--:-- Georgia Howe: Nashville's mayor is under investigation for obstructing ICE. Now, you can have a woke mayor who wants to cry and whine in his Cheerios about it, but I'm going to say we're going to stand with the president. We're going to stand with Pam Bondi. We're going to stand with ICE. Heck, I'll go out there and I'll help ICE.
--:-- John Bickley: What's ICE's message to other blue cities undermining the law?
--:-- Georgia Howe: I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire executive editor John Bickley. It's Thursday, May 29th, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- John Bickley: As Europe cracks down on free speech, the Trump administration ramps up pressure on leaders across the continent. We have a report from Budapest.
--:-- Georgia Howe: President Trump and the administration are calling attention to it and I think putting the bully pulpit to use.
--:-- John Bickley: And Republicans are turning up the heat on Congress's own watchdog agency, accusing the GAO of trying to undermine Trump's agenda.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
--:-- John Bickley: The youth social media mental health crisis dominates headlines. Researchers found teens who spend more than five hours a day on their phones are at double the risk for suicidal thoughts.
--:-- Georgia Howe: But here's the good news. Gab has solved the problem by doing something that no one else is doing.
--:-- John Bickley: Their approach is Tech in Steps. Tech in Steps provides age-appropriate technology through kid-safe devices designed for each developmental stage.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Gab products contain no social media or internet apps. Young children benefit from GPS watches with safe zones.
--:-- John Bickley: Tweens enjoy starter phones with monitored messaging. And teenagers access advanced phones with parent-managed apps and quality cameras.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Gab offers a thoughtful alternative to adult devices, keeping children socially connected while prioritizing their safety.
--:-- John Bickley: Gab also works to protect kids from mindless scrolling and harmful online media through innovative features like smart filtration, which flags or blocks high-risk content.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Use our code to get the best deals on something that will make parenting easier and give you peace of mind.
--:-- John Bickley: Protecting our kids has never been easier. For the best deals, sign up to Gab today. No contract required at gab.com slash wire.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That's gab, G-A-B-B dot com slash wire. Gab dot com slash wire. Terms and conditions may apply.
--:-- John Bickley: Trump borders our Tom Homan has been leading ice raids in cities across the country targeting criminal illegals.
--:-- Georgia Howe: But some so-called sanctuary city officials are working to hinder the crackdown.
--:-- John Bickley: Tennessee Congressman Andy Ogles, who sits on the Homeland Security Committee, announced this week that they've launched an investigation into the office of Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell.
--:-- Georgia Howe: They claim that the city officials are actively obstructing ICE.
--:-- [Congressman Andy Ogles joins the conversation]
--:-- Congressman Andy Ogles: Yeah, well, so what you've seen across the country is an increased activity and deportations by ICE and Homeland Security.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And the mayor of Nashville came out with this executive order and he's requiring law enforcement to report any interactions with federal, so local law enforcement with federal law enforcement.
--:-- Congressman Andy Ogles: But he's also encouraged citizens or civilians to report. So there's this community oversight board.
--:-- Georgia Howe: He said, hey, if you see Metro Police helping law enforcement, federal law enforcement, we want you to file a complaint against them.
--:-- Congressman Andy Ogles: So when these mayors are making local law enforcement the bad guys, this feeds into that loop where you see more violence against our law enforcement.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And as someone who's on the Homeland Security Committee, I just received a classified briefing.
--:-- Congressman Andy Ogles: And what I can tell you is that MS-13 and Trindle Wildwood, they're all over the country.
--:-- Georgia Howe: They're in Nashville. They're in our small cities like Columbia and Tullahoma.
--:-- Congressman Andy Ogles: So we're seeing this across the country. Nashville, obviously, a major focus for you being from Tennessee.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Have we actually seen officials in Nashville working against ICE obstructing ICE to thwart their operations?
--:-- Congressman Andy Ogles: Absolutely. So that one of the things we're going to be looking at.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So we're looking at the city of Nashville and the mayor to see if there been actual actions or federal monies that have flowed through the city to illegals.
--:-- Congressman Andy Ogles: But then also you saw the state rep Afton Ben, who used her vehicle.
--:-- Georgia Howe: She recorded herself and she put it on social media where she was blocking ICE vehicles.
--:-- Congressman Andy Ogles: She got her girl squad and we're bullying the ICE vehicles. That's a crime, ladies and gentlemen.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And so the Homeland Security Committee, which I'm on, and the Judiciary Committee, that's Jim Jordan, will be launching a joint investigation into Nashville.
--:-- Congressman Andy Ogles: If you impede federal law enforcement in their duties, in their directive to follow the president, President Trump, to say, it's time that we start deporting these folks, we're going to be looking into your city, and where applicable, we're going to hold you accountable.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So there's a lot of work to be done here.
--:-- Congressman Andy Ogles: And the other thing to keep in mind is Nashville is a through city.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So whether it's human trafficking, whether it's drugs, whether it's guns, geographically, we're about six hours from most of the population in the country.
--:-- Congressman Andy Ogles: So the gangs, the violent gangs in Central and South America, they want strongholds in Nashville.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, you mentioned an NGO in your order for communications records.
--:-- Congressman Andy Ogles: Have you seen NGOs playing a role in general across the country in this effort to shield or enable illegal immigrants?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Absolutely. Under the Biden administration, there was a whole economy essentially set up by nonprofits who were making money off bringing people into this country.
--:-- Congressman Andy Ogles: So someone would come across the border, then they would swoop in, get them housing, get them benefits, and then they would profit off of it from the federal government.
--:-- Georgia Howe: President Trump is putting an end to that type of nonsense.
--:-- Congressman Andy Ogles: And I go back to that classified briefing, which I can't give great detail on, but I can tell you that these gangs are sophisticated.
--:-- Georgia Howe: They're in every city in our country.
--:-- Congressman Andy Ogles: They have very sophisticated surveillance equipment, tactical equipment.
--:-- Georgia Howe: I mean, this isn't just some thug on the street selling drugs.
--:-- Congressman Andy Ogles: These are cartels and criminal enterprises that are moving and sweeping across our country.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And so when the mayor of Nashville, when this state rep in Nashville is standing up and defending these people, we literally caught rapists and murderers and child traffickers and human smugglers and drug dealers.
--:-- Congressman Andy Ogles: This is who was caught up by ICE. This is who we're trying to deport.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And I, for one, am going to stand with my community, my state, my country, and these people should not be in our communities.
--:-- Congressman Andy Ogles: Well, there continues to be very strong support for deporting criminal illegal aliens.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So a lot of people backing this effort.
--:-- Congressman Andy Ogles: Congressman Ogles, thank you so much for joining us.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Absolutely. I appreciate you having me.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Do you have an ancient mattress with a crater in the middle that sucks you in like quicksand, leaving you with throbbing back pain that no amount of stretching can fix?
--:-- John Bickley: Maybe you've tried flipping it, adding foam toppers, and even sleeping sideways, but nothing helps.
--:-- Georgia Howe: If a solid night's sleep keeps eluding you, then you need to check out Helix.
--:-- John Bickley: Helix improves your nights and keeps you sleeping well all night long so you can wake up each morning ready to be your best self.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Whether you're a side sleeper, back sleeper, or somewhere in between, they have you covered.
--:-- John Bickley: All you have to do is take their sleep quiz and find your ideal match.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And trust me, when you find the right match, you'll wonder how you ever slept on anything else.
--:-- John Bickley: I just ordered a Helix Dust Luxe California King mattress, and I can immediately feel the difference their exceptional quality makes.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Plus, the extra room is incredible.
--:-- John Bickley: I wake up each morning feeling refreshed and energized.
--:-- Georgia Howe: It's perfectly tailored for me, and I can't believe I've ever slept on anything else.
--:-- John Bickley: Right now is the perfect time to upgrade your sleep because Helix is offering a fantastic Memorial Day sale.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Head over to helixsleep.com slash wire to get 27% off site-wide plus a free bedding bundle, which includes a sheet set and mattress protector with any Luxe or Elite mattress order.
--:-- John Bickley: That's helixsleep.com slash wire for 27% off site-wide, plus a free bedding bundle with any Lux or Elite mattress order.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Head over to helixsleep.com slash wire today.
--:-- [Music transitions]
--:-- Georgia Howe: The EU forum is taking place this week in Hungary.
--:-- John Bickley: The goal of the summit is to challenge the leftist ideas put forward by the European Union and unite Western leaders to fight back against the EU harmful policies.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Joining us now from Budapest, Hungary, is Daily Wire White House correspondent Mary-Margaret Olihan.
--:-- Mary-Margaret Olihan: Good morning, John. So the big topic of conversation over here is Europe's free speech problem.
--:-- Georgia Howe: This week, as we exclusively reported, a number of senior State Department officials are heading to Ireland and Paris to push both countries to respect their citizens.
--:-- Mary-Margaret Olihan: A senior State Department official told me that the trip is part of the department's effort to fight back against violations of basic natural rights in Europe, especially freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the right to privacy.
--:-- Georgia Howe: In France, they'll be pushing officials on the recent arrest of French politician Marine Le Pen.
--:-- Mary-Margaret Olihan: And in Ireland, they'll be digging into the new European Union law that could be used to censor free speech called the Digital Services Act.
--:-- Georgia Howe: As a State Department official told me, it's, quote, obviously being weaponized for political purposes.
--:-- Mary-Margaret Olihan: That official also reminded me that it's not a coincidence that these kinds of global forces are using similar tactics to those that were used on this side of the Atlantic against President Trump and his supporters over the past eight years.
--:-- Georgia Howe: How are European nations responding to this type of scrutiny from the U.S.?
--:-- Mary-Margaret Olihan: Well, I'm told that they're really feeling the heat of President Donald Trump's administration.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Vice President Vance really laid into the censorship in his remarks at the Munich Security Conference earlier this year, and that laid the groundwork for much more scrutiny of the current situation.
--:-- Mary-Margaret Olihan: Former Trump senior advisor Jason Miller joined the EU-US summit here in Budapest ahead of the CPAC Hungary 2025, and they really dug into the censorship going on throughout Europe.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Ultimately, when they start putting restrictions on their free speech, than other outlets, whether it be a social media platform, whether it be a technology platform such as Apple or Google or things of that nature.
--:-- Mary-Margaret Olihan: When free speech is suppressed there, then ultimately what's going to happen is many of those same policies will be put in place in the United States.
--:-- Georgia Howe: One example Miller gave is the United Kingdom's request for a backdoor to Apple iCloud's encryption to help the UK government access Apple iCloud user data.
--:-- Mary-Margaret Olihan: We broke the news back in February, the director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, was probing the potential implications of such a request, which raised a lot of red flags.
--:-- Georgia Howe: They say it's only to stop the worst of the worst. It's to stop the bad actors.
--:-- Mary-Margaret Olihan: Well, I can tell you that anyone in the US intelligence side will say that if you open up people's individual iClouds, and again, they come with a very nice, well-presented cover that it's only the bad people that they're looking at.
--:-- Georgia Howe: It'll take hackers and other people five minutes tops to hack into everybody's iCloud.
--:-- Mary-Margaret Olihan: I also spoke with Matt Mowers, who's a State Department veteran and president of the global strategies firm Valcour.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Matt tells me that the people of Europe are getting tired of the status quo.
--:-- Mary-Margaret Olihan: You're seeing election results bear out that Europeans are fed up with the status quo, the bureaucrats in Brussels, the over-regulation, the over-taxation, the fact that they're clamping down on free speech, they're doing nothing to address the unchecked migration that's jeopardizing security and jobs.
--:-- Georgia Howe: He also suggested to me that Trump's impact on Europe this far has been, and I'm quoting, monumental.
--:-- Mary-Margaret Olihan: We're seeing it right now play out in the trade relationship that President Trump has been negotiating with the EU and recent developments that are happening as recently as the last few hours, where they're saying that now by early July they have a goal of getting a framework in place.
--:-- Georgia Howe: It's also worth noting Vance's remarks in Munich continue to dominate discussions of free speech across the globe, and they'll likely continue to do so during CPAC Hungary 2025, which will take place this weekend, where conservative leaders and commentators are gathering.
--:-- Mary-Margaret Olihan: Yeah, obviously a major priority for the administration as J.D. Vance famously laid out very early on, as you highlighted here.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks so much, Mary-Margaret, for joining us and enjoy Budapest.
--:-- Mary-Margaret Olihan: Thanks so much, John.
--:-- [Music transitions]
--:-- Georgia Howe: Republicans have grown frustrated with the independent agency known as the Congressional Watchdog.
--:-- John Bickley: They say the Government Accountability Office has too often let politics dictate its findings rather than the facts.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce is here to talk about the GAO, as well as Elon Musk stepping back from his work with Doge.
--:-- Tim Pierce: It's sort of like Doge before Doge. According to its website, the GAO is an independent, nonpartisan agency that works for Congress.
--:-- Georgia Howe: It typically looks at how federal funds are spent and how executive agencies implement certain policies, and it makes reports to inform lawmakers.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Recently, Republicans say that the GAO has been infected by politics, and this lack of trust comes as the GAO has probes into dozens of Trump administration spending freezes.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Last week, it finished one of them. It said that the Department of Transportation violated the Impoundment Control Act to freeze a Biden-era electric vehicle charging program.
--:-- Tim Pierce: That earned a rebuke from Russ Vogt, the director of the Office of Management and Budget.
--:-- Georgia Howe: He wrote on X that the GAO is going to call everything an impoundment because they want to grind our work to manage taxpayer dollars effectively to a halt.
--:-- Tim Pierce: So the Trump administration has their reasons for being upset with the GAO, but it's technically a Republican-led organization.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So why are Republicans in Congress upset with it?
--:-- Tim Pierce: Yeah, they were mad last week too. Congress voted to strip a Clean Air Act waiver from California that would have authorized the state to effectively ban new gas-powered vehicles by 2035.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The GAO said that Congress couldn't use the Congressional Review Act to pull the waiver.
--:-- Tim Pierce: That set Republicans in the Senate off.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Here's Majority Leader John Thune on the floor of the Senate last week.
--:-- Tim Pierce: We are facing something of a novel situation because the first time ever the Government Accountability Office, has decided to insert itself into the process and affirmatively declare that an agency rule submitted to Congress as a rule is not a rule.
--:-- Georgia Howe: It's an extraordinary deviation from precedent for an agency that should be defending Congress's power instead of constraining it.
--:-- Tim Pierce: And frankly, Mr. President, I think we need to act to ensure that this intrusion into the Congressional Review Act process doesn't become a habit.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And that the Senate doesn't end up transferring its decision-making power on CRA resolutions to the Government Accountability Office.
--:-- Tim Pierce: In addition to pressure from Congress, DOGE has also approached the GAO.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The Doge team wanted to meet with GAO officials about downsizing, but the GAO never gave Doge access because it is a legislative, not an executive agency.
--:-- Tim Pierce: And the GAO may be one of the few agencies that can avoid Doge.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, speaking of, Elon Musk said that he was going to be stepping back from his duties at Doge.
--:-- Tim Pierce: What do we know about that?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Right, Musk is cutting back the work he's doing for the Trump administration.
--:-- Tim Pierce: It's been a rough ride for the world's wealthiest man, from the attacks on his companies to the frustrations of government bureaucracy.
--:-- Georgia Howe: This week, Musk seems somewhat bitter about the political process, especially surrounding the passage of the big, beautiful bill.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Here's Musk on CBS Sunday morning.
--:-- Georgia Howe: You know, I was, like, disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decrease it, and that reminds the work that the Doge team is doing.
--:-- Tim Pierce: I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful, but I don't know if it can be both.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Musk seems to think that all of his work with Doge was just erased with President Trump's landmark legislation.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Well, politics is difficult business.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Tim, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Good to be on.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Before you go, we're on YouTube now. Watch and subscribe to the video version on our Morning Wire channel.
--:-- John Bickley: Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back tomorrow morning with more news you need to know.
