Skip to content 11/10/2026 Ending Wars, a Lame Duck Congress, and Biblical Instruction for Leaders, on Today’s Washington Watch Nov 10 · 54 min ...more
11/10/2026 Ending Wars, a Lame Duck Congress, and Biblical Instruction for Leaders, on Today’s Washington Watch
November 10, 2026 · 54 min
Tony Perkins and Guests review: Trilateral Talks seeking to end the Ukraine-Russia war; The Republican agenda during the lame-duck session of Congress; Electing minority leaders for the next Congress; Lessons from scripture that caution leaders who would be targets of enemy nations.
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November 10, 2026 · 54 min · Washington Watch with Tony Perkins - Audio
Tony Perkins and Guests review: Trilateral Talks seeking to end the Ukraine-Russia war; The Republican agenda during the lame-duck session of Congress; Electing minority leaders for the next Congress; Lessons from scripture that caution leaders who would be targets of enemy nations. ...more Show the full description Show less Tony Perkins and Guests review: Trilateral Talks seeking to end the Ukraine-Russia war; The Republican agenda during the lame-duck session of Congress; Electing minority leaders for the next Congress; Lessons from scripture that caution leaders who would be targets of enemy nations.
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In this video 0:00 Republican Leadership Elections After Midterm Losses15:00 Democratic Vulnerability on Affordability and Infrastructure26:00 America's Foundation of Faith37:00 Peace Talks With Russia and Ukraine51:00 Addressing the Cost of Living CrisisComments No comments yet. Start the conversation.
Republican Leadership Elections After Midterm Losses 0:00 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 worldview. Washington Watch with Tony Perkins starts now.0:19 Jim is a known entity, a trusted, voice, a trusted leader. He's an honest broker. He's a good man. He's a fighter. And, I think that that's the the signal that is being sent here that we're... They're ready. We are0:31 ready to dig in for the fight. And, I think Jim's gonna do a great job with that.0:35 That was house speaker Mike Johnson earlier this afternoon commenting on the election of congressman Jim Jordan as the house minority leader in the one hundred and twentieth congress. Welcome to this Tuesday,0:47 November tenth edition of Washington Watch, the two hundred and fifty first birthday of the United States Marine Corps. I'm your host, Tony Perkins. Thanks for tuning in. Well, coming up one week after their sweeping0:59 midterm losses, Republicans have chosen their leaders for the next congress. As I mentioned, Ohio congressman Jim Jordan defeated Steve Scalise to lead the house Republicans while senate Republicans in,1:10 they stayed with John Thune despite calls to delay the election of leaders in the senate. So will Republicans chart a new course? Senator elect Harriet Hagemann
1:22 joins us momentarily. Plus, after nine months without direct negotiations, Russia and Ukraine returned to the bargaining table today in Abu Dhabi for US mediated peace talks.
1:34 Secretary of state Marco Rubio called the discussions, quote, very productive, but significant obstacles remain. Peter Doran, adjunct senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies,
1:46 joins us to discuss whether these talks can bring an end to the war. And a new Reuters, IBSPOs poll found that eight in ten Americans said
1:58 Congress should make addressing the cost of living a priority during the first one hundred days. The pressure is now on the incoming Democratic majority to deliver. Joel Griffith, senior fellow at
2:10 the Advancing American Freedom, joins us to discuss what congress can do to rein in spending, address inflation, and provide relief for American families. Then congressman Glenn
2:22 Grossman joins us with his assessment of today's House Republican leadership elections and what the GOP must do differently to regain the confidence of the American voters. All that and more straight
2:34 ahead. A lot of activity on Capitol Hill today where Republicans are confronting the political consequences
2:46 of last week's midterm elections. With Democrats preparing to take control of both chambers of congress in January, Republicans face some fundamental questions about their leadership, their priorities, and their
2:56 political future. Today, the house and senate Republican conferences took two different approaches to leadership. In the house, Republicans chose a new direction, electing Ohio congressman Jim Jordan over Steve
3:08 Scalise by a vote of one hundred and six to seventy three. Jordan, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and a founding member of the House Freedom Caucus, will lead Republicans while they're in the minority. In
3:19 the senate, despite calls for a delay and a broader discussion about the party's direction, Republicans reelected John Thune without opposition. But changing leaders is one thing. Changing the
3:31 direction of a political party is another. Joining us now with more on today's leadership elections is Casey Harper, managing editor for the broadcast at the Washington stand. So, Casey,
3:43 Jim Jordan's victory represents a, I think, significant change in house Republican leadership. What, are you hearing drove that decision, and what does it tell us about the direction the new house... The new
3:55 minority in the house will take?
3:58 Yeah, Tony. I mean, I think that some of this is still gonna be worked out. There's a little mystery, but I think speaker Johnson is right here in saying that they wanted a fighter to push back on Democrat rule. That
4:08 word fighter keeps coming up when you hear any conversation about Jim Jordan. Now they also... I think it's worth noting that Jordan is a lawyer who's led the oversight committee, and it might be that he could go toe to
4:18 toe with the Democrats in their promise for a lawfare campaign. It might be handy to have a lawyer on board to poke some holes in some of the weaker arguments there. But as you said, you know, it was a a big win, a big
4:29 margin for Jordan. A hundred and six votes in the in the, race beat out Steve Scalise, who got seventy three votes. Also point out that Tom Emmer has been elected house minority whip. But this is really the first step
4:41 in Republicans' effort to rebuild, reevaluate, and consider what is gonna be their role as they're the minority party in this next con... Congress. Now the big question is how chairman Jordan is... Will lead the house
4:53 Republicans and whether he could unite the conference and keep them focused on one message or a handful of message to keep the Democrats at bay as they're very emboldened by their wins.
5:04 Be very interesting to watch. So let's talk about the senate. What's happening over there?
5:10 You have a false alarm on... In the senate side. Senator Thune will stay in power. There were some delays on the senate side. There was a little bit of rebellion that seems to have been quashed. Although senator John
5:19 Thune, who is the current, majority leader, was running unopposed, there was this group of Republican senators led by, senator Ron Johnson who managed to delay the leadership election. Though there was that pause on
5:30 further discussions, there were more meetings and soon secured, the leadership position. I mean, they had some good reasons, I think, to push for those conversations, giving the kind of shellacking to use, someone else's
5:41 word about in the midterms. They wanna have a conversation about what does it look like to govern in a minority because it's a different strategy. But senate Republicans still do have things to do, Tony. They face a
5:51 packed legislative agenda before the end of the year. They've got more than twenty judicial nominees they have to get through for president Trump, not to mention a government funding deadline, which is gonna be pretty
6:01 interesting, and the National Defense Authorization Act reauthorizing FISA. So this congress is far from over, Tony.
6:08 Alright. Let's, I know all the eyes are focused on what's happening in Washington as congress returned this week, but let's, look internationally. US, Ukrainian, and Russian officials met today in Abu Dhabi
6:20 for the first trilateral talks since, February. Any progress made? You know, it's hard
6:27 to tell US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. They had four hours of meetings with Ukrainian and Russian delegations to discuss ending the war. There was no big announcement of agreements. There were talks
6:38 about people saying things that, were productive, but there are another round of talks expected tomorrow. But the the big question here is whether they can, reach a deal maybe to at least pause the fighting or, really,
6:49 the even bigger question is whether Russia actually wants to make a deal or this is all performative, Tony.
6:55 Alright. Casey, thanks so much for the update. We'll talk to you a bit later. Alright. I wanna turn back to, to Capitol Hill. Republicans in both chambers today, as we mentioned, elected their leaders for the next
7:06 congress. Joining us now to discuss this and more is senator elect Harriet Hageman, my favorite member of the house, who now becomes my favorite member of the senate. She is a con... She serves
7:18 as Wyoming's at large in, congresswoman, and, she joins us now, from Capitol Hill. Senator elect Hegeman, welcome back to Washington Watch. Congratulations on your
7:29 decisive victory last week.
7:31 Thank you. It's wonderful to be back with you, Tony.
7:34 So, it it really wasn't anything new for you. I mean, as as the member of Congress, you had to run statewide. So now you run as a senator statewide, so it was nothing new for you.
7:44 Not in terms of the race itself, but there were a lot of questions while I was out on the campaign trail. I've now done over... I've done ninety town halls in the last three and a half years that I've been in office, and
7:55 I think that it's important for me to engage directly with the public. And that's what I've done. And I think that that's why I was successful as I was. I've got a record to run on, and I also am running on the issues
8:05 that are important to Wyoming. So I'll continue fighting the battle for my state. I love Wyoming. I love my country. We've got some challenges ahead, but I know that we're going to eventually prevail.
8:15 What committees do you hope to serve on in the senate?
8:19 I'm looking at judiciary, environment, and public works. I also am looking at small business and looking at commerce. But, my my two highest priorities would be judiciary and the EPW.
8:31 Now you are still in the house until January when you're sworn in, so you're probably running back and forth, being, you know, briefed on the the incoming activities in the senate. What do you see happening between
8:43 now and the end of this congress?
8:46 So one of the things that I will say is we've had two days of orientation on the senate side. And in fact, today, I was primarily on the senate side, although I'm going to the house here shortly to vote this evening. But
8:57 one of the things that we had an absolutely incredible discussion about today was basically two point... Two periods of time, the next fifty five days and what do we do to wrap up the hundred and nineteenth, and then
9:07 what do we do when the when the radical Democrats come in on January third. And I think that we're putting together a very good, solid plan of action in the Senate. That's why we had the discussions that we did today
9:18 prior to actually voting on the leaders. And I was extremely pleased with the nature of the discussions that we were having. So over the next fifty five days in the Senate, I won't be doing this, but they are going to
9:29 be, voting on judicial nominees and any cabinet nominees, and that's going to be one of the highest priorities that we have. We're also... We still have to continue to look at whether we can get another reconciliation
9:40 package done, and I believe that we can. We've already passed a budget resolution out of the out of the house, and I think that there are some additional issues that we need to be addressing. And then also we just need
9:50 to talk about what does this look like when the senate... When when when the Democrats take over in the senate beginning in January. The reality is I think that the democrats are much more vulnerable than the other
10:01 people may think right now, especially after last Tuesday's election. But here's why I say that, because they didn't run on what they're actually going to do when they get into the senate and the house. I think over the
10:11 last week, they have been signaling that this is about retribution, that this is about investigations, that this is about going after individuals either in the Trump cabinet or even president Trump himself. Yet what they
10:23 ran on was affordability. What they consistently talked about was gasoline is too high, housing is too high. It it it it costs too much to send our kids to college and all of those things. And you wanna know something,
10:34 Tony? I agree with every single bit about that. But it's been for the last forty years, it is the democrat policies that have now put us in the position that are coming home to roost right now. They have fought every
10:46 effort to build a new refinery in this United States. We have not had a new refinery built since nineteen seventy eight. We don't have a a a a quantity issue really with oil and gas. We can produce all the oil and
10:58 gas that we need and even more to export. We can bring down prices right here in America, but we have a refining capacity issue. Why? Because the Democrats won't allow us to build the infrastructure that we need to
11:10 refine additional petroleum products. You can also say the same thing about housing. What is the one thing that the the Democrats have fought tooth and nail for decades now? That is actually managing our national
11:21 forests the way that they were intended to be managed by Congress and the and and the eighteen ninety seven Organic Act. So what do we do? We have to import the vast majority of our lumber from Canada and elsewhere
11:34 elsewhere because we're not allowed to manage our own forests, and then we watch them burn to the ground. You can look at what's happened in California. They have refused to build the infrastructure that they need to
11:43 support the farmers that they have out there. They have not built a new reservoir in decades and decades and decades. They have essentially the same water infrastructure in place today with forty million people that they
11:54 have with sixteen million people. So they're diverting their water resources towards municipal use. They don't have it available for industrial use or industrial use or for their farmers, and prices have skyrocketed. So,
12:04 again, they went in on this idea, on this false notion that they were gonna step forward and try to address these cost increases, but they're the ones that canceled the Keystone XL pipeline. They're the ones that refused
12:15 to allow us to produce our own domestic energy. So I'm ready to work with anybody who wants to actually talk about prices and bring them down.
12:23 So so they ran on those issues. You're absolutely right. Do they now own it as they control both chambers of the congress?
12:30 Well, I'm sure gonna... I'm sure gonna make sure that they do because I'm gonna talk about this every day. I have been fighting this over regulation. I have been fight... Fighting these issues related to building
12:40 infrastructure for decades, both as a private attorney as well as is in the house of representatives. I have wanted to fund additional highway projects. I have wanted to make sure that we are adopting the right policies
12:51 so that it doesn't cost sixty five thousand dollars to buy a car. I have wanted to address the very things that they have pushed. And so now here they are. They're the they're they're the the dog that caught the
13:03 car. They ran on this whole idea of affordability. But I will guarantee you that when they take office, their first effort in this, number one, as I said, retribution, and number two, they're gonna try to
13:15 do everything to undo, for example, the one big beautiful bill. That that reduced taxes for everybody. That did some much needed reforms on some of these entitlement programs that are
13:26 critical reforms if we're going to protect these programs in the long term. And so what are they going to do? They're going to turn around, and every policy that they pursue is going to increase costs. And I'm gonna make
13:37 sure that the American public does not forget that. I believe in affordability. I have pursued policies that would do that.
13:44 Right. Well, I think what we're gonna see is a sharp contrast in two years from now after we see them on full display for the next two years. Harriet Hageman, thanks so much for joining us again. Congratulations on your
13:56 election to the senate. Stick with us, folks. Be right back.
14:02 One Nation Under God. America's undeniable foundation of faith.
14:15 Youssef from Family Research Council here in Washington, DC. We're celebration of two hundred fifty years of our home sweet home by walking the historic streets of our nation's capital today.
14:28 And if you were here walking around with me, you would see the timeless architecture, iconic statues, and solemn memorials that grace this city. All of it designed to tell our nation's story.
14:40 If you look closely, if you seek, you will find that these monuments still whisper to those who listen, that God has been at work in America from the beginning. So for he who has ears, let him hear the
14:52 frozen music of these monuments and buildings because the song sounds something like this. America, America, God shed his grace on thee.
Democratic Vulnerability on Affordability and Infrastructure
15:04 Consider the Washington Monument, over five hundred feet of stone soaring into the sky, the highest point in Washington, DC. Written at the top of the monument are the words, Laus Deo, Latin
15:16 for praise be to God. So when the sun rises on Washington, DC, our praise rises with it. Head to the White House. Imagine sharing a meal in the state
15:28 dining room. There, you will find this prayer from president John Adams carved into the mantle above the fireplace. I pray to heaven to bestow the best of blessings on this house. May none but
15:40 honest and wise men ever rule under this roof. At the center of the US Capitol, the home of congress, eight grand paintings rest in the rotunda. A friar
15:52 holds a cross as Columbus and his crew land in the Americas. Pocahontas is baptized in a Jamestown church in sixteen thirteen. Thirteen. Before crossing the Atlantic, the pilgrims pray over an
16:04 open bible, the words God with us on the sales of their ship. Go to the Jefferson Memorial. Engraved on the wall are these stirring words. Indeed, I tremble for my
16:15 country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice cannot sleep forever. Walk by the Supreme Court, the highest court in the land, and find Moses sculpted into the top of the
16:27 building's east entrance holding the ten commandments. What more can I say? I do not have time to tell about Asbury and Witherspoon, Hamilton and Grant, FDR's D Day prayer, or Lincoln's appeal to
16:39 God. But our nation's story isn't finished. It's still being etched in stone by us so we can make the promise of America real and the idea of America complete. And that is our
16:51 foundation of faith.
17:03 Alright. Welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for tuning in. The website, tony perkins dot com. Better yet, get the Stand Firm app. Go to the App Store and download the Stand Firm app. You'll have access to
17:14 Washington Watch, the Washington Stand, our news and commentary from a biblical perspective, and my daily devotional, Stand on the Word. Alright. Earlier today, US, Ukrainian, and Russian officials
17:26 met in Abu Dhabi for their first round of trilateral peace talks since February. US secretary of state Marco Rubio called the talks, quote, very productive, but warned there's still a lot of work to do.
17:38 The delegations are set to meet again tomorrow. What can we draw from what we've heard about today's meeting so far? Is peace on the horizon? Joining us now to discuss is Peter Doran, an
17:50 adjunct senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and former president of the Center for European Policy Analysis. Peter, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks so much for joining us.
18:02 Thanks for having me, Tony.
18:03 Alright. This was the first time in, nine months that all three sides sat down together. What stood out to you from what, came out of today's talks?
18:14 Well, Tony, the big lesson from today's talks was don't feed the alligator because it will always want to eat more. President Trump has said he believes that Russia is ready to make a
18:26 deal, and yet today, in Abu Dhabi, Vladimir Putin's foreign minister said, no. We're not quite ready for peace yet. We will continue to have discussions. But until and unless
18:38 the United States grapples with the problem that this war will end tomorrow when Russia stops attacking Ukraine. We will continue to try and feed the alligator, but that alligator
18:50 is never going to ever want to eat lies.
18:54 You know, Peter, my my... Kind of what I took away from as I was reading through comments that were made, it appears that that Russia is wanting a bigger deal than just the conflict in Ukraine. They're wanting to address
19:06 NATO, and and try to rein in any type of external, quote, unquote, threat that they see.
19:15 That's right. So we're watching a moving of the goalposts right now. Russia has been trying to get Ukraine to give up territory that Russia does not currently control.
19:27 Both sides, Russia and Ukraine, have been locked in their negotiations. All the while, Russian troops continue to be killed at tremendously high numbers. It is
19:39 heartbreaking, to see, that this battle... The... These wars continue, but at the same time, the the Russians have figured out a trick. They are trying to expand the
19:51 negotiations to include not just Ukraine, but also what they call a new security architecture. That means they wanna renegotiate NATO. They wanna renegotiate the role that the United
20:02 States has in Europe. And by expanding the negotiations, they hope, that they can entice president Trump into a grander, bigger new deal. Right now, we don't need that.
20:15 And, Peter, it looks like that the Russians are targeting civilians in Ukraine with these latest rounds of, missile and drone attacks to to raise and
20:27 escalate the pressure here.
20:30 That's right. So while all sides are in Abu Dhabi now talking peace, Russia continues to launch missile and drone strikes against Ukraine's civilian infrastructure, against homes,
20:42 against schools, against, power plants, everything that will keep Ukrainians warm throughout the winter. If Vladimir Putin want... Was serious about peace and president Trump continues
20:54 to say he believes he is, he would stop attacking these critical nodes of civilian infrastructure. He hasn't. And that's why, I have very low expectations,
21:06 for any outcome we might see in Abu Dhabi. The Ukrainians, to their credit, they have been very straightforward. They have said we are willing to talk peace. They are willing
21:17 to negotiate, but Russia, as I said, continues, to demonstrate it is not serious. It wants to use these negotiations as an opportunity to gain more
21:29 leverage over Ukraine, Europe, and the United States.
21:32 What would be... I mean, going back to your earlier analogy of an alligator and being from South Louisiana, I have an appreciation for that. But the the reality is it doesn't appear like anything would,
21:44 satiate, would would satisfy Russia.
21:49 That's right. And let's also recall, Tony, that this whole war began because Vladimir Putin wanted to destroy the entire Ukrainian state. He he decided that this was my
22:00 territory. He invaded Ukraine. And are you ready for a wow number? Four hundred thousand people. So far since Vladimir Putin invaded Russia... Excuse
22:12 me. Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, Russia has suffered four hundred thousand dead. Think about that number. For comparison, in World War two, we lost
22:24 just about that same number of people over many years here in the United States. So Vladimir Putin is sacrificing not only his current generation, but future generations of Russians, just to make point.
22:36 He is in a losing war here. The Ukrainians are winning. They are holding their ground, and the worst thing that can happen is if we pressure the Ukrainians to give up now.
22:46 So, Peter, just, you know, this isn't necessarily along those lines, but what you just brought up about the the number of dead, these are men... Young men, who
22:58 would be fathering the next generation. They already had a demographic problem going into this war. I mean, the the future of Russia does not look very promising.
23:09 That is what is so heartbreaking about this, Tony, and it is certainly why president Trump is not wrong to want to pursue peace. He is not wrong to want to find a way to bring about an end to this war.
23:20 Problem is that Vladimir Putin does not care if it's four hundred thousand or eight hundred thousand. Vladimir Putin runs his country like a dictator. He has no feedback mechanism, no way of
23:32 learning from his own mistakes. And then we switch sides. We look over at the Ukrainian side, and we see people... Men and women who are just defending their homes. They do not want to become
23:44 part of Russia's empire. And if we allow, again, if we allow Europeans and the United States to feed Ukraine to the alligator, the alligator is only going to want
23:56 more.
23:56 Alright, Peter. Just a minute left. Given all that you've said as the delegations sit down again tomorrow, what would be one thing that you could see that would give you a glimmer of
24:08 hope that maybe maybe, a ceasefire could be on the horizon?
24:15 Well, we have seen a a few indications, so far. We have a limited and localized ceasefire in one part of Ukraine that has been encouraging. I would like to see perhaps
24:27 that, expand. Also, if the line of battle is frozen today and the United States does not recognize Russian gains, but this... The fighting stops along the line of battle, that could
24:39 be positive. That could be something that we can work with.
24:42 Alright. Peter Dorn, always great to, have you on the program. I appreciate your insight. Alright. We're gonna come back. We're gonna talk about economic issues. Eight in ten Americans want
24:53 this new congress to address the issue of affordability. We talk about that next.
25:05 The family is the oldest, most tested, and most reliable unit of society. It is divinely created and sustained, and yet there are those who are always tampering with its values and structure.
25:18 That's why we need organizations like the family research council that can effectively defend and strengthen the family.
25:25 Family Research Council began over forty years ago, like all great movements of God, with prayer. Today, rooted in the heart of the nation's capital, FRC continues to
25:37 champion faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview.
25:44 FRC is one of those bright lights that helps us focus on true north, and I shudder to think had they not been here that it could have been worse, worse, worse.
25:54 The Family Research Council has literally millions of people that follow-up what they do, and that small army makes a difference. Every time I meet with Tony, praise for me. That matters. This is a grassrootsShow more
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