If there’s one piece of advice Democrat Gene Green would give the new House majority, it’s this: “Don’t get too comfortable.” The American people can snatch the gavel away from Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) just as quickly as they gave it, the outgoing congressman cautioned. And based on the agenda Democrats are unveiling, that may not be as far-fetched as it seems.

For most of the country, it was shades of 2007 when the 78-year-old Pelosi took her place on the dais and talked about a bipartisanship she has never practiced. In her speech Thursday afternoon, the one she’s been waiting eight years to give, the new speaker talked about “reach[ing] across the aisle” and healing America’s great divides — only to prove how insincere she is about both by introducing a bill that super-charges the abortion debate.

As promised, Pelosi’s first act as speaker was showboating a measure that would end the 12-day partial shutdown. “We’re asking the president to open up government,” she told reporters. What she didn’t mention is that her bill would also re-open something else — the global pipeline for taxpayer-funded abortion. Almost two years after President Trump reinstated the Mexico City Policy, the new majority tried to upend it with language that would ship U.S. dollars overseas to groups that promote abortion.

Across the Capitol, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) tried to brace himself for two more years of what he called “political performance art.” “It’s exactly the kind of proposal you’d expect if the incoming House Democrats are choosing to stage a political side show rather than doing the hard work of helping govern the country… The Senate,” he fired back, “will not waste its time considering a Democratic bill which cannot pass this chamber and which the president will not sign.”

It’s a scenario that voters will have to get used to in this brave new world of divided government. And not just voters — but Republicans too, a large swath of whom weren’t even in office when Nancy Pelosi was first speaker. “I know nothing but having a Republican from the White House all the way across the board,” said U.S. Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Texas). “This’ll be a great test of all of us, but especially my leadership.” In a party where Democrats will be under fierce pressure to track Left, the Senate will have to become the conservative backstop to an onslaught of anti-life, anti-family policies. Fortunately for America, Leader McConnell is up to the challenge.

Meanwhile, Republicans aren’t the only ones in for a roller-coaster ride into 2020. Pelosi’s honeymoon in leadership was over before it began, thanks to a growing number of Democrats who think she should have never been speaker to begin with. Making matters worse, a lot of them are part of the newly sworn-in class of 2019, who rose to power last November on socialist promises of free everything. As the LA Times warns, they are poised to be “one of the most independent — and difficult to control — freshmen classes in years.” She’s only been in power for a few hours, the Wall Street Journal editors point out, but Pelosi’s already facing a revolt from liberal extremists who won’t be satisfied with anything resembling moderation.

One thing they do agree on, unfortunately, is a raft of legislation that’s completely at odds with the pro-life president and Senate. Based on what Democrats have said, the House is cooking up a wild menu for 2019, complete with an absolute grilling of Donald Trump. With the who’s who of anti-Trump radicals heading up the new House committees, this White House is in for an outright siege. “The new Democratic House is being compared with the first Pelosi majority of 2006,” the Wall Street Journal editors point out, “but there’s one big difference: The 2018 Democrats ran on no discernible agenda beyond rejecting Donald Trump and all his works. The animating purpose of Congress will be investigations to damage, and perhaps impeach, the President…” with fanatical chair people like Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), and “you-tell-conservatives-they’re-not-welcome” Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) leading the charge.

But if there’s one thing that’s never scared this president, it’s confrontation. He, along with a stronger Senate majority, will continue to use their power to advance the mainstream, pro-family agenda that elected them in the first place. As for the rest of the country, “Voters may think they sent Democrats to Washington to ‘check’ Mr. Trump’s unpresidential habits,” the WSJ editors write, but “Americans may soon discover that they’ve invested those hopes in more polarization and vitriol.”

Originally published here.

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Military at Ease with Trump Policy

Thanks to President Trump, the military is finally fighting something other than culture wars. And according to a new survey from the Smithsonian magazine, the American people aren’t the only ones who are grateful. So, it turns out, are his troops.

The far-Left was so busy cheerleading Barack Obama’s wave of social experimentation that they never stopped to ask how those policies were received by the people they affected most. Now, two years into the Trump era of putting warfighting first, new polls are showing just how relieved the rank and file are.

Thanks to the Military Times, we already knew that President Trump’s approval rating among active-duty troops is triple that of President Obama’s. But now we know why. “Troops surveyed continue to give high marks to the president for his handling of military issues specifically,” that survey pointed out. “More than 60 percent said they believe the military is in better shape now than it was under President Barack Obama, and nearly the same number have a favorable view of his handling of the military.”

Part of that “handling” was rescuing our troops from the radical grip of the Obama years. When President Trump announced that he was slamming the breaks on his predecessors open transgender policy, the men and women in uniform cheered. Of the 1,031 current and former service members the Smithsonian asked, 61 percent sided with Trump in rejecting Obama’s social engineering.

Another benefit of this commander-in-chief is the major swing in attitude. Back in 2014, at the height of Obama’s LGBT agenda for the military, morale had plunged to a 30-year low. Only 73 percent of active-duty members said then they would recommend the military to others, and even fewer — 63 percent — said they would reenlist. Now, when asked if they’d join again, 90 percent of the troops say yes, and 87 percent would want their sons or daughters to follow suit.

Of course, that’s not to say that President Obama’s policies didn’t take a toll. The Army, in particular, is having a tougher time than ever hitting their recruitment goals. To offset the drop, the military has started looking for enlistees in more liberal cities — and having little success. “Within big blue metropolitan areas of the Northeast, Midwest, and West Coast,” Fox points out, “young Americans are less likely to have military family, friends, and mentors — and therefore don’t enlist.” Usually, Brigadier Gen. Kevin Vereen explains, the south — from Virginia to Texas — makes up two to three times more recruitments than other regions.

Now, with more veterans and active-duty troops enthusiastic about the direction this president is taking the military, maybe that will change. In the meantime, the service members who are in uniform are proud to get back to the business of defending our nation. “I want a very, very strong military,” Donald Trump said. And, to the relief of our troops, he’s proving it.

Originally published here.

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On the Knights’ Stand…

Picking up trash and donating school supplies used to be considered good deeds. Now, they could disqualify you from public service! That’s the absurd conclusion of at least two Democratic senators, who are holding one judicial nominee hostage for daring to help a couple of Catholic charities.

Senator Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) aren’t exactly champions of religious liberty. After skewering Amy Coney Barrett, Russell Vought, and other nominees of faith, it probably shouldn’t surprise anyone that Brian Buescher, the president’s pick for U.S. District Judge, was next on the Democrats’ hit list. During his hearing in late November, the liberal duo insinuated that anyone who’s a member of a Catholic organization is incapable of being “fair or impartial.” “[Your beliefs] don’t suddenly go away just because you become a judge,” Hirono argued.

But what are those “extreme” beliefs Hirono is talking about? Social service, for one. As the Knights of Columbus explained in an open letter to both senators, what’s so objectionable about giving away more than $4,000 worth of coats to needy children or collecting diapers to mothers in need? There’s nothing nefarious or controversial about donating pop tabs to help the developmentally disabled or providing an ultrasound to a clinic — unless you’re a U.S. senator bent on religious intolerance.

“We recently read about statements which expressed the fear that the Knights of Columbus held many extreme beliefs,” the organization wrote. “It is our great pleasure to assure you that this fear is not grounded in any truth. The Knights of Columbus in general, and O'Boyle Council in particular, are dedicated to the three fundamental principles of charity, unity, and fraternity.” The group went on to explain all of the good the Knights are doing for the local community. “We hope this list of activities help to assure you that we are simply a group aiming to do God’s work while building friendships.”

Despite those assurances, Hirono asked in a follow-up questionnaire of Buescher if he would quit the Knights of Columbus. After all, she wrote, “it was reportedly one of the top contributors to California’s Proposition 8 campaign to ban same-sex marriage.” Senator Harris followed suit, demanding to know if the Nebraskan was aware of the group’s fanatical pro-life and pro-marriage positions.

But what’s so radical about an opinion that the plurality of Americans hold? Based on last November’s exit polling (of primarily Democratic-leaning voters), man-woman marriage is still the predominate view (48-45 percent) in America! If anyone’s extreme, it’s the increasingly anti-Catholic Democratic Party, who believes that the only people who are fit to hold down a job in this country are the men and women who reject the Bible’s teachings.

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who’s had enough of the far-Left’s religious tests, blasted his colleagues for trying to undermine Buescher’s qualifications with another faith-based witch-hunt. “Hopefully, in the eyes of Democrats, you are not disqualified to be a judge because of your religious affiliations and beliefs.” Later, he promised that he and the rest of the Senate majority “will not tolerate disqualifying judicial nominees because of charitable works and personal religious opinions.”

With two more senators in his column heading into 2019, President Trump has a chance to add even more solid constructionists to the bench. Let’s just hope that none of them have to go through what so many nominees already have: a bigoted interrogation meant to chase Christians out of public service. America was founded on faith predominately by people of faith. It’s time for Democrats to stop their religious test.

Originally published here.

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This is a publication of the Family Research Council. Tony Perkins’ Washington Update is written with the aid of FRC Action senior writers.