Your First Look at Today's Top Stories

Having trouble viewing this email? View the web version.

Wednesday, February 19, 2025

U.S. Senate Advances FBI Director Nominee Kash Patel to Full Floor Vote

Senate GOP: Senate Republicans will confirm Kash Patel. There’s nothing Democrats can do about it (X). He should be confirmed on Thursday. Newsmax: The U.S. Senate on Tuesday voted to advance the nomination of Kash Patel to be the director of the FBI, putting a staunch ally of President Donald Trump and reformer of the bureau on track to run the most prominent U.S. law enforcement agency. The Senate voted 48-45 along party lines on a procedural measure, setting the stage for a final confirmation vote later this week. Patel, a former intelligence and Defense Department official in Trump’s first term, has called for a reshaping of the FBI, pledging to expand its role on illegal immigration and violent crime, core Trump priorities (Newsmax). Charlie Kirk: The US Senate just voted to advance Kash Patel for a full Senate confirmation vote. Leader John Thune will file cloture on Kash which means he will likely be confirmed as the next Director of the FBI on Thursday (X).

Trump Removes DEI Requirements When Hiring Contractors

Wall Street Journal: The Trump administration is directing federal agencies to no longer consider a company’s diversity, equity and inclusion practices when deciding whether to procure its goods or services, according to an announcement from the General Services Administration. The new policy reverses a Biden administration initiative that asked the government to weigh a company’s internal DEI practices as one of many factors when considering whether to purchase that company’s products or services (Wall Street Journal). National Review: Critics of DEI believe the left-wing programs divide people based on their immutable characteristics and teach people to develop an unhealthy obsession with personal identity in their daily lives. Conservative opponents of DEI see it as a progressive academic ideology that devalues individual character and merit in favor of racial and gender discrimination against certain groups of people (National Review).

Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Restores a Mission of “Health” to HHS

Katie Pavlich: Newly minted Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took to the microphone at the Department of Health and Human Services Tuesday morning ahead of his first full day at the agency. He spoke to thousands of government employees, many in person, about his mission under the direction of President Donald Trump. “My mission at HSS, and I hope you all will join me, is to reverse the chronic disease epidemic in America,” Kennedy said. “We’re going to work together to launch a new era of radical transparency. Only with radical transparency can we provide Americans with true informed consent.” Kennedy pointed out the Founding Fathers were citizen scientists, from Thomas Jefferson to Benjamin Franklin. “Science and democracy were born together,” he said. “Science and democracy flourish from the free and unimpeded flow of information.” He vowed to remove conflicts of interest, make data and policy process available without a Freedom of Information Act request and much more (Townhall). Charlie Kirk: HHS Secretary RFK Jr. pledges that nothing will be off limits in his investigation into America’s chronic disease epidemic: “Nothing is going to be off limits. Whatever belief or suspicion I have expressed in the past, I’m willing to subject them all to the scrutiny of unbiased science. That is going to be our template. That’s something that will make us all proud of this agency, and of our role in restoring American health” (X).

U.S., Russian Officials Meet to Discuss Peace Deal

Just the News: Top officials from Russia and the U.S. agreed Tuesday to put together “high-level teams” in order to bring an end to the ongoing war in Ukraine. The officials that met include Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Rubio, U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s Middle East envoy. Rubio said that both embassies in Moscow and Washington would have to be re-staffed as “we’re going to need to have vibrant diplomatic missions that are able to function normally in order to be able to continue these conduits” (Just the News). Sky News: The talks came as Ukraine is slowly but steadily losing ground against more numerous Russian troops in a grinding war that began nearly three years ago (Sky News).

Donald Trump Fires All Attorneys From the Biden Administration to “Clean House”

Fox News: President Donald Trump directed the Justice Department to fire all U.S. attorneys left over from the Biden administration. “We must “clean house” IMMEDIATELY, and restore confidence,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.” America’s Golden Age must have a fair Justice System – THAT BEGINS TODAY” (Fox News)! Reporter Simon Ateba: Trump Fires All Biden-Era U.S. Attorneys: ‘We Must Clean House Immediately!’ President Donald Trump has just now ordered the immediate firing of all U.S. attorneys appointed under the Biden administration, signaling a sweeping overhaul of the Justice Department. “We must ‘clean house’ IMMEDIATELY and restore confidence,” Trump declared on Truth Social, vowing to rebuild a justice system that aligns with his vision for “America’s Golden Age” (X).

Hamas to Release Four Bodies of Slain Hostages on Thursday; Six Living Hostages on Saturday

The nation is bracing itself for the confirmed identities of those murdered by Hamas. BBC: The group’s negotiator Khalil al-Hayya said the bodies to be released would include those of the Bibas family – Shiri and her young children Kfir and Ariel, who were aged nine months and four years when Hamas kidnapped them during the 7 October 2023 attack. Hamas alleges that the three were killed in Israeli bombardment… The children’s father Yarden was released by Hamas earlier this month (BBC). Associated Press: A top Hamas official says the militant group will free six living Israeli hostages on Saturday and return the bodies of four others on Thursday, a surprise acceleration in releases that apparently comes in return for Israel’s allowing mobile homes and construction equipment into the devastated Gaza Strip. The six are the last living hostages set to be freed under the ceasefire’s first phase. The warring sides have yet to negotiate the second and more difficult phase, in which Hamas would release dozens more hostages in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal. Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya, in prerecorded remarks released Tuesday, said the “Bibas family” would be included in the handover of four bodies, apparently referring to Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, Ariel and Kfir, who for many Israelis embody the captives’ plight (Associated Press).

DOGE Announces Over $55 Billion in Savings in First Month

Newsmax: Almost a month into the Trump Administration, the Department of Government Efficiency has announced substantial savings in government spending. DOGE, which is overseen by tech mogul Elon Musk, announced savings of $55 billion. The savings comes from a combination of fraud detection/deletion, contract/lease cancellations, contract/lease renegotiations, asset sales, grant cancellations, workforce reductions, programmatic changes, and regulatory savings, DOGE said on its website (Newsmax). Eric Daugherty: So far, the efforts in USAID have saved taxpayers the most amount of money (X).

Teachers’ Union in Massachusetts Accused of Antisemitism

CBS: In a tense three-hour hearing Monday, lawmakers on the Special Legislative Committee on Combatting Antisemitism grilled Massachusetts Teachers Association President Max Page about materials the union made available to its members that many perceived as antisemitic. The images included a dollar bill folded into a star of David, a poster calling President Joe Biden a serial killer, a poster that said, “Zionists F Off,” and a children’s book about a Palestinian girl… The MTA has been criticized for alleged antisemitism in recent years, prompting protests from parents and teachers (CBS). Brigitte Gabriel: DISTURBING. The largest teachers’ union in Massachusetts was caught red handed sharing blatantly anti-Semitic and pro-terrorist propaganda to their members to “educate” them on the “conflict.” Indoctrination needs to be completely removed from education (X)!

Leonard Peltier Released from Prison After Biden’s Pardon for Murdering Two FBI Agents

Associated Press: Native American activist Leonard Peltier was released from a Florida prison on Tuesday, weeks after then-President Joe Biden angered law enforcement officials by commuting his life sentence to home confinement in the 1975 killings of two FBI agents. Peltier, 80, left Coleman penitentiary in an SUV. Peltier, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians in North Dakota, was headed back to his reservation, where family and friends will celebrate his release with him on Wednesday and where the tribe arranged a house for him to live in while serving his home confinement. Throughout his nearly half-century in prison, Peltier has maintained that he didn’t murder FBI agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams during a confrontation that day on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Native Americans widely believe he was a political prisoner who was wrongly convicted because he fought for tribal rights as a member of the American Indian Movement (Associated Press). Reporter Walter Curt: Man convicted of killing two FBI agents released from prison, sentence commuted by Biden. Leonard Peltier was convicted in 1977 for murdering agents Ronald Arthur Williams and Jack Ross Coler. Now he’s out. Murderers walked free in Biden’s America (X).

10.

Queer Female Actress Cast as Jesus in Hollywood Production of “Jesus Christ Superstar”

This is intentionally done to draw the ire of Christians. Mirror: On Feb 18 it was announced that Cynthia Erivo be taking on the role of Jesus in the Hollywood Bowl production of the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar this summer. The Wicked star is set to take on the titular role with the rest of the cast set to be announced at a later date. She previously portrayed Mary Magdalene in the all-female concept album Jesus Christ Superstar: She Is Risen in 2020. Reactions to the casting choice on social media were mixed, with some people expressing excitement over a queer Black woman taking on the role and others slamming the choice as “blasphemous” (Mirror). End Wokeness: LGBTQ+ actress Cynthia Erivo to play the role of Jesus at the Hollywood Bowl (X). Reporter Rob Smith: Black “Queer” Actress Cynthia Erivo Cast As Jesus As Hollywood MOCKS Christians (X)! Oli London: Would she be allowed to mock another religion (X)?

SUBSCRIPTION INFO: This newsletter is never sent unsolicited. It is only sent to people who signed up from one of the Salem Media Group network of websites. We respect and value your time and privacy.
Unsubscribe from The Daybreak Insider
6400 N. Belt Line Rd., Suite 200, Irving, TX 75063
Copyright © 2025 Salem Media Group and its Content Providers. All rights reserved.