In this episode of Washington Watch, host Tony Perkins delves into the heated political landscape of Washington, D.C., focusing on key issues such as the looming government shutdown and the international dynamics with Russia and Ukraine. Senator Lindsey Graham provides insights into the ongoing fiscal debates and the broader implications of Russia’s proposed ceasefire. Perkins raises questions about integrity and truth in politics, underscored by a tense congressional committee exchange surrounding pronoun usage. This episode is packed with pivotal discussions about America’s role on the global stage and the internal pressures facing lawmakers.
SPEAKER 13 :
From the heart of our nation’s capital in Washington, D.C., bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and sound bites into conversations with our nation’s leaders and newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview, Washington Watch with Tony Perkins starts now.
SPEAKER 08 :
It’s time for the Democrat leader to acknowledge. that it’s his decisions that put us here, and urge his colleagues to accept the situation and vote to fund the government rather than to let it shut down at midnight on Friday.
SPEAKER 09 :
That was Senate Majority Leader John Thune earlier today. So the question is, will Chuck Schumer shut the government down? Welcome to Washington Watch. Thanks for tuning in. We’ll get the latest on the Democrats’ game of fiscal chicken from the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham. Also, while rejecting the agreement the U.S. worked out with Ukraine, it appears now that Russia is interested in crafting a ceasefire.
SPEAKER 03 :
We know where we are with Ukraine. We are getting good signals outside of Russia as to where we are with Russia. And hopefully they’ll do the right thing.
SPEAKER 09 :
That was President Trump earlier today. Meanwhile, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced what he calls the largest cut in federal regulation in history.
SPEAKER 17 :
Today, I’m pleased to make the largest deregulatory announcement in U.S. history. The Environmental Protection Agency is initiating 31 historic actions to fulfill President Trump’s promise to unleash American energy, revitalize our auto industry, restore the rule of law, and give power back to the states.
SPEAKER 09 :
We’ll get the details from Nebraska Senator Pete Ricketts a little later here on Washington Watch. And did you see this?
SPEAKER 12 :
Would you repeat what you just said when you introduced a duly elected representative from the United States of America, please?
SPEAKER 14 :
I will. The representative from Delaware, Mr. McBride. Mr. Chairman, you are out of order.
SPEAKER 12 :
Mr. Chairman, have you no decency? I mean, I’ve come to know you a little bit, but this is not decent. We will continue this. You will not continue it with me unless you introduce a duly elected representative the right way.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, that was an exchange earlier this week in the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee with Congressman Keith Self, referring to the first transgender member of Congress by their biologically correct gender. So do pronouns and titles matter? You know, as Christians, should we just be nice and kind of play along, ignore the truth? Dr. George Barna, Senior Fellow at FRC Center for Biblical Worldview, will join me to discuss. And let me remind you, the fourth episode of our God and Government series has been released this week, Is America a Christian Nation? Find out by watching my God and Government course. Text COURSE to 67742. That’s COURSE to 67742. And I’ll send you a link. The pressure is on for Senate Democrats with the America First continuing resolution now in the upper chamber. Democrats are now in a position that they placed Republicans in a number of times during the Biden administration. Vote for a bill that they don’t like or shut down the government. And here’s a question. What would happen if there were a government shutdown? Would that enable more government cuts? Joining me now by phone to discuss these questions and more is U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham from South Carolina. He’s the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee and he serves on three other committees, including the Appropriations Committee and the Judiciary Committee. Senator Graham, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us. Thank you. So the reports are the Democrats are starting to feel pressure about passing the resolution in order to avoid a government shutdown. What’s the latest?
SPEAKER 06 :
Oh, they’re full like a cheap suit. There’s no way they’re ever going to shut the government down. An idea that the Democratic Party would shut the federal government down doesn’t pass muster with me. The continuing resolution will pass. It will fund the government for the rest of the year. But on the defense side, it’s woefully inadequate. I love Mike Johnson from the House. He’s a great guy, but the numbers on defense are below what Biden allocated for defense. Now, I’ve been told that they will be supplemented by reconciliation. The Republican Party-only bill has $150 billion for the Department of Defense, $175 billion for border security. This continuing resolution keeps the government open. But we’re going to need reconciliation, my budget bill, to make sure we continue the deportation, spill the wall, have additional bed space to hold people in custody and not release them on the border security front, and $150 billion for the military at a time of great threat. So the CRO passed, but it’s imperative we do reconciliation sooner rather than later.
SPEAKER 09 :
I want to talk about reconciliation. I also want to talk about rescissions that can be done to accomplish more cuts. But before we do that, theoretically, if the Democrats were to allow the government to shut down, would that not empower the Trump administration to actually accelerate some of the government cuts that they’re doing?
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, I think I think it would. That’s sort of maybe the upside of it. The downside is puts the military in limbo and Department of Homeland Security in a time of great threat. So I think the best thing for us is to pass the resolution sent over by Speaker Johnson and his team and work on reconciliation so we’ll have enough money to finish the immigration agenda President Trump promised, deporting bad guys and drug dealers and others, finish the wall, more detention beds, and helping the military with $150 billion. That’s my number one priority, just do that, do it soon.
SPEAKER 09 :
Okay, so let’s talk about the way forward. Let’s say the continuing resolution does pass. There is another measure. You’ve actually, I think you’ve written about this. I think I saw a piece that you wrote regarding rescissions, which is a budgetary measure that would allow the White House to basically claw back some funding from the previous administration that has been allocated but not spent.
SPEAKER 06 :
This is so important. Rescission allows us to get doge. They’re doing a really good job. They’ve made a few mistakes, but overall it’s been really good. All the crazy stuff they found that your taxpayer dollars are used to support, the way you eliminate that from the government is a rescission package. I’m, again, the budget chairman. Rescission is a majority-only vote. We don’t need 60 votes to have a rescission package. So the White House needs to give us the top 10 or 20 examples of wasteful spending that Doge found, send them over to the Senate and the House, and within 45 days we have to act. I want the American people to see a couple things. I want them to see that we’re going to clean the underbrush and take the garbage out of the budget. And I want them to see that we’re going to rebuild our military and secure our border. And the third thing is that we’re going to spend less than Joe Biden. The one thing that I’m insistent upon is that we need to make the tax cuts of 2017 permanent to keep the economy going, but we’ve got to start spending less than Democrats to run the federal government. What good are we if we can’t do that?
SPEAKER 09 :
Is it possible to get back to the pre-COVID spending levels? I mean, we saw this artificial infusion. It wasn’t artificial. It was real. But it fueled an expansion of the federal government with this COVID-era funding. And we haven’t gone back to those pre-COVID levels.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, Ron Johnson, my good friend from Wisconsin, you need to have him on the program because he loves this stuff and he knows it backward and forward. So in 2019, we spent $4.4 trillion to run the federal government. Today, we’re at 7.3. The country hasn’t grown in population. When you account for inflation from 2019 to now, that would be 6.5 trillion. So we need to go back to 2019 pre-COVID spending levels adjusted for inflation. And that’s what we should be spending, not $7.3 trillion. That’s $800 billion of money that was allocated during COVID, and COVID is behind us in terms of the federal government’s massive infusion of capital here. So the answer is yes. If we don’t go back to spending before COVID, we made a huge mistake. When your kid is sick or You have an emergency in your home. You spend whatever you have to spend, but you don’t keep spending at that level when the emergency is over. So my number one goal is to come up with a budget for 2026 that goes back to pre-COVID levels with inflation.
SPEAKER 09 :
My conversations with House Speaker Mike Johnson on this is he feels that some of the waste, fraud, and abuse being identified by Doge could make that a reality of actually uncovering this and removing it from the federal budget.
SPEAKER 06 :
He’s dead right. I mean, what Elon and that crowd found is hundreds of billions of dollars. So there’s two things. This is a bit wonkish. But rescission allows…
SPEAKER 09 :
I think we may have lost the senator. Let’s see if we can get him back. But this is an important conversation because this is another one of the tools that the Republicans have that avoid the 60-vote threshold. All right, I think we’ve got him back. All right, Senator, are you there?
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah. Pick right back up where you were. Okay, rescission allows you to cut the discretionary budget without 60 votes. The White House has to initiate it. Reconciliation allows you to deal with mandatory spending, mandatory programs like Medicaid, reforming Medicaid. So those two lanes are available to us. We should use both lanes to achieve saving, to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse.
SPEAKER 09 :
And so to be very clear with our viewers and listeners that those two tools that are part of the budgetary act of, I think, 1974, allow the government to do this, the Congress, with a simple majority vote in both chambers. So this avoids the 60 vote threshold in the Senate. So this is a real possibility. You just have to have all the Republicans together.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, it will be a. political malpractice for us not to do it. They passed Obamacare through reconciliation, the Democrats. They passed the Inflation Reduction Act through reconciliation, the Democrats. We’ve had the House, the Senate, and the White House as Republicans four times in the last hundred years. You have to have all three to do reconciliation right now to cut the government of eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse, and to make the tax cuts permanent without one Democratic vote, we should take it.
SPEAKER 09 :
All right, Senator, I want to switch gears on you for just a moment. I want to talk foreign policy. That’s what you and I usually talk about. Let’s turn to Russia and Ukraine. According to the latest reports, Russian President Vladimir Putin says he is open to discussing a ceasefire. He rejected the one that came from Ukraine that the U.S. helped negotiate, but now he’s saying he’s open. What’s your reaction to the news?
SPEAKER 06 :
I would be very wary of Trump if I were Putin. So President Trump has been brilliant here. You know, he’s pushed Ukraine to the table, and they needed to be pushed to the table. I admire Ukraine’s willingness to fight. They’ve been very brave for the last three years. But we need to end this war. We needed it honorably and justly. Zelensky said yes to a 30-day ceasefire. He’s ready to sit at the peace table. I’ve got sanctions against Russia if they refuse to work with President Trump. These are crippling sanctions. There’s a tariff component. We would put tariffs on countries that bought Russian oil, gas, uranium, other goods if they walk away from the ceasefire deal and peace negotiations. It would be a tool for President Trump to use if Putin did not engage in negotiations. What President Trump has done in five weeks, seven weeks here, is he set in motion the possibility of ceasefire negotiations. in ending this war. And he’s just so strong. And they’ve done a brilliant job in the Trump team.
SPEAKER 09 :
All right. I’ve got a couple of questions for you on that following up. We’re up against a break, so you can stick with us. I’ll put those to you on the other side of the break. Folks, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, my guest. We’re going to continue the conversation on foreign policy, talking about Ukraine, Russia, probably get him to weigh in on Syria as well. So that’s coming up next here on Washington Watch. Don’t go away.
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During these challenging times for our nation, Family Research Council continues to serve as a watchman on the wall for faith, family, and freedom. And together, thanks to your support, we’re making an eternal impact. 2024 was a year of shining the light for biblical truth in Washington, DC. Last fall, over 1,000 spiritually active, governance-engaged conservatives gathered for the Pray, Vote, Stand Summit to pray for our nation and ensure that the issues impacting sage cons were understood and advanced. Washington Watch with Tony Perkins marked a major milestone this year, its 900th episode, and added the Washington Watch News Desk, a new production that presents the top news each day from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand published 2,000 articles of news, commentary, and podcasts in 2024, garnering over 5 million views. FRC’s outlet for news and commentary continues to pursue the truth on the issues that matter most to you and your family. And with the launch of the Stand Firm app, you can listen to, watch, and read our content in one simple place. Pray for current issues, stay rooted in the scriptures, and engage the political sphere with the community of believers on our new platform. In 2024, FRC shaped public policy and culture, organizing the National Gathering for Prayer and Repentance where members of Congress and Christian leaders came together to seek God’s intervention in America. In May, FRC called upon believers to pray for and stand with Israel by dedicating a portion of their worship services to pray for Israel’s peace, prosperity, and protection. With Pray, Vote, Stand Decision 2024, FRC and Real Life Network led a powerful evening of election night coverage to analyze the election results and pray that our nation would turn back to God. We also filmed a transformative educational course, God and Government. Available now on the Stand Firm app, this series will explore the biblical and historical foundations of our government, empowering you to stand confidently in your role as a citizen of heaven and earth. Family Research Council thanks you for partnering with us in standing for faith, family, and freedom.
SPEAKER 10 :
Looking for a trusted source of news that shares your Christian values? Turn to The Washington Stand, your ultimate destination for informed, faith-centered reporting. Our dedicated team goes beyond the headlines, delivering stories that matter most to believers. From breaking events to cultural insights, we provide clear, compassionate coverage through a biblical lens. Stay connected. Stay inspired. Discover news you can trust at The Washington Stand, where faith and facts meet every day.
SPEAKER 09 :
This is Washington Watch. I’m Tony Perkins, your host. Thanks for joining us. All right. My guest, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. He is the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee and he serves on three other committees, including appropriations and judiciary. Senator Graham, thanks for sticking around. You were a very strong supporter of Ukraine when they were attacked by Russia. I think everyone wants to see this conflict come to an end. But let me ask you this. Do you trust Vladimir Putin?
SPEAKER 06 :
No, I don’t. I mean, you’d be crazy to. But I do trust he’ll do if it’s painful enough, he’ll change his behavior. So I support President Trump’s desire to end the war. We’ll negotiate a peace settlement. And what did we do wrong in 2014? We had a you know, they invaded in 2008, 2014 and 2022. We didn’t tell Putin what would happen if he did it again. We need to do that. We didn’t integrate our economies with Ukraine. We need to do the minerals deal. They’re sitting on trees of dollars of critical minerals. It will be a great deal for America. And we need to continue to sell arms to Ukraine so they can defend themselves, have Europeans along the line of demarcation, and try to create deterrence for a third invasion. I think we can do all that. We must do all that. And if this war ends, it will be because of Donald Trump.
SPEAKER 09 :
You talk about the minerals deal, the rare earth minerals there in Ukraine, that they were supposed to sign the deal when Zelensky came to the White House before that meeting blew up. Is that a kind of a backdoor guarantee to American security if America has financial interest there?
SPEAKER 06 :
For Donald Trump, it is. I tell you what, there’s no better interest in terms of getting Trump on your side than be his business partner. He would not let anybody go. disrupt the good business deal for America. So I told Zelensky, and the guy’s been fighting for three years, probably sleeps two hours a night. Now, he’s screwed up in the White House, but we’re back on track. Yes, America will be guaranteed $500 billion, a half a trillion dollars in critical minerals, the oil for the 21st century, the AI component, the stuff you need to… to have the AI revolution here. So, yeah, I think, I think it’s, in its own way, it’s an implicit guarantee America will not let We’re not going to sit by and watch somebody take our stuff once we’re a business partner.
SPEAKER 09 :
I mean, not that I’m an advocate for this, but just based upon history, I’m a little more reserved than you are when it comes to the use of our military. But Kuwait, I mean, in the Middle East, oil fields, obviously very critical to America’s security. That has prompted us to act on behalf of others who have been invaded by tyrants.
SPEAKER 06 :
That’s a good point. I mean, you cannot turn The critical minerals in Ukraine, they’re the richest country in Europe. You don’t want to give that to China and Russia by force of arms. The chips of the high-end digital economy, 80% are made in China. It’s in our interest not to let people take stuff by force of arms belonging to others. Defunding the police was a stupid idea. When you let criminals wreak havoc on a town, nobody will live there. You can’t let thugs take things that belong to other people, especially when those people are your allies and want to share their wealth with you.
SPEAKER 09 :
Right. So just tell President Zelensky it would be a good idea to enter into a deal. And also along the way, tell him it’d be good to show up in a suit next time.
SPEAKER 07 :
I mean, two good, two good, two good advices there.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah. All right. Let me let me we just got a few minutes left, Senator. And again, I’d like to talk with you about foreign policy. You get the geopolitical landscape internationally. Let’s talk about Middle East. Let’s talk about what’s happening in Syria with the interim government. They’re signing a kind of an agreement or at least a way to go forward with the Syrian Democratic Forces. which were kind of the guys protecting the good guys. What’s going on?
SPEAKER 06 :
Let me tell you. You’re talking about the Kurds?
SPEAKER 09 :
Right.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah. Yeah, this is big. So Galani is a work in progress. I don’t trust him. I don’t know him. But he worked with al-Baghdadi, and now he’s in Syria. They’re backed by Turkey. I don’t know if they’re ISIS-lite or al-Qaeda-lite or they’re new-form Islam. We can do business with them. But signing an agreement with the Kurds, who have been great to us, very supportive of Israel, is a good start. Now, Christians were slaughtered in their homes down south. The Alawites, who are kind of Shiites, were attacked by HTS forces. That bothers me, but I’ve been told Iran may be behind this. So I don’t know exactly what’s going on in Syria. We need to watch it like a hawk. But if this is a new group that we can do business with that has basically kicked the Iranians and the Russians out, that’s good. If they’re radical Islamists that want to kill Christians and others, that’s bad.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, I hope you’ll rattle the cage of the intelligence folks a little bit to try to find out. Because last week when I was in Israel meeting with the Prime Minister Netanyahu, and I know you have a lot of respect for him because you’re there a lot. I do. And they asked about you while I was there. They’re very concerned about the new Syrian government. Yeah.
SPEAKER 06 :
They don’t trust them. I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t trust them either. I mean, We’ll see. Actions matter, but the fact they did a deal with the Kurds is encouraging. The Kurds have been good friends. But what happened to Christians in the South just a few days ago concerns me greatly. You know, over there, distrust, then verify.
SPEAKER 09 :
Right, right. It’s a very volatile situation. Things are changing very rapidly. Let’s talk, we’ve got about a minute left. Are we going to see any movement with Saudi Arabia and the Abraham Accords?
SPEAKER 06 :
I’m very hopeful, but you’ve got to deal with Iran. Iran is the root of all evil. Without Iran, there’s no Hezbollah, Hamas. You know, Assad was propped up. They’re marching toward a nuclear weapon. They have enough material to make six bombs. They haven’t put it together yet. I would green light Israel to attack the Iranian nuclear facilities. Once you weaken Iran, then all things are possible. You’ve got to get Iran put back in a box. October the 7th was designed to stop normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel, which is a nightmare for the Iranians. Hamas is an extension of Iran. Until you deal with Iran… I don’t think you’re going to get Mideast put back together. But Saudi and Israel, they’re very much still talking. Pray for that. Pray for Israel.
SPEAKER 09 :
All right. We’ll do that. And, Senator, always great to talk with you. Thanks so much for joining us on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 06 :
God bless.
SPEAKER 09 :
Thank you. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. And good advice there on praying. There’s a lot to pray for. But the world is still very volatile. Now, I know President Trump’s style of negotiation sometimes creates greater volatility, at least at first. But he has a track record of getting things done on that. And I will admit some of his moves make me a little nervous as well. But again, the proof is in the pudding. All right. When we come back, we’re going to be talking about more government cuts. The EPA saying that they’re making some historic cuts in government regulation, which will be good for the economy. So don’t go away.
SPEAKER 05 :
Oh, beautiful for spacious skies.
SPEAKER 01 :
For amber waves of grace At the 2025 National Gathering for Prayer and Repentance, hundreds gathered with Christian and government leaders at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., to pray for the nation and ask God to forgive us of our sins.
SPEAKER 09 :
We gather here not to appeal to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. We are appealing to heaven. Today we make our appeal not in the authority of a political party or in the name of a denomination. We come in the name and the authority of Jesus Christ. who has been given all authority in heaven and on earth, and we have been commissioned to operate in that authority.
SPEAKER 18 :
Father, we pray in Jesus’ name for our complacency, our greed, our pride, our gluttony, our sloth, and tolerance of sin.
SPEAKER 02 :
Lord, your word is the food that can make America healthy again. May your word be exalted and believed in our nation again.
SPEAKER 19 :
Lord, we ask that you allow us to become that shining city on the hill once more for your love, your grace, and your mercy.
SPEAKER 05 :
Thank you for your love and your grace and your mercy, for the opportunity that you have provided us to heal our land. We ask you to do it, Lord. We ask you for the wisdom, discernment, and stamina to do the thing that you have called each one of us, all of us here, to do. May we be found faithful. We trust it, pray it, believe it all. In Jesus’ name, amen.
SPEAKER 09 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Well, yesterday, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the launch of what he described as the greatest day of deregulation in American history. According to the announcement, the EPA will undertake 31 deregulatory actions that will have a number of effects, including rolling back trillions in regulatory costs and hidden taxes on U.S. families. Selden also said they would unleash American energy while driving a dagger straight into the heart of the climate change religion. To that I say amen. So just how significant are these actions? Well, joining me now to discuss this, U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts of Nebraska, who serves on four Senate committees, including the Committee on Environment and Public Works, as well as the Budget Committee. Senator Ricketts, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us. Thank you very much for having me on, Tony. I appreciate it. Now, I don’t think we’ll have time to go over all 31 deregulatory actions that were announced, but give us some of the highlights.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, the first highlight is that Common Sense is finally back at the EPA. This is fantastic. And I heard you mention about unleashing American energy, which, of course, is one of President Trump’s campaign promises. And this is what this looks like. Some of the big things that are going to be hitting upon are some of the things we’ve been fighting for a long time. For example, Waters of the U.S., I remember starting that fight back in the Obama administration back in 2015. And both Obama and Biden tried to stretch the rule to expand EPA’s authority to things like roadside ditches or farm ditches or farm ponds, things that were clearly not navigable waters. You know, the Clean Water Act of 1972 says navigable waters 50 times. And they totally tried to get rid of that meeting. And we’re going to go back to common sense. But we’re also going to be rolling back the Clean Power Plan, which was going to do things such as shut down our very clean burning coal plant in Nebraska. They’re going to get rid of the greenhouse gas reporting rule, which would be an attack on our natural gas facilities, which, again, is a big source of power for Nebraska and many states. And frankly, natural gas is one of the reasons why we are the only industrialized country that’s actually reducing our greenhouse gases. Unlike other countries who say they’re going to, we’re actually delivering on that promise by using natural, clean burning natural gas. Also rolling back the EV mandate. This is one that I’ve been fighting because EVs don’t make sense in big rural states with cold weather. The adoption rate in Nebraska is 2%. And under the Biden administration, they wanted two thirds of all new vehicles being sold in 2032 to be EVs. That just wasn’t gonna happen. They’re gonna run into math and physics there with that one. But again, common sense is coming back on that. So, and then the good neighbor rule, which again, would just allow the EPA to be able to expand their authority to states with clean air, really without any sort of reason or authority, but just an expansion of power. So we’re really seeing the rollback of a lot of major programs that were going to be trouble for states like Nebraska, where we have a very clean environment. You can go look at the rankings. Everybody says we got clean air, we got clean water. Nobody cares more about having that than we do in Nebraska. But we saw with both Obama and the recent Biden administration was a huge expansion of the EPA’s authority. And now we’re seeing common sense.
SPEAKER 09 :
The bottom line effect of these regulatory actions when they’re put in place, like we saw with Biden and Obama, is, number one, it costs the consumers. You’re paying more for energy. You’re paying more for certain products. We’ve got to change all of our light bulbs. We’ve got to pay for things that cost us more. But is this not also a part of driving up the federal deficit and the debt?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, because you’re totally right on both points. So first of all, the Biden administration rolled out 5,000 regulations, and we just named a few of them. And the average cost of that to the American family was $3,300 a year. And not just once, it’s $3,300 every year until those regulations are rolled back, such as what we’re seeing right now with the EPA. So this is going to be a good start in rolling those regulations back and saving American households money. But when you put this layer of regulation on, you put a wet blanket on innovation, on small businesses, and small businesses are who create most of our jobs in this country. And so it’s anti-growth. It means you are really being restrictive, if you want to think about it, from a standpoint of how much money is out there, how much money is available to households to be able to go out and spend, how much is available to businesses to be able to invest. So this will be part of how the Trump administration unleashes the economy again. When we saw some of the best economy we’ve ever seen in the first Trump administration, you go look at the job participation rate by Americans, you look at the Poverty rates among African-Americans, the unemployment rate was some of the lowest for African-Americans rates ever. Hispanic Americans the same, Asian-Americans the same. We saw great unleashing of our economic power here. And it’s because in part, the Trump administration took off a bunch of regulations that were preventing our innovators, our small businesses and our families from being able to invest or spend the money that they otherwise would have, except that they had to spend the money on regulations under Biden.
SPEAKER 09 :
And so we just got about a minute and a half left, but one of these initiatives, they put regulations on appliances. Then they allocated $2 billion to buy green energy appliances for certain Americans. And it was a grant that was given to Stacey Abrams. This is one of the things that President Trump kind of mentioned in his speech, the joint session. This is one of those grants that Lee Zeldin has zeroed out, or at least he’s trying to get it back. This is an example of creating a problem so you can try to solve a problem.
SPEAKER 04 :
solve the money as you point out by spending more money that we don’t have, right? I mean, one of the big things that the Trump administration is trying to do, the Doge effort is a big part of this, is go back in and strip out the wasteful spending. And the points you’re talking about, these grants, especially at the EPA, have been going out to these radical left-wing organizations In many cases, because money’s fundable, we’re giving these grants out to these organizations who are anti-America, they’re anti-Israel. We’re essentially paying them to come and protest us in Washington, D.C., which is clearly not the intent that most taxpayers think when they actually pay their taxes. It’s not how most people want to see their taxpayer dollars being wasted. And actually, Shelley Capito and I did a big press conference on this back a few months ago to highlight this. And what I am really glad to see is that Lee Zeldin has recognized this and is trying to claw those dollars back.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yes, we applaud him. And Senator, thanks for joining us today. Always great to see you. Great. Stick with us, folks. We’re back after this.
SPEAKER 22 :
What is God’s role in government? What does the separation of church and state really mean? And how does morality shape a nation? President John Adams said our Constitution was made only for moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. Join Family Research Council for God and Government, a powerful 13-part series that equips you with biblical truth to engage in today’s most pressing debates. From the Ten Commandments in Classrooms to the Immigration Crisis of America, we’ll uncover The foundations of our nation’s history and why it’s relevant for today. Defend God’s plan for government because faith and freedom were never meant to be separate. New episodes available each Monday. To view the series on the Stand Firm app, text COURSE to 67742.
SPEAKER 16 :
The world is hurting. Streets are filled with crime. Families are broken. Sin is celebrated and God is mocked. Everywhere we look, the wages of our sin are on full display. As Christians, we know that surrender to God’s will is the solution to our biggest problems, but not everyone agrees. Even in church, we hear people say the most important thing is to be tolerant, that we shouldn’t impose a morality on other people, and that loving our neighbor means celebrating what they do. But you can’t do that. It’s not that you don’t love your neighbor. You do. But you care about God’s opinion more than your neighbor’s opinion, and this makes you different. In fact, sometimes it makes you feel alone, like you’re the only one. But there is good news. You are not alone, not even close. Research has found that there are 59 million American adults who are a lot like you. There are millions of people around the country who are born again, deeply committed to practicing their faith, and believe the Bible is the reliable Word of God. But that’s not all. They’re also engaged in our government. They’re voters. They’re more likely to be involved in their community, and they’re making a difference in elections. The problem is that a lot of them feel alone, too. We want to change that. FRC wants to connect these 59 million Americans to speak the truth together, no matter the cost. If you want to learn more about this group and what it means to be a spiritually active, governance-engaged conservative, or if you want to find out if you are one of these sage cons yourself, go to frc.org slash sagecon and take the quiz to find out. The world is hurting, and we have the solution. We can’t do it alone, but we can do it if we work together. That’s what we’re working toward every day. Join us. Go to FRC.org slash S-A-G-E-C-O-N, SageCon, to learn more. That’s S-A-G-E-C-O-N, SageCon, to learn more.
SPEAKER 09 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us. All right, if you’ve not yet seen this week’s episode of God and Government, you can do so. Download the Stand Firm app. It is exclusively on the Stand Firm app. This week we look at, is America a Christian nation? Were we founded a Christian nation? What role did the Bible have in the founding of our nation? That’s what we explore in this fourth episode of God and Government. So go to the App Store and download the Stand Firm app. The word for today comes from Jeremiah 51, which highlights God’s sovereignty over every nation. In Jeremiah 51, 53, we read, Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify her strong height, yet destroyers would come from me against her, declares the Lord. The question some might ask is, why was Babylon a Gentile nation being judged by God? Well, Jew or Gentile neither gets a pass on their idolatry and pride. This passage stands as a reminder of the sovereignty of God, the God of the Bible, and a warning to all nations. No matter how strong or powerful a country appears or how advanced its technology might be, it cannot escape divine judgment if… it fails to yield to the word in the ways of the one true god god’s grace remains the same only true it’s the only true defense against destruction therefore we should heed the lesson of babylon’s demise as we consider our own lives both personally and collectively as a nation let us remember that pride and idolatry inevitably invite god’s correction therefore we should humble ourselves and submit to the one true God, trusting in his grace and his mercy. To find out more about our journey through the Bible, text Bible to 67742. Earlier this week, a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee hearing ended abruptly after subcommittee member Sarah McBride of Delaware was referred to as Mr. McBride by the subcommittee chair, Congressman Keith Self of Texas. Well, as you’re probably aware, Congressman McBride is the first member of Congress who openly identifies as transgender. So to kind of walk through this, he is basically a man who wants to be accepted as a woman. And so naturally, the legacy media is accusing Congressman Self of misgendering Congressman McBride. But Congressman Self has made clear he does not have to participate in Mr. McBride’s fantasy. And that’s really what it is. It’s a fantasy. This is increasingly an issue, not just for Congress, but for a lot of Americans, including a lot of Christians who are looking for answers on how to respond to this cultural confusion. WELL, THIS IS WHERE WORLDVIEW COMES IN. JOIN ME NOW TO DISCUSS THIS AND MORE IS DR. GEORGE BARNA, DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH AT ARIZONA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY AND A SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW AT FRC CENTER FOR BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW, IS ALSO THE AUTHOR OF MANY, MANY BOOKS, INCLUDING RAISING SPIRITUAL CHAMPIONS. GEORGE, WELCOME BACK TO WASHINGTON WATCH. THANKS FOR JOINING US.
SPEAKER 20 :
Thanks for having me, Tony. Good to be with you.
SPEAKER 09 :
All right. So we’re going to get into a discussion analysis, some of the latest research you’ve done on worldview in terms of what contributes to a worldview and how we’ve got a mixed up view of God. But before we do that, I want to jump in first to a practical application. I want to play a clip from the committee that took place, the committee hearing I just referenced that took place this week and get your response to it. Play the clip for us, please.
SPEAKER 12 :
Would you repeat what you just said when you introduced a duly elected representative from the United States of America, please?
SPEAKER 14 :
I will. The representative from Delaware, Mr. McBride. Mr. Chairman, you are out of order.
SPEAKER 12 :
Mr. Chairman, have you no decency? I mean, I have come to know you a little bit, but this is not decent. We will continue this. You will not continue it with me unless you introduce a duly elected representative the right way.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, the chairman, Keith Self, from Texas, adjourned the committee because he was not going to change his introduction because his introduction was accurate and true. George, this is becoming an issue for Christians all across the country. And we’ve even had some pastors say, well, you know, look, what’s the big difference about a pronoun? Let’s use preferred pronouns. But is this not a worldview issue?
SPEAKER 20 :
Well, I would say it certainly is. And there are a number of things that we can point to. I mean, really what we’re talking about is what is truth? And truth is what God determines it is. Now, it just so happens that God also determined that Representative McBride is a man. Representative McBride can run around calling himself whatever he wishes. That’s what we call free speech. So sure, he’s allowed to do that, just as Congressman Self is allowed to recognize the fact that God created him as a man and to express that publicly. So you’ve got the two different issues here that are interlocked. You’ve got free speech. You’ve got truth. And, you know, from a biblical perspective, it’s important that we know where truth comes from. It comes from God. It’s delineated to us in the scriptures, his words to us. And that’s why it’s so important that we read those words and we study those words and we really reflect and meditate on those words and understand them because we’re going to encounter situations like this And if we’re called as disciples of Christ to represent Him well in the world, one of the ways that we do that is by helping people understand what truth is, by bringing them back to the same source of truth that we go to, helping them understand that. Now, that doesn’t mean they’re going to buy into it. But we need to be able to help them know why we believe what we believe, where it’s coming from, and what its implications are. And in this case, I mean, kudos to representative self. It’s a tough thing to do. You make people angry when you stand up for truth sometimes. You lose some of your popularity. So be it. We’re not called to be popular. We’re called to be obedient.
SPEAKER 09 :
So a couple of observations here on what you just said. Number one, we go to the word of God. So it’s not our opinion. That was not Keith Self’s opinion. It was a reflection of truth. And he knows that truth. We know that truth from the word of God. Now, there’s other factors, biological, scientific facts that back it up. But for us as believers to operate from a biblical worldview, we know that God created male and female. So that’s number one. But number two, I want to go to the other point about. being a beacon of light, to being bearers of truth, because even though it may be offensive, if we compromise on truth, how will others ever know what truth is and find the freedom that comes through truth?
SPEAKER 20 :
You know, Tony, I think there’s no greater example than Jesus himself. You look at what he did with the Jewish people that he was ministering to, that he was trying to bless and advance in their lives. And they got angered when he shared truth with them. Well, he’s our ultimate role model. If you’re a disciple, to be a disciple means that you imitate your master. Jesus is our master. We’re called to imitate him. So, I mean, he never backed down from the truth. He always spoke it. Did it get him in trouble? Yes, ultimately it got him killed. But that’s our role model. And so we have to understand, yes, what we do is we represent him and to represent Christ, to represent God, we have to know the Bible and we have to represent truth. People may not like it. People may not accept it. That’s ultimately not up to us. That’s up to the Holy Spirit and how God chooses to deal with them in those situations. Our calling is to represent him well.
SPEAKER 09 :
And of course, as we know, truth always prevails. It prevailed in the case of Jesus Christ after he was buried. He was resurrected by the power of the Holy Spirit. That truth remains changing, transforming hearts and minds even to this day. So with that backdrop of an example of that, this is not just some type of act. academic conversation we’re having about worldview. It’s very practical in this world. In fact, I would say even more so today as there is this really defining clash between worldviews, between truth and between a lie, between light and darkness. But in your research, Christians are struggling, self-identified Christians are struggling to have a true biblical worldview.
SPEAKER 20 :
Well, it’s true. I mean, the prevailing worldview among every group, subgroup of the Christian community that we look at, whether we’re talking about theologically identified born-again Christians, self-identified Christians, conservative Christians, a majority of them, there’s only one exception, a majority of all those groups, their prevailing worldview is syncretism, which essentially means that they’re drawing beliefs from many different philosophies of life or worldviews and bolting them together into a customized worldview that makes them comfortable, makes them feel secure, makes them feel like they’re right and they don’t have to kowtow to anybody or anything because they’re in charge. And so we have a major crisis in this country, and it’s not immigration, it’s not crime, it’s a crisis of faith based on bad worldview. Why does it matter? Because every choice that every person makes flows through their worldview. If your worldview is wrong, your decisions are going to be wrong. And so when we look at America and we say, wow, we’ve got so many problems, we’re going down so many wrong paths. Well, it’s because we’re making bad decisions. Why are we making bad decisions? Because we’ve got a bad worldview. So we need to go back and fix that right now with the different things that we’re doing. All we’re addressing are the symptoms. We’re not addressing the cause of our ultimate problem. The cause is worldview.
SPEAKER 09 :
And a large part of that, based on what I was reading through your research, is a lack of understanding or redefinition, if you will, of the biblical entity of God. God the Creator and even Jesus Christ. There seems to be a different view of Him than what the Bible lays out. Is that accurate?
SPEAKER 20 :
Absolutely accurate. I wish our view of God were as accurate. You know, the problem that we’ve got is when I look over the last 30 years that we’ve been measuring, I’ve been measuring it for longer, but let’s take just the last 30 years. What we’ve seen is a drop in the proportion of people who believe there’s any kind of supreme being or God figure that’s dropped from 93% to 71%. but here’s something even more important that when you look at that group of people who say yes there is some kind of supernatural deity or deities and we try to have them identify well what is that when we look at the god of the bible belief that the ultimate authority is the god of the bible has dropped from 73 percent back in 1995 to just 40 percent today So we’re in a situation now where a majority of Americans do not believe that the God of the Bible exists and is influential in people’s lives. And that completely changes the game. And something else we reported in the research is what that means is that people are basically redefining God in their own image.
SPEAKER 09 :
In their own image. Isn’t that a form of idolatry? Absolutely. I mean, we’ve created Jesus, recreated him in our own image as we want him to be, and that is a form of idolatry.
SPEAKER 20 :
Yeah, and I mean, there are people in the Bible who you read their stories and they obviously suffered or were killed because of that kind of lifestyle and set of choices that they had. Bad worldview. Your worldview has consequences because you make choices. Choices always have consequences. So your worldview is incredibly important. We spend so little time thinking about what do I believe? What are the implications of my beliefs? We like to just keep doing stuff rather than thinking about what we’re going to do before we do it. So it’s important that we go back. You know, we look at this issue of God, and if you don’t get your definition of God right, you’re not going to get your life right because you’re not going to believe that the Bible is his word. You’re not going to believe that there’s absolute moral truth. You’re not going to believe that success in life is obedience to God because you don’t even believe that God exists. It’s all about obedience to your own feelings, the things that you desire, which then get us in trouble with the Ten Commandments because we start coveting things that we ought not to covet. It’s just an endless cycle that brings us down, down, down. We’ve really got to go back to the basics. A lot of people say, I figured that out when I was a kid in Sunday school. Well, maybe not. And maybe we need to go back and revisit some of those real basic elements of our worldview.
SPEAKER 09 :
And central to that is the Word of God, because that is what defines for us who God is, what He has done for us, and what He expects from us. And you can’t have a fully developed worldview, biblical worldview, without knowing the Word of God and having a relationship with him george we just have about two minutes left i want to very quickly go to one of the solutions and that is we we have to focus on our children you have the book out raising spiritual champions a world view pretty much shaped by the time you get to the age of 13 what do we need to be doing
SPEAKER 20 :
I mean, parents and followers of Christ need to recognize we want to have all the impact that we can for the kingdom of God. And so that means we’ve got to put as much of our energy as possible into where we’re going to have that greatest effect. And we know that that’s going to be with children. It’s interesting. It’s a controversial thing to say, but really ministry to adults in most cases is simply a maintenance ministry. Most adults don’t change. Their beliefs don’t change unless they encounter a significant crisis in their life that shakes them up so much that they revisit so many of their core beliefs. With children, it’s completely different. We don’t have to first undo what they already believe and then replace it with something new and have all the arguments in between. With children, they’re trying to figure it out from scratch. So our best chance to really have impact on this culture and to help America have a solid biblical spiritual foundation once again like we had with the founding fathers and the people that came over originally in america they came here for that kind of spiritual experience we’ve lost that desire we’ve lost that foundation we can rebuild it best way to do it is through our children which means that as adults we need to be identifying children that we’re going to spend time with We’re going to have these kinds of conversations with. We’re going to be asking the appropriate questions, helping them understand the Bible, and most importantly, perhaps modeling for them. What does it mean to be a follower of Christ?
SPEAKER 09 :
Good stuff. George Barna, out of time, unfortunately, but always great to see you. You too, Tony. Thank you. And folks, stay tuned because in the not too distant future, we’re going to have some resources available for you to help you develop that worldview among your children. But for now, we’re out of time. So you know what the Apostle Paul says, when you’ve done everything you can do, just keep standing.
SPEAKER 13 :
Washington Watch with Tony Perkins is brought to you by Family Research Council and is entirely listener supported. Portions of the show discussing candidates are brought to you by Family Research Council Action. For more information on anything you heard today or to find out how you can partner with us in our ongoing efforts to promote faith, family, and freedom, visit TonyPerkins.com.
