The Daily Signal Podcast

The fourth, and perhaps final, Republican presidential primary debate as four candidates met Wednesday night in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Once again, GOP front-runner Donald Trump declined to appear.Sarah Feldpausch, director of government relations at Heritage Action for America, joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to discuss the biggest hits and misses of this fourth debate. (The Daily Signal is the news outlet of The Heritage Foundation, whose grassroots advocacy arm is Heritage Action.)Gathered without Trump at the University of Alabama were Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. The debate could well be the final GOP presidential debate before the Iowa caucuses Jan. 15. Since the third GOP debate Nov. 8, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina dropped out of the race. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who didn't meet qualification tests for the third debate, announced Monday that he is suspending his campaign. Trump chose to skip the fourth debate as he did the preceding ones, instead participating Tuesday night in a live "town hall" meeting hosted by Fox News host Sean Hannity in Davenport, Iowa. On the night of the debate, Trump planned to hold a fundraiser in Florida. Feldpausch also assesses Trump’s live appearance Tuesday night with Hannity. Enjoy the show!

TOP NEWS | On today’s Daily Signal Top News, we break down: Former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy announces he will leave Congress.The House looks to hold Hunter Biden in contemptFormer President Trump holds townhall with HannityConservative news websites sue the government over censorshipRelevant LinksListen to other podcasts from The Daily Signal: https://www.dailysignal.com/podcasts/Get daily conservative news you can trust from our Morning Bell newsletter: DailySignal.com/morningbellsubscription Listen to more Heritage podcasts: https://www.heritage.org/podcastsSign up for The Agenda newsletter — the lowdown on top issues conservatives need to know about each week: https://www.heritage.org/agenda

Heather Lawless came close to never existing on this earth. Due to her mother's medical condition, Lawless’ mom was advised by her physicians and her family to have an abortion. “There was an abortion appointment made, and she didn't show up to it,” Lawless said of her mom, adding, “She chose life for me, and I was able to experience the life that I have now.”When Lawless had an unplanned pregnancy herself, she chose life, and years later when her daughter found herself unexpectedly pregnant, Lawless supported her as her daughter chose life as well. Her mother’s story and her own are “the main reasons why I started Reliance, why I do what I do,” Lawless said. She founded Reliance Ministries and the Reliance Center in Idaho to serve women facing unplanned pregnancies. “We have a four-part model that includes a holistic reproductive health clinic and a men's program, a maternity home and a coffee shop,” Lawless explains. “We wanted to figure out whatever the barrier was to life and remove the barrier,” she explains, adding that, for example, “if a woman wants to choose abortion because she doesn't have a place to live, we want to give her a place to live.” Whether the obstacle to choosing life is housing, health care, finances, or an abusive relationship, Lawless says she and her team at Reliance Ministries seek to eliminate and overcome the barrier for the mother so she is free to choose life. Lawless joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to share her own story and how Reliance Ministries offers a practical model for pregnancy resource centers around the country. Enjoy the show!

TOP NEWS | On today’s Daily Signal Top News, we break down: FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee in a hearing focused on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. House Republicans won't back additional aid to Ukraine without what House Speaker Mike Johnson calls “transformative changes” being made to America’s border security.  Sen. Tommy Tuberville backs off a pro-life battle he has been waging for months. After a rise of antisemitism has swept across American college campuses, presidents of Harvard, MIT, and UPenn testify before the Republican-led House Committee on Education and the Workforce.Relevant Linkshttps://www.dailysignal.com/2023/12/05/fbi-director-admits-he-hasnt-fired-anyone-anti-catholic-memo/ Listen to other podcasts from The Daily Signal: https://www.dailysignal.com/podcasts/Get daily conservative news you can trust from our Morning Bell newsletter: DailySignal.com/morningbellsubscription Listen to more Heritage podcasts: https://www.heritage.org/podcastsSign up for The Agenda newsletter — the lowdown on top issues conservatives need to know about each week: https://www.heritage.org/agenda

Dec. 7 will mark two months since Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 240 others hostage. Fighting between Hamas and Israel resumed Friday after the release of about 100 hostages during a weeklong cease-fire. As Israeli troops advance in Gaza, they are “constricting the size of ground they don’t control,” defense expert Robert Greenway says of the Israel Defense Forces. Israel is now advancing to conduct military operations in southern Gaza in addition to the north, and Greenway, director of the Center for National Defense at The Heritage Foundation, says that’s necessary because “you can’t have a sanctuary” region where terrorists can remain. (The Daily Signal is the news outlet of The Heritage Foundation.)Greenway joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to explain how the U.S. should be engaged in the war and to share what is known about the hostages that have been freed and those still in captivity. Enjoy the show!

TOP NEWS | On today’s Daily Signal Top News, we break down: A report from the Florida governor’s office reveals corruption at Disney World. Democratic strategist James Carville says  "Christian nationalists" are an even greater threat to America than al-Qaeda. China claimed that a U.S. Navy vessel illegally entered the South China Sea.Israel reports it had launched 10,000 airstrikes against Hamas since the war began on Oct. 7th. It has been confirmed that rape not only took place during Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, but appears to have been part of the attack plan. Relevant Linkshttps://www.dailysignal.com/2023/12/04/mouses-house-disney-captured-local-government-perks-akin-bribes/ https://www.thejc.com/news/israel/hamas-gang-raped-and-beheaded-women-at-rave-massacre-fresh-testimony-reveals-blp0ghdl?utm_source=sharebutton&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=topListen to other podcasts from The Daily Signal: https://www.dailysignal.com/podcasts/Get daily conservative news you can trust from our Morning Bell newsletter: DailySignal.com/morningbellsubscription Listen to more Heritage podcasts: https://www.heritage.org/podcastsSign up for The Agenda newsletter — the lowdown on top issues conservatives need to know about each week: https://www.heritage.org/agenda

After filing a lawsuit, a Catholic community of sisters in New York has won a victory for life and for privacy.In June 2022, New York passed a law allowing state officials to access pro-life pregnancy resource centers' sensitive information. The state Department of Health was granted permission to investigate pro-life pregnancy centers via demanding access to information about the centers’ policies.The law was immediately concerning to the Sisters of Life because “It's so important that they feel safe,” Sister Maris Stella says, referring to the women they serve.Stella, vicar general of the Sisters of Life, says the community of nuns is dedicated to serving women facing unplanned pregnancies, and part of that service often involves having “sacred conversations with them, and we come to know their history, their hopes, their fears, their dreams.”To protect the nuns' privacy and the privacy of the women they serve, the Sisters filed a lawsuit asking a federal court for an order to protect them from government investigation. In November, New York agreed to comply with the federal court order.Stella joins "The Daily Signal Podcast" with Mark Rienzi, president and CEO of Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which litigated the case on the sisters' behalf, to discuss the legal victory. Stella also offers her insights on the future of the pro-life movement.Enjoy the show!

TOP NEWS | On today’s Daily Signal Top News, we break down: Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., and Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., faceoff in a fiery debate.Fighting between Israel and Hamas resumes. Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., is ousted from Congress in a bipartisan vote of 311 to 114. UN climate conference underway in United Arab Emirates amid scandal. Retired Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O'Connor dies at the age of 93.Relevant LinksDebate Night: https://www.dailysignal.com/2023/11/30/4-takeaways-from-newsom-desantis-debate/ Listen to other podcasts from The Daily Signal: https://www.dailysignal.com/podcasts/Get daily conservative news you can trust from our Morning Bell newsletter: DailySignal.com/morningbellsubscription Listen to more Heritage podcasts: https://www.heritage.org/podcastsSign up for The Agenda newsletter — the lowdown on top issues conservatives need to know about each week: https://www.heritage.org/agenda

Jonathan Skrmetti, the Republican attorney general of Tennessee, has pledged that he will sue the Department of Health and Human Services under President Joe Biden if it finalizes a rule forcing gender ideology on foster parents.Skrmetti laid out the legal arguments against the rule in a conversation Wednesday with "The Daily Signal Podcast.""This is a federal agency making law, treading on both the prerogatives of Congress and really the prerogatives of the state legislatures," Skrmetti said."Family law has always been a state issue," he explained. "The states have developed a rich body of family law dealing with issues like foster care. This is a really heavy-handed intrusion by the federal government in pursuit of a political end but at the expense of kids. So constitutionally, there's a structural problem with a federal agency making law in an area where the states should be making the law and where the states have been making the law."HHS’ Administration for Children and Families proposed a new rule Sept. 28 on “Safe and Appropriate Foster Care Placement Requirements” and allowed Americans to submit public comments by Nov. 27. Skrmetti submitted a comment as Tennessee's attorney general, and 16 other state attorneys general signed on to it.Enjoy the conversation with Skrmetti.