TOP O’ THE MORNIN’

Red-Hot at RedState 

The “Oh, it’s not a real problem” take isn’t going to fly, and trying to argue against doing something productive isn’t going to either.

But you can always trust that Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) will take a bad move and make it even worse.

Authoritarianism doesn’t arrive with a bang. It seeps in quietly, wrapped in “well-intentioned” policies that chip away at family freedom and expand government control, one small step at a time.

Trending Across Townhall Media

An innocent young man is dead through apparently no fault of his own, and someone needs to be held accountable if they’re responsible for it.

Let’s just say that there are some pockets being filled, and they are not yours or mine. Kerry called climate change a gold mine for investors, and he sure has been right.

When Greg Gutfeld can stroll into the heart of NBC and hand Fallon his best ratings in years—while still crushing him from his own Fox News perch—it’s not just a fluke.

It circles back to The Federalist’s Mollie Hemingway’s lengthy Twitter thread, arguing that the media for their role in this hoax. 

If the government gets away with this, it will absolutely start imposing more restrictions and creating ‘exclusion zones’ where people are forbidden to go because the weather has changed. 

WHAT’S ON TAP?

Today on Capitol Hill…

Being on a break doesn’t stop some Congress critters. Take Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), for example: Fresh off being ID’d as a likely leaker of classified information, Swalwell decided to use his mad logic skillz to try and blame President Donald Trump for a D.C. homicide that happened the very day…checks notes…Trump announced he would be federalizing law enforcement in the District to address the rampant crime. 

Maybe Eric was just trying to stand in solidarity with his fellow Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), who also struggled to wrangle logic to fit a twisted narrative about Trump’s move. 

And not to be outdone by his House brethren, we also learned recently that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has been carting imaginary friends along on his political career for decades. 

White House What’s Up

President Trump is planning to make an announcement late Wednesday morning at the Kennedy Center. We don’t yet know what that will be, but we can already bank on the left losing their minds over it. Later in the afternoon, he’ll be signing executive orders. 

Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance is in the UK. On Wednesday, he’s set to visit U.S. troops stationed at Royal Air Force Base Fairford, England, where he’ll receive a briefing on the base’s capabilities and will deliver remarks. 

Full Court Press…

The Trump administration notched another appellate win on Tuesday, with a 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling vacating a lower court injunction blocking DOGE IT access to the Department of Education, Office of Personnel Management, and Department of the Treasury, in the case styled American Federation of Teachers v. Bessent.  

The administration also scored a win in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, with the appellate court denying the plaintiffs’ motion for a stay pending appeal in Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights v. DHS (challenging an interim final rule re: immigration registration). 

On the flip side, Judge Barbara Rothstein granted the plaintiffs’ third motion for a preliminary injunction in King County v. Turner (regarding a ban on DEIA initiatives), and in Thakur v. Trump (regarding National Science Foundation termination of grants), Judge Rita Lin (Northern District of California) issued an order vacating NSF suspension of grants to UCLA.

COMING ATTRACTIONS

All eyes are on Friday and the planned meeting between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

MORNING MUSING

It’s always a little dicey to predict outcomes in legal cases. There are a lot of variables involved, of course. And “the law” is rarely just black-and-white. Watching the multitude of lawsuits challenging the executive actions taken by the Trump administration unfold has been both fascinating and frustrating. I’m not sure I can go back and find where it was (which article) that I predicted the administration will win the majority of these cases in the long run once the appellate process plays out. But the issue came up during my guest segment with Tony Colombo on NewsTalkSTL Tuesday afternoon, so I know I can point to that. I predicted to Tony that the administration will ultimately win about 75 percent of these cases — if not more. (That part comes in around the 17-minute mark if you don’t want to listen to the entire segment.) 

So, while the law might not be, my prediction on the outcomes is here, in black-and-white. And while it can be tedious waiting for the process to play out, it’s also giving us — all of us, not just the lawyer types — a front row seat to observe our system of government and how the different branches function (and should function). Maybe it makes me nerdy, but I do find it fascinating to watch.

I guess I should probably start working on a stats sheet for the final outcomes on all of these cases, eh? 

LIGHTER FARE 

Who doesn’t love a picnic by the water? 

Sharing is caring..🐾😍 pic.twitter.com/VbASryPpBu

— 𝕐o̴g̴ (@Yoda4ever) August 13, 2025

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