A nail-biter of a vote
Tuesday night, in a nail-biter of a vote that included the cancellation of the vote followed by a re-vote ten minutes later, the House passed a budget resolution to codify President Trump’s agenda.
Blessings on you and your family from all the Huckabee team! Today’s newsletter is below.
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Daily Bible Verse
O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.
1 Chronicles 16:34
A nail-biter of a vote
Tuesday night, in a nail-biter of a vote that included the cancellation of the vote followed by a re-vote ten minutes later, the House passed a budget resolution to codify President Trump’s agenda on taxes, border security, defense and energy, as well as increase the debt ceiling. The vote was 217-213 with all Democrats against and Rep. Thomas Massie the only Republican opposing (some others had grumbled about not supporting it because it doesn’t do enough to reduce deficits, but they were swayed in the end.)
It was hailed as a great legislative victory for Speaker Mike Johnson, but it’s just the first step. Now, they’ll have to work with Senate Republicans to hammer out a bill that will pass both Houses. Who knows what it will say in the end?
This is why we’ve always found it so ridiculous when Presidential candidates attack each other over one detail or another of their “economic plans.” Everyone should know that by the time anything makes it out of Congress, it will bear about as much resemblance to the candidate’s plan as a Marvel movie does to the original script.
Trump cabinet meets
Today, President Trump will hold the first meeting of his new Cabinet. The media and the Democrats (pardon our redundancy) are pitching a hissy fit because Elon Musk will reportedly be in attendance, and “nobody elected him!” (News flash: Nobody elected any of the Cabinet members, either.) And as Katie Pavlich reminds us, these same critics were infamously quiet about Jill Biden not only attending Joe Biden’s Cabinet meetings, but running them.
https://instapundit.com/705028/
And don’t even get us started on the stories about Joe Biden’s meetings being run by Hunter Biden…
Fake News Wednesday:
The media is trumpeting a story by the A.P. that allegedly claims that 21 staffers resigned from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, writing in their resignation letter, “We swore to serve the American people and uphold our oath to the Constitution across presidential administrations,” but they refuse to“use their technical expertise to “dismantle critical public services.”
The part the media’s ignoring: These staffers aren’t even part of DOGE. They were members of the US Digital Service and are former Google and Amazon workers who were brought into the government under Obama. They were just assigned to provide tech support to the real DOGE staff. Brandon Morse has more at Redstate.com, but unfortunately, it’s a subscriber-only article.
If you’re not a subscriber, just know these facts: They’re Obama holdovers, they’re not DOGE staffers, and DOGE isn’t there to “dismantle critical public services,” unless you consider blowing billions of dollars to support leftist groups that work against the interests of the taxpayers who paid for them to be a “critical public service.”
More anti-DOGE fake news:
The Washington Free Beacon reports that the alleged “grassroots” citizen protests against DOGE that are popping up around the nation are actually being organized by Soros-funded leftist groups like MoveOn and Indivisible. One alleged “concerned” constituent who protested to a Georgia Republican Representative at a townhall was found to be a longtime Democrat donor and activist who coordinated volunteers for Pete Buttigieg’s presidential campaign.
We can see why these people would be opposed to any agency that’s dedicated to exposing fraud.
WOW!
In a shocking announcement, Amazon CEO and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos announced a major change in WaPo’s editorial page. Instead of the usual “progressive” leftism, he said from now on, “We are going to be writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets. We’ll cover other topics too of course, but viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others.”
Bezos said there was a time when newspapers had a monopoly on readers and typically published a variety of opinions, but the Internet does that now. As for WaPo's future, Bezos sounded downright Trumpian: “I am of America and for America, and proud to be so. Our country did not get here by being typical. And a big part of America’s success has been freedom in the economic realm and everywhere else. Freedom is ethical — it minimizes coercion — and practical — it drives creativity, invention, and prosperity."
Bezos said he offered current op-ed editor David Shipley the chance to continue, as long as his attitude about the new editorial direction was “hell, yes.” Instead, he chose to resign, so Bezos is looking for a new opinion page editor. He can contact us with his offer c/o the Huckabee newsletter.
The news was greeted with the expected cancelling of subscriptions from furious leftists, which makes us wonder why they're so hostile to personal liberties and free markets. Oh, right, we remember now: they’re leftists.
Federal Judge rejects A.P.’s argument, sides with Trump administration
A federal judge rejected the Associated Press’s argument that they have a First Amendment right to be invited to all White House press events (tell that to every other media outlet in America.) The A.P. will still have a front row seat at White House press briefings, but not at special events, like when the President is taking questions in the Oval Office or boarding Air Force One.
One day after the ruling, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that the notoriously left-leaning White House Correspondents Association will no longer get to dictate which reporters ask questions at these events. She said from now on, the White House press team will decide who’s invited, with the five major TV outlets rotating to make sure there’s always video.
Leavitt said, “We will add additional streaming services, which reach different audiences than traditional cable and broadcast. This is the ever-changing landscape of the media in the United States today.”
This will surely set off howls of outrage and cries of censorship from the liberal legacy media, but to quote their favorite poet, “The times, they are a-changing.” The top rated late night comedy show is “Gutfeld!,” Joe Rogan has a far larger audience than Rachel Maddow, and there are pages on X that have more subscribers than the Washington Post. If these older outlets are no longer relevant, they did it to themselves. Besides, we didn’t hear any outrage from them when Obama and Biden were barring conservative media outlets even from the White House Briefing Room, so cry us a river.
Fun Link: Stephen Kruiser of PJ Media has a hilarious write-up on the brouhaha over the WHCA. Here’s an excerpt:
“Kicking the White House Correspondents' Association to the periphery is long overdue, like cleaning a room in an old house that no one has used for years. They can now devote more time to hosting their annual no-talent show dinner. Maybe they can get Jimmy Kimmel to host it through his tears this year.”
Help finding new jobs in Virginia
Virginia’s Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin has set up a website to help axed federal workers find new positions in the state government.
It might be a big adjustment, since state governments have to balance budgets and can’t deficit spend. But at least it wouldn’t be like trying to find a job in the private sector, where they actually expect results.
IRS leak details revealed
The IRS revealed to the House Judiciary Committee that the IRS contractor who leaked President Trump’s personal tax information to the New York Times and Pro Publica also divulged private information on about 405,000 other taxpayers. But the Biden DOJ treated him with incredible leniency, bringing just one charge when he could have faced thousands.
Okay, New York Times: Tell us again about how worried you are that Elon Musk will leak our tax data.
Prayers and good wishes
Please join us in sending prayers and good wishes to Fox News contributor and “Gutfeld” regular Kat Timpf. She revealed that on the very day she gave birth to her first son, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and will likely need a double mastectomy. The full story in her own words is here:
More on Bongino’s FBI move; plus, are you aware the CIA leaks classified info? It does!
A couple of days’ worth of intel agency news has piled up, so let’s go through it. As you know, conservative radio host, Rumble podcaster and emerging media mogul Dan Bongino has been appointed by President Trump to serve as FBI deputy director, Kash Patel’s second-in-command. Trump announced it Sunday night on Truth Social, and Dan confirmed it Monday during his podcast and radio show. This is such a shake-up, not just at the FBI but in the broadcasting world, that we said we’d wait to comment at length until after Bongino had spoken to his audience.
He didn’t offer a lot of detail, though, choosing mostly to speak personally about the emotional impact of his decision. Though he and his family will be maintaining their Florida home, with wife Paula running their media business while he works in DC, this is a huge life change, comparable in some ways to Gov. Huckabee’s move to Israel to serve as U.S. ambassador there. Both Gov. Huckabee and Bongino must give up all their broadcasting duties (and the related compensation), and this affects many individuals besides themselves. In other words, it’s a big “ask,” but, as they say, duty calls. Here am I, Lord, send me.
Bongino said Monday he’d be doing “a few more shows” and that his move would take a couple of weeks.
His radio show, syndicated through Westwood One (part of Cumulus Media, which syndicated the Gov.’s radio show), had taken over the time slot formerly held by the great Rush Limbaugh until Rush passed away in 2021, so he’d always considered that a great honor. It’s currently on 350 radio stations nationwide. It must be making him ache to leave that.
As Joe Cunningham at REDSTATE reports, March 14 marks his exit. While Bongino went on about how accommodating Westwood One has been, the syndicator reportedly “appears blindsided by his move, and at this point, it’s unclear if they have a replacement lined up.”
Cumulus gave a statement to RADIO INK: “We extend our heartfelt congratulations to Dan Bongino on his decision to take the role of Deputy Director of the FBI. Dan has entertained and informed tens of millions of listeners every day and we are grateful for our successful partnership...We look forward to welcoming Dan back in the future...We truly value our audience, advertisers and affiliates and remain dedicated to bringing them the next exciting chapter for this programming soon.”
In that next chapter, Cunningham sees the start of a new era for conservative radio, “one that will be far more diverse, competitive and locally driven.”
He mentions a few syndicated hosts who are in good position to benefit but also makes the case for bringing in more regional and local personalities. Stations will have to decide quickly which way to go. But there are challenges with going local: “A local host simply trying to be the next Rush, Bongino or Hannity isn’t going to cut it. They need to bring something distinct --- a voice and perspective that resonates beyond just talking points.”
Victoria Taft at PJ MEDIA wonders, too, how this will affect conservative radio, plus the Rumble podcast he’s built up to 3.5 million followers. She notes that his stint at the FBI will be a reflection of the slogan he used on the air, “Cutesy time is over,” meaning we can’t just continue to be nicey-nice when we have a country to save.
Dan and Paula have just built a new studio complex and are in the process of moving in. He said on Monday they’d be keeping the studio and that other shows would be produced out of it, such as Evita Duffy-Alfonso’s recently-launched morning podcast, “The Bongino Report with Evita,” and
another Bongino Report show planned for the evening. (Evita is the daughter --- one of nine children --- of newly appointed Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and FOX NEWS personality Rachel Campos-Duffy.)
THE BLAZE reports that leftists are losing their minds at the prospect of Kash Patel and, now, Dan Bongino running the FBI. (In an unusual arrangement, Patel will also run the ATF.) Their story is a must-read, with its reactions from both left and right. For a touch of amusement, we’ll just single out THE NEW YORK TIMES for writing that Bongino “often peddles rampant misinformation” such as that masks didn’t prevent the spread of COVID (he was right; they didn’t) and that Democrats spied on Trump’s 2016 campaign (right again; they did). If anyone’s guilty of peddling rampant misinformation, it’s the NYT.
By the way, we reported Monday that Patel told FBI employees not to answer DOGE’s memo requiring them to list five accomplishments from their previous week, pointing out that this is exactly the way the system should work, as Patel exercised his authority. Here’s an update, showing that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and also the State Department have exercised their authority as well, challenging that of DOGE. These agencies deal with a lot of classified material and so are exempted. This is being reported as a power struggle but it looks to us like the system working. DOGE is not dictating what they do.
We sure will miss Bongino behind the mic, as he was THE most reliable source of inside information at Secret Service. He’s also, for years, traced the money trail in Ukraine and the tentacles of the Deep State --- very helpful. We wish him heartfelt congratulations, knowing he’s exactly what the FBI needs. Another great choice by Trump!
Here’s Monday’s podcast; the first part deals with his stepping aside from the show...
https://bongino.com/ep-2429-cutesy-time-is-over
RELATED: There’s plenty more for today about the intel community, this about the CIA. Good thing new Director John Ratcliffe is another great choice.
In a report from CNN about the CIA’s mistake of identifying certain undercover agents in an unclassified communication, they also suggest that some laid-off CIA officials might retaliate for Trump’s cost-cutting moves by deliberately exposing classified information. Paragraph 4 of their story reads:
“And on the CIA’s 7th floor --- home to top leadership --- some officers are also quietly discussing how mass firings and the buyouts already offered to staff risk creating a group of disgruntled former employees who might be motivated to take what they know to a foreign intelligence service.”
Folks, that’s TREASON. Yes, we know, the “t-word” gets tossed around these days like beads at Mardi Gras, but this actually is it. Not only treason, but conspiracy, if it’s a group that even talks about doing this.
CNN doesn’t mention this, but continues: “Taken together, those actions highlight the depth of unease among career officials that Trump’s efforts to speedily slim down the U.S. government may be putting American secrets within the grasp of foreign spies and hackers.”
Again, WHAT?? Do these writers at CNN (four of them wrote this) who put this story together even realize the magnitude of what they’re saying? And how reliable are their sources? Are staffers actually talking about doing this, or are some people merely suggesting that others might do it as an argument against reforms?
“Fired employees create security risks,” CNN continues in a subhead. “...As the CIA weighs staff cuts, current and former intelligence officials say that mass firings could offer a rich recruitment opportunity for foreign intelligence services --- like China or Russia --- who may seek to exploit financially vulnerable or resentful former employees. The Justice Department has charged multiple former military and intelligence officials for providing U.S. intelligence to China in recent years.”
The point of the CNN story seems to be that any streamlining attempt made by Trump/DOGE puts us in grave danger of disgruntled employees leaking our most closely held intelligence. Trump CAN’T cut the workforce at the agencies, they imply. Elon and DOGE are national security risks! Why, just imagine what those fired intel officials might do with classified material.
David Strom at HOT AIR laughs at this idea, though, pointing out that “the CIA already leaks like a sieve, and the people complaining are the primary leakers.” He’s right: If it didn’t leak, where would CNN get their stories?
Be sure and read Strom’s commentary, complete with the pertinent passages from the CNN story and some delicious posts on X. Everything said here about the CIA goes double for us. And we know CIA Director Ratcliffe must be well aware of the situation: the likelihood that some laid-off CIA officials, once they take their buyout and head out the door, will have no loyalty to the United States at all.
If that’s the case, they really could pull something serious. But that threat can’t hold our leaders hostage when it comes to firing people. Potential traitors must be put on notice: THIS DOJ will enforce laws against treason.
If you’d like to read the original story from CNN, here it is…
https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/24/politics/cia-security-risks-trump/index.html
TOO MUCH INTEL NEWS TODAY: During a BREITBART Fight Club Roundtable on Sunday, also featuring Peter Schweizer, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer of Kentucky said that four separate federal agencies --- DOJ, FBI, IRS and SEC --- were investigating the Biden family but were told to stand down.
Schweizer’s written a number of revealing “follow the money” books, but Comer has his own: “ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MONEY: Investigating the Secret Foreign Schemes that Made the Biden Family Rich.” Still, Comer saying they “were told” to stand down, putting it in passive voice, doesn’t tell us WHO TOLD THEM to stand down. “I think if you bring them in and start squeezing them,” he said, “maybe they’ll spill the veins and say, ‘Yeah, well, I got a call from Joe Biden to stand down’ or whatever.”
Here’s more good commentary from David Strom…
Get ready for this: Patel’s FBI will be investigating a number of cases that involve weaponization against Trump. To name just one, they’re already investigating a secret “honeypot” operation that targeted Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign according to an agent-turned-whistleblower. Patel and soon-to-be deputy Bongino are looking for two female agents who participated in an “off-the-book investigation” launched and “personally directed” by then-FBI Director James Comey soon after Trump announced he was running in 2015, essentially as a fishing expedition separate from the later Crossfire Hurricane. The must-read details here…
Oh, and we saved the best for last. Trump is revoking the security clearances of all those who were connected with Jack Smith’s obviously politically motivated prosecutions of him.
These include several from the DC-based law firm Covington & Burling LLC. (If that name sounds familiar, we reported last week that they gifted Smith $140,000 in pro bono legal services.) Trump’s memo calls for a federal review and termination of the law firm’s engagement “to the maximum extent permitted by law,” to hold them responsible for their role in the weaponization of government.
“Hold it --- this is a good one,” President Trump said before he signed the E.O. inspired by “deranged Jack Smith.” After signing, he looked up and asked, “Who would like this pen?”
Then, “Hey, why don’t you send it to Jack Smith?” he quipped, “a deranged person,” tossing the Sharpie into the crowd. Now, that’s a boss move.
And note to Democrats: No, this is not “retaliation against political enemies.” It’s doing exactly what he and his nominees promised: It’s ending the political weaponization of government.
Speaking of intel agency employees who can’t control themselves, Christopher Rufo of City Journal posted a bombshell expose on X revealing that employees of NSA (the National Security Agency) were using government computer communications systems to engage in kinky sex chats on the taxpayers’ time. The NSA says it’s launched an investigation.
One popular topic involved trans-identifying employees chatting about the intimate details of genital surgery. We won’t delve into the rest of the topics here, but this link does, and we warn you, ironically, it’s not safe for work. No wonder government workers don’t want to tell DOGE what they did last week!
The NSA staffers also used the government system to badmouth their new boss, Tulsi Gabbard, calling her a “Russian agent,” “fervently anti-queer” and a member of the “MAGA cult,” and plotting to undermine her. Ironically, they will now have to do that on Elon Musk’s free-speech platform X, because Gabbard has shut down their chat groups and given the agency until Friday to identify them, yank their security clearances and terminate them.
Can History Still Teach Us Some Lessons?
By Kenneth Allard
Admittedly, it was an odd way to wrap up Black History Month, even though firing the nation’s highest-ranking general isn’t something that happens every day. But that is especially true when he was only the second Black man to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Quick! Can you name the other?) as well as the first to head one of our armed forces. While there is no official manual for such things, when a general gets fired, his or her dismissal is often accompanied by the delicious whiff of scandal, malfeasance or (best of all) even some grotesque swindle of public funds.
But there was none of that here. Even in the act of firing him, newly installed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth noted that Brown “has served with distinction in a career spanning four decades of honorable service. I have come to know him as a thoughtful adviser and salute him for his distinguished service to our country.” So what was the problem? As defense insiders swiftly noted, there was considerable distance between the fulsome praise of these parting shots and the opinions expressed by Mr. Hegseth in his book, The War on Warriors published just last year. Specifically, “You think CQ Brown will think intuitively about external threats and internal readiness?” Hegseth wrote. “No chance. He built his generalship dutifully pursuing the radical positions of left-wing politicians, who in turn rewarded him with promotions.”
Because Mr. Hegseth’s barrage also included: Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the Chief of Naval Operations, Lieutenant General Jennifer Short, his senior military assistant and for good measure the senior judge advocates general of the Army, Navy and Air Force, some observers quickly drew more ominous conclusions. Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee harrumphed, that he was “troubled by the nature of these dismissals…This appears to be part of a broader, premeditated campaign by President Trump and Secretary Hegseth to purge talented officers for politically charged reasons,” Reed said, “which would undermine the professionalism of our military and send a chilling message through the ranks.” Another prominent Democrat, Rudy DeLeon of the Center for American Progress, said, “Few public servants have more honor, integrity and courage than the military officials that Trump fired today…This action disrupts the chain of command, erodes military readiness, and damages morale throughout the ranks…” https://www.militarytimes.com/pentagon/2025/02/22/trump-fires-joint-chiefs-chairman-navy-head-in-dod-leadership-purge/
As he often does, Greg Jaffee of the New York Times looked for deeper meanings underlying the actions of the new SECDEF. “Mr. Hegseth, in the Pentagon and during his meetings with troops last week in Europe, has spoken repeatedly about the need to restore a “warrior ethos” to a military that he insists has become soft, social-justice obsessed and more bureaucratic over the past two decades. His decision to replace the military’s judge advocates general — typically three-star military officers — offers a sense of how he defines the ethos that he has vowed to instill.” https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/22/us/politics/hegseth-firings-military-lawyers-jag.html
Yup, first thing we do, let’s fire the lawyers! As soon as I read Jaffee’s article, I was instantly transported back to Basic Training at Fort Dix New Jersey, where a room full of scared, sweaty and thoroughly miserable draftees were introduced to the complexities of land warfare by drill sergeants who had already survived two tours of duty in Vietnam – the same fate awaiting us. Our instructor was a young JAG captain wearing no military decorations but whose mission was to tell us what had gone wrong in the recent My Lai Massacre. However inexperienced, the captain’s photographs of the massacre were graphic and his message deadly simple. “If you gentlemen fire your weapon at any unarmed civilian (especially women and children) or any unauthorized target, you are likely to wind up in the long course at Fort Leavenworth.”
Fifty years later, I can still recall the outraged debates as the troops realized that they could perform their duty in Vietnam and still face federal prison. As always, our most persuasive instructors were our drill sergeants, who had learned the hard lessons of war and the even harder requirements of honor. Since those days, America has largely forgotten that difficult heritage, since less than half of one percent of our people ever serve in uniform. While Pete Hegseth deserves our thanks for seeking to re-discover that hard-won warrior ethos, he should always remember that we are soldiers rather than savages.
Colonel (Ret.) Ken Allard is a former draftee who was a West Point professor, Dean of the National War College and NBC News military analyst.
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I watch Gutfeld. I enjoy the show but I wish they would refrain from such bad language. I guess I'm old school but it still offends me. I hate to hear about Kat Timpf's cancer diagnosis, but happy about the birth of her son. In her announcement about the birth and diagnosis, I didn't see a call for prayer. I will pray for her and pray that she recognizes, and leans on The Great Physician.
Thank you. Boy I’m sure glad for the clarification of the report about the Elon DOGE STAFFER RESIGNATIONS. I just couldn’t believe that he would be so inattentive to his hiring process that he would bring aboard folks who would refuse to fly as soon as they were told they would not be receiving free coffee service during their flight…..