Wednesday, May 14, 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
Todd, Tapper, and Axios should be pilloried from here to high water for allowing somebody else in the White House to serve as acting President while Biden was locked up being fed pudding pops all day long.
Biden’s Disastrous Debate Prep Included ‘Lots of Naps,’ Aides Prayed He’d Be a ‘Game-Day Performer’
"If he were in office today, if he had somehow won and were in office, you‘d have the same people on TV today saying, ‘He‘s fine. Behind closed doors, he‘s fine.’ And you know it.”
Josh Hawley Goes Full Beast Mode Grilling Allstate Execs
It's an eight and a half minute beat-down. In pro rodeo, a saddle bronc rider has to stay on the horse for only eight seconds, which I have it on good authority can seem like eight months; this Allstate executive, Mike Fiato, must have felt like the ride he was on lasted eight years.
Trending Across Townhall Media
ATF's Digitization Effort Is Gun Registration in Drag
That's because criminals aren't buying guns lawfully. That's not how they get firearms in the first place. We know that because they've told us how they get them.
Someone Please Explain the National Episcopal Braintrust to Me Like I Was Five
I am assuming Bishop Rowe and his church never once dove into the particulars, legitimate or otherwise, of any said refugee's personal story, as long as their skin was a different hue, they had a foreign accent, and had a US government check attached to their care.
The Party That Prays for Collapse
[In] the end, the question we must ask is simple: Who still believes in this country, even when it doesn’t vote their way?
The New Yorker Has Excerpts Brutally Recounting the Biden LA Fundraiser That Left Dems Aghast
Who was running the damn country for the past four years?
Double-Take Earthquake: Seismic Shift Video Will Have You Hitting Rewind to Take It All In (WATCH)
An amazing video has been released from a magnitude 7.7 earthquake in Myanmar back in March. It’s surveillance video from someone’s residence, and it clearly shows the ground shifting several feet
WHAT'S ON TAP?
Today on Capitol Hill...
Tuesday proved to be a rather eventful day on Capitol Hill, between Democrat shenanigans and disruptive protestors.
READ MORE: Watch: Eric Schmitt Rips Senate Dems for Blocking Vatican Ambassador's Confirmation
Protesters Disrupt Committee Considering GOP Budget Bill - What Dems Do Doesn't Help
But Wednesday will be busy as well. There are multiple committee hearings and meetings set — plus House Republicans are still wrestling with reconciliation. A sampling of what's in store Wednesday:
- House Appropriations, Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee — Budget Hearing - U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to testify]
- House Homeland Security — “A New Era of Homeland Security: A Review of the Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Request for the Department of Homeland Security” [DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to testify]
- House Appropriations, Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee — Oversight Hearing of the Federal Judiciary
- House Financial Services, Housing and Insurance Subcommittee — Expanding Choice and Increasing Supply: Housing Innovation in America
- House Appropriations, Department of Homeland Security Subcommittee — Oversight Hearing – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement [Acting Director, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Todd Lyons to testify]
- House Appropriations, Departments of Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Subcommittee — Budget Hearing – U.S. Department of Transportation [DOT Secretary Sean Duffy to testify]
- Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation — Hearings to examine FAA reauthorization one year later, focusing on aviation safety, air traffic, and next generation technology.
- Senate Finance — Hearings to examine trade in critical supply chains
- Senate Appropriations, Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee — Hearings to examine proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 2026 for the Environmental Protection Agency [EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin to testify]
- Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions — Hearings to examine the President's proposed budget request for fiscal year 2026 for the Department of Health and Human Services [HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to testify]
- Senate Judiciary, Intellectual Property Subcommittee — Hearings to examine foreign threats to American innovation and economic leadership
White House What's Up
President Donald Trump had a busy Tuesday in Saudi Arabia. On Wednesday morning, he'll participate in the Gulf Cooperation Council Leaders' Meeting at the Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh. He'll then head to Qatar, where he'll participate in a Qatari state visit in the afternoon, then a state dinner in the evening.
Full Court Press...
The Sean "Diddy" Combs trial continued Tuesday, with testimony from Cassie Ventura, the former girlfriend he was seen brutalizing in the hotel footage that came to light last year.
The Trump administration snagged a win on the TdA/AEA deportation front, as a judge in the Western District of Pennsylvania ruled that they did have authority under the AEA (and proclamation issued by Trump) to deport TdA members — provided they're given proper notice.
Wisconsin's Judge Hannah Dugan, who thought it her bound duty to help an illegal immigrant escape ICE, has now been indicted by a federal grand jury.
The Menendez Brothers also caught a break with a judge paving the way for them to be freed.
READ MORE: Trump Administration Scores a Big Court Win As Judge Weighs in on AEA Removals
Judge's Ruling Paves the Way for Parent-Killing Menendez Brothers to Be Freed
COMING ATTRACTIONS
With several Cabinet officials testifying on the Hill Wednesday, there are sure to be some interesting exchanges — particularly since congressional Democrats have apparently gone 'round the bend.
There will surely be more news to come from Trump's Middle East tour. And Thursday brings us oral argument at SCOTUS over nationwide injunctions in birthright citizenship/non-APA cases, along with a long-awaited meeting between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky.
MORNING MUSING
Former President Joe Biden's been in the news quite a bit of late, after giving us a several-month reprieve. Mostly, it's been in the context of those who attempted to cover for his decline excusing their wholesale gaslighting of the American public with all manner of horse hockey. I guess there's one thing Biden did during his presidency that I'm thankful for: suggesting/agreeing to an early debate with President Trump. That laid the Emperor's nekkidness bare (if you'll pardon the image that evokes) — so bare that few could bring themselves to continue with the song and dance about his finery. Of course, that (temporarily) gave us Kamala Harris as a candidate, but maybe, in the end, that was good as well, as it exposed her, too.
Watching Trump on Tuesday, I was reminded of Biden's 2022 trip to Saudi Arabia. Maze Moore (no relation — that I know of) shared a great clip that exemplifies what Biden abroad was like:
In 2022 Biden went to Saudi Arabia. He talked about honoring selfishness and Beau Biden. 🤪
— MAZE (@mazemoore) May 13, 2025
Tony Blinken always looked like he was about to have a heart attack whenever Biden would speak. pic.twitter.com/a7KTNmDpMM
He's right about Blinken, too — he always looked ashen and one notch shy of petrified. Compare that with Rubio, who (understandably) may look exhausted at times, but certainly doesn't have to worry about his boss short-circuiting on the world stage. And it shows.
Anyway (as Biden might mumble)...all any rational being needs to do is compare the above clip of Biden to Trump's remarks yesterday at the Saudi Investment Forum to know that we didn't have a president in command of his faculties before, and we do now. Thank God.
LIGHTER FARE
Raising my hand here. Never fails — she's quiet, then I get on the phone for a radio hit, and all of a sudden, it's Squeak City.
Who has a dog like this?
— Sadie (@Sadie_NC) May 13, 2025
I do!
😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/CzCAQjUfW6
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