Morning Wire - Homan Crackdown Inbound & Government Shutdown Averted? | 1.30.26

Episode Date: January 30, 2026

Border Czar Tom Homan puts anti-ICE activists on notice, Democrats and the White House reach a deal to end the government shutdown, and a federal minority contracting program bans more than a thousand companies after they refuse to prove they did any work. Get the facts first with Morning Wire. - - - Ep. 2607 - - - Wake up with new Morning Wire merch: https://bit.ly/4lIubt3 - - - Today's Sponsors: Boll & Branch - Get 15% off your first order + free shipping at https://BollAndBranch.com/wire with code wire. Shopify - Sign up for your $1-per-month trial and start selling today at https://Shopify.com/morningwire - - - Privacy Policy: https://www.dailywire.com/privacy morning wire,morning wire podcast,the morning wire podcast,Georgia Howe,John Bickley,daily wire podcast,podcast,news podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Immigration Showdown in Minnesota could be entering a new phase as Borders'ar Tom Holman vowed to crack down on organized anti-ice saboteurs. While the organization and the funding of the attacks on ice, I'm not going to answer a lot about that, but there'll be held accountable. Justice is coming. I'm Georgia Howe. John Bickley is off today. It's Friday, January 30th. It's great to be back on video, and this is Morning Wire. Senate Democrats reach a deal with the White House to keep the government open. But could we still see a shutdown? The Department of Homeland Security, which is responsible for ICE, will be considered at a separate occasion. And a quarter of

minority-owned 8A contracted businesses are banned from the federal minority contracting program after failing to prove they did any work. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. When was the last time you stayed up until 4 in the morning? For me, it was packing last minute for a trip. And yes, I did book the trip well in advance, and yes, still chose to pack last minute. You better believe that when I crawled in bed at 415, I needed the best night's sleep possible. And that's where our sponsor, Bowling Branch, comes in. Bowling Branch's signature sheets and Waffle Bed Blanket are the vetting essentials you need for the perfect escape right at home.

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That's Boland Branch, B-O-L-L-A-N-D-Branch.com slash wire, codewire, to unlock 15% off. Exclusions apply. Borders are Tom Homan is putting anti-ice activists on notice that they will be held accountable for obstructing law enforcement. Meanwhile, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar is entering the race for governor. Here with the latest on all the developments in the North Star State is Daily Wire Culture reporter Megan Basham. So, Megan, it seems like the key development was Homan's press conference in Minnesota. Can you walk us through what he said and how it's affecting things in the state? Yeah, Georgia. So this was really the first time that Homan stepped up to the podium since he was first sent to Minnesota to, let's say, clean up a little bit of a mess there.

And he really made it clear that his aims here are twofold. So first, he said that he wants to be absolutely crystal clear that law and order are going to be restored. And he pledged to remain on the ground until, quote, the problem is gone. So presumably referring to illegal immigration in that city. So clearly putting Minneapolis mayor, Jacob, fray on notice there that his insistence that Minneapolis is going to remain a sanctuary city is not going to stand as far as Homan is concerned. And then Homan also made it clear that despite the bad press that has come from the deaths of anti-ice activists, Renee Good, and Alex Pretty, he's not going to be deterred from investigating those activist networks. Homan also made it clear that while he doesn't feel that the strategy of federal authorities has been perfect, and he does

believe that there are improvements needed on the ground, he's putting the blame for the bloodshed at the feet of the agitators. If you want certain laws reformed, then take it up with Congress. I'm just asking to keep it peaceful. You interfere, impede, assault and ICE officers, you will be arrested. So Mayor Jacob Frey has been digging in, it looks like, but it seems like Governor Walls and Attorney General Keith Ellison are actually bending somewhat. Is that accurate? Yeah, I think it is. and that's something else that Homan covered in this press conference. He said that he is reaching out across the aisle, and he said he has already received a loose pledge, at least,

from A.G. Ellison to start allowing ICE officers to access those county jails. And Ellison also promised that police will now respond to 911 calls when these agents are under assault. So that's a pretty big concession. And then along with that, we're finally seeing Minneapolis PD starting to arrest some of those agitators out on the streets, so maybe some attempt here to start to cooperate. Now politically, this has some pretty significant ripple effects,

particularly walls pulling out of the governor's race, which brings us to Senator Amy Klobuchar's big announcement yesterday that she is jumping into that race for governor. Why do you think she's announcing now with all of this going on? Yeah, I mean, we know that she's probably been planning this for a while. She did file her papers last week but didn't announce until this week. And I think probably because she's looking at the chaos that's happening in Minneapolis and in Minnesota at large, and she's seeing a pretty

opportune moment here. Because clearly there are incredibly bad optics coming out of Minneapolis. When we look at this, we see that it is the same city that experienced this exact same kind of chaos back in 2020 during those Black Live Matter riots. And I think this gives Klobuchar a chance to showcase herself as a moderate, who is going to be interested in restoring order. So this was from her campaign launch video just yesterday. I was ranked number one in the Senate for bipartisan bills and number three out of a hundred for getting bills passed into law. I'm ready to work with leaders from both parties in our state.

I don't like fraud or waste in government. I will make sure the people who steal taxpayer money go to jail and root out the fraud by changing the way state government works. She cuts a very different figure than walls, much more moderate, much more focused on the, middle class and those kitchen table issues much more warm and approachable. And I think that governor's office could potentially put her in an even better position to run for president again in 28. Well, and certainly we have seen her name floated around in that capacity. Megan, thanks for

reporting. Yes, my pleasure. This is your year. 2026 is when that business idea finally becomes real. You've been thinking about it long enough. That product you know people need, that vision that keeps you up at night, that side hustle waiting to become your main hustle. Our sponsor Shopify gives you everything you need to stop planning and start building. Millions of entrepreneurs have already made the leap, from big household names to people just starting their first business, including our own Daily Wire Shop. The platform gives you all the tools to build your dream store without the headache. You can choose from hundreds of beautiful templates and customize them to match your brand.

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What were the demands from Democrats that made this deal so hard to pass? Yeah, so most of the focus here is on ice. Democrats are asking for an end to what they call roving patrols of ice agents. They also want no more masks for agents. They want clear identification in how these officers present themselves to the public when they're conducting these operations. Obviously, we've seen some rising tensions regarding immigration enforcement, particularly in Minneapolis. All of this is now making its way to Washington. Here's what Chuck Schumer had to say.

Saturday in the streets of Minneapolis was a moral abomination. Federal agents shot and killed Alex Pretty, an American citizen in broad daylight. And it was the second time that agents killed a U.S. citizen in two weeks after the tragic killing also of Renee Good, Renee Good. Enough is enough. So what kind of a deal were they able to land on? So the deal would fund most government departments through September 30th while funding the Department of Homeland Security in the short term via a continuing resolution due to run out after two weeks. In that two weeks, lawmakers are expected to negotiate over reforms to immigration and customs enforcement. President Trump took to true social

saying, I am working hard with Congress to ensure that we are able to fully fund the government without delay. He went on to say that he hopes both Republicans and Democrats will give a very much needed bipartisan yes vote. Even though the White House and Senate Democrats were able to come to an agreement last night, another problem has come up. The House is in recess and not scheduled to return until Monday. Speaker Mike Johnson said yesterday it will take days to bring his members back into town, though Trump's endorsement could speed things along. So what happens now? Could we still see a shutdown? likely yes, but the better question is, will anyone feel it? The answer to that is not many. The House will be back in session on Monday to pass the updated spending package and then Trump can sign it into law. Even though the government will partially shut down over the weekend, most government workers don't work weekends anyway. And while there are more agencies than just ICE under Homeland Security, such as TSA, TSA workers and many others are considered essential and have to report for work even during shutdowns. Now, in past government shutdowns,

Some have declined to show up for work anyway. They call in sick or give other reasons, but even so, the impact on Americans' lives will likely be minimal. Assuming we make it to Monday, the vast majority of the government, something like 96% of it, will be funded through September if the spending package can make it through the House. There could be some problems there as Speaker Johnson has to wrestle with House conservatives to get it passed. The Speaker was optimistic about that happening at the Melania Premier in Washington, D.C. on Thursday night. And maybe that optimism is warranted. And if it is, expect the House Freedom Caucus to come up with its own list of demands in the two-week fight over Homeland Security funding. Lawmakers will have to negotiate over that final piece of government funding under the continuing resolution.

We'll have to see where Congress is after all that funding dries up. All right. Well, we're going to keep tabs on this. Tim, thanks for reporting. Good to be on. 1,000 companies were banned from the federal minority contracting program on Wednesday when they declined to provide records that would show whether they were actually doing the work or simply keeping a cut while passing the contract to a larger company. Daily Wire reporter Luke Roziak testified to the Senate last month about just how common this kind of pass-through fraud is in the program known as 8A.

The program lets women and minority-owned businesses get federal contracts with no competition. Luke, this program now is decades old. You've reported on it on this show. But it sounds like now we're finally seeing some attention paid to this type of fraud. Hey, Georgia. Yeah, that's right. And this is a program that certainly conservatives object to because it is DEI. But there's also the presumably bipartisan concern that this is really just enabled a lot of fraud by giving out contracts with no competition and it's driven up costs without even fulfilling the goals that it was intended to achieve. So last month, Kelly Laughler, who's head of the small business administration, that's the agency that certifies these companies to have this 8-A designation. She demanded that the firms provide pretty detailed records, all their bank account statements and their payroll records. And so I can tell you the payroll records alone would have been enough to get a lot of people in trouble because there are companies that are getting millions of dollars in contracts for work that's pretty labor intensive. And they only have like one or two people in the company. Now, one of the things I thought when this first happened last month is it actually would be a lot of work to go through all these bank statements and figure out who is a pass through.

But a funny thing happened, you actually don't have to look at the records at all. It turns out a lot of these purported fraudsters have seemingly self-identified by just refusing to cooperate. So they get all this money from the federal government, but they won't tell the government what they actually spent it on. And so these 1,000 companies, collectively, they amount to a quarter of all 8A contractors. And they brought in $5 billion in contracts, just the non-compliant ones, over the last. couple of years. Because they didn't turn in that documentation, does that mean they are not eligible in the future for any more contracts? Yeah, exactly. And earlier this month, Secretary of War Pete Hegsafe, and the Pentagon is definitely the biggest spender on these 8A contracts. He said that because of 8A, $100 million contracts were going out the door without competition literally nearly every single day, believe it or not. And he pledged reforms. You can hear talking about it here. In many, many instances, these socially disadvantaged businesses, they don't even do work.

They take a 10%, 20%, sometimes 50% fee off the top, and then pass the contract off to a giant consulting firm, commonly known as Beltway bandits. For decades, this program, 8A, has been a breeding ground for fraud, and this administration is finally doing something about it. And we at The Daily Wire actually just published a pretty wild story that illustrates this exact situation. Years ago, the military paid a homeless lesbian $19 million to manufacture training uniforms after she established an LLC and got it certified as a woman-owned Hispanic disadvantaged business. Her name is Rhonda Valle as a California aspiring musician, and she got the designation because her father was German, Irish, and Spanish.

And she didn't even have any ability to actually produce clothes. I spoke to a factory owner, a white male, who wound up actually doing the work for that contract. He said she told him, quote, I got this government contract. Do you know anybody with a factory who can help me perform it? He said, she never owned a machine. And he said, this whole 8A thing is a farce. So in this case, I actually obtained a contract that's more explicit than you usually see it. It puts the scheme right in black and white.

I mean, just on its face, it seems like this is a pretty reckless way. for the military to go about getting clothes, right? Yeah, I mean, to get anything, because they don't know. It takes the decision away from the government official and goes through this third party, and we don't really know who they are passing it off to. So I asked Rhonda Valaz why this program is good for taxpayers, and she sent me 10 emails that railed against evil Jews and said I had demonic male energy. She said male energy is heavy and warlike and long overdue of her reduction and complained about

evil war profiteers. Well, Luke, we've been meaning to talk to you about your demonic male energy, so thank you for bringing it up for me. I'll try to hold my demonic energy in better next time. Thank you for having me, Georgia. Thanks for reporting. Thanks for waking up with us. And if you're listening to the show, now you can watch for free on Daily Wire Plus. We'll be back later this evening with more news you need to know.