Tuesday, May 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
Top Kamala Harris Adviser Goes on the Record, Absolutely Trashes Joe Biden
Yes, it's good that this stuff is being exposed because it will hopefully ensure something like this never happens again, but this is stuff that should have been released during the 2024 election.
Report: Tapper Book Reveals Shocking Details of How Bad Biden's Condition Was
The nerve of these characters. The mental deterioration was on display every day, and there has probably never been anyone worse in the Oval Office. They're going to try to bluff their way through it, even now.
A Needless Proxy Fight Is Ruining a Historic Deal for an American Manufacturer
Ancora Holdings is attempting to create chaos for U.S. Steel, as opposed to truly helping the company.
Trending Across Townhall Media
So That's Why Abundant Life Shooter's Father was Charged
There are still a ton of questions left unasked, which is a problem if we're going to wrap our head around these charges.
That Wasn't Us! Germany Suddenly Drops AfD Surveillance
We know democracy when we see it.
The difference now is that we have an administration chock-full of folks who are unafraid to speak up when they don't see it.
Islam Exposed: The Ugly History They Tried to Hide
All this—the real story of the Crusades, the lost Christian heartlands, the enduring legacy of conquest, and the history the mainstream media won’t touch.
Dems Are About to Get Some 'Jarring' News About Their Anti-Trump Messaging
The exclusionary, illiberal, and outright insane demeanor of Democratic base voters has driven white working-class, Hispanics, and non-white working-class voters into the GOP fold.
As Bad As We Thought Joe Biden's Decline Was, We've Learned It Was SO Much Worse (and Media KNEW IT)
They all knew.
And yet they were all perfectly fine with running him for president AGAIN.
WHAT'S ON TAP?
Today on Capitol Hill...
It's Markup Day on the Hill, so that's where the House's energies will be focused.
Three key House committees — Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means and Agriculture — are slated to mark up their reconciliation bills, a huge moment for Speaker Mike Johnson and GOP leaders. Energy and Commerce starts at 2 p.m., Ways and Means follows at 2:30 p.m. and Agriculture will begin at 7:30 p.m.
All of the chairs’ marks of these bills are out. Here’s Energy and Commerce, here’s Ways and Means and here’s Agriculture. But these bills could change significantly during the next 12 to 24 hours.
The Senate, meanwhile, is holding several hearings/meetings, including:
- Senate Foreign Relations — Hearings to examine East Africa and the horn, focusing on a turning point or breaking point
- Senate Judiciary — Hearings to examine competition issues in the prescription drug supply chain, focusing on pharmacy benefit manager power play
- Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Emerging Threats and Spending Oversight Subcommittee — Hearings to examine the insurance industry's claims practices following recent natural disasters
- Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry — Hearings to examine perspectives from the field, focusing on conservation
- Senate Armed Services, Strategic Forces Subcommittee — Hearings to examine Department of Defense missile defense activities in review of the Defense Authorization Request for Fiscal Year 2026 and the Future Years Defense Program
White House What's Up
President Donald Trump arrived in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday morning. He'll participate in a state visit at the Royal Court at noon. Later in the afternoon, he'll participate in a Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum at King Abdul Aziz International Conference Center. In the evening, he'll attend a state dinner at Diriyah At-Turaif.
Keeping Up With the Cabinet
Sec. State - Marco Rubio — Rubio announced that the U.S. is "sanctioning Iranian nationals contributing to nuclear weapons-relevant research and development" as part of President Trump's "call for maximum pressure against Iran’s proliferation activities and to ensure Tehran is never able to obtain a nuclear weapon."
Sec. Treasury - Scott Bessent — Bessent described the "substantive discussions with Chinese officials" in Geneva to address the flow of precursor drugs fueling the fentanyl epidemic.
Sec. Defense - Pete Hegseth — Hegseth is among the Cabinet members with Trump in Saudi Arabia.
Sec. Interior - Doug Burgum — Burgum announced Interior's expedited permitting for a major energy project at the Velvet Wood mine in Utah.
Sec. Agriculture - Brooke Rollins — Rollins met with her UK counterpart on Monday to discuss "advocating for U.S. farmers, producers, ranchers, & agricultural exporters to have a fair & level playing field for U.S. exports to the UK market."
Sec. Labor - Lori Chavez-DeRemer — Chavez-DeRemer announced that McDonald's is planning to hire 375,000 workers nationwide.
Sec. Health & Human Services - Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — Kennedy championed Trump's executive order aimed at lowering drug prices for Americans.
Sec. Transportation - Sean Duffy — Duffy pinpointed the source of Newark's ongoing air traffic control issues in a Monday presser, noting that decisions made by the Biden administration played a significant role.
Sec. Energy - Chris Wright — Wright is also part of the Middle East Cabinet contingent.
Sec. Education - Linda McMahon — McMahon responded to Sen. Elizabeth Warren's (D-MA) "invitation" to participate in a public forum.
Sec. Veterans Affairs - Doug Collins — Collins shared some of his recent testimony before Congress regarding efforts to improve the VA.
Admin. Environmental Protection Agency - Lee Zeldin — Zeldin made some fans when he announced that the EPA would be "fixing" start/stop technology in cars.
Admin. Small Business Association - Kelly Loeffler — Loeffler attended the Select USA Business Investment Summit.
Dir. Federal Bureau of Investigations - Kash Patel — Patel kicked off Police Week by spending time with the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
Dir. National Intelligence - Tulsi Gabbard — Gabbard is calling for an end to the Biden era "domestic terrorism" policy.
Dir. Office of Management and Budget - Russ Vought
U.S. Trade Rep. - Jamieson Greer — Greer touted the success of the negotiations with China in Geneva.
Full Court Press...
The trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs is proceeding in the Southern District of New York. Opening statements were presented on Monday, along with testimony from two witnesses.
The Trump administration notched a win on Monday in the D.C. District Court, when Judge Dabney Friedrich declined to issue a preliminary injunction in a case challenging the sharing of taxpayer information by the IRS to the Department of Homeland Security.
COMING ATTRACTIONS
Thursday is shaping up to be a big day, between oral argument at the Supreme Court on the birthright citizenship/nationwide injunction issue, the face-to-face meeting between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky, and the wrap-up of President Trump's Middle East trip.
MORNING MUSING
Yael Alexander got the best Mother's Day present ever, if a day or two late. Watching her sheer joy and relief as she ran to embrace her son, Edan, released after 583 days in captivity by Hamas, I couldn't hold back the tears. I cannot imagine the hell that Edan and his entire family have endured since October 7th. Nor do I want to.
Like so many, I'm relieved that he is finally home, even while I pray for the return of the 58 remaining hostages. This needs to end — it needs to never have happened.
One of the most striking things about Edan is his eyes. I couldn't help but notice that even while he is upright and strong enough to greet his mother and other family members with long overdue bear hugs, those eyes look haunted. How could they not? My prayer for Edan is that time will heal both his body and his heart, and someday, those eyes will no longer look haunted. For now, though, I'll be glad that his mom has her boy back in her arms.
We waited all day for this.
— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) May 12, 2025
Edan Alexander hugs his parents for the first time 💛🥹 pic.twitter.com/CQWL1rzT3b
LIGHTER FARE
Next stop: Los Angeles, 2028, baby!
Look, what I can do..🐾😍 pic.twitter.com/7nO7CiRsxg
— 𝕐o̴g̴ (@Yoda4ever) May 12, 2025
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