This episode also shines a light on the domestic power dynamics within Israel, as opposition to Prime Minister Netanyahu’s judicial reforms rises. Our exploration continues with a spotlight on the newly released JFK files, a move toward greater government transparency under President Trump’s administration, and a deep dive into potential bureaucratic roadblocks. Finally, Chairman James Comer shares his perspective on restoring government efficiency and transparency, offering a glimpse into strategies for reducing government size while maintaining essential services.
SPEAKER 16 :
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.
SPEAKER 20 :
Israel will continue to act with increasing military strength. Our ground forces are operating throughout the Strip to eliminate terrorists and terror infrastructure, to expand the security zone and create a partial buffer between the north and the south of the Strip. Decisively, Israel is destroying Hamas’s capabilities and protecting our people.
SPEAKER 04 :
That was David Mincer, spokesman for the National Public Diplomacy Directorate in Israel earlier today, discussing Israel’s intensified military action in Gaza. Welcome to Washington Watch. Thanks for tuning in and joining us on this Monday. We’ll take a closer look at what’s unfolding in Israel with Carolyn Glick, Senior Advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. We’ll also explore developments across the Middle East, including Turkey’s role with the new Syrian government and how that might affect both Israel and the United States. Meanwhile, the House and Senate are back in session this week, which means reconciliation is once again front and center for President Trump’s agenda. We’ll talk about it with James Comer, chairman of the Government Oversight and Accountability Committee. Next, what do the newly released JFK files reveal about the federal government?
SPEAKER 08 :
President Trump also promised maximum transparency and a commitment to rebuild the trust of the American people and our intelligence community. Part of that promise was to fully release previously classified records related to the assassination of former President John F. Kennedy, and he made that happen yesterday.
SPEAKER 04 :
That was White House Press Secretary Carolyn Leavitt last week. We’re going to discuss the significance of these and other previously classified documents that are being released. And finally, the left continues to lean on the courts.
SPEAKER 18 :
Democracy is at risk. Look, Donald Trump is a lawless, angry man. He thinks he should be king. He thinks he should do whatever he wants, regardless of the law. And he thinks judges should just listen to him. Now, we have to fight that back in every single way.
SPEAKER 04 :
That was angry Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Meet the Press yesterday. The House could actually take up a bill this week by Congressman Darrell Issa that prevents federal district court judges from issuing sweeping nationwide injunctions, which are designed to derail President Trump’s policy agenda. We’re going to talk about that with the vice president of policy and government affairs, here at the Family Research Council, Travis Weber, later here on Washington Watch. All right, session six of our God and Government course is being released today. FRC’s God and Government course, which I teach, combines biblical principles with historical insights to offer a practical approach to governance. In this new episode, we examine the legislative and judicial branches and the remarkable power of the jury. Yes, the jury, very powerful force in our system. You can find it exclusively on the Stand Firm app by texting app to 67742. If you don’t have the app already, or go to the app store and download the Stand Firm app. Again, that number 67742, text the word app. All right, the war for Israel’s freedom from terror continues as the campaign against these Iranian-backed terrorists resumes. Israel announced that it successfully eliminated another member of Hamas’s political bureau. But are new threats rising in Syria as Turkey is reportedly increasing its presence in that new government? Here to discuss this and more is Carolyn Glick, the International Affairs Advisor to the Prime Minister of Israel. She previously was a senior contributing editor of Jewish News Syndicate and the host of the Carolyn Glick Show on JNS TV. Carolyn, welcome back to Washington Watch and congratulations on your new role.
SPEAKER 14 :
Thanks very much. It’s always wonderful to be on your program, Tony, and now with my new hat.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes, you wear many hats. This is a very timely hat for you to be wearing. I’m glad that the prime minister allows you to come back on the program because you’re such a wealth of knowledge of what is happening in Israel and in the Middle East. Let’s start with this strike. On Monday, the IDF announced that it eliminated Ismail Barhum, I think is how you pronounce his name, the head of Hamas’s finances and institutions. What’s significant about this latest elimination of the leadership of Hamas?
SPEAKER 14 :
Well, it’s very important that we be destroying Hamas’s leadership so that they’re not able to reconstitute themselves. And so we were able to eliminate most of their field commanders during the first leg of this war before we went into the latest ceasefire that just collapsed in a bid to receive our hostages home. And now that we’re renewing our operations, the goal, as Prime Minister Netanyahu has set out, is to annihilate Hamas and restore and return the rest of the 59 hostages that are still being held in captivity, 24 of them alive in Gaza. So those are the two goals that we’re seeking in this. And part of the achievement of both of them is to eliminate the Hamas leadership.
SPEAKER 04 :
Now, we heard a clip earlier from David Mincer who talked about latest operations there in Gaza. There is a kind of a separation, dividing of north and south of the Gaza Strip, is there not?
SPEAKER 14 :
Yes, there is. We had already established what we called the Netsarim corridor that bifurcates Gaza from north to south in order to control the flow of population to prevent the reassertion of Hamas control over different parts of Gaza and particularly northern Gaza where it sits close to many of the communities that were overrun on October 7th, 23rd. So it’s very important that they not reassert their command structure there in particular. But more generally, it’s easier, we find, to control the security situation when we have control of the transit from north to south in Gaza. And we’ve reasserted our control over that corridor in the renewed operation. We had left during the hostage ceasefire.
SPEAKER 04 :
What have you found? Were they able to regroup and re-fortify during that break, during the ceasefire?
SPEAKER 14 :
Well, they certainly weren’t resting easy. I mean, you know, Hamas exists in order to attack Israel, in order to destroy Israel. that’s that’s what they do that’s who they are that’s what they live for and that’s what they seek to die for um and so it’s not surprising that every respite that they get and even when they don’t have a respite from fighting all they’re doing is rebuilding their forces which is why this uh the the goal of the war of annihilating hamas is a military and political entity and in uh in Gaza is so essential for Israel’s national security. And so, yes, obviously they used the time. We knew they would, but we took a calculated risk because we wanted to secure the release of our hostages. And we did secure the release of a significant number of them over the period of the ceasefire, as long as it lasted. And it ended when Hamas refused to continue releasing hostages.
SPEAKER 04 :
Now, Egypt is attempting to mediate yet another round of ceasefires between Hamas and Israel. Do you think that another ceasefire is possible?
SPEAKER 14 :
Again, you know, I think the prime minister laid out very clearly what the goal is, which is in terms of ceasefire, no ceasefire. We want the we want the hostages home. And so far, and we wanna maintain our ability to destroy Hamas. So we’re not going to accept a ceasefire that doesn’t bring home hostages in a significant way. And that undermines our ability to achieve our war goal of destroying Hamas. So every ceasefire offer presented by all sides is weighed against those two calculations.
SPEAKER 04 :
Speaking of the hostages being held by Hamas, Hamas has recently released more footage of Israeli hostages being held. What do you believe the purpose behind that is for Hamas to be releasing that at this time?
SPEAKER 14 :
It’s to undermine our ground operation and our military offensive in Gaza because it’s all psychological warfare. It’s all about trying to frighten the Israeli public, trying to undermine public support for the war by… by presenting the war as some sort of a choice, that there could be an outcome other than disaster if Israel stopped or ended its goal of annihilating Hamas. Because everything that Hamas does, including the use of hostages as a form of psychological warfare, which is what they are, against the Israeli people, is done in order to advance their goal of annihilating the Israeli people, the Jewish people. And so you have to see everything that they do inside of that context. They do nothing that they don’t believe otherwise. advances that goal. They’ll do nothing that undermines that goal because that’s the only reason they exist is to achieve that goal.
SPEAKER 04 :
And that’s the definition of terrorism. That is what they do. I know you work very closely with the prime minister in his cabinet now or with his staff. This has to weigh pretty heavily on him because Israel is such a small country. I’ve been there just three times since the October 7th attack. but it is his goal to bring back these hostages, but at the same time he has to keep the rest of the nation safe. I mean, this is a heavy, heavy burden for one man to carry.
SPEAKER 14 :
The prime minister. I really think that he is a historic figure. Um, I think, uh, It’s not simply that he’s Churchillian. I mean, I think that they’re going to coin a new phrase of, you know, Netanyahu or something like that. You know, I mean, he defines moral courage. I don’t know that there’s a better way of putting it. And I’m at the risk of sounding like a sycophant. I mean, it really is astounding. And it’s a privilege to work at his side as he leads Israel in this war, because I really don’t know. what anybody else would do, but he has been heroic in his leadership of the war, and there’s so many different pressures on him, on anybody who would be in that position, coming from 1,500 different angles. and to be able to withstand them and to just barrel forward and maintain total allegiance to the war goals and to advance them. And sometimes you put one in abeyance in order to advance the other, sometimes you put the other in abeyance in order to advance the former, but always, always moving forward and advancing both of them. And it’s a miracle that we came this far because of course the idea of taking 251 hostages is that Israel will not be able to destroy Hamas because it will be too concerned about the release of the hostages. Well, here, as we annihilate Hamas, we have already brought about the return of 194 hostages. So it’s true we have 59 that we still have to get out, but nobody thought that we’d come this far, and we have. And I’d say that it’s a testament to his moral courage and to his wisdom that we’ve been able to do that. I don’t think I’d have been able to do it, put it that way.
SPEAKER 04 :
It has been quite amazing to watch the way he has led through this. As you mentioned, many different angles of attacks, both internally and externally. And we’re going to talk a little bit about the internal. But externally, over the weekend, the Houthis in Yemen fired another missile into Israeli airspace. You’ve got increased activity in Judea and Samaria. But then also watching what’s happening in Syria. Are you concerned about Turkey’s involvement in this new government in Syria?
SPEAKER 14 :
Yes, we’re very concerned. I mean, we’re concerned about this new government. We’re concerned because, you know, the leader of the new government is… is an ISIS terrorist. And so some people think he’s reformed, some people think he didn’t reform, but he’s the one who has the burden of proof. And so far, he hasn’t worn that burden particularly well. in terms of proving his view. Israel, you know, if there’s some interest in Turkey or in Syria in making peace with Israel, fine. You know, we’re very happy to do so. But, you know, we’re not going to in any way endanger northern Israel. And that’s why Israel seized the top of the Hermon mountain range and destroyed the Syrian armaments of the Syrian military after Assad was overthrown. So, you know, we’re… Trust but verify, or distrust and verify. But all it is, is Israel’s just defending ourselves. We’re defending the Druze in southwest Syria.
SPEAKER 04 :
Carolyn, we’ve got to get to break. We’ll come back and finish that conversation. Stick with us, folks.
SPEAKER 07 :
At Family Research Council, we believe religious freedom is a fundamental human right that all governments must protect. That’s why FRC President Tony Perkins went to Capitol Hill to testify on behalf of persecuted Christians in Nigeria. Islamist terror groups target Christians and other religious minorities in Nigeria with brutal violence. Representative Chris Smith, who chaired the hearing, said 55,000 people have been killed and 21,000 abducted in the last five years alone. The congressman also stressed that 89% of Christians in the world who are martyred are from Nigeria.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yet the government of Nigeria has failed to make progress against religiously motivated persecution of Christians despite religious freedom being enshrined as an essential human right in their constitution.
SPEAKER 07 :
Tony Perkins called for the United States to send an unmistakable message.
SPEAKER 04 :
This is systematic religious violence. Nigeria must be redesignated a country of particular concern. The Biden administration’s removal of this designation was a reckless mistake that emboldened the very terrorists who are slaughtering Christians.
SPEAKER 07 :
Redesignating Nigeria will enable the U.S. government to pressure Nigerian leaders to protect vulnerable Christians.
SPEAKER 04 :
These are not just numbers. These are fathers, their mothers, their children, their families.
SPEAKER 07 :
Bishop Wilfred Anagabe risked his life to speak out, sharing firsthand accounts of the danger faced in his church district in central Nigeria.
SPEAKER 01 :
We live in fear because at any point it can be our turn to be killed. But to remain silent is to die twice. So I have chosen to speak.
SPEAKER 07 :
FRC is calling on President Trump to act now to promote religious freedom around the globe and speak up on behalf of Christians in Nigeria.
SPEAKER 09 :
Download the new Stand Firm app for Apple and Android phones today and join a wonderful community of fellow believers. We’ve created a special place for you to access news from a biblical perspective, read and listen to daily devotionals, pray for current events and more. Share the Stand Firm app with your friends, family and church members and stand firm everywhere you go.
SPEAKER 10 :
Looking for a trusted source of news that shares your Christian values? Turn to The Washington Stand, your ultimate destination for informed, faith-centered reporting. Our dedicated team goes beyond the headlines, delivering stories that matter most to believers. From breaking events to cultural insights, we provide clear, compassionate coverage through a biblical lens. Discover news you can trust at The Washington Stand, where faith and facts meet every day.
SPEAKER 04 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us on this Monday. Still to come, Congressman James Comer will join us to talk about the recently released JFK files. We’ll discuss what’s still in the pipeline of secrets. For now, we’re going to continue our conversation about Israel in the Middle East with Carolyn Glick, the International Affairs Advisor to… Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu. Carolyn, thanks for staying with us to continue this conversation. I want to make sure we wrap up here with the concern about what’s happening in Syria with Turkey. I know that reportedly the prime minister convened a security meeting on Turkey’s involvement in Syria. I mean, this is just another layer of the threats toward Israel. I mean, this is a pretty significant time in Israel’s history.
SPEAKER 14 :
It is a significant time in Israel’s history. Look, you know, we have a threat environment that would make anybody’s skin fall. I mean, it’s dizzying how many different fronts we’re dealing with are active and new ones that are arising, not even over the horizon. We see it very clearly. And so we’re trying – we have to win this war, and that’s what the prime minister is geared towards doing, and at the same time get organized to handle looming issues that are on our plate. But Syria – I think it’s important because, you know, what we see now is this new sort of Sunni jihadist regime appears to have arisen in Damascus. And people say, well, you know, maybe we were better off with Bashar. And I think it’s important to realize that Bashar Assad was an Iranian proxy who committed genocide, an actual genocide against the Sunnis of his country, caused refugee flows and crises throughout Europe and beyond. And He’s a monster. The fact that it took a while, apparently, for Putin to agree to take him in, it’s, I think, very telling. But he destabilized the region. He served as a proxy in Iran’s operations against U.S. forces in Iraq for years. And anybody who thinks that oh, well, he should have been protected, doesn’t realize the situation. Iran is an existential threat, not only to Israel, but to all of the countries of the region, that if they’re able to achieve nuclear capabilities, it’ll be an absolute disaster of biblical proportions. And so that has to be dealt with. And Syria was a linchpin of Iran’s empire that stretches from Tehran to the Red Sea with the Houthis and the Mediterranean Sea with Hezbollah and Hamas in Gaza and Assad in Syria. So taking him out was a major blow to the Iranians. and to Hezbollah. And it’s very important. And we should all be thankful that he’s gone. And what we have now, we’ll have to deal with it now. Nobody thought that it was going to be easy with Syria.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, I agree. And I think the United States stands with you in the assessment of Iran. Mike Waltz, national security adviser yesterday, making comments very similar to that on one of the weekend shows. I want to turn. We just have a few minutes left. I want to turn to domestic issues. The Israeli cabinet passed a no confidence motion on Sunday against the country’s attorney general to begin the process of dismissing her. Now, critics of the prime minister called the move part of his effort to curb the independence of the judiciary and purge officials he considers disloyal. But explain the situation with the attorney general. I mean, she’s accountable essentially to no one but the court who is opposed to the prime minister.
SPEAKER 14 :
So in the U.S. Constitution, you have something called separate but equal branches of government. And that’s sort of the guidepost for everybody who’s trying to assess balances of power between the three co-equal separate branches of government of the United States, the executive, the legislative, and the judicial. In Israel… We don’t have the kind of clear-cut separation and certainly not an assertion of equality between the different branches of government. There had been equality, but because there had not been a clear distinction or a clear designation of each of them as separate and equal, we found that over time the judicial branch has taken on more and more powers from the executive and the legislative branches of government. And there’s an effort on the part of the government to kind of even things out and restore the balance from where it stands today. And that’s gotten a lot of people with a lot of vested interest in the situation as it stands feeling very threatened. And we’re seeing that in the actions of the Attorney General and in other actions by other appointed officials. that are empowered by the way things are today. So I think that what we’re seeing here is a bit of a power struggle inside of Israel that makes things unpleasant and uncertain domestically. But I think at the end of the day, the people’s will out and you have elections. The people determine who they want to lead the country. They made a decision. It’s very clear. The polls today, while in some cases they’re all over the map, the public’s position on Prime Minister Netanyahu and Dita’s coalition is very clear. They want the government to continue to be operative and to be functioning. And so we’ll have to see how things unfold. will play out on this particular issue. But I think over the horizon on this case, things will kind of settle down.
SPEAKER 04 :
Is part of the concern that from the left, from those that have that power in the judiciary, that when this war is over, that the prime minister will return to a focus of judicial reform, which was where the nation was at prior to October 7th?
SPEAKER 14 :
Well, I think the problem is that the way that they’ve been behaving requires us to do it at the same time as we conduct the war. And that’s the problem, that we thought that things could be held in abeyance. But what we see is that the challenges to the authority of the government, as you said, the attorney general is saying that the government doesn’t have the authority to fire her or to fire the head of the domestic intelligence agency, the Shin Bet. And that’s manifestly untrue. So it’s the kind of thing that you were not supposed to be here. But unfortunately, this is where we find ourselves. And so we have to roll with the punches and just deal with it.
SPEAKER 04 :
We don’t have time to unpack this. We only have about 40 seconds left. But is this not a representation of the deep state in Israel?
SPEAKER 14 :
It’s very similar to what you’re seeing in the United States, yeah. And it’s the same sort of people with the same kind of views of their place in the universe and in the power structure of their countries that are acting in both cases, yes. It’s almost identical, but obviously with necessary changes just because it’s a different system in a different country. But very, very similar, yes.
SPEAKER 04 :
Carolyn, I want to thank you for joining us. And please know that I know that many of our viewers and listeners, myself included, are praying for you, praying for the prime minister and for all of Israel.
SPEAKER 14 :
Thank you very much. God bless.
SPEAKER 04 :
All right, folks, don’t go away. More Washington Watch straight ahead.
SPEAKER 16 :
Oh, beautiful for spacious skies.
SPEAKER 13 :
At the 2025 National Gathering for Prayer and Repentance, hundreds gathered with Christian and government leaders at the Museum of the Bible in Washington D.C. to pray for the nation and ask God to forgive us of our sins.
SPEAKER 04 :
We gather here not to appeal to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. We are appealing to heaven. Today we make our appeal not in the authority of a political party or in the name of a denomination. We come in the name and the authority of Jesus Christ. Amen. who has been given all authority in heaven and on earth, and we have been commissioned to operate in that authority.
SPEAKER 17 :
Father, we pray in Jesus’ name for our complacency, our greed, our pride, our gluttony, our sloth, and tolerance of sin.
SPEAKER 15 :
Lord, your word is the food that can make America healthy again. May your word be exalted and believed in our nation again.
SPEAKER 06 :
Lord, we ask that you allow us to become that shining city on the hill once more for your love, your grace, and your mercy.
SPEAKER 19 :
Thank you for your love and your grace and your mercy, for the opportunity that you have provided us to heal our land. We ask you to do it, Lord. We ask you for the wisdom, discernment, and stamina to do the thing that you have called each one of us, all of us here, to do. May we be found faithful. We trust it, pray it, believe it all. In Jesus’ name, amen.
SPEAKER 04 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks so much for joining us. All right. A recent headline blared what many conservatives already suspected. Lower courts blocking Trump’s executive orders at much higher rate than predecessors. According to news reports, the lower courts have slapped at least 15 national injunctions against 30. President Trump so far this year, and he hasn’t even been back in office a full year. Now, many legal experts noting that this dramatically outpaces the six against former President George W. Bush during his entire presidency and the 12 against former President Barack Obama and the 14th against former President Joe Biden for their entire time in office. Is this a case of revenge of the deep state? Is it manipulating the judiciary in order to stop the executive branch? and the legislative branch. Well, here to discuss this, Travis Weber, Vice President for Policy and Government Affairs. He holds a JD from Regent University School of Law. He’s also graduated in international law and a certificate in international human rights law from Georgetown University Law Center. Travis, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us.
SPEAKER 05 :
Tony, thanks for having me on.
SPEAKER 04 :
All right. So there is a remedy that the House is going to be taking up a bill maybe this week, although it’s going to possibly be a short week. But a bill by Daryl Issa that would restrict a district federal court from issuing a injunction for the entire nation and not just the parties that appear before them.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, that’s true. The issue of nationwide injunctions has become an increasingly hot, contentious topic in recent years. As administrations switch parties, Republican and Democrat, the uptick and use of nationwide injunctions has been a trend. And so if we examine constitutionally this, what the Constitution prescribes for how the balance of power is to be regulated between Articles 1, 2, and 3, the legislative, executive, and judicial. There’s some guidance there in the Constitution, and it provides that Congress can regulate the federal court system pretty extensively. There’s a Supreme Court that’s prescribed by the Constitution, but in large measure, other than that, Congress can regulate the courts.
SPEAKER 04 :
Because they’re a creation. They’re a creation of the Congress, correct?
SPEAKER 05 :
that the federal lower courts are a creation of Congress. Only the U.S. Supreme Court is a creation of the Constitution. So this bill is a exercise of the constitutional authority granted to Congress to regulate the lower courts, and it’s a permitted legal constitutional exercise of that authority in saying federal courts need to stop their nationwide injunctions. You know, and Tony, the reason, you know, so even if we explore what these are, right, historically lawsuits dealt with a case or controversy between parties where there was an injured party saying, here’s how I’ve been injured, why I’ve been injured, and the amount, et cetera, the damage to me. And courts would issue a ruling and prescribe a remedy. between the parties. But a nationwide injunction applies to everyone nationally, regardless of whether they are a party to the lawsuit, regardless of whether they’ve been personally injured. They’re subject to the nationwide injunction. So it’s a huge step of where we’ve come from.
SPEAKER 04 :
And we’ve also seen something that’s been happening is that there’s what’s called venue shopping where they will take – and both sides – all right, in complete candor, both sides do this. But it is exposing a weakness in our system where someone will go to a favorable jurisdiction where they’ve got a judge appointed by a Republican who’s conservative. They take the case there. get an injunction hoping it’ll be across the country, an injunction across the country, the left doing the same thing. So this would cut both ways. This would say, no, you can’t do these nationwide injunctions. It’s only, you know, you’ve got to appeal it to the next level, to the district, to the circuit court, and then to the Supreme Court and let the system work the way it was designed.
SPEAKER 05 :
That’s right. And that forum shopping of selecting a favorable jurisdiction, I mean, at one level, you can’t blame the lawyers for representing their clients and trying to do that. On another level, if you examine the impact of the system, which we’re really talking about here, there is a significant impact when that happens because it has the effect of altering the national policy on matters that an elected president and his or her administration have have proceeded to do in accordance with the will of the people that they’ve been elected to execute. And so the action-wide injunctions, the form of shopping, it tilts in just that paradigm.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, and this could take months, if not years in some cases, to work its way through the judicial process, correct?
SPEAKER 05 :
It can, it can. And so in the meantime, a new policy has been just prescribed at the hands of the judge issuing the nationwide injunction, right? So if we kind of take those off the table, what do you have? You have parties who’ve been injured, who have claims, they bring them to the courts and the courts issue remedies. So require injured parties to go before the courts would not otherwise alter that method of operation, apart from taking the nationwide injunction off the table. And those cases were going up through appeal. But that’s the way, historically, cases have dealt with. And there’s a reason that cases or controversies, impliedly between two parties, have been brought to the courts. So this would say, let’s kind of move back in that direction and stop having courts basically reissue national policy in the meantime until the matter works its way up on appeal.
SPEAKER 04 :
So, Travis Weber, In reality, under the way this is functioning right now, is that we have unelected district-level judges essentially setting policy for the country.
SPEAKER 05 :
you effectively have that, especially when you look at the fact that the nationwide injunctions, after the injunctions have been issued, you have a new national policy until there is an alteration of that injunction. So in that sense, we’re out of step with the Constitution where the executive branch is supposed to to take action in certain areas according to the will of the people who’ve elected someone to president. So there has to be, we have to look at the Constitution’s text and get back to recognize the limitations and what Congress is authorized to do, regulating the courts.
SPEAKER 04 :
Travis Weber, thanks so much for joining us and explaining it for us. Thank you. All right, folks, on the other side of the break, Chairman Comer from the Government Oversight and Accountability Committee joins us. So don’t go away.
SPEAKER 12 :
What is God’s role in government? What does the separation of church and state really mean? And how does morality shape a nation? President John Adams said our Constitution was made only for moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. Join Family Research Council for God and Government, a powerful 13-part series that equips you with biblical truth to engage in today’s most pressing debates. From the Ten Commandments in Classrooms to the Immigration Crisis of America, we’ll uncover the foundations of our nation’s history, and why it’s relevant for today. Defend God’s plan for government because faith and freedom were never meant to be separate. New episodes available each Monday. To view the series on the Stand Firm app, text COURSE to 67742.
SPEAKER 11 :
The world is hurting, streets are filled with crime, families are broken, sin is celebrated, and God is mocked. Everywhere we look, the wages of our sin are on full display. As Christians, we know that surrender to God’s will is the solution to our biggest problems, but not everyone agrees. Even in church, we hear people say the most important thing is to be tolerant, that we shouldn’t impose a morality on other people, and that loving our neighbor means celebrating what they do. But you can’t do that. It’s not that you don’t love your neighbor. You do. But you care about God’s opinion more than your neighbor’s opinion, and this makes you different. In fact, sometimes it makes you feel alone, like you’re the only one. But there is good news. You are not alone, not even close. Research has found that there are 59 million American adults who are a lot like you. There are millions of people around the country who are born again, deeply committed to practicing their faith, and believe the Bible is the reliable Word of God. But that’s not all. They’re also engaged in our government. They’re voters. They’re more likely to be involved in their community, and they’re making a difference in elections. The problem is that a lot of them feel alone, too. We want to change that. FRC wants to connect these 59 million Americans to speak the truth together, no matter the cost. If you want to learn more about this group and what it means to be a spiritually active, governance-engaged conservative, or if you want to find out if you are one of these sage cons yourself, go to frc.org slash sagecon and take the quiz to find out. The world is hurting and we have the solution. We can’t do it alone, but we can do it if we work together. That’s what we’re working toward every day. Join us. Go to FRC.org slash S-A-G-E-C-O-N SageCon to learn more. That’s S-A-G-E-C-O-N SageCon to learn more.
SPEAKER 04 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. All right, session six of our God and Government course is being released today. FRC’s God and Government course, which I teach, combines biblical principles with historical insights from America to offer a practical approach to governance. In this episode, we examine the legislative and judicial branch and the power of the juries. Very timely, given what we’re talking about and how the courts are being used at present to stop the policies of the executive and legislative branches. So you can find it exclusively on the StandFirm app. You can text, if you don’t have the app, you can text COURSE to 67742, COURSE to 67742, and I’ll send you a link. Our word for today comes from Ezekiel 6 and warns of the impending judgment on Jerusalem. God declares that a remnant will survive scattered among the nations and in captivity they will remember him. The text reveals God’s heartbreak over their unfaithfulness as they abandoned him for idols and immorality. We see that following the Lord is not a mere religion, but a deep personal relationship in which our sins can grieve the very heart of God. He is not a distant ruler issuing commands from on high, but the loving Creator who sustains us. This intimate aspect of God’s nature demonstrates that He desires our devotion and connection. What a sobering reminder that our choices matter. And he longs for our hearts as much as our obedience. When we realize he is broken by our sin, we see the depth of his love. God wants our loyalty, not as a tyrant demands fealty, but as a father seeking closeness with his children. He longs for us to return wholeheartedly. This is the essence of genuine faith. It is what God wants, and it’s what we need. To find out more about our journey through the Bible, text BIBLE to 67742. That’s BIBLE to 67742. Well, the assassination of John F. Kennedy happened almost 62 years ago, but much is still shrouded in secrecy. At least it was. And part of that is because of our own government. Well, thanks to President Trump’s executive order calling for the declassification of files relating to the Kennedy assassination, we’re finally getting a better sense of the circumstances surrounding President Kennedy’s death. And that’s not the only mystery that the Trump administration and the House Republicans plan to shed light on. Here to discuss this and more is Congressman James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which is also working to shed light on the details of the assassination and other federal secrets. He represents the 1st Congressional District of Kentucky. Chairman Comer, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks so much for joining us. Thanks for having me. So let’s talk about this. Last week, the National Archives released a flood of, I think, about 80,000 pages related to the assassination of JFK. Any surprises in there as you saw and oversaw the release of these documents? And why is this important coming out 62 years later?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, there were a few minor surprises, but I don’t think there was anything earth-shattering. You know, at the end of the day, there are a lot of people like myself that wonders if If the government knew more, if there were documents that would shed a new light on different angles or different participants in the assassination attempt, would our government have kept them in a safe somewhere in a filing cabinet for the past 60 years? My gut says no. Someone would have shredded those documents a long time ago or disregarded those tapes. But at the end of the day, what I think the most important thing with what President Trump’s doing is We’ve got to restore confidence in the government. I think most conservatives agree our government is too big. We need to significantly reduce the size of our government. But at the end of the day, I do think we need a government. And with the government we have now, most conservatives don’t have a lot of confidence in the government. And when you don’t have confidence in the government, you don’t believe anything. that the government says, then it becomes a problem. And that’s when you do have the potential for a coup or for a real insurrection or a real threat to democracy like the Democrats talk about. So what President Trump’s doing is being transparent. He’s opening the windows where sunlight can come in. And we can see exactly what role our government played in a lot of our American secrets. And I think that’s the first step in restoring confidence in our government. I applaud President Trump for doing that.
SPEAKER 04 :
I would agree with you, Mr. Chairman, because it’s like when you look at, for instance, we get this rating of consumer confidence rating. And our economy basically works because we believe it works. That’s right. It would fall very quickly if the consumers didn’t have confidence in it. The same is true of our government. Our government works because we have confidence in it. But if we lose that confidence, which I think we’re losing, and I think this is a remedy. And then, of course, last month, your committee created the task force on declassification of these federal secrets. So kind of expound on that. What are the goals of the task force? What else might we find more information about when it comes to government secrets?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, the thing you have to understand about our government, I think President Trump’s doing a great job exposing this, is a lot of these agencies are run by unelected bureaucrats. You’ll never see their face. You never know their name. But they have unprecedented amounts of power in those agencies. And they haven’t been complying with the orders, especially when you have a Republican administration. Let’s take two things that President Trump’s done. with respect to transparency and releasing information that had been previously classified to the American people. He ordered the declassification and the release of the JFK files a few months ago, and he did the same on the Epstein files. In both instances, bureaucrats handed over a fraction. of what they really possess. That’s when we created the task force, not to go after President Trump, but to go after these bureaucrats and these bureaucracies that aren’t complying with the orders of the president of the United States. When the president ordered the release of the JFK files, the bureaucracy did not comply. They only released a fraction. And the same with the Epstein files. And we’re still awaiting the release of that. So the task force is going to put pressure on these bureaucracies, on these bureaucrats, and bring them in and question them. And I say, why didn’t you comply with the order of the president of the United States? This is the will of the American people. Explain to us why you didn’t release the files when the president first said it. So in both instances, the JFK files and the Epstein files, there had to be a redo. Because these bureaucracies are just out of control. They’ve gone for at least four years without coming to work under the Biden administration, and they’ve had no oversight. So now we’ve got a strong commander in chief who’s been transparent with the American people and said, we’re going to release these files. Our task force is going to make sure every single file gets released.
SPEAKER 04 :
It’s a source of power for the deep state to hold on to these. Now, I don’t know your experience, but my experience when I get classified briefings, when I had my security classification clearance, is that really it wasn’t much that they really held back information. They never really got much from those classified briefings. It’s a source of power for them to be able to control this and say, well, this is classified. We have this information. We can’t tell you what it is.
SPEAKER 03 :
That’s exactly right. I’ve quit going to classified briefings unless I absolutely have to because it’s insulting. These deep state bureaucrats, they patronize you. They don’t tell you anything that’s not already on Google. If you type in a word, whatever the briefing’s about— It’ll be the first story that pops up from the AP or one of the mainstream media outlets. So we’ve got to revamp the entire intelligence community. We’ve got to revamp the Justice Department. And we’ve got to revamp all these bureaucracies, whether it’s the EPA, whether it’s the Department of Labor. I hope we get rid of the U.S. Department of Education. The bureaucrats have been in control for at least the past four years, and our country’s not We don’t have a better energy policy in the United States because of the bureaucrats in the Department of Energy. Our education system has not improved because of the bureaucrats in the Department of Education. And we sure aren’t in better shape on the – international scale because of anything our intelligence community has done. I would argue in worse shape because of the decisions of our intelligence community. So thankfully, we’ve got a president that’s trying to drain the swamp, but it’s going to be hard, Tony. And I hope our oversight committee, whether it’s that task force going after these bureaucrats that won’t release the classified documents that President Trump orders or or whether we’re bringing in bureaucrats who refuse to work with this administration on policy. We’re going to play a role in trying to help President Trump enact his agenda and drain the swamp.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, let’s talk a little bit about that, because you’ve actually introduced legislation that will help expedite this process. I mean, I would think. I mean, I would argue that the bureaucrats have been in control going back to the Great Society over 60 years ago, and they don’t want to give up that power. You’ve introduced the Reorganizing Government Act of 2025 that will kind of streamline the president’s agenda of reorganizing government. Won’t grow it, but will reorganize it so it works more efficiently. Tell our viewers and listeners about that.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, President Trump campaigned on reorganizing the federal government. We want to get rid of some agencies that have become obsolete. We want to return power and decision-making back to the states and local governments, especially with respect to education. And what my bill does, we’ll codify in the law what President Trump is wanting to do with his executive orders in reorganizing the government. It’s very important that this gets passed into law. so that some judge doesn’t try to kick it out or the next administration, whoever that might be, doesn’t try to end the executive orders. We want this to be the law of the land. We believe that we have the votes in Congress to do that. We know that any member of Congress that would oppose this reorganization is opposing the mandate that President Trump received. And look, I don’t think anyone with any common sense would think that we can continue to spend $2 trillion a year more than we take in. We have to reduce unnecessary and wasteful spending. We can do that by reducing the unneeded bureaucracies in America, and I think that that’s what this bill will do, and hopefully this bill has the blessing of President Trump and his entire cabinet. It’s something that needs to happen, and we’re going to vote it out of committee this week.
SPEAKER 04 :
So it’ll come out of committee this week, and when might we see something like this on the House floor?
SPEAKER 03 :
I hope in the next two or three weeks it’ll be on the House floor, but definitely we’ll pass it out of the House Oversight Committee, and you’ll see there won’t be a single Democrat vote for it, because the Democrats think that you solve every problem in America by creating another government agency. If our kids are failing in school, then we need to create another government agency and hire a bunch of bureaucrats to try to teach the poor old classroom teacher how to teach better. I mean, it should be insulting to the classroom teachers that we have a U.S. Department of Education. It should be insulting to a lot of federal employees that work on the front lines in these states that we have fat cat bureaucrats in Washington that make, in many instances, two or three times what the people who are actually working make. So I know a lot of federal employees have called concerned about cuts and reorganizations of the federal government. If I were a federal employee who actually went to work every day and worked hard on the front lines, I would be applauding these changes because they’re going to have more ability to make decisions. And I think we’re going to restore some common sense into some of the federal government decision making that happens on the front lines in America every day.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, I mean, I think Americans are shocked at what’s being revealed by President Trump as he’s coming in and Elon Musk as they’re exposing the waste, the fraud and the abuse. And I hear a lot of applauding, cheering them on and what they’re doing. We just have about three minutes left, Chairman Coleman. I want to ask you about something that is going to be front and center this week as Congress has returned, the House has returned, the Senate’s returned, is reconciliation, talking about advancing the president’s agenda. You know, we got the temporary funding accomplished for the next six months. Now the attention turns to reconciliation. Give us the lay of the land as it pertains to that measure.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, there are seven committees, mine being one of them, the House Oversight Committee, that are going to come up with significant savings over a 10 year period. My House Oversight Committee has come up with $50 billion in savings. The Energy and Commerce Committee is going to come up with $880 billion in savings. This will lay the groundwork to be able to renew the Trump tax cuts and to create more tax cuts because what the Republicans want to do is we want to give hardworking Americans more of their paycheck back. We don’t want Washington to take more. We want them to have more to where Washington doesn’t have the waste, fraud, and abuse. We’re not cutting programs that our seniors need. We’re not cutting programs in education that affect the student in the classroom. We’re cutting bureaucracies. We’re ending improper payments. That’s what the Trump agenda is all about, restoring sanity into our federal government, reducing the size of the federal government while still providing the services that everyday hardworking Americans expect and deserve to get. They expect and deserve to have a secure border. They expect and deserve to get Social Security check they expect and deserve to get a Medicare check when they get old enough to get on Medicare. But they don’t deserve a big bureaucracy with hundreds of thousands of federal employees who haven’t been to work. in four or five years making a big paycheck. We’ve got to restore fiscal discipline. That’s what this budget reconciliation bill is. It’s the president’s agenda in one bill. The good thing about it, we don’t need a Democrat vote to pass it. We haven’t found a Democrat yet, other than maybe Fetterman, who’s even expressed any willingness to work with President Trump. We can pass this bill with just Republicans in the House and just Republicans in the Senate. And hopefully we’ll do that. Hopefully we’ll do that in the next 45 days.
SPEAKER 04 :
Final question for you, Chairman Comer. So in the midst of all of that, reducing the bureaucracy, cutting waste, fraud and abuse, renewing the tax cuts so that Americans do not see a tax increase. You’re also going to be reducing the deficit.
SPEAKER 03 :
Mm hmm. Yeah, I mean, look, we can’t, again, continue to spend $2 trillion a year more than we take in. And that’s during a pretty good economy. If we have a recession or something, that deficit would automatically rise because businesses wouldn’t be making profits and paying taxes. So we’ve got to get our house in order. And when you look at what the USAID has uncovered with wasteful spending, what some of these NIH grants were going for in wasteful spending, all these DEI offices and every agency went, look, it’s already illegal to discriminate. We don’t need another layer of bureaucracy to preach to the choir. We’ve got to reduce the size of government. That’s what we want to do in this budget reconciliation bill. And we want to give Americans more of their hard-earned money back to be able to continue to spur economic growth.
SPEAKER 04 :
And we’re all for that. Chairman James Comer, always great to see you. Thanks for joining us. Thank you so much for having me. And thank you. Thank you for joining us, folks, as well. Until next time, keep standing.
SPEAKER 16 :
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