Thursday, March 6, 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
Musk occasionally gets criticism for his sophomoric behavior (see the aforementioned "boobs" joke), but honestly, this is the best approach in dealing with Democrats at this point. Let them scream and stew about your work at DOGE while you're just out here living the best life.
Biden Official Who Trump Fired and Was Reinstated by an Obama Judge Has Been Fired Again
No matter how the appeals court panel rules, this is headed back to the Supreme Court.
Meet the Sole Democrat Who Stood for Cancer Survivor DJ Daniel During Trump's Address to Congress
The kind of leadership Rep. Laura Gillen displayed Tuesday night is what her party is sorely lacking but will push away with both hands. But I think I can speak for many when I say, well done, Rep. Gillen, well done.
Trending Across Townhall Media
Good News, Bad News for Florida Gun Owners
Miller leaned on gun rights groups like GOA to win her seat. Now, she's being asked to do her part and this is what they're getting.
I Have to Get This Off My Chest
Liberals and conservatives should be able to agree that a pimp who hits, sexually abuses, and exploits women is a bad dude.
Father of Marine Killed at Abbey Gate Shocked at Dems' Reaction to News of ISIS Top Dog’s Arrest
If the Democrats had wanted to show Americans that they still represented a point of view that people who care about this country could get behind, the least they could have done would have been to stand up and applaud at the news of the arrest of Mohammad Sharifullah. But since it was Donald Trump who announced it, it was back to muttering to monkeys on the raft.
Maybe it was because Trump was happy instead of grim, hysterical, and nuts. Happiness is the secret of America First. We’re happy people.
5 Minute Major: Ron DeSantis Crushes Justin Trudeau with Savage Stanley Cup Body Check
Justin may want to rethink that whiskey. No one is buying his tough guy act, not even his own citizens. He is expected to send a strongly worded letter soon.
WHAT'S ON TAP?
Today on Capitol Hill...
This flew under the radar on Wednesday, but Todd Blanche, who represented President Donald Trump in his New York trial (and other cases), was confirmed as Deputy Attorney General (in a party-line vote, of course).
The Senate also passed a joint resolution "disapproving the rule submitted by the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection relating to 'Defining Larger Participants of a Market for General-Use Digital Consumer Payment Applications.'"
The confirmation hearing for Dr. Jay Bhattacharya was held before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. And the House Oversight Committee held its hearing on sanctuary cities and several of their mayors, with Democrats engaging in their typical antics.
Hearings/meetings set for Thursday on the Hill include:
- Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions — Business meeting to consider the nomination of Keith Sonderling, of Florida, to be Deputy Secretary of Labor, and other pending calendar business
- Senate Armed Services — Hearings to examine defense mobilization in the 21st century
- Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions — Hearings to examine the nomination of Martin Makary, of Virginia, to be Commissioner of Food and Drugs, Department of Health and Human Services
- Senate Finance — Hearings to examine the nomination of Michael Faulkender, of Maryland, to be Deputy Secretary of the Treasury
- Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry — Hearings to examine options to reduce catastrophic wildfire, including H.R.471, to expedite under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and improve forest management activities on National Forest System lands, on public lands under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management, and on Tribal lands to return resilience to overgrown, fire-prone forested lands
- Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs — Business meeting to consider the nominations of Stephen Miran, of New York, to be Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, Jeffrey Kessler, of Virginia, to be Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security, William Pulte, of Florida, to be Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and Jonathan McKernan, of Tennessee, to be Director, Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection
White House What's Up
Quiet day for President Trump? The only thing formally on his calendar is the signing of executive orders at 2:00 p.m. Eastern. (And that, in and of itself, can be eventful.) Then again, yesterday, he didn't have anything on his formal calendar, but he did meet in the Oval Office with darling DJ Daniel (the 13-year-old cancer patient who was deputized as a Secret Service agent during Trump's Tuesday night address to Congress), and then he met with eight of the hostages released from Gaza, after which he sent a very direct message to Hamas about releasing the remaining hostages.
Vice President JD Vance took a trip to the Southern border on Wednesday, along with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
Keeping Up With the Cabinet
Sec. State - Marco Rubio — Rubio reaffirmed Trump's stark warning to Hamas, noting, "He doesn't say these things and not mean it."
Sec. Treasury - Scott Bessent — Bessent spoke with Sean Hannity about Trump's plan for the economy: "We are going to re-privatize the economy, reinvigorate the private sector, and shrink the government sector."
Sec. Defense - Pete Hegseth — As noted above, Hegseth traveled to the Southern border with Vice President Vance and DNI Gabbard on Wednesday and affirmed that "We will achieve 100% OPERATIONAL CONTROL at the border! FULL STOP."
Attorney General - Pam Bondi — Bondi met with families of hostages still being held and assured them "of the Justice Department’s unwavering commitment to bring them home and seek justice for the victims and their families."
Sec. Agriculture - Brooke Rollins — Rollins broke down egg prices over the past 40 years, speaking with Chris Cuomo on NewsNation.
Sec. Commerce - Howard Lutnick — Lutnick joined John Roberts on Fox News to further discuss Trump's plan for tariffs.
Sec. Health & Human Services - Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — Kennedy met with VA Secretary Doug Collins to discuss how HHS and the VA "can work together to ensure every veteran gets the care, support, and resources they deserve in our effort to MAHA."
Sec. Housing & Urban Development - Scott Turner — Turner was in LA, speaking to residents and community leaders about the Palisades Fire and how HUD can help.
Sec. Energy - Chris Wright — Wright noted the importance of AI:
AI is going to change the world. America is at the start of Manhattan Project II. We must unleash American energy, innovation, and construction to win this race. Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, I’m confident America will prevail.
Sec. Education - Linda McMahon — If rumors are correct, McMahon may be receiving an important executive order from Trump today regarding the future of her department.
Sec. Homeland Security - Kristi Noem — Noem touted successful interdictions of cocaine and other deadly drugs by the U.S. Coast Guard.
Admin. Small Business Association - Kelly Loeffler — Loeffler joined Maria Bartiromo on Fox Business to tout the importance of outside investment, which she predicts will lead to a manufacturing boom.
Full Court Press...
The Supreme Court issued a ruling on Wednesday that caused quite a stir. In a nutshell: After U.S. District Court Judge Amir Ali ordered the administration to disburse $2 billion in funding by a certain deadline, SCOTUS temporarily paused that order, but now, since the deadline is past (and moot), rather than vacate it altogether, they're lifting the pause and sending things back to the district court to sort out further. A hearing is set on that before Judge Ali on Thursday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. Eastern.
Meanwhile, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals allowed President Trump to re-fire Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger pending disposition of his lawsuit for reinstatement. (If that makes your head spin, read streiff's excellent breakdown of the case here.)
COMING ATTRACTIONS
Rumor has it one of the executive orders Trump may be signing Thursday afternoon has to do with winding down/abolishing the Education Department. Have your extinguishers ready as hair will undoubtedly be set on fire.
It looks like it may be next week before we see the proposed CR from Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA). Expect that to eat up much of the oxygen in the room as Republicans tussle over getting it across the finish line before March 14.
MORNING MUSING
I wrote two separate articles Wednesday about Trump's Oval Office meeting with the hostages released from Gaza. One was about his stern warning to Hamas (which tells me we're about to see a significant move either by the U.S. or Israel). But the other really got to me. As I explained in the piece, seeing the eight of them standing there; knowing their names, when I should have no reason to; hearing Naama Levy (who many of us assumed was killed after we saw the horrific scene of her being thrown into the back of a Jeep on October 7) tell the president he was their hope and now he's the hope of the remaining hostages...I was left with this sense of hope mixed with sadness. Would any of it have happened had Trump still been president? If it had, would we still be awaiting the return of hostages 516 days later? I suppose that we'll never know for sure, but no one will ever convince me we were better off with the utter leadership void we had between January 20, 2021, and January 20, 2025.
LIGHTER FARE
This probably would have been more appropriate yesterday (Hump Day), but it's still pretty darn cute.
Baby camel..🐫😊 pic.twitter.com/pAEsun9Xwp
— 𝕐o̴g̴ (@Yoda4ever) March 4, 2025
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