The Daily Signal - TOP NEWS | Leading Dem Calls for Biden Ethics Probe, Senate Takes up Spending Bill, Sound of Freedom Rings | July 24

Starting point is 00:00:02 I'm Virginia Allen, and this is the Daily Signal Top News for Monday, July 24th. Here are today's headlines. The military spending bill known as the NDAA passed in the House last week, and now the Senate is considering the bill this week. Here with us to explain what we can expect is Richard Stern. Richard is the Heritage Foundation's director of the Grover M. Herman Center for the federal budget. Richard, thanks for being back with us again this week. Always a pleasure. Well, so the big debate with this bill has been over specifically the issue of abortion.

Starting point is 00:00:47 Democrats want funding in the bill to pay for travel expenses for members of the military to receive abortion. So if they are in a state where they can't receive an abortion, they want to be able to have taxpayer money go to the hotels, gas, whatever, in order for that individual to travel to a state that does allow for abortion. Well, of course, Republicans are working to prevent any money in the bill from being. allocated for costs associated with abortions. Richard, where does this fight stand now that the Senate is considering this bill? You know, it's amazing that that's what the Democrats' defense priorities is. It's about abortion and trafficking and, you know, making sure that everybody's feelings are affirmed. Come on.

Starting point is 00:01:28 But this is what we're looking at here, right? As to your point, is that conservatives are fighting for a defense authorization bill that actually has to do with national security and defense as opposed to the left. So now that it's passed the Senate, we enter the land of conference reports. This is where the House and the Senate are going to negotiate together. There's going to be a handful of members from both chambers that come together. These are called conferees, and then they produce a conference report. That's what it sounds like.

Starting point is 00:01:54 It's this little group of people that write the bill that then gets put up in front of both the House and the Senate. Both have to pass an identical bill for it to actually get signed into law. So it's anybody's guess. But what I would say is this is a moment for conservatives to make your voices heard. to make it clear that we don't want this woke kind of ideology infused and not just every other aspect of the government, but in our core national security. This is exactly the last place this should be. And this is the last focus we should have. I mean, you think of all the things going around the globe. You think of the real dangers that this country is facing. This is what the Democrats are focusing on. It would be a tragedy if Republicans give in to that. What is the timeline we're looking at? Because Congress is about to go on recess, both the House and the Senate.

Starting point is 00:02:38 they're headed back to their home states for the month of August. Are we going to see this bill finalized before they leave town? So I think it's unlikely, right? We're looking at about a week here before they go out and recess. But, you know, to be honest, this is part of the math on their end, right? And, you know, the old line sunlight is the best disinfectant. August recess is a good time to have no sunlight on these backroom deals in Congress. But, you know, at the end of the day, the bill needs to get passed.

Starting point is 00:03:03 I say that with air quotes, before the end of September. That's when the fiscal year runs out. that's when the bill is supposed to be done. Now, to be told, the military can be funded without this bill. This is a little bit of kind of the inside baseball on this. This is an authorizing bill. There's a separate funding bill. Unfortunately, it's likely the case.

Starting point is 00:03:19 We're not going to actually have the real funding conversations done by the end of September. Shocker, this is what happens every year, right? You can insert more anger and rage against members of Congress. But, you know, usually the NDA gets done, gets put together. But frankly, usually the left doesn't use the opportunity. the treas throw the worst of their woke ideology in this bill. So I'm not sure it's going to happen. We're already pretty far down the timeline for it to actually get done before the end of the fiscal year.

Starting point is 00:03:46 We did have one year, I don't remember what it was, but it was back when I was on the hill a few years ago, where we didn't pass the NDA for like six months. And so the entire Defense Department was what was called an unauthorized appropriation because we didn't have the bill passed for a very long time. So, I mean, I think we'll pass something eventually. That being said, you know, for my kind of druthers on it, the most important thing is service can do here is fight for our liberties, our rights, what we know to be right, and the fight for a defense authorization bill and funding bill that actually cares about our defense and respects the

Starting point is 00:04:16 dollars we're taking from Americans forcibly to fund that. Strictly covering defense. Richard Stern of the Heritage Foundation, Richard, thanks so much for your time. Thank you, as always. Israeli lawmakers voted today to limit the power of their judicial branch. The vote came after months of protests in opposition to the changes. Lawmakers who opposed the plan to weaken the judiciary shouted shame after Israel's parliament voted to pass the bill. They walked out in protest.

Starting point is 00:04:47 Outside, citizens protested in the streets, per attention media. Take a listen. According to NPR, the law cancels something called the reasonableness clause. The clause has previously allowed Israel's Supreme Court to block government appointments and decisions by elected officials. that it deemed to be unreasonable and not in the public interest. But now, the Israeli government will be able to hire and fire public servants without the intervention of the court. The Heritage Foundation's Victoria Coates says what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking to do here is make the appointments of the judges less political and their powers less sweeping.

Starting point is 00:05:42 According to Coates, Israel's judiciary leans left. She says Netanyahu's plan to weaken the judiciary is a reform that a number of Israelis support. But Coates points out that what is making the situation more controversial is the fact that the prime minister himself is under investigation for various charges of corruption and bribery. Back to some domestic news. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is the Democrat 2020. presidential candidate that appears to be full of surprises. The Democrat is now calling for a corruption investigation into President Joe Biden. On Sunday, Kennedy joined Fox News Sunday morning feature.

Starting point is 00:06:26 Here's what he had to say. I think, though, the issues that are now coming up are worrying enough that we really need a real investigation of what happened. I mean, these revelations about the, you know, that where you have Burisma, which is a, you know, this notoriously corrupt company that paid out apparently $10 million to Hunter and his dad. If that's true, then it is really troubling. So I think that that needs to be, that it needs to be investigated. Kennedy was referring to an FBI form released to the public last week that alleges a $10 million bribery scheme

Starting point is 00:07:12 involving both Hunter and Joe Biden. The four-page document indicates that the owner of the Ukrainian company Burisma Holdings was coerced into paying Joe and Hunter Biden $5 million each in exchange for a political favor. It remains unclear if a full investigation will be launched, so stay tuned. It was a big weekend at the box office with the premiere of the Barbie movie and Oppenheimer, And it was the third weekend, the Angel Studios-backed film Sound of Freedom was in theaters. And despite the movie being out for three weeks, it performed even better this weekend than it did on opening weekend. The film has earned nearly $125 million.

Starting point is 00:07:59 The movie is based on the incredible true story of a man named Tim Ballard and his work to rescue a brother and sister from sex trafficking. Brandon Purdy is head of theatrical distribution at Angel Studios. In response to the film's continued success at the box office, he said, Word continues to spread, and crowds are continuing to show up, which is how this film ended up doing more business in its third weekend than its first. He added that Angel Studios is now looking to release the film in theaters internationally. The Daily Signal has done exclusive interviews with the film star Jim Caviesel, and with Tim Ballard.

Starting point is 00:08:39 We will leave links in today's show notes if you want to check out those interviews. But with that, that's going to do it for today's episode of the Daily Signal's top news. If you've never had a chance, be sure to take out our morning show. It's right here in this same podcast feed where we love to bring you interviews

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The Daily Signal - TOP NEWS | Leading Dem Calls for Biden Ethics Probe, Senate Takes up Spending Bill, Sound of Freedom Rings | July 24

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