Thursday, January 23, 2025
Good morning, and welcome to RedState’s “Morning Minute” — a brief glimpse at which stories are trending at the moment and a look ahead at what the day may bring. As we continue to bask in this glorious transfer of power, consider this your one-stop shop for news to kickstart your day.
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TOP O’ THE MORNIN’
Red-Hot at RedState
Newsom Vetoed a Bill to Enhance Fire Mitigation So He Could Grab the Land for Affordable Housing
[I]f this clear act of negligence and malice does not get Newsom recalled or forced to tender his resignation, then what will?
Are these just one-offs, or are these comedy shows finally starting to realize they’re only funny when they poke fun at anybody and everybody? Not just Trump supporters.
The pardons clearly just made Republicans that much more motivated to uncover the truth about the shenanigans, misdeeds, and possible criminality perpetrated by Liz Cheney and her merry band of political parasites.
Trending Across Townhall Media
The News from SCOTUS Less Than Ideal
Our right to keep and bear arms is a fundamental right, one up there with free speech and freedom of religion. Here’s hoping that my disappointment is soon replaced with a much more joyful emotion.
LA Times Discovers Price Caps Do What Price Caps Always Do
Newsom just treated Californians to a crash course in Econ 101, and also on the inherent failures of Marxist public policy. Again.
Buh-Bye! Illegal Immigrants Start Self-Deporting in the Face of Tough New Trump Policies
The day may not be far off when we start seeing negative numbers of unauthorized aliens flowing across our borders. Is it a miracle? No — it’s just good old-fashioned law enforcement, moral clarity, and common sense.
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After These Details, the Antioch High School Shooting Is Going to Get Suffocated by the Media
We’ll keep you updated, but black Nazis cannot be weaponized to attack Trump or push a gun control narrative, so expect this story to once again be buried by the media.
Not Just No, But HELL NO! Zelensky Demands U.S. Troops as Part of Peacekeeping Force
The Trump slogan is ‘America First,’ not ‘Grifting Actors From a Corrupt, Failed Nation First.’
WHAT’S ON TAP?
Today on Capitol Hill…
Things will be busy on the Hill Thursday as Senate committees convene to consider the nominations of Doug Collins (Veterans Affairs Secretary), Lee Zeldin (EPA Administrator), Doug Burgum (Secretary of the Interior), Chris Wright (Secretary of Energy), and Eric Turner (HUD Secretary).
Additionally, the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee will hold a hearing on Brooke Rollins’ nomination as Secretary of Agriculture. There was supposed to be a hearing on Sean Driscoll’s nomination as Secretary of the Army, as well, but it appears that has been postponed.
Other hearings on the Hill Thursday, in addition to some organizational meetings, include:
- House Natural Resources, Water, Wildlife and Fisheries Subcommittee — Legislative Hearing on the following bills: • H.R. 231 (Rep. Hageman), “Colorado River Basin System Conservation Extension Act of 2025”; • H.R. 261 (Rep. Carter of GA), “Undersea Cable Protection Act of 2025”; • H.R. 331 (Rep. Fulcher), To amend the Aquifer Recharge Flexibility Act to clarify a provision relating to conveyances for aquifer recharge purposes; • H.R. ___ (Rep. Stansbury), “WaterSMART Access for Tribes Act.”
- House Transportation and Infrastructure, Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee — “Hearing” (apparently just a generic hearing; the topic isn’t specified)
- House Energy and Commerce, Communications and Technology Subcommittee —Strengthening American Leadership in Wireless Technology
- House Veterans’ Affairs, Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Subcommittee — Correcting VA’s Violations of Veterans’ Due Process and Second Amendment Rights
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White House What’s Up
It can’t be easy transferring multiple websites from one administration to the next, and kudos to the new administration for being prompt with it all — but we’ve not yet hit upon a regular release of President Donald Trump’s calendar/schedule, which makes alerting you, dear readers, to what’s on any given day’s agenda a bit tricky. Trump is currently scheduled to make a virtual appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos — which will, no doubt, be interesting. He’s been busy all week with executive actions and orders and such, so expect to see more of that, as well.
Full Court Press…
The first court challenge to Trump’s executive order regarding birthright citizenship will be heard Thursday, in a Seattle courtroom, as opponents of the measure seek a temporary restraining order regarding it. (Don’t be at all surprised if such is granted. This will be a process. And eventually, it will be resolved — one way or the other — at the Supreme Court.)
The Minnesota Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a case involving the balance of power in that state’s legislature. With a one-seat majority for the GOP, lawmakers are disputing what constitutes a quorum.
Former Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) (remember him?) was dealt a blow on Wednesday when the judge overseeing his criminal case denied his motion for new trial.
COMING ATTRACTIONS
There are no congressional hearings set for Friday, though the Senate may be in the midst of voting on several of Trump’s nominees (John Ratcliffe for CIA Director, Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense, Kristi Noem for DHS Secretary). No doubt we’ll continue to see some push and pull on those votes and their timing. Looks like the Dems want to do it the hard way. Okay.
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Following its passage by the House Wednesday, the Laken Riley Act should be making its way to Trump’s desk for signature. We know Trump is slated to head to North Carolina on Friday to survey the situation as recovery efforts from Hurricane Helene continue. After that, he’ll head to Los Angeles, California, to survey the wildfire damage, followed potentially by a stop in Nevada.
MORNING MUSING
I’m a big fan of the “America This Week” podcast with Matt Taibbi and Walter Kirn. It’s one I almost always make a point to catch. I think what most appeals to me about it is that neither is conservative and, until recently at least, neither could be considered reliably in the Trump camp. In other words, they don’t occupy the same exact space on the political spectrum that I do, and yet they cover the goings-on in the world of news and politics in an intellectually honest fashion. I genuinely appreciate that. On Monday afternoon, they aired a live stream to cover Inauguration Day and, toward the end, Walter pretty well nailed what just happened in this past election, while Matt acknowledged that this isn’t something we’ve seen for real in our lifetime:
Just now got to finish watching this. @walterkirn sums it all up about as perfectly as one could ever hope to:
The American working class — or middle class, let’s call it that – managed a feat this year that is historic: It took away the presidency of the United States from the…
— Susie Moore ⚾️🌻🐶 (@SmoosieQ) January 23, 2025
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The American working class — or middle class, let’s call it that – managed a feat this year that is historic: It took away the presidency of the United States from the most connected, well-heeled, billionaire-backed, Military Industrial Complex-approved, intelligence agency-beloved, media-gilded group of insiders in history. The guy at Jiffy Lube just took the guy at Mogan Stanley and told him to pound sand. And God bless them.
…
We saw power actually change hands.
Amen.
LIGHTER FARE
#Florida @Publix pic.twitter.com/xDMFuqYMz6
— Paul Dellegatto⚡️FOX (@PaulFox13) January 22, 2025
Bonus winter beauty:
A rare but beautiful Baton Rouge sunset. pic.twitter.com/1LtbSahPnj
— Chris Blair 🐅🎙 (@LSUTigersVoice) January 21, 2025
Just now got to finish watching this. @walterkirn sums it all up about as perfectly as one could ever hope to:
The American working class — or middle class, let’s call it that – managed a feat this year that is historic: It took away the presidency of the United States from the…
— Susie Moore ⚾️🌻🐶 (@SmoosieQ) January 23, 2025
