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3/17/2026 Jody Hice and Guests Look at Hurdles to Improving America’s Future and the Heritage of St. Patrick
March 17, 2026 · 54 min
Today on WW: Iran Updates; securing elections through the Save America Act; funding DHS; another hurdle in the vaccine schedule; discovering St. Patrick; the problem with Sharia law.
Series Washington Watch with Tony Perkins - Audio March 17, 2026 · 54 min · Washington Watch with Tony Perkins - Audio
Today on WW: Iran Updates; securing elections through the Save America Act; funding DHS; another hurdle in the vaccine schedule; discovering St. Patrick; the problem with Sharia law. ...more Show the full description Show less Today on WW: Iran Updates; securing elections through the Save America Act; funding DHS; another hurdle in the vaccine schedule; discovering St. Patrick; the problem with Sharia law.
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Shutdown Standoff and Iran War Escalation 0:01 From the heart of our nation's capital in Washington DC, bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and sound bites into conversations with our nation's leaders and0:12 newsmakers, all from a biblical world view, sitting in for Tony as today's host, Jody Heiss.0:18 This is now the third longest shutdown in American history. They they like making history on the other side, the wrong kind. They had the longest shutdown in history last fall as we all know, and now they're now they've0:29 got the third.0:32 That was house speaker Mike Johnson earlier today as the nation headed into day 32 of the partial government shutdown. Welcome to this March seventeenth edition0:44 of Washington Watch. I'm your guest host Jody Heiss filling in today for Tony. Thank you so much for joining us on this Saint Patrick's Day. Alright. We've got a lot coming your0:56 way today. Among some of the highlights as Republicans and Democrats continue to fight over funding for DHS, the war continues certainly to rage in Iran, and1:08 we'll be discussing the latest developments there when we join we're are joined in just a little while by Indiana congressman Marlon Stutzman. And with Democrats withholding funding for1:20 DHS, the nation is on heightened alert. There have already been 4 lone wolf terror attacks this past month. And what do they all have in common?1:31 Well, we'll discuss this later when we're joined by Robert Spencer, who's the director of Jihad Watch. So all that and much more is coming your way.1:48 Alright. Israel says it's killed another couple of top Iranian figures, their security chief, along with their commander of, paramilitary besiege2:00 forces. All this comes as president Trump says our NATO allies who are not wanting to help the US secure the Strait of Hormuz are making a foolish mistake. And joining us2:12 now is Washington stand reporter Casey Harper, and we're wanna talk to him about the latest in all of his conflict. Casey, thanks for joining me. Hey. Listen. I thought you'd be wearing a green tie today.2:23 Jody, I knew you were gonna call me out. I apologize. I repent for wearing a red tie today.2:29 Well, I just hope no 1 comes in there and peaches you while we're in the middle of the Philippines2:33 here. Jody.2:35 Okay. I'm sure you have. Alright. Well, catch us up. What's the latest that's happening in Iran right now?2:40 Sure, Jody. So big developments in Iran overnight. Those 2, top military, security officials were taken out in strikes overnight. That's even more leadership that's been decimated in Iran. And speaking of2:52 Iranian leadership, as you said, president Trump mentioned yesterday that it's unclear whether the new supreme leader, Mosheb al Khaimini, is even still alive. The administration said that he was likely wounded or3:03 disfigured, and we haven't seen video of him, addressing the people, which is raising a lot of rumors. Now we have a clip here for president Trump earlier today at the White House.3:13 Everything is gone. Their leaders are gone. I guess 1 of the the top person was they they say a lot of people say their actual top was, killed yesterday along with somebody else,3:25 that who was responsible3:32 last 2 weeks. Great green tie there from the president. But the president went on to say that the US will leave the Iran, military operation in the, quote, very near future. Now as for your what you asked about, NATO,3:44 the president during that those same remarks to reporters expressed a lot of frustration with NATO allies. He repeatedly said, you know, we spent, billions of dollars helping NATO in Ukraine, and they didn't come to our3:55 aid in Iran. So at least in the president's mind, it seems that relationship is even more strange, Jody.4:02 Yeah. Well, well, let's bring it a little bit closer to home, Casey. I because some of this has even taken place as we speak or just, shortly before we came on the air. But the Senate Democrats have4:13 delivered a counteroffer on, funding the Department of Homeland Security as, of course, this partial shutdown continues now to stretch into second month. What exactly is being4:25 proposed right now from Senate Democrats?4:28 Yeah. So we do have this new offer you as you mentioned. House speaker Mike Johnson has already turned it down, but it was presented by house Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries. So what is the offer? What's the Democrat4:38 plan? Well, the reason Johnson turned it down is the Democratic plan was to partially end the partial government shutdown. They wanted to pick and choose funding some agencies, so TSA, coast guard,4:50 FEMA, but keep ICE and border patrol shutdown, possibly indefinitely. Now this is coming as negotiations continue to fail over any reforms to ICE even though the White House and Republicans have made a lot of5:02 concessions on that. Actually, raises questions over whether Democrats wanna fund ICE under any circumstances. But we have a clip here of house speaker Mike Johnson speaking on the need to fund DHS.5:14 In just the last 2 weeks,5:15 we have had 4 jihadist attacks on American soil. Every 15:20 of those attacks falls squarely under the purview of the Department of Homeland Security, and the Democrats don't wanna fund it. And and now they're demanding we strip funding from the very agency responsible for5:31 stopping all of that. It's it's another dangerous game, a political game by Democrats that's as foolish as it is perilous.5:40 Now it took Democrats nearly 3 weeks to come up with this counteroffer that is clearly unacceptable to Republicans, as you heard Johnson say, which means the third longest government shutdown in history seems to be no5:51 closer to ending, Jody.5:53 Wow. We've gotta get this thing over the the finish line when we're talking about 4 lone wolves just in the last 2 weeks. This is a dangerous situation. Casey Harper, as always, thank you for getting us started and6:04 giving us the headlines of, what's happening out there. I wanna go now to a member of Congress and, have our discussion continue regarding the Middle East. Joining us now is congressman6:16 Marlon Stutzman. He's a member of the budget committee, but he was also 1 of the first members of Congress to visit Syria and to meet with that country's new president after the fall of the brutal6:28 Assad regime. Marlin represents the third congressional district of Indiana. Congressman Stutzman, always great to have you on the program, my friend. Good to see you.6:38 Jody, great to be with you. Thanks for having me on.6:42 Oh, you bet. Alright. So, first of all, President Trump has criticized the US, NATO's allies over their reluctance to get involved in the the war with Iran.6:54 In fact, he he said that they're making a very foolish mistake. What's your thoughts on all of that? What's going on with NATO?7:01 Yeah. I I absolutely agree with that, Jody. I mean, it's it's just hard to even understand what the European countries and the NATO allies are even thinking right now,7:13 considering that World War 2 is not that far in our history books, that we should all remember what happened when you have, you know, a crazy regime in charge in Germany,7:25 and we have a crazy regime in charge in Iran. And, of course, there's folks that are even on, you know, our side that are saying, oh, president Trump is dragging us into a new war. No.7:37 He's not. He's actually concluding a war. Iran has been at war with the west since 19 79. They've killed 600 Americans at least. They have been the leading state sponsor of7:49 terrorism, in the Middle East and around the world. They've were up in North Korea helping Kim Jong Un develop a nuclear weapon, so they would have had another buddy to have, a crazy guy having8:00 nuclear weapons. This you know, the the midnight hammer operation last summer was really the the the the focal point as saying, look. We're not gonna allow an imminent8:12 threat to develop. You know, people are getting all hung up over this imminent threat conversation. It's like Iran was developing a nuclear weapon. I don't know what else that means to people, but that8:24 is an imminent threat. And if they would have gotten a nuclear bomb, they would have leveraged the Middle East, they would have leveraged Europe, and, ultimately, they would have leveraged America.8:33 Yeah. No question about that. And, I think that's that's well said. And while all this is going on to eliminate that threat, Israel has announced that they have eliminated a couple of8:45 top Iranian officials, their security chief along, with a paramilitary force commander. Your reaction to all of that and and that's a pretty big, loss for8:57 Iran.8:59 It it really is. And I think that, you know, again shows the intelligence ability that Israel has. The, of course, the equipment, the, the performance that they carry out. You know, their9:11 young men and women that are all, you know, required to join the military in Israel shows how strong of a defense and military that they have. And, you know, before, it always used to be9:23 us running to our NATO allies. In Europe, that would have been the strong allies to go with us into, into battle, like, after 9 11 happened. You know, Britain was in,9:35 Afghanistan, in in Iraq helping us, of course, Italy and Germany and others, Canada. But in this case, I think because of the woke agenda that has creeped its way9:46 into a lot of our NATO allies as countries, they've taken a back seat and don't even wanna participate. But then here you have Israel who is under direct threat from the Iranian regime, is9:58 stepping up in such a big way. But it's also good to see other gulf states who now realize and they've known this, the fact that Iran was not 1 of their friends, but is, Iran has now they're10:10 attacking, Qatar. They're attacking the UAE and Saudi Arabia and other countries, outside of Israel. I mean, of course, they're attacking Israel, but, here, I think the the world is now seeing10:22 that Iran is, is backed into a corner and they're attacking what should have been even some of their friends in the region. And, they're, they're just they're crazy, and I I can't tell you how much I'm impressed with10:33 Israel's ability to perform these and carry out these, strikes along with our US military men and women. It's it's very powerful.10:42 Yeah. It is powerful, and it it's just it's stunning to watch. And yet, congressman Stutzman, it's it's unfortunate that here in the US, we are watching a drop in10:54 support for Israel. There's a new national poll by NBC News. You probably have seen it that just 32 percent of Americans have a positive view of Israel and 3911:06 percent, have a negative view. What's your thoughts on on that and what's happening with the attitude United States towards Israel?11:15 Yeah. It's obviously concerning, Jody. You know, and and I have been to Israel like you have and and a lot of our friends have been to Israel. It is not what Tucker Carlson describes it as. It is11:27 not a country where Americans would have to feel like they're in danger. You know, the fact that Israel will drop pamphlets, right now in Lebanon, they are are they're11:39 warning the people around those who, are close to Hezbollah to to move away. They're gonna come in and strike Hezbollah. They're giving fair warning to people. You know, we do that as well.11:51 You know, the ship that we the Iranian ship that we bombed, we even gave them fair warning that we are going to destroy the ship. That way human lives could get off of the ship. And and so that's12:02 what we do in the west. We are gonna destroy assets. We're trying not to to to kill people. We're actually just trying to destroy their assets that they use to to kill us. And, and so, you know, I think that that12:14 Israel's support has taken a hit because of the the left you know, the the the Democrat party is turning on on, our relationship with Israel. In fact, I mean, I when12:26 you and I served in congress, Jody, many of the votes that we had on the house floor that unified, congress was the support for our veterans and our military and then the support for Israel, and that's12:38 changing. And, a lot of folks12:40 Sure.12:40 You know, we have 1 member, on the, the Republican side that generally votes against funding for Israel, but he opposes funding for just about everybody. But, we're really seeing this antisemitism creeping into12:52 the Democrat party and into the mainstream, which, we have got to combat. It's now creeping into, you know, what some people say they're part part of the MAGA agenda, and they're just not. The propaganda that's13:04 being pushed, from Iran and other enemies of Israel, it's just incredible and too many people are starting to believe it.13:13 Yep. It really is incredible. And it's, it's alarming, as you said, to see this shift that's taking place. I do remember well how those votes were a unifying vote13:25 across, both sides of the aisle and to see that shifting right now is very, very alarming. Thank you so much, Indiana congressman Marlon Stutzman. Always great to see you and thank you for joining us on Washington13:36 Watch. Alright, friends. We have a petition to urge congress to pass the Save America Act. We were hoping to get into some of that with congressman Sussman. But if you wanna protect ourNational Repentance and Vaccine Reforms Halted 13:48 elections, text the word save to 6 7 7 4 2. Alright. Coming up, a big blow to the, public health agenda. We'll discuss it next. Stay with us.14:03 When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for 1 people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another14:10 and to assume among the powers of the earth14:13 the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature14:16 And of nature's god entitle them.14:19 A decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes14:24 Which impel them to the separation.14:26 We hold these truths to be self evident.14:29 That all men are created equal.14:31 That they're endowed by their creator.14:33 With certain unalienable rights.14:36 That among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.14:39 That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men.14:43 Deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Happy 200 and fiftieth. Happy 200 and fiftieth.14:51 Happy 200 and fiftieth.14:53 Happy 200 and fiftieth birthday, America.14:55 May god bless America. You see, America has freedom for a purpose. The question is, are we living15:07 by that purpose today? See, the founders understood we15:13 as15:13 a nation would be accountable to God for what he had granted to us. They sought freedom for a purpose, and that freedom was given to us as a nation for that same purpose to15:25 serve God, to honor him, and to live as a people under his authority.15:32 At the 20 26 National Gathering for Prayer and Repentance in Washington DC, members of Congress, state leaders, evangelical leaders, and intercessors from across the15:44 nation united as 1 voice in prayer.15:47 Heavenly father, thank you so much for this gathering. We do repent, and we ask for your continued favor and blessing over our nation even when we don't deserve it.15:56 I thank you that because of the shed blood and the glorious righteousness of your son, Jesus Christ, a sinner such as myself can boldly approach your16:07 throne. You said that you helped the humble, and we're asking just now that you would help us, Lord.16:29 We pray that you humble us, help us to follow after you with all our hearts so that we can see righteousness exalted in this nation and this nation restored to you. We know this is not by our power. It's not by our16:41 might. It's by your spirit.16:42 Freedom has a name. His name is Jesus. And freedom has a purpose. It is to honor and glorify you. We pray that we would return to that purpose. Amen.17:04 Welcome back to Washington Watch. I'm Jody Hice. I'm honored today to be filling in for Tony, and thank you so much for joining us. Alright. A federal judge has temporarily17:16 stopped the Trump administration's efforts to change the childhood immunization schedule. And that, as you may know, cut down the number of vaccines that were recommended17:27 for every child. And this particular judge, who by the way was appointed by former president Biden, but this judge has also ordered a hold on the on the17:39 appointments as well as all decisions that are made by the advisory committee on immunization practices. That that committee, by the way, was reconstituted under17:50 HHS secretary Robert Kennedy, and they were actually scheduled to meet next week. That meeting now has been postponed as a result of yesterday's ruling. And the HHS18:02 is indicating at least that they at least that they intend to appeal that decision. But what happens in the meantime? Well, joining us now to discuss this is18:14 doctor Robert Malone. He's a co chair of CDC's advisory committee on immunization practices. He's also founder and president of the Malone Institute which aims to18:26 bring back integrity to government, the biological sciences, and medicine. Doctor Malone, welcome back to Washington Watch. It's an honor to have you.18:37 Thanks, Jody. It's interesting times. And, 1 small nuance, I was supposed to be boarding a plane this morning to Atlanta. The judge's decision was 2 days before the ACIP scheduled meeting,18:49 not next week. So this was postponed until the last minute, apparently, in order to cause the maximum chaos. This is a a explicitly activist judge who19:01 has repeatedly, made decisions that seem to be specifically designed to create chaos for the Trump administration, particularly in the19:13 area of immigration policy. He has been admonished by the Supreme Court. That's a very rare thing for, his actions. He has had19:24 multiple, rulings overturned, I think 3 over the last year. He is a midnight appointment by, Biden,19:36 and a very close ally of Schumer and, of of the, senator. I I'm sorry. I I can't get beyond the image of,19:49 Pocahontas, from Massachusetts. So, this this is a explicitly activist judge with a long history of judicial20:01 activists that has acted Well,20:03 let's, break it. Yeah. Let's let's talk about the the childhood immunization. What, the the specific changes that that were moving forward?20:15 What what talk about those. What were the changes, and, what were the reason behind making the changes?20:24 So you recall the last time the ACIP met, I chaired that group, and, our focus, among other things, was on the hepatitis b birth dose, a specific topic that the president20:36 had a particular interest in seeing addressed by ACIP. And, we reviewed the evidence, including new evidence from the CDC itself20:48 regarding the logic supporting childhood hepatitis b vaccination and made a decision that this was inappropriate to, strongly recommend and in many21:00 states mandate, birth doses of hepatitis b vaccine because the threat of hepatitis b outside of mothers who were hepatitis b positive was extremely low. And21:12 immediately after that, the president announced a directive that he, wanted to see a major restructuring of the entire vaccine schedule to bring it into alignment21:24 with Western norms. Okay? This isn't radical. This isn't an anti vaxxer position. The president explicitly wanted to see a review, and,21:36 decisions that would bring the American vaccine schedule, which is the most aggressive in the world, bar none, in alignment with peer western countries.21:48 And that, effort, by the way, has not been disclosed previously, but I'm aware that it was spearheaded by Heidi Overton in the West Wing, together with Martin Kulldorff,22:01 Tracy Beth Hogue, who's at the FDA now in the Center for Drug Evaluation Research, and others. But it was a presidential directive,22:13 and it was, the response was well justified, rigorous based on, a, structured analysis of,22:25 the schedules of peer countries across the world, particularly in the west. And with that was made a decision outside of the ACIP. This was not done under ACIP structure,22:37 and it is not necessary to do so. The ACIP is a federal advisory committee act empaneled advisory group that advises the director of the CDC.22:50 The ACIP does not set policy except for 1 specific nuance that the judge seems to have completely overlooked in addition to many other things, like actually asking23:02 for my CV as opposed to relying on the New York Times hit piece from 4 years ago. But, hey. You know, what's what are the details? So the the judge appears to not23:14 have understood the FACA rules. And Well,23:17 let me ask you this. We've only got about a minute left. What what happens next? I mean, where does this go?23:23 Good question.23:24 And like I said, we've only got about a minute left.23:26 I've just come off of a I'm trying to be succinct and not my skill set. I've just finished a a major hour long conference with, ACIP leadership at CDC.23:38 We are we are basically no longer to communicate with each other. We can communicate in a 1 on 1 basis, but we can no longer communicate as a committee. We can take no23:50 actions as a committee. The judge has not impaneled a replacement. So, basically, ACIP is frozen, unable to act, unable to communicate,24:03 and, the vaccine for children decisions have been rescinded, which means that, for instance, for poor children, very young infants, they're no longer going to have access to24:14 subsidized RSV monoclonals that we approved, in our first. So all of this, what this also means is there won't be any authorization of the BFC24:26 program for new influenza vaccines, for COVID boosters, for anything because that is a specific starter, given by Congress to ACIP.24:38 We're gonna have to leave it there. Doctor. Robert Malone, thank you so much, co chair of the CDC's advisory committee on immunization practices. Very serious situation.24:49 Alright. Coming up, it's Saint Patrick's Day, and there's certainly a lot of green in Washington DC today. We'll discuss this and more right after the break.25:01 I think all people really need to have this type of education.25:05 Well, I can tell you that it's been an amazing course period. I think this25:08 course is a reminder that a biblical worldview should really impact everything. It impacts our government from the federal to the state to the local. It should impact what we're doing with our families and with our25:19 work.25:20 God and government is a video driven bible based training course from Family Research Council that explores the connection between biblical principles and American government. In25:32 this 6 session video series, FRC president Tony Perkins equips participants with a practical understanding of civil government from a biblical world view.25:43 I would encourage all people to take it. I almost wish I would have took it earlier that I could have taught my kids this.25:49 I wish I had known these things when we were homeschooling because I think children and my adults now would just greatly be influenced by that information.25:56 So I'm an attorney and for me, it gives me some direct practical knowledge of what I can do to try to impact my legal community to make better legislation, to try26:08 to encourage legislators to make choices that have a biblical worldview, which is what we really want.26:14 Any pastor would benefit from taking this course because we are dual citizens. Right? We are citizens of the kingdom of God, but we're also seated citizens of this great land and that that comes with responsibility. Even26:25 as someone who has been involved in these types of issues for26:28 a while, you're learning little bits and pieces of new stuff all the time. But it's also approachable enough that newer people, younger people, high school, college students, they can really glean something from this. So26:39 I would encourage everybody to take this course, whether it's the videos, whether it's doing it in person, bring your bible study group through it, bring your homeschool group through it, and equip yourself for these26:49 challenging days ahead. View the course26:51 at f r c dot o r g slash god and government or on the stand firm app.Show more In this video 0:00 Shutdown Standoff and Iran War Escalation13:38 National Repentance and Vaccine Reforms Halted27:04 St. Patrick's Legacy Amid Ireland's Drift37:03 Jihad Threats: 4 Recent US Attacks ExposedComments No comments yet. Start the conversation.
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