Join Tony Perkins as he navigates discussions on pivotal current events. From the proposed ceasefire in Gaza involving Israel and Hamas, to the analysis of Chinese influence on U.S. educational institutions, this episode provides deep insights from Washington’s leaders. Also, discover the shifting dynamics between Israel and Iran, alongside broader implications on international relations.
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From the heart of our nation’s capital in Washington, D.C., bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and soundbites into conversations with our nation’s leaders and newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Washington Watch with Tony Perkins starts now.
SPEAKER 01 :
Special Envoy Witkoff and the president submitted a cease-fire proposal to Hamas that Israel backed and supported. Israel signed off on this proposal before it was sent to Hamas. I can also confirm that those discussions are continuing. And we hope that a cease-fire in Gaza will take place, so we can return all of the hostages home. And that’s been a priority from this administration from the beginning.
SPEAKER 08 :
That was White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt earlier today. Welcome to this May 29th edition of Washington Watch. I’m your host, Tony Perkins. Thanks for tuning in. Well, coming up, CBN Middle East Bureau Chief Chris Mitchell joins us live from Jerusalem to unpack reactions to the ceasefire announcement. And we’ll also discuss this significant statement from President Trump yesterday.
SPEAKER 15 :
Did you warn Prime Minister Netanyahu against taking some sort of actions that could disrupt the talks there? in a phone call last week?
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, I’d like to be honest. Yes, I did. It’s not a warning. I said, I don’t think it’s appropriate.
SPEAKER 14 :
What exactly did you tell him?
SPEAKER 09 :
I just said, I don’t think it’s appropriate. We’re having very good discussions with him. And I said, I don’t think it’s appropriate right now.
SPEAKER 08 :
Also, Texas Congressman Nathaniel Moran, a member of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, will weigh in on Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s announcement yesterday that the U.S. will revoke visas of Chinese students linked to the Chinese Communist Party. And as the Senate debates the one big beautiful bill, the reconciliation bill, Democrats continue to spread the big lie.
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This bill would cut Medicaid, gut the Affordable Care Act, and slash food assistance. If it passes the Senate, this bill will rip healthcare away from 14 million people, over a quarter of a million right here in Massachusetts, all to pay for handouts to billionaires. This Republican bill will raise costs for working families, from groceries to healthcare to utility bills, while making the richest Americans even richer.
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That was Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren earlier this week. Analysis actually reveals that cracking down on Medicaid fraud saves taxpayers billions without affecting coverage for those truly in need. We’ll dive into this issue and more with Suzanne Bowdy and Mark Tapscott from The Washington Stand. And let me ask you a question. Have you taken the 21 Day Matthew Challenge? All right. Well, join FRC in the 21 Day Bible Reading Challenge going through the book of Matthew beginning June the 11th. It’s a great way to kick off the summer as a family. Text Matthew to 67742 and join thousands of others as we read through the book of Matthew. Text Matthew to 67742. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced yesterday that the U.S. will begin revoking visas of some Chinese students, those with links to the Chinese Communist Party, and those in critical fields of study that can be exploited by the CCP. In the school year of 2023 and 2024, there were 270,000 international students from China. roughly a quarter of all foreign students in the U.S., second only to India in the number of students that they send to the U.S. Republican lawmakers have been calling for a tightening of Chinese influence in and connected to higher education in the U.S. because of national security concerns. Here to discuss this and more, Congressman Nathaniel Morin, who represents the 1st Congressional District of Texas. Congressman, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for taking time to join us today.
SPEAKER 23 :
Hi, Tony. Great to be with you. I’m coming with you from deep East Texas in Sabine County.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, it’s good to see you back in the district, and I’m sure folks are giving you an earful of things that they’re concerned about. And, you know, this is one of those issues, and you serve on the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. Maybe has it risen to the highest level of understanding, but it’s one that those who know about it are concerned about it.
SPEAKER 23 :
Yeah, it is. And part of the reason why it’s not as visible as other issues is because China is doing this very quietly. They are just infiltrating our communities through quiet means, including through our educational institutions and having students come over here on visas and study here and then engage in espionage. And it’s a national security issue that we need to deal with.
SPEAKER 08 :
Now, the Republican Congress has been holding hearings on this. We’ve been looking into it. And we have seen very clearly how the Chinese government has used its influence on these institutions. In fact, this was a part of the justification for cutting off Harvard from foreign students. How significant of a threat is this to national security?
SPEAKER 23 :
Well, it’s a very significant threat because we’re talking about some of our top research institutions in the country. Many of whom are engaged in research that impacts national security matters. And what happens is these institutions become reliant upon and dependent upon money and students coming from China to fund the research they’re wanting to take place or to build buildings or to do whatever’s happening on the college campuses. And they like that. They like the dollars. And they’re willing to then grant access to student data, to all kinds of things that are going on that China doesn’t have any business knowing, including the research results. So they’re taking our innovation and our technology out of our universities and back to China.
SPEAKER 08 :
You know, I mentioned Harvard last week. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem actually accused Harvard of, quote, coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party, citing some of the research collaborations that you mentioned with Chinese scholars.
SPEAKER 23 :
Yeah, when you hear the rhetoric that’s coming out of some of these longstanding research institutions in the United States, the rhetoric seems overtly anti-American, and they are cozying up to countries in this world that are not our allies, that do not have the same strategic interests as us, and that is becoming a bigger and bigger problem. Now we’re seeing the results of it because now technology in China is advancing as quickly or more quickly in a lot of areas than here in the United States. And it’s because they’re using our educational institutions to do a lot of that.
SPEAKER 08 :
Now, I know we’re focused on China. And during the first administration of the Trump presidency, the Education Department opened to 19 different investigations into foreign funding of U.S. universities. And they found that those universities were actually underreporting the foreign money that were flowing into those institutions, China, one of those, Russia, one of those. But we also have some of these countries in the Middle East that are putting money into these educational institutions, Qatar, Saudi Arabia. Are we concerned about that as well?
SPEAKER 23 :
Well, we should be, and there should be lots of transparency. There needs to be more accountability for these universities. I was on the Education and Workforce Committee last session, and we had some hearings on this matter, and the problem was that the statutes that required reporting by these colleges and universities did not have any accountability teeth to them so that if they didn’t report them report them and many of them did not report these contracts or the monies that they got from foreign entities of concern then then what was happening was basically they would just apologize and then they would continue to either under report or not report at all there needs to be some accountability to say look if you don’t if you’re not transparent about the money you’re getting from any foreign entity then we’re going to stop the flow of any federal monies to your college or your university, or there’s going to be additional civil or criminal penalties because unless there’s an enforcement mechanism, there will not be compliance by these universities that don’t want to do it.
SPEAKER 08 :
Congressman Moran, let me let me ask you about switch gears a little bit here. I played this this clip at the top of the program yesterday. The president responding to a question from a reporter regarding a conversation he had last week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, asking him to hold off on striking Iran’s nuclear facilities. What do we know about that?
SPEAKER 23 :
Well, look, this is a big problem for us. I’ve said before on this program and even going back into last year how close Iran was to getting full nuclear capabilities to build a bomb. You know the two targets are either going to be Israel or the United States or both. I don’t blame Israel for wanting to have strategic strikes on these nuclear facilities. In fact, I support that measure. I think that that will send the greatest message to get the negotiation that we need. If the president is getting far in his negotiation with Iran, I understand potentially the request to hold off for a bit. But boy, they’re within inches of getting a nuclear bomb, and we cannot allow that to happen. We just, we can’t. And a strategic strike or two or three on their nuclear facilities is what’s going to be needed at some point in the future. Iran has proven that they are not trustworthy with negotiations. We’ve been down this road before. And we’ve been burnt by this before. And so I trust President Trump in negotiations as much as anybody. But we want to see some proof out of Iran, or we need to take quick action or at least support action by Israel.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, underscoring your concerns that you’ve just expressed there, Congressman, I mean, I think Israel has been dispatching some of their top officials over to the United States to meet in the White House. I think, you This is all speculation because I’m not in the meetings, but sharing intelligence and information they have on the progress that Iran is making. And they seem to be pretty antsy that they need that the window to move is now and it’s not going to be there for very long.
SPEAKER 23 :
Well, I’m glad they’re sharing that intelligence. That’s what we need to do. We’ve done that for decades with Israel is to share that intelligence back and forth. There has to be a relationship of trust between the United States and Israel because we are indeed the closest partners when it comes to national security in the Middle East. And that relationship can have no daylight between it. So I’m glad to hear that they’re sharing the intelligence. And hopefully that will get us both on the same page. We have to walk in lockstep to push back against Iran.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, I think it’s our most critical. Israel is our most critical ally in the Middle East, and we don’t want any daylight between us. Congressman, just a couple minutes left. Congress has been out on the Memorial Day break. You return next week. You’re on some of the money committees, the Ways and Means Committee. What’s next when Congress returns next week?
SPEAKER 23 :
We hope that the Senate will move quickly with the one big, beautiful bill. I hope that there’s just minor tweaks to it. There’s some cleanup that needs to happen, certainly, but we want as small changes as possible so we can get it back through the House without disturbing that delicate balance to get it passed. We need to get it passed. We’re hopeful that the White House will send us a rescission package quickly so that we can rescind a lot of the money that was allocated and appropriated last year that we’ve identified through the DOJ. We want to rescind that money and reduce our debt and deficit. We’ve got to get on appropriations quickly because of what’s to come in September. It’s going to be a different set of challenges because of the need to hit the 60-vote threshold in the Senate, which is different from our reconciliation. But we’ve got to get reconciliation done and behind us by July 4th so that people can see the benefit of that rolling into 2026 and understand how good those economic policies are.
SPEAKER 08 :
I think the White House heard your request and I understand the rescission package is going to be waiting for the House when you return. 45 seconds left. Explain what that is to our viewers and listeners.
SPEAKER 23 :
A rescission package is a mechanism for the White House executive branch to say, hey, Congress, I know you’ve appropriated this money to us, but we would like for you to rescind it, to take it back. And until we do that formally, the cuts cannot be realized. And that’s what we want to do. But it’s got to start with the White House. It’s got to be initiated with them so that we can avoid the 60 vote threshold in the Senate. If we try to send another package to the Senate that originates in the House without coming as a formal request from the White House, then we have to get past that 60-vote threshold in the Senate. That would be impossible to do. You know the Democrats aren’t going to vote for that.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, that should be something that all conservatives are cheering. It’s something they don’t hear very often, that the government’s actually going to cut spending. Music to our ears. Congressman, always great to see you. Thanks so much for taking time to join us today. My pleasure, Tony. Have a great afternoon, okay? Will do. Congressman Nathaniel Moran of Texas. All right, when we come back, we’re going to be joined from Jerusalem. We’re going to be talking to Chris Mitchell, so don’t go away. Hello, I’m Tony Perkins, and we’re here in Jerusalem, the city of King David. And I’m excited to announce the launch of our Family Bible Challenge to read through the Gospel of Matthew. Now, this 21-day challenge begins on June the 11th, and it’s a part of our Stand on the Word Bible reading plan. It’s in bite-sized readings. It takes about 10 to 15 minutes a day, and we provide a toolbox full of resources to help you along the journey, including a study guide titled, The King and His Kingdom. We also provide downloadable resources such as age appropriate questions to engage children. And we have a variety of family friendly projects as well as this, listen, a coloring book, coloring pages about the life of Jesus for the younger kids and your grandkids. Think about it, what could be a better summer activity than to go on a journey through the life of Jesus as a family? Just think what God could do in the lives of your loved ones as they read Matthew, unforgettable stories about the greater son of David, Jesus the Messiah. I hope you’ll join us for our Family Bible Challenge beginning June the 11th. Text the word Matthew to 67742. I hope you’ll join us.
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SPEAKER 08 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks so much for joining us. The website, TonyPerkins.com. Better yet, download the Stand Firm app. Go to the App Store, download the Stand Firm app. That way you can have Washington Watch with you no matter where you go. You’ll have access to our news and commentary that comes from a biblical perspective, the Washington Stand, and you’ll have access to my daily Bible devotion, Stand on the Word. All of that can be found in the Stand Firm app. All right, yesterday at the swearing-in ceremony of the new U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, President Trump responded to a question by a reporter.
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Did you warn Prime Minister Netanyahu against taking some sort of actions that could disrupt the talks there in a phone call last week?
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, I’d like to be honest. Yes, I did. It’s not a warning. I said I don’t think it’s appropriate.
SPEAKER 14 :
What exactly did you tell him?
SPEAKER 09 :
I just said I don’t think it’s appropriate. We’re having very good discussions with him. And I said I don’t think it’s appropriate right now.
SPEAKER 08 :
Wow, how was that revelation received in Israel? Here to tell us, Chris Mitchell with CBN. He’s the Middle East Bureau Chief in Jerusalem. Chris, welcome back to Washington Watch. Great to be with you, Tony. Before we jump into this topic, you are at the closing evening event at the Jerusalem Prayer Breakfast, which has been going on all week. How has that been?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, it’s a great event, Tony, and I know you’ve been here at times, and our good friend Michelle Bachman is one of the co-founders. This is the ninth annual Jerusalem Prayer Breakfast. Forty nations are represented here tonight where they have… come to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, to stand with Israel. And just a few minutes ago, they were praying for Africa. So it’s really a wonderful event that just brings people together. And it’s recognized by many, many leaders here in Israel.
SPEAKER 08 :
Now, is it the David Citadel? Which hotel are you at?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, this is the Waldorf Astoria. This is where it usually is held here. And it’s a beautiful place and quite an event, very moving event. Earlier today, U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee gave an address, and he talked about the importance of standing with Israel and the importance of standing with the biblical heartland of Israel, Judea and Samaria.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, I can’t think of a more timely event where people coming together from around the globe to pray for Israel than what is unfolding right now. And some of that we’re going to talk about. Number one, the president admitting yesterday that he asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold off on striking Iran’s nuclear facilities. How has that message been received there in Israel?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, you know, last week a lot of people were saying that this phone call had taken place and that it was a very tense exchange, and apparently that phone call did take place when the president said so. You know, I think people over here, Tony, are concerned. They’re concerned that the deal that may be struck won’t go far enough. Now, the president did say in his remarks that, you know, if they have to go into a lab and blow it up they would go ahead and do that. You know, some people are concerned that it will allow Iran to continue to enrich uranium, which really they only need for a nuclear weapon. And the concern here as well is that these negotiations will drag out like the Iranians may want to do while they continue pursuing a nuclear weapon. The other concern, Tony, is that ideologically and even in the theology, that Iranians are unwilling to give up their nuclear ambitions. They want to use that to have sort of this nuclear umbrella over the Middle East. They’ve lost much of their proxies that they’ve built up for years. They’ve lost Hamas and Hezbollah, even the Houthis, as sort of legitimate threats against Israel. The only one they have left is a nuclear arsenal or weapons, and so that’s the real concern. People would be glad if these negotiations do eliminate Iranian enrichment facilities, but the concern is that it may not go far enough, and that’s, I think, where The frustration, I would say, in the prime minister’s office, perhaps, is that they want to go ahead, if this negotiation is not good enough, to strike Iran militarily. And they want to have that military card, I believe, Tony.
SPEAKER 08 :
Chris, you know, we’ve talked about this a lot. This is something that I discuss a lot on the program about this window in which Iran may move forward with enriching the uranium, being able to deliver a nuclear device. And then Israel having weakened Iran’s air defenses, that that window could be closing now. Obviously, we don’t have access to all of the conversations that are taking place or the intelligence. But just reading the body language and the movements, we’ve seen a uptick in the number of visits that Israeli high officials have been making to the U.S., to Washington, D.C., to meet with the White House, supposedly to deliver information. Intel, I think, trying to convince the White House that now is the time to move. So I would think that there is a lot of pressure, I think, on Netanyahu to do something and do something soon.
SPEAKER 03 :
I think so, too. And I remember, Tony, that Prime Minister Netanyahu has been warning about a nuclear Iran for decades. Famously he’s been at the U.N. and sometimes bringing these crude cartoons like a bomb that just showing how close Iran is to a nuclear weapon. So right now it seemed after the election and after the inauguration of President Trump there was a sense here in Israel that maybe this is the the time and the opportunity along with the united states to go ahead and just destroy iran’s nuclear facilities and as you said the window seems to be closing the air defenses of iran had been destroyed uh to a large degree last year and uh in tax both in april and october and and yet Right now, the estimates that Iran could have enough enriched uranium to military grade, and that could only take a matter of days or a few weeks, enough to build maybe a number, maybe as far as 10 nuclear bombs. Now, still they have to make sure they miniaturize it and put it on a ballistic missile. Some people say that could take a year. But still, it’s very, very close for Iran to getting what they have had the ambition for many, many years. to get a nuclear weapon.
SPEAKER 08 :
All right, Chris, we’re up against a break here in just a minute. We’re going to go to a break. But when we come back, I want to talk about news today. The White House announcing that Israel had signed off on a ceasefire proposal that the U.S. has presented to Hamas. Now, Hamas has not yet agreed to these terms. But this comes as the pressure comes by Israel, the IDF on Hamas as they move further and deeper into Gaza. So I want to talk about that, as well as the Israeli government doing something that they’ve been hesitant to do, and that is announcing 22 new communities in Judea and Samaria, which is quite significant. So when we come back, we’ll talk about those two things. So folks, don’t go away. When we come back, we’re going to continue our conversation with Chris Mitchell as he joins us from Jerusalem. So don’t go away.
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SPEAKER 08 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for tuning in and being a part of the program. All right, we’re continuing our conversation with CBN’s Middle East Bureau Chief, Chris Mitchell, who joins us from Jerusalem. Chris, thanks for sticking around. So let’s go to this proposed ceasefire. We’ve heard this before. Israeli officials have apparently signed off on this agreement that Witkoff has been working on. Hamas not yet responding. What do you say?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, it looks like there may be a 45 or 60 day ceasefire. We don’t know all the details right now and maybe as many as 10 live hostages released and whether or not Hamas accepts it or not. But it seems to be there may be the same sticking points that have been for many months. Israel is willing to have a temporary ceasefire, but it doesn’t want to have a permanent ceasefire, which is something Hamas has been asking for from the very beginning, and a withdrawal of all the IDF troops. And as you say, the context that’s going on right now is Israel is into its second week of what they call Gideon’s chariots, where they’re not only just coming in in special operations, but they’re coming to control and as much as 75 percent of the gaza strip in the next two months right now they control about 40 percent of the land and hamas is really reeling right now uh tony much of their leadership has been eliminated and there’s a humanitarian aid drive right now sponsored by the United States, protected by Israel, where many of the people of Gaza can come and get humanitarian aid separate from Hamas. And what this is doing is weakening their control over the population. So the combination of the humanitarian aid and the military campaign right now and the elimination of much of Hamas’ leadership is really putting a lot of pressure on Hamas. Maybe they’ll accept this deal that has been approved by the United States. and Israel, but remains to be seen if they’re willing to have this temporary ceasefire and give back maybe at least half of the alive hostages.
SPEAKER 08 :
Chris, you’re in a very unique position being there in Jerusalem. You know what’s happening there on the ground in Israel, but you also are frequently back in the United States and you have your ear to the ground internationally. My take on this is that this is really the last chance for Israel to eliminate Hamas. This has been going on for 18 months. We’ve been in and out, off and on again. And I think every time the criticism of Israel, like the humanitarian aspects of this, only intensifies. I don’t think there’s another bite at the apple left.
SPEAKER 03 :
yeah you know we’ve been talking about this ourselves over here tony as somebody said that what would happen if the u s army stops on the rhine river and had a ceasefire with nazi germany uh… that is comparable but uh… right now you have to add the hostages which is quite an emotional topic and how many israelis want to make sure that we just stop the war and get all the hostages but right now it seems like a modest Israel has an opportunity to finally defeat Hamas. They have a strategy with this Gideon’s chariot that seems to be working very well. And Hamas seems to be getting more and more pressure, not only geographically and squeezed into tighter areas, but also the elimination of many of its infrastructure and leaders. So the sense price, some, I would say some over here, Tony, is that Israel needs to finish the job and win the war. It’s so important not only for the people of Israel to have a safe place living beside the Gaza Strip, but also internationally that anything less than a win would give what some people call a tailwind to radical Islam around the world.
SPEAKER 08 :
Switching gears in a related topic, you know, in the wake of October the 7th, there is a greater awareness of the threats, the security vulnerability that Israel has. And just I think it was today or late yesterday, the defense minister, Israel Katz, announcing that there was going to be new Jewish communities established in Judea and Samaria. I mean, this is when we were with you over in Israel just a few weeks ago. We were in Judea and Samaria, and there is an effort there to try to have a stronger presence of the Jewish community to hold back the terrorist activity. This has got to be good news to those living in Judea and Samaria.
SPEAKER 03 :
uh… very good news for them in israel cats also said there was sort of an anchor into the historical land uh… of the uh… the jewish people uh… from the millennia and uh… some of these communities study were actually given back uh… chin two thousand five that was the uh… does a disengagement that came out of 9,000 Jewish people out of Gaza and also some communities in northern Samaria. And now this is a really historic reversal of what happened back 20 years ago, and also really putting deeper roots into the biblical heartland, Judea and Samaria. The world calls the West Bank, but if you look back millennia, that’s really a misnomer. This is the Jewish land of the patriarchs and the prophets. And our Bible comes from this land. And so they’re doing something that’s really historic and announcing these 22 communities that can be established and sometimes some next to the Jordan border and also others around Judea and Samaria.
SPEAKER 08 :
So this is both a security issue as well as an identity issue. This is taking back the land that, as you pointed out, historically has been theirs. I mean, this is where the term Jew came from, Judea. This is significant on multiple fronts. We’ve got about 30 seconds left. Any pushback to this announcement?
SPEAKER 03 :
Not as much as you would expect, Tony. I don’t think so. And as we’re here at the Jerusalem prayer breakfast, I think it’s a great reminder for people listening to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, to pray for the leaders, the wisdom for the leaders here in Israel, and also pray for the White House and President Trump that these are making historic decisions, really, in terms of Iran, Gaza, Judea and Samaria. really a time to be praying for the peace of Jerusalem and for leaders as Paul has encouraged us to do.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, Chris, every time we talk to you, we get our prayer homework. So thanks so much for joining us. Chris, always great to see you. Folks, stick around. We’re back with more after this.
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How should Christians think about the thorny issues shaping our culture? How should Christians address deceitful ideas like transgenderism, critical theory, or assisted suicide? How can Christians navigate raising children in a broken culture, the war on gender roles, or rebuilding our once great nation? Outstanding is a podcast from The Washington Stand dedicated to these critical conversations. Outstanding seeks to tear down what our corrupt culture lifts up with an aim to take every thought and every idea captive to the obedience of Christ. Whether policies or partisan politics, whether conflict in America or conflict abroad, join us and our guests as we examine the headlines through the lens of Scripture and explore how Christians can faithfully exalt Christ and in all of life follow outstanding on your favorite podcast app and look for new episodes each week
SPEAKER 08 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Again, let me encourage you to join FRC for a 21-day family Bible challenge through the book of Matthew. It starts June the 11th. It’s a part of our Stand on the Word Bible reading plan, and we’re moving into the New Testament. And this is a great time for you and your family to join us if you’re not already a part of the journey. And it comes with lots of resources. It has a reading guide, so it’s about 10 to 15 minutes of reading a day. We’ve got a study guide, weekly discussion, questions, kid-friendly activities, and more. So start off the summer in a good way. Join us for the 21-day Bible challenge. So text MATTHEW to 67742. That’s MATTHEW to 67742 to get more information about joining and taking the challenge. Well, our word for today comes from Nehemiah chapter 1, where Nehemiah receives troubling news about Jerusalem. Hananiah, one of my brethren, came with me with men from Judah, and I asked him concerning the Jews who had escaped, who had survived the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. They said to me, the survivors left from the captivity are in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates burned with fire.” Nearly 100 years had passed since Cyrus allowed the Jews to return from captivity, yet Jerusalem’s walls remained ruined. Ezra had arrived years earlier, faithfully teaching God’s Word, yet something essential was still lacking. While Scripture had returned, persistent, prevailing prayer was absent. Nehemiah changed that. Like Daniel before him, he combined unwavering confidence in God’s promises with fervent prayer, interceding diligently until breakthrough came. Through this intentional pairing of scripture and prayer, Nehemiah accomplished what generations before him had not. And this reminds us that lasting spiritual renewal requires more than Bible knowledge alone. It must also be nurtured through faithful, prevailing prayer. To find out more about our journey through the Bible, text BIBLE to 67742. Well, when Congress returns next week, the House will have a rescissions package waiting for them, as we talked about earlier. The Senate, well, they will take up the one big, beautiful bill, even as the lab falsely claims it kicks the poor people who are on Medicaid to the curb. And here again is one of the senators from the state of Massachusetts and what she had to say about the bill.
SPEAKER 20 :
This bill would cut Medicaid, gut the Affordable Care Act, and slash food assistance. If it passes the Senate, this bill will rip healthcare away from 14 million people, over a quarter of a million right here in Massachusetts, all to pay for handouts. to billionaires. This Republican bill will raise costs for working families, from groceries to health care to utility bills, while making the richest Americans even richer.
SPEAKER 08 :
Of course, that was Senator Elizabeth Warren on the warpath. Joining me now to dive into this is Suzanne Bowdy and Mark Tapscott from The Washington Stand. Suzanne, Mark, welcome back to Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 22 :
Thanks, Tony.
SPEAKER 08 :
All right, Mark, I’m going to let you tackle that one because you actually just wrote a piece recently analyzing the one big, beautiful bill and the fact that cutting waste, fraud and abuse and saving taxpayers dollars is not in any way affecting those who are in need.
SPEAKER 06 :
You know, Tony, I have listened to that clip multiple times, and I have yet to figure out anything that she says in there that has a factual basis to it. It’s just not true. And my story that you just mentioned was based on a new analysis by the Foundation for Government Accountability. And they found that Medicaid, one out of every $5 that is spent on Medicaid is an improper payment. It’s going to somebody who should not be getting it. So if you eliminate all of those improper payments, you’re not reducing coverage for anybody. And in fact, you might be making it possible to improve the coverage.
SPEAKER 08 :
Suzanne, you have been tracking a story out of Ohio where a lawmaker there looking into, and that’s a red state, but looking into the state of Ohio and its expansion and just how much waste, fraud and abuse existed there.
SPEAKER 22 :
right and this is just a microcosm of the federal problem that we’re talking about here but a state representative there said well if there’s this much abuse going on at the federal level let’s take a look at ohio and what he found was that thirty percent of the people on ohio’s medicaid were actually ineligible people now this means that beyond the expansion of medicaid these were ineligible beyond even the democrats expansion of that they found a number of people who were millionaires uh who had medicaid they found a number of people who had assets worth a hundred thousand to nine hundred and ninety nine thousand dollars who are receiving medicaid uh it’s just a shocking abuse of taxpayer waste and this is a red state as you say so imagine what that looks like if you a multiply that by 49 other states and b look at the blue states where governors have been able to really abuse this system and put people on who are work-capable or able-bodied or, you know, in many cases, illegal immigrants, as we’ve seen. Mike Johnson said there are over 1.4 million illegal immigrants. This doesn’t even account for that.
SPEAKER 08 :
You know, we saw the government program in response to COVID where it was giving out, you know, the government money and now uncovering fraud. I mean, Mark, you’ve been around a long time. I mean, government money and programs are like cheese to mice. I mean, you’re not going to keep them away. They’re just going to run to it.
SPEAKER 06 :
Absolutely. Suzanne just mentioned the potential for even greater waste in the blue states. The study that I just referenced that I reported referenced a New Jersey state audit of the New Jersey Medicaid program that found thousands of ineligible people, including one couple who – had a net income of $4.2 million in one year. So that right there, you know, when government spends money, the word accountability disappears. And from my understanding, that is what the big, beautiful bill that we’re now looking at, watching in Congress, is intended to begin changing.
SPEAKER 08 :
So let me ask you this, Mark, and then I’m going to ask you, Suzanne, the same question. Is the bill that passed the House that was shepherded by the House Speaker Mike Johnson, is it on the right track?
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, as I said, if your goal is to make the government more efficient, it certainly includes, at least in my reading and from what I’ve read and heard from other experts, people who know a lot more about it than I do, it certainly is a significant step forward. I think I’m always hesitant to make a value judgment about legislation before we see the final version. Who knows what the Senate’s going to do to it, but we’ll find out here shortly.
SPEAKER 08 :
You mean you haven’t been to the Nancy Pelosi School of Government where you vote for it, endorse it, and then you read it? Oh, come on, Mark. I still have nightmares about that. All right. Suzanne, is it on the right track?
SPEAKER 22 :
Well, if you ask the American people, according to GOP polling, 86 percent of Americans think that they want to get they they do want to get rid of waste, fraud and abuse. And that’s what this bill attempts to do. Now, I would argue you could go even farther. I know some senators on the Republican side are saying what the House has done is too much. I honestly think that they could claw back even the expansion that happened under the covid era and under the Biden era. where you’re having people on who don’t need the care and you’re actually depriving people who do of that care because you’ve so bloated the system. So, yes, I agree with Mark. It’s on the right track, but it could do more, honestly. Yes, I mean, it’s balancing.
SPEAKER 06 :
Problem is the most important. Yeah, go ahead, Mark. Probably the most significant provision of it in that context is the work requirement, which would probably deal with a very substantial majority of the ineligibles. And fortunately, they seem to have moved up the beginning time to begin the work requirement.
SPEAKER 08 :
That was kind of in the manager’s amendment at the very end. Of course, let me remind folks, it passed by 2015 to 2014. Not a lot of wiggle room there in terms of trying to corral those votes. I wish everyone thought like we did, and it would have been a much more big, beautiful, conservative bill, but it’s moving in the right direction. Speaking of calling back, Suzanne, when Congress returns, the House returns next week, a rescissions package—we were talking about that a little earlier— in the program, but that’s allowing the administration to say, hey, we want to cut this money that’s been allocated. What’s in that package?
SPEAKER 22 :
Well, it’s really interesting. Today and this week are part of the last days of Elon Musk’s tenure at Doge. He only has 130 days under the position he was appointed to by federal law. So this rescission package comes as he’s exiting, and it does put into place puts into motion some of the cuts that he envisioned. Now, this is a $9.4 billion package. And as we’ve talked about before on the show, rescissions is a process whereby the president could submit a list of budget items that have already been approved by Congress. And he can say, hey, take another look at this. We want to claw this back. The House has 45, House and Senate both, have 45 days to do that. The clock will start ticking when he drops the package on Monday. Some of the things that are in it are really great wins for conservatives, including defunding NPR, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. They’re taking a hit at USAID. There was a lot of fraud, waste, and abuse that was outrageous in that State Department agency. So there are a lot of really good things in this package. It’s been long awaited for. This has been about a six-week process where Trump and Russell Vogt have been talking with both sides of Congress to discuss.
SPEAKER 08 :
figure out where where they should really target these cuts you know it’s been a long time to get it into the house but it’s been even longer that conservatives have been talking about these things mark you’ve been around dc a while you’ve heard you know people make campaign pledges and promises and we even heard some of this in the first trump administration but they’re doing it this is happening what’s the difference well you know it’s it’s interesting in 2018 i believe um
SPEAKER 06 :
The first Trump administration submitted a $15 billion rescission package. It passed the House by a small margin, but it was rejected in the Senate largely because Senator Collins from Maine and Senator Burr, who’s since retired, from North Carolina voted with the Democrats to kill the rescission package. So I kind of understand the reluctance that we’re seeing here in submitting only a $9.4 billion package. One hopes that if this gets through, and I suspect that it will, There will be additional packages to come, and that would be a good thing.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, just the fact that we’re taking on NPR, we’re taking on these government entities that have been around forever. Everybody likes to talk about them on the campaign trail, but very few actually want to follow through. President Trump is doing that, to his credit. It’s quite refreshing. Speaking of budget and financial stewardship, there are moral implications. And those moral lines are more clear when you consider the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Robert Kennedy’s recent announcement to stop further gender transition procedures from minors, which many of them are occurring in taxpayer spends. He’s now looking at more reporting to see where this money is going. Tell us about that, Suzanne.
SPEAKER 22 :
I think a lot of people wondered what would the RFK tenure look like and so far it’s been very consistent at least on the gender transition side with Trump’s position which is there’s no place in government for taxpayer funding for gender transition surgeries for minors or for adults as we’ve seen in the big beautiful bill which cuts both of those little enclaves out. RFK Jr. has essentially said, look, we’re gonna bring down the hammer with some financial oversight. Hospitals in the United States, especially those that have been participating in these procedures, will have to submit within 30 days their financials, meaning How are they ensuring that they’re not providing these procedures to adults and minors? And if not, their taxpayer funding may be on the line, as we’ve seen in the education debate. Trump is not afraid of pulling the rug out from under these institutions, and hospitals may be next up. The American people do not want their taxpayer dollars funding gender transition surgeries. In fact, according to a poll from the AP, Trump’s transgender agenda, meaning rolling back this gender ideology, is actually more popular among Democrats than his approval rating. It’s 19% to 9. 19% side with Trump on his transgender agenda and only 9% approve of him. So this is a popular thing across the board.
SPEAKER 08 :
You know, I’m going to insert a commentary here, a little comment on that, because I think it’s instructive. Why we see RFK and others taking these issues on is just what you pointed to. It is the American people have spoken about these things. I don’t think people should ever underestimate the power of their voice, especially collectively. If we go back 10 years ago, we thought this freight train was just going to run across America. You know, we were stop saying stop, stop trying to get people’s attention on this. And it finally pivoted. And people said when it came home in schools where parents were showing up to school board meetings because of bathroom policies and sports. But because people have spoken, it’s gotten the attention of policymakers. And I mean, I just know whether we like it or not, President Trump makes decisions based upon polls. And that’s why we see his entire administration so aggressively pursuing this. So I just just want to add that comment. We’ve got just about a minute left. Mark, I’ll give you 15 seconds. Suzanne, you get 15 as well. Mark, go first.
SPEAKER 06 :
Latest poll from Tony Fabrizio shows that marginal voters in 72 contested congressional districts overwhelmingly by two and three to one support Trump’s major initiatives.
SPEAKER 08 :
That’s got to bode well for Republicans going into the midterm, don’t you think, Suzanne?
SPEAKER 22 :
Absolutely. They need to keep leaning into these social issues that are doing well for them. Even abortion is being quietly questioned among the Democratic Party insiders. Have we gone too far? And we would say they certainly have on this and other issues.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah. And that’s an area that this administration and some Republicans are still timid on. And they need to get bold because you can never go wrong by being on the right side. Suzanne, Mark, always great to see you. Thanks for joining me today.
SPEAKER 22 :
Thanks, Tony.
SPEAKER 08 :
Great to be here. And folks, I encourage you to check out the Washington stand, get the app, the stand firm app, and you’ll have access to it out of time for today. Thanks for joining us until next time. I leave you with the encouraging words of the apostle Paul found in Ephesians six, where he says, when you’ve done everything you can do, when you’ve prayed, prepared and taken your stand by all means, keep standing.
SPEAKER 25 :
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 Tony Perkins dot com.
