Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, Radio News.
Speaker 2: We have just gotten the gavel. The House has officially
Speaker 2: passed this stopgap funding measure that will keep the government
Speaker 2: funded through March fourteenth of next year. The tally three
Speaker 2: hundred and sixty six votes for this measure, only thirty
Speaker 2: four against. Not a single one of those votes against
Speaker 2: came from a Democrat. Ultimately, it was the Democrats who
Speaker 2: provided more votes to get this over the finish line,
Speaker 2: one hundred and ninety six Democratic members voting yes compared
Speaker 2: to one hundred and seventy Republicans. I want to come
Speaker 2: back to our political panel, Janie Shanzeno and Lester months
Speaker 2: in here. Lester, there were thirty eight Republicans who last
Speaker 2: night voted down the measure inclusive of the debt ceiling.
Speaker 2: Thirty four Republicans voted down this today with the debt
Speaker 2: ceiling taken out, it only changed four minds on that front.
Speaker 2: What does that signal to you.
Speaker 3: Well, it also changed the minds of all the Democrats.
Speaker 2: Fair enough, Yes, right, And that's.
Speaker 3: Really the key here. And so Democrats are clearly take
Speaker 3: Genie's earlier points on this exact question to heart. Democrats
Speaker 3: want to kind of force the votes next year and
Speaker 3: maximize their leverage over these tax issues which they are
Speaker 3: clearly going to be targeting. So you're starting to see
Speaker 3: the Democrats marshal their forces behind an agenda, thinking coherently
Speaker 3: about what that means, being willing to take some tough
Speaker 3: votes to get that done. And you saw those I
Speaker 3: think there was one present vote among the Democrats that
Speaker 3: there's one one Democrat who didn't vote favor this thing.
Speaker 3: So they have near total unanimity. They've they've got some
Speaker 3: real leadership. The question is going to be I think
Speaker 3: next year, can Senator Thun and Speaker Johnson do the
Speaker 3: same thing that McConnell and Ryan did eight years ago
Speaker 3: when they really guided the president's domestic agenda through Congress.
Speaker 3: Can these new leadership members do something like that next year?
Speaker 3: It's going to be a real challenge for him.
Speaker 2: Well, So, Genie, this is an excellent point that Lester
Speaker 2: is making, this notion that by and large we do
Speaker 2: see the Democrats sticking together and ultimately whatever Hawking Jeffrey
Speaker 2: says is usually what goes. And I wonder if you
Speaker 2: think that is going to be as easy to maintain
Speaker 2: when they are being asked to take votes on things
Speaker 2: like securing the border, something that was a weak spot
Speaker 2: for Democrats, frontline Democrats especially, and the last election and
Speaker 2: likely will be again in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think we've seen Hakim Jeffries emerge as a
Speaker 1: very strong leader, following you know, the suit of Nancy Pelosi,
Speaker 1: who's also you know, one of the best that we've had.
Speaker 1: And you know, the reality is is that he does
Speaker 1: have the respect of his caucus, and we've seen over
Speaker 1: and over again, in almost lockstep to Lester's point, that
Speaker 1: they do listen to his advice and that votes very
Speaker 1: well for him. It's not going to be easy, but
Speaker 1: I will say it is easier obviously to be in
Speaker 1: the minority than it is to be in the majority.
Speaker 1: So you know, it may be a different story if
Speaker 1: they took over the majority, But because they're in the minority,
Speaker 1: I think they will stick together next year. And the
Speaker 1: reality is is that it is going to be so
Speaker 1: close next year that Mike Johnson is going to need
Speaker 1: them again and that's not going to sit well with
Speaker 1: people like Andy Biggs and Chip Roy and many others
Speaker 1: on the Republican side. And the question is how does
Speaker 1: Donald Trump handle this particularly? How does he handle it
Speaker 1: when somebody like Elon Musk is controlling the largest megaphone
Speaker 1: maybe we have out there in terms of the Republican media,
Speaker 1: and when he shouts, everybody listens. That's going to be
Speaker 1: really fascinating to watch. Well.
Speaker 2: Elon Musk's counterpart and in leading this new government Department
Speaker 2: of Government Efficiency, has just posted his thoughts on x
Speaker 2: vik Ramaswami, saying, quote, the last seventy two hours highlighted
Speaker 2: the positive impact that DOGE can have, but it also
Speaker 2: laid bare the massive lift ahead next year. We're ready
Speaker 2: for it, Lester, Both of Ake and Elon Musk aren't
Speaker 2: exactly ultra familiar with Washington. Do you really think they
Speaker 2: are ready for it?
Speaker 1: No?
Speaker 3: But I do like the way everyone is kind of
Speaker 3: dumping their hopes and dreams into the DOGE. Right. Oh,
Speaker 3: this problem will be fixed next year with DOGE. Oh,
Speaker 3: DOGE has a huge opportunity. DOGE has already affected things.
Speaker 3: DOSEH isn't really even a thing yet, it does certainly
Speaker 3: have some potential. Their real work won't be done for
Speaker 3: a year and a half. Will this still matter then?
Speaker 3: Will President Trump still have the same relationship with those two.
Speaker 3: That's a big question. So I think it's mostly hopes
Speaker 3: and dreams right now, but it certainly could become reality
Speaker 3: if people actually sit down look at it. Interestingly, there
Speaker 3: was a Tom Cole article on the Wall Street Journal
Speaker 3: this morning talking about they're going to have to look
Speaker 3: at entitlements if they really want to get close to
Speaker 3: a balanced budget. There's real truth in that, and that's
Speaker 3: not really something Republicans want to tackle yet.
Speaker 2: Well, when I was speaking with Congressman Beth Van Dyne
Speaker 2: just a moment ago, she was talking about how they said, yes,
Speaker 2: we're going to raise the debt ceiling, but we're going
Speaker 2: to cut two and a half trillion dollars in spending
Speaker 2: in order to offset that, and Megan schullly mathematically that
Speaker 2: probably doesn't work if you're going to not be touching
Speaker 2: Social Security and Medica, and as does not two point
Speaker 2: five trillion is more than the federal discussion your budget
Speaker 2: on an annual basis. So to put it in perspective,
Speaker 2: the Defense Department is, you know, creeping up to a
Speaker 2: trillion when you factor in emergency spending, and everything else
Speaker 2: is dwarfed in comparison. So finding that means digging deep
Speaker 2: into entitlements. And that's when I think you're going to see,
Speaker 2: particularly House members and senators who are up for election
Speaker 2: in twenty six really getting nervous because that Social Security
Speaker 2: is the third rail, and there are a lot of
Speaker 2: weird rules about how we can legislate on Social Security
Speaker 2: and whether or not it can be part of this
Speaker 2: budget deal, whether it has to be dealt with separately,
Speaker 2: but it is. You know, when you're talking about entitlements,
Speaker 2: you're not just talking about Social Security, You're talking about Medicare,
Speaker 2: you're talking about Medicaid, and you're talking about veterans benefits,
Speaker 2: which is something that lawmakers are very loath to you know,
Speaker 2: send well. But that doesn't mean that Ramaswami and Musk
Speaker 2: might not recommend it. But at the end of the day,
Speaker 2: and Lester was alluding to this, they are not elected
Speaker 2: members of the US government. They can only do recommendations. Technically.
Speaker 2: Have we not learned this week though, that their words
Speaker 2: ultimately can matter to legislation even before they've made their
Speaker 2: doge recommendations.
Speaker 4: Yes and no. Right, so Musk has talted you know,
Speaker 4: look at the you know, fifteen hundred page bill. You know,
Speaker 4: versus this one hundred and forty or however many page
Speaker 4: bill it is, and looking at the differences between the size,
Speaker 4: the fact of the matter is the majority of that
Speaker 4: spending is still in there. And if that is what
Speaker 4: DOGE is going after that one hundred and ten billion
Speaker 4: for farmers and for disaster aid, you know, tells you
Speaker 4: something that lawmakers were not going to cut that because
Speaker 4: that affects people's lives in their districts and in their states.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, And Genie, we just have about a minute or
Speaker 2: two left here, but considering this is our last evening
Speaker 2: addition of balance and power of the year twenty twenty four,
Speaker 2: and we are it like this with a down to
Speaker 2: the wire vote basically trying to avert a government shutdown
Speaker 2: that the Senate has to still act on. Given everything
Speaker 2: that has gone down in this year, does this surprise
Speaker 2: you in the slightest that we ended up in this
Speaker 2: moment at the very end.
Speaker 1: Of it, not at all, Although I am through that
Speaker 1: they did pass the government. It keeps it open. People
Speaker 1: can go home for the holidays, including you, Kaylee, who
Speaker 1: deserves a holiday and arrest. But you know, this is
Speaker 1: the one hundred and eighteenth That's how it's been from
Speaker 1: the very very start, and it has continued this way.
Speaker 1: I would say I want to be optimistic and say
Speaker 1: the one hundred and nineteenth is going to be different,
Speaker 1: but mathematically, and this is a game of numbers, can't
Speaker 1: imagine how it could be that much different.
Speaker 2: All right, final question to all three of you, Genie,
Speaker 2: will the Senate be able to pass this measure by midnight? Yes?
Speaker 1: They will. Meghan just explained it.
Speaker 2: Thank you Meghan, and Meghan your answer is still yes.
Speaker 2: I'm assuming I hope, so we all hope.
Speaker 3: So.
Speaker 2: Lester mumpson.
Speaker 3: Final word to you, also yes, but there's going to
Speaker 3: be some votes on Lee and or Ram Paul amendments.
Speaker 2: Megan predicted that one as well. Thank you so much
Speaker 2: to all three of you for joining me as we
Speaker 2: have worked through this breaking news in Congress as we
Speaker 2: work to avert a government shutdown. Megan Scully, who leads
Speaker 2: our capital influence team here in Washington, Genie Shanzeno, and
Speaker 2: Lester months in my political panel this evening, Thank you
Speaker 2: so much again. The stopgap funding measure to keep the
Speaker 2: government funded through March fourteenth of next year has passed
Speaker 2: the House by a wide bipartisan margin, more Democrats putting
Speaker 2: up votes for it,