Wednesday, May 13, 2026
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
In Nashville, Capitol Tantrums Come With a Bill — and Tennessee Dems Just Received It
Look on the bright side, Tennessee House Dems: many of you will have a lot more time on your hands to go out and protest ICE or scream “Jim Crow 2.0!” or whatever floats your boat.
FDA Doctors Flagged Dead Children as COVID Vaccine Safety Signals — Biden Never Warned Parents
They wrote it up. They classified it as new safety information under federal law. And they never told the public.
Not a Good Look: 'Flagrantly Racist' Post From Charlotte-Meck NAACP Prompts Long Overdue Backlash
Racism in government and among the various special interest groups whose support they seek is bad, but this level is toxic indeed, so much so that it's caused a much-deserved and long-overdue backlash against it.
Trending Across Townhall Media
I don't know if he'll ever choose to go public or talk about his actions, but if he's reading this I'd like to invite him to be my guest at the upcoming GOAL 250 event in Boxborough, Massachusetts on June 13. He can even have my seat. I'd be more than happy to give it up and stand for this individual who acted with heroism and bravery when a madman tried to murder as many people as possible.
HotAir — Democrat ‘Superlawyer’ Calls for Abolition of Virginia Government
This is where we are. Democrats are not the loyal opposition. They are the color revolution party.
PJ Media — Democrats Now Want to Abolish the Virginia Government
This is where the Democratic Party is in 2026. They don't just want to win — they believe they're entitled to win. And when the system doesn't deliver, the system itself becomes the enemy that must be destroyed.
The irony, of course, is that had the system kept Mott behind bars or forced mental health treatment on people, he might still be alive.
Twitchy — Ex-DHS Secretary Mayorkas Tries to Spin Biden’s Open Border and Nobody Is Buying It
They didn't care about the damage that was done to the country and will do it all over again if a Democrat ends up back in the White House.
WHAT'S ON TAP?
Today on Capitol Hill...
Wednesday looks to be a rather busy day on the Hill, with multiple hearings and meetings set, including:
- Senate Armed Services — Hearings to examine the Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration atomic energy defense activities in review of the Defense Authorization Request for Fiscal Year 2027 and the Future Years Nuclear Security Program [Secretary of Energy Chris Wright to testify]
- Senate Energy and Natural Resources — Hearings to examine the President's proposed budget request for fiscal year 2027 for the United States Forest Service.
- House Natural Resources — Oversight hearing titled “Examining the President's FY 2027 Budget Request for the Department of the Interior.” [Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum to testify]
- House Judiciary, Constitution and Limited Government Subcommittee — “Sharia-Free America: Why Political Islam & Sharia Law are Incompatible with the U.S. Constitution: Part II”
- Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs — Hearings to examine whistleblower testimony on COVID.
- Senate Environment and Public Works — Hearings to examine the President's proposed budget request for fiscal year 2027 for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
- House Veterans' Affairs — Expanding the Mission: The Future of the National Center for Warrior Independence in West LA
- House Education and Workforce, Workforce Protections Subcommittee — "Building a Safer Future: Private-Sector Strategies for Emerging Safety Issues"
- Senate Appropriations, Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee — Hearings to examine proposed budget estimates and justification for fiscal year 2027 for the Environmental Protection Agency. [EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin to testify]
- House Appropriations — Fiscal Year 2027 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Bill
- Senate Appropriations, Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee — Hearings to examine proposed budget estimates and justification for fiscal year 2027 for the General Services Administration.
- Senate Judiciary, Privacy, Technology, and the Law Subcommittee — Hearings to examine how social media verdicts demand federal action to protect kids online.
- Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship — Hearings to examine industrialization and the rise of small manufacturers.
- Senate Aging (Special) — Hearings to examine supporting families in the sandwich generation.
- Senate Veterans' Affairs — Hearings to examine VA police operations.
There are some notable votes set for Wednesday in the Senate:
Votes scheduled: At 11:30am, on Wednesday, May 13th, the Senate is expected to proceed to two roll call votes on the following:
— Senate Cloakroom (@SenateCloakroom) May 12, 2026
1. Motion to discharge from Foreign Relations Committee, S.J.Res.163, Merkley War Powers Resolution (Iran).
2. Motion to invoke cloture on the motion to…
Votes scheduled: At 11:30am, on Wednesday, May 13th, the Senate is expected to proceed to two roll call votes on the following:1. Motion to discharge from Foreign Relations Committee, S.J.Res.163, Merkley War Powers Resolution (Iran).2. Motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to S.Res.526, Kennedy Member Pay Resolution.
At 2:00pm, the Senate will proceed to a roll call vote on confirmation of Executive Calendar #727, Kevin Warsh to be Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System for a term of four years.
Please note, at approximately 3:45pm, the Senate is expected to proceed to three roll call votes on the following:
1. Motion to proceed to Cal. #388, S.J.Res.132, Reed Examinations for Risks to Active-Duty Servicemembers and Their Covered Dependents CRA.
2. Motion to proceed to Cal. #393, S.J.Res.141, Warnock Deceptive and Unfair Collection of Medical Debt CRA.
3. Motion to proceed to Cal. #386, S.J.Res.130, Van Hollen Improper Overdraft Opt-In Practices CRA.
White House What's Up
President Trump has just landed in China and was greeted by President Xi Jinping.
BREAKING: President Trump is greeted by a formal state welcome and massive fanfare in Beijing ahead of his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. pic.twitter.com/7kVYWrEhsu
— Fox News (@FoxNews) May 13, 2026
His arrival is the only event formally noted on his schedule for Wednesday, but no doubt, we'll be hearing from him throughout the day.
Keeping Up With the Cabinet
Dir. Office of Management and Budget - Russ Vought — Vought recently signaled that the OMB is following up on the weaponization and wokification of the National Academies, as pointed out by Republican Rep. Eric Burlison (MO-07)
On it. Thank you @RepEricBurlison https://t.co/5S9RySgwGU
— Russ Vought (@russvought) May 10, 2026
Full Court Press...
We had several notable court decisions on Tuesday, including:
- ✅ In State of Oregon v. Trump (§122 tariffs), Federal Circuit Court of Appeals GRANTS admin's motion for administrative stay.
- ❌ In Trump v. Clinton (RICO/Russia collusion/statute of limitations), 11th Circuit Court of Appeals DENIES Trump's/plaintiffs' petition for rehearing en banc.
- ✅ In Carroll v. Trump I (defamation), 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals GRANTS Trump's motion for stay of mandate pending filing and disposition of petition for writ of certiorari at SCOTUS - orders increased $7.4M bond.
Then, too, the Missouri Supreme Court issued two consequential rulings regarding redistricting.
SEE: Missouri High Court Smacks Down Redistricting Challenge - and Referendum End Run
COMING ATTRACTIONS
We'll be keeping a close eye, of course, on what's going on with China while President Trump is there.
Vice President JD Vance is set to visit Bangor, Maine, on Thursday to deliver remarks on the Administration's efforts to combat fraud.
Also, on Thursday, the Supreme Court is expected to hand down additional opinions. Check out the latest installment of the Skinny on SCOTUS for a rundown of some of the April decisions.
MORNING MUSING
A little inside baseball here, folks: Most of the time, this section is devoted to whatever happens to pop into my brain in the limited minutes I have between getting off the air from the morning show and publication — sometimes, it's more inspired than others. (I can acknowledge that!)
Today is no exception, really. It's just that I was having major technical difficulties just as I was attempting to sit down and put the column together. As in...I couldn't even start composing it for several minutes, so that was frustrating to say the least. I don't know if I ticked off the AI gods (because, the way I figure it, it's only a matter of time until they rise up and unplug us all) or what, but things were not going my way this morning.
I suppose I could just take a cue from the professional Dems and start pitching a fit, right? Jump up on a desk and start stomping my feet. Call for my local, state, and federal governments to be abolished. Set things on fire. Those are all rational responses to not getting one's way, right?
Or...I could just suck it up and recognize that things aren't always going to go my way and do my best to make lemonade out of lemons.
— Susie Moore ⚾️🌻🐶 (@SmoosieQ) May 13, 2026
LIGHTER FARE
H/t to the Handsome Beau for sending me this one. I was trying to decide if it was possibly AI because I've never seen a mama bear with five cubs, but apparently, it does happen. It's rare, but possible.
Mother breaks into neighbor's backyard so she and her 5 children can play in neighbor's pool. pic.twitter.com/8OgcnVxia2
— B&S (@_B___S) May 12, 2026
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