FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—The Southern Baptist Convention’s public policy arm opposes President Donald Trump’s nominee for surgeon general, according to a letter obtained by The Daily Signal. The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, the public policy arm of the SBC, wrote a letter to the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee expressing “deep concern” over the nomination of Dr. Casey Means for surgeon general. “Dr. Means’ displayed convictions raise a number of concerns for us as Southern Baptists,” ERLC interim President Gary Hollingsworth wrote. ERLC LetterDownload Trump told The Daily Signal last week that withdrawing Means’ nomination amid opposition in the Senate was a possibility. However, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt later said that “the president stands by her and the Senate should move to quickly confirm Dr. Means as our next surgeon general without further delay.” Is President Trump considering withdrawing Casey Mean's nomination for surgeon general? "Something like that would be possible," he told @DailySignal. "We certainly have a lot of great candidates for the job." pic.twitter.com/dg47SewSMf— Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell (@TheElizMitchell) March 30, 2026 The SBC is primarily concerned about Means’ stance on abortion. “First, as the Bible teaches, Southern Baptists affirm the full dignity of every human being and believe that every life is worthy of protection and celebration,” Hollingsworth wrote. “We believe life begins at conception and that all forms of abortion deny precious preborn human beings of their very lives.” “Dr. Means has repeatedly opposed these positions and supported abortion,” he continued. The letter highlighted Means’ confirmation hearing, in which she “skirted questions” about the chemical abortion pill mifepristone. She declined to answer a question about whether mifepristone should only be prescribed after an in-person doctor visit. “The question of whether it should be an in-person visit is out of the purview of the surgeon general’s office,” Means said, “but I do believe that every patient needs to have a very thorough conversation with their doctor before taking any medication.”  “I think that every medication has risks and benefits,” she added. “I think that all patients need to have a thorough conversation with their doctor and have true informed consent before taking any medication.” The Southern Baptist Convention found it “alarming that the candidate for our nation’s top public health official is clearly noncommittal on such a powerful drug, a drug that harms women and robs innocent children of their very lives.” The denomination also said that Means’ “blatant flaunting of prior illicit drug use is reason for alarm,” citing her “ongoing experimentation with psilocybin.” In her book, “Good Energy,” Means recommended that readers who “feel called” should consider using psilocybin, an illegal psychedelic drug. “Those who seek to lead others in pursuit of health and wellness would not ignore the lack of serious, evidence-based clinical data on psilocybin use,” Hollingsworth wrote. “Doing so is contrary to the protocols of the office she seeks.” The SBC concluded that Means is “not qualified to serve as our country’s next surgeon general.” “Should her nomination come up for a vote in committee, we urge you, with abundant cause for medical, moral, and legal concern, to oppose Dr. Means’ nomination,” Hollingsworth wrote to senators. The post EXCLUSIVE: Why Largest Protestant Denomination Opposes Trump’s Surgeon General Pick appeared first on The Daily Signal.

President Donald Trump and members of his administration celebrated Easter Sunday’s successful operation to rescue an air force officer whose fighter jet was shot down in Iran last week.  “Despite incoming fire and unforgiving conditions, our troops brought every American home,” Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said during a press briefing Monday. “No American lives were lost.”  After the officer’s fighter jet was shot down, the injured officer survived by climbing to higher ground, treating his own wounds, and contacting American forces to request rescue.  “We immediately mobilized a massive operation to retrieve him from the mountain holdout, and he kept going higher and higher,” Trump said. “The mountain kept getting rougher and rougher and really, very, very hard to find.” Because thousands of Iranians were searching for the pilot, the United States “executed a deception campaign to confuse the Iranians who were desperately hunting for our airman,” CIA director John Ratcliffe said.  On Saturday morning, the U.S. confirmed the airman was alive and hidden in a mountain crevice, “still invisible to the enemy, but not to the CIA,” Ratcliffe said.  The United States deployed three helicopters to extract the American pilot. He was rescued at midnight Eastern time on Easter Sunday. An air armada protected the rescue team, including tactical drones, strike aircraft, and more.  “God was watching us,” Trump said. “Well, it was Easter. We were in Easter territory.”  Trump praised the military for carrying out the operation without any casualties. He said he will “never forget the extraordinary risk taken by the warriors that we send into battle.”  “In a breathtaking show of skill and precision, lethality and force, America’s military descended on the area, the real area, engaged the enemy, rescued the stranded officer, destroyed all threats, and exited Iranian territory while taking no casualties.” Ratcliffe said he was honored to serve under a president who lives out the motto, “No man left behind.”  “We’ve seen it against the cartels in the Western Hemisphere, and we’re seeing it every day in Operation Epic Fury, including this mission to rescue an aviator buried deep behind enemy lines,” Ratcliffe said, “because it is the unique tradition of the U.S. armed forces that we leave no man or woman behind.”  “Peace through strength” is not a slogan, Hegseth said, but “a doctrine that saves American lives.” “His unwavering commitment to rebuilding our military and restoring the warrior spirit has paid dividends in missions just like this one,” Hegseth said. “Under this command, America progresses power with confidence and brings our people home with victory. And that continues today.” The post ‘No Man Left Behind’: Trump Celebrates Daring Easter Rescue of Downed US Pilot in Iran appeared first on The Daily Signal.

WASHINGTON, April 6 (Reuters) — The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way on Monday for the Justice Department to move forward with dismissing a criminal case in which Steve Bannon, an influential ally of President Donald Trump, was convicted after defying a congressional subpoena. Bannon was convicted by a jury in Washington in 2022 on two counts of contempt of Congress for failing to provide documents or testimony to a Democratic-led House of Representatives panel that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters. The Supreme Court on Monday threw out a lower court’s decision to uphold Bannon’s conviction. Trump’s Justice Department, in urging the Supreme Court to toss the lower court’s decision, told the justices in court papers it has determined that dismissal of Bannon’s case “is in the interests of justice.” The department already had filed a motion to dismiss the case at the trial court level. After the Supreme Court in 2024 denied Bannon’s request to keep him out of prison while his appeal played out, he served a four-month sentence at a low-security federal facility in Danbury, Connecticut. M. Evan Corcoran, a lawyer for Bannon, welcomed the Supreme Court’s action on Monday. “It has been one battle after another for five years, but today the Supreme Court vacated an unjust conviction, and in doing so validated a fundamental rule—like oil and water, politics and prosecution don’t mix,” Corcoran said. The Justice Department declined to comment on Monday. The Supreme Court, in a brief unsigned order, returned the case to the lower court for further consideration “in light of the pending motion to dismiss the indictment.” Bannon called the House committee’s probe and the charges brought against him by the Justice Department during Biden’s presidency politically motivated. White House Strategist Bannon, 72, served as a key adviser to Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and his chief White House strategist in 2017 during Trump’s first term in office before a falling out between them that was later patched up. Bannon was released from prison a week before Trump’s victory over Democrat Kamala Harris in the 2024 election. Bannon cast himself as a political prisoner and told reporters upon his release, “I am far from broken. I have been empowered by my four months at Danbury federal prison.” Bannon resumed hosting his “War Room” podcast. A firebrand, Bannon helped articulate the “America First” right-wing populism and stout opposition to immigration that has helped define Trump’s presidency. Bannon has played an instrumental role in right-wing media and has promoted right-wing causes and candidates in the United States and abroad. According to the House committee, Bannon spoke with Trump at least twice on the day before the January 6 attack, attended a planning meeting at a Washington hotel, and said on his podcast that “all hell is going to break loose tomorrow.” Lawyers for Bannon raised various legal arguments to contest the subpoena, including issues related to executive privilege, a legal principle that lets a president keep certain communications private, and the congressional committee’s authority to issue the subpoena. Trump pardoned those who were convicted in connection with the Capitol riot, as well as his former lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell and dozens of other allies who were accused of trying to overturn his 2020 election loss. Reporting by John Kruzel; Additional Reporting by Andrew Goudsward; Editing by Will Dunham) The post Supreme Court Clears Way for Dismissal of Case Against Trump Ally Steve Bannon appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Two advocacy groups are calling for the cancellation of taxpayer-funded medical research on dogs at a Michigan lab, claiming that the “experiments” have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of dogs. Representatives from the two groups—the Wilberforce Institute, a conservative animal rights group, and the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, which opposes animal experiments—are set to speak Monday with officials from the National Institutes of Health about canceling funding for the lab at Wayne State University in Detroit. Last week, leaders of the two organizations wrote to Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya to deny future funding for the Wayne State lab. “The heart failure experiments, begun in 1991, have failed to produce results for American patients, wasted almost $15 million in taxpayer money, and killed hundreds of dogs,” says the letter last week from Liam Gray, executive director of the Wilberforce Institute, and Ryan Merkley, director of research advocacy at the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, to Kennedy and Bhattacharya. The letter notes grants are set to expire on March 31 and asks that the NIH deny continued funding. It also provides alleged examples of animals suffering. “In 2021, the university’s then-president told Michigan state lawmakers that the experiments have ‘the potential to impact the health and well-being of countless individuals’ without providing any specifics. At that point, after 30 years, patients deserved more than ‘potential,'” the letter states. The organizations note that in February, 11 Michigan state legislators—eight Republicans and three Democrats—wrote to the Department of Health and Human Services and NIH to request an end to the research on animals. Wayne State University is committed to responsible and ethical practices in animal research, said Matt Lockwood, associate vice president for university communications. “Wayne State University has the highest level of ethical standards in conducting biomedical research, as well as the highest level of care for animals used in research, recognized through its accreditation by AAALAC International—an agency whose mission is to improve the welfare of animals in science and education—since its inception,” Lockwood told The Daily Signal in a statement, referencing the American Association for Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International. A U.S. Department of Agriculture inspector recently visited the lab and gave a positive report, Lockwood said. Speaking of the lab’s funding sources, Lockwood said, “With these funding mechanisms, all research proposals undergo rigorous scientific review for the benefit to their specific area of research, and only those research studies that have a higher potential for societal impact are funded.” “The university strictly adheres to the policy of using only as many animals as scientifically necessary, minimizing animal discomfort and distress, and using alternatives whenever feasible.” The NIH recently announced a $150 million investment in expanding research methods to reduce the use of animal models. “NIH enforces strict policies to protect animal welfare and maintain rigorous oversight as the agency works to reduce reliance on animal models over time,” HHS press secretary Emily Hilliard told The Daily Signal in a statement. “NIH actively supports the development and use of new approach methodologies and will continue to invest in these alternatives.” The Trump administration has already taken actions to curb medical research on animals. Last year, both the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency announced the end of animal testing and funding. The alternative was “human-relevant methods,” which include artificial intelligence. The post Taxpayer-Funded Dog Research Faces New Scrutiny With Push to Cut NIH Funding appeared first on The Daily Signal.

THE CENTER SQUARE—The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to decide whether individuals can carry firearms on public transportation. The court declined to take up Schoenthal v. Raoul, which challenges an Illinois law banning citizens from carrying firearms on public transportation. Three Illinois residents challenged the ban, arguing it violates the Second and Fourteenth Amendment rights. “There is no historical tradition of banning law-abiding citizens from possessing firearms in crowded public locations where they may be more vulnerable,” lawyers wrote in a petition to the court.Illinois requires gun owners to acquire a Firearm Owner’s Identification Card and a concealed carry license in order to carry a firearm in public. However, the state bans individuals from carrying a loaded or unsecured firearm onto buses, trains or any other type of public transportation that is paid for in part or whole by public funds. Kwame Raoul, Illinois’ attorney general, argued the prohibition on guns in public transportation is consistent with the nation’s historical tradition limiting firearms in sensitive places, like court rooms, schools and polling places. “Like historical sensitive places, public transit features ‘confined areas with a high density of people,’ making firearms ‘exceptionally dangerous,’” Raoul wrote. Originally published by The Center Square. The post Supreme Court Declines to Hear Challenge to Illinois Public Transport Gun Ban appeared first on The Daily Signal.