The Pour Over Today - Deadly Air Crash, White House Actions, Cabinet Confirmation Hearings, & More I 1.31.25

Episode Date: January 31, 2025

Today, we’re talking about a deadly air crash near Washington, D.C., what’s happening in the White House, more confirmation hearings for Trump cabinet nominees, and other top news for Friday, January 31st. Stay informed while remaining focused on Christ with The Pour Over Today. Please support our TPO sponsors! The Voice of the Martyrs: vom.org/TPO Parenting with Ginger Hubbard: https://links.thepourover.org/ParentingwithGingerHubbard The Bulletin: MoreCT.com/BulletinPodcast Upside: https://links.thepourover.org/Upside Cru: give.cru.org/pour LMNT: https://links.thepourover.org/LMNT_Podcast HelloFresh: hellofresh.com/tpo10fm One Year Bible: https://links.thepourover.org/OneYearBible_Pod

Today's episode is brought to you by our lead sponsor, Crew. Today, we're talking about a deadly air crash near Washington, D.C., what's happening in the White House, more confirmation hearings for Trump cabinet nominees, and other top news for Friday, January 31st. Stay informed while remaining focused on Christ with the pour-over today. Here's the quote of the day, justice and truth are the common ties of society. John Locke. Let's get started with some espresso shots.

The U.S.'s deadliest air crash in nearly 24 years left no survivors. Just before 9 p.m. Wednesday, outside of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, an American The earliest air crash in nearly 24 years left no survivors. Just before 9 p.m. Wednesday, outside of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, an American Airlines flight and a U.S. Army helicopter collided midair, plunging both aircraft into the icy Potomac River. Officials say the plane was carrying 64 passengers and crew from Kansas, including U.S. and Russian skaters leaving the U.S. figure skating championships, and the Blackhawk helicopter was carrying three soldiers

on a training flight. The cause remains unknown. Officials say a last-minute runway change forced the plane to adjust course, but flight conditions were clear, and both aircraft were in a standard pattern. In a press conference yesterday, President Trump promised thorough investigations while suggesting DEI policies may be to blame.

Join us in prayer for crash victims and their families that the God of all comfort would move in power in this time of incredible tragedy. Book of Common Prayer, page 264 says, grant, oh Lord, to all who are bereaved the spirit of faith and courage, that they may have strength to meet the days to come with steadfastness and patience, not sorrowing as those without hope, but in thankful remembrance of your great goodness and in the joyful expectation of eternal life

with all who love you. The Trump administration is keeping up its breakneck pace. Tuesday night, the Office of Personnel Management offered 2 million federal employees a chance to resign by February 6 and be paid through September, avoiding new in-office work requirements and government downsizing efforts. The buyout faces hurdles, with lawyers questioning if it violates federal spending laws and unions advising skepticism. Then Wednesday, the Office of Management and Budget rescinded Monday's controversial memo,

pausing spending on federal loans and grants. The Trump admin says the reversal effectively ends the court case, but won't stop the president's spending audits. Critics called it more confusion and chaos. Meanwhile, President Trump sharpied the Lake and Riley Act into law this week. At the signing, he announced plans to send 30,000

of the worst criminal aliens to a detention center in Guantanamo Bay. Amid contentious political climates, it's easy to cast ourselves in the right and see the shortcomings of others. When we find ourselves grumbling, we must remember to check our own hearts. Matthew 7, 3 through 5 says, Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother,

let me take the speck out of your eye, when all the time there's a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. own eye and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. Seats are still hot in the Senate. In confirmation hearings this week, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Trump's Secretary of Health and Human Services nominee, faced intense questioning from Democrats on past vaccine comments, shifting

abortion views, and financial conflicts of interest. He stated that he is not anti-vax, but advocated for safer vaccines and promised to take on chronic disease and ultra-processed foods. RFK Jr. is expected to face a razor-thin full Senate vote next week. Meanwhile, Trump's picks for FBI, Cash Patel and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard also had fiery hearings yesterday. Patel stated he didn't support President Trump's commutation of January 6 rioters, while Gabbard was questioned on her past support of intelligence leaker Edward Snowden and her qualifications to

oversee the nation's spy agencies. Here's a verse to consider whether you're being grilled or doing the grilling. When arrogance comes, disgrace follows. But with humility comes wisdom. Proverbs 11 verse 2. but with humility comes wisdom. Proverbs 11 verse 2. With over 1,000 translations and every type of decorative edition, it's easy to forget how many people can't even get their hands on a single copy of the Bible

in their native language. That's why we've partnered with CREW. CREW has missionaries in almost every country, but they need more Bibles. One missionary said, I've never seen such a thirst for the Word of God in my country. Let's quench that thirst. For just $24 a month, you can provide three people with Bibles every month. As a bonus, Crew will provide meals to 12 hungry individuals through their humanitarian

ministry and send you a free TPO coffee mug. Simply text POUR to 71326 or visit give.crew.org. Again, that's texting POUR to 71326 or give.cru.org. or give.cru.org slash P-O-U-R. Message and data rates may apply. Available to U.S. addresses only. In other brews, here's a rapid round of updates. Former Senator Bob Menendez was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison Wednesday. Menendez resigned from office last year after being convicted of acting as a foreign agent

and accepting bribes—gold, cash, and Mercedes-Benz—in exchange for favors for Egypt and New Jersey businessmen. The senator of 18 years maintains his innocence and plans to appeal the verdict. The Fed is pressing pause on interest rate cuts after three straight reductions. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said rates will stay at 4.25% to 4.5% until inflation takes a chill pill or the job market weakens. Regarding President Trump's demand last week to cut rates immediately,

Powell stated the Fed is just keeping our heads down and doing our work. A stampede in Northern India killed 39 people and injured 60 more Wednesday, as hundreds of millions of Hindus gathered for the six-week Maha Ku Mela festival, considered the largest gathering of humanity in the world. Crowd crush occurred as devotees gathered to take a ceremonial dip in a nearby river, despite extensive measures to control the multi-million person crowd.

Hamas released three Israeli and five Thai hostages yesterday, including two women, an 80-year-old farmer, and foreign nationals who'd been working in agriculture on October 7. Crowds of yelling Palestinians created chaos at the hostage handover, prompting Israel to delay the exchange of 110 Palestinian prisoners. The release resumed after Hamas guaranteed future hostages safe passage. Looks like DeepSeek's been reading off ChatGPT's screen. OpenAI, the San Francisco-based creator of ChatGPT, accused the Chinese AI firm of training

its significantly cheaper model using distillation, a cost-cutting technique where developers use data generated by more advanced systems to teach its own model. Distilling ChatGPT is allowed unless you're using it to build a competitor. Investigations are ongoing. And that's all we have for today. Thanks so much for listening. If you're listening on the Apple Podcast app,

give us a 5-star rating and drop a review. If you're listening on Spotify, give us a follow and hit the notification bell to never miss a new episode. We appreciate your support and hope you have a great weekend. We'll see you on Monday. If you love inspiring testimonies of courageous faith, look no further. The Voice of the Martyrs

is offering TPO listeners free access to a film called Sabina, Tortured for Christ, the Nazi Years. It tells the powerful, true story of a womanina, Tortured for Christ, the Nazi Years. It tells the powerful, true story of a woman's journey to faith in Christ, and the risks she took to share the gospel with soldiers from the army that killed her family. Visit vom.org slash tpo to claim your free copy today.