Thursday, March 13, 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
When do you think CBS will learn that going after Vice President JD Vance doesn't typically end well for them?
Whoops: CNN Panelist Triggered by Trump's White House Tesla Event Walks Into Trap of Her Own Making
Yeah, the lady talking about a Trump messaging fail might want to take a look in the mirror and at her own party, methinks.
So wedded are Democrats to this issue that Mills is willing to risk federal funding to her state in order to pat herself on the back for being a raging leftist.
Trending Across Townhall Media
Federal Agents' Raid of Gun-Possessing Felon Looks Bad for ATF, and It's Just the Start
What seems pretty obvious to me is that there's even less reason to keep the ATF around if the FBI is going to be doing their jobs for them.
Is This Why the Epstein Files Are Still Not Released?
I believe everybody's intentions were good, and that they wanted to do what they said, but so far they have overpromised and underdelivered, which is a bad look.
Rubio Destroys Reporter Over Stupid Question About Mahmoud Khalil’s Green Card Being Revoked
Imagine having the audacity to declare that people have the right to come to the United States if they support Hamas and threaten Jewish students on college campuses.
That’s today’s Democratic Party.
Bill Maher Had the Perfect Historical Comparison for Today's 'Woke' Revolutionaries
Liberals used to be wrong, but not crazy. They never would try to bomb Tesla dealerships, yet here we are.
OOPS, They Did It Again! Dem Politicians Caught Tweeting From the Same Script on Spending Bill
But that is what happens, we suppose, when you all share a single brain.
A single, abnormally smooth brain.
WHAT'S ON TAP?
Today on Capitol Hill...
The Senate confirmed a couple more of President Trump's nominees on Wednesday, including Stephen Miran to be Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers and Keith Sonderling to be Deputy Secretary of Labor. Apparently, these were highly controversial nominees, as they were both confirmed via a party-line vote, bless those Dems' hearts. As for the interim spending bill, well, the Dems are all-in...on a 28-day measure rather than the one passed by the House. So...does the Schumer Shutdown loom?
Hearings/meetings set for Thursday largely involve nomination considerations:
- Senate Judiciary — Business meeting to consider the nominations of D. John Sauer, of Missouri, to be Solicitor General of the United States, and Harmeet Dhillon, of California, and Aaron Reitz, of Texas, both to be an Assistant Attorney General, all of the Department of Justice
- Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions — Business meeting to consider the nominations of Jayanta Bhattacharya, of California, to be Director of the National Institutes of Health, and Martin Makary, of Virginia, to be Commissioner of Food and Drugs, both of the Department of Health and Human Services, and other pending calendar business
- Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions — Hearings to examine the nomination of David Weldon, of Florida, to be Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health and Human Services
- Senate Foreign Relations — Hearings to examine the nominations of Peter Hoekstra, of Michigan, to be Ambassador to Canada, George Glass, of Oregon, to be Ambassador to Japan, and Ronald Johnson, of Florida, to be Ambassador to the United Mexican States, all of the Department of State
- Senate Environment and Public Works — Business meeting to consider the nominations of David Fotouhi, of Virginia, to be Deputy Administrator, and Aaron Szabo, of Virginia, to be an Assistant Administrator, both of the Environmental Protection Agency
- Senate Finance — Business meeting to consider the nomination of Michael Faulkender, of Maryland, to be Deputy Secretary of the Treasury
White House What's Up
On Thursday, President Trump is set to meet with the Secretary General of NATO, followed by a "working lunch."
As is his wont, Vice President JD Vance just put CBS News in its place with the perfect response to the network's lame attempt at driving a wedge between him and a family member. He also showed off some very festive socks at the White House Wednesday in honor of the visit from Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin.
Keeping Up With the Cabinet
Sec. State - Marco Rubio — Rubio delivered a master class Wednesday on the revocation of Khalil Mahmoud's green card.
Sec. Treasury - Scott Bessent — Bessent spoke with congressional members, urging them to make the Trump tax cuts permanent.
Sec. Defense - Pete Hegseth — Hegseth affirmed the military's commitment to troop fitness with the planned review of military standards.
Sec. Agriculture - Brooke Rollins — Rollins announced the cancelation of "a $397K grant in the San Francisco Bay to educate queer, trans, and BIPOC urban farmers and consumers about food justice and values-aligned markets."
Sec. Commerce - Howard Lutnick — Lutnick joined Fox Business host Stuart Varney to discuss President Trump's trade policies.
Sec. Labor - Lori Chavez-DeRemer — On her first full day in office, Chavez-DeRemer affirmed her commitment to carrying out President Trump's agenda.
Sec. Health & Human Services - Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — Following a MAHA Commission roundtable, Kennedy thanked the MAHA moms who helped get Trump elected and Kennedy confirmed as HHS Secretary.
Sec. Transportation - Sean Duffy — Duffy and his wife and daughter attended the St. Patrick's Day reception at the White House on Wednesday.
Sec. Energy - Chris Wright — Wright showed off his own pair of "festive" socks.
Admin. Environmental Protection Agency - Lee Zeldin — Zeldin, on Wednesday, announced the EPA will be undertaking what is liable to be the largest deregulation effort in American history.
Dir. Federal Bureau of Investigations - Kash Patel — Patel announced that a CBP Director is under investigation for potential FEMA fraud.
Dir. National Intelligence - Tulsi Gabbard — Gabbard is on a tour of the Indo-Pacific.
U.S. Trade Rep. - Jamieson Greer — Greer addressed the USTR team regarding President Trump's trade agenda.
Full Court Press...
There were several notable rulings emanating from the district courts on Wednesday. First, despite some reporting on X, Judge Beryl Howell did not enjoin the Trump administration's revocation of security clearances for lawyers at the Perkins Coie law firm...She did, however, enjoin the administration from implementing Sections 1, 3, and 5 of Executive Order 14230, which set forth the administration's objections to the firm (including the assertion that "Notably, in 2016 while representing failed Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, Perkins Coie hired Fusion GPS, which then manufactured a false “dossier” designed to steal an election"), provide for agencies to terminate any contracts with the firm and require government contractors to disclose any business they do for the firm, as well as limit access by members of the firm to government buildings.
But the wild one came from Judge Anna Reyes, who, according to some reports, got way out over her skis in a hearing regarding the ban on trans people in the military. (Someone's going to want to grab the transcript of that hearing.)
At the hearing today on the lawsuit challenging the ban on trans people in the military, Judge Reyes questioned the government attorneys about whether she should be required to defer to the judgment of the current Secretary of Defense. She pointed out that Pete Hegseth has not…
— Laura Powell (@LauraPowellEsq) March 12, 2025
There have been a number of developments in the Mahmoud Khalil case, the latest being the government moving to dismiss or transfer the matter out of the Southern District of New York.
COMING ATTRACTIONS
The Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing on the nomination of Dr. Mehmet Oz to head up the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
There's liable to be a Shutdown Showdown at the Capitol Corral Friday. If you're a politi-nerd like yours truly, grab your popcorn and watch the fur fly.
MORNING MUSING
I mentioned Judge Howell's ruling on the Perkins Coie case above. What I didn't mention is that, in the course of the hearing on the matter, Judge Howell allowed her disdain for the president and his beef with the firm behind some of the most egregious lawfare aimed at him to shine through, sneering that he "really has a bee in his bonnet" about the Russia collusion hoax. (Imagine that.) My immediate response to that is, "Takes one to know one, Judge."
I have the luxury, now that I'm no longer practicing law and highly unlikely ever to be arguing before the federal bench again, particularly in D.C., of not worrying so much about the Number One rule I learned my very first day of law school: "Don't piss off the judge." That's really, really good advice to anyone practicing law. Judges hold a lot of power — sometimes, they hold your fate (or that of your client) in their hands. No need to antagonize them unnecessarily while they hold that power — it's not absolute, and there are appeals. If a judge screws something up, there are ways to address that (and judges generally hate being reversed by higher courts — they do have sizeable egos, after all).
Point being, I needn't worry overly much about ticking off Beryl Howell or any of her liberal cohorts on the D.C. bench, which allows me just to say what I think:
Methinks the judge doth protest too much.
— Susie Moore ⚾️🌻🐶 (@SmoosieQ) March 13, 2025
I so very much hope the D.C. District Court betterz get their snooty snoots rapped by the Circuit and/or SCOTUS when all is said and done. https://t.co/uZ7vbnTDzF
Little would give me more delight than seeing the ones who've gotten quite high and mighty shoved back in their lockers by the Circuit Court of Appeals and/or SCOTUS, which is why, as outrageous as some of their rulings and attendant commentary have been, I actually hope they continue in that vein, as that increases the likelihood they'll get smacked back to reality on appeal. Bees in bonnets, indeed.
LIGHTER FARE
We all want to pet that dog. (Sound on.)
Can I pet that dog..🦝🐾🐶😅 pic.twitter.com/2LOimmViWi
— 𝕐o̴g̴ (@Yoda4ever) March 12, 2025
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