Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, Radio News. I'm happy to say
Speaker 1: we can extend the conversation with New York Congressman Michael Ola. Congressman,
Speaker 1: welcome back to the program sir. The good news. The
Speaker 1: military looks like it's getting paid. Can you just walk
Speaker 1: us through how you would characterize current negotiations.
Speaker 2: Well, the Democrats refuse to do their job. You know,
Speaker 2: Jeffries talks about getting permission. The reality here is that
Speaker 2: AOC and Zorn Mandani and the progressive left are who's
Speaker 2: driving the ship here. Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries have
Speaker 2: been petrified to do their jobs, and so they shut
Speaker 2: the government down for fear of a primary challenge from
Speaker 2: the left and to show their progressive base that they're
Speaker 2: quote unquote fighting back, resisting you know, President Trump. And
Speaker 2: it's fundamentally wrong. They are holding the American people hostage.
Speaker 2: House Republicans passed a clean Continuing resolution over three weeks
Speaker 2: ago to keep the government funded, to pay for all
Speaker 2: of these critical programs, to ensure that our troops are paid,
Speaker 2: to ensure that border patrol agents are paid. And yet
Speaker 2: Democrats have voted over eight times against the clean CR
Speaker 2: and We'll see what Chuck Schumer and Senate Democrats do today.
Speaker 2: But it doesn't look good. And when I was in
Speaker 2: Washington last week, I went and confronted Hakeem Jeffries to
Speaker 2: his face and pointed out that if he's serious about
Speaker 2: tackling the healthcare challenges in our country, sign on to
Speaker 2: the bipartisan legislation that would do that. And he refused.
Speaker 2: So this really is not about healthcare. It's not about
Speaker 2: a specific policy outcome. This is about Democrats showing their
Speaker 2: progressive base that they're fighting back against President than Trump. Meanwhile,
Speaker 2: look at the juxtaposition. President Trump on a twenty four
Speaker 2: hour trip to the Middle East secured peace and Democrats
Speaker 2: are playing patty cake here in Washington, DC, shutting the
Speaker 2: government down and holding the American people hostage.
Speaker 3: Well, two weeks, there's going to be some off ramp
Speaker 3: at some point. Would you support structural changes to the
Speaker 3: Affordable Care Act premium subsidies in exchange for an extension
Speaker 3: to get the government back up and working well.
Speaker 2: To be clear, the off ramp is the clean cr
Speaker 2: that's been sitting in the Senate for over three weeks
Speaker 2: with respect to the Affordable Care Act Number one. Since
Speaker 2: Obamacare took effect in twenty ten, you've seen premium skyrocket
Speaker 2: across the country. And Democrats put in place these enhanced
Speaker 2: tax credits during COVID. They were slated to expire at
Speaker 2: the end of this year. Democrats knew that they passed
Speaker 2: it into law, and they knew that they couldn't extend
Speaker 2: it beyond that period because of the cost associated with it.
Speaker 2: I have signed on to legislation to extend it by
Speaker 2: a year because we don't want americans healthcare premiums to spike.
Speaker 2: But it speaks to the fundamental problem with Obamacare, which
Speaker 2: is that it didn't actually do what it was intended
Speaker 2: to do, which is reduce health care cost in America,
Speaker 2: and in fact, it has exploded since its inception. So look,
Speaker 2: I am open to obviously solving the issue both short
Speaker 2: term and long term. We have to address the cost
Speaker 2: of health care in this country. But Democrats just you know,
Speaker 2: pounding their fists on the table, stomping their feet and
Speaker 2: demanding their way is not the way to govern. You
Speaker 2: don't hold the American people hostage. And by the way,
Speaker 2: don't take my word for it. Go look at every
Speaker 2: quote from Chuck Schumer Hakeem Jeffreys, Nancy p and name
Speaker 2: the Democrat. They all previously believed that you don't use
Speaker 2: government shutdowns to exert policy outcomes, and now fundamentally they
Speaker 2: have changed their view because Donald Trump is president.
Speaker 3: Congressman. Also being held hostage right now is data which
Speaker 3: the financial services industry, the FED, we all rely on.
Speaker 3: You are on the Financial Services Committee. Do you think
Speaker 3: the White House should deem the BLS data like the
Speaker 3: jobs report? We're still waiting on essential.
Speaker 2: Look, obviously that information is critically important for the FED
Speaker 2: and others to do the work that is required. But
Speaker 2: this is the fundamental challenge. They're trying to figure out
Speaker 2: how to pay for, for instance, our troops, which is vital.
Speaker 2: They're trying to figure out how to pay for critical
Speaker 2: programs like Wick and Snap and so these are the
Speaker 2: very difficult decisions that any administration is put in because
Speaker 2: of the calc trends of my Democratic colleagues here. Look,
Speaker 2: I've been opposed to government shutdowns, regardless of who has
Speaker 2: tried to do it. I criticized my Republican colleagues last
Speaker 2: Congress when some of them wanted to shut the government
Speaker 2: down over Joe Biden's disastrous open borders. While I agreed
Speaker 2: with them on the merits, the fact is shutting the
Speaker 2: government down wasn't going to solve that problem. And the
Speaker 2: same applies here. What the Democrats are doing is creating
Speaker 2: more problems. The FED, to your point, needs to be
Speaker 2: able to do its job. They need to cut rates.
Speaker 2: They need the information with respect to jobs for instance,
Speaker 2: that is critically important. So yes, we want them to
Speaker 2: be able to get that information. The fastest way for
Speaker 2: all of this to come to an end, the fastest
Speaker 2: way to ensure that government does its job, is for
Speaker 2: my Democratic colleagues to go back to Washington today in
Speaker 2: the Senate and vote yes to open the government up
Speaker 2: and pass the clean.
Speaker 3: Cr The White House has also taken aim on projects
Speaker 3: in New York City, eighteen million dollars worth of New
Speaker 3: York City infrastructure projects. You are in a swing district
Speaker 3: and you are facing a lot of challenges. A lot
Speaker 3: of Democrats are lining up to try to flip that
Speaker 3: seat come the midterms. Are you concerned about potentially the
Speaker 3: pushback you're going to get from things like this? Billions
Speaker 3: of dollars being frozen right here in New York.
Speaker 2: Look I've already spoken out against the freeze on that
Speaker 2: project and have been in touch with the administration to
Speaker 2: get that project back up and running. Are they going
Speaker 2: to But again, the fastest way to do that is
Speaker 2: to pass a clean cr And that's the point that
Speaker 2: I've made over the last week to my New York
Speaker 2: colleagues and to the press that these projects can easily
Speaker 2: come back online when the government is open and running.
Speaker 2: Gateway is a critical project for my district. We don't
Speaker 2: have a one seat ride from Rockland County where I live.
Speaker 2: Gateway will that. So this is a critical infrastructure project,
Speaker 2: not just for New York City or New Jersey, but
Speaker 2: for the region. But you know, this is something that
Speaker 2: I've fully supported in terms of getting the funding for
Speaker 2: that project and will continue to fight to do it.
Speaker 2: But again, based on conversations, it's not that hard to
Speaker 2: figure out if you open up the government, a lot
Speaker 2: of this stuff will be resolved.
Speaker 1: Congressman, we got to go. I appreciate your time as always.
Speaker 1: I'm sure you've got to go to Mike Lauda there,
Speaker 1: the New York Congressman on the latest situation down in Washington,
Speaker 1: d C.