Moment of Truth

Have you ever wondered how the United States Senate actually works — and why it so often doesn’t?This compilation pulls the sharpest moments from conversations with Vice President JD Vance, Senator Ron Johnson, Senator Roger Marshall, Senator Eric Schmitt, CPI President Ed Corrigan, Rachel Bovard, and strategist Luke Thompson.Luke Thompson explains how McCain-Feingold gutted the parties and turned every senator into a free agent. Vice President Vance shares about his first few months in the Senate. Sen. Ron Johnson describes asking his colleagues how much the federal government spends in a year and getting blank stares. Ed Corrigan and Rachel Bovard take you inside the Wednesday steering lunches where conference decisions actually get made. And Bovard lays out the ambush quorum — dragging senators to the floor at three in the morning, over and over, until the minority breaks.If you work on the Hill, or want to, this is the crash course nobody gave you.(00:00) Welcome to Moment of Truth(01:11) Luke Thompson on What the NRSC Actually Does(02:30) How McCain-Feingold Gutted the Parties(07:00) Did Campaign Finance Create Celebrity Politics(10:14) JD Vance on Using the Bully Pulpit (12:55) Why Senators Are Too Busy to Think(15:25) Ed Corrigan on the Origins of the Senate Steering Committee(18:12) What is a Hold?(21:11) Ron Johnson on How Unprofessional Washington Really Is(23:59) The Board of Directors Doesn’t Know What It’s Spending(25:14) McConnell's Governing Model and the Push to Change It(27:28) DC Is So Unserious(30:45) Rachel Bovard on Why Individual Senators Are So Powerful(33:30) Inside the Wednesday Steering Lunches(35:51) How Harry Reid Started the Slow Squeeze(42:19) Roger Marshall on the Rise of the Populist Bloc(45:28) Killing A Bad Senate Deal(49:33) Rachel Bovard on What Senators Actually Extract in Exchange for Nominee Votes(52:05) Can the Nuclear Option Be Undone(57:20) Why Is the Senate on a Month-Long Recess(1:03:35) The Live Quorum and Carrying Senators Onto the Floor(1:09:16) Eric Schmitt on What Voters Actually WantCheck out the full episodes!Luke Thompson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2W1bU3EbrYVice President JD Vance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMJsVpUbet0Ed Corrigan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uab4Z05eiKwRachel Bovard on fighting Mitch McConnell: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMCnis6f3JwSenator Roger Marshall: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O77Jmnp9y2YSenator Ron Johnson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiN_iaMUIho Rachel Bovard on the Senate Recess: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rufG3A_3mVARachel Bovard on the Filibuster: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWSF-UhiZWs Senator Eric Schmitt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YqjkjMDGAg

Microsoft spent two decades building a reputation as the good big tech company. It worked. While conservatives fought Twitter and Facebook over censorship, nobody was watching the company that quietly captured 85% of government productivity software and a third of all federal software spending.Evan Swarztrauber and Aiden Buzzetti came in to explain what that inattention has cost us. For nearly a decade, Microsoft used Chinese engineers on Department of War cloud systems, supervised by American "digital escorts" who lacked the technical background to know what they were even looking at. The company is now deepening its AI ties in China at the exact moment the Trump administration is trying to win the AI race. And when Microsoft laid off thousands of American workers last year, it turned around and filed for nearly 3,000 H-1B visas.This one could (and should!) make you angry. Their paper, Clouded Judgment, is linked below.Follow Evan: https://x.com/SayreEvanFollow Aiden: https://x.com/AidenBuzzettiRead Clouded Judgement: https://bullmooseproject.org/posts/clouded-judgment-the-risks-of-lock-in-and-single-vendor-dependence Follow American Moment across Social Media:X / Twitter – https://x.com/americanmomentFacebook – https://www.facebook.com/AmMomentOrgInstagram – https://www.instagram.com/ammomentorg/YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4qmB5DeiFxt53ZPZiW4TcgAmerican Moment's "Moment of Truth" Podcast is recorded at the Conservative Partnership Campus in Washington DC, produced by American Moment Studios, and edited by Hunter Smith, with original graphics by Jared Cummings.Subscribe to our Podcast, "Moment of Truth"Apple Podcasts – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/moment-of-truth/id1555257529Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/5ATl0x7nKDX0vVoGrGNhAj

Jeff Clark returns to Moment of Truth for his second appearance, this time to tell the full story of what political persecution has actually looked like over the last five years, from Fani Willis personally arresting him in a case with zero jurisdiction, to a DC Bar disciplinary proceeding now in its sixth calendar year. They also get into the president's mail-in ballot executive order, Judge Luttig's transformation from conservative judicial star to leftist media fixture, and what the Oversight Project is uncovering on Biden's ghostwriter tapes and Maryland redistricting. Young lawyers in particular, please enjoy genuinely important conversation about courage and the price you may be asked to pay for it.Follow Jeff Clark: https://x.com/JeffClarkUSFollow American Moment across Social Media:X / Twitter – https://x.com/americanmomentFacebook – https://www.facebook.com/AmMomentOrgInstagram – https://www.instagram.com/ammomentorg/YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4qmB5DeiFxt53ZPZiW4TcgAmerican Moment's "Moment of Truth" Podcast is recorded at the Conservative Partnership Campus in Washington DC, produced by American Moment Studios, and edited by Hunter Smith, with original graphics by Jared Cummings.Subscribe to our Podcast, "Moment of Truth"Apple Podcasts – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/moment-of-truth/id1555257529Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/5ATl0x7nKDX0vVoGrGNhAj

Deputy Secretary of State Chris Landau returns to Moment of Truth for round two, this time to dig into reforming the Foreign Service, the America First case for treating visas as a genuine tool of statecraft, and what a post-USAID State Department actually looks like. They also cover the “Donroe Doctrine” and the administration's renewed focus on the Western Hemisphere after decades of neglect, the fight against cartels and Chinese influence in Latin America, and why folding USAID into the State Department was long overdue. A genuinely fascinating look inside how America First foreign policy actually works day to day and the perfect primer for any enterprising young person considering joining the Foreign Service. Follow the Deputy Secretary: https://x.com/ChrisLandauUSAFollow American Moment across Social Media:X / Twitter – https://x.com/americanmomentFacebook – https://www.facebook.com/AmMomentOrgInstagram – https://www.instagram.com/ammomentorg/YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4qmB5DeiFxt53ZPZiW4TcgAmerican Moment's "Moment of Truth" Podcast is recorded at the Conservative Partnership Campus in Washington DC, produced by American Moment Studios, and edited by Hunter Smith, with original graphics by Jared Cummings.Subscribe to our Podcast, "Moment of Truth"Apple Podcasts – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/moment-of-truth/id1555257529Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/5ATl0x7nKDX0vVoGrGNhAj

This week on Moment of Truth, Nick sits down with Jon Schweppe, Senior Advisor at the American Principles Project, fresh off an 18-month stint as senior policy advisor to FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson. Jon explains what antitrust and consumer protection enforcement have actually accomplished under this administration and why the FTC's Section Five authority is one of the most underrated tools in government. They dig deep into the sports betting industry — the VIP programs, the psychological targeting of losers, the banning of winners, and expose how these companies actually operate. The conversation turns from speculation to affordability, with a full-throated argument against "burrito gate" and the strain of conservatism that tells struggling Americans to just work harder. Jon and Nick both make the case that if the right cannot even diagnose the affordability crisis as real, it has no business calling itself a movement for working people. Tune in for this rare dip from Moment of Truth into intra-right, very-online squabbles (and come out better for it!) Follow Jon: https://x.com/JonSchweppeFollow APP: https://x.com/APProject (00:00) Welcome to Moment of Truth(03:55) Senior Policy Advisor to FTC Chairman Ferguson(05:00) Government Is Run by Our Friends(06:33) Big Tech Wasn't Let Off the Hook(08:39) The FTC's Consumer Protection Authority (10:07) The $1.5 Billion Amazon Prime Settlement(13:05) The Sports Betting Problem(19:36) Sports Leagues in Bed With Sportsbooks and the Ohtani Problem(24:19) Young Men Are the Primary Target of This Business Model(33:06) Burrito Gate — The Argument That Is Going to Get the Right Wiped Out(44:16) The DSA and the Right Both Get the Problem — Only One Side Has Good Solutions(48:07) The Core of Populism(50:30) Age Verification for Porn(55:38) Where to Find Jon Schweppe and the American Principles ProjectFollow American Moment across Social Media:X / Twitter – https://x.com/americanmomentFacebook – https://www.facebook.com/AmMomentOrgInstagram – https://www.instagram.com/ammomentorg/YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4qmB5DeiFxt53ZPZiW4TcgAmerican Moment's "Moment of Truth" Podcast is recorded at the Conservative Partnership Campus in Washington DC, produced by American Moment Studios, and edited by Hunter Smith, with original graphics by Jared Cummings.Subscribe to our Podcast, "Moment of Truth"Apple Podcasts – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/moment-of-truth/id1555257529Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/5ATl0x7nKDX0vVoGrGNhAj

This week on Moment of Truth, Professor Ilan Wurman of the University of Minnesota returns for round two on birthright citizenship, breaking down the Supreme Court's decision and what comes next. Ilan explains why the 5-4 ruling is actually closer to a victory than it looks, walks through the flaws in the majority's reasoning on extraterritoriality and the entry fiction, and makes the case for the Thomas-Gorsuch dissent He also gives a sympathetic read on Justice Barrett, lays out what a future administration and a future Supreme Court appointment could actually do differently, and pushes back hard against the doom and gloom many young conservatives are feeling. Plus: his new book, The Constitution of 1789, and why he thinks Americans should love the Constitution the way it actually was written — not in spite of it.Follow Ilan: https://x.com/ilan_wurman Check out his podcast: https://x.com/rationallypod Find his book: https://www.cambridge.org/us/universitypress/subjects/law/constitutional-and-administrative-law/constitution-1789-new-introduction?format=PB&isbn=9781009485692 This episode is brought to you by STAED, the official drink of Moment of Truth. Follow American Moment across Social Media:X / Twitter – https://x.com/americanmomentFacebook – https://www.facebook.com/AmMomentOrgInstagram – https://www.instagram.com/ammomentorg/YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4qmB5DeiFxt53ZPZiW4TcgAmerican Moment's "Moment of Truth" Podcast is recorded at the Conservative Partnership Campus in Washington DC, produced by American Moment Studios, and edited by Hunter Smith, with original graphics by Jared Cummings.Subscribe to our Podcast, "Moment of Truth"Apple Podcasts – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/moment-of-truth/id1555257529Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/5ATl0x7nKDX0vVoGrGNhAj