The Washington Stand’s Casey Harper recaps Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s testimony before the House Appropriations Committee, his first since the beginning of the war with Iran; as well as DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin’s testimony before the
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 soundbites into conversations with our nation’s leaders and newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Washington Watch with Tony Perkins starts now.
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You haven’t funded my officers. CBP and ICE has been willing to do the job for free. Why? Because of a reckless administration. Prior to President Trump coming in and saving America, you had a reckless administration that was destroying America by letting millions of illegals into our country.
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That was Department of Homeland Security Secretary Mark Wayne Mullen moments ago addressing funding for the agencies under his leadership at Homeland Security. Welcome to this Tuesday, June 2nd edition of Washington Watch. I’m your host, Tony Perkins. Thanks so much for tuning in. We’re coming up. The fight over border security takes center stage here in Washington as Homeland Security Secretary Mark Wayne Mullen pushes for stronger enforcement and more resources for ICE and Border Patrol. Of course, Democrats are pushing back. So what’s needed to secure the border and support law enforcement? Missouri Congressman Bob Onder joins us shortly. Plus, a federal appeals court delivers a mixed ruling on the military’s transgender policy, allowing restrictions on new enlistments while temporarily protecting current service members who are transgender. Kansas Senator Roger Marshall joins us with his reaction. And later, Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman will share with us his ongoing battle in the courts to protect the unborn and defend pro-life laws. All of that and more straight ahead. Secretary of State Marco Rubio appeared earlier today before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. This marks his first time testifying on Capitol Hill since the beginning of the war in Iran. Joining me now to discuss this and bring us up to speed on today’s events, Washington Stand reporter Casey Harper. So, Casey, what do we need to know from today’s hearing with Secretary of State Rubio?
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, thanks, Tony. Well, we’re looking for the daily play-by-play on the ceasefire negotiations out of Iran, and we did get some information from Secretary Rubio, who said that President Trump’s negotiating team has not offered Iran sanctions relief in exchange for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, really rebuffing some rumors there. But he did say that sanctions relief could be on the table if Iran gives up their nuclear program, which is a main reason they have the sanctions in the first place. Now, during the testimony, Secretary Rubio shared an update on where those negotiations stand. Here’s a clip.
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There is the prospect before us, which could happen today, it could happen tomorrow, it could happen next week, that for the first time, certainly in my memory, they have agreed to negotiate aspects of their nuclear program that just a month ago or just a year ago they were refusing to even mention, much less enter into discussions about. That is not a guarantee that ultimately it will lead to a deal that’s acceptable to the Senate or acceptable to the American people. But we’ll be able to engage them in a process to truly test the proposition of how far they’re willing to go.
SPEAKER 15 :
So some encouraging signs from the secretary there, which, by the way, Tony, comes as the administration is seeking a 50 percent increase in the Pentagon budget.
SPEAKER 08 :
Hmm. Very interesting. Casey, another primary day in California, Iowa, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota, which has voters going to the polls to cast their ballots. So what do we know about these races?
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah. So those states you mentioned, South Dakota, New Mexico, Iowa, California, those are voting on candidates for governor. Right. Whereas in Iowa, for instance, Democrats are choosing a Senate candidate. But one that’s getting outsized attention is that mayoral race in Los Angeles, which is very closely raced. So you have the Democrat incumbent there, Mayor Karen Bass, who’s taken on a socialist councilwoman and a reality show star, Spencer Pratt. It’s a high-stakes race, money pouring in, a lot of national attention. It’ll be interesting to see. But we’ve had Texas. Now we have California and more primaries on the way this midterm year, Tony.
SPEAKER 08 :
Of course, also we have the governor’s race there in California that’s being watched very closely as well. Shifting to some more news out of Washington, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Mark Wayne Mullen, as we talked about earlier, testified before the Senate Homeland Security Committee. Casey, what came out of that hearing?
SPEAKER 15 :
Sure, you played that contentious clip. And of course, immigration is front and center for DHS, but they really dug into the budget request. They have the 2027 proposed budget. The Trump administration is seeking $63 billion for DHS, which is a $2.2 roughly $2 billion increase from the year before, as they have really ramped up deportations in a way that we haven’t seen in years and, of course, didn’t see during the Biden administration. And it’s interesting timing for this hearing because, as you know, reconciliation is front and center. But just to give you a window into that, here’s a clip from Secretary Mullen during the hearing.
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The fact that CBP and ICE hasn’t been funded now for a historical amount of time
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is absolutely appalling it should never happen but yet we’re playing political games now all eyes are on reconciliation in congress we’ll see if this hearing helped move the needle at all well it’s going to be an interesting week here in dc casey thanks so much for the update we’ll talk to you a little bit later thanks tony All right, members of the House return to the Capitol tomorrow. The Senate returned yesterday. But the House has plenty waiting for them, even as they’re waiting for the Senate to advance the reconciliation package that Casey made reference to. Joining us now to discuss some of this week’s plans is Congressman Dr. Bob Under. He serves on the House Judiciary Committee as well as the Education Workforce Committee. He represents the 3rd Congressional District of Missouri. Dr. Under, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us. Great to be with you, Tony. So Reconciliation 2.0, top of the list for Republicans right now. Are you anticipating that Congress is going to get the funding necessary into the hands of your former colleague, Markway Mullen, to fund Homeland Security?
SPEAKER 17 :
I think we will, Tony. You know, the Democrats have been playing games with the budget here for a long time now. For a long time, they would not fund Homeland Security at all. And then finally, the deal that was reached is that we funded in a bipartisan way all of Homeland Security. except for ICE and Border Patrol. I never was really crazy about that approach because it allowed the Democrats essentially to defund immigration enforcement and put illegal aliens first. But the idea was then we could go back and pass a separate bill with just Republican votes because no Democrat will vote to fund our brave men and women who enforce our immigration laws through the reconciliation process. And I think that’s what’s over in the Senate right now. We in the House have voted five times to fund all of the Department of Homeland Security. But I’m very hopeful that my Senate colleagues will pass the reconciliation bill to fund ICE and Border Patrol, and we can once again establish stable funding for those really critical law enforcement agencies.
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Also this week, you have a bill that’s expected to reach the House floor. Of course, anything can happen, but it’s expected to reach the floor. It’s one of eight that the House Committee on Education and Workforce passed to fight fraud and restore Americans’ faith in our federal child care programs. Tell us about that and why it’s needed.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yes. Waste, fraud, and abuse, Tony, are very common throughout the federal government, federal programs, especially in our social welfare programs. But there are people and children who depend on programs like the Child Care Development Block Grant program. But unfortunately, we know that that for some time has been a target of fraudsters and abuse. Back in 2002, it was identified as an agency that was prone to improper payments. And then in 2022, the Government Accountability Office identified 325 million in fraud in that program. And unfortunately, Tony, it’s probably gotten dramatically worse. We know in Minnesota, the investigative journalist Nick Shirley identified $110 million in fraud all by himself. So we really have just dramatic expansions of fraud and abuse in these programs. It’s time to pass the Stop Child Care Scams Act to restore accountability and be good stewards of taxpayer money and really make sure this money goes to the children who really need it, not to some Somali fraudster.
SPEAKER 08 :
I mean, isn’t this part of the problem with these government programs where you have these bureaucrats administering them? It’s not their money. They don’t really care about it. And we just see increase and increase going to these agencies, historically speaking. That’s why we’ve got nearly $40 trillion in debt. You know, One idea that’s been put out there repeatedly is zero-based budgeting. Just make every department, every agency go back to zero every year and justify their budget instead of just adding money to it.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, I think that is an excellent idea. The problem we see with many of these programs is that the states are not good stewards of taxpayer money. They view money like this childcare program, or for that matter, food stamps, or for that matter, Medicaid, to be free federal money. And especially in blue states, there’s no oversight, no accountability whatsoever. They just take as much money as they can possibly get, and they don’t care where it goes. And of course, in Minnesota, many of these Somali fraudsters were a key constituency of Governor Tim Walz. So we need to restore accountability.
SPEAKER 08 :
Absolutely. Absolutely. Accountability. I mean, I think you’re right. There are certain cases, although I think it’s more limited than what we want to acknowledge, of those that need federal assistance or state assistance. I think we’ve been, you know, overly, I wouldn’t say generous, but we’ve just been, more and more has gone into these programs and it’s opened itself up to abuse. But we should help. I mean, we’re a compassionate society. We want to help people.
SPEAKER 17 :
Well, yeah, that is right. But what we see is these programs, in theory, when economic times are good and unemployment is low, these programs should shrink. But they don’t. They just keep going up and up and up. And, you know, essentially, we end up subsidizing.
SPEAKER 06 :
That should tell you something.
SPEAKER 08 :
You know, if times are good, employment’s low, the economy’s thriving, but these programs are growing, obviously there’s a hole in the bucket somewhere, or else somebody’s got their hand in there.
SPEAKER 17 :
And that is why what we did last summer in the one big beautiful bill with eligibility checks, verification work requirements is so critical in, for instance, the Medicaid program, because otherwise, if we don’t check eligibility, in one case, with the enhanced Obamacare credits, we saw one Social Security number being used 125 times. It just gets out of control unless we’re watching the story.
SPEAKER 08 :
The risk gets higher the further government moves away from its core responsibilities. You know, when you look at what government’s core responsibility, national security, then justice and a judicial system that provides justice. And of course, that’s very broad. But the further you get away from that, that’s where you get into fraud, people taking advantage of these monies. Dr. Ondra, before we run out of time, we’ve got about a minute left. You have introduced legislation in the House. There’s going to be a hearing tomorrow in the Senate regarding this transgender ideology that is mutilating our children. You’ve introduced the bill. You’ve been championing that in the House. Speak to that very quickly, why this is important, why Congress has to act.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yes, I, along with the Trump Justice Department, introduced the Chloe Cole Act, which is designed to hold those accountable who commit chemical or surgical mutilation on our children. And to end that horrific practice once and for all, we should be having a markup very shortly in judiciary. And I am just looking forward to protecting once and for all these vulnerable children.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, Dr. Onder, I want to thank you for your leadership on that. It’s been very important in the House. It’s something that FRC from the start has been championing. You have. And we are so grateful for your leadership in Congress to take this on and hopefully get it across the line. So thanks so much for joining us today. We look forward to talking to you again real soon. Thank you, Tony. Congressman Bob Onder of Missouri. All right, when we come back, we’re going to talk reconciliation 2.0 from the Senate perspective. Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas joins us also to talk about a court decision or a court ruling, I should say, on the transgender issue in the military. So a lot more Washington Watch straight ahead. So don’t go anywhere. We’ll be right back after this.
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Join us for a time of prayer, inspiration, and action at this year’s Pray, Vote, Stand Summit at Cornerstone Chapel in Leesburg, Virginia. Hear from Christian leaders, issue experts, and government officials as we work together to build a foundation based on biblical truth. Early Bird special tickets are on sale for $69 when you register by June 15th. To register, visit PrayVoteStand.org. That’s PrayVoteStand.org.
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Exodus 9, verse 1 says, You see, America has freedom for a purpose. The question is, are we living by that purpose today? In Scripture, deliverance and freedom is never an end in itself. It is a liberation unto obedience, to worship, and to a covenantal relationship. God’s demand to Pharaoh was not freedom for freedom’s sake, but freedom so his people could identify with and belong to and serve him. Freedom that is not used to serve God will not endure. One of the founders actually echoed a similar warning. Thomas Jefferson wrote, Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just and his justice cannot sleep forever. See, the founders understood we as a nation would be accountable to God for what he had granted to us. They sought freedom for a purpose. And that freedom was given to us as a nation for that same purpose, to serve God, to honor Him, and to live as a people under His authority. In this 250th anniversary year, we must ask the question, are we living by that purpose today as a nation? Lord, we thank you for the godly foundation and heritage of our states. Lord, we would return to an understanding of the freedom that you have granted to us, that freedom has a name. His name is Jesus. And freedom has a purpose. It is to honor and glorify you. And I pray that our nation would return to that understanding of the purpose of the freedom that you have granted to us. We thank you, Father. By faith, we pray that we would return to that purpose. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen. Welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for tuning in and being a part of the Washington Watch family. All right, join us this fall for Pray, Vote, Stand. This is your invitation from me to join us for the Pray, Vote, Stand Summit 2026. It’s going to be held September the 24th through the 26th at Cornerstone Chapel in Leesburg, Virginia, just outside of our nation’s capital. You can register today and actually get a summit pass, early bird registration for $69. This is available through June the 15th. To learn more and to register, visit PrayVoteStand.org. That’s PrayVoteStand.org. I hope to see you there. Well, yesterday, the Department of Justice said it would not proceed with the anti-weaponization fund that was making it difficult for Republicans to move their second reconciliation package through Congress. Now, with that off the table… Do the Senate Republicans now see a path for passing the stalled bill to fund immigration enforcement and border security? Joining me now to discuss this is Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas, who serves on the Senate Budget Committee and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. He’s also an OBGYN, practiced medicine for more than 25 years, and delivered more than 5,000 babies. A lot of those voters in Kansas. Dr. Marshall, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, Tony, it’s great to be with you as well. Thanks.
SPEAKER 08 :
All right. I know the Republican senators had their lunch today, did they not? Did you have a conversation about reconciliation? Is it moving forward?
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, they don’t call us the most deliberate body in the world for nothing. And that’s when under these lunches without any cameras on us, that’s when the real debates occur. And Tony, we are the party of law and order. And it’s time to fund ICE. It’s time to border patrol our friends across the aisle. Not one of them are going to vote. to fund police. They are the defund the police party. So it is time for us to move on. We still got some crying and gnashing of teeth yet to do, but we’ll get there. It may be this week, it may be next week, but we’re going to get there.
SPEAKER 08 :
Now, the Secretary of Homeland Security, Mark Wayne Mullen, saying that they’re getting very close to emptying the coffers. They have no more money left to work. So the time is, the clock is ticking.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, yeah, it is. And I don’t have to remind you or your listeners that there are thousands, maybe tens of thousands, violent terrorists still out there in this country that need to be removed, not to mention it’s the violent illegal aliens on top of that as well. So we need to fund ICE. We need to fund Border Patrol. These folks, they pretty well have bottled up the border, but they’re also stopping all the counterfeits and fentanyl from crossing the border as well. It’s not just the people. So yes, I think we can hear the siren. that it’s time to get our job done. It’s time to stop arguing and get on with the job here and vote to fund ICE and border control.
SPEAKER 08 :
You know, you mentioned the border and what’s happened there. If there’s a will, there’s a way. Remember during the Biden administration, oh, we can’t stop it. You know, they were flooding across the border. I mean, the border is closed. I mean, you don’t hear the news stories, the headlines no longer about the border being flooded with illegal immigration. I mean, it’s been stopped. We’ve done it.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, it is amazing. And quietly, don’t tell anybody, but we’re building the Trump wall. I don’t know if it’s going to take one or two years yet to finish it, but we funded that as well. So we’re quietly making progress. So even if, heaven forbid, a Democrat president gets elected, At least we have a wall to start with as well. But it is amazing. People soon forget. But again, we’re the party of law and order. We’re the party of secure the border, the Democrats, the party of defund the police.
SPEAKER 08 :
Speaking of law and order, Doctor, I was just talking with one of your doctor colleagues on the other side of the Capitol, Dr. Onder, who has, on the House side, introduced the Chloe Cole Act. Tomorrow, the HELP Committee will is going to be having a hearing on exposing the dangers of irreversible gender transition procedures on minors. Now, earlier this year, you introduced legislation safeguarding the overall protection of minors, the STOP Act. I mean, look, you’ve got decades of clinical experience. How is it that we allow this to happen in our society? And if we don’t do something now to stop it, when will we?
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, Tony, first of all, thank you for standing beside us right now and your listeners for standing beside it for such a time as this. We’ve been called to stand up and right the wrong here. When I was elected, I knew I would have to fight to protect the sanctity of life and to protect our Second Amendment. But I never dreamed that I would have to protect children, young adolescents in this case, from child abuse. And make no mistake about it, that’s what this is. This is child abuse. These children in no way are ready to make such a big, permanent irreversible decision in their lifetime and that’s why we introduced this bill to give them some type of civil recourse so even one two five years after the procedure was done they could go back and sue the doctor and the hospital where it was done as well but this is child abuse i think you know 100 years now when they’re writing the history of medicine this will be the darkest chapter They’re going to look at this and say, what? What was that barbaric generation doing then? Tony, these procedures are going to cause irreversible damage. I’ve taken care of women with mastectomies. And one of the problems they get is lymphedema. So the veins in their armpits swell up, much like varicose veins. And chronic pain from it. The bottom surgeries, I can’t imagine. And it would be PG-13 for me to describe what problems that’s going to cause as well. But these are irreversible. These people are going to end up with infertility, if nothing else. It is absolutely child abuse. And we’re here to stand up and say, no more. This is not right. These kids are not ready to make that type of a lifelong decision.
SPEAKER 08 :
And what I want to draw close attention to what you just said at the beginning of this, of how in part this addresses this, is it allows that period of after the regret settles in and these children grow up and begin to mature and understand what they did, that they can hold the adults accountable that did it. And in fact, I was having a conversation earlier this morning with a trial lawyer who I had talked to about this about four years ago, trying to get the trial lawyers to get interested in this. Fortunately, we’ve had now a couple of cases, multimillion dollar awards made as a result of this. I think that’s going to be one of the biggest ways to stop this. And you know this as a doctor. When those trial lawyers start coming, people start paying attention.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, you’re spot on, Tony, that once we went, and we have, we won a couple cases now, and that’ll become, you know, the precedent, for lack of a better term. And it will lead to more and more and bigger lawsuits. And I think the pain and suffering on this part of this is going to be tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions of dollars. And these people have reasonable complaints. No one told them they were going to have chronic pain, that they’re going to have chronic swelling in their armpits, just the scar tissue itself causing pains. No one told them that they were going to have infertility along with this. And all along, Tony, I want to stop and just say that you and I care about these people as individuals. We care about their hearts. We care about their souls. And we want to help them. uh there’s something else going on i guarantee it i took care of probably thousands of young adolescent girls going through different crises one or another and i’m just telling you it’s a very stressful time and they’re doing it alone and we’re here to help them dr marshall we got to leave it there thanks for joining us folks stick with us we’re back after this
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For over 4,000 years, the Jewish people have had legal, historical, and biblical ties to the land of Israel, especially the heartland of Israel, Judea and Samaria, which much of the world still calls the West Bank. To Israelis, Judea and Samaria is far more than a name. It’s the center of their ancestral homeland where nearly 80% of the Bible’s events took place. Abraham purchased property in Hebron, Jacob in Shechem, Joshua made an altar on Mount Ebal and led the Israelites into a covenant before God. On Mount Gerizim, overlooking Shechem, Jesus talked to the Samaritan woman at the well about worshiping neither on Mount Gerizim nor in Jerusalem, but in spirit and in truth. Judea and Samaria is nearly a quarter of Israel’s current land mass, not a small strip of land on the Jordan River, but a vital and strategic part of the nation’s identity. The October 7th massacre, launched from Gaza, shattered the illusion that giving away territory brings peace. Gaza, which was once seen as the cornerstone of a two-state solution, became a launchpad for terror. Today, only 21 percent of Israelis support a Palestinian state. Trust in a two-state solution has all but collapsed. The Middle East is changing. Iran’s grip is weakening. New alliances are forming. But Western countries and some U.S. officials still chase the mirage of a two-state solution. History speaks clearly. The 2005 Gaza withdrawal, backed by the U.S., led not to peace but to a terrorist regime. Judea and Samaria are 24 times larger than Gaza, deeply woven into Israel’s geographic and spiritual fabric. To surrender them would not bring peace. It would invite conflict and existential danger. Family Research Council stands with Israel’s rightful claim to sovereignty. It’s time for America to do the same for history, for justice, and for lasting security in the Middle East.
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The following segment of Washington Watch is underwritten by Patriot Mobile, a champion of First and Second Amendment rights, military, veterans, first responders, and a strong supporter of the sanctity of life. To learn more about Patriot Mobile’s nationwide service across all three major US networks, go to TonyPerkins.com.
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Welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks so much for tuning in and being a part of the program. All right. As we near America’s 250th anniversary, Family Research Council has launched the Defend Our Founding Freedoms campaign. Maintaining liberty requires moral responsibility. Our founding fathers knew this, and it’s time America turned back to the truth. As a part of this initiative, FRC has issued a pledge that I challenge you to sign. It is take the pledge of dependence, dependence upon God. Text AMERICA to 67742. That’s AMERICA to 67742 and take the pledge. The legal battle over abortion drugs is entering a new phase. Just weeks after South Dakota enacted legislation aimed at stopping the promotion and distribution of abortion pills in the state, which are illegal, Mayday Health, the organization behind the nationwide abortion drug advertising campaign, has filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block the law before it actually takes effect. Now, the group claims the law violates free speech. But supporters of the law argue that it’s a legitimate exercise of the state’s authority to protect unborn life and enforce its abortion laws. Joining us now for our Patriot Mobile segment is Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman, who has experience with May Day Health. General Coleman, welcome to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us.
SPEAKER 14 :
Perkins, thank you for having me. And I have to say, I was just watching your previous segment about Samaria and Judea with chills. We visited with a half a dozen Republican AGs at the end of last year, walked the Nova Music Festival site. visited one of the kibbutz that were targeted. And that is it is it is chilling to see. So thank you. Thank you for your leadership there. But I’m honored to be here.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, thank you, General. You’re very familiar with May Day Health. This case in South Dakota, is this really about free speech or is this about May Day Health trampling upon the authority and the laws of the sovereign state of South Dakota?
SPEAKER 14 :
But what I can say is in regard to here in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, we have the right in any state has the right to at our core defend our people to protect women’s health to protect life. That is that is a fundamental right that state independent sovereigns under our system. that were imbued under our federal constitution. And so the Mayday Health litigation is something new on my transom. That proactive attempt to try to prevent the independent state, the sovereign from defending its people, that’s new. We want to take a hard look at that. We want to make sure that that kind of proactive preemption of our ability to protect our people that we’re not facing that here in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. But what we are facing is this medication being dumped in places like Kentucky, putting women’s health at risk. We’re talking about advertisements at gas pumps. Are you, direct quote, are you pregnant? Do you not want to be? Kentucky is a pro-life state. Our legislature has precluded the ability of abortions to take place other than for the life of the mother. We are a prohibitionist state. We protect life. But we’re seeing, we have seen an increase in abortions in the Commonwealth, the Commonwealth I serve, post-Obs. That would shock many of your viewers. It certainly shocked me when I started looking at the data. It’s because flouting of state laws like May Day Health.
SPEAKER 08 :
Absolutely. I mean, we’ve seen about a 21% increase in the abortion rate since the overturn of Roe, and it is because of the chemical abortion drug. So they’re saying this is free speech. but they’re facilitating the breaking of a law, are they not?
SPEAKER 14 :
Here’s what I can say. The doctors in New York and in California who follow their own ideology over protection of life or oaths they have taken to protect life are completely ignoring flouting the laws of states like the Commonwealth of Kentucky that have prevented that kind of conduct. And it was the Biden administration that further opened this aperture to not allow a physician, to not require a physician to even interact with a patient before sending these pills into places like Kentucky. And so we are very concerned. We’re going to take a hard look at these proactive legal efforts to assert First Amendment or any other constitutional protection to flatter law.
SPEAKER 08 :
But what looks like what Mayday Health is, they say, you know, we don’t provide prescriptions. We don’t provide the drugs. We just connect people with the provider. So they’re like a middleman connecting, you know, someone in Kentucky that. that, you know, thinks they want to end this pregnancy with the abortion pill without any, as you said, no medical oversight whatsoever. And this middleman connects him with a doctor in New York who then sends this drug in in violation of the state law. So, I mean, there’s got to be some complicity here on behalf of Mayday Health in breaking a law.
SPEAKER 14 :
Well, Tony, you serve as a police officer. I was an FBI special agent and and served as as United States Attorney and I’ve been a state prosecutor before. I was the chief law enforcement office chief law enforcement officer this Commonwealth. You went right where I was going to go and that is and I’m not. Not commenting specifically on the Mayday Health matter, but generally someone that plays that facilitation role that that that triggers conspiratorial liability. It’s a conspiracy. And we’re going to use every tool in our toolkit, ultimately civil and criminal, to to prevent this conduct. But what what we’ve seen. the dark side of this not only is the increase about 15 seconds yeah we’ve seen uh we’ve seen bad actors slip pills to mothers right to attempt fetal homicide right in kentucky barron county kentucky case we’re going to keep fighting this with everything we’ve got thank you general stick with us folks we’re back with more after this what is god’s role in government
SPEAKER 01 :
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 a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. Join Family Research Council for God and Government, a powerful series that explores the connection between biblical principles and the American government, equipping you with truth to engage in today’s most pressing debates. We’ll uncover the foundations of our nation’s history and why it’s relevant for today. Join us to defend God’s plan for government because faith and freedom were never meant to be separate. You can view the course at frc.org slash godandgovernment or on the Stand Firm app.
SPEAKER 07 :
When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them. A decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal That they’re endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights. That among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men. Deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Happy 250th. Happy 250th. Happy 250th. Happy 250th birthday, America. May God bless America.
SPEAKER 04 :
Should a Christian support Israel? That question has become one of the most emotionally charged issues of our time, both in the world and within the church. Family Research Council President Tony Perkins offers a clear biblical and prophetic answer. In his latest book, he examines Israel’s past, present, and future through the lens of Scripture, revealing why support for Israel is not rooted in politics, partisanship, or cultural sentiment, but in the unchanging promises of God. Drawing from Genesis to Revelation, Tony Perkins demonstrates that the ultimate rationale for a Christian’s support for Israel is spiritual. Should a Christian Support Israel invites believers to see beyond headlines and ideologies, returning to the foundation of God’s Word to understand His heart for His chosen people and the blessings that flow when we stand with what He has established forever. Text the word Israel to 67742 for more information.
SPEAKER 08 :
all right welcome back to washington watch the website tonyperkins.com hey um frc pray vote stand chapters initiative is equipping believers across america to engage locally prayerfully and biblically and and these are popping up all across the country we have a a we’re on a mission we’re on a mission over the next 10 years we want to see one of these chapters anchored in a church in every county in America. And we’re off and running. And if you’d like to find out more about either joining a chapter in your county or maybe starting one, text the word chapters to 67742. That’s chapters to 67742. We’re already seeing amazing results from these chapters that are stepping out and building relationships with elected officials. All right, our word for today comes from 2 Samuel 6. Then David danced before the Lord with all his might, and David was wearing a linen ephod. Now, as the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michael, Saul’s daughter, looked through a window and saw King David leaping and whirling before the Lord, and she despised him in her heart. Then David returned to bless his household, and Michael, the daughter of Saul, came out to meet David and said, how glorious was the king of Israel today, uncovering himself in the eyes of the maids of his servants, as one of these base fellows shamelessly uncovers himself. So David said to Michael, it was before the Lord who chose me instead of your father to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord over Israel. Therefore, I will play music before the Lord and I will be even more undignified than this and will be humble in my own sight. You know what? We must never allow the critics to keep us from our open devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ. To find out more about our journey through the Bible, text Bible to 67742. It may be less obvious this year because fewer corporations are decked out in the rainbows. But it’s the month that pro-LGBTQXYZ activists have long tried to sell the American people as Pride Month. I mean, just think about that for a moment. Pride Month. Pride goes before a fall. Well, anyway, thankfully, fewer Americans are buying into that nonsense. So how does this June compare to past Junes? Joining us now to discuss this and much more is our Washington Stand panel for today, Suzanne Bowdy, Editorial Director and Senior Writer and Casey Harper, Managing Editor of Broadcast. Suzanne, Casey, thanks for joining me. Thanks, Tony. All right, Suzanne, give us the lay of the land and how it looks this year compared to past years when it comes to the color of the rainbow.
SPEAKER 16 :
Well, I think everyone’s pretty happy that they aren’t bumping into progress flags and chest binders every time they walk in the store. I think last year was a real wake up call for people, especially in the big cities who are putting together events and parades because the corporate sponsorship just dried up. I mean, that’s what we’re seeing right now. Corporations have still and are still walking away from these events and people are realizing we need to fund these things privately or with private donations. because they’re just not getting the revenue from corporations that they were. And in some cases, I know the NPR and Wall Street Journal both covered this. The activists are actually saying, look, we might not ever go back to like a 2019 when businesses and brands were tripping over themselves to sponsor these things.
SPEAKER 08 :
I want to talk a little bit about how this happened. OK, so because Americans have this kind of like short attention span on this and they’re kind of thinking, well, this is all because of Trump. Not really. This preceded Trump. In fact, in the first Trump administration, I know this for a fact, they really didn’t want to take on this whole gender thing. They wanted to dance around it. But when all this pushback came, and you mentioned the chest binders, that was Target you were referring to, Target, the Target store.
SPEAKER 06 :
Don’t go there. Which I don’t shop at. Which I don’t shop at. Subliminal messages. Yes, yes.
SPEAKER 08 :
You know, there was a lot of pushback. And of course, they dug in. Remember, they dug in.
SPEAKER 16 :
They did. They said, this is great for business. And they found out really fast. It was terrible for business.
SPEAKER 08 :
JCPenney experienced a little bit of that. Some of these other companies experienced this. But then as the public opinion changed in this last election, the Trump campaign saw that and made this a focal point of their… We’re talking about the transgender issue, which is all connected.
SPEAKER 16 :
Right.
SPEAKER 08 :
And so then they won on this issue and they doubled down on it when they were in office. And so then the business community is taking note of that and they’re changing their approach. So my point is this. Politics played a part in it, but it started with parents and consumers who used their dollars to send a message.
SPEAKER 16 :
Right. It all started with Bud Light, really, if you go back to the Dylan Mulvaney controversy. And people just decided, we’re not going to buy Bud Light. But it rippled, not just from Bud Light, but then they started getting everybody.
SPEAKER 06 :
I quit drinking after that. Unfortunately, I couldn’t spend my money not on Bud Light because I was already boycotting them. But it is a point. Yeah, I didn’t see that in any of the Baptist magazines. Don’t drink Bud Light.
SPEAKER 08 :
The reality is consumers can have an impact.
SPEAKER 16 :
A massive impact. And we saw that. And once they realized they could have an impact, then they started going after everyone. Then corporations were terrified. I mean, CEOs and boardrooms were saying, get away from this.
SPEAKER 08 :
It’s radioactive. And they’re actually doing what we’ve been asking them to do for 20 years. You don’t have to be on our side. Just do whatever it is you do. If you sell widgets, sell widgets. But don’t get involved in public policy. Right.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, I mean, it was a decisive win. And I think people didn’t really believe in their own power. Like the average soccer mom or PTA mom has enough power to scare boardroom CEOs who make millions of dollars into decisions. And there’s way more of them than any other demographic. If any time conservatives and Christians are unified, they win always because there’s so many of them.
SPEAKER 08 :
Right. And I know, again, for a fact. I don’t usually say something unless I know it to be true. But a lot of these board chairmen and CEOs of these major corporations are scared of their own shadow.
SPEAKER 16 :
Well, and they didn’t want to do it in the first place is what we found out quietly.
SPEAKER 08 :
But they were scared.
SPEAKER 16 :
They were scared of the HRC. They were scared of a corporate equality index.
SPEAKER 15 :
And their HR departments. Yep, their HR departments. Which are filled with liberal young people.
SPEAKER 16 :
Although Trump did a favor, though, because he released all those anti-DEI memorandums and orders which gave these companies cover to say we don’t want to do this.
SPEAKER 08 :
So there is a political side to this. There is a political connection. Because like right now, there are no pride flags flying over embassies. That’s right. Because the State Department said, no, we’re not flying those flags.
SPEAKER 15 :
And Congress deserves credit on that one, too. It wasn’t just Trump. The Congress passed legislation for that one flag policy. And it’s kind of amazing. I think most people are kind of amazed to hear that your average embassy, a kid walking down the street in Pakistan looks at the U.S. embassy and might see a pride flag and not just pride flag.
SPEAKER 09 :
And a Muslim flag.
SPEAKER 15 :
But yeah, a Black Lives Matter flag. In countries where maybe there’s almost no black people, there’s a Black Lives Matter flag. And it really showed that the State Department, it revealed something about the State Department, which was it did have a core value. It wasn’t just pushing US interests, it was pushing this woke agenda around the world. And the money shows that too. The President Biden’s last budget request before he left office requested $3 billion to push gender and equity issues around the world. And that’s much of that is via the State Department.
SPEAKER 08 :
So again, it shows that it’s a… There are several dynamic factors involved in what we see displayed in the culture. You know, there’s the individual that sometimes stands alone, but eventually others will join with them. I think of all of the parents who went to the school board meetings and pushed back on the bathroom policies that, you know, Barack Obama and later Joe Biden pushed down the throats of Americans, but they stood up. And then that affected the politics. And then the politics affects the policy. And that’s where we begin to preserve some of these changes. But we can’t step back and take our hands off.
SPEAKER 16 :
Right. What is it you always say? Courage breeds courage.
SPEAKER 08 :
Courage breeds courage. And our system of government was not made for spectators. It was made for participants. And this is one of the reasons we’re doing our Pray Vote Stand chapters all across America so that we can plant that flag. Not the pride flag. We can plant the flag for faith, family, and freedom in those communities and uphold biblical standards right there in that county.
SPEAKER 15 :
Right. And even though we’re a democracy, 51% doesn’t win. It’s the small, it’s, you know, it’s minority of vocal, vocal minorities on both sides that are pushing hard on issues. So you can, I mean, famously, you know, only 3% of people rose up in the American Revolution. It doesn’t take much more than that.
SPEAKER 16 :
But I think we should all be so encouraged that, you know, pride pushback has become the norm. It’s no longer something that we just read about.
SPEAKER 08 :
But again, I don’t want to take away from the political leaders who are taking the stands, but I just want our listeners to know the impact that they have when they stand up. Who thought that we would see June as family fidelity?
SPEAKER 16 :
Nuclear family month, right? Which is another way the states, Arkansas, Tennessee, Indiana, Oklahoma, all today are saying, we’re going to replace Pride Month with something that we actually care about, which is morality.
SPEAKER 08 :
And I text my governor to see if Louisiana is going to be joining that lot of those that are saying, you’ve got to get back.
SPEAKER 16 :
Spanberger is not taking my calls.
SPEAKER 08 :
But look, again, this is the result of elections. Elections matter. But it’s not just elections. It’s not that we can just say, all right, you go fix this. The political leaders are fixing it because people cared about it.
SPEAKER 16 :
You can’t let it stop. You can’t just entrust it to political leaders. You have to keep moving, keep acting.
SPEAKER 08 :
But if you read the resolutions, the proclamations like from Indiana and from Tennessee that talk about the importance of the nuclear family, they make reference to the research that we’ve done here at the Family Research Council about the impact of the family and how children suffer from so many social pathologies if they do not have that intact family of a mom and a dad who are married. And these are things that, you know, we were kind of laughed at and ridiculed for talking about 10, 15 years ago. And now, finally, we have those that are courageous enough to state the obvious, and I believe it’s shifting the culture.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, well, and every great change in the culture, step one is getting laughed at and ridiculed. And then you get more people getting laughed at and ridiculed. And then a little bit later, everyone acts like they always believed it. And now it’s normal.
SPEAKER 16 :
I mean, next year we’ll be talking about 25 states having nuclear family. Probably, yeah. Which would be great.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, and I… Look… We have to be willing to speak truth. And this for us, where our spot comes in here is biblical truth. Because I was even on a program earlier today where they were talking, celebrating these states pushing back, saying, you know, you can do whatever you want. It doesn’t matter. But it does matter. It does matter what people do. It doesn’t matter what we condone in society. Because when we condone that which is contrary to God’s structure and order, we all pay the price for it. We all will suffer as a result of that, because that left unaddressed becomes the norm, which is what we saw. Especially the victims, which are the kids you mentioned. It’s not a victimless issue. No, not at all. And we know what happens to those children who are deprived of a mother and a father, Now, I know that that doesn’t happen all the time, but we don’t make our public policy for the exceptions. We make it for the standard that we want to pursue. Right. That’s how we should pursue it. All right. We got about four minutes left, Suzanne. And, you know, I love to talk about… Your favorite subject. Sports. Let me go get a root canal.
SPEAKER 06 :
This has been a great deep talk.
SPEAKER 08 :
You had a story that went viral this week involving the Washington Nationals. Now, is that the soccer team? Oh, wow.
SPEAKER 16 :
Readers, please complain to Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 06 :
Tell us about it.
SPEAKER 16 :
Well, I mean, we were just talking about how, you know, there’s been a big pushback of wokeism. But one of the places where I think is a big holdout is still pro sports. And we see that, unfortunately, in this instance. Why is that? I think that, you know what, my own personal opinion as a rabid sports fan is that I think that the managers think, oh, they’re not going to go anywhere. These people are really invested in their teams. There’s nothing we can do that they’ll walk away from. And in fact, that was part of this undercover video.
SPEAKER 06 :
That’s what he said on the video, yeah.
SPEAKER 16 :
One of the things the guy said was, if we make you mad, where are you going to go?
SPEAKER 06 :
You’re going to drive to Baltimore? Right. You’re not going to leave this team. You come out and hang out with me. Right.
SPEAKER 16 :
right but it was it was actually shocking what they uncovered which was the o’keefe media group you know went undercover recorded that one of the executives in the nationals this was not some low guy like an usher or taking tickets he was the director of community relations and basically said that, you know, after last year, when one of the pitchers, Trevor Williams, spoke out about a drag queen event at the Dodgers on his social media platforms and said this was a mockery of his faith. It really, you know, was offensive to the Catholic Church. This guy, Sean Hudson, said, well, the Nationals after that decided we weren’t going to use him on social media. We were going to take him out of a lot of promotional videos. And that was astonishing to fans. That video went everywhere. Fans were irate. Two days later, the team fired Sean Hudson and came out with their PR spin machine saying, oh, this was all factually inaccurate, that never happened. But you gotta wonder like, why would the guy make this up? I think what they’re upset about is that their toxic culture got exposed. But this isn’t going away because you can’t religiously discriminate against Christians, especially in a massive organization like the Washington Nationals. So there have been calls from Lauren Boebert, a congresswoman from Colorado, and from Catholic vote for the Trump Justice Department to get involved. And I think they will, as they should, because it’s a violation of the Civil Rights Act. I mean, you can’t just sideline Christian players.
SPEAKER 08 :
Is that beholding to the LGBTQ community that they have to be biased against Christians?
SPEAKER 15 :
They went pretty all in during the Biden administration, just like they did on COVID and BLM. It’s quite an amazing thing to me is how the LGBT issue rides the race issue every time, the coattails of it. Because I think a lot more people are actually sympathetic to some of the racial concerns or BLM and everything, whereas the LGBT is much more fringe. And they always say, well, it’s all civil rights, and they lug it in there together. they’ve given in on it, but now they’re getting the pushback and it’s normalizing. I think part of it is all these teams are in these big cities, but all the fans are outside of the city.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, they probably also have contracts with the city officials as well. So is hockey the same way? Are they giving in to that stuff?
SPEAKER 16 :
Hockey has, but I will say in baseball, as in hockey, where you see success is when the players stand up. Now, hockey had the whole situation with the pride jerseys and baseball did too. And players said, look, we’re not wearing those. And great credit to them because they had a lot of skin in that game. And some of them were punished, but they said, we’re not doing it. And a lot of the league said, we’re not going to make you do that anymore. But in this case, this is one way where they can still celebrate pride.
SPEAKER 08 :
you know but not mandate a player where so so really it’s the individual courage of the players you got a nascar nascar has given into some of that yeah well at least they still don’t have it in demolition derby so that’s where i go i go to the demolition the station wagons always win put your money on the station wagon write that down it’s a dark horse i know please say our gambling pamphlet Suzanne, Casey, thanks so much for joining us today.
SPEAKER 16 :
Thank you.
SPEAKER 08 :
And folks, I want to thank you for joining us as well. Check out the website, TonyPerkins.com. Better yet, get the Stand Firm app. That way you can have Washington Watch with you no matter where you go. And you can have access to the Washington Stand articles by Suzanne. Until next time, keep praying and keep standing.
SPEAKER 13 :
Washington Watch with Tony Perkins is brought to you by Family Research Council. To support our efforts to advance faith, family and freedom, please text GIVE to 67742. That’s GIVE to 67742. Portions of the show discussing candidates are brought to you by Family Research Council Action. For more information, please visit TonyPerkins.com.
