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Join Jody Heiss as he covers major developments in U.S. politics, including President Trump’s executive order on marijuana rescheduling and the recent passage of the Republican health care plan aimed at cutting costs and removing radical policies. Expert insights are provided by members of Congress who are at the forefront of these initiatives.
SPEAKER 12 :
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 :
Today, I’m pleased to announce that I will be signing an executive order to reschedule marijuana from a Schedule 1 to a Schedule 3 controlled substance with legitimate medical uses. We have people begging for me to do this, people that are in great pain.
SPEAKER 08 :
That was President Trump earlier today signing an executive order to reclassify marijuana. Welcome to this December 18th edition of Washington Watch. I’m your host today, Jody Heiss. Honored to be filling in for Tony Perkins. Thank you so much for joining us. All right. Coming up, the House today approved a Republican health care plan, putting an end to a COVID era Obamacare subsidy. Republicans are going to be cutting the costs and removing quite a bit of radical left wing policies. House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith. will be joining me momentarily to break it all down for us. Plus, Georgia Congressman Barry Loudermilk will be joining us a little bit later in the program to discuss President Trump’s executive order to reclassify marijuana. All right, the House of Representatives approved the Republican health care plan. Actually, they did that yesterday, moving to end the pandemic-era Obamacare subsidies that GOP leaders say drove up the federal spending and mainly benefited insurance companies. Well, Republicans say the program was never meant to be permanent, and their bill aims to cut costs and eliminate radical left policies from taxpayer programs. And joining me now is Washington-Stan reporter Sarah Holliday, who’s been following all of today’s stories. Sarah, let’s start here. What’s the development been and the reaction to this latest program?
SPEAKER 15 :
Thank you, Jodi. Republicans say the expanded Obamacare subsidy is a costly, short-term fix that pours taxpayer dollars into insurance companies without addressing why health care costs keep rising.
SPEAKER 04 :
Republicans are bringing forward reforms that will actually lower the cost of care. According to CBO, which is the gold standard for my Democrat colleagues, says it will reduce premiums by 11%. Now, the only other time premiums have gone down since Obamacare was enacted is when Republicans actually advanced reforms in the Big Beautiful Bill, namely rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse, that lowered the cost of care.
SPEAKER 15 :
Their bill reduces federal deficits, expands association health plans for small businesses and self-employed workers, and shifts away from Washington mandates. Democrats tried to force a vote to extend the subsidy, but they were ultimately blocked. Under House rules, Democrats can demand a vote in January, but Speaker Mike Johnson says he will delay it until Congress returns from recess, and he plans to work to defeat the extension. He called the subsidy bad policy, Jody.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yep. It’s going to be interesting to see how that unfolds. Thank you, Sarah. Okay. Also today, President Trump signed the executive order recommending the loosening of federal marijuana regulations. Frankly, it’s a move that could reshape the entire cannabis industry and expand medical research. But Sarah, what exactly does this executive order do?
SPEAKER 15 :
Jodi, President Trump’s executive order directs the Attorney General to consider reclassifying marijuana from a Schedule 1 drug on par with heroin to Schedule 3, which would come alongside medications like ketamine and testosterone. This is what he said about the rationale behind his decision.
SPEAKER 03 :
For decades, this action has been requested by American patients suffering from extreme pain, incurable diseases, aggressive cancers, seizure disorders, neurological problems, and more, including numerous veterans with service-related injuries and older Americans who live with chronic medical problems that severely degrade their quality of life.
SPEAKER 15 :
Jody, that change could ease criminal penalties, unlock federal research funding, and make it easier for banks and investors to operate in the sector. The primary goal, officials are saying, is to expand medical research and patient access while keeping marijuana federally controlled. The move has already boosted cannabis stocks and signals a significant federal shift after decades of strict regulations. However, Some doctors and researchers warn about the effects of marijuana on the brain. They point to data from states like Colorado, where legalization has coincided with an uptick in emergency room visits, especially among the youth. Also, dozens of Republican senators and House members openly rebuked the president’s marijuana rescheduling effort. The debate highlights the balance between patient access, medical research and public safety concerns. Jodi.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yes, a lot of concern about that, and we hope to talk further about it as the program unfolds. Thank you, Sarah. All right. Also, President Trump delivered a rare evening address from the White House and of course, this time of year surrounded by holiday decor. But he was highlighting some of the major progress in his first year back in office. Sarah, what stood out to you in his speech?
SPEAKER 15 :
Jodi, speaking from the diplomatic reception room, of course decorated for Christmas, the president struck an upbeat and confident tone. He said he inherited economic and border challenges from Joe Biden. He said that he is already making progress, though. Here’s what he said about Democrats’ woke policies.
SPEAKER 03 :
We have broken the grip of sinister woke radicals in our schools and control over those schools is back now in the hands of our great and loving states where education belongs.
SPEAKER 15 :
He also cited lower border crossings, easing prices on some goods, and announced a $1,776 warrior dividend for service members. President Trump also backed a Republican proposal to give Americans direct control over health care dollars, keeping the focus on domestic priorities while largely setting foreign policy aside. Jodi.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, speaking of foreign policy is I saw that the US has approved the high largest ever really weapons package for Taiwan. Obviously this is probably going to further the strain in our relations with China. What’s in that deal? Sarah, do you know what’s at stake here?
SPEAKER 15 :
Jodi, according to Taiwan’s Defense Ministry, the $11.1 billion arms package includes rocket systems, howitzers, anti-tank missiles and drones. The Pentagon says the sale helps Taiwan maintain a credible defense as China steps up military pressure. Supporters also point to a sharp contrast between the two systems. Taiwan is a free, democratic society where Christians can worship openly, while communist China, on the other hand, tightly controls religion and persecutes Christians. The deal still needs congressional approval, but it has strong bipartisan backing, despite objections from Beijing. Jodi.
SPEAKER 08 :
Sarah Holliday, thank you so much for keeping us up to speed. A lot happening out there. We appreciate it. I want to go back now to the executive order that President Trump signed today regarding the rescheduling of marijuana. And joining me now to discuss this is Congressman Barry Loudermilk, who is one of more than two dozen Republican lawmakers who signed that letter that was mentioned a while ago urging the president to keep marijuana a Schedule I drug. He represents the 11th Congressional District of my home state of Georgia. Congressman Loudermilk, welcome back to Washington Watch. Good to see you.
SPEAKER 05 :
It’s good to be with you. It’s good to see you again, my friend. Merry Christmas.
SPEAKER 08 :
All right. Well, let’s Merry Christmas to you as well and your wonderful family. Let’s start with this executive order. What was your reaction to it?
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, I was a little bit shocked that it was coming that quickly. And what we were asking the president to do is just hold on just for a little longer, because I think we need more time to look into this. Look, there’s numerous medical studies out there. If you want to support legalization of marijuana, you’re going to find something that supports your side of the argument. If you’re against it, you’re going to find plenty of data to support your side of the argument. But there are some things that we really have to look at. And I think Congress needs to spend more time researching several impacts. What is it going to do? How is it going to have an effect on the cartels? What kind of effect is it going to have on the economic base? Other aspects that are cultural in nature that we need to look at. But one of the things I think a lot of people don’t understand when And I’m assuming you’re around the same age I am, but growing up and being in high school in the 70s and early 80s, marijuana was pretty common among a lot of people. And I never used it, but I knew a lot of people who did. But from talking to people today, the marijuana of our days, the recreational drug, is a whole lot different than what we have today. The levels of THC are different. is extremely high, much higher than it ever was before. The marijuana is cultured and grown to actually maximize its potency. And while there’s some that’ll say there’s some medical use to it, but there’s other policy issues we have to look at. For instance, in the Veterans Administration, my understanding is that they will not provide any surgery for a veteran that has been taking some type of drug for several weeks. And so there’s a lot of issues, I think, that still need to be looked at.
SPEAKER 08 :
So one of the issues that Congressman Lauder wrote that we’ve been talking about here on Washington Watch over the past few days, there seems to be a disconnect, quite frankly. When we look right now, in particular, at the actions that the Trump administration is taking against the narco terrorists in the Caribbean, The disconnect here to be loosening the restrictions on marijuana just seems, as Tony himself said, it’s like ordering milk and then blowing up the milk truck. Is there kind of a disconnect going on here?
SPEAKER 05 :
that’s what we need to look into you know if we’re winning the war on drugs right now which at least it looks like we’re having a huge impact on the cartels that are bringing in fentanyl and and cocaine into the country is this just going to give them an avenue to shift away from bringing illegal narcotics into the united states to than importing a legalized drug? Does this also impact the response that we can have to those that are bringing narcotics into this country? So that’s kind of where I was coming from with this, is that we need more time to look at the broader impact that it has on families, that it has on law enforcement, that it has on our war on drugs here in the United States. and have a more systematic approach to where if we need to do this or that’s something that the administration decides to do, that we can put procedures in place and we can be ready for the impact.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, final question. We’ve got less than a minute, so not a whole lot of time here to elaborate. But the White House has maintained that the executive order today does not legalize recreational marijuana use, nor does it pave the way for recreational marijuana use. Is that accurate? What’s your take on that?
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, I’m not an expert in this field, and there’s plenty of our friends that serve on Energy and Commerce Committee that could probably answer that better. But I don’t know that we have a clear definition because it has always been a scheduled drug. I don’t know that there is a legal definition between what is recreational use versus medical use versus illegal use. And so that’s another area I think that has to be that needed to be clarified. But, you know, the president, we disagree on certain policies for the most part. I think he’s doing a tremendous job in that position. But this happens to be one of those areas that we disagree on. I understand why he’s doing what he’s doing. I just don’t agree with it at this moment.
SPEAKER 08 :
Congressman Barry Loudermilk from Georgia, thank you so much for joining us. And again, Merry Christmas to you and your dear family. All right, friends, coming up, the latest over the battle of health care. Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, Jason Smith, will be joining me after the break, so don’t go away.
SPEAKER 07 :
Hello, I’m Tony Perkins, and I want to invite you to join me for Stand on the Word, a daily journey through the Bible, 10 to 15 minutes a day. That’s all it takes. And in no time, you’ll have finished the entire Bible. And along the way, we’ll learn how to apply God’s truths to the world in which we live. As we’re about to start a new year and as our nation is about to celebrate 250 years, there’s never been a better time for a fresh start in the Word of God. To join us, text BIBLE to 67742. That’s BIBLE to 67742.
SPEAKER 16 :
At Family Research Council, we believe religious freedom is a fundamental human right that all governments must protect. For years, Islamist militants in Nigeria have targeted Christians and other religious minority groups with brutal violence. Since 2009, 52,000 Christians have been slaughtered. A staggering 89% of Christian martyrs in the world today are from Nigeria. The first Trump administration declared Nigeria a country of particular concern, a designation reserved for countries whose governments engage in or tolerate religious freedom violations. However, this designation of Nigeria was quickly reversed by the Biden administration. Following consistent calls from FRC President Tony Perkins and other religious leaders across the U.S., President Donald Trump has responded.
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Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria. Thousands and thousands of Christians are being killed. I am hereby making Nigeria a country of particular concern.
SPEAKER 16 :
This is a huge step forward for the protection of Christians in Nigeria as well as religious freedom across the world. While this opens the door for the U.S. government to pressure Nigerian leaders to protect vulnerable Christians, it is only the beginning. We must continue to pray diligently, work strategically, and stand firm for the protection of religious liberty across the globe.
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What is God’s role in government? What does the separation of church and state really mean? And how does morality shape a nation? President John Adams said our Constitution was made only for moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. Join Family Research Council for God and Government, a powerful series that explores the connection between biblical principles and the American government, equipping you with truth to engage in today’s most pressing debates. We’ll uncover the foundations of our nation’s history and why it’s relevant for today. Join us to defend God’s plan for government because faith and freedom were never meant to be separate. You can view the course at prayvotestand.org slash God and government or on the Stand Firm app.
SPEAKER 08 :
Welcome back. Thank you for joining us today on Washington Watch. I’m Jody Heiss. Glad to be filling in for Tony today. for the enhanced and temporary Obamacare subsidies that they voted on during the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, this bill, according to House Republicans, will expand health care insurance options as well as lower health care costs for all Americans. Isn’t that what we all want? Well, joining me now to discuss this and more is Congressman Jason Smith. He’s the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. He represents the 8th Congressional District of the great state of Missouri. Chairman Smith, welcome back to Washington Watch. Great to see you.
SPEAKER 18 :
It’s great to see you, Jody.
SPEAKER 08 :
Thank you. All right. I gave a quick summary, probably just scratching the surface of it all. Can you go into greater detail as to what this bill actually does?
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, first off, this bill is focused on driving down the cost of health care for all Americans. That’s roughly 347 million Americans. When people talk about extending the premium tax credits or the Obamacare subsidies, they’re only talking about 7% of the population. So the bill that we passed yesterday off of the House floor will help lower the health care cost for all Americans. It creates associated health plans, which have found to be very beneficial in the first Trump administration. This puts it into statute. It puts into statute the choice agreement accounts. It allows small businesses to give money tax-free to their employees so that they can go purchase their own health insurance. And then, of course, there’s PBM reform that creates more transparency to help lower all drug prices. These are items, they’re steps that help lower the cost of health care across the board, but there’s so much more to do. But the good thing about these, it affects all Americans, not just 7% of the Americans, unlike what the other side have been pushing.
SPEAKER 08 :
And while you’re doing all that, of course, the Democrats are still pushing, as I see from every perspective, they’re still pushing to extend those expiring enhanced Obamacare subsidies. What’s your thoughts on their efforts? What are they really trying to accomplish here?
SPEAKER 18 :
You know, I can’t understand it because their push is for the status quo. They want to extend the current premium tax credits, the subsidies that were created during COVID. They were in the American Rescue Plan and then extended in the Inflation Reduction Act. This was something that they set the date to expire at the end of this month. They’re the ones who set the date. They could have made them permanent, by the way, Jody, but they decided instead to make permanent their green new tax credits that they put in the Inflation Reduction Act and make these subsidies temporary. But the waste, fraud and abuse that’s within the exchanges, it’s unconscionable. For example, myself. Former Chair Kathy Morris-Rogers of Energy and Commerce and also Jim Jordan requested the GAO to investigate the Obamacare exchanges. And what did they find? So much waste. In fact, more than 59,000 dead people were having their health insurance subsidized. You had just one Social Security number that had more than 125 policies attached to it. And guess what? They even attempted to create fake accounts with fake identities and fake social security numbers, and 100% of their attempts were approved and enrolled. And guess what? A year later, this year, 90% of those are still being subsidized. So the insurance companies are making out like a bandit on that.
SPEAKER 08 :
Wow. Yeah, you mentioned that GAO, that’s the Government Accountability Office. But, you know, that’s stunning information. So what is your sense, Chairman, on how this battle over health insurance is going to play out? What’s going to happen?
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, I always say expect the unexpected in Washington. You served up here. You know what I’m talking about. But what we have to do, we have to be willing to take tough, tough steps. And we need to go after the health insurance companies. We need to investigate them. We need them to justify to Congress. They need to justify to Congress their huge premium increases, their premium increases of 20 plus percent this year. Why is this? And you have record profits. For example, some of these health insurance companies just in the last 15 years since passage of Obamacare, their stock price has increased almost a thousand percent, a thousand percent. They’re making a ton of money at the expense of everyday Americans.
SPEAKER 08 :
Wow, that’s unbelievable. All right, well, shift gears real quickly. We’ve just got a couple of minutes here, but obviously 2025 is pretty much upon us as far as concluding. Can you kind of give us a preview of what 2026 might look like there on Capitol Hill?
SPEAKER 18 :
You know, in 2026, I think you’re going to see a lot of attempts to work on bipartisan pieces of legislation when you’re seeing such a narrow majority. And what are those bipartisan pieces of legislation on tax, health care, trade that That delivers for the American people. That’s, I think, what you’re going to be balancing and threading the needle. Of course, by January 30th, we have to fund government. That is what the government date that is approaching. And that’s going to be a huge challenge in the first month of the year.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, sure will be for the Democrats. I just got kicked in the gut over that one. So what, less than a minute, what are some of the Republican priorities going into a new year?
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, like I said, when it comes to health care, our focus and our priority is to lower the cost of premiums, lower the cost of health care for all Americans, not just a single population, not just for 7%. We want to do that for all. We want to create more transparency in the healthcare market so that there’s more competition. We want to be able to know what the cost of different healthcare prices are. And we want to hold health insurance accountable. These are all things that we can do within healthcare. But then we need to look from a bipartisan perspective on tax. There’s some things that we can do that have been expiring. The work opportunity tax credit is one, for example. But there’s numerous different items. We were very successful to pass the big, beautiful bill just a few months ago on July 4th. The president signed into law. That will lead to the largest refunds in U.S. history this coming year. It’ll be good.
SPEAKER 08 :
Wow. Thank you so much, Missouri Congressman Jason Smith, chairman of the all-important House Ways and Means Committee. Appreciate you joining us on Washington Watch. Again, Merry Christmas to you. It’s great to see you, my friend.
SPEAKER 18 :
Merry Christmas from Jody. Take care.
SPEAKER 08 :
All right. Coming up, a much needed announcement from the Trump administration on the mutilation of minors, gender mutilation. We’ve got big news and we’re going to bring it your way right after this break. So stick with us. We’ll be back.
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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 08 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Hope you’re having a great afternoon. I’m Jody Heiss filling in today for Tony, and we’re glad to have you with us as well. All right. Earlier today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, also known as HHS, they announced a series of proposed regulatory actions to end the gender mutilation of minors. Now catch that, the gender mutilation of minors. This is what the left refers to as gender affirming care. Gender-affirming care, which is really gender mutilation. Wow. Well, what is the impact of the announcements today? Joining me now to unpack this and its implications is Brandon Showalter. He’s a journalist and podcaster with the Christian Post who has reported extensively on topics of theological interest to the church. including developments on the gender identity movement and transgender ideology. Brandon, welcome to Washington Watch. Great to have you.
SPEAKER 01 :
Thank you, Jody. It’s good to be with you.
SPEAKER 08 :
OK, so let’s just begin with this. Can you unpack for us the announcement that took place today?
SPEAKER 01 :
It was really, really something. Of course, all of these regulatory actions that have been announced and was announced today at the Health and Human Services Department are in keeping with President Trump’s executive order from January, where he decried the surgical mutilation and chemical sterilization of minors via transgender medicine, which is not medicine. We called it a stain on our nation’s history, and it must end. And so all year, there have been a number of federal actions. We’ve seen gender clinics being defunded and closing down. But today, it was really getting into the guts of the health bureaucracy. And so throughout 2020, HHS, CMS, FDA, NIH, all the big names, they were all there. All of the top health officials who lead those agencies were all there speaking unequivocally about the reforms that they will be doing to make sure that this medical scandal and child abuse, this gender mutilation as you call it, is being brought to an end. We’re speaking about defunding hospitals. Sending letters to breast binder makers. Doing research that helped detransitioners that Dr. Bhattacharya at NIH spoke about doing that. And reneging, you know, defunding the transgender research that was so unethical that had been done in previous years. So the health bureaucracy in our country and in the federal government is using its full weight to to bring this horrible chapter in history this despicable scourge to an end this castration and mutilation of children it’s being brought to an end and our federal government is working actively and you got the feeling Jody that it wasn’t just bureaucrat lip service to a cause there was sincere buy-in they really got it and i thought it was particularly brilliant the rhetoric they they used they called this we are reject um we’re borrowing and hhs is acting to bar hospitals from performing sex rejecting procedures and so With the other side always using their euphemisms like gender-affirming care and the New York Times today calling it gender-related care. They’re always trying to obscure the issue, but the HHS gets it right today, decrying sex-rejecting procedures. And here’s hoping that this will all be brought to an end because this is a disgrace. Yeah.
SPEAKER 08 :
It is a disgrace. And I’m glad you brought that up because, yeah, the left calls all of this gender affirming care. And the Trump administration made a point to call it sex rejecting procedures, I believe. And, you know, you can call it gender mutilation, but you can call it almost anything except gender affirming care. But words matter, don’t they?
SPEAKER 01 :
Doing shoe-leather reporting on this horrible issue for nearly a decade now at the Christian Post, one of the things that we realized early on was that the language manipulation was an enormous part of the deception, and so we were never going to use the gender parlance, the lingo, we were going to describe what they were doing and people were unequivocal today they would describe some of these surgeries these grotesque operations that are being done on young people we’re not going to use the poll focus group tested euphemisms to blind people to the reality of what’s going on because you’ve got thousands of children tens of thousands of young people young adults who have been sterilized who have had their otherwise healthy body parts cut off. We’re not going to dress up that with nice sounding words and paper over it with this sugary sweet, you know, make it sound nice. No, this is a scam. You’ve got to name it and call it for what it is.
SPEAKER 08 :
Absolutely. It is exactly what it is. So how does this affect, and I’m sorry, we’ve only got a couple of minutes. How does this affect states that are engaged right now in all this gender mutilation?
SPEAKER 01 :
well states do have to comply with federal law and so i i’m no legal expert of course but all of the hospitals even if they’re in very liberal states are going to have funds withheld that’s already been happening some but even more they’re going to have to comply with these regulatory standards they’re it’s i’m sure i mean trans activists and their allies in the medical field are devious they don’t take no for an answer so people will need to remain watchful that they do indeed comply. And I’m sure there will be some litigation in courts. But even Secretary Kennedy was saying today, I’m going to win them all. You know, Dr. Bhattacharya was saying some of these some of the research studies last question tied up. But it’s going to be it’s going to work out state. They’re going to have to comply.
SPEAKER 08 :
Last last question real quickly for you. The legacy media is saying that that this move today contradicts the advice of medical organizations. Less than a minute. How do you respond to that?
SPEAKER 01 :
the best way to respond is to pray that these medical organizations who are despicably ideologically captured are exposed for the fraud and the crimes they have enabled. The American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, they are ideologically activist groups. They do not represent science. They say they do. It’s a lie. And we’re going to see, I think, Attorney General Uthmeyer of Florida, who’s now suing them, the exposure of how they co-opted and made clinical guidelines in service to lies and not science. They’re digging their heels in, but the medical organizations are lying. Mark it down.
SPEAKER 08 :
Brandon Showalter of the Christian Post, thank you so much. And you heard his call to pray. Folks, this is a big one to pray for. All right, coming up, we’re going to comb through some of the news that our team at Washington Stand has been tracking, and there’s plenty of it. So you don’t want to miss. Stay with us. We’ll cover it right after this brief break.
SPEAKER 17 :
Should a Christian support Israel? That question has become one of the most emotionally charged issues of our time, both in the world and within the church. Family Research Council President Tony Perkins offers a clear biblical and prophetic answer. In his latest book, He examines Israel’s past, present, and future through the lens of Scripture, revealing why support for Israel is not rooted in politics, partisanship, or cultural sentiment, but in the unchanging promises of God. Drawing from Genesis to Revelation, Tony Perkins demonstrates that the ultimate rationale for a Christian’s support for Israel is spiritual. Should a Christian Support Israel invites believers to see beyond headlines and ideologies, returning to the foundation of God’s Word to understand His heart for His chosen people and the blessings that flow when we stand with what He has established forever. Text the word Israel to 67742 for more information.
SPEAKER 14 :
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SPEAKER 07 :
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SPEAKER 08 :
so glad to have you joining us today i’m jody heiss and you’re tuned in to washington watch an honor for me today to be filling in for tony all right before i get into this last segment a couple of real quick action items that i want to put out there to you first of all as we approach the end of 2025 i want to encourage you to make 2026 go right by making the word of god a priority in your life I want to encourage you to join the FRC team and literally thousands from across the country to join our Stand on the Word two-year chronological journey through the entire Bible. Just 10 or 15 minutes a day, you’ll go through the entire Bible, and I would be willing to guarantee you, you will see transformation in your life. And if you’ve been wanting to do that for a long time, now’s the time to come along with us. for a journey through the Bible. You can also share this opportunity with your family and loved ones. To get more information, text the word Bible to 67742 or go to frc.org slash Bible, either one, and get more information and join us. Also, next year is rapidly upon us that’s going to be the 250th anniversary of our great country and of course standing right there is going to be frc family research council protecting the principles that america was founded on and you have a brief window of opportunity right now through the end of the year december 31st to give to frc and to have your donation doubled that’s right Double the impact. No matter how small, no matter how large a gift, you can have a huge impact as we go into a new year. To take advantage of this limited opportunity, text the word AMERICA to 67742. Okay, as we often love to do on Thursdays, we want to take a look at some of the news that’s been buzzing all over the week. And we want to bring in a couple of our FRC panel of pundits to help us with this. And of course, we always… We always hit on the big news stories, but these days there’s so much other notable news items that are worthy of discussion, many of which often go under the radar. So here now to go over some of those items that they’ve been tracking is our panel for today, Mark Tapscott and Joshua Arnold, both with the Washington Stand. Mark, Joshua, thank you so much for joining me. Great to see you.
SPEAKER 13 :
Great to be here. Hi, Jody. Good to be here.
SPEAKER 08 :
All right, Mark, let me start with you. Obamacare, Obamacare, it’s been a hot topic on Capitol Hill this week. What’s your take on the latest developments there?
SPEAKER 06 :
I tell you, Congressman, there is so much that we could be saying about this particular issue. But something happened this afternoon in the White House that I think is tremendously significant. Dr. Oz announced that I think based on the initial assessments of the premium increases they’re getting under Obamacare without the subsidies, It’s only about 2.7 percent. And, of course, you’ll recall that the Democrats have been telling us for these many weeks now that if the subsidies aren’t continued, people’s premiums are going to explode. Well, maybe that’s not the case. And if that is not the case, then the whole argument that the Democrats have been making for extending the subsidies is gone. And that could be hugely important. Hasn’t gotten much coverage this afternoon.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, that’s why we bring you on, because this is stuff that doesn’t get much coverage. Joshua, this is such a big issue. I mean, the Democrats literally shut the government down over this issue. And now not only are they not winning, they’re actually losing now that the failures of Obamacare are getting so much attention. So, yeah, I mean, that’s kind of what happens when you start shedding the light on something, isn’t it?
SPEAKER 13 :
I mean, that’s what Ephesians 5 says. When anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible. That’s one thing we try to do here at the Washington Stand. There’s a lot of news organizations out there that are just going to take one side of the political aisle or the other. We try to present the news according to the truth, according to a biblical worldview, and present the facts as they actually are so that people can make informed decisions about what’s really going on. And as Mark just shared on this Obamacare thing, it seems like the Democratic talking points are not being borne out by reality.
SPEAKER 08 :
Absolutely. Well, let me just stick with you, Joshua, and change topics if I can kind of shift gears a little bit. But there’s some big news that’s come out of Massachusetts regarding how foster parents provide care for foster children. I understand that this is especially good news for Christians. Can you update us on that?
SPEAKER 13 :
That’s right. So a while back, Massachusetts made a change to their requirements for what qualified a foster family. And one of the requirements was that the foster family had to affirm sexual orientation and gender identity of the child. Now, how many children are actually going to have a sexual orientation or gender identity? That is not a question that concerned Massachusetts. But this affected some Christian families who felt strongly that they could not do this because of their conscience, because they held biblical views on marriage and sexuality. Some of those families were removed from the Massachusetts foster care system, which is a travesty because we’ve got such a shortage of foster care families. There’s almost… Two kids for every one family willing to house them right now. So the Trump administration got involved. The Administration of Children and Families wrote to Massachusetts expressing concern over this. Alliance Defending Freedom filed a lawsuit on behalf of these families. And Massachusetts recently change the language in that policy with an emergency rule change, weakening it a little bit so that parents now only have to support a child’s individual identity. Both ADF and the Trump administration say this is a step in the right direction, but they’re expressing caution that we’re gonna have to wait and see what exactly this means before we celebrate it as a full victory.
SPEAKER 08 :
But a step in the right direction is a good step. Mark, what’s your take on this story?
SPEAKER 06 :
That’s exactly right. This is an encouraging development. It’s good to see the Massachusetts state bureaucracy responding, at least in somewhat the right direction. But like Joshua says, we’ve got to wait and see how this goes. Never forget the deep state bureaucracy here in Washington and in the state capitals. They’re always looking for a way around doing what a biblical worldview would encourage being done.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, good point. All right, Mark, let me stick with you and move yet again to another topic. I want to discuss the president’s address last night. Of course, he spoke from the White House about the state of the economy, as well as how he anticipates things moving forward. What were some of the key takeaways for you?
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, I have to say, at the 17th minute when he actually stopped speaking, I felt like fainting because I had never heard him speak in such a short time. I have to say, I was a little disappointed in some aspects of it because, Jody, you’ve been in politics a long time. You know that if you’re having to explain, you’re losing. And in a sense, the speech last night was devoted to explaining why people should not feel like You know, affordability is a problem. On the other hand, come January, when we start really seeing the effects of all of the one big beautiful bills, tax provisions, for example, I think the narrative is going to shift and it’s going to become one of much more upbeat, much more positive. So it was a good speech. He spoke a little too loud. He spoke short, which was probably a good thing. And let’s go have Christmas.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yep, alright. Well, let me just kind of transition a little on that same topic though and Joshua come over to you. There’s a recent report that says inflation over the last 12 months is lower than normal. You Joshua in a little bit different stage of life than some others of us. You and your wife or parents of young children and you probably feel the pinch when the economy is a little more tight. But the president claims that things are picking up economically. So my question, is this really being realized tangibly by most people and specifically for those in a similar stage of life as you are?
SPEAKER 13 :
Well, as you said, Jody, my wife and I have two sweet little boys, three and one. We got a mortgage just before prices went up, so we’re very lucky in that way, more than many other families out there as well. I would say for basically as long as we’ve had a family, all we’ve really known is rising prices. Inflation was so high. in 2021 and 2022, and that really hurts families by increasing prices of not just food and gas, which can fluctuate around, but prices of everything. And what families are looking to see is something that brings those prices down. that’s where the real affordability concern is is not just that the prices stop going up but that the prices actually come down and we did have a good inflation report that showed inflation is not as high as it was but it’s still year over year at 2.7 percent that’s above the fed’s target of two percent um and it’s still showing that prices are continuing slowly uh to climb um and that that’s a problem for the administration on affordability. They’ve got to show that they can bring prices down in some ways. I agree with Mark. I think that I’ve written about this before, that the Trump administration seems to be falling into the same error as the Biden administration of trying to claim economic success and explain to voters why what they’re seeing about the economy is not accurate. What they need to do is take voters’ concerns into consideration and take urgent action. They’ve got a year left before the midterms. Take urgent action to really get the economy moving again, to bring prices down. I hope that would look like maybe giving some tariff relief or the tax provisions that Mark mentioned. That’s where the affordability concerns really are.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, I think if this economic issue is not addressed satisfactorily, it will have a massive impact on those midterm elections coming up next year for sure. Before we close out the program, Joshua, let me stick with you. I know you also wrote an article in The Washington Stand about the FBI raid that took place on President Trump’s home, Mar-a-Lago. OK, this is old news. We get it, but there seems to be some new information that we’re just learning about this three and a half years after the fact. What is some of that that’s coming to light now?
SPEAKER 13 :
It is old news. It’s old bad news. The new information is almost like the the waft of last week’s cat poop drifting back over your yard. Once again, we’re reminded just how political the Biden administration’s conduct was. So the emails, internal emails from the FBI and DOJ were published by the Senate Judiciary Committee. And they showed that the rank and file FBI members in the Washington field office conducting the operation at multiple points in June and July didn’t think there was enough evidence to move forward with a search warrant or to move forward with a search warrant on everything, just on certain areas. They asked questions like, you know, why are we still circulating this draft? We don’t have any new evidence here. But the Biden administration politicals kept pushing for that search warrant. And as we know, eventually on August 8th, they decided to do a full scale raid of President Trump’s home.
SPEAKER 08 :
That’s frightening how that all went down. It really is. Mark, some of these concerns that were actually raised beforehand, but they were dismissed by many in the government. They were dismissed by many in the media. They were called conspiracies. But now we have these new findings that are coming out, of course, as many people have a trust crisis. crisis, a trust problem with the government, as well as with the media, for that matter. Do you think this helps or adds to the distrust, what we’re learning now?
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, it certainly adds to the distrust, and especially when you ponder the fact that the only reason we know about these emails that Joshua was just describing is because Republicans in the Senate, led by the great senator from Iowa, just would not let go. They kept demanding that and getting, finally, the documents that included those emails. I can tell you, I have filed thousands of Freedom of Information Act requests with the government in my career, and getting email correspondence internal in the government is almost always impossible, and yet it’s almost always where you’re gonna really begin to find what’s going on in a particular issue so this is exhibit a on why freedom of information in the government and transparency in government and accountability are absolutely essential you know jesus said darkness hates the light well darkness really does and that’s why we need transparency
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, it goes back to what Joshua was mentioning earlier in Ephesians 5. I mean, that’s where transparency occurs, where the light comes on. The darkness has to flee because it’s exposed for what it really is. Let me ask you this, circle back around kind of where we started, Mark, and I’ll throw this your way. And Joshua, if you want to reply, we’ve got less than two minutes to go. But the health care plan, health insurance plan, if this goes to the president’s desk, Is this going to empower people once again with their health insurance and so forth?
SPEAKER 06 :
Absolutely. I’m doubtful that the House version that passed yesterday. We’ll make it through the Senate, but if it does, and President Trump signs it, as I suspect he will, it would be a giant step forward in terms of empowering individual consumers. That’s the interesting thing about this whole Obamacare debate. The positions have reversed. It’s the Republicans who are saying, give the people more money and power, and it’s the Democrats who are defending the establishment health care insurance companies. You know, this one has turned the traditional political understanding of things on its head.
SPEAKER 08 :
All right, Joshua, you get the final word. We’ve got about 30 seconds before we have to wind up.
SPEAKER 13 :
I mean, I’m sure it couldn’t be worse than Obamacare. You remember back at the beginning that President Obama said, if you like your health care plan, you can keep it. And that promise was broken from the very beginning. I don’t ever remember a time before Obamacare. I went to college the year after it passed. And during the course of my four years in college, I had to change health care plans multiple times. it just doesn’t work. It’s not a workable system. So if we can give people better choices, I’m sure that will produce better outcomes.
SPEAKER 08 :
Mark Tapscott, Joshua Arnold, both from the Washington Stand. Thank you gentlemen so much for joining us on Washington Watch and for the incredible work that you do at the Washington Stand. All right friends, that wraps it up. We’ll see you again tomorrow right here on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 12 :
Washington Watch with Tony Perkins is brought to you by Family Research Council. To support our efforts to advance faith, family, and freedom, please text GIVE to 67742. That’s GIVE to 67742. Portions of the show discussing candidates are brought to you by Family Research Council Action. For more information, please visit TonyPerkins.com.
