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In this episode of Washington Watch, host Jody Heiss steps in for Tony Perkins to discuss the most pressing issues facing our nation and abroad. We start by examining the Senate’s efforts to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, with Majority Leader John Thune leading the charge for a bipartisan funding deal. As Washington braces for pivotal votes, the discussion addresses how the shutdown has affected federal employees and air travel disruptions.
SPEAKER 18 :
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. Sitting in for Tony is today’s host, Jody Heiss.
SPEAKER 03 :
I’m glad to be able to say that eight Democrats joined Republicans last night to take the first step to reopen the government. And in the very near future, we will be voting on a final package, a clean continuing resolution until January the 30th, and three bipartisan full-year appropriations bills.
SPEAKER 11 :
That was Senate Majority Leader John Thune earlier today on the Senate floor as momentum builds to finally bring an end to the Democrat-led shutdown. Welcome to this November 10th edition of Washington Watch. I’m your host Jody Heiss filling in today for Tony Perkins. Thank you so much for joining us. All right, coming up, President Trump met with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharra today at the White House. This meeting follows a temporary lift of U.S. sanctions and certainly is raising hopes for protecting religious minorities in Syria. Charmaine Heading of the Shai Fund will be joining us a little bit later to break all of that down for us. Also, Congressman Riley Moore from West Virginia will join us to discuss the efforts. to bring an end to the government shutdown. All right, it is the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, now in day 41, and it could soon be coming to an end. The Senate advanced a funding deal with eight Democrats who actually joined the Republicans paving the way to fund the government through January 30th. The deal would restore all the SNAP benefits and may actually even help with thousands of flight cancellations and delays. Joining me now is Washington Stand reporter Casey Harper. Casey, you and I have been talking about this week after week after week. That’s right. Are we finally seeing the end potentially of the Schumer shutdown? Absolutely.
SPEAKER 21 :
That’s right, Jody. It may finally be here. The longest government shutdown in U.S. history could be coming to an end. This is all because senators hatched a plan to restore federal funding that cleared its first hurdle on Sunday night. And final approval, the long-awaited final approval, could happen even this week. Here’s what Majority Leader John Thune had to say about it.
SPEAKER 03 :
I said that we will be voting on the final package in the very near future. And I’m hoping that will be hours and not days. Nutrition benefits are in jeopardy. Air travel is an extremely precarious situation. Our staffs and many, many other government workers have been working for nearly six weeks without pay.
SPEAKER 21 :
So this deal would reopen government agencies, which as you know have been closed since October 1st. And of course it’s going to bring relief to those unpaid federal workers and their struggling families, as well as the millions of travelers who have been hit with these flight cancellations. So under the new deal, funding would be extended all the way through January 30th, which keeps the government open long enough for lawmakers to hash out a longer appropriations deal. Now, moderate Democrats, including Minority Whip Dick Durbin and some independents, they brokered this agreement to reopen the government with Republicans and passed three key appropriations bills. Here’s Senator Durbin.
SPEAKER 01 :
Many of my friends are unhappy. They think we should have kept our government closed indefinitely to protest the policies of the Trump administration. I share their opinions of this administration, but cannot accept a strategy which wages political battle at the expense of my neighbor’s paycheck or the food for his children.
SPEAKER 21 :
Well, while the Senate and the House still need to pass the bill and President Trump has to sign it, both parties do say they’re ready to end the shutdown, Jody.
SPEAKER 11 :
So what happens next, Casey? When do you anticipate the House coming back into session?
SPEAKER 21 :
Yeah, Jody, so Speaker Mike Johnson, he said earlier today that the House of Representatives is ready to come back in session as soon as the Senate takes the final vote. But he also went on to say that because of all these flight cancellations and delays, the lawmakers need to head to D.C. right now.
SPEAKER 19 :
At the very moment that they do that final vote, I will call all House members to return to Washington as quickly as possible. We’ll give a 36-hour formal and official notice so that we can vote as soon as possible. to pass the amended CR bill and get it to the president’s desk.
SPEAKER 21 :
Meanwhile, President Trump has demanded air traffic controllers return to work today as government-directed flight cuts and air traffic staffing absences continue to wreak havoc on the U.S. air travel system, Jody.
SPEAKER 11 :
Wow. Well, what about a case? I understand there was an important Supreme Court case that you’ve been following. What took place with that today?
SPEAKER 21 :
Yeah, Jody. So the U.S. Supreme Court has officially refused to hear Kim Davis’s case challenging so-called same-sex marriage. Now, Davis is a former Kentucky clerk who back in 2015 was put in jail for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. She said it violated her Christian faith to put her name on those certificates. She asked the court to protect her religious freedom in a case that could have revisited the legal definition of marriage, but justices have declined to take up the case, Jody.
SPEAKER 11 :
Looking now to some international news, Casey, I know President Trump met with Syria’s president today at the White House. What all did they discuss?
SPEAKER 21 :
Yeah, Jody, everyone is watching this meeting. President Trump held a low-key meeting, no media allowed, with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharra, who’s a former al-Qaeda commander, actually, who until recently was on Washington’s terrorist blacklist, but now is trying to end Syria’s decades of international isolation. One of Sharra’s chief aims in this visit was to push for full removal of the tough U.S. sanctions. While he met with Trump behind closed doors, the U.S. Treasury Department did announce it will not enforce their sanctions for another 180 days, though it’s important to note only Congress can permanently lift them entirely. Now, reports say the leaders discussed protecting minorities, ensuring religious freedom for Jews and Christians, and a possible security agreement with Israel. Because in Syria, Jody, attacks on the Syrian Druze have fueled calls for secession, with many of those Druze actually looking to Israel for protection.
SPEAKER 11 :
Wow, so much happening in the news all around the world. Casey, thank you so much for these updates. We appreciate it very much. All right, I want to continue the discussion right now, beginning with the government shutdown, and get a congressional perspective. Joining me now to discuss this and more is Congressman Riley Moore. He’s a member of the House Appropriations Committee and represents the 2nd Congressional District of West Virginia. Congressman Moore, always great to see you. Welcome back to Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 06 :
Hey, Jody, thanks for having me on.
SPEAKER 11 :
Okay, let’s just start with the latest. What are you hearing about last night’s vote in the Senate?
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, yeah, look, you kind of laid it out pretty good there is we had seven Democrats, one independent come over and vote for the cloture motion. So we could actually, which is the motion to proceed. So we’d actually hold the vote on the actual bill. So what this looks like is you have the three bills, military construction, veterans affairs is one bill. Agriculture is another bill, which has a snap benefits, by the way. and then legislative branch, which I’m the vice chair of. That is attached to a CR, or rather a CR is attached to that package. The CR, which is a continuing resolution, will run until January 30th, so then we can finish the rest of the appropriations process. The Senate right now as we speak could have as many as seven procedural votes here tonight that they need to get through to actually get the bill back over to the House. I think probably the earliest I would see us voting is Wednesday in the House, probably Wednesday evening, but that’s all determined and based on how quickly the Senate can get the bill back over to us.
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah, there’s a lot of hurdles to get it back by Wednesday, but I hope you’re right that it can happen that quickly. You know, I’m watching all of this, Congressman, and a lot of Democrats are really upset about yesterday’s vote. In fact, in voicing himself, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer framed this whole thing as a Republican bill. What’s your take on the reactions that we’re watching right now from the left?
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, it’s clearly not a Republican bill. It was supported in a bipartisan manner. And I think Chuck Schumer, the minority leader, has proven once again he’s not much of a leader over in that chamber. It’s probably time for him to step aside and let somebody else lead who can actually do what’s good for the country and work across the aisle on these important issues, such as funding the government and providing SNAP benefits, which he wasn’t able to do and was in a position of literally withholding food from people in this country that need it the most for his own political benefit and gain of his party. And so also he could try to stave off a primary opponent. As you’ve noticed, I’ve not mentioned his name as somebody who voted for that bill. He did not. But all that to be said, I’m sure they are upset. They put some very unreasonable demands out there that nobody was going to be able to meet. And ultimately the deal at which they had shut the government down over is the deal that they ended up accepting at the end of the day. So there was not too much changed in any of this, just a lot of people having to deal with a lot of pain and inconvenience in their lives, which I think is terrible actually for the American people. And I don’t think it’s right at all. But here we are, and we’re on the precipice of getting this thing all wrapped up and hopefully get through the rest of our appropriations bills, which I do have a lot of confidence in, to be honest with you. We’ve passed all 12 of them out of the House committee already. We are done in the committee in that process. And we have passed three on the floor. One is part of this package, but another two is defense and then also energy and water. So we’re in a great position here in the House to actually get through, I’d say, the majority of these appropriations bills.
SPEAKER 11 :
Well, we are certainly pulling for all of you with that. If I can switch gears with you real quickly in the few minutes that we have left, you were among those who were tapped by President Trump last week to look into Nigeria following his redesignation of that country as a country of particular concern. And you’ve moved quickly, thank you very much for that, introducing a resolution condemning the ongoing persecution of Christians there in Nigeria. Tell us a little bit about that real quickly.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, just real quickly, anybody watching, contact your member of Congress and urge them to get on my House resolution because what this allows us to do is speak as a unified voice, the House of Representatives, and give President Trump the backing that he doesn’t necessarily need, but I think it’s required of us to speak with one voice and support what the president is trying to do is to stop the killing of the Christians in Nigeria. Our brothers and sisters in Christ are being martyred and murdered every day for the profession of their faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This resolution shows to the Nigerian government and the people of Nigeria One, to the government, we will not tolerate this and we support the president. And two, if you’re a Christian over there who’s suffering right now, we are with you and we want to see this conflict and what I believe is a genocide end.
SPEAKER 11 :
Again, thank you so much, Congressman Riley Moore, for your leadership in this. And, you know, somewhat related to this is the situation for religious minorities in Syria. And of course, President Trump met today with Syria’s president, a terrorist who is now president. Your thoughts on that meeting?
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, I’m glad that they brought up religious minorities, specifically Christians. I mean, this is the oldest Christian population really in the world who has been just under constant attack by ISIS, I’m sure led at some point by this terrorist president. If President Trump can somehow, and if anybody can, it is him, protect these Christians and these Druze in that country, that would be a huge win. And look, he is very focused on these issues, particularly protecting Christian populations around the world. There’s nowhere where they’re more persecuted than Nigeria, but the second one would certainly be Syria.
SPEAKER 11 :
Congressman Riley Moore, West Virginia, always great to see you again. Thank you for your leadership on so many fronts right now happening in our country and beyond. And we appreciate you taking time to join us today on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 06 :
Thank you, Jody. God bless.
SPEAKER 11 :
God bless you as well, my friend. All right. Coming up, we’re going to go deeper into President Trump’s White House meeting today with Syria’s president, who was a terrorist and now he’s president. How does the U.S. need to be pressing into Syria right now? Well, we’ll discuss that right after the break. Don’t go anywhere. We’ll be back in a moment.
SPEAKER 12 :
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SPEAKER 09 :
For over 4,000 years, the Jewish people have had legal, historical, and biblical ties to the land of Israel, especially the heartland of Israel, Judea and Samaria, which much of the world still calls the West Bank. To Israelis, Judea and Samaria is far more than a name. It’s the center of their ancestral homeland where nearly 80% of the Bible’s events took place. Abraham purchased property in Hebron, Jacob in Shechem, Joshua made an altar on Mount Ebal and led the Israelites into a covenant before God. On Mount Gerizim, overlooking Shechem, Jesus talked to the Samaritan woman at the well about worshiping neither on Mount Gerizim nor in Jerusalem, but in spirit and in truth. Judea and Samaria is nearly a quarter of Israel’s current land mass, not a small strip of land on the Jordan River, but a vital and strategic part of the nation’s identity. The October 7th massacre, launched from Gaza, shattered the illusion that giving away territory brings peace. Gaza, which was once seen as the cornerstone of a two-state solution, became a launchpad for terror. Today, only 21% of Israelis support a Palestinian state. Trust in a two-state solution has all but collapsed. The Middle East is changing. Iran’s grip is weakening. New alliances are forming. But Western countries and some US officials still chase the mirage of a two-state solution. History speaks clearly. The 2005 Gaza withdrawal, backed by the US, led not to peace, but to a terrorist regime. Judea and Samaria are 24 times larger than Gaza, deeply woven into Israel’s geographic and spiritual fabric. To surrender them would not bring peace. It would invite conflict and existential danger. Family Research Council stands with Israel’s rightful claim to sovereignty. It’s time for America to do the same for history, for justice, and for lasting security in the Middle East.
SPEAKER 11 :
Good afternoon. Welcome back to Washington Watch. I’m Jody Heiss sitting in today for Tony and thank you so much for tuning in with us. All right. Earlier today, President Trump welcomed a terrorist who is now president of Syria, Ahmad al-Sharaf. Welcome to the White House. This marks the first time ever such a visit by a Syrian head of state. And while there are many who view the White House meeting as a first step in normalizing U.S. and Syrian relations, there are also those who are hoping that this is going to lead to some kind of commitment from the new Syrian government to address the plight of religious minorities in the country. many of whom are facing ongoing violence, even death, displacement, starvation, deprivation of necessities, even things like water and medicine. Well, ahead of today’s meeting at the White House, about 100 influential Christian leaders sent a letter to President Trump urging him to stand up for Syria’s persecuted Christians. Tony, in fact, was among those leaders, as is my next guest, who is here to share with us the situation right there on the ground. Joining me now is Charmaine Heading, who is president of the Shai Fund, which works with local communities to support those who are affected by war and conflict and disaster, persecution and so forth. She actually is joining us now from Armenia. which is very close to ground zero in this whole topic. Charmaine, welcome back to Washington Watch. Appreciate you joining us.
SPEAKER 02 :
Great to be here with you.
SPEAKER 11 :
Okay, so for those who may not be aware, share with us what’s happening to religious minorities in Syria. What have you been hearing and seeing?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, I think many people aren’t aware, for example, that there was over a million Christians in Syria and now there’s less than 300,000. And this is predominantly because of what we call a slow burn genocide, where the Christians are continuously being discriminated against, as are other religious minorities, such as the Druze and the Alawites. And the situation is pretty dire. And I think unless there’s benchmarks put against President al-Sharah, we’re going to see more of the same.
SPEAKER 11 :
So how does the situation there now under al-Sharah, how does that compare to the previous situation under the regime of Bashar al-Assad?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, I think there was a deal between the Christians and Assad. It wasn’t good. We know what he did. We know how many millions left the country. We know how many came out of the prisons. Right. And we were thrilled when Assad regime was finally overthrown. But what’s happened is we’ve just exchanged it for another authoritarian regime. And this is a jihadi regime. It’s an al-Qaeda group that have taken over through HDS with no one linked ties to al-Qaeda. And also recently, as we’ve seen with the massacres that have happened in the coastal plains with the Alawites and more recently with the Druze, we’ve seen some of these Syrian forces in Syrian army uniforms with al-Qaeda. ISIS patches. And this is the situation that we’re looking at on the ground right now in Syria.
SPEAKER 11 :
Well, that doesn’t sound very hopeful. So given that context, what really are you hoping that the new Syrian government will do in all of this? What’s kind of the best case scenario or what do we need to be praying about specifically?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, I think one of the things that we’ve put forward in this letter is calling for humanitarian corridors to areas that the Syrian government has blockaded. So to the south where the Druze and the Christians are in an area called Suwaita, they’ve been blocking medicines, basic food supplies. basic movement freedom of movement they’ve occupied 38 villages they won’t let the people go back and i think overall there should be benchmarks we shouldn’t be lifting the caesar sanctions without decentralization which means we don’t want the jihadis ruling over Christian or Druze or Alawite villages. We want people to have self-governance and be able to have local self-governance, but national unity. So that’s what we mean by decentralization. And we want equal citizenship for all. At the moment, it can only be an Arab republic with a Muslim president, and the law is Sharia. Christians don’t follow Sharia. And Neither do some of the Druze, and neither do some of the other Muslims follow that exact interpretation, like, for example, in northeast Syria. So we want to see these reforms take place, and we want to see equal citizenship that you and I take for granted. But in Syria, if you are not part of the ruling HDS, which is basically Al-Qaeda majority, you are treated like a second-class citizen. And that’s the problem here. So we’re calling for equal citizenship, decentralization. And of course, there must be truth and reconciliation for what’s happened with these massacres, where just now we’re founding mass graves, for example, in the areas where the Jews and the Christians live in Soweto. There has to be truth and justice for these communities.
SPEAKER 11 :
It’s terrifying to hear. So am I hearing you correctly that you would prefer that the sanctions not be lifted or suspended for another 180 days? You think that there should be continued pressure being applied to Syria?
SPEAKER 02 :
I think we need benchmarks and those benchmarks need to be really clear. Unless they stop the blockade of humanitarian material and basic rights into the Christian and Druze area, we shouldn’t be just giving Jelani or Shiraz a free pass. And it’s the same thing going forward. There should be all of these changes in the constitution. If there aren’t changes in the constitution of Syria and it continues like it is, There’s no recourse for Syrian Christians or any other religious minority to say, I want equal citizen. I shouldn’t be treated like this. I’m treated like a second class Demi or a second class citizen. And we know what that means in the Middle East. It means conversion laws, apostasy laws, and a jizya, an extortion tax for many of these communities. It’s very dangerous. We have to see these benchmarks put in place And Shiraz should not be given a free pass.
SPEAKER 11 :
Extremely well said. I appreciate that very much. I mean, we all have watched as President Trump really is, in many ways, at least from the opinion of some, reshaping what’s happening in the Middle East abroad. And we’re grateful for that, but a lot of work to be done. Thank you so much, Charmaine Heading, President of the Shai Fund. We appreciate you joining us today on Washington Watch. All right, friends, coming up, we’ll have our weekly Standing Together segment highlighting the largest legal organization in the nation dedicated exclusively to defending religious liberties for Americans. Stay with us. We’ll be right back.
SPEAKER 14 :
Three years ago, the Supreme Court issued its historic Dobbs decision, a ruling that overturned Roe versus Wade, which for nearly 50 years imposed abortion on demand, silencing voters and bypassing the democratic process across the country. The Dobbs decision was a huge step forward against abortion, but it didn’t outright ban it. It returned the power to the people. Now, 29 states have laws on the books protecting life. However, there’s a catch. Abortion numbers since Dobbs have actually gone up with an increase of 12% since 2020, climbing from 930,000 to over 1 million in each of the most recent years. So how can this be? The answer is simple, the abortion drug. Today, over 60% of US abortions involve abortion drugs, many of these without medical oversight. In 2021, the Biden administration quietly removed bare minimum longstanding safety protocols for the abortion drug that have existed for 20 years to protect women from life-threatening risks and ensuring informed consent. The Biden DOJ then declared that they would not enforce the Comstock Act, which prevents the mailing of anything that causes an abortion. This is not only illegal, but also dangerous. A study shows nearly 11% of women who take the abortion drug end up in the emergency room with serious complications. Unless the Trump administration reverses these reckless Biden-era policies, pro-life laws will remain largely symbolic. Without a full review and repeal of Mifepristone, unborn lives will remain in grave danger, and pregnant mothers will remain at risk. Let’s stand for life and end this mail order abortion drug pipeline. Sign the petition urging the Trump administration to take action at frc.org slash stop chemical abortion.
SPEAKER 11 :
Thank you so much for joining us today on Washington Watch. Welcome back. I’m Jody Heiss. An honor to be sitting in today for Tony, and thank you for tuning in as well. All right, it’s time now for our weekly Standing Together segment, where we highlight organizations that share our commitment to advance the kingdom of God by championing faith, family, and freedom. And this week, we want to give attention to First Liberty Institute, the largest legal organization in the nation dedicated exclusively to defending religious liberty for all Americans. And joining me now to share more about this great organization is Jeremy Dice, Senior Counsel for First Liberty Institute. Jeremy, welcome back to Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 13 :
It’s good to be back. Thanks for having me.
SPEAKER 11 :
Well, listen, first of all, let me just say a heartfelt thank you for joining us last month at our Pray Vote Stand Summit in Southern California. We truly, sincerely appreciate your partnership in kingdom work, both at that event, but far, far beyond. So thank you for being a part of that. Let’s begin by sharing with our audience more about First Liberty. What are the type of cases that you all take up on a regular basis?
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah, as you said, First Liberty Institute is a nationwide religious liberty law firm. All we do is defend religious liberty for all Americans. The case you’re probably the most familiar with First Liberty Institute involves a football coach, Coach Joe Kennedy, the coach of Bremerton, Washington, who wanted to take a knee in private prayer after the football game and was fired for it. And by taking a knee, he stood up for religious liberty for all Americans. But that’s not the only case we’ve taken at the Supreme Court and won. In fact, I think in the last six or seven years, we’ve had something like nine wins at the Supreme Court of the United States, including Coach Kennedy’s case, but also on behalf of Gerald Groff, the postal worker who wanted an accommodation so he didn’t have to work on the Sabbath. We also represented the Bladensburg Memorial in Bladensburg, Washington. That memorial had stood there for almost 100 years, memorializing the men who fought and died in World War I in the shape of a cross, this memorial was. And it still is. It’s still standing there outside of Washington, D.C., because of the case that we’re able to bring and have a really positive impact for religious liberty at the Supreme Court of the United States. And I could go on and on about houses of worship, our synagogues and Jewish clients, our students, our men and women of the armed forces that we represent and defend their religious liberty, and so on and so forth that we’re working day in and day out. But the easiest thing that folks could do is just go to firstliberty.org and and read up about all the great clients that we get to work with every single day.
SPEAKER 11 :
Well, again, you guys do such a spectacular job, and it’s great to be shoulder to shoulder with you in the trenches. While I have you, I know you’ve got a big case taking place with an interfaith organization in San Diego. Real quickly, tell us about that one.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah, you know, it’s appropriate this segment is called Standing Together because that’s exactly what’s going on in San Diego. Here you have Mission Church there outside of San Diego that has hosted a group to talk about the importance of Israel and the Jewish people and the sufferings that they’re going through right now, not only in Israel but around the world. They had this event and a bunch of protesters, and I use the term really loosely. These were more like agitators and intentionally so. They infiltrate the group. It was a ticketed event. They give false names to enter the church. And in the middle of the event, they start standing up and swearing and yelling and screaming. Some of them had to be literally carried out by four different security members at the same time, and only to go outside where two steps outside the church is the public sidewalk, and there’s a mob of everybody missing just the pitchforks and the torches yelling and screaming so loudly. They could hear word for word all the vile things that were being thrown around outside. They could hear it inside the church as well. People couldn’t get to their cars. They were stopped from being able to get there. Well, later on, this church partners with a local group called the Christian and Jewish Alliance, and they have another event this past September. And on the way in there, our client Ruth Mastron, well, one of these agitators jumps on her car. Well, this is a 70-something-year-old grandma who is trying to just simply get to this religious event with several others in the San Diego area and have a night of worship and supporting Israel and the rest. So we filed a lawsuit against these vile agitators, trying to remind them that if you’re going to be this way, while the First Amendment protects a lot of things, it doesn’t let you bully and intimidate and interfere with access to houses of worship in this country. And so we’re going to hold them accountable under the FACE Act.
SPEAKER 11 :
Great, great job. Thank you. Listen, we’ve only got a couple of minutes left. Let me kind of ask you a big picture question. Looking at some of the cases that First Liberty has taken up over the years and wrapped up, how would you describe the trend that you’re seeing for religious liberty in America today?
SPEAKER 13 :
Well, look, I think we’re in very high watermark years of religious liberty. We’ve gotten rid of a case called the Lemon Test, the Lemon versus Kurtzman case. That was really a loser for all times when religion walked into the public square. Religion seemed to lose every single time. That case is gone. We now have more freedom today than we’ve had in our lifetime. But here’s the deal. We can win all these cases. And look, I love going to court and I love winning these cases. And I’m going to keep on doing that along with the rest of my colleagues at First Liberty. But unless you and I take advantage of the freedoms that we have, Then it’s all going to be for naught. Look, there’s a case going on right now, a couple of them, as a matter of fact, in Texas and Louisiana and in Arkansas, where people are trying to do the remarkable thing of hanging the Ten Commandments on the walls of our schools. Well, that’s people saying, you know what, I know the law has changed and it’s changed for the better. We’d like to see these go back up on our school walls because, you know, we’d sort of like to see kids following a lot of those Ten Commandments inside the school. or at least be familiar with them as they grow up. And so that to me is people saying, you know what, this is good. We have a free country again. We ought to take advantage of the freedom that we have. That’s why we have a project at First Liberty called Restoring Faith in America, where we can put up these monuments that have been taken down in the past that reference religion in the public square and so on and so forth. So again, I’d encourage folks to go to firstliberty.org to learn more about that project and others. But the direct answer to
SPEAKER 11 :
is we’re at a great time we got to go we got to leave it right there jeremyfirstliberty.org thank you so much jeremy die senior counsel for first liberty institute an honor to be standing together with first liberty all right friends coming up we’re going to turn our attention to our panel of pundits to discuss the news that took place over the weekend so stay tuned we’ll be back
SPEAKER 09 :
Our founding scripture for this is Ephesians chapter 6 verse 13. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand in the evil day and having done all to stand, stand therefore.
SPEAKER 10 :
Family Research Council’s Pray, Vote, Stand Summit 2025 brought together Christian leaders, issue experts, and government officials for a time of prayer, inspiration, and action.
SPEAKER 09 :
We are equipping the body of Christ to understand that what is happening around us is not just political. It’s not just cultural. At its heart, it is spiritual.
SPEAKER 07 :
We gather in a nation that has torn the foundation apart, and we have separated our governing documents from our divine source, Jesus Christ. We need truth now more than ever to guide us.
SPEAKER 17 :
I’m believing, God, let this be a testimony of the American church, that we become so full of the fire of the Word of God that we cannot contain it. We have to tell people about it. We have to make disciples.
SPEAKER 22 :
The idea of America was the idea that our rights don’t come from government. They come from our divine creator, right? Government’s main job is to protect those rights. And because that was the foundation of America, we’ve enjoyed over the last 250 years, more freedom, more prosperity, more stability than any other nation anywhere in the world. And that should be celebrated.
SPEAKER 20 :
We are living in a moment. What’s that moment? It’s a prophetic moment on God’s timeline. That’s right. And so he needs the church more than ever to act biblically for the blessing of our political leaders and of our nation.
SPEAKER 16 :
The number one issue facing America domestically, which is the epidemic of fatherlessness. 40% of all American children today enter the world without a father in the home married to the mother.
SPEAKER 15 :
We cannot win the pro-life fight without acknowledging that this is the pro-family fight, that this is the pro-marriage fight. We’re never going to end abortion if we do not secure and shore up marriage.
SPEAKER 08 :
We pray that this would be an opportunity, Lord God, for you to use us mere little mortals, but we possess the name of Jesus. God, use us mightily. We pray in Jesus’ name and all God’s people said, amen.
SPEAKER 04 :
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SPEAKER 11 :
Thank you for tuning in today to Washington Watch. Welcome back. I’m Jody Heiss filling in today for Tony. By the way, the website is TonyPerkins.com. You can certainly get tons of information there. Or better yet, you can download the Stand Firm app. Stand Firm. From there, you can get, of course, all the latest editions here of Washington Watch. But you also have the Washington Stand. You’ve got Stand on the Word and much more. And it’s all in one place. And probably one of the biggest things we’re hearing about the app that people love is that it helps them connect with a growing network of believers who want to stay on top of the key news items of the day from a biblical worldview. These folks want to be equipped to engage in the public square, and the Stand Firm app enables you to do that. So I encourage you to download the app today. Simply text APP to 67742. That’s APP, APP to 67742. All right, as we often do on Mondays, we want to take a look at some of the news items that were buzzing over the weekend and to do so with our panel of pundits here at the Family Research Council. So joining me now to go over some of the latest news are Casey Harper. He’s a managing editor for broadcast at the Washington Stand. And Kena Gonzalez, he’s a senior director of government affairs here at the Family Research Council. Gentlemen, Casey, Kena, thank you so much for joining me. Appreciate you coming on board with us today.
SPEAKER 05 :
Glad to be with you, Jimmy.
SPEAKER 11 :
All right, let’s start with the government shutdown. A lot of news buzzing all around. Kena, let me throw that to you. How are things looking from your viewpoint right now?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, Jody. So after Democrats shut down the American government for longer than the flood of Noah, it’s now on day 41. We are waiting to see how and where, how the Senate Democrats will come to the table. They signaled last night on Sunday evening that they would. They provided eight votes that were required for an early procedural vote. that would begin the process of reopening the government. But there are several more procedural votes that must follow. And some of those are at the 60 vote threshold. So we have several more hurdles to clear. And in between those votes are mandatory debate time that unless the Senate unanimously waives its rules, meaning no senator objects, We’ll have to be instituted 30 hours of debate and then time for the bill to ripen before they can have a final vote. So we may be looking at the end of the week. We, of course, have Veterans Day tomorrow, Tuesday. So all of that is in the mix. the end of the week or even this coming weekend before the Senate can vote to reopen the government. And then remember, the House has been waiting for 41 days for this as of today. And so the House would have to come in and vote on that bill again before it goes to the president.
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah, I just spoke with a member of the House earlier today, and he told me, he said that they have been called in. So right now, with all the delays in the airports, many of them, I’m sure, are trying to get back there. But that is underway. So, Kana, let me ask you this before I jump over to Casey. You mentioned a couple, but are there any other pretty big hurdles that need to be overcome as we try to get the government reopened?
SPEAKER 05 :
The hurdles are mostly political at this point. The broad outlines of the deal have been hammered out and enough Democrats have signaled, including Dick Durbin, who’s the number two Democrat in the Senate, have signaled that they will vote for this broad outline deal that we’re really just waiting for the process to play out. The Senate, remember, is the cooling saucer, right? The House is popularly elected. The Senate represents the states. And it was intended by the founders so that if there was a mass populist move, sort of a reactionary bill moving through the process, the Senate could slow it down. What that means is that almost every senator has on almost every bill, every senator has the option to slow things down. And of course, there’s a deep divide in the Senate right now over this process and over this bill. In particular, there are a number of Democrats who are very upset that this bill is moving forward. So any one of them could shut it down or slow it down, as I said, into the weekend. There are a couple of Republicans who, as of today, are demanding amendment votes on things that are priorities to them. That is sort of being worked through by Republican leadership. But the point is that in the Senate to proceed quickly You need what’s called unanimous consent. That means everybody agrees to move very quickly. And in a deeply divided Senate where the Democrats don’t even agree with one another, it’s very hard to see that coming together quickly.
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah, that’s very unlikely. And I do want to come back here in just a few moments about the divide that’s taking place among the Democrats over all of this. But Casey, let me come over to you. What kind of response are you hearing really from both sides of the aisle from this right now?
SPEAKER 21 :
I think we’ll stay on topic here, Jody, with speaking to that Democrat divide. I mean, House Democrats are furious. They feel like they have been making the case in their districts for weeks now about how keeping the line here is what’s necessary to save millions of Americans from their health care premiums going up. This issue is so important that they were willing to shut down the government. People have already suffered. People have lost their jobs. Flights canceled. People are not getting food stamps. They’ve taken this really bold stance. They’ve doubled and tripled and quadrupled down. And then suddenly over the weekend, some Senate Democrats behind closed doors come out and say, oh, well, I guess we’re just going to reopen it anyway, even though we didn’t get what we wanted. And so it says a few things about them. It says that they are very divided, as I think you’re about to hit on now. But also it raises the question of whether Democrats actually ever thought that it was possible to get what they wanted, because they put up this big fight. They drug it out. They went to the media. The media covered for them. But when it came down to it, they pretty much, the moderate Democrats, caved without getting the concessions that they asked for. And we’ve always known from the beginning that those concessions were outlandish. They were very unrealistic, those Obamacare subsidies that Republicans have never voted for. And the idea that Republicans would vote for them now when they’re in the majority, it was always far-fetched. So it raises the question, did they actually think they could get anything, or were they just trying to make a big fuss for the base? And, man, we knew the Democrats were divided, but this just highlights it may be even worse than we thought.
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah. So two more questions for you. Then I want to jump back over to Kena. So what does this mean for the Democrat strategy, as you were just referencing? And what does this mean? Do you have anything that you’re hearing right now in relation to Chuck Schumer? I’m hearing I’m reading he’s under a lot of pressure.
SPEAKER 21 :
He is, you know, he’s not voted for this backroom deal, but he’s still being blamed for it. And at a certain level, you know, as a leader, you’re taking the responsibility for what happens, even if it’s not explicitly your fault. And he’s taking a lot of flak. This all has really happened because earlier this year, I believe in March, Schumer voted for a CR, a clean CR, and he just got lambasted by the base. They were very furious with Schumer for going along with the Republican plan to keep the government open. And so he’s so afraid of them now that he’s revealing that there’s kind of two strategies within the Democratic Party, because there’s at least two parties, although you could make the case that there’s more divisions than that. The far left wing of the party, their strategy is to basically burn it all down and do whatever it takes to stop Donald Trump, because they consider President Trump a fascist who is on the verge of destroying all democracy for all time. And so there’s no way you could go too far TO STOP TRUMP. THEY’RE THAT EXTREME. AND THEN THERE’S THE MODERATE DEMOCRATS, AND I THINK SCHUMER IS TRYING TO BRIDGE THIS DIVIDE, WHO ARE SORT OF OPERATING A BUSINESS AS USUAL, TRYING TO FIGHT FOR THEIR PRIORITIES, THINGS LIKE HEALTH CARE AND THE ACA SUBSIDIES, WHICH MADE THIS A WAY FOR THE MODERATE DEMOCRATS AND THE FAR LEFT DEMOCRATS TO UNITE, BECAUSE DEMOCRATS HAVE ALWAYS CARED A LOT ABOUT HEALTH CARE. SO IT WAS A UNITING ISSUE, BUT WHEN THESE MODERATE DEMOCRATS DID WHAT THEY’VE ALWAYS DONE, IT JUST INFLAMED THIS INCREASINGLY INCREASINGLY FAR LEFT WING OF THE DEMOCRAT PARTY.
SPEAKER 11 :
WHAT ARE YOU HEARING IN TERMS OF THE FUTURE OF CHUCK SCHUMER? DO YOU THINK HE’S IN TROUBLE
SPEAKER 05 :
He’s been in trouble all year. There was actually a CR earlier this year, I think it was in March, that Republicans put forward. And like this one, by the way, that one was simply a continuation of existing funding levels. So it wasn’t like Republicans who are in the majority in the House and the Senate put forward this really aggressive bill with all of these republican changes that democrats would obviously contradict this was essentially then and now biden level funding of the government clean without really any adjustments without any policy proposals inserted into it and so that’s what uh chuck schumer in march uh He was part of providing seven or eight, a handful of Democrat votes for that CR in March, that continuing resolution. He learned his lesson. The base came out for him with knives. They really, really, really wanted a fight, as Casey said. The other point that I would make is that this is politics. It’s not that Republicans are against health care. It’s that Republicans, it’s that Democrats see the COVID era Biden subsidies for Obamacare, which went way up under under President Biden as a stick with which to beat Republicans. And for once, I’m glad to say Republicans stuck together and said no. We’re not buying that deal. As Casey said, we’ve never voted for it. We’re not voting for it now. But what they are not voting for so far is increased COVID-era subsidies now in 2025. At the end of 2025, we don’t need to be worried about COVID-era subsidies where individuals or families making up to 400% of the poverty level were still getting a heavy subsidy from the federal government. That’s absurd, as Casey said. So both on the politics and on the policy, I think Democrats felt their back was against the wall. They had to put up a good show of a fight. But the open secret in Washington, Jody, is that they knew all along that this was a kabuki dance and that unless Republicans caved early or President Trump sort of stomped on the Republican strategy, which he did not. they were going to lose. And so they’ve been looking for a face-saving way to sort of lose this fight while sort of also appearing to win it. And the media is trying to be very helpful in that.
SPEAKER 11 :
Well, we’ll see whether or not they’re successful in saving face there. But we do now have a commitment on the table by Senate Majority Leader John Thune to hold a vote on these expiring Obamacare subsidies. So what are we looking at there, Kana? What’s involved in what this vote is?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah. So Democrats through procedural means could have forced this vote any number of different ways. Democrats want to vote on a very deeply unpopular Democrat bill to extend these COVID era subsidies which by the way Jody we know pay for abortions and pay for gender transition procedures and have all kinds of waste fraud and abuse in them. So this is not a popular stance. The Democrats call it health care. It is not health care. These increased subsidies are going to nefarious purposes. But yes, he did tell them weeks ago that they could have a vote up or down on their proposal. It’ll go down in flames unless, again, Republicans somehow cave. And so they really didn’t win much of anything, in my view. The promise to hold that vote was also tied to the vote, as I said on Sunday, to begin reopening government. And also there were three funding bills, three of the 12 funding bills that have made it through the Senate Appropriations Committee, will also be ultimately approved. And that is a bit of a concession because those are bipartisan bills that were negotiated directly, Republicans and Democrats, in order to clear this 60-vote threshold. So there are some things in those bills that we don’t like. And then that will go back over to the House, probably for a quick vote, and then on to the president. But overall, the Republicans have come out ahead on this.
SPEAKER 11 :
So is there any message. I know our viewers and listeners are highly engaged. Is there any message that they need to convey to their members of Congress right now.
SPEAKER 05 :
Absolutely. The Democrats and their friends in the liberal media have been beating the drum that this is about health care. But what this is really about are our increased subsidies that were put in place under COVID that are now being used particularly in blue states to pay for abortions and pay for gender transition procedures. So if people go to the website and click the link they will find that we have set up a way at FRC action for them to contact their members of Congress and say These subsidies shouldn’t be extended, but if they are extended, they should never again be used for abortions and gender transition procedures. And it’s really important for people to weigh in. Tens of thousands of emails have been sent to members of Congress, but this point needs to be driven home because that policy question, Jody, is a jump ball right now. And Democrats are continuing to try to bludgeon Republicans eventually to come over to their side on that issue.
SPEAKER 11 :
All right. Great point. Well, I encourage our viewers, listeners, take that very personally and reach out to your members of Congress. I know the government shutdown has been the by far and away the biggest news item over the weekend and will be going into this week. But it’s not the only thing. So another item real quickly with just a couple of minutes left. The sports gambling crisis, Casey, this is kind of making a lot of waves out there. What can you share with us about it?
SPEAKER 21 :
Yeah, it’s getting out of hand, Jody. We’re having yet another sports gambling crisis, this time in Major League Baseball, where two pitchers for the Cleveland Guardians have, this is allegedly, but according to the Department of Justice indictment, which I have right here on my desk, they unsealed it today. And What this indictment showed, allegedly, is that these two pitchers were working with their co-conspirators to purposely throw either a ball instead of a strike or to throw a certain speed to basically have their co-conspirators win bets and place bets on things. So people who don’t gamble, you may know that you can bet on who will win a game, and that’s kind of intuitive. the way gambling is now you can actually bet on very specific minor things in the game they’re called prop bets so you can bet whether this pitcher’s first pitch will be a strike or a ball or whether their pitch will be over 94.5 miles per hour so you can bet on very specific nuanced parts of the game that don’t even really significantly impact who’s going to win or lose right and so in this case THEY WERE PURPOSELY DOING THINGS, AND THEY WENT UP TO RIG THE OUTCOMES, AND THEN THEY WON UP TO HALF A MILLION DOLLARS BY THIS REALLY ILLEGAL SCHEME.
SPEAKER 11 :
WOW. ALL RIGHT. AND JUST 30 SECONDS OR SO, I ALSO SAW THAT THE INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE IS BANNING BIOLOGICAL MEN FROM COMPETING. AND 20 SECONDS OR SO, EITHER OF YOU HAVE A COMMENT ON THAT?
SPEAKER 21 :
I JUST WANT TO POINT OUT THAT They’re kind of coming out and saying, well, we haven’t made our official decision, but the Times and other places are reporting that they’re going to ban transgender women from competing in these things. So we’ll keep an eye on that. But a lot of other leagues are doing this since the U.S. Supreme Court weighed in on the side of sanity on this issue.
SPEAKER 11 :
Wow. Casey Harper, Kana Gonzalez, two great leaders at Family Research Council and beyond. Thank you so much for joining me today on Washington Watch. We appreciate it. Thanks, Jody. All right, friends, that wraps up this edition. Thank you so much for joining us today. We’ve got much more that we’ll be covering all week long, so we look forward to seeing you again right here tomorrow on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 18 :
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