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Jody Heiss engages with Congressman Buddy Carter to unpack the successes and challenges of the federal crime crackdown in major cities. Additionally, Heiss discusses with former Congressman Mo Brooks the pivotal decision to relocate the U.S. Space Command to Huntsville, shedding light on the strategic implications amid growing global military competition. The episode concludes with expert insights into a potential national housing emergency and congressional efforts to tackle lingering budgetary issues.
SPEAKER 01 :
from the heart of our nation’s capital in Washington, D.C., bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and soundbites into conversations with our nation’s leaders and newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Sitting in for Tony is today’s host, Jody Heiss.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, good afternoon. Welcome to this Tuesday edition of Washington Watch. I’m Jody Heiss, senior fellow here at the Family Research Council. An honor today to be filling in for Tony. We’ve got a lot to bring your way today. Here are some of the headlines that we’ll be discussing. President Trump made it clear today that the National Guard will be on their way to Chicago. in spite of the fact that the mayor there claims that the people of Chicago don’t need protection from crime, but from law enforcement who prevent crime, like what we’ve seen in D.C.
SPEAKER 19 :
We have seen with the surge in the last 30 days in Washington, D.C., that law enforcement on the streets works. We know that. This is common sense. The mayors and the governors need to step up in places like Chicago, L.A., Atlanta, other places. They need to step up and they need to start protecting their citizens and not protecting the criminals.
SPEAKER 07 :
That was Congresswoman Harriet Hageman earlier today while she was leading a press conference on the crime crackdown in D.C. Congressman Buddy Carter was also there, and he will be joining me here in just a few moments with the latest on the crime crackdown and the Democrats’ resistance to it all. And then there was this announcement.
SPEAKER 20 :
Seven years in the making. As you know, this has been going on for a long period of time. And I am thrilled to report that the U.S. Space Command headquarters will move to the beautiful locale of a place called Huntsville, Alabama, forever to be known from this point forward as Rocket City.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, that was President Trump earlier today, and I’ll be discussing this a little bit later in the program when I’m joined by former Alabama Congressman Mo Brooks. And then in another announcement that’s been making waves is President Trump’s social media post on a forthcoming executive order to make voter ID a requirement for voting. Cleta Mitchell from the Election Integrity Network will join me a little bit later to unpack that. And then lastly, there has been quite a bit of news on the economic side. In fact, on this past Friday, a federal appeals court ruled that most of President Trump’s tariffs are illegal.
SPEAKER 06 :
The lower court’s ruling is upheld. President Trump has correctly said that will be the end of the United States because it will be impossible to defend ourselves from the fentanyl poisoning and all of the trade environment, which is hollowing out our supply chains and creating very dangerous problems for the American people.
SPEAKER 07 :
That was White House Senior Counselor for Trade and Manufacturing Peter Navarro speaking to reporters yesterday. I’ll discuss this and some other developments on the economic front when I’m joined later today by Dr. Jason Sorens. He’s over at the American Institute for Economic Research. So as usual, we’ve got a PAC program coming your way in the next hour. You don’t want to miss any of it. But if by chance you do, you want to check out TonyPerkins.com, our website. And better yet, I encourage you just to download our Stand Firm app. not only this program a host of others and tons of resources available tons of resources on our stand firm app you can simply text the word app app to 67742 if you don’t yet have the stand firm app go get it also don’t forget about our upcoming pray vote stand summit is coming up october 17th and 18th in chino hills california again you can visit the following website for more details And that is PrayVoteStand.org. PrayVoteStand.org. All right, let’s jump into our first item for today. Over the weekend, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signed a sweeping executive order supposedly protecting Chicago from the possibility of the federal government’s National Guard deployment into the city. And now it’s looking like that’s more than just a possibility, as President Trump actually told reporters earlier today that he will be sending the National Guard to Chicago. After what success we’ve seen in Chicago, he says, in Washington, D.C., he says Chicago is next. But he did not say when that would happen. So how might all of this play out? Joining me now to discuss this and more is Congressman Buddy Carter. He serves on the House Budget Committee and the Energy and Commerce Committee. He represents the 1st Congressional District of the great state of Georgia. Congressman Carter, welcome back to Washington Watch. Always great to see you.
SPEAKER 05 :
Always good to see you, my friend.
SPEAKER 07 :
All right. So you were at the press conference today. And in fact, you spoke there regarding the federal government’s crackdown on crime in Washington, D.C. It has clearly been a success, hasn’t it?
SPEAKER 05 :
Oh, there’s no question about it. Jody, I was at Union Station on Sunday, and it was so nice to see the National Guard there, to see just how nice it was to be able to enjoy what is obviously a very beautiful area, a very beautiful building. And that’s what the president has done. Remember, he campaigned and promised that he was going to make America more prosperous and more safer. And he has done just that. He’s made it more prosperous through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Now he’s making it safer by doing what he’s doing here and making our streets safer here in Washington, D.C. and throughout our country. Remember, Jody, I was mayor at one time, and I understood just how important it was to keep our citizens safe. It should be that way for every mayor. It just baffles me and it just disappoints me so much to hear Chicago, particularly those who are supposed to be setting an example, saying they don’t want help in fighting crime. I mean, why wouldn’t you want your citizens to be safe? I don’t get that at all.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, I don’t get it either. It’s just absolutely stunning to me. In fact, they have the attitude that instead of protecting their citizens from crime, they’re going to protect their citizens from law enforcement who are there to prevent crime. Like you said, it’s just stunning to me. So what do you think, though, about the president moving from Washington, D.C., where clearly he does have— constitutional authority to intervene in what happens in Washington, D.C. But there are some question marks, are there not, to going to other cities, be it Chicago or New York or wherever else?
SPEAKER 05 :
You’re right. But I applaud the president for what he’s doing. The president is taking charge here. Again, he campaigned and he promised he was going to make America safer. He was going to make it more prosperous. And he’s doing just that. And, you know, people ask me and the Democrats want to make this out to be that he’s picking on them. If you remember the bank robber, Willie Sutton, they asked him one time, why do you rob banks? And his answer was, because that’s where they keep the money. Well, why are you picking these cities? Because that’s where the problem is. It’s in Chicago. It’s in Baltimore. It’s because of ineffective and weak leadership, Democratic leadership, that we’re seeing these crime-ridden cities. Look at what he’s done in Washington, D.C. We had a serious problem in Washington, D.C. Earlier this summer, we had two Two embassy workers killed at the Israeli embassy. Earlier this year, we had an intern here from Capitol Hill who was shot and killed. We had a member of the administration who was mugged and brutally beaten. We needed him to get in and bring that stability here. And he did just that. And I’m proud of the president for doing that. I feel safer now in Washington, D.C. And people in Chicago, people in Baltimore, they deserve to have safe streets. They deserve to be able to go out to dinner with their family without worrying about crime.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, I agree, and it feels so good walking about and seeing the National Guard, and I have yet to speak with anyone, Uber drivers or whomever, that were offended by the fact that they are safer. If I can switch gears, in spite of the fact, and I’m going to have to run on from that topic, but I’m sure you saw Judge Charles Breyer in California had said that the president violated the law by going to California to prevent crime. So I think that we’re still going to see more of this come up, Congressman Carter. But if I can, let me slip by you. What do you make about the Democrats’ resistance to all of this? Do you see that with your colleagues in the House, the Democrats, that they are indeed resistant to prevention of crime?
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, they are. And we’ve seen it. Jody, it was going on while you were still a member here, this, you know, defund the police movement. And it seems like they were more concerned about protecting the criminal than they were about protecting citizens from crime. And that’s something that just baffles me. And I just don’t, you know, I don’t get it because the Democrats just don’t understand. They’re always on the 20 percent side of the 80-20 rule. And, you know, it just is not working for them but we all want safe cities i don’t care what an ethnicity you are you want to be able to go out eat with your family and not have to worry about crime you want to be able to walk down the sidewalk and not have to worry about being being badgered by someone so that these are the kind of things that the president’s addressing and these are kind of things that need to be addressed in our country in our big cities especially
SPEAKER 07 :
Don’t you think it largely comes down to just, as many refer to as Trump derangement syndrome, there’s just an utmost hatred for President Trump to the extent that if he is for something, they automatically are going to be against it, even if it is something that is good for their own citizens, their own states and cities and constituents and so forth, like preventing crime. It’s become a partisan issue because Trump is in favor of it.
SPEAKER 05 :
And it should not be a partisan issue. I don’t care whether you’re white, black, Hispanic, whatever. You want to be safe in your city. When I was mayor, I wanted to make sure my citizens were safe. And you could not be more right about this Trump derangement syndrome. I’m convinced that the four years of the Biden-Harris administration, all they did was go in there and said, whatever Donald Trump did the previous four years, we’re going to do just the opposite. He wanted to shut down our border. We’re going to make sure that we’re opening that border. And that’s what they did. And it led to all of this unrest and all of this mess that we’ve got now that we’re trying to clean up. And thank goodness the president is cleaning that up. But you’re right. Who wouldn’t want a safe city? I mean, you know, it just doesn’t make any sense at all.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah. And, you know, even over the weekend, to go further with that, I’m sure you saw over the Labor Day weekend in many major cities, there were protests held, anti-Trump protests with the theme workers over billionaires. What was your take on those protests, as we’ll call them?
SPEAKER 05 :
Workers over billionaires, yeah. The one big beautiful bill act that saved taxpayers $3,000 a year. The one big beautiful bill act that did away with tax on tips, that did away with tax on overtime. Yeah, those billionaires, they’re getting a lot of tips. They’re getting a lot of overtime. Yeah, it was favoring billionaires all right. Makes no sense whatsoever. The one big beautiful bill act It benefited the middle class worker more than it did anyone. And to say that just because the president has been very successful and he’s done well in business and he is a billionaire, I think is, again, what you pointed out earlier, just part of the Trump derangement syndrome.
SPEAKER 07 :
We’ve only got real quickly, 30 seconds or so, but Congress is back in session. What do you think are going to be the main topics that you try to tackle in the next couple of weeks?
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, we’ve got to do something about the budget, as you know. Our budget year runs out September the 30th, so we’ve got to address that. We’ve got an appropriations bill on the on the floor tomorrow that I hope will get passed. But, you know, if the Democrats do not cooperate and if they continue to throw obstacles in this and the government shuts down, this will be the Schumer shutdown. There’s no question about that.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yes, it will. Thank you, Congressman Buddy Carter of Georgia. Always great to see you. Go get them. You got a lot on your plate. Thank you, my friend. All right, coming up, President Trump has finally put to rest the question over where the headquarters for the U.S. Space Command will be. And we’ll talk about that decision right after the break. Stay with us.
SPEAKER 15 :
Three years ago, the Supreme Court issued its historic Dobbs decision, a ruling that overturned Roe versus Wade, which for nearly 50 years imposed abortion on demand, silencing voters and bypassing the democratic process across the country. The Dobbs decision was a huge step forward against abortion, but it didn’t outright ban it. It returned the power to the people. Now, 29 states have laws on the books protecting life. However, there’s a catch. Abortion numbers since Dobbs have actually gone up with an increase of 12% since 2020, climbing from 930,000 to over 1 million in each of the most recent years. So how can this be? The answer is simple, the abortion drug. Today, over 60% of US abortions involve abortion drugs, many of these without medical oversight. In 2021, the Biden administration quietly removed bare minimum longstanding safety protocols for the abortion drug that have existed for 20 years to protect women from life-threatening risks and ensuring informed consent. The Biden DOJ then declared that they would not enforce the Comstock Act, which prevents the mailing of anything that causes an abortion. This is not only illegal, but also dangerous. A study shows nearly 11% of women who take the abortion drug end up in the emergency room with serious complications. Unless the Trump administration reverses these reckless Biden-era policies, pro-life laws will remain largely symbolic. Without a full review and repeal of Mifepristone, unborn lives will remain in grave danger and pregnant mothers will remain at risk. Let’s stand for life and end this mail-order abortion drug pipeline. Sign the petition urging the Trump administration to take action at frc.org slash stop chemical abortion.
SPEAKER 13 :
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory. Family Research Council invites you to join our Stand on the Word Bible reading plan as we reflect upon the life of Jesus, the Word who dwelt among us. Come with us and discover the glory of the Word. Read the Gospels and witness the life-changing story of Jesus, His life, death, and resurrection. Come read how Jesus transformed the lives of common people and how those same people transformed the known world through the power of the Holy Spirit. Come with us for 10 to 15 minutes a day and read the entire New Testament before the new year. Find our Bible reading plan and daily devotionals from Tony Perkins at frc.org slash Bible. Join us and stand on the word.
SPEAKER 07 :
Good afternoon and welcome back to Washington Watch. I’m Jody Heiss filling in today for Tony. So glad to have you with us. All right. Earlier this afternoon, President Trump announced that the U.S. Space Command is going to be moving their headquarters from U.S. Space Command from Colorado to Alabama. This reverses a former decision from President Biden not to relocate the headquarters, which actually was a plan that President Trump had during the final days of his first term. So what can we expect as the president’s original plans now move forward? Well, joining me now to discuss this is former Congressman Mo Brooks. He served Alabama’s 5th Congressional District for more than a decade. And while in Congress, he was part of the Armed Services Committee as well as the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. Mo, welcome back to Washington Watch. Long time no see. Great to have you.
SPEAKER 09 :
My pleasure, Jody. It’s always good to see a friend from our days in the United States Congress where we work together and a fellow conservative. Unfortunately, there aren’t enough of us in Washington right now.
SPEAKER 07 :
That’s a fact. But listen, I remember having many conversations with you on multiple topics, but one of them was the Space Command. And you actually taught me a lot about Huntsville and what is already in place there. I want to get to some of that here in just a moment. But first of all, give me your overall reaction to the news from the president on this.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, I’m elated that finally, once again, we have another presidential decision that recognizes that the Redstone Arsenal, which neighbors Huntsville, Alabama, is the superior location for Space Command. I’m a little bit disappointed that President Trump took eight months to get this done. It was one of the things that he announced he was going to do back in January of of 2021 right before he left office, but it was consistent with and in accord with a competition that had taken place. And the United States Air Force had determined that Redstone Arsenal here in the Tennessee Valley of Alabama was the superior place to locate Space Command because of all the things that we already do. We’re called the Rocket City. And what that means is Huntsville, Alabama, Redstone-Arsenal, Marshall Space Flight Center. We’re pretty much the birthplace of America’s space program. You know, all those gee-whiz bang weapons that you see that the military uses on a regular basis, particularly those that go through the United States Army, they’re all purchased through Redstone-Arsenal here in the Tennessee Valley, every single one of them used by the United States Army. Plus, we are the ones that have the physicists, the scientists, the engineers that to a very large degree either oversee the next technological breakthrough in weaponry or in fact actually invent that next breakthrough that gives our war fighters a better capability of prevailing against our adversaries. So you put all these things in place that we already have established at Redstone Arsenal, it only makes sense that you would also cite Space Command because of our leadership with NASA, Marshall Space Flight Center, combined with our leadership and so many high-tech weapon systems and platforms that we are renowned for having invented or managed or built.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, that is the type of information that I remember talking to you about. And to be very honest with you, I had no clue of the depth of the brainpower and innovation that existed right there. So I’m so glad that you brought that up. Now, I’m sure you probably saw or at least heard a Department of Defense inspector general report that was released in April could not identify why former President Biden chose Colorado over Alabama. And in all frankness, the main reason I’ve heard was that it would be too costly to move. But that is not strategic thinking, is it?
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, not at all. First, over the long haul, our community is a much cheaper, less expensive to the taxpayer place to locate Space Command. We’ve got workers who are available at lower cost. We’ve got housing that is available at lower cost. We have lower taxes that are burdening citizens in the state of Alabama than we have, say, in a place like Colorado. And so the cost argument is a false one. But where we were excelling and where we are unmatched is the technological capabilities that we have in our community. By the way, just one example. We have more engineers per capita in this metropolitan area than any place in the United States. We have physicists and scientists just all around, okay? And that kind of intellectual talent, that synergy, when you put it all together, clearly made, according to the people who are making the decision now, the people who were involved in the politics, clearly made Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Alabama, the premier location to go. But give credit where credit is due. Colorado did not want to lose jobs. They were focusing on jobs, not national offense, but jobs. And they didn’t want to see the potential loss of jobs or prestige go from Colorado to the state of Alabama. So they pulled out all stops. Now it was to the detriment of the United States of America and our defense capabilities that the congressional delegation from Colorado in conjunction with Joe Biden, reversed a merit-based decision. But give credit where credit is due. They did it for political reasons, and they were successful at achieving their goal, at least for some temporary point in time. But we cannot continue to fetter away time. Communist China’s not waiting. They’re building superior weaponry, even as you and I speak.
SPEAKER 07 :
And we cannot- Yeah, let me ask you about that. We’ve only got about a minute left, but yeah, some people don’t realize the significance of this, but this is a significant move, particularly as you just referenced, be it China or Russia increasingly looking at space for military competition. This is a strategic move.
SPEAKER 09 :
Absolutely. Joe Biden and the Colorado delegation set us back three or four years by the political games that we played. But we’ve got to get our act together and we’ve got to do what is necessary to adequately protect and promote our assets in space or else we risk losing those kinds of assets. And people may not realize it, but probably close to 80 to 90 percent of the weaponry that the United States of America uses are advanced weaponry, is reliant upon space platforms for location capabilities to ensure that that weapon hits what you actually want it to hit. Our global positioning satellite system, by way of example, not just the one that the public has access to, but also the ones that are more sophisticated that are for military use.
SPEAKER 07 :
We’re going to have to wrap up.
SPEAKER 09 :
We’ve got to protect them.
SPEAKER 07 :
We’re going to have to wrap up there.
SPEAKER 09 :
All right.
SPEAKER 07 :
Former Congressman Mo Brooks from Alabama, great seeing you. It’s an honor to have you on the program. Thanks for joining us. All right, friends, coming up, President Trump wants IDs to be required for anyone who votes, and he has an executive order to make that a reality. We’ll cover it right after the break. Stay with us.
SPEAKER 18 :
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Here at Family Research Council, we face many threats to the family, threats that have been with us for some time. Abortion, the gender ideology threat, the attacks on marriage, the attacks on parental authority, and the attacks on religious freedom. We have to promote, support, strengthen, and incentivize family growth so families take their place in society in a place of honor.
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I’m defending the family by working in the Center for Biblical Worldview to provide cutting-edge research and resources for pastors, ministry leaders, and Christian parents.
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SPEAKER 07 :
Thank you for tuning in today to Washington Watch. I’m Jody Heiss filling in today for Tony. Thank you for joining us as well. All right, over the weekend, President Trump renewed his push for election integrity efforts. He shared on a social media post that he’s putting forward an executive order to make voter ID requirements for every vote Now, given that a federal judge back in June, I believe it was, struck down part of an executive order that required proof of citizenship to vote, how might the president now approach all of this and move forward? Well, joining me now to discuss this is Cleta Mitchell. She’s a senior legal fellow at the Conservative Partner Institute and founder of the Election Integrity Network. Cleta, welcome back to Washington Watch. Always great to have you.
SPEAKER 03 :
Thank you so much, Jodi. It’s always great to be with you.
SPEAKER 07 :
All right. So let’s talk about, I just mentioned it, introducing you. We have voter ID on the one hand. We have proof of citizenship. But when we talk about an executive order like this, are we talking about the same things?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, we’re talking about slightly different things. I mean, obviously, one of the things that Election Integrity Network is working on is making sure that voter ID or any ID that is used for voting to have a photo of the bearer. And it should also be one that is that clearly says this person is a citizen. So that’s aspirational. Look, I mean, I think that there are some areas in which the president can issue an executive order under existing law. One would be under the overseas people who vote deployed military and overseas citizens. The president has authority to appoint a designee to enforce that. And all of those are federal ballots. And we know that there have been subject to There was an Iranian group in 2020 that we recently saw a report issue presented to Senator Grassley where a group of Iranians had hacked into Alaska’s voter registration database and had a whole plan to flood that state’s ballots or ballot boxes with fake ballots from overseas. So we know the president has authority to do that. And I do think that the fact that there are… That there are so many states that do require about half the states do require some form of identification, and I think that that would give authority to the president to say to vote in a federal election. It has to meet these standards. But look, I mean the president’s authority is limited. The chief executive. is limited in his role with regard to elections, except that where there is a threat to the national sovereignty of the United States, as I think that we can establish with the system that we have, then I think maybe the president is thinking that he will exercise some emergency powers to protect the federal elections going forward.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, that is the issue here. I mean, we all know that the Constitution says that the time, place, and manner of elections is something that is left to the states, not to the federal government. But as you brought up, there are national security reasons why we need to make sure our elections are protected and not corrupt. in one way or the other. What are the big issues that we’re going to see in this executive order? I mean, we have the voter ID. Will that involve anything to do with mail in ballots?
SPEAKER 03 :
I sure hope so. I mean, I think that there is a that there really is a threat to our national sovereignty because of the great damage that left wing billionaires have funded and that these left-wing groups have gotten enacted all over the country. And in some places, I’ll just give you an example. This is so disheartening, but the Pennsylvania legislature passed a law when it allowed for universal no-excuse absentee voting, which they never had until 2020. And one of the things in that statute says that there has to be a date, and it has to be a date before the election. It has to be dated properly. It has to be a date before the election. And a ballot that doesn’t have that can’t be counted. Well, this case, Mark Elias and these people have litigated that over and over, and just last week got a ruling saying, oh, no, that statute can’t be enforced. Well, if the legislatures can’t enact the laws that the Constitution says it can, why is it that the president then is supposedly restricted under the Constitution, but even the legislatures, these judges, are throwing out duly enacted statutes? So our election statutes and the judicial review process are complete. They’re completely departed from what the Constitution envisioned, and I think it’s our job to try to get back to it.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, great point. If the legislators are not able to legislate, then who is? I mean, you would think from the actions of some of these judges that they think they are. All right, we’ve got less than a minute. Kalita, what would your advice be to the president if you were giving it to him to ensure that eligible voters are voting?
SPEAKER 03 :
I would say that I would take that responsibility that the Obama administration did on their way out the door in 2017, saying that elections are critical infrastructure, and I would task the Department of Homeland Security with going through and exercising its authority to issue regulations that will secure our elections to protect the security of the homeland. Now that the left decided that elections are critical infrastructure, fine. Let’s act on that and protect the integrity of our elections.
SPEAKER 07 :
Thank you, Cleta Mitchell. Always great to have you on, founder of the Election Integrity Network. Blessings to you. Thanks for joining us today.
SPEAKER 03 :
Thank you so much. Appreciate it, Jody.
SPEAKER 07 :
All right, coming up, the Trump administration may be declaring a housing emergency this fall. What does all that mean? Well, we’ll discuss it next. Stay with us.
SPEAKER 16 :
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SPEAKER 04 :
Jennifer, it’s so exciting to be here with you today talking about our new book, Embracing God’s Design. Who is actually going to benefit from reading this book in your view?
SPEAKER 10 :
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SPEAKER 07 :
Thank you so much for joining us on Washington Watch. Welcome back. I’m Jody Heiss filling in today for Tony. All right, don’t forget our upcoming Pray, Vote, Stand Summit is going to be in Chino Hills, California on October 17th and 18th. To register or find out more information immediately following the show, go check it out, PrayVoteStand.com. And then real quickly, I just want to say this one more time. Imagine, just imagine a state-of-the-art digital community where you are able to stay informed, stay connected with both like-minded believers and with the news happening all around America. our nation, and our world, and you’re able to stay connected from a biblical worldview perspective. Friends, that’s what you get with the Stand Firm app. If you don’t have Stand Firm, I’d want to urge you to go check it out and download this. It’s free. It’s all for your taking. Just text the word APP, A-P-P, text APP to 67742. All right. The Trump administration is considering the idea of declaring a national housing emergency this fall. Now, that’s something that has not been done since 2008, back in the recession. But Treasury Secretary Besant actually kind of made this public in an interview yesterday with the Washington Examiner. And given the current state of the economy, what can we make of this kind of potential move, even the consideration of it? I just want to go deeper into all of this. And joining me now to discuss it, Dr. Jason Sorens. He’s a senior research fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research. Dr. Sorens, welcome to Washington Watch. It’s great to have you.
SPEAKER 21 :
Good evening, Congressman. Great to be here.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, thank you so much. We appreciate you joining us. All right. First of all, you know, I’m sure that there’s a lot of people who are probably asking right now, what does a national emergency declaration do? So why don’t we start there?
SPEAKER 21 :
Well, it’s unclear exactly what the Trump administration is planning to do with this. We did hear from Secretary Besant that it could involve carved out tariff exemptions on construction materials. He also mentioned standardizing zoning and building codes. Basically, the declaration of an emergency is meant to allow for more freedom of executive action on these issues without congressional authorization. But to make permanent changes here, some of the things that he’d want to do, for example, zoning and building codes, which are largely a state matter, but there is some federal rule here. To do anything permanent there, you’d need congressional authorization.
SPEAKER 07 :
All right. So with that, then I guess the next question would be we’re talking about a potential housing emergency. So does the U.S. have a housing crisis, in your opinion?
SPEAKER 21 :
I would say we definitely have a housing crunch. I don’t like to use the word crisis about lots of things because politicians often use that term to kind of gin up support for government getting bigger. But I think in this case, the housing crunch has been caused by government. So government rules that limit your ability to build on your own land, even when you’re not causing any harms to your neighbors. And so it’s become a big issue for Americans, the rising cost of housing. And again, that’s been caused by growing demand for housing at the same time that we have limited supply. So we definitely should think about government finding ways to roll back those regulations and unleash our construction industry to solve this problem for Americans.
SPEAKER 07 :
I guess the definition between a crunch and a crisis all depends on your situation. One person’s crunch might be another person’s crisis. But now that we have the Secretary, Treasury Secretary, let the cat out of the bag, so to speak, he did not provide much detail. So here we are. We’re kind of left to extrapolate all of this. So what do you think might be some actions that President Trump could take?
SPEAKER 21 :
So exempting some of the tariffs on construction materials would definitely help. Lumber has overall risen in price, although it’s come down very dramatically in the last couple of weeks. But lumber is, of course, a major input into housing. Steel, of course, was hit with a 50% tariff. It’s also a a major input into larger buildings. So that is something that could be helpful if we get some temporary reprieve from those tariffs. We can also look at the National Manufactured Housing Code. So this is defined by the federal government and it includes things like requiring manufactured houses, what are sometimes known as mobile homes, to have a permanent chassis. That’s something that adds to the cost of a mobile home. Usually people don’t actually want to move their manufactured house around. They just want to put it on a foundation and live in it. So there’s no need for them to be required to have this chassis. That’s something that housing advocates have talked about for a long time. It’s a deregulation move. Unfortunately, that is defined in statute. That means that only Congress can really change that particular provision. But anything we can do to roll back taxes and regulations that drive up the cost of housing is going to help Americans at the end of the day.
SPEAKER 07 :
Good point. All right, Dr. Schwartz, if I can switch gears with you a little bit. This past Friday, a federal appeals court ruled that most of President Trump’s tariffs are illegal. So what can you tell us about that ruling and what does it mean really for tariffs in the long run?
SPEAKER 21 :
So the so-called reciprocal or liberation day tariffs were issued under the authorization of an act called the IEPA, which doesn’t actually mention tariffs, but it gives the president broad emergency authority and what the plaintiffs in this case said was well the constitution gives congress the power to tax including the the power to tax imports and so really you need an explicit uh… a declaration from Congress that the executive has this authority over tariffs for them to be able to do this. And the court ruled that no such explicit delegation of power has been made under the IEEPA. So these tariffs are illegal. And the case is going to the Supreme Court, most likely. We’ll see if the Supreme Court agrees to take the case. The tariffs remain in effect until mid-October. And the Trump administration is pushing now for the Supreme Court to hear an appeal quickly.
SPEAKER 07 :
So do you think the president could turn around and declare an emergency and proceed?
SPEAKER 21 :
Well, that’s what he has done. And the court has ruled, well, you can’t just do anything you want under color of an emergency. So the emergency declaration was based on fentanyl coming over the border. What some critics have pointed out is that, of course, fentanyl isn’t coming from Switzerland, for example, which is one of the countries hit with some of the highest tariffs. And so there’s really also not really a connection between the logic of the emergency declaration and the remedy proposed. Trade deficits have been mentioned, but trade deficits have been going on for decades. So it’s also unclear that they constitute an emergency. Really, if the court does strike these down, I expect the Trump administration to come back and reenact a lot of these tariffs using other authorities, because Congress has explicitly delegated to the president unilateral tariff-making authority under various other provisions, such as anti-dumping law. So that’s what I expect to happen if the Trump administration loses this case.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, I would agree with you on that because wouldn’t you agree that there have been a lot of benefits that have come from the change in tariffs? I mean, it’s moving things in a positive direction, isn’t it?
SPEAKER 21 :
Well, I’m a free market economist, and so I believe in free trade and that whenever the government taxes some products more than others, it’s going to distort the economy. In particular, it seems to be hitting American manufacturers who have to use imported goods to make stuff. So our advanced manufacturers are hurting when they have to pay high tariffs on things like steel and aluminum that they use in their products. So car manufacturers, aircraft manufacturers, laser manufacturers, they’re being hit by taxes on their inputs, and they’re also being able to sell less abroad. as a result of these tariffs. So I do think tariffs are bad policy, but let’s have that debate. And this is something that, you know, conservatives have been debating among themselves. And I think we should continue to have a healthy debate as the evidence rolls in.
SPEAKER 07 :
Thank you so much, Dr. Jason Soren, Senior Research Fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research. Great information. Thank you so much for your insight.
SPEAKER 21 :
Thanks for having me.
SPEAKER 07 :
All right. Before we go, I want to bring in Mark Tapscott with the Washington Stand. He’s our senior congressional analyst. Mark, thank you for coming, joining us today on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 08 :
Great to be here, Jody. How are you?
SPEAKER 07 :
I am doing well. Great to see you. All right, let’s continue this discussion. Congress is coming back. They’re all walking in the Capitol, even as we speak right now. A lot on their plates over the next few days and months, not the least of which is the economy, is the budget. Give us a 30,000-foot perspective on what they’re going to be dealing with.
SPEAKER 08 :
A 30,000-foot perspective might be very similar to jumping out of the airplane and seeing where you land with the budget. I have a parachute. Yeah, well, you’re fortunate. The problem is Congress has not passed the 12 major appropriations bills that need to be passed by September 30th, which is the end of the fiscal year. They come back from the August recess. They have, I think, nine in the Senate and 10 in the House that have to be passed. And if they don’t pass them, they will end up with yet another continuing resolution, which, of course, is that big, fat monstrosity that nobody knows what it is when they vote for it. And then we later find out that it was full of things that most of us don’t like. So that’s the basic issue. It looks pretty grim at this point.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, I mean, it does. It’s been forever. I know when I was there, we dealt with this over and over and over, year after year after year, and we’d always land back on a continuing resolution that basically is status quo. I would think under the current administration and leadership that we would at least have a chance of actually getting some budget legislation across the finish line. Are you saying that, in your opinion, that’s pretty doubtful?
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, I think it’s always doubtful with Congress on the budget, but I think they have made some progress. I think nine of the 12 bills in the House have passed through the subcommittee and been reported to the main committee, and they’ll end up on the floor, or most of them will. But then even once they pass the House and the Senate, you still have to resolve the differences between them, which I’m sure you served on. conference committees at one time or another during her tenure. And that’s a pretty thorny process as well. So it’s going to be tough. I think Speaker Johnson is probably the guy who is most suited to bringing some order out of all of this chaos. I’m not so sure about the Senate. If we do have a shutdown, it will be called a Schumer shutdown, and justly so. So we’ll see.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, and I’m glad you brought that up because it is true. The House has done a relatively good job in getting some of those different things passed. The Senate, as usual, is just slowing everything down. So let me ask you this. We have a lot of… fiscal conservatives on the right that have been doing it appears to me at least everything they can to try to move our whole budget and the process further to the right looking at 37 now trillion dollars of debt they’re trying to move the needle are they being successful in that in your opinion
SPEAKER 08 :
You know, it’s two steps forward here, one step forward back, and one step sideways on the budget reform issues. Interesting that you bring that up because I’m working on a story now about there is a move, which you’re probably familiar with. The $36 trillion figure for the national debt actually is a very specialized measurement that is used only by the government. if we accounted the government the same way we require General Motors or your corner grocery store to account, the actual national debt is more like $150 trillion. And the first step towards getting through a problem is to admit that you’ve got it. And one of the biggest problems that we have in the budget is nobody knows for sure how much we really do owe who, and we’ve got to get a handle on that.
SPEAKER 07 :
Wow. That is stunning information. You’ve been covering Congress and Capitol Hill for a long time. Do you think they’re going to be able to get anywhere? Do you sense anything different now than what you’ve seen over the years that you’ve been covering?
SPEAKER 08 :
I tell you, Jody, that is a question that I ask myself pretty regularly because As I think you and I have discussed, I first came to Washington as a President Reagan appointee and then became a journalist. And things are very different today, but I sense a very optimistic surge with a lot of people. There’s an awful lot of people in this town that recognize the way we’ve been doing it for the last 30 years is just not working. And there’s a lot of differences that have to be resolved. And I have a lot of confidence that in the long run, the American system is going to work, especially as we seek the Lord’s guidance in all of this. Because after all, the country that prays together is going to ultimately pay off its bills and prosper together.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yep. Well, I’m so glad you brought that up because that really is a great way for us to end the program today with a call on our viewers and listeners to pray. I mean, Congress has their hands full. They’ve got their hands full. And at the heart of it all is a spiritual battle that they need the wisdom of God. We need the good hand of God to navigate us through these times, not just another piece of legislation. Mark Tapscott, Senior Congressional Analyst at Washington Stand, thank you for joining us. Friends, that wraps up this edition of Washington Watch. Thank you so much for joining us. Hope you have a fantastic evening. We’ll see you again tomorrow right here on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 01 :
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.
