In this insightful episode of Washington Watch, host Jody Heiss discusses key political and cultural issues impacting the nation from a biblical perspective. The episode kicks off with an analysis of the upcoming vote on the Save America Act and its implications for election integrity and security. Additionally, the discussion touches on the new guidelines set forth by the U.S. Department of Education on prayer and religious expression in public schools, with expert input from First Liberty Institute’s counsel.
SPEAKER 05 :
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 16 :
We can pass the Save America Act. We will do that in the House chamber next week. We will have citizenship. We will have voter ID. We will send it to the Senate. And if the Senate does its job, if Senate Republicans put this on the floor on the Senate, then we can force action and force Democrats to stand up on the Senate floor and oppose the will of over three quarters of the American people.
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, that was Congressman Chip Roy this week on the House floor discussing next week’s vote on his Save America Act. Welcome. Welcome to this February 6th edition of Washington Watch. I’m your Friday host, Jody Heiss. A great honor to be sitting in, and thank you so much for tuning in. All right, coming up, as Congress now faces its deadline next week to fund Homeland Security, election integrity, election security is also now on the agenda. They expect to vote for the Save America Act, which you just saw a clip on, which, by the way, requires voters to present photo ID before voting. And this is something that 80% of Americans support. Well, we want to discuss more of this, and we’ll be doing so here in just a few moments when Virginia Congressman Morgan Griffith will be joining me. And then the U.S. Department of Education has issued new guidance on prayer and religious expression in public schools. Well, we’ll be discussing that on today’s program as well. So all that and much more coming straight your way. The U.S. Department of Education, as I just mentioned, has issued new guidance defining when prayer and religious expression are protected by the Constitution in public elementary and secondary schools. Well, President Trump made the announcement yesterday at the National Prayer Breakfast. And joining me now is Washington stand reporter Casey Harper, who has been following this and many other headline stories. Casey, let’s start with this one. What can you tell us about these new guidelines for prayer and religious expression in public schools?
SPEAKER 23 :
Sure, Jody. Well, it’s a well-timed announcement from the president, as you said, the week of so much prayer, both the National Prayer Breakfast and FRC’s National Gathering for Prayer and Repentance. But here’s a clip where President Trump said that he wants to protect prayer in schools.
SPEAKER 04 :
And today I’m also pleased to announce that the Department of Education is officially issuing its new guidance to protect the right to prayer in our public schools. That’s a big deal.
SPEAKER 23 :
It is a big deal. The guidance aims to protect constitutional rights by ensuring that parents and children can speak freely and they have the right to freely practice their religion. Now it reminds the schools that they cannot officially endorse or establish religion, but it’s worth noting, Jodi, that a staff member, a teacher could pray, you know, on off time, like during lunch or something, but maybe not in front of a classroom. Now the schools also cannot participate in religious activity and can’t give favor to secular views over religious ones or religious views over secular. Of course, we know that recently secular views have gotten much of the favor. The schools also have to make sure they don’t participate in religious acts or discriminate against religious views. So it’s kind of clearing up a lot of the confusion and discrimination against religious views that we saw in the previous administration, Jody.
SPEAKER 10 :
Really, really encouraging just to have the guidelines cleared up, Casey. That’s good news. And I know you mentioned a while ago not everyone got to see or hear it, but we’ve got a lot of news surrounding the Super Bowl right now and some other athletic events, but particularly the Super Bowl that will be taking place Sunday between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks. But as both teams are gearing up for a big game, boy, there’s an opportunity isn’t there for many players right now to be speaking out about their faith and giving glory to God. Can you tell us more about what some of them are saying?
SPEAKER 23 :
Yeah, that’s right. And it’s really cool to see not just glorifying God, but even using the name Jesus Christ as many are doing. So there’s more examples, but a few. Patriots running back Travion Henderson, he expressed his thanks to God for blessing him with the abilities he had and even talked about how God has saved him and transformed his life. And Seahawks wide receiver Cooper Cupp, he glorified God after his Super Bowl victory in 2022. saying that his faith has sustained him through the highs and lows. I think we’ve all had that experience. Here’s a clip Seahawks head coach Mike McDonnell also publicly sharing his faith.
SPEAKER 11 :
My faith has really grown over the last couple years and that’s what I lean on. You know, that’s where your strength comes from and I just, recently it’s just like I have this so much gratitude, and then ultimately strength that you feel like that God has put you in a position to lead these people. And that’s your guiding light every day.
SPEAKER 23 :
And one coach, Jody, for the Seahawks, actually reportedly gave Bibles to every member of the team for Christmas. So just a really cool twist on the Super Bowl weekend this year.
SPEAKER 10 :
It really, really is, Casey. That’s great news. One other quick story I wanted to get your thoughts on, and this was brought to my attention earlier in the week, but the co-CEO of Netflix faced some really, really intense questioning by lawmakers this week at an antitrust hearing. in the Senate, and there were basically many of them accusing the streamer of being politically biased and among other things, a lot going on there. But what can you tell us as far as what unfolded in that hearing?
SPEAKER 23 :
Sure, Jody. I think it’s no secret the liberal bias that we’ve seen come out of Netflix, and much of that was exposed at this hearing. So the Netflix co-CEO, Ted Sarandos, went before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on antitrust competition policy and consumer rights, a mouthful, for a hearing this week. And it related to Netflix’s $72 billion acquisition of HBO and Warner Brothers, some household names there. So during the hearing, Republican Senator Josh Hawley asked the co-CEO why so much of the content that Netflix creates for kids promotes transgender ideology. Here’s a clip of the exchange between Senator Hawley and the co-CEO.
SPEAKER 22 :
We have millions of hours of children’s programming.
SPEAKER 17 :
You’re saying it’s not there. You don’t have trans, you don’t feature trans characters, trans storylines, trans themes. It’s not in your programming.
SPEAKER 22 :
I’m saying we feature a wide variety of stories and programs to meet a wide variety of people’s tastes.
SPEAKER 17 :
Why does almost half of it, why does almost half of your children’s program feature this highly controversial, highly sexualized material? That just seems strange to me.
SPEAKER 10 :
All right, Casey, I think we’ve lost you here for a while, but an incredible exchange that took place. Are you there, Casey? All right, yeah, that was quite an exchange that took place, particularly when you consider how few Americans as a whole identify as LGBTQ+. So quite a development taking place there. All right, I want to turn now to a member of Congress. We’ve got a lot going on there in Congress, of course, not the least of which is going to be developing as we come back, this whole battle, the funding battle, among other things. Joining me now is Congressman Morgan Griffiths. He’s a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and in fact, he serves on that committee. He chairs the Subcommittee on Health. in in there and he’s also the vice chair of the important house rules committee he comes from and represents the ninth congressional district of the great state of Virginia Congressman Griffith always good to see you my friend welcome back to Washington Watch good to see you too Okay, let’s start with this whole battle over Homeland Security, potentially another shutdown of the government all over this. We’re just a week away today from that deadline setting in. What are you hearing from some of your colleagues? What’s the latest on that battle?
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, this is something that, you know, the Senate had agreed to, and hopefully we can get the issues worked out. But truth of the matter is, is that right now the demands coming from the Democrats are pretty steep. And I’m not really sure what they expect to gain out of this, but they may try to shut us down for a longer period of time. As you know, we had about a three-day shutdown just last week, and the House came back in and agreed to what the Senate and the President had agreed to. But, you know, they talk about it affecting ICE, and they’re mad about ICE activities. And yet, while it does affect ICE some, it will have a big impact on disaster relief for FEMA, for them to be able to go in and help people out when there’s a flood or a hurricane or tornado it also has uh impact on our coast guard they won’t get paid the tsa uh representatives at the airports won’t get paid and if this thing goes on long enough you know particularly tsa may just say we’re not going to go to work and shut our airline industries down so you know the democrats are once again uh trying to play games with um government funding and didn’t work out so well for him last time. And I’m hoping that this time that we can work something out. But, you know, God bless the president for trying to accommodate them by giving them a couple of weeks to see if they can come up with something. But it just looks like their demands got even higher than what I originally heard when they first started this arrangement.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah, and then on our side, I understand that Speaker Johnson is wanting to use this opportunity to get Congress to crack down on sanctuary cities, particularly those that are not cooperating with federal authorities right now during all the deporting of illegal immigrants. And of course, Democrats say they want law and order, but it seems their words say otherwise. So you’ve got the sanctuary battle, sanctuary city battle taking place. You also now have the election security Save America Act. So there’s a lot at play right now, a lot of plates spinning. How do you see all of this ultimately unfolding?
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, I really hope that the Save America Act will pass. It’s queued up for next week in the House. It’s something that I’ve worked on behind the scenes as part of the House Admin Committee, which has jurisdiction over federal elections. And look, it’s pretty simple. When you boil it down, you should be an American citizen to vote in American federal elections, and you should show a voter ID. It’s pretty simple stuff. And the vast majority of people, including most Democrats, Support having a show ID and being a US citizen in order to participate in our federal elections.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah. And, you know, I wanted to show a quick clip from Chuck Schumer. He’s calling this whole Save America Act Jim Crow 2.0. Let me show this clip and get your reaction to this. Play clip two for me, please.
SPEAKER 19 :
It’s Jim Crow 2.0. And I called it Jim Crow 2.0. And the right wing went nuts all over the Internet. That’s because they know it’s true. What they’re trying to do here is the same thing that was done in the South for decades to prevent people of color from voting.
SPEAKER 10 :
Your reaction to that?
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, and I might have a different reaction than most people, because the Democrats changed the laws in Virginia as a part of Jim Crow and the election laws to disenfranchise, the Democrats did this in the early part of the 20th century, to disenfranchise black Virginians and Republicans in southwest Virginia, the area of the state I represent. And this is nothing like that. This is a simple process. You show an ID and you move forward. It’s just not that big a deal. But for some reason, they don’t want to have American citizens, U.S. citizens voting in elections. They want other people apparently to participate. They’ll say they don’t. But I mean, you have to present an ID to do so many things. I’m too old now to be carded for any kind of alcohol purchases or anything like that. But a lot of people, you know, are still being carded for alcohol or carded for tobacco sales, et cetera. But, oh, no, you can’t ask somebody for an ID to show up at the polls and be able to vote.
SPEAKER 10 :
Unbelievable. And even 71% of Democrats favor this thing, so you wonder where Schumer is coming from. Thank you so much, Virginia Congressman Morgan Griffith. Always great to see you, and thank you for joining us again here on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 15 :
Great to see you, and you’ll have to come pray with us at the Freedom Caucus.
SPEAKER 10 :
Look forward to doing that. Alright friends coming up some 3500 incarcerated individuals in North Carolina were either released or transitioned during a COVID era settlement and Republicans now are demanding answers. Stand by will cover it right after the break.
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We have state leaders that want to keep the deadly drugs out of their states. Maybe if these abortion pills were coming by boat, the administration would change its tactics. It’s time to respect the rights of the states, and it’s time to end death by mail.
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Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, alongside Senator Lindsey Graham, led a press conference on Capitol Hill, urging the Trump administration to end the Biden-era policies that have allowed dangerous abortion drugs to be shipped across state lines. They were joined by state attorneys general, pro-life advocates and multiple Republican congressmen.
SPEAKER 17 :
There are more abortions today in the United States than when Roe versus Wade was the law of the land. And why is that? It’s because of the chemical abortion drug, Mifeprestone. Nearly 70% of the abortions that are committed in the United States today are committed because of Mifeprestone.
SPEAKER 07 :
The federal government is allowing a chemical abortion pill to be sent through the mail that wipes out every state unborn protection law in the land.
SPEAKER 06 :
It’s harder to ship alcohol in this country than it is to ship the abortion pill.
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And that should never be the case. This is a drug that takes the life of every child. So there is always a death that’s involved in this drug, but is also incredibly dangerous for the mom as well. We think that we should require a doctor to be able to get access to this drug.
SPEAKER 13 :
As a doctor, I think it’s essential that there be human contact before the pill is prescribed.
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It’s not about a national abortion ban. It’s about validating Dobbs and preventing other states from nullifying the legislative policy choices that have been made by our states and facilitating the illegal, unethical, and dangerous drug trafficking of abortion pills into our states without any medical oversight whatsoever.
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We can simply fix this if we have the courage to do it. So what are all of us telling the administration? You’ve been a great pro-life president, Mr. President. It’s now time to deal with this issue.
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We want to protect life, and we want to give voice to the American people and their right to protect life state by state, city by city, and yes, here in the United States Congress. That’s what this fight is about.
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Let your voice be heard. Text LIFE to 67742. Sign the petition. Tell the Trump administration to act.
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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.
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Welcome back to Washington Watch. I’m your Friday host Jody Heiss and thank you so much for tuning in with us today. Alright, Republican lawmakers in North Carolina are demanding access to a list of some 3500 incarcerated individuals who were either released early or they were transitioned, and all this was part of a 2021 COVID-era settlement that took place between the administration of then-governor Roy Cooper and civil rights groups. And there’s been a certainly renewed interest in this list that came about over the possible inclusion of the man who was charged in last August’s fatal stabbing of that 23-year-old woman on the Charlotte light rail train. You may remember that. But Republican lawmakers now are saying that their concerns are more than just over one person. And my next guest is here now to share some of those concerns. Joining me is North Carolina State Senator Phil Berger. He is President Pro Tem of the North Carolina Senate. He represents the 26th District of the great state of North Carolina. Senator Berger, welcome to Washington Watch. It’s an honor to have you with us.
SPEAKER 12 :
Thanks, Jody. It’s good to be with you.
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, let’s start first of all with what do we know about that 2021 settlement between the Cooper administration and the NAACP?
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, so the interesting thing is that we knew that there was a settlement. We knew it back then that they had reached the settlement. What we didn’t know was exactly who was being released because what had happened is the Cooper administration with the administration of then Attorney General, now Governor, Josh Stein, entered into a settlement agreement with the plaintiffs, the ACLU and the other far left groups, that basically kept the list of prisoners being released secret behind closed doors and they had it couched as some sort of attorney’s eyes only list. And so the DeCarlos Brown situation has kind of renewed an interest in exactly who Roy Cooper released out on the streets of North Carolina at that time because we looked at his release date and it coincided with the timing of this COVID era collusive settlement. And lo and behold, when we were able to get our hands on the list, Guess whose name is on page one? Well, it’s not his name. It’s his prisoner ID number. We had to match it up. But he’s on the first page. And he was released early based on what the list says. Now, Cooper has gone out and claims that he was being released anyway and he wasn’t part of the settlement. But he’s one of the 3,500 that’s on this list.
SPEAKER 10 :
Very interesting. Now, as I recall, the Cooper administration emphasized at the time that this prisoner release would focus really just on nonviolent offenders. Has that been played out? Is that what happened? Or have you learned anything different from nonviolent offenders being released?
SPEAKER 12 :
No, we have learned something and actually on the very day they released or said that they were releasing these prisoners, the first iteration of their explanation was these are non-violent, 3,500 non-violent offenders. being released. Well, they had to clean that up that day because it was clear that there were others. And they used some sort of word salad to describe the offenders that made it sound less, I guess, egregious. But basically, I mean, you’ve got on this list murderers, rapists, drug dealers, drug traffickers, robbers, assailants, child abusers. And you’ve got just a whole gamut of folks that, I mean, you just don’t want in your neighborhood. And Cooper let them out and hid the list from the people of North Carolina.
SPEAKER 10 :
It’s just unbelievable. It’s hard to fathom that we’re talking about this as something that really happened. And there may be some who are viewing or watching right now who may be wondering why you’re demanding access to this list. I think as you go on further and further with this, it’s coming to light. But the reality is that lawmakers have been making repeated requests for this, haven’t they?
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, we’ve asked for it in the past and it’s not been forthcoming. But, you know, with the renewed emphasis that President Trump and Republicans have been placing on public safety, on how Democrats are soft on crime, this is just a clear example of how and what lengths Democrats will go to not only be soft on crime, but try to hide the truth of that from the public.
SPEAKER 10 :
Now, of course, Governor Cooper is no longer there, okay, but how would you describe it when he was there as governor of North Carolina? What were his policies on crime like? What kind of environment did he create?
SPEAKER 12 :
Talk tough, fold every occasion. We had this, he appointed a committee to come up with policies. The committee came back with policies that really are just the poster child for being soft on crime. And then he commuted sentences, even took some folks off death row, just really trying to create the aura of being a tough prosecutor, but the reality that if there’s a left-wing soft on crime policy out there, he was going to be somebody that was behind it.
SPEAKER 10 :
Less than a minute to go here, but what do you believe the people of North Carolina would want to come out of all of this? What are you hoping?
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, I think transparency is is something that needs to be emphasized. The need for public officials to be honest with the people. The facts that in this instance Roy Cooper was not being honest. His administration was not being honest with people in North Carolina, and I think you look at people’s record on those kinds of issues when you’re trying to decide who you want to entrust with office offices of public trust.
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, this is going to be extremely interesting as this list becomes public. You really see who all is on there. I want to thank you so much, North Carolina State Senator Phil Berger, for joining us and for keeping the heat up on this. We appreciate it. Glad to have you today on Washington Watch. All right, friends, coming up, the U.S. Department of Education has issued new guidance, new guidance on prayer and religious expression in public schools. This is a big, big deal, and we’ll discuss it next, so don’t go away. We’ll be back right after the break.
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SPEAKER 21 :
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SPEAKER 10 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. I’m your Friday host, Jody Heiss. An honor to have you joining us today. Thank you for being here. All right. Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Education issued guidance on prayer and religious expression in public schools. And in announcing the new guidance here at yesterday’s National Prayer Breakfast, President Trump said, it’s a big deal. And boy, he got that right. This is a big deal. So just how big is it? Joining me now to discuss this is Holly Randall, a counsel at First Liberty Institute, where she focuses on the religious liberty rights of teachers and students. in that firm’s education practice group. Holly, welcome to Washington Watch. It’s great to have you join us.
SPEAKER 01 :
It’s great to be here.
SPEAKER 10 :
All right, so let’s start. Can you just kind of unpack for us some of the key points that come out of this new guidance?
SPEAKER 01 :
Yes, I’m just excited as you are about this constitutionally protected prayer guidance. We’re excited at First Liberty Institute that Donald Trump’s administration is paying attention to these issues. And this guidance protects the rights of students, it protects the rights of parents, and it protects the rights of teachers. And so it’s a comprehensive analysis of what the Supreme Court has made clear. Students, teachers, and parents do not shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gate.
SPEAKER 10 :
Absolutely. And the Department of Education stated that the purpose of this guidance is to provide information on the current state of the law as it relates to prayer and religious expression in public schools. So what were some of the, maybe the recent cases or some of the developments that helped to shape or influence this guidance that now is coming out?
SPEAKER 01 :
One of the major developments that this guidance focuses on is a case called Kennedy versus Bremerton School District. It was one of our cases here at First Liberty Institute. It came out in about 2022 and it is a landmark case for the protection of teachers and their free speech while at school. And so we’re thankful that this Guidance really recognizes that just because a coach wants to say a quiet personal prayer does not mean that he can be punished. And so we’re excited that it’s protective of people like Joe Kennedy. And it also involves a case called Mahmoud versus Taylor, which is recent Supreme Court case law that is really expansively protective of parents’ constitutional rights to direct the religious upbringing of their children while they’re enrolled in public school. So it says that just because you choose to send your kid to a public school does not mean you forfeit your rights as their parents to direct sort of the religious direction of their lives.
SPEAKER 10 :
Wow. You know, some of the remarks yesterday, President Trump was just great with all of this. But in his remarks, he also said that he anticipated for, I think he used Democrats, specifically to file suit over this. But… Do you think we’re ready for this? First of all, do you think that we are going to see lawsuits? And secondly, how would you anticipate those lawsuits ending?
SPEAKER 01 :
The good thing about this guidance is that it’s well analyzed, well footnoted, well prepared. What it says is exactly what the Supreme Court has already told us. So students, teachers, parents have constitutional rights. And if members of school districts, teachers, students are facing problems with exercising those rights, that’s what we stand ready at First Liberty Institute to protect and defend. I would encourage anyone that’s experiencing issues with religious liberty in schools to reach out to us at firstliberty.org. We have tons of resources available online that match a lot of what this guidance says and really just analyzes what has the Supreme Court already told us? What is the law of the land?
SPEAKER 10 :
And I might add, now that you brought up First Liberty Institute, you are the largest organization in America that exclusively defends religious liberty for all Americans. And I just think it’s important for our viewers and listeners to be aware of that. So within the context of what we’re talking about then, Holly, what sort of lawsuits would you expect to see? I mean, it sounds like this is on solid ground what’s moving forward. So with there being a solid legal basis of protecting prayer and religious expression as it’s being defined here and defined within the Constitution, what kind of lawsuits might there be? I mean, what would they come after?
SPEAKER 01 :
There’s not much that could come after attacking the actual guidance. What’s likely to happen is schools simply will not follow it, and that’s exactly where First Liberty Institute is, you know, like you mentioned, the largest legal organization ready to defend those students and families. So students that are being prohibited from discussing religion in school assignments or teachers that are being prevented from praying because schools may simply not be aware of these constitutionally protected prayer guidance. So we are excited, we stand ready to represent those people and to make sure that their constitutional rights are protected just like anyone else’s.
SPEAKER 10 :
All right, real quickly then as we wrap it up, less than a minute to go here, but if people want to get in touch with First Liberty and what would you say to those who perhaps might be facing a challenge similar to this in their child’s school?
SPEAKER 01 :
I would encourage those people to just be passionate, stand up for what you believe in, exercise your constitutional rights. We need people that are courageous and that understand what they can and can’t do to exercise the freedom that we have as Americans in our public schools. And know that should you face opposition, there are law firms and legal groups that are here to protect you. And so I would direct your listeners to firstliberty.org or to First Liberty Institute’s social pages. Those provide great resources. They have toolkits in there. They have instructions on what your rights are. And so people can feel equipped to go to school and enjoy their constitutional rights.
SPEAKER 10 :
Thank you so much, First Liberty Institute Council, Holly Randall. We appreciate you joining us today. All right, friends, don’t go anywhere as we love to end the week. Our biblical worldview segment with Dr. David Claussen is next. Stay with us.
SPEAKER 03 :
Should a Christian support Israel? That question has become one of the most emotionally charged issues of our time, both in the world and within the church. Family Research Council President Tony Perkins offers a clear biblical and prophetic answer. In his latest book, he examines Israel’s past, present, and future through the lens of scripture, revealing why support for Israel is not rooted in politics, partisanship, or cultural sentiment, but in the unchanging promises of God. Drawing from Genesis to Revelation, Tony Perkins demonstrates that the ultimate rationale for a Christian’s support for Israel is spiritual. Should a Christian support Israel invites believers to see beyond headlines and ideologies, returning to the foundation of God’s Word to understand His heart for His chosen people and the blessings that flow when we stand with what He has established forever. Text the word Israel to 67742 for more information.
SPEAKER 09 :
The family is the oldest, most tested, and most reliable unit of society. It is divinely created and sustained. And yet, there are those who are always tampering with its values and structure. That’s why we need organizations like the Family Research Council that can effectively defend and strengthen the family.
SPEAKER 05 :
Family Research Council began over 40 years ago, like all great movements of God, with prayer. Today, rooted in the heart of the nation’s capital, FRC continues to champion faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview.
SPEAKER 09 :
FRC is one of those bright lights that helps us focus on true north. And I shudder to think, had they not been here, that it could have been worse, worse, worse.
SPEAKER 02 :
The Family Research Council is key. It’s one of a handful of groups that I think will determine whether our children live in a country that enjoyed all of the freedom and all the opportunity that we enjoyed in this great land.
SPEAKER 08 :
It’s just a wonderful parachurch organization that doesn’t seek to take the place of the church, but it seeks to assist the family and the church as we try to move forward successfully, not in a defensive mode, but in an offensive mode as we seek to live our lives according to the Holy Scriptures.
SPEAKER 15 :
FRC is not going to be whooped. You know, we’re going to fight. We’re going to take a stand.
SPEAKER 14 :
And again, we don’t retreat. You will never see in front of this building here in Washington, D.C., a white flag flying. We will never step back. We will never surrender. And we will never be silent.
SPEAKER 10 :
GOOD AFTERNOON AND WELCOME BACK TO WASHINGTON WATCH. I AM YOUR FRIDAY HOST JODY HEIST. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR TUNING IN TODAY. BEFORE I GET INTO THIS FINAL SEGMENT I WANT TO ENCOURAGE YOU TO MARK SOMETHING ON YOUR Quicker than we realize, but FRC’s 2026 PrayVote Stand Summit is going to be taking place on September 23rd through the 25th at Cornerstone Chapel in Leesburg, Virginia, which is just outside the nation’s capital here. But registration is going to be opening soon. And I want to encourage you to get information and start checking this thing out now. Now make plans to come join us. For more information, go to PrayVoteStand.org. No spaces, just PrayVoteStand.org. All right. Well, once again, it’s been a busy, busy week here in the nation’s capital. And for those of you who are regular viewers and listeners on Washington Watch, you know that we always love to conclude the week and the program on Fridays with reviewing the most important and significant stories of the week, but to do so through the lens of Scripture. So joining me now for our weekly Biblical Worldview segment is Dr. David Claussen. He, of course, is the director of the Center for Biblical Worldview here at FRC. And I’m really grateful that he’s able today to be joining me in studio. So, David, happy Friday. Thanks for joining us here in studio. What an honor to have you.
SPEAKER 06 :
Happy Friday. Great to be with you, Jody.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah, always good. You know, usually you’re out and about all over the place. And speaking out and about, last week, David, and I’d like to begin here if we can, but last week we concluded the program, kind of ran out of time, but you are involved in the Biblical Worldview workshops that are literally taking place all over the country. And I understand, in fact, after the program here, you got ahead of the airport for yet another one. If you can take a moment, share with us a little bit about those.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, absolutely. So it’s about three years ago within the Center for Biblical Worldview that we started doing these one-day worldview workshops. So it’s our colleague Joseph Backholm and myself, and we’ve done close to 15 or 16 of these one-day worldview workshops. We’ve done four of them in Alaska, three in California, really from coast to coast. And a What they look like, Jody, is one day, eight sessions. And so kind of we walk through what’s the lay of the land when it comes to worldview in the American church as well as in the broader culture. Then we also kind of give some talks on the life issue, how do we preach and teach a pro-life ethic. What about critical race theory and even behind that critical theory? What about homosexuality and marriage, transgenderism? So kind of all the hot-button issues, how do we think about them, not just as political or cultural issues, but as biblical issues, as theological issues? And we really invite people to come who have preaching, teaching, and discipleship opportunities. So these are for pastors. These are for Sunday school teachers, but as well as just faithful Christian parents and grandparents who have those discipleship opportunities in their own families. And so we’ve been doing them all over the country. Right after this, I’m going to head to the airport. We’re doing one in North Indiana. So looking forward to being there with about 200 brothers. That’ll be tomorrow? Tomorrow, yep, Saturday.
SPEAKER 10 :
And we’re really looking forward to it. WELL, THAT’S INCREDIBLE. WELL, I TELL YOU, DAVID, I HAVE, OF COURSE, HAVING BEEN A PASTOR AND THEN BEING IN CONGRESS AND HAVING THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK TO A LOT OF PASTORS AND CHURCHES AND SO FORTH, THE NEED FOR THESE WORKSHOPS IS HUGE RIGHT NOW. THERE ARE SO MANY CHURCHES AND PASTORS, AND WE’VE HAD GEORGE BARNER WITH ALL THE STATS, EVEN THE PASTORS THEMSELVES, MANY OF THEM DON’T SHARE A BIBLICAL WORLD VIEW, AND THAT IMPACTS OUR CULTURE TREMENDOUSLY. reach out? Maybe viewers, listeners, people would like to get information to their pastor or whatever. Why don’t they go to maybe book one of these things?
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah. So if you’re a pastor or someone who’s a leader in your church, just go to frc.org slash worldview. And about halfway down the page, there’s an interest form that you fill out, give us some information, and then someone on the FRC team will reach out to you. And we’ll talk about whether it would kind of be a good fit for us to do one of these workshops in your community. So again, FRC That’s excellent.
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, I certainly encourage our viewers and listeners to do that. Okay, let’s transition, David, a little bit on the news side of things. There’s been a lot to happen this week. Seems like we’re living in a period of time where there’s always a lot taking place, but there is a couple of bombshell news items this week on the whole transgender deal. We’ve got a young lady who’s been awarded $2 million in malpractice. I just think, I know Tony has dealt with this earlier in the week and so forth, but let me toss that to you and get your thoughts on it.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, Jody, this is precedent-setting. This is a bombshell, like you said. This is the first medical malpractice kind of outcome related to a detransitioner. So I’m sure that might be a newer term for some of our listeners, but someone who identified as transgender who has then kind of detransitioned back to identifying with their biological sex. So 2019 is where this story begins. You have a 16-year-old girl who was identifying as a biological boy, and her doctors told her and her family that if she did not go through with some of these surgeries, including a double mastectomy at age 16, and her mother actually testified to this during the trial, she was told, the mother said, I was against this, but I was told that if we didn’t move forward with this surgery as a family, that it the likelihood that my daughter would commit suicide would exponentially increase. So she felt very kind of coerced and pressured into this. And so she, at 16, got the double mastectomy. She’s 22 years old now. She’s, again, detransitioned to identifying into her God-given sex as a beautiful young lady and went after the doctors in this lawsuit who she says— They were psychologists. The psychologist and the doctor saying that they rushed her and the jury agreed that they did not follow the necessary standards of care in this situation.
SPEAKER 10 :
Now, when you say this is precedent setting, I mean, I have all sorts of things running through my mind of how this could be precedent setting. So I’d like to go down that path and see the ripple effect that this potentially could have. But before we get there, are you aware of any other cases right now where this potential malpractice situation is marching in those cases?
SPEAKER 06 :
Jody, there’s several. Probably the most high profile would be Chloe Cole. She’s a detransitioner from California. As a teenager, again, her doctors put her on a whole regimen of cross-sex hormones, puberty blockers. And then again, as a teenager, she had a double mastectomy. And, again, since then, she has detransitioned to identifying as the beautiful young lady that she is and is also now suing the doctors who forced, in her view, these kind of interventions on her. And so, again, my hope is this first verdict that came out of New York is going to kind of provide a roadmap for the hundreds, probably now thousands, of detransitioners who are now kind of trying to put the pieces of their life back together. I think this is so important. We’ve talked about this, Jody, but it’s about 90% of those who identify as transgender, kind of in their adolescent years, that they grow out of it, that they, after a couple of years, begin to identify with their biological sex. And so again, This is causing us to really think about is that a lot of these doctors, physicians, psychologists have been forcing these interventions, some of which are irreversible. Some of these hormone treatments cause their chemical castration. Some of these young ladies are never going to be able to carry their own children. And so I think this moment now, Jody, is forcing us to kind of grapple with the last 10 years. I think it was Dr. Oz, actually, a couple days ago, he said, future medical textbooks are going to look back on the last 10 years or so with these gender transition interventions on minor children like we do, the way we look now on lobotomies that were practiced in the 1940s and 50s. And I agree with him. I think that’s absolutely true. Right.
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, I’m so glad to hear this with Chloe. I know when I was in Congress serving on the Oversight Committee, one of those hearings that was so memorable to me was when she testified. It was one of the hardest hearings to be a part of and to see her emotions and what she went through. So I’m really thrilled she’s going down this path, and I know you and I and others will be keeping a pulse on that. Let’s go down this path, David, of the rippling effect of this. I think this is the beginning of perhaps a turning point in this whole battle. As I understand it, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons has now, among others, come out saying we don’t need to do these surgeries. What is it that they’re saying, and is this the beginning of a lot more to come?
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, I think the floodgates are probably opening, Jody. This decision handed down in New York was a week ago today, so it’s just been seven days. Not surprising that two business days later, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons announced, I believe it was either Monday night or Tuesday morning, that they no longer recommend to the 11,000 members that are a part of the society that any sort of gender transition kind of procedures should be allowed to be performed on minors. You should at least wait until you’re 19 years of age, is what they’re saying now. What’s interesting—you mentioned kind of the phrase, the rippling effects. The American Medical Association, so the AMA, in a national review article back on Wednesday, they were asked, are you in line with the plastic surgeons? They didn’t fully come on board, but they did say, we also agree that this is problematic. and deserves a great deal of attention whether or not minor children are going to be allowed to pursue some of these irreversible surgeries. They should at least be generally deferred to adulthood, is what the AMA—the way they put it. And so, again, the plastic surgeons, as far as a major medical association, this is the first one in the entire country that has backtracked on previous support for these procedures. I think they were the first in 2024, Jody, to kind of begin to waffle a little bit. I think it was just two years ago, it was the Plastic Surgeon Association that said, well, we admit that there’s considerable uncertainty about the surgeries. And now two years later, here in the beginning of 2026, they are now advising their surgeons not to go down this road with minor children. Again, Not coincidentally, in my view, just a couple of days after this first settlement to the lady who had the double mastectomy.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah, it’s no coincidence at all. I mean, we recognize, we all see that for what it is. And as you mentioned, thousands of people are involved in it. Who knows where this is going to go? And I would imagine next is going to be some of these children’s hospitals that have been continuing to do this type of thing. They’re probably in the hot seat, too. And I would anticipate the rippling effect is going to impact them as well. All right, David, the Bibli, from a biblical worldview perspective, let’s talk about this quickly from how to, how do Christians need to be thinking about this? Uh, what, what is, what, what does the Bible have to say on this issue? Yeah.
SPEAKER 06 :
I think the, the, my big takeaway as Christians, we’re looking at these stories, uh, children are image bearers, not experiments. Uh, when it comes to, to, to medicine, uh, medicine exists to heal, uh, not permanently alter, um, bodies just in response to psychological distress. And again, I have met people who have struggled with sincere and intense gender dysphoria. But on this issue, we shouldn’t, just because there’s some mental and emotional distress, then alter our physical bodies. Christian worldview says that we are made male and female in God’s image, that our sex is a God-given reality. So the Christian worldview embraces it, that you are male or female. And again, I think this is a good example, Jodi, just the last couple of months, in the last couple of years, where reality, biblical reality, is beginning to reassert itself. And again, this is something we should all be thankful for. In my view, it shouldn’t have taken this long, but reality is reasserting itself, and we are grateful for that.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah, and I agree. I mean, it looks like that, you know, it looked to me, David, like even just a couple of years ago, it looked like this new transitioning movement was going to take over. And it has totally reversed itself. As you said, it appears now that the entire country is coming back to realize not only common sense, but they’re landing on the biblical understanding of male and female. Is that what we’re seeing?
SPEAKER 06 :
I think so. So, Jody, again, you and I have been tracking politics for a while. It was a decade ago, 2016, when North Carolina put out their bathroom bill. And it would have seemed like they had just passed the most egregious legislation ever. You had the MLB moving their all-star game, professional sports teams saying they weren’t going to come, their concert venues, bands weren’t coming. just because of a bathroom bill. And again, that was only 10 years ago. And it did seem that the transgender revolution, this Bruce Jenner comes out in May of that year and does his, you know, starts identifying as Caitlyn Jenner. It seemed like it was inevitable. It seemed like it was ascendant. It was unstoppable. And it turns out, again, reality has a way of asserting itself. And I think the transgender movement, the idea was it was going to be as inevitable as same-sex marriage. We’ve talked about this. I think most Americans, even those who maybe don’t share our views on some of these other issues, the coercion of speech with pronouns, the biological males having to compete against biological women, the surgeries we’re talking about, even liberal parents in New York City I think realized I don’t really want my, you know, fourth grader in a locker room with a high school boy. And so I think there is a kind of the fever has broken. There is a return to sanity. And we but we as Christians with a biblical worldview need to continue to assert why that is the case, why this is good.
SPEAKER 10 :
Absolutely. And we’re all so thankful that we’re seeing a reversal. David, less than two minutes here, but there was a religious freedom forum that actually FRC sponsored and was a part of, the International Religious Freedom Summit. And you got to speak with some of the folks there. Real quickly, again, we’ve just got a little over a minute. Give us the rundown on that and how we need to be viewing the issue of religious liberty. Yeah.
SPEAKER 06 :
Significant event. Religious freedom still seems to have some sort of kind of bipartisan support. Even Nancy Pelosi spoke at this event alongside conservative stalwarts like Mark Walker and Sam Brownback. I think it’s important, as we’re gathering with co-belligerents on the issue of international religious freedom, to realize religious freedom is at stake in our own country. And so, again, religious freedom, the freedom to believe what you want to in terms of doctrine, the freedom to order your lives according to your deepest beliefs, that’s something we need to keep front and center in our national conversation.
SPEAKER 10 :
Absolutely. And this goes to the founding principles of what we have in the First Amendment and so forth. And it’s stunning to me just how much progress has been made on the left to rein in the religious liberty issues. And I think this is yet another one of those issues that needs to be front and center, both in the pulpits, the pastors across this country, as well as For that matter, I mean, not just Christians. Our country needs to be reeducated on our First Amendment. David Claussen, as always, an honor to have you. I know you got to run to the airport. Safe travels. Hope you have a fantastic week there in Indiana. All right, friends, that wraps up this week as well as this edition of Washington Watch. As always, thank you so much for joining us. Hope you have a fantastic weekend. God bless you. And we’ll see you again here next week on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 05 :
Washington Watch with Tony Perkins is brought to you by Family Research Council. To support our efforts to advance faith, family, and freedom, please text GIVE to 67742. That’s GIVE to 67742. Portions of the show discussing candidates are brought to you by Family Research Council Action. For more information, please visit TonyPerkins.com.
