Thursday, April 10, 2025
Good morning, and welcome to RedState's "Morning Minute" — a brief glimpse at which stories are trending at the moment and a look ahead at what the day may bring. Consider this your one-stop shop for news to kickstart your day.
Red-Hot at RedState
The Chinese Embassy Lashes Out With Insane Video, and It's Time to Drop the Hammer
Trending Across Townhall Media
Donald Trump Makes Big Change at ATF as Patel Exits Agency
MN AG Keith Ellison Ran Interference for Fraudsters Who Stole $250 Million From Minnesota Kids
Rubio Exposes Leftist Agenda and Corruption of USAID Programs
You Gotta Admit That Trump Is Packing Some Major Cajones
Schaden-FAFO: Man Who Urged Assassinations of ICE Agents Weeps As the 'Find Out' Part Arrives
Today on Capitol Hill...
In contrast with Wednesday, there are only a handful of committee hearings/meetings set for Thursday on the Hill, all of which are on the Senate side:
And in case you missed Wednesday's Senate Judiciary Criminal Justice and Counterterrorism Subcommittee hearing on Meta's troubling relationship with China, well, let's just say it did not go well for Mark Zuckerberg (who wasn't physically present but was metaphorically taken to the woodshed, raked over the coals, and backed up over by a bus).
As for the compromise budget resolution, House leaders pressed pause on it Wednesday evening as they attempted to round up the requisite votes. But they look to be back at it this morning, and, as of this morning, the plan appears to be to move the package forward without changes. Can House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) pull another rabbit out of a hat? Stay tuned.
White House What's Up
President Donald Trump is set to receive his intelligence briefing in the AM, followed by a Cabinet meeting. Then, he'll participate in a swearing-in ceremony for Solicitor General D. John Sauer. Later in the afternoon, he'll hold a bill signing — yes, an actual bill, not an executive order.
On Wednesday, Vice President JD Vance met with a group of hostages released by Hamas terrorists, along with the families of hostages still held captive, and affirmed Trump's commitment to reuniting the remaining hostages with their families.
Keeping Up With the Cabinet
Sec. State - Marco Rubio — Rubio announced that American Ksenia Karelina is on a plane back home to the United States after being wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year.
Sec. Treasury - Scott Bessent — Our own Teri Christoph has suggested a Scott Bessent Appreciation Society — I think she may be onto something.
Sec. Defense - Pete Hegseth — In case you didn't know, SecDef does a mean Trump impersonation.
Sec. Interior - Doug Burgum — Burgum helped President Trump welcome the North Dakota State University, 2025 Division 1 Football Champions, to the White House.
Sec. Agriculture - Brooke Rollins — Rollins and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. released an OpEd in USA Today focused on making families healthier.
Sec. Commerce - Howard Lutnick — Lutnick got a right good chuckle out of watching President Trump sign the executive order reversing low-flow shower head energy regulations on Wednesday.
Sec. Labor - Lori Chavez-DeRemer — Chavez-DeRemer highlighted a startling DOGE finding regarding unemployment payments.
Sec. Transportation - Sean Duffy — Duffy lauded Trump's executive order on American shipbuilding.
Sec. Energy - Chris Wright — Wright affirmed the administration's commitment to "coal done right."
Sec. Education - Linda McMahon — McMahon discussed the administration's goals for education at the ASU+GSV Summit in California.
Dir. Federal Bureau of Investigations - Kash Patel — Patel touted the FBI's efforts to break the drug cartels.
Dir. National Intelligence - Tulsi Gabbard — Gabbard is establishing a new intel community task force "to restore trust and transparency."
U.S. Trade Rep. - Jamieson Greer — Greer testified before both the House and the Senate this week.
Full Court Press...
The Supreme Court issued another significant ruling on Wednesday, granting a stay of a lower court injunction that prevented Trump from firing two Biden appointees.
And the fate of several Venezuelans who the Trump administration sought to remove pursuant to the Alien Enemies Act remains a bit up in the air as both a Texas and a New York district court judge have pressed pause on their removal to consider their petitions for habeas relief. (I wouldn't read too terribly much into that just yet. The Supreme Court ruling on Monday as to removal under the AEA affirmed the would-be deportees are entitled to minimal due process of notice and a chance to be heard before removal — that's what we're watching play out now, just not in Judge Boasberg's court.)
We'll, of course, be keeping an eye on the House as it wrestles with the budget resolution, the markets as they wrestle with tariffs, and China as it throws awkward memes and icy glares our way.
I'll never claim to have any special insight into the mind of Trump. The man has a knack for keeping everyone guessing and a wee bit off balance. Over the past decade, I've slowly adjusted to that and learned not to just knee-jerk at every little thing he says and does. Over that time, he's proven to have some pretty good instincts and the ability to beat odds heavily stacked against him.
Something that occurred to me Wednesday as he paused the tariffs for all but China and the markets came roaring back loudly was this: During the campaign, he was asked frequently about his plans for "revenge," and his response was that "success" would be his best revenge. I think most people assumed — rightly so — that he was speaking in terms of his domestic opposition. But what if it wasn't just his domestic foes he meant? I get the sense he may have an eye to serving that cold dish up to one Xi Jinping, who I believe he blames, at least on some level, for COVID and his 2020 election defeat. (And, to be fair, personal vendettas aside, boxing China in is likely to be beneficial to the U.S. in multiple ways.) Maybe that's just me with a melodramatic read on things. But maybe not.
Somehow, I never pictured him on horseback, but...if Santa gets a sleigh, why not?
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