Skip to content 12/17/2025 President Trump Fights the War on Drugs Abroad While Considering Reclassifying Marijuana at Home Dec 17 · 59 min ...more
12/17/2025 President Trump Fights the War on Drugs Abroad While Considering Reclassifying Marijuana at Home
December 17, 2025 · 59 min
Congress debates health insurance legislation and passes the defense spending bill, a U.S. blockade surrounds Venezuela, and President Trump considers reclassifying marijuana as a Schedule III drug.
Series Washington Watch with Tony Perkins - Video December 17, 2025 · 59 min · Washington Watch with Tony Perkins - Video
Congress debates health insurance legislation and passes the defense spending bill, a U.S. blockade surrounds Venezuela, and President Trump considers reclassifying marijuana as a Schedule III drug. ...more Show the full description Show less Congress debates health insurance legislation and passes the defense spending bill, a U.S. blockade surrounds Venezuela, and President Trump considers reclassifying marijuana as a Schedule III drug.
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In this video 0:00 Global News and Rising Security Threats4:52 Health Care Reform and Policy Battles18:48 Venezuela Blockade and Regime Pressure38:52 Marijuana Reclassification Dangers and Year-End Reflections
Global News and Rising Security Threats 0:00 Hello. I'm Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council and host of Washington Watch. Thanks for tuning in. Every day, we offer a biblical perspective on the news as well as insightful interviews with elected0:11 leaders, newsmakers, and culture experts. We have a great program planned for you today, but first, get up to speed on the top headlines with Washington Stands news brief.0:27 Welcome to the Washington Stands news brief. I'm Sarah Holiday with today's top stories. President Donald Trump has once again extended the travel ban, 1 that continues to restrict who0:39 can come in to the country. The restrictions established through a signed proclamation now applies to a total of 39 countries which nearly doubles the previous list.0:51 The White House said these nations have severe deficiencies in vetting and information sharing which makes it tough to properly screen for security risks. New full bans are1:03 hitting countries like Syria, Niger, and South Sudan while partial restrictions apply to 15 others including Nigeria, Senegal, and Zimbabwe. There's also1:15 a new limit on Palestinian authority issued travel documents. This move appears to be the latest of efforts the Trump administration has made to secure the country.1:27 Specifically, in light of last month's shooting in DC where an Afghan national attacked national guard members killing 1 and severely injuring another. Both were in their twenties and had only
1:39 been sworn in a day prior. President Trump explicitly stated in response to this violence that he would enforce stricter immigration rules. But even beyond this
1:51 DC specific attack, Trump's recent move follows a series of global terror threats even from just this past weekend alone. A Jewish community in Sydney, Australia was struck
2:02 by a horrific ISIS inspired attack that claimed 15 lives and sent roughly 40 others to the hospital. There was also the killing of US soldiers in Syria,
2:14 and Brown University in Rhode Island was also the center of a shooting that took 2 students' lives, severely injured at least 9 others, and harmed so many more. In
2:26 fact, this surge of violence has the global stage in shambles. For example, Paris has scrapped its legendary New Year's Eve concert amid heightened security fears. The
2:38 event typically draws in hundreds of thousands for music and midnight fireworks. But with major challenges in managing dense crowds, unpredictable movements, and other risks that
2:50 come with a night of heavy celebrations, French authorities thought it best to just cancel it altogether. Notably, Europe as a whole is bracing for elevated terrorists this holiday season.
3:02 France has already thwarted 6 plots in 20 25 and bolstered security at Christmas markets due to a very high Jihadist threat from groups like ISIS and Al Qaeda.
3:13 Similar threats have occurred in Germany and elsewhere. Stateside, a bombing plot for New Year's Eve was thankfully stopped in California. All in all, the world is on edge heading
3:25 into 20 26. And so because of this, we'll close on a brighter note with some good news out of Florida. The eleventh US Circuit Court of Appeals has lifted a
3:37 2 year injunction allowing Florida to enforce its 20 23 law that protects minors from attending sexually explicit adult live performances such as
3:49 drag shows. The ruling means venue statewide must now comply with the law or face penalties like fines or license revocation. The only exception is the original Challenger,
4:01 a venue called Hamburger Marys. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier celebrated the ruling saying, if you're exposing children to lewd conduct, you're on notice. We're
4:13 watching. Many others are celebrating this as a common sense step to safeguard kids innocence and uphold parental rights amid ongoing cultural debates. So there you have it.
4:25 A win for child protection as we head into the new year. And with that, those are today's headlines. I'm Sarah Holiday. Dive deeper with the Washington Stand, Family Research Council's outlet for news and commentary
4:36 from a biblical worldview. For more stories that matter, be sure to check out the Washington Stand news brief tomorrow.
4:52 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
Health Care Reform and Policy Battles
5:03 newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Sitting in for Tony is today's host, Jody Heiss.
5:10 Americans of every stripe in every region are about to experience their health insurance premiums increase in some instances by 1000 or 2000 dollars
5:22 per month. That is unacceptable.
5:26 That was house minority leader Hakeem Jeffries earlier on the house floor insisting on extending the not so affordable care act subsidies. Welcome to this December seventeenth edition
5:38 of Washington Watch. I'm your host today, Jody Heiss, filling in for Tony Perkins. Thank you so much for joining us. Alright. Coming up, house Republicans blocked
5:49 a Democrat effort to extend the Obama era Obama the COVID era Obamacare subsidies. And now all those are set to expire by the end of the year, and now Republicans
6:02 are moving forward with their own health care plan. Texas congressman Pete Sessions will be joining me momentarily to break all of that down for us. Plus, Luke Nifferatos,
6:13 executive vice president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, will be joining us later to discuss president Trump's plans to reclassify marijuana.
6:30 House Republicans blocked a last minute effort by Democrats to extend the COVID era Obamacare subsidies, and now they're all going to be expiring at the end of the year, December thirtieth
6:42 30 first. And GOP leaders are, now putting forward their own plan that they say will protect hardworking Americans from the rising premiums and expand access
6:54 to affordable health options for small businesses as well as families and faith based organizations. And joining me now is Washington stand reporter, Casey Harper,
7:06 who's been following all of the day's stories. Casey, this is a pretty big deal to start with. Can you tell us what unfolded there on the house floor today?
7:16 Yeah. Thanks, Jody. So the house voted 204 to 203 to stop Democrats' attempt to extend the Obamacare subsidies. Here's what Democratic minority leader Hakeem Jeffries said earlier today on the
7:28 house floor.
7:29 Under no circumstances should we leave this capital this week before voting on an extension of the Affordable Care Act tax credit bill that we know
7:41 will pass, that the votes exist in a bipartisan way to protect the health care of everyday Americans.
7:51 Now Republican leadership is saying it's time to focus on a long term plan that controls cost and strengthens the health care system without expanding government dependency. The GOP bill aims to lower premiums
8:03 for many while giving small businesses, freelancers, and faith based organizations new ways to access group health coverage. Republican lawmakers say it encourages personal responsibility and protects family
8:15 budgets. The House GOP is expected to vote on their plan soon, maybe within the hour, Jody.
8:22 Alright. Well, thank you, Casey. You know, we got on that on 1 end of the capital. The house has been dealing with the Obamacare subsidies. On the other end, the senate side of the capital, they passed a huge defense
8:34 bill today. Do you know what's in that bill?
8:37 Yes, Jody. It's a massive legis piece of legislation, the 20 26 National Defense Authorization Act, but a few line items. It includes a 4 percent pay raise for our troops. It has new equipment purchases
8:49 and measures to strengthen US competitiveness with China and Russia. Now the bill also provides 800000000 dollars in security aid to Ukraine over 2 years. It supports NATO allies in the Baltics,
9:01 and it maintains a minimum of minimum of 76000 US troops in Europe. Lawmakers say these steps reinforce US global leadership. Now on the domestic policy front, the NDAA includes
9:13 provisions reflecting Republican priorities, such as barring transgender women from women's sports at military academies. Despite some calls to improve helicopter safety after recent deadly crash in
9:25 DC, the bill moved forward with broad bipartisan support passing 77 to 20 in the senate and already approved by the house, Jody.
9:35 Alright. Very interesting. Well, thank you for that. 1 more question before I let you go real quick. Casey, president Trump has ordered as we're all watching right right now, a full blockade, sanctioned Venezuelan
9:47 oil tankers and also calling the government there, foreign terrorist organization. What does all this mean? Where is this headed?
9:57 Sure, Jody. A lot of developments. So president Trump says this blockade targets a regime involved in terrorism, drug trafficking, and human trafficking. He announced a total blockade of all sanctioned oil takers
10:08 entering or leaving Venezuela. Here's what president Trump said earlier today about the war against
10:14 drugs. It's just a blockade. We're not gonna let anybody going through that shouldn't be going through. You remember, they took all of our energy rights. They took all of our oil from not that long
10:26 ago, and we want it back. But they took it. They illegally took it, getting land, oil rights, whatever we had.
10:35 Now the enforcement details here are still unclear, but the US had already seized a sanctioned tanker last week, and many ships are just now staying put. The military also has increased its presence in the region
10:47 with warships and troops. Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro claims the US is after his country's oil, but Trump administration says the goal is to hold the dangerous regime accountable. And
10:58 notably, oil prices rose about 1 percent after the announcement, Jody.
11:04 Wow. A lot going on, Casey. Thank you as always for keep keeping us up to speed. We appreciate it. Alright. I wanna go back now to the battle over health care or really more accurately, the battle
11:16 over health insurance. I wanna get now a perspective from Capitol Hill and joining me to to discuss this and more is Congressman Pete Sessions. He's a member of the Congressional Border Security
11:28 Caucus as well as the all important Oversight and government reform committee. He represents the seventeenth congressional district of Texas congressman Sessions. Great to have you back
11:39 on Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us.
11:43 Chairman, thank you very much. By the way, I don't know that you've ever admitted to your listeners that you served as the chairman exactly as I do. And during that period of time
11:55 held the Biden administration in check-in lots of areas. So it's an honor for me to be, sir, on your show.
12:04 Well, thank you so much, Pete. It's always an honor to have you on with us. And I listen. I know you've got votes that are about to be called and your your clock is ticking. So let me kinda jump into this. Let's start
12:16 off with the Republican health care bill that advanced the house today. Tell us a little bit about that and and why you support it.
12:25 Well, in in fact, I do. It may not be, Jody, the exact answer that gets through the senate, but we have, an
12:37 agreement that we're gonna keep working this issue till they get it right. So what is in the bill that I do think is awesome is what's called associated health care
12:49 plans. So we would allow essentially 170000000 Americans plus those on Obamacare. In other words, people that
13:01 are not on, the employer provided health care, the opportunity or anybody to be able to go to a larger group plan. This associated health care
13:12 plan was actually stopped back when Hillary Clinton was in the senate. She would not let it move forward because she wanted, at that time, Hillary care that is now
13:24 called the ACA, the Affordable Care Act, that's known as Obamacare. The prices that are rising 2 times faster
13:36 than other associated health care plans or employer provide health care plans is what Obamacare prices are doing. They are rising because of the way the Democrats wrote
13:48 the legislation, and so they actually would have a government completely run health care plan because literally 90 percent
14:00 of the people on Obamacare get it for free. But it's not free to the government. It's not free except the government is paying literally
14:12 all the money. And so what we're trying to do is give people an opportunity to go to a system out side of Obamacare that is more just like
14:24 employer provided health care. So this is a large group model. Exactly the same thing that we keep prices down, and that's what we're gonna push them more for. It's
14:36 very close to what my bill is, except that it does not offer every single person the opportunity to go to every doctor that
14:48 they want.
14:50 Wow. Well, it's, it's all coming down to the wire here, and, it's gonna be very interesting to see how this moves in the senate and what takes place there. If I can, congressman Sessions, shift gears a little bit.
15:01 There's been some chatter over the past few days about a potential forthcoming, EO from the Trump administration that would reschedule marijuana from,
15:13 to a whole new set, making it really loosen up the restrictions on it. What's your thoughts on that?
15:21 Well, in fact, the Biden administration said they were going to reclassify from class 1 to class 3 marijuana or THC. We took them on at the
15:33 time because marijuana or THC is an addictive and dangerous product. I actually spoke to the White House. This news leaked out today. It's new news
15:45 and have said to the White House, I would like to talk directly with the president because you will recall the the world learned more about just these
15:57 addictive, challenges when in Uvalde, Texas some 4 years ago when the grandmother of the shooter told him you have erratic behavior.
16:10 I'm worried about your health and mine, and he shot her in the face and then went and killed all those children. THC or marijuana is a dangerous
16:21 addictive product that pro family groups have opposed for a long time. And this would be a terrible mistake if, in fact, the administration chose
16:33 to do this because, among other thing, it supports the drug cartels who wanna push marijuana. Now some would say, oh, that that has nothing to do with it. It does. It's
16:45 more than a signal. They are saying it would allow more research to be done. Federal research has gone on for 25 years, and every single time the
16:57 word that comes back is that it's addictive. It is dangerous. It creates psychosis. You lose your IQ ability, and it diminishes your desire
17:09 to go to work. But for women, it is dangerous because men act erratically and take violence into their own hands. This primarily
17:20 impacts men, not women. And so
17:24 Let me ask you this real quickly. We've only we've only got about a minute left. Isn't there a bit of a disconnect here? I mean, when we we've got this war going on really with the narco terrorist down in the Caribbean.
17:36 And now here, we're gonna loosen the restrictions on marijuana. Doesn't isn't that kind of a disconnect real quickly?
17:45 Well, chairman, as you say, anybody that's a conservative Republican would understand the disconnect. But I'm giving this White House a chance. I was very
17:57 direct with them today, and we have a letter going. Andy Harris, head of the Freedom Caucus and I and 15 other members have signed a letter going to the president saying you at least notice
18:09 a conversation you at least had a should have a chance to come back and confront us or at least talk to us about this because we are universally opposed to this. And the last
18:21 point I know you've got just a second is that every single jail in America is full of people who started with marijuana, who were addicted to psychosis
18:33 and a lack of IQ. So this makes no sense. Absolutely
18:38 no sense.
18:40 Except for the This
18:40 is Congressman Pete Sessions. Thank you so much for joining us. Merry Christmas to you and your dear family. Thanks for joining us.
18:47 And thank you.Show more
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