The Washington Stand’s Casey Harper reports on the U.S. Supreme Court deadline on the dangerous and deadly abortion pill case, the reconvened Congress docket attempt to fund immigration enforcement agencies, and President Trump’s rejection of Iran’s
SPEAKER 15 :
From the heart of our nation’s capital in Washington, D.C., bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and soundbites into conversations with our nation’s leaders and newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview, Washington Watch with Tony Perkins starts now.
SPEAKER 06 :
It’s unbelievably weak, I would say. I would call it the weakest right now. After reading that piece of garbage they sent us, I didn’t even finish reading it. I said, I’m not going to waste my time reading it. I would say it’s one of the weakest right now. It’s on life support. They understand. These are all medical people. Dr. Oz, life support is not a good thing. Do you agree? I would say the ceasefire is on massive life support.
SPEAKER 03 :
That was President Donald Trump earlier today discussing the ceasefire with Iran and expressing his frustrations. Welcome to this Monday, May 11th edition of Washington Watch. I’m your host, Tony Perkins. Thanks for joining us. Well, coming up, Dr. David Wormser from the Center for Security Policy joins us with a look at where the increasingly fragile ceasefire with Iran could lead. Plus, the Department of Health and Human Services has launched a new website offering resources for expectant and new mothers. Dr. Stephanie Herodopoulos, Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor at HHS, joins us to explain how families can use it. All of that and more straight ahead. Well, President Trump is now saying that the fragile ceasefire with Iran is on life support after the U.S. rejected Tehran’s latest counterproposal. This latest description by President Trump is raising fears of renewed fighting in the 10-week-old war, which has already disrupted global energy supplies, pushing oil prices higher. Standoff centers on control of the Strait of Hormuz, sanctions relief, and… Iran’s nuclear program. With this backdrop of global uncertainty, President Trump heads to Beijing for talks with Xi Jinping later this week. Joining us now to discuss the results of the response, rather, is Washington stand reporter Casey Harper. Casey, where do the negotiations stand right now?
SPEAKER 10 :
Thanks, Tony. We don’t have to be Dr. Oz to know that life support is not a good sign for the negotiations and the president’s feeling about them. He even used the word garbage, saying it’s the weakest proposal that he’s seen yet, clearly showing, as you said, a lot of frustration. I mean, Iran had a long list of demands. They want, of course, an end to the war. They want sanctions relief. They want to get those frozen assets back. They want to basically get guarantees of regional security that the U.S. is not going to interfere anymore. And they want to control the Strait of Hormuz. Now, their control so far and their attacks and really restricting the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz has pushed price of oil over $100 a barrel, and gas prices in the U.S. are up around $4.50 and much higher in the rest of the world. Now, this is all setting a pretty pessimistic outlook for those negotiations. But it’s also interesting timing, because, as you said, President Trump is heading to meet with the Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Iran is going to be top of the list for those discussions.
SPEAKER 03 :
We’ll visit with Dr. Wormsmer about that a little bit later. All right, let’s shift to the news here at home. What are Republicans working on this week as they come back to D.C.? ?
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah, Republicans are busy. They’re pushing a DHS funding package focused on immigration enforcement. The total is about $72 billion. This is that long-awaited funding for ICE and Border Patrol. And it uses the budget reconciliation process to bypass the 60 Senate vote threshold for other measures because Democrats have shown they’re simply not willing to vote for border security anymore. Now, all of this has been pretty well received by most voters. There’s one provision that’s a little more controversial, and it’s a billion dollars in funding for Secret Service security tied to President Trump’s East Wing new ballroom project. Now, that is possibly going to complicate the Republican unity on getting this reconciliation across the finish line. They’ve set a deadline for June 1st to get this thing passed, but a lot of conservatives are also asking, hey, wait a minute, if we’re adding things to reconciliation, why don’t we say, defund Planned Parenthood.
SPEAKER 03 :
Sorry about that, Casey. I missed you.
SPEAKER 10 :
I’m glad you’re back.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, I’m back. I lost my voice for a moment. So I think that really complicates things when people are paying so much for gasoline that there’s discussion about a billion dollars for a ballroom. You mentioned Planned Parenthood. President Trump was asked whether defunding Planned Parenthood, which expires on July the 4th, this one year suspension of funding for Planned Parenthood. That expires on July 4th, which means funding for them would be renewed. The president was asked about that today. What did he say?
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah, that’s right. I reported on that press conference. And to be honest, it was a bit of an awkward moment. The president was a bit cagey. He was asked by a reporter. In fact, we have a clip of that exchange right here.
SPEAKER 06 :
Would you like Congress to use reconciliation? Congress has now negotiated. We’ve been Very good for the people that want it, for the people that are here. And we’ll see how that goes. It’s been a very thorny, to put it mildly, it’s been a very thorny issue. It’s all under negotiation right now.
SPEAKER 10 :
There’s an interesting point. Later on, President Trump, he was asked expressly again, so do you support it or not? And he wouldn’t answer, and he moved on. So he clearly didn’t want to give a straight answer on that. And the timing is interesting, because just today, the Supreme Court extended that temporary pause on the lower court ruling that would have restricted access to the abortion pill Mifepristone, which basically gives the Supreme Court until Thursday to continue deliberating on mail-in abortion nationwide, Tony.
SPEAKER 03 :
That means they must be wrestling with that decision. Casey, thanks so much for the update. Thanks. All right. I want to go back to what the president said earlier today about the ceasefire in Iran being on life support. Now, this comes after the U.S. rejected Tehran’s latest proposal, which includes some nuclear concessions but not enough. Meanwhile, President Trump is considering restarting Project Freedom, the operation aimed at helping ships pass through the Strait of Hormuz as a part of a larger military operation. Joining me now for analysis on the kind of the shaky ceasefire in the current situation is Dr. David Wormser. He is a senior analyst for the Middle East Affairs at the Center for Security Policy. Dr. Wormser, thanks so much for joining us. Welcome back to Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, thanks for having me. It’s an honor.
SPEAKER 03 :
So let me ask you just your reaction to the latest rejection of the peace proposal.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, it’s not terribly surprising. The Iranian regime has, in its entire existence, pursued a nuclear program. At times, even if it had just held its fire a little bit, it could have crossed the threshold. For example, the JCPOA with President Obama, if they had just waited two or three more years with some of the things they did, they would have crossed the threshold. And yet they couldn’t hold back because it’s so central to who they are. So I’m not surprised that they turned it down. And the other thing is that the pressures on Iran, the Iranian regime is not a normal regime. We have to understand it’s a bit like a parasite to a host. They look at Iran as a stepping stone or as a vehicle for their ideological pursuit. of global Islamic conquest and so forth. So they’re not really all that sensitive to some of the pain that the Iranian people themselves feel. So we have a regime that simply is not going to compromise, and that’s what we’re seeing. They’re just rearranging the terms of their counteroffer, but it always winds up in the same place, which is the United States essentially has to give up on the war, has to stop the war, guarantee that it won’t restart it, open the Straits of Hormuz for them, and essentially allow them to do what they want, to pursue a weapon and to rebuild their military threat to the world and so forth. So they’re demanding unconditional surrender at this point, basically.
SPEAKER 03 :
So their tactics of negotiations do not seem to change. It’s usually delay, delay, delay, thinking that Americans will finally just kind of lose interest, move on, or the political pressure here at home will just prevent us from taking definitive action.
SPEAKER 04 :
Absolutely. I think you nailed it. Iran is very good at essentially giving you just enough so that you think, OK, OK, we got a little bit. Let’s keep going. Maybe there’s a little more, maybe a little more. And it’s never there. They will never come to the right place. But they will always give you just enough to leave your appetite. So that is their negotiating strategy. And the other negotiating strategy is while all that’s happening, is to write the context, the narrative that some people would like to describe it, that they won, that they’re powerful, that they have all the cards. And as a result, it’s only inevitable that the United States has to give in, that the United States doesn’t have the will to restart the war, that President Trump doesn’t have the will, and America is done as a superpower. That’s sort of the narrative they’re banking on, and that they’re trying to create a momentum to not only convince their own troops but also to convince all those people around the world and some in the United States that that’s the case. And we’re seeing the effect of that. So their strategy is exactly like what you said, and it goes back 47 years, delay and change the narrative surrounding what they’re facing.
SPEAKER 03 :
Dr. Wernsler, you have been an advisor in the West Wing before. What would be your advice to President Trump at this point?
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, my advice would be you can continue with negotiations if they help you politically to essentially clear the deck. Make it clear to everybody you’re doing every last thing you can to try to avoid a war. Because in the West, we don’t choose wars. We usually only go to war when it’s an absolute necessity. So I would continue with that. But what I would do is begin to arm the Iranian opposition. I would begin to… respond to the Iranian violations of the ceasefire by hitting the Iranians, not tit for tat, but in places that really hurt. For example, hitting their IRGC concentrations, checkpoints. I would let the Israelis also do that. And moreover, I would eventually… perhaps we’re at the eve of this now, is start hitting the regime where it really hurts. Strip it of its oil facilities. They need gas to run their suppressive mechanisms, from their technical pickup trucks to the generators that run their buildings. They need oil and gas, and they If we start taking out some of these structures, hopefully in ways that don’t permanently damage Iran’s long-term economic prospects, if we can essentially begin to hit them where it hurts and put this pressure on the regime that leads these killers—and there are killers, all of them, up top— to start fighting among themselves, then that gives the Iranian people a shot at taking over. The other thing we have to do is look at China and Russia and the external support they’re giving Iran. And they are. They’re probably sending weaponry right now. I would be afraid of them sending weapons that in the month and a half of war the Iranians decided might be useful, for example, anti-aircraft manpads, which we did have a problem with. That’s what shot down our airplane. and then shot down the warthog that tried to provide cover. So I would imagine that there are imports from China right now through Pakistan, the border areas. And I would also, by the way, seal the border areas violently, if necessary, with Pakistan, with Turkmenistan, with Turkey. Unfortunately, Turkey’s not playing a good role here. And with Iraq. and that way isolate Iran, but most importantly, stop these weapons from flowing in. They could be game changers if the war restarts. We don’t want two or three or four aircraft shot down on the first day of the war.
SPEAKER 03 :
But back to your bottom line, it is like a parasite on a host. They’re not going to give up. I’ve never seen a tick waving a white flag on the back of a dog. And we’re going to have to remove them in order to bring about a resolution because of the ideology. Forty seconds left.
SPEAKER 04 :
Oh, absolutely. The ideology, and by the way, it is an apocalyptic ideology, except unlike many of us who might believe in, say, the second coming of Christ and so forth, they believe that humans pushing it to the point of apocalypse, namely… triggering an apocalyptic war is an imperative in order to bring about their apocalyptic moment. So they are after a conflagration. They’re the agents of rapture, not the consequences.
SPEAKER 03 :
It is a mere reflection of the Christian eschatology. Dr. Wormser, thank you. Stick with us, folks.
SPEAKER 02 :
Join us for a time of prayer, inspiration, and action at this year’s Pray, Vote, Stand Summit at Cornerstone Chapel in Leesburg, Virginia. Hear from Christian leaders, issue experts, and government officials as we work together to build a foundation based on biblical truth. Early Bird special tickets are on sale for $69 when you register by June 15th. To register, visit PrayVoteStand.org. That’s PrayVoteStand.org.
SPEAKER 03 :
Exodus chapter 9 verse 1 says, You see, America has freedom for a purpose. The question is, are we living by that purpose today? In Scripture, deliverance and freedom is never an end in itself. It is a liberation unto obedience, to worship, and to a covenantal relationship. God’s demand to Pharaoh was not freedom for freedom’s sake, but freedom so his people could identify with and belong to and serve him. Freedom that is not used to serve God will not endure. One of the founders actually echoed a similar warning. Thomas Jefferson wrote, Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just and his justice cannot sleep forever. See, the founders understood we as a nation would be accountable to God for what he had granted to us. They sought freedom for a purpose, and that freedom was given to us as a nation for that same purpose, to serve God, to honor Him, and to live as a people under His authority. In this 250th anniversary year, we must ask the question, are we living by that purpose today as a nation? Lord, we thank you for the godly foundation and heritage of our states. Lord, we would return to an understanding of the freedom that you have granted to us, that freedom has a name. His name is Jesus. And freedom has a purpose. It is to honor and glorify you. And I pray that our nation would return to that understanding of the purpose of the freedom that you have granted to us. We thank you, Father. By faith, we pray that we would return to that purpose. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. Welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us on this Monday. I’m pleased to share today for the first time that Patriot Mobile is now an underwriter of Washington Watch. Patriot Mobile is a strong champion for First and Second Amendment rights for the military, veterans, first responders. And an important issue to everyone at Washington Watch, the sanctity of human life. To learn more about Patriot Mobile Service and underwriting Washington Watch, go to TonyPerkins.com. It’s all right there. Yesterday was Mother’s Day. I hope you, if you, I mean, we all have a mother. And if your mother is still living, I hope you expressed your appreciation to your mother. And what better way to celebrate Mother’s Day than a launch on Sunday by the Trump administration of a new initiative, Moms.gov. What resources does this website have to offer to expectant and new moms? Well, joining me now to share more is the chief of staff and senior advisor at the Department of Health and Human Services, Dr. Stephanie Herodopoulos. Dr. Herodopoulos, welcome to Washington Watch. Thanks so much for joining us today.
SPEAKER 09 :
My pleasure, Tony. Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, this is this is. Long and coming that we see the government actually helping mothers. Number one, those that find themselves in crisis pregnancies or in difficult situations to make the right choices, but then to help them along the way. So explain what was behind this launch and what it provides.
SPEAKER 09 :
I want to just tell you, I’m a family medicine doctor that, uh, handles a whole lifespan and also a proud mother of three. So this has been incredible to be part of this project during the national women’s health week on the heels of mother’s day. I can’t even imagine doing anything greater than really consolidating what was once a piece meal, uh, uh, information system. that has resources all in one place, moms.gov. And you heard the president announce that today with our HHS leadership. But what it does is it gives you information on where to find the support services, from the federally qualified healthcare centers and pregnancy resource centers. And there’s about almost 4,000 in the United States. So you put your zip code in and you can find out where the closest place is and get that help. It also gives you nutritional facts so you can be the healthiest you can during or before pregnancy with pre-conceptual counseling. It gives you links to Trump accounts which can invest in your child’s future. It also gives you links to TrumpRx, which makes medicine affordable. And also, you know, breast is best. We talk about breastfeeding and how to do that. And it’s all consolidated into one. Adoption services, mental health, you name it. It is a one-stop shop.
SPEAKER 03 :
Dr. Herodopoulos, I just want to say I am so grateful for this because it’s something that we’ve been advocating for years and years and years, especially including the care pregnancy centers. I serve on the board of one of those. I’ve been working to help promote those for decades. And here they are, the government partnering with them. This is something, this is what you would call force multiplication because these are funded by private entities. But they’re a resource for communities, and so I applaud you for including those in there. Now, as a father of five myself, of course, mine are older now, dads are important in the process. What resources does this site provide for fathers?
SPEAKER 09 :
they play a significant role in preconceptual counseling, making sure that you are as healthy as you can be when you’re planning on conceiving. That means, you know, quitting certain environmental toxins that could affect the health of the baby, like smoking and alcohol or drugs. Also, you know, supporting either your spouse or your partner throughout the process. So a lot of these resource centers also do counseling not only for the woman but for the man, getting ready for the birth to try to be the best father that they can be. There’s also screening and treating for sexually transmitted diseases at these centers. So the pregnancy resource centers have a wonderful complementary resources to the federally qualified health care centers that are more clinically oriented.
SPEAKER 03 :
So this is really kind of a merger of, you know, kind of the pro-life community, but also with the make America healthy again, that approach, which I’m all about good nutrition because that solves. I’ve got a daughter that’s in health care and a lot of what we see today is driven by poor nutrition.
SPEAKER 09 :
That’s right, you saw the Dietary Guidelines for America, the new pyramid got flipped upside down back in January, 2026, putting a high emphasis on eat real food and less ultra processed foods. So we know we’re all about prevention of disease. So if we are going to live the healthiest, the pillars of health, sleep, nutrition, and exercise, we’re going to teach you how to do that. And I don’t know if you saw last week the presidential fitness test launch to helping our children, of course, get healthy and decrease our obesity rates. We know these chronic diseases are driving up our health. you know, healthcare expenditures and take a lion’s share chunk of the GDP at 18%, but yet have poor outcomes than other developed nations. So we could do better, and this is the start of doing that.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, I think that’s great. I was having a conversation with someone in the education field last week. I remember when I was a kid, now that’s been a while back, But we had the presidential fitness test. We had to, in PE, we actually had to do things. It wasn’t just walking or playing kickball. It was actually doing things that made us a little more healthy. And, you know, I think kids spend too much time behind computers and screens. We need to get physically active because the benefits of that are not just short-term. They’re long-term as well.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yes, there are a lot of harms from excessive screen use that we will be delineating very soon coming out of HHS. So that is very true. It affects relationships as well and cognitive development and can increase. mental health crisis that we’re seeing in our nation. So you are so right. That is coming down the pike. I just want to pause and say every day I pray before I come into work and I say, God, what do you want me to do to make a greater impact for our nation in improving our health? And with a purpose-driven life, this is why I’m here with, I believe, God-given talents to make a difference. And I can’t imagine doing this any other time than with Secretary Kennedy and President Trump.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, Dr. Herodopoulos, we’re grateful that you were there, and we will be praying for your success as you help mothers and families be healthier. Thanks so much for joining us today.
SPEAKER 09 :
Thank you, Tony.
SPEAKER 03 :
All right. Some good news. I mean, this is this is the kind of stuff we want to see. Government partnering with nonprofit organizations that are helping women make good decisions. All right. Coming up, deja vu all over again. Reconciliation 2.0 is on the congressional agenda this week. We talk about it next.
SPEAKER 01 :
Join Family Research Council starting May 14 for a journey through the book of 1 Samuel. Come witness the rise of Samuel, the fall of Saul, and the calling of David, and how each person’s heart posture before God shaped their path and legacy. Order Tony Perkins’ study guide, 1 Samuel, Longing for a King, to help you respond faithfully to God’s voice in every season of life. Get it now at frc.org slash store or text Samuel to 67742.
SPEAKER 16 :
One Nation Under God, America’s undeniable foundation of faith.
SPEAKER 05 :
The United States Capitol, an iconic symbol of the American Republic. But few know that this building at the heart of our nation’s government was once something more, the largest church building in America. Since its inception and for decades following, several rooms throughout the Capitol, including the House and Senate chambers, were used to host church services weekly. These services were filled with individuals from all levels of government. The attendance was so pervasive that often it was standing room only. Quote, going to the Capitol on Sundays was then one of the most common things in Washington. Margaret Bayard Smith. This practice was not merely accepted, but encouraged. Quote, I consider it as one of my public duties as a representative of the people to give my attendance every Sunday morning when divine service is performed in the hall. President John Quincy Adams. Housing worship at the center of our capital was a living representation of the role that biblical principles played as a cornerstone of our nation’s foundation of faith.
SPEAKER 03 :
All right, welcome back to Washington Watch on this Monday. So good to have you along. The website, TonyPerkins.com. Better yet, get the Stand Firm app. That way you’ll have access to Washington Watch no matter where you go. And you’ll also have access to the Washington Stand, our news and commentary from a biblical perspective. And there’s more. There’s more. There is my daily devotional, Stand on the Word. All of that plus more can be found on the Stand Firm app. Go to the App Store, get the Stand Firm app. All right, Congress is returning tomorrow, and we want to get a preview of what the buzz in Washington will be, specifically focused on Reconciliation 2.0. Joining us now to discuss this by phone, Congressman Josh Birkin. He is a member of the House Homeland Security Committee as well as the House Budget Committee. Congressman Birkin, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks so much for joining us.
SPEAKER 08 :
Thank you, Tony. Always an honor to be with you.
SPEAKER 03 :
All right. How are things in Oklahoma before we get to the D.C. issues?
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, raining yesterday and 80 degrees hot today.
SPEAKER 03 :
That’s Oklahoma. Weather changes, if you don’t like it, five minutes. Just wait. It’ll change. All right. Let’s talk about the to-do list for Oklahoma, not for Oklahoma, for Congress this week. Reconciliation, you’re going to be involved in both because reconciliation is about funding for homeland security. What do we know?
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, this will be Reconciliation 2.0, the first one. Of course, the Working Families Tax Cut, the one big beautiful bill. We are going to move forward. The Senate will initiate a markup on the Senate Judiciary Homeland Security Committee this week for Reconciliation 2.0 because of after a 76 partial day or partial government shutdown, the longest in our nation’s history, 76 days. Finally, that ended a little over a week ago. And now we’ve got to fill the hole, which our CBP and I, about $30 billion to each And that 2.0 measure, we’re going to put in the mandatory side of the ledger what Democrats would not allow us to do in the discretionary side. This week, we’ll be taking that up. And my hope is we’ll be able to quickly, after the Senate does their work, get it to the House as an amendment, pass it out of the House, and CBP and ICE will be funded. In the last hour or so, I was asking staff, where are we at? They reached out to the committee staff to make sure Mark Wayne Mullen was having to, as Secretary of Homeland Security, float so many different agencies to include TSA, Secret Service Agency, et cetera. Well, now that that pressure has been lessened because of funding everything but CBP and ICE, he has some leeway. But how long, we don’t know. So we need to get this done in short order.
SPEAKER 03 :
All right. One thing that may be complicating it, I’m hearing, is the $1 billion for Secret Service and the president’s ballroom at the White House. What are you hearing about that?
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah. In terms of what I had hoped for, this would be probably going to
SPEAKER 03 :
We’re losing him. Hold on just a second. I want to make sure we get his response to that. As Congress returns, let’s see, we’re going to try to get a better connection with him. But this is pretty important, as we were talking about with Casey Harper at the top of the program. There’s some pushback, not just from Democrats, but from Republicans on this as well. Part of it is the optics going into an election that there’s… And I understand the security issues here. But, you know, I’ve talked about this. We cannot pin all of our problems on more security. And what they’re saying is that, well, we’ve got to have this ballroom so the president can have big events so he doesn’t go to hotels anymore because of the security. Well, the lawlessness is a much deeper issue. But there are optics involved. Do we have them yet? OK, we’re still trying to get the congressman back on. I predict there’s going to be some problems with this because to get reconciliation through the House. Remember, this is a tactic, a budget. It goes back to the 1974 Budget Act. We’ve talked about this many times, but this allows a majority vote in both the House and the Senate. So in the Senate, you only need 51 votes to get it passed. That means you don’t have to have any Democratic votes. The one big, beautiful bill that passed last year did not have any Democratic votes in the House. I think it may have had. I don’t think I got any in the House. I mean, in the Senate, I may have had one. I have to double check it, but I don’t think it had any in the House either. So that means that in the House, the reconciliation is going to have to be in fact. It’ll have to be all Republican votes. So if you have Republicans that are hesitant to vote for, you know, this narrative of a billion dollars for a ballroom, I don’t think it’s going to fly. Plus, I think it opens the door for one thing the speaker has been very clear about. He wants to keep this focused on funding Department of Homeland Security. Now, understand. Okay. All right. We’ve just got a little over a minute left, Congressman McKean. So the question is, is this going to complicate things with the ballroom in the bill?
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, Tony, I don’t know. That’s the clearest response and the accurate response. I look forward to getting into D.C. and hearing more. I think, you know, absent what happened two, three weeks ago, I think it would. I think the attempted shooting of individuals, of course, that person was taken down and no one, lost their lives, thankfully, because of the quick action of law enforcement. But I think that does change the dynamic in terms of people recognizing off-campus large events are becoming more complicated. So I think that something with the ballroom is appropriate. How much? I don’t know. I would love to continue to see the private funding element be the largest piece, though.
SPEAKER 03 :
All right. Congressman Josh Burkine, always great to talk with you. Safe travels into D.C. and we’ll talk to you later this week. Thanks, Tony. All right. Coming up, we’re going to dive a little deeper into the Virginia redistricting battle with what the recent Supreme Court there in Virginia ruled that the effort was unconstitutional. What does that mean? And what might this mean for redistricting nationwide?
SPEAKER 07 :
This is Mission Control Houston here in the Artemis flight control room. Splashdown confirmed at 7.07 p.m. Central Time. A new chapter of the exploration of our celestial neighbor is complete. Integrity’s astronauts back on Earth.
SPEAKER 11 :
When I got back on the ship, I’m not really a religious person, but there was just no other avenue for me to explain anything or to experience anything. So I asked for the chaplain on the Navy ship to just come visit us for a minute. And when that man walked in, I’d never met him before in my life, but I saw the cross on his collar and I just, I broke down in tears. It’s very hard to fully grasp what we just went through. And when the sun eclipsed behind the moon, I think all four of us, I turned to Victor and I said, I don’t think humanity has evolved to the point of being able to comprehend what we’re looking at right now, because it was otherworldly, it was amazing.
SPEAKER 14 :
That was Commander Reid Wiseman of the Artemis II mission, reflecting on their journey around the moon. So here’s a question. Does that sound like a man that just entered space? An empty, cold vacuum of nothingness? Or did he encounter something so profound, so full, so warm and bursting with life, it’s almost as if someone was breathing on it? Perhaps it was so meaningful that the word space doesn’t do the journey justice. Well, it sounds like he didn’t encounter space, but something else, what the Bible calls the heavens. As the psalmist says, the heavens declare the glory of God and continually pours out speech. And that speech just might leave you speechless if you’re seeking it. It seems like Commander Wiseman discovered the truth of Psalm 139 in reality. Where shall I go from your spirit or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven and orbit the moon, you are there. So here’s the glorious news for Commander Wiseman and all of humanity. The heavens aren’t far from any one of us. In fact, the Christian story proclaims that the One who sits in the heavens didn’t stay there. He came down into our broken world, forsaking heaven’s treasure to make you His treasure. And something truly incomprehensible happened the day He died, when the One who stretched out the heavens like a curtain stretched out His hands for us on the cross. But it was impossible for death to keep its hold on life itself. He rose from the grave, he lives, and every sunrise since reminds us that the darkness of night will never eclipse the light behind all light, Jesus, the light of the world. Family Research Council prays that families across America would look up and join the song of the heavens. Praise God in his mighty heavens. Praise him for his mighty deeds. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
SPEAKER 03 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. All right, this is the 250th anniversary of our nation’s birth. And I’ll tell you what, I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the 250th anniversary than by exploring the connection between the biblical principles and American government. And we’ve got a perfect thing for you. It’s called FRC’s Got a Government Course. It’ll help you connect all the dots. It goes into scripture, it goes into American history, but also practical application of those principles and how they’ve worked over the decades. If you’d like to know more about that, text COURSE to 67742. That’s COURSE to 67742. Our word for today comes from Judges chapter 21. Then the people came to the house of God and remained there before God till evening. They lifted up their voices and wept bitterly and said, O Lord God of Israel, why has this come to pass in Israel that today there should be one tribe missing in Israel? Well, as civil war broke out in the nation, the people gathered and asked, why? Well, the answer is in the very last verse. In those days there was no king in Israel, and everyone did what was right in his own eyes. It wasn’t that they needed to elect a king. God had established excellent rules by which the people were to live, and his promise was to provide and protect them. And he did, as long as the people walked in obedience. But his parents failed to teach their children, the next generation, about God, what he had done for them and what he expected of them. They forgot him. They forgot his word and his ways. You see, spiritual compromise led to moral corruption, which brought about cultural and political chaos. And no nation is immune from this reality of rejecting God. To find out more about our journey through the Bible, text BIBLE to 67742. That’s BIBLE to 67742. Well, the fight over the redistricting referendum in Virginia may be headed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Now, this comes after the Virginia State Supreme Court ruled Friday that Virginia’s current congressional districts will stay in place. The referendum was struck down due to a violation of constitutional procedural requirements. Virginia Democrats immediately asked the state Supreme Court to pause its decision to throw out a plan to redraw Virginia’s congressional maps. This is a big setback for Democrats as they had pushed for redistricting, which would have given them four more seats in the House in the midterm election. So how will Democrats fight the Virginia Supreme Court ruling? What’s next in this long march to redraw the maps? Well, joining us now to discuss this is Ken Cuccinelli, former Virginia attorney general. He is a senior fellow for immigration and homeland security at the Center for Renewing America. Ken, welcome back to Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 12 :
Good to be with you, Tony, as always.
SPEAKER 03 :
All right. Did I set the stage there as where we stand at present?
SPEAKER 12 :
Yes, you did. And frankly, a lot of us lawyers in Virginia were curious what they would even argue to the Supreme Court to try to undo a state Supreme Court ruling on a state constitution. So for your viewers, to take you back to your high school civics class, that is typically where judicial authority ends over a state Supreme Court. The federal Supreme Court, U.S. Supreme Court, doesn’t have jurisdiction to decide state constitutional issues. And that was the sole focus of the Virginia Supreme Court’s ruling on Friday, throwing out the referendum. As you noted, Tony, it was rejected based on procedural failings to bring, as the Democrat General Assembly brought that referendum forward. And this was an attempt to amend our state constitution in Virginia. And there are strict requirements, as in all states, about how you go about doing that. And the Democrat General Assembly rather brazenly violated those. So now they’re asking the U.S. Supreme Court to Really, I’m smiling because it’s laughable. It’s embarrassing what they’re trying to argue to the Supreme Court to try to get the court to take jurisdiction. And they make two arguments. One, basically, that the Virginia Supreme Court cited two federal election rulings with respect to the meaning of what election or election day is. But those were just references to other cases. They’re not citing the federal government as precedential in any way, but it seems like a desperate, sad little attempt to try to argue there’s a federal question. If there’s a federal issue, the federal Supreme Court can step in, but there are no federal issues. And then the second one was they were arguing an incredibly narrow exception in a case from 2023 where courts take from the legislature the legislature’s authority to regulate the time, place, and manner of federal elections. And of course, ultimately, the maps at issue were for congressional districts. And so on that basis, the Virginia attorney general, he’s in my old job, but a Democrat, and put in a position of really desperately reaching on these legal arguments has advanced those two arguments to the Supreme Court. I don’t think they’re even going to be heard because the Chief Justice who sits over the Fourth Circuit, John Roberts, will determine that the court has no jurisdiction and won’t even advance them to the full Supreme Court. And I don’t think you’ll see a dissent out of anyone on the U.S. Supreme Court from that action.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, to me, it sounds like they’re throwing deep here.
SPEAKER 12 :
They’re throwing really deep.
SPEAKER 03 :
And I can’t imagine, especially in light of what the court just recently decided on congressional districts, really giving great preference to the states. So let’s talk about how this you’ll end up with the current map of congressional seats. But for the Democrats, this is a real problem because they almost put all their eggs into this basket to begin to shift things. In fact, Hakeem Jeffries put in, I think, about $64 million out of his own kind of campaign account to try to get this tilted in the favor of the Democrats. They’ve lost, but… In the meantime, Republicans are benefiting from the recent Supreme Court decision on racial gerrymandering. I mean, this could be huge for Republicans.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, the timing of the two is pretty incredible. Obviously, we’re near the end of the Supreme Court term, May and June, when you start to see more cases ruled upon by the U.S. Supreme Court, at least the contentious ones. And really what the Supreme Court did in the Calais v. Louisiana case has really just opened the southern states up to the same kind of line drawing that all the rest of the states have. And the oddity in recent years, as really alluded to by the court, is that the Voting Rights Act, and I can tell you as an attorney general who had to deal with this in Virginia, demanded in recent years two different things. One, obviously don’t draw racist districts. And as they just said in Louisiana, you can’t do that. The Voting Rights Act forbids that. That is still the law of this country. But at the same time, they also said, but you also have to draw racially racial majority districts in many of the states of the country, not just the South, but the South is where this came from and was the rationale for it. And those two things were logically impossible. The courts never synchronized really, the court’s demands for how to comply with the Voting Rights Act. And the Louisiana versus Calais case makes that clear. Discrimination on the basis of race is illegal under the Voting Rights Act, but it is not the same as, you can’t just say black people are Democrats. Well, because of course that isn’t necessarily true. you have to parse out race from politics. And you look at Tennessee, Tony, where they immediately took advantage of this ruling to draw out a district that was drawn intentionally as a majority black district, and they’re going to draw out, likely, a 20-year congressman who happens to be white and a Democrat, and they’re likely to elect a woman who is a Republican who happens to be black. So, you know, I think this is beautifully American. Race… as it is traditionally thought of in political circles, is irrelevant here. It’s irrelevant. It’s just as Martin Luther King said it should be. We should be judging people on the content of their character and not the color of their skin. And the Supreme Court has affirmed that really baseline principle of justice.
SPEAKER 03 :
What I see is going back to my time in the legislature when I was a part of redrawing the lines back at when I was in after the census. We were kind of under the thumb of the Department of Justice. So this Supreme Court decision actually takes it away from the bureaucrats in the Department of Justice and makes it very clear, as you pointed out. So I think. This is going to have a significant impact not only on this midterm, but going forward. And and as you said, kind of draws a line, not based on race, but more, you know, probably is going to have more of an ideological effect than it does. Correct. Racial effect. Ken Cuccinelli, I know you got to run. Thanks so much for joining us. And we’re going to be tracking this to see if there are any other desperate attempts made by the Democrats to to try and reshape Virginia.
SPEAKER 12 :
Good to see you, Tony.
SPEAKER 03 :
All right. Thank you. Ken Cuccinelli, former attorney general of the state of Virginia. All right. Before we wrap up today, I want to I want to look a little deeper into this redistricting in terms of its implication for the midterms. Now, you look at how narrowly divided the House of Representatives is. And that’s really that’s what this is all about. That will determine control of Congress. And with just five to six seats separating the two, a shift of five more Republican, 10 more Republican seats could be huge at this point in time. So joining me now to to talk about this is Matt Carpenter, director of FRC Action Milk. Matt, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us.
SPEAKER 13 :
Thanks for having me, Tony. Great to be with you.
SPEAKER 03 :
All right. So what do we see in terms of a swing of redistricting? Like we’re seeing in Louisiana, we saw Tennessee do it. Ken mentioned Tennessee that now has made all of their districts Republican-leaning districts. South Carolina is working on it. Louisiana is probably going to go to a 5-1 makeup. What are we looking at?
SPEAKER 13 :
Tony, by my count right now, before you even get into these states that are looking at redistricting, it’s about a 13 Republican pickup opportunity in this mid-decade redistricting cycle that we’re in to around six on the Democratic side. When you take into consideration what we just witnessed last week out of the Supreme Court of Virginia, this is just a huge boost, frankly, for House Republicans to keep control There, as you pointed out, margins are slim. Every pickup opportunity is going to pay dividends in a little more than five months here for Election Day.
SPEAKER 03 :
Now, historically, the party that is in control, that has the White House, the midterm election does not bode well for them. I mean, the historical trends. So this is bucking history to begin with. But in a again, we live in a time, you know, those big waves that we often have heard about, just we’re not in a period of wave. We’re in we’re in a splash bowl. I mean, it’s just not moving. And and therefore, again, To see this lineup, California thought it was going to be a big windfall. Texas pretty much offset that. But then we have these redistricting. This is where the gains are being made.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah, you’re right. You know, in each of these states where we’re drawing new districts, it’s important to remember the Republican share of the vote is not going up. You’re just creating more districts. So in essence, you’re turning a lot of maybe R plus 20, R plus 15 districts into more R plus 10 or R plus five districts. So, you know, you could see that becoming more competitive over time and you end up maybe with a different House Republican conference. You know, what does that look like on the other end of this, Tony? It remains to be seen.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, I think it’s a very good point, Matt, because, you know, longevity gives you a longer frame of reference. I go back to 2006 when the Democrats did some very good recruiting in order to win the House majority. They were able to recruit moderate Democrats who were pro Second Amendment, pro God, and they knocked off moderate Republicans only to have those moderate Democrats defeated after the Obamacare passed in 2010 and the Tea Party wave. And that made a lot of those moderate districts. Of course, that was the time of the of the census redrawing of the lines. They won. Republicans won a lot of state legislatures. So the lines were drawn to really consolidate that conservative vote. What you’re talking about is that districts become more moderate, if you will, more purple districts. as opposed to to red, which could complicate things when trying to pass legislation and keep everybody kind of corralled for the speaker. Speaking of the speaker, keeping them corralled on Capitol Hill.
SPEAKER 13 :
Absolutely, Tony. And, you know, there’s also the potential that this balances out. You think of a lot of the legislative fights we’ve had and you see a lot of opposition to our position here. within the Republican conference coming from some of these blue states like New York and California come to mind. And so you wonder, how much longer can those Republicans last there? Are they going to get drawn out? That’s got to be a real concern. And so my point is, does this balance out in the long run? Do we just see kind of moderates move out of blue states and maybe a more Republican type moderate emerge that remains to be sort of seen here? We’ll have to figure that out.
SPEAKER 03 :
That is very intriguing. And I think there’s a lot in that. I think that as blue states choose pro-abortion law, spending higher amounts of tax dollars, they have higher taxes, bad policy, people are going to leave those states. I think the blue states are going to become deeper blue and red states are going to become a brighter red. And there’s going to be a clear, clear division of the country. Not necessarily a good thing, but I think it’s just the reality of where we’re headed with all of this. Matt Carpenter, always great to see you. Where can people find out more about what FRC Action’s working on?
SPEAKER 13 :
Check us out at frcaction.org. Check out the Voter Resources tab. We’re going to have more information up there soon on ballot initiatives and voter registration information, frcaction.org. Thanks for having me, Tony.
SPEAKER 03 :
All right, Matt. And so, folks, check that out because there’s resources there when you go to the polls. A lot of primaries going on. That way you’ll know how to vote. That’s what we do here. We pray, we vote, and we stand. So keep standing.
SPEAKER 15 :
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