Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. After decades of service
Speaker 1: to his constituents in Arkansas, has the worst job in Washington.
Speaker 1: He has had a House Financial Services Committee, the Republican
Speaker 1: from Arkansas, and he joins us right now, French, I
Speaker 1: got eight ways to go here, but I got to
Speaker 1: look to the second third week of March, where the
Speaker 1: challenge is a government shutdown. Budget challenges. You're going to
Speaker 1: be in the heart of this. So I'm going to
Speaker 1: go to someone on your committee like Monica de la Cruz,
Speaker 1: the Latina from Texas. Fine, Okay, the conservative southerns that
Speaker 1: don't want to budge on the budget. How are mainstream
Speaker 1: Republicans like you going to convince them to keep the
Speaker 1: United States of America running well?
Speaker 2: Thomas, is such an important question. Great to be with
Speaker 2: you this morning. This is something we should have done
Speaker 2: in December. It was a horrible mistake in my judgment
Speaker 2: not to complete the funding for FY twenty five in
Speaker 2: the previous Congress. Under the Biden administration, we would have
Speaker 2: had roughly the same characteristics we would have had an
Speaker 2: incoming Trump administration and incoming Senate. I think we would
Speaker 2: have gotten substantially the same deal, and now we're on
Speaker 2: trying to do budget reconciliation, which is a much more
Speaker 2: important task. And yet we face, as you point out,
Speaker 2: a government shutdown. Republicans have to stick together. We should
Speaker 2: use the Fiscal Responsibility Act numbers from last year and
Speaker 2: negotiate with the Senate now a Republican Senate who wants
Speaker 2: to spend a little bit more on defense, and get
Speaker 2: this behind us so that we could go to the
Speaker 2: main event of focus on reforming regulation, reforming productivity in
Speaker 2: the federal government, reforming spending, extending pro growth tax cuts.
Speaker 3: Give us your sense of how much optimism you have
Speaker 3: that's going to happen here. I know there's a lot
Speaker 3: of nervousness and apprehension that time is running short. There
Speaker 3: are different views on this. We were spending the last
Speaker 3: few weeks talking about will be one bill or two biller?
Speaker 3: Three b three bills. I know you've been involved in
Speaker 3: the same game there on the hill. Do you see
Speaker 3: a path forward here? How much clarity do you have
Speaker 3: at this point?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Well, first, on Tom's question about f y twenty five
Speaker 2: finishing f y twenty five before March fourteenth, I have
Speaker 2: medium confidence the worst case scenario would be to continue
Speaker 2: a CR till like September thirtieth. First of all, once
Speaker 2: you hit April first, you'll have a one percent across
Speaker 2: the board cut in f y twenty five spending and
Speaker 2: crs are terrible for government management. We'll end up spending
Speaker 2: billions more because we operate under a CR. We won't
Speaker 2: be able to start any new programs at the Defense Department,
Speaker 2: which is a priority for the administration. So that makes
Speaker 2: me lean to yes, we'll get something done on March fourteenth,
Speaker 2: on fiscal twenty five, as the budget reconciliation the big game.
Speaker 2: I do support one bill here in the House because
Speaker 2: I think that's how we hold the Republican coalition together
Speaker 2: best here. And as you know, Senator Graham and the
Speaker 2: Senate's taking a different approach.
Speaker 3: Congressman Hill, what is the view from the Longworth House
Speaker 3: Office building of what we're seeing the White House do?
Speaker 3: Of course, the historical precedent has been that Congress controls
Speaker 3: the purse, makes decisions about funding. We are seeing this
Speaker 3: administration take a more active role, shall we say, in
Speaker 3: determining what gets funded and what doesn't. How much comfort
Speaker 3: do you have with seeding some of that power to
Speaker 3: your friends and colleagues in the other branch, the executive
Speaker 3: branch Pennsylvania Avenue.
Speaker 2: Well, thank you. Find on money that's appropriated, Congress does
Speaker 2: control those purse strings and they direct that spending. But
Speaker 2: in the broad swaths of federal spending, you have directions
Speaker 2: to agencies spend this money on these general topics, and
Speaker 2: that's what the appropriated money says. And then you have
Speaker 2: article to authority with a lot of discretion about how
Speaker 2: to spend it. And I think that's what President Trump's
Speaker 2: attempting to look at. Is the spending done at the
Speaker 2: end of the Biden administration and proposed to be spent
Speaker 2: here in the first few weeks of his administration. Is
Speaker 2: it in alignment with his goals that he has in
Speaker 2: foreign policy, for example at USAID And that's a classic
Speaker 2: article too, Authority to take a look at that, make
Speaker 2: sure it's in alignment with their policies. With that said,
Speaker 2: you can't do these things without both the legislative branch
Speaker 2: and the executive branch, okayately working together.
Speaker 1: Then Frenchchill, you know, you and I have known each
Speaker 1: other since time began, and I've never seen a private
Speaker 1: citizen in the Oval office, standing there with his arms
Speaker 1: crossed like he owned the high ground. You are one
Speaker 1: of the rare beasts that came to Congress actually running
Speaker 1: a business in Little Rock. What's your advice to your
Speaker 1: fellow moderate brethren of the Democratic and Republican persuasion? What
Speaker 1: do they need to do in the coming days?
Speaker 2: Well, first, let's look at doje Tom. It's a good
Speaker 2: idea to go in and look at for efficiency and
Speaker 2: government in the executive branch and make recommendations to the
Speaker 2: legislative branch when you want to spend money differently or
Speaker 2: have a different number of full time equivalent positions in
Speaker 2: an agency. That's perfectly a good suggestion, and we haven't
Speaker 2: done it in years. I'd say since nine to eleven.
Speaker 2: The government's been focused on growing, not remotely focused on
Speaker 2: productivity or realigning or investing in technology or doing anything
Speaker 2: in a different way. We've been completely distracted by the
Speaker 2: war on terrorism, the OA crisis, and then the recovery
Speaker 2: from that, and then the pandemic. So I think it's
Speaker 2: over time to scrape the barnacles from the ship of
Speaker 2: state when it comes to regulatory policy, personnel policy. But
Speaker 2: there's a right way and a wrong way to do it,
Speaker 2: And I would encourage the administration to plan, communicate, and
Speaker 2: consult with Congress on how the best way to do
Speaker 2: that is.
Speaker 3: As for the right way to do it, I think
Speaker 3: of you as a young man serving as a deputy
Speaker 3: Assistant Secretary of the Treasure Department at aer Nicholas Brady,
Speaker 3: and I wonder if you could have imagined you would
Speaker 3: have non appointed, non confirmed private sector individuals going in
Speaker 3: and looking at the payment system there in the Treasury Department.
Speaker 3: Does that make you uncomfortable having the history that you
Speaker 3: have with the Treasury Department to see the way that
Speaker 3: Doge has been approaching the sort of fiscal health the books,
Speaker 3: for lack of a better word, of the federal government.
Speaker 2: Well, when I heard about that story over the weekend
Speaker 2: last week, called Secretary of Ascent. We talked about it
Speaker 2: last Monday, and he assured me that anything that Doge
Speaker 2: was doing was in the control of the official Treasury
Speaker 2: Department and that some people were working there for it
Speaker 2: review purposes. But he implied to me that he's got
Speaker 2: that under control. For making those recommendations, We're going to
Speaker 2: hold him accountable. He's the Treasury Secretary. So anything that
Speaker 2: Doge is doing in a cabinet agency, we just need
Speaker 2: to remind the American people, Members of Congress, the Trump administration,
Speaker 2: we're holding the Cabinet Secretary accountable for, as I say, planning,
Speaker 2: efficiency changes, budget change, personnel changes. We're holding them accountable
Speaker 2: here in Congress.
Speaker 3: We got some news overnight that Jonathan mccurernan, formerly the FDIC,
Speaker 3: has been picked to head the CFPB. And this has
Speaker 3: been an agency that's been in the crosshairs. I think
Speaker 3: it's safe to say you've had your criticisms with that
Speaker 3: agency over these last few years. And I want to
Speaker 3: ask you about some comments that the general lady from Cambridge,
Speaker 3: Massachusetts made on our heir last night, the senior Senator
Speaker 3: from Massachusetts, Elizabeth Warren, and she said, look, it's not
Speaker 3: up to the executive branch to decide whether or not
Speaker 3: an agency like the CFPB exists or what form it takes.
Speaker 3: That's up to Congress. And the point that she's making
Speaker 3: is you and other lawmakers, if you don't like what
Speaker 3: this bureau, this agency is doing, you could take action yourselves.
Speaker 3: Lawmakers could decide whether or not it should continue to exist.
Speaker 3: Do you agree with the argument that she's making there
Speaker 3: that fundamentally, it's not up to the executive branch, not
Speaker 3: up to this administration to decide what agencies, what parts
Speaker 3: of this government should should stick around or be disappeared.
Speaker 2: Well, as a general matter, you'd have to look at
Speaker 2: statute by statute, agent by agency by that. But as
Speaker 2: a general statement, sure, I mean, Congress creates agencies, Congress
Speaker 2: can end agencies. There's nothing so permanent though, as a
Speaker 2: temporary government program, as President Reagan reminded us. But let's
Speaker 2: talk about Elizabeth Warren. She's the founding mother of the CFPB.
Speaker 2: She created it to be insulated from oversighted, insulated from appropriations,
Speaker 2: and insulated from any meddling by Congress. And that's what
Speaker 2: irritated Congress, and that's why I support changing the agency dramatically.
Speaker 1: But Frenchhill, well, I got a couple final questions. This
Speaker 1: is important, As you mentioned the senator from the Commonwealth,
Speaker 1: where do we find a middle ground? You are one
Speaker 1: of the leaders of the middle ground in Washington. How
Speaker 1: does Senator Warren and someone over on the MAGA write
Speaker 1: find a common feature around people like french Hill.
Speaker 2: Well, it's a great question, and I've hearded Senator Warren
Speaker 2: to consider that exactly. She's concerned about the big banks
Speaker 2: taking over the world. Well, she's created that with Dodd Frank.
Speaker 2: It concentrates more power into those big banks. I've encouraged
Speaker 2: her to consider tailoring policies for all the rest of
Speaker 2: the banking system, and also considering compromise on the CFPB
Speaker 2: but putting it under congressional appropriations and having a bipartisan
Speaker 2: commission right overseas its work. Those are middle ground points.
Speaker 1: French, I don't care. Here's what I care about. My
Speaker 1: father worshiped Bill Dickie of Little Rock, Arkansas, the x
Speaker 1: Yankees million years ago. Your minor league ball team, the
Speaker 1: Arkansas Travelers, Texas League. They play in the Dickey Stadium.
Speaker 1: How's a state of minor league baseball in Little Rock?
Speaker 1: Is we have pitchers and catchers today.
Speaker 2: Boys strong. There's no better place to be on an
Speaker 2: early summer night. The price is right, the fun is great,
Speaker 2: and it's fun to beat the teams in the Texas League.
Speaker 2: And it's something I love doing with not only my
Speaker 2: family but all my friends.
Speaker 1: There were the Seattle Mariners. You think I could see
Speaker 1: the Red Sox.
Speaker 3: You know down in Arkansas, what kind of maybe every
Speaker 3: time I feel in on this show, we have like
Speaker 3: three trips we need to take on the heels of
Speaker 3: each show. That Little Rosters and Baseball sounds like it's
Speaker 3: a plan to me.
Speaker 2: We'll put you right, We'll put you right behind the
Speaker 2: home plate.
Speaker 1: In honor of the beloved Barney Frank. I hope you
Speaker 1: do as well as Barney Frank. He's having a Financial
Speaker 1: Services committee in Washington, the Republican little rock Frendshill joining
Speaker 1: us