Sarah E. Makin ن

Jesus Follower. Frm Sr Adv @VP & @POTUS. @WHNSC45 alum. Filmmaker. Advocate. @IWF Fellow. Fiercely patriotic 🇺🇸. Shamelessly passionate. Doer of hard things.

[Sarah E. Makin ن @DCSas]

Thanks @Newsweek for publishing an oped from @SamuelBrownback and me today. #afghanistan #IRF

https://t.co/bflqbryopj

[Sarah E. Makin ن @DCSas]

“There isn’t a woman in the Bible that God used who had it easy. Ruth didn’t have it easy. Esther didn’t have it easy. Sarah, Hannah, Bathsheba, Mary, the woman at the well…didn’t have it easy. We better stop falling for that feel good gospel and realize that God’s daughters don’t have it easy. They have it anointed. They have it appointed. They have it highly favored. They have it predestined and they have all the victory. Sister, walk in your anointing. Easy or not.” - @reallindseyg

[Meaghan Mobbs @mobbs_mentality]

I hope it’s all becoming clearer.

The same people who spent years working to undermine support for Ukraine have now dropped the pretense entirely and openly aligned themselves with Russia.

Not with America’s interests. With Russia.

And in doing so, they have exposed what many of us have been arguing all along: this was never really about Ukraine.

Because supporting Ukraine was never an act of charity. It was an act of self-interest.

A weakened Russia is good for the United States. A Russia forced to expend its military, economic, and political power in a failed war of aggression is good for the United States. Demonstrating that borders cannot be changed by force is good for the United States. Showing China, Iran, and every other adversary that aggression carries consequences is good for the United States.

Instead, these voices chose to attack the country fighting our adversary rather than the adversary itself.

Now many have abandoned even the pretense of neutrality and openly defend Russia, a hostile power that has partnered with Iran, armed America’s enemies, worked against our interests across the globe, and repeatedly sought to weaken the United States and the West.

The irony is remarkable. Many claim to be champions of America First while making arguments that benefit Moscow at the expense of American power, American credibility, and American security.

The masks are off.

What was presented as opposition to aid for Ukraine has increasingly revealed itself as something far more damning: a willingness to excuse, rationalize, and even admire a regime whose interests are fundamentally opposed to our own.

Supporting Ukraine was always the America First position. True MAGA understood that from the beginning.

[Assistant Secretary Riley Barnes @StateDRL]

The 11th Panchen Lama is an important leader in Tibetan Buddhism. At age six, he and his family were disappeared; 31 years later their location and status remain unknown. Beijing should immediately release him and allow Tibetans to choose their religious leaders.

[Sarah E. Makin ن @DCSas]

@RushanAbbas @SpeakerJohnson @RepMoolenaar @RepTomSuozzi @RepYoungKim It’s an honor. Always.

[Sarah E. Makin ن @DCSas]

I love Ziba, Grace, & Gao Pu so much. It is an honor to be their friend & advocate.

May God bless them, their families, & those in Congress who won’t give up until their loved ones are free.

@SpeakerJohnson @RepMoolenaar @RepTomSuozzi @RepYoungKim Rep Chris Smith

@luke_alliance @CUyghurs @RushanAbbas

@ziba116 @GraceJDrexel @GaoPu1231

[Grace Jin Drexel @GraceJDrexel]

Thank you for standing so firmly with us! Truly means so much!

H.Res.1259 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the President should prioritize securing the release of Pastor Jin Mingri, Pastor Gao Quanfu and his wife Pang Yu, Dr. Gulshan Abbas, and Jimmy Lai detained by the People's Republic of China during future engagements with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
@SpeakerJohnson @RepMoolenaar @RepTomSuozzi @RepYoungKim Rep. Chris Smith

@ziba116 @GaoPu1231
#FreePastorJin
#FreeJimmyLai
#FreeGulshanAbbas
#FreeGaoQuanfu
#FreePangYu

[Sam Brownback @SamuelBrownback]

The Chinese Communist Party is waging a war against faith.

Order my book, China's War on Faith, today to learn more about the CCP’s assault on religious freedom and the global consequences of digital authoritarianism.

[Olivia Enos @OliviaEnos]

As Trump & Xi meet today, political prisoners should be a top priority. For those wanting to learn more, you can check out the following reports from @HudsonInstitute which lay out the short-term & long-terms strategies for securing their release: https://t.co/xAndqUNiQD

[Katya Pavlevych🇺🇦 @Kpavlevych]

I was giving a speech on the humanitarian aspect of the russian invasion of Ukraine while this attack on Ukraine was unfolding. 🤦‍♀️ Self-evident.
#Kyiv today. 8 ppl killed. 45 wounded (2 children). Still looking for people under the rubble. Tomorrow is a city-wide day of mourning

[Ziba Murat @ziba116]

Both Senate and House versions of the resolution passed with a unanimous vote!
This week has been stressful but at the same time, it has also been deeply humbling and full of hope.
I want to thank the incredible colleagues in each congressional office who have stood by us, supported us, and helped keep these cases in the spotlight this week. I feel blessed to have such an amazing group of friends who have been anchoring me through this difficult journey. Let’s keep pushing forward — together. #FreeGulshanAbbas
My deepest gratitude to @SpeakerJohnson, Rep. Chris Smith, @RepTomSuozzi @SenTedCruz, @SenatorDurbin and all the other members of Congress for their leadership.

[Sarah E. Makin ن @DCSas]

You’re right. Labeling a church ‘illegal’ in China perfectly captures the CCP’s paranoid tyranny. What’s truly ridiculous is a superpower so terrified of peaceful Christians praying that it criminalizes worship.

Humans have a fundamental right to practice their faith according to conscience—not state approval. The CCP’s ‘sinicization’ campaign isn’t harmony; it’s forced subordination of Christianity to Communist ideology, replacing God with the Party.

Fear not. Faith will survive anyway.

[Sarah E. Makin ن @DCSas]

Ezra Jin isn’t just another pastor imprisoned in China (bc there are many). He’s the pastor of the LARGEST urban underground Christian church in China. His children are AmCits (his daughter was a Senate staffer).

TY, @realDonaldTrump, for committing to raising his case!

[Julia Manchester @JuliaManch]

President Trump reiterates in the Oval Office today that he will bring up Pastor Ezra Jin's imprisonment to Xi

[USCIRF @USCIRF]

PRESS RELEASE: USCIRF reiterates its recommendation that President Donald J. Trump swiftly nominate an Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom (IRF) and calls on the U.S. Congress to act promptly with the confirmation process. https://t.co/V4CfIgA5Je

[Steven Cheung @StevenCheung47]

Secretary Rubio rocking the Nike Tech ‘Venezuela’ on Air Force One! 😂

[The Epoch Times @EpochTimes]

For months, Gao Pu shut himself in his apartment, a wave of hopelessness washing over him.

He had no connections, no political power, and no influence. The most he could do was post on social media, although that was unlikely to help much.

Both of his parents, Christian leaders approaching their 70s, were now in Chinese jail.

And he was thousands of miles away—in the United States.

“Be safe. Take care of yourself,” his mother had told him when the police first came for his father. Weeks later, they took her, too.

The couple, Gao Quanfu and Pang Yu, led the Light of Zion Church in central China. Over the years, the church became an influential gathering place for Christians who wished to worship outside Communist Party control, Gao Pu told The Epoch Times.

They pose no threat, Gao said—they just want to serve their God in peace. But for Beijing, independent faith is the problem.

[Sarah E. Makin ن @DCSas]

You’re a good one, @RepTomSuozzi. Thank you for being a consistent & vocal advocate for these prisoners. And thank you for being a friend to @ziba116.
#FreeGulshanAbbas #LongIslandStrong

[Tom Suozzi @RepTomSuozzi]

Today, I spoke on the House Floor to urge the President, while in China, to push for the release of political prisoners. We need the Chinese Communist Party to release Dr. Gulshan Abbas, Pastor Jin Mingri, Jimmy Lai, and every other person who has been wrongfully imprisoned, and to change the dynamic between our two countries.

[Pedro Pizano (Peter) @PedroPizano]

Read the great @ziba116’s plea for the freedom of her mother, who has been unjustly, wrongfully, and arbitrarily imprisoned in China for almost seven (7) years: https://t.co/8zUSIhxHb8

[Lunch Hour Podcast @TheLunchHourPod]

Why does religion remain at the center of so many global conflicts — and why do policymakers often ignore it?

Today, host @Andrew_Langer is joined by Sarah Makin @DCSas, religious freedom advocate and producer of @FaithUnderSiege, to explore the role of faith in global conflict, diplomacy, and human rights.

Drawing on her experience in government and international advocacy, Makin argues that one of the biggest blind spots in U.S. foreign policy is a failure to understand religion as a core driver of identity, motivation, and conflict.

The conversation closes with a broad reflection: ignoring religion in policy discussions doesn’t eliminate its influence — it simply makes decision-makers less equipped to understand the world.

[Manhattan Institute @ManhattanInst]

"Modern schooling is systematically terrible at forming well-adjusted, curious, intellectually creative, entrepreneurial adults.

Schools, even much better schools, cannot solve this.

Here's the truth: Nobody loves your kids as much as you do."

- @BenSasse at the 2026 Alexander Hamilton Awards

[Meaghan Mobbs @mobbs_mentality]

While people are focused on a has-been, deranged American podcaster platforming an attention-seeking Ukrainian woman, let me just remind you -

From a foreign policy/natsec perspective, support for Ukraine should never be predicated on liking or supporting its leader.

For me, it has always been about America’s strategic interests, the preservation of the West, and, because of my faith, standing with the innocent and oppressed.

It is in America’s interest for Ukraine to prevail and for Russia to emerge weaker from this war. It is also in our interest to remain morally serious enough to distinguish between aggressor and victim, between a flawed democracy struggling toward the West and an authoritarian regime actively aligned with our enemies.

I will never side with a state that suppresses religious freedom, crushes dissent, censors speech, steals children, doctrinally encourages the rape of women, shuts down the internet to their people, enables societal collapse through rampant addiction and abortions, and partners with Iran to help kill Americans and our allies.

Russia is not some misunderstood counterweight to Western excess. It is a revanchist power built on repression, corruption, violence, and imperial nostalgia.

Ukraine is imperfect. Corruption exists. Political failures exist. I have never denied that, whitewashed it, or indulged in fantasy about it. But none of that changes the fundamental strategic reality.

An 800k strong, battle-hardened Ukrainian military standing between Russia and the rest of Europe is not charity. It is one of the greatest strategic bargains the United States has seen in generations.

The tragedy is that the American left failed to define a real end-state and failed to arm Ukraine rapidly enough to secure victory when it was still achievable in 2023. And now parts of the far right are collapsing all moral hierarchy in service of some end-state that runs counter to our interests.

If we care about Western civilization, deterrence, and American strength, then the answer is not retreat, confusion, or moral relativism.

The answer is clear aggressive policy that drives this war to a conclusion that benefits Ukraine - not as an act of charity, but as an act of American national interest and civilizational self-preservation.

And no it’s not endless arming. That is politically impossible and strategically lazy.

The answer is a hard-nosed Ukraine endgame built around leverage, burden-shifting, and conditional pressure.

America should define the objective clearly: a sovereign, armed, economically viable Ukraine capable of denying Russia future conquest, while Russia pays a permanent strategic price for aggression.

Europe must carry the long-term burden. The United States should provide the capabilities only America can provide: intelligence, air defense, long-range fires, advanced munitions, and defense-industrial surge capacity. Europe should finance the bulk of Ukraine’s sustainment, reconstruction, artillery, armor, and territorial defense. America provides the strategic backbone. Europe provides the mass and permanence.

Frozen Russian assets should be used to arm and rebuild Ukraine. Russia broke it. Russia should pay for it.

Ukraine must receive enough battlefield capability to make continued Russian war irrational, not merely expensive.

Support should be tied to reform, transparency, and anti-corruption benchmarks.

The United States should pursue negotiations only from a position of strength. A ceasefire that rewards conquest is not peace. It is a pause before the next war. Any settlement must preserve Ukraine’s sovereignty, deny Russia a veto over Ukraine’s future, and build a defense architecture that makes a second invasion far harder than the first.

None of this charity. It is not maximalism. It is not endless war.

Make Russia’s aggression fail, Europe carry its share, make Moscow pay, arm Ukraine to deter, and secure an outcome that strengthens America rather than draining it.

[Sarah E. Makin ن @DCSas]

A regime that does what the CCP does cannot be trusted & does not make for a good economic (or any other kind of) partner. That’s why this matters.

[Sam Brownback @SamuelBrownback]

The Chinese Communist Party tortures and murders its own people. They are evil and I trust @POTUS
will raise China's human rights abuses at this week's summit. The Chinese people deserve so much better. They deserve to live free from oppression.
https://t.co/daX38sSSxn