Friday, October 17, 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
Ouch: Kathy Hochul the Clear Loser in Wild NYC Mayoral Debate Between Mamdani, Cuomo, and Sliwa
Thoughts and prayers, NYC. Just sayin'.
Did He Jump...Or Was He Pushed? US Top Commander for Latin America Abruptly Retires
Holsey's replacement will tell us a lot about what comes next in Venezuela.
A total of 15 suspects have been arrested in this case. The mugshots of 10 of them were released shortly after they were taken into custody and, as my RedState colleague Bob Hoge noted at the time, they looked exactly like you'd expect them to.
Trending Across Townhall Media
Second Amendment Foundation Steps In After High Schooler's Vehicle Searched for Gun
If it is true that it was only Harrington's status as a legal gun owner that led to his search, the courts should absolutely find in his favor.
Another Day, Another Letitia James Scandal
I would feel sorry for these nieces for getting dragged into the spotlight, but given the fact that they seem to have escaped justice for their crimes, I don't. Neither is exactly a model citizen.
Karoline Leavitt Notices the Dark Side of the Democrat Base and Now They’re Going Ballistic
It looks like Leavitt struck a nerve with people who typically don’t like to show it when people on the right are living inside their heads.
Virginia AG Jason Miyares Absolutely Cooked Democrat Jay Jones in Last Night's Debate
Jones should step aside, but he won’t. Democrats should pressure him to drop out, but they won’t. Based on their rules, they support what Jones says. That’s the rule, not mine.
Unmasked: Democrat Graham Platner's Radical Reddit Revelations Shake Maine Senate Race
It just goes to show, most Unions are just money laundering entities for Democratic politicians.
WHAT'S ON TAP?
Today on Capitol Hill...
Welcome to Day 17 of the Schumer Shutdown. I won't pretend to know whether this stalemate will shift once the Dems get past this weekend and the planned "No Kings" rally (as some surmise). It might. I guess we'll see come next Monday or Tuesday. If it goes on much longer, that clean continuing resolution, extending the funding to November 21, is going to become moot.
In the meantime, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) continues to chide the Dems for churlishness, and they continue to flail about.
READ MORE: Mike Johnson Riffs on How Bernie and AOC Just Said 'The Quiet Parts Out Loud' About Schumer Shutdown
Watch: Bernie Sanders Totally Wrecked by Republican Student's Question During CNN Town Hall
White House What's Up
President Trump is set to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House today. That one will be interesting, particularly on the heels of his chat with Vlad on Thursday. Later in the afternoon, he'll head to Palm Beach, Florida.
SEE: Peace President Never Rests: Trump Announces Meeting With Putin to End ‘Inglorious’ Ukraine War
Vice President JD Vance is calling out the Democrats for their unwillingness to work on addressing healthcare because #OrangeManBad.
.@VP: "Democrats' entire obsession is 'fight Trump, get Trump, attack Trump' ... We would actually like to work with the Democrats on fixing health care for the American people. Unfortunately, we haven't found much willingness across the aisle to do that." pic.twitter.com/K9QGtruQ5J
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) October 16, 2025
Keeping Up With the Cabinet
Sec. War - Pete Hegseth — Hegseth, on Thursday, announced the retirement of Admiral Alvin Holsey as commander of US Southern Command. Our own streiff has some thoughts on what that might be about.
READ MORE: Did He Jump...Or Was He Pushed? US Top Commander for Latin America Abruptly Retires
Full Court Press...
The big legal news on Thursday was the indictment of former National Security Advisor John Bolton. Unlike the Letitia James and James Comey indictments (both in the Eastern District of Virginia), this indictment (in the District of Maryland) is rather lengthy and consists of 18 counts — eight related to Transmission of National Defense Information, and 10 related to Retention of National Defense Information.
Other notable developments on Thursday include:
- ✅ Family Planning Association of Maine v. HHS (access to healthcare) — 1st Circuit Court of Appeals DENIES plaintiffs' motion for stay pending appeal.
- ↔️ State of Illinois v. Trump (National Guard deployment), 7th Circuit Court of Appeals GRANTS admin's motion to stay pending appeal (as to federalization but not as to deployment) - basically, the same thing it did with the administrative stay.
COMING ATTRACTIONS
As noted above, President Trump meets with Volodymyr Zelensky today, then with Vladimir Putin in Budapest, Hungary, after a meeting of their "high-level advisors" (including Secretary of State Marco Rubio) next week.
On Saturday, October 18, 2025, Vice President Vance will attend a 250th anniversary celebration for the United States Marine Corps at Camp Pendleton, California
Vance will also be speaking at a TPUSA event at Ole Miss on October 29.
MORNING MUSING
I wasn't sure what I wanted to muse on this morning, and then I saw that cute little dog video below, and it came to me: Dogs don't care about your politics. That may seem like I'm stating the obvious, but in a world where you can't go to the grocery store without someone somehow injecting politics into the equation, it's actually rather refreshing to contemplate.
It's not terribly profound. It won't change the world. But if you find yourself getting mired in and discouraged by never-ending political squabbles with friends, family, co-workers, random joes online...go hang out with a dog — or several — for a bit.
That's my advice for the day.
LIGHTER FARE
Dogs don't care about your politics.
Happy Friday! 🎉 pic.twitter.com/JJQTcYRhtx
— Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden) October 17, 2025
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Editor’s Note: The Schumer Shutdown is here. Rather than put the American people first, Chuck Schumer and the radical Democrats forced a government shutdown for healthcare for illegals. They own this.
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