Morning Wire - Trump to Void Biden Pardons & VA Trans Service Scrutiny | Afternoon Update | 3.17.25

Episode Date: March 17, 2025

Trump plans to make Biden’s pardons null and void, Voice of America loses its voice, and a major clothing retailer files for chapter 11. Developing stories you need to know just in time for your drive home. Get the facts first on Morning Wire. Lumen: Head to http://lumen.me/WIRE for 20% off your purchase. Shopify: Go to https://Shopify.com/morningwire to sign up for your $1 per month trial period and upgrade your selling today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Since your metabolism influences everything from energy levels to hormonal changes and sleep quality, understanding it is key to optimal health. Take the next step in improving your health. Go to Lumen.com.me-slash-wire to get 20% off your L-U-M-N. That is L-U-N-M-E-S-Wire for 20% off your purchase. Thank you, Lumen, for sponsoring this episode. Trump plans to make Biden's pardons null and void. Voice of America loses its voice and a major clothing retailer files for Chapter 11. I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley.

It's Monday, March 17th. Happy St. Patrick's Day. And this is your Morning Wire afternoon update. President Trump says he'll void pardons made during former President Biden's final days. Daily Wire Deputy Managing editor Tim Rice has the latest. In a statement, Trump argued that the pardons are not valid because they were signed by an auto pen and that his predecessor had no knowledge of the pardons. Somebody was using an order.

Among those pardoned were members of the January 6th committee and figures like Dr. Anthony Fauci and General Mark Millie. The Heritage Foundation's Oversight Project initially raised concerns over Biden's use of the Autopen to sign significant legal orders. Critics of Biden's mental acuity argue that the use of the Autopen for key documents raises serious questions about his direct involvement in the decision-making process. State Media Network, Voice of America has been silenced after an executive order from President Trump. Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce has the details. The order dismantled several government offices, including VOA's parent organization, the U.S. agency for global media. Trump criticized VOA for promoting biased content and what he calls divisive propaganda.

The order calls for the reduction or elimination of non-essential components and functions within USAGM with significant layoffs and termination of employment for some staff, including those at VOA and its affiliates. Trump's order followed heightened scrutiny of VOA's coverage, particularly its portrayal of Hamas. USAGM head, Kerry Lake, released a video on social media last week, exposing how much money the agency is costing taxpayers. Biden administration folks who were running this agency before, right before they left office, signed a brand new lease for this building, a 15-year lease that's going to cost the taxpayer nearly a quarter of a billion dollars. Here's the kicker. They already have a building

that they're located in that is paid off, that they could have renovated or updated. but they chose instead to get us into a lease that's costing the taxpayer a fortune. Border wall construction is set to begin again in Arizona. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed that the seven-mile project will be built in the Rio Grande Valley. It's going to cost about $70 million, and it follows President Biden ending wall construction. Trump's first term saw approximately 450 miles of barriers built. Vice President J.D. Vance expressed hopes to complete the entire border. border wall by 2029. Meanwhile, illegal border crossings have dropped dramatically since Trump took office.

Recovery efforts are underway in the central and eastern U.S. following a powerful storm system. The storms brought everything from violent tornadoes to blizzard conditions across multiple regions. At least 42 people were killed as a result. The storm systems began Friday unleashing over 1,000 reports of severe weather, including 56 tornadoes across 10 states. significant damage has been reported in Missouri, Arkansas, and Alabama. Meanwhile, Trump is pledging federal assistance while local officials have declared states of emergency. This episode is brought to you by Shopify. Sign up for your $1 per month trial period at Shopify.com slash morningwire, all lowercase.

Established in 2025 has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? Head over to shopify.com slash morning wire to start selling with Shopify today. The Department of Veterans Affairs is under fire for providing transgender medical services despite federal regulations banning gender alterations. Daily Wire investigative reporter Luke Roziak has more. Internal documents from the Biden era showed the VA offering essentially everything other than surgery, including prosthetic male appendages and breasts.

The documents showed the VA also offered hormone therapy and voice training and used a fill-in-the-blank's form letter to convince outside surgeons to do sex changes. It trains staff how to use a vague, unlisted procedure code to bill body hair removal to taxpayers. The Trump administration today said it's put a stop to these procedures, except for veterans already undergoing them. VA Secretary Doug Collins said the money saved

would be redirected to support severely injured vets. One-time youth fashion leader Forever 21 is permanently closing all of its U.S. stores after filing for bankruptcy for the second time. While the brand peaked in 2015 with $4 billion in sales, lately, it's struggled with rising costs and changing consumer trends. Online rivals like Sheehan and Timu offering ultra-cheap fast fashion have overtaken the brand, especially as Forever 21's reliance on brick-and-mortar stores proved challenging.

Despite efforts to restructure, the company's assets are now being wound down with no clear buyer in sight. And the state of West Virginia is taking legal action against the NCAA. Officials argued that the West Virginia University men's basketball team, was snubbed. Governor Patrick Morrissey argues that the team deserves to be in the NCAA tournament. He cites their, quote, strong 19 and 12 record. Here's Morrissey in a press conference today. A 111 out of the 111 bracketologist projected W view to make the tournament. And for good reason, the selection committee for years has talked about the importance of quad one wins. Now, for those who don't know much about a quad one win, this is when you defeat a team ranked

first through 75th. Obviously, it depends upon whether your home, neutral site, or away. Well, West Virginia had six quad-one wins. Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormack also expressed disappointment stating West Virginia deserved a spot. The NCAA tournament kicks off tomorrow and continues throughout the week. Those of your drive home updates this afternoon. To learn more about these stories, go to dailywire.com. And in case you missed it this morning, we covered some major stories, including the Democrats' leadership dilemma, Trump's aggressive foreign policy moves, and SpaceX efforts to bring two stranded

astronauts home. Thanks for tuning in. We'll be back tomorrow morning with another full edition of Morning Wire.