--:-- [Upbeat music fades out]
--:-- John Bickley: Welcome to Morning Wire, I'm John Bickley.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And I'm Georgia Howe. This is Saturday edition, February 24th.
--:-- John Bickley: Thanks for waking up with us.
--:-- Georgia Howe: We have the news you need to know.
--:-- John Bickley: Between two-factor authentication, strong passwords, and a VPN, you try to be in control of how your info is protected. But many other places also have it, and they might not be as careful. That's why LifeLock monitors hundreds of millions of data points a second for threats. If your identity is stolen, they'll fix it. Guaranteed or your money back. Save up to 40% your first year. Visit LifeLock.com slash podcast for 40% off. Terms apply.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Texas is suing a Catholic nonprofit, alleging that it's using taxpayer funds to help immigrants cross illegally into the U.S. If they are doing the things we think they're doing, we're going to pull their corporate charter, so they can't do business in Texas.
--:-- John Bickley: How is the nonprofit responding to the state's allegations?
--:-- Georgia Howe: I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley.
--:-- John Bickley: It's February 24th, and this is a Saturday edition of Morning Wire.
--:-- Georgia Howe: I'm supposed to come here, do a few years, provide my expertise, accomplish what I set as my agenda. I've done it.
--:-- John Bickley: Congress is seeing a wave of retirements by influential Republicans. What does it mean for the GOP's already razor-thin majority?
--:-- Georgia Howe: And a congressional hearing found our country's vaccine reporting and compensation system to be ill-prepared and heavily backlogged. We tried to be prepared, but the avalanche of reports was tremendous. And it, again, required retasking people on the fly.
--:-- John Bickley: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
--:-- [Music transitions to a news theme]
--:-- John Bickley: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced this week that he's suing a Catholic nonprofit over its alleged facilitating of illegal immigration. Paxton says the group has been engaged in migrant harboring and human smuggling.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Here with more is Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham.
--:-- Megan Basham: So this nonprofit is called Annunciation House, and it runs what it calls houses of hospitality for migrants on both sides of the border. So El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico. And they say their mission is to provide, and I'm quoting, advocacy and education around immigration issues. And they also say they strive to be voices of justice and compassion on behalf of the marginalized.
--:-- John Bickley: But Paxton said his office has been investigating a number of NGOs who he says are using taxpayer funding to aid and abet illegal border crossings. And he found that Annunciation is helping immigrants enter the country illegally.
--:-- Megan Basham: In fact, he said they're keeping migrants in what he called stash houses and helping them evade law enforcement. So now he's suing to revoke Annunciation House's license to operate in Texas. And he's asking the court to appoint a receiver to liquidate its assets.
--:-- John Bickley: This was what he told Real America's Voice about this suit. They're participating in human trafficking. And it's devastating to the people that are involved in that. And the impact that it has on children is immense. And so we are trying to stop these illegal activities and the criminal activities being funded by our taxpayer dollars in the Biden administration.
--:-- Megan Basham: He also said that his office has requested documents from Annunciation and so far they're not complying. In fact, they countersuing and seeking a restraining order against the AG office saying that it's not possible for them to meet Paxton's demands for records because their volunteer staff is too limited. They also say that Paxton is violating their constitutional rights of association and they call his position immoral and anti.
--:-- John Bickley: Now, if this is successful, it seems like it could be something of a watershed case on immigration, just given how significant the role NGOs are playing right now in illegal immigration.
--:-- Megan Basham: Yeah, very true. Mark Krikorian, who is the president of the Center for Immigration Studies, told me that to his knowledge, no AG has ever pursued a case like this. And I think we only have to look at the headlines surrounding immigration generally to understand why it's happening now.
--:-- John Bickley: So more than a million illegal immigrants have entered the U.S. since October. That's a record. Chinese migrants now make up the fastest growing group of border crossers. And former FBI officials recently published an open letter warning that the number of unvetted military-aged men entering the country illegally poses a terrorist threat.
--:-- Megan Basham: So what we have now are nearly 60% of Americans saying that illegal immigration is a crisis. So there's a lot of public debate over who's responsible for it. And that includes not just government, but the groups, our government funds, who many say are incentivizing this problem.
--:-- John Bickley: Collectively, religious nonprofits like Annunciation receive billions in federal contracts and grants to provide aid to both legal and illegal immigrants. Essentially, they act as administrators of federal funds and they then subcontract out to other smaller, lesser known religious groups who will provide immigrants transportation to cities and towns around the country.
--:-- Megan Basham: They help set them up with free housing, welfare benefits, getting kids into school. And more recently, it's been revealed that they've also been administering funds from the U.N. on the other side of the border to help illegal immigrants get here. That's part of the U.N.'s cash and voucher assistance program that provides things like prepaid debit cards and envelopes of money to immigrants as they're journeying to the U.S.
--:-- John Bickley: And some of those U.N. funds are also coming from the federal government.
--:-- Megan Basham: This is what Gercorian told me. The interesting thing is that the grants often constitute either a majority, sometimes over 90 percent of the revenue of these organizations. They're essentially government contractors posing as religious organizations.
--:-- John Bickley: So alumni from many of these organizations now work in the Biden administration setting immigration policy.
--:-- Megan Basham: And while Paxton's case could be the first, if successful, other red states may very well start looking at similar suits as a new weapon in their arsenal against illegal immigration.
--:-- John Bickley: Megan, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Megan Basham: Anytime.
--:-- [Music transitions to a news theme]
--:-- John Bickley: As the GOP prepares to defend their slim majority in the House this November, a number of top party leaders have announced their retirements in recent weeks.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Here are the latest on who's stepping down and what it means for Republican efforts to hold their majority as Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Hey, Cabot.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, in the past week and a half, we've seen a number of influential GOP members announce their retirements. First, there was 10-term Washington Rep Kathy McMorris-Rogers, who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
--:-- John Bickley: Days later, we saw the same from Wisconsin Rep Mike Gallagher, chair of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And then a day after that, we saw Tennessee Rep Mark Green stepping down. He's the current chair of the important House Committee on Homeland Security.
--:-- John Bickley: Now, while it's not unusual for members to retire while in power, it is rare for three members to step down while holding the gavel of powerful committees.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: These are coveted spots in Washington that members oftentimes spend years, even decades, working towards.
--:-- John Bickley: Altogether those three departures now mean a total of 23 Republicans have either resigned or will not be running for re this year. That is about 10 of all Republicans in the House. That's a significant percentage.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So why are they leaving? Well, six of those 21 members are running for other positions, so not exactly retiring.
--:-- John Bickley: And a handful are stepping down due to age.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: But the three committee chairs stepping down are really getting attention because age is not a factor. They're all under 60, which is very young in Washington.
--:-- John Bickley: Now, oftentimes, a member will proactively step down if it's clear they're going to lose re-election or be primaried.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And while that appears to be the case for Gallagher, who really angered the GOP base this month by voting against impeaching Alejandro Mayorkas, Green and McMorris-Rogers are in no real threat of losing re-election.
--:-- John Bickley: For his part, Green said politicians are not meant to serve forever and that he accomplished his mission in Washington.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Here he is speaking on NewsNation. I'm not quitting, though, really. I got done what I promised I'd get done. And, you know, the founders were very clear. They didn't want these people to come up here and just be here forever, professional politicians. It was supposed to be citizen legislators.
--:-- John Bickley: For her part, McMorris Rogers simply said the time has come for her to serve America in a different way.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: She did not really offer any details on what that looks like.
--:-- John Bickley: But as the members themselves have offered little insight into why they're stepping down, leaders in both parties have been quick to offer their own explanations.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, tell us more about that. What are some of the theories here?
--:-- John Bickley: So for their part, Democrats claim the departures are proof that Republicans are not confident they'll be able to maintain their slim majority come November.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: They also say the departures are a symptom of what they call dysfunction in the GOP ranks.
--:-- John Bickley: As Pete Aguilar, chair of the House Democratic Caucus, put it, quote, it speaks volumes for where their side of the chamber is.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And it's worth noting, Chairman Green did speak a bit to that notion. He said, quote, Congress is broken beyond most means of repair.
--:-- John Bickley: We heard a similar sentiment from ousted speaker Kevin McCarthy, who himself retired last year, saying the departures are, quote, unfortunate because you think of the brain trust you are losing.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: He went on to blame hardline conservatives, saying, quote, they want to make this place dysfunctional to try and wear people out.
--:-- John Bickley: But many GOP leaders say the turnover is actually a positive sign that the party is embracing a more hardline conservative stance.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: House Freedom Caucus Chair Bob Good, for example, said, quote, I think their retirements are a wonderful thing. I have no concerns, zero concerns. We probably need a few more retirements.
--:-- John Bickley: Florida Rep Matt Gaetz went a step further, praising the departure, saying, quote, Wonderful. We cannot save America with the current Republican team. We have to get tougher and smarter. We need newer, bolder voices in the House.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: If you want to be a Paul Ryan, Kevin McCarthy Republican, in all caps, they don't work here anymore.
--:-- John Bickley: Okay, so not mincing words.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: What sort of impact could these departures have on the balance of power in Washington?
--:-- John Bickley: So thankfully for Republicans, nearly all of the members stepping down are in districts that are firmly red. So the departures are not likely to open the door for a wave of new Democrats.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And it's also worth noting here, Democrats actually have more members stepping down this year than Republicans. And some of them are vacating seats in swing districts.
--:-- John Bickley: Regardless, though, members in both parties seem to agree that the battle for the House in November will be incredibly competitive.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: At the moment, Republicans have a narrow lead in polls asking voters which party they want to control Congress.
--:-- John Bickley: But there's little margin for error come November. It's going to be a tight one. A very competitive and significant election ahead of us.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Cabot, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Anytime.
--:-- [Music transitions to a news theme]
--:-- John Bickley: A massive backlog for reports on COVID vaccine injuries means some people may need to wait up to a decade to hear back from the government.
--:-- Georgia Howe: A congressional hearing found that America's vaccine reporting and compensation systems were not prepared for the thousands of reports regarding the harm caused by the COVID-19 vaccine.
--:-- John Bickley: Here to discuss is Daily Wire senior editor, Ash Short.
--:-- Ash Short: So last week a House committee held a hearing to assess the effectiveness of America vaccine safety reporting system and injury compensation systems in the wake of the COVID vaccine.
--:-- John Bickley: Those providing testimony acknowledged that just 35 people are working to address the more than 10,000 claims of vaccine injury.
--:-- Ash Short: According to government reporting, there have been 12,854 claims filed with the vaccine compensation program alleging harm caused by the pandemic response. Of those claims, 10,640 specifically cite the vaccine as causing injury or death.
--:-- John Bickley: Dr. Peter Marks, FDA director at the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, testified that the system wasn't prepared for what he called the avalanche of reports.
--:-- Ash Short: We had to usually staff up and had many meetings working to increase our ability to go through these reports because what the public sees on the public VAERS page is just a small fraction of the information that we ultimately collect and sift through that is very important to determining whether an adverse event is truly related to the vaccine.
--:-- John Bickley: Now, how many claims have been validated so far?
--:-- Ash Short: The vast majority of claims that have been evaluated have been denied. So far, the government has made 2,214 decisions and determined that just 40 claims were eligible for compensation. Of those 40, only 11 have actually been compensated so far.
--:-- John Bickley: And why are so few claims being accepted?
--:-- Ash Short: Well, the reporting agency says that of the more than 2,000 claims that is denied, 340 were because requested medical records were not submitted. 263 were due to the standard of proof not being met or the injury not being covered by the compensation program. Another 1,300 missed the filing deadline and 251 were claims regarding something not covered by the program or an injury wasn't specified.
--:-- John Bickley: So that leaves about 11,000 claims that just haven't been evaluated yet.
--:-- Ash Short: Is this just due to staffing shortages? Yes. Again, with only 35 people at Health Resources and Services evaluating claims, it's estimated that it will take up to 10 years to get through the backlog.
--:-- John Bickley: And unfortunately, that's not the only bad news for those who may be waiting for their injury compensation.
--:-- Ash Short: The average payout for the few approved claims has been dismal compared to the typical vaccine injury compensation. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene addressed this issue during the hearing. The average award was only about $3,700.
--:-- John Bickley: On the other hand, the average VICP payout over the last 35 years is approximately $490,000.
--:-- Ash Short: If you die or get injured from a COVID-19 vaccine, your average payout is $3,700.
--:-- John Bickley: Now, we've heard about some of the issues the vaccines could cause. For example, myocarditis in young men has received a lot of attention.
--:-- Ash Short: Were the injuries themselves discussed in the hearing?
--:-- John Bickley: To an extent, committee chairman James Comer of Kentucky asked about myocarditis in young men specifically.
--:-- Ash Short: During such questions, those testifying said that such safety signals were placed on the label of the vaccine. Though these warnings aren't found in commercials promoting the vaccine or as readily as one can find the side effects for prescription medication.
--:-- John Bickley: Also, even with the warning in place, many of these young men didn't have a choice if they were in college or in a workplace that required it.
--:-- John Bickley: Now, did the committee find and or recommend any solutions?
--:-- Ash Short: As with most congressional hearings, a solution isn't part of the event. Instead, lawmakers are merely pointing out a problem.
--:-- John Bickley: Right. All right. Well, Ash, thank you so much for reporting.
--:-- Ash Short: You're welcome. Thanks for waking up with us.
--:-- John Bickley: We'll be back later this afternoon with an extra edition of Morning Wire.
