Open Primaries Constitutionality, Government Shutdown Showdown, and Health Freedom Legal Victories

On the September 26, 2023 broadcast, constitutional attorney Maurice Emmer breaks down the legal challenge to Colorado’s open primary system ahead of a pivotal GOP Central Committee vote. Wade Miller of the Center for Renewing America outlines the congressional appropriations battle, while Health Freedom Defense Fund founder Leslie Manookian reveals that LAUSD is poised to rescind its vaccine mandate following a devastating Ninth Circuit argument. Congressional Appropriations Battle Heats Up Start listening at 34:33 – Hour 1 Wade Miller, Chief Operating Officer of the Center for Renewing America, breaks down the high-stakes funding battle as Congress faces the September 30th deadline. The January speaker deal required regular order on appropriations, meaning each of the twelve spending bills would receive individual debate and votes rather than being crammed into an omnibus package. Miller explains that Speaker McCarthy squandered the August recess without advancing these bills, creating a manufactured crisis designed to force a clean continuing resolution that would maintain Biden administration funding levels. Conservatives have outmaneuvered this strategy, pushing for individual appropriations bills that can defund weaponized agencies and insert policy reforms. A partial government shutdown appears likely, but Miller emphasizes that essential services, from Social Security to Medicare to mail delivery, continue during shutdowns. The agencies most likely to shutter are precisely those conservatives want to reform. Lauren Boebert has been a strong voice for this approach, while other Colorado representatives have remained quiet. “And again, it’s not so much about the process, it’s what can we do if we have that process, which is we can go after woke and weaponized activities within the federal government, defund them or outlaw them, and really reform government even in a divided Congress.” Wade Miller, Center for Renewing America The Constitutional Case Against Open Primaries Start listening at 19:30 – Hour 1 Maurice Emmer, a constitutional law expert, explains why Colorado’s open primary system faces serious legal challenges under the First Amendment’s free association rights. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2000 that forcing parties into open primaries violates the right of political parties to select their own candidates. Colorado’s system attempts to work around that ruling by offering an opt-out provision, but the barriers are set impossibly high. The state requires 75 percent of all Central Committee members to vote for the opt-out, not just those present at a meeting. This threshold, combined with the requirement to repeat the vote every two years, creates what Emmer calls a de facto mandate. The state party has filed a federal lawsuit challenging these barriers, arguing they render the opt-out illusory. Since open primaries were instituted, the Republican Party has struggled in Colorado elections. Emmer notes that the overwhelming proportion of voters in GOP primaries are now unaffiliated voters, meaning candidates are being selected by people who are not party members. “First thing he found was that an open primary does interfere with the right of free association because it permits people who are not part of your group, your political party, to participate in selecting your candidates.” Maurice Emmer, Constitutional Attorney Ninth Circuit Delivers Blow to Vaccine Mandates Start listening at 71:17 – Hour 2