Skip to content 10/23/2025 Critiquing VP Vance, Surging Debt Amid a Gov’t Shutdown, and Albania Religious Liberty Concerns Oct 23 · 54 min ...more
10/23/2025 Critiquing VP Vance, Surging Debt Amid a Gov’t Shutdown, and Albania Religious Liberty Concerns
October 23, 2025 · 54 min
Concerns over VP Vance’s Knesset Critique, day 23 of the federal shutdown amid a $38 trillion debt, FBI reveals a Mafia-linked sports gambling ring, and Albania advances Gender Identity Legislation.
Series Washington Watch with Tony Perkins - Audio
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October 23, 2025 · 54 min · Washington Watch with Tony Perkins - Audio
Concerns over VP Vance’s Knesset Critique, day 23 of the federal shutdown amid a $38 trillion debt, FBI reveals a Mafia-linked sports gambling ring, and Albania advances Gender Identity Legislation. ...more Show the full description Show less Concerns over VP Vance’s Knesset Critique, day 23 of the federal shutdown amid a $38 trillion debt, FBI reveals a Mafia-linked sports gambling ring, and Albania advances Gender Identity Legislation.
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In this video 0:00 The Intersection of Faith and Politics14:26 Global Issues and Biblical Perspectives26:50 Cultural Challenges and the Role of the Church37:36 Israel, Sovereignty, and Biblical Prophecy53:22 Call to Action and Spiritual Renewal
1:34 US secretary of state Marco Rubio met with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu praying their, quote, circle of trust as they pushed forward the US brokered Gaza peace plan. While progress is being made,
1:45 tensions remain high as Hamas terrorists reportedly plan to intensify killing opponents, and that makes it appear that Hamas has no intention of of letting go of control over Gaza,
1:57 which would violate terms of the ceasefire agreement. Joining me now is Washington stand reporter Casey Harper, who's been following today's main developments. Casey, vice president, JD Vance made some interesting
2:09 comments on his way out of Israel regarding Judea and Samaria. What did he exactly say?
2:15 Yeah, Tony. The vice president raised eyebrows when he said that president Trump is against Israel annexing Judea and Samaria, also called the West Bank. He even went on to call a recent Israeli vote to do just
2:27 that, the annexation. He called it a, quote, stupid political stunt while in Israel. Now that bill passed an initial vote but has no support from the Israeli prime minister's party.
2:37 If it was a political stunt,
2:39 it was a very stupid political stunt, and I personally take some insult to it. The West Bank is not gonna be annexed by Israel. The policy of the Trump administration is that the West Bank will not be annexed by Israel.
2:50 That will continue to be our policy. And if people wanna take symbolic votes, they can
2:55 do that, but but
2:56 we certainly weren't happy about it.
2:59 Well, Vance argues annexation could hurt the fragile Gaza ceasefire, and this all comes as secretary of state Marco Rubio and other officials are in Israel right now to help shore up what what you were right to call a
3:10 shaky peace effort. Now for now, Tony, the ceasefire is holding, but Israel is continuing to accuse Hamas terrorists of violations every day, Tony.
3:19 Well, like I said on yesterday's program, my advice to Israel is annex while they can. Former congresswoman Michele Bachmann is gonna join us later to weigh in on this story. This is extremely important because we're
3:31 talking about Judea and Samaria, which is the heartland of Israel. And as I said, we'll talk about that more with, Michele Bachmann. Alright, Casey. President Trump appears to be employing stronger economic tools
3:42 to end the war in Ukraine.
3:45 Yeah. That's right, Tony. So the US, they slapped new sanctions on Russia's top oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, which the president's been unwilling to do up until now. Now this is supposed to, of course, help weaken
3:57 funding for the ongoing war in Ukraine, and these sanctions come as Russia, they're only ratcheting up pressure. In fact, they actually held major military drills involving nuclear capable missiles.
4:08 Now the sanctions follow the sudden cancellation of that promised summit between Trump and, Putin in Budapest that's now not gonna happen because the president said the meeting didn't feel right.
4:20 There are massive sanctions and sanctions on oil. The 2 biggest oil companies among the biggest in the world, but they're Russian. They do a lot of oil. And, hopefully, it'll push,
4:34 hopefully, he'll become reasonable, and, hopefully, Zelenskyy will be reasonable too. You know, it takes 2 to tango, as they say, and we're gonna find out.
4:42 It's worth knowing, Tony, that the president does have an upcoming meeting with China's president Xi Jinping, and Trump hopes that he can get Beijing to pressure Russia to stop the fighting.
4:53 Thanks, Casey. Let's shift, gears very quickly to the debate over the government shutdown. As you mentioned, the national debt has now topped 38000000000000 dollars amid the ongoing
5:04 federal government shutdown, marking the fastest debt growth since the COVID 19 pandemic. Just, in the last 2 months, we've added 1000000000000 to the debt. So where do things stand now with the
5:16 shutdown?
5:18 Well, sorry to disappoint you, Tony, but senator Schumer has no plans to to change what's going on right now. No deal appears to be in sight. The senate failed earlier today to pass 2 bills to even just pay federal
5:30 workers during the shutdown until they figure this out. Both Both parties, as you might expect, are blaming each other, but thousands of federal employees are the ones missing their paychecks. So Republicans put forward
5:40 a plan to pay those who are still working, which is the 1 that Democrats blocked today. But Democrats, they pushed forward their own version of a bill to pay everyone, but Republicans objected, saying it was rewarding
5:52 inaction.
5:53 Military families have turned to food banks in unprecedented numbers. And things are about to get worse.
6:06 Nutrition assistance programs that millions of Americans depend on to feed their families are in jeopardy. And tomorrow, federal workers will miss a full paycheck
6:18 because of the Democrat shutdown.
6:22 As of today, the second longest government shutdown in US history is on day 23, Tony.
6:28 Alright, Casey. Thanks for, the update on today's top news stories. Always appreciate the insight. Alright. I I wanna dive a little bit deeper into the government shutdown and discuss the latest
6:40 with a member of the senate. Joining me now is US senator John Husted of Ohio who serves on several senate committees, including the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Senator, welcome to Washington
6:52 Watch. Thanks so much for joining us.
6:54 Great to be with you. Thanks for having me on.
6:56 Alright. So we're just going through the news. Another vote today. No action, no additional democratic support for opening the government. Are are you hearing anything? Are you
7:08 seeing any ray of light of hope that we might see the government open back up?
7:14 I don't. I don't see any, movement on their side. As you you've heard Chuck Schumer say, he believes that every day, it gets better for them, meaning politically
7:25 for Democrats, even though it's terrible for the American people and the people who are working and not getting paid, including men and women of the military, air traffic controllers, etcetera.
7:38 And you heard another Democratic leader in the house say that that she knows that there are going to be, there's gonna be suffering, but it's the only leverage they have. So you can see they see this
7:49 in completely political terms and not in terms of what's best for the American people.
7:55 Senator, you mentioned the, the the comments of Democratic, whip, Catherine Clark. I wanna play the clip of what she had to say so people can hear it. Play clip number 2, please.
8:03 Shutdowns are terrible. And and and, of course, there will be, you know, families that are going to suffer. We take that responsibility very seriously, but it
8:15 is 1 of the few leveraged times we have.
8:19 So we wanna they wanna leverage the pain of the people to try to get the the Republicans to come along with their 1500000000000.0 in additional spending?
8:29 Yeah. That's I mean, all that does is reveals that it's really just a political strategy. I think we all know that Chuck Schumer is feeling the pressure of, of younger Democrats who think he's,
8:41 a failure as a leader, and so he's trying to prove to his political left base that he can fight back against president Trump. But fighting back against president Trump is at the expense of what's best
8:53 for the American people in this case. And I think, ultimately, this is a is a terrible thing for everyone, but it's it it it just proves that they're not interested in being serious
9:05 about trying to serve the American people. And and I've look. I've voted, I think, where were we at? 12 times, I voted to reopen the government. And we have some more pain that's coming with with WIC and SNAP benefits
9:17 and things like that that will eventually run out for people. And, we need to get the government back open. Remember, this is a clean CR that we're asking them to vote for,
9:29 meaning that there's no politics in it, no games. We're spending at Biden era levels in these agencies. So why should they be against that? And it would only create funding through
9:41 November the 20 first, at which time we will have to go over this through this again. So even if you vote for the CR and you get people funded, then do that, and then we'll keep negotiating
9:52 about whatever you want. But remember, the government is supposed to be funded by 12 appropriations bills that pass on a bipartisan basis through the US senate. We've we've done 4 of them, I believe, now, and,
10:04 frankly, we need to get back to work. But but Chuck Schumer's gonna have to decide that that he cares about the American people and not just his own political fortunes.
10:15 Senator, you said, underscore the need to get back to the appropriations process, the normal approach appropriations, which is literally been decades since it's been done, over 2 decades. The the the
10:27 irresponsibility of omnibus, automatic growth of continuing resolutions, I think that's what's wrong with this 1 in the eyes of the Democrats is that it's just flat spending. But the backdrop
10:39 to all of this is a record 38000000000000 dollar debt that the United States has. How do we get that under control?
10:48 Well, I've been here 10 months, and it's been 1 of the most issues that I have faced since I was here. My my maiden floor speech was about the responsibility that we have, as as leaders to
11:00 not be takers, but but, to leave an inheritance of a of a nation that our children, will have a chance to prosper. But instead, we run up all of this debt as a nation that
11:11 undermines America's future. And, it's very difficult because, you know, just like we're trying to get the government open, it's a 60 vote process, to make, any
11:23 substantial change on this front. And, right now, we can't even get the government open. The democrats wanted to spend by the way, I should note this when we're talking about the debt. They wanted as a condition
11:35 for their votes and what they offered, a 1500000000000.0 dollars in additional spending that would have created opportunities for illegal immigrants to have their health care paid
11:47 for in this country. So that's what they want. They're trying to jack up spending more and more with everything that they do, which is counter to what we really need to do is to get our spending in order. And and to do
11:59 this by the way, happy to do it at a bipartisan process. Well, as the senate process, of 60 votes and minority rights, gives you, but but you can't just as Chuck Schumer, I'm using
12:11 his own words. He said, he won't negotiate with a gun to his head, so why would he expect us to do the very thing that he swore he would eat?
12:20 Exactly. But you you're you're you're right to point that out because that's how we got to 38000000000000 dollars in debt is these leveraging points where in order to vote for this, they want more money spent.
12:32 I commend the Republicans for holding the line on this. It's the first time I've seen it in 20 years where they've held the line on spending, and that's the that's the issue here with whether or not the government opens
12:43 back up. Alright. Senator, we just have less than a minute left. I wanna ask you a question. I wanna actually make a statement, but I'll ask a question with it. You joined 50 of your Republican colleagues in the senate
12:53 earlier this month in sending a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services and the FDA asking them to suspend distribution of the abortion drug mifepristone and the the new generic
13:05 that has been issued. This is an important issue to you.
13:09 Yeah. It's a very important issue to me. For those of you that don't know about my background, which is probably most most of your listeners, I started out life in a foster home. My birth
13:20 mother faced a lot of pressure to have an abortion. Instead, she had an adoption, and that's the only reason I'm here, because of her courage. And so the sanctity of life and and
13:32 helping to support the, you know, the children born and unborn is is an important issue to me. And, a lot of the the abortion drugs that are out there are not safe for women.
13:44 Misleading information out there, and and we need to make sure that that they have all
13:50 of that.
13:50 Senator, we wanna get you back on the program again soon and and hear that entire story, senator Husted of Ohio. Stick with us, folks. We're back after this. Our founding scripture for this is Ephesians
14:02 chapter 6 verse 13. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand in the evil day, and having done all to stand, stand therefore.
14:14 Family Research Council's pray, vote, stand summit 20 25 brought together Christian leaders, issue experts, and government officials for a time of prayer, inspiration, and
Global Issues and Biblical Perspectives
14:26 action. We are equipping the body of Christ to understand that what is happening around us is not just political. It's not just cultural. At its
14:38 heart, it is spiritual.
14:40 We gather in a nation that has torn the foundation apart, and we have separated our governing documents for my divine source, Jesus Christ. We need
14:52 truth now more than ever to guide us.
14:56 I'm believing. God, let this be a testimony of the American church that we become so full of the fire of the word of God that we cannot contain it. We have to tell people about it.
15:08 We have to make disciples.
15:10 The idea of America was the idea that our rights don't come from governments. They they come from our divine creator. Right? Government's main job is to protect those rights. And because that was
15:22 the foundation of America, we've enjoyed over the last 250 years more freedom, more prosperity, more stability than any other nation anywhere in the world, and that should be celebrated.
15:33 We are living in a moment. What's that moment? It's a prophetic moment on God's timeline.
15:39 That's right.
15:39 And so he needs the church more than ever to act biblically for the blessing of our political leaders and of our nation.
15:48 The number 1 issue facing America domestically, which is the epidemic of fatherlessness. 40 percent of all American children today enter the world without a father in the home married to the
15:59 mother.
16:00 We cannot win the pro life fight without acknowledging that this is the pro family fight, that this is the pro marriage fight. We're never going to end abortion if we do
16:12 not secure and shore up marriage.
16:14 We pray that this would be an opportunity, Lord God, for you to use us mere little mortals, but we possess the name of Jesus. God, use us mightily. We pray in Jesus' name and all God's
16:26 people said Amen. Amen.
16:30 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,
16:42 delivering stories that matter most to believers. From breaking events to cultural insights, we provide clear, compassionate coverage through a biblical lens. Discover news you can trust at the Washington stand,
16:54 where faith and facts meet every day.
17:04 Welcome back to Washington Watch. Let me encourage you if you have not yet downloaded the Stand Firm app that you get the Stand Firm app. That way, you can have Washington watch with you. You can also have our
17:16 Washington stand, which is news and commentary from a biblical perspective, and my morning devotion, stand on the word. All of that is found on the Stand Firm app, plus a lot more a lot more resources to help you to
17:28 be an informed, engaged citizen. Get the Stand Firm app. Alright. For anyone who knows anything about the gambling industry, it should not be a surprise what the FBI announced
17:39 today. 2, 2 massive mafia linked gambling and sports rigging operations, the FBI unveiled those investigations
17:51 today with and they they they led to an arrest of over 30 individuals with more expected to surrender. Among those facing charges are current and former NBA figures as
18:03 well as members of 4 New York crime families. And in the case of the sports rigging operation, the defendants have been accused of exploiting insider information to bet on NBA games and what the US attorney's
18:15 office described as, quote, 1 of the most brazen sports corruption schemes since online sports betting became widely legalized in the United States, end quote.
18:27 Again, we shouldn't be surprised. Joining me now to discuss this, doctor John Kent, professor emeritus of business administration at the University of Illinois. Professor Kent has studied and been
18:39 out spoken on the issue of gambling for the past 4 decades. Professor, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us.
18:47 Thanks for having me, and thanks for all that you do to inform the, public. You do an excellent job. And I should say that us at 98 to 99 percent of academics are against gambling in all
18:59 of its forms. And, we're actually, we don't receive any honorariums or consultant fees. So this this is a real bipartisan, nonpartisan
19:12 issue. Everybody should be on board. And what you've mentioned is just the tip of the iceberg. This is gonna get bigger and bigger and bigger.
19:20 Now are you surprised at all, professor, that this has happened?
19:25 No. I'm not surprised. And I and I I've held this up before, but this is you testified before the National Gambling Impact Study Commission 30 years ago. You and your colleagues, your profits
19:37 on this. It said, do not let this sports gambling spread. Keep it off of cell phones. You cannot control gambling on the Internet. Keep it criminalized. And, of course, we're in
19:49 a totally different world now. Yeah. And and let let me just say, the smartest thing that president Trump could do is call for a new national gambling impact study commission. It's been 30
20:01 years since the last 1. Second thing you can do to to help all of this cheating that's going on in professional sports is to call for the establishment of a new,
20:13 professional and amateur sports protection act. The original 1 was overturned by the Supreme Court on a technicality, but it was it was, promoted by Bill Bradley, the NBA legend, who back in
20:25 19 92 said, this is gonna happen if we don't have this legislation in in place. And the final thing is the Obama administration gutted
20:37 US attorney general Robert f Kennedy's Wire Act, which was against organized crime. And if president Trump would simply get DOJ to reinstate that, that would go a long
20:48 way to helping remedy these types of problems.
20:52 You know, professor, the the anyone who knows anything about the gambling industry, going back to the revolutionary war where they sold the lottery tickets, knows the corrupt nature of,
21:04 gambling. But lay out for us because this is something, as you said, people warned once professional sports mixed with gambling, it was ripe for corruption. Unpack a little bit for our viewers and
21:16 listeners what these 2 cases what happened in these 2 cases?
21:20 Well, I don't wanna get into them in too much depth. I'd rather concentrate on how to remedy the situation or to make the situation better. These these cases are
21:32 going to unfold, and anything that I would say might impact on on the cases themselves. And, I think that's why you saw during the press conference today, the head of the FBI and
21:44 the other officials who were very circumspect in what they said about these cases because they don't wanna prejudice anything that's gonna happen with these.
21:51 But let me let me let me stop you right there, professor, because I think this just shows the nature of it that you have NBA players who were taking themselves out of the game, and it was it was basically throwing the
22:02 bets. I mean, this is I mean, remember when Pete Rose, when he was playing and he betted and he was disgraced for that, and he was, by the way, I was a big Cincinnati fan growing up, and he was 1 of my, my my
22:14 heroes there on the on the baseball field. But this this is the nature of this is human nature. I mean, history has repeated this over and over again, and we have government
22:26 facilitating this corruption. So why should we be surprised when it happens?
22:30 No. We shouldn't. Those who forget the, lessons of history are condemned to relive them. That's George Santayana. I remember that during a gambling congressional hearing back
22:42 in 19 94. And I remember 19 95 actually sitting behind a member of organized crime as he testified before the house judiciary committee, which passed, the,
22:54 US National Gambling Impact Study Commission. I mean, the this is this is going to get worse and worse unless we stop it now.
23:02 Okay. Let's talk about we just have 2 minutes left. Let's talk about remedies. What can Congress do? What can the administration do?
23:09 President Trump's smartest thing he can do is pass a new National Gambling Impact Study Commission, pass a new professional amateur sports protection act, reinstate, Robert f Kennedy, US attorney
23:21 general Robert f Kennedy's wire act against organized crime and placed 5 really big restrictive regulators on the commodity futures trading commission. Because right
23:32 now, the companies are you see gambling everywhere and gambling on anything. The reason they're getting away with this is because they found a loophole with the commodity futures trading commission.
23:44 My colleagues and I wrote about this back in 20 21, 20 22, said we've gotta stop this or it's going to it's already on everybody's cell phone. You know, click your phone, lose your home. It's on
23:56 your it's in your click your mouse, lose your house, and and they're targeting kids. Let me just yeah. I mean, Newsweek gets it. They're targeting kids, and they've got these new gotcha
24:08 games. The regulations are are ridiculous. They're window dressing.
24:14 Right.
24:14 Let me ask you a quick question. Who do who do you know who Stephen Paddock was?
24:19 I don't recall.
24:20 Even Paddock is the biggest mass murderer in the history of the United States. You remember Columbine? You remember Sandy Hook, but you don't remember Steven Paddock. Killed 59 people, wounded 413. He was a shooter
24:31 in Las Vegas.
24:32 Oh, that's right. Right.
24:34 The industry is great at covering all this up.
24:37 Alright. We're we're out of time. I you know, my my bet is that congress doesn't tackle this, but we could get the administration to do something. That is if you're taking wagers, but I I wouldn't recommend you do that.
24:48 Well, professor
24:50 Check out check out moms against gambling dot org and stop predatory gambling dot org.
24:55 Professor Keit, thank you so much. Alright, folks. Stick with us. We're back after this. For over 4000 years, the Jewish people have had legal, historical, and biblical ties to the land of Israel, especially the
25:07 heartland of Israel, Judea and Samaria, which much of the world still calls the West Bank. To Israelis, Judea and Samaria is far more than a name. It's the center of their ancestral homeland where nearly
25:19 80 percent of the Bible's events took place. Abraham purchased property in Hebron, Jacob in Shechem. Joshua made an altar on Mount Ebal and led the Israelites into a covenant before God. On Mount
25:31 Gerizim overlooking Shechem, Jesus talked to the Samaritan woman at the well about worshiping neither on Mount Gerizim nor in Jerusalem, but in spirit and in truth. Judea and Samaria is
25:43 nearly a quarter of Israel's current land mass, not a small strip of land on the Jordan River, River, but a vital and strategic part of the nation's identity. The October seventh massacre launched
25:55 from Gaza shattered the illusion that giving away territory brings peace. Gaza, which was once seen as the cornerstone of a 2 state solution, became a launchpad for terror.
26:07 Today, only 21 percent of Israelis support a Palestinian state. Trust in a 2 state solution has all but collapsed. The Middle East is changing. Iran's grip is weakening. New alliances are forming, but
26:18 western countries and some US officials still chase the mirage of a 2 state solution. History speaks clearly. The 2005 Gaza withdrawal, backed by the US, led not to peace, but
26:30 to a terrorist regime. Judea and Samaria are 24 times larger than Gaza, deeply woven into Israel's geographic and spiritual fabric. To surrender them would not bring peace.
26:42 It would invite conflict and existential danger. Family Research Council stands with Israel's rightful claim to sovereignty. It's time for America to do the same for history, for justice, and forShow more
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