Thursday, December 11, 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
The World Must Stop Ignoring What Iranians Already Know: The Regime Is on the Brink
As international media continue to cover Iran’s water, economic, and political crises, they must also grapple with an unavoidable conclusion: if these trends continue, regime change in Iran is not only possible, but inevitable.
GOP Supercut Video Takes Up Crockett's Challenge on Finding a 'Clip of a Democrat Invoking Violence'
This is just more proof that those inciting/invoking violence against the other side of the political aisle are the Democrats and those on the left, not the other way around.
Guess Who Else Jack Smith Spied on With Arctic Frost? Harmeet Dhillon
Smith and his minions may have been the princes of arrogance during their heyday, but they shouldn’t get too comfortable. According to Assistant Attorney General Dhillon, Trump’s DOJ is “going to get to the bottom of that [abuse of power] at some point.”
Trending Across Townhall Media
Canadian Gun Confiscation Effort Hits Yet Another Provincial Snag
It's nice to see that even in a gun-control bastion like Canada, some people still value telling the federal government to urinate up entwined hemp instead of just capitulating to a gun control requirement like this.
Philly Footballers Find Out the Rules Are Different in Florida
The rules are different here. There are consequences for actions in other places.
Blue State Govs Are Blocking ‘No Tax on Tips’ for Their Constituents to Resist Trump
That’s a gamble I doubt they’ll win.
There’s Nothing Funnier Than Fussy, Furious Euroweenies
Vets like me and @CynicalPublius, along with a bunch of others who also served in the Cold War, in Europe, and/or with Europeans, are taking a special delight in watching our alleged allies squirm.
GOP Accepts Jasmine Crockett’s Democrat Video Violence Challenge and Creates an Ad With 20 Examples
Again, Crockett opened her big mouth without thinking. Something that’s a daily occurrence.
WHAT'S ON TAP?
Today on Capitol Hill...
It's another busy day on the Hill, with multiple hearings and meetings set, including:
- House Judiciary — "Oversight of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act"
- Senate Armed Services — Hearings to examine the Administration's deployment of the National Guard across the United States
- House Homeland Security — “Worldwide Threats to the Homeland”
- Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs — Oversight hearings to examine the Federal Reserve's big bank welfare program, focusing on the IORB regime
- Senate Rules and Administration — Business meeting to consider S.Res.526, withholding the pay of Senators if a Government shutdown occurs
The House passed S. 1071 – the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 — by a vote of 312-112.
And the Senate managed to tee up a vote on a significant tranche of Trump appointees.
New: House Overcomes GOP Hurdles to Pass $901B Defense Bill
There's more on tap for the Senate today:
Votes scheduled: At 11:30am, on Thursday, December 11th, the Senate is expected to proceed to four roll call votes on the following:
— Senate Cloakroom (@SenateCloakroom) December 10, 2025
1. Motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to Cal. #285, S.3386, Health Care Freedom for Patients Act (Crapo/Cassidy).
2. (If cloture is…
And here's what's on tap in the House:
The House meets today at 11:00 AM for Legislative Business. It will consider H.R. 3898 - PERMIT Act and H.R. 2550 - Protect America's Workforce Act.
— House Press Gallery (@HouseDailyPress) December 11, 2025
The House may complete consideration of Rep. Golden Discharge Rule (H.Res. 432) and H.Res. 939 - Impeaching Donald John Trump,…
White House What's Up
On Thursday, President Trump is set to participate in a signing ceremony late in the afternoon. In the evening, he'll deliver remarks at the Congressional Ball in the Grand Foyer.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt will host a press briefing at 1:00 PM Eastern.
Keeping Up With the Cabinet
Dir. Federal Bureau of Investigations - Kash Patel — Patel affirmed the FBI's execution of a seizure warrant for a Venezuelan oil tanker on Wednesday — no doubt we'll be learning quite a bit more about the nature of the vessel and its cargo (and the U.S. action taken on it) in the hours and days to come.
Today the @FBI and our partners executed a seizure warrant for a crude oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela - used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran. The tanker has been used in recent years in an illicit shipping network supporting foreign terrorist… pic.twitter.com/32w0tG93jy
— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) December 10, 2025
READ MORE: U.S. Seizes Massive Venezuelan Tanker: Trump Teases More
Full Court Press...
We had several notable decisions in the courts on Wednesday:
- ❌ Newsom v. Trump (National Guard deployment) — Judge Charles Breyer (Northern District of California) GRANTS plaintiffs' renewed motion for preliminary injunction.
- ✅ U.S. v. Epstein (sex trafficking) — Judge Richard Berman (Southern District of New York) GRANTS DOJ's request to unseal/release grand jury and discovery materials.
- ❌ National TPS Alliance v. Noem (DHS revocation of TPS - Venezuela, Haiti) — Judge Edward Chen (Northern District of California) GRANTS plaintiffs' motion for declaratory judgment.
Also, keep an eye on that TdA/AEA case pending in front of Judge James Boasberg — the contempt proceedings in that one are heating up.
And Tyler Robinson, the accused assassin of Charlie Kirk, is due for his first in-person court appearance today.
MORNING MUSING
I love my job. I love that my degree and my previous career have dovetailed almost perfectly into my current media career and enable me to cover legal stories in particular with (usually) some added insight. But even I'm getting tired of talking about judges and court rulings.
A few months ago, we saw a somewhat heated conversation arise over the term "Black fatigue." In November, the media tried to make fetch happen with the concept of President Trump showing signs of fatigue — an idea laughably batted down by Trump himself, along with assorted cabinet members...and anyone with eyes and ears.
Right now, I'm on the brink of judicial fatigue. The spreadsheet I've been using to track the hundreds of cases involving the Trump administration is badly in need of an update, and my initial reaction every time I see another ruling come down from a district court judge (and sometimes appellate court judges) that leads with emotion and largely chalks up to "Orange Man Bad," I'm forced to roll my eyes and sigh...here we go again.
It might just be that we're heading into winter and the days are short and there are holiday preparations to make, but my tolerance level for the judicial shenanigans has reached its limits.
That doesn't mean I'm not going to keep reporting on these cases — I will (as will many of my colleagues). There are significant things happening in the courts, and in the long run, these judicial battles are going to have far-reaching implications, not just for the Trump administration and agenda, not just on policy, but on the structure of our system of government. This stuff is important. But some of these judges and their TDS are beyond, well, tedious.
LIGHTER FARE
Sometimes, those are the best kind.
An unlikely friendship! 🐑🐕 pic.twitter.com/SQAbiDzPbo
— Wow Animals (@WOW_ANIMALS1) December 10, 2025
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