TOP O’ THE MORNIN’

Red-Hot at RedState 

The meltdowns make it seem like the folks at CNN never had a regular job and weren’t ever held accountable for their work.

That’s dumber than a box of rocks inside a bag of wet hair that’s been beaten with a stupid stick. 

Trending Across Townhall Media

Whether the end goal is to merge the ATF with the FBI and get rid of the agency entirely or not, the truth is that we have a golden opportunity to preserve gun rights for the next generation.

No one is going to stand for Germans lecturing them on anything ever again. Not about their fascist tendencies, not about Elon, not about disinformation, not about nuthin’. They can zip those lecturing lips.

It strikes me as strange that Maddow is simply allowed to trash the network on its own airwaves, including essentially denouncing it as racist for firing her favorite BIPOC.

Whether it be a figure of speech or not, it’s a public relations headache that was avoidable.

If O’Boyle is right and evidence truly is being destroyed, everyone involved needs to be prosecuted. 

WHAT’S ON TAP?

Today on Capitol Hill…

Okay — everyone’s back in session, and there are tons of meetings and hearings set on the Hill for Tuesday. In addition, the House is supposed to have a floor vote today on the budget resolution, but it’s going to be dicey — at best. Per Punchbowl:

Johnson and his top lieutenants are trying to corral a one-seat House Republican majority around a budget resolution with $4.5 trillion for tax cuts and $1.5 trillion-plus in spending cuts to satisfy a president who sided with them over the new Senate GOP majority. Yet rank-and-file House Republicans and top senators are jamming Johnson from every which way as a huge floor vote looms today.

Scheduled hearings and meetings include: 

• Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs — Hearings to examine the nominations of Troy Edgar, of California, to be Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, and James Bishop, of North Carolina, to be Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget
• Senate Armed Services — Hearings to examine the nomination of Stephen Feinberg, of New York, to be Deputy Secretary of Defense
• House Transportation and Infrastructure, Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee — “Promoting and Improving Safety and Efficient Pipeline Infrastructure”
• House Financial Services — Examining Policies to Counter China
• House Judiciary, Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet Subcommittee — “Justice Delayed: The Crisis of Undermanned Federal Courts”
• Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation — Hearings to examine the nominations of Michael Kratsios, of South Carolina, to be Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and Mark Meador, of Virginia, to be a Federal Trade Commissioner
• House Natural Resources, Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee — Oversight Hearing Titled: “Full Blast: Contrasting Momentum in the Space Mining Economy to the Terrestrial Mining Regulatory Morass”
• House Judiciary, Constitution and Limited Government Subcommittee — “‘Subject to the Jurisdiction Thereof’: Birthright Citizenship and the Fourteenth Amendment”
• House Judiciary, Oversight Subcommittee — “Entering the Golden Age: Ending the Weaponization of the Justice Department”

White House What’s Up

President Donald Trump spent the better part of Monday meeting with French President Emanuel Macron. He also notched a victory over the Associated Press as a district court denied the AP’s request for a temporary restraining order over having their Oval Office and Air Force One privileges revoked. On Tuesday, he’ll sign more executive orders. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt will host a press briefing at 1:00 p.m. Eastern. 

Keeping Up With the Cabinet

WATCH 🔴

REUTERS REPORTER: Why did you choose retired Lt. Gen. Dan Caine—who lacks key qualifications—as the next CJCS.

HEGSETH: “I’m gonna choose to reject your unqualified question.” pic.twitter.com/S1TTioctAm

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) February 24, 2025

Full Court Press…

As noted above, the administration scored a win in one of the (numerous) cases filed against it of late, with a district court judge denying the AP’s request for a TRO, the a hearing regarding the news outlet’s request for a preliminary injunction will take place in March.

Two cases are set for oral argument before the Supreme Court on Tuesday:

1. Esteras v. United States — Regarding factors to consider when revoking a defendant’s supervised release.
2. Perttu v. Richards — In cases subject to the Prison Litigation Reform Act, do prisoners have a right to a jury trial concerning their exhaustion of administrative remedies where disputed facts regarding exhaustion are intertwined with the underlying merits of their claim?

COMING ATTRACTIONS

Keep an eye on that House vote regarding the budget resolution. It’s going to be quite a challenge for Speaker Mike Johnson to get/keep everyone on board for that one. 

On Thursday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee will vote on the nomination of Lori Chavez-DeRemer for Labor Secretary. 

MORNING MUSING

So, I think I mentioned in Monday’s Morning Musing that I managed to pick up the CPAC crud. I don’t want to be overly optimistic here, but so far, it’s acting like a typical cold rather than a flu bug. So I’m dealing with a stuffy head and scratchy throat but not a fever, aches, etc. The downside is I’m going through tissues like they’re going out of style. I made the mistake yesterday of picking up the “Puff’s Plus Lotion” — with the Vicks included. I get that there’s supposed to be something soothing about that added menthol element, but I’ve decided I’m not a fan of having it afflict my runny nose. Cough drops/cough syrup? Sure. Nose? No. It just makes it feel worse. Also, it’s hard to type and be productive surrounded by wads of Kleenex. Yes, I’m 56 years old and whining about a cold. Maybe I should reevaluate my take on federal workers griping about an email…

I’m at the going-through-kleenexes-like-a-hot-knife-through-butter phase.

And I hate it. pic.twitter.com/ufBzhegdoE

— Susie Moore ⚾️🌻🐶 (@SmoosieQ) February 25, 2025

LIGHTER FARE 

Truth.

pic.twitter.com/DWZr1nUvXZ

— Heckin Good Dogs (@HeckinGoodDogs) February 24, 2025