1 00:00:04,040 --> 00:00:06,760 Speaker 1: It's the big take from Bloomberg News and I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:07,080 --> 00:00:11,879 Speaker 1: I'm West Gnsova. Today, Republicans in the US Congress are 3 00:00:11,960 --> 00:00:15,360 Speaker 1: spoiling for a fight with Democrats, and with the White House, 4 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:27,080 Speaker 1: and sometimes with each other. A lot of the rules 5 00:00:27,080 --> 00:00:30,960 Speaker 1: package has some quirks to it. Among the most noticeable 6 00:00:31,160 --> 00:00:34,760 Speaker 1: is how it seems to give this conference the ability 7 00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:38,280 Speaker 1: and mandate to cut the budget, to create and form 8 00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:42,280 Speaker 1: a subcommittee to investigate the Justice Department, or the weaponization 9 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:45,959 Speaker 1: of government. Kevin McCarthy won the speaker's gambill after fifteen 10 00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:49,199 Speaker 1: balance that spans more than four days. In the process 11 00:00:49,240 --> 00:00:52,320 Speaker 1: of winning over the votes, the California Republican made major 12 00:00:52,360 --> 00:00:56,280 Speaker 1: concessions to the hard right lawmakers. They include allowing any 13 00:00:56,400 --> 00:00:59,440 Speaker 1: one member to call a vote to oust the speaker. 14 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:03,560 Speaker 1: Just ations will take center stage in a Republican lead House. 15 00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:07,560 Speaker 1: Republicans already indicating their desired to look into the COVID origins, 16 00:01:07,760 --> 00:01:10,840 Speaker 1: what's happening along the US Mexico border, issues with the 17 00:01:10,880 --> 00:01:14,520 Speaker 1: President's family, and, as Kevin McCarthy said, also what happened 18 00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:18,240 Speaker 1: in Afghanistan. Those Republicans now back in charge of the 19 00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:21,160 Speaker 1: House of Representatives have a long list of things they 20 00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:24,080 Speaker 1: say they want to get done. Tax and spending cuts, 21 00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:28,040 Speaker 1: of course, and as you just heard, they're launching numerous 22 00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:32,480 Speaker 1: investigations of the Biden administration and the president himself. But 23 00:01:32,600 --> 00:01:36,800 Speaker 1: the Senate is still in Democratic hands and Republicans spend 24 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:40,399 Speaker 1: a lot of times squabbling among themselves. Just look at 25 00:01:40,440 --> 00:01:43,360 Speaker 1: how hard sum members fought to keep Kevin McCarthy from 26 00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:47,080 Speaker 1: becoming House Speaker. So will this just be a year 27 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:50,080 Speaker 1: of a lot of noise and not much else? My 28 00:01:50,240 --> 00:01:53,400 Speaker 1: colleague Stephen Dennis spends his days putting those kinds of 29 00:01:53,480 --> 00:01:56,480 Speaker 1: questions to the people in power in the US capital, 30 00:01:56,880 --> 00:02:02,400 Speaker 1: And he's here with me now in our Washington studio, Stephen. 31 00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:06,240 Speaker 1: This Congress certainly came in with a bang, and Republicans 32 00:02:06,240 --> 00:02:08,200 Speaker 1: now are making all kinds of promises of what they'll 33 00:02:08,240 --> 00:02:11,520 Speaker 1: do this year. It can be hard to separate the 34 00:02:11,520 --> 00:02:15,359 Speaker 1: theater from what actually matters. And it was so much happening. 35 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:19,320 Speaker 1: How do you choose what to dig into and what 36 00:02:19,360 --> 00:02:24,240 Speaker 1: to ignore? Yeah, I mean, you know, the House is 37 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:28,000 Speaker 1: now controlled by Republicans. They want to be on offense 38 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:30,280 Speaker 1: against Joe Biden and the White House. They want to 39 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:33,480 Speaker 1: be on offense against the Senate. They have a lot 40 00:02:33,480 --> 00:02:36,399 Speaker 1: of things they want to accomplish, but you know, one 41 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:40,079 Speaker 1: House proposals are the same as press releases. You don't 42 00:02:40,160 --> 00:02:44,440 Speaker 1: actually make law that way. And so it's really not 43 00:02:44,639 --> 00:02:48,840 Speaker 1: clear whether this House Republican conference is going to be 44 00:02:49,120 --> 00:02:53,560 Speaker 1: able to stay united. This is the most divided a 45 00:02:53,639 --> 00:02:56,919 Speaker 1: new House majority has been in a hundred years against itself, 46 00:02:57,080 --> 00:03:00,760 Speaker 1: against itself. They've got to figure out what bills they 47 00:03:00,760 --> 00:03:03,280 Speaker 1: can all agree on to send over to the Senate, 48 00:03:03,680 --> 00:03:05,919 Speaker 1: and then they've got to figure out a strategy for 49 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:10,480 Speaker 1: keeping the government lights on, keeping the government funded. And 50 00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:13,440 Speaker 1: you know, as far as actual legislation, that might take 51 00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:15,800 Speaker 1: a bit of a backseat this year. You know, they'll 52 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:18,280 Speaker 1: pass a lot of bills, but I think seeing a 53 00:03:18,320 --> 00:03:20,680 Speaker 1: headline that they passed a bill, I think a lot 54 00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:24,880 Speaker 1: of our listeners, if they're in business, their investors, most 55 00:03:24,919 --> 00:03:27,000 Speaker 1: of these bills are not going to become law. They're 56 00:03:27,040 --> 00:03:31,200 Speaker 1: just ways to sort of rally the Republicans and say, hey, 57 00:03:31,280 --> 00:03:34,360 Speaker 1: we want border security, Hey we want to defund the 58 00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:36,920 Speaker 1: I R S. They already passed that bill. These things 59 00:03:36,960 --> 00:03:40,160 Speaker 1: aren't going anywhere unless they get a deal with the 60 00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:44,520 Speaker 1: Democratic Senate and in the White House. Let's talk about 61 00:03:44,520 --> 00:03:47,680 Speaker 1: the actual functioning of the House. One of the big 62 00:03:47,680 --> 00:03:50,680 Speaker 1: things that happens when it switches parties is the party 63 00:03:50,720 --> 00:03:54,680 Speaker 1: that just came into power gets to choose who leads 64 00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:57,720 Speaker 1: all the committees. And that's a pretty important thing. One 65 00:03:57,720 --> 00:03:59,560 Speaker 1: of the things that Kevin McCarthy kind of had to 66 00:03:59,600 --> 00:04:01,440 Speaker 1: give away in order to get the votes to be 67 00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:05,400 Speaker 1: Speaker is some of these committee chairmanships. Can you describe 68 00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:09,200 Speaker 1: who's running what and what it means for the priorities 69 00:04:09,240 --> 00:04:11,440 Speaker 1: that the Republican House is going to put forward. Yeah, 70 00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:14,840 Speaker 1: so you have like the money committees, people like Kke 71 00:04:14,920 --> 00:04:19,279 Speaker 1: Ranger of Texas. She's a long time appropriator. She's gonna 72 00:04:19,320 --> 00:04:23,320 Speaker 1: be handling the appropriations bills this Congress. She's deciding where 73 00:04:23,320 --> 00:04:25,760 Speaker 1: the money go, where the money goes. You know, if 74 00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:29,240 Speaker 1: you're a defense contractor, you go through her. If you 75 00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:33,080 Speaker 1: have any spending contract through Congress has to go through 76 00:04:33,080 --> 00:04:36,760 Speaker 1: the Appropriations Committee. She's a long time appropriator, She's done 77 00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:39,640 Speaker 1: a lot of bipartisan bills in the past. She's going 78 00:04:39,680 --> 00:04:41,920 Speaker 1: to be trying to come up with a big bipartisan 79 00:04:41,960 --> 00:04:45,280 Speaker 1: appropriations bill that would spend less money than last year. 80 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:48,599 Speaker 1: Is their goal. But that's a really hard to do, 81 00:04:49,200 --> 00:04:53,560 Speaker 1: and corralling that is going to be difficult. One advantage 82 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:56,760 Speaker 1: she has this year is the Republicans are agreeing to 83 00:04:56,800 --> 00:04:59,680 Speaker 1: do ear market people what earmarks are, because it's been 84 00:04:59,680 --> 00:05:02,560 Speaker 1: a while. Yeah, so airmarks are basically every member of 85 00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:04,839 Speaker 1: Congress can sort of request a couple million for a 86 00:05:04,880 --> 00:05:08,440 Speaker 1: project here or there. You know, maybe it's a bike path, 87 00:05:08,560 --> 00:05:11,560 Speaker 1: maybe it's an interchange, maybe it's some local club that 88 00:05:11,640 --> 00:05:14,400 Speaker 1: needs money for a gymnasium. They used to call it 89 00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:17,640 Speaker 1: pork barrel spending exactly, And so you know, this is 90 00:05:17,720 --> 00:05:20,280 Speaker 1: less than one percent of the budget, typically maybe two 91 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:24,200 Speaker 1: and it's a way to get votes because people tend 92 00:05:24,200 --> 00:05:25,960 Speaker 1: to want to take credit for this stuff, and it's 93 00:05:25,960 --> 00:05:28,760 Speaker 1: hard to do if you vote no. And you know, 94 00:05:28,800 --> 00:05:32,039 Speaker 1: if you think about your typical House member, they have 95 00:05:32,279 --> 00:05:35,160 Speaker 1: very little to show for their time here. Very few 96 00:05:35,160 --> 00:05:38,440 Speaker 1: House members get their own bills made into law. Most 97 00:05:38,440 --> 00:05:40,920 Speaker 1: of the time, the big bills are discussed behind closed 98 00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:43,080 Speaker 1: doors by the leadership. This is the one thing they 99 00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:45,719 Speaker 1: can go home and point to something and say this 100 00:05:45,839 --> 00:05:49,320 Speaker 1: is here. Because I was in Congress and Republicans used 101 00:05:49,360 --> 00:05:51,279 Speaker 1: to say, well, we don't want this because it leads 102 00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:53,800 Speaker 1: to all kinds of unnecessary spending. We hear about these 103 00:05:53,880 --> 00:05:56,320 Speaker 1: Christmas tree bills where they pile on all this stuff. 104 00:05:56,480 --> 00:05:59,040 Speaker 1: But now that the Republicans are in charge, suddenly well 105 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:01,400 Speaker 1: maybe it's not so terrible thing. Yeah. I mean about 106 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:04,200 Speaker 1: twenty years ago, when the Republicans were in charge for 107 00:06:04,240 --> 00:06:06,840 Speaker 1: a long period of time, they used ear marks as 108 00:06:06,880 --> 00:06:09,680 Speaker 1: sort of a favor factory, to the point where there 109 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:12,920 Speaker 1: were thousands and thousands of earmarks every year and people 110 00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:17,880 Speaker 1: were under FBI investigation. Some people went to jail over corruption. 111 00:06:17,920 --> 00:06:20,560 Speaker 1: With ear marks this there wasn't a lot of oversight. 112 00:06:21,080 --> 00:06:24,320 Speaker 1: It was hard to tell who even requested them. There 113 00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:28,120 Speaker 1: is more oversight this time around. There is more transparency 114 00:06:28,120 --> 00:06:31,359 Speaker 1: on who's requesting them. But there is still a huge 115 00:06:31,360 --> 00:06:35,920 Speaker 1: incentive to reward your campaign contributors, to reward people who 116 00:06:36,200 --> 00:06:39,040 Speaker 1: have done favors for you back home. And so some 117 00:06:39,080 --> 00:06:40,840 Speaker 1: people will look at that and say it's corruption, and 118 00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:43,000 Speaker 1: other people would look at that and say, well, this 119 00:06:43,080 --> 00:06:46,599 Speaker 1: is how politics has done and this is representation. You know, 120 00:06:46,640 --> 00:06:50,760 Speaker 1: maybe your district never gets a grant funded by you know, 121 00:06:50,880 --> 00:06:54,200 Speaker 1: some government agency, and you can insist I need this 122 00:06:54,240 --> 00:06:57,039 Speaker 1: water project, and I know my district better than somebody else. 123 00:06:58,040 --> 00:07:00,480 Speaker 1: Even with that ability to load up these bills with 124 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:03,960 Speaker 1: favors that get votes, do you think it's likely that 125 00:07:03,960 --> 00:07:06,200 Speaker 1: that word by partisan is going to prevail and we're 126 00:07:06,200 --> 00:07:08,360 Speaker 1: actually gonna have a spending bill that both parties can 127 00:07:08,440 --> 00:07:12,520 Speaker 1: agree to. It's basically happened every year since the beginning 128 00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:15,239 Speaker 1: of the Republic, with a very few exceptions. One would 129 00:07:15,240 --> 00:07:18,280 Speaker 1: think that at some point there might be an agreement. 130 00:07:18,920 --> 00:07:21,560 Speaker 1: I do think that going to a national park on 131 00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:25,480 Speaker 1: October one is probably a bad idea for a plan. 132 00:07:25,600 --> 00:07:28,160 Speaker 1: That's the start of the fiscal year. There's a decent 133 00:07:28,240 --> 00:07:31,080 Speaker 1: chance we have a government shutdown. Then there's so many 134 00:07:31,120 --> 00:07:36,080 Speaker 1: issues that the two sides disagree on, not just spending levels, 135 00:07:36,240 --> 00:07:42,040 Speaker 1: but planned parenthood funding, border security, immigration, I r S 136 00:07:42,200 --> 00:07:45,200 Speaker 1: funding is a big fight this year. There's so many 137 00:07:45,280 --> 00:07:48,640 Speaker 1: things that they haven't even started negotiating yet, and I 138 00:07:48,640 --> 00:07:50,880 Speaker 1: think it's gonna be very hard for Kevin McCarthy to 139 00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:53,920 Speaker 1: cut deals. He doesn't have margin to play with. You know, 140 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:56,920 Speaker 1: he was basically being held up by the party's conservatives 141 00:07:56,960 --> 00:08:00,360 Speaker 1: who got seats on the key committees, and they got 142 00:08:00,440 --> 00:08:03,400 Speaker 1: some control over the direction of some of these bills. 143 00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:06,040 Speaker 1: Coming out of the House. Keep in mind there are 144 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:09,320 Speaker 1: a number of more moderate members, and if he loses 145 00:08:09,440 --> 00:08:11,880 Speaker 1: five of them on a rules vote, they can't bring 146 00:08:11,920 --> 00:08:15,400 Speaker 1: these bills to the floor. So it's not clear yet 147 00:08:15,680 --> 00:08:19,360 Speaker 1: how united they're going to be, whether the moderates. If 148 00:08:19,400 --> 00:08:21,440 Speaker 1: there's a debt limit crisis and some of these other 149 00:08:22,200 --> 00:08:25,040 Speaker 1: funding issues coming up, you know, will there be a 150 00:08:25,080 --> 00:08:27,800 Speaker 1: gang of five or ten or fifteen or twenty who 151 00:08:27,840 --> 00:08:32,000 Speaker 1: will insist on funding the government and not having a shutdown, 152 00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:35,840 Speaker 1: who insist on not having a debt limit crisis, etcetera. 153 00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:38,040 Speaker 1: Because it only takes five, you know, they have, it's 154 00:08:38,080 --> 00:08:41,520 Speaker 1: such a tiny majority that I think it's just going 155 00:08:41,559 --> 00:08:43,440 Speaker 1: to be very hard for them to stick together for 156 00:08:43,760 --> 00:08:47,319 Speaker 1: month after month after month. As you say, those arguments 157 00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:50,200 Speaker 1: over government spending will go on for most of the year. 158 00:08:50,320 --> 00:08:53,319 Speaker 1: But right in front of the Congress and White House 159 00:08:53,440 --> 00:08:56,800 Speaker 1: now is a fight over raising the debt ceiling. The 160 00:08:56,880 --> 00:09:00,400 Speaker 1: government has already hit the debt limit. Treasury Secretary Janet 161 00:09:00,480 --> 00:09:03,280 Speaker 1: Yellen says she can move money around here and there 162 00:09:03,320 --> 00:09:07,000 Speaker 1: to keep the checks flowing until around June, and if 163 00:09:07,040 --> 00:09:10,880 Speaker 1: Congress doesn't raise the debt ceiling to allow more borrowing, 164 00:09:11,240 --> 00:09:13,880 Speaker 1: the us will the fault in his debt and reek 165 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:18,040 Speaker 1: havoc all over the world. Democrats want to raise it, 166 00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:20,040 Speaker 1: Republicans want to use it as a way to four 167 00:09:20,120 --> 00:09:23,240 Speaker 1: spending cuts. How does this all play out when you 168 00:09:23,280 --> 00:09:26,840 Speaker 1: talk about the debt limit? The debt limit is something 169 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:29,880 Speaker 1: where it's very hard for McCarthy to cut any deal 170 00:09:30,360 --> 00:09:34,840 Speaker 1: and keep his speakership. This was a problem for his predecessors, 171 00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:38,120 Speaker 1: it's a problem for him. And you know, right now 172 00:09:38,200 --> 00:09:41,960 Speaker 1: you have the Democrats insisting unknown negotiations. Joe Biden is 173 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:44,679 Speaker 1: saying I'm not going to give you anything. Senate Democrats 174 00:09:44,720 --> 00:09:47,280 Speaker 1: saying similar. I mean, I don't know if they will 175 00:09:47,320 --> 00:09:51,240 Speaker 1: be able to maintain that stance. Month after month after month, 176 00:09:51,760 --> 00:09:57,240 Speaker 1: Barack Obama gave in two demands for two trillion dollars 177 00:09:57,280 --> 00:10:00,400 Speaker 1: in spending cuts from the Republican. From the Republicans, they 178 00:10:00,440 --> 00:10:03,520 Speaker 1: insisted on getting dollar for dollar to spending cuts for 179 00:10:03,600 --> 00:10:05,600 Speaker 1: debt limiting crease. So you want a two trillion dollar 180 00:10:05,640 --> 00:10:08,640 Speaker 1: debt limit decrease, give me a two trillion dollar spending cut. 181 00:10:08,679 --> 00:10:11,880 Speaker 1: And so he agreed, in part, I think because he 182 00:10:11,920 --> 00:10:15,679 Speaker 1: faced re election the next year. So we still, you know, 183 00:10:15,840 --> 00:10:18,640 Speaker 1: we're waiting for Biden to jump in and say I'm 184 00:10:18,640 --> 00:10:22,360 Speaker 1: definitely running. I do think that the Republicans have some 185 00:10:22,480 --> 00:10:26,960 Speaker 1: leverage going into the presidential election year because when the 186 00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:32,800 Speaker 1: debt limit crisis happened in even Obama's approval ratings tanked. 187 00:10:33,040 --> 00:10:38,120 Speaker 1: The stock market tanked, you know, ultimately recovered, but even 188 00:10:38,120 --> 00:10:41,760 Speaker 1: though House Republicans approval writings also went down, it was 189 00:10:41,840 --> 00:10:45,839 Speaker 1: bad for all of Washington, and Obama ultimately cut the deal. 190 00:10:46,080 --> 00:10:48,800 Speaker 1: We did not go over the cliff. We did not 191 00:10:48,840 --> 00:10:53,160 Speaker 1: have an economic catastrophe, but we did have a debt downgrade. 192 00:10:53,679 --> 00:10:57,679 Speaker 1: Consumer confidence took a deep fall, and Democrats will want 193 00:10:57,679 --> 00:11:00,920 Speaker 1: to try to avoid that, and there are potential ways 194 00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:04,959 Speaker 1: out that don't involve the House. Stephen, please stick around. 195 00:11:05,080 --> 00:11:16,080 Speaker 1: We'll keep talking after the break. Defaulting on the national 196 00:11:16,280 --> 00:11:21,800 Speaker 1: debt should be regarded as unthinkable. Failing to increase the 197 00:11:21,920 --> 00:11:29,320 Speaker 1: debt limit would have absolutely catastrophic economic consequences. That's Treasury 198 00:11:29,320 --> 00:11:33,240 Speaker 1: Secretary Janet Yelling sounding the alarm on what will happen 199 00:11:33,320 --> 00:11:38,560 Speaker 1: if Congress doesn't act. Stephen, if this all feels like 200 00:11:38,840 --> 00:11:42,000 Speaker 1: deja vu to our listeners, it's because this has happened 201 00:11:42,000 --> 00:11:45,960 Speaker 1: before more than once. Why do we keep having this 202 00:11:46,080 --> 00:11:51,560 Speaker 1: fight again and again. Basically, the debt limit is something 203 00:11:51,600 --> 00:11:56,440 Speaker 1: that came into effect originally about a hundred years ago 204 00:11:56,520 --> 00:12:00,240 Speaker 1: during World War One, to actually make it easier to 205 00:12:00,880 --> 00:12:04,960 Speaker 1: have more debt. Before the debt limit that came about 206 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:07,960 Speaker 1: in World War One, Congress had to approve every debt issuance. 207 00:12:08,679 --> 00:12:10,280 Speaker 1: You know, it's like you have a new bond. Well, 208 00:12:10,320 --> 00:12:12,720 Speaker 1: Congress has to pass a bill. And then they said, 209 00:12:12,760 --> 00:12:15,320 Speaker 1: you know, that's too much trouble during a war. Let's 210 00:12:15,360 --> 00:12:18,560 Speaker 1: give Treasury the authority to borrow up to a certain amount. 211 00:12:18,880 --> 00:12:22,880 Speaker 1: Make it easier to borrow, not harder. And then decades 212 00:12:22,960 --> 00:12:26,199 Speaker 1: passed and it kind of kept getting raised without much 213 00:12:26,400 --> 00:12:31,960 Speaker 1: of an issue until eisen Yeah, until Eisenhower wants to 214 00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:35,760 Speaker 1: build the highway system and borrow a lot of money. 215 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:38,640 Speaker 1: And there was a fight in Congress over the debt limit, 216 00:12:38,679 --> 00:12:40,640 Speaker 1: and it was used for the first time as sort 217 00:12:40,679 --> 00:12:45,680 Speaker 1: of like a political weapon. And back then Eisenhower had 218 00:12:45,720 --> 00:12:48,680 Speaker 1: to do a workaround to keep the government funded. And 219 00:12:48,720 --> 00:12:51,640 Speaker 1: they basically looked in the cushions of their couch and 220 00:12:51,640 --> 00:12:55,040 Speaker 1: they found some unencumbered gold and they sent a little 221 00:12:55,240 --> 00:12:57,480 Speaker 1: sheet of paper called the gold Certificate to the Federal 222 00:12:57,520 --> 00:12:59,480 Speaker 1: Reserve and the Federal Reserve gave some money, and they 223 00:12:59,559 --> 00:13:01,640 Speaker 1: kept the girl been running for a few months until 224 00:13:01,679 --> 00:13:04,480 Speaker 1: they cut the deal. In the more recent times, the 225 00:13:04,480 --> 00:13:08,240 Speaker 1: debt limit has become a political cudgel, mostly used by 226 00:13:08,440 --> 00:13:13,199 Speaker 1: Republicans to try to extract spending cuts and other concessions 227 00:13:13,200 --> 00:13:16,640 Speaker 1: out of Democrats when Democrats have the White House. And then, 228 00:13:16,679 --> 00:13:21,280 Speaker 1: most notably in tleven, we came very close to a 229 00:13:21,320 --> 00:13:28,120 Speaker 1: debt limit catastrophe about August of and ultimately Barack Obama 230 00:13:28,160 --> 00:13:31,800 Speaker 1: cut this two trillion dollar spending cut deal in return 231 00:13:31,920 --> 00:13:36,880 Speaker 1: for two trillion dollars in debt and remind people why 232 00:13:36,880 --> 00:13:40,320 Speaker 1: it's such a big deal that we hit this debt 233 00:13:40,400 --> 00:13:43,760 Speaker 1: ceiling in if we don't do something about it. Yeah, So, like, 234 00:13:43,840 --> 00:13:48,160 Speaker 1: in the best case scenario, we have about a more 235 00:13:48,160 --> 00:13:51,760 Speaker 1: than a trillion a year in deficits. That means basically 236 00:13:51,800 --> 00:13:55,400 Speaker 1: we're borrowing a hundred billion a month on average, and 237 00:13:55,400 --> 00:13:59,280 Speaker 1: and that's a big chunk of the economy. So say 238 00:13:59,640 --> 00:14:03,120 Speaker 1: you sided, okay, well we're gonna instantly balance the budget. 239 00:14:03,440 --> 00:14:06,120 Speaker 1: That would mean you'd have a hundred billion dollars coming 240 00:14:06,160 --> 00:14:09,400 Speaker 1: out of the economy every month bills that were not 241 00:14:09,520 --> 00:14:13,000 Speaker 1: paying whether it be to doctors in Medicare or social 242 00:14:13,040 --> 00:14:16,160 Speaker 1: Security checks that are delayed or not going out. We're 243 00:14:16,160 --> 00:14:19,280 Speaker 1: all sorts of other things the government pays for. And 244 00:14:19,480 --> 00:14:21,640 Speaker 1: like the best case scenario where you do what the 245 00:14:21,680 --> 00:14:23,760 Speaker 1: House has been talking about, which is some kind of 246 00:14:23,760 --> 00:14:27,160 Speaker 1: debt prioritization, where we still pay the debt coupon to 247 00:14:27,320 --> 00:14:31,160 Speaker 1: the bond holders, but we're not paying maybe the Medicare 248 00:14:31,240 --> 00:14:35,160 Speaker 1: doctors or the veterans benefits or something else. Even in 249 00:14:35,160 --> 00:14:37,400 Speaker 1: that scenario, the economy would take a huge hit because 250 00:14:37,400 --> 00:14:39,320 Speaker 1: there will be a hundred billion dollars in less checks 251 00:14:39,320 --> 00:14:42,680 Speaker 1: going into people's pockets. The worst case scenarios, you actually 252 00:14:42,760 --> 00:14:46,640 Speaker 1: don't pay the debt coupon, and suddenly investors all around 253 00:14:46,640 --> 00:14:49,440 Speaker 1: the world might say, well, maybe we shouldn't be putting 254 00:14:49,480 --> 00:14:52,400 Speaker 1: our money in federal treasuries and the US default and 255 00:14:52,520 --> 00:14:55,080 Speaker 1: its debt, which has never had the US actually defaults 256 00:14:55,280 --> 00:14:59,080 Speaker 1: for any period of time, Then suddenly you can't base 257 00:14:59,120 --> 00:15:01,560 Speaker 1: your global accoun on me on the US dollar and 258 00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:04,920 Speaker 1: the federal treasuries and the rest. And it's potentially has 259 00:15:05,040 --> 00:15:08,840 Speaker 1: a spiral cascading effect that you know, people like Janet 260 00:15:08,920 --> 00:15:11,560 Speaker 1: yell And say could lead to a worldwide depression and 261 00:15:11,760 --> 00:15:15,600 Speaker 1: or recession, and we want to avoid that. Both Republican 262 00:15:15,600 --> 00:15:20,520 Speaker 1: and Democratic leaders agree. And yet you know, Kevin McCarthy says, look, 263 00:15:21,160 --> 00:15:24,600 Speaker 1: we have thirty one trillion dollars in debt. We're racking 264 00:15:24,680 --> 00:15:27,440 Speaker 1: up another trillion a year. We should take this moment 265 00:15:27,480 --> 00:15:30,360 Speaker 1: to have an agreement to shrink it and bounce the budget. 266 00:15:30,440 --> 00:15:33,400 Speaker 1: You know, that argument the actual cost savings to do that. 267 00:15:33,480 --> 00:15:35,720 Speaker 1: So on the one hand, you have this political argument 268 00:15:35,760 --> 00:15:37,560 Speaker 1: that everyone would shake their head and say, yeah, that 269 00:15:37,600 --> 00:15:40,520 Speaker 1: sounds good, But then it comes down to, Okay, where's 270 00:15:40,520 --> 00:15:43,240 Speaker 1: that money coming from exactly? And I think one of 271 00:15:43,240 --> 00:15:46,360 Speaker 1: the big challenges that McCarthy is going to have. You know, 272 00:15:46,400 --> 00:15:48,680 Speaker 1: they're supposed to pass a budget in the House. Many 273 00:15:48,760 --> 00:15:51,080 Speaker 1: years we just decide not to pass a budget, and 274 00:15:51,200 --> 00:15:54,360 Speaker 1: this budget resolution, you're supposed to say roughly where the 275 00:15:54,360 --> 00:15:56,800 Speaker 1: money's coming from if you're going to balance the budget. 276 00:15:57,360 --> 00:15:59,400 Speaker 1: You know, usually what they do is they put a 277 00:15:59,440 --> 00:16:03,240 Speaker 1: bunch of magic asterisks this budget to claim that they 278 00:16:03,280 --> 00:16:06,800 Speaker 1: got to a balanced budget without raising taxes. It's just 279 00:16:06,840 --> 00:16:09,000 Speaker 1: going to be a very fascinating thing if he can 280 00:16:09,040 --> 00:16:12,080 Speaker 1: actually get two hundred eighteen out of two two to 281 00:16:12,160 --> 00:16:14,760 Speaker 1: vote for this thing, which they have not yet written, 282 00:16:14,760 --> 00:16:17,440 Speaker 1: will be challenging to do. Now, we've both been around 283 00:16:17,440 --> 00:16:20,200 Speaker 1: long enough to have seen how many of these debt 284 00:16:20,240 --> 00:16:23,000 Speaker 1: ceiling fights, and in the end the story is always 285 00:16:23,720 --> 00:16:26,320 Speaker 1: people met behind closed doors and they struck a deal, 286 00:16:26,360 --> 00:16:28,640 Speaker 1: and yeah, we're all saved. Um, is there any reason 287 00:16:28,720 --> 00:16:31,080 Speaker 1: to think that in the end this is going to 288 00:16:31,120 --> 00:16:36,240 Speaker 1: be any different. I think that this is likely to 289 00:16:36,360 --> 00:16:40,480 Speaker 1: be like a lot of other ones. One reason why 290 00:16:40,680 --> 00:16:43,520 Speaker 1: you might have optimism that there's going to be a 291 00:16:43,560 --> 00:16:47,280 Speaker 1: deal is you already have a number of individual House 292 00:16:47,320 --> 00:16:50,200 Speaker 1: Republicans say that they don't want to have a debt 293 00:16:50,240 --> 00:16:56,600 Speaker 1: limit crisis. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, 294 00:16:56,640 --> 00:16:59,560 Speaker 1: who has the Financial Services Committee, wants to avoid a 295 00:16:59,640 --> 00:17:02,480 Speaker 1: debt bit default. And it only really takes four or 296 00:17:02,560 --> 00:17:04,879 Speaker 1: five of them to agree with the Twitter and thirteen 297 00:17:04,880 --> 00:17:07,720 Speaker 1: Democrats to cut a deal. And so I do think 298 00:17:07,760 --> 00:17:09,639 Speaker 1: that there will be pressure on McCarthy to cut a 299 00:17:09,760 --> 00:17:12,280 Speaker 1: deal that gives him at least a fig leaf that 300 00:17:12,320 --> 00:17:14,960 Speaker 1: he can go and take to, you know, the Conservatives 301 00:17:14,960 --> 00:17:17,560 Speaker 1: and say, look, we only have the House, we don't 302 00:17:17,560 --> 00:17:18,960 Speaker 1: have the set up, we don't have the White House, 303 00:17:19,080 --> 00:17:20,800 Speaker 1: this is the best deal I can cut. If you 304 00:17:20,800 --> 00:17:23,000 Speaker 1: want to try and replace me with another Speaker, good luck, 305 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:27,400 Speaker 1: But you're not gonna get a better deal. Well, all 306 00:17:27,520 --> 00:17:31,080 Speaker 1: that is going on, Republicans have also said they're going 307 00:17:31,119 --> 00:17:33,879 Speaker 1: to use their new power to launch any number of 308 00:17:33,960 --> 00:17:38,040 Speaker 1: investigations of Joe Biden and his administration. One of the 309 00:17:38,040 --> 00:17:42,360 Speaker 1: deals McCarthy had to strike to become speaker was putting 310 00:17:42,760 --> 00:17:46,240 Speaker 1: Trump loyalists on important committees. What effect is that going 311 00:17:46,280 --> 00:17:49,800 Speaker 1: to have. I think it's going to make these committees 312 00:17:49,880 --> 00:17:53,399 Speaker 1: sort of hyperpartisan. They can go out after the functioning 313 00:17:53,400 --> 00:17:56,040 Speaker 1: of government. You know, there's the post Office delivering your 314 00:17:56,040 --> 00:17:58,800 Speaker 1: mail properly, but they can also dig in on these 315 00:17:58,840 --> 00:18:03,680 Speaker 1: investigations and have a very broad remit and so whether 316 00:18:03,720 --> 00:18:05,720 Speaker 1: Joe Biden had a conflict of interest with his son 317 00:18:05,800 --> 00:18:11,200 Speaker 1: Hunter Biden taking money from overseas interests, or whether it's 318 00:18:11,240 --> 00:18:14,440 Speaker 1: you know, the handling of the Department of Homeland Security. 319 00:18:14,480 --> 00:18:18,120 Speaker 1: Basically they can dig into almost anything. Now I think 320 00:18:18,200 --> 00:18:21,840 Speaker 1: it's possible that the White House might actually want some 321 00:18:21,960 --> 00:18:25,000 Speaker 1: of these red meat throwers on this committee to make 322 00:18:25,359 --> 00:18:29,720 Speaker 1: Republicans look more extreme. And some of these hearings Marjorie 323 00:18:29,760 --> 00:18:33,520 Speaker 1: Taylor Green was kicked off committees a couple of years ago. 324 00:18:34,080 --> 00:18:36,879 Speaker 1: She's back on committees. One of the committees she's going 325 00:18:36,960 --> 00:18:40,000 Speaker 1: to be honest, the Oversight and Reform Committee. Same thing 326 00:18:40,160 --> 00:18:44,680 Speaker 1: with Paul Gossar of Arizona. Both of them had appeared 327 00:18:44,680 --> 00:18:48,480 Speaker 1: at events with Nick Fuentes, who is a white nationalist 328 00:18:48,880 --> 00:18:53,720 Speaker 1: and Holocaust denier, who was an attendee on January six, 329 00:18:53,800 --> 00:18:57,720 Speaker 1: for example. You know, they've had a lot of controversial 330 00:18:57,840 --> 00:19:02,879 Speaker 1: statements that have basically fueled Democrats as well. Lauren Bobert, 331 00:19:03,040 --> 00:19:05,879 Speaker 1: also a controversial Republican, is going to be on that 332 00:19:05,920 --> 00:19:11,320 Speaker 1: committee as well. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, who is the 333 00:19:11,359 --> 00:19:13,359 Speaker 1: head of the Freedom Caucus, is going to be on 334 00:19:13,440 --> 00:19:17,760 Speaker 1: that committee. He was one of the Republicans behind the 335 00:19:17,840 --> 00:19:20,440 Speaker 1: scenes pushing very hard to find a way to keep 336 00:19:20,480 --> 00:19:25,280 Speaker 1: Trump in power after the election. Before January six, his 337 00:19:25,480 --> 00:19:28,640 Speaker 1: cell phone was seized by the Department of Justice. There's 338 00:19:28,640 --> 00:19:33,280 Speaker 1: gonna be a lot of sort of interesting situations where 339 00:19:33,440 --> 00:19:36,919 Speaker 1: folks who some of the Democrats blame for January six, 340 00:19:37,280 --> 00:19:42,560 Speaker 1: for fomenting efforts to overturn the election, now having some 341 00:19:42,600 --> 00:19:45,159 Speaker 1: power in the House to go after the folks who 342 00:19:45,200 --> 00:19:47,840 Speaker 1: were investigating you know, I think they're trying to dent 343 00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:51,959 Speaker 1: Joe Biden's approval ratings heading into next year's election. I 344 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:55,280 Speaker 1: think there's also, you know, an effort by Jim Jordan's 345 00:19:55,320 --> 00:19:58,359 Speaker 1: the House Judiciary Chairman, who has been itching at the 346 00:19:58,359 --> 00:20:02,040 Speaker 1: bit to sort of go after the Apartment of Justice, uh, 347 00:20:02,320 --> 00:20:06,600 Speaker 1: go after its investigations when Trump was president, for investigations 348 00:20:06,640 --> 00:20:09,439 Speaker 1: of Trump, you know, everything from the rate at mar 349 00:20:09,600 --> 00:20:13,960 Speaker 1: Lago to how it's handling the investigations of you know, 350 00:20:14,040 --> 00:20:17,480 Speaker 1: the classified documents that might be multiple committees looking at that. 351 00:20:17,800 --> 00:20:19,800 Speaker 1: They're also going to be looking at things that are 352 00:20:19,880 --> 00:20:22,880 Speaker 1: sort of hobby horses on the right, origins of COVID 353 00:20:22,920 --> 00:20:26,840 Speaker 1: in China, the handling of COVID by Anthony Fauci. There's 354 00:20:26,880 --> 00:20:31,600 Speaker 1: going to be also investigations into Order security, and there 355 00:20:31,600 --> 00:20:34,200 Speaker 1: are some Republicans who actually want to impeach the Home 356 00:20:34,280 --> 00:20:37,560 Speaker 1: and Security Secretary may Orcas. That could be a bit 357 00:20:37,600 --> 00:20:42,439 Speaker 1: of a circus, and ultimately it's not inconceivable that the 358 00:20:42,520 --> 00:20:46,160 Speaker 1: House ends up impeaching the president. Should that person stay 359 00:20:46,200 --> 00:20:48,919 Speaker 1: in their job. Why raised the issue they shouldn't. So 360 00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:51,400 Speaker 1: the thing that we can do is we can investigate 361 00:20:51,560 --> 00:20:55,439 Speaker 1: and in that investigation could lead to an impeachment inquiry. 362 00:20:55,520 --> 00:20:58,760 Speaker 1: That's Kevin McCarthy there. I think right now, Kevin McCarthy 363 00:20:58,760 --> 00:21:01,320 Speaker 1: doesn't seem to want to go down that road. But 364 00:21:01,400 --> 00:21:04,400 Speaker 1: you know, Nancy Pelosi didn't want to impeach Trump every 365 00:21:04,440 --> 00:21:08,040 Speaker 1: day until she decided that she had to. So I 366 00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:11,600 Speaker 1: think there are some Republicans who are looking for turnabout 367 00:21:11,600 --> 00:21:14,800 Speaker 1: his fair play. And you guys went after Trump for 368 00:21:14,960 --> 00:21:19,479 Speaker 1: seven years of investigations. It's time somebody went after Biden 369 00:21:19,520 --> 00:21:22,400 Speaker 1: and looked at his family and their financial dealings. And 370 00:21:22,440 --> 00:21:24,399 Speaker 1: I think that they want to air them out in 371 00:21:24,600 --> 00:21:28,159 Speaker 1: public on prime time TV if they can. And I 372 00:21:28,200 --> 00:21:30,200 Speaker 1: think that some of them look at the January six 373 00:21:30,280 --> 00:21:33,520 Speaker 1: Select Committee and think it was damaging and they think 374 00:21:33,560 --> 00:21:35,880 Speaker 1: they can do some similar kinds of things as well. 375 00:21:36,880 --> 00:21:49,919 Speaker 1: Our conversation continues after the break. So there we have 376 00:21:50,600 --> 00:21:54,720 Speaker 1: the House some of their big priorities. You mentioned that 377 00:21:54,760 --> 00:21:57,520 Speaker 1: the House is on offense. We're certainly talking about how 378 00:21:57,600 --> 00:22:00,879 Speaker 1: that is. You said the Senate will be on defense. 379 00:22:00,960 --> 00:22:03,960 Speaker 1: So switching over to the other side of the Capitol, 380 00:22:04,600 --> 00:22:07,639 Speaker 1: what does that mean? Yeah, So, I mean the Senate 381 00:22:07,680 --> 00:22:09,560 Speaker 1: is in the personnel business, so they're going to be 382 00:22:09,800 --> 00:22:14,440 Speaker 1: confirming judges and confirming ambassadorships. The legislative agenda might be 383 00:22:14,480 --> 00:22:17,720 Speaker 1: a little thinner this year than previous years. It's not 384 00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:20,760 Speaker 1: to say they won't be trying things, but I think 385 00:22:20,880 --> 00:22:23,560 Speaker 1: that they're mostly focused on how do we get the 386 00:22:23,640 --> 00:22:26,199 Speaker 1: House to agree to increase the debt limit? How do 387 00:22:26,280 --> 00:22:28,280 Speaker 1: we get the House to agree to not shut the 388 00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:30,879 Speaker 1: government down. And I guess another thing too, is just 389 00:22:30,960 --> 00:22:34,479 Speaker 1: the Senate saying no, no, no, to one after another 390 00:22:34,760 --> 00:22:38,639 Speaker 1: of the Republican past House bills that won't ever go 391 00:22:38,760 --> 00:22:41,240 Speaker 1: anywhere in the Senate right. I think one of the 392 00:22:41,240 --> 00:22:43,640 Speaker 1: big questions in the Senate is at what point does 393 00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:47,240 Speaker 1: Mitch McConnell engage on the debt limit and on resolving 394 00:22:47,280 --> 00:22:51,720 Speaker 1: some of these questions in when there were these key 395 00:22:51,800 --> 00:22:54,800 Speaker 1: deadlines and John Baynard, Coast Speaker at the time, was 396 00:22:54,840 --> 00:22:58,520 Speaker 1: having difficulty corralling his own folks in many of these cases, 397 00:22:58,800 --> 00:23:02,800 Speaker 1: McConnell was hutting deals with then Vice President Joe Biden 398 00:23:02,880 --> 00:23:06,480 Speaker 1: in back rooms to keep the government open, to avoid 399 00:23:06,520 --> 00:23:10,320 Speaker 1: tax increases, to avoid a debt limit default. I could 400 00:23:10,359 --> 00:23:13,560 Speaker 1: see that happening again if we're here in June and 401 00:23:13,680 --> 00:23:18,200 Speaker 1: the debt limit is breached because the extraordinary measures that 402 00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:21,760 Speaker 1: they traditionally buy them three or four months run out. 403 00:23:22,480 --> 00:23:25,880 Speaker 1: And that's the moment where you can see the Senate say, look, 404 00:23:25,920 --> 00:23:28,320 Speaker 1: the House can't figure this out with the White House. 405 00:23:28,400 --> 00:23:30,920 Speaker 1: Let's try and pass something and hope the House can 406 00:23:30,960 --> 00:23:35,960 Speaker 1: take it. There are also what I would call sort 407 00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:39,119 Speaker 1: of like some hail Mary kinds of issues that you 408 00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:43,120 Speaker 1: could see happening that folks would care about. One is immigration. 409 00:23:43,359 --> 00:23:46,000 Speaker 1: You know, it's a big priorities border security for the House. 410 00:23:46,359 --> 00:23:49,280 Speaker 1: It's unlikely the Senate is gonna like say, okay, let's 411 00:23:49,280 --> 00:23:52,560 Speaker 1: do a big border security package without doing immigration, without 412 00:23:52,560 --> 00:23:55,480 Speaker 1: doing something about the dreamer kids who have been here 413 00:23:55,520 --> 00:23:58,359 Speaker 1: for many years and are sort of still stuck in limbo. 414 00:23:58,840 --> 00:24:03,399 Speaker 1: Carson Cinema of eras on a Democrat turned independent recently. 415 00:24:03,880 --> 00:24:07,160 Speaker 1: Key corraller of bipartisan deals last year on a whole 416 00:24:07,160 --> 00:24:11,239 Speaker 1: host of issues, including immigration and marriage equality. You know, 417 00:24:11,320 --> 00:24:15,119 Speaker 1: and John Cornyn, who's a senior Senate Republican, took a 418 00:24:15,160 --> 00:24:18,560 Speaker 1: bipartisan group of senators to the border. They're trying to 419 00:24:18,720 --> 00:24:23,640 Speaker 1: craft a bipartisan package that would include changes to how 420 00:24:23,680 --> 00:24:29,240 Speaker 1: we do immigration, included more resources for border security, It's 421 00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:32,639 Speaker 1: interesting in that this is a group of senators that 422 00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:37,560 Speaker 1: has been pretty successful in actually crafting legislation. But as 423 00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:40,440 Speaker 1: we all know, you know, immigration is one of those 424 00:24:40,440 --> 00:24:43,399 Speaker 1: things where we're like zero for thirty thirty straight years. 425 00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:47,720 Speaker 1: People try to do a bill and nothing happens, or 426 00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:51,400 Speaker 1: very small things happened, and uh, you know, but there's 427 00:24:51,440 --> 00:24:53,040 Speaker 1: not a whole lot of other things where you can 428 00:24:53,080 --> 00:24:55,800 Speaker 1: see something happening. One of the other things to watch 429 00:24:56,000 --> 00:24:59,240 Speaker 1: is Joe Mansion was not able to pass his energy 430 00:24:59,320 --> 00:25:04,960 Speaker 1: permitting fast track plan for pipelines and and energy projects. 431 00:25:04,960 --> 00:25:07,600 Speaker 1: This is the Democrat from West Virginia held up Biden's 432 00:25:07,600 --> 00:25:10,640 Speaker 1: agenda for all those months. I remember standing in line 433 00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:13,240 Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy four to buy gasoline to go to work. 434 00:25:13,320 --> 00:25:15,040 Speaker 1: I Am not going to stand in line and wait 435 00:25:15,080 --> 00:25:20,159 Speaker 1: for a battery to come from China. Part of his 436 00:25:20,280 --> 00:25:24,080 Speaker 1: deal to get a climate package last year was the 437 00:25:24,119 --> 00:25:27,960 Speaker 1: administration Democrats agreed to back his plan to accelerate a 438 00:25:28,040 --> 00:25:30,440 Speaker 1: key pipeline in West Virginia a bunch of other projects. 439 00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:34,280 Speaker 1: He is still going to be trying to revive that 440 00:25:34,560 --> 00:25:37,760 Speaker 1: this year. And you've got House Republicans who could be 441 00:25:37,840 --> 00:25:41,480 Speaker 1: staring at a at a long list of promises and 442 00:25:41,600 --> 00:25:45,680 Speaker 1: hope for accomplishments without actually getting a lot of them 443 00:25:45,800 --> 00:25:49,720 Speaker 1: across the finish line. When you look at the Congress 444 00:25:49,760 --> 00:25:52,760 Speaker 1: a year from now, after Republicans have been in charge 445 00:25:52,760 --> 00:25:55,640 Speaker 1: of the House, when you're closer to a presidential election, 446 00:25:56,359 --> 00:25:59,720 Speaker 1: what do you think actually will get done? If anything, 447 00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:03,080 Speaker 1: I think the most likely scenario is that they kick 448 00:26:03,160 --> 00:26:07,960 Speaker 1: the can, you know, with some small modest attachments to 449 00:26:08,119 --> 00:26:11,400 Speaker 1: that can kick, you know. And Joe Biden, I think 450 00:26:11,640 --> 00:26:15,160 Speaker 1: having Democrats do better than expected in the mid terms. 451 00:26:15,680 --> 00:26:18,400 Speaker 1: He's not like he's really sounding like Bill Clinton after 452 00:26:18,440 --> 00:26:24,280 Speaker 1: they got shellacked in and he pivoted hard to the 453 00:26:24,320 --> 00:26:27,320 Speaker 1: middle and he cut a big giant welfare reform deal. 454 00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:32,879 Speaker 1: If people remember, with the House Republicans, it's possible that 455 00:26:32,960 --> 00:26:35,600 Speaker 1: Biden can cut some deals with McConnell. They've worked together 456 00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:39,800 Speaker 1: very well. It's possible that Kevin McCarthy can find a 457 00:26:39,840 --> 00:26:46,719 Speaker 1: few things that navigate among the partisan investigations and the 458 00:26:46,760 --> 00:26:49,360 Speaker 1: spending fights. I think there's a chance that they can 459 00:26:49,400 --> 00:26:53,480 Speaker 1: do that on the margins. Stephen Dennis, thanks for talking 460 00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:56,960 Speaker 1: with me today. It's great to be here. You can 461 00:26:56,960 --> 00:27:01,400 Speaker 1: read more from Stephen Dennis at Bloomberg dot com. Thanks 462 00:27:01,440 --> 00:27:03,200 Speaker 1: for listening to us here at The Big Take, the 463 00:27:03,320 --> 00:27:06,200 Speaker 1: daily podcast from Bloomberg and I Heart Radio. For more 464 00:27:06,200 --> 00:27:08,800 Speaker 1: shows from my heart Radio, visit the heart Radio app, 465 00:27:09,040 --> 00:27:12,560 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen. Read Today's story and 466 00:27:12,600 --> 00:27:15,840 Speaker 1: subscribe to our daily newsletter at Bloomberg dot com slash 467 00:27:15,840 --> 00:27:18,640 Speaker 1: Big Take, and we'd love to hear from you. Email 468 00:27:18,720 --> 00:27:21,560 Speaker 1: us with questions or comments to Big Take at Bloomberg 469 00:27:21,560 --> 00:27:25,600 Speaker 1: dot net. The supervising producer of The Big Take is 470 00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:30,920 Speaker 1: Vicky Bergelina. Our senior producer is Katherine Fink. Our producers 471 00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:38,359 Speaker 1: are Mo Barrow and Michael falerro Is. Our engineer. Original 472 00:27:38,480 --> 00:27:42,640 Speaker 1: music by Leo Sidrin. I'm Westkasova. We'll be back tomorrow 473 00:27:42,680 --> 00:27:43,680 Speaker 1: with another Big Take.