You want smart political talk without the meltdowns?
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I'm Carol Markovich.
And I'm Mary Catherine Hamm.
We've been around the block in media and we're doing things differently.
Normally is about real conversations.
Thoughtful, try to be funny, grounded, and no panic.
We'll keep you informed and entertained without ruining your day.
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All right.
Thank you, Scott Shannon, and thanks to all of you for being with us.
Write down our toll-free telephone number.
It's 800-941 Sean.
If you want to be a part of the program, uh the president had a his first cabinet meeting, all cabinet officials.
Yes, he Milan Musk was there.
Oh my gosh.
Uh, which cracks me up.
And then it was the interesting thing about it, I'm pretty certain it was live.
Often in the past, it had been taped, and then they would be they would feed it out after.
And then it became one big press conference, although some people joined in.
It was really a Donald Trump press conference.
And it was just so interesting.
I think it's worth maybe playing part of it during the course of the program.
Maybe we'll do that in the second hour of the uh program today, because I know a lot of you are busy, you know, doing what you do all day.
You're at work, you don't have time.
Our job is to make sure you are as informed as possible.
Big props to the Republican House for getting their budget passed last night.
This has been critical.
Uh it is so important for the economy that we we we get reconciliation, we get the economy, the policies of Donald Trump in place, including including his tax cuts and no tax on tips, no tax on Social Security or overtime.
And and this way we get out from under the Biden Harris economy.
There's always a lag when you finally get to implement your economic policies and the success.
And New Kingrich has been very articulate in expressing the need to get this done as soon as possible for the very purpose of ensuring that Republicans stay in power in the 2026 elections.
I'm going to warn all of you now that this 2026 midterm election is going to be vital.
Because if if Republicans don't win, and I would urge all of you that voted for President Trump, and if you like his policies on deporting illegal immigrants and securing our border, if you like his policy of w cutting waste, fraud, abuse, corruption, and spending in government, which according to the Harvard Harris poll this week, 77% of you do.
If you like the fact that he is working diligently to end war in Europe, and and now we're gonna have this mineral deal signed with Zelensky at the White House on Friday, which is great news for America.
It's also great news for Ukraine.
And that would ensure an American presence and other European countries.
Apparently, that part of the deal would be that they would also have a presence and help with the security of Ukraine, but it helps Ukraine number one.
It's it's it stops you know the ship from taking on water, meaning the destruction of their country by Vladimir Putin.
And then they can but then they'll have money for the direct purpose of rebuilding because they are a rare mineral rich country, and we're gonna help them extract those minerals and partner with them, which means that they they have a great partner in the United States.
That's gonna be part of the deal.
I would imagine no NATO is gonna be part of it, but the European troops will be allowed to offer aid and support to Ukraine.
And America will be on the ground in Ukraine, and the territorial ambitions of Putin need to come to an end.
I know everybody in the media has been clamoring to get Donald Trump to start a massive fight with Putin and call him Hitler.
And while while that might feel good for a second, tell me how that in any way advances any possibility of real peace talks.
He's the first guy to get Putin to sit down at the table.
You want him to sit down.
Their economy is at its lowest point.
They're losing, you know, tens and hundreds of thousands of of Russian troops.
That country is sick and tired of the war as well.
So the timing could Not be any better for the strength that Donald Trump has to offer, but he's not an idiot and he negotiates, and you need to wait for the final outcome before you can render your judgment.
And it's it's the media.
Maybe he's compromised by Putin and Russia.
No, I don't think so, because he's about to do a big deal with Ukraine.
And by the way, the if you want to know where these comments about Zelensky came from last week, I I would bet every last dollar, and I think I know Donald Trump's mind pretty well that Donald Trump was angry that he wasn't keeping his commitment on the minerals deal when now obviously he's had a change of heart.
It's in his best interest to do so.
I would imagine a negotiated settlement will look like the mineral deal coupled with no NATO, however, European forces, an alliance with the United States that is stronger than ever, and then probably some of the areas of Ukraine that are dominated by Russian populations probably will go to Putin.
Ideal, no perfect, no.
The time for perfect was before Putin began his minor incursion as Joe Biden called it.
The cabinet meeting was fascinating too.
Elon Musk actually tells the Trump cabinet that if current spending levels continue, and he said this in the interview that I had with him and the president at the White House, but at the first meeting of President Trump's cabinet today, Elon Musk said he aims to cut 6.7 trillion dollars to the federal budget,
one trillion this year, a very ambitious target that could entail significant disrupt disruption of government programs, and he warned that if the current spending levels continue, the country will go de facto bankrupt.
He's not wrong.
And I mentioned yesterday I heard from a friend of mine upset that somebody he knows is likely going to lose their job.
I don't want anybody any short-term pain.
If we don't save this country from the trajectory that it is currently on in terms of debt deficits, interest rates, and spending, every American will pay a very dear price, and probably we won't be able to recover.
Now, so far the layoffs have focused on probationary workers who lack full-time employment protections, and those people that have voluntarily taken the buyout, Trump's uh preparing for deeper cuts in targeting career employees.
A memo released ahead of the cabinet meeting is calling for a significant reduction, did not specify how many workers should be laid off beyond the hundred thousand of the nation's 2.3 million civilian federal workers who have already taken the buyout.
By the way, over a million people answered the email, uh, which I think is a pretty good response rate considering it became voluntary on their part.
Now, Trump also mentioned today that the head of the EPA, Lee Zeldon, he'll be on Hannity tonight, as well as the new head of the Secret Service, Sean Curran, will be on tonight.
But Lee Zeldon said he may reduce the headcount at the EPA by 65%.
The Social Security Administration eliminated two offices this week that oversee civil rights and internal processes or processes that put putting 200 workers on leave separately, the Bureau of Prisons has scaled back at an incentive program to help retain guards and other workers at understaffed facilities, is going to have to be hiring, for example, of air traffic controllers.
It was a big warning by the FAA in in 23 under the Biden administration that they ignored as hard as the media, Democrats try to blame a couple of the recent mishaps on Donald Trump.
He didn't lay off any anybody related to safety in the FAA, not a single person.
The Interior Department was told that that bureaus such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, should prepare plans for workforce reductions ranging from 10 to 40%, according to a source at Reuters.
Now, yeah, uh my heart does go out to anybody that has a disruption in their life or loses a job in their life.
But I'll tell you the the and I know most people don't want to go this deep, but if you were involved in spending money, for example, at USAID, which we focused on the most waste fraud and abuse.
If you were involved in signing off on the Green New Deal agenda, billions and billions going to foreign countries and billions and billions going to foreign countries for the advancement of DEI programs in those countries.
If you are involved in spending billions on foreign countries and forcing them to adopt your woke agenda or incentivizing or forcing them to embrace woke uh transgenderism or LGBTQ plus, this is money that is being paid for by the average American that makes 66 grand a year.
And I they when people find this is why nearly 80% of Americans is now an 80 20 issue want this crap to stop.
And the media is not getting it.
Democrats are embracing it, the fundentry class is embracing it as somehow their cause celeb.
Well, if they want to make up the money themselves, let them donate it to these foreign countries.
In the meantime, it's not the role of the federal government.
So far, Doge has a whopping $65 billion directly in taxpayer dollars that is saved.
And as Elon told me, he thinks this number will go over a trillion dollars, waste fraud, and abuse that they will eventually discover.
It's only 36 days.
It's not been a long time, but they've already saved taxpayers on average $359.48 per person with a goal of reaching two trillion in total savings by July 4th, 2026.
That's a year from this coming 4th of July.
The agency has initiated initiated uh 1,201 cost cutting measures so far, which is a high number, and this savings stems from a broad range of cost cutting measures, including fraud detection, uh deletion, contract, lease cancellation, renegotiation, asset sales, grant cancellations, workforce uh reductions, regulatory changes, and you know, program reforms.
In recent weeks, the agency has dismantled USAID, putting 10,000 employees on leave, imposing a hiring freeze across federal agencies, ordering federal workers to return to in-person working.
It has also proposed deep budget reductions across multiple departments, including the Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Education.
We're going to have to be leaner and meaner and stop stealing from our children and stop stealing from the American taxpayers.
You know, under Biden, we found out USAID, this was in the Daily Wire, actually paid for Ukrainian models to attend Fashion Week in Paris, you know, under the Biden administration, USAID, you know, paid Ukrainian Biden family syndicate thoughts, uh, models and designers to go to Paris Fashion Week, you know, and other f frivolous absurd luxuries.
Joni Ernst made this revelation earlier today.
Ernst revealed USAID did not report the expenditures in public databases, and they tried to block her staff from seeing them, claiming they were classified.
And this goes to the corruption aspect of this and the cover-up aspect of this, which I have been saying we are going to find out.
It's now inevitable.
Because they hid this reckless agenda, radical leftist agenda spending from you, the American people, because they knew instinctively you would rightly be outraged.
Anyway, the staff learned that the aid was intended to alleviate economic distress the war toward nation of Ukraine on activities such as sending Ukrainian models and designers on junkets to New York City, London Fashion Week, Paris Fashion Week, and South by Southwest in Austin, the memo obtained by the Daily Wire.
Ukrainian recipients of competitive economic program funds include the Memo said, uh, a modern women's attire company, a trade mission for fashion design house, a photographer for fashion design publications, a purveyor of contemporary knitwear, a luxury bridal brand brand, marketplace for designer.
This is insanity.
Over 5,000 Ukrainian businesses getting U.S. taxpayer funded assistance through this competitive economic program.
Now it may not sound like I'm a lot of money, but if you make 66 grand a year and you're the average American, let me do you want your money being spent on this crap?
I don't think so.
And you know, the EPA is all designed around the radical Green New Dealism of the radical left.
It's incredible.
Trump administration pulled the plug on electric vehicle charging stations at federal buildings as part of their mission to eliminate waste fraud and abuse.
I'll tell you more about that on the other side.
800, 941 Sean, if you want to be a part of the program.
I am going to tell.
Hey there.
I'm Mary Catherine Hamm.
And I'm Carol Markowitz.
We've been in political media for a long time.
Long enough to know that it's gotten, well, a little insane.
That's why we started normally a podcast for people who are over the hysteria and just want clarity.
We talk about the issues that actually matter to the country without panic, without yelling, and with a healthy dose of humor.
We don't take ourselves too seriously, but we do take the truth seriously.
So if you're into common sense, sanity, and some occasional SAS.
You're our kind of people.
Catch new episodes of Normally every Tuesday and Thursday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen.
We now find, and I mentioned the story yesterday, there's a follow-up to it.
Tulsi Gabbard, the new director of national intelligence, had to fire a hundred staffers who participated in obscene pornographic and very sexually explicit chat groups.
More than a hundred intelligence community employees terminated, and we'll have their security clearances revoked as the Intel community investigates group chats that allegedly discussed explicit.
This behavior is unacceptable, and those involved will be held accountable, said Tulsi Gabbard in a post that she put on X. The chats, which were hosted on a chat system for the intelligence community, were maintained by the National Security Agency, were described by Gabbard's deputy chief, uh Alexa Henning as obscene, pornographic, sexually explicit.
And Gavard said that the disgusting chat groups were immediately shut down when Donald Trump issued his executive order ending DEI uh initiatives in the federal government, which he said, you know, literally um called the DEI insanity that the Biden administration was uh obsessed with.
Our uh IC must be focused on its core mission ensuring the safety, security, freedom of the American people.
This is not complicated.
Over a hundred people across the intelligence community.
What are we gonna do with all of those people that were participating in the weaponization of justice intelligence, the FBI?
I don't really think uh it's not something you can sweep under the rug.
Because we've got to restore the FBI, the DOJ, and the intelligence community to its former greatness and its original mission.
It's not that difficult.
Uh Elon Musk told workers that they had another chance to justify their work or lose their jobs.
He seems to have the support of the president in that.
Um we have Red District Doge protest.
We told you the story of the Washington Free Vegan apparently being funded and organized, and they're not real.
So, you know, at some point when it's relevant, now the House did pass their budget, including four and a half, you know, billion dollars in tax, uh trillion in tax cuts, which the country needs if you want to get well, tax cuts results in less revenue to the government.
No, it does not.
Reagan's tax cuts doubled revenues to the federal government.
And they made the same idiotic predictions back then.
Uh Glenn Youncan following in the footsteps of Ron DeSantis and other governors around the country is offering support to federal workers.
He said, We care about you.
And he said, and we have a support system in order to help you find the next great opportunity.
Nobody wants, you know, this is this is either do or die.
It's either we steal from our kids and grandkids and continue the insanity of and this reckless spending, or if you're part of this in the federal government, you shouldn't have been hired to do that in the first place.
To be very, very honest about it.
You should never have been hired.
I mentioned earlier Friday, we expect the Zelensky meeting.
I think that's going to get pretty interesting.
It was fun to watch President Trump yesterday.
White House tours have been reopened, and he went out to see people that were touring the White House.
If you ever get a chance to do it, I think there's a place you can sign up for it.
I don't know where I can find out.
But he said, I want to thank you very much for coming.
And then he said that he heard that the tour was happening and he wanted to stop by and say hello.
You're very smart looking people, very smart.
Maybe someday you'll be here as president.
He went on, and the group started laughing.
Anyway, the president then responded to 1,009 questions from journalists during his first month.
And then he did more today at his first cabinet meeting.
You know, the left wing, you know, groups planting to confront Republicans.
It's phony.
It is contrived.
It is paid for.
They have organizational materials on how to do it and what to say.
It's it's just the old radical leftist model that has been used, frankly, for decades.
Senate Democrats are moving to block Trump for cheaper, more reliable energy.
Why would they want that?
Remember Kamala Harris famously said, oh, it's the price of democracy, paying more for a gallon of gasoline.
No, it's not the price of democracy.
It's stupidity.
When we have enough energy under our feet, and every American can benefit from lower energy prices.
It's going to take a while to get this up and running.
But anyway, uh China is to be banned from buying new American farmland, thank God.
They've been buying farmland and ranch land and land near military installations.
That's coming to an end.
I'd actually like to see the next step in that, which is any Chinese nationals that purchased farmland, ranch land, land near military installations have to sell it back.
You think American citizens would be allowed to do the same in China?
I don't think so.
Uh one ex-FBI agent and properly shared government information and nude photos of a girlfriend from the Bureau email account while shielding Hunter Biden.
Whoopsie Daisy.
Uh anyway, so the president, the the budget bill has four point five trillion dollars in tax cuts surviving the House vote.
They'll have to go to conference assume with the Senate.
And when that happens, I would expect that uh they're gonna come to a resolution that works within it's reconciliation is difficult in the Senate because they have more draconian rules and you can't add to the budget deficit, etc.
etc.
So it's a little more complicated, but I'm sure that they'll be able to thread that needle.
The sooner they do it, the better it's gonna be for reelection chances and and better for the economy to turn around faster.
So I think that would be good overall.
Um we have multiple threats now.
An Indiana guy threatening to gut doge head Elon Musk, TikTokers posting calls for Musk's murder.
They got a quick reply from the U.S. attorney, the left in this country so sicky of this guy that killed the United Healthcare CEO Luigi Mangioni asking obsessed fans to stop bombarding him with so many photos.
You can only send five at a time.
Because people are saying, well, why why is this phenomenon always existed where women become obsessed with serial killers, or in this case a guy accused of an assassination of uh a healthcare CEO?
I don't know if this this is some they're pretty sick people out there.
We actually have a cut of um uh Luigi Mannio uh Manioni rally goers giving bonkers responded uh I'm sorry, bonkers responses to questions.
Listen.
Have like Luigi fever, though.
Yeah, of course have Luigi fever, yeah.
This is what he did It's great, actually.
I believe we should do more.
Did Luigi do the right thing?
I think he did what needed to be done.
Should every healthcare CEO be unalived?
Oh, the corrupt ones, yes.
Is Elon Musk next?
Oh, I hope so.
I hope his Luigi's out there somewhere.
Where did Luigi compare to say Nelson Mandela?
Oh, he's up there with Nelson Landown.
Is Luigi the new Martin Luther King?
Yes.
Wow.
Apparently this was done by a blogger, Lionel McLoyne in New York City.
Maryland, they're not getting the message.
They advanced the bill legalizing contraceptive vending machines in public schools.
What is the hope that the kids, you know, they they can't get their own contraception?
It's insane.
This is insanity.
And our kids can't read right to math, science, or history.
Yeah, but the appeals court, I told you, denied the parental rights to be informed by a school about an 11-year-old and the child's gender change.
Whatever happened to parental rights, this follows on the heels of California, states like Minnesota, Kansas legislature overrode the governor to stop sex change treatments on children.
Maine under a federal investigation for letting men into women's sports.
Pam Bondi being very clear that they will that the president's executive order must be must be complied with, period.
Male takes a podium in girls' Nordic skiing in Maine as the state defies Trump's executive order.
Fine, then they're not going to get federal dollars.
It's really that simple.
Washington Post colonists confronted at a book event over sympathy for Hamas says she has no apologies for supporting October 7th.
How sick does that get?
What part of murder, rape, beheading, torture, and kidnapping does this Washington Post column does not get?
Being a man was too much work, so I became a woman.
Inside the trans-maxing trend where men swap gender to get female benefits like cheaper car insurance, free meals, and sex.
I just don't know this world.
When I started in talk radio, I did not think these would be topics I'd be informing you about.
NIH granting Ohio State University Professor $3.6 million to study microaggressions on pansexual youth.
Thank you.
Linda, what's pansexual again?
It's uh people who like to be in the kitchen close to their pots.
Really turns them on.
You don't know, do you?
You know what you don't think it.
It's it's people who want to be in the kitchen, close their pots and pants.
I don't know, and I don't care.
These people are gonna create another name for themselves next week.
I I I am admitting I don't even know what it is either.
I can't keep up with it.
Be proud of yourself that you're too busy to know or care.
It's all true.
British court rules against uh anti-Semitic Pink Floyd frontman and defamation case brought by a pro-Israel journalist and Al Jazeera could pay jab damages.
Uh confused and bizarre.
Rachel Zegler tries again to placate Disney fans as Snow White release nears respects passion of backlash to her woke commentary.
Uh why don't these people just stick to their stay in their lane?
I don't get it.
I just don't get it.
This thing about Elon does is definitely scary.
I mean, now they're threatening this guy's life.
Trump proposed it proposed fines, prison times for illegals who don't register.
There's a new registry.
Uh Christy Nome announcing the DHS registry will require them to be fingerprinted.
They're in the these are for people that are in the country illegally.
Come out of the shadows.
Let us know where you are.
New York counties ignoring HOCL and helping ICE deport illegal immigrants.
Well, I think that uh at the end of the day, New York's not going to get it get any money.
And they need that money badly.
One Boston resident calling out a clueless mayor for sl uh clashing with the borders are.
The Democratic mayor, Michelle Wu slamming Homan for attacking Boston police commissioner and his ice resistance.
Well, that would be supporting the law.
And if you don't want to support the law, here look, a three time deported Salvadorian man was arrested in in Texas on child sex assault warrants.
And again, I asked Michael Moore, that idiot.
Whoa, this may be we're maybe deporting the kid that one day will cure cancer.
Or we might be deporting the next person that's going to kill a Lakin Riley, Rachel Moore, and Jocelyn Nungarry, or commit other violent crimes against American citizens.
Nay D killed a Texas rancher.
Cartel's expected to be responsible for that.
When are we going to start caring about them?
This is interesting, by the way.
A new book by Jake Tapper uncovers the media cover-up of Joe Biden's dementia.
Fake Jake.
Um Jake Tapper apparently doesn't remember that he was uh one of the people responsible for doing the very same thing.
If my memory serves me well, I think I'll have that for you for tonight on TV.
Anyway, uh 800-941 Sean is our number.
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And he does it every single day.
This is the Sean Hannity show.
You want smart political talk without the meltdowns?
We got you.
I'm Carol Markovich, and I'm Mary Catherine Hamm.
We've been around the block in media, and we're doing things differently.
Normally is about real conversations, thoughtful, try to be funny, grounded, and no panic.
We'll keep you informed and entertained without ruining your day.
Join us every Tuesday and Thursday, normally on the iHeartRadio app Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.