Skip to content 8/3/2026 As Our Government Makes Positive Steps, Democratic Socialists Detail Their Constitutional Objections Aug 3 · 54 min ...more
8/3/2026 As Our Government Makes Positive Steps, Democratic Socialists Detail Their Constitutional Objections
August 3, 2026 · 54 min
Our federal government addresses funding itself, the confirmation process for the next Attorney General, and public schools that are hiding the gender transition of children from parents, as the state of Michigan bans muzzling counselors from helping kids struggling with their biological sex. Meanwhile, the Democratic Socialists of America make their agenda clearer.
Series Washington Watch with Tony Perkins - Audio August 3, 2026 · 54 min · Washington Watch with Tony Perkins - Audio
Our federal government addresses funding itself, the confirmation process for the next Attorney General, and public schools that are hiding the gender transition of children from parents, as the state of Michigan bans muzzling counselors from helping kids struggling with their biological sex. Meanwhile, the Democratic Socialists of America make their agenda clearer. ...more Show the full description Show less Our federal government addresses funding itself, the confirmation process for the next Attorney General, and public schools that are hiding the gender transition of children from parents, as the state of Michigan bans muzzling counselors from helping kids struggling with their biological sex. Meanwhile, the Democratic Socialists of America make their agenda clearer.
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In this video 0:00 Government Funding & Senate Updates14:00 CR Deal & Medicare Fraud with Rep. Carter15:00 Schools Hiding Gender Transitions28:00 Michigan Counseling Victory38:00 DSA's Radical Socialist Agenda
Government Funding & Senate Updates 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 and newsmakers,0:13 all all from a biblical worldview. Sitting in for Tony is today's host, Jody Hice.0:19 I'm pleased to say that the text of the continuing resolution has been released. It's a strong bipartisan piece of legislation, and I hope it will receive overwhelming support from both parties in the senate. I look0:31 forward to passing this bill in the next few days.0:36 Well, that was senate majority leader John Thune earlier today on the senate floor ahead of this evening's procedural vote on a stop gap measure that would fund the government0:48 through November. Welcome to this Monday, August 3rd edition of Washington Watch. I'm your host, Jody Heiss, an honor today to be filling in for Tony Perkins, and so glad to have you joining us as well.1:00 We got a lot to bring your way today. Among those stories, the senate will soon be voting on a continuing resolution to fund the government past the midterm elections. But the big question1:12 is whether or not, it will be accepted by the house when they get back in session in September. We'll be discussing this shortly with Georgia congressman Buddy Carter, who is a member of the House1:23 budget committee. And then later, the Trump administration is cracking down on school districts that are secretly transgendering, students and hiding it all from
1:35 parents. We'll discuss this with Tina Deskovich, CEO and founder of Moms for Liberty. And speaking of transgendering, there was a groundbreaking
1:47 victory last week against the state of Michigan, which was trying to muzzle counselors who were helping children who were struggling with gender dysphoria. And we'll talk about that victory
1:59 a little bit later. And then Larry Taunton, he will also be joining me to unpack some of the radical agenda highlights that the Democrat Socialists of America
2:11 brought forth during their summit in Chicago. So we've got a lot to bring your way today in the next hour here on Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us.
2:27 We'll begin today with, the senate. Joining us now to update us is Washington Watch reporter Mary Stackhouse. Mary, thanks for, joining me. What's the latest
2:39 in the effort to try to prevent yet another government shutdown?
2:44 Jody, the US senate is scheduled to take up a bipartisan funding patch measure later this evening. Senate appropriators had released the text of the bill yesterday. The measure, if passed, would fund the government
2:54 through December 11th at current levels with some exceptions to give more time for congress to continue its work on bipartisan appropriations bills. The current funding for the government runs out on September 30th.
3:06 Senate majority leader John Thune has said passing the funding measure was his top priority going into the August recess, and it does look like that will happen. Even it even has the support of senate minority leader
3:17 Chuck Schumer. Here's what senator Schumer said on the senate floor earlier today.
3:21 Senate Democrats have been crystal clear. We wanna fund the government to void a shutdown and pass strong bipartisan appropriations bills that deliver for the American people. The CR released yesterday is
3:33 a responsible pathway to do just that. The bill allows us to continue negotiating a budget that won't leave working families behind.
3:41 Now there are some questions as to whether the house will take up the senate's version or try to push their version through. Among the differences between the 2 versions is that the senate's includes language that
3:51 ensures no new funding goes to immigration enforcement agencies, and that, of course, was a demand of senate Democrats. This evening's vote is an initial procedural vote to limit debate to take up the legislative vehicle
4:03 for the funding extension. Jody.
4:06 Alright. It certainly makes me a little nervous when, Chuck Schumer is so enthusiastic about it. We'll go further into this with congressman Buddy Carter here in just a few moments. Mary, speaking of the senate,
4:18 it looks like they have potentially found a way, for the confirmation of Todd Blanche as the US attorney general. How's that looking?
4:27 Well, Jody, it looks like Republican senators are on the verge of advancing Blanche's nomination out of the senate judiciary committee. Republican senators John Cornyn of Texas and Tom Tillis of North Carolina had
4:37 blocked Blanche's path to confirmation over 2 issues, the Trump administration's anti weaponization fund and the May 20 26 settlement in president Trump's lawsuit against the IRS. In response to those
4:49 demands, Blanche issued 2 formal documents. The 1st states that the order creating the 1800000000 dollar anti weaponization fund is rescinded with no force or effect. The 2nd affirms the
5:01 limits of president Trump's tax audit immunity deal. In a joint statement, senators Cornyn and Tillis expressed gratitude to to Blanche and to his staff for working together with them, and they said that they look
5:12 forward to voting to advance his nomination out of committee. Earlier today, president Trump was asked by a reporter about the documents that Blanche issued. Here's what he had to say earlier today at the White House.
5:22 I didn't look at it. I all I know is that Todd Blanche is is great. He's gonna do a great job. Everybody knows it. And I understand there's been a sign off, but I didn't I don't know what they agreed. I
5:34 think Todd Blanche agreed to, reconfirm things that he's already said, and what he said was okay.
5:41 If Blanch clears the judiciary committee tomorrow as expected, a vote by the full senate is not expected until Saturday at earliest, but
5:49 it could come sooner if Democrats agree to an earlier vote. Jody?
5:54 Alright. Good deal. Alright, Mary. I I'd like to shift gears indirectly. The senate is involved in this, but there's a a big attempt to even get rid of the
6:05 US senate. I'm talking about the Democratic Socialists of America. They held a summit this past weekend in Chicago. What can you tell us about that?
6:15 That's right, Jody. From last Friday until yesterday, the Democratic Socialists of America held their socialist summit in Chicago. They brought together about 900 Democratic of America members to network,
6:27 to sharpen their organizing skills, and to discuss the expansion of their radical political agenda. The summit heavily focused on transforming America's legislative and judicial structure. Those gathered
6:38 discussed the DSA's recently introduced platform, which includes a number of radical positions. Among their goals is abolishing the US Senate and replacing the presidency and supreme court with an executive judiciary
6:51 subordinate to an expanded house of representatives. Jody?
6:55 Alright, Mary. Very good. Thank you for getting us kicked off. We always appreciate the updates you provide. I wanna turn back now to the bipartisan deal to fund the government past November. And joining me now
7:07 to discuss this is Georgia congressman Buddy Carter. He represents the 1st congressional district in Georgia, my home state. He's a member of the House Budget Committee. Congressman Carter, welcome back
7:19 to Watch and Watch. Always great to see you, my friend.
7:22 Good to see you, my friend.
7:25 Alright. Let's, start with the deal to try to keep the government opened, past the 20 26 midterms elections. Is there anything, congressman McCarty, that you've seen in this bill
7:36 that, you think might be a problem in the house? To be honest with you, it gets me a little bit nervous when Chuck Schumer is so in favor of it.
7:45 Well, you know, let's let's face it. As you well know now, we're talking about 2 different bills, what the senate passes and what the house passed. The house passed what was probably the cleanest bill that could possibly
7:55 be passed. It didn't have anything in it. I know that the senate has added some anomalies and that may cause some problems but I don't think it will because I think republicans are intent on making sure that
8:07 we fund the government. You know, my priorities remain the same. Keep the government open. Make sure we're supporting our military. Make sure that we are make sure that that we are not wasting taxpayers'
8:20 money and make sure that we're securing our border. Those are not my priorities and as long as we're meeting those priorities, we need to make sure that we get this passed.
8:29 Alright. So you're feeling pretty positive that there's no no poison pills, so to speak, in there that would prevent the house from moving forward on it?
8:37 I don't think so. I think we're intent on making sure that we fund the government. Unlike the Democrats who want to waste taxpayers money and who want to close the government down, Republicans are intent on making sure
8:49 that we fund the government, making sure we keep the government open. That is our responsibility and we are going to we are going to fulfill that responsibility.
8:59 Alright. So you've got a lot going on when the house comes back in September. Seems like there's quite a bit of activity taking place even now. So, what do you think will be 1st on the
9:11 docket? What are the top priorities when the house comes back? Obviously, the CR. What else do you think are gonna be top priorities?
9:19 Well, 1st of all, I would be remiss if I did not mention the last week that we were in Jody was 1 of the most, accomplished accomplishing weeks that we've had. If you look at what we did, we passed
9:31 the reconciliation 3.0, we passed the CR, We passed, no, stock trading. All of those things were very significant. We actually got things done that last week that we were
9:42 in the house. But coming up in September, we're gonna have a we're gonna have our plate full. We're gonna have a lot that we're gonna have to do. As you know, we'll be out in October because of the elections. So
9:52 priorities are gonna be making sure we get the government funded, making sure that we are taking care of our troops, making sure that we're securing our borders, and making sure that we are are are are helping the
10:04 taxpayers. And by keeping the government open, that's gonna help the taxpayers.
10:09 Yeah. We, absolutely commented about how much got done at the end of the, before the the August, District Work Month. Let me shift to some other news. You recently
10:21 wrote an article, an op ed for Washington Post on the tremendous amount of fraud, in Medicare and so forth. It really is pretty
10:33 stunning. I it's exciting to see that there's so much attention being given right now to the waste that's taking place across the board. What did you find?
10:42 Well, this fraud is is staggering to be quite honest with you, particularly in health care. As you know, Jody, I'm a pharmacist, a health care professional. And I will tell you, when these fraudsters are preying on the
10:53 most vulnerable in our society, there's a special place in hell for them. I'm not kidding you. This is something that's got to stop. And if you look at what has happened, let's take for instance 112 hospices from the
11:05 same location in Los Angeles. How does that happen? You know, the 1st time you have a duplicate address, it ought to be kicked out. We need to make sure that we're doing our our part there. Now, granted this happened in
11:16 a previous administration and we're just uncovering it now, but our administration, we're making sure that this isn't going to happen again. That's 1 thing. We've gotta have the policies and the procedures in place to
11:28 catch these things before they happen. Secondly, we need to make sure that the states are being held responsible as well. We fund these programs and we count on them to to
11:39 follow through on those programs and develop those programs. They need to have some skin in the game as well. They need to be responsible for that. And thirdly, and most importantly, every
11:51 single dollar that we have lost through fraud should be returned. We need to get it back.
11:58 Yeah. It was a great op ed, and I'm so glad that you're on top of all of this. I think it's an an issue that has to be addressed. Let me ask you this in closing. The Democrat
12:09 Socialists of America held their annual summit in Chicago over the weekend. Your reaction to some of the extremist agenda that they're putting forth?
12:19 Unbelievable. And and, Jody, as you well know, what's happening here is they're pulling the entire party further to the left. Even their leadership, which they're they don't really have any leadership. They're lost in
12:30 the in in the wilderness. But at the same time, even Hakeem Jeffries and others are having to move further left in order to appease the base of of their party. And this is leading to to the
12:42 Democratic Socialists of America. They are really players in that party now and they're having an impact on that party. You see what mayor madame is doing in New York, he's not even trying to apologize for
12:53 it, he's open to what is going on here. Even what is happening, though, is and my main concern is what the impact is on the rest of the party because they are pulling the
13:05 entire party further left, and that's not good for America at all.
13:10 No. It's not good for America. It's not good for the world for that matter. I mean, recent polling, I'm sure you've seen this, that 1 out of 3 Democrats now identify themselves as, the Democrat socialist.
13:22 That is shocking. And as you mentioned that, this is pushing them further to the left, that's a head scratcher for me. It's it's like how much further to the left can you go.
13:34 But thank you so much for joining us today. Georgia Congressman Buddy Carter, always great to see you.
13:40 Good to see
13:40 you, buddy. Friends, the Trump administration is cracking down on schools that are encouraging students in the area of so called social gender transition.
13:52 They're trying to keep it secret from parents. Unbelievable. Stay with us. We'll talk about it next.
CR Deal & Medicare Fraud with Rep. Carter
14:01 America. What formed the fabric of our freedom? What stitched together the hearts of those that fasten the stars and stripes? 250 years ago, our founding fathers pinned the invisible
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Schools Hiding Gender Transitions
15:02 1 nation under God. America's undeniable foundation of faith.
15:12 As president of the College of New Jersey, now known as Princeton University, John Witherspoon taught 10 cabinet members, 60 members of Congress, 13 governors, 3 Supreme Court Justices, vice president Aaron
15:24 Burr, and president James Madison. As a Presbyterian minister, Witherspoon was the only active clergyman to sign the declaration of independence. He was a gifted preacher and writer who let his faith
15:36 direct his political activism, often voicing the link between earthly liberty and spiritual liberty. Witherspoon argued there is not a single instance in history in which civil liberty was
15:48 lost and religious liberty preserved entire. President John Adams said of Witherspoon, he was a true son of liberty, but 1st, he was a son of the cross. Witherspoon's views
16:00 on man's sinfulness from birth influenced his belief that self government was only possible with checks and balances, a belief he passed on to his student, James Madison, father of the constitution.
16:12 Witherspoon helped form the vision many of our founding fathers held to, no republic without liberty, no liberty without virtue, and no virtue without religion. And with that, Witherspoon became
16:24 a cornerstone in America's foundation of faith.
16:29 Looking for a trusted source of news that shares your Christian values? Turn to the Washington stand, your ultimate destination for informed faith centered reporting. Our dedicated team goes beyond the headlines,
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17:03 Welcome back to Washington Watch. I'm Jody Heiss, your guest host today. Glad to have you joining us. Just a real quick reminder, our Prevost Stand Summit is coming up September 24th through the
17:14 26th at the Cornerstone Chapel in Leesburg, Virginia just outside DC. You can get details and you can register right now. Text summit to 6 7 7
17:26 4 2. Alright. The federal government is currently challenging school systems in both Maryland and Michigan for allegedly keeping parents in the dark
17:38 about their children's so called gender identity at school. According to the US Department of Education, Anne Arundel County, Public Schools in Maryland broke federal privacy
17:50 laws by not letting parents know that their students socially transitioned at school and then they refused to hand over relevant student records to the parents after making
18:02 that discovery about the students. And the Department of Education also said that Ann Arbor Public Schools in Michigan has a policy requiring employees of the
18:13 school to hide the child's transgender status from his or her parents. So now the Trump administration is threatening to pull federal funding from
18:25 school districts that conceal student social gender transitions from parents. Wow. What a battle. Joining us now to discuss this is Tina Daskovich. She's the
18:36 CEO and founder of Moms for Liberty. Tina, welcome back to Washington Watch. Great to have you, and I look forward to getting your reaction to school districts that are
18:48 really playing with and affirming students who wanna, identify as a different gender without letting the parents know about it. Your thoughts.
18:59 This is just 2 of the hundreds of school districts across the country with policies that are very similar, and it's gonna take parents coming forward, bringing them to light. I'm grateful for the Trump administration,
19:10 for the DOE, and the DOJ for taking steps, but they can't possibly scour all 13000 school districts and know what's happening. So it's really gonna take parents to come and bring it to the forefront.
19:22 Well, the big question in all of this, Tina, is why are school districts keeping this information for the parents?
19:29 That is a great question, Jody. I think parents are asking that all across the country once they realize it's happening. We've been sounding the alarm on this since our launch in 20 21. It
19:41 started happening in Florida when I was serving on a school board at 20 16 to 20 20. And what I can speak to is that, radical 3rd party entities were showing up at school board
19:53 association conferences and superintendent conferences, and they were speaking to educators about how, if you don't affirm a child's new gender that they wanna be,
20:05 that they will kill themselves. I mean, it just it's that it's that clear of what was happening. And so a lot of educators bought into that, a lot of superintendents and school board members in those early years,
20:17 before anybody was pushing back, back, and they thought they were doing something kind. And they are not. You and I know that, and this has all been unfolding now for many years. But these school districts that are
20:28 holding on tight to it, they're just ideologues that are keeping secrets from parents. It's unacceptable, and we finally have an administration that's standing up to it.
20:38 Yeah. It is what a breath of fresh air that is to have an administration standing up to this. How do you respond going because I agree with what you said. And it appears that more and more evidence is coming out,
20:50 to just say just the opposite of of what many of these school districts claim. But but what about the additional argument that some of these schools have that
21:02 they're just trying to protect the students' safety by keeping these secrets from the from the parents? In other words, somehow parents are going to harm their own children. How do you respond to that argument?
21:13 The idea that parents are a threat to their children without even due process of any nature is unacceptable. It's un American. It goes against our god given rights to raise our child. We should always assume
21:25 that parents love their children more than anyone else because 99.99 percent of the time, that is the case. And so these people, these folks that are they're violating FERPA. FERPA was
21:37 created in 19 74, I think. And it basically states that students have a right to access their records, and parents have the right to access student records. And so school districts are
21:48 violating FERPA, they're violating constitutional rights, and they're violating our god given rights to raise our children.
21:56 Absolutely. And the the we're talking couple of school districts in Michigan and Maryland. You you mentioned that there's just 2 out of the whole country. Is this a widespread problem across the country, or is this
22:07 somewhat isolated?
22:09 No, sir. It is not isolated. It is a widespread problem, and that's that's what I opened up saying. It was happening here in Florida. Governor DeSantis, you know, squashed that right out the gate as soon as it was
22:20 exposed. But, you know, there's school districts in Florida that there's teachers that are still holding on to it. School districts themselves don't have policies in Florida anymore, because they they would be violating
22:31 the law. And we only have 67 school districts, so we can keep an eye on them here in Florida. But just in my very own district, in a very red county this past year, there was a teacher that I was using the child's, you
22:42 know, made up pronoun, made up name. The parent found out. She ended up losing her job. She filed suit. So it is happening across the country. There are states that still have policies and school state school boards that
22:53 have policies, that violate PURPA FERPA and parental rights. And there's absolutely hundreds and hundreds of districts across the country. And then there's schools, individual schools that are violating. And then when it
23:04 gets down to it, there are still teachers that are holding on to
23:08 the ideology. Unbelievable. It's amazing that some of these school administrations and administrators thought they could get away with these law laws, privacy laws. Real quickly, what would you say to parents,
23:20 who are in this situation? They're facing schools who are not complying with the law or whatever it may be. They're hiding this type of information. What actions, what steps can they take?
23:33 Right now, they can go to moms for liberty dot org. They can email us right from the website, fill out the contact form. We review them, every single day. We are compiling all of these cases that we're finding. We're
23:43 submitting them to the DOJ and the DOE. They are on standby waiting for them. I think we're gonna open up a portal very soon where people can fill it out directly, and we'll submit them in batches. But right now, they
23:54 can just email us or send us the contact, moms for liberty dot org, and we will make sure that the officials of the United States government will be notified.
24:04 As always, thank you so much for joining us today. Tina Deskovich for Moms Fort Liberty. You guys are doing an awesome job. Thank you, and thank you for joining me on Washington Watch. By the way, speaking of
24:16 the this whole issue of, gender transitions, we have a petition out right now that addresses this issue specifically. And we're urging congressional leaders to pass the Chloe
24:28 Cole Act. This would protect children from permanently being damaged by these transgender, surgeries, procedures, and so forth. And it just reaffirms the
24:40 biological reality of God's creation of 2 sexes. So to sign the petition to help us out, simply text the word kids to 6 7 7 4 2. Alright. Coming
24:52 back, we've got some more information on big issue coming out of Michigan. Stay with us. We'll be back.
25:02 When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for 1 people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another,
25:09 and to assume among the powers of the earth
25:12 The separate and equal station to which the laws of nature
25:15 And of nature's god entitled them.
25:18 A decent respect to the opinions of mankind
25:20 requires that they should declare the causes Which impel them to the separation.
25:25 We hold these truths to be self evident.
25:28 That all men are created equal. That they're endowed by their creator. With certain unalienable rights.
25:35 That among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
25:38 That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men. Deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Happy 250th.
25:48 Happy 250th.
25:50 Happy 250th. Happy 250th birthday, America.
25:54 May God bless America.
26:02 The book of Hebrews says that the word of God is living and active, sharper than any 2 edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the
26:14 thoughts and intentions of the heart. Stand on the Word is Family Research Council's journey through the living and active word of God. Follow the plan with us. Spend
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26:49 Perkins at f r c dot o r g slash bible. Join us as we stand on the word.
27:02 Welcome back to Washington Watch. I'm Jody Hice, your guest host today, filling in for Tony. Glad to have you with us. Alright. The state of Michigan has agreed to stop its enforcement of
27:14 a statewide law that, effectively muzzled counselors who, don't direct children towards transgenderism when they seek help with the whole
27:26 issue of gender transphoria. And this will allow licensed professionals to to offer compassionate talk therapy. It will enable them to support
27:38 youth who are struggling with their biological sex. And the state of Michigan decided to drop their case, basically agreeing that blocking therapists from talking to their
27:50 patients violated the 1st amendment. Well, it's amazing they came to that conclusion. So what does this mean moving forward? Well, joining us now to discuss this is LukeShow more
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