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On today’s program: Suzanne Bowdey, Editorial Director and Senior Writer for The Washington Stand, reports on the House’s budget standoff, as well as the GOP’s two-chamber strategy to stop activist judges. Tracey Mann, U.S. Representative for the
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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.
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The tariff on China will now go up to 125% because China imprudently decided to retaliate against the United States. And as I said at the podium yesterday, when you punch at the United States of America, President Trump is going to punch back harder.
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That was White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt earlier today. Welcome to Washington Watch. It’s Wednesday, April the 9th. Thanks for tuning in. President Trump hit a pause on tariffs for all nations except China, which responded to the president’s tariff increase on Chinese products to 104 percent by boosting tariffs on American goods to 84 percent. Kansas Congressman Tracy Mann joins me later. And the Trump administration putting maximum pressure on Iran prior to this weekend’s meeting in Oman. President Trump has promised great danger for the Islamic Republic if a deal to eliminate Iran’s nuclear program is not reached. We’ll find out what great danger looks like when we talk with Middle East expert Elon Berman, senior vice president at the American Foreign Policy Council. And New York Congresswoman Claudia Tinney, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, also will weigh in on the upcoming talks with Iran. And we’ll talk about help for care pregnancy centers as well. And Iran is not the only one facing maximum pressure.
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I think we are there. But just in case there are a couple of Republicans out there, you just got to get there. Close your eyes and get there. It’s a phenomenal bill. Stop grandstanding. Just stop grandstanding.
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That was President Trump last night at a Republican fundraiser here in Washington, applying pressure on those holding out support for a Senate passed budget resolution. The Washington stand’s Susan Bounty joins me in studio with the latest. Also today, FRC and FRC Action hosted our 100% award ceremony here at our headquarters in Washington, where 171 House and Senate members were recognized for voting 100% for faith, family, and freedom. We’ll talk about that as well. All of that and more coming up on this edition of Washington Watch. Well, the House is actually right now in the midst of a debate over the budget framework that passed the Senate last week. At issue for several Republicans is the significant gap between the two chambers, a $1 to $1.5 trillion gap, to be specific. The Senate version of the budget bill calls for $4 billion, that’s with a B, in spending cuts, while many in the House desire at least $1.5 trillion, that’s with a T, in cuts. Yesterday, members of Congress, including some of the House Freedom Caucus members, met with President Trump at the White House to discuss how they might come to a budget agreement. So where do things stand now as the House is in the midst of this debate? Joining me now to discuss this, Suzanne Bowdy, editorial director and senior writer for The Washington Stan. Suzanne, thanks for joining me as the House is in the midst of this debate, even as we speak.
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It’s a pressure cooker on the floor, as I understand it. You see Johnson running around talking to members. We’ve gotten to the point where the House can actually vote on the resolution. They did adopt the rule, which, as we’ve said before, is the way that they can move on to the actual bill. He only squeaked through, though. Three members voted against the rule, some for different reasons. The tariffs have played an interesting role in this whole debate. One of the bits of language that was snuck into that rule was that no member could vote against the Trump tariff extensions passed yesterday. October. In other words, if you sign on to this rule, that means you’re not going to fight any of Trump’s tariffs. And a couple of the members have come out since then and said, that’s why we voted against the rule.
SPEAKER 15 :
Just again, for the benefit of our viewers and listeners, a rule, we’ve talked about this before, but a rule is necessary to set the parameters for the debate on a piece of legislation. So each chamber has a kind of a different way of doing things. The House adopts this rule. And oftentimes many things are rolled into the rule. Last week, the proxy voting was rolled into the rule. And it was… It killed it.
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Right.
SPEAKER 15 :
And so that’s why you had nine members, Republican members, joined the Democrats to vote against the rule. So a similar thing this week, although not enough Republicans to defeat the rule, the rule went into place. And so now we are debating the actual bill itself.
SPEAKER 13 :
Right. And no one is quite sure how this is going to shake out. It was interesting reading some of the tweets from the reporters that were on the floor. Desperate. I mean, the House is desperate. The president is desperate. Senate is desperate for all these House Freedom Caucus members to get in line to the point where some GOP senators were literally writing down figures on pieces of paper to give to the House Freedom Caucus to say, hey, look, this is what we promised we’re going to cut in spending. Now, I don’t know what they do after they pass the resolution. They walk down the hallway with a piece of paper and said, what happened to this?
SPEAKER 15 :
There’s an IOU.
SPEAKER 13 :
Right. It’s an IOU.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, this morning I made reference to the 100 percent award ceremony we had here at our headquarters. But we had many Republicans here, including the House speaker and the majority leader, Steve Scalise, Mike Johnson. And I was discussing with them the situation, and both were – they realized they have very little to work with. They can lose three votes and that’s it. But moving forward, very confident that at the end of the day when they got to the vote that they would have the votes. Now, we’ll see soon enough. But the – The market, the stock market has been responding to the tariffs. There’s a lot of money that is out there and a lot of people are waiting to see what happens with this budget bill because it includes the tax cuts from 2017 that President Trump did in his first administration, extending those, making those permanent. And so that will be a stabilizing force to the economy. So that’s one of the reasons they’re moving forward with this, not delaying it, not taking another route, but directly putting in place a mechanism by which these tax cuts can be made permanent.
SPEAKER 13 :
Well, and I think that also puts the squeeze on these members as they know the time is short, regardless of what happens with the tariffs or otherwise businesses need to plan. And we also are coming up on a House recess. Easter’s in the wings. I know that Mike Johnson is planning to keep people if he doesn’t get the vote tonight. But it will be very I don’t think anyone can predict which way this will go. Now, if it doesn’t go Mike Johnson’s way, there are a few options on the table, things that the House Republicans can do. They could, for instance, they could have a conference. Jim Jordan has suggested, why don’t we get both sides together in a conference like they do when they’re trying to cobbled together two kinds of legislation. Why don’t we do a formal conference or a quasi-formal conference? They could try to amend the Senate bill, but then if they do that, there’s no reason for the Senate to take that up if this is the best that they’re offering. I mean, there are a lot of ways they could go about it. They could even start the reconciliation process, which Andy Harris alluded to. You could just come to the table and start mapping everything out now, sort of get the brass tacks, as he said, put some meat on the bones of what this would look like, and then sort of negotiate from there. So there are options.
SPEAKER 15 :
There are options in discussing this with Republican leaders. Their concern is that that’s not enough of a stabilizing force, of a guarantee that something is moving forward. And with that two-week vacation that you’re talking about, not vacation, but a break, I think One of the weeks is in-district work week, but the other is for the Easter break. That leaves too much volatility, what we’ve seen in the last week. And so they need to do something to bring some stability to the economy over this period of time.
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And I think you’re also seeing very interesting players in this debate. There were about 20 governors who also sent a letter to the White House thanking President Trump on Monday for his support of the Senate bill. I think they’re also seeing where this danger leads, that if we do have this sort of barreling impact on the economy, what will stop it? And they just see this as a starting point. Let’s just come to the table, let’s pass this bill, and then let’s change it when we’re in negotiations.
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So let’s talk about, we’ve got a few minutes left here, Suzanne. Let’s talk a little bit about some of the other things that they may address before they leave town. We had thought there might be a vote on the SAVE Act. I’m going to talk a little bit later about that. That’s the voting integrity bill. But it does look like they may address judges, rogue judges.
SPEAKER 13 :
Right, which has been a concern of both chambers. So Daryl Issa has the bill in the House. You’ve had Senator Grassley on to talk about his version in the Senate. And this, I assume, would be not even a question for Republicans. It’s a hugely popular bill to rein in some of these lower court activists that we’re seeing who are making sweeping judgments, stopping all of President Trump’s agenda. And these are unelected district court judges. There are about 700 of them in the country who are able to put the brakes on on a president completely usurping his executive authority.
SPEAKER 15 :
So the issue with these judges and what this legislation, it’s surgical, it’s not sweeping. It simply says that when you issue an injunction, meaning you stop a policy or you stop, in this case, an executive order, it only applies to those who appeared before your court and it’s only effective in your district.
SPEAKER 13 :
Exactly.
SPEAKER 15 :
As opposed to what we’ve seen, an unprecedented number of these federal district court judges issue injunctions that have been nationwide. That’s unheard of.
SPEAKER 13 :
No, and if you look back to the Obama administration, you know, he was in office eight years. There were 12 national injunctions when Obama was in office. We’ve already seen almost 20 nationwide. for President Trump, and you’re talking about big issues, DEI, federal workers, what’s his power on illegal immigration, deportations, and it’s completely out of control. I think that we just haven’t really seen a push to undo some of this judicial activism because we’ve had so many good judges that Trump has appointed.
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But I will point out this cuts both ways.
SPEAKER 13 :
True.
SPEAKER 15 :
Because there have been, just not quite, not nearly as many, but there have been decisions during Biden’s time, during Obama’s time, when Republican appointed judges issued these broader injunctions. So this does cut both ways. But I think it goes back to the intent of the courts which are created by Congress in these districts?
SPEAKER 13 :
Well, it’s important to remember that the Constitution gives Congress the power to regulate these courts. The court shouldn’t be higher than the executive branch, just as it shouldn’t be higher than the legislative branch. So I think this is completely within their purview to say, let’s take a look at what these people are doing and get it back to the parties involved. If someone’s suing, it should be them that’s affected, not the entire country, not put an agenda on an entire whole.
SPEAKER 15 :
Any chance we might see Democrats vote for that?
SPEAKER 13 :
It would be interesting. It would certainly tell us a lot about the Democratic Party if we got any on board with that.
SPEAKER 15 :
I mean, as I said, this is something that does cut both ways.
SPEAKER 13 :
But it’s almost as if— It tends to benefit the Democrats.
SPEAKER 15 :
It does. It does. But it is—you know, Biden complained about it because there was venue shopping during his— Which persists, and that’s a whole other issue. It is, but it’s the first step in getting these nationwide injunctions. But I think they are so— consumed with trying to stop donald trump and the the policies that he is advancing that i mean you could they could have a vote for free ice cream and they wouldn’t vote for it i mean they just if it’s anything to do that would advance donald trump in his agenda they’ll oppose it they’ll oppose it I mean, it’s an interesting place that we are in as a country where there’s very little bipartisan support for anything.
SPEAKER 13 :
And bipartisanship used to be a good thing. Compromise used to be a good thing. It’s why the Senate was created the way it was. And now you see so little of that. I mean, I know that you’ve also seen the poll about the leftists who said recently that they don’t even mind. They think it would be justifiable to support the assassination of a president. I mean, that’s how far conversations have gone. There’s such a lack of civility. And without civility, how do you have conversations about moving the country?
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, I actually had that conversation this week on C-SPAN because I think civility is important, and I think as Christians, you know, we need to bring that back in because we see people… This doesn’t mean we agree on policy by no means. We don’t have to agree with wrong-headed policy or policy that’s in contradiction to biblical truth, but we have to see other people as they are. They are image bearers of God, and we want to see them in relationship with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. But to do that, we have to have conversations. We don’t get anywhere if we don’t talk. So thanks for talking to me today.
SPEAKER 13 :
Oh, I enjoyed it. Thanks.
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All right. Well, we’re up against a break and your time is up. So we’re going to move on. So folks, you don’t need to move on. Only Suzanne needs to move on. We’re going to be right back. We’re going to be joined by Congressman Tracy Mann. We’re going to talk more about tariffs. So don’t go away.
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At Family Research Council, we believe religious freedom is a fundamental human right that all governments must protect. That’s why FRC President Tony Perkins went to Capitol Hill to testify on behalf of persecuted Christians in Nigeria. Islamist terror groups target Christians and other religious minorities in Nigeria with brutal violence. Representative Chris Smith, who chaired the hearing, said 55,000 people have been killed and 21,000 abducted in the last five years alone. The congressman also stressed that 89% of Christians in the world who are martyred are from Nigeria.
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Yet the government of Nigeria has failed to make progress against religiously motivated persecution of Christians despite religious freedom being enshrined as an essential human right in their constitution.
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Tony Perkins called for the United States to send an unmistakable message.
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This is systematic religious violence. Nigeria must be redesignated a country of particular concern. The Biden administration’s removal of this designation was a reckless mistake that emboldened the very terrorists who are slaughtering Christians.
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Redesignating Nigeria will enable the U.S. government to pressure Nigerian leaders to protect vulnerable Christians.
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These are not just numbers. These are fathers, their mothers, their children, their families.
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Bishop Wilfred Anagabe risked his life to speak out, sharing firsthand accounts of the danger faced in his church district in central Nigeria.
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We live in fear because at any point it can be our turn to be killed. But to remain silent is to die twice. So I have chosen to speak.
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FRC is calling on President Trump to act now to promote religious freedom around the globe and speak up on behalf of Christians in Nigeria.
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Looking for a trusted source of news that shares your Christian values? Turn to The Washington Stand, your ultimate destination for informed, faith-centered reporting. Our dedicated team goes beyond the headlines, delivering stories that matter most to believers. From breaking events to cultural insights, we provide clear, compassionate coverage through a biblical lens. Discover news you can trust at The Washington Stand, where faith and facts meet every day.
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Download the new Stand Firm app for Apple and Android phones today and join a wonderful community of fellow believers. We’ve created a special place for you to access news from a biblical perspective, read and listen to daily devotionals, pray for current events, and more. Share the Stand Firm app with your friends, family, and church members, and stand firm everywhere you go.
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Welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks so much for joining us. The website, TonyPerkins.com. Better yet, download the Stand Firm app and stay in touch with Family Research Council no matter where you go. Not only will you have Washington Watch, but you’ll have the Washington Stand and our daily devotional, Stand on the Word. All of that on the Stand Firm app. All right, more of President Trump’s new tariffs were poised to go into effect today. But with more than 75 countries having reached out to negotiate, President Trump announced a 90-day pause on all new tariffs, except for the one on China, which he is raising to 125% after they ratcheted up tariffs on the U.S. to 84%. The president is clearly not backing down on his efforts to get the best deals for America. Well, joining me now to discuss this and more, Congressman Tracy Mann, who serves on the House Agriculture Committee and the Committee on Transportation. He represents the 1st Congressional District of Kansas. Congressman Mann, welcome to Washington Watch. Thank great senior as well. Thanks for having me right before we jump into this on the tariffs in all things politics and policy. Earlier today you were among 171 members of Congress who were recognized with FRC actions 100 percent award for scoring 100 percent on our scorecard.
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So congratulations. Well, thank you more than thanks for what you’re doing. Having a scorecard, keeping members accountable, letting voters and folks know how people are actually voting. Are they standing for the values that make America America or not? Grateful for what you guys are doing. It’s a really important voice here in this town.
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Well, I appreciate that, and I’m encouraged by 171 members standing firm on faith, family, and freedom. And which was 435, by the way.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, you know, we’re making progress. We’re making progress.
SPEAKER 15 :
We’re making progress. Let’s talk about tariffs. You were at dinner last night. The Republicans had a dinner with the president. The president’s pretty firm on this.
SPEAKER 04 :
Your take? Yeah, one of the main things he ran on and got elected to do, you know, he ran on securing the border, shrinking the size of government, but then using tariffs to renegotiate our trade relationships with the world. You know, the president’s a negotiator through and through. We all know that. Really peel back the layers and realize we’ve been taken advantage of in a lot of these trade deals for decades, Tony, and finally doing something about it. And that’s where we are. As the president’s really signaling, he’s willing to negotiate if countries are also willing to lower their trade barriers as well.
SPEAKER 15 :
But to get to that place that we need to be, it’s a little painful. It’s like pulling the Band-Aid off. It hurts a little bit.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, that’s right. But it also hurts, and people don’t realize it, it also hurts when we’re not able to trade our products. When you look, I don’t think we sell a single car into Germany. TENS OF THOUSANDS OF CARS FROM GERMANY COME INTO OUR COUNTRY. WE’RE NOT ABLE TO SELL OUR AG PRODUCTS IN EUROPE AND ALL OF THE EU, YET WE USE OUR MILITARY TO DEFEND THEM. WE’VE GOT TO OPEN UP MARKETS TO REALLY HELP OUR COUNTRY’S ECONOMY IN THE LONG TERM. SO WE REALLY DON’T HAVE FREE AND FAIR TRADE. NOT EVEN CLOSE. IF WE DID, WE CAN OUTCOMPETE ANYBODY. You know, I represent a very large ag district, and our farmers and ranchers can outproduce anybody if the playing field is level. It’s not right now, but it needs to be.
SPEAKER 15 :
So let’s talk about that. You’re a farmer. You come from a family of farmers. You represent a lot of farmers. You represent half the state of Kansas, a lot of farm country. How are they responding to this news of the tariffs?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, you know, by and large, our producers are patriots. And I’ve heard countless producers have reached out to me, contacted me saying, hey, if we need to bear the brunt, be the tip of the spear to get to a better place for the good of the country, willing to do that, which is amazing. They’re patriots through and through. In the last, you know, first Trump administration, when commodity prices dropped, Congress stepped in and helped them make that up to ag producers. That’s certainly something that’s being talked about. We’ll be prepared to make sure that we have our farmers’ backs. The president’s been very clear. First time I was in the Oval Office, first thing he mentioned to me when he found out where I was from is how much he loves farmers.
SPEAKER 15 :
We’re going to make sure that we take care of our ag producers. They’re really the backbone of the country. Technology, you talked about how we can outproduce. Farming has become very connected to technology.
SPEAKER 04 :
Very much so. You know, agriculture is a very sophisticated business that are operating at very technologically high levels. A lot of the equipment today, you know, our family’s farm, it’s all GPS controlled. You know, it’s all self, you know, semi-autonomous to maximize production so that we can produce food efficiently. And we have to remember, Tony, that we make sure that we never are in a spot we have to import our food. One of the reasons we’ve been a free country is we’ve always been able to feed ourselves, which we’ve got to make sure we continue.
SPEAKER 15 :
You know, every time I look at what has happened in agriculture and the increase that we’ve seen in production, I think back of those in the 70s who were saying, you know, we’re running out of food. We’ve got too much population. It’s the population control crowd saying that we’ve got to reduce our population because we’re going to run out of food and run out of land. You know, farmers, technology, all of that is, I think, a reflection of the creative nature that God has given us, that when we trust him and we do what he’s given us the opportunity to do, we see amazing things happen.
SPEAKER 04 :
That’s right. And farmers have faith because they put seeds in the ground, water. At the end of the day, only the Lord can make those seeds grow. And they all know it. I look at our great country, Tony, just geographically, and you realize the largest patch of farmland in the world is right in the middle of our country. The Mississippi River, which is the longest navigable river in the entire world, runs right through the middle of the most fertile, largest patch of farmland on the planet. God’s blessed our country with ag production. We need to make sure our policies ensure that we can maximize its use.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, I mean, it is critical. And I think many people, they take for granted when they go into the grocery store and they pull the bread off the shelf. There is a farm that stands behind that. I want to switch gears for just a moment. We just have about a minute and a half left. The stage is being set for a potential vote on the SAVE Act, which would require proof of identification when registering to vote. Now, the president has done some things by executive order, but Congress has to follow up and codify these things or they could change with the next administration.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, and this is common sense. Only United States citizens should be voting in our elections. Common sense. That’s the law in some states, not in others. We also have to make sure that we’re able to enforce the law, which is a big part of what the SAVE Act does, which is legislation I’m proud to support and vote for today.
SPEAKER 15 :
Part just require identification so that you are who you say you are. That’s exactly right. You are who you say you are. You have to do that to get on the plane.
SPEAKER 04 :
That’s right. And it’s just common sense. I think you have to ask yourself, if someone is against proving who you are when you vote, why is that? Because it’s about as common sense as it gets. Yeah.
SPEAKER 15 :
Tracy Mann, thanks so much for joining us today in studio. Always great to see you. And congratulations once again on being a 100 percent member of Congress, standing for and fighting for faith, family and freedom.
SPEAKER 04 :
Thank you for having me. Thanks for all that you do, Tony.
SPEAKER 15 :
All right, folks, don’t go away because we still have a lot more Washington Watch straight ahead as we unpack today’s news. A lot happening and a lot to pray about. I just I do hope that when you hear some of the challenging things that are happening here in our nation’s capital, that you not be overcome. We’re to be anxious for nothing but by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving. Let our requests be made known unto God. So pray. But stick around because we’re coming back with more after this.
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Everything we do begins as an idea. Before there can be acts of courage, there must be the belief that some things are worth sacrificing for. Before there can be marriage, there is the idea that man should not be alone. Before there was freedom, there was the idea that individuals are created equal. It’s true that all ideas have consequences, but we’re less aware that all consequences are the fruit of ideas. Before there was murder, there was hate. Before there was a Holocaust, there was the belief by some people that other people are undesirable. Our beliefs determine our behavior, and our beliefs about life’s biggest questions determine our worldview. Where did I come from? Who decides what is right and wrong? What happens when I die? Our answers to these questions explain why people see the world so differently. Debates about abortion are really disagreements about where life gets its value. Debates over sexuality and gender and marriage are really disagreements about whether the rules are made by us or for us. What we think of as political debates are often much more than that. They’re disagreements about the purpose of our lives and the source of truth. As Christians, our goal must be to think biblically about everything. Our goal is to help you see beyond red and blue, left and right, to see the battle of ideas at the root of it all. Our goal is to equip Christians with a biblical worldview and help them advance and defend the faith in their families, communities, and the public square. Cultural renewal doesn’t begin with campaigns and elections. It begins with individuals turning from lies to truth. But that won’t happen if people can’t recognize a lie and don’t believe truth exists. We want to help you see the spiritual war behind the political war, the truth claims behind the press release, and the forest and the trees.
SPEAKER 15 :
Thanks for tuning in to Washington Watch and joining us. All right. This Saturday, the Middle Eastern nation of Oman will be hosting face to face meetings between representatives of the Iranian regime and a U.S. delegation led by U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff. Now, ahead of the talks, the Trump administration issued fresh sanctions targeting Iran as a part of their effort to disrupt any attempt by the Islamic Republic to advance its nuclear program and its broader destabilizing agenda. Given the history, will the upcoming talks be able to move the needle after years of no progress? Joining me now to discuss this is New York Congresswoman Claudia Tenney, who serves on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Congresswoman Tenney, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us. Thank you. Great to be on. So earlier in this week Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu met with President Trump obviously wanting to see action on Israel along with a host of other issues. President said talks will be taking place with Iran this weekend. What do we know.
SPEAKER 11 :
Look, this is a really good sign. I agree with you at the top. We have to continue the maximum pressure campaign that President Trump did in the first, actually the first administration that was carried out. It put a lot of pressure on Iran. Unfortunately, all of this was lifted with billions lifted in sanctions by the Biden administration. And now we’re looking at a unique opportunity. I don’t think the countries have actually met in a somewhat one-on-one situation, as we’re going to see in Oman on Saturday, since 2015, when Obama struck what I consider a flawed nuclear deal. This time, President Trump wants to make sure that they dismantle their nuclear program and look toward bringing peace and prosperity to Iran and the rest of the region, where they’ve been the largest state sponsor of terror. So we’re hoping that this type of, at least the beginning of the negotiations, will happen and that we’ll continue to push Iran into a place where they haven’t been before and also to make sure that we allow, make sure that our European partners and others are in the same place we are.
SPEAKER 15 :
So remind us of the problems with the Iran nuclear deal the Obama administration agreed to and why the Trump administration ditched that last time.
SPEAKER 11 :
Well, first of all, the deal, the so-called deal allowed them to actually have a time frame so they could actually create a nuclear weapon. That’s just completely unacceptable to put a nuclear weapon in the hands of the mullahs and Iran, who has just been proven that they cannot be a leader in the region and that they’re Their mission is really to destroy Israel and ultimately the United States. That kind of mission can’t be rewarded with any kind of nuclear weapon. And by the way, the International Atomic Energy Agency went through and determined that, in fact, Iran was cheating all through this process. And we didn’t hold them to account, which is why the president, meaning President Trump, ultimately pulled out of that deal. They were continuing to a rich uranium. They were continuing to get to levels that actually had them near, if not very close to which they probably are very close now to be able to have a nuclear weapon. And that’s something that we want to stop and make sure they don’t cross over that threshold, which we know they’re very, very close at this point.
SPEAKER 15 :
Final question on this topic for you, Congresswoman Tinney. What do you hope the U.S. delegation accomplishes this weekend?
SPEAKER 11 :
Well, hopefully ideally we’ll at least get a framework for talks. We’ll get them to the table and let them realize that, you know, there’s millions of Iranians who would like peace and prosperity. This once very educated and very prosperous country has been, you know, under the control of the mullahs since 1979 uprising. And we’d like to see some kind of peace and also just the harm that they’ve caused in this disruption. across the Middle East with all of our allies and even non-allies. I mean, look what they’ve done with sponsoring Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, the Houthis, and the problems that we’ve seen. They’ve disrupted our neighbors, our friends, like Saudi Arabia. Obviously, there’s some complications with all of our relationships in the Middle East. But something that President Trump really deserves credit for is the Abraham Accords and beginning the peace talks that way. Instead of just saying we don’t do anything until we have the Palestinian conflict solved, we try to get everybody else unified. And if we can take Iran as this pariah in the Middle East out of that and have them actually contributing to peace and prosperity in the Middle East, I think that’s the very beginning of what we can see to actually a real change in this part of the world. that we’ve not seen in my lifetime or even before that. So this is a real hope. Obviously it’s very aspirational. We’ll see how things go Saturday. But I’m optimistic that at least this will be the start of something that could be very good for not just the Middle East but for the world.
SPEAKER 15 :
Congresswoman, switching gears, final question for you. Last month, you and Representative Michelle Fischbach, along with Congressman Chris Smith of New Jersey, introduced the Let Pregnancy Centers Serve Act. Tell us what that does and why you introduced it.
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah, this is so important as we fight to preserve pro-life principles and pro-life advocacy. I come from New York State where we have a late-term abortion state. We have hostility toward pro-life and pro-life centers, crisis pregnancy centers. And we had a horrible bombing by Jane’s Revenge at the Compass Care Center in Amherst, New York. And we also have a hostile attorney general in Letitia James in the state of New York who has tried to prevent TANF funds from being used for these pregnancy centers. And what we’re saying is let’s look at these centers as any other option for women who choose to have their babies – parents who choose to have the resources available to them and to allow them to actually do their work instead of blocking and cutting them off as we’re seeing in New York and states like New Jersey where Chris Chris Smith has been a longtime strong advocate as well as my colleague on Ways and Means Michelle Fischbach from Minnesota. These are really important issues. And if we can get these pregnancy centers the equal footing that they deserve and the savings that we’re going to have and just saving lives, I think is is so important to the pro-life movement and so important to me. And I after experiencing this in New York with the bombing of Compass Care and the rebuilding with Reverend Jim Harden there and just some of the terrible policies in place in New York. This is the little we can do to try to bring some fairness to mothers and to families who really believe in the pro-life cause.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, we appreciate you doing it. Much needed and look forward to seeing it passing. Thank you so much. Congresswoman Tinney, thanks for joining us. All right, folks, stick with us. Don’t go anywhere. We continue our look at Iran when we return. Don’t go away.
SPEAKER 06 :
What is God’s role in government? What does the separation of church and state really mean? And how does morality shape a nation? President John Adams said our Constitution was made only for moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. Join Family Research Council for God and Government, a powerful 13-part series that equips you with biblical truth to engage in today’s most pressing debates. From the Ten Commandments in Classrooms to the Immigration Crisis of America, we’ll uncover the foundations of our nation’s history and why it’s relevant for today. Defend God’s plan for government because faith and freedom were never meant to be separate. New episodes available each Monday. To view the series on the Stand Firm app, text COURSE to 67742.
SPEAKER 07 :
The world is hurting, streets are filled with crime, families are broken, sin is celebrated, and God is mocked. Everywhere we look, the wages of our sin are on full display. As Christians, we know that surrender to God’s will is the solution to our biggest problems, but not everyone agrees. Even in church, we hear people say the most important thing is to be tolerant, that we shouldn’t impose a morality on other people, and that loving our neighbor means celebrating what they do. But you can’t do that. It’s not that you don’t love your neighbor. You do. But you care about God’s opinion more than your neighbor’s opinion. And this makes you different. In fact, sometimes it makes you feel alone, like you’re the only one. But there is good news. You are not alone, not even close. Research has found that there are 59 million American adults who are a lot like you. There are millions of people around the country who are born again, deeply committed to practicing their faith, and believe the Bible is the reliable Word of God. But that’s not all. They’re also engaged in our government. They’re voters. They’re more likely to be involved in their community, and they’re making a difference in elections. The problem is that a lot of them feel alone, too. We want to change that. FRC wants to connect these 59 million Americans to speak the truth together, no matter the cost. If you want to learn more about this group and what it means to be a spiritually active, governance-engaged conservative, or if you want to find out if you are one of these sage cons yourself, go to frc.org slash sagecon and take the quiz to find out. The world is hurting, and we have the solution. We can’t do it alone, but we can do it if we work together. That’s what we’re working toward every day. Join us. Go to FRC.org slash S-A-G-E-C-O-N, SageCon, to learn more. That’s S-A-G-E-C-O-N, SageCon, to learn more.
SPEAKER 15 :
All right. Session eight of our God and government course is out in this episode. I explore what the Bible says about economic issues, including wealth, inflation and the role of civil government in the economy. Very timely. I also explain God’s standard for economic relations and our responsibility as Christians in managing our wealth and our resources. Now, Remember, God and government is available only on the Stand Firm app. So if you don’t have the app, I tell you what, text the word course to 67742, the word course to 67742, and I’ll send you a link. Our word for today comes from Ezekiel 27. Now you, son of man, raise a lamentation over Tyre, who dwells at the entrances to the sea, merchants to many coastlands. Thus says the Lord God, O Tyre, you have said, I am perfect in beauty. Your borders are in the heart of the sea. Your builders made perfect your beauty. Well, the downfall of Tyre would astonish nations. This economic giant seen as impenetrable seemed too big to fail. Does that sound familiar? Well, God’s judgment was triggered when Tyre proudly celebrated Jerusalem’s ruin, believing they would profit from Judah’s collapse. We read that in chapter 26, where the son of man, because Tyre said concerning Jerusalem, ah, the gate of the people is broken. It has swung open to me. I shall be replenished now that she has laid waste. In its arrogance, Tyre boasted over another’s misfortune. Yet no fortress is safe from divine justice when pride takes root. Scripture reminds us that God sees every heart. Let us guard against exalting ourselves at others’ expense. And remember that only God remains truly unshakable. To find out more about our journey through the Bible, text BIBLE to 67742. Well, the United States continues its tactic of ramping up pressure on Iran over its nuclear ambitions. Should Saturday’s meeting between the two nations fall through in any way, President Trump has promised, quote-unquote, great danger for the Islamic Republic. What does the president mean, and what are the chances of this meeting bearing fruit? Here to discuss this, Elon Berman, senior vice president of the American Foreign Policy Council. Elon has consulted for the CIA as well as U.S. Department of State and Defense. Elon, welcome to Washington Watch. Thanks so much for joining us today. Oh, my pleasure. So what does the president mean when he says Iran could face great danger?
SPEAKER 12 :
Well so it’s a good question and I think it speaks to the larger objective that the president is trying to get at. If you remember back in mid-February he reinstated the maximum pressure policy of sweeping economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Iran. This was the hallmark of his policy during his first term in office. But almost immediately, he signaled that he was willing to, and in fact, he wanted to get to the negotiating table with Iran to really hammer out some sort of new agreement that deals more comprehensively in a more lasting fashion with its nuclear program. So that has been the game plan of the Trump administration this go around to create leverage and then to use that leverage to compel the Iranians to come to the table. And that’s why when the president sent his letter a couple of weeks ago to the Iranian ayatollahs, he said this is an offer that is not is not infinite. You have a couple of months to hammer out a deal with us or all bets are off. And so everything that you’re seeing now, not on the diplomatic front, but in terms of military repositioning, in terms of strategic assets being deployed, it’s all part of conveying the seriousness of that timetable.
SPEAKER 15 :
As you describe the president’s approach to this, it kind of prompts me to ask the question, does the president see this as a challenge to actually reach an agreement through negotiation since he is such a, he’s known to be such a good negotiator?
SPEAKER 12 :
No, he’s known to be such a good negotiator, but I would be sure that his Iran policy team that he’s assembled, and right, advisedly, this is a different team than we saw in Trump 45, but they’re probably telling them exactly what they, their predecessors told them half a half a decade ago which is that the Iranian regime has a consistent game plan. The game plan is to buy time to engage the West in open ended negotiations under the premise that the West doesn’t attack when the West is talking and to use that window of opportunity to build permanence in their nuclear effort. Because if you look inside the regime itself, it’s enormously rickety. The Iranian economy is spiraling into an ever-deepening domestic crisis. There’s a crisis of faith. In Iran, something like two-thirds of the country’s 75,000 mosques are now shuttered because of lack of attendance, which is a death knell for an ideological religious regime. You have all sorts of signs of societal malaise. So the Iranian regime needs this deal very, very badly as a lifeline to keep its regime in power.
SPEAKER 15 :
The president, as you described, maximum pressure, leverage on the outside. We’re seeing unprecedented military buildup. We have two aircraft carriers in the regions. We have the B-2 bombers. We have new sanctions being put in place at the Treasury office today. Foreign assets control imposed sanctions on enablers of Iran’s nuclear program. You talk about a window. Are they hoping, what’s that window they need to establish that nuclear presence? Because I think that is, maybe they’re hoping they can outlast President Trump and his administration.
SPEAKER 12 :
No, I think that’s right. And I actually think that in the context of not so much what the Iranian regime is thinking about, but what the US administration is thinking about, we’re looking at three distinct timetables. The first is from now until October of this year. which is October of this year is when the final provisions that remain in force for the 2015 nuclear deal known as the JCPOA expire. That’s when the provisions toll and it becomes much, much harder to reimpose multilateral sanctions on Iran. So that’s the first deadline. that we’re looking at. The second deadline is between this summer and next summer, because every intelligence estimate that has leaked into the open source suggests that Iran has between six and 18 months that they need in order to perfect weaponization. Write three components to a nuclear program. There’s delivery systems such as ballistic missiles. There’s uranium enrichment. And then there’s weaponization. How do you put it on a warhead? How do you miniaturize it? How do you fashion it into a weapon? So that’s between this summer and next summer. is when the expectation is that the Iranians will perfect that capability. And the third is next fall because of the political calendar, the political calendar here because of the U.S. midterms, but also the political calendar in Israel because of if Israel does not go to elections before then, and that’s a distinct possibility. But if it doesn’t, then Israeli elections are scheduled to take place in November of 2026. And this is a government, the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which has staked a tremendous amount of its credibility on eliminating the threat posed by a nuclear Iran. So there is an expectation that as we get closer to that political deadline of next fall, that the Israelis are going to become more and more activist and may not wait indefinitely.
SPEAKER 15 :
Does the United States, the Trump administration, wait for the expiration of one of those three deadlines?
SPEAKER 12 :
I think ideally the plan is no. And that’s why the president set the two month two month timeline. But but I think that that really is the metric of success for the talks that are going to take place this weekend. The Iranian play here I think is very clear. The Iranians are going to try to draw out the timetable as long as possible. And so it will be a problem. If we emerge from this weekend, if the president’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, emerges from this weekend with an Iranian commitment for open-ended talks that are going to take place over weeks and months, we’ll have moving and shifting parameters. That’s not a recipe for success. And that’s a recipe for potential military action, for example, on the part of Israel, if there’s a sense that there isn’t movement, resolute movement towards some sort of conclusion sooner rather than later.
SPEAKER 15 :
Do you see, Ilan, any parallels between the first administration and the conversations that the engagement that took place with North Korea and Kim Jong-un and what we see here?
SPEAKER 12 :
I think so. I think there is a parallel, right? As they say, history doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes. And I think you’re seeing that in this context insofar as the president’s package of incentives. Because remember, negotiations have to include both incentives and disincentives. The president’s package of incentives particularly looking at the frailty of the Iranian regime, at the weakness of their economy, is going to be all about reintegration into the global community, all about an upgrade of the relationship with the United States. Right now it’s nonexistent. Iran will benefit tremendously from a more formal and more durable relationship with the United States. I think that’s in the carrot category. In the stick categories, precisely what you’re seeing, forward deployment of bombers to Diego Garcia, forward positioning of U.S. naval assets in the Persian Gulf, those are intended to signal the bad cop scenario. If Iran does not conclude some sort of agreement that is amenable to Washington, then all bets are off, right? That’s the signal.
SPEAKER 15 :
All right. In North Korea, you’re dealing with a guy who’s not completely stable. In Iran, you’re dealing with an ideology, a religious ideology. Will that ideology allow them to essentially back away from their nuclear program and dismantle it as the request is being made?
SPEAKER 12 :
Well that’s really I think the sixty four thousand dollar question because the degree to which the regime which is undergoing a crisis of faith on the part of the population of the regime whose ideology is increasingly seen as being bankrupt and politically untenable whether that regime is willing to give up some of its core tenets in order to remain in business. That is going to be the proposition that the Trump administration’s outreach needs to test because simply open ended negotiations that keep this regime in power and give them a patient pathway to a nuclear weapon, I think doesn’t serve anybody’s interests and is not likely to end well. So the Trump administration is at pains not only to proffer things that the Iranians can benefit from, but also to make very clear that this is not an open ended series of talks.
SPEAKER 15 :
Elon, let’s talk a little bit about that domestic situation there in Iran. As you’ve described, very unstable. You have a populace there that’s really not in line with the governing regime. If they, you know, essentially wave a white flag and back down to the United States in negotiations, Does that not put them in a more vulnerable position with the people who we’ve already seen in the last few years? We’ve seen demonstrations. We’ve seen a populace that wants to see these guys gone.
SPEAKER 12 :
No, no, that’s exactly right. And I think that’s the fear on the part of the Iranian regime, which is that too quick a capitulation, too comprehensive a capitulation to Washington would rebound to their detriment, would make them seem weak. On the other hand, though, if the Iranians can play this negotiation out at least a little bit, if they can garner concrete concessions from the United States, it can strengthen their regime enormously. Because remember, In addition to all these internal weaknesses that the regime has, the regime is also on its way out the door. The upper echelons of the Iranian leadership are older and firm in their 80s, in their 90s. There is generational change that is coming to Iran, whether we like it or not. The question is, will the current regime be in place 10 years from now? And the secret here, I think, for the Iranian regime is to hammer out a package of concessions from the United States and also potentially from other countries in the West that would essentially establish their permanence in the face of all these internal tensions. So that’s what they’re going to be trying to go for.
SPEAKER 15 :
So, Elon, whether it is voluntary or involuntary, the removal of their nuclear ambitions, future, what does that do for the Middle East? This, I would think, has a tremendous impact on the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East.
SPEAKER 12 :
No, absolutely. And in fact, the last time we were in this place where you had an Iran that was moving very, very quickly towards a nuclear acquisition, it was it created a scenario for a potential proliferation cascade in the Middle East where you saw multiple countries, including Saudi Arabia, including other countries in the region that had begun to talk publicly about the need to acquire their own nuclear deterrent. And this tells you everything you need to know about how countries in the region see Iran. They don’t see Iran as a security producer. They see it as a threat. And so taking the Iranian nuclear program off the board in a lasting way, not the way the Obama administration did when it just kicked the nuclear can down the road for a decade, But taking it off the board in a lasting way would be enormously beneficial to regional security in the Middle East. It would be a massive boon to American allies in the Persian Gulf and in the Levant. And it would calm the region, I think, immeasurably.
SPEAKER 15 :
Elon, we just have about a minute left. I mean, I think this clearly would benefit Israel, making them really the strongest power there in the Middle East. But is this not an opening for Turkey?
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, there’s an opening for Turkey of a different sort that’s already playing out, because Turkey was the one, by all accounts, that orchestrated the rapid ouster and dismantlement of the Assad regime in Syria. And so what we’re now seeing is a Turkey that is increasingly a player in the Middle East in a way that it wasn’t before, a Turkey that is increasingly ambitious regionally, and a Turkey that doesn’t have good relations with Israel, And but at the same time is a core member of NATO. So solving the Turkey problem is going to be a challenge for another time. But for right now the everybody’s watching the Iranian nuclear file closely. Turkey may benefit but the countries that are allies of the United States countries like Israel but also the United Arab Emirates Morocco Bahrain countries are part of the Abraham Accords or soon maybe are the ones that stand to benefit the most.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, Elon, I hope to circle back around with you next week, maybe after the talks take place, and we’ll see what comes from them. Appreciate your insights. Very informative. Thanks for joining us. My pleasure. All right, folks, that’s certainly something to pray about as these meetings take place over the weekend. I don’t have a lot of confidence that Iran’s going to come along voluntarily, but let’s pray. 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 6, where he says, you’ve done everything you can do, and you’ve prayed, prepared, and taken your stand.
SPEAKER 03 :
By all means, keep standing. 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 TonyPerkins.com.
