The Daily Signal - Confirmation Hearing Are Coming, Hostage Deal, 'Make Greenland Great Again’ | Jan. 13

Starting point is 00:00:00 Senators will question more than a dozen of President-elect Donald Trump's cabinet picks this week ahead of the inauguration. I'm Virginia Allen, and this is the DailySquivis top news in 10 for Monday, January 13. It's a busy week in Washington, D.C. in the lead-up to the inauguration next week, and President Donald Trump's cabinet picks, they are going to be having hearings before the Senate this week, answering their questions. Senators are holding these hearings, and it's the job of the Senate to vote on each of the Senate. those nominees before they can be confirmed and take those positions. 13 of these hearings are scheduled to take place so far this week. The Daily Signal's politics editor, Bradley, Devlin, is keeping track

Starting point is 00:00:47 of all of this news. He joins us now. Bradley, thanks for being here. Of course. So let's start with the big picture. There are more than a dozen of these hearings that are scheduled to take place. Who among Trump's nominees for various positions, cabinet positions included, are having hearings this week, and among those that are already scheduled, who are you looking at that's going to be a little bit spicy, a little bit contentious potentially? Yeah, and it could be more as the week unfolds. The list keeps growing. The list keeps growing to my chagrin.

Starting point is 00:01:16 I have to work hard this week. You know that I'm keeping an eye on everything from Doug Bergam at Interior to Scott Turner over at HUD, and the contentious ones are the obvious ones. They're the big guys. They're Pete Headset at Defense. There, Pam Bondi for AG, Markerubio for state, even though that won't be contentious. That's just going to be a big splash point. I think you're going to get eight years on.

Starting point is 00:01:45 What does the MAGA America First Doctrine look like as it deals with a war in Israel, as it deals with a war that continues to wage on in Ukraine? And also, you know, this specific pivot we've been promised for a really long time. What does that look like under Donald Trump II administration, specifically with Marco Rubio at the helm? So Trump, of course, is going to be sworn in on January 20th. Are any of these folks also likely to be sworn in that day? Yeah. Think about it this way.

Starting point is 00:02:17 What are the essential functions of government? It's crazy. You know, the United States government has long forgotten what the essential functions of government are. But all of a sudden we get into kind of a sticky situation where, hey, if we don't have a Secretary of Defense or if we don't have a Secretary of State or if we don't have someone atop the intelligence hierarchy, that's going to be a big problem, right? And so everyone kind of instinctually remembers the right functions and processes of government. So what are those first confirmations going to be? It's going to be the big guys at the top, specifically that cover foreign affairs issues. So you might see like a John Ratcliffe with CIA directory.

Starting point is 00:02:55 like he might be sworn in on day one. Of course, they're going to push Marco Rubio getting that confirmation vote on day one. They're hoping to have Pete Hegseth sworn in on day one. This time next week, America will have a new president. The inauguration is one week from today. And while the Senate is busy questioning Trump's appointments and picks for his cabinet, President Joe Biden is seeking to firm up his legacy. Biden began his final weekend office today with a speech delivered from the State Department. Biden's aim of this speech was to highlight his presidential legacy on the issue of foreign policy.

Starting point is 00:03:37 He discussed China, his visit to Ukraine in support for the Ukrainians during their war with Russia, the importance of deterring North Korea, and also referenced the pullout from Afghanistan. He also harped on the threat of climate change. Biden told America that as he leaves the White House, he is leaving the U.S. in a strong foreign policy position. My administration is leaving the next administration with a very strong hand to play. And we're leaving them in America with more friends and stronger alliances whose adversaries are weaker and under pressure. In America that once again is leading, uniting countries, setting the agenda. Biden's speech came the same day that negotiators in Israel and Hamas appear to be very close to finalizing a deal.

Starting point is 00:04:27 to release 33 hostages and pause fighting for at least a period of time. Negotiators working in Doha may have reached a deal for both a ceasefire and hostage release. Right now, it appears that the agreement includes a three-stage plan. Stage one would be the release of 33 hostages in exchange for some Palestinian terrorists that are being held in Israel. It would also include a pause in fighting for 42 days. This is according to the Jerusalem Post. The IDF would also begin to stage its withdrawal from Gaza, but would maintain a security perimeter. After the first 16 days of that ceasefire, talks would then begin again for the release of more hostages, and there would be further steps for Israel to withdraw from Gaza and for the Palestinians to return to northern Gaza.

Starting point is 00:05:17 The final stage is for the release of all hostages and the full withdrawal of all Israeli troops in Gaza. negotiators for Israel and Hamas are taking this possible deal back to their leaders for final approval. That's according to the Associated Press. Another round of talks is planned in Doha tomorrow morning to finalize the details. Trump's inauguration has created a deadline for Hamas, as Trump has threatened multiple times that there will be held to pay if the hostages are not released by the time of his inauguration on January 20th. Stay tuned.

Starting point is 00:05:56 Trump is arriving back at the White House. in a week with a long list of policy priorities, and one at the top of his list appears to be Greenland and making Greenland the 51st state. Now, GOP members in Congress seem to have taken steps in order to try to make that a reality. Fox News broke the news this morning that Tennessee Republican Representative Andy Ogles has introduced a bill called Make Greenland Great Again. The bill would give Trump the authority to enter into negotiations with Denmark with the end goal of purchase. Greenland. Trump had floated the idea of purchasing Greenland during his first administration, but appears to be putting a much greater emphasis on it now. Greenland is about a quarter the size of the

Starting point is 00:06:39 U.S., and its population is only 56,000. So what exactly is the draw? While Vice President-elect J.D. Vance joined Fox News on Sunday to answer that question. Greenland is really important for America strategically. It has a lot of great natural resources. My friend Donald Trump Jr. was there a couple days ago. what they told them. They want to be empowered to develop. The people of Greenland want to be empowered to develop the resources there. We also need to make sure that Greenland is properly cared for from an American security perspective. And frankly, the current leadership, the Danish government has not done a good enough job of securing Greenland. I think there actually is a real opportunity here for us to take leadership, to protect America's security, to ensure that those

Starting point is 00:07:24 incredible natural resources are developed. And that's what Donald Trump is. is good at. He's good at making deals, and I think there's a deal to be made in Greenland. In other words, Greenland provides both an economic advantage to the U.S. because of its natural resources and purchasing Greenland is also strategic for U.S. national security because of its proximity to Russia. But to actually purchase Greenland, Trump can't get anywhere without Congress because Congress controls the purse. First, the House would have to appropriate the funds, and then the Senate would have to sign off. For now, at least, least 10 GOP House lawmakers are backing the bill that Ogles has introduced.

Starting point is 00:08:03 We'll be right back with today's newsflash after this. Now let's hit our news flash of the day. A judge ruled today that the Justice Department can release publicly special counsel Jack Smith's report on the legal case regarding Trump's alleged interference in the 2020 election. In California, there are three fires still blazing in and around Los Angeles. The fires have burned an area that is larger than San Francisco, and as of Monday afternoon, at least 25 lives have been lost in those fires. Though some progress has been made in getting these fires contained, high winds are still blowing with gusts up to 70 miles per hour, making the situation in and around Los Angeles still very dangerous. The Palisades fire west of L.A. is only

Starting point is 00:08:54 14% contained. The Eden fire on L.A.'s east side. is 33% contained, and the Hearst Fire to the north is 95% contained. Finally, today, Americans for Prosperity has launched a $20 million nationwide campaign to back Trump's tax cuts and jobs act. The campaign is aimed at backing Trump's tax cuts and urging Americans to unite and telling Washington that now is not the time for higher taxes. You can learn more about the campaign by visiting Americansfor Prosperity.org. With that, we're going to leave it right there for today.

Starting point is 00:09:35 Thanks for joining us here for the Daily Signal's Top News in 10. Today's show was produced by John Pop. Don't forget to hit that subscribe button so you never miss out on brand new shows from the Daily Signal podcast. We'll see you right back here tomorrow. On January 20th, Donald John Trump makes his triumphant return to the White House. Join us at 10.30 a.m. live from Washington, D.C., as we bring you the best coverage of an historic moment unlike any other. Special guests inside information, insider trading.

Starting point is 00:10:08 Okay, maybe not. Nancy Pelosi and Elizabeth Warren said they aren't coming. It's all here on the Tony Kinnitcast. Tune in and watch the tears flow. Not ours. Hers. Could this year get any? The Tony Kinnitcast's ultimate inauguration coverage,

Starting point is 00:10:27 January 20th, starting at 10.30 a.m. Eastern Time, live on YouTube and X.

The Daily Signal - Confirmation Hearing Are Coming, Hostage Deal, 'Make Greenland Great Again’ | Jan. 13

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.