The House Freedom Caucus renewed a push to enshrine President Donald Trump’s border directives into federal law after Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., allegedly promised the chamber’s more conservative members that he would bring the border bills up for a vote in exchange for their votes on certain legislation, a source familiar with the matter told the Daily Signal. Johnson’s office did not respond to the Daily Signal’s request for comment. If enacted, the bill, H.R.9199, the Permanent Trump Secure Border Act, would “secure the borders of the United States” through strict immigration reforms, the implementation of immigration parole enforcement, visa overstay penalties, enhanced migrant vetting, ongoing wall construction, tactical surveillance and infrastructure implementation, border security investments, asylum status reforms, and mandatory reporting on foreign drug cartels. Throughout his second term, Trump signed several executive orders that demanded the immediate shutdown of the southern border. While those orders have been put into effect by other federal agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security, conservatives fear they will be undone under Democrat-led administrations. “The democratic socialists want to turn America into a sanctuary for illegal aliens. We can’t let them,” Freedom Caucus Chairman Rep. Andy Harris told the Daily Signal.“President Trump delivered on his promise to close the southern border with executive action. Now we need to codify President Trump’s border policies into law so no future radical administration, like another Biden administration, can erase our border security with a single pen stroke,” Harris added. “Time is running out to save America from the democratic socialists. Let’s get this done now.”  Similarly, Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, who introduced the legislation in question in 2025, told the Daily Signal, “Trump successfully halted the Democrats’ premeditated border invasion, but we risk losing this progress if we fail to codify his agenda into law.” The representative made the argument that “America’s borders should not be dependent on which political party is in power.” Rep. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., who echoed his colleagues’ remarks, told the Daily Signal that if Democrats retake the White House, “they could unravel these effective deterrents with the stroke of a pen.” “Given that they unleashed a crisis on our nation for four years and have gone to great lengths to oppose voter ID, they will undoubtedly attempt to launch another invasion,” Crane added. Partisan Battle to Codify Despite having the majority of the chamber and championing conservative policy and strong border rule, Republicans have not been able to pass major border security and illegal immigration reform legislation since the passage of the Laken Riley Act in the spring of 2025. Conservatives in Congress believe the priorities of the House and Senate leadership have gotten in the way of passing popular legislation, such as H.R.2 in the House and the SAVE America Act in the Senate. In statements made to the Daily Signal, members of the caucus accused congressional leadership of running a messaging campaign in favor of border security and voter integrity rather than taking legislative action. “We already have sound legislation on the table in H.R.2. This bill would prevent any future administration from flooding our communities with criminal aliens, narcotics, and human trafficking,” Crane told the Daily Signal. “It’s imperative that we prioritize passing it through both chambers.”  Roy echoed those remarks and added in his statement to the Daily Signal that “if Congress believes in national sovereignty and the rule of law, it must codify President Trump’s border policies into permanent law.” “Border security is too important to be undone whenever Democrats take back power,” Roy said. “It’s time for Congress to stop talking and start acting.” 

Even Amy Acton, the Democrat nominee for Ohio’s governor, acknowledges that protecting women from having to compete against men is “settled law” in the state. In doing so, she’s irked progressives. Her comments appeared in a June 30 article from The Toledo Blade, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states are allowed to protect women’s sports. Although the cases, Little v. Hecox and West Virginia v. B.P.J., came out of Idaho and West Virginia, they upheld state laws in several states, including Ohio. “I do not support boys playing in girls sports. This is already settled law in Ohio, and as governor I will enforce and uphold the law,” Acton said. Those comments have gained attention in recent days. Last Wednesday, the Ohio Democrats Progressive Caucus called out Acton. Their statement offered that Democrats win when they “unapologetically defend victims of MAGA fearmongering” and “Make clear their plan to improve the material conditions of everyday Ohioans.” Allowing males to compete in female sports has resulted in over 600 females losing 890 medals to males, according to a report from the United Nations released in 2024. Female athletes have also been injured when forced to compete against males. Acton’s comments also addressed how she “will always stand up for fairness and protect kids’ health and safety.” She further expressed commitment to working on priorities such as “lowering costs.” The caucus addressed concerns about costs as well. “ZERO Ohioans have become better able to buy groceries by keeping child sport players away from their favorite sport. Our hearts break for those kids. Those who disagree with that will never vote – let alone doorknock – for Amy Acton,” the statement read. Nevertheless, the statement expressed a desire to work with Acton. “Despite our disagreement on this issue, we remain ready to work with her to achieve our shared goals to improve life in Ohio.” “Currently her inner circle does not include a voice representing the newest and largest constituency caucus in Ohio. We believe she will be best equipped to win in November by having a FULL picture of what her constituents want. We hope she will allow us to provide our missing piece of that picture as she goes forward,” the statement concluded. The Ohio Democrats Progressive Caucus is unhappy with Amy Acton over a statement she recently saying she does not support "boys playing in girls sports," and calling the issue settled law in Ohio.The group says that statement will cost her votes and volunteers. pic.twitter.com/FO93B0WN09— Andrew Tobias (@AndrewJTobias) July 9, 2026 The statement from the Ohio Democratic Progressive Caucus does not actually show up on its Facebook page. As Signal Ohio’s Andrew Tobias pointed out on X, the statement appears to have been taken down. The Daily Signal reached out to the caucus for comment but did not hear back. Since I got a question about this: The Ohio Democrats Progressive Caucus appears to have taken down the Facebook post not long after I posted about it.— Andrew Tobias (@AndrewJTobias) July 9, 2026 The Buckeye Flame last week also published a headline declaring “Dr. Amy Acton betrays Ohio’s trans community and yet again forces us into the ‘lesser of two evils’ debate.” On Monday, NBC4 covered progressives’ frustrations, including a statement from Maria Bruno, executive director for Ohioans Against Extremism. “It’s frustrating to see an otherwise strong candidate take the bait by trying to triangulate a response rather than just being frank: can we please just leave trans kids alone and get back (to) talking about how we can make life more affordable for Ohioans?” Bruno said. Acton again expressed a desire to focus on lowering costs. “We are in the middle of political season, and one of the hallmarks of political season is pitting us against one another and intentionally creating fear and chaos for people who are already dealing with a lot, and I think that’s a crime,” she said last Wednesday. “Nonetheless, this is settled law in Ohio as well as now the Supreme Court, and what I am hearing from Ohioans is they want me to focus on lowering costs in this state.” Bruno is further quoted as saying that “Democrats don’t have to play along” with such rhetoric. HB 68, which went into effect in 2024 after the state legislature overrode a December 2023 veto from Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, includes protections for minors against transgender procedures and prevents males from competing against females in sports. Dave Yost, Ohio’s former attorney general and current vice president of strategic research and innovation for Alliance Defending Freedom, spoke to the Daily Signal last week about the court cases, celebrating how “the Supreme Court legalized biology.” Yost also pointed out during that conversation that liberal groups in Ohio, such as the American Civil Liberties Union, are trying to argue the issue based on a state constitutional provision passed in 2011, the Health Care Freedom amendment. The Daily Signal reached out to the Acton campaign for comment but did not hear back.

Just months after courting moderates, California Gov. Gavin Newsom is defending closer ties with the Democratic Socialists of America, even after a leaked video showed a member of the group calling for America’s takedown. “The most important thing that we can do is take that empire down from within,” the DSA member said. DSA Members: "The most important thing we can do is take America down from within" pic.twitter.com/phicruCxKe— DSA Watch (@DSA_Watch) July 8, 2026 Newsom, speaking at a press conference last week, said he is “for addition, not subtraction” when asked about working with the Democratic Socialists of America on issues including free community college, higher minimum wages, subsidized child care, and lowering carbon emissions. Newsom’s comments drew criticism from conservatives, who argue that socialist ideology extends far beyond mainstream Democratic Party politics.  According to the Democratic Socialists of America website, the group is the largest socialist organization in the United States, with more than 90,000 members nationwide. When asked whether he would support one of their candidates, Newsom said he is open to working with the organization. “As I have said, I’m for addition, in the spirit of academia, not for subtraction. I think … parties are better off when they have some grace and humility. There are fundamental shared values that unite us together.” The governor added, “We have to take back the House of Representatives or we’re going to lose this republic.” Newsom’s comments represent a shift in tone from last year, when he sought to cultivate a moderate image through interviews with conservative commentators such as Charlie Kirk and Steve Bannon.  Gavin Newsom is completely pathetic!He’s a complete puppet of his party, now embracing the socialist wing of the party especially after imposing socialist policies on all of California.We need fewer taxes and regulations, not more! pic.twitter.com/rSGjCXyglW— Steve Hilton (@SteveHiltonx) July 11, 2026 Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton called Newsom’s comments “completely pathetic.” “Newsom is a follower, not a leader. He doesn’t believe in anything other than his own political ambition,” Hilton said. Whether Newsom’s stance expands the Democratic Party’s coalition or alienates moderate voters is likely to become a key question as candidates position themselves ahead of the midterm election and beyond.

On Thursday night, President Donald Trump will reveal newly declassified intelligence reports that claim foreign countries interfered in the 2020 presidential election, MS Now first reported. https://t.co/4LOhtHYsg6— Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell (@TheElizMitchell) July 13, 2026 CIA Director John Ratcliffe, acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte, FBI Director Kash Patel, and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin will join the president for the address, according to MS Now. Trump posted on Truth Social that he would be “making a speech to the nation on Thursday evening, at 9 p.m. Eastern.” The president has long said that he believes the 2020 election, which he lost to Joe Biden, was rigged. Some supporters say this belief is responsible for his commitment to passing the SAVE America Act, proposed federal legislation that would require voters to provide proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in elections. “President Trump had an election stolen from him in 2020—FULL STOP,” former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon previously told the Daily Signal. “It’s seared into his soul that elections will continue to be stolen until we pass SAVE America.”

The Trump administration continues to quietly unwind the noxious, and in many cases illegal DEI-centric policies of the Great Awokening. A recently released report unveiled by the Washington Free Beacon found that National Science Foundation grants containing “DEI language” have not only dipped from the highs of the previous administration, but they’ve also plummeted to levels not seen in decades. “The data, compiled by DeepAudit, a nonprofit specializing in AI-assisted research, shows that the percentage of awards with DEI terms is at its lowest point since 2001,” Aaron Sibarium at the Free Beacon wrote on Wednesday. The National Science Foundation is responsible for about a quarter of all federal dollars that go to colleges and universities. So, these grants represent a considerable amount of money. The Free Beacon noted that the agency’s mission is to “promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; and to secure the national defense; and for other purposes.”” Unfortunately, that last, “other” category became all-consuming and the National Science Foundation was converted into an engine of wokeness. The Free Beacon noted that in 2021 under President Joe Biden it awarded “$3.4 billion in grants that contained at least one of the following terms: ‘equity,’ ‘diversity,’ ‘inclusion,’ ‘gender,’ ‘marginalize,’ ‘underrepresented,’ or ‘disparity.’” In 2025 programs with that terminology received only “$400 million, an 88-percent decrease.” That’s not all. The decline isn’t just wiping out the upsurge in DEI-focused grants under Biden. It shows that there has been a reversal in the larger trend that made DEI nearly the central focus of government policy. “DeepAudit used AI to analyze the abstracts of successful NSF grant applications from 1990 to 2025,” Free beacon reported. “It found that the prevalence of DEI terminology had fallen across all grant categories, including education and human resources, areas where the language was pervasive. In fact, over 50 percent of awards dispersed in those areas between 2018 and 2024 included DEI language.” The DeepAudit director of technology Leif Rasmussen acknowledged that it’s possible that many of these grant projects may have dodged government rules on DEI by changing their terminology. Undoubtedly, at least some of that is going on. DEI remains unquestioned dogma throughout higher education and in many elite institutions. They won’t drop it without a struggle. However, it also seems unlikely that this huge dropoff is merely due to changing terminology. The Trump administration has made eliminating DEI and keeping better tabs on federal money a focus across many different agencies. That represents a monumental shift in this country. To be blunt, leftist nonsense that once got an unwitting blank check from the American people is now being scrutinized and eliminated like never before. It’s easy to see why Democrats and all manner of left-leaning groups are panicking about the changes. The self-reinforcing gravy train is over. Since the early 2000s, wokeness and DEI became the language of the West’s ruling elites. In many cases, so-called diversity initiatives became the justification for the existence of a mushrooming number of destructive programs. A massive, all-consuming industry had been created to reinforce a particular brand of leftwing ideology and pay the salaries of our new, noxious pseudo elite. The basic formula for how to remain on the dole was simple: create something useless, slap a buzzword like “marginalized” and “underrepresentation” to it and voila, you’d get federal money for whatever nonsense you were “working” on. It particularly helped to be among the categories of the oppressed. Not only did this system become self-reinforcing, but it also pushed out any kind of dissent or work that didn’t intersect with its prerogatives. That’s what makes it so insidious as ideological commitments are merged with financial incentives. Much like under communism, effort and dynamism have been crushed in the name of political correctness. That’s why what the Trump administration is doing is so important in the National Science Foundation and elsewhere. Yes, there has been a national “vibe shift” as Americans finally rebelled against the absurdity of DEI. Putting President Donald Trump back in the White House was as clear a sign as any that the country had had enough. But unlike the last time around, the Trump administration is truly sucking the air out of the balloon. No longer will success be tied to ideological, racial, and gender box checking. By pulling monetary support from and putting legal pressure on institutions that discriminate based on race and identity, the administration is creating a larger and hopefully more enduring counterrevolution that will lead America back on the path toward merit, fairness, and equality before the law.