Navigate the complexities of Middle Eastern diplomacy as recent developments between the U.S. and China set the stage for economic stabilization. The episode features insights from notable spokespeople and delves into the potential impact these developments could have on international relations and trade. Additionally, the dynamics within the Trump administration’s travel agenda, including the notable omission of Israel from President Trump’s itinerary, points to a shifting political landscape. Tune in to understand what these changes mean for global politics and the strategic priorities of the U.S. government.
SPEAKER 08 :
from the heart of our nation’s capital in Washington, D.C., bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and soundbites into conversations with our nation’s leaders and newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Washington Watch with Tony Perkins starts now.
SPEAKER 06 :
For the first time in many years, we’ll slash the cost of prescription drugs, and we will bring fairness to America. Drug prices will come down. Big Pharma will either abide by this principle voluntarily or will use the power of the federal government to ensure that we are paying the same price as other countries.
SPEAKER 14 :
That was President Donald Trump earlier today signing an executive order on prescription drug pricing. Welcome to this May 12th edition of Washington Watch. I’m Tony Perkins. Thanks for tuning in. Well, global markets rallied after the U.S. and China agreed to a major tariff reduction and a framework for renewed negotiations. We’ll get insight from Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson. And as Congress returns, attention shifts back to the budget and reconciliation, the one big, beautiful bill designed in part to codify many of President Trump’s executive policies.
SPEAKER 16 :
If you have a swing, a pendulum swing, as we do in this country often, you have, let’s say, a Democrat wins next time. I pray it doesn’t happen. I don’t think it will. But just in case, that new president would come in and unwind and reverse everything that’s been done. So Congress has to put it into law. And the reconciliation vehicle is really the only way that we can do that.
SPEAKER 14 :
That was House Speaker Mike Johnson. I spoke with him over the weekend. I’ll share that conversation with you later. Meanwhile, ahead of President Trump’s first Middle East trip of his second term, Hamas has released the last living American hostage, Idan Alexander, held since the October 7th attack.
SPEAKER 19 :
His return. without any concession in exchange, is a direct result of the relentless military pressure exerted by our brave IDF forces and the firm, principled policy led by this country and this government in partnership with our US allies.
SPEAKER 14 :
That was Israeli government spokesman David Mincer earlier today. CBN’s Middle East Bureau Chief Chris Mitchell will join us from Jerusalem. And finally, we’ll take a closer look at the media’s reaction to Pope Leo XIV.
SPEAKER 10 :
He checked all the boxes. He’s multilingual. He’s lived in three different continents. He’s administratively capable. He’s a pastor and a missionary. So all of the traits that we talked about in the pre-conclave discussions, he seemed to fit the bill. And I think that’s why things moved in that direction.
SPEAKER 14 :
That was Cardinal Cupich, the Archbishop of Chicago, who was a part of the selection. Mark Tapscott, Senior Congressional Analyst, and Joshua Arnold, Senior Writer at the Washington Stand, will join me to break down that story and more from this past weekend. All of that and more coming up on this edition of Washington Watch. Also, the final episode of God and Government is out today. You can find it exclusively on the Stand Firm app. If you don’t have the app, well… Text the word COURSE to 67742, and I’ll send you a link. That’s COURSE to 67742. And you can catch up on the previous episodes of God in Government as well. President Trump signed an executive order this morning which aims to bring down the price of prescription medication in America. The order aims to end global freeloading by making America, quote-unquote, the most favored nation in pricing for these drugs. But what does that ultimately mean for consumers and how will it be done? Here to discuss this and much more is U.S. Senator Ron Johnson from Wisconsin. He is a member of four Senate committees, including the Senate Budget Committee. Senator Johnson, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us. Thanks for having me on. All right. So explain, if you can, how this executive order will work in terms of bringing down prices for prescription medication.
SPEAKER 12 :
I really can’t. I certainly understand how grossly unfair it seems where drug companies find other markets that also control drug pricing. And so they decide to take a cut in their margin to provide that as a marginal income. But again, if They are then forced to sell that same drug to the customers here in America. They may just choose not to sell that drug to those other countries, which means they won’t make that marginal profit, which could actually result in driving up the drug costs. Again, anytime the federal government intervenes in the marketplace, it’s kind of hard to say exactly what those market forces may do. Again, I understand the appeal to it. I understand, well, it should bring down drug prices. I’m not sure it will.
SPEAKER 14 :
Senator, can I say thank you for being honest in that? Because I was going to ask you this question because I’m struggling. I haven’t read all of the executive order, but in principle, we have a free market system. Republicans were very critical of Joe Biden, when he was president, for putting a cap on insulin. Remember back in the Inflation Reduction Act? And it actually led to a shortage of that drug because there was no profit margin in it for the manufacturers. I was critical of that. Many Republicans were critical of that. Do you see this as actually being different in some way?
SPEAKER 12 :
Again, it may be. I do know of other businesses that have kind of, you know, global businesses have taken that same tack and it worked out well on certain drugs. But to just say universally this is going to work to bring down drug prices, it may end some, it may not in others. It could lead to drug shortages in other areas as well. So again, I’m just not real fond of government intervention in the marketplace. I think the free market works well. The problem you have in health care is we don’t have a functioning free market there either because you have third-party payers. You don’t have consumers who really care much about what they pay. In general, they don’t like paying the high insurance rates. But the third-party payer system is probably the greatest assault on the free market that we have and has really driven up health care costs across the board, including pharmaceuticals.
SPEAKER 14 :
Yeah. And so when you look at basic economic principles, it’s hard to predict what might happen because we don’t have a pure market-based system. As you said, the third party payer, Medicare, Medicaid, it skews it all because government is so heavily involved in our health care system. But generally speaking, when government gets involved, the outcome is generally not good. Although I do think big pharma has taken advantage of people. And as I understand this process, R&D costs are often paid by American consumers and other countries get the benefits of the lower prices. And I certainly understand the president’s desire to make America at least pay what other countries pay and not pay more than they do. That’s a noble undertaking, to say the least. Let me shift gears, Senator, to the news of China and the U.S. decreasing their respective tariffs on one another by 115%. It looks like the markets have responded very positively to that.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, by lowering the tariffs, you’re not disrupting supply chains to the extent that they were disrupted. It’s brought a little bit more certainty and stability. I think the market’s reaction is hope that this dramatic trade war is over and that both sides are kind of standing down and trying to figure out something that’ll work. But again, from my standpoint, the sooner that we can move past the trade wars where we can understand, okay, here are the rules of the road. This is what the tariffs will or won’t be. That will bring certainty and stability to the economy, which is what private sector investors are looking for. I mean, I’m talking to whether it’s the National Association of Manufacturers, Business Roundtable, individual businesses, economists. I mean, capital investment has, in many cases, dried up. I know President Trump is saying all these people committed, and that may be true, and that’s a good thing, but on an individual company basis, people right now are just kind of sitting by the sidelines going, I don’t know what’s going to happen. I’m not going to risk my capital at this point in time, and that’s something the administration needs to be concerned about.
SPEAKER 14 :
Yeah, that touches on the next topic I want to talk about on the reconciliation tax cuts. That is causing a lot of people to hold back from investments. But I just want one more question on the tariffs. I don’t know that we can ever get to a place of parity with China just because we’re the consumer and they’re the manufacturer. I’m not sure what success looks like there.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, again, there are certain products we have to figure out some way to incentivize reshoring them. Critical things like high-end semiconductors, pharmaceutical precursors, active pharmaceutical ingredients, rare earth minerals. I mean, there’s a number of things that we need to figure out. How do we incentivize people to do it here in America? One of the best ways would be don’t tax them. Don’t over-regulate them. You have to do that in a targeted fashion from that standpoint. Otherwise, again, I think America has benefited tremendously from global trade. Right now, we don’t have enough workers, so I would not recommend bringing back high labor content products. Let the billions of people who are underemployed in the rest of the world, let them provide those to us in a very cheap way, particularly when we don’t have enough workers.
SPEAKER 14 :
All right, let’s talk about budget reconciliation. Where do things currently stand in the Senate? I spoke to the House Speaker over the weekend. He’s still optimistic that they might get something out by Memorial Day.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, my big focus is on spending. I’ve got a pretty good video on my, pinned at the top of my X page, all Republican leaders saying that we don’t have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem. But it sure seems like most of the emphasis has been on the whole tax cut side. And by the way, I would just extend current tax law. I wouldn’t need anything for it if we would have been smart enough to do it in 2017. all our tax treatment would have been permanent to begin with. So I would just extend that and take a massive automatic tax increase off the table. I would have also filed the Senate reconciliation, provide the Board of Defense funding, have $850 billion of real… spending reduction, that’s almost half of what, more than half of what the House is talking about right now. But Tony, we’re gonna spend more than $89 trillion over the next 10 years, according to CBO’s latest projection, 89 trillion. At most, the House is talking about reducing that by 1.5 trillion. which isn’t even 2%. I’ve been recommending that we need to focus on returning to pre-pandemic spending levels. I provided options ranging somewhere between 5.5 and 6.5 trillion compared to the 7 trillion we’ll spend this year and maybe 7, 2, 7, 3 trillion next year. So my proposal would save something like $8 trillion over 10 years. So from my standpoint, we’re a long way from being where we need to be in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to shrink the size of government back to a pre-pandemic level.
SPEAKER 14 :
Senator, and we talked about that before, I agree with your approach. I mean, if you adjust it for inflation, you go back to those pre-pandemic levels, you know, why are we spending that money? We’re no longer in a pandemic, but that’s the nature of government. Once you create it, it stays and never goes away. Unfortunately, it appears that in the House, they’re wrestling with just modest cuts to dialing back some of the expansions of Medicaid to shore up that program. I don’t understand why your colleagues can’t grasp this moment that you described that we have. It’s a once in a lifetime moment to dial government back within its boundaries.
SPEAKER 12 :
Because people like free federal funding. And I’ve heard it said that show me a member of Congress who ever lost because they spent too much money. In my Wall Street Journal column, which should go online here shortly, I point out in World War II, we started World War II spending about 11.7 percent of GDP. That increased to 41 percent of GDP. But I think 1948, three years after the war, we were back down to 11.4 percent. So we know it’s possible. Back then, Congress and President Truman realized that World War II was an extraordinary once-in-a-lifetime thing. You couldn’t keep spending at those levels. The pandemic was a once-in-a-lifetime thing as well, but we didn’t stop spending at those levels. We went up from 4.4 to 6.5. We pretty well averaged that. This year, we spent about $7 trillion. No family, if they had an illness and they had to borrow $50,000 to spend it on medical bills, if that member got well, They wouldn’t keep borrowing $50,000 and spend it at that level, but that’s exactly what we’re doing. So we have to change this. This is our once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. That’s why I’m signaling right now, if we don’t do a far better job, if the president doesn’t get behind leading return to pre-pandemic level spending, I don’t see this thing passing in the Senate. I can’t support it.
SPEAKER 14 :
All right. Well, we’re going to continue to track that and have conversations with you. I agree with you on this, Senator. Thanks so much for joining us. Always great to see you.
SPEAKER 12 :
Every day.
SPEAKER 14 :
Senator Ron Johnson. All right, folks, you can text Congress to 67742 and weigh in on some of this as well. So don’t go away. We’re back after this.
SPEAKER 18 :
In a time when Washington seems clouded by compromise, a bold group of lawmakers are standing firm in defense of the values which our nation was built upon. At FRC Actions 100% Awards, 171 members of Congress were honored for voting 100% in line with policies that promote faith, family, and freedom.
SPEAKER 04 :
Faith and family made our country, it’s the foundation that made our country not only great, but good.
SPEAKER 07 :
The values that make America, faith, family, hard work, personal responsibility. I mean, that to me is the heart of FRC and grateful for everything that they do.
SPEAKER 23 :
It’s very important for us to have organizations such as FRC. First of all, I think it keeps us grounded. In addition to which, the issues that you champion are issues that we should all be championing.
SPEAKER 20 :
FRC is very, very good at honing in on those things that really affect Christians’ lives. Also, working with members of Congress, too, to make sure that those values are instilled in the legislation that we create.
SPEAKER 05 :
Having the Family Research Council to guide us is critically important to being able to do the right thing consistently.
SPEAKER 18 :
These lawmakers have drawn the line, not just in policy, but in principle. This is more than politics. This is conviction in action. Visit frcaction.org for more information on how you too can make a difference.
SPEAKER 14 :
Hello, I’m Tony Perkins, president of Family Research Council here in Washington, D.C. Behind me is one of the most recognizable buildings in all the world, the U.S. Capitol. What does it stand for? Well, most people say government. But do you know the Bible talks about four institutions of government? Do you know what they are? And do we have a republic or a democracy? Well, what do you say? Also, what about this thing, separation of church and state? Does that mean Christians shouldn’t be involved in government? Guess what? We address those issues and more in our new God and Government course. I invite you to join us to see what the historical record and the Bible has to say about government. Join us for God and Government.
SPEAKER 03 :
Looking for a trusted source of news that shares your Christian values? Turn to The Washington Stand, your ultimate destination for informed, faith-centered reporting. Our dedicated team goes beyond the headlines, delivering stories that matter most to believers. From breaking events to cultural insights, we provide clear, compassionate coverage through a biblical lens. Discover news you can trust at The Washington Stand, where faith and facts meet every day.
SPEAKER 14 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us on this Monday. All right, President Trump travels to the Middle East this week where he will visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE. He will not visit Israel. Now, the trip comes before a backdrop of the last living American hostage being held by Hamas released as a result of U.S.-Hamas negotiations. Now, also last week, the U.S. apparently reached a deal with the Houthis to end attacks on U.S. shipping. Israel was not a part of that agreement. Now, some reports out of Israel are saying that there is concern over a growing divide between the Trump administration and Israel. Here to discuss this, Chris Mitchell, the Middle East bureau chief over at CBN News in Jerusalem. Chris, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for staying up late for us. Great to be with you again, Tony. All right. Let’s talk about this. The president making his first foreign trip going to the Middle East, but not stopping in Israel. Anything being said about that in Israel?
SPEAKER 15 :
There is. And there’s a concern that he may be visiting all of these other nations, but not stopping by here. It certainly is in the neighborhood, not that far away. So I think there’s concern about what this trip represents and what it doesn’t. And I think, as you mentioned, one of the things that has done recently is that the U.S. Trump administration made an agreement with the Houthis to make sure that they stop hitting and attacking shipping in the Red Sea. However, there was no complementary agreement. that israel would be uh included in that agreement the houthis pledged to continue to strike against uh israel and since uh that agreement with trump administration there’s been a several ballistic missiles that have been fired uh against uh israel i’ve had uh i’ve heard the sirens here in jerusalem myself in addition tony there’s also the iranian nuclear deal And there’s a sense that that’s very concerning to Israel, that Israel is not part of that agreement as well. There’s also the understanding that when President Trump goes to Saudi Arabia, there may be an agreement to allow Saudi Arabia to have civilian nuclear capabilities. And that, again, used to be tied to normalization with Israel. So there’s a number of things that have happened recently that many people here in Israel are concerned that there’s a growing daylight between the Trump administration and the government here in Israel.
SPEAKER 14 :
So, Chris, this is not just legacy media that are running with these stories that love to show friction between allies, but this is actually occurring and there’s some concern. I want to just take, for instance, Iran. That has been at the top of the list of concerns for Israel underneath getting back the hostages. And we’ve seen another round of conversations between the U.S. and Iran, and it’s led to nothing. And it appears to me, and even some commentators here in the United States, I should say experts on Iran, are concerned that they may just be running out the clock. What is being said there in Israel?
SPEAKER 15 :
very much the same concern that the iranians are masters at negotiating masters at prolonging the talks all the while while they continue to enrich uranium to near military grade and continue their nuclear program that’s exactly the concern that many people have here in israel at the very beginning of these negotiations and they just had their fourth round in oman uh you know they were talking about enriching uranium well here in israel they felt there’s no point talking about enriching uranium. The point is you want to dismantle and destroy the the Iranian nuclear infrastructure period just like they did in Libya back in 2003 and four. So yeah the Iranian negotiations are deeply concerning here. And while the Iran in its master negotiators trying to run out the clock.
SPEAKER 14 :
Now, to defend the administration, I think the focus of this Middle East trip is on economic development. It is the president’s sweet spot. That’s where he likes to be, cutting business deals. And in fact, there’s been a lot of business deals with the Trump family with Qatar, Saudi Arabia. So I think maybe wanting to keep those issues segmented, not getting it mixed in with foreign policy and more and such. But that said, Chris, you’ve been in Israel for nearly 25 years. You’ve been covering what’s been happening in the Middle East. You’ve watched this. You have a long frame of reference, but you also have a biblical understanding. Why is it important that America gets its policy right when it comes to Israel?
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, you go back to the Bible, and you want to go back to Joel chapter 3, for one, where God judges the nations for scattering his people and dividing his land. There is talk about the possibility that at least some of the players there in Riyadh, in Saudi Arabia, like Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, We’re going to be advocating for a Palestinian state. Well, that’s dividing Israel’s land right down the middle if they gave the so-called West Bank, Judea and Samaria to the Palestinian Authority. I’m not saying they will say that or even declare that. The White House actually denied that they would do anything like that.
SPEAKER 14 :
That was a story that came out of the Jerusalem Post. That’s right.
SPEAKER 15 :
of ambassador huckabee quickly knocked down the white house denied but it was out there so that’s not you’re not pulling something out of space that was actually a story that was out there no exactly and so the the concern is that there would there would be uh actors in the region saudi arabia the uae and particularly qatar that would actually uh undermine uh what uh you know from a biblical point of view uh what israel is all about Qatar actually is the one that had been funding Hamas for years with hundreds of millions of dollars. They came out in support of Hamas immediately after October 7th. And Qatar, I think, is one of the nations, separate from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, that really concerns people over here because of their statements, what they say. They are Islamists, and yet they seem to be trying to woo the administration. It feels that way. I’ll tell you that’s exactly how it’s being seen over here in addition to this $400 million jet that is going to be presented perhaps right now. Apparently it’s under review by the Department of Defense. But that would be a gift. And people over here are thinking, well, what are the connections? Is there a quid pro quo somewhere? Is there a pledge for support? Is there a sense that maybe the U.S. would put more pressure on Israel to end the war and allow Hamas to survive? Those are some of the things that are happening here and being talked about here in Tony. And I would say, Ed, this. I just got off the phone with ICEJ Vice President David Parsons. I know you’ve done the same. They called for people to pray. This is such an important time to pray for President Trump, Ambassador Mike Huckabee, Steve Witkoff, all of the players right now, that they would have a biblical worldview, that they would not be enticed by anything, you know, nefarious.
SPEAKER 14 :
All right, Chris, we’ve got to leave it there. We’re out of time, but we will pray. Thanks for joining us. Folks, stick with us. We’re back after this.
SPEAKER 17 :
At Family Research Council, we believe religious freedom is a fundamental human right that all governments must protect. That’s why FRC President Tony Perkins went to Capitol Hill to testify on behalf of persecuted Christians in Nigeria. Islamist terror groups target Christians and other religious minorities in Nigeria with brutal violence. Representative Chris Smith, who chaired the hearing, said 55,000 people have been killed and 21,000 abducted in the last five years alone. The congressman also stressed that 89% of Christians in the world who are martyred are from Nigeria.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yet the government of Nigeria has failed to make progress against religiously motivated persecution of Christians despite religious freedom being enshrined as an essential human right in their constitution.
SPEAKER 17 :
Tony Perkins called for the United States to send an unmistakable message.
SPEAKER 14 :
This is systematic religious violence. Nigeria must be redesignated a country of particular concern. The Biden administration’s removal of this designation was a reckless mistake that emboldened the very terrorists who are slaughtering Christians.
SPEAKER 17 :
Redesignating Nigeria will enable the U.S. government to pressure Nigerian leaders to protect vulnerable Christians.
SPEAKER 14 :
These are not just numbers. These are fathers, their mothers, their children, their families.
SPEAKER 17 :
Bishop Wilfred Onagabe risked his life to speak out, sharing firsthand accounts of the danger faced in his church district in central Nigeria.
SPEAKER 13 :
We live in fear because at any point it can be our turn to be killed. But to remain silent is to die twice. So I have chosen to speak.
SPEAKER 17 :
FRC is calling on President Trump to act now to promote religious freedom around the globe and speak up on behalf of Christians in Nigeria.
SPEAKER 14 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us. All right. With this being another big week for the House’s reconciliation package, I wanted to share with you a conversation I had with Speaker Mike Johnson over the weekend on this week on Capitol Hill. Let’s jump right into that, Mr. Speaker, because what the Republicans are proposing is fixing a program that was, quite frankly, broken by the previous administration in terms of expanding it beyond its capabilities. And we’re talking about Medicaid. I mean, only in Washington is, you know, like getting a car tuned up, the equivalent of taking it to the junkyard. Which is what the Democrats are saying the Republicans are attempting to do. Unfortunately, it appears that even some members of your own party are buying into that rhetoric.
SPEAKER 16 :
Well, I hope not. Look, I think all the Republicans in the House and the Senate are aligned in our mission here. We’ve got to get the big, beautiful bill done. And part of that is ensuring fiscal responsibility again, returning to fiscal sanity. We strayed away from that under the Biden years and in the aftermath of COVID and all of that. The federal government went on a spending spree. They expanded Medicaid, to your point, way beyond its original intent. And they set it on a trajectory to collapse upon itself. I mean, so many people are on Medicaid. who are never intended to be there, able-bodied workers, young men with no dependents, you know, who are on Medicaid. It doesn’t make any sense. And so what we’re going to do in this process is shore up the program, reform it so that it can be sustained. Look, Medicaid is a very important safety net for young pregnant mothers who are single, for example, and the disabled and the elderly and people who genuinely need a hand up sometimes. And it’s not meant for young men to sit around on their couches and play video games. So we’re going to get Those guys off the program, we’re going to get illegal aliens off the program. We’re going to shore up and get rid of the fraud, waste, and abuse, which cost about $500 billion every 10 years. And we’re going to get this program back under control, work requirements for people that are able. So that will make the program better. And what it will do, Tony, is ensure that the people who desperately and genuinely need this help will be able to have it. And that’s a responsibility that everybody in Congress should take seriously. The Democrats are trying to play politics. We’re trying to be responsible in governing all this.
SPEAKER 14 :
And that is the path forward to addressing the $36 trillion in debt that we have?
SPEAKER 16 :
This is a big part of it. Look, we use the analogy all the time and you and I have talked about it. The U.S. economy is like a giant aircraft carrier. You don’t turn it on a dime. It takes miles of open ocean. And the reconciliation bill is a big first step in that because while we are checking the boxes, while we are delivering on the president’s campaign promises, we’re securing the border, we’re restoring peace through strength. We’re going to have American energy dominance again and have a rocket fuel turbo boost to the economy by keeping tax rates low and putting in incentives for people to grow and expand their businesses and add more jobs and increase incomes. All that will happen at the same time that we are keeping deficit neutrality. We’re not going to add to the national debt while we’re doing all this. Now, that’s a complicated equation to solve, and that’s why it’s taken us almost a year. We’ve been working on this to get to this point. But we’re almost there, Tony. As you know, this past week we completed eight of the 11 involved committees. They’ve done their work, sent their pieces of the bill through. And next week we’ll have Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means, and the House Agriculture Committee. Those are the last three. They’ll finish their work. We’ll get it done hopefully by the end of next week. And we could still have this out of the House and moving along through the process by Memorial Day. I’m working on that every single hour.
SPEAKER 14 :
All right, Mr. Speaker, using your analogy of the aircraft carrier, the Navy’s lost a few planes lately on those aircraft carriers falling off into the ocean. As you’re turning this aircraft carrier along, you’re working very hard to keep all your members on deck and not losing any of them. There are some thorny issues. It shouldn’t be, but they are. among some of those in blue states. Let’s talk about funding for Planned Parenthood. That popped up this week, and you have some in your delegation that have expressed opposition to defunding Planned Parenthood.
SPEAKER 16 :
Well, you know, there’s a lot of opinions about this, and it depends where people live and what districts they are in America, but the principle is very clear and the polling is off the charts. The American people do not want forced taxpayer funding for abortion. I mean, that has been a principle that we’ve championed in America’s public law since the Hyde Amendment. Henry Hyde first added that part into the law. We have completed and defended that every inch of it every year since that time. And that’s always been a consistent principle. So what we’re doing in the reconciliation bill is ensuring that that remains the case. And I think it’s a very important thing. I think even people who support abortion, understand that you cannot force taxpayers to fund it. And that’s what’s been happening, and we’re going to take care of that problem.
SPEAKER 14 :
I think that’s really important to underscore that the reconciliation, which we’ve been spending so much time talking about, and I think people’s eyes are glazing over when we bring up reconciliation. But in that one bill, and you have described it this way, the president has described it this way as the most consequential piece of legislation probably to pass through Congress once it passes through, is that it does codify reconciliation. You know, these executive orders that the president has signed into place, which could easily be undone unless they’re codified.
SPEAKER 16 :
Well, that’s the problem, right? Because if you have a swing, a pendulum swing, as we do in this country often, you have, let’s say, a Democrat wins next time. I pray it doesn’t happen. I don’t think it will. But just in case, that new president would come in and unwind and reverse everything that’s been done. So Congress has to put it into law. And the reconciliation vehicle is really the only way that we can do that. Because you might have noticed Chuck Schumer and the Democrats in the House and the Senate, they’re in no mood whatsoever to help President Trump achieve any win. And it’s really sad. because even if it does extraordinary benefits for their own constituents, Democrats in Congress will not vote for it because they don’t want President Trump to get a win. So we have to do it ourselves. It has to be, sadly and unfortunately, Republicans have to do it ourselves. And reconciliation is the one mechanism we have to do that on a partisan basis. Why? Because you only need 51 votes in the Senate and not 60, as everything else normally requires.
SPEAKER 14 :
That was part of my conversation with House Speaker Mike Johnson on our weekend program this week on Capitol Hill. You can find out more about that this week on Capitol Hill dot com or better yet, just download the stand firm app and you can watch it on the weekends on the stand firm app. After the break, more Washington watch. So don’t go away. We’ll be back with more right after these messages.
SPEAKER 04 :
Family Research Council is committed to advancing faith, family, and freedom from the East Coast to the West. So FRC is going to Southern California for this year’s Pray, Vote, Stand Summit, October 17th and 18th at Calvary Chapel, Chino Hills. Join us for this powerful gathering of Christians desiring cultural renewal and spiritual revival. The Pray, Vote, Stand Summit brings together Christian leaders, issue experts, and government officials for a time of prayer, inspiration, and action. Together, we will seek God’s guidance for our nation and engage in meaningful discussions on the intersection of faith, government, and culture. If the spiritual foundations and the cultural walls of our nation are to be rebuilt, we all have a role to play. May we each find our place on the wall as we build for biblical truth. Register now at PrayVoteStand.org. That’s PrayVoteStand.org.
SPEAKER 22 :
What is God’s role in government? What does the separation of church and state really mean? And how does morality shape a nation? President John Adams said our Constitution was made only for moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. Join Family Research Council for God and Government, a powerful 13-part series that equips you with biblical truth to engage in today’s most pressing debates, from the Ten Commandments in classrooms to the immigration crisis of America. will uncover the foundations of our nation’s history and why it’s relevant for today. Defend God’s plan for government because faith and freedom were never meant to be separate. New episodes available each Monday. To view the series on the Stand Firm app, text COURSE to 67742.
SPEAKER 18 :
How should Christians think about the thorny issues shaping our culture? How should Christians address deceitful ideas like transgenderism, critical theory, or assisted suicide? How can Christians navigate raising children in a broken culture, the war on gender roles, or rebuilding our once great nation? Outstanding is a podcast from The Washington Stand dedicated to these critical conversations. Outstanding seeks to tear down what our corrupt culture lifts up with an aim to take every thought and every idea captive to the obedience of Christ. Whether policies or partisan politics, whether conflict in America or conflict abroad, join us and our guests as we examine the headlines through the lens of Scripture. and explore how Christians can faithfully exalt Christ in all of life. Follow outstanding on your favorite podcast app and look for new episodes each week.
SPEAKER 14 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us on this Monday. All right, today, the final episode of our God and Government course is out, but the God and Government course is available exclusively on the Stand Firm app. So if you have the app, you can watch it. If you don’t, I’ll tell you what, text the word course to 67742, course to 67742, and I will send you a link. word for today is ezra chapter 1 where god stirs the heart of a pagan emperor to allow the jewish exiles to go home thus says cyrus king of persia the lord the god of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has charged me to build him a house in jerusalem whoever among his people may go up and rebuild cyrus grants more than permission he supplies abundance Neighbors of every returning exile must give silver, gold, livestock in costly wares, and the king himself returns the temple vessels Nebuchadnezzar stole. Seventy years after leaving in chains, Judah marches home loaded with resources. What a portrait of God’s far-reaching favor. Exile robbed the Jews of land and status, yet it never nullified God’s covenant. Even in captivity, he arranged their future and used a foreign ruler to fund it. Take heart. No setback, season of loss, or hostile environment can quarantine God’s promises. His supply often arrives from the least expected sources. Walk faithfully, and at his appointed time, he can turn scarcity into overflowing provision. To find out more about our journey through the Bible, text BIBLE to 67742. All right, the weekend news shows were a buzz with President Trump’s Middle East trip, analysis of what role Pope Leo XIV will have on U.S. and world events, and a few other random items. Joining me now with a look at the news stories going into this week are two members of the Washington Stand team, senior writer Joshua Arnold and Mark Tapscott, the Washington Stand’s new senior congressional analyst. Joshua, Mark, welcome to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining me.
SPEAKER 11 :
Great to be here.
SPEAKER 14 :
All right, Mark, I want to start with you. First off, welcome to the team. Thank you. It’s great to be here. You’ve got a long history in this city. You’ve been covering politics and Congress for a long time. A little longer than I care to remember. Well, we’re glad to have you on the team, and you bring a lot of expertise. And so we look forward to the insights that you’re going to be bringing. from those decades of experience as a veteran journalist and investigative reporter. So let’s start. I want to play a clip. This is from yesterday, CNN’s State of the Union program. New Jersey Congresswoman LaMonica McIver defended a dust-up that a delegation of congressional Democrats and the mayor of Newark had at a federal immigration detention center. Play the clip, please.
SPEAKER 01 :
We were simply there to do our job, therefore oversight visit and what you’re watching in a video and we don’t have all of the body cam and we hope that all of the body cam is released. It was a very tense situation. It unfortunately did not have to be like that. They created that confrontation, they created that chaos and then ultimately went to arrest the mayor of the largest city of New Jersey who is my mayor and my constituent.
SPEAKER 11 :
all right uh mark the mayor was arrested there was uh you know i mean was this a staged confrontation or tell us what was going on here this this was a staged confrontation just like we have seen over and over and over again ever since longer than i care to remember back in the 60s with the new left marching in, taking over campus buildings, forcing confrontations. It’s exactly what they did here. The thing that really struck me immediately was that all three of the Democrats from New Jersey, House members, said they were there for oversight. Not one of them is on the oversight committee.
SPEAKER 14 :
Well, it’ll be interesting to see what comes of that. But the media loves it. Oh, yes. It’s stuff for them to cover. Because they’re sympathetic.
SPEAKER 11 :
I think sympathetic is an understatement. You have generation after generation of journalists, and I have dealt with and hired and let go generation after generation of journalists. They come out of J school with the idea that their purpose in journalism is not to convey facts, but to convey explanations for facts. And those facts come from things like critical race theory. It’s not journalism.
SPEAKER 14 :
So what we see today, this is why the new media is getting such a firm grip, just like the Washington stand. Absolutely. People are looking for news they can trust. And we’re very clear on where our news comes from. It comes from a biblical perspective. It’s facts looked at through a biblical lens. Absolutely. Speaking of that biblical lens, Joshua, I’m going to go to you because this weekend, another one of the topics that was focused very heavily on by the media was the selection of Pope Leo XIV. A lot of analysis, you know, of his brother’s social media accounts. It’s just amazing to see how far they will go. But a lot of analysis on whether or not he’s going to be an ally or an adversary when it comes to the Trump administration, U.S. policy, and where he’s going to fit in in the foreign policy.
SPEAKER 21 :
That’s right. I think what we’ve learned most is that the job of the hope is really complicated. As a Baptist committed to congregational policy, it sometimes seems just confusing to me, overwhelming even. But the Pope is apparently planning to develop a new Catholic doctrinal position on AI, an emerging technological phenomenon that they’ve not had to confront before. So that just is one example of the myriad different topics that the Pope has got to cover.
SPEAKER 14 :
Well, I mean, obviously that is an emerging issue that I think everyone needs to be concerned with. I mean, you look at the ethics, the morality of it, how far will it go? There’s a lot there to unpack, and I think we’re going to be spending a lot of time focused on artificial intelligence. But there’s some very immediate issues as well where people are looking, where’s the Pope? Where does he stand on the sanctity of human life? I mean, obviously, he’s the Pope. We feel like he would have a biblical stance. But the last Pope kind of blurred the lines and left a lot of confusion when it came to human sexuality, marriage, all of that. What do we know about Pope Leo XIV?
SPEAKER 21 :
And on those issues, I think this pope has given some reasons to be encouraged. In a 2012 address, he said that abortion, a homosexual lifestyle, and euthanasia were, quote, at odds with the gospel, end quote. And for a while, he was serving in Peru. and he opposed the introduction of gender ideology into Peruvian schools, saying that the promotion of gender ideology is confusing because it tries to create genders that don’t exist. So on those issues, it’s encouraging to see a pope that seems to share a biblical worldview. On other issues, he might be less aligned with the Trump administration on, say, immigration. I think he’s been critical of Vice President J.D. Vance and Trump’s policy since all the way back in his first term in office.
SPEAKER 14 :
I mean, Mark, when you look at the church in Central and South America, generally much more conservative when it comes to social issues. But when it comes to the economy and other issues, there’s this Marxist ideology that sometimes has made its way into church doctrines.
SPEAKER 11 :
you know south american marxism south american jesuit especially catholicism has frequently over um crossed crossed with each other you know they have a lot of common uh initiatives and i i think the jury is still out in terms of whether pope leo will be um good on economic issues um i have a feeling that he won’t be The thing that I think we should not be surprised about is that he was elected pope.
SPEAKER 14 :
Let me ask you about that. Let me ask you about that. And I’m going to put this to both of you. Do you think that he was selected by the cardinals as a check on American power? No, I don’t think so. You don’t think so. What do you think, Joshua?
SPEAKER 21 :
I think probably not. I think there’s probably a lot of internal factors to the Catholic Church that I don’t know the ins and outs of.
SPEAKER 14 :
I think he was. I think he was selected. It doesn’t mean you can’t have your own opinion. My opinion is I think he was selected as a check to American power. to create division at home for the Trump administration, making it more difficult for him. Unlike, and Mark, you’ll know this reference back to Pope John Paul, who worked very closely with Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher to really reshape the geopolitical order globally.
SPEAKER 11 :
He was, Pope Leo was the prefect of, I can’t say it because I’m a Southern Baptist too, the Dicastery of Cardinals or Bishops. He’s the guy who selected who went where in recent years. So he’s a smart politician. He counted the votes.
SPEAKER 14 :
He feathered his nest, right? All right. Let’s move on. The president is in the Middle East this week. He’s going to be going to Saudi Arabia. He’s going to be going to Qatar, to the UAE. I want to play a clip of Congressman Michael McCaul, former chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee. Play that clip, please.
SPEAKER 09 :
He’s there to discuss an economic alliance with the Saudis, with the UAE, with the Arab nations. And that’s important, just like the minerals deal that the Ukraine parliament voted for. The more economically we’re tied to the Middle East, the more we’re security tied. And that will push China out of the region. The ultimate goal here, though, is a normalization agreement with Israel.
SPEAKER 14 :
All right. So he’s going to the Middle East. He’s not going to Israel. But the focus, we believe, is going to be on economic activity. Is that the reason he’s not visiting Israel? Mark?
SPEAKER 11 :
You know, our economic relations with Israel have been strong from the beginning, the founding of Israel. I’m not sure that that’s something to be concerned about with this particular trip. I suspect that it’s more related to the Iran situation because Iran clearly is playing jump a rope with the negotiations now. And I think Trump going over there is probably intended to get some other folks in the Middle East to begin making themselves, make their positions clear.
SPEAKER 14 :
Joshua, earlier in the program, Chris Mitchell was on from Israel, saying that there’s concern in Israel about a divide that’s widening between President Trump and Israel, the Trump administration, Benjamin Netanyahu, the fact that they’ve not been a part of the Iranian negotiations. The clock is ticking. There’s a sense that Iran’s trying to run out the clock. Is there any evidence to suggest that there may be daylight between Israel and the U.S.?
SPEAKER 21 :
I mean, Israel certainly seems to think so. If you remember back to the first Trump administration, he was very strong on Israel, getting four Muslim countries to sign the Abraham Accords, moving the embassy to Jerusalem. And it seemed like he was starting out that way. Israel really celebrated the beginning of…
SPEAKER 14 :
I’ll stop you there because on his way out, one of the things he did was put forth the path to peace, the peace program, which would have given, if everyone would agree to it, created essentially a Palestinian state. That’s where, quite frankly, I think the wheels began to come off of the Trump administration.
SPEAKER 21 :
Which that’s really not a solution that Israel is willing to accept at all, to have another state created within their sovereign borders. So I think with especially the recent deals that the Trump administration has cut with, say, the Houthis, that Israel wasn’t a part of that deal. And then Hamas released an American hostage, and Israel really wasn’t a part of that. Now Israel is really not a part of the Iranian negotiations. It seems like the U.S. is kind of setting its own course and Israel’s kind of left outside the door wondering what weight they have on the table.
SPEAKER 11 :
Another way of looking at that though is Trump may be sending a signal to Iran Because they may be looking at this apparent split between us and Israel. And that might make the Iranians think, oh my gosh, what if Washington doesn’t keep them from attacking us? Maybe we better get serious about these negotiations.
SPEAKER 14 :
True, because Israel has been and is ready to pounce whenever the opportunity comes. They just basically want a green light from the United States that any retaliatory attack they would have their back. But I think Israel. We know they can reach them, and they can reach out and touch them in a very profound way. And so I think that could be. That could be. Although I would say even from my own conversations that I had in Israel a week before last, there’s concern over some of these issues we’ve talked about that Israel has not been a part of them.
SPEAKER 11 :
If I was an Iranian government official, I’d be checking my cell phone.
SPEAKER 14 :
And you certainly wouldn’t be using a pager.
SPEAKER 21 :
Whatever happens, I think the most important thing to remember is that we need to pray for our leaders and powers. As you shared earlier from Ezra 1, God turned the heart of Cyrus, emperor of Persia, and he can turn the hearts of President Trump or any leader to protect his people.
SPEAKER 14 :
You know, Joshua, thanks for reminding us of that because we just have about a minute and a half left. And I do want to say, I think it’s extremely important because as followers of Christ, as believers, we can approach the bar and the court of heaven. We can come before the throne of grace. And Paul says we can do so boldly. And we need to pray the word of God. And I think when we pray in concert with, as we’ve seen just recently, as we were reading the book of Daniel, when we pray back God’s word, And God’s word makes it very clear. We don’t know the timeline, but we do know that the land is Israel’s. And he is going to call the people back into that land. He’s doing so. And I think we want to pray that our president, our administration, our Congress lines up with the word of God.
SPEAKER 21 :
And we’re commanded to pray for our leaders in 1 Timothy 2, pray for kings and all those who are in high position. Proverbs remind us that God- Why are we told to pray? So that we might live peaceful and quiet lives and so that everyone would be saved or many people would be saved.
SPEAKER 14 :
So that is the purpose God wants us praying the fulfillment of his word. A peaceful life in which we can share the gospel. Absolutely. Unmolested by government. Unmolested. And that’s what we need to pray for. Gentlemen, thanks so much for joining me today. So folks, I do want to encourage you to pray. If you’re not on our prayer list, you need to get on it so that you can have our regular prayer points. All right, out of time for today. Thanks so much for joining us. Until next time, I leave you once again with the encouraging words the Apostle Paul found in Ephesians 6, where he says, when you’ve done everything you can do, when you’ve prayed, prepared, and taken your stand, by all means, keep standing.
SPEAKER 08 :
Washington Watch with Tony Perkins is brought to you by Family Research Council and is entirely listener supported. Portions of the show discussing candidates are brought to you by Family Research Council Action. For more information on anything you heard today or to find out how you can partner with us in our ongoing efforts to promote faith, family, and freedom, visit TonyPerkins.com.
