For the first time in more than 150 years, the second family is growing. On Tuesday afternoon, Vice President JD Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance announced that she is pregnant with her fourth child, a boy, due at the end of July. The Vances referred to this pregnancy as “this exciting and hectic time” before thanking military doctors, and the joyful announcement took Washington and the internet by storm. We’re very happy to share some exciting news. Our family is growing! pic.twitter.com/0RohEBYXM7— Second Lady Usha Vance (@SLOTUS) January 20, 2026 The pregnancy is historic, given that the last time a second family welcomed a child into the world was in 1870. Vice President Schuyler Colfax and his wife, Ellen, had a child while Colfax was vice president to President Ulysses S. Grant. Like Vance, Grant was from Ohio. Before JD Vance and Usha Vance’s pregnancy announcement in 2026, the last U.S. Vice President to have a child while in office was Schuyler Colfax and his wife, Ellen, in 1870. pic.twitter.com/AgTx4HpJ1x— History Calendar (@historycalendar) January 21, 2026 The news quickly became a trending topic on X. The Trump War Room account boasted the growing second family is part of a “MAGA BABY BOOM!” MAGA BABY BOOM https://t.co/hzTbYYo4lf— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) January 20, 2026 The White House X account, meanwhile, said the news is proof of “the most pro-family administration in history!” Perhaps the Trump War Room and the White House are right as several other members of the Trump administration are also expecting children. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt is pregnant with her second child, a daughter, due in May. Katie Miller, the wife of Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, is pregnant as well. Like the Vances, this is their fourth child. Fellow Ohio Republicans were quick to wish the vice president and second lady well, including Gov. Mike DeWine and Sen. Jon Husted. Congratulations to Vice President @JDVance and @SLOTUS Usha Vance! Fran and I wish you and your family all the best. https://t.co/ZpHypSqga2— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) January 20, 2026 Congratulations! Children are an amazing gift. May mom and child be blessed with good health. https://t.co/1jvxIP9uHZ— Jon Husted (@JonHusted) January 20, 2026 Husted was not the only one to celebrate the “amazing gift” that children are. Florida Republicans Rep. Byron Donalds, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, and Sen. Rick Scott, also celebrated the news of new life. Get married. Have babies. Make families great again ??CONGRATS to the Second Family of the United States! @JDVance @SLOTUS https://t.co/xEnaWXzsq2— Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (@RepLuna) January 20, 2026 Catholic University Professor Chad Pecknold, a friend of Vances, quoted another friend of the Vances, the late Charlie Kirk. “Get married. Have children. Build a legacy.Pass down your values.Pursue the eternal.Seek true joy.” — @charliekirk11 pic.twitter.com/8ZDYq55vEH— Chad Pecknold (@ccpecknold) January 20, 2026 And then the memes came pouring in. Would Secretary of State Marco Rubio add another job as the Vance’s babysitter or godfather? Marco Rubio knowing he is going to be the nanny for JD Vance's new baby. pic.twitter.com/0t5mdkQjEc— Planet Of Memes (@PlanetOfMemes) January 21, 2026 Marco Rubio finding out he's about to be the godfather to the next Vance kid pic.twitter.com/TAWIZFswrG— Elise McCue (@EliseMcCue) January 20, 2026 Baby Vance is due in July 2026—right around America’s 250th birthday. The post MAGA Baby Boom? Vance Baby News Takes Internet by Storm appeared first on The Daily Signal.

First Amendment freedoms are sacrosanct—especially the right to gather together and worship God.  But over Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend, Minneapolis/St. Paul anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protesters and their supporters perversely invoked the First Amendment to justify desecrating a house of worship and interfering with others’ First Amendment rights. While congregants of Cities Church—a Southern Baptist congregation—conducted their weekly worship service, protesters poured into the sanctuary with the express purpose of disrupting and disbanding it because one of the church’s pastors also works for ICE.  The church’s primary pastor called the disruptive actions shameful. And they are. More than that, though, such actions are illegal under both state and federal law. Potential Minnesota State Law Violations While it’s doubtful that St. Paul’s district attorney or Minnesota’s attorney general will pursue state charges, they should. A quick look through Minnesota’s statutes shows that at least three could potentially be applied: Minnesota Statute § 609.28, Interfering with Religious Observance, makes it a misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and/or a $3,000 fine, if someone uses threats, violence, or physically obstructs or disrupts religious services. Minnesota Statute § 609.605, Criminal Trespass, makes it a misdemeanor punishable up to 90 days in jail and/or a $1,000 fine if someone enters or remains on private property without consent. This offense can be escalated to a gross misdemeanor in certain circumstances. Finally, Minnesota Statute § 609.72, Disorderly Conduct, makes it a misdemeanor to disturb “an assembly or meeting, not unlawful in its character” or to engage in “offensive, obscene, abusive, boisterous, or noisy conduct or in offensive, obscene, or abusive language tending reasonably to arouse alarm, anger, or resentment in others.”  All of these would seem to apply to this situation. But despite the straightforward nature of these charges, none have yet been brought by state or local officials. And sadly, no charges likely will be brought against the protestors. Potential Federal FACE Act Violation Instead, Minnesota’s attorney general, Keith Ellison, has been making the media rounds, suggesting that the disruptors—including disgraced former CNN host Don Lemon (who claims he was simply there as a journalist)—did not violate the federal FACE Act. For those unfamiliar, the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act was originally proposed to protect those entering abortion clinics.  But Congress also included and made it clear that whoever “by force or threat of force or by physical obstruction, intentionally injures, intimidates or interferes with or attempts to injure, intimidate or interfere with any person lawfully exercising or seeking to exercise the First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship” has violated the law. The same is true if someone “intentionally damages or destroys the property of a place of religious worship.” The disruptors’ conduct certainly seems to meet this definition. The U.S. Justice Department is investigating.  Attorney General Pam Bondi has said that “any violations of federal law will be prosecuted” and that if “state leaders refuse to act responsibly to prevent lawlessness, this Department of Justice will remain mobilized to prosecute federal crimes and ensure that the rule of law prevails.” KKK Act Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, has made clear that the Justice Department is also investigating whether those involved violated the Ku Klux Klan Act. Congress originally passed this act in the wake of the Civil War to allow the federal government to make sure all Americans’ civil rights are enforced and respected. The overwhelming majority of Americans should agree that those who seek to worship God should not be intimidated or harassed while they do so.  And the First Amendment right to assemble and protest, or even a weaponized reading of the freedom of the press, does not provide protection for violating others’ First Amendment rights to freely worship. Those who disrupted the church service this past weekend must be held accountable and quickly prosecuted. The post Minneapolis ‘Protesters’ Must Be Prosecuted appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Use of a “sonic weapon” in the overnight capture of a country’s leader might sound like something out of a science fiction novel, but experts confirm that sort of technology exists. U.S. military use of sound as a non-lethal weapon “is credible” and “has been demonstrated,” according to Brent Sadler, a senior research fellow at The Heritage Foundation who focuses on naval warfare and advanced technology. Following the U.S. military operation in Venezuela to capture socialist leader Nicolás Maduro, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt shared a post on X describing what an alleged Venezuelan security guard said was “a very intense sound wave” deployed by the U.S. military during the operation. “Suddenly, I felt like my head was exploding from the inside. We all started bleeding from the nose. Some were vomiting blood. We fell to the ground, unable to move,” according to the account initially posted by political activist Mike Netter and reposted by Leavitt. “We had no way to compete with their technology, with their weapons,” the security guard continued. “I swear, I’ve never seen anything like it. We couldn’t even stand up after that sonic weapon or whatever it was.” Stop what you are doing and read this… ?????????? https://t.co/v9OsbdLn1q— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) January 10, 2026 About three decades ago, the U.S. established the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate at the then-Department of Defense, which President Donald Trump renamed the Department of War in 2025. The initiative was re-designated in 2020 as the Joint Intermediate Force Capabilities Office. The development and use of non-lethal weapons “enables U.S. and allied forces to deliver accurate, tailorable, and compelling effects in complex and ambiguous scenarios while preventing unintended escalation of hostilities, unnecessary loss of life, or destruction of critical infrastructure,” according to the Joint Intermediate Force Capabilities Office. The original intent of the initiative was the development of non-lethal weapons for “operations such as peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance,” the government office says, adding that now there is a need for such weapons “in irregular warfare operations such as counterinsurgency, counterterrorism, stability operations, and counter-piracy.” Retired Marine Corps Col. Mark F. Cancian says he has not heard of a weapon that matches the description of the one portrayed in the account Leavitt shared. However, the U.S. military does use a device called a Long Range Acoustic Device, or LRAD. The device is a bit like a megaphone that “focuses all of its audio in a very tight cone,” Cancian, who now serves as a senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, says. “It sounds like the voice of God. It is very loud,” Cancian said. “And I can imagine that if you cranked up the volume, you could have effects on people … perhaps some disruption in their functions.” The U.S. military has also used “flashbangs” for years, Cancian explained. A “flashbang grenade” is a non-lethal device that shines a very bright light and makes a loud noise. In the roughly 15 years since Cancian worked at the Pentagon, he says it is possible new technologies similar to an LRAD or “flashbang grenade” have been developed. The Pentagon declined to comment on reports of the use of a non-lethal sound weapon in Venezuela. The use of lights and sounds as “non-lethal options” has “matured a lot over the years, but they haven’t really been deployed at scale,” Sadler said. “So, the fact that the special forces might have used these is interesting,” he noted of the Jan. 3 operation in Venezuela. The use of something like a high sound frequency provides a distraction and “buys your special operators seconds to make critical decisions,” Sadler said. Of the U.S. non-lethal sound weapons he knows, Sadler said they are intended to be “reversible” in their effect, and once the sound is turned off or a person gets away from it, “there’s no lasting impact.” The post What’s the Rumored ‘Sonic Weapon’ Used in Venezuela Raid?   appeared first on The Daily Signal.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to send a contempt of Congress citation against former President Bill Clinton to the House floor, for not cooperating with the probe into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.  The vote to hold former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in contempt for her failure to cooperate was closer, but still bipartisan, as three Democrats broke to vote with Republicans.  Nine Democrats on the Oversight Committee joined 25 Republicans to hold Bill Clinton in contempt of Congress, for a 34-8 vote. The vote to hold Hillary Clinton in contempt passed 28-15.  The two contempt citations now head to the House floor for potential consideration by the full chamber. Contempt of Congress is a charge that can carry up to 12 months in prison or $100,000. Here are the Democrats who voted to hold Bill Clinton in contempt of Congress: Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill. Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa. Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass. Rep. Emily Randall, D-Wash. Rep. Lateefah Simon, D-Calif. Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich. Here are the three Democrats who voted to hold Hillary Clinton in contempt:  Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa. Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich. The post These Democrats Voted to Hold Clintons in Contempt for Obstructing Epstein Probe appeared first on The Daily Signal.

The Department of Homeland Security announced “Operation Catch of the Day” on Wednesday, with federal immigration agents arriving in Maine to find and arrest criminal illegal aliens. The agency noted that Immigration and Customs Enforcement has already arrested criminal illegal aliens convicted of endangering the welfare of a child and aggravated assault.   “We have launched Operation Catch of the Day to target the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens in the state,” said DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin.   DHS has launched similar “named” operations in cities and states across the U.S., including Operation Patriot in Massachusetts, Operation Catahoula Crunch in New Orleans, Operation Buckeye in Ohio, Operation Charlotte’s Web in Charlotte, North Carolina, Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago, and Operation Metro Surge in the Twin Cities.  OPERATION CATCH OF THE DAY.On the first day of operations in Maine, we arrested illegal aliens convicted of aggravated assault, false imprisonment, and child abuse.@GovJanetMills and her fellow sanctuary politicians have made it abundantly clear that they would rather stand…— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) January 21, 2026 “The reality is that ICE is active nationwide, but it typically draws media attention only during large-scale operations,” Marguerite Telford, director of communications at the Center for Immigration Studies, says.   The Department of Homeland Security does not publicize future locations of where it plans to launch a large-scale operation, but there are a number of communities across the U.S. with high populations of illegal aliens that have yet to large immigration enforcement operations.   Boston  Telford gave a “reasonable guess that DHS may launch a large operation in Boston, “where both the governor and mayor have publicly opposed ICE enforcement efforts.”   Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, a Democrat, has accused ICE of “cruel and callous behavior.”   Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, also a Democrat, said ICE operations “are destabilizing communities, creating intimidation, fear.”  Boston is a sanctuary city, and the state has policies that limit local and state law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration officials.   “If local officials want to avoid enforcement surges in their cities, they should allow ICE access to local jails so officers can safely take custody of criminal aliens without risking public safety,” Telford says.   New York State While immigration agents have conducted operations in New York City, Simon Hankinson, a senior research fellow for the Border Security and Immigration Center at The Heritage Foundation, says large operations outside the city might carry strategic value.   In communities in upstate New York “without large leftie concentrations,” local law enforcement have a higher likelihood of working with federal immigration officials to find and detain illegal aliens, Hankinson explains.   Hartford, Connecticut   There are 64,000 “noncitizens” living in Hartford and 265,400 across Connecticut, according to the research and advocacy group Vera Institute of Justice.   In August, ICE conducted a four-day operation in Connecticut, resulting in the apprehension of 65 illegal aliens, according to DHS.   Connecticut is a “sanctuary” state, according to the Department of Justice.   New Jersey  In early 2024, bus loads of illegal aliens were dropped off in New Jersey, which maintains a large migrant population, according to the Immigration Policy Institute.   New Jersey’s “unauthorized population” is estimated around 476,000, the policy group reports.   While New Jersey is not a sanctuary state, Newark and Jersey City, the state’s two largest cities, are sanctuary cities, according to the DOJ.   Seattle   As of 2023, about 375,000 illegal aliens lived in Washington state, making up about 5% of the state’s population, according to Axios.   Seattle is the largest city in Washington, and an ICE field office already exists in the city, but DHS has not reported significant enforcement operations in the West Coast community.   Seattle is a “sanctuary city,” according to the DOJ.   The post With ICE Agents Arriving in Maine, Where Will They Deploy Next?  appeared first on The Daily Signal.