The Tony Kinnett Cast — Episode 446 Summary

BREAKING: The Shutdown is OVER, Democrats' Epstein Leak Backfires, US Navy’s Plan to Kill Drones
Date: November 13, 2025
Host: Tony Kinnett (The Daily Signal)

Episode Overview

In this fast-paced episode, Tony Kinnett covers three major national stories:

• The end of the prolonged government shutdown, its political fallout, and key legislative provisions.
• House Democrats’ attempt to implicate Donald Trump via a limited "Epstein files" document dump—only to have the full trove released and the move backfire.
• Major defense updates from the Secretary of the Navy and the Pentagon, focusing on drone warfare, procurement reform, and eliminating “woke” policies in the military.

The episode features extensive commentary on political hypocrisy, Hill soundbites with timestamps, and two original interviews: one with on-the-ground Daily Signal reporter George Caldwell about the shutdown vote and another with Senator Jim Banks about military modernization.

Government Shutdown Ends: The Political Fallout

Key Details (Start–52:00)

• Shutdown ends after weeks of brinkmanship. House and Senate pass a spending bill, with enough Senate Democrats crossing over to secure votes.
• Main Bill Provisions:
  • Reversal of presidential "reduction in force" authority during shutdowns.
  • Unexpected legal provision: Senators targeted in the "Arctic Frost" investigation can now sue for $500,000 per unlawful surveillance violation.

Notable Moments & Quotes

• [01:00] Speaker Mike Johnson: “We believe the long national nightmare will be over tonight... It was completely and utterly foolish and pointless in the end, as we said all along. ... All of that is on the Democrats.”
• [04:38] Tony Kinnett: “Democrats wanted that reversed and they got it. There are some other provisions... perhaps they were not read all the way through.”

Arctic Frost Lawsuits Provision

• [08:30] Sen. Lindsey Graham: “If they violated my constitutional rights, if they trampled on the separation of powers involving me, I’m sue the hell out of these people.”
• [10:05] Tony suspects the provision’s language comes from Lindsey Graham himself.

House Floor Drama

• [13:10] AOC (Alexandria Ocasio Cortez): Gives a passionate but scattershot speech about shutting off food assistance, Republicans self-enriching, and “pandemic of insulin.”
  • Tony Kinnett mocks her word salad and notes her flip-flopping on the CR.
  • [17:55] Tony: “I know that AOC and her drinkable air, you know, not exactly the best of wordsmiths.”

Democratic Messaging Conflict

• [20:50] Hakeem Jeffries: “...our position as House Democrats has been crystal clear.”
• [28:25] Sen. Chris Murphy: “These are nihilists, right, that we’re dealing with, which makes it hard.”
• [35:00] Jasmine Crockett and new Rep. Adelita Grijalva join the rhetorical chaos, with emotional but factually muddled speeches.

House Vote Details

• [1:54:00] George Caldwell (Daily Signal reporter), live update: “There certainly could be people who cross party lines... This should pass.”

Real-Time Vote

• [2:41:00] Tony: “Two House Democrats have broken away from the rest of the left in order to vote in favor of reopening the government... The vote is progressing. We’ll get through this as we move through the evening.”
• [2:53:00] “The fifth Democrat voting to reopen the government against the caucus is Henry Cuellar of Texas.”

Epstein Files: Democrat Leak Backfires

Key Details (52:00–1:54:00)

• House Oversight Democrats: Hype "smoking gun" Epstein emails supposedly implicating Donald Trump.
• Only three emails released—heavily redacted; Republicans respond by dumping all 23,000 documents unredacted.
• Key revelation: Redacted name was Virginia Giuffre, the alleged victim who has legally cleared Trump of wrongdoing multiple times.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• [58:30] Tony: “Pinning your entire hopes and dreams... on Michael Wolff’s goofy goober article where he just brings up these three emails.”
• [1:12:00] Jasmine Crockett (CNN): "Yeah, I don't know. Obviously it's redacted who the victim is."
• [1:13:00] Tony: “Girl, you censored the email, ma’. Am. You’re still holding the Sharpie, you illiterate bag.”
• Producer Nick: (paraphrased) All 23,000 documents released, embarrassing Democrats who tried to selectively redact.

Fallout

• [1:19:30] New emails contradict narrative; show, for example, New York Times journalists tipping off Epstein.
• Tony’s favorite quote recall: [1:24:00] “To my friends on the other side of the aisle, you’ll regret this—and you may regret it a lot sooner than you think.” (Mitch McConnell).
• [1:28:55] New emails indicate Epstein tried to advise Russian officials against Trump, not for him.

Defense & National Security: US Navy’s Plan to Kill Drones

Key Details (1:54:00–2:35:00)

• Direct interview with Secretary of the Navy, John Phelan:
  • Asserts “We are in the business of warfare.” [1:59:00]
  • Describes push for rapid, decentralized, iterative weapon and drone development; no more obsolete procurement or “green” missile delays.
  • Centralizes unmanned systems programs under Vice Admiral Seiko Okano, ensuring Navy keeps pace with rapid drone warfare changes.
  • [2:03:00] “If we were at war, we would do things much faster. Why aren’t we doing that?”
  • Critiques “programmatic funding”—delays, red tape, and congressional micromanagement.
• Focus on Indiana’s defense industry as a keystone in military readiness (Sen. Jim Banks interview).
  • [2:37:20] “We make things in this part of the world... we want the Pentagon to know that we’re ready, willing, prepared to build the technologies and weapons of the future.”
  • Strong contrast between Biden’s “woke” Pentagon and Trump/Hegseth’s lethality-first reforms.

Clip: Secretary Hegseth, [2:00:00]

• “No more identity months, no more DEI offices, no more dudes in dresses, no more climate change... No more distraction.”
• “...you are the one injecting culture wars into the military. And it’s at the detriment of our military readiness and national security.”

Straight Answers on Drones

• [2:07:00] Tony’s question: “How much is the Navy focusing on deploying drone countermeasures on new ship builds and in our installations?”
• [2:08:00] Sec. Phelan: (paraphrased) “We restructured our programs, put everything under one command, and are testing in real time. We can’t fund unmanned efforts programmatically, as rapid iteration is essential.”

Memorable Moments & Side Commentary

• [1:15:00] Producer Nick — dry commentary on cable news posturing and overblown “treasure trove” hype.
• [1:16:00] Tony on Jasmine Crockett: “The stupidity of Jasmine Crockett never ceases to amaze me.”
• [29:50], [2:20:00] Continuous roasting of AOC, Hakeem Jeffries, and House/Senate messaging confusion.
• [2:18:00 and after] Tony’s rule on being mean: “If you get out into the political games and you take it upon yourself to say particularly nasty things about the appearance of another person, you are fair game.”
• [2:22:00] Jasmine Crockett’s gender affirming care quip: lampooned by Tony and Nick.

Notable Quotes With Timestamps

• Speaker Mike Johnson:
  • [01:10] “We tried every single day of the shutdown to open it... Republicans are going to deliver for the people.”
• Sen. Lindsey Graham:
  • [08:41] “If they violated my constitutional rights... I’m sue the hell out of these people.”
• AOC:
  • [13:24] “It is unconscionable that what we are debating right now is legislation that will give 8 members of the United States Senate over a million dollars apiece.”
• Tony Kinnett:
  • [1:12:40] “Girl, you censored the email, ma’. Am. You’re still holding the Sharpie, you illiterate bag.”
• Secretary Hegseth:
  • [2:00:10] “...good old-fashioned Indiana common sense. Common sense is back at the White House and it’s back at the Pentagon.”
  • [2:00:45] “No more social justice, no more political correctness, no more toxic ideological garbage... No more identity months, no more DEI offices, no more dudes in dresses, no more climate change...”
• Secretary of the Navy, John Phelan:
  • [2:03:27] “We are in the business of warfare... Why is our attitude not that we’re—because we are at war in our own way and we need to understand it.”
  • [2:08:10] “If we programmatically fund our unmanned efforts... we will be building obsolete things.”
• Rep. Jasmine Crockett:
  • [1:12:10, on CNN] “Yeah, I don't know. Obviously it's redacted who the victim is.”
  • [2:22:25, on gender affirming care]: “Their lips be up to anyway.”
• Senator Jim Banks:
  • [2:37:41] “Indiana is going to play a big role in all of that... These guys at the Pentagon are focused on the right things.”

Timeline of Major Segments

| Segment | Timestamp |
|-----------------------------------|-----------------|
| Shutdown ends/Johnson remarks | 00:30–11:30 |
| Arctic Frost lawsuits discussion | 04:38–10:20 |
| House Floor/AOC/Jasmine Crockett | 13:00–28:00 |
| Democrat messaging/media reaction | 20:00–40:00 |
| Epstein Files Leak/Backfire | 52:00–1:54:00 |
| Live Report: Shutdown Vote | 1:54:00–2:06:30 |
| US Navy/Defense Summits | 2:07:00–2:35:00 |
| Sen. Jim Banks Interview | 2:37:00–2:46:00 |
| Real-time vote breakdown | 2:41:00–2:50:00 |
| Episode wind-down, side bits | 2:50:00–end |

Takeaways

• Shutdown End: Bipartisan exhaustion; Dems accused of not reading a key bill provision, creating new legal headaches over government surveillance of senators.
• Epstein Leak Backfire: Democratic selective leaking is exposed, blunting an intended scandal and focusing scrutiny on their own handling.
• Military Readiness: Under new leadership, Pentagon prioritizes lethality, procurement reform, rapid drone adaptation, and ends social-policy distractions.
• Political Tone: Tony Kinnett blends caustic humor, pointed mockery of DC "word salads," and insider interviews, making for a rapid-fire, irreverent recap that spares neither party.

Summary by an expert podcast summarizer. With this summary, you can get all the headline news, political drama, and defense insight from The Tony Kinnett Cast, episode 446—without listening to over two hours of beltway banter!