Skip to content 6/27/2025 A Win for Parents at the Supreme Court and Why Nigeria Should become a Country of Particular Concern Jun 27 · 54 min ...more
6/27/2025 A Win for Parents at the Supreme Court and Why Nigeria Should become a Country of Particular Concern
June 27, 2025 · 54 min
Jody Hice and guests dissect and explain some Supreme Court Rulings and the Senate’s work on Budget Reconciliation, as well as concerns surrounding the brutal persecution of Christians in Nigeria.
Series Washington Watch with Tony Perkins - Audio
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June 27, 2025 · 54 min · Washington Watch with Tony Perkins - Audio
Jody Hice and guests dissect and explain some Supreme Court Rulings and the Senate’s work on Budget Reconciliation, as well as concerns surrounding the brutal persecution of Christians in Nigeria. ...more Show the full description Show less Jody Hice and guests dissect and explain some Supreme Court Rulings and the Senate’s work on Budget Reconciliation, as well as concerns surrounding the brutal persecution of Christians in Nigeria.
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In this video 0:00 Supreme Court Decisions and Legislative Updates13:40 Parental Rights and Religious Freedom24:58 International Religious Freedom and Nigeria34:00 Biblical Worldview and Supreme Court Rulings
Supreme Court Decisions and Legislative 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 and0:13 newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Sitting in for Tony is today's host, Jody Heise.0:20 Good afternoon. Welcome to this Friday, June 20 seventh edition of Washington Watch. I am your Friday host, Jody Heise, a senior fellow here at the Family Research Council, and an0:32 honor deeply to have you on board with us today. We've got a lot to cover. Here are some of the highlights. There were some huge decisions that were released by the US Supreme Court today,0:44 including 1 that significantly curtails the use of nationwide injunctions by rogue activist judges.0:52 Americans are finally getting what they voted for. No longer will we have rogue judges striking down president Trump's policies across the entire nation. No1:04 longer. Today in the 6 3 opinion, justice Barrett correctly holds that the district court lacks authority to enter nationwide or universal injunctions.1:16 That was US Attorney General Pam Bondi earlier today, and I'll discuss this in just a moment when I'm joined by Maryland congressman doctor Andy Harris. And he'll also give us his take1:28 on how the so called big beautiful bill is shaping up in the senate. Will will congressional Republicans be able to get the bill to the president's desk by Independence Day?
1:38 We are very, very close, and and, leader Thune has confidence that they could, get the job done by this weekend. We certainly are hopeful for that. We would still like to meet that July fourth, self imposed deadline, and
1:49 and, the president likes that idea. I certainly like idea that idea, and so does leader Thune. So we're gonna wait and see posture in the house right here, and and we'll see what happens. So we're ready to
2:00 That was house speaker Mike Johnson earlier today. So what might happen with all this? Well, do we'll be discussing that here in just a few moments. And then there were some other
2:12 huge decisions that were released by the Supreme Court today that were met with cheers from freedom loving Americans.
2:20 Another great decision that came down today, the Trans Books case, which restores parents' rights to decide their child's education. That ruling allows parents to opt out of of dangerous trans ideology and
2:32 make the decisions for their children that they believe is correct.
2:36 That was deputy attorney general Todd Blanch, and we'll be discussing the case that he referenced in the ruling when I'm joined by Daniel Smith of Liberty Counsel a little bit later in the program. And by the way,
2:48 this will also be part of my weekly Biblical Worldview Conversation with FRC's David Clausen. We'll also talk about how the court's ruling on planned parenthood came down as
3:00 well as an age verification for pornography. So a lot coming down from the Supreme Court today. And then FRC's Ariel Del Turco will be joining me to talk about why president Trump
3:12 should designate Nigeria as a country of particular concern. So we've got a lot, an awful lot coming your way, a packed program if you miss any part of it. Of course, our website
3:24 is tony perkins dot com, and you can catch anything you happen to miss right there, tony perkins dot com. Alright. Let's jump into our first topic. Republican senators are scurrying all over the
3:35 place to try to get the so called big beautiful budget bill across the finish line, but there certainly are some roadblocks in the way such as the Senate
3:47 parliamentarian's ruling against the bill's Medicaid provisions. That's a biggie, friends. Can the Senate pull everything together at the last minute? And what happens if they don't?
3:59 Well, here to discuss this and more is congressman Andy Harris, who is the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, and he's also a member of the GOP Doctors Caucus. He represents the first congressional district
4:11 of Maryland. Congressman Harris, welcome back to Washington Watch. Always great to have you.
4:17 Yeah. Great to be with you, Jody.
4:20 Alright. So, first of all, let me get your your, basic reaction to the Supreme Court's ruling earlier today that limited nationwide injunctions from federal courts. Why is
4:31 this, such a big decision?
4:35 Well, that's a very big decision because that that's the weapon that's been used against president Trump's conservative policies. Every time they come out with a conservative policy, they, judge shop, they find a liberal
4:45 judge somewhere in the district court level, and that district court judge way oversteps their bounds. And that was the major finding in today's, case. They way overstep their bounds, and then they put a hold on that,
4:57 that that policy nationwide. That's ridiculous. These are district judges. Their districts are small. Sometimes they don't even encompass a whole state, and yet they were making rulings that that concern the entire
5:08 nation.
5:09 Wow. Yeah. So, I mean, talk about legislating from the bench. When you have 1 of these lower courts making decisions and then kinda pushing it to become nationwide policy or a decision
5:21 that affects the entire nation, that's huge. So this, that really is a a a big deal. Let let's kinda bring back to congress. We've got so much, congressman Harris, I'd like to talk to you about. But, of course,
5:33 you're chairman of the the Freedom Caucus. What concerns do you and the Freedom Caucus have regarding the the current version of the senate reconciliation bill?
5:45 Well, the the the problem is is that it leaves a huge hole in the budget. The bottom line is that as it left the house, given that we do expect some economic growth, I think that, we would have, we would
5:57 have had a balanced budget. Well, we wouldn't have increased the deficit with the bill, but I think when it went over to the Senate, they added, more tax more lowering of taxes, which, of course, some of those lower
6:08 taxes will decrease revenue. And then, the senate parliamentarian over the last few, few, days has, said that a lot of our, deficit reduction measures were invalid under the Byrd rule. They'll
6:20 have they'll have to be changed and modified. Hopefully, they can get that done in the next, couple of days. But, we really can't be adding to the to the budget deficit. You know, we all wanna extend the tax cuts, and we
6:31 get that that results in some economic growth. But when all is said and done, we think that we should at least we shouldn't increase the budget deficits. I'd like to lower them. I think there's plenty of places in the
6:41 federal government we can cut spending. But, again, at this point in time, the the balance the balance sheet doesn't balance, and and I think it's gonna have to balance when it comes back to the house.
6:53 Wow. So so you see a bumpy road ahead for this bill. Is that what you're saying?
6:59 Over the next couple of days, it will be. I think we'll know by the end of the weekend. I think they will have attempt to have ironed out the problems with the parliamentarian. I think they'll have, gone ahead and and
7:08 then can, again, begin to balance the books within the bill. And if they can do that, you know, maybe we can hit the July fourth deadline. I think if they can't do that, if if they try to send it over to the house with a
7:19 large increase in in the budget deficit, then I think it's it's it's we're gonna have to go back to some point on the drawing board and make sure that, things balance out.
7:29 Yeah. I agree with you. I don't see how it makes it through the house again without some of those changes you're talking about. Let's go down the path. You're you're a a physician. Brett, can you break down for us I
7:40 don't think everybody fully understands the Medicaid dispute, that that's taking place and even taking place among some of your Republican colleagues.
7:50 Well, Medicaid, the problem, Jody, is that we increased Medicaid spending by about 50 percent over the past 10 years, and that's in in in actual dollars. I mean, we we spend a lot on Medicaid right now, and it's because
8:02 some of the states have figured out ways to spend way more money on, healthy young people who are added to Medicaid under Obamacare than it spends on the what we call the traditional Medicaid
8:14 population, which are the which are the needy, the disabled, the elderly, the, pregnant women, their children. The bottom line is these were the were the core functions of Medicaid. The program has wandered way far
8:26 from those core functions, and, the Medicaid spending at the federal level because of that is out of control. So, again, we're attempting to put in some measures that allow us to continue to increase spending,
8:38 but not at that rate, because that rate is unaffordable.
8:42 Wow. So you mentioned a while ago the the senate parliamentarian. Alright? Here's an individual that carries a pretty big stick, but you you mentioned specifically the parliamentarian saying that some of the,
8:54 measures within the bill violated the Byrd rule. Can you break that down for us, for some folks who may not understand what the Byrd rule is?
9:04 So, what what, we use the reconciliation bill in order to avoid the what the 60 vote filibuster threshold in the senate because we only have 53 senators on the Republican side.
9:15 Obviously, we can't get some a lot of the president Trump's agenda done, in the senate unless we had 60 senators, and we don't have them. So under reconciliation rules, we only need 51 senators. But that but
9:27 under reconciliation, everything has to be budget related. You can't do something purely for a policy reason. If it has a it has a significant connection to the, to the balancing the budget,
9:39 for instance, to balancing the books, then, yes, it's it can be included in reconciliation. So sometimes it's how you word it. You know, 2 examples is 1 is is, we we thought we would take some of the,
9:51 loopholes allowing people not to have to repay their student loans, people who really should be repaying their student loans. They took it. They signed for it. They should be repaying them. And this and the way it was
10:02 worded, the senate parliamentarian said, well, this, you know, this doesn't follow the Byrd rule. I don't understand that because this involved, you know, a hundred and 20000000000 dollars of savings to the federal
10:12 government with people repaying these, the some of these student loans. But, again, that's that's an example of where the parliamentarian increased the budget deficit from what we sent over,
10:24 from the house and, and put the whole bill out of
10:28 balance. Wow. So at the end of the day, do you think the senate bill is going to be drastically different from the house version? Or at this point, are they going to be, coming closer
10:40 to the House version to get this across the finish line?
10:44 Well, if Jody, I'm hoping they come closer to the House version because we we worked long and hard to get it out of the House to the Senate. We think it was a very carefully negotiated, compromise. And as they wander
10:55 away from that, it becomes less and less likely that it's gonna succeed when it comes back, to the house. We want this to succeed. We want president Trump to succeed. But it the safest thing they could do is take our
11:05 house bill and just pass it, the the way the way we pass it or make some very small changes. It may end up there. We'll know by the end of the weekend.
11:13 Yep. I agree with you. That would be the the safest way to go. So, as I understand, at this point, the senate's scheduled to have their so called vote o rama on this thing, over the weekend.
11:25 Do
11:25 you think they're gonna meet the deadline? And, maybe what what happens if they don't?
11:32 You know, it's it's unclear that they'll get to the vote a rama over the weekend. They may just do what we call the motion to proceed, which just begins the debate on the bill. It it may be Monday or Tuesday even
11:44 when they do the vote a rama. Look, if they don't if they don't hit the deadline exactly, it is an it is a somewhat artificial deadline. We know that we do hit the debt ceiling, sometime in August, probably the end of
11:56 August, so that's a real hard deadline. We absolutely have to raise the debt ceiling by that date. But July fourth is is, you know, an artificial deadline. It it's it's a good deadline to have. It it makes
12:08 us work harder, toward a deadline. But, if it slips by a few days or even into the week after, that that wouldn't be a disaster. It would be just fine. The other it's this is such a
12:19 large bill that we should actually take a little time to make sure we get it right.
12:24 Yep. Alright. Before I let you go, I I know there was a a briefing today on the US, targeted strikes on Iran. Much of that, if not all of it, classified. I know you're limited on what you
12:36 can share. But is there any information that you can share, from, not necessarily the briefing, but just overall your your thoughts on the the targeted strikes on
12:48 Iran?
12:50 Absolutely. Look. The world has to remember that, radical Islamic terrorism raised its head on 9 11. It's still around. It's embodied in Iran. And I think, this summary I would say is the world
13:02 should sleep a little safer, tonight and every night, now that Iran is not gonna have a nuclear weapon anytime in the near future.
13:11 Well, that is encouraging, and, it's, you know, there's no lack of of news to cover. And, congressman Andy Harris, I wanna thank you for, the
13:23 incredible you work that you do in congress for your own state, your district, through the House Freedom Caucus, the Doctors Caucus, and a host of other places where you serve, and we deeply appreciate you coming on
13:34 Washington Watch and breaking some of this stuff down for us.
13:38 Thank you, Jody.
13:40 Alright. Coming up next, the US Supreme Court rules in favor of parents who are wanting their kids to be exempt from forced indoctrination of LGBT
Parental Rights and Religious Freedom
13:51 ideology. Wow. Stay with us to hear what this might mean for parents as well as religious freedoms. We'll be back.
14:02 Hi, everyone. This is pastor Jay Johnston, national prayer director with the Family Research Council. I wanna invite you to join our 21 day family bible challenge as we read
14:14 through the book of Matthew. This is an opportunity for you and for your family to come together for 15 minutes today to read God's word together. Deuteronomy
14:26 6 says, these commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home, when you walk along the road, when you
14:38 lie down, and when you get up. Seek the word of God. Obey the word of God. Share the word of God so that you and others might know the joy of walking with God now
14:50 and for all eternity. As your family gathers to read the Bible, invite the Holy Spirit to work in your life to spiritually transform each 1 of
15:02 you. Ask the Lord to show you creative ways for you to connect with your family, to read God's word together. I pray that however God uses this
15:13 challenge in your life and those that you join together with will be a blessing to you and strengthen you as you read the gospel of Matthew together. Visit f r c dot
15:25 o r g slash family bible challenge for more information.
15:32 In a time when Washington seems clouded by compromise, a bold group of lawmakers are standing firm in defense of the values which our nation was built upon. At FRC Action's
15:44 100 percent awards, 171 members of congress were honored for voting 100 percent in line with policies that promote faith, family, and freedom.
15:56 Faith and family made our country it's the foundation that made our country not only great, but good.
16:02 The values that make America, faith, family, hard work, personal responsibility. I mean, that to me is the heart of FRC and, grateful for everything that they do.
16:11 It's very important for us to have organizations such as FRC. First of all, I think it keeps us grounded. In addition to which, the issues that you champion are issues that we should all be championing.
16:20 FRC is very, very good at honing in on those things that, really affect Christians' lives. Also, working with members of Congress too to make sure that those values are instilled in the legislation that we create.
16:32 Having the Family Research Council to guide us is, critically important to being able to do the right thing consistently.
16:41 These lawmakers have drawn the line, not just in policy, but in principle. This is more than politics. This is conviction in action. Visit f r c action dot org for
16:53 more information on how you too can make a difference.
17:03 Thank you so much for joining us today. Welcome back to Washington Watch. I am your Friday host, Jody Hyson. So glad to have you on board with us. By the way, we have right now right now, team members
17:15 are standing by to take your call. If you would like to support and be a partner of Washington Watch and the Family Research Council, right now, I've got some good news. You can make a
17:26 gift before the end of this month, and it will be doubled. Friends, it doesn't get any better than that. Double your gift. Please give us a call right now at 802 2 5
17:38 4 0 0 8, And thank you in advance for your support. Alright. The Supreme Court, this morning, delivered several
17:51 welcomed rulings, including 1 for parents, as well as for religious freedom. The case, Mahmood v Taylor. In that case, parents now from various religious backgrounds, well, they
18:02 all banded together. They were challenging the Montgomery County Public Schools elementary story hours. You may recall we've reported on it, but that that story hour promoted books on things
18:14 like pride parades, gender transitions, and various LGBT themes. Well, today, in a 6 3 ruling, the Supreme Court justices backed the parents
18:26 who took a stand trying to protect their children from these radical agendas. So what was the reason for the ruling? And probably more important, what might be the impact of
18:38 all of this? Well, here to discuss this case is Daniel Smith. He's a constitutional attorney and associate vice president of legal affairs with Liberty Council. And by the way, Liberty Council
18:50 filed an amicus brief in this case. Daniel, welcome back to Washington Watch. Great to have you and great news today.
18:57 It was good news, and thank you for having me, Judd.
19:00 Okay. So let's begin. Just walk us through the the ruling from this case. What actually did the Supreme Court say?
19:09 Well, what they said was is that just because you drop your child off at a public school, doesn't mean you forfeit the right to direct their religious upbringing. We decided
19:20 that issue about 53 years ago in Wisconsin versus Yoder, but it has come back up in the curriculum based education for elementary school
19:32 children. And the question being whether you could have a religious opt out to curriculums that parents find religiously objectionable. The Supreme Court rightly held
19:44 today that, of course, they do. The First Amendment affords parents the right to direct the religious upbringing of their children, and they don't surrender that at the schoolhouse gate.
19:56 So what was the bottom line of this case? In other words, was this a case about parental rights, or was it a case about religious freedom and the right to parents to
20:07 pass the baton of that religious faith onto their children? How would you describe what ultimately this case was all about?
20:15 Well, it's based on the free exercise clause of the First Amendment, but what I would say is in this regard, the free exercise of religion and the fundamental rights of parents are
20:27 inextricably intertwined when it comes to this. So for many parents, the right to raise their children according to the dictates of their faith, requires that
20:39 they prevent them from hearing some of the obscene materials that were read to elementary school children and require that they don't, promote what the Bible says and
20:51 what other religious faiths of the parents in this case say are sin and are forbidden. The teachers were teaching curriculum that violates what the parents were teaching at home. They have the
21:03 free exercise right and the parental right, both of which are constitutionally grounded, to opt their children out of that curriculum. The Maryland County public schools
21:15 tried to say you can't have an opt out. They prohibited it. And, oh, by the way, we won't even provide you notice when we're going to read these stories to your children. The Supreme Court this morning said you can't do
21:26 that.
21:27 Okay. Yeah. So let's let's go down that path because I think this is fascinating. Everything you just said is just so much common sense. I mean, it's to me, it sounds kind of amazing that we're even having this kind of
21:38 case go all the way to the Supreme Court. But what was the argument from the other side? Why in the world did they believe that parents should not be allowed to take their kids out of a class that teaches this
21:50 type of stuff?
21:51 This is the most comical part of it all, if you ask me, Jody, and Justice Alito does a good job dissecting it. What the Montgomery County Public School said was, well, we've created this curriculum that's
22:03 pretty obscene that a lot of people object to. And the problem that it has begat is that there are too many parents who object to their 3 and 4 and 5 year olds reading about
22:15 Pride Puppy and some of the other obscene materials that it becomes unworkable for us. And what Justice Alito says is you don't get to create a problem and then deprive people of constitutional rights because the
22:27 problem's too big. But that was their defense. This is unworkable to opt all of these parents out and the students out on the basis of religious beliefs. That that was essentially their
22:38 entire argument for why they could prohibit an opt out.
22:42 Wow. Alright. So, as you just mentioned, I mean, this has obviously been a closely watched case for religious freedom advocates at least. So, big big term,
22:54 30000 foot view, what does this ruling mean for religious freedom?
22:59 I think it has major implications for religious freedom, not the least of which is there are millions of parents who enjoy the public benefit of the public education
23:11 system. We can debate the merits of that all day long. That's have me back and we'll have a different discussion about that. But for purposes of today, those who take their children to a public education
23:23 institution don't surrender their First Amendment rights when they drop them off. If the school and a radical school board and radical teachers want to impose a curriculum that
23:35 violates the religious beliefs of the parents, they have the right to say no, and they have the right to opt their children out. The first amendment demands that, common sense demands that, and thankfully, the Supreme
23:46 Court today demanded that.
23:48 Less than a minute left. I wish we had more because there's so much I'd like to get into. But the Supreme Court this morning also upheld texas law requiring age verification for access to internet porn sites real
24:00 quickly. Your thoughts on that decision.
24:03 I think that's pretty common sense. Jody, we we have age restriction and age verification requirements for all manner of things. Driver's licenses, purchasing various items in the store, registering to
24:15 vote, obtaining access to obscene materials that has become rampant. The court notes today has become rampant because of the proliferation of the Internet and cell
24:26 phones and websites that are all over the place. Texas said we're gonna require you to have an age verification requirement. The Supreme Court says the First Amendment doesn't prohibit that. We've been allowed that for
24:37 years, and they allowed it again today.
24:40 Daniel Smith, associate vice president of legal affairs at Liberty Council. Thank you so much. Great news coming out of the supreme court today. Appreciate you Thank you. Bringing it to us. Alright. After this,
24:52 Nigeria, a country of particular concern? Find out why or why not right after the break.Show more
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