Skip to content 7/1/2026 Reflecting on the Foundational Values of America with a Sober Look at Today’s Reality Jul 1 · 59 min ...more
7/1/2026 Reflecting on the Foundational Values of America with a Sober Look at Today’s Reality
July 1, 2026 · 59 min
On today’s Washington Watch, Tony looks at the troubling rise of Democratic Socialist political candidates, why the SAVE America Act failed again, President Trump’s push for Syria to fight Hezbollah, Iowa's restoration of safeguards on abortion drug distribution amid a growing pattern of women who are unknowingly given the drugs, and Peter Muhlenberg's Pivotal Role in the American Revolution.
Series Washington Watch with Tony Perkins - Video
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July 1, 2026 · 59 min · Washington Watch with Tony Perkins - Video
On today’s Washington Watch, Tony looks at the troubling rise of Democratic Socialist political candidates, why the SAVE America Act failed again, President Trump’s push for Syria to fight Hezbollah, Iowa's restoration of safeguards on abortion drug distribution amid a growing pattern of women who are unknowingly given the drugs, and Peter Muhlenberg's Pivotal Role in the American Revolution. ...more Show the full description Show less On today’s Washington Watch, Tony looks at the troubling rise of Democratic Socialist political candidates, why the SAVE America Act failed again, President Trump’s push for Syria to fight Hezbollah, Iowa's restoration of safeguards on abortion drug distribution amid a growing pattern of women who are unknowingly given the drugs, and Peter Muhlenberg's Pivotal Role in the American Revolution.
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In this video 0:00 News Brief: Global Crises and Christian Response5:10 Socialist Rise, Iowa Abortion Law, and House Stalemate19:00 Foreign Policy, Persecution, and Patriot Pastors45:00 Abortion Pill Dangers and Call to Biblical ActionComments No comments yet. Start the conversation.
1:35 And we're actually updating the website right now. I wrote all of our policy page a year ago now, but we're updating it this week and, some of the things that we're we're adding in. There's also a trans bill of rights.
1:47 You know, I think we have to be so forceful and clear and aggressive in our protection and our advocacy for the trans community.
1:58 On her website, Kiro says, quote, the any democrat will do era is over. When I spoke out against the genocide in Gaza, powerful people told me to stay silent or it
2:10 would cost me my job. I didn't back down. Now I'll do the same in congress, end quote. Her victory comes on the heels of other Democratic socialist candidates winning primaries this
2:22 year as well. And recovery efforts following the earthquakes in Venezuela continue with little hope of rescuing victims from the rubble, efforts now are focused on rebuilding and the
2:34 care for survivors. The government of acting president Delsey Rodriguez says at least 1943 people have died, and thousands have been injured. About
2:46 16000 people have been left homeless with some sources saying that upwards of 43000 people are still missing. Christian aid organization, Samaritan's Purse, has mobilized to
2:58 1 of the most impacted regions where they have established an emergency field hospital.
3:03 I'm standing in a baseball field here in LaGuardia, Venezuela, very close to some of the worst destruction of the back to back earthquakes that happened days ago. At this baseball field, we are turning this into a
3:15 full tier 3 emergency field hospital. We have been working all day trying to get this thing up and mobilized so we can start taking care of people as soon as possible. There's a lot of injured people,
3:27 and so we're gonna work to get this thing ready so that we can start treating the victims of the earthquake and and sharing the love of Jesus with them.
3:34 Hetfield Hospital is now operational. And so far, the organization says they have had 2 airlifts from its North Carolina headquarters with nearly 200000 pounds of relief materials as
3:46 the effort continues. Well, a new report on the death tolls from the violence in Nigeria shows that nearly 80000 people have lost their lives in over 15000 attacks in the
3:58 past 6 years. This amounts to an average of 7 attacks per day within the country. The report compiled by the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa said that Christian
4:09 civilians were disproportionately affected. Christians faced a relative risk of death 4.4 times higher and a relative risk of abduction 3.2 times higher than civilians,
4:22 Muslim civilians. The report identifies Fluani and other terrorist groups as responsible for most civilian deaths and abductions. And that is today's news. I'm Tony Perkins. You can dive deeper at the
4:34 Washington Stand, Family Research Council's outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview.
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
5:04 newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Washington Watch with Tony Perkins starts now.
Socialist Rise, Iowa Abortion Law, and House Stalemate
5:11 We will not wait to take the fight to Donald Trump and the oligarchy. We will not wait. We will not wait to abolish
5:22 ICE and pass Medicare for all. And no, we will not wait to end the genocide in Palestine.
5:31 That was Melon Khedros, a democratic socialist candidate who won the democratic primary yesterday in Colorado, defeating a 15 term incumbent. Welcome to this
5:42 Wednesday, July 1st edition of Washington Watch. I'm Tony Perkins, your host. Thanks for tuning in. Well, coming up, the house and senate are in recess after efforts to advance the National Defense Authorization Act
5:54 along with the Save America Act fell short in the House yesterday. Oklahoma congressman Josh Burkin joins us to discuss what comes next for Congress. Plus, Chuck Hurley, the vice president and
6:06 chief counsel of the family leader, joins us to discuss Iowa's new law requiring the in person dispensing of the abortion pill, mifepristone, which takes effects takes effect today.
6:18 And Indiana congressman Marlon Stutzman joins us to discuss the latest reports on the persecution of Christians in Nigeria. All of that and more straight ahead.
6:32 Well, let's start with some domestic news. A Democratic socialist has defeated 15 term congresswoman Diana DeGette in yesterday's Colorado Democratic congressional primary.
6:44 Joining me now to discuss this is Washington Watch reporter Mary Stackhouse. Mary, walk us through what happened in Colorado.
6:53 So, Tony, in a really stunning political reversal, long term Democratic congresswoman Diana DeGette was defeated by Milat Kiros, a newcomer backed by the Democratic socialist of America. Kiros was also
7:05 endorsed by independent senator Bernie Sanders along with Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez. While both DeGat and Kiros hold liberal views, Kiros is a Democratic socialist.
7:17 We're seeing a continued trend of Democratic socialist being elected after a string of recent high profile victories. Here's here's Kira's last night during her victory speech.
7:26 Nothing nothing is set in stone. We won tonight, but this is about something so much bigger than this moment, than 1 moment. This
7:38 is a movement.
7:52 While DeGette and Kiris agreed on many policy matters, they held deeply convicting views on Israel and antisemitism. Kiris has described Israel's military operations against Hamas, terrorists, and Gaza as
8:04 apartheid and has faced criticism over anti Semitic comments. We'll be continuing to watch to see if any other democratic socialist candidates emerge. Tony?
8:12 Yeah. This is gonna be very it's a very, very interesting primary season. Let's turn to, some other news. Starting today, women in Iowa seeking abortion pills will be required to have an in person
8:24 appointment with a physician in order to receive the drug. Mary, walk us through this new law.
8:31 Well, Tony, this new requirement to have an in person doctor appointment to receive the abortion drug comes after passage of a state law in order to in an effort to keep people from ordering the drugs online.
8:43 Excuse me. This is a new this new law comes as the pro life movement presses the FDA to reverse its decision in 20 22 to remove the in person appointment requirements with the physician. Over 60 percent
8:55 of abortions in the US are are caused by the drug mifepristone. The enactment of this new law overlaps with a lawsuit led by Louisiana, which would restore the FDA safety protocols on the abortion drug that were
9:07 removed during the Biden administration. We'll definitely continue to stay on top of this in any new developments. Tony.
9:14 Yeah. I think it what's what's interesting here is this is a state trying to bring back the medical oversight, that has been the lack of that oversight has led to many of the,
9:25 health complications that women have had. Alright, Mary. Thanks for the update. Obviously, we're gonna be talking about that a little bit more in the program, when we, talk to the the man behind the law there
9:37 in Iowa, Chuck Hurley. Alright. Members of congress won't be returning to Washington until the middle of, the month, actually, July the 13th. And when they return, there will be a
9:49 lot of catching up to do. Joining us now to discuss this and, more is congressman Josh Burkin. He serves on the House Homeland Security Committee and the House Budget Committee. He represents the 2nd
10:01 congressional district of Oklahoma. Congressman Brienne, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us.
10:07 Thank you, Tony.
10:09 Alright. Before we jump into, a number of topics that we wanna talk about, I think we'll might get your take on, yesterday's Supreme Court ruling on the 14th amendment and, on the birthright citizenship. But I I I wanna
10:20 1st get you to to walk us through what happened in the house yesterday, where, you know, there was the clamoring for the Save America Act. The speaker came up with a way of getting that onto the NDAA,
10:33 but 14 Republicans voted against the rule, basically shutting the house down.
10:39 Yeah. You had different groups with different rationales. I think there was at least 3 different reasons. Tony, I was not among those. I've got, you know, good good, friends that were
10:50 among those. They had different reasons. I would not wanna speak for them. I do think that, you just had a lot of inactivity in the last several
11:02 weeks. It's it's unfortunate. And I hope that in this, you know, July 4th weekend that, that, some discussions are going to be happening. People will
11:14 come back to some higher principles of of things versus some ancillary stuff. And the higher principles in what happened, you already alluded to it, what happened yesterday at the
11:26 Supreme Court, I think makes us, really need to to man the wall and deal with what does, subject to the
11:38 jurisdiction thereof actually mean. Doesn't mean that we'll be able to do anything, you know, absent a constitutional change, but, you know, I'm open. The president's tweeting as much. I'm open to hear some
11:50 lawyers discuss what we can do, how dangerous it is to hear that there, are right now in the pipeline, 1500000 Chinese that fall in this category of tourism,
12:02 from overseas. Ballots from Beijing, where someone a mother can come come and deliver a child. That child immediately be taken to China and will receive Social Security benefits
12:13 immediately. And then when they turn 18, they can mail in their ballot and never have, been a part of this governance structure. What a crazy ruling. It defies common sense. It defies original
12:25 intent. And so of all the things that we're kind of dealing with, we need to get to the business of reconciliation 3. And I think, you know, with with even with what happened with Iran and
12:37 some things that we need to be doing for defense capabilities, to be able to replenish munitions, etcetera, that's the real focus. And I'm I'm hopeful when we come back, we're gonna get down to business.
12:47 Okay. Josh, I want I wanna break down the the the birthright citizenship ruling yesterday. I wanna talk a little bit more about that. But 1st, I wanna go back to the the the fact that the house, for 2 weeks in a row,
12:59 have had to leave early. You said there's gonna be some conversations taking place. Let me just ask you this. Is this frustrating to members?
13:07 Yeah. It's frustrating. But look. I've been 1 of those, Tony. I'm in the Freedom Caucus. I've been 1 of those that, has wanted to see us do the most conservative things possible. So I don't wanna stand in
13:19 judgment of people that felt like that there was principles that they were standing on. My hope is is that we get that dealt with. And so when we come back, people have a break that we'll really start
13:31 seeing a well oiled machine. And whether it's, everything that we can do to make sure, but before we get into November, that we've done everything we can in this session to make sure that HR2,
13:43 that we've done all that we can statutorily.
13:46 The HR2, border security.
13:48 Yes. To back up the president so that we can do things that, you know, if, you know, if something was to happen and years down the road, we have another Biden type that tries to buy
14:00 executive order, undo what is now a 50 year low in illegal crossings at that Southern border. We need to be trying to get things in statute as much as we can. Right.
14:13 Tony, there's a bigger conversation here. I, I have been chewing on this for a week, or more. The, the 60 vote threshold in the Senate, I was just reading
14:24 Federalist 22. I encourage all of your listeners to read Federalist 22. He talks about a 2 thirds vote, how destructive Hamilton and Federalist 22, how destructive of a 2 thirds vote would be absent the
14:36 constitutional provisions. What are the constitutional provisions of a 2 3rd vote? Constitutional amendments, impeachment. And and so the treaties, the the founders in with the
14:48 Hamilton and Federalist 22, the founders with James Madison Federalist 58, and then Federalist 73 written by, James Madison. They did fear the excess of lawmaking, but they
15:00 never intended the day to day duties. What you'll find in Federalist 22, they didn't wanna steal the energy of the government by him springing everything to a 3 2 thirds vote because that's what the articles of
15:10 Confederation were. Federalist 22 lays it out plain. And yet, people are frustrated when you put the majorities together, and we can't get anything done. And it's archaic, and I wanna use the word
15:21 accident, the filibuster was an accident. Vice president Burr in 18 o 6 said something to a group of senators. They then changed something in their own procedure, left them without the ability to
15:33 to end debate, and it never turned into what it is today until almost 100 years later. But we are doing just the opposite of what Federalist 22, Federalist 73, and Federalist 58
15:45 talk about. We have turned things that should be a simple majority vote into a 2 thirds vote, and it's the paralysis. It's why you see the paralysis that we have today. And my great concern,
15:57 Tony, is us fixing that once and for all. And in a minimum, what Mike Lee is talking about, whether it be the talking filibuster or when we go into reconciliation 3, it doesn't need to be a parliamentarian
16:10 who is not elected by the people. The constitution says the senate and the house determine their own rule. It should not be left to a parliamentarian to determine what we're gonna do. And and that is what's so
16:21 frustrating, the things that we're doing in this in this building that are unconstitutional.
16:26 Well, to to the latter point of the parliamentarian, the the senate can override the parliamentarian. They can they can they they could do that if they wanted to to do that. And I agree with you because
16:38 we've seen many, many things in reconciliation, which has been used more frequently as we've had this divided government to try to get things through the process. We just have 2 minutes left, congressman Burkin.
16:50 The the birthright citizenship, you you pointed out something that was has not really been discussed a whole lot where most people are focused on illegal immigrants that come across
17:02 the country or come across the border, have a baby in this country, and that baby then becomes an anchor baby, becomes a a citizen. But there's a national security issue here that you touched on, and that
17:14 is there the the Chinese government, the communist party is intentionally sending people here to this country to have babies, and those babies are becoming American citizens. They're taking them back to China,
17:26 indoctrinating them in the communist ideology, and then they can come back here to the United States as citizens.
17:33 Yes. Mike Davis has been talking about this 1500000 number. He believes it to be 1500000 already. But what, what will this translate when they become a voting in age at 18?
17:46 When we, this is dangerous. And so I don't know, you know, there's a, there's some ideas floating around. What do we, what are we gonna do to in reconciliation 3, why we've got to, you know, have everyone in DC
17:58 really structured, really zeroed in. I don't know, what we're gonna do. I look forward to talking to some lawyers to see within without a constitutional amendment, what we can do to correct this. I am interested in the
18:09 concept for reconciliation purposes of a of a tremendous tax that would be placed upon those coming from China that would try to do this. To make it cost prohibitive, which would burn
18:21 out because there's a fiscal impact we could recoup. And and so I'm that is 1 option that I'm really interested at this point.
18:29 Well, it is a national security issue. It's a real threat, and it's something that we need to be wise to and take action, immediately. Congressman Perhaps
18:39 these Chinese that are trying to do this. I mean, let's let's at least conversation.
18:42 Yeah. Absolutely right. Alright. We're out of time. Always great to see you, my friend. Have a happy 4th of July. Folks, stick with us. We're back with more after this.
18:52 America. What formed the fabric of our freedom? What sticks together the hearts of those that fasten the stars and stripes? 250 years ago, our founding fathers pinned the invisibleShow more
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