Morning Wire
RFK Confirmed & Trump’s Buyout Moves Forward | Afternoon Update | 2.13.25
Thu, 13 Feb 2025
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Chapter 1: What is this episode's main update?
RFK is confirmed, Trump's worker buyout moves forward, and Hamas agrees to release more hostages. I'm Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Thursday, February 13th, and this is your Morning Wire afternoon update.
Chapter 2: Why was RFK's confirmation significant?
The Senate has confirmed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Health and Human Services Secretary in a vote mostly along party lines. Daily Wire Deputy Managing Editor Tim Rice has the latest.
Mitch McConnell was the lone Republican standout who joined Democrats to vote against Kennedy. RFK faced heated confirmation hearings over his past claims about vaccines and their potential links to autism. Despite concerns, GOP senators and Kennedy made key commitments on vaccine policy and public health transparency.
The move follows confirmation of Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's pick for director of national intelligence, and comes on the same day that Kash Patel's nomination advances out of committee.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul has postponed a meeting with President Trump after the DOJ sued her state over sanctuary policies. Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce has the details.
Chapter 3: What are the implications of New York's Green Light Law?
The lawsuit challenges New York's Green Light Law, which grants drivers licenses to illegal immigrants and limits cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. Here's Pam Bondi.
They're giving a green light to any illegal alien in New York where law enforcement officers cannot check their identity if they pull them over. Law enforcement officers do not have access to their background. And if these great men and women pull over someone and don't have access to their background, they have no idea who they're dealing with.
And it puts their lives on the line every single day.
Chapter 4: How is the Trump administration addressing immigration?
Hochul pushed back, calling the move dramatic and insisting federal agents should not have unlimited access to DMV records. The lawsuit follows similar legal action against Illinois as the Trump administration intensifies its immigration crackdown.
Meanwhile, Trump's border czar Tom Homan met with New York City Mayor Eric Adams, seeking cooperation on deporting criminal illegal aliens and locating missing migrant children.
The Trump administration's buyout program for government workers can move forward. The deferred resignation program offered federal employees unwilling to return to the office up to eight months of pay and benefits in exchange for their resignations. Unions argued the program was illegal, but a federal judge has ruled they lacked standing to sue.
About 75,000 federal employees have accepted the offer, while agencies like the CIA have extended buyouts to their workforce. With the court's decision, the program is now officially closed as the deadline has passed.
Conservative groups are calling on the Trump administration to cut all federal funding to Planned Parenthood. Daily Wire White House correspondent Mary Margaret Olihan has the exclusive.
In a letter to Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vogt, pro-life leaders urged a full review of taxpayer dollars allocated to the organization. They cited government accountability office data showing that Planned Parenthood received over $1.5 billion in public funding through Medicaid and grants.
The letter also highlights that Planned Parenthood performed nearly 400,000 abortions in 2022 and has increasingly provided transgender medical services, including hormone therapy and surgery referrals. Advocates argue that taxpayer money is indirectly funding those procedures, particularly after Biden-era policies removed safeguards ensuring that federal funds were separated from abortions.
A migrant with a known criminal record rammed a car into a group of protesters in Munich, Germany today, injuring 28 people, including children. Authorities say the driver, who was known to police for drug and theft offenses, has been detained. Bavarian Minister President Markus Soder called it an attack, saying something has to change in Germany and quickly.
The incident follows a deadly car ramming in December that left six dead.
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