1
00:00:02,600 --> 00:00:06,960
Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.

2
00:00:08,119 --> 00:00:11,799
Speaker 2: As expected, the Department of Justice is moving through special

3
00:00:11,840 --> 00:00:16,960
Speaker 2: counsel Jack Smith to drop the twenty twenty election obstruction

4
00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:20,320
Speaker 2: case against the now President elect Donald Trump.

5
00:00:21,079 --> 00:00:21,799
Speaker 1: There will have been.

6
00:00:21,720 --> 00:00:24,120
Speaker 2: Signals that this would happen, as it is long standing

7
00:00:24,200 --> 00:00:28,080
Speaker 2: DOJ policy not to prosecute a sitting president, which Donald

8
00:00:28,120 --> 00:00:31,080
Speaker 2: Trump will become once again fifty six days from now.

9
00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:35,360
Speaker 2: But it does end what was already a historic prosecution

10
00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:38,680
Speaker 2: series of prosecution sprankly against Trump as an individual that

11
00:00:38,720 --> 00:00:42,160
Speaker 2: are now going away as he gets set to take

12
00:00:42,200 --> 00:00:44,400
Speaker 2: office for a second time, and of course the first

13
00:00:44,400 --> 00:00:47,400
Speaker 2: time around when he was the forty fifth President of

14
00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:51,000
Speaker 2: the United States, McK mulvaney was active in that administration.

15
00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:54,160
Speaker 2: He's former acting White House Chief of Staff under Trump,

16
00:00:54,200 --> 00:00:56,960
Speaker 2: former Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and

17
00:00:56,960 --> 00:00:59,160
Speaker 2: of course co founder as well of the House Freedom

18
00:00:59,200 --> 00:01:01,720
Speaker 2: Caucus as a former congressman to boot make We know

19
00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:03,560
Speaker 2: your resume is long. It's always good to have you

20
00:01:03,560 --> 00:01:05,720
Speaker 2: here on Bloomberg TV and radio. There's a lot I'd

21
00:01:05,720 --> 00:01:08,000
Speaker 2: like to get into when it comes to the Omb specifically,

22
00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:10,920
Speaker 2: but if we could just first get your reaction.

23
00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:11,520
Speaker 1: To this news.

24
00:01:11,560 --> 00:01:14,160
Speaker 2: I know you had strong feelings about the events in

25
00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:18,440
Speaker 2: and around January sixth. Now, Donald Trump not necessarily going

26
00:01:18,480 --> 00:01:21,559
Speaker 2: to be held accountable for any of that alleged action

27
00:01:21,720 --> 00:01:25,560
Speaker 2: that he took in the lead up to and during it.

28
00:01:25,959 --> 00:01:28,640
Speaker 2: But this is largely to be expected.

29
00:01:28,200 --> 00:01:30,200
Speaker 3: Right it is.

30
00:01:30,240 --> 00:01:32,360
Speaker 4: In fact, I think it's probably the biggest story that

31
00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:34,160
Speaker 4: everybody knew was going to happen anyway.

32
00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:34,560
Speaker 3: You can't.

33
00:01:34,600 --> 00:01:36,839
Speaker 4: I mean, it's been long standing policy, as you mentioned,

34
00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:39,600
Speaker 4: that you don't prosecute a sitting president, which means it

35
00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:41,399
Speaker 4: would have to sit there for at least four years

36
00:01:41,400 --> 00:01:44,560
Speaker 4: the prosecution would, which is not tenable. So I guess

37
00:01:44,800 --> 00:01:48,560
Speaker 4: this is an inevitable sort of side effect of the election.

38
00:01:50,520 --> 00:01:53,040
Speaker 2: Yeah, and now we're getting a new announcement from the

39
00:01:53,080 --> 00:01:56,480
Speaker 2: DJ also formally moving to drop the other federal case

40
00:01:56,520 --> 00:02:00,760
Speaker 2: against Donald Trump, which was the classified documents case in Florida,

41
00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:04,120
Speaker 2: So both federal prosecutions are now out of the picture.

42
00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:06,560
Speaker 2: He of course, has had his sentencing in the case

43
00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:10,480
Speaker 2: in New York, the state case around the falsification of

44
00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:13,560
Speaker 2: business records in which he was convicted. That sentencing has

45
00:02:13,560 --> 00:02:16,080
Speaker 2: been pushed back indefinitely. We're not quite sure at this

46
00:02:16,160 --> 00:02:18,120
Speaker 2: time what's going to happen with the other state case

47
00:02:18,639 --> 00:02:22,000
Speaker 2: down in Georgia. But this effectively Mick puts to bed

48
00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:26,200
Speaker 2: all of his at least criminal legal issues. And I

49
00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:29,440
Speaker 2: do wonder if he wouldn't be about to go back

50
00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:31,680
Speaker 2: into the White House had they not happened, Had we

51
00:02:31,760 --> 00:02:34,200
Speaker 2: not had these series of indictments throughout the course of

52
00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:37,240
Speaker 2: what was his active presidential campaign, do you think he

53
00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:38,639
Speaker 2: still would have won.

54
00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:41,600
Speaker 4: I think it gave him and you and I have

55
00:02:41,639 --> 00:02:43,760
Speaker 4: talked about this before a couple of times. It gave

56
00:02:43,840 --> 00:02:46,320
Speaker 4: him a new message, It gave him a rallying cry.

57
00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:50,239
Speaker 4: Some of the criminal charges were so weak, Kaylee, and

58
00:02:50,280 --> 00:02:52,240
Speaker 4: I know I'm giving an opinion on that, but they

59
00:02:52,240 --> 00:02:55,160
Speaker 4: were facially very weak. The basis of the case, and

60
00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:56,600
Speaker 4: one of the cases in New York was that he

61
00:02:57,320 --> 00:02:59,560
Speaker 4: that he paid back a loan early that the debtor

62
00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:03,480
Speaker 4: didn't or the lender didn't complain about. Another case was

63
00:03:03,960 --> 00:03:06,919
Speaker 4: revolving around it, you know, criminal charges for legal hush

64
00:03:06,960 --> 00:03:07,680
Speaker 4: money payments.

65
00:03:07,960 --> 00:03:09,880
Speaker 3: And it gave him, you know, it raised a lot of.

66
00:03:09,919 --> 00:03:12,160
Speaker 4: Questions even with Democrats, as to whether or not he

67
00:03:12,200 --> 00:03:14,280
Speaker 4: would have been charged with those things if his name

68
00:03:14,360 --> 00:03:16,799
Speaker 4: wasn't Donald John Trump, and it gave him that new

69
00:03:16,880 --> 00:03:19,040
Speaker 4: rallying cry that you know, look at what they're doing

70
00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:20,600
Speaker 4: to me. If they can do it to me, they

71
00:03:20,639 --> 00:03:23,080
Speaker 4: can do it to you. Elect me, and that won't happen.

72
00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:25,960
Speaker 4: It reinvigorated his campaign. So from the very beginning, if

73
00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:28,840
Speaker 4: there's one human being probably most response with Donald Trump

74
00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:31,320
Speaker 4: going back to the White House, it's probably Alvin Bragg,

75
00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:32,919
Speaker 4: followed closely by Letitia.

76
00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:37,120
Speaker 2: James's incredible to consider, and of course, yes, we did

77
00:03:37,160 --> 00:03:39,080
Speaker 2: hear a lot about this from Donald Trump on the

78
00:03:39,080 --> 00:03:42,560
Speaker 2: campaign trail. Something else we heard from Trump frequently while

79
00:03:42,560 --> 00:03:44,720
Speaker 2: he was campaigning is that he had nothing to do

80
00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:49,320
Speaker 2: with the Heritage Foundation's Project twenty twenty five. And yet

81
00:03:49,320 --> 00:03:52,240
Speaker 2: we have seen a number of people named to be

82
00:03:52,280 --> 00:03:55,240
Speaker 2: part of his second administration who were affiliated or contributed

83
00:03:55,280 --> 00:03:58,520
Speaker 2: to that project. And in fact, just a few weeks ago,

84
00:03:58,640 --> 00:04:01,000
Speaker 2: Joe got to sit down with the pressident of Heritage,

85
00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:03,240
Speaker 2: Kevin Roberts, who told him this about the way in

86
00:04:03,280 --> 00:04:07,240
Speaker 2: which it could be informing this incoming administration's policy decisions.

87
00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:10,240
Speaker 5: We think that this is the beginning of a golden

88
00:04:10,280 --> 00:04:11,560
Speaker 5: era of conservative reform.

89
00:04:11,920 --> 00:04:15,080
Speaker 3: I will say that because the work.

90
00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:18,880
Speaker 5: Of Project twenty twenty five represents the conservative movement. It

91
00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:24,400
Speaker 5: would be very difficult for anybody to implement policies on education,

92
00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:28,320
Speaker 5: on the border, on taxation without at least consulting those

93
00:04:28,360 --> 00:04:31,760
Speaker 5: ideas in people. That's not some arrogant or hubistic comment

94
00:04:31,839 --> 00:04:34,080
Speaker 5: on our part. That's just the nature of how policy

95
00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:35,039
Speaker 5: making works.

96
00:04:35,960 --> 00:04:38,520
Speaker 2: And one of those people make that contributed to Project

97
00:04:38,560 --> 00:04:42,400
Speaker 2: twenty twenty twenty five has now been tapped to take

98
00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:45,800
Speaker 2: your old job, OMB Director Russ Vote will be reprising

99
00:04:46,480 --> 00:04:47,080
Speaker 2: his role.

100
00:04:47,360 --> 00:04:50,080
Speaker 1: And I do wonder what you make of that choice.

101
00:04:49,880 --> 00:04:52,240
Speaker 2: And if it actually does signal anything about the way

102
00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:54,640
Speaker 2: in which Project twenty twenty five could be working its

103
00:04:54,640 --> 00:04:57,440
Speaker 2: way into outcomes in this administration.

104
00:04:58,200 --> 00:05:00,440
Speaker 4: Yeah. I mean, look what I think the guy Heritage

105
00:05:00,480 --> 00:05:02,440
Speaker 4: was trying to say, in so many words, is twenty

106
00:05:02,520 --> 00:05:06,400
Speaker 4: twenty Project twenty twenty twenty five is just Republican conservative

107
00:05:06,520 --> 00:05:08,880
Speaker 4: orthodoxy in a lot of different places. So if you're

108
00:05:08,880 --> 00:05:11,240
Speaker 4: going to be a Republican president, you're going to probably

109
00:05:11,279 --> 00:05:12,840
Speaker 4: put into place a lot of things that happened to

110
00:05:12,839 --> 00:05:15,560
Speaker 4: be in Project twenty twenty five. I do think that

111
00:05:15,560 --> 00:05:19,240
Speaker 4: the Trump campaign sort of moved away from the project because,

112
00:05:19,279 --> 00:05:21,479
Speaker 4: in large part of the positions on abortion, which they

113
00:05:21,520 --> 00:05:25,120
Speaker 4: considered to be a liability politically. But look, it's conservative

114
00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:26,680
Speaker 4: orthodoxy and that's what's going forward.

115
00:05:26,680 --> 00:05:28,640
Speaker 3: You asked me about Russ. I'm very excited about this.

116
00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:31,359
Speaker 4: In fact, I think, you know, Elon Musk and Vivek

117
00:05:31,440 --> 00:05:34,960
Speaker 4: Ramaswami get all the attention for this Department of Government efficiency,

118
00:05:34,960 --> 00:05:37,679
Speaker 4: and they should, and it's an important thing that they're doing.

119
00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:40,480
Speaker 4: But in order to implement the things that I think

120
00:05:40,520 --> 00:05:42,920
Speaker 4: they're going to start recommending, you have to have Omb

121
00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:46,440
Speaker 4: on board. And nobody knows more about government works or

122
00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:48,720
Speaker 4: it doesn't work than Russ's votes. I thought it was

123
00:05:48,760 --> 00:05:51,480
Speaker 4: a really really solid decision at Omb, and he'll make

124
00:05:51,800 --> 00:05:54,600
Speaker 4: a good member of that government deficiency team. Keep in mind,

125
00:05:54,680 --> 00:05:57,160
Speaker 4: the last time President Trump asked somebody to restructure the

126
00:05:57,200 --> 00:06:00,000
Speaker 4: federal government, it was me, and we didn't have much

127
00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:03,080
Speaker 4: because the whole of the deep state was against us, and.

128
00:06:03,040 --> 00:06:05,640
Speaker 3: Some of our cabinet secretaries were against us.

129
00:06:05,680 --> 00:06:08,880
Speaker 4: I think I don't think that that troika of Elon,

130
00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:11,000
Speaker 4: Vivek and Russ are going to have the same impediments

131
00:06:11,040 --> 00:06:12,360
Speaker 4: that we had in twenty eighteen.

132
00:06:13,880 --> 00:06:16,520
Speaker 2: Well, and you could potentially add another name to that team,

133
00:06:16,560 --> 00:06:19,760
Speaker 2: as well as Congressman Marjorie Taylor Green of Georgia. Apparently

134
00:06:19,800 --> 00:06:24,240
Speaker 2: we'll be leading a House oversight subcommittee helping implement the

135
00:06:24,320 --> 00:06:27,400
Speaker 2: DOGE recommendations. I do wonder though, as we know that

136
00:06:27,720 --> 00:06:32,039
Speaker 2: that Department quote unquote does have intel July fourth of

137
00:06:32,080 --> 00:06:35,480
Speaker 2: twenty twenty six to make these proposals. To do this work,

138
00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:37,960
Speaker 2: there are going to be spending battles being thought in

139
00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:40,839
Speaker 2: Congress well before then. Basically right when we get into

140
00:06:41,320 --> 00:06:43,680
Speaker 2: the new year, the new Congress and the new administration

141
00:06:43,920 --> 00:06:45,359
Speaker 2: make we're going to have to deal not just with

142
00:06:45,440 --> 00:06:49,240
Speaker 2: regular appropriations, but a debt stealing fight as well. And

143
00:06:49,279 --> 00:06:53,120
Speaker 2: I wonder how you think russ vote will navigate those

144
00:06:53,160 --> 00:06:55,160
Speaker 2: what it means for the ultimate outcomes of what those

145
00:06:55,200 --> 00:06:56,000
Speaker 2: deals could look like.

146
00:06:56,839 --> 00:06:58,839
Speaker 4: Well, what Russ is going to do, and this is

147
00:06:58,880 --> 00:07:01,119
Speaker 4: what's good staff as are supposed to do. And Russ

148
00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:03,440
Speaker 4: was a good staffer in the previous administration. I have

149
00:07:03,480 --> 00:07:05,640
Speaker 4: every expectation he's going to be a good staffer going forward.

150
00:07:05,640 --> 00:07:08,800
Speaker 4: Is simply laying out the facts and the arguments for

151
00:07:08,839 --> 00:07:11,840
Speaker 4: the President. Russ is a lot more fiscally conservative than

152
00:07:11,880 --> 00:07:12,480
Speaker 4: the president.

153
00:07:12,280 --> 00:07:15,000
Speaker 3: United States is, just as I was Trump wanted to.

154
00:07:14,960 --> 00:07:17,720
Speaker 4: Hear from the fiscally conservative wing of the party, and

155
00:07:17,800 --> 00:07:19,560
Speaker 4: he wanted to hear from other folks as well, and

156
00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:22,880
Speaker 4: Russ will be the loudest voice in those discussions. You're right,

157
00:07:22,920 --> 00:07:24,560
Speaker 4: we've got appropriations bills to deal with, You've got the

158
00:07:24,560 --> 00:07:25,360
Speaker 4: debt ceiling to deal with.

159
00:07:25,680 --> 00:07:27,320
Speaker 3: You've got to look very closely.

160
00:07:27,040 --> 00:07:29,880
Speaker 4: Kailey, to that first sort of that thin budget that

161
00:07:29,920 --> 00:07:32,320
Speaker 4: will come out in the first couple of weeks of

162
00:07:32,320 --> 00:07:35,440
Speaker 4: the administration, because that will be the first indication is

163
00:07:35,480 --> 00:07:38,440
Speaker 4: what their priorities. Our president's budget is a messaging budget,

164
00:07:38,640 --> 00:07:40,560
Speaker 4: you know, what are their priorities going to be? And

165
00:07:40,640 --> 00:07:43,080
Speaker 4: Russ will be obviously have his hand in that. So

166
00:07:43,200 --> 00:07:45,080
Speaker 4: it's going to be a very quick or a fast

167
00:07:45,080 --> 00:07:47,000
Speaker 4: moving couple of weeks on those spending issues.

168
00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:48,680
Speaker 3: And it will be interesting to see.

169
00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:51,040
Speaker 4: Whether or not Trump comes down sort of with that more,

170
00:07:51,200 --> 00:07:53,160
Speaker 4: you know, the heavier spending side of the party or

171
00:07:53,200 --> 00:07:56,520
Speaker 4: the fiscally conservative side of the party that Russ represents.

172
00:07:56,040 --> 00:07:58,040
Speaker 3: So well well.

173
00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:02,200
Speaker 2: And in those initial those first weeks, Mick, there also

174
00:08:02,280 --> 00:08:05,920
Speaker 2: is going to be a really narrow majority in the chamber.

175
00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:07,960
Speaker 2: You used to sit in the House of Representatives. It's

176
00:08:08,040 --> 00:08:10,080
Speaker 2: really going to be only a few votes that Mike

177
00:08:10,160 --> 00:08:13,000
Speaker 2: Johnson can afford to lose as Speaker because Trump has

178
00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:16,480
Speaker 2: pulled three members of the House for this administration, or

179
00:08:16,520 --> 00:08:19,000
Speaker 2: I guess when you include Matt Gates having resigned no

180
00:08:19,040 --> 00:08:21,240
Speaker 2: longer being part of the administration, that's still a vote

181
00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:24,119
Speaker 2: gone in a special election that's not being held until

182
00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:26,920
Speaker 2: April first. How hard is this going to be to

183
00:08:26,960 --> 00:08:28,520
Speaker 2: get done with such a slim majority?

184
00:08:29,440 --> 00:08:29,920
Speaker 3: Really hard.

185
00:08:29,960 --> 00:08:32,120
Speaker 4: I think people lose sight of the fact it's not

186
00:08:32,240 --> 00:08:37,480
Speaker 4: quite as bad as it sounds, just because technically Waltz

187
00:08:37,520 --> 00:08:39,920
Speaker 4: is still a member of the House and can still vote.

188
00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:41,719
Speaker 3: Traditionally you don't, but you can.

189
00:08:41,840 --> 00:08:44,920
Speaker 4: I never voted after I was nominated for the OMB

190
00:08:45,040 --> 00:08:46,719
Speaker 4: back in twenty seventeen, but I could have.

191
00:08:46,760 --> 00:08:48,680
Speaker 3: It would have been legal for me to do that.

192
00:08:48,760 --> 00:08:51,960
Speaker 4: So until those folks are confirmed, all those House members,

193
00:08:52,040 --> 00:08:54,880
Speaker 4: they are still sitting and can vote, so they don't

194
00:08:54,920 --> 00:08:57,559
Speaker 4: really lose those Republican votes. Mike Johnson doesn't lose those

195
00:08:57,559 --> 00:09:01,520
Speaker 4: Republican votes until those folks resign. Now, yes, obviously mentioned

196
00:09:01,559 --> 00:09:03,680
Speaker 4: Matt Gates has already gone, so that narrows it a

197
00:09:03,679 --> 00:09:06,640
Speaker 4: little bit. But to your point, it's going to be tight.

198
00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:09,720
Speaker 4: There's no question about that. And he's not going to

199
00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:11,360
Speaker 4: be able to afford to lose any folks, I think,

200
00:09:11,600 --> 00:09:13,800
Speaker 4: any votes. I think the one thing that's sort of

201
00:09:13,840 --> 00:09:15,559
Speaker 4: sitting there, the eight hundred pound gerrill in the room,

202
00:09:15,600 --> 00:09:15,760
Speaker 4: is it.

203
00:09:15,880 --> 00:09:16,840
Speaker 3: Donald Trump still.

204
00:09:16,679 --> 00:09:19,319
Speaker 4: Has a lot of influence over the Republican Party, probably

205
00:09:19,360 --> 00:09:21,599
Speaker 4: never more so than now, and if they want to

206
00:09:21,640 --> 00:09:26,560
Speaker 4: whip votes, they should be very successful in doing that well, perhaps.

207
00:09:26,240 --> 00:09:28,920
Speaker 2: Though not enough influence over at least the Republicans in

208
00:09:28,960 --> 00:09:31,160
Speaker 2: the Senate to be able to get someone like Gates

209
00:09:31,200 --> 00:09:35,080
Speaker 2: through the confirmation process, hence himself gains taking.

210
00:09:34,920 --> 00:09:36,920
Speaker 1: Himself out of contention for that role.

211
00:09:36,960 --> 00:09:39,440
Speaker 2: When we look at some of these other nominees Toolsey Gabbard,

212
00:09:39,760 --> 00:09:42,360
Speaker 2: RFK Junior, Pete Hegseeth, do you think there could still

213
00:09:42,360 --> 00:09:46,920
Speaker 2: be Republican resistance adequate enough to potentially tank those nominations, Mick?

214
00:09:47,040 --> 00:09:48,600
Speaker 1: Or is everyone else going to get through?

215
00:09:49,559 --> 00:09:51,360
Speaker 4: You know, it's a really good questions, one of those

216
00:09:51,360 --> 00:09:55,599
Speaker 4: inside the Beltway questions, because oftentimes it's not every single administration,

217
00:09:55,640 --> 00:09:58,280
Speaker 4: but oftentimes what will happen is an incoming administration will

218
00:09:58,320 --> 00:10:01,440
Speaker 4: offer up a sacrificial lamb somebody they know they can't

219
00:10:01,440 --> 00:10:04,080
Speaker 4: get confirmed because they're too extreme one way or the other,

220
00:10:04,320 --> 00:10:06,959
Speaker 4: but it satisfies their base and it gives sort of

221
00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:09,560
Speaker 4: a little sop to the minority party in the Senate.

222
00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:13,000
Speaker 4: We saw this back in twenty twenty one with Nero Tieten,

223
00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:16,120
Speaker 4: who was nominated for omb by the Biden administration, even

224
00:10:16,160 --> 00:10:18,520
Speaker 4: though a lot of Democrats thought she was too progressively

225
00:10:18,600 --> 00:10:21,640
Speaker 4: left to get confirmed, and indeed she wasn't. They took

226
00:10:21,679 --> 00:10:25,240
Speaker 4: that name down. Was Matt Gates that sacrificial lamb? Or

227
00:10:25,280 --> 00:10:28,439
Speaker 4: was he sort of a different thing entirely. I think

228
00:10:28,480 --> 00:10:30,000
Speaker 4: if you look at the if you look at the

229
00:10:30,120 --> 00:10:32,400
Speaker 4: names you just gave, I gotta think Kennedy's got the

230
00:10:32,440 --> 00:10:33,280
Speaker 4: toughest road.

231
00:10:33,440 --> 00:10:34,880
Speaker 3: Just because he's such a weird guy.

232
00:10:34,960 --> 00:10:36,880
Speaker 4: I mean, I hate to use the word that you

233
00:10:36,920 --> 00:10:40,040
Speaker 4: know that were meant something before Tim Wall start using

234
00:10:40,040 --> 00:10:43,120
Speaker 4: on the campaign. But he's he's he's an unusual human being,

235
00:10:43,640 --> 00:10:47,200
Speaker 4: and it should make for an interesting confirmation process. Haig

236
00:10:47,240 --> 00:10:51,520
Speaker 4: Seth will get the attention because of the post. Obviously, HHS,

237
00:10:51,559 --> 00:10:53,760
Speaker 4: which Kennedy's nominated for, is not as critical, is not

238
00:10:53,800 --> 00:10:57,000
Speaker 4: as perceived as being you know, as high rankings as

239
00:10:57,040 --> 00:10:59,679
Speaker 4: the Secretary of defense is But every time people ask

240
00:10:59,720 --> 00:11:02,040
Speaker 4: about Hegseth, I say, look, if he wasn't on TV,

241
00:11:02,600 --> 00:11:05,200
Speaker 4: and he was just somebody with degrees from Princeton and

242
00:11:05,320 --> 00:11:07,520
Speaker 4: Harvard who had written a couple of books on the topic,

243
00:11:07,600 --> 00:11:11,000
Speaker 4: had two Bronze stars, served overseas two different times, I

244
00:11:11,040 --> 00:11:13,240
Speaker 4: don't think you'd be getting the negative attention that you were.

245
00:11:13,240 --> 00:11:15,680
Speaker 3: So I think Hegseth is fine. I think tool Ce

246
00:11:15,720 --> 00:11:16,040
Speaker 3: is fine.

247
00:11:16,040 --> 00:11:18,480
Speaker 4: I think if anybody is going to have the biggest challenge,

248
00:11:18,520 --> 00:11:19,720
Speaker 4: it's going to be Kennedy.

249
00:11:21,360 --> 00:11:22,880
Speaker 1: Well and finally Mick.

250
00:11:22,920 --> 00:11:27,920
Speaker 2: As we consider here the notion of future challenges around

251
00:11:28,120 --> 00:11:30,959
Speaker 2: all of these things, I do wonder, assuming that these

252
00:11:30,960 --> 00:11:33,720
Speaker 2: people can't even get confirmed, what challenges they may face

253
00:11:33,840 --> 00:11:37,600
Speaker 2: upon actually stepping into the job if this transition is

254
00:11:37,640 --> 00:11:39,960
Speaker 2: delayed because of a lack of signing of ethics and

255
00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:44,040
Speaker 2: transparency pledges in order to get access to the classified

256
00:11:44,120 --> 00:11:46,840
Speaker 2: or at least not public information they need to do

257
00:11:46,960 --> 00:11:47,520
Speaker 2: their roles.

258
00:11:47,520 --> 00:11:50,600
Speaker 1: What do you make of the slow walking here?

259
00:11:51,679 --> 00:11:54,160
Speaker 3: Listen, that's slow walking. It works both ways. There's a net.

260
00:11:54,200 --> 00:11:56,839
Speaker 4: You're seeing a natural tension now between the administrative of

261
00:11:56,880 --> 00:11:59,200
Speaker 4: the executive branch and the legislative branch. It has very

262
00:11:59,240 --> 00:12:01,880
Speaker 4: little to do with part and everything to do with structure.

263
00:12:02,480 --> 00:12:05,080
Speaker 4: The incomeing administration doesn't want to sort of give everything

264
00:12:05,120 --> 00:12:07,000
Speaker 4: to the Senate all at one time, and the Senate

265
00:12:07,040 --> 00:12:09,199
Speaker 4: doesn't want to move very quickly. Keep in mind, I've

266
00:12:09,240 --> 00:12:11,880
Speaker 4: often said that, you know, advise and consent has in

267
00:12:11,960 --> 00:12:14,719
Speaker 4: large part become extort and delay. I can't tell you

268
00:12:14,800 --> 00:12:17,480
Speaker 4: the number of Republican centers who called me when I said,

269
00:12:17,520 --> 00:12:19,680
Speaker 4: OHMB trying to get stuff out of me in exchange

270
00:12:19,679 --> 00:12:22,199
Speaker 4: for lower level confirmations moving forward.

271
00:12:21,960 --> 00:12:25,120
Speaker 3: And so forth. So there's that natural tension.

272
00:12:25,480 --> 00:12:28,520
Speaker 4: I think it's important that the Treasury Secretary go early,

273
00:12:28,760 --> 00:12:31,600
Speaker 4: Secretary of State Defense go early, and that the OMB

274
00:12:31,840 --> 00:12:34,080
Speaker 4: go early, just because you do have to write that

275
00:12:34,120 --> 00:12:35,000
Speaker 4: budget very quickly.

276
00:12:35,360 --> 00:12:36,680
Speaker 3: My guess is those.

277
00:12:36,440 --> 00:12:38,319
Speaker 4: Will be the first ones confirmed, and then the other

278
00:12:38,360 --> 00:12:40,640
Speaker 4: ones may drag out over the course of the next

279
00:12:40,679 --> 00:12:41,240
Speaker 4: couple of months.

280
00:12:42,600 --> 00:12:44,760
Speaker 2: Well, of course, he used to be director of the

281
00:12:44,800 --> 00:12:48,080
Speaker 2: UMB himself. Mick Malvaney also former acting chief of Staff

282
00:12:48,360 --> 00:12:50,720
Speaker 2: in the first Trump White House. Joining us here on

283
00:12:50,800 --> 00:12:52,800
Speaker 2: balance of power. Thank you so much.