Moment of Truth

This week, the tables turn. Nick sits in the guest chair on The Long March, the new podcast from our friends at New Guard Press, to talk about the thing he's spent a decade obsessing over: who actually runs the government. Why a president gets 4,500 appointees to steer two million employees. Why most members of Congress never read the bills they vote on. And why a car mechanic who's read everything Michael Anton ever wrote might be a better hire than a Yale grad.

He also gives away one of his favorite interview questions — so if you're applying to American Moment, listen closely (but you won't be able to use his answer.)

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(00:00) A Special Cross-Post With The Long March

(03:07) 4,500 Appointees vs. 2 Million Civil Servants

(07:30) What Went Wrong in Trump 45

(08:40) Nobody Reads the Omnibus

(11:31) In Defense of Patronage

(13:52) What to Do About Career Civil Servants

(16:00) Merit Without the Ivy League

(19:16) How American Moment Finds Its People

(24:46) Gen Z is Ready to Fight

(33:39) What Nick Looks for in a Resume

(41:55) The Interview Question You Can't Fake

(45:49) Why You Have to Be Aligned Across the Board

(47:04) Stop Quoting Philosophers in Interviews

(50:07) What Nick Is Reading Right Now

(53:26) The Debate Over Using Government Power

(59:46) Trade, Immigration, and Foreign Policy

(1:03:08) What Winning Actually Looks Like

(1:06:22) Closing — Go Subscribe to The Long March

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American 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/id1555257529

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The next time you pass a semi on the interstate, you might want to ask yourself who's behind the wheel. Congresswoman Harriet Hageman did, and she uncovered a quiet crisis among America’s truckers.

It started with a phone call from her nephew, a Wyoming rancher who kept seeing wrecked trucks on I-80 and drivers who couldn't speak a word of English. That call sent her down a rabbit hole of CDL mills, chameleon carriers, and blue states handing out commercial licenses with almost no questions asked. Now she's become the closest thing truckers have to a champion in Congress. But Hageman didn't spend 34 years as a trial attorney in Wyoming to stay in one lane. She also goes after the climate lawsuits targeting American energy, sets the record straight on beef prices, and explains how lax surrogacy laws have opened a back door for birth tourism.

Meet the congresswoman from Wyoming who is taking on the world.

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American 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/id1555257529

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Andrew Kloster has been inside the conservative legal movement since long before President Trump came down the golden escalator and reoriented movement towards untouchable issues like immigration and tariffs. He’s been in the biggest right-wing think tanks, legal groups, and even the White House itself. And he’s not blackpilling, so why should you be?

Andrew sits down with Nick to take stock of where the movement actually stands. What's working, why nobody should care about Chevron as much as the donor class does, and why the recent losses on tariffs and birthright citizenship are really an indictment of a Congress that refuses to do its job. It also gets practical. If Democrats take the House, what happens to political appointees? Who gets targeted, who doesn't, and why the people who jump ship between now and November are telling you exactly who they are. Plus the case for fighting lawfare with lawfare — and why crying uncle only works after you've thrown a punch.

If you're a young lawyer or appointee, this one is required listening.

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American 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/id1555257529

Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/5ATl0x7nKDX0vVoGrGNhAj

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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 Want

Check out the full episodes!

Luke Thompson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2W1bU3EbrY

Vice President JD Vance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMJsVpUbet0

Ed Corrigan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uab4Z05eiKw

Rachel Bovard on fighting Mitch McConnell: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMCnis6f3Jw

Senator Roger Marshall: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O77Jmnp9y2Y

Senator Ron Johnson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiN_iaMUIho

Rachel Bovard on the Senate Recess: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rufG3A_3mVA

Rachel Bovard on the Filibuster: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWSF-UhiZWs

Senator Eric Schmitt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YqjkjMDGAg

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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.

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Read Clouded Judgement: https://bullmooseproject.org/posts/clouded-judgment-the-risks-of-lock-in-and-single-vendor-dependence

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American 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/id1555257529

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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.

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American 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/id1555257529

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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. 

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American 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/id1555257529

Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/5ATl0x7nKDX0vVoGrGNhAj

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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!)

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(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 Project

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American 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/id1555257529

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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.

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American 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/id1555257529

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This week on Moment of Truth, Nick is joined by the Honorable Anthony D'Esposito, Inspector General of the Department of Labor and former Congressman from New York, for a conversation about what it actually looks like to root out waste, fraud, and abuse at scale.

The Inspector General explains how the Department of Labor's IG office has one of the broadest investigative jurisdictions in the federal government and what that means for cross-department investigations, including what the Vice President’s Fraud Task Force. They also get into how unemployment insurance fraud is quietly destroying small businesses in states like California and New York to the tune of millions of dollars a day. And no conversation about labor would be complete without tearing into the topic of H-1Bs and how immigrations and corporate interests alike are manipulating the system at American citizens’ expense.

There’s lots of great stories in this one, including gangs running restaurants in Boston on stolen identities, fraud influencers posting step-by-step guides on TikTok, and why the $6.5 billion healthcare fraud takedown was the biggest in American history.

Thank you to the Inspector General and his office for the generous favor of his time to come and talk about this important work.

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American 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/id1555257529

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