Wednesday, January 22, 2025
Good morning and welcome to RedState’s Morning Minute – a quick look at what stories are trending right now and a look ahead to what the day might bring. We are still getting used to the easier feeling of having a recent (functioning) administration. Consider this your one-stop shop for news to assist you start your day.
UP IN THE MORNING
Red-hot at RedState
Trump’s January 6 pardons were met with mass resistance in the D.C. Jail and the Federal Bureau of Prisons
Any case where a J6 detainee is held beyond his statutory release should result in dismissals and prosecution as he will be forgotten by the people he imprisoned.
Tale of three women: Usha Vance and Melania bring class, while Lauren Sánchez brings the badass
You may have billions and billions, Jeff and Lauren, but you’ve lost track.
If the Coast Guard commander can be fired for pushing DEI, can the USMC commander be fired for lying?
What we have here is the depressed case of a senior official who has completely bought into the DEI nonsense.
In the trend of town hall media
“QAnon Shaman” plans to celebrate the pardon in the most American way possible
However, now he can move on with his life, and if he decides to celebrate by buying weapons, it is a clear confirmation that he is indeed a free man in the truest sense of the word these days.
Democrats view Americans as markers, and the Pravda media is nothing more than a propaganda operation to deceive the American people.
An open letter to the left-wing bishop who lectured Trump and Vance at the National Prayer Service
And yet you have no words of admonition or guidance for your own flock.
Greg Gutfeld just took his Fox co-host to the cleaners about Trump and birthright citizenship
They know it, but they also can’t do anything to restore their credibility, so spreading counterfeit news is all they have left.
All we can say is that some people had better lawyers when Pam Bondi and Kash Patel took office.
WHAT’S UPCOMING?
Today on Capitol Hill…
There are no confirmation hearings scheduled this Hill Hump Day, but there are a few hearings/meetings that should be considered to advance several of the nominees, along with other business to attend to:
- House Judiciary, Immigration Integrity, Security and Enforcement Subcommittee – “Restoring Immigration Enforcement in America.”
- Senate Budget – Hearings to consider the nomination of Russell Vought of Virginia as Director of the Office of Management and Budget
- Subcommittee on House Transportation and Infrastructure, Highways and Transit – “America Builds: Highways to Move People and Freight”
- House Homeland Security – “Unrestricted Actors: Assessing Global Cyber Threats to the Homeland.”
- House Energy and Commerce Environment Subcommittee – “A Decade Later: Assessing the Legacy and Impact of the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act”
- Home Veterans Affairs – Restoring Focus: Putting Veterans First in Community Care
- Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation – Business session to consider the nomination of Sean Duffy of Wisconsin as Secretary of Transportation
What we should The Senate is expected to vote on the nominees voted out of committee, but Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senate Democrats have decided to take their time and overcome every delay and hurdle possible the rules. As a result, Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has let the Senate know they will work through the weekend. #ResistTheyMuch
What’s going on in the White House?
President Donald Trump is scheduled to conduct an interview with Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity on Wednesday (airing Wednesday night).
Several additional orders/actions were issued Tuesday, including one aimed at moving the FAA back to merit-based hiring and one requiring the closure of all federal DEI divisions and placing employees in DEI roles on paid leave ordered. Day two of Trump 2.0 (first full day in office) also saw a major infrastructure announcement related to AI.
And one more note/remark about that first full day: Even after the White House ordered the shutdown for the day, Trump was still at work in the Oval.
The White House declared a cap to signal that the president was done with public events for the day. But Trump still works in the Oval Office. A Marine guard points this out. pic.twitter.com/FTBaGEqbrO
– Reagan Reese (@reaganreese_) January 22, 2025
Full court press…
Two more cases are scheduled for oral argument before the Supreme Court on Wednesday:
- Barnes vs. Felix – Whether courts should apply the moment of the threat doctrine when evaluating an excessive force claim under the Fourth Amendment.
- Cunningham v. Cornell University – Whether a plaintiff may assert a claim alleging that a plan fiduciary participated in a transaction constituting a provision of goods, services, or facilities between the plan and an interested party, as set forth in 29 USC § 1106(a). (1) prohibited (C) or whether a plaintiff must allege and prove additional elements and facts not contained in the text of the provision.
As the left continues to argue over Trump’s J6 pardons, some of the J6 prison guards apparently did not believe they were bound by the Constitution and delayed the defendants’ release. Incoming civil rights lawsuits…
On Tuesday, Judge Aileen Cannon blocked the release of Volume 2 of (former) Special Counsel Jack Smith’s “final report,” blasting the Biden DOJ on the way out the door.
Finally, a shout out to Ed Martin of Missouri, who was chosen by Trump to be the acting US Attorney in Washington DC (and immediately began filing motions to dismiss the J6 cases/release the J6 defendants. Between Martin and Will Scharf as Staff Secretary and John Sauer as Attorney General, Missouri is well represented in the second Trump Administration.
UPCOMING ATTRACTIONS
On Thursday, Senate committees will consider the nominations of Doug Collins (Veterans Affairs Secretary), Lee Zeldin (EPA Administrator), Doug Burgum (Interior Secretary), Chris Wright (Energy Secretary) and Eric Turner (HUD Secretary). There will also be a hearing on the nominations of Sean Driscoll for Secretary of the Army and Brooke Rollins for Secretary of Agriculture.
On Friday, President Trump will travel to North Carolina to assess the situation as recovery efforts continue from Hurricane Helene. He will then travel to Los Angeles, California to assess wildfire damage, followed by a possible stop in Nevada.
And as noted above, the Senate may be working all weekend to confirm Trump’s nominees.
Morning rumination
Has it really only been two days since Trump was sworn in? There’s this saying/meme, “Life gets to you fast,” and I have a feeling it’s going to define this presidency. Trump is stern. I’m not naive enough to think I’ll love everything he does – that would be scary – but it’s gratifying to know that I’ll like the extensive majority of it infinitely more than I like the way it’s done has, like Joe Biden (and the people). (who holds his strings) has had surgery in the last four years. I’m still pinching myself – is this real? This also underlines once again that we have allowed the presidency/executive to become completely too powerful. I hope some of the course corrections will assist us move on from this. There won’t always be Republican presidents.
LIGHTER COST
It’s good to know that even when there are snowstorms in the south, Waffle House will come through.
Yes, they are still open. This is Pensacola, Florida. ❄️ @WaffleHouse pic.twitter.com/VQzp1f1C1m
— Matt Devitt (@MattDevittWX) January 22, 2025
