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Tune into this insightful edition of Washington Watch as we explore current political strategies aimed at restoring anti-Christian bias within the federal government. Spearheaded by President Trump’s new executive order, the task force promises substantial shifts in how religious discrimination is tackled nationwide. Joining this discussion is Congressman Marlon Stutzman, who weighs in on the budget reconciliation process and the significant government debt issues confronting Congress today. Further enhancing this episode’s discourse, we focus on the U.S. military’s remarkable rebound in recruitment numbers. Congressman Pat Harrigan shares his valuable viewpoints on why young Americans are once again eager to
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from the heart of our nation’s capital in Washington, D.C., bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and sound bites into conversations with our nation’s leaders and newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Washington Watch with Tony Perkins starts now.
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The mission of this task force will be to immediately halt all forms of anti-Christian targeting and discrimination within the federal government. including at the DOJ, which was absolutely terrible, the IRS, the FBI, terrible, and other agencies. In addition, the task force will work to fully prosecute anti-Christian violence and vandalism in our society.
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That was President Trump this morning at the National Prayer Breakfast here in Washington, D.C., announcing a new task force. Welcome to Washington Watch. Thank you for joining us for this Thursday edition. Well, coming up, Indiana Congressman Marlon Stutzman will discuss the president’s proposal to create a task force aimed at eradicating anti-Christian bias in the federal government. And freshman Congressman Pat Harrigan, a Green Beret, will weigh in on this news.
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Army recruitment has gone up. You’ve probably been reading that it’s been way down in the dumps. And recruitment’s the highest it’s been in more than 15 years. And that’s going to get higher. And it could be 25 years, but that’s going to get higher and higher. And that’s a tremendous thing.
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We’ll talk about it. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was on Capitol Hill today meeting with House Speaker Mike Johnson and members of Congress. We’re going to be joined by New York Congresswoman Claudia Tenney, who introduced the Recognizing Judea and Samaria Act. This is legislation that requires the United States government to use the term Judea and Samaria instead of the West Bank. We’re going to talk about why that is important. And finally, are the efforts by the new Trump administration to clean house here in D.C. political or essential? Hedia Falco, a former Muslim who is now a Christian and previously served as a senior advisor to the FBI, points to recent events like the New Year’s Day attack in New Orleans and says it’s essential. Hedia will be here to explain more later on this edition of Washington Watch. If you’ve not yet received or gotten access to your 100-day toolkit, I encourage you to do so. The first 100-day toolkit, we’re three weeks into this first 100 days, and you need to be prepared. I mean, it’s happening now, but it’s going to get even more brisk, I think, as we see policy begin to move its way through Congress, and we need you to weigh in. So get your toolkit, text TOOLKIT, that’s one word, TOOLKIT, to 67742, and I’ll send you a link. While Democrats are ranting and raving about the role and activities of Elon Musk and his government efficiency department, Republicans are working through plans on budget reconciliation and debt ceiling. In fact, last night, Senator Rick Scott of Florida hosted a dinner for a group of House and Senate Republicans to discuss these and other issues. And earlier today, a group of House Republicans met with President Trump as well. Are Republicans nearing an agreement on the way forward when it comes to reconciliation? Joining me now to discuss this and much more, Congressman Marlon Stutzman, a member of the House Budget Committee and the Financial Services Committee. He represents the 3rd Congressional District of Indiana. Congressman Stutzman, welcome back to Washington Watch.
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Good to see you. Thank you, Tony. It’s great to be with you at the prayer breakfast yesterday morning. It’s good to be back in D.C. as well.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yes, I appreciate you being there yesterday to pray and to be a part of that event. It was good to see you there and so many of your colleagues. Let’s talk first reconciliation. Then I want to get into some of the president’s comments today. But are we close? I was talking to the speaker Tuesday night. It sounded like we were getting a little closer. Are we there yet?
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Yeah, we are. You know, every hour that goes by right now, we’re just a little closer. And, you know, one of the things that I really want to applaud Speaker Mike Johnson for his leadership. It’s quite different. I was here from 2010 to 2017, and it was a different type of leadership style. And, you know, there’s a little bit of, you know, There’s a different style that Speaker Johnson has, and that’s because he’s listening to everybody. He’s trying to bring everybody together. And then once there’s consensus, there will be an announcement. And I know the halls of the DC press and mainstream media are always clamoring for some little bit of information, but we’re working hard. to find the right spot at the right time. And one thing we all agree on is that Washington has a bloated government. Washington has a bloated budget. We have too much debt. Just to give you an idea, Tony, when I was first elected in 2010, we had right at $9 trillion worth of debt. When I left in 2017, it was $18 trillion. Today, it’s $36 trillion. And it’s nice to be back, not to deal with that much debt, but to hear our leadership in the White House actually say, this is a problem that we have to deal with. We just always got lip service before when I was President Obama. Of course, COVID really disrupted a lot of those efforts under the last Trump administration. Of course, Joe Biden had no regard for what the debt was. So that’s why this is such an important lift to make sure that we get these numbers right and that there’s going to be real cuts and not just more talk and no action.
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Marta, let me ask you about the speaker stop, because I think that’s important because we hear people saying, well, you know, you just got to you just got to make a decision, go with it. But if you go back, there was a lot of complaining about the fact that deals were made in the back room. The members were not even a part of it. It was rolled out for them. And they don’t have an opportunity to represent their constituents because they weren’t even able to debate bills on the House floor. And now this is it’s a it’s a slow process. It’s a deliberative process. But members of Congress who are elected to represent their people feel like they have a seat at the table.
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Yeah, you’re exactly right, Tony. And I mean, I was here during those days when things were thrown at us on our desk and we were expected to vote on them. And, you know, many of us felt like the process was broken. But again, it really comes back to the leadership, making sure that every voice is heard. And you know what? We all, you know, there’s 220 of us. And so we all have different districts that we represent across the country. But I can tell you, Tony, that it feels to me as a returning member after eight years, that we’re much closer together as a conference than we are apart. And I believe that’s really due to Speaker Johnson’s leadership and making sure everybody’s heard. Yeah, there’s times when somebody gets stirred up or frustrated, but that’s just part of the process. And Speaker Johnson has really been a listening ear and he’s gathering the information. He’s got great resources. And of course, he’s got a president at the White House that’s ready to start making reforms to this government that’s been desperately needed, and a Doge committee that’s already acting and starting to make those cuts.
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Speaking of the president, I don’t know if he signed it yet because he was delayed. The meeting went a little bit longer with the members anticipated, but he made this announcement this morning. He was supposed to sign an executive order this afternoon, creating this new task force to combat anti-Christian targeting and discrimination within the federal government and throughout the country. Your reaction to that?
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I was there at the prayer service this morning and heard the president speak. And as I told somebody, I said, you know, it’s like we can breathe again and people can actually relax because the tension that has been created by the previous Democrat administration was that you couldn’t even voice your opinion without being canceled. And that’s what I think people should know, that, you know, there’s going to be some on the left to say, oh, you know what, now we’re going to be targeting those that you disagree with. That’s not what we do. And it’s, I think, important and we’ve seen it. And this isn’t just for the Christian faith, but the president has also said, we’re going to protect those of the Jewish faith and the antisemitism that we’ve seen growing across the country on college campuses has just been appalling. And so I think it’s important that every American knows that America is founded on Christian Judeo principles, but we respect people of all faiths. But we ask for the same in return.
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Right. And I think it’s important that we take this moment to exercise those freedoms that are being protected by the government. You know, the president in his remarks this morning said, you know, we’re bringing God back. I don’t think he was ever gone, but we didn’t respect him the way we should. And government can’t do that. I want to be very clear. No one that is a follower of Jesus Christ wants the government to advance religion. What they do want… is government not to persecute or prosecute, as they have under the Biden administration, people who live out their faith. We want to be able to impact the world around us by being free to live and follow the teachings of Jesus Christ.
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Yeah, 100% agree. And that’s why I believe it’s so important for freedom of religion. We believe in the free market system, and that’s where we see people out competing for business and making their case why they should buy their product over another product. And not that religion is a product, but I believe that it’s important as we talk that every person of faith has the opportunity, or even of no faith, has the opportunity to speak freely about it. And then, you know what, each person can make up their mind what they choose to believe. And, you know, just because America is a strong Christian nation at its core doesn’t mean that it’s a hateful country at all. It’s actually Christians are called to love. And that’s one of the things that I’m excited about, that we can show love to everyone and we can respect one another and not be canceled for it.
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Yeah, I just got news, Marlon, that the president has signed that executive order eradicating anti-Christian bias. And to your point, in fact, I think today the left has rallies at state capitals across the country. And you know what? I celebrate their right to do that peacefully. You know, I do not have at all a problem with people gathering peacefully to express themselves. That’s what makes America work. That’s what it does. And without that, and we haven’t had that, quite frankly. And people, when they’re repressed, they get angry and that leads to outcomes that are not positive. So we need that freedom to speak no matter what the view might be.
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Yeah, you’re absolutely right. And that’s what makes America such a great nation and where ideas can compete with each other and where we have the freedom of discussion. I tell you, Tony, there’s nothing more invigorating to me than to talk with somebody that I disagree with but we walk away and that we can at least agree to disagree. And we can say, you know what? I look forward to talking to you again sometime. And we’re not gonna pound people over the head with a Bible. I don’t think that’s what God calls us to do at all. That God calls us to love and to care for one another, but also at the same time, we should have the ability and the right, every person to have the right to talk about their faith freely and not fear of being canceled. And I think the important thing that President Trump signed today is that a person in government can’t especially be the one to cancel or have any sort of ability to shut out a person of faith.
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And we’ve seen that. That was very evident, and the record shows that that was occurring in the Biden administration. And to your point, You know, when we can have – I’ve been around long enough. I remember the day when we used to have debates left and right, and we would discuss these issues on cable news networks. And, you know, they would sometimes be, you know, pretty vibrant discussions. But we could discuss it, and we didn’t want to silence one another. And, of course, on the right, I don’t think we care to silence people because the truth can win out if we have a chance to talk about it.
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Right. Well, and, you know, one thing that the president, he made a point today that I thought was very important. You know what? There are going to be times when we just disagree. And let’s take, for example, boys playing in girls’ sports. You know, some people think that’s okay, but— I’ll tell you, the majority of Americans don’t believe that that’s okay. And I don’t believe that’s okay. But if that’s what you want to think, well, that’s fine. But at the same time, we’re going to collectively make a decision because we have to. Somebody has to make a decision whether that’s going to be allowed or not. And I applaud the president. And this is something that my wife, who is actually serving in the state legislature, back in 2019, carried a bill in the Indiana legislature prohibiting boys playing in girls’ sports. But somebody’s got to make a decision on that. And you know what? There’s going to be a lot of people. In fact, it’s amazing to me that the Democrat Party is still tripping up over that particular issue. They’re still infighting on that issue. But it’s common sense. I mean, not only is it a biblical, but it’s also just common sense.
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It does become harder to reach consensus when You have one side that completely denies truth. It does become difficult, but we can still have civil conversations. Congressman Marlon Stutzman, great to have you back on the program. Good to see you today. Thanks for joining us. Thank you. All right, folks, stick around. We’re coming back with more Washington Watch on the other side of the break.
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During these challenging times for our nation, Family Research Council continues to serve as a watchman on the wall for faith, family, and freedom. And together, thanks to your support, we’re making an eternal impact. 2024 was a year of shining the light for biblical truth in Washington, DC. Last fall, over 1,000 spiritually active, governance-engaged conservatives gathered for the Pray, Vote, Stand Summit to pray for our nation and ensure that the issues impacting sage cons were understood and advanced. Washington Watch with Tony Perkins marked a major milestone this year, its 900th episode, and added the Washington Watch News Desk, a new production that presents the top news each day from a biblical worldview. The Washington stand published 2,000 articles of news, commentary, and podcasts in 2024, garnering over 5 million views. FRC’s outlet for news and commentary continues to pursue the truth on the issues that matter most to you and your family. And with the launch of the Stand Firm app, you can listen to, watch, and read our content in one simple place. Pray for current issues, stay rooted in the scriptures, and engage the political sphere with the community of believers on our new platform. In 2024, FRC shaped public policy and culture, organizing the National Gathering for Prayer and Repentance where members of Congress and Christian leaders came together to seek God’s intervention in America. In May, FRC called upon believers to pray for and stand with Israel by dedicating a portion of their worship services to pray for Israel’s peace, prosperity, and protection. With Pray, Vote, Stand Decision 2024, FRC and Real Life Network led a powerful evening of election night coverage to analyze the election results and pray that our nation would turn back to God. We also filmed a transformative educational course, God and Government, Launching early this year in January 2025, this series will explore the biblical and historical foundations of our government, empowering you to stand confidently in your role as a citizen of heaven and earth. Family Research Council thanks you for partnering with us, and we look forward to 2025 and standing for faith, family, and freedom.
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Looking to grow closer to God in the new year? FRC’s Stand on the Word spiral-bound journal is here to help. Dive deeper into Scripture with thought-provoking questions, note-taking space, and context for each book and author. This second edition, covering Isaiah 2 Revelation, will guide you in tracking your journey through God’s Word while deepening your faith in Christ. Order now at frc.org slash store or text journal to 67742. Perfect for you and your loved ones.
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Welcome back to this Thursday edition of Washington Watch. Good to have you with us. The president talked about this this morning at the National Prayer Breakfast, talked about the recruiting numbers. Now, the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hexeth, earlier in the week talked about December. The Army had its best recruiting numbers in 12 years. And last month, the Army hit its best recruitment numbers in 15 years. Now, is this a coincidence or is it because of the stark contrast between this administration and the previous one? Joining me now to discuss this and much more, freshman Congressman Pat Harrigan. He is making his first appearance here on Washington Watch. He is a decorated Green Beret who is currently a member of the House Armed Services Committee, as well as on the Committee on Science, Space and Technology, represents North Carolina’s 10th congressional district. Congressman, welcome to Washington Watch and welcome to Congress.
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Hey, Tony, thanks so much for having me. It’s great to be here.
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First of all, you have quite the resume. You have been stationed around the world, spent some of your time in Afghanistan. You and your wife also run a successful business which manufactures American-made defense product. Now, this turnaround that I mentioned in recruitment numbers that the president talked about this morning, if I’m not mistaken, that’s part of why you ran for Congress, the need for leadership, right?
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That’s exactly right. I had not a political bone in my body, Tony, until I watched Afghanistan fall. And I knew at that point that we had just condemned the next generation of Americans to conflict. If we want to fight, we should be weak. And we had never been weaker than that one moment in our nation’s history. And so we need real change in this country. We need real leadership. Thankfully, we have it. And as you were talking about with the record breaking January recruitment cycle that the Army had, I think that there is a resounding consensus that that leadership is back. And this is a military that our young men and women want to join again.
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I mean, I’m a Marine veteran, and I know there’s a lot of young men and women who are willing to serve this country, but they don’t want to serve for no reason. They want to serve and they’re willing to make sacrifice if it’s for a purpose. And I think as you pointed out, what happened in Afghanistan was disastrous. And it just, I think it turned many, many young men and women away thinking, what’s the point?
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Well, I think a lot of us and a lot of your viewers that have a biblical worldview would identify with this, that I think there’s a genuine question prior to President Trump getting elected. What are we fighting for, right? Are we fighting for those time-tested concepts of freedom, democracy, free market economies, and the things that our fathers and forefathers have fought and died for in order to make this country the greatest country on the face of the earth? Or are we fighting for some sort of social agenda that we are actually trying to project across the globe? I think that was a question in many folks’ minds prior to November 5th. And so it’s just great to see that I think America is back. That strong, principled America that traditionally leads the world is back and it’s here to stay moving forward.
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Let’s turn now to the first bill that you have filed in Congress, titled the Americans Act, and it seeks to do a course correction for the military members who were fired after refusing to take the COVID-19 shots. It sounds like the president’s helping you out there.
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Oh, Tony, I’ll tell you, we were thrilled when President Trump took our legislation and made an executive order out of it, right? We are outcome-focused around here, but the Americans Act is what I sponsored in the House. Senator Ted Cruz led it in the Senate, and that was an effort to reinstate the 8,400 servicemen and women that were wrongfully discharged for refusing to take the COVID vaccine under President Biden’s administration. And we’ve got to keep in mind why this was so important. And we truly had… a weaponized vaccine mandate for political purposes that ultimately impacted not only the careers, but also the retirements and the associated educational and healthcare benefits that 8,400 of our servicemen and women had earned. And it was stripped from them when they were kicked out of the military and given either other than honorable or general discharges. This has never happened before in our nation’s history. And it was something that Senator Ted Cruz and I were adamant that needed to be corrected.
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Congressman, there’s, I think, a few differences between the president’s executive order and your bill, if I’m not mistaken.
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There is. And one of the most important things that remains in our legislation is taking away the decision making authority for what the vaccine mandate ought to be for the Department of Defense and taking that out of the executive branch. So taking that away from the president, taking away from the Secretary of Defense, and it puts it in Congress’s hands. And what that does is that in any type of future vaccine mandate scenario, slows the process down, requires broad consensus of both parties to determine what ought to be getting injected into the veins of our servicemen and women. And it will prevent a weaponized vaccine mandate forever happening in our Department of Defense ever again for political purposes.
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So this legislation that you and Senator Cruz have, this needs to continue to move forward.
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Yes, it does. And it will be narrowly tailored at this point because President Trump has come in and taken, you know, everything that we put in the bill and already enacted it, which is fantastic. We want things to move quickly and we want the right outcomes to happen. That’s happened. There’s just that one little remaining piece that we want to see go all the way through the House, the Senate and get signed into law by the president.
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Congressman, this is your first interview here on Washington Watch. I’m familiar with you. You serve alongside Congressman Mark Harris of North Carolina as well, who is very close to Family Research Council. I want to go personal here for just a moment, and we’re almost up against a break. I’m going to ask you, can you hold over when we get to this break? You’ve got to run to the House floor. I can hold for a little bit, yeah. I want to get your reaction to showing up to Capitol Hill. What was most surprising to you when you got to Washington?
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It’s unbelievably humbling. And you realize, and I’ll tell you, when we were voting for the Speaker of the House, I had my two daughters on the floor. It’s the one time that you’re allowed to take your children that are under 12 onto the House floor during session. You’re not allowed to do that with any family, friends. One of my daughters, my youngest daughter named McKinley, she fell asleep during the process. And it struck me because we’re going through this tremendously consequential moment where nobody kind of knew what was going to happen. We didn’t know if Republicans were going to be unified, whether we were going to have a repeat of what happened two years ago with Kevin McCarthy. And my daughter’s just down at my feet sleeping. And, you know, it really hit me. as I looked at her, that really she represents everyone that I’m up here to represent, all of their children. And the decisions that we make, they might not fully appreciate or understand or be paying attention to, but they are very consequential to what kind of future they’re going to live.
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Hold it right there. We’re going to be right back. Folks, stick with us.
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Oh, beautiful
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for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain. At the 2025 National Gathering for Prayer and Repentance, hundreds gathered with Christian and government leaders at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. to pray for the nation and ask God to forgive us of our sins.
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We gather here not to appeal to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. We are appealing to heaven. Today we make our appeal not in the authority of a political party or in the name of a denomination. We come in the name and the authority of Jesus Christ. Amen. who has been given all authority in heaven and on earth, and we have been commissioned to operate in that authority.
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Father, we pray in Jesus’ name for our complacency, our greed, our pride, our gluttony, our sloth, and tolerance of sin.
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Lord, your word is the food that can make America healthy again. May your word be exalted and believed in our nation again.
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Lord, we ask that you allow us to become that shining city on the hill once more for your love, your grace, and your mercy.
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Thank you for your love and your grace and your mercy, for the opportunity that you have provided us to heal our land. We ask you to do it, Lord. We ask you for the wisdom, discernment, and stamina to do the thing that you have called each one of us, all of us here, to do. May we be found faithful. We trust it, pray it, believe it all in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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Welcome back to Washington Watch. Good to have you with us on this Thursday. Be sure and download the Stand Firm app if you’ve not already done so. You can get it at the App Store or you can text APP to 67742. All right. Congressman Harrigan continues his conversation with us. He represents the 10th Congressional District of North Carolina. We were actually we were going to switch to Congresswoman Tinney, but she’s stuck in a classified briefing on some of the things we might want to talk about here. Congressman Harrigan, I want you to continue that because I think that’s an apt illustration of the importance of what happens here. Even though we may not know it, we’ve got tremendous responsibility in what takes place on Capitol Hill.
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Yeah, it just struck me at that point in time. Every decision that I make is gonna affect her life directly and it’s gonna affect the lives of the kids of all of my constituents and ultimately all those across the United States of America and even more broadly than that, across the world and those places that are aspiring to be free. And so, you’ve got to take this job with an awful lot of humi responsibility and just w and pray that I can live that my constituents hav
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a moment ago, and I know this about you from Mark, about a biblical worldview, about operating from a standpoint of faith. Talk about how you see that playing into your role as a member of Congress.
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You know, I came to Christ when I was a junior in high school and actually it was watching a Billy Graham crusade. And ever since then, throughout my track to West Point, even the decision to go to West Point, the decision to move into the infantry, as opposed to aviation, which was what I really wanted to do. And then moving from the infantry to the special forces, moving from special forces into business, and then moving from business into this role that I have now in Congress. Each and every one of those decisions was a very clear calling from the Lord on my life and something that my wife and I submitted to, that my family is now submitting to as I have two little young girls that don’t know what it’s like for dad to be deployed. Only mom knows what that’s like. And so we take that calling very seriously. And I think anybody that understands what it means to be called by God to do something, you never know what exactly that call is going to be. But when you get it, you just don’t say no. And that’s the worldview that I have up here. That’s how my service is guided. And ultimately, with being responsible both to my God and to my constituents and to my country, certainly, guides my votes.
SPEAKER 06 :
Pat, I always like to ask this question of new members who come to Capitol Hill, believers that come. Were you surprised by the number of men and women of deep, committed faith here in Washington?
SPEAKER 05 :
You know, I would say that it is something that I’m still feeling out. I have not been here for, I think today, or maybe a couple days ago, it was just a month. So it’s a little early to make judgments and decisions. And you really got to take a long period of time, I found in my life, to really get to know somebody. And you never really know someone until you go through some tough times with them. And so I would say jury’s still out. on the depth of that commitment for folks up here, but I’m very hopeful and I certainly know that we have that in our speaker, which I’m very grateful for. I don’t know that this country has had faithful leadership like his in a long, long time.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, fair enough. I’ll check back with you in six months on that question. Please do.
SPEAKER 05 :
And we’ll get an answer.
SPEAKER 06 :
We just got a couple minutes left. I want to talk about the other big issue this week. There’s a lot of big issues in the last three weeks since President Trump returned to the Oval Office. But Gaza. what’s happening in the war between Israel and Hamas about halfway through the hostage peace or the ceasefire agreement. The president says he’s going to clean out Gaza and rebuild. Your thoughts?
SPEAKER 05 :
I think it’s a novel approach. And I think clearly there is a lot of talk about whether this is a good idea, a bad idea. What I would point to the folks that say this is a bad idea is that where has a good idea materialized that has led to adequate results? We are stuck in a cycle of terroristic violence with the Gaza Strip. And it’s having done a lot of business with israel i’ve been to israel many many times uh you look at tel aviv and what tel aviv has become it is full of a people that are are here to live and you go right across the border into gaza and and it’s it has always been a place of destruction and it’s folks that in in many cases uh who are supporting terrorism are living to die And that’s a very different perspective than we have with our Christian worldview on the next life and what our role and responsibility here is in this life. And so I think President Trump is onto something. This is something that’s been talked about for several years, particularly in the immediate aftermath of October 7th of we need to come up with a different construct rather than repeat the same old history of violence that continues to replicate itself over and over and again.
SPEAKER 06 :
You’re a quick study. I think that’s exactly what he is doing. He’s changing the conversation because what we have seen for decades is just a fallback, well, we need a two-state solution. That’s the solution, when in fact Gaza proved that that is not, so we’ve got to change the conversation. Pat Harrigan, I want to thank you for joining us again. Welcome here to Washington, DC. Look forward to working with you.
SPEAKER 05 :
Tony, thanks for having me on tonight. Look forward to meeting you in person. Take care. Absolutely.
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Congressman Pat Harrigan of North Carolina. All right, President Trump, as we said, he signed the executive order on anti-Christian bias in the DOJ. Are there other problems there that need to be addressed? We talk about that next. Don’t go away. Hello, I’m Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council here in Washington, D.C. Behind me is one of the most recognizable buildings in all the world, the U.S. Capitol. What does it stand for? Well, most people say government. But do you know the Bible talks about four institutions of government? Do you know what they are? And do we have a republic or a democracy? Well, what do you say? Also, what about this thing, separation of church and state? Does that mean Christians shouldn’t be involved in government? Guess what? We address those issues and more in our new God and Government course. I invite you to join us to see what the historical record and the Bible has to say about government. Join us for God and Government.
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The world is hurting, streets are filled with crime, families are broken, sin is celebrated, and God is mocked. Everywhere we look, the wages of our sin are on full display. As Christians, we know that surrender to God’s will is the solution to our biggest problems, but not everyone agrees. Even in church, we hear people say the most important thing is to be tolerant, that we shouldn’t impose a morality on other people, and that loving our neighbor means celebrating what they do. But you can’t do that. It’s not that you don’t love your neighbor. You do. But you care about God’s opinion more than your neighbor’s opinion, and this makes you different. In fact, sometimes it makes you feel alone, like you’re the only one. But there is good news. You are not alone, not even close. Research has found that there are 59 million American adults who are a lot like you. There are millions of people around the country who are born again, deeply committed to practicing their faith, and believe the Bible is the reliable Word of God. But that’s not all. They’re also engaged in our government. They’re voters. They’re more likely to be involved in their community, and they’re making a difference in elections. The problem is that a lot of them feel alone, too. We want to change that. FRC wants to connect these 59 million Americans to speak the truth together, no matter the cost. If you want to learn more about this group and what it means to be a spiritually active, governance-engaged conservative, or if you want to find out if you are one of these sage cons yourself, go to frc.org slash sagecon and take the quiz to find out. The world is hurting, and we have the solution. We can’t do it alone, but we can do it if we work together. That’s what we’re working toward every day. Join us. Go to FRC.org slash S-A-G-E-C-O-N, SageCon, to learn more. That’s S-A-G-E-C-O-N, SageCon, to learn more.
SPEAKER 06 :
This is Washington Watch. I’m Tony Perkins. Good to have you with us on this Thursday. All right. If you’ve not yet gotten your first 100-day toolkit, you can do so. Text the word toolkit to 67742. That’s toolkit to 67742. So you’ll be prepared to do your part to make sure we turn this thing around. Our word for today comes from Jeremiah chapter 10. Thus says the Lord, do not learn the way of the Gentiles. Do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the Gentiles are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are futile. For one cuts a tree from the forest, the work of the hands of the workmen with the axe. What he’s saying is don’t learn the ways of the world. Don’t be dismayed by the signs of heaven. Why interpret the movement of the stars and planets when you can follow the directions of the one who made the heaven and earth? You might say, well, we don’t do that anymore. What about the obsession with horoscopes? What about the conspiracy theories that have believers twisted in knots and living in fear and speculation? You know what? That’s how the world lives. And Paul wrote, he said this, he said, don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Bottom line, we are to be different. To find out more about our journey through the Bible, text BIBLE to 67742. That’s BIBLE to 67742. Earlier this morning, President Trump announced at the National Prayer Breakfast that he would be signing an executive order directing the Justice Department to create a new task force to combat anti-Christian targeting. Probably got to start from within the Department of Justice. They’re going to be looking at the federal government in terms of how they’ve been targeting Christians and the anti-Christian bias that’s been on full display in the last four years. Now, in his remarks, Trump vowed to protect religious liberty, which he said has been threatened like never before over the past four years. And among the violators he listed, yes, was the FBI, which you may recall was caught, caught, caught, red-handed. targeting what they called radical traditionalist Catholics back in 2023. Well, my next guest knows a thing or two about how the FBI has taken their eyes off the ball. Joining me now in studio to discuss this and more is national security expert Hedia Falco, who was formerly a senior advisor at the FBI headquarters. She is a founder of Resurrect Ministry and author of Living Fearless in Christ, Why I Left Islam to Win Battles for the Kingdom. Hedia, welcome to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us.
SPEAKER 08 :
Thank you so much. Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER 06 :
Now, you were at this morning’s prayer breakfast. Your reaction to the president’s announcement about this new task force?
SPEAKER 08 :
Honestly, I almost fell out of my chair. I was surprised. I didn’t know that was going to happen. But it is so fundamentally important to undo what has happened at the Bureau and at the Department of Justice and at DHS. So there has been – it’s not just mission drift. It’s mission chaos. And the only way we can undo that is by putting a focus at these agencies to undo the harm that has been done. And it’s extensive. So you mentioned the radical Catholics. But if you allow me to back up a little bit, I’ll explain that the mechanism. So I’ve been involved in as a federal contractor for 20 plus years when I was in D.C. And we were building terrorism prevention programs to be to the left. of boom, which means we wanted to get ahead of a terrorist attack. And in order to do that, we were developing all kinds of, whether it’s countering radicalization, social cohesion, integration programs, how do we understand radicalization? Though the Obama administration called it CVE, Countering Violent Extremism, clearly the focus was on Islamic extremism. They just didn’t want to use the word and offend the community. And so fast forward to 2016. President Trump gets elected. He gets into the White House, and the building shuts down. I mean, our program was shut down. All of the efforts that we were focused on were shut down because—I didn’t know at the time—but the mission shift to Russia and that investigation. So after that, then you see all the grants and the programs after the J6 investigation. So they open all of these cases, all the guardian leads and investigations on grandmothers and people who were strolling by the Capitol. And that led the number of uptick of what they describe now as racially motivated violent extremists, which is basically white Christians. And they’re saying, and even though they’re not white, a lot of them are not white, they’re basically Christians, conservatives. And so the whole department, the agency shifted to that focus. There is a wonderful, you know. What was the threat? So they elevated the threat by saying we have all of these open investigations against racially motivated, violent white people, basically. So the threat is no longer Islam. The threat is Americans practicing their religious liberty, engaging in all kinds of activity. That’s the threat.
SPEAKER 06 :
And so this wasn’t just, all right, so we’re going to start harassing these Christians. It was shifting the resources they had away from radical Islamist to focusing on grandmas and pro-life protesters outside of abortion clinics.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yes, I have a chapter in my book dedicated to the persecution of Christians that they even the funding mechanisms that we had for radicalization and identifying terrorism prevention programs was shifted to crowdsource policing, basically in a conservative town like Miami Valley, Ohio, to basically disrupt the access to the public square. So even though they identified this as probably illegal, we still want to prevent the access of these right-wing extremists to the public square. Was there a stated purpose? The stated purpose was to prevent them from advancing their goals and their ideas. And they literally drew a graphic where you see CBN on the bottom underneath the KKK in a pyramid, basically saying that the base of the pyramid of this radicalization, which is a model used to define Islamic terrorism that didn’t have names in it. And they inserted the names of organizations like CBN and Charlie Kirk’s organization and then KKK and the radical violent groups at the top. And nobody complained. Nobody said anything. And all of the millions of dollars went to these kinds of programs. And so the FBI is run like a paramilitary organization and takes its marching orders from the Department of Justice. So when that program shift, that mission shift occurs, the leadership is responsible to implement it. And the men and women, the fine men and women of the FBI who investigate crimes, who want to fight crime, are forced to follow the directives of their super superiors. So when they say that we’re going to clean house and there’s all these people, you know, that have been either fired or told that they should resign, there are some bad actors. There are people that implemented programs against American citizens and against Christians.
SPEAKER 06 :
But that came at a price. To shift that focus, we have events like occurred on New Year’s Day in New Orleans where you had a radicalized American through Islamic influence kill Americans on the street in America.
SPEAKER 08 :
And the sad thing about that is the program that I was hired, I was actually hired by Andy McCabe to build the terrorism, to scale and replicate a program I built in the private sector was shut down and it was designed to help field offices identify cases like that and be able to intervene before an act of violence. So that individual was reported dozens of times.
SPEAKER 06 :
We think it would be pretty easy when you look back on the – I’m just reading the press reports. It would have been easy at some point in time to say, hey, this guy’s got an issue.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yes. Yes. And there should have been intervention programs in place, multidisciplinary teams that would have intervened, knocked on the door, said, hey, what’s going on? What’s the problem? And basically been able to put him under investigation to realize that we need to worry about the threat of violence.
SPEAKER 06 :
Now, there’s been a few things that have popped up, the comments made that have been walked back later. But when you look at those in their totality, it shows that there was a real problem within the culture of the FBI. For instance, when the traditional Catholics, when that memo went out. Oh, that wasn’t authorized. That wasn’t authorized. And then we saw parents at school board meetings labeled as domestic terrorists. And, of course, the attorney general, you know, backing, well, you know, just kind of double talking. But then New Orleans, the latest example of that is that the first words out of the FBI’s mouth, this was not a terrorist incident.
SPEAKER 08 :
Exactly, which just demonstrates… I mean, you’re flying an ISIS flag and it’s not a terrorist incident? And that’s only because social media caught that because they would have hid that otherwise. But social media had already identified that flag.
SPEAKER 06 :
Why?
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, because the mission had shifted.
SPEAKER 06 :
But to the point that they want to cover up? Or they’re just that… blind that they can’t see that this is a terrorist incident? I mean, what?
SPEAKER 08 :
You know, I can’t tell you, but I know there are fine men and women at the agent level who thinks this stuff is preposterous and that their management is telling them that the focus is on right wing extremism, that this Islamic threat has diminished to the point where we don’t need to be concerned about it.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay, so Hedy, I want to shift gears a little bit here going forward because I want to bring in another part of your background. You’re Muslim.
SPEAKER 14 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 06 :
And you were saved. You came to know Jesus Christ. Amen, absolutely. Worldview matters. Yes. So how do you, you know, I’m encouraged by the president saying that we’re going to have this anti-bias task force that’s going to take out this anti-Christian bias that’s been out there. But I’m a little concerned about worldview within some of our federal agencies. I mean, I saw, and let me put this in context, because when Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in the last administration was a close friend, I worked with him when I was chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. He was a Christian. His first speech, he went to Cairo, said, I’m a Christian. And he was very clear about this. When he looked at foreign policy, looked at policy, he looked at it through the lenses of Scripture. And so you know where he’s coming from. And frankly, people respected that. They might not have agreed with it, but they respected it overseas. If you don’t have that orientation, it’s hard to understand, is it not? We’re a nation that’s based on Judeo-Christian principles. Isn’t that needed? Isn’t that understanding of that needed to be able to navigate
SPEAKER 08 :
It’s an interesting question. And I take advice from my dear pastor, who is a dear friend of yours, Pastor Jack Hibbs, that we are advocating for biblical values. That’s what we’re standing for. So do we look to the individual to see whether he’s aligned with those biblical values or are we seeing whether he’s a practicing Christian? Ideally, we prefer him to be a practicing Christian, but even with the president, do we know that? I mean, there’s a lot of mention of God, but I haven’t heard him say Jesus Christ. But the evidence of what he’s doing is supporting biblical values and supporting Christians in particular. My issue is, are you going to defend the rights—are you going to defend the principles of this country? Are you going to defend what our founding fathers fought for? Are you going to defend what the Constitution stands for? And if you are going to do that, then you’re an ally.
SPEAKER 06 :
Is the Islamic worldview compatible with the Judeo-Christian foundation of this nation?
SPEAKER 08 :
No. I mean, I have to be honest, my entire family’s Muslim. I love them to death, but it is the majority of Muslims, peaceful, peaceful, and if you want to separate out secular Muslims, so they’re not practicing Muslims, they’re culturally Muslim, but practicing Muslims would like to see America to be a Muslim nation. Not necessarily through violence, but through cultural jihad, you know, the brotherhood philosophy. And that’s a problem.
SPEAKER 06 :
It’s a problem because while that may be their goal, the outcome would require that we lose a lot of things that make us Americans.
SPEAKER 08 :
Exactly.
SPEAKER 06 :
Like freedom.
SPEAKER 08 :
Exactly. Like freedom, then you have to pay a tax. We know in other countries what happens when the Muslims take over, and it’s not good. So, I mean, here’s an example. Look at England.
SPEAKER 06 :
Right. Here’s an example. You know, America, we’re… I mean, we’re not what I would say a Christian nation from a standpoint of, you know, you don’t have to be a Christian to be here. But we’re founded on Christian principles. Absolutely. But because of that, you have freedom in this country. You don’t have to be a Christian to have that freedom. In fact, you can run for office. You can do different things here. I challenge you to point out one Muslim country where you have Christians that have that same type of freedom.
SPEAKER 08 :
Because they don’t ultimately believe in it. It’s different. It’s like oil and water. Yes. Well, I mean, doctrinally, they don’t believe in the equality of the religions. They’re people of the book, but you’re not supposed to take them as friends or associates. And if you take the jihadist view, you’re supposed to kill them. The reformers say that those verses have been abrogated, but it is not a compatible system because everybody must be subservient to Islam.
SPEAKER 06 :
The two faiths that work together because they’re connected. Same God. The same God. Judaism and Christianity. Right. That works. Right. It’s hard when you have, whether it’s Buddhists, Hindus, Islam, Islamists. I mean, they don’t mix. And when you are working with a country that has A foundation, as John Adams said, our laws are made for a moral and religious people. They are wholly inadequate for the government of any other. They’re talking about Christians. Now, again, we’re free to come in this country, and that’s the beautiful thing about being in America. But when we begin to lead from a different direction, that becomes problematic.
SPEAKER 08 :
Absolutely. Absolutely. And what do we do about that? It’s not an easy question to solve.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, I think part of the solution is what the president said today, is that by protecting the rights of Christians, we need to live out our faith in such a way that the truth beats out darkness, that the light exposes the darkness. And that’s where we’ve actually been at a disadvantage where Christianity has been suppressed really by government. And these other faiths able to move forward. I think if fair playing field, the truth is going to win out.
SPEAKER 08 :
And I mean, even in our public schools, our kids oftentimes are told to take a, they take a class on Islam and they can’t bring a Bible to pray at lunch.
SPEAKER 06 :
So that has to end. Well, I think it is. And that’s the good news here from President Trump is that it’s not the government’s going to do it. It’s going to allow us as Christians to do it. Hedy, we’re out of time. I want to thank you for joining us.
SPEAKER 08 :
Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER 06 :
It’s been an honor. Tell Pastor Jack I said hello.
SPEAKER 08 :
I absolutely will.
SPEAKER 06 :
All right. And folks, I want to thank you for joining us as well. You can check out the website, TonyPerkins.com. Better yet, get the Stand Firm app. Go to the App Store and download the Stand Firm app. Until next time, I leave you once again with the encouraging words of the Apostle Paul found in Ephesians 6, where he says, when you’ve done everything you can do, when you’ve prayed, when you’ve prepared, and when you have taken your stand, by all means, keep standing. Thank you.
SPEAKER 14 :
Washington Watch with Tony Perkins is brought to you by Family Research Council and is entirely listener supported. Portions of the show discussing candidates are brought to you by Family Research Council Action. For more information on anything you heard today or to find out how you can partner with us in our ongoing efforts to promote faith, family and freedom, visit TonyPerkins.com.
