Good morning, Wake Up Right fam! I hate to hand out homework on a Friday, but we have a bit of a situation on Capitol Hill. Certain Republican lawmakers seem to believe that they were elected president on November 5 and not Donald Trump…

Senator Joni Ernst, along with her gal-pal Lindsay Graham, are reportedly leading a campaign to derail the President-elect’s choice to lead the Defense Department, Pete Hegseth.

Here's the deal: We already let them take out Matt Gaetz. If we let them take out Hegseth, they will move on to RFK Jr., and then Tulsi Gabbard, and continue down the line.

Hold the line: I plan to start my day by politely calling Ernst and Graham and letting them know that if they don’t support Donald Trump’s nominees, I will spend the next two years doing anything I can to ensure they lose their primary elections in 2026. I hope you join me:

• ☎️ Sen. Joni Ernst: (202) 224-3254

• ☎️ Sen. Lindsey Graham: (202) 224-5972

• 📂 Biden added a record-high 96,088 pages of regulations

• ❎ 74%: It's inappropriate for President to pardon family

• 🐔 Men ranked Chick-fil-A as their #1 first-date spot

• 👍️ 67% of Americans support case-by-case pardons for J6ers

• 🍼 Most popular baby boy name in England: Muhammad

^{Sources: Forbes, YouGov, Dating News, Rasmussen, The National Pulse}

What we know about the murder of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO

A manhunt is still underway after UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was fatally shot outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel on Wednesday.

Shooting details: The gunman, described as wearing a dark hooded jacket and a gray backpack, ambushed Thompson near the New York Hilton Midtown around 4 a.m.

• Surveillance footage shows the suspect waiting outside the hotel, shooting Thompson multiple times with a pistol fitted with a silencer.

Message on bullets: Bullet casings found at the scene contained the words “delay” and “deny” — likely a message related to a book titled 'Delay, Deny, Defend,' about how the health insurance industry avoids paying out patients' claims.

What we know about the shooter: Police say the suspect used a fake ID to check into a Manhattan hostel on the Upper West Side days before the shooting. After the shooting, he escaped into Central Park, where he was last seen.

What police are saying: The NYPD believes the shooter targeted Thompson for his role at United Healthcare, calling it a "premeditated, preplanned targeted attack.”

Radical reactions: Prominent left-wing figure and former Washington Post writer Taylor Lorenz wrote on Bluesky [an X alternative for libs]: "And people wonder why we want these executives dead."

• She then followed it up by posting images of Kim Keck, the CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield, seemingly suggesting she should be shot next.

Zoom out: Are there issues with the health insurance industry? Probably. Last year United Healthcare was sued for allegedly using AI to deny coverage to elderly patients, despite knowing the AI algorithm had a 90% error rate. But targeted assassinations are not the solution to the problem.

Big picture: It’s now been two days, and the shooter is still at large. His face [pictured above] has been released to the public, so I have to imagine someone has identified him by now. Hopefully, the police know the identity and are working to arrest him.

[Source: NY Times]

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D.O.G.E goes to D.C.

Co-chairs of the new ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ (DOGE), met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill to push President-elect Donald Trump’s mission to trim $2 trillion from federal spending.

The details: Musk and Ramaswamy hosted discussions with Republicans in both chambers, outlining their broad goals to streamline government and slash wasteful spending.

• Speaker Mike Johnson was a vocal supporter of the mission, telling the press: “Government is too big, does too many things, and does almost nothing well."

Support in the chambers:

• In the lower chamber, Reps. Pete Sessions and Aaron Bean co-chair the House DOGE caucus.

• In the upper chamber, Senator Joni Earnst will chair the Senate DOGE Caucus.

Zoom out: DOGE's goal to cut $2 trillion from the federal budget would represent about 30% over the overall $6.8 trillion budget.

Big picture: DOGE will not have the constitutional authority to make unilateral cuts — it is an outside committee that can only offer recommendations to Congress — which is why these meetings are important. Elon and Vivek need to get lawmakers to buy into their mission. And a little bit of flattery and showmanship goes a long way with the narcissists on Capitol Hill.

[Source: Fox News, NY Times]

💉 President-elect Trump was joined by RFK Jr. when he met with executives from drugmakers Pfizer and Eli Lilly on Wednesday. Read more.

🤡 More than a dozen transgender activists, including notorious military intelligence leaker Chelsea Manning, were arrested after storming a women’s restroom inside the US Capitol complex. Read more.

📈 Bitcoin catapulted above $100,000 for the first time, as investors bet on a crypto-friendly Trump administration. Read more. Trump responded, writing: “CONGRATULATIONS BITCOINERS!!! $100,000!!! YOU’RE WELCOME!!! Together, we will Make America Great Again!”

💻️ Only 6% of federal employees work from an office full-time, and a third are fully remote. Read more.

✅ Venture investor and podcaster David Sacks will join the Trump administration as the “White House A.I. & Crypto Czar." Read more.

👏 21 prosecutors associated with far-left Democrat donor George Soros have been replaced by 'tough on crime' prosecutors since 2022. Read more.

👀 Rep. AOC reportedly wants the top role on the House Oversight Committee and could seek to be the Democrat presidential nominee in 2028. Read more.

🪙 Haliey Welch [aka “hawk tuah” girl] launched her own crypto coin, only for its value to plummet 95% almost immediately. Read more.

🙌🏾 A coalition of Black churches representing 27.7 million members is calling on MSNBC to suspend and investigate Rev. Al Sharpton for accepting $500,000 in donations from Kamala Harris. Read more.

I’m excited about this one…

Over the past few months, I’ve been re-reading the Bible (well, listening on audiobook), and it’s re-ignited a thirst for knowledge about my own Christian faith. And just as fate would have it, yesterday, I was given an opportunity to share a free online course at Hillsdale College about Ancient Christianity with you all…

Ancient Christianity teaches the story of the earliest Christians from the birth of Christ through the fall of the Roman Empire in the West.

I enrolled myself and look forward to learning more. I hope you’ll join me.

🎥 Pete Hegseth goes NUCLEAR on the media, trying to destroy him. Watch.

🎥 The internet was shocked to hear Barron Trump's voice for the first time. Watch.

🎥 A screaming match ensues at the Congressional hearing on the attempted assassinations of Trump. Watch. This Secret Service director seems like a punk.

🎥 Sen. Fetterman tells the hags on The View that Trump's case in Manhattan was 'politically motivated.' Watch.

🎥 Village People member talks about Trump using the YMCA and using it to “bring joy.” Watch.

🎥 These masks are creepy and pose a potential security risk. Watch.

🎥 MSNBC's Joy Reid hated pardons under Trump but changed her tune with Biden... Watch.

🎥 The first images of the suspected UnitedHealthcare CEO shooter. Watch.

🎥 Rep. Nancy Mace makes the U.S. Census Director explain how illegals are counted on the Census. Watch.

🎥 Justice Alito forces a trans lawyer to admit that gender treatments don’t reduce suicide. Watch. This is one of the big lies repeated by the pro-trans left.

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