Monday, June 23, 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
I'll start by saying an interesting thing about the strike was how silent - generally speaking - Iran's buddies Russia and China had been prior. So what Medvedev is saying here is bluster to appear to hold up their ally.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth deemed the mission, code-named "Operation Midnight Hammer,” a complete success Sunday morning. “It took a great deal of precision,” he told reporters. "It involved misdirection and the highest of operational security.”
And it couldn’t have happened without the B-2s, the bunker-busters, and our brave pilots.
Vote for the Crook in NYC – It's Important! And Andrew Cuomo Will Win.
For Mamdani to win this race, he needed a very low turnout, so his very guaranteed to vote left-wing base would make up a larger share of that low turnout. But the Mamdani forces, and the MSM that supports him, got too excited, and they greatly played up his chances to win, based largely on a suspect poll.
Trending Across Townhall Media
Englishtown's Move May Spark an Avalanche in Garden State
More than that, though, there are other states out there with similar schemes in place. Towns there can do similarly and refund the money, thus making it much more affordable to exercise your right to keep and bear arms in hostile states.
Trump Had TACOs for Saturday Dinner
The whole "Trump Always Chickens Out" meme was always stupid and self-contradictory. The Democrats tried to make it a thing because, well, the Left can't meme. They overthink things. They are into Narrative™. Their spin is always so transparent.
'You Don't Know What You're Talking About': Rubio Wipes the Floor With Brennan Over Iranian Nukes
But Margaret Brennan doesn't seem to know how to stay in her lane. I guess she enjoys embarrassing herself on national television? That's the only thing I can come up with.
Is This Why the Left Is Throwing a Tantrum Over Trump's Air Strikes Against Iran?
Endless war? So, what was Joe Biden’s venture in Ukraine? It circles back to a party that stands for nothing except opposing Trump, and it’s made them look unhinged.
She Gets a 10 For the Dismount: Simone Biles Deletes Her X Account
Biles could easily come back to X and own up to her hypocrisy. Conservatives would likely forgive her (after a while), but the trans activists never would if she did that.
WHAT'S ON TAP?
Today on Capitol Hill...
Okay — the critters are back this week (briefly, before the 4th of July holiday). That means there are 11 days for them to figure out how to get the One Big Beautiful Bill across the finish line. That's not going to be an easy feat — particularly as the Senate parliamentarian keeps hacking away at portions of it — but they've pulled multiple rabbits out of hats thus far, so I'm firmly in "wait and see" mode.
There are a handful of meetings/hearings set for Monday, including:
- House Appropriations, Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Subcommittee — Budget Hearing – Fiscal Year 2026 Request for the Department of Justice [Attorney General Pam Bondi to testify]
- House Rules — H.R. 275 – Special Interest Alien Reporting Act of 2025; H.R. 875 – Jeremy and Angel Seay and Sergeant Brandon Mendoza Protect Our Communities from DUIs Act of 2025; H.R. 3944 – Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2026; H. Res. 516 – Condemning the violent June 2025 riots in Los Angeles, California
- House Appropriations Markup, Legislative Branch Subcommittee — Fiscal Year 2026 Legislative Branch Bill
White House What's Up
President Donald Trump is set to meet with his National Security Team at 1:00 PM Eastern. As of right now, he's set to leave Tuesday for the NATO Summit in the Netherlands.
Vice President JD Vance joined "Meet the Press" on Sunday to talk about the mission and the administration's aims.
READ MORE: Vice President Vance on Iran: 'We Actually Want Peace.'
Full Court Press...
It was actually a rather quiet weekend for the courts for a change, although the Supreme Court, of course, handed down more decisions on Friday and is set to release more this coming Thursday. There's likely to be one more decision day (at least), as there are roughly 10 decisions left to go.
We did get a somewhat surprising ruling out of the criminal case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia — with the judge in that case (in the Middle District of Tennessee) denying the government's motion to detain him pursuant to the Bail Reform Act. (This is not the end of the inquiry and does not mean he will go free — more on that later this morning.)
If you missed the latest installment of the Skinny on SCOTUS, you can check that out here.
COMING ATTRACTIONS
As noted above, President Trump will head to the NATO Summit in the Netherlands on Tuesday, and we can expect at least one Supreme Court decision day this week.
MORNING MUSING
Most folks are likely familiar with the "flip test" — where you take a political situation or issue and consider what your reaction (or someone else's reaction) would be if it were coming from "the other side." It can be an interesting mental exercise — and it can help keep people intellectually honest (assuming they've any interest in being so). I sometimes engage in a similar exercise and try to imagine what my former, liberal Democrat self would think of a given situation. I mused about that a bit on X Sunday after watching the press conference with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan Caine regarding the strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities.
In 1991, I was a first-year law student at Northwestern. I was a lifelong liberal Democrat. I had only voted in one presidential election at that point - 1988, for Michael Dukakis. I was not a big fan of George H.W. Bush.
— Susie Moore ⚾️🌻🐶 (@SmoosieQ) June 22, 2025
When Operation Desert Storm began, I started sporting an… https://t.co/j6zos7PoUj
In 1991, I was a first-year law student at Northwestern. I was a lifelong liberal Democrat. I had only voted in one presidential election at that point - 1988, for Michael Dukakis. I was not a big fan of George H.W. Bush.
When Operation Desert Storm began, I started sporting an ear cuff with a peace symbol on it. I didn't want us to go to war. I didn't want us to be at war.
But I will tell you - I was still proud of our military and the success of that campaign.
I try to imagine how I'd be reacting to the strikes in Iran if I were still a liberal Democrat - one who strongly opposed Donald Trump. I have to believe it would be something akin to this below. This is the intellectually honest take.
You can disagree with this president to your heart's content. You can have concerns about what sort of reaction this may prompt from the Iranians and their proxies. You do not have to suddenly don a red ball cap and shout "MAGA!" from the rooftops.
But if you don't recognize the value of a defanged Iran nuclear program and the impressive nature of what the U.S. military just pulled off (helped in no small measure by the Israeli-laid groundwork) - if you can't feel a degree of pride and perhaps even hope in that, you've lost your way. And if you genuinely believe that this is grounds for impeachment, you've really lost your way.
I'll simply add that, based on a very informal survey of the non-right-leaning friends/associates I've spoken with since the strikes, that's where most of them are on this. The primary concern is that this could lead to some protracted/boots-on-the-ground entanglement and/or regarding the safety of our assets in the region. But I'm not seeing a ton of pushback, even from those who can't stand Donald Trump, regarding this particular operation. (I'm speaking of regular folk, not the online/Professional Dem set.) That speaks volumes.
LIGHTER FARE
Dogs and cats living together! Mass hysteria!
Puppy chose a cat as his best friend..🐕🐾🐈😊 pic.twitter.com/kSdsSZxrZA
— 𝕐o̴g̴ (@Yoda4ever) June 23, 2025
Enjoying the "Morning Minute"? You can ensure you receive it in your Inbox every weekday by signing up for our newsletter here.
Editor’s Note: Every single day, here at RedState, we will stand up and FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT against the radical left and deliver the conservative reporting our readers deserve.
Help us continue to tell the truth about the Trump administration and its major wins. Join RedState VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your membership.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member