Skip to content 2/27/2025 The Latest on Oversees Transgender Surgeries, Restricted Speech in Maine, and Christian Persecution Feb 28 · 59 min ...more
2/27/2025 The Latest on Oversees Transgender Surgeries, Restricted Speech in Maine, and Christian Persecution
February 28, 2025 · 59 min
A close look on transgender surgeries oversees, a state legislator being censured for speaking on behalf of girls' sports, persecution of Christians in India, and a halt on the decline in Christianity
Series Washington Watch with Tony Perkins - Video February 28, 2025 · 59 min · Washington Watch with Tony Perkins - Video
A close look on transgender surgeries oversees, a state legislator being censured for speaking on behalf of girls' sports, persecution of Christians in India, and a halt on the decline in Christianity ...more Show the full description Show less A close look on transgender surgeries oversees, a state legislator being censured for speaking on behalf of girls' sports, persecution of Christians in India, and a halt on the decline in Christianity
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In this video 0:00 Political and Economic Updates4:21 Domestic Policy and Social Issues14:41 Religious Freedom and Global Concerns20:51 Religious Trends and Implications33:14 Call to Action and Future Outlook
Political and Economic Updates 0:06 Good afternoon. I'm Victoria Marshall, and welcome to the Washington Watch news desk. Next week, the US will impose an additional 10 percent tariff on China. President0:18 Donald Trump announced the move in a social media post earlier today. He cited the flow of legal drugs into the country as the reason for his decision. Trump wrote, drugs are still0:30 pouring into our country from Mexico and Canada at very high and unacceptable levels. A large percentage of these drugs, much of them in the form of fentanyl, are made in and supplied by0:42 China. Trump also said scheduled 25 percent tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico would go into effect next week. Now this announcement comes after Trump levied a0:54 10 percent tariff against Chinese goods earlier this month. And in other domestic news, the Supreme Court has paused an order that would have required the Trump administration to release1:06 2000000000 dollars in foreign aid. Now, if you don't remember, back in January, president Trump froze the distribution of most foreign aid. As a result, several foreign aid groups1:17 sued and a federal judge ruled that the Trump administration had to keep the money flowing. Supreme Court order, however, keeps the foreign aid freeze in place. Now, this ruling1:29 by the Supreme Court acts as a temporary pause so the justices can consider arguments for and against the freeze. Now, this order also comes as the Trump administration announced last night that
1:41 it is nixing 92 percent of foreign aid related grants. Nearly 10000 contracts and grants given out by the State Department and USAID will be terminated
1:53 as a result. This is all part of the Trump administration's efforts at cutting costs across federal agencies. And speaking of cuts, the Environmental Protection Agency plans to nix
2:05 up to 65 percent of its workforce.
2:09 Well, I spoke with Lee Zeldin, and he thinks he's gonna be cutting 65 or so percent of the people from environmental. And we're gonna speed up the process too at the same time.
2:20 That was president Trump yesterday at the White House during his first official cabinet meeting of his second term. EPA administrator Lee Zeldin was on Fox News earlier this morning. He
2:32 echoed Trump's comments and said he wants the EPA to spend way less.
2:38 In 20 24, EPA spent tens of billions of dollars appropriated by Congress. My message to Congress is that in 20 25, I want to spend tens of billions of less
2:50 dollars. We don't need to be spending all of that money that went through the EPA last year. We can't afford it as a nation. We heard it during yesterday's cabinet meeting from president Trump, and other members
3:01 around the table. We have a deficit in this country that this administration is focused, on ensuring that we get towards a balanced budget. We do it as quickly as possible. We don't waste a penny of the
3:13 taxpayer dollars that we're making the public proud. That is a key part of that Trump mandate that the American public voted for.
3:21 And finally, in other Trump administration news, today, British prime minister Keir Starmer met with president Trump at the White House. On the docket for discussion between the 2 leaders
3:33 was the war in Ukraine and trade policy.
3:36 We're gonna be discussing many things today. We'll be discussing Russia, Ukraine. We'll be discussing trade and lots of other, items. And I think, we can say that we're gonna be getting along on every 1 of them.
3:48 We've had a tremendous relationship.
3:51 Our countries have been bound together for a very long time now, the closest alliance, I think, of any 2 countries when it comes to prosperity and security.
4:00 And I
4:01 know that together, we will strengthen that even further. And, on issues like Ukraine, thank you for changing the conversation to bring about the possibility that now we can have a peace deal.
4:13 Starmer promised Trump the UK would work closely with the US to bring about a lasting peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. And those are today's headlines. I'm Victoria Marshall.
Domestic Policy and Social Issues
4:25 For more news and commentary, be sure to check out the Washington stand at Washington stand dot com and find this and other news on the stand firm mobile app. Up next
4:36 is Washington Watch with Tony Perkins. We'll see you tomorrow with more news.
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
5:03 newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Washington Watch with Tony Perkins starts now.
5:11 Do you think that spending 2000000 dollars for sex changes and LGBTQ activism in Guatemala is a reflection of American values?
5:22 The information that you are using is so faulty that it doesn't It's
5:25 it's a yes or no
5:26 question. USAID projects.
5:28 No. That that is a direct description of what we're spending our tax dollars.
5:32 That was Texas congressman Brandon Gill questioning Noam Unger during a house committee hearing yesterday about the spending of USAID. Welcome to Washington Watch. Thanks for tuning in and making us part of
5:43 your day. Well, the Trump administration notched a victory of sorts at the Supreme Court last night when chief justice John Roberts temporarily blocked a federal judge's order that would have required the administration
5:55 to pay nearly 2000000000 dollars in foreign aid to contractors by midnight last night. Roberts has set a deadline of noon on Friday for further action. Congressman Gill will join us in just a moment to
6:07 discuss that and more. And I'm sure that you have probably seen this exchange by now. This took place last week between president Trump and Maine governor Janet Mills.
6:18 Are you, not gonna comply with it?
6:20 I'm complying with state and federal laws.
6:22 Well, I'm we are the federal law. Uh-huh. Well, you better do it. You better do it because you're not gonna get any federal funding at all if you don't. And, by the way, your population, even though it's somewhat
6:31 liberal, although I did very well there, your population doesn't want men playing in women's sports. So you better you better comply because otherwise, you're not getting any any federal funding. See you in court.
6:43 Every state good. I'll see you in court. I look forward to that. That should be a really easy 1.
6:48 I love that clip every time I see it. So Maine seems to be caught up in the latest wave of political insanity. Well, earlier this week, state representative Laurel Libby was censured by the Democrat
7:00 con Democratic controlled Maine House for a social media post noting that a transgender athlete who won first place in the girls pole vault competition completed,
7:12 competed just last year as a boy.
7:14 The the chair understands that the member does not intend to submit an apology to the body. That
7:19 is correct.
7:21 The member will be in violation of house rule 4 0 1 part 11. The member will not be able to cast a vote or speak on the floor until the member has come back into compliance
7:33 with house rule 4 0 1 part 11. The member may return to her seat.
7:40 Outrageous. That was main house speaker Ryan Fecteau. As it stands, representative Libby is barred from speaking on the house floor until she apologizes. But
7:51 she can speak here, and she will later on this edition of Washington Watch. Also tonight, a new survey from Pew Research suggests the trend of declining affiliation with Christianity in America may
8:03 may have stabilized. We'll, talk with Greg Smith, senior associate director at Pew Research who led the religious landscape study. And then later, doctor Andrew Walker from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary will
8:15 join me as we analyze the study and look at what it means for Christians in America today. And speaking of Christianity, a new Family Research Council report highlights increasing violence and
8:27 discrimination against Christians in India. Ariel Del Turco, director of the Center for Religious Liberty at FRC, will join us to discuss the findings. All of that and more coming up on this edition of
8:39 Washington Watch, so stay with us. By the way, if you've not seen this week's episode of God in Government, I encourage you to check it out. How many God ordained institutions of government are there? Well, watch this
8:50 week's edition of God in Government and find out. Text course to 6 7 7 4 2. That's course to 6 7 7 4 2, and I'll send you a link to watch it on the Stand Firm app.
9:02 The Trump administration has said it is eliminating more than 90 percent of the foreign aid contracts of the US Agency for International Development and 60000000000 in overall foreign aid. When you look at where
9:14 the money has been going and how it's been spent, well, I think you know why they're cutting it. Here with more is Texas congressman Brandon Gill. He serves on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, the
9:25 House Budget Committee, and the Judiciary Committee. He represents the 20 sixth congressional district of Texas. Congressman Gill, welcome to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us.
9:36 Tony, thanks for having me.
9:37 Alright. So you, you really dug into this, yesterday at the committee hearing. You know, there's all the the left's all worked up about the president cutting Doge coming in and looking at this
9:49 wasteful and ineffective ineffective spending. This has been an ideological slush fund for the left. Has it not?
10:00 Well, that's exactly what it is. You know, for decades, the United States Congress has funded areas of the administrative state that have had little to no accountability for what they're doing with the money we've been
10:12 giving them. And what we found out from the past month of DOSJ and the executive and the investigations that we've been launching in the subcommittee of DOGE and congress is that so much of
10:24 this money is funding left wing pet projects in other parts of the globe. And in particular, we're it it's become a form of cultural imperialism. It is going to more
10:35 traditional cultures than the United States and funding left wing projects like transgender surgeries in Guatemala or DEI projects in Eastern Europe or, all kinds of
10:47 other, ideologically based programs all over the globe. And that's what we're trying to stop, and that's what our investigation earlier this week was about.
10:58 Tyler O'Neil with The Daily Signal and testimony this week on the Hill about USID spending pointed to where money was going to organizations like George Soros. It was almost like
11:10 USAID and federal funds were used as a donor match program. So the leftist could double their impact by teaming up with the US government aided by US tax dollars.
11:23 And that's exactly right. And you you ask yourself, how has the left been so effective at pushing ideologies that are so contrary to common sense? Men should be in women's sports or men can get pregnant.
11:36 No normal person believes this, but the reason they've had so much power is because their whole institutional movement is subsidized by taxpayers. We see that both abroad and in
11:48 the United States. We spend over 500000000 dollars every single year funding NPR and PBS, organizations that routinely attack Republicans and conservatives and Christians
12:00 and run cover for Democrats. We've been funding a a vast and convoluted network of NGOs that push left wing ideological causes. You know, that is what has been driving the
12:12 leftist movement in the United States for a very long time, and those are the people, as you've noticed, who have been screaming the loudest as we've been exposing this waste and abuse. And those are the people,
12:24 who have no business getting a single dollar from taxpayers.
12:29 Now the history of USAID go goes back to the 19 sixties as kind of being the humanitarian outreach arm of the United States government to facilitate our foreign policy objectives and
12:41 priorities. Clearly, as, even you laid out yesterday and earlier this week in the committee, on how this money is being spent. I mean, we we we have condoms being spent to the Taliban,
12:53 as you pointed out, promoting LGBTQ pretty much around the globe. But in the midst of this, there are some good programs that are going to poor countries, helping with,
13:05 health related issues, and it is building goodwill. Now I think we spent way, way too much, but there are some as I mentioned, there are some legitimate programs. Where will they find a home in, in
13:17 in the the next in this administration?
13:20 Well, many of these programs that are legitimate, to your point, are going to be housed within the state department so that they can continue doing legitimate work that they've been doing. You know, the the purpose of
13:31 foreign aid should be to advance America's interests abroad. To your point, we have a a long history of being generous to other nations, but it it should all be done in the context of America's interests, our
13:43 our cultural interests, our political interests, not as a way of imperializing traditional cultures with secular left wing values, and that's the kind of perversion of
13:55 this program that we're trying to stop. This is what America first means. It means advancing America's interests abroad and promoting transgenderism in Latin America certainly doesn't
14:07 do that. That doesn't buy us any goodwill on the world stage. It alienates the United States. And I I believe that the American people are tired of seeing their tax dollars actively
14:19 working against their interests, against America's interests, and promoting values that they find repugnant and are antithetical to their moral convictions and their faith. And that's what we're
14:30 trying to to root out here. But to your point, there are legitimate foreign aid programs that that are going to continue, and the president's been very clear that that is not what DOSH is stopping. DOSH is not cutting
Religious Freedom and Global Concerns
14:42 off life saving aid, food assistance, for instance, in deeply poverty stricken, nations where there is a life or death situation. What we're stopping is waste, fraud, and
14:54 abuse. And in these programs, that is very widespread.
14:58 Yeah. No more transgender operas. I mean, it it it in my time, at the US Commission on International Religious Freedom and meeting with, leaders in foreign countries, 1 of the
15:09 complaints they had with with the the policies being pushed from our state department that were, as you pointed out, not just contrary to American values, but you have countries in the
15:21 African continent very religious in their orientation. And this stuff was offensive to them. But there was a bigger plan here. It was to push it through the state department onto these other countries back through the
15:32 United Nations to try to influence even our own policy. So this it's way past time to, address this, and and it sounds as if it's gonna be rooted out. It's
15:44 not gonna go forward.
15:46 Well, that's right. I mean, think of the fiscal situation our country is in right now. We're 37000000000000 dollars in debt. We're running 2000000000000 dollar annual deficits. Our country is bankrupt right
15:58 now. And in an environment like this, we should not be subsidizing political opposition in the United States, whether that is at home or abroad. You know, I I
16:10 am sick and tired of my tax dollars, and I know my constituents in Texas 26 agree with me on this. I am tired of my tax dollars funding programs that I find repulsive.
16:22 We are broke, and we've got to get back to fiscal sanity. This is a part of that.
16:26 It absolutely is. When we're when we're having to, dig deep just to get a dozen eggs, we don't want our tax dollars being wasted. In fact, we want our tax dollars cut, and I know that's 1, of the major projects
16:38 of the Republicans now is to make sure our taxes don't go up. Congressman, Gill, we just have 2 minutes left. This is actually your first time on the program, I believe, since you've been elected to congress. I I
16:50 wanna I I I'd like to ask, our our new members so people get to know a little bit more about them. What motivated you to run for congress?
17:00 Well, you know, I've I've been involved in politics for quite a while now, and I never expected myself to jump into the political fray in in this respect. But when the opportunity opened up and our former
17:12 congressman announced he was retiring, I knew it was time to make sure that we had good, solid conservative representation in congress. I think that there is a silent majority that is not so
17:23 silent anymore who has been begging for Washington to listen to them, to stand up for conservatisms, to stand up for their Christian principles in Washington, and they're begging for it. And that's what
17:35 I hope to do here in DC. And a big part of that is defunding some of these agencies. Of course, it's fighting back and trying to defund planned parenthood. It's pushing for pro life policies,
17:47 that our country needs desperately, and it's fighting to bring our country back to its Christian roots. So those are my goals here in Washington. We've got a long ways to go. Luckily, we have a president in the
17:59 White House who is much more amenable to our worldview and actually supports the American people. So my biggest goal here is to provide legislative support for him, but we've got a lot more
18:11 work to do here.
18:12 Lot of work to be done, but a lot of, hope that it'll get done. A lot of opportunity ahead of us. Congressman Gill, again, thanks for joining us, and look forward to, having you on again real
18:24 soon.
18:25 Tony, thanks for having me.
18:27 Alright. Congressman Brandon Gill of, of Texas, 1 of the new members of congress. And there are a lot of them, and they're here to do the right thing. That's 1 of the reasons I'm encouraged. We see more and more men and
18:37 women of faith that are coming here to our nation's capital to make a difference. Right. Don't go anywhere. When we come back, a Maine state legislator has been silenced by our colleagues for speaking the truth. Well,
18:48 she speaks here next.
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