In this episode of Washington Watch, host Jody Heiss dives into the recent developments on Capitol Hill, including the House GOP’s budget resolution passing a significant hurdle. Jody speaks with Ken Blackwell about the resolution’s future implications and discusses the visit of India’s Prime Minister Modi to the White House. They explore ways in which Modi could address religious persecution in India, particularly against Christians, as highlighted by Jeff King from International Christian Concern.
SPEAKER 12 :
From the heart of our nation’s capital in Washington, D.C., bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and soundbites into conversations with our nation’s leaders and newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Sitting in for Tony is today’s host, Jody Heiss.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, good afternoon and happy Friday. Welcome to this edition of Washington Watch. I am your Friday host, Jody Heiss, Senior Vice President here at the Family Research Council and President of FRC Action. Thank you so much for joining us today, and we have a lot coming your way. First of all, the House GOP’s budget resolution survived a critical hurdle today or yesterday. It passed out of the Budget Committee on party-line votes 21 to 16. We’re doing a budget today.
SPEAKER 18 :
My Democrat colleagues never did a budget for five years. And when y’all did the IRA, Build Back Better, it didn’t come through the Budget Committee. We’ve empowered this committee, and we respected the deliberative process. We’ve got it to a good place. And now we’re gonna put it in play and let the process continue.
SPEAKER 04 :
That was House Budget Committee Chairman Jody Arrington last night toward the end of yesterday’s markup hearing. I’ll discuss the significance of this development when I’m joined here in just a few moments by Ken Blackwell. He’s the Senior Fellow for Human Rights and Constitutional Governance here at the Family Research Council. And India’s Prime Minister was at the White House yesterday for an Oval Office meeting and decided to borrow a line from none other than President Trump.
SPEAKER 01 :
If I were to say this, borrowing an expression from America, our vision for a developed India is to make India great again, or MIGA.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, those, by the way, were translated remarks, as you may have guessed. But overall, those were remarks from the Indian prime minister. And I would just say, look, if he wants to make India great again, the country’s persecuted Christians might have some suggestions for him. And I’ll be joined a little bit later in the program by Jeff King of International Christian Concerns to discuss what those concerns might be. And speaking of what makes a country great, a new poll is showing that a plurality of Americans for the first time in 20 years, a plurality of Americans believe that the country is actually on the right track. I’ll be joined by Mark Mitchell. He’s the chief pollster at Rasmussen Reports to discuss that. And then yesterday, a defiant New York governor, Kathy Hochul, rejected an extradition warrant signed by Louisiana’s governor for a New York doctor who violated his state’s law regarding abortion-inducing drugs.
SPEAKER 15 :
I took an oath of office to protect all New Yorkers, and I will uphold not only our Constitution, but the laws of our land. And I will not be signing an extradition order that came from the governor of Louisiana. Not now, not ever.
SPEAKER 04 :
All right, so under oath to protect all New Yorkers, what about those who are not yet born? Well, this is a very interesting case that’s underway right now. I’ll be discussing these items a little bit later when I’m joined by David Claussen for our weekly Biblical Worldview segment. So as usual, we have a lot coming your way today. You don’t want to miss any of it. But if you do, our website is TonyPerkins.com. And speaking of Tony, let me just say real quickly, FRC’s Stand Firm app, if you don’t already have it, you want to get the app. But beginning this coming Monday, on the app only, is going to be our first episode of Tony’s new series called God and Government. It’s a 13-week video-driven Bible-based training course designed for anyone who’s wanting to make an impact for biblical truth. So if you want to get a head start on this and watch the intro to that first episode, simply text the word COURSE to 67742. All right, let’s jump into our first item for today. Yesterday on Capitol Hill, the House GOP’s budget resolution completed a successful markup. It passed out a committee. It survived in that process. Look, I just have to tell you, that’s a critical hurdle for the House of Representatives. So the budget resolution, which advances now a lot of President Trump’s policy goals, quite frankly, it passed out of the committee on a party-line vote. And that is significant. Joining me now to discuss how significant this is is Ken Blackwell. He’s a senior fellow for human rights and constitutional governance here at FRC. He’s got an enormous, vast political career, including serving as mayor of Cincinnati, as well as treasurer and secretary of state for the great state of Ohio. Ken, welcome back to Washington Watch. It’s always an honor to have you, my friend.
SPEAKER 13 :
Jody, it’s good to be with you, and we are together at an exciting time in America.
SPEAKER 04 :
Wow. Exclamation point on that. Absolutely. All right, let’s go to what happened with this whole budget resolution. This is another significant moment for our country. Just how significant is it?
SPEAKER 13 :
Well, I think it’s very significant because what it does is it puts us on a path that controls runaway spending and it allows for tax cuts that will accelerate growth. And that’s what we need. We need an economy that is growing, an economy that’s putting Americans back to work. But most importantly, an economy that stops runaway spending and starts to reduce the muscularity of government. You and I have talked about this any number of times. There’s a dynamic tension between the muscularity of government and government. human and individual liberty. And one of the things that this budget suggests is that it’s going to err on the side of spending rationality and individual liberty and American prosperity.
SPEAKER 04 :
Boy, that makes it extremely significant. I want to ask the team, go back, if you would, and play clip one for me. Can we do that real quickly? We’re doing a budget today.
SPEAKER 18 :
My Democrat colleagues never did a budget for five years. And when y’all did the IRA, Build Back Better, it didn’t come through the Budget Committee. We’ve empowered this committee, and we respected the deliberative process. We’ve got it to a good place, and now we’re going to put it in play and let the process continue.
SPEAKER 04 :
All right, that was House Budget Committee Chairman Jody Arrington yesterday. I was so glad that he made this comment, Ken Blackwell, that Democrats never did a budget in five years. Why is that? How can that be?
SPEAKER 13 :
Well, again, it’s smoke and mirrors. And to the degree that they don’t have a disciplined budget process, they can in fact stuff the pockets of the administrative state and actually slow growth and create an administrative state that is controlling as opposed to unleashing individual liberty and prosperity. But I will tell you, Jody, what I was impressed with is that Republicans had a robust debate, but they, in fact, practiced getting to yes in a very responsible way. They did it and they put the Democrats back on their heels. And I think that one of those One of the outcomes of this will be the American people will see that this is a Republican Party that is ready to work together in a very transparent way, but in a very disciplined way that controls spending, accelerates growth, and puts Americans back to work again.
SPEAKER 04 :
Wow. And unified party, like probably like I’ve never seen before, at least in a long, long time. You know, your opening words as you came on this segment, we’re talking about how this is such a great time to be an American with watching what we’re happening now. So let me circle back around to that comment. What do you think? Just describe it for us. What do you think about President Trump and congressional Republicans right now and how they’re doing?
SPEAKER 13 :
Well, you know, I think, ironically, it might have been a blessing that a rigged election separated his first term from this term because it, in fact, gave him plenty of time to come in with a game plan, hit the ground running and stay on the offensive. And I just think this is a president that has a game plan that has put America first. but he actually understands that what he has to do is to get our economy growing at an accelerated pace so that we can once again pick back up on making America as great as it’s ever been.
SPEAKER 04 :
And it is just breakneck speed that all this is happening. What do you think about the Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE? How are they doing?
SPEAKER 13 :
I think they’re doing excellent. What really gets me is that the left and the Democrat Party talks about these unelected folks. What do they think an unelected administrative state is? The bureaucracy is not a bunch of elected officials running around. It’s different between the administrative state and Elon Musk and Trump and that crew is that they understand that they work for the president and they’re going in doing the work for the president. But most importantly, the work for the president that he has signaled is important to get our economy growing against shrinking government and making sure that once again, this is a government for and by the people and not by the administrative state.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, great point, Ken. Can we actually say this, that I think also DOGE right now is communicating to the American people and to the federal government that it is the government who works for the people and they’ve got to be held accountable to the people.
SPEAKER 13 :
Absolutely. And they’re not confused. The left is off balance, confused and babbling, just running their mouths. And in fact, what President Trump is doing is running an administration that is geared towards making sure that we make America great again by expanding our economy, putting Americans back to work and respecting the human dignity of the American people.
SPEAKER 04 :
Wow. Just unbelievable. So what more, real quickly, we’ve just got a couple of minutes here, Ken. What more do you hope to see from this Trump administration and from Congress? They could not be off to a better start. What more do you hope to see?
SPEAKER 13 :
I want to see them really stay to the sort of discipline that they are exhibiting right now. The president and his team, they have to keep their foot on the gas. And that looks exactly like what they’re doing. They’re not going to let the administrative state and the radical left catch its breath. And so this is… Right now, this is full steam ahead and getting America back to full force as the greatest economy and the greatest nation on the face of the earth. So you think we are on path. And he’s picked that spirit. People are catching that spirit. That’s what is so important. I’m in neighborhoods. I’m in states. People are catching that spirit, Jody, and that’s so important.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, and I just have to say, I agree with you. People say that to me all the time, and it seems like we are on path to indeed see America great again. Ken Blackwell, Senior Fellow for Human Rights and Constitutional Governance here at FRC. Thank you so much, as always, for joining us.
SPEAKER 13 :
Good to be with you, Jody. God bless.
SPEAKER 04 :
God bless you, my friend. All right, coming up, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in the White House yesterday meeting with President Trump, and he wants to make India great again. Well, how can he do that? International Christian Concern’s Jeff King will join me next to discuss it. Stay tuned.
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During these challenging times for our nation, Family Research Council continues to serve as a watchman on the wall for faith, family, and freedom. And together, thanks to your support, we’re making an eternal impact. 2024 was a year of shining the light for biblical truth in Washington, DC. Last fall, over 1,000 spiritually active, governance-engaged conservatives gathered for the Pray, Vote, Stand Summit to pray for our nation and ensure that the issues impacting sage cons were understood and advanced. Washington Watch with Tony Perkins marked a major milestone this year, its 900th episode, and added the Washington Watch News Desk, a new production that presents the top news each day from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand published 2,000 articles of news, commentary, and podcasts in 2024, garnering over 5 million views. FRC’s outlet for news and commentary continues to pursue the truth on the issues that matter most to you and your family. And with the launch of the Stand Firm app, you can listen to, watch, and read our content in one simple place. Pray for current issues, stay rooted in the scriptures, and engage the political sphere with the community of believers on our new platform. In 2024, FRC shaped public policy and culture, organizing the National Gathering for Prayer and Repentance, where members of Congress and Christian leaders came together to seek God’s intervention in America. In May, FRC called upon believers to pray for and stand with Israel by dedicating a portion of their worship services to pray for Israel’s peace, prosperity, and protection. with pray vote stand decision 2024 frc and real life network led a powerful evening of election night coverage to analyze the election results and pray that our nation would turn back to god we also filmed a transformative educational course god and government launching early this year in january 2025 this series will explore the biblical and historical foundations of our government, empowering you to stand confidently in your role as a citizen of heaven and earth. Family Research Council thanks you for partnering with us, and we look forward to 2025 and standing for faith, family, and freedom.
SPEAKER 11 :
Looking to grow closer to God in the new year? FRC’s Stand on the Word spiral-bound journal is here to help. Dive deeper into scripture with thought-provoking questions, note-taking space, and context for each book and author. This second edition, covering Isaiah 2 Revelation, will guide you in tracking your journey through God’s word while deepening your faith in Christ. Order now at frc.org slash store or text journal to 67742.
SPEAKER 04 :
Thank you so much for joining us today on Washington Watch. Welcome back. I’m Jody Heiss, your Friday host, and an honor to be with you. A great joy to have you on board with us as well. All right. Yesterday, President Trump welcomed to the White House India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi. This is the fourth foreign leader to get a visit in, frankly, the coveted Oval Office office. Well, these two leaders had a lot to discuss in their meetings, including things like tariffs that President Trump had threatened, a potential trade deal between the two countries, and America’s trade deficit with India. But one big, big issue was seemingly left unaddressed, and that is how Christians and other minority groups in India are facing increased and significant persecution under the prime minister’s Hindu nationalist government. Well, if Modi wants to borrow from Trump’s make India great again, as he said yesterday, those were his words, then how about Maybe he ought to start by taking a page out of Trump’s own executive orders. Maybe he should work on eradicating anti-Christian bias. Well, here to discuss this and more is Jeff King. Jeff is the president of International Christian Concern. Jeff, welcome back to Washington Watch. Great to have you.
SPEAKER 07 :
Jody, always great to be with you.
SPEAKER 04 :
Okay, so let’s look at this meeting that took place. Maybe I missed something, but do we know at all if Christian persecution even came up when these two leaders met?
SPEAKER 07 :
Not yet. And that would certainly be the first step. The first thing you have to do is name and shame. A little goes a long way. It’s the, you know, what we call the bully pulpit. The strongest tool President Trump has is for a public statement to be made. That would shake the foundations. And we’ve got to figure out, you know, and India’s got to figure out, are they a partner in peace or in persecution?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah. Yeah. Well said that that is what it comes down to. So let’s go to India. OK, let’s try to dive into a little bit about what kind of government they’re working under. Does do they have there in India any form of religious freedom or not? Let me just start there.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yes. So that’s a great question, because the Constitution does allow for religious freedom. You know, the Constitution, you know, back in the time of Gandhi, it was it was very much about tolerance on all levels, especially religious. And those days are gone. You know, Modi is honestly he’s the head of the snake. He’s the head of the party called BJP. And the BJP is, these guys are hate mongers. They view Christianity as a virus to be eradicated, to be stamped out. And so Modi is a very polished, very savvy world politician. You’re never going to hear him say anything. But if you go listen to what’s being said in different languages from the BJP leaders, it’s pure hate speech. And they’re stirring up the masses. And then Christians are attacked. And then Modi, his role is to stay silent. He doesn’t say anything. And so attackers know they have impunity. They can attack and nothing will happen.
SPEAKER 04 :
So where do we go with this? I mean, what ought to be the response of the United States? I mean, what needs to happen? Obviously, there’s persecution taking place in India, and now’s the time for us to be able to deal with it. In your opinion, what needs to happen?
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, I think the first thing is just to make a decision where religious freedom is going to lie in the order of importance. Does trade trump everything? And once we get there, Trump would make announcements. But there’s different things we can do policy-wise. And if we want to go that route, it’s like we could name a special envoy on religious freedom. And that means it’s almost like an ambassador focused on just one issue. on India. That would be an unbelievable move. Name India as what’s called a CPC, a country of particular concern. This is machinery and a legal framework within the United States government. But above all, it’s the bully pulpit. Come out and say something.
SPEAKER 04 :
Wow. Do you anticipate that will happen?
SPEAKER 07 :
I’m hopeful. You know, Trump administration, the first administration, oh, my gosh, it was fantastic. It was really golden age for the golden age for religious freedom. Everything from the vice president on down to the head of the State Department to a department within the State Department that focuses on religious freedom. great players. And so I was extremely encouraged to see Rubio head upstate. He is brilliant. We’ve worked with him in the past. He’s been concerned about persecution. So I am hopeful and we’ll see what’s cooking in the background.
SPEAKER 04 :
So do you believe at the heart of the issue that the prime minister, Prime Minister Modi, do you think he really wants to make India solely a Hindu nation? Is that kind of underlying his worldview, you think?
SPEAKER 07 :
You nailed it. That’s it. No, you know, their ideology is called Hindutva. And I remember going to India for the first time. I’m trying to think how long. It might have been 15 years ago. And I was seeing things, front page, huge spreads in the press depicting India as a virgin and Christians and Muslims molesting her and Mother India must be protected. These foreign forces, it’s a virus. depicted in various ways, but just really hateful. But this is the ideology of the BJP. This is Modi’s ideology. He’ll never come out and say it publicly. Like I said, world-class politician, very savvy. But all you have to do is go listen to the speeches of his party leaders. And oh my gosh, it is eye-opening. And then it makes complete sense what’s going on.
SPEAKER 04 :
Wow. Okay, so let’s kind of wrap up. Our time’s almost gone here. What would you suggest to Americans here, Christians here? What can we do to assist our brothers and sisters in Christ who are there in India under various difficult circumstances?
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, I think the first thing is to follow the issue. And so that you go to persecution.org, go to one of the other persecution ministries and follow what’s going on. So you’re aware. And then call your representative, call the White House, call the Indian embassy. They are extremely important. interested in good relations and in trade. So we start calling the embassies. We call the White House and we say, stop persecuting Christians. And for our government, name a special envoy to pay attention to religion in India and name India as a CPC, a country of particular concern. Those are the that’s that’s our playbook right there. And name and shame. You tell it. Tell it to all your friends. Let them know what’s going on in India.
SPEAKER 04 :
Wow. Jeff King, president of International Christian Concern. Great information. Thank you so much for joining us again here on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 07 :
Always an honor.
SPEAKER 04 :
All right, friends, after the break, we’re going to continue on with an incredible Rasmussen support. Trust me, you don’t want to miss this. Some incredible information coming your way right after the break.
SPEAKER 06 :
Oh, beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain.
SPEAKER 02 :
At the 2025 National Gathering for Prayer and Repentance, hundreds gathered with Christian and government leaders at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC, to pray for the nation and ask God to forgive us of our sins.
SPEAKER 08 :
We gather here not to appeal to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. We are appealing to heaven. Today we make our appeal not in the authority of a political party or in the name of a denomination. We come in the name and the authority of Jesus Christ. who has been given all authority in heaven and on earth, and we have been commissioned to operate in that authority.
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Father, we pray in Jesus’ name for our complacency, our greed, our pride, our gluttony, our sloth, and tolerance of sin.
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Lord, your word is the food that can make America healthy again. May your word be exalted and believed in our nation again. 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 06 :
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. I am Jody Heist, your Friday host. Thank you so much for being with us today. All right. We all know Trump has been busy as all get out during the first month of his second term. But how does this performance translate over to everyday Americans? Well, according to data from Rasmussen Reports, it seems that there are more people who think the nation is on the right track compared to those who think it’s going in the wrong direction. And this is the first time in all of Rasmussen’s polling that this positive metric outscored the negative one. So is there a specific reason for the change? Or is it just, to paraphrase Hulk Hogan, is all this just a symptom of Trumpamania? Well, here to pour over the data and what it all means is Rasmussen’s chief pollster, Mark Mitchell. Mark, welcome back to Washington Watch. Great to have you.
SPEAKER 16 :
Yeah, really good to be here. It is what an incredible environment out there for public opinion. I never predicted anything like this would happen. This is an upset of the last like 30 or 40 years of this red team, blue team dichotomy where we talk about things like policy and political capital. And then the people, the talking heads on mainstream media argue about what Americans think. And right now, what it looks like is that this is an existential crisis for D.C., for the essentially what people have termed the oligarchy, a group of unelected powers that have been doing what they want. and they’ve lost the ability to control it because they’re concerned trolling out there right now about how horrible all this chaos is, how we absolutely can’t stop giving all this federal funding to other countries away, how we can’t cut into the IRS or the Department of Defense. and Americans are the happiest they’ve ever been. As measured by, do you think the country’s headed in the right direction or wrong track? We have never seen that number positive in all of Rasmussen polling. It’s at 47% today, tying a record, and it is positive for the first time ever.
SPEAKER 04 :
That’s amazing. Now, I don’t know when this was actually in the field, but how do these numbers in the poll compared to the very beginning of Trump’s second term? How does all that factor in?
SPEAKER 16 :
Well, what kind of happens is what we’ve seen is that every time a president gets elected, it spikes up. And then over time, everybody comes to know that, well, we’re probably not actually going to get what we voted for. And it peters out. Happened for Obama. It happened for Trump. One, actually, although I think COVID had a lot to do with that. In fact, the second highest right direction has ever been was February of 2020. And that was very unique. Doesn’t normally happen. And then interestingly, after January 6th and the 2020 election, Joe Biden did not enter office with very high right direction. And Trump’s numbers have only gone up since he’s been inaugurated. And that’s really incredible because they’re saying like, look at President Elon and look at all of these people that don’t. I mean, Americans are loving this. Donald Trump’s got a 54 percent, a plus 10 net approval rating right now. And Doge has a plus 10, too. So everybody’s saying, oh, well, they weren’t legislatively created. They don’t have security clearances. Americans do not care. They’re finally getting what they voted for.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah. So what did y’all mean when you were talking about right track or wrong direction? Is this purely political? Is it economic? What do we mean when we’re saying, is America on the right track?
SPEAKER 16 :
Well, it’s one additional measurement of happiness. And the question is literally just that. It’s U.S. likely voters is a country in the right direction or wrong track. And the reason it’s so powerful is just because everybody asks it. And we have so much history. And the fact that it’s never been above 50 percent in all of our polling history is kind of sad because you’d want in a representative democracy to try and maximize that number. And we haven’t been. I mean, I’ll tell you, there’s times when it’s been in the upper teens and low 20s. And, you know, times like at the beginning of COVID, times like after the Supreme Court ruling, times like after January 6th. But here we are happy now. And this is new because, again, Trump didn’t come in with some kind of policy promises. Trump came in promising aggressive action. And everybody said, yeah, sure. Yeah, sure. Well, we’re seeing it. We’re seeing it now. We sure are. And I think a lot of Americans – yeah. Yeah. And a lot of Americans aren’t really understanding the scope of what’s going to happen here, because this could be a fundamental referee reformation of all kinds of politics. Like, I just don’t see even the debt ceiling discussion that’s happening next month. It’s not going to play out the same way because people see through, I think, the political lies, like the way that Chuck Schumer just got brutalized on Twitter. I don’t think we’ve ever seen anything like that.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah. And I mean, you’re so right. There’s just so much to talk about here. I mean, even here at FRC Action, we have a Trump commitment tracker and already he’s completed 26 out of the 51 that we have listed. That’s got to be a factor in all this. People see he is doing what he said he was going to do.
SPEAKER 16 :
Yeah, well, the Teflon Don has had everything thrown at him that they possibly could have. And I use the royal they because it’s a whole lot of people. And believe it or not, there are fewer people that strongly disapprove of Donald Trump today than did in January 2017. So none of it works. And the truth is, is that approval kind of used to matter a lot for presidents, but it doesn’t seem to anymore because his approval is decoupled. From what’s going on. And that’s because MSNBC, the MSM, all of these news outlets, they’ve gaslit too much. They pushed it too far and they’ve completely lost their power. And now Twitter is setting the mainstream narrative and people are just happy and chilling out. So it’s like he’s got carte blanche in a way I don’t think any politician in my lifetime has certainly.
SPEAKER 04 :
I totally agree with you. Mark Mitchell, Chief Pollster at Rasmussen Reports. Thank you so much. Incredible information. Thank you for all you do.
SPEAKER 16 :
Always great to be here.
SPEAKER 04 :
Thanks. All right, friends, listen, by way of reminder, I mentioned the Trump Commitment Tracker that we have at FRC Action. It’s easy for you to get and to follow. It’s available at frcaction.org slash Trump Tracker. It’s also on our Stand Firm app when you get the toolkit. You can do that by texting TOOLKIT to 67742. All right, our weekly Biblical Worldview segment’s coming up next right here on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 09 :
Hello, I’m Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council here in Washington, D.C. Behind me is one of the most recognizable buildings in all the world, the U.S. Capitol. What does it stand for? Well, most people say government. But do you know the Bible talks about four institutions of government? Do you know what they are? And do we have a republic or a democracy? Well, what do you say? Also, what about this thing, separation of church and state? Does that mean Christians shouldn’t be involved in government? Guess what? We address those issues and more in our new God and Government course. I invite you to join us to see what the historical record and the Bible has to say about government. Join us for God and Government.
SPEAKER 05 :
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 are 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 sage con 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. I am your Friday host, Jody Heiss. I’m glad to have you joining us today. Before I go to my next guest, I want to encourage you to preview our new 13-week series called God in Government. It launches on FRC’s Stand Firm app this coming Monday, President’s Day. This is a powerful video-driven, Bible-based training course. It’s designed for anyone who’s wanting to make an impact for biblical truth. So ahead of the launch coming up this coming Monday, you can watch the course introduction and take the pre-test to prepare for the very first episode. Simply text the word COURSE to 67742. All right. Well, yesterday, New York Governor Kathy Hochul defiantly rejected an extradition warrant signed by Louisiana’s governor for a New York doctor who violated Louisiana’s state law regarding abortion-inducing drugs. And by the way, that doctor was also ordered yesterday by a judge in Texas to pay more than $100,000 in penalties for prescribing abortion drugs for a woman near Dallas. So with more cases like this expected to come out, how much longer can the issue for the state’s claim hold up? Well, joining me now for a worldview discussion on this, as well as other items making headlines this week, is David Claussen. Of course, David is the director for our Center for Biblical Worldview here at the Family Research Council. David, great to see you as always. Thanks for joining us. Hey, happy Friday.
SPEAKER 03 :
Great to be with you again, Jody.
SPEAKER 04 :
And happy Friday to you as well. I look back and I wonder where in the world has this week gone, but here we are. All right, listen, before I get into a bunch of other stuff, I just got a hit on this. New York, I just had on the last segment before I hit the New York story that I was just talking about, this whole thing from Rasmussen showing that a majority of Americans believe that our country is on the right track. This is the first time like in decades that something like this has happened. What’s your thoughts on that poll?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, precisely. It’s the first time in 20 years, so two decades, Jody. Rasmussen has been putting out this poll, kind of just asking Americans a battery of questions that they ask, of course. But do you think the country is on the right direction or the wrong direction? And it’s a close poll, like you would expect it to be. But 47% of Americans told Rasmussen that they believed the country was on the right direction. 46% said on the wrong direction. And the way I look at it, Jody, is I think this is just kind of vindication or validation, so to speak, for the first month or so of the Trump presidency. I think the average American appreciates leadership in the Oval Office. They appreciate seeing strong leadership in the Oval Office. A couple of days, President Trump’s been meeting with the Indian Prime Minister, the King of Jordan, Benjamin Netanyahu last week, and other world leaders. I think the American people appreciates the policies on immigration, on really the work that Elon Musk and DOGE is doing, the Department of Government Efficiency. Again, I know it’s early in the honeymoon period, so to speak. We’re still early in the first hundred days. But if I was the Trump folks, I would look at a result like this with the Rasmussen poll as a general validation that a lot of the policies and decisions that they’re making are resonating with the American people.
SPEAKER 04 :
All right, so is that what we mean when Christians, for example, what does it mean when we’re suggesting that the nation’s on the right track? I mean, certainly Christians’ understanding of the right track will be different from a Christian’s someone else, let’s just put it that way, their definition of the right track. What are we kind of specifically referring to here? And are we on the right track from a Christian or biblical worldview?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, that’s a deeper level question, Jody. And I guess that is why we have our Worldview segments. Because as Christians, we don’t just say the nation’s on the right track because of economic indicators or political power or even cultural trends. As Christians, we want the nation to be aligning with God’s moral order. Proverbs 14.34, after all, says, righteousness exalts a nation. And so I think for Christians, for us to kind of get excited that the nation’s on the right track, we would want to see a nation where justice is being upheld. We would want to see a nation where life is protected, where religious liberty and the ability to live out our faith is protected, really where truth is promoted. So I think where we see those things happening, Jody, a Christian could say, I think our nation is trending in the right direction. Because again, as Christians, we want to see truth promoted. We want to see life protected. We want to see, I think an important phrase that I would use, Jody, is we want to see a return to creation order. And generally speaking, and I guess I should also add, Jody, where those things are not happening, where creation order is being inverted, where we’re seeing moral confusion, where we’re seeing moral compromise, I think those would be indications that a nation is on the wrong track. And so I think generally speaking, Jody, when you look kind of, again, it’s been a quick three weeks for the Trump administration, but looking at the logic embedded in some of these executive orders that is protecting life, that is defining sex, according to biology, according to creation order. I think these are all things that, again, I wrote a piece last week kind of cheekily titled Making Social Conservatism Great Again. These are all things that I think would indicate, for a Christian perspective, not only has there been a vibe shift, so to speak, but that we are kind of getting back on track in a way that’s consistent with the moral order.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, really, really encouraging news to hear that. Now, let me go back to what I originally was going to start with. Yesterday’s news coming out of New York that I was talking about right before you came on the program with the governor there of New York has rejected the request to extradite a doctor who’s been charged with prescribing some abortion pills online to a woman in Louisiana. And this is, isn’t this like the first time where these so-called shield laws have been, are going to be tested? Absolutely. But fill us in on the details of this story. What’s going on here?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, Jody, I think that’s, you hit the nail on the head. That’s why this is an important story, because you will remember after the overturn of Roe v. Wade, you know, it’s in Justice Alito’s majority opinion that the decision, the policymaking authority to regulate abortion goes back to the people and their elected representatives. And so many state legislatures jumped in the void, so to speak, and passed very strong pro-life bills. And many states had already passed these pro-life legislation. Those laws were allowed to go back into effect. They were called trigger laws. So that’s what you had happen, kind of where you had conservative leadership in place. But in places like New York, you’re exactly right. They passed these so-called shield laws that provided protections for abortion providers, abortion doctors, agencies, pharmacies that prescribe abortion pills, specifically mifepristone, and they would ship that across state lines. And so in this case right here, Louisiana, we know the governor, a friend of the program, under his leadership, Louisiana has very strong pro-life laws in place. And exactly what you just described, you have a doctor who’s based in New York who sent abortion pills across state lines from New York down to Louisiana, and they were given to a minor child. And so Louisiana is wanting to extradite this judge, or excuse me, not this judge, this abortion provider, and New York’s saying absolutely not. So this is a real showdown And Jody, why this is important is because chemical abortion is the new frontier. I think most viewers of Washington Watch know that a majority of abortions, and this is true for the last couple of years, are not surgical abortions. The majority of abortions for years, even right before Roe v. Wade was overturned, are not taking place at clinics. They’re taking place with this two-pill abortion pill regimen. And so, again, if—and by the way, this is the wild, wild west. There are no regulations over these chemical abortion pills. The Biden administration gutted even some of the few remaining regulations that were in place. And so, Jody, this is going to be a massive story to watch because hopefully these laws will be challenged because as it is right now, it does not matter what Florida does or Louisiana does. They can have the strongest pro-life laws in the nation. And yet these shield laws are allowed to be upheld. Well, you can have abortion pills mailed in to conservative jurisdictions from liberal states and we’ll see abortion. Those numbers continue just to go up, Jody.
SPEAKER 04 :
Wow. Here we have at the same time yesterday, a Texas judge fined this very same doctor over $100,000 for sending these abortion pills to a woman in the Dallas area. So what’s going on in that part of this case?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, it’s part of really the same story in a sense, because it is the same doctor in New York, again, Jody, who’s just kind of has this carte blanche freedom to mail abortion pills all over the country. And so, again, in Texas, again, we have some strong pro-life champions in the Lone Star State that have passed strong legislation that prohibits you know, the use of these drugs. But again, you have in place this shield law that is providing protection for this abortion drug provider. And so what you have is this Texas judge has ordered very explicitly, stop sending abortion drugs in violation of Texas law into our state. He’s ordered this provider to pay over $100,000. But again, I think what’s important for people to understand is that this is a stark departure, Jody, from the way interstate commerce normally works. The practice of extraditing and honoring subpoenas and sharing information. Normally states cooperate with one another. But in the jurisdictions, the states that have passed these so-called shield laws, they’re really, it’s a massive win for the abortion lobby at this point. That again, these abortion doctors can operate with basically impunity. They can get away with this with no legal repercussions. And so this really is, Jodi, going to be one of the new frontiers for those of us who are convictional pro-lifers, who don’t want to see these abortion numbers go up, who understand how dangerous chemical abortion is, not just for unborn babies, of course, which it kills, but for the women who take it. You know, Jodi, one in 25 women who take these abortion pills, the two-pill regimen, ends up in the emergency room. And again, it’s completely unregulated. And so again, this is going to be a major thing, a major story to watch. And again, I would encourage all of our viewers to just be praying, because again, this is the previous generation that would pray outside abortion clinics, heroic frontline work. The next frontier is these chemical abortion pills right now that are allowed to parachute in to conservative states and continue to kill unborn children.
SPEAKER 04 :
Wow. A lot going on there. We need to keep a pulse on for sure. If I can switch gears with you here a little bit, David, there’s another story happens to be coming out of Louisiana as well, where we have a law professor there who was recently barred by an appeals court from returning to work at LSU’s law school. And the professor has been on leaves since last month. Apparently, it was discovered that he had made some disparaging comments about the state of Louisiana, the governor there, as well as President Trump. What’s your thoughts on this story? What’s going on?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, it’s interesting. You know, we’re familiar with the term ideological capture. And if you’re not, you know, ideological capture is just this idea that institutions can be captured by ideology. And, you know, those of us who are conservative know, Jody, that this is something that has long been a problem in higher education. And so here in this situation at Louisiana State University, LSU, You have this law professor who, again, who’s been there for years, has been teaching for well over a decade, allegedly in his class, and he was recorded, I believe, saying some really crude things, not only about the governor there in the state of Louisiana, but also about the president of the United States. And so again, There was a court, so LSU has put him on paid leave. There was a court that ordered him, the administration, to let him come and teach again. And then an appeals court has said, no, not yet. And I think this speaks to the fact, and I’m glad this has happened in a way, Jody, because it really does, in my view, highlight the ideological capture of so many of the law school’s IN THE INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION. YOU KNOW, JODY, A COUPLE WEEKS AGO, YOU KNOW, WELL, TWO MONTHS AGO, MY WIFE AND I HAD OUR FIRST CHILD, AND I’M ALREADY THINKING ABOUT, YOU KNOW, SCHOOLING AND THINGS LIKE THAT. YOU KNOW, YOU LOOK AT THE KIND OF THE LANDSCAPE OF HIGHER EDUCATION, AND IT IS NOT ONE THAT IS FRIENDLY TOWARDS CONSERVATIVES OR FOR CHRISTIANS. And I think I hope every parent that’s paying attention to this story and others realizes just how infested, if I can use that word, much of higher education is and how much the left has captured our institutions. And so, again, I hope LSU continues to do the right thing. It appears that they’re doing that by not allowing just such blatant ideology in the classroom like this. But it’s something I think that it’s a warning sign for those of us who are conservative Christians.
SPEAKER 04 :
Absolutely. Listen, David, we’ve got about a minute or less. Anything else that we should be following as Christians that something we need to be tracking?
SPEAKER 03 :
I think I would just encourage, I know there’s been a lot in the news recently, Jody. I would just, you know, we know from Scripture, Paul commands us to be praying for kings and for officials in high places that we may lead a godly and dignified life in every way. You know, there’s a lot going on. Talk about the first hundred days, Jody. I know we have Operation Prayer Shield going on. encouraging folks to be praying. But President Trump and the folks that are around him here in D.C. and state legislatures that are getting very busy right now introducing legislation, what a wonderful time, again, at kind of the beginning of many of these legislative sessions to be praying for all of our leaders to make decisions that honor God, promote human flourishing. And I think that’s, I just want to encourage folks, I think this is a great time to be praying because there’s so much to be praying about.
SPEAKER 04 :
Absolutely, and could not be a better way for us to end this program and this week. David Claussen from the Center for Biblical Worldview here at FRC, thank you so much for the great work you do and for helping us break it down each Friday from a biblical perspective. Thank you.
SPEAKER 03 :
Always a pleasure. Thank you, Jody.
SPEAKER 04 :
All right, friends, that wraps up another week here at Washington Watch. I want to thank you so much for joining us. Hope you have a fantastic weekend. Go to church somewhere and encourage people in the Lord. We’ll see you next week here on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 12 :
Washington Watch with Tony Perkins is brought to you by Family Research Council and is entirely listener supported. Portions of the show discussing candidates are brought to you by Family Research Council Action. For more information on anything you heard today or to find out how you can partner with us in our ongoing efforts to promote faith, family, and freedom, visit TonyPerkins.com.
