Friday, February 28, 2025
Good morning, and welcome to RedState's "Morning Minute" — a brief glimpse at which stories are trending at the moment and a look ahead at what the day may bring. Consider this your one-stop shop for news to kickstart your day.
TOP O' THE MORNIN'
Red-Hot at RedState
Chuck Todd Slams Bret Baier; the Fox News Host Delivers a Savage Response
Baier is a professional. He doesn’t wear any bias on his sleeve, and he’s been maligned by some on the right for not doing so. This idea that he’s a hack doing Trump’s bidding is just false, and it’s the claim of a petty, diminished man in Todd.
Luckily for the nation, this team seems ready to fight for the real priorities and erase the debauchery that defined the woeful Biden years.
'Rot': Sen. Kennedy Flashes Receipts on Senate Floor to Hammer PBS, NPR on Public Funding
Seeing as discussions about cutting waste and defunding things we shouldn't be funding were turned into action with the creation of DOGE, excitement and hope is in the air over the possibility that at long last, the American taxpayer will no longer be forced to pay for the privilege of having their intellegence repeatedly insulted - at least from the likes of PBS and NPR, anyway.
Trending Across Townhall Media
What Kind of Impact Could DOGE Have on ATF?
Stop treating lawful gun owners as the enemy.
Federal Worker Whines That She Now Has a Boss
But welcome to the real world. I and others have paid for that utopia, and you hate us in return.
More Woke Craziness Uncovered by DOGE
May DOGE continue its work for as long as it takes to slash unconstitutional and unjustifiable government waste.
So, That's Why We Know So Little About Trump's Assassin
Well, there seems to be a reason why Crooks has evaporated into the ether: the FBI is allegedly suppressing all information about the Trump assassin, which reportedly contains a possible lead on an accomplice.
'This Is NOT a Joke': Anna Paulina Luna Vows That Whoever Posted the 'RickRoll' Tweet Will Be Fired
Regardless of what happens with the actual Epstein files, though, it's very clear that Jim Jordan has a pink slip to hand out to someone on the House Judiciary Committee staff.
WHAT'S ON TAP?
Today on Capitol Hill...
On Thursday, Linda McMahon cleared the cloture hurdle on her confirmation vote in the Senate. The final confirmation vote for her will be held on Monday. The Senate also passed a joint resolution to overturn a costly Natural Gas Tax that was passed under the Biden administration as part of the Inflation Reduction Act.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee also passed Lori Chavez-DeRemer's nomination for Labor Secretary out of committee. Full Senate votes on her nomination will also take place next week.
There are no hearings or meetings set on the Hill for Friday. The NRCC winter meeting takes place this weekend in Florida.
White House What's Up
President Donald Trump is set to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday for the formal signing of the mineral deal. The two will have lunch and hold a joint press conference in the afternoon. Trump departs for Mar-a-Lago late Friday afternoon.
Keeping Up With the Cabinet
Sec. State - Marco Rubio — Rubio raised concerns regarding Thailand's forced return of a group of Uyghurs to China.
Sec. Treasury - Scott Bessent — Bessent confirmed the mineral deal with Ukraine is done, and all that remains is for the signatures (set to take place today when Zelensky and Trump meet).
Sec. Defense - Pete Hegseth — The Pentagon has ordered the discharge of transgender service members from the military.
Attorney General - Pam Bondi — Bondi's promised rollout of some of the infamous Epstein files hit some snags on Thursday. Her letter to FBI Director Kash Patel set an 8:00 a.m. Friday deadline for the FBI to deliver the remaining files to her office (after noting that prior to his taking office, some of his underlings had misled the AG as to the status of documents turned over to the DOJ). We'll see how that shakes out.
Sec. Interior - Doug Burgum — Burgum continues to tout the importance of energy dominance for the U.S.
Sec. Health & Human Services - Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — Kennedy and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin met on Thursday to discuss how their agencies can work together toward making America healthy again.
Sec. Housing & Urban Development - Scott Turner — Turner announced the elimination of a costly and destructive Obama-era regulation that meddled in local zoning decisions and hyper-focused on achieving racial and ethnic integration at the community level.
Sec. Transportation - Sean Duffy — Duffy announced a plan to streamline the hiring process for air traffic controllers.
Sec. Veterans Affairs - Doug Collins — Collins called attention to the very real crisis of veteran suicides and urged veterans in crisis to seek help.
Sec. Homeland Security - Kristi Noem — Noem vowed to prosecute those who dox ICE agents to the full extent of the law.
Dir. Federal Bureau of Investigations - Kash Patel — Patel affirmed that the FBI is entering a new era — "one that will be defined by integrity, accountability, and the unwavering pursuit of justice. There will be no cover-ups, no missing documents, and no stone left unturned."
Dir. National Intelligence - Tulsi Gabbard — Gabbard revealed that "former President Joe Biden's administration was aware of "very sexually explicit, highly inappropriate and unprofessional chatter" happening on internal agency messaging boards across national intelligence entities for years, but they allowed it to go on."
Full Court Press...
We've had some more interesting court decisions handed down, including one federal judge in San Francisco, who determined that the Office of Personnel Management does not have the authority to terminate probationary employees across multiple agencies, though the agencies themselves may make those determinations.
COMING ATTRACTIONS
Trump will address a joint session of Congress on Tuesday evening (the inaugural year version of the State of the Union address). RedState will be live-blogging that event.
As noted above, votes in the Senate on the McMahon and Chavez-DeRemer nominations are expected next week, leaving only Elise Stefanik's nomination for U.N. Ambassador (as far as top-level appointments) to be cleared.
MORNING MUSING
I want to give a special shoutout today to the folks at the Office of Personnel Management who, when given a challenge to quickly overcome the outdated (basically Stone Age) way in which the government processes retirements, met that challenge.
Here's what I appreciate about this - the effort at transparency and the implicit acknowledgment of how outdated, clumsy, and inefficient the process has been. https://t.co/qVreXRLsW7
— Susie Moore ⚾️🌻🐶 (@SmoosieQ) February 27, 2025
OPM is taking a lot of heat right now as they're at the center of many of the decisions the administration is making regarding federal employees, but this is a solid first step toward modernizing and making the federal employment (and retirement) system more efficient (and less costly).
LIGHTER FARE
Takes finger painting to the next level.
Penguin paints a picture and is extremely pleased with herself. pic.twitter.com/XMgXGDiS58
— Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) February 26, 2025
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