Thursday, March 20, 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
Meanwhile, Kirk’s growing presence cements his role as one of the most influential conservative voices in media today. With his reach expanding across radio, podcasts, and video streaming, his impact on the next generation of conservative thought is only growing stronger.
These people hate you. They hate America. And thank God they're not in power any longer.
Natalie Winters, co-host of "Steve Bannon's War Room," had Steele served up by Morgan on a silver platter and just eviscerated him for his efforts to sabotage President Donald Trump.
Trending Across Townhall Media
GOA Applauds Bondi's Move on Gun Rights Restoration
Let's be real, the guy who does time for tax evasion is usually not the same guy who gets out of prison and starts knocking over liquor stores. There's no reason to keep non-violent felons disarmed for a lifetime.
Lincoln Project Keeps Calling for the Death or Destruction of Trump and MAGA
This brings me to my final point: anybody associated with Wilson should be shunned as much as Wilson himself. They have no excuse for not knowing his fetish for political violence and his willingness to hurt not just people they dislike but anybody in his way.
This Might Be the Most Interesting Find in the JFK Files So Far
The same Deep State actors who've been trying to take down Trump for years are the intellectual descendants of those who've kept these secrets buried for six decades.
Time for the Trump DOJ and FBI to Deal the Pain
It’s hard to imagine a more vicious attack on democracy than trying to kill other people for participating in it. There must be no mercy for these monsters.
Slip of the Schiff: Adam Schiff Spills California's Dirty Little Secret
Schiff-ty was decrying President Trump and Elon Musk's work to remove fraud and waste in the Federal Government when he revealed just how many California residents rely on Medicaid.
WHAT'S ON TAP?
Today on Capitol Hill...
All's quiet on the Capitol front as the critters continue their Spring Break. Won't be long until they're back on the Hill, though, and there will be hearings and meetings galore. (Plus, we're already starting to hear rumblings of mid-terms and target districts and whether the GOP can forestall the traditional mid-term flip.
White House What's Up
President Donald Trump is set to sign executive orders at 3:30 p.m. Eastern, followed by "participate(ing) in an Education Event and sign(ing) an Executive Order" at 4:00 p.m., which presumably is a reference to the anticipated order to begin the process of shuttering the Department of Education. Be sure to have your earplugs ready this afternoon, as the shrieks from Randi Weingarten and the teachers' unions are liable to be quite piercing.
Keeping Up With the Cabinet
Sec. State - Marco Rubio — Rubio and NSA Director Mike Waltz issued a statement following President Trump's phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, calling it "a great and productive call" and asserting "we're one step closer to ending this bloody war."
Sec. Treasury - Scott Bessent — Bessent joined the "All-In Podcast" to discuss a host of topics, including President Trump's leadership and the establishment of a Sovereign Wealth Fund.
Sec. Defense - Pete Hegseth — Hegseth affirmed that the administration is appealing the outlandish ruling of District Court Judge Anna Reyes regarding the transgender military ban.
Sec. Interior - Doug Burgum — Burgum announced that the Department of the Interior has implemented permanent pay increases for Wildland Firefighters.
Sec. Agriculture - Brooke Rollins — Rollins traveled to the Rio Grande "to see the challenges our farmers face, not just from water issues but from security issues that directly affect farming and ranching."
Sec. Labor - Lori Chavez-DeRemer — Chavez-DeRemer met with National Electrical Contractors Association CEO David Long.
Sec. Health & Human Services - Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — Kennedy visited the Greater Mount Vernon Community Head Start in Gum Springs, VA, to tout the importance of healthy nutrition in the Head Start program.
Sec. Housing & Urban Development - Scott Turner — Turner laid out HUD's housing agenda:
- Serve the American people
- Expand Opportunity Zones
- Lift-up the most vulnerable
- Deregulate and take inventory
Sec. Transportation - Sean Duffy — Duffy set forth the DOT's plans to address the nation's transportation concerns.
Sec. Energy - Chris Wright — Wright emphasized the importance of staying ahead of China in the "AI arms race" in an interview with Bret Baier.
Sec. Education - Linda McMahon — McMahon's likely to join President Trump Thursday afternoon as he signs an executive order directing her to wind down the ED.
Admin. Environmental Protection Agency - Lee Zeldin — Zeldin toured the Ak-Chin tribe's reservation in Arizona and discussed the EPA's role in protecting tribal lands.
Dir. Federal Bureau of Investigations - Kash Patel — Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino affirmed that they are actively investigating the Tesla terrorism and swatting incidents.
Full Court Press...
Filings and rulings abound, and we'll continue to bring you the highlights (and lowlights) as best we can, but I want to return to a theme I broached in this piece yesterday, as I noted President Trump's (overall) sanguine attitude regarding the legal battles his administration is fighting. This X thread does a fantastic job of articulating the issues in play here, and I highly recommend a read of the entire thread but will note the crux of it here:
12/ Yet Trump...TRUMP! is refusing to engage. This cannot continue for much longer, however, as lower courts are framing injunctions more & more wildly, leaving Trump Administration little room to maneuver in way he can comply without sacrificing his Executive authority.
— Margot Cleveland (@ProfMJCleveland) March 19, 2025
COMING ATTRACTIONS
President Trump is set to attend the NCAA wrestling tournament in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.
The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence has announced an "open full committee hearing on 2025 Annual Worldwide Threats Assessment" next Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. Eastern. Scheduled witnesses include Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, FBI Director Kash Patel, NSA Director General Timothy Haugh, and DIA Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse.
MORNING MUSING
Today is one of my favorite days of the year: the start of the NCAA men's basketball tournament. I don't even watch college hoops all that much anymore, but every year, I eagerly fill out multiple brackets in multiple pools and then sit and watch at the ready with my different colored felt-tip pens to track my wins (and losses) on my bracket sheets. It's nerdy and maybe just weird, but I love it. I attribute this habit in part to my Mom, who used to religiously fill out a bracket in the paper and then follow along as I described — just for the fun of it. (She may still — I know for sure she still watches the tournament.) I also attribute it in part to the fact that having my brackets (and pens!) with me while I was in labor with my daughter and watching the tourney over the doctor's head as my "focal point" while I was delivering her is a fond memory. (Not the delivery part itself — just the fact that it was an odd juxtaposition and focusing on the tourney helped get me through it.)
It's also a day for sharing some big news and pats on the back in relation to Salem Media Group, which, of course, owns Townhall Media, which, of course, includes RedState. First, there was this awesome shoutout to Townhall Media and Katie Pavlich from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. Then, there was the BIG news that Charlie Kirk has secured the prime Limbaugh time slot at Salem and will take over Dennis Prager's affiliate stations beginning March 31. (And not only that but Prager himself is expected to return to the airwaves for one hour a day beginning in June.) Right proud of our team here.
LIGHTER FARE
A baby "coo" for you.
baby cows are so underrated pic.twitter.com/S3TG37hKAU
— Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) March 19, 2025
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