The Daily Signal - Trump’s Latest Picks, FEMA Under Fire, Cruz Slams Schumer’s Judge Plot | Nov. 15

Starting point is 00:00:00 I guess if you like health and if you like people that live a long time, it's the most important position. RFK Jr. Bobby. President-elect Donald Trump's choice of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for Health and Human Services Secretary will shake up Washington. We'll tell you why. I'm Rob Louis, and this is the Daily Signal's top news in 10 for Friday, November 15th, 2024. We told you on yesterday's show that former Democrat presidential candidate, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,

Starting point is 00:00:36 is President-elect Trump's pick to lead the massive Department of Health and Human Services. Trump spoke about Kennedy and his other nominees last night at Marilago, heaping praise on what is becoming a diverse cabinet that will challenge the status quo in Washington, D.C. Kennedy promises to take on Big Pharma and Big Food, whose powerful lobbyists hold sway in the nation's capital. The choice of Kennedy has Democrats like Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York on edge. She made wild and unfounded assertions during an MSNBC appearance with Joy Reid. Something that is broadly popular among Republicans and Democrats are community health centers.

Starting point is 00:01:16 If you live in a rural area and there's not a hospital very close to you, but there is a community center closer to you, it could be decimated under Robert F. Kennedy. And we're talking about people who live in rural communities. We're talking about people who live in underserved communities that have been neglected in order to, Whether it's to get a shot or just to get checked up on. Sure. We're talking about the potential decimation of community health centers. AOC neglected to mention that those same community health centers are currently struggling due to her own parties welcoming of millions of illegal aliens to America.

Starting point is 00:01:50 But not all Democrats are sounding an alarm about RFK Jr. Colorado Governor Jared Paulus wrote on X that, quote, He helped us defeat vaccine mandates in Colorado in 2019 and will help make America healthy again by shaking up HHS and FDA. In addition to RFK Jr., Trump outlined more picks, former Congressman Doug Collins of Georgia for Veterans Affairs Secretary, lawyer Todd Blanche for Deputy Attorney General, Attorney Dean John Sauer for Solicitor General,

Starting point is 00:02:20 and Trump also indicated that North Dakota Governor Doug Bergam would take the top spot at the Interior Department. We'll closely track all of Trump's choices at the Daily Signal. Be sure to subscribe at DailySignal.com slash email to receive our breaking news alerts. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is under fire again after a supervisor directed staff to avoid helping Florida residents who displayed signs supporting Donald Trump. The Daily Signal's Tyler O'Neill reports that the latest incident illustrates a larger culture of woke priorities undermining FEMA's central mission. One current employee and one former employee

Starting point is 00:03:00 spoke with the Daily Signal on condition of anonymity to expose the problems within the agency. Both of these FEMA veterans said the agency prioritizes racial minorities, LGBTQ individuals, and climate initiatives. That shift under the Biden-Harris administration is undermining FEMA's mission of helping Americans face disasters and leading Americans to distrust the federal government. Quote, FEMA's rotten to a core, said one of the employees who worked there for about five years and left earlier this year. Quote, it's overstaffed, it's bureaucratic, and they don't really help anybody. Meanwhile, the current FEMA employee, who has over a decade of service in federal agencies, said the woke bias undermines FEMA's disaster response goals.

Starting point is 00:03:45 Quote, the current FEMA administrator made a conscious decision to sacrifice a ready and prepared nation for a divisive DEI agenda and unsurious climate goals. I'm joined now by Tyler O'Neill, managing editor at The Daily Signal. Tyler, thanks for your reporting on this story. Tell us what's going on at FEMA. Yeah, so FEMA has been in the cross. Lassairs lately because one of their supervisors, Marnie Washington, directed employees to avoid houses with Trump signs in the front when they were trying to make a survey seeing who had been affected by the hurricane down in Florida.

Starting point is 00:04:22 And so this scandal, you know, naturally drew a lot of attention. FEMA acknowledged that it had happened but suggested it was an isolated incident. And the administrator, D.N. Criswell, said that the woman had been fired. Marnie Washington was axed. But then she said, we will prevent anything like this from ever happening again. Well, I have sources, a former FEMA employee and a current FEMA employee, who told me that that's bunk. Like, not only is this woke bias that we've seen at FEMA that would explain this, widespread in the agency, but that most likely this exact scenario has happened multiple times.

Starting point is 00:05:05 So Trump has obviously made his selection for the Department of Homeland Security, Christy Noem. She has a quite an expansive number of departments that she will be overseeing. Do you think that this is an agency that you can clean up, or is it just one of those that's so large you can't really wrap your hands around it? Well, I think that every agency can be cleaned up. The question is, you know, with the right political, capital with the right effective leadership.

Starting point is 00:05:33 We have yet to see if Christy Noem will be aggressive as she needs to be. I think there's hope there. So yeah, I think it can be reformed. The fact that some FEMA employee and former employee were willing to speak with me shows that there's an understanding there's a problem there. But it's going to be a long uphill battle. Tyler, Anil, thank you for your reporting. We'll be sure to leave a link in the show notes for our audience to click on

Starting point is 00:06:00 link and learn more about the story. My pleasure. Thanks so much, Rob. Democrats have less than two months before they lose control of the U.S. Senate, and in that time, majority leader Chuck Schumer of New York is planning to confirm as many of President Joe Biden's judicial nominees as possible. As you heard from the Heritage Foundation's Tom Jipping on yesterday's show, Biden has slowly chipped away at judicial vacancies. His total of 214 ranks third on the list of most appointees in a single presidential term.

Starting point is 00:06:32 Ripping wrote for the Daily Signal this week, but Biden's judicial nominees have also been among the most controversial in American history, receiving an average of 39 Senate votes against confirmation. That's 77% higher than President Trump's first term nominees. And with time running out to take action on Biden's nominees, Schumer seems intent on using the lame duck session of Congress to confirm as many as possible. Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas spoke with the Daily signals Tony Kinnett about the situation last night. You're right, Chuck Schumer and the Democrats are trying to ram as many of them through as possible in the next two months.

Starting point is 00:07:10 Look, I think they recognize that the door is closing and it is closing quickly. There's going to be a new Senate sworn in the beginning of January and that Senate with Republican majorities is going to get to work confirming President Trump's cabinet and his nominees for the administration and get to work short. shortly thereafter, confirming President Trump's judicial nominees when he makes those nominations. You can find the full interview with Cruz on the Tony Kennett cast. We'll leave a link in the show notes, and don't forget to subscribe to Tony's show, which airs every weeknight. Now for today's Quickets, where we share a brief rundown of other top news of the day.

Starting point is 00:07:52 Popular conservative commentator Megan Kelly is calling Oprah Winfrey's arrangement with the Kamala Harris campaign, quote, grossly unethical. She says it's highly irregular for, an interview subject like Harris to pay for the production costs, as was the case with Oprah's Harpo Productions. And it was no small fee. The cost of the September event in Michigan was a staggering $1 million. Actress Eva Longoria says she's fleeing the country after Trump's election, according to an interview with Marie Claire. Quote, I get to escape and go somewhere. Most Americans aren't so lucky. They're going to be stuck in this dystopian country. And my anxiety and sadness is for them. Longoria called the United States, quote, a scary place if

Starting point is 00:08:42 Trump keeps his promises. She'll now split her time between her luxury homes in Mexico and Spain. Longoria is best known as the former Desperate Housewives star who became an outspoken Kamala Harris supporter and speaker at the Democratic National Convention in August. And that'll do it for today's episode. Thank you for listening to The Daily Signal's top news in 10. Coming up tomorrow on our special Saturday interview edition, we'll bring you Bradley Devlin's interview with Rachel Beauvard. If you're not already a subscriber to the Signal Sit Down, you should add it to your list. Each week, Bradley speaks with the movers and shakers in Washington, D.C. Tune in tomorrow to hear his latest interview.

Starting point is 00:09:23 Also, make sure you subscribe to the Daily Signal wherever you get your podcasts, and help us reach more listeners by leaving a five-star rating and review. We read all of your feedback. Thanks again for listening. Have a great night, and we'll be back with you tomorrow. The Daily Signal podcast is made possible because of listeners like you. Executive producers are Rob Lewy and Katrina Trinko. Hosts are Virginia Allen, Brian Gottstein, Tyler O'Neill, and Elizabeth Mitchell.

Starting point is 00:09:57 Sound designed by Lauren Evans, Mark Geinney, John Pop, and Joseph Von Spakovsky. To learn more or support our work, please visitdailySignal.com.

The Daily Signal - Trump’s Latest Picks, FEMA Under Fire, Cruz Slams Schumer’s Judge Plot | Nov. 15

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