FBIDirectorKash separating the FBI from the SPLC last year.2/5https://t.co/9SIbrm6D5A pic.twitter.com/e7CvSaOkms— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) April 21, 2026 “This hearing builds on the important work that subcommittee began in December and follows serious DOJ charges involving fraud and money laundering,” Roy said. “We must continue exposing NGOs that undermine American values and sow division.” O’Neil will testify alongside Family Research Council President Tony Perkins and author Carol Swain. Democrats have called Maya Wiley, a lawyer and former SPLC official, as their witness. Preview of O’Neils Opening Remarks  I will argue that the Southern Poverty Law Center does not merely track hate—it systematically inflates it, profits from it, and, according to a federal indictment, may even have helped create it.  The first thing to know about the SPLC is that it has nothing to do with poverty. The “Poverty Palace” has an endowment of eight hundred twenty-two million dollars. That’s more than three times the assets of the national YMCA, and almost twice the sum of Planned Parenthood.   That’s why former employees have suggested mocking mottos for the SPLC, such as “Making Hate Pay.”  How did the SPLC become so wealthy? Co-founder Morris Dees set up a lucrative fundraising engine by suing the Ku Klux Klan into bankruptcy.   When the SPLC ran out of grand dragons to slay, the center needed to find more “hate” to justify the fundraising. It has a financial incentive to juice the numbers.

In bad news for a bipartisan college sports reform effort, the Congressional Black Caucus—a powerful faction in the Democratic Party—has turned on the SCORE Act, criticizing key stakeholders for “silence” on pro-Republican redistricting in the South. “The Congressional Black Caucus cannot support legislation benefitting major athletic institutions that remain silent while Black voting rights and Black political power are being systematically dismantled throughout the South,” reads the caucus’ Tuesday morning statement. The caucus is made up entirely of black Democrats in the House. The SCORE Act is an attempt to establish a new system for student athletes being compensated for their name, image, and likeness (NIL).  The bill would prevent the athletes from being considered employees and require colleges to “provide comprehensive academic support and career counseling services” to their athletes. Black athletes have helped build college athletics into one of the most powerful and profitable industries in American life.Institutions that profit from Black talent and Black communities have a responsibility to stand with those communities when their fundamental rights are… pic.twitter.com/U18gVp6uyP— Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) (@TheBlackCaucus) May 18, 2026 On Tuesday morning, the House Rules Committee—a Republican leadership-controlled panel that prepares bills for consideration on the floor—announced it was delaying its markup of the bill. Republican leadership also pulled the bill from its weekly schedule. After the Louisiana v. Callais Supreme Court ruling which has removed the legal requirement for Republican state governments in the South to maintain majority-Black congressional districts, the caucus says they’re turning on the bill due to “silence” on the court decision. The letter includes zero demands of lawmakers, nor does it request changes to the bill itself, instead directing its ire at leadership in the world of college athletics. “Too many leaders across college athletics have chosen silence,” reads the caucus’ announcement. So far, Tennessee has redistricted so as to disadvantage its sole Democrat representative, the Louisiana Legislature has advanced pro-Republican redistricting, and South Carolina will likely redraw its only Democrat district pending action from its governor and Legislature. These efforts threaten not only Democrat numbers in the House, but the power of the Congressional Black Caucus within the Democratic Party. The caucus adds that they have sent letters to the heads of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) “demanding immediate engagement and a public response regarding the ongoing assault on Black political representation.” Related PostsSouth Carolina Republicans Reject RedistrictingDespite being newly empowered by the Callais v. Louisiana Supreme Court ruling, South Carolina’s Republican-controlled Senate rejected moving ahead with a redistricting plan that would have likely unseated the state’s sole Democrat in Congress, Rep. Jim Clyburn. On Tuesday, the state Senate voted by a 29-17 margin to allow for the General Assembly to work on…Crabby Maryland Dem Governor Pushes for GerrymanderIncreasingly crabby over pro-Republican redistricting efforts throughout the South, Maryland Democrat Gov. Wes Moore says he has not given up on gerrymandering the state’s sole Republican out of office, despite having had difficulty convincing his Legislature to follow through. “We don’t have a choice but to act, particularly when we’re watching the greatest assault on…US Supreme Court Turns Down Virginia GerrymanderThe U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal from Virginia to honor gerrymandered districts that favor Democrats. This comes a week after the state’s high court issued a rebuke to the redistricting effort that would have created a map with a 10-1 party advantage. Democrats made an immediate appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. If the…