Join us for a deep dive into the complexities of the current political stalemate as the Democrats present new bills amidst the government shutdown. With the voices of federal employees bringing a grassroots perspective, we uncover the human stories behind the headlines. From proposals to pay personnel to discussions on protecting free speech in schools, this episode provides a comprehensive analysis of how these legislative and societal issues intertwine and affect everyday Americans.
SPEAKER 12 :
Today on the show, the Democrats propose a new bill, a bizarre bill amidst the shutdown.
SPEAKER 11 :
Keeping you informed and engaged now more than ever. This is Sekulow. We want to hear from you. Share and post your comments or call 1-800-684-3110. And now your host, Logan Sekulow.
SPEAKER 12 :
Welcome to Sekulow. Fix my collar here, Will. I gotta, you know, look good on air here. Will Haines in studio. Jordan Sekulow in studio. Whereas we join again by Jeff Balaban. We got another update from Israel coming for you. So you’re gonna like this one. This is actually a big win from the ACLJ. So we’re excited to share that. Usually we don’t have two hits from Israel back to back. But today is a very special day for our team today. at ACLJ Jerusalem and also at ACLJ here in the States. So that’s going to be one if you’ve been following sort of the rise in anti-Semitism, obviously on college campuses, we’ve got a victory to report. So that’s going to be a lot of fun coming up later. Phone lines are open for you at 1-800-684-3110. We’re looking at all the different topics we could discuss today. And the one that kind of jumped out is obviously there is pain. There is pain going right now. If you are a member of the government, if you are working for the government, maybe you’ve been furloughed, Maybe your paychecks are being held. And the Republicans, of course, there was another opportunity to move forward. The Democrats once again shut it down. This is what the, how many attempts?
SPEAKER 13 :
The 13th, 12th attempt? Yeah, that the Democrats decided not to reopen the government with a clean, continuing resolution.
SPEAKER 12 :
And not even really discuss it, not even have any sort of conversation. So that’s what’s happening. Of course, the Democrats will say it’s Republicans. Republicans will say it’s the Democrats. And the Republicans put a point together and said, hey, how about we start paying people, though?
SPEAKER 13 :
That’s right. So Senator Ron Johnson is expected to have a vote today on a bill which would pay federal employees that are still having to work. Because there are those that are furloughed, that are at home, that aren’t going to work. But then there are those, you think about the air traffic control, the military, people that still have to show up and are not going to be receiving a paycheck this Friday when payday rolls around. And so he put together a bill that those that are still having to show up should be getting paid for that. The Democrats are trying to frame that as, well, then the president gets to pick who’s essential and who’s not. He gets to pick who’s getting paid and who’s not, which is a ridiculous argument in and of itself. But now the Democrats came up with two kind of competing alternatives to Senator Johnson’s bill. that’s a good idea right they can’t do that and then they can’t also look like they didn’t come up with something on their own right so one uh is the most bizarre thing that i think i’ve seen proposed by a democrat and they proposed a lot because someone thought a lot well someone thought This is a really good idea, and it’s going to make us look better throughout this shutdown process. This comes out of Senator Gary Peters from Michigan. We have the text. You can see it on the screen of this bill. He’s planning to announce today or to drop at the Senate today that would pay all federal employees, so every single one, 100%, From the start of the shutdown up until when that bill that you see on the screen is enacted. So essentially hitting the reset button on the government shutdown. Reopen. We’re going to pay everybody. And then you immediately, you get your back pay, your one or two missed paychecks throughout this process, Jordan. But then immediately you’re back at zero. You’re still nervous for your family. You’re still worried about it. It opens a wild precedent.
SPEAKER 03 :
A horrendous precedent to open because what it does is allows the government to operate at 100% when Congress has not passed a budget because now you’re paying for everyone and because you have to do it every couple weeks… You’re having to go back and vote. And if they’re trying to tie pressure Republicans into doing this, say all these people need their paychecks, instead of Republicans saying they’d all be getting their back pay right now, if you signed on with the majority party who controls the House, the Senate, and the White House, continuing resolution, which, by the way, adds nothing new to what was already passed as law a year ago. So no new Republican plans. Just keep things as they are. You don’t have to start a precedent of funding the government, but it’s technically shunned. You can do that forever.
SPEAKER 12 :
You can literally keep the government closed and shut down forever, but fully paid. But then, of course, some of your services aren’t getting done. It could be a disaster that they’re not thinking of long term. Or maybe they are, and maybe that’s what they want. Phone lines are open for you at 1-800-684-3110. What do you think about this? We’ve got more coming up as well. Again, support the work of the ACLJ. It can never be a more important time than to support free speech right now than at ACLJ.org. Welcome back to Secular. We are taking your phone calls at 1-800-684-3110. If you have your own hold, stay on hold and we’ll get to you. Let’s kind of reset what’s going on because there’s a lot of people who are just joining us right now, especially on our YouTube channel. Sometimes it takes a minute for YouTube to populate across the world. And right now we know a lot of you are joining and they go, what could be, Will? That big, interesting, bizarre, I think as I said in the tease, proposal. And the proposal really is to end the shutdown for about five minutes, enough for everyone to sign some paychecks, and shut it down real quick. So essentially really making the shutdown null and void, except for the services that affect people.
SPEAKER 13 :
Well, and as we’ve seen, the Democrats have failed to advance the end of the shutdown 12 times now. And so there are some people trying to come up with alternatives because the politics that they’re playing in Washington are affecting real people’s lives across America. And so Senator Johnson out of Wisconsin had a bill that would pay those that still have to come to work because they’re forced to because it’s essential jobs, air traffic control, the military, Social Security. That doesn’t end. So someone’s got to be there to process that. But those people processing the paychecks of Social Security are not getting paid themselves. His bill would pay those that are still forced to work. while even while the government is shut down the democrats won’t go for that because they want to inflict as much pain to try to get republicans to cave and to give into their demands instead of passing the same continuing resolution that was passed last year and many times before that but so they’re like we got to come up with our own counterpoint right because that’s just too good exactly so there’s the one that really caught my eye is from senator gary peters out of michigan oh my And he has a proposal that would pay all federal employees, so 100% of the government, from the day that the shutdown started To today or whenever that bill passes.
SPEAKER 03 :
So 23 days ago or 24.
SPEAKER 13 :
So for most people, that would be either one or two paychecks they’re going to receive if this were to get enacted. Now, also, he doesn’t really want it to go through because he’s not putting it to a normal floor vote. He’s forcing it through unanimous consent, which. Try getting 100 people. That would be every senator would have to agree to move forward.
SPEAKER 03 :
You have to get 100% of the U.S. Senate on a piece of legislative state. We’ll pay everybody for two weeks. And by the way, we’ll come back again in two weeks and have to pay them again or else you’ll be the best. And then what is the impetus for ending the shutdown then if you are a Democrat? If you can now pay the entire bureaucracy, which you love, tell the OMB they can’t furlough any more people. which is again not the role of the of congress the executive branch again executes the laws that they pass and then at the same time that they will try to use it against republicans to say in ads see we had a bill to pay you to make sure your your loved one who worked for the federal government was paid they voted no but what they’re not telling you the truth is you’d be having this fight every two weeks which means you would never get to an end of a shutdown and Any federal employee right now who has been there at least since Trump 45, so President Trump’s first term, has been through a shutdown longer than this. Now it’s getting closer, but it was 35 days. And I think we’re at day 23 right now. So I think they’ve been through it. They know they got their back pay. I think it’s when you start getting close to the day 30, if it looks like no movement, you’ve got to push on something like what Ron Johnson is proposing. And not be… scared into thinking that you’ve got to vote for this Democrat proposal because of what ads they must run against you well and here’s the other Democrats know right now it’s hurting them they tried to make it the Trump shutdown it’s been the Schumer shutdown since day one no one believes it’s Trump when you start
SPEAKER 13 :
Also, Jordan, when you get to over 30 days in, then you start running up with almost every single employee having an issue with a mortgage, with a credit card bill, with those things that are on 30-day revolving payments. That starts coming up. Not just for obviously can be at any point. I’m sure people the very first point during the shutdown had that arising. But then you’ve reached 100 percent of the federal government are starting to have those issues. Then they really start hearing from their constituents and from those that are upset that you’re not paying us. Yes, we’ll get it all back pay. But that starts messing up. And we know banks are actually working with the customers because it isn’t their fault. It is the fault of the federal government. But you start getting concerned about, is this going to affect my credit score? Is this going to affect my ability to help my family, to pay for other things, to get a loan in the future? And that is really what you’re starting to look at when you get up on that 30-day deadline.
SPEAKER 12 :
I want to take a phone call because it is someone who is affected. Let’s go to Mark who’s calling in Oklahoma. Watch it on Facebook. Mark, go ahead.
SPEAKER 10 :
Hey guys, thanks for all that you do today. Thank you for calling. I woke up. It’s my 13 year anniversary for the federal aviation administration. And I woke up to a leave and earning statement that said zero. My last paycheck that I received was a little over 20% lower than the previous one. The one that I’m supposed to get this coming Tuesday will say zero dollars on it. I have been in the agency now 13 years. That means this is the third shutdown that I’ve been through. I am sick and tired of being used as a political pawn, regardless of what side of the aisle people are on. I don’t ask who’s on the airplanes that I control. It doesn’t matter whether I’ve worked President Biden or President Trump or President Obama on Air Force One. I do my job and I have to be right. 100% of the time. And if I’m not right, then you guys get to watch the president of the United States hold a press conference.
SPEAKER 12 :
Right. Look, Mark, I think a lot of people are feeling the frustrations and concerns you are. I just wanted to take your call. I saw you calling in. I said, I want to hear from you because, look, everyone needs aircraft control.
SPEAKER 03 :
The two top areas where people wish we could just get the payments to is military and FAA because of our transportation needs, which would then cover you, Mark.
SPEAKER 12 :
The holidays are coming.
SPEAKER 03 :
um unfortunately we know is that um these are new proposals now someone like ron johnson would want to do that because he’s having to go the fa is having to go in so and then the military is having to go in and say if you are working right now you should be getting paid and that would then take care of your situation mark and all the other air traffic controllers which we realized very quickly uh when they tried to cut the size because and use more tech That you were not at the point yet where you still didn’t need this full bank of F.A. folks. So, yes, you are doing very difficult jobs. I put you almost in the realm of like service, like military, because you’re keeping people alive, keeping us alive. And I think people like that should be who we’re focused on first. And Ron Johnson just took it a step further and said everybody who is still working. And that’s not good enough for Democrats.
SPEAKER 13 :
well into that point also jordan what ron johnson’s proposal would do would help people like mark who as he just said has to be right a hundred percent of the time what he doesn’t need in the back of his head is what’s gonna my next paycheck gonna look like and that’s what these people they have to be groceries tonight a hundred percent of the time correct They now have an added stress put on them when they go to an already stressful job that is essential to the function and the infrastructure of this country. Not just leisure travel and business travel, but transportation, the logistics, the shipping of this country, everything. We have to think about that. They are putting an added stress. And what does Gary Peters’ proposal do? It says, okay, you get your back pay, but that stress doesn’t go away, you as an air traffic controller. You still now have to worry about the next paycheck. And you know what they’re going to do, the Senate, after they vote on these today, or I’m sorry, not even vote, have unanimous consent? Go home for the weekend on Thursday. They’re done. close up shop they’re still getting paid and when people like Bernie Sanders are asked he said well I mean it’s a good idea but I mean some of these people are younger they have families they can’t afford to do that you can’t ask the congress to do what we’re asking the entire federal government to do how dare you suggest that and he’s supposed to be the socialist And it’s so quickly… He’s the socialist that ended up in multi-million dollar book deals. How they forget their ideology when you’re asked them to do the same thing that they want the rest of the country to do.
SPEAKER 03 :
No, listen, this ends easily by just passing the CR. The CR… It has nothing new, no new plans in it. That’s why you don’t hear anything from them about, oh, this is going to do this and that. Because even when they try that, it’s so quickly debunked because the legislation that this is tied to already passed. And in a continuing resolution, you can’t add a bunch of stuff. So the Democrats just don’t want to even… give Republicans a win on a continuing resolution. That’s not final. That’s not like passing a final budget. This is how dedicated they are to the radical left of their party, that they think even the bureaucrats who usually vote Democrat, I think it’s about 90%, they’re willing to make sure, you know, to put them in pain. In harm’s way because of politics, because they don’t want to be outdone by the more liberal members of their party like AOC and others who they think they are all in a fight with, especially Schumer.
SPEAKER 13 :
And if you’re someone like John Fetterman, who’s actually speaking logically about this, what are they threatening to do? Primary him. They’re about to throw him out of their party. They’re going to attempt to because he thinks logically and doesn’t want the people of Pennsylvania to be suffering the way it is right now.
SPEAKER 03 :
He learned what the Democrat Party was really about. You thought he was coming in as one of the most progressive guys. What he was coming in as is one of the more common sense people to represent the working class and is way more of an independent than they tried to portray him. Even sometimes the left portrayed him as this kind of activist type. Instead, he’s a common sense guy. who happens to support Israel, which is the great Satan of the Democrat Party.
SPEAKER 12 :
We’ve got phone lines open, and we want to hear from you. We’re going to give you an update also on the ACLJ. We’ve got some movement going on, some interesting cases. You’re going to want to get involved with it as well by going to ACLJ.org, reading all the incredible content that we have available, watching all the content. It’s available for free without a paywall, but only because you support financially and give generously at ACLJ.org. Welcome back to Steadkill. Phone lines are almost completely jammed. We’ve got one line open at 1-800-684-3110. We’ll definitely take some of those calls in this segment and later on, so stay on hold. If you’re on hold, we will get to you. I did want to pivot a little bit to some of the work of the ACLJ. You know, as we said, school season kind of kicked back in, and now we’re honestly headed towards the back quarter. of the year in terms of your semesters. A lot of people are just back from fall break. You’re going to have Christmas coming up, Thanksgiving, holidays. And with that, we know comes a lot of conversations and maybe a lot of issues at schools. And sometimes it involves the teachers. Sometimes it involves the teachers doing the right thing and being punished or reprimanded for just stating very obvious facts or promoting kindness. And that is sort of what happened here. We had a teacher who it was the morning after or of the Charlie Kirk assassination, it just came up in her class. People were talking about it. Obviously, it became something that people were addressing. And with that, they started talking about people who had been murdered, who had been assassinated for their beliefs, whether it was their political beliefs or their religious beliefs or whatever it may be.
SPEAKER 13 :
Well, and this teacher was actually teaching curriculum that was approved by the, by the school board, by the, all of this entire curriculum was approved because this was on this day, it’s an eighth grade history teacher in Hawaii. Federally funded schools, schools that receive federal funds have to teach about the constitution on constitution day. That’s a part of the federal law. So this was a curriculum talking about the Bill of Rights that had been approved to be taught. And they were talking about the First Amendment and talking about free speech. And the teacher was talking about how there is a difference between what is protected speech and not protected speech. A student raised.
SPEAKER 12 :
This wasn’t even a very controversial conversation.
SPEAKER 13 :
It wasn’t even about controversy.
SPEAKER 03 :
I think we should tell people how it went down. She talked about that, one, even hate speech on Constitution Day, which she says is protected to an extent. We don’t have laws against hate speech like other countries. And that it’s protected to an extent before it becomes incitement. Incitement’s not. But again, we’re talking to kids here. And it prompted a student… Not the teacher. A student then raised their hand and referenced Charlie Kirk being killed for freedom of speech, for talking. And then the teacher just asked students to name other figures in American history.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, and somewhat pivoting. Right. Actually, pivoting to history. Pivoting to history. So brought up JFK. Didn’t have a discussion about him. Brought up Martin Luther King Jr. Abraham Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln. So they’re having conversations. And in that conversation, someone mentioned the attempted assassination of President Trump, a student. And another student responded with something to the effect of, well, that wouldn’t have been such a bad thing. And of course, that’s an abhorrent thing to say about anyone that you hoped that assassination. Clearly, I’m sure we can know where that student’s parents are politically. And the teacher’s response… was just to, again, de-escalate the situation.
SPEAKER 03 :
You can’t call for someone to die. That’s not hate speech. That’s what I was talking about before.
SPEAKER 12 :
We don’t want anyone to be killed for their speech. And here’s why. And gave what appears to be a very nuanced… bipartisan not a political speech by any means a teacher who just doesn’t want to really engage in bring it up on their own she did not bring this teacher did not bring this on herself so here’s what happens the school has a meeting with the social studies department
SPEAKER 13 :
And in front of everybody says that there have been some incidents in certain classes that will be addressed. But teachers are not allowed to discuss, quote, controversial issues. And if that is brought up by a student, it must be shut down. now then later the teacher was called into a one-on-one meeting with the administration and the vice principal told the parent or told the the teacher that a parent of a student who wasn’t even in the class called to complain and made it all about charlie kirk not about the entire discussion and and the things that were said even about president trump so then
SPEAKER 12 :
Which was really the moment of moving on the conversation and having a discussion was actually about a student responding that it wouldn’t have been bad for President Trump to have been assassinated. And clearly she or he was deciding to end this conversation and just say, no, that’s not how we do things here in America.
SPEAKER 13 :
So the teacher gets a summary of the conference memo stating what the issue is, a reprimand placed into their file. And that if controversial issues arise spontaneously without administration approval and parent notification, discussion must be put to a stop immediately. Failure to comply with the above directives may result in disciplinary action. So this is silencing free speech. It’s silencing academic freedom. And we are not going to let this go through. We have now sent a demand letter to the Department of Education in Hawaii that this be removed from the teacher’s file. that they support and promote the First Amendment and the freedoms that are here. But there are so many constitutional violations here, Jordan, that they are the chilling effect on free speech. It’s ridiculous.
SPEAKER 12 :
It also just doesn’t feel all that controversial. It’s not all that controversial that the news of the day is going to come up. And as a teacher, you have to know how to present the, you know, at least to respond appropriately. And what I like about this case, and sometimes, you know, you have teachers that go rogue and do teach things that I think are very inappropriate. was this teacher really did the best they could to settle down the situation and move forward. But because, likely, it had to do with President Trump or Charlie Kirk or conservative-leaning people. What was she supposed to do then? She did pivot. Yeah, no, they pivoted. As teachers, they pivoted. And… Exactly. Even the demand was kind of what was meant, but that wasn’t good enough, and that is clearly because of the topic.
SPEAKER 13 :
Well, it’s also, it’s unconstitutionally vague, the directive, saying if something arises that’s controversial, how subjective is that right there, Jordan? Just saying, I mean, you can’t even, you can’t talk about the American Revolution, I mean, or anything in American history.
SPEAKER 03 :
Slavery in America, the founding of our country. Because it could be deemed, Controversial. The protests for women’s right to vote, the Constitution, the three-fifths provision. I mean, all these things that you should be learning about in history class as you go up in age could be deemed controversial ten different ways. Our history itself… has controversies. It’s not, as our founding fathers knew, we’re not perfect. We’re going to strive to be the best we can be as a country in the world. And I think we are, but that means always striving towards getting better and trying to pursue happiness, never really reaching full happiness, but pursuing happiness as a goal instead of pursuing just power and government strength. But this idea, again, of just these schools going overboard, What will happen is we’ll just have no history taught. Is that what they want? I mean, that’s what kind of has happened before. Except for America’s bad.
SPEAKER 12 :
Remember that happened a few years ago where during COVID, it was like history classes got put on pause in Chicago because they were like, we don’t know what kind of history is being taught here. With that being said, the ACLJ doesn’t. stop and what is next is what is important which is of course we are representing this teacher at zero cost to them because people like you donate and support and that’s great because you never know when you’re going to need it yourself because likely this teacher would not be able to afford especially the legal minds that we have here when you’re able to be represented by the best of the best but jordan i guess we could say what that next step
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, so what we’re doing is they have a November 6th deadline to reply to our demand letter that says you remove the memo and that teachers, confirmation that teachers will not be forced to silence students during approved lessons and that instruction on constitutional rights will not be deemed controversial. So they can avoid a lawsuit. Two weeks. They have until November 6th. After that, we’ll decide whether to file a formal complaint with the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights, if they want to take it to the Trump DOE. Yeah, bring it on. Bring that on.
SPEAKER 12 :
Bring it on. With that, we want you to support the work of the ACLJ. We have a second half hour coming up. Get it on however you get your live broadcast. ACLJ.org, YouTube, Rumble, whatever it may be. Find us there or later archived. But right now, this is the time to stand up for free speech and for religious liberty. And you can do that, be a part of the team, become an ACLJ supporter, an ACLJ monthly champion right now.
SPEAKER 11 :
Keeping you informed and engaged now more than ever. This is Seculo. And now your host, Logan Seculo.
SPEAKER 12 :
Welcome back to Seculo. Second half hour coming up. In the next segment, we’re going to head over to ACLJ Jerusalem. We’re going to get an update on what’s going on in Israel and some of our cases involving students who are having issues with anti-Semitism on campus. We’re going to have an update on that.
SPEAKER 13 :
We have an interesting update coming through. This is from Jake Sherman, Punchbowl News, longtime DC reporter, but that House Democrats are calling their members back to DC next week and that they are holding an in-person caucus meeting on Tuesday and events Wednesday. Now, this could be a sign that maybe there’s some sort of breakthrough between Senate leadership and that maybe they’ve got a way forward on the shutdown. Or it could mean that they’re going to come forward and have some sort of posturing. They think they have a next wave of a PR campaign.
SPEAKER 03 :
But it is very interesting to call the House back. Because the House has already passed this. All they would be doing is maybe introducing… additional terms this legislation that right likely republicans would oppose so again logan what they’re trying to do through through today’s actions uh which we are talking about how ridiculous that is we’ll back pay you until today and then uh we’ll have to go through this again so i’ve shut down all the time is they the shutdown has turned on them it did not turn on the president it turned on congress it turned on the dims because people realized They were the holdouts to passing just a really straightforward spending bill to keep the government open. And so now they’re going to look like they’re going to do some work by proposing some items, I believe, that won’t go through it because they wouldn’t need to come back on their own. Unless it’s Republicans coming back, too, because they think the Senate is going to send something back. So that’s what we have to watch for. Are Republicans going to be back because they think the Senate is going to be sending something back with a few amendments that they have to then pass?
SPEAKER 13 :
What I would almost look at also, Jordan, is that this is a moment for Hakeem Jeffries, who’s had not the greatest rollout with this of trying to blame the Republicans. He’s the one that said, you know, we need Donald Trump to negotiate this out. Really kind of it flew in the face of their no King’s Day messaging. But I am kind of with you. I think it’s going to be now they’re going to try to say, look. The entire Democrat caucus is here working. Where are the Republicans? Well, the answer to that is many Republicans are in their district trying to help people in their district navigate the shutdown. You’ve seen a lot of stories of that. And when there’s no business to move forward in the House, then there isn’t necessarily a reason for the House to be there because they actually did their job. They passed the clean CR and it’s in the hands of the Senate at this point. So Washington itself at least legislatively, is kind of in a holding pattern because of the Senate.
SPEAKER 12 :
All right, we’ve got two minutes in this segment. I would like to take one call really quick because I don’t want to miss downhill too long. Let’s go to David. Let’s try to settle some things for people. David in Nevada who is watching on the Salem News Channel. It’s a great place to watch us live. David, go ahead.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, I would like to know, you know, because you guys mentioned about the military and the air traffic controllers and Social Security. Am I going to lose my Social Security? I’ve been working since I was 14. David, that’s why I wanted to take.
SPEAKER 03 :
you because I wanted to clear it up to everybody if you are receiving a social security check you will be receiving that social security check timing shouldn’t be affected because the postal service is fully they have their own fund that’s why it’s a public private partnership so they’re able to keep working and you’re going to get your social security check so anybody who tells you that that’s not the case is lying and they are doing it for political purposes trying to scare you or to scam you so be careful and watch out for scams as well for people that try to say like hey we will uh we’ll loan you we’ll loan you your what you’d get in social security if you didn’t give us 20 back
SPEAKER 12 :
That is why I wanted to take your call, David, so early, because I wanted to put some people at ease. But also, if you’re getting Social Security and you’re on it, you’re getting that check the same you would as before. But keep your eyes open for scammers, because this is when they thrive. So not that we give that kind of advice typically on the show, but I’ve seen it happen so many times. So, David, thank you for calling. Thank you for watching on the Salem News Channel. It’s a great place to watch our show. Phone lines are open for you at 1-800-684-3110. We get back. We are going to head over to ACLJ Jerusalem with Jeff Balaban, who was on yesterday talking about what’s going on in Israel. But today we have an update of what happened here in America, which is a student who was suffering from anti-Semitism, the rise of anti-Semitism on college campuses. And we got some great results. That’s because people like you support the ACLJ. We’re going to talk about that coming up. And we have some more updates in just a moment. We’ll be right back. Welcome back to Sekulow. Phone lines are open for you, and I want to hear from you in the next segment. We’re going to take as many calls as we can, so go ahead and get on hold at 1-800-684-3110. Jeff Balbon, head of ACLJ Jerusalem, is joining us now. And though you’re in Jerusalem, we actually need to talk about something that’s happening over here on the stateside. Will, why don’t you set us up a little bit, and then we’ll kick it over to Jeff.
SPEAKER 13 :
That’s right. Jeff, as we’ve long done here at the ACLJ, we’ve tried and fought successfully for Jewish students that were facing anti-Semitism on campuses here in the United States. And this is a case that we talked about a while back, but that this was at New York Law School where a Jewish student. came to the ACLJ, and we represented her through a formal complaint process about some of the posts by various anti-Israel and pro-Hamas groups on campus. Give us a little bit of background of what we did here at New York Law School.
SPEAKER 05 :
Sure. So a student came to us, and let me say at the outset that There are many, many stories coming from this school as well as other schools. So this is just one student who had the courage and the foresight to call us up and ask if we could get involved. We heard out all of the situation, and then we brought it to the law school’s attention. And this is after years of students trying to get the attention of the law school, especially after October 7th, when things got worse and worse. uh… would it be in commonplace at new york law school at the mother’s place in other schools of the university uh… for students to come into class to be surrounded by other students wearing keffiyeh the symbol of of uh… show support for the come on to murderers uh… and and co and and global i’d be provided which means to bring the virus to america itself and they were terrified and the school didn’t react to it and wanted to react uh… and the new post that went out publicly and some of them seem to have the school’s imprimatur and uh… and so we brought this to the school’s attention there are many other complaints honestly i’m not going to get into all of it uh… and we talk about some of it on the aclj website but uh… the school launched an investigation because they understood they had to take us seriously And I would say that the investigators that they retained actually did take the investigation seriously. The result was, after a prolonged investigation, that action was taken that will not help a student who’s already graduated, but thanks to her bravery, it will help other students at New York Law School now and in the future. There were mandates issued to some of these very anti-Semitic groups that if they don’t take down certain posts and they don’t change certain behaviors… They would be taken away. They would lose their rights at the school. The students might be excluded from the school because of this. And basically, I would say this is a major victory. In fact, they said certain things, even if it’s protected free speech, we understand the universities limit speech all the time. You can’t say negative things about any particular group based on, or supposedly shouldn’t be based on religion or race or national origin, and yet it happens routinely now about Jews at universities. And they’re threatened, and they feel terrified. And so there are things that seemed i’ll i’ll be honest with the four things that the school i still feel got away with because you can’t prove intent on certain things but some very important major forward-looking steps were taken and i think the school is clearly unnoticed now and this will result in a better environment god willing in the future at the school uh… and especially the fact that they acknowledge that even things that might be protected technically if sue that because of free speech still would never be accepted if it happened to any other religious or ethnic minority. And therefore, they realized it was inconsistent with the way other students were treated, and they decided on a foregoing basis to not allow that anymore.
SPEAKER 12 :
Jeff, I think that’s a great update, and that’s something our audience needs to hear. And it’s something also that other students need to hear, that if this is happening, you can get the ACLJ to work. And look, I guess the positive and the negative to this is, of course, as you said, it won’t affect the student who had this happen to them, but it will. And it’s why it’s important. And it’s honestly even one of the options of why we’re able to do this at no cost and why it’s really great for us to be able to do that at no cost is because what it does is it opens up that door to have these, you know, not just conversations, but it can get hostile, it can get heated. But the results… can be everlasting. Results that don’t just help the one student that had this happen to. Of course, we know it happened to more than one, but the one student we represented. These are big consequences for these schools to take notice, and it can have ripple effects throughout academia.
SPEAKER 05 :
I think our students, our clients, our students, I think they’re brave. I think they recognize. And we’re careful. We explain to them that it could have consequences to their careers in the schools, and yet they want to move forward with it. They’re very brave, and I’m very proud of them, and it does make a difference. And, you know, she knows that she made a difference to other students as well, and that’s very important to her as well. And so this, I have to say, this I consider a very significant victory because the law school really is making some changes, but I also think that we are going to keep on monitoring it, and other students at the law school now know also to talk to us as things are occurring, and we will be watching the situation.
SPEAKER 13 :
And I think, Jeff, that’s also the point as well. We talk about our clients, and I’m glad you reiterated that point, how brave it is for an individual that can face repercussions from the institution, that can have social repercussions that can come forward, that they have the courage. They are the heroes in this story. They are the ones that see injustice and they know they want to fight it. And they come to the ACLJ for us to fight alongside them. And they should be proud of themselves that they have the courage to stand up for what’s right. to know where to go, to get the resources and the backbone that the ACLJ has to fight with them so that they can make a difference, not just in their lives, but for every other student at that law school. When we talk about even in high schools, in middle schools across this country, those students that have the courage even sometimes at a young age to stand up for what’s right we our attorneys talk with their parents and with them about the real ramifications of it and when they have the courage to move forward that the heroes in the story are the clients and i just want to reiterate what you were saying jeff the courage of those clients to come forward when they go to aclj.org help and they get involved and they fight for what’s right that is something to be proud of and the re the ramifications down the road are so great for Anyone else that could be facing that same type of discrimination going forward?
SPEAKER 05 :
A hundred percent. And, you know, we’re the American Center for Law and Justice. And the law, look, let’s face it, the law is limited in righteousness and justice. But I think that, thank God, we’re able to use the law to really push back against injustice. And I think that we really did. move forward here in New York Law School, and we will continue to do this with other schools as well. And even right now, there are other cases that we’re dealing with, and there are other students at this law school, because of this case, who have come forward. We haven’t discussed this internally yet, but right now, through this student who have come forward, there may be other allegations of other things that have happened because of this at the same law school that are now coming to our attention.
SPEAKER 12 :
Jeff, thank you so much for joining us. Of course, our work in the ACLJ team, whether that is in New York, whether that’s in Jerusalem, wherever you may need to do what you need to do. And of course, across academia, we appreciate it. And thank you for calling in. I know it’s a busy time right now and we’re having some connection potential issues. So I’m going to let you go from there, Jeff. I did want to go ahead and also pivot off real quick. And move a little bit back to the talk of the government shutdown. We’ve had one call that’s been a whole about half an hour. And again, it’s another one of these situations where people are calling in with their frustrations. And I want to make sure that they’re heard. Cheryl in Indiana is watching on Facebook. Cheryl, you’re on the air.
SPEAKER 06 :
Thank you. I just called to shine a light on a group of people that are basically being ignored during this shutdown. And that is the Federal Bureau of Prisons. My daughter has to go to work every day with dangerous criminals and she’s not getting paid. And my suggestion is maybe Congress would like to trade places with them.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, I mean, obviously, that is the conversation that’s happening a lot of people saying, yeah, they’re playing games, it feels like, with a lot of people’s future.
SPEAKER 03 :
I don’t know if your daughter has the federal prison system, but even some federal prison systems, they contract out the actual employees or certain employees there. But government contractors also aren’t getting paid right now. And those big companies, and that might be one that employs your daughter, they’re those big companies are used to this and then, and so they know how to get through it. It’s their, it’s their employees that have the tougher time. It’s not the companies that get the giant contracts. They know it’s coming back in a couple of months. It’s the employees themselves. So yes, after a few weeks of this, it starts to really hurt everyday people, you know, because you didn’t just miss one paycheck. Now you might’ve missed two paychecks, especially when there’s like not a lot of hope on the horizon.
SPEAKER 13 :
Well, and to Cheryl’s point as well, just like the air traffic controllers, prison guards, people that work for the Federal Bureau of Prisons, they are already in a very high stress job and a very essential job. Why does the Senate feel like it’s a good idea, these Democrats in the Senate that don’t want to pass the clean CR, to say, let’s add another stress to their life, like where they’re going to buy groceries or how they’re going to pay their mortgage or how they’re going to cover basic expenses for their family while still making them do that high stress, very high risk in many cases job? But we’re not going to let them get paid. They’ll get back pay. It’s fine. They can handle, you know, 30 days without pay. They’ll get it eventually. It’s ridiculous. That’s all I’ve got to say on it, Logan.
SPEAKER 12 :
I’m very fired up by this topic. Well, maybe you fired some other people up. Phone lines are open for you. I want to hear from you. We’re headed to the last segment of the day. We buy fast. And I want to hear from you because you’re the most important voice in this room. We got three lines open for you right now. Cleared some lines out. So 1-800-684-3110. Stay on hold. If you’re on hold, we’ll get to you. 1-800-684-3110. Of course, it can never be a better time to support the ACLJ than doing so right now. It’s an important time in the world. You got to support freedom of speech. You got to support religious liberty. And if you’re able to, you can become an ACLJ champion. That’s someone that gives on a monthly basis. I’m going to ask you to do that. You heard about the big victory we had for our students. And, of course, working with that teacher, we need your help. Go to ACLJ.org. We’ll be right back. Phone lines are jamming up right now, so I’ll let you know if they open up or you can just keep calling at 1-800-684-3110. Of course, I want to hear from you. I always do. But with that, let’s go ahead and jump into some phone calls. Let’s go to Cliff, who is an ACLJ champion. One of the benefits of being a champion, of course, you’re supporting on a monthly basis. We really could not thank you more, Cliff, for doing that. But I like to bump those calls up to the very front of the line. So, Cliff, thank you. Thanks for staying on hold. Of course, you didn’t have to stay on hold as long as a lot of people did because you’re an ACLJ champion. Just a little unofficial perk that we offer here, but go ahead.
SPEAKER 08 :
You hear me, right? We can hear you. All right, great. Here I go. I just want to get right to it, and thanks for everything that you do. It’s like I feel like I’m in a great novel or a great movie, and I just want to fast forward or follow the pages to the end to see what happens. But meanwhile, I’m stuck in this great novel or movie, and I’ve been here before. It seems like for decades that we’re in the same spot, in the same games, the same players are doing the same thing over and over and over again. I’m not worried about what’s going to happen because I know, like with a lot of you there, you’re knowledgeable what’s going to kind of happen, you know.
SPEAKER 03 :
People hate these government shutdowns because, again, it has nothing to do really with policy. It has to do with… uh one political side uh party tried to inflict pain on another political party because they’ve got issues within their political party where harder left that’s what’s happened with the democrats right now so they need to look the current leadership needs to look very tough even when they’re in the minority even when the legislation adds nothing new by republicans that already had passed, the House, the Senate, and would just keep the budget going so everybody gets paid, they had to take a stand and say, no, we want a trillion dollars added to this. And they’re the minority party. Let’s figure, they don’t get to add a trillion dollars to anything.
SPEAKER 13 :
I think that’s also very true. Very important to remember and to remind people that this is a continuing resolution. This isn’t new appropriations. This is saying we’re keeping everything at the current levels. That doesn’t mean this is a 100% Republican backed bill that is all their spending priorities. It means that. it’s everything in the federal government so every democrat uh supported program etc is in that as it has been from the past year this is the end of the fiscal year they need a continuing resolution to keep it going basically status quo and it’s the democrats that are trying to exploit it at this most tough time because it is the end of the federal government’s fiscal year to try and add things to it that is what makes it different is that it’s not like republicans are getting uh reshaping government in their image by this continuing resolution it’s just keeping the government open and the democrats are the ones that are trying to change it and make it an appropriations bill i think people feel like they’re being used like that last caller they feel like they’re they’re a pawn in a game that we have not we’re not even playing
SPEAKER 12 :
Because they are. That’s what I mean. It’s a show. It’s a performative piece, the government shutdown. Because we know for non-government employees, the pain is very little. Right. The pain is public parks are closed or national monuments, those things, which is not fun. I’m not saying it’s great. But for most people, that’s not a daily issue they’re running into. Exactly. But for the people that it does hurt, we’ve heard from them today, and they’re on the verge of tears, saying, I’ve been working as an air traffic controller for 15 years of my life, and now I have a page stub that says zero, and my job is literally life or death that people take for granted because they look at it and go, oh, we’re just used to it being there. And of course, it’s one of those things people always want to say, you’ve got to limit the federal government, and we believe they do. That’s one of those places you do not want to because they’re not just talking about air traffic control. You got to think about all the things that are in the air, birds, you know, all the things they have to do to stop all of this so we can all fly safely. And as most of us fly without even thinking of what the air traffic controllers and the FAA is doing. But those people are literally calling into our show in tears. They’re being played and they’re being used and it’s very sad and I really hate it. And we should be thanking them for still showing up and doing their job. And even you can maybe have a little bit more understanding for those that aren’t showing up and aren’t doing their job. I don’t like that part of it because it is an essential need, obviously, but I understand the frustration. Let’s go to Marion, ACLJ champion, gets bumped up to the front. Marion in Texas, go ahead.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah, I didn’t even have to wait two minutes. Thank you. Yeah, I’ve got a solution to the problem. I think that the Republicans should go in and say that they’re going to they want to pass a law that no government. I mean, no Congress people or senators are going to get paid as long as the shutdown is in effect. And then what’s going to happen is there’s no way that the Democrats are going to go along with that. So then the Democrat, the Republicans can say, well, we even we’re willing to have our salaries shut down. And the Democrats are the ones that don’t want it. So they’ll be the ones in blame.
SPEAKER 12 :
Look, Mary, we had Bernie Sanders yesterday saying, because someone suggested it on The View, and he said, well, well, well, they got young families. You can’t really do that. A lot of them can’t do that. And, of course, not talking about all of the people who have called in today who have had all these problems and issues. And their own staff. And, of course, you do also have. some senators and some saying they are not taking their paycheck. Katie Britt, some of these who I remember have put out statements early on saying, you know what, we’re not getting paid if they’re not getting paid. So you know what, there are some people who are doing that. Now what that actually looks like, who knows, but they’ve at least made that claim. Moving on though, Marion, thanks for calling. Becky, Texas, you’re on the air.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, I was going to say the same thing. If they would not pay Congress, then they would settle this thing quickly. But I’m wondering how it’s going to affect, like, government retiree paychecks. Are they going to be withheld also?
SPEAKER 12 :
Let’s answer that question for you, Becky. One, I think we can quickly answer, can they do any sort of, because this is the second call to come in, I know it’s kind of a little tongue-in-cheek, but is there anything they could actually do in terms of stopping their payments?
SPEAKER 13 :
Congress has both. broad authority with writing legislation i don’t think it violates the constitution in any way it’s not like here is it’s not like election day that mandated in the constitution you know they get paid on these days so i feel like they could in theory yeah it’s never going to happen you’re never going to get that many votes to say yeah don’t pay me because their self-interest they hold above the american people
SPEAKER 12 :
All right, we have two minutes. Let’s go to Eddie real quick in New Mexico. We’ll try to get both calls. I don’t know if we’ll be able to, but stay on hold either way. Eddie, go ahead.
SPEAKER 07 :
Hi, thank you. I was wondering, why isn’t it that all these people that are just out bald-faced lying about stuff, why aren’t they being called out? Because, you know, when they asked Pelosi the other day why they didn’t pass the clean bill, she said it’s not clean.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, of course, Eddie, because it’s point of view. And this is a little bit different here. I understand your thought going, well, how can they just boldface lie? Well, of course, they’re saying, well, from their point of view, they’re not lying. Look what we do with freedom of speech here. It’s very protected. It’s very hard to, especially when we’re talking about nuanced politics here, to say one side is lying and one side is not. Of course, we can tell you what we believe is true, but they can also push back on that. But yeah, it is what it is. With that being said, Let’s see, we got one minute. Randolph in Texas, you got like 10 seconds. Go ahead, 20 seconds.
SPEAKER 04 :
Two things. I’m a disabled veteran. My wife has no insurance whatsoever. If they do not act on this insurance thing, my wife will have no insurance, and she has a lot of issues with her medical issues. Second thing, if we keep hitting Democrats with Republicans, get ready for a civil war, because that’s where we’re headed. And God help us if we go there.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, Randolph, that does not happen. Can we answer that question for Randolph?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, I mean, listen, I think when you’ve got a situation there where his wife is not under his plan, which I’m not sure, I can’t explain all that. Usually you would be because you take advantage of someone who had a veteran’s plan. Families do that. There are some cost issues right now. Those could be solved with the continuing resolution.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, so hopefully, Randolph, it does not come to that. We can obviously get this all resolved.
SPEAKER 03 :
And you might want to talk to your insurance provider about adding her.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, that’s a good thought. With that, it’s going to wrap up today’s show. We only got 10 seconds, so I’ll just say, think about supporting the work of the ACLJ. Go to ACLJ.org. Take advantage of all the great free content. And, of course, that only happens because you support us. Talk to you tomorrow.
