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2/20/2026 Middle East Tensions, Growing Questions on Gender Procedures, and the Current State of Censorship
February 22, 2026 · 54 min
Day 7 of the government shutdown, SCOTUS strikes down Trump’s Tariffs, the Gaza Board of Peace, the future of U.S.-Iran, a Biblical Perspective on politicians' positions, and Gender Dysphoria.
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February 22, 2026 · 54 min · Washington Watch with Tony Perkins - Audio
Day 7 of the government shutdown, SCOTUS strikes down Trump’s Tariffs, the Gaza Board of Peace, the future of U.S.-Iran, a Biblical Perspective on politicians' positions, and Gender Dysphoria. ...more Show the full description Show less Day 7 of the government shutdown, SCOTUS strikes down Trump’s Tariffs, the Gaza Board of Peace, the future of U.S.-Iran, a Biblical Perspective on politicians' positions, and Gender Dysphoria.
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In this video 0:00 Supreme Court Strikes Down Trump's Tariffs: Initial Reactions and Impacts5:24 Government Shutdown Stalemate: Effects on Americans and Economy13:44 Escalating Tensions: US Military Buildup and Potential Strike on Iran24:58 Tariffs' Economic Fallout and Biblical Reflections on Culture
Supreme Court Strikes Down Trump's Tariffs: Initial Reactions and Impacts 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 is today's host, Jody Heiss.0:19 The Supreme Court's ruling on tariffs is deeply disappointing, and I'm ashamed of certain members of the court, absolutely ashamed for0:31 not having the courage to do what's right for our country. Foreign countries that have been ripping us off for years are ecstatic. They're so happy. And they're dancing0:43 in the streets, but they won't be dancing for long. That I can assure you.0:50 That was president Trump earlier today reacting to the Supreme Court's decision to strike down his global tariffs. Welcome to this February twentieth edition of Washington Watch.1:02 I am your Friday host, Jody Heise. Thank you so much for joining us today. Alright. A lot coming your way. Among other things, it was a 6 to 3 decision. The Supreme Court struck1:14 down president Trump's sweeping global tariffs, which, of course, was a cornerstone of his economic agenda. So what does all of that mean for trade, for the markets, and for the White House itself?
1:26 Well, Jerry Boyer, president and CEO of Boyer Research, will be joining us a little bit later to break all that down. Plus, there's breaking developments overseas. The Pentagon
1:38 has deployed the largest US naval force to the Middle East in decades as president Trump warns Iran of possible military action if nuclear talks collapse. So
1:50 is a strike imminent? Elliot Abrams, senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, will give us his assessment of all of that.
2:06 A partial government shutdown continues to drag on. We're now in day 7 as congressional Democrats in the White House remain deeply divided over immigration enforcement reforms. And
2:18 now there are growing concerns over its impact over the agencies that are no longer receiving funding. Well, joining me now is Washington stand reporter Casey Harper, who has
2:30 been tracking all of today's stories. Casey, what is going to be the impact for Americans and our country for that matter if this shutdown continues to drag on?
2:41 Yeah. Jody, thanks. Well, you might wanna get to the airport a little bit earlier. That's for sure. Because most TSA officers, not to mention the FEMA staff and many border patrol and the US Coast Guard, actually, are
2:52 currently working without pay. Now during last fall's government shutdown, which I think went 43 days, there was an increase in TSA employees calling out of work. You can hardly blame them. And we can see travel delays
3:03 and longer lines at the airport this time around if that happens again. As for Democrats and Republicans, it doesn't look like they could are gonna reach a deal before the next payday is missed, though it is possible.
3:14 Now possible. Now the partial government shutdown is also hindering FEMA's efforts to reach areas that were impacted by that those recent winter storms, which, you know, hit us. I know hit you, Jody. And DHS,
3:26 by the way, has halted all travel for employees. So there's a ripple effect going on. Now the partial shutdown could also impact FEMA's ability to reimburse these states where they're also seeing, costs related
3:38 to disaster relief. So a lot of different government agencies, affecting Americans in many ways, Jody.
3:45 Yeah. Absolutely no way to run a government. Hopefully, this will get resolved quickly. Alright, Casey. The, also big news today, the US Supreme Court struck down president Trump's sweeping tariffs.
3:57 What's the the latest that you're hearing about that?
3:59 Yeah. This is a bombshell 6 to 3 ruling where the justices ruled that the law president Trump used for many of his tariffs, though not all, that law, which is called the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, it
4:11 did not grant Trump the power that he said it did to impose those tariffs. Now the Supreme Court's ruling, it's a major defeat for the Trump administration, which, by the way, has already collected, about
4:22 200000000000 dollars in tariffs. Now in a news conference today, president Trump said that the ruling was deeply disappointing and that he was ashamed. Here's a clip.
4:32 The Democrats on the court are thrilled, but they will automatically vote no. They're an automatic no just like in Congress. They're an automatic no.
4:43 They're against anything that makes America strong, healthy, and great again. They also are a, frankly, disgrace to our nation, those justices.
4:56 Strong words from the president, but he's not giving up on tariffs. He said he's just gonna use different legal bases to, enforce the same tariffs, including 10 percent to global tariffs next week. Now it's important to
5:07 note, Jody, the Supreme Court ruling didn't address what happens to that 200000000000 dollars that's already been collected, and that could be quite the lawsuit.
5:17 Yeah. And that's a big question in all of this. It's incredible how this is going to again, we'll watch how it unfolds. Casey, 1 other quick thing. The Pentagon is deployed now the
Government Shutdown Stalemate: Effects on Americans and Economy
5:29 largest concentration of American warships and aircraft to the Middle East in decades. The big question everyone's asking is, whether or not the US is preparing to use
5:41 force against Iran. Does this appear as imminent as it as some are thinking?
5:47 Well, if you just judge, Jody, based on the the sheer amount of ships that we have in the region, it sure seems like it. These are levels that we haven't seen since the 2003 Iraq invasion. Now president president Trump
5:58 acknowledged he's considering using limited military strikes on Iran amid these nuclear talks, which so far don't seem to have gone anywhere. Now 2 US officials reportedly said that options could include just targeting
6:10 specific individuals in the regime, not necessarily a full scale war where we're hitting a bunch of military targets. They didn't say who those individuals in the regime would be, but you could probably make some guesses
6:21 based on who in leadership there. In fact, here's, here's president the president on the talks with Iran today at a press conference.
6:30 They better negotiate a fair deal.
6:32 Everybody, you like that.
6:34 You know, the people of Iran are a lot different than the leaders of Iran, and it's very, very, very sad situation.
6:42 Now Iran has the Iran's rev revolutionary guard, rather, has warned they could retaliate against the US if those strikes begin. And Iran, despite all the threats and the military presence in the region, they don't seem
6:54 to be willing to back down on their nuclear program. Jody.
6:58 Alright, Casey. As always, thank you so much for, giving us the big bird's eye view as we get started. Alright. I wanna turn our attention now and discuss the Democrat led partial government shutdown
7:11 as we are now in day 7 and frankly no end in sight. So what could this mean for the economy if it continues to stretch out? Joining me now to discuss this in Moore is
7:23 congressman Mark Alford. He represents Missouri's fourth congressional district. He's a member of the Appropriations Committee as well as the Subcommittee on National security. Congressman
7:34 Offord, always great to have you on Washington Watch. Thank you for joining us.
7:38 Thank you to, good to be with you on no tight Friday, Jody.
7:43 Yeah. Absolutely. We're we all try to relax a little bit before the weekend gets here. Alright. So what do you make of this stalemate between the White House and congressional Democrats as,
7:55 this, shutdown now is in day 7?
7:58 Well, look, Jody, I've said it before. I'll say it again. This is the stupidest shutdown in US history, and it follows a 44 day longest shutdown in US history led by Chuck Schumer and his incompetence and his quest to
8:10 be relevant and, not be primaried in his next election. The reason this 1 is is so stupid is because we fully funded ICE through the appropriations process. We funded all 12 appropriation bills, sent
8:22 them over to the senate. They sent all back but 1, and that was the Homeland Security, because of the the way that, ICE was doing its business in deporting illegal aliens, a mandate by the
8:34 American people. 74000000 of them who voted for president Trump wanted illegal aliens deported, but the Democrats didn't like that. And so they raised a stink. They did not do what they
8:46 agreed to do, and that was to vote for the very bill that they negotiated. So, basically, we funded ICE through the 1 big beautiful bill for 4 years, Jody. And, that's not going
8:57 away. ICE is fully funded. And so this this stink that the Democrats have put up, is for not really. And it's putting pressure now on other, organizations that are funded through
9:09 this homeland security bill. FEMA, number 1, TSA, the coast guard, our cybersecurity efforts here to keep us safe in the cyber world in the United States of America.
9:21 Basically, the Democrats have shot themselves in the foot. They have no message, no leader, no vision, and they're glomming onto anything they can, and their Trump derangement syndrome leading the
9:33 way, to try to get votes in the midterm. It's not gonna work, but people are figuring it out. Americans, even the Liberals, are a lot more smarter than what these Democrats in the senate are.
9:45 It's it's really fascinating to watch how all this goes down and tied up in the middle of all of this, unfortunately, is the American people and the economy. I know today president Trump on social media actually
9:57 called out last fall's government shutdown as the reason for the slowdown in GDP, growth at that time and, of course, accusing the Democrats for that. And now the Democrats are doing it
10:09 all over again as you say. So what what are going to be what are and what will be some of the economic implications of all this continues to drag on?
10:21 Well, if this goes on for an extended period extended period, which I don't think it will, it's it's gonna hurt the the US economy, and it's gonna put the pressure on the Democrats to to finally quit holding
10:33 the American people hostage as they did back in November. I think think this actually is gonna be over after the State of the Union. I think Tuesday, they wanna raise a big stink on the house floor. Al Green wants to
10:44 wave his cane once again at the president. They wanna put up a big show for the American people to show their voters that, they don't like president Trump. They don't like the Republicans, and they're gonna do everything
10:56 they can to try to, stop the MAGA movement and the America First agenda. I think once they do that, the pressure is gonna be put on them by others. The airlines, once again, TSA. You
11:08 know, these federal workers got paid a week ago yesterday. They're on a 2 week pay cycle. They will not miss a paycheck for another week. Once that happens, the pressure will will really be on, but I'm hoping
11:20 and praying that the Democrats come to their senses. And after the State of the Union, for those who do not boycott it on the Democrat side and show up and and, and make fools of
11:32 themselves, maybe it'll be over. The American people deserve much better than what they're getting now from the Democrats.
11:39 Yeah. We certainly all hope it will be over, and state of the unions is as good a time as any to end it. Real quickly, the US Supreme Court struck down president Trump's sweeping tariffs. Your thoughts on that?
11:52 Well, look. 1 thing I'm glad of is the certainty now that this has given the president and those of us in congress because the Supreme Court has been sitting on this decision, a deliberation, and I think putting off
12:04 making this decision for several months now, and we needed some certainty, certainty in the market, certainty for the tariffs going forward. This is not the end of tariffs that president Trump is going to use to try to
12:16 right what has been wrong for so long in in trade. We the trade imbalance, as you know, Jody, is deplorable. After World War 2, we helped out, particularly
12:27 European countries with, favorable trade for them so that they could rebuild their nations. They have rebuilt those nations. They are strong once again, and there's no reason that they should be taking advantage of the
12:38 United States. I'm I thank God every day that we have a president in the White House behind that resolute desk who's making resolute decisions trying to put America first. And, the the Supreme
12:50 Court, particularly justice Kavanaugh, gave the the president some direction, and the president doubled down on that today from the White House that he's going to go a different route, imposing that 10 percent across
13:02 the board tariffs. 1 way or another, this money will keep coming in, and, the the balance will be there eventually for the American people.
13:12 Well, it's gonna be very interesting to to see what happens, and I'm glad you brought up the State of the Union address. Probably it's not on the radar of a lot of people right now, but it's coming up next Tuesday. And
13:23 that always is a an extremely important time where the president lays out his agenda and so forth. And as you brought up, we we certainly anticipate some, pushback from
13:35 the Democrats. Congressman Mark Alford, thank you always for joining us on watch and watch. Great to have you today.
13:42 Thank you, Jody.
13:43 My friends coming up. The US military presence is increasing in the Middle East. Tensions likewise increasing as a result. We'll discuss this after the break with our next guest. So
Escalating Tensions: US Military Buildup and Potential Strike on Iran
13:55 stay with us. We'll be back in just a moment.
13:59 You
14:01 see, America has freedom for a purpose. The question is, are we living by that purpose today? See, the founders understood, we as a nation would
14:13 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, to serve God, to
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14:31 At the 20 26 National Gathering for Prayer and Repentance in Washington DC, members of congress, state leaders, evangelical leaders, and intercessors from across the nation
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14:46 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.
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17:03 Welcome back to Washington Watch.
17:05 I am your Friday host, Jody Heise, and so honored to have you with us today. Alright. All signs are seemingly indicating that a US strike on
17:17 Iran is imminent. And some are even saying that it could happen as early as this weekend. So, of course, all this is taking place after there was no progress made earlier this week,
17:28 between talks with the US and Iran on Tuesday in Geneva. And at the same time, the US Navy is moving more and more and more assets into Iran's neck of the woods.
17:42 So is a military confrontation between the US and Iran imminent? Well, joining me now to break all of this down is Elliot Abrams. He's a senior fellow
17:53 for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, and he previously served as the US special representative for Iran during the first Trump administration.
18:05 Elliot, welcome to Washington Watch. Appreciate you joining us.
18:09 My pleasure. Good to be with you.
18:12 Okay. So a US strike on Iran at least appears to be imminent. So with that assumption, what would be the goal of this, imminent
18:24 air strikes and whatever may may follow. Is is war with Iran actually on the horizon, you think?
18:32 Well, I think an American strike is likely. That is, it's more than a 50 50 chance. The president says, I think rightly, we're not going to let them have a nuclear weapon.
18:44 They cannot have a nuclear weapon. Pardon me. That's why he did a great midnight hammer strike last year. There's some evidence they're trying to rebuild and rebuild
18:55 their, very large missile program. So, I I, I wouldn't call this a war. I think what the president may do, is a onetime strike at their
19:07 nuclear and their missile sites, and then, hope that they're not crazy enough, to try really to strike back against us.
19:17 So if they do attempt to strike back, if they're, as you say, crazy enough to do that, how does the Iranian military measure up to our own?
19:27 Well, it doesn't measure up. Nobody's really does, but certainly not theirs. I mean, they have no air force really to speak of. They've got planes that we gave the Shah, you know,
19:38 45 years ago, 50 years ago. They can do damage, however, in the immediate neighborhood. We have bases in the Gulf area, and we have
19:50 ships now, as you pointed out, more ships. When the president did Midnight Hammer last year, they did what I'd call a phony attack on our base in
20:02 Qatar. They let us know what was coming. We pulled everybody out, so that no Americans were hurt. And I believe that's what they'll do now. They could do damage to American
20:13 bases. You know, we've got air defenses, but you they're not 100 percent perfect. They could try to sink an American naval ship. If they try that hard enough,
20:25 they will kill Americans. And I believe the president should, and and I'd willing to bet, is, going to pass messages to them if he decides to strike that this is another
20:37 really 1 and done. And, we're not trying to overthrow the government. We're not trying to eliminate the leadership. But if they strike back by trying to kill
20:49 Americans, then the game is over. And I think they'll believe him. I think he has credibility. So I'm hopeful that even if there is a strike, they're not going to make that terrible mistake
21:01 of trying to kill Americans.
21:04 Okay. So assuming there will be some sort of strike, whatever that may be, a 1 1 time or whatever, on their nuclear facilities or missile facilities, whatever. How could a potential strike impact
21:16 or affect the US and Iran talks that are underway?
21:21 Well, if the talks were going well, there wouldn't be a strike. I think they're going nowhere. And I think it was vice president Vance who said that they weren't coming anywhere near
21:33 respecting our red lines, which are, for example, no enrichment of uranium, to build a nuclear weapon. I suspect that if there is a strike,
21:45 that the president will then say to Iran, now let's go back to the negotiating table. We didn't want to do this. We had to do it because the negotiations were impossible with you
21:57 guys. Now maybe you've learned the lesson. Let's go back to the table, and let's see if we can reach a deal.
22:04 Interesting. So let let's shift gears a little bit and talk about the board of peace. They held their first meeting, of course, yesterday, and, in that pledge, billions, for rebuilding Gaza. So first of
22:16 all, your thoughts overall on the board of peace is this organization even necessary, seeing that we already have the United Nations? But your thoughts about it?
22:26 I think the president wanted, a way to organize the efforts for Gaza. And and he did that, and he appears to have raised from the Arabs about 7000000000 dollars.
22:38 There were, 5 or 6 countries that have said they will train Palestinian police. They will put some of their own troops in. But I don't think the board of peace is
22:50 gonna be able to answer the fundamental question, which is, Hamas, which is how do you disarm Hamas? None of these investments are gonna be made in the rebuilding of
23:02 Gaza, or sending foreign troops if Hamas is not disarmed. Because these foreign troops from Indonesia and other places, they're not willing to fight.
23:13 They're, you know, kind of the standard UN type force, which is willing, to keep parties apart if they want to be apart, but it's not willing to fight.
23:26 Only the Israelis are really willing to fight Hamas. So I don't think the Board of Peace is really able yet to do what it needs to do. You know, half of Gaza is now under Israeli control.
23:38 I think the Board of Peace can help organize and will organize some reconstruction, rebuilding in the area that the Israelis control. And some of those foreign
23:50 troops can go in there as well. But I don't think the Board of Peace is gonna be able to get beyond that most difficult question, which is, if Hamas won't voluntarily
24:02 disarm, who is gonna do it? And I think, you know, in the end, you get to the Israelis. By the way, Jody, I just wanna answer 1 other thing about Iran. When I got 30 seconds. Hit us.
24:14 I I I think they're gonna hit Israel. And I think if we strike Iran, they're gonna turn around and hit the Israelis. And all Israelis I know are aware of this, and, you know,
24:26 people are getting ready to have safe rooms and and and bunkers. And I think that's what's likely to happen if we hit Iran.
24:34 Wow. Thank you, Elliot Abrams of the Council on Foreign Relations for your incredible insights. We appreciate it a great deal. Alright, friends. Don't go anywhere. We've still got a lot to cover, and it's
24:45 all coming straight ahead. My next guest, Jerry Boyer, will discuss the bombshell supreme court decision on the president's tariffs. So stay with us. We got a lot more coming your way right after the
24:57 break.Show more
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