President Donald Trump has his eyes set on Greenland and may tariff countries opposed to the US acquisition of the island. But Congress is skeptical of Trump’s designs for the Denmark-owned island. On Friday, Trump said at a White House event that he “may put a tariff on countries if they don’t go along with Greenland, because we need Greenland for national security.” After leaders from Greenland and Denmark visited Capitol Hill Thursday, Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., is leading a bipartisan weekend trip to Denmark. The urgency of the trip was spurred on by Trump’s insistence that the United States should be in control of Greenland, a semi-autonomous facet of the Danish Kingdom. The Congressional delegation has attracted high-ranking members of the Senate, including Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill. Durbin criticized Trump’s pressure campaign against Denmark on X: “President Trump’s continued threats toward Greenland are unnecessary and would only weaken our NATO alliance.” I am traveling to Denmark tonight as part of a bipartisan, bicameral congressional delegation. Denmark is a strong partner of the United States and this bipartisan CODEL reiterates that the United States Congress stands firm in our partnership, despite the President’s unnecessary…— Senator Dick Durbin (@SenatorDurbin) January 16, 2026 “[The] United States Congress stands firm in our partnership, despite the President’s advances,” Durbin continued.  Coons and Durbin will be joined by Democrat Sens. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Peter Welch of Vermont, and Democrat Reps. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, Gregory Meeks of New York, Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania, Sara Jacobs of California, and Sarah McBride of Delaware. Republicans on the trip include Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Thom Tillis, R-N.C.  Trump previously shared in a truth social post Wednesday that “the United States needs Greenland for the purpose of National Security.” Acquiring the territory from Denmark, the president claims, will increase NATO’s effectiveness in the region.   Denmark announced it was increasing military presence in Greenland this week. NATO allies in Europe followed suit. France, Germany, the U.K., Norway, Sweden, and the Netherlands have sent troops or promised to deploy them soon.   The bipartisan bicameral delegation is taking the weekend trip to “highlight more than 200 years of friendship between the United States and the Kingdom of Denmark, including enduring national security ties and decades of economic cooperation,” as Coons described in a press release.   Is the United States about to invade Greenland? If you listen to EU politicians and much of the U.S. legacy media, and actually take them seriously, then you might answer “yes.” @JarrettStepman https://t.co/arS9qEXRkQ pic.twitter.com/CfdtNLrOfH— The Daily Signal (@DailySignal) January 12, 2026 According to Durbin the Congressional Delegation has planned to meet with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, an array of ministers, and attend a Parliamentarian Engagement at Christiansborg Palace with lawmakers from Denmark and Greenland. The goals of these meetings are to “deepen this partnership in line with our shared principles of sovereignty and self-determination, and in the face of growing challenges around the world, especially bolstering Arctic security and promoting stronger trade relations between the two countries,” said Durbin.   The post Trump Floats Tariff for Countries Against US Acquisition of Greenland as Congressional Delegation Travels to Denmark appeared first on The Daily Signal.

REUTERS–The U.S. Justice Department is investigating Minnesota officials including Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey over an alleged conspiracy to impede immigration agents, a source familiar with the probe said on Friday. The investigation, first reported by CBS News, stems from previous statements made by Walz and Frey about the thousands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and Border Patrol agents deployed to the Minneapolis region in recent weeks. Walz, reacting on social media to news of the investigation, said the justice system was being weaponized. “Two days ago it was Elissa Slotkin. Last week it was Jerome Powell. Before that, Mark Kelly. Weaponizing the justice system against your opponents is an authoritarian tactic,” he said. The Justice Department declined to comment. The Trump administration has sent nearly 3,000 federal agents to Minnesota. Originally published by Reuters The post US Justice Department probing Minnesota Governor Walz, other officials, source says appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Congress created Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to briefly assist those in need. Shakespeare warned, “Ingratitude is monstrous; and for the multitude to be ingrateful, were to make a monster of the multitude.” In the case of TPS, “multitude” is correct. As of January 2025, approximately 1.4 million foreign nationals in the United States were shielded from removal under the program.  The Trump administration decided to terminate TPS for several countries, with Somalia as the most recent. That choice is the right step in a long-overdue course correction for an immigration program that previous administrations exploited far past its statutory purpose.  Somalia was first designated for TPS in 1991, following political turmoil and the outbreak of civil war. At the time, granting temporary protection to Somali nationals already present in the United States was an act of kindness.  Over three decades later, Somalis remained dependent on the charity extended to them by the United States and distorted the TPS program beyond recognition from its original legislative intent.   Past Administrations Haven’t Followed the Law  Temporary Protected Status is governed by Section 244 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, codified at 8 U.S.C. § 1254a. According to federal law, TPS may be granted only when extraordinary and temporary conditions prevent safe return to a designated country. It applies only to individuals physically present in the United States at the time of designation. Foreigners who arrive after the fact are ineligible.   TPS is not an open-ended invitation or a pathway to citizenship.   Yet over time, administrations treated TPS as anything but temporary. Excluding the first Trump administration, nearly every president extended or unlawfully redesignated TPS as a knee-jerk reaction, willfully pushing the program past its expiration date rather than enforcing the law.   Congress imposed a mandatory review at 18 months precisely to prevent this outcome. And yet, as the deadline approached, bureaucratic habit won repeatedly, turning 18 months into 35 years in the case of Somalia.   Section 244 does not authorize redesignation. It only permits designation, extension, and termination. The executive branch has not authority to cite the same emergency decades later to grant work authorization and removal protection to individuals who were not present in the United States when the original designation was made. That practice has no basis in statute and undermines our immigration system.  The Case of the Minneapolis Somalis  The consequences are rampant throughout the nation. Minneapolis is home to the largest Somali community in the world outside Somalia. In Minnesota, federal investigators have alleged that around $9 billion in Medicaid claims since 2018 may be fraudulent, potentially marking the largest scam in U.S. history.   Many of the defendants charged in those cases are of Somali descent and several have pled guilty in court. Not all TPS recipients participate in criminal conduct, but Minneapolis serves as a case study on how abuse of immigration programs causes widespread reliance on the public benefit system created to serve Americans, not foreigners.   The costs are not always overt such as fraud; they also take hidden tolls. Minnesota’s English learner education funding doubled from $5.3 million in 2003 to $10.8 million in 2023, with Somali being the most popular first language in several schools besides Spanish.   Long-running TPS designations create economic strains on health care, education, and other social services that were never intended to be permanent obligations.   It is no longer solely about a group of people who were offered brief protection in the ‘90s. According to the Department of Homeland Security, roughly 2,500 Somali nationals with TPS or pending applications will be affected by the termination. Those figures do not account for children and grandchildren born during the program’s 35-year existence at the taxpayer’s expense. The beneficiaries should have departed the country in the 1990s if perpetual redesignations had not occurred.   Cleaning Up the Biden Abuse of TPS  The Trump administration is trying to clean up the mess inherited by Kamala Harris’s open borders and immigration failures. The Biden administration deliberately expanded TPS, contrary to American security interests and granted TPS to over 1.4 million aliens by January 2025.  President Joe Biden even urged Congress to pass legislation allowing TPS recipients to apply for green cards, highlighting how the administration viewed TPS as amnesty despite the law saying otherwise.   Former Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, extended and redesignated Somalia for TPS through March 2026, allowing new applicants and issuing automatic employment authorization extensions.  The massive expansion did not end with Somalia. TPS enrollment nearly quadrupled under the Biden administration, driven largely by new designations for Venezuela in 2021 and 2023. As of January 2025, more than 614,000 Venezuelans were protected under TPS, making up around half of all beneficiaries. A House report found that 95% were not admitted on visas and entered either illegally or through humanitarian parole—which is not a formal admission into the United States according to federal law.  The Supreme Court reiterated that truth in Sanchez v. Mayorkas in 2021, holding that TPS does not constitute an admission to the United States and does not translate into a pathway for lawful permanent residence. Any attempt to treat TPS otherwise reflects executive ignorance of both the legislative and judicial branch.   Making Temporary Mean Temporary Again  Ending TPS for Somalia means that “temporary” will once again mean temporary. It also emphasizes that the United States will not reward aliens who try to override our laws.   Congress is also responsible for allowing TPS to be manipulated. Lawmakers created the program and failed to enforce its limits. Congress should codify clear protections for Americans, including restricting eligibility to aliens present at the time of the triggering event, outlawing redesignation, capping active TPS periods at 18 months in absence of extraordinary justification, and requiring recipients to seek other immigration benefits if eligible or depart within one month of TPS termination.   Generosity is ruined by entitlement and mercy without limits enables a monster. TPS was meant to reflect American compassion without sacrificing the rule of law or public safety.  The post Somalia’s ‘Temporary’ Protection Lasted 35 Years appeared first on The Daily Signal.

A group of bi-partisan legislators are expressing their support for aggressive action against Iran as President Donald Trump and his administration consider military action. The group of nearly 60 lawmakers, led by Rep. Randy Weber, R-Texas, sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio this week, to “express our deep concern regarding the Iranian regime’s ongoing violent suppression of protests across Iran” and “urge the Department of State to continue publicly condemning the Iranian regime’s violent repression of protesters.” Webber wrote about the effort on X. “This week, I led 59 Members in urging [Rubio] to keep the pressure on the Iranian regime,” Weber said. “When they beat protesters, target hospitals, and silence dissent, the free world must speak loud and clear. The United States MUST continue condemning these abuses and stand with the Iranian people as they demand the right to determine their own future.” This week, I led 59 Members in urging @SecRubio to keep the pressure on the Iranian regime.When they beat protesters, target hospitals, and silence dissent, the free world must speak loud and clear.The United States MUST continue condemning these abuses and stand with the… pic.twitter.com/ncVUpPYLvV— Randy Weber (@TXRandy14) January 15, 2026 The lawmakers claim that the protests scattered across Iran make “clear their demand for a secular, democratic, non-nuclear republic grounded in political pluralism and respect for human dignity.” “Protesters have also explicitly rejected all forms of authoritarian rule, whether Iran’s former monarchy dictatorship its current theocratic system, and seek the right to determine their own future,” the group added. “At this critical juncture, whole-of-government support is essential to reaffirm the United States’ commitment to universal human rights and solidarity with the Iranian people, the letter concluded.” “Taking out the Ayatollahs Supreme Leader would be a major blow to Muslim terrorists trying to destroy the West,” said Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., of Iran’s Islamic regime in a statement shared with The Daily Signal. “I just signed onto this letter to show support for what President Trump and Secretary Rubio are doing to support the Iranian people as they fight for freedom. We must put an END to the Muslim terror regime in Iran.” In 2026, human rights organizations like the Human Rights Activist News Agency, claim the regime has killed 2,5000 protesters thus far. The letter was sent as Trump considers wheter or not military action is taken against Iran. While Trump has expressed his support for the Iranian protesters, telling the demonstrators to “keep protesting.” “KEEP PROTESTING – TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!! Save the names of the killers and abusers. They will pay a big price. I have cancelled all meetings with Iranian officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOPS. HELP IS ON IT’S WAY,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. The president has also imposed a 25% tariff on any country who conducts business with the Iranian regime, ratcheted up sanctions, and cancelled all meetings between U.S. officials and the Iranian regime. Nevertheless, the president has also seemed to dial back the rhetoric surrounding a potential strike. On Thursday, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that the U.S. had it “on good authority” that “the killing in Iran is stopping, and there’s no plan for executions.” The president took the news positively but did not rule out the possibility of a strike. This week’s letter comes as Congress is increasingly questioning Trump’s foreign policy with respect to Greenland and Venezuela. Rep. Weber Letter to Sec. Rubio RE Iran Protests 1.14.26Download The post Lawmakers Tell Trump to Keep Pressuring Iran appeared first on The Daily Signal.

FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—Sen. Bill Cassidy, chairman of the leading Senate committee on labor matters, sent a letter to United Auto Workers (UAW) president Shawn Fain on Friday, probing him about alleged “workplace retaliation” in the union. Cassidy, R-La., who chairs the Senate committee on health, labor, education, and pensions (HELP), asked the labor leader to clarify reports of alleged retaliation against fellow UAW leaders for workplace disagreements. “Several news reports and two reports by the United Auto Workers’ (UAW) court-appointed Monitor … have detailed concerning instances of workplace retaliation under your leadership,” the letter reads. Cassidy added that “these actions create a serious distraction from UAW’s purpose to improve and protect UAW members’ wages, benefits, work hours, and other terms and conditions of employment.” Fain has served as the UAW’s president since 2023. The Detroit, Michigan-based union was founded in 1935. Cassidy writes in the letter that he is “concerned that the cost of litigating these matters is a disservice to the American workers who pay dues to the UAW.” In particular, Cassidy probes Fain on two allegations of workforce retaliation. In one instance, Fain is said to have removed “several departments” from the purview of UAW Secretary-Treasurer Margaret Mock as retaliation for “instituting strict policies governing expenses.” In the other case, Cassidy points to a report from The Detroit News, which cites an anonymous source who said Fain removed the union’s Stellantis department from the oversight of Vice President Rich Boyer due to “a disagreement over staffing changes.” Stellantis is the parent company which produces and sells Jeep, Chrysler, Fiat, Ram, and other vehicles. 26-01-16 Chair Cassidy Letter to UAW President FainDownload Cassidy mentions that “Boyer states the dismissal was motivated by his refusal to make changes that would benefit your [fiancée] and your [fiancée’s] sister.” Cassidy requests for clarification on whether the UAW has a workforce retaliation policy, as well as whether Faine’s fiancée or her sister would stand to benefit from Boyer’s removal. Cassidy also inquires if the UAW has a written policy on workplace nepotism. The chairman asks several more questions of Fain on how these alleged actions affect workers, including whether Fain will commit to not raising dues on union members “to pay for internal UAW proceedings or any legal proceedings on these or other allegations of retaliation.” The UAW did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fain and the union on the letter, the allegations it details, and whether they plan to respond to Cassidy. Speaking to the union and to the world today @UAW President Shawn Fain said:"Donald Trump is a scab. Donald Trump is a billionaire, and that is who he represents." pic.twitter.com/aqqOUa8D9T— More Perfect Union (@MorePerfectUS) January 24, 2024 Fain has served as the UAW’s president since 2023. The union, founded in 1935, is based in Detroit, Michigan. Fain campaigned in support of then-Vice President Kamala Harris’ Democratic presidential bid in 2024, and was a harsh opponent of now-President Donald Trump, whom he called a “scab” who “doesn’t give a damn about working class people.” Since then, Fain has been critical of certain Trump policies, such as restricting federal workers’ unionization rights, but has also defended the president on policies such as tariffs. The post EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Cassidy Probes UAW Leader on ‘Workforce Retaliation’ appeared first on The Daily Signal.