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--:-- Host: John Bickley: The ayes are 217, the nays are 215. Majority voting in the affirmative. Concurrent resolution is adopted. The budget battle comes to a head on Capitol Hill with Trump ramping up pressure on House members. What are the issues driving a wedge between lawmakers?
--:-- Host: John Bickley: I'm Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Wednesday, February 26th, and this is Morning Wire. A new bombshell report on the NSA's controversial DEI initiatives heightens scrutiny on the federal agency. If you were at any private corporation, if you were doing this in the work chat, you would be packed up and gone within hours. And New York's governor sends in the National Guard to run the prisons as thousands of corrections officers hit the picket lines. The general public does not know how dangerous this job has become. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
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--:-- Host: John Bickley: House Speaker Mike Johnson has worked furiously to wrangle votes from Republicans to pass a crucial spending resolution that will help fund much of Donald Trump's domestic agenda. Here to break down the budget battle in D.C. is Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips, say, Cabot.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, I know, John, a lot of people hear the words budget resolution and their eyes gloss over. It's certainly not the sexiest topic, but it is hugely consequential. For weeks now, Republicans have been putting together a massive spending resolution that'll lay the framework for funding some of Trump's big ticket campaign promises.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: The heart of the plan contains three major focuses. First, it calls for $4.5 trillion in tax cuts, including renewing President Trump's 2017 tax cuts, and also paving the way to eliminate taxes on Social Security payments, tips, and overtime. Next, it includes a $300 billion increase in spending for defense on the southern border. Finally, in its current stage, the resolution calls for around $1.5 trillion in future cuts to the federal budget, though it's not yet clear exactly where those cuts would come from.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Right. Now, the big struggle here, of course, is within the GOP itself with its razor-thin majority. Tell us about the fight to get this across the finish line.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, because Republicans hold such a small majority, they could only afford to lose a few votes to get this thing passed. That left Speaker Johnson scrambling to appease each wing of the GOP. The budget hawks want more cuts. The moderates support cuts but want to protect Medicaid. The foreign policy hawks want cuts, just not for defense spending. You get the idea.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah. Supporters of the resolution are basically saying, don't make perfect the enemy of good This moves us in the right direction I spoke with Brandon Arnold executive director of the National Taxpayers Union He in that camp Here what he had to say
--:-- Brandon Arnold: In terms of what achievable in Congress and gets this process going of locking in Trump tax cuts most of which are going to expire at the end of the year, this is a fantastic approach to doing so because it not only marries that important concept of getting taxes done, It also begins to chip away at the federal bureaucracy, at the waste, fraud and abuse within the federal government.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now, coming into Tuesday morning, it looked like everyone in the GOP caucus was finally getting on board. But a handful of hardline conservative members put their foot down, saying the plan was a good starting point, but did not offer enough guaranteed cuts. Leading the charge was Kentucky Republican Thomas Massey, who said there weren't enough assurances that the resolution would actually cut spending.
--:-- Thomas Massey: If the Republican plan passes under the rosiest assumptions, which aren't even true, we're going to add $328 billion to the deficit this year. We're going to add $295 billion to the deficit the year after that and $242 billion to the deficit after that under the rosiest assumptions. Why would I vote for that?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: In the end, though, Massey was the only Republican who voted no. all the other GOP members who were on the fence got on board and the measure was passed 217 to 215. It was a major victory for Speaker Mike Johnson and for Donald Trump. It's worth noting the president was on the phone all day calling Republicans on the fence, telling them to fall in line. That pressure campaign obviously helped.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now that the resolution has passed the House, the Senate will also have to approve it with a simple majority vote. And again, that could be difficult. Here's Arnold explaining why.
--:-- Brandon Arnold: Right now, there's a lot of space between where the House is at and where the Senate is. The reason they're doing this kind of obscure, arcane song and dance is because it obviates the need for a 60-vote threshold in the Senate. They can bypass the filibuster and get a bill to the president's desk with a simple majority in both the Senate and the House.
--:-- Host: John Bickley: Thanks so much for reporting, Cabot.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Anytime.
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--:-- Host: John Bickley: Newly disclosed documents reveal the extent to which DEI initiatives in the federal government have shifted the mission of key agencies, pushing radical ideology and political targeting, including even agencies tasked with national defense. In an exclusive interview this week with Daily Wire editor emeritus Ben Shapiro, the Manhattan Institute's Chris Rufo detailed evidence of troubling mission shift at the National Security Agency. Joining us to discuss is Daily Wire deputy managing editor Tim Rice. So, Tim, another bombshell report from Rufo, this time with co-author Hannah Grossman of the Manhattan Institute. What exactly are they alleging?
--:-- Tim Rice: Yeah. Hey, Georgia. So this is another rather shocking report about how government resources are being used or in this case abused And as usual Rufo and Grossman have the receipts So as you noted this has to do with the NSA the National Security Agency which is supposed to be dedicating all of its time to the crucial job of, well, national security. But as Rufo and Grossman found, the agency has been officially allowing and even endorsing extremely radical and politically biased groups, And that includes chat groups.
--:-- Tim Rice: Some whistleblowers with access to these chats, one current and one former NSA employee, provided Rufo's team with evidence of their content. And frankly, some of it is too not safe for work to detail on this show. But let's just say that it includes graphic discussions about gender transition surgeries, so-called bottom and top surgeries, specifically discussing them in terms of fetishes. And again, this is under officially endorsed chat rooms, and these conversations are taking place while the federal employees are supposedly working.
--:-- Tim Rice: Now, are these discussions themselves actually endorsed by higher ups? Yes. And Shapiro and Rufo underscore to that point. Here's Shapiro.
--:-- Ben Shapiro: The sex chats were legitimized as part of the NSA's commitment to, quote, diversity, equity and inclusion. Activists within the agency used LGBTQ plus minus divided by sign employee resource groups to turn their kinks and pathologies into official work duties. According to the current NSA employee, these groups, quote, spent all day recruiting activists and holding meetings with titles such as privilege, ally awareness, pride and transgender community inclusion. And the NSA leadership supported every aspect of this, declaring the DEI was, quote, not only mission critical, but mission imperative.
--:-- Tim Rice: Yes, the mission of the NSA monitoring foreign terror threats. That mission would have been endangered if we did not have intel in chats between various agents discussing the pleasures of polyamory. Ruffo also made clear that these federally funded groups engaged not only in not safe for work discussions with official approval, but also engaged in extremely partisan targeting of conservatives here in the United States, including Shapiro himself.
--:-- Tim Rice: These are intelligence officials that should, in theory, be focused on foreign adversaries, but they are very concerned about domestic politics. And so it's not just about their hormones, their genital surgeries. They have vitriolic feelings towards conservatives in particular. Two names that came up, of course, were Chaya Raichik of Libs of TikTok fame and the one and only Ben Shapiro. And they were going ballistic. I mean, they said at one point that you should be expelled for the tribe for constantly spouting hate speech. So, again, clear evidence of political targeting.
--:-- Tim Rice: As we've documented on this show, the Trump administration is heavily focusing on weeding out just these kinds of DEI programs and activist groups. So they've been vowing to shut down exactly this kind of activity in federal agencies. Well, it won't go away overnight.
--:-- Host: John Bickley: Thanks for reporting, Tim.
--:-- Host: John Bickley: Following a rise in violent incidents inside New York prisons, correction officers and sergeants from across the state are on strike over unsafe working conditions, battling Democrat Governor Kathy Hochul for reforms. Here with more is Daily Wire reporter Amanda Presta-Giacomo. Hey, Amanda. So first, give us some background. When did this strike start and what led up to it?
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: So the strike started on the 17th with officers from two New York prisons striking over unsafe conditions. The movement quickly swelled in support and now nine out of 10 officers, about 15,000 total, from 38 of the state's 42 prisons are now participating in the strike. Notably, the strike has not been sanctioned by the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, which is the government affiliated union for corrections officers. That makes this a so-called wildcat strike.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Governor Hochul has repeatedly called the strike illegal citing violation of the Taylor Law Now as for the timing of all of this officers say it a long overdue response to Hochul and her predecessor Andrew Cuomo ignoring their complaints about safety and mandated work shifts that according to officers can exceed 72 hours at times.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Additionally, just days before the strike, officials locked down the Collins Correctional Facility in Erie County due to an inmate uprising. There was also a memo circulated by the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, the DOCCS, advising prison superintendents to effectively cut 30% of staff by the end of the month, though the DOCCS has since said that that would mostly apply to vacant positions.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: All right, so proposed staffing cuts to the already understaffed, though some of these positions are vacant already. What exactly are officers demanding here?
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Well, first and foremost, they want prison reform legislation called the Halt Act to be repealed. That went into effect in 2022, and it mandates what proponents say are more humane alternatives to solitary confinement, while also limiting which inmates can be placed in solitary at all. Officers and their supporters say the legislation has not worked and it's made prisons less safe for everyone.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: They've cited DOCCS stats saying that since the HALT Act was implemented, there's been a 169% increase in inmate-on-inmate assaults, a 76% rise in inmate-on-staff assaults, and a 32% bump in contraband cases. Officers have made it very clear that they want changes to be made to guarantee their safety.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Those on strike have generally refrained from speaking to the media out of fear of retribution, but some have taken to message boards to voice their concerns. For example, a woman named Sarah Tompkins said that while she was working at Green Haven Correctional Facility last year, an inmate tackled her to the floor and ripped out her hair. She provided photos of her injuries.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: A male officer also shared photos of on-the-job injuries, writing, quote, I got punched in the face three times in a 30-day span. Republican State Senator Pamela Helming said that earlier this month, a female officer at Groveland Correctional Facility was sitting at her desk when an inmate attacked her. She was choked, punched and kicked in the face.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: And a retired female officer said that she was sexually assaulted by an inmate in 2022 and never returned to work. It's just horrifying. And what's Hochul's position on all of this? What has she done so far?
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: So Hochul sued officers for the strike, and over the weekend, she directed state troopers to serve papers to hundreds of officers so far, threatening them with arrest. Here's Hochul at a press conference on Tuesday.
--:-- Kathy Hochul: Has anyone been arrested? The proceedings have started. I think we have 380 people on the first list through the attorney general's office, and they're being served by state police as we speak. This is in violation of law.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: The deputy secretary of public safety added, quote, We will go and catch every single one of them until they return to work. Now, the governor has deployed 6,500 National Guard members to run the prisons during the strike. She's also working to consolidate inmates, putting more inmates inside each prison due to the lack of coverage. She's also taken away striking officers' health insurance. And the DOCCS is docking two days of pay for every day an officer remains on strike.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: So pretty harsh punishments there. And is there any end in sight? What's going on with negotiations?
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Well, mediation between the two sides began on Monday with a reported offer from the state for two times the hourly rate for overtime, the nixing of that controversial staff reduction memo, and suspension to certain provisions in the Halt Act. Officers, though, are reportedly skeptical of promised concessions due to Hochul's comments and actions, and so far, no deal has been reached.
--:-- Host: John Bickley: Well, so things don't get uglier before this is resolved. We'll be tracking what happens next. Amanda, thanks so much for reporting.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: You're welcome. Thanks for waking up with us. And if you enjoyed what you heard this morning, please consider sharing this episode with a friend.
