The Daily Signal - US v Skrmetti Rundown, More Trump Nominations, Union Workers Strike | Dec. 5

Starting point is 00:00:01 The defendant in a landmark court case determining if states can protect kids from transgenderism explains U.S. v. Scrametti. I'm Elizabeth Mitchell, and this is the Daily Signal Top News in 10 for Thursday, December 5th. Yesterday on top news, we discussed protest outside the Supreme Court during oral arguments in US v. Scrametti. Today, we'll further break down statements from the lawyers and questions from the judges. Does the fact that cross-sex hormones affect children differently based on their sex make it unconstitutional for states to protect minors from transgender medical procedures? This is the key issue of the case heard Wednesday by the Supreme Court, according to Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Scermetti, a Republican who is the named respondent in United States versus Scrametti. You know, we regulate medicine all the time. The states have been regulating the practice of medicine for hundreds of years.

Starting point is 00:01:04 And yet we have this one odd carve-out because boys and girls are different. And that's such a fundamental fact of human existence. It seems hard to see how we could be boxed in and left unable to protect kids just because we happen to have two sexes. United States v. Scrametti will determine whether states may ban irreversible transgender medical interventions for children. The High Court is asked to rule on the constitutionality of SB1, the Tennessee, law that protects children from gender transition procedures. In Wednesday's oral argument, lawyers for the U.S. government and the American Civil Liberties Union contended that the Tennessee law discriminates based on sex because it bans transgender medical procedures only when

Starting point is 00:01:49 inconsistent with the patient's birth sex. U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Preloger represents the Biden-Harris administration arguing that so-called puberty blockers are prescribed to boys and girls with early onset puberty. It is thus discrimination to deny puberty blockers. based on sex to children with gender dysphoria, she said. The position that Tennessee law is discriminatory is a hyper-formal reading of the law that is better suited for statutory text. The state's attorney general said, When you're looking at the Constitution and there were questions to this effect,

Starting point is 00:02:22 you have to be careful about an overly formal reading that has significant consequences. So, I mean, we've long thought that that sex discrimination argument here is misplaced. He said sex-based differences in the hormone prescriptions prohibited by the Tennessee law trace back to enduring physical differences between boys and girls. It's just a fact that our bodies are different and they react differently to different hormones. Justice Samuel Alito asked Chase Strangio, the ACLU's transgender lawyer, if she believes that transgender status is immutable.

Starting point is 00:03:01 Strangio is a biological female living as a male. Let's listen to the exchange. Does transgender status apply to individuals who are gender fluid? I think that the distinguishing characteristic is to have a birth sex that does not align with, or a gender that does not align with one's birth sex. Are there individuals who are born, male, assigned male at birth, who at one point identify as female, but then later come to identify as male.

Starting point is 00:03:38 Are there not such people? There are such people. I agree with that. So it's not an immutable characteristic, is it? This exchange was significant because a characteristic being immutable is part of the determination as to whether a protected class should be recognized, Scrimetti told the Daily Signal. So part of the argument here from the government and the ACLU's perspective

Starting point is 00:03:58 is that there should be constitutional protections for transgender or status, and the immutability issue is a really important part of that. So that was a significant question. We'll keep you posted on all updates on this case. President-elect Donald Trump announced a slew of nominees who will, if confirmed, impact administration policy on big tech, space, cryptocurrency, slashing government waste, and the economy. Several are new faces while others are returning from the first term. The Daily Signals, Elise McHugh, joins us to discuss. us. Good to be here. The most well-known nominee announced on Wednesday was former assistant treasury secretary Monica Crowley. At least tell us about Crowley. Well, she's a former political

Starting point is 00:04:45 talk radio host and a frequent TV commentator. Now, Trump has tapped her to be the ambassador assistant secretary of state and chief of protocol of the United States of America. Trump said on truth social that this means she will be an administration representative for major U.S. hosted events such as the upcoming U.S. 250th birthday celebration on July 4th, 2026, and the FIFA World Cup in 26, and also the Olympic Games, which are being held in L.A., Los Angeles, in 2008. Sounds like exciting stuff. Days after the election, Trump named William McGinley to be incoming White House counsel. But on Wednesday, Trump announced McGinley would be counseled to the Department of Government Efficiency, an advisory board that will be working on cutting costs.

Starting point is 00:05:30 What did Trump say McGinley will be doing? So recently, Trump said in a truth social post, Bill will work with Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy, and their team of incredible pioneers at Doge to rebuild a U.S. government that truly serves the people. Trump also tapped David A. Warrington to lead the Office of White House counsel with the official role of assistant to the president and counsel to the president. What are his qualifications? So if you didn't know, Warrington has been Trump's personal lawyer and represented the campaign. He's also a partner at Dillon Law Group and the former. president of the Republican National Lawyers Association. Trump also put big tech firms on notice by

Starting point is 00:06:08 nominating Gail Slater to be the assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's antitrust division. Trump said big tech has run wild for years, stifling competition in our most innovative sector and, as we all know, using its market power to crack down on the rights of so many Americans, as well as those of little tech. Trump also announced Paul Atkins to be the next chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Who's he replacing? He'll be replacing the controversial SEC chairman Gary Gensler, appointed by President Joe Biden. During the House Republican press conference earlier on Wednesday, Representative Tom Emmer says he was counting down the days to Gensler's departure in January. That said, it cannot be understated that a common theme throughout

Starting point is 00:06:50 your career, sir, is your relentless loyalty to the largest financial institutions at the clear expense of innovation, competition, and everyday Americans. Trump said he is nominating Michael William Falkinder to be deputy treasury secretary. What will he do if confirmed? Trump said Falkinder will work under Treasury Secretary nominee Scott Bessent to quote, usher in a new golden age for the United States by delivering a great economic boom for all Americans. Sounds excellent. Trump also announced Wednesday evening that he would nominate former Georgia Senator Kelly Loughlin. to be his administrator of the Small Business Administration. And Trump named former representative Billy Long of Missouri

Starting point is 00:07:33 to run the Internal Revenue Service. Daniel P. Driscoll is the nominee to be Secretary of the Army. Could you tell us about Driscoll? So Driscoll is a former Army Ranger who deployed with the 10th Mountain Division as a cavalry scout platoon leader during the Iraq War. He went on to graduate from Yale Law School. Thanks, Elise. Thanks for having me.

Starting point is 00:07:52 We'll be sure to keep you updated on all future nominations from the President-elect. Employees at the United Auto Workers, the sixth largest union in America, have gone on strike against the union this week. UAW Staff United announced its strike on Monday and Thursday marks the fourth day of picketing. According to UAW Staff United, the strike comes in response to the bad faith bargaining committed by the UAW throughout our negotiation process and the retaliatory termination of a union leader. The Daily Signals, Tyler O'Neill joins us to discuss. Tyler, unionized employees of a union striking against that union is pretty ironic, isn't it? Extremely ironic.

Starting point is 00:08:39 But it's also the natural result of the left's ideology in favor of these bureaucratic groups that have long lost their true usefulness. Now, has the legacy media covered this at all? Not that I can see. In fact, a pro-union news outlet attacked labor journalists for refusing to cover this important story. I think they're not covering it because it's inconvenient for their narrative. Sounds inconvenient. What are the strikers demanding? So the UAW hires temporary workers, and the UAW just terminated the contract of one of those workers, Alex Chan, after she helped organize the union to oppose the union. USU, which is UAW staff United, claims that her firing came in retaliation for her helping to form the union and is itself a force.

Starting point is 00:09:27 form of union busting. So America's sixth largest union engaging in union busting. The USU, the UAW workers who are organized against the UAW, are demanding protections for these temporary workers, including severance payments, two months notice of layoffs, and sick days. This sure sends an interesting message about unions nationwide. Thanks for your reporting. My pleasure. Thanks for having me. Now let's hit our news flashes for the day. First up, police released photo. of the man who allegedly shot United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, a day after the tragic incident. 50-year-old Thompson was killed by a masked gunman early Wednesday morning while waiting outside the Hilton Hotel in New York City. Thompson was declared dead at the hospital less than an hour

Starting point is 00:10:17 after the shooting. The suspect fled the scene on foot. Thanks for listening to this episode of The Daily Signals Top News in 10. We'll be back at 5 p.m. tomorrow for the final episode of week. Have a wonderful night. 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. Sound designed by Lauren Evans, Mark Geinney, John Pop, and Joseph von Spakovsky. To learn more or support our work, please visit DailySignal.com.

The Daily Signal - US v Skrmetti Rundown, More Trump Nominations, Union Workers Strike | Dec. 5

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