The Daily Signal - Repealing the FACE Act, Trump Speaks to World Economic Forum, Birthright Citizenship Court Battle Begins | Jan. 23

Starting point is 00:00:00 Some GOP lawmakers are working to repeal a law that has been used repeatedly against pro-life activists. I'm Virginia Allen, and this is The Daily Signals Top News in 10 for Thursday, January 23rd. Pro-life advocate Bevelin Williams was sentenced to three and a half years in jail last year for attempting to save babies at an abortion clinic. Williams had two abortions herself before she came to know the Lord as her savior, and she started advocating for other women to choose life. But back in 2020, while outside an abortion clinic, she had an encounter with a staff member that led to her prison sentence. Senator Josh Hawley told her story on the Senate floor today.

Starting point is 00:00:49 Because she told her own personal story, she was prosecuted, prosecuted by a federal court and sentenced to 41 months in prison. And what was her supposed crime? She leaned on a doorway in a manner that hurt the hands. of a staff member. For this action, she was found guilty and sentenced under what is called the Face Act or the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act. Now, Senator Mike Lee has introduced a bill that would repeal the Face Act, and Representative Chip Roy has introduced a companion bill in the House. Heritage Foundation Senior Legal Fellow Thomas Jipping joins us now to discuss a little bit more of what is happening here. Tom, thanks so much for being with us.

Starting point is 00:01:34 Thanks for having me. So the FACE Act, it's intended to prevent anyone from restricting the entrance to or damaging a facility that provides pregnancy-related resources, care, so on and so forth. So, Tom, this sounds like it would be a really good law, but why repeal it? What's the emphasis for repealing it? This has been a very controversial law for three reasons. Number one, the language of the law itself. It was actually introduced in 1993 by Chuck Schumer, who today.

Starting point is 00:02:05 as the Senate minority leader, but then he was in the House. And when he introduced it, it had specific language to do what the title of the law suggests. It prohibited physically blocking an entrance to a building. But it went through several revisions throughout the legislative process, and it became really a very vague, very broad kind of a language that would be very susceptible to a business. to abuse and to a very politically driven pattern of enforcement. Enforcement is the second reason why it's very controversial. The example you gave, that's typical now of the way that the FACE Act is being used. Sometimes we say it's been weaponized by the Justice Department to not just block, you know, huge

Starting point is 00:02:57 protests or to prevent arson and those kinds of crimes, but literally, to go after peaceful sidewalk counselors, people who are picketing an abortion clinic, people who want to speak with women on the sidewalk, things that the original law was never intended to go after. And then the other enforcement problem is that the way it's written, it also is supposed to cover crisis pregnancy centers and churches. However, it's never enforced to protect pro-life centers and churches only to, to protect abortion clinics.

Starting point is 00:03:36 The third controversial issue is whether it's constitutional. Congress said it had two reasons that it could pass the bill in the beginning. One was, of course, the Commerce Clause. Congress tries to justify everything that it does under the Commerce Clause. But the year after the FACE Act was signed into law by President Clinton, the Supreme Court started cutting back the very expansive interpretation that it had of the Commerce Clause and several decisions, including the Obamacare decision that people may remember, really put that into question. And then, of course, Congress said we are passing the FACE Act to protect the right to abortion,

Starting point is 00:04:15 and that, of course, no longer exists since the Supreme Court reversed Roe versus Wade. So for those three reasons of very loose, potentially abused language, this pattern of enforcement that we've seen now for a couple of decades, and real serious questions about its constitutionality, I think Senator Lee and Congressman Roy are fully justified in saying this is an irredeemable, politically motivated, ideologically abused law, and it's got to go. Well, Tom, thank you for breaking that down for us. We're going to be watching closely to see if this bill and this effort to repeal the FACE Act does indeed succeed in Congress. Thanks for your time, Tom. You're very welcome. And speaking of pro-life issues and abortion tomorrow is the annual March for Life right here in Washington, D.C.

Starting point is 00:05:06 The vice president, J.D. Vance, is going to be giving remarks in person, and President Donald Trump is expected to deliver a message via video. The Daily Signal is going to be on the ground covering all the events speaking to marchers. So make sure you are subscribed to the Daily Signal across all social media platforms. And of course, you can follow us on our website, dailysignal.com to make sure you catch all of our March for life coverage. President Trump gave a speech during the World Economic Forum today. The forum was held in Davos, Switzerland, but Trump delivered his remarks virtually. The World Economic Forum is known as a summit that brings together global business leaders, political leaders, and cultural elites to discuss issues like climate change. Trump spoke for about 45 minutes. His speech touched on everything from

Starting point is 00:05:55 the ways big banks have targeted conservatives to the importance of American oil and gas production. Trump told those at the World Economic Forum that he's brought common sense back to America. What the world has witnessed in the past 72 hours is nothing less than a revolution of common sense. Our country will soon be stronger, wealthier, and more united than ever before. And the entire planet will be more peaceful and prosperous as a result of this incredible momentum and what we're doing and going to do. Trump went on to explain what his administration is going to do. discussing the need to lower inflation and address the crisis at the border and reduced crime across the country. Trump then discussed energy-related executive actions that he has taken in recent days.

Starting point is 00:06:43 Keep in mind that many of these executive actions undid Biden-air policies that were celebrated by those at Davos. I terminated the ridiculous and incredibly wasteful Green New Deal. I call it the Green New scam withdrew from the one-sided, Paris Climate Accord and ended the insane and costly electric vehicle mandate. We're going to let people buy the car they want to buy. Trump took a number of questions remotely from some of the leaders and CEOs that were on stage at Davos and was asked about his deregulatory work within the United States, energy production projects, GDP growth, and U.S. relations with China. If you want to hear all of those remarks what Trump had to say to those at Davos, you can find a link for

Starting point is 00:07:31 the president's full remarks in today's show notes. One of Trump's executive actions has already been met with lawsuits, and that is, of course, Trump's executive order to end automatic birthright citizenship for children born in the United States to the parents of illegal aliens. The American Civil Liberties Union, along with a number of other left-leaning immigration groups, have sued to stop Trump's executive action. And four states, Washington, Arizona, Illinois, and Oregon have a lot of. also asked the court to block the order before it's set to take effect in late February. And for the first time today, the Justice Department lawyers were in court for an initial hearing

Starting point is 00:08:15 defending Trump's action. The hearing took place in Seattle today. But Trump is not the only one trying to end automatic birthright citizenship for children born in the U.S. to parents of illegal aliens. Texas GOP representative Brian Babin has introduced a bill to do the same thing. The bill is called the Birth Rate Citizenship Act of 2025. If passed, the bill would essentially codify Trump's executive order into law. At the center of the bill, Trump's executive order and the lawsuit filed against the order is the 14th Amendment. The 14th Amendment states all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. Trump's executive order contends that the

Starting point is 00:09:04 14th Amendment excludes from birthright citizenship, those who are born in the U.S., but not subject to the jurisdiction thereof. I spoke with Congressman Babin, and he told me that he is glad to see these lawsuits filed against Trump's order so that the courts can decide the interpretation of the 14th Amendment once and for all. We want the Supreme Court to hear this case and give us a final interpretation of the 14th Amendment because I am convinced that it is wrongfully interpreted and it is really a, quite frankly, a green light and an open invitation for people from all over the world to flood our system to be able to gain and exploit this loophole. You're likely going to be hearing a lot more about this executive order and the lawsuits

Starting point is 00:09:56 that have been filed against it in the coming days and weeks, so stay tuned. where the headlines for today. We'll get to our newsflash right after this message from Heritage Action for America. Four years of constant crisis. Wide open borders, deadly sentinel, violent crime, crippling inflation, war in Israel, war in Ukraine, China rising. There's no time to waste on Washington games. We must fight. Americans elected President Donald J. Trump to stand in the breach. He's already hard at work. If we're going to fight and win, we've got work to do. Confirm Trump's cabinet now. Trump has revoked the Secret Service Protection detail for former National Security Advisor John Bolton.

Starting point is 00:10:43 This is actually the second time that Trump has done this. Trump ended Bolton's Secret Service protection back in 2019 after he fired him, but Biden restored it. Trump has also revoked Secret Service Protection for former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his top aide, Brian Hook. CNN is downsizing. The news agency announced today that it is laying off about 6% of its staff. That's a little bit over 200 people. CNN says that the layoffs are part of its effort to refocus around its digital audience. NBC News is also reportedly planning layoffs this week, but not quite as many as CNN.

Starting point is 00:11:27 As Trump's cabinet picks move forward quite slowly, Pete Heggseth has to be. made it through a key procedural vote in the process to being confirmed as defense secretary. The Senate voted today 51 to 49 in a procedural vote to move his nomination forward. Two GOP senators, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, joined Democrats to vote against Texas. With that, that's going to do it for today's episode. Thanks so much for joining us here for the Daily withoodle's Top News in 10. Don't forget to hit that subscribe button so you never miss out on our brand new shows.

Starting point is 00:12:02 Today's show was edited and produced by John Pop and Katrina Trinco. Thanks again for being with us today. We'll see you right back here around 5 p.m. tomorrow.

The Daily Signal - Repealing the FACE Act, Trump Speaks to World Economic Forum, Birthright Citizenship Court Battle Begins | Jan. 23

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