Ohio’s Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy selected Senate President Rob McColley as his pick for lieutenant governor in this year’s election, prompting approval from a number of state Republican and conservative leaders. Henry Gomez with NBC News first confirmed the pick on Tuesday night. He also referenced a Monday night column from McColley published in The Columbus Dispatch, “Vivek Ramaswamy loves America and Ohio. ‘Identity politics’ be damned.” NEW: Vivek Ramaswamy has picked Ohio Senate President Rob McColley as his running mate for lieutenant governor, his campaign confirms to NBC News.The new GOP ticket will make its debut Wednesday night in Cleveland.— Henry J. Gomez (@HenryJGomez) January 6, 2026 Ramaswamy will give a special address in Cleveland on Wednesday evening, and is expected to make the official announcement of McColley in front of supporters. Current and former Ohio state legislators and conservative leaders swiftly approved the selection of McColley, casting him as well-liked, an effective leader, and a conservative legislator especially on the issues of education and taxes. The president of the Ohio-based Center for Christian Virtue, Aaron Baer, celebrated the “OUT OF THE PARK PICK” on Tuesday night on X. LETS GO!! OUT OF THE PARK PICK. @VivekGRamaswamy has a bold vision for Ohio to vault us out from the middle of the pack and make us a LEADER in the nation. Rob is the right man to help make this happen. Here’s the man I’ve seen through the years at the statehouse? https://t.co/sUaNhR7yLY— Aaron Baer (@aarbaer) January 6, 2026 Baer shared the stage with McColley and The Daily Signal President Rob Bluey last October, at a summit in Columbus hosted by the Center for Christian Virtue. McColley and Bluey spoke with Baer and took questions on family policy and the government shutdown. Rob’s Christian faith is evident for all to see. He was one of the speakers at CCV’s Essential Summit this year, calling Christians to put their faith in action and stand for the family. pic.twitter.com/NVdjYr5yYL— Aaron Baer (@aarbaer) January 6, 2026 Several other Ohio political figures shared their excitement with The Daily Signal. “Senate President McColley is an incredible pick for Vivek as they work to build a state of excellence,” state Rep. Adam Mathews told The Daily Signal. “From tax cuts to regulation reform to affordability, these two have the bold vision and the practical skills to best lead Ohio.” State Rep. Gary Click also spoke highly of McColley to The Daily Signal. “Out of a crowd of super qualified candidates, Vivek made a strong pick for L.G.,” he shared. “Rob McColley makes a great ticket even greater. The first major choice a governor makes is who will be his running mate. Vivek nailed it and the future of Ohio grew just a little bit brighter tonight.” Click added that “McColley is a proven leader who we know will bring results because he already has a history of doing so.” Others initially speculated to be picks for lieutenant governor also celebrated the news on social media. I applaud @VivekGRamaswamy For his selection of @Rob_McColley for LG. They will make a great team and compliment each other in Ohio’s Executive Branch. The best is yet to come. ???https://t.co/w0ptrC1XA9— Rep Gary Click ?? ?? (@clickforohio) January 6, 2026 Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who is running for state auditor, called McColley a “conservative champion.” .@Rob_McColley is a conservative champion and a sharp policy mind. I’ve had the privilege of working with him in the state senate and now as Secretary of State, and I'm honored to call him a friend. @VivekGRamaswamy has laid out a series of bold and innovative ideas, and Rob has… pic.twitter.com/kp0OpCcSUJ— Frank LaRose (@FrankLaRose) January 7, 2026 State Sen. Kristina Roegner, who is running for treasurer, praised McColley as an “EXCELLENT choice.” Ohio Republican Party Chairman Alex Triantafilou, who will be among those present in Cleveland on Wednesday for the official announcement, released a statement praising McColley and referenced being “united,” a sentiment he’s stressed before regarding this race. He also highlighted Ramaswamy’s fundraising numbers, with the candidate raising nearly $20 million in 2025. pic.twitter.com/dVF6hv5QEE— Alex Triantafilou (@ChairmanAlex) January 6, 2026 Triantafilou referred to McColley as “a young yet highly seasoned legislator who knows how to get things done in Columbus.” McColley is 41 and has served time in both state legislative chambers since 2015. Sen. Jon Husted, a Republican who has served in U.S. Senate since last January, congratulated McColley on X on Tuesday night and referenced their “shared roots in northwest Ohio.”Husted previously served in many roles in Ohio state politics, including most recently as lieutenant governor. He is running for re-election this November, and appeared at an event with Ramaswamy in September where the two endorsed each other. As a former Lt. Governor, I want to extend my heartfelt congratulations to my friend @Rob_McColley on being selected as lieutenant governor nominee by Vivek Ramaswamy. Our shared roots in northwest Ohio make this moment even more special.As Lt. Governor, Rob has the opportunity…— Jon Husted (@JonHusted) January 7, 2026 Donovan O’Neil, the state director for Americans for Prosperity for Ohio, highlighted the selection as an “OUTSTANDING pick” and also referenced how McColley earned the organization’s Taxpayer Torch Award in 2019. The Cook Political Report has rated the gubernatorial race as “Likely Republican,” giving Ramaswamy a significant edge. Some polls have shown a potentially tightening race between Ramaswamy and Democratic candidate Amy Acton, however. On Wednesday morning, NBC reported that Acton picked David Pepper, a former Ohio Democratic Party chair, to be her running mate. Current Republican Gov. Mike DeWine has already served for two terms and cannot run for a third consecutive term, according to state law. He endorsed Ramaswamy for governor on Wednesday. My statement endorsing Vivek Ramaswamy for Governor and Rob McColley for Lieutenant Governor: pic.twitter.com/f3Db1FRtYZ— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) January 7, 2026 The post Vivek Ramaswamy Has Selected His Running Mate appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Abukar Dahir Osman, Somalia’s permanent ambassador to the United Nations and current president of the U.N. Security Council, has a role in a Cincinnati health care company which faced federal scrutiny over a Medicaid fraud conviction, HHS confirmed Monday.  “I can confirm public speculation that Ambassador Abukar Dahir Osman, Permanent Representative of Somalia to the UN and President of the Security Council, is in fact associated with Progressive Health Care Services, a home health agency in Cincinnati,” HHS Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill posted on X. “HHS has previously taken action against Progressive in response to a conviction for Medicaid fraud.” “More to come,” O’Neill added. I can confirm public speculation that Ambassador Abukar Dahir Osman, Permanent Representative of Somalia to the UN and President of the Security Council, is in fact associated with Progressive Health Care Services, a home health agency in Cincinnati. HHS has previously taken… pic.twitter.com/zWIlC63Qer— Deputy Secretary Jim O'Neill (@HHS_Jim) January 5, 2026 HHS’ National Provider Identifier system lists “Abukar D. Osman” as “president & CEO” of Progressive Health Care Services Inc., located on Boudinot Avenue in Cincinnati. The company did not respond to calls from The Daily Signal to the number listed on the registry. HHS declined to provide further information on the alleged Medicaid fraud connection. “By statute we cannot confirm or deny the existence of an investigation,” Bethany McCorkle, communications director for Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, told The Daily Signal Tuesday. Scrutiny for Somali Community The U.S. Somali community is facing renewed scrutiny in the wake of multiple fraud scandals in Minnesota. The Minneapolis nonprofit Feeding Our Future reported fake food distribution sites while collecting federal child nutrition assistance in a $250 million fraud scheme. The office of U.S. Attorney Daniel N. Rosen has charged at least 78 defendants connected to the scheme, and 56 of them have pleaded guilty. Authorities have also filed charges in a $14 million fraud case involving an autism program and a multi-million dollar fraud case involving housing stabilization services. One federal prosecutor has estimated Medicaid fraud in the state to have exceeded $9 billion. According to the Associated Press, around 89% of the defendants in the wide-ranging fraud cases trace their descent to Somali immigrants. Minnesota state Rep. Kristen Robbins, a Republican, previously told The Daily Signal that while Somalis make up a majority of defendants in the cases, “some of the best whistleblowers have come from the Somali community.” Somali refugees come to the U.S. to escape the civil war in their homeland, which has dragged on for more than 30 years. Piracy, grinding poverty, and the influence of radical Islamist groups like Al-Shabaab continue to trouble the East African country. Somalia at the U.N. The U.N. General Assembly elected Somalia to join the Security Council for a two-year term as a non-permanent member in June 2024. Osman, as the Somali representative on the Security Council, manages the council’s schedule and presides over its meetings as president for January 2026. The Daily Signal reached out to the Permanent Mission of the Somali Republic to the United Nations for comment and did not receive a response by publication time. The United Nations declined to comment for the story. The post Somalia’s UN Ambassador Associated With Fraud-Connected Ohio Health Company, HHS Confirms appeared first on The Daily Signal.

The pro-life movement is rejecting President Donald Trump’s admonition to be “a little bit flexible” on the Hyde Amendment, a policy which prohibits taxpayer-funded abortion. “You’ve got to be a little bit flexible on Hyde,” Trump told House Republicans at their Members Retreat Tuesday. "You've got to be a little flexible on Hyde," Trump told House Republicans, many of whom have been fighting to ensure the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits taxpayer funding for abortion, makes it in the healthcare deal.— Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell (@TheElizMitchell) January 6, 2026 The Hyde Amendment is federal policy, and Congress has enacted it each year since 1976 as part of appropriations legislation. Obamacare is currently exempted from the Hyde Amendment. Many Republicans in Congress have said they will not support a health care deal without the policy in place to prevent federal subsidies from funding abortion coverage in health plans. “To suggest Republicans should be ‘flexible’ is an abandonment of this decades-long commitment,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of leading pro-life group, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. “If Republicans abandon Hyde, they are sure to lose this November.” “The pro-life movement has been very clear: No Hyde, no deal,” she added. Family Research Council President Tony Perkins said there is no room for flexibility on the Hyde Amendment. “Abortion and gender experimentation are not health care,” he said. “The only flexibility needed is for the government to allow taxpayers to get out of the abortion and gender mutilation business.” Trump had previously told The Daily Signal that abortion funding was a “factor” in the decision on whether or not to extend subsidies in the Affordable Care Act. Congress ultimately let the subsidies expire on Dec. 31. “We’re going to look into it,” Trump said Dec. 19. “We’re going to look into a lot of things. That’s one of many factors.” Every year Democrats have voted for appropriations bills that include the Hyde Amendment. Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Ala, said the “Hyde Amendment has saved over 2.6 million innocent lives.” “My commitment to these protections is unchanging,” he said. President of the March for Life, Jennie Bradley Lichter, said on X that Hyde is “pro-life 101, a longstanding baseline that saves lives and is widely supported by Americans.” “Jettisoning Hyde and forcing Americans to pay for abortions with their taxpayer dollars is bad policy and bad politics,” she said. “Life is not something we will ever be ‘flexible’ about!” Students for Life President Kristan Hawkins said on X. Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., said he is not flexible on Hyde, and needs more details about what the president meant in his Tuesday remarks. ‘I’m not flexible on the value of every child’s life,” he told Politico. “Children are valuable, and so I’d have to get up to the context of what he meant by that.” Ryan Anderson, president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, said forcing taxpayers to fund abortion is “unjust.” “It is also politically unpopular,” he said. “Congressional Republicans should hold the line on Hyde.” The American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists said the Hyde Amendment is a non-negotiatable. “Induced abortion is not healthcare, and Hyde ensures Americans aren’t forced to fund it, especially when millions oppose doing so,” the organization said on X. “Hyde must be protected and investments made in real healthcare for women and the pre-born.”Dannenfelser on Wednesday warned that defying the pro-life movement would alienate “prolife canvasser motivation, base voters, causal and persuadable prolife voters” in the upcoming midterm elections.“Throw in failing to get abortion pills out of the mail and the resulting death and harm to women and children and killing of state law sovereignty, and get ready to lose GOP,” Dannenfelser said on X. The post Pro-Life Leaders Push Back on Trump’s Advice to Be ‘Flexible’ on Abortion Funding appeared first on The Daily Signal.

FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—The Republican Study Committee released a comprehensive blueprint Wednesday for how the 189-member conservative caucus plans to enact President Donald Trump’s agenda while balancing the federal budget within 10 years. “It is our fiscal responsibility to not only deliver a balanced budget, but get the federal government out of the way to strengthen the economy so families, small businesses, seniors, and farmers can thrive,” Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas, told The Daily Signal. In keeping with decades of tradition, the RSC offered its budget proposal early in the year to provide a roadmap for Congress. The plan includes proposals for codifying Trump’s birthright citizenship order, defunding sanctuary cities, and eliminating wasteful spending on NPR, PBS, and DEI programs. Despite years of profligate spending during the Biden administration, the proposal manages to cut enough federal largesse to balance the budget in a decade—a long-stated goal of conservatives. In keeping with Trump’s promise, it does not raise the Social Security retirement age or cut benefits. “The RSC budget reins in Washington’s out-of-control spending and eliminates waste, fraud, and abuse across all levels of the federal government,” said Van Duyne, who chairs the RSC’s Budget and Spending Task Force. “We are returning to pre-pandemic levels of spending, advancing pro-growth tax policies, slashing regulatory burdens, and unleashing American energy.” Budget Blueprint The RSC is the House GOP’s largest caucus, and each year since 1995 it has released its own budget blueprint. This year, it was Van Duyne’s responsibility to collaborate with dozens of other RSC members to prepare the 115-page proposal (see the full document below). The budget arrives as Republicans saw their margin of control in the U.S. House shrink from 220 to 218 with the death of Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif., and resignation of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. Democrats control 213 seats; there are four vacancies. Republicans gathered in Washington, D.C., Tuesday to hear from Trump and plot their agenda for 2026. They’ve faced fervent opposition from congressional Democrats, leading to the longest government shutdown in history and setting up another showdown over government spending this month. Despite those challenges, the RSC helped deliver the votes for the historic reconciliation legislation passed in 2025 that delivered $1.9 trillion in spending reductions and tax relief for American families. The caucus now hopes to build on that success with its latest proposal. “At its core, the RSC budget is a fundamental rejection of the excessive government spending and regulatory overreach that characterized the Biden Administration’s approach to government,” reads the budget’s introduction. Immigration and Border Security The RSC Budget strongly backs Trump’s border security initiatives, which have driven illegal border crossings to new lows. Under the Biden administration, approximately 10,000 unvetted migrants entered the U.S. illegally every day at the southern border. That number dropped to an average of less than 150 per day in 2025. The proposal funds border wall construction with multiple barrier systems, deploying advanced detection technologies, and substantially expanding the Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement through hiring bonuses and retention incentives. Other immigration-related provision include codifying Trump’s birthright citizenship executive order, defunding sanctuary cities that refuse to cooperate with ICE, expanding interior enforcement and deportations, providing federal grants to border communities, and establishing a State Border Security Reinforcement Fund to offset costs related to illegal immigration. The RSC also lists 25 bill and policies its members support, including the Laken Riley Act, which was introduced by RSC member Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., and became law in January 2025. It requires ICE to detain illegal immigrants who commit theft-related crimes. Wasteful Spending The proposal takes aim at what conservatives often consider unnecessary government expenditures. The RSC budget eliminates all federal funding for National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service. It repeals statutory authorizations for every diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) program and office across the federal government, building on Trump’s executive actions to end what the budget calls “radical and wasteful government DEI programs.” The budget eliminates RAISE Grants (formerly TIGER Grants from the Obama era), the Thriving Communities Initiative stemming from Biden’s Justice40 initiative, and federal funding for high-speed rail projects like California’s troubled high-speed rail system. The proposal eliminates the Interagency Council on Homelessness and reduces funding for the Community Development Block Grant program and rental assistance programs, restructuring them into state formula grants with work requirements for able-bodied adults. Entitlement Reforms The budget includes proposals to curtail the ever-increasing spending on entitlement programs, such as undoing Affordable Care Act (ACA) provisions, which lead to the federal government’s spending more on able-bodied Medicaid recipients than on the original population Medicaid was designed for. Additionally, the budget proposes cost-saving reforms to the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), such as more strictly enforcing work requirements in the program that are often circumvented and ignored by states. The budget’s section on Medicare proposes eliminating wasteful spending by cracking down on up-coding, a process by which private providers inflate diagnoses and exaggerate patients’ health risks in order to extract more funding from the federal government. The budget also calls for completely eliminating the estate tax, commonly called the “death tax,” which the RSC argues particularly harms family farms and small businesses. National Security The RSC proposes a balancing act when it comes to defense spending—dramatically expanding America’s capabilities while cutting out anything deemed redundant. “Every dollar allocated to national defense must be utilized strategically to ensure resources directly support our defense capabilities and mission readiness rather than expanding administrative overhead,” reads the budget proposal. Specifically, the RSC proposes eliminating programs that duplicate work already conducted in other federal agencies. For example, the RSC suggests moving “the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program” to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), arguing that the department already performs research of this kind. Drill, Baby, Drill RSC Chairman August Pfluger and budget chief Van Duyne are both Texans, and that shows in their budget’s emphasis on increased energy access as an economic boost. “The Biden administration was asleep at the wheel as their policies reduced wages, raised prices, and distorted market signals,” reads the section on “Unleashing American Energy.” The energy section takes a more celebratory tone, highlighting how the July budget reconciliation bill undid many of the anti-fossil fuel regulations and green energy subsidies established by former President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. After applauding Trump’s executive orders to allow for increased drilling, the budget calls for further deregulation to speed up the industry. “Our allies abroad are waiting for the United States to unleash American energy production,” reads the budget. “The RSC Budget supports policies that decrease the capital costs of producing energy on federal lands, rather than disincentivize energy producers.” RSC 2026 BUDGETDownload The post EXCLUSIVE: Conservative Lawmakers Unveil Blueprint to Balance Budget, Execute Trump Agenda appeared first on The Daily Signal.

The Department of Justice notified New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani that anti-white discrimination would not be tolerated, following publication of past controversial statements by his top housing aide. Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon announced Tuesday that she was putting New York officials “on notice” about attempts to racially discriminate or deprive citizens of their rights. “New York: Consider this your official notice from @TheJusticeDept,” Dhillon wrote on X. “We will NOT tolerate discrimination based on skin color. It is ILLEGAL. @CivilRights is paying very close attention. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” New York: Consider this your official notice from @TheJusticeDept. We will NOT tolerate discrimination based on skin color. It is ILLEGAL. @CivilRights is paying very close attention. Thank you for your attention to this matter! pic.twitter.com/4kj7Hkwfps— AAGHarmeetDhillon (@AAGDhillon) January 6, 2026 Dhillon made this announcement after an old video of the socialist mayor’s new tenant director, Cea Weaver, surfaced on social media. In the video, Weaver said not only that property should be treated as a “collective good,” but that this would mean that “especially white families” would be affected. “We’ve really treated property as an individualized good and not a collective good.”In resurfaced videos, Cea Weaver, a cabinet member of mayor Mamdani’s admin, says it is her goal to end private property ownership & that whites will deal with the impact.pic.twitter.com/ZfXLSblzyU— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) January 5, 2026 Weaver had also made several posts on X, now deleted, comparing home ownership to “white supremacy” and calling for the election of more communists. “There is no such thing as a ‘good’ gentrifier, only people who are actively working on projects to dismantle white supremacy and capitalism and people who aren’t,” she posted in July 2018 according to the New York Post. Months later she wrote, according to the Post, “Impoverish the *white* middle class. Homeownership is racist/failed public policy.” She later issued a statement through Mamdani’s press office calling past statements “regretful.” “Regretful comments from years ago do not change what has always been clear — my commitment to making housing affordable and equitable for New York’s renters,” Weaver wrote. In addition, Mamdani said at a news conference Tuesday that he’s sticking with his new cabinet official. “We made the decision to have Cea Weaver serve as our executive director for the mayor’s office to protect tenants, to build on the work that she has done to protect tenants across the city, and we were already seeing the results of that work,” he said. Dhillon said in an interview on the One America News Network that “just because you’re white doesn’t mean you have fewer rights in this country. We all have equal rights in our country, and we will not stand for New York City violating any federal law whatsoever.” The assistant attorney general vowed to “swoop right in and do what’s necessary to protect all citizens and taxpayers and residents in New York who are there legally.” The post Trump Admin Warns Mamdani Against Anti-White Discrimination appeared first on The Daily Signal.