Wednesday, February 12, 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 in these rather incredible times in which we find ourselves. Consider this your one-stop shop for news to kickstart your day.
TOP O’ THE MORNIN’
Red-Hot at RedState
Hoo Boy! CNN’s Anderson Cooper Freaks Out Over DOGE, Calls Guest a ‘D***’ on Live TV
It’s just one more in the thousand cuts that have led to their decline from the once “The Most Trusted Name in News” to a ratings black hole and a general laughingstock.
LOL: Dems Getting ‘Pissed’ As Far-Left Groups Keep Calling Their Offices Because They Can’t Stop Trump
They’re not “pissed” because these groups are calling them. They’re pissed because they want to do exactly what they’re asking and fight back harder against Trump. But they can’t.
WATCH: Witness Gloriously Levels Jamie Raskin Over His EDS at Hearing on Regulatory Reform
Wade, who runs a business in Texas after giving it a try in California and New York, arrived, as witnesses often do, with a prepared statement, which she began reading from when she was called on to give her testimony. But she strayed from it early on in order to address how Raskin was conducting himself at the hearing.
Trending Across Townhall Media
Ending the ATF Not So Fringe an Idea Anymore
While it may never happen, the ATF is threatened in ways other law enforcement agencies aren’t, in part because of how they seem determined to infringe on a specific, constitutionally protected right over anything else that’s part of the agency’s mission.
Coincidence? ABA Blasts Cuts to USAID. Also, ABA Gets Millions From USAID
I want to see where every dollar goes. Every self-righteous organization, by complaining, is outing itself as yet another grifter that subsists off the hard work of the people they are working to suppress.
This is a war between the Establishment and the people. Nothing less.
Another Biden Time Bomb Just Blew Up
Put simply: much of the spending in the Biden Cabal’s signature legislative wins was backloaded into what they hoped would be his second term, his reelection guaranteed by phony jobs numbers and oodles of debt dressed up like a drag queen named Ro Busty Growth.
Bill Maher Nails It With These Remarks About the NFL Removing This Slogan From the Endzone
Last, Maher was not at all irritated with the new White House briefing room, which allowed more non-legacy media types into the room, saying it was more reflective of America.
They’re LOSING Their MINDS! CNN’s Anderson Cooper Vulgarly Insults Chris Sununu On Air
Cooper may not be fired for his comment the way that CNN banned Gidursky (and yet didn’t fire Toobin), but his network is circling the drain and he may find himself out of a job soon anyway. And it will only be his fault, no one else’s.
WHAT’S ON TAP?
Today on Capitol Hill…
The big show Wednesday on the Hill will be the 11:00 a.m. Eastern Senate vote to confirm Tulsi Gabbard as the Director of National Intelligence. That vote will be followed immediately by a vote on cloture as to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for Secretary of Health and Human Services, BUT…the good news is, the clock on the 30 hours of debate for his confirmation already started ticking Tuesday night by agreement since the Senate pushed the Gabbard vote back due to the snowstorm that socked D.C. Tuesday evening. So, Kennedy’s confirmation vote will come Thursday.
The confirmation hearing for Labor Secretary nominee Lori Chavez-DeRemer was supposed to be held today but has now been postponed until next Wednesday due to the weather. If you’ve any doubt as to how RedState feels about that nomination, be sure to check out the excellent reporting done on her by our Jennifer Oliver O’Connell.
There was a big announcement by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) on Tuesday afternoon about the establishment of a new House task force on “federal secrets.” Let’s hope that becomes a popcorn-worthy venture.
There will also be a House DOGE Subcommittee hearing today at 10:00 a.m. Eastern, titled “The War on Waste: Stamping Out the Scourge of Improper Payments and Fraud.” (It looks to still be on.) Be there or be square!
Other hearings/meetings set for Wednesday include:
- Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship — Topics include looking at moving up to 30 percent of the SBA workforce to duty stations outside of Washington, D.C.
- House Transportation and Infrastructure, Highways and Transit Subcommittee — “America Builds: A Review of Programs to Address Roadway Safety”
- House Judiciary — “The Censorship-Industrial Complex”
- House Energy and Commerce, Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade Subcommittee — AI in Manufacturing: Securing American Leadership in Manufacturing and the Next Generation of Technologies
- Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation — Hearings to examine the Arctic and Greenland’s geostrategic importance to U.S. interests
- Senate Judiciary — Hearings to examine the nominations of Todd Blanche, of Florida, to be Deputy Attorney General, and Abigail Slater, of the District of Columbia, to be an Assistant Attorney General, both of the Department of Justice
- Senate Finance — Business meeting to continue consideration of the nomination of Jamieson Greer, of Maryland, to be United States Trade Representative, with the rank of Ambassador
White House What’s Up
After a busy morning and afternoon Tuesday, President Donald Trump welcomed home American hostage Marc Fogel Tuesday night. On Wednesday, he’s set to sign more executive orders, and Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt will host another press briefing at 1:00 p.m. Eastern.
We also expect to hear news of another hostage whose release has been secured. It was hinted at last night, but Trump said they’d announce it formally on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance continues his European tour after delivering a succinct and powerful speech at the AI Action Summit on Tuesday.
Keeping Up With the Cabinet
Sec. State – Marco Rubio — Rubio’s been busy. He sat in with Trump on the meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah and joined Trump in welcoming American hostage Marc Fogel home Tuesday evening.
Sec. Treasury – Scott Bessent — Bessent has now officially joined X. On Tuesday, Trump announced that Bessent will be heading to Ukraine to meet with Zelensky as well in an effort to help end the war.
Sec. Defense – Pete Hegseth — Hegseth got a full workout in Stuttgart, Germany. He’s off to Brussels, Belgium, now to deliver remarks at the 26th Ukraine Defense Contact Meeting.
Attorney General – Pam Bondi — Bondi has her hands full overseeing a DOJ that is defending multiple civil actions against the administration in addition to prosecuting bad guys. She may get more help soon as the Senate Judiciary Committee holds hearings to consider the confirmations of Blanche and Slater, as noted above.
Sec. Housing & Urban Development – Scott Turner — Turner is working closely with DOGE to help eliminate waste and save taxpayers money.
Sec. Transportation – Sean Duffy — Duffy reaffirmed his commitment to continue assisting the communities in and around I-40 that were devastated by Hurricane Helene.
Sec. Energy – Chris Wright — Wright is promising to “work rapidly to grow America’s nuclear energy capabilities.”
Sec. Veterans Affairs – Doug Collins — Collins shared this poignant reminder on X:
Last Friday was one of my best days at VA so far, I spoke with two Veteran Crisis Line responders who had recently talked two Veterans into choosing life over death by suicide. Thanks to Kylie Sherell Hall and Jeffrey Snieszko for your amazing work! pic.twitter.com/R7qaCD2Xer
— VA Secretary Doug Collins (@SecVetAffairs) February 12, 2025
Sec. Homeland Security – Kristi Noem — Noem also reaffirmed her commitment to the people of North Carolina.
Admin. Environmental Protection Agency – Lee Zeldin — After Project Veritas’ latest exposé of budgetary shenanigans at EPA, Zeldin has been hot on the case.
🚨🚨🚨Huge news! Our awesome team @EPA just located BILLIONS of dollars worth of “gold bars” that the Biden Admin threw “off the titanic”.
Big update coming tomorrow…pic.twitter.com/md5qWEgUgV
— Lee Zeldin (@epaleezeldin) February 11, 2025
National Security Advisor – Mike Waltz — Waltz was on hand as Marc Fogel returned home last night.
What AURA! pic.twitter.com/zmaMx5DyLi
— Daniel Torok (@dto_rok) February 12, 2025
Full Court Press…
Today, my friends. Today, I shall endeavor to cobble together a primer on all of the court cases regarding the Trump administration’s executive actions. I cannot promise it will all come together. But I’m going to do my darnedest. In the meantime, streiff has some thoughts on one of the (many) recent district court rulings.
I can tell you that Walt Nauta and Carlos DeOliveira can breathe a sigh of relief as, following the DOJ’s motion to dismiss its appeal, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has now formally dismissed the case against Trump’s two co-defendants arising out of the classified documents/Mar-a-Lago raid case.
I don’t recall if I included this note in Tuesday’s Morning Minute, but the DOJ has indicated it will move to dismiss the charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams, though the dismissal motion has not yet hit the court’s docket. We’ll continue to monitor and confirm once that happens.
Both parties have requested oral argument before the New York Court of Appeals on the second E. Jean Carroll defamation case against Trump (first case filed, second one tried). This is the one that resulted in the $83.3 million verdict. Solicitor General nominee (not yet confirmed) D. John Sauer is listed as the attorney who’ll argue on behalf of the president.
COMING ATTRACTIONS
Thursday, we’ll see the final confirmation vote on RFK Jr. for HHS Secretary. The Senate Judiciary Committee will also vote on Kash Patel’s nomination for FBI Director.
On Friday, Vance is set to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. That should be interesting, particularly in light of Trump’s comments Tuesday night about there appearing to be light at the end of the tunnel on the war.
Saturday at noon remains the deadline issued by Trump for Hamas to turn over the remaining hostages. That situation is going to be one to watch as well.
MORNING MUSING
I know there’s all manner of outrage (on the left) about Elon Musk and DOGE, and much of that stems from their rather limited ability to do anything about it at present, aside from assailing the administration with lawsuit after lawsuit and leaning into the friendly arms of sympathetic district court judges. I’ve a feeling that will all sort itself out in time, and largely to the benefit of the country. Setting that aside, I couldn’t help but appreciate this side-by-side pic I saw yesterday. Incredible times, indeed.
We are living in incredible times. pic.twitter.com/COdyNEg8Eh
— Geiger Capital (@Geiger_Capital) February 11, 2025
LIGHTER FARE
We could all use a smile like this.
A smile for your timeline.. 😊 pic.twitter.com/zorIxN7otB
— Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden) February 11, 2025
