TOP O’ THE MORNIN’
Red-Hot at RedState
The Democratic Party finds itself in a challenging position. Their support base is angry, their leaders recently faced a major loss, and they are witnessing the Republicans making progress towards implementing significant budget cuts.
Last I checked, dead men don’t post on social media.
O’Donnell has to cave and take a rest after 52 days. So I guess Trump has proven he’s much stronger than O’Donnell.
Trending Across Townhall Media
Numbers need context and most stories about these deaths omit a lot of them.
The howls of rage are so loud that I wonder if Chuck might be tempted to reverse course again.
This isn’t just a huge humiliation for Schumer and the Democrats; it’s a tremendous victory for Donald Trump and the GOP!
Recently, the Democrats have started labeling Republicans as “bastards” and accusing them of undermining democracy simply because the Democrats didn’t emerge victorious in an election.
The Democrats have never been more lost than they are right now.
WHAT’S ON TAP?
Today on Capitol Hill…
Notably, the Senate Judiciary Committee has moved forward with the nominations of Harmeet Dhillon for Assistant Attorney General, Aaron Reitz for Assistant Attorney General, and D. John Sauer for Solicitor General. Additionally, the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee have advanced the nominations of Jay Bhattacharya for NIH Director and Marty Makary for FDA Commissioner. However, Dave Weldon’s nomination to head the CDC was withdrawn just before the confirmation process was set to start.
The full Senate confirmed William Pulte, of Florida, to be Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and Jeffrey Kessler, of Virginia, to be Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security. The Senate approved the cloture motion on the HALT Act (regarding fentanyl). And after lots of hyperbole and consternation, Shutdown Schumer (D-NY) and his merry band of Senate Democrats folded on the interim spending bill. (Apparently, the prospect of OMB Director Russ Vought having additional room to flex his cutting government spending muscle during a shutdown put the fear of God in them. Either that or Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) did.) The final vote on the measure should happen sometime Friday afternoon.
There’s only one hearing set for Friday. The Senate Finance Committee will examine the nomination of Dr. Mehmet Oz to be Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
White House What’s Up
President Donald Trump will be paying a visit to the Department of Justice on Friday, where he is expected to deliver a speech on “law and order” (the concept, not the TV show). He’s also reportedly set to meet with New York Governor Kathy Hochul, though that’s not noted on the Daily Guidance from the White House. He’ll head to Mar-a-Lago late in the afternoon.
Per the White House:
Vice President JD Vance and Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration Kelly Loeffler will travel to Bay City, Michigan, to tour Vantage Plastics, a plastics manufacturer. Following the tour, Vice President Vance and Administrator Loeffler will deliver remarks highlighting America’s industrial resurgence.
Keeping Up With the Cabinet
Sec. Treasury – Scott Bessent — Bessent met with Stephen Moore and Art Laffer to discuss making the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent.
Attorney General – Pam Bondi — Bondi is looking forward to DJT’s visit to the DOJ.
Sec. Interior – Doug Burgum — Burgum spoke at the CERAWeek energy conference.
Sec. Agriculture – Brooke Rollins — Rollins shared an overview of what USDA has accomplished in the past four weeks.
Sec. Labor – Lori Chavez-DeRemer — Chavez-DeRemer shared video from her first day at DOL.
Sec. Health & Human Services – Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — Kennedy announced that he’s directing the FDA Commissioner:
Sec. Housing & Urban Development – Scott Turner — Turner promised “great days ahead” for the people of North Carolina.
Sec. Transportation – Sean Duffy — Duffy announced that he is launching an investigation into the FAA after a DEI advocate was caught helping Air Traffic Control candidates to cheat.
Sec. Energy – Chris Wright — Wright affirmed he favors affordable, reliable, secure energy.
Sec. Education – Linda McMahon — McMahon marked “Detrans Awareness Day” by hosting detransitioners and advocates at the Education Department.
Sec. Homeland Security – Kristi Noem — Noem met with West Point cadets to discuss Trump’s national security priorities.
Admin. Environmental Protection Agency – Lee Zeldin — Zeldin emphasized that protecting the environment and growing the economy needn’t be competing choices.
Admin. Small Business Association – Kelly Loeffler — Loeffler met with the L.A. Chamber at the White House and noted that “SBA has delivered thousands of loans to Americans impacted by disaster – including in Los Angeles and North Carolina.”
Dir. Federal Bureau of Investigations – Kash Patel — Patel announced the extradition of seven cartel leaders from Colombia.
U.S. Trade Rep. – Jamieson Greer — Greer met with Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal to discuss reciprocal trade.
Full Court Press…
The Trump administration has now asked the Supreme Court to weigh in on the scope of the nationwide injunctions issued by several federal district courts regarding Trump’s executive order banning birthright citizenship.
And a federal judge in San Francisco ordered Trump to rehire thousands of fired federal workers (because, apparently, Article II power is just an illusion).
COMING ATTRACTIONS
Look for the Senate vote on the CR/interim spending bill sometime Friday afternoon. The House and Senate are out next week, so things should be relatively quiet on the Hill.
We could start to see a Russia-Ukraine peace deal take shape, although that’s still very tentative.
MORNING MUSING
I was an ABC soaps watcher growing up, but the opening theme and monologue for one NBC soap was unmistakable: “Like sands through the hourglass…so are the Days of Our Lives…” It’s true that the goings-on on Capitol Hill often resemble a soap opera, but never more so than in the days and hours ahead of a looming shutdown. So it was that as I watched Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wrestle with the reality that the Dems aren’t really in the driver’s seat at present, I thought of his current predicament and was reminded of his grill skills — or lack thereof.
The cruelty of you trying to serve people raw burgers is unparalleled. pic.twitter.com/x05N3P2Hq5
— MIKΞ STAHL (@mikeastahl) March 13, 2025
And my weirdo brain conjured the notion: Like cheese on a raw burger…so are the Dems’ wretched lies. I don’t know if that really works or not, but somehow, Chuck’s flailing at the grill seemed a fitting metaphor for his antics this week.
LIGHTER FARE
Oh, I don’t know. I’m pretty sure we do need this.
You didn’t need a video of a raccoon eating grapes but here you go pic.twitter.com/0JfsReVQLi
— Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) March 13, 2025
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