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Speaker 4: Might not be the happiest Friday here in Washington for
Speaker 4: House Speaker Mike Johnson, because after this threat for a
Speaker 4: while has been lingering, perhaps now the first steps that
Speaker 4: could lead to actually ousting him have been taken by
Speaker 4: Congressoman Marjorie Taylor Green. That is not a privileged resolution yet,
Speaker 4: and yet the motion to vacate has been filed, waiting
Speaker 4: to be acted upon potentially any time now. As for
Speaker 4: the reason why it appeared, because Mike Johnson made the
Speaker 4: decision to work with Democrats to fund the government. Here
Speaker 4: was the Congressoman from Georgia earlier today on the steps
Speaker 4: of Capitol Hill.
Speaker 5: This is a betrayal of the American people. This is
Speaker 5: a betrayal of Republican voters, and the bill that we
Speaker 5: were forced to vote on forced Republicans to choose between
Speaker 5: funding to pay our soldiers and in doing so, funding
Speaker 5: late term abortion.
Speaker 6: You heard it and saw it live as it happened
Speaker 6: here on Bloomberg. That was less than an hour ago.
Speaker 6: I'm Joe Matthew alongside Kaylee Lines. Welcome to Bloomberg Radio
Speaker 6: and TV. As we begin our conversation with Congresswoman Nicole
Speaker 6: mally atakas, the Republican from New York is with us
Speaker 6: now live from Capitol Hill. Having voted no on that legislation,
Speaker 6: before we start talking about the ins and outs of
Speaker 6: motion to vak, Congresswoman, why was this not worth your
Speaker 6: vote today?
Speaker 7: You know, I just cannot continue to vote to fund
Speaker 7: this president's agenda. At the end of the day, we
Speaker 7: have a crisis at our border. It is Joe Biden's making.
Speaker 7: He instituted policies using his own authority that has dismantled
Speaker 7: the border security and this would give him the money
Speaker 7: to continue doing what he's doing, which is allowing people
Speaker 7: to enter into the country. Customs and Border Protection agents
Speaker 7: are directed to release these people into the interior. They're
Speaker 7: not being detained or deported, They're being sent to cities
Speaker 7: like mine, and has become unsustainable and it's unsafe. It's
Speaker 7: unfair to the people that I represent. Who are having
Speaker 7: shelters being put in their districts and seniors being kicked
Speaker 7: out of residences to make way for migrants.
Speaker 8: Okay, I'm just not going to fund this.
Speaker 4: Well, Congressoman, not is it not then unfair to your
Speaker 4: constituents as well that a bipartisan border package that the
Speaker 4: President did agree to that would have tightened many measures
Speaker 4: at the border was not even given a vote in
Speaker 4: the House. If we're talking about what's unfair.
Speaker 7: It wasn't even given a vote in the Senate. And
Speaker 7: you should have the same concern about.
Speaker 8: Hr two that we passed out of the House that.
Speaker 7: Would actually secure the border, and the Senate won't give
Speaker 7: it a vote either. So it works both ways here,
Speaker 7: and I'm happy to work with the Senate to hash
Speaker 7: something out. And I was hoping that's what our speaker
Speaker 7: would have done, is to make sure that there were
Speaker 7: some border security measures here. Because let's be clear, the
Speaker 7: President did this using his own authority. He can easily
Speaker 7: undo it. The reason we don't have a secure border
Speaker 7: right now is because he has used discretion to dismantle
Speaker 7: policies of the previous administration. That the thing is the
Speaker 7: Senate bill simply gave him some more discretion. But if
Speaker 7: he's not using the current discretion he has, what makes
Speaker 7: you think he's actually going to do something to actually
Speaker 7: solve this problem. And that is why I say, look,
Speaker 7: we need to reinstate the policies, if not of the
Speaker 7: Predeus administration, at least have your Secretary of Homeland Security rescind.
Speaker 8: His direct to the border patrol agents.
Speaker 7: They're being told that if someone is convicted of a crime,
Speaker 7: that is not grounds to deport them.
Speaker 8: That on its own, that is wrong.
Speaker 7: And that is why we see these criminals coming into
Speaker 7: New York City.
Speaker 8: They're wreaking havoc and they've assaulted police officers.
Speaker 7: We've seen stabbings, we've been seen a murder, and I'm
Speaker 7: not going to tolerate this anymore until the president decides
Speaker 7: he is going to actually work with.
Speaker 8: Us to really secure the border, or.
Speaker 7: We just get a new president or a Senator that
Speaker 7: would actually take up our legislation or negotiate with us
Speaker 7: on a package that will truly secure the border. Not
Speaker 7: what they're saying they're doing, because it's the Senate bill
Speaker 7: again is discretionary, and if the president's not using his
Speaker 7: current discretion, what makes you think he's actually going to
Speaker 7: do something when that bill passes.
Speaker 6: Well, you've got a lot of company, a congresswoman. The
Speaker 6: speaker failed to get a majority of the majority, which
Speaker 6: is something that a lot of people were using as
Speaker 6: an important metric on this vote. Before you joined us,
Speaker 6: we were talking about a motion to vacate. Now that's
Speaker 6: been filed by your colleague from Georgia, Marjorie Taylor Green.
Speaker 6: Does Mike Johnson deserve that motion to vacate?
Speaker 7: Look, I don't think so. I think the problem is
Speaker 7: not our speaker. The problem is the pres of the
Speaker 7: United States and the Senate majority leader. You got to
Speaker 7: remember the Republicans control one third of the government. Here,
Speaker 7: we were outnumbered two to one.
Speaker 9: Speak this build low.
Speaker 8: It's very difficult. Yeah, he didn't negotiate it.
Speaker 7: But the reason why I think we didn't get more
Speaker 7: of the things we wanted was because he's out numbered
Speaker 7: two to one. And the reality is if people want
Speaker 7: to see the border being secured, they want energy production
Speaker 7: to lower costs of food and energy and utilities and inflation,
Speaker 7: then we need to have somebody who's actually going to
Speaker 7: pass our legislation over in the Senate or a president
Speaker 7: who's willing to work with us on those objectives.
Speaker 8: The thing is their goals are very different than ours.
Speaker 7: They want to allow millions of people to come into
Speaker 7: the country. They believe that Okay, the anti energy policies
Speaker 7: coming out of this administration have driven utility costs in
Speaker 7: New York and elsewhere to go up significantly. American families
Speaker 7: can't afford the policies of this president and we need
Speaker 7: to fight back. We can't do it unless we have
Speaker 7: more people, either in the Senate or, like I said,
Speaker 7: a president, so I would I would say that I'm
Speaker 7: not ready to vacate the speakership again. You remember the
Speaker 7: disaster that created last time when all the Democrats sided
Speaker 7: with a handful of Republicans to.
Speaker 8: Get rid of Speaker McCarthy.
Speaker 7: I think we had a weaker hand, by the way,
Speaker 7: in this negotiation because we lost a lot of the
Speaker 7: leverage because of that. I think Kevin McCarthy would have
Speaker 7: done a better job negotiating for us. And by the way,
Speaker 7: Mike Johnson knows that the border security is our number
Speaker 7: one issue, and to come back to this conference with
Speaker 7: this legislation and not have significant policy changes from this
Speaker 7: administration is a failure.
Speaker 4: Well, you have had many colleagues, including Congressman Ship Roy
Speaker 4: of Texas, suggesting that this House Republican Conference as a failures.
Speaker 4: You haven't really been able to get many conservative priorities
Speaker 4: across the finish line. And it does beg the question,
Speaker 4: with all of that perhaps being true, I'm sure you
Speaker 4: have an opinion on that, the idea that not much
Speaker 4: has been able to come out of this Congress Worth
Speaker 4: pointing out there is an election in November. Do you
Speaker 4: think move such as this from Marjorie Taylor Green further
Speaker 4: threaten the House majority?
Speaker 8: I think it's unhelpful.
Speaker 7: And as I said, it's not that we need a
Speaker 7: new speaker, we need a new president and a new
Speaker 7: Senate majority leader.
Speaker 8: And as for look Chip Roy.
Speaker 7: I would say that we have been very successful in
Speaker 7: passing the legislation that the American people want. Remember, we
Speaker 7: passed our legislation to ramp up domestic energy production that
Speaker 7: would lower costs for American families and businesses. The Senate
Speaker 7: wouldn't take it up. We passed a bill to give
Speaker 7: parents more saying their children's education and have a right
Speaker 7: to see the material of the children with their children
Speaker 7: are being taught in schools. The Senate wouldn't take it up.
Speaker 7: We passed a border security measure that was really tough
Speaker 7: and would do the job that needs to be done.
Speaker 7: The Senate wouldn't take it up. And so you ask
Speaker 7: me about you know, we're not passing legislation that comes
Speaker 7: out of the set. They're not passing our legislation. We're
Speaker 7: the ones who have the power of the purse.
Speaker 8: Remember that.
Speaker 7: So all these fiscal posse he's originate in the House.
Speaker 7: They should be taking up our legislation. I'm happy again,
Speaker 7: Not everything in that Senate bill is bad, but they
Speaker 7: didn't do the job of actually securing the border, and
Speaker 7: so we can negotiate from those starting points and come
Speaker 7: up with something solid.
Speaker 8: But really all of this is mute if the President.
Speaker 7: Just did his job and used his discretion. The existing
Speaker 7: authority has under sections eleven eighty two and twelve twenty
Speaker 7: five of Title eight.
Speaker 8: Again, can it's all there. It's the laws exist.
Speaker 7: That's why we never had this crisis under any other
Speaker 7: American president, Republican or Democrat.
Speaker 6: We're spending time with Congresswoman Nicole Maliatakis here on Bloomberg
Speaker 6: TV at Radio as part of our coverage today on
Speaker 6: Balance of Power. The Republican from New York voting against
Speaker 6: that spending package today, and as we heard from Marjorie
Speaker 6: Taylor Green a bit earlier congresswoman, it appeared to be
Speaker 6: the trigger for her would be a vote on Ukraine funding.
Speaker 6: Now that this appears to be this budgeting process appears
Speaker 6: to be drawing to a close, is that the next
Speaker 6: matter that will be handled? Do you want to see
Speaker 6: Speaker Mike Johnson bring a Ukraine funding bill to the floor,
Speaker 6: whether it's tied to Israel funding or as a standalone.
Speaker 7: I want the border secured in this country. I want
Speaker 7: this unsustainable crisis.
Speaker 3: To Earth.
Speaker 8: Just to be closed. But but what I'm.
Speaker 6: Saying, so you want to have a border funding bill
Speaker 6: before you manage the matter of Ukraine.
Speaker 7: If we can work something out where we can address
Speaker 7: both issues, I think that is the route that would
Speaker 7: most likely be taken and satisfy both parties in both houses,
Speaker 7: because what's happening is you see Senator Schumer is so
Speaker 7: focused on Ukraine only doesn't want to do anything on
Speaker 7: the border.
Speaker 8: House Republicans, yes, we want.
Speaker 7: To support democracies in fighting against oppressors, but we want
Speaker 7: to secure our border first, So maybe there's an opportunity
Speaker 7: for us to address these issues together as a matter
Speaker 7: of a give and take. But for me to support
Speaker 7: sending more money overseas without securing our border, it is
Speaker 7: crippling this country. It is really a major problem, and
Speaker 7: I'm concerned as a New Yorker, we could potentially have
Speaker 7: a terrorist attack if we continue to have these open borders.
Speaker 8: We've catched terrorists of the border.
Speaker 7: Who knows how many you are in in the country already,
Speaker 7: there's been over two million gunaways that have evaded law enforcement,
Speaker 7: invaded government officials, and they're in this country. We don't
Speaker 7: know who they are, where they are, or what their
Speaker 7: intentions are.
Speaker 8: And that is what frightens me the most.
Speaker 7: And I'm not going to be a part of this,
Speaker 7: and that's why I voted note of fund this agency
Speaker 7: that won't do its job.
Speaker 8: All right.
Speaker 4: Congressman Nicole Maliatakis from New York joining us live from
Speaker 4: Capitol Hill today. Thank you.
Speaker 2: You're listening to the Bloomberg Balance of Power podcast kens
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Speaker 6: We had the voice now of Denver Riggleman, the former
Speaker 6: congressman is with us here, of course, the former Republican
Speaker 6: congressman who joins us from time to time. With a
Speaker 6: lot of news in the air today that we want
Speaker 6: to talk about. Denver, thank you for joining. There's a
Speaker 6: motion to vacate now filed against the speaker who just
Speaker 6: somehow got a funding bill passed with the help of Democrats.
Speaker 6: It came courtesy of Marjorie Taylor Green.
Speaker 9: Does he deserve it?
Speaker 10: Oh?
Speaker 11: I mean, my goodness, this is the real March madness,
Speaker 11: isn't it.
Speaker 10: It's pretty nuts performative politics.
Speaker 11: But based on a significant i would say portion of
Speaker 11: the membership of the GOP, they certainly think he deserves
Speaker 11: it because he sold out to the end quotes I'll
Speaker 11: put this in air quotes, you know, the globalist Democrats.
Speaker 10: So yeah, I think that's what we have right now.
Speaker 11: And with this performative I would say bat I'll use
Speaker 11: a better word, bat crappery.
Speaker 10: That you're seeing right now.
Speaker 11: I think it's just sort of amazing to me that
Speaker 11: she's still getting the type of media attention she's getting
Speaker 11: with these kind of ridiculous things like motions to vacate.
Speaker 4: Well, we've heard from even Republicans who were involved in
Speaker 4: the motion to vacate against Kevin McCarthy, specifically the individual
Speaker 4: who brought it, the Congressman from Florida, Matt Gates, suggested
Speaker 4: that he wouldn't want to support emotion to vacate because
Speaker 4: there was a likelihood that the House could elect a
Speaker 4: Democratic speaker, considering we're working with a very thin Republican
Speaker 4: majority here. Even if this were to work, if Marjorie
Speaker 4: Taylor Green were to act on it and kick Johnson out,
Speaker 4: what would follow Denver.
Speaker 10: Chaos, the same thing that's followed in the one hundred
Speaker 10: and eighteenth Congress. Since she said today she doesn't want chaos, well.
Speaker 11: I mean, what Marjorie Taylor Green says and what she
Speaker 11: does are usually opposite things. And if you look at
Speaker 11: what happened today, right, you have somebody who's self identified
Speaker 11: as a Christian nationalist going after Mike Johnson, who believes
Speaker 11: he's been called to be in that position. You know,
Speaker 11: by God, you know, almost have their own God on
Speaker 11: God violence here, chaos is the only thing that gets
Speaker 11: Marjorie Taylor Green media clicks. And if you looked at
Speaker 11: the pictures of her on the steps today, right she
Speaker 11: was so rounded by media based on her motion to vacate.
Speaker 11: This is the performative crap that you're seeing right now.
Speaker 11: I think a preschool is more sophisticated than Congress right now,
Speaker 11: and I think that's the issue that you have, as
Speaker 11: there's unserious people there. So what she says and what
Speaker 11: she does are two opposite things. And if you go
Speaker 11: back in her past, that's what she does. She's just
Speaker 11: there to get as many clicks as possible to be performative,
Speaker 11: and other people follow along because it helps with they're
Speaker 11: fundraising and helps what they're polling, and it could help
Speaker 11: in their elections coming up in this cycle.
Speaker 6: So she has no intention of firing the Speaker of
Speaker 6: the House, then, if I'm reading you right, Denver. And
Speaker 6: if that's the case, couldn't she end up strengthening Mike
Speaker 6: Johnson's hand if he appears to have survived this effort
Speaker 6: from Marjorie Taylor Green and MAGA Inc.
Speaker 10: Marjorie Taylor Green doesn't think that far ahead right now,
Speaker 10: she's auditioning to be in the Trump cabinet or be
Speaker 10: a Trump appointee. So yeah, So.
Speaker 11: When you look at the strategy of these individuals, it's
Speaker 11: so naked and so transparent. They're out there trying to
Speaker 11: actually mar a lago is where they're getting their mon
Speaker 11: arching orders. So it's interesting the chaos that's being churned
Speaker 11: up right now. But it could be that Marjorie Taylor
Speaker 11: Green is just a flank, you know, on the Trump
Speaker 11: type of I would say, campaigning in order to push
Speaker 11: all these crazy narratives out there.
Speaker 10: And you know what she's doing though, she is setting
Speaker 10: the stage.
Speaker 11: Remember with McCarthy, this is sort of how it started
Speaker 11: happening too, right, you have the first little poke that
Speaker 11: seems crazy, but it could be a way that they
Speaker 11: want to go.
Speaker 10: So again, I think Mike Johnson needs to be careful.
Speaker 11: And when you look at the passing of the budget today,
Speaker 11: they barely got over the two thirds you still see
Speaker 11: I think, and you can fact check me. I think
Speaker 11: it was one hundred and thirty four Republicans voted against it.
Speaker 11: Does that sound correct? That's still a significant portion of
Speaker 11: the Republican conference. So again, It's going to be really
Speaker 11: interesting to see where this craziness ends up over the
Speaker 11: next few months as the presidential campaign heats up.
Speaker 4: Well, one hundred and twelve Republicans voted against, but that
Speaker 4: is more than the one hundred and one Republicans that
Speaker 4: voted for. To your point, Denver, the Hast rule did
Speaker 4: not work in this case. It did not pass the
Speaker 4: majority of the majority. You were talking though about Donald Trump,
Speaker 4: how Marjorie Taylor Green potentially would want to work in
Speaker 4: a second Trump administration. But we also know that President
Speaker 4: former President Trump and Speaker Johnson are close and talk frequently.
Speaker 4: Would Donald Trump allow him to be ousted?
Speaker 10: Well, he didn't have a big issue with McCarthy being ousted.
Speaker 10: I don't really.
Speaker 11: I think Trump only cares about what happens for him
Speaker 11: in his presidential race. You know, he's not particularly close
Speaker 11: to Mike Johnson. If you notice, you know Trump uses
Speaker 11: loyalty like a stick, right. The loyalty only goes one way.
Speaker 11: So I would humbly submit. And I know you both
Speaker 11: are you have both of you have your fingers on
Speaker 11: the pulse. I love talking to both of you. I
Speaker 11: would humbly submit that Donald Trump will do anything he
Speaker 11: can to ensure that he stays in the news, that
Speaker 11: his biggest supporter stays in the news. But as far
Speaker 11: as you know, I would say extending loyalty to anybody,
Speaker 11: Donald Trump hasn't done it, and he's not about to
Speaker 11: start now. So Mike Johnson as expendable as anybody else.
Speaker 6: Ken Buck is out today Denver. We're down to two
Speaker 6: seats for Mike Johnson. People are hearing about the motion
Speaker 6: that vacate. I figure we'll fight and argue all summer
Speaker 6: throughout campaign season. Can we say that Republicans lost the
Speaker 6: House majority today?
Speaker 11: Darn close to it. I mean, you still have a
Speaker 11: couple sane Republicans left in there. I mean they're dwindling.
Speaker 11: But when you see things that happen today, you see
Speaker 11: Marjorie Taylor Green, when you see very important votes that
Speaker 11: really really define what America needs to be, I think
Speaker 11: today that the Republicans are really on the ropes. And
Speaker 11: I'm really wondering about the twenty twenty four elections. I'm
Speaker 11: wondering about the polling, what they're singing their cross tabs,
Speaker 11: what their base is expecting them to say. But I
Speaker 11: would say right now that the Republicans are going to
Speaker 11: have a tough time passing any type of agenda that.
Speaker 10: Pushes what Trump wants them to push. And there you go.
Speaker 11: Right now you're looking at what is going to happen
Speaker 11: to the GOP conference. Now, Ken buck leaving, I think
Speaker 11: is a great thing. It also put Lauren Bobert, you know,
Speaker 11: it leveraged her also. So now things are getting a
Speaker 11: little nutty. And I really think in twenty twenty four
Speaker 11: you're going to see a real shift and I think
Speaker 11: you see the Democrats take back the House, and I
Speaker 11: don't think it's going to be a buy three or
Speaker 11: four votes. I think they're going to do okay there
Speaker 11: at this point. But you know, trying to tell the
Speaker 11: future in politics is very difficult. But again, I think
Speaker 11: right now they've effectively lost the ability to do much
Speaker 11: in Congress with any type of GOP agenda.
Speaker 4: Well, on the subject of Democrats, we know that they
Speaker 4: did not act in any form to protect Speaker McCarthy
Speaker 4: when he was being ousted. Would you hope that they
Speaker 4: would act differently in the case of Mike Johnson? Should
Speaker 4: they considering all of the political implications here you were
Speaker 4: just talking about, you know, if you're.
Speaker 11: Looking at it, there's two ways here, right, If you're
Speaker 11: looking at it completely politically, there's no reason they should.
Speaker 11: You know, the Republicans made their bed with this insanity.
Speaker 11: You know, why would Democrats pull them out of their
Speaker 11: you know, their flat spin?
Speaker 3: Right?
Speaker 11: They went ahead and they killed both engines on their
Speaker 11: fighter jet. Now they're in a flat spin. You know,
Speaker 11: why should the Democrats help them eject? You know, on
Speaker 11: the other side, though, if you keep having this churn
Speaker 11: in speakers even through before the twenty twenty four election,
Speaker 11: it would be quite magnanimous of the Democrats to help
Speaker 11: Mike Johnson, And indeed, if you might, I still think though,
Speaker 11: as far as politically and the presidential election coming in
Speaker 11: twenty twenty four, I think the Democrats would have a
Speaker 11: tough time actually supporting any speaker outside of a Democrat.
Speaker 11: What would be interesting is what is the flip? I
Speaker 11: think Matt Gates is sort of full of crap anytime
Speaker 11: he talks. You know, he's more like the human embodiment
Speaker 11: of a wet fart. But I do believe right that
Speaker 11: there could be some kind of possibility of moderns maybe
Speaker 11: coming up for a Democratic speaker.
Speaker 10: But again, it's politics. It's Congress.
Speaker 11: It's the one hundred and eighteenth, maybe the craziest Congress
Speaker 11: we've had in decades.
Speaker 10: I just don't see the Democrats crossing.
Speaker 11: The line and helping any Republican speaker at this point.
Speaker 9: Okay, having a little trouble with that one. Congressman.
Speaker 6: Let me just ask you lastly, will this pass the
Speaker 6: Senate tonight?
Speaker 10: I think it will.
Speaker 11: You know, again, it's hard to tell the future, but
Speaker 11: I think this passes the Senate, and I think I
Speaker 11: think the budget passes tonight.
Speaker 9: All right, Denver Wrickle, let's walk him out.
Speaker 6: The former congressman from an undisclosed location outside.
Speaker 9: The blast radius in Virginia. We thank you for being
Speaker 9: with us.
Speaker 2: As always, you're listening to the Bloomberg Balance of Power podcast.
Speaker 2: Catch Just Live weekdays at noon Eastern on Emocarplay and
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Speaker 2: wherever you get your podcasts, or watch us live on YouTube.
Speaker 6: It is Ballance of Power. It's Friday, and boy, the
Speaker 6: news doesn't stop. You thought you might have quiet day here.
Speaker 6: It's actually been quite the adventure. First thing you should know,
Speaker 6: if you're just joining us. Is the House actually got
Speaker 6: it done. They passed the bill to avoid a shutdown
Speaker 6: to fund our government through September. It's on its way
Speaker 6: to the Senate now, and it was a convincing vote.
Speaker 6: I guess good for Speaker Mike Johnson. He had Democrats
Speaker 6: help him out two eighty six one four. But not
Speaker 6: so good for Mike Johnson. Conservative Republicans are very angry.
Speaker 6: The Freedom Caucus held an angry news conference at nine
Speaker 6: o'clock this morning, and then Marjorie Taylor Green, separately, the
Speaker 6: General Woman from Georgia, filed a motion to vacate to
Speaker 6: fire the speaker, saying we need a new Speaker of
Speaker 6: the House. She did not make the filing privilege so
Speaker 6: she can hang this over his head for the rest
Speaker 6: of this Congress, and did speak with reporters after she
Speaker 6: did so.
Speaker 9: Here's Marjorie Taylor Green.
Speaker 5: I do not wish to inflict pain on our conference
Speaker 5: and to throw the House in chaos, but this is
Speaker 5: basically a warning and it's time for us to go
Speaker 5: through through the process, take our time and find a
Speaker 5: new Speaker of the House that will stand with Republicans
Speaker 5: and our Republican majority instead of standing with the difficats.
Speaker 6: All right, let's assemble the panel on this Friday, Rick
Speaker 6: Davis and Jeanie Schanzano. We're here, by the grace of God,
Speaker 6: Bloomberg Politics Contributors, our signature panel. Rick Davis, What in
Speaker 6: the world is going on in the House to Speaker
Speaker 6: Johnson actually have to worry about this? Just yesterday people
Speaker 6: were talking about how he seemed like he was finally
Speaker 6: galvanizing support in his conference.
Speaker 12: Yeah, I don't know how much he was finally galvanizing support.
Speaker 12: He was sweat and getting over one hundred Republicans on
Speaker 12: this bill. He finally got one hundred and thirty four,
Speaker 12: So I'd say that's a comfortable margin. Didn't please Marjorie
Speaker 12: Taylor Green very much, and I think she'd be offended
Speaker 12: that you called her the gentle woman. There's nothing gentle
Speaker 12: about Marjorie Taylor Green. But that being said, I'd say
Speaker 12: she's probably one of the least problems he's got one.
Speaker 12: He's got a conference that now is completely rudderless, and
Speaker 12: the next big thing on his agenda when they return
Speaker 12: in two weeks is going to be Ukraine funding, and
Speaker 12: he has no seeming.
Speaker 10: Solution on that.
Speaker 12: Secondarily, we'll talk about this in the course of today's program.
Speaker 12: But he has a massive funding hole between the Republicans
Speaker 12: in Congress and the Democrats in Congress for reelection, and
Speaker 12: that is not an easy thing to fix. So and
Speaker 12: I'd say two. Maybe the third thing is not only
Speaker 12: is he upset Marjorie Taylor Green, but I'm pretty sure
Speaker 12: the President Donald Trump is going to be pretty pissed
Speaker 12: off that this bill.
Speaker 10: Has passed away.
Speaker 12: It has he'll echo the Freedom Caucus, and I suspect
Speaker 12: sometime in the very near future we'll get an all
Speaker 12: capped social media post on true social attacking the speaker.
Speaker 12: So he's he's got a bunch of problems headed his way.
Speaker 9: Wow.
Speaker 6: Rick Davis with the Reality Check spokesman from Mike Johnson,
Speaker 6: ROJ Shaw says, the speaker quote always listens to the
Speaker 6: concerns of members, but is focused on governing. Quote Genie,
Speaker 6: if Marjorie Taylor Green really wanted to fire the speaker,
Speaker 6: why wouldn't she make that filing privilege and get on
Speaker 6: with it in the next two legislative days.
Speaker 13: Oh, Joe, are you asking me to look into the
Speaker 13: mind of Marjorie Taylor Green?
Speaker 6: I take us with you, you.
Speaker 13: Know it was I was so hopeful for just a
Speaker 13: moment that minibus was rolling on by, and then Marjorie
Speaker 13: Taylor Green got on and threw the driver off, or
Speaker 13: at least she's trying, you know. I think she would
Speaker 13: like nothing more than to hang this over the speaker's head.
Speaker 13: You know, Rick was just mentioning one of the big
Speaker 13: things on the agenda when they get back from a
Speaker 13: two week recess, because yes, they too need a vacation now,
Speaker 13: is going to be Ukraine funding. And that's something in
Speaker 13: those remarks that you were playing in her statement she referenced.
Speaker 13: So I'm sure she would like to hear, you know,
Speaker 13: she would like to speak about that, and she would
Speaker 13: like to hang it over his head. And I think
Speaker 13: even more than this bill, a vote to fund Ukraine
Speaker 13: is going to set the former president Donald Trump into
Speaker 13: a tizzy. So a lot there to hang over Mike
Speaker 13: Johnson's head. And but I think we need to remember
Speaker 13: we're in a very different time than we were in
Speaker 13: October when they had the motion to vacate for McCarthy.
Speaker 13: And I'm not convinced there was no will, certainly not
Speaker 13: with Democratic moderates to do this all over again.
Speaker 9: Wow, boy, there's so much there.
Speaker 3: Rick.
Speaker 6: Does a Ukraine vote trigger Marjorie Taylor Green to activate
Speaker 6: this thing and fire the speaker? Is that what she
Speaker 6: was setting up today?
Speaker 8: You know?
Speaker 12: I think what she was setting up today is there
Speaker 12: a typical sort of you know, performance pitch. You know,
Speaker 12: she needed something to go home to that she could
Speaker 12: lead the news in. She's extraordinarily good at it, got
Speaker 12: us talking about it all day today. So I think
Speaker 12: that's all this is. She didn't she didn't pull the
Speaker 12: trigger on this because frankly, she would have had a
Speaker 12: horrible reaction from the vast majority of the caucus. Right
Speaker 12: she said, well, I don't want to upset the caucus. Well,
Speaker 12: then why do it at all? The reality of it
Speaker 12: is that nobody in this caucus is talking about wanting
Speaker 12: to expel Johnson from that seat. They have less than
Speaker 12: seven months left potential to be the majority party in
Speaker 12: the House, and the last thing I want to do
Speaker 12: is spend one more day trying to figure out who
Speaker 12: the next Speaker's going to be. So she has a
Speaker 12: lot bigger problems trying to implement this than Ukraine policy.
Speaker 12: She'll have an entire caucus who will wonder has she
Speaker 12: lost her mind? Do we really want to be doing
Speaker 12: this right before an election? And all these guys who
Speaker 12: are trying to get out and spend more time in
Speaker 12: their district running for reelection are going to be incensed
Speaker 12: by this because the last thing they want to talk
Speaker 12: about is the third selection of a speaker in the
Speaker 12: course of one year.
Speaker 6: Yeah, Geni Tom Swazi, of course, Democrat, newly elected, re
Speaker 6: elected Democrat from New York who's got the old what
Speaker 6: was the George Santos seat with its own peculiar politics,
Speaker 6: just set on CNN that he would vote to protect
Speaker 6: Mike Johnson if a motion to vacate were triggered.
Speaker 9: Are we on the eve of some sort.
Speaker 6: Of power sharing agreement in which Democrats moved to save him?
Speaker 1: We could be.
Speaker 13: And that's what I was mentioning when I talked about
Speaker 13: moderate Democrats. I mean, forget about the Republicans right now.
Speaker 13: But in those what twenty two twenty three days of
Speaker 13: chaos that we all sat through with the Mike Johnson,
Speaker 13: with the sorry Kevin McCarthy motion to vacate last year,
Speaker 13: you know, one of the big questions was what would
Speaker 13: the Democrats do? Would they have some kind of agreement
Speaker 13: with Republicans to save Kevin McCarthy, and of course in
Speaker 13: the end they didn't do that. But we're in a
Speaker 13: very different moment right now. We are in an election year.
Speaker 13: You have Democrats like Tom Swase who you just mentioned
Speaker 13: from you know, he just won a special election in
Speaker 13: Long Island. He's up again in November. Is he really
Speaker 13: gonna want to talk to this purplish district about the
Speaker 13: chaos in the House as they go to try to
Speaker 13: find another speaker. No, and that's why he's saying right now,
Speaker 13: I would work across the aisle, which is what he's
Speaker 13: been talking about. I would work across the aisle to
Speaker 13: save the speaker because quite frankly, Republicans cannot govern themselves.
Speaker 13: And Joe, can we just mention the other bit of
Speaker 13: chaos here in the House? Ken buck leads today exactly,
Speaker 13: there you go majority, so it just they pile on.
Speaker 13: But to your point, I do think we see these
Speaker 13: Purplish Democrats are not gonna be sticking with any other
Speaker 13: Democrats in safe seats who want to do what they
Speaker 13: did last time with Kevin McCarthy. I think in this
Speaker 13: case they probably will try to work to save the speaker.
Speaker 6: Pretty incredible to see these numbers continue to dwindle, Rick,
Speaker 6: is this just a media thing? We talk about a
Speaker 6: power sharing agreement, Hakim Jeffreys coming to the rescue with
Speaker 6: Mike Johnson even want that, Could you be a credible
Speaker 6: Republican leader having been saved by Democrats?
Speaker 12: No, I mean you'd be a lame doc the minute
Speaker 12: that vote was taken. In other words, you might be
Speaker 12: able to serve out the rest of the term in
Speaker 12: this Congress, you know, to January post election. Even if
Speaker 12: there was a Republican majority in twenty twenty five, it's
Speaker 12: be highly unlikely at that stage that one Democrats would
Speaker 12: want to actually save Johnson again because he hasn't proven
Speaker 12: that he could do any bipartisan deals with them anyway, Right,
Speaker 12: that's just to avoid chaos. And two Republicans don't want him,
Speaker 12: so within the caucus, they're not even going to print,
Speaker 12: you know, push him forward as a candidate because they'll
Speaker 12: they'll believe that he's a bandon the Republican caucus, you know,
Speaker 12: to take a league with the Democrats. So, no matter
Speaker 12: what happens, this is highly likely to be the you know,
Speaker 12: beginning of the end of the Johnson era. And I'm
Speaker 12: not even sure how to characterize it after today's.
Speaker 3: Vote, but you know, we'll we'll have.
Speaker 12: Plenty of time between now in January to talk about that.
Speaker 6: Well, I guess we will. This is a fundraiser, right,
Speaker 6: Genie Rick mentioned the disparity in funding between Democrats and
Speaker 6: Republicans in the House, not unlike what we're seeing between
Speaker 6: Joe Biden and Donald Trump the DNC and RNC. Does
Speaker 6: Hockeen Jeffries take this to the bank?
Speaker 13: Yeah, you know, this is just startling because as poles show,
Speaker 13: and you mentioned the disparity between Biden and Trump, and
Speaker 13: of course the disparity we know now between Republicans and
Speaker 13: Democrats in the House. You know, polls showing one thing,
Speaker 13: which is that Donald Trump is you know, ahead in
Speaker 13: these swing state swing states that we've been looking at
Speaker 13: with the Bloomberg Pole. And yet when you look at
Speaker 13: the fundraising advantage Joe Biden has and now the Democrats
Speaker 13: in the House, you'd much rather be on the Democratic
Speaker 13: side of all of this. You know, we have seen
Speaker 13: with Donald Trump in the past, and we do see
Speaker 13: it with some of the firebrands that maybe they can
Speaker 13: get away with getting free advertising like the kind that
Speaker 13: Marjorie Tayler Green is getting today, but for the entire
Speaker 13: House that is much more of a challenge. And so
Speaker 13: these numbers matter, and this is a big boon for
Speaker 13: Hakim Jeffries, who has done a really remarkable job filling
Speaker 13: the shoes of Nancy Pelosi, obviously with assistance, and of
Speaker 13: course you know, also we have to admit has the
Speaker 13: easier job in the minority than being in the majority
Speaker 13: and trying to be Speaker of the House, especially with
Speaker 13: this Republican caucus.
Speaker 9: Well, the numbers don't lie.
Speaker 6: The NRCC, the Republican group raised eight point two million
Speaker 6: dollars in February forty five million dollars cash on hand.
Speaker 6: Its Democratic counterpart raised fourteen and a half million. The
Speaker 6: same time, it is over fifty nine million dollars in
Speaker 6: the bank. You're an expert on fundraising, Rick, Is this
Speaker 6: Hakim Jeffries outperforming or Republicans underperforming because they don't have
Speaker 6: Kevin McCarthy.
Speaker 10: Probably a little of both.
Speaker 12: I think Hawking Jeffries understands the value fundraising. He's had
Speaker 12: the support of Nancy Pelosi to help continue that. She
Speaker 12: was an unbelievable fundraiser, and now he is. And look
Speaker 12: at the difference. Kevin McCarthy, who was an outstanding fundraiser
Speaker 12: for Republicans, will not lift a finger for this crowd
Speaker 12: inside the House of Representatives. And so a completely untested
Speaker 12: fundraiser who you know would be at the lower quarter
Speaker 12: of the Caucus in funds raised in his history, you know,
Speaker 12: had to take this over in the middle of all
Speaker 12: these fights they're having in Congress over spending, and he's
Speaker 12: had to travel around to fifty cities and try and
Speaker 12: raise money. And you know, I'd say he's actually doing
Speaker 12: better than I would have given him credit for, but
Speaker 12: he's had everything working against him, bottom line. And Genie
Speaker 12: mentioned Tom Swasse. You know, he was able to put
Speaker 12: millions more to work in that special election in Long
Speaker 12: Island than his Republican counterpart, and that had to matter
Speaker 12: in the outcome of the election. So when you look
Speaker 12: at these Swings districts, and there are only probably twenty
Speaker 12: of them, you have to look and say, if they're
Speaker 12: going to put millions to work in each one of
Speaker 12: those districts that Republicans don't have, if Democrats outspend each
Speaker 12: of those races. You got to give them some advantage
Speaker 12: to that, regardless of what kind of election cycle you're in.
Speaker 6: Did Republicans just lose the House today, Genie?
Speaker 13: You know, I wouldn't say they lost it, but you know,
Speaker 13: with a two seat margin at this point today, it
Speaker 13: is going to be very tight. There are not because
Speaker 13: of jerry mandering, that many seats that are up for grabs.
Speaker 13: So that's why this fundraising advantage matters so much, as
Speaker 13: does the organizational aspect. And you know, this is one
Speaker 13: thing we don't talk enough about in American politics. Expertise
Speaker 13: and experience matters, and that's what Rick was just mentioning
Speaker 13: with Mike Johnson. You know, he is untested, but he
Speaker 13: also does not have the Kevin McCarthy or the Nancy
Speaker 13: Pelosi fundraising experience of background. That's why when people talk
Speaker 13: about term limits, I always shudder, because the expertise and
Speaker 13: experience in governing matters, and we're seeing it today as
Speaker 13: it impacts campaigns.
Speaker 6: Well, well, you picked quite a day to join us
Speaker 6: here on Balance of Power with the help of Jeanie
Speaker 6: Shanzano and Rick Davis our panel, I'm Joe Matthew in Washington.
Speaker 2: You're listening to the Bloomberg Balance of Power podcast can
Speaker 2: just live weekdays at noon Eastern on Apple car Play
Speaker 2: and enroun.
Speaker 3: Oo with the Bloomberg Business app.
Speaker 2: You can also listen live on Amazon Alexa from our
Speaker 2: flagship New York station, Just Say Alexa play Bloomberg eleven thirty.
Speaker 6: Joining us now Dave Ehrenberg on a Friday Diamond. Dave
Speaker 6: is with us Paul Beach, County State's Attorney.
Speaker 9: It's great to see you, sir. Welcome back to.
Speaker 2: Washington, Joe.
Speaker 3: It is great.
Speaker 6: I'm always looking at the zoom to see or you're
Speaker 6: sitting right next to me. Now, what's important to you?
Speaker 6: A couple of big things are going to happen Monday.
Speaker 6: I just mentioned one of them. The four Present is
Speaker 6: going to be in court in New York. The Alvin
Speaker 6: Bragg case that was gonna start Monday as being delayed
Speaker 6: because of recently disclosed evidence. We talked about that. Are
Speaker 6: we going to get a new trial date Monday?
Speaker 1: Yes, and I think it's going to be in April.
Speaker 1: Judge Murshan wants this to go. And Alvin Bragg came
Speaker 1: out why they fire brief It was a takedown of
Speaker 1: Donald Trump, showing that Trump's all about delays. This is
Speaker 1: stall tactic. And of the one hundred and seventy thousand
Speaker 1: new documents that Trump says, wow, We've got to take
Speaker 1: all this time to review, only about two hundred and
Speaker 1: seventy pertained to this case. And of the two seventy,
Speaker 1: most of them are what you call inculpatory, meaning incriminating.
Speaker 1: They helped the prosecution, not the defense. So Judge Mr Shan,
Speaker 1: I think, is not going to delay this any further.
Speaker 9: Okay.
Speaker 6: Braggett said about thirty days would be appropriate. That's about
Speaker 6: what we get then, Yeah, I mean, and John ninety days?
Speaker 6: Do they slice that down the middle or what do
Speaker 6: you do in a case like that?
Speaker 1: Trump actually wants half past never Yeah, well, yes, of course, no,
Speaker 1: oh no, he's I think that after the thirty days expires,
Speaker 1: which is in at least either April fifteenth or twenty fifth,
Speaker 1: and then it's going to go to trial. I am convinced
Speaker 1: about it.
Speaker 9: Okay.
Speaker 1: And you can read the tee lees by Judge Marchant's
Speaker 1: latest ruling, which was all in favor of the prosecution
Speaker 1: and Alvin Brager minded judgement Shant. Look, he's done this
Speaker 1: to you man. You know he didn't call him man.
Speaker 1: You don't call a judge man, but your honor. He
Speaker 1: tried to get you disqualified from the case because he
Speaker 1: said you're a biased And yet this is what he does.
Speaker 1: He tries to slow everything down, don't fall prey to it.
Speaker 1: And I think the judge Marchant's going to set it amazing. Okay,
Speaker 1: a six week trial is what was estimated. That means
Speaker 1: a criminal trial will take place before the election. Just
Speaker 1: a couple of weeks ago, there was a thought that
Speaker 1: this may never happen, right, because there was the thought
Speaker 1: that there was some bad faith that the prosecutors withheld
Speaker 1: documents and then they could be punished for it. But
Speaker 1: it turns out that it wasn't the state prosecutors, it
Speaker 1: was the FED. So number one, the state proscuers are saying,
Speaker 1: don't call a foul on me when someone else did.
Speaker 1: This is not even our team. And number two, it
Speaker 1: turns out that the Feds did not screw up. The
Speaker 1: FEDS didn't get these documents until the FBI gave the
Speaker 1: federal prosecutors of documents in December, and then Trump didn't
Speaker 1: even request additional documents until mid January. So this is
Speaker 1: not a violation, no harm, no foult. This thing is
Speaker 1: going to trial.
Speaker 9: All right.
Speaker 6: A separate case we have to delineate here could lead
Speaker 6: to the seizure of Donald Trump's properties. This is the
Speaker 6: civil case in New York. It appears he may not
Speaker 6: be able to post bond, which is a lot of
Speaker 6: money here, tens of millions of dollars, unless, of course,
Speaker 6: this spack deal magically falls in his lap on Monday,
Speaker 6: which is a really interesting wrinkle in this story. But
Speaker 6: how quickly could that happen. Authorities in New York are
Speaker 6: actually taking the preemptive steps to begin seizing properties in
Speaker 6: Westchester County.
Speaker 1: Yeah, four hundred and sixty four million is the bond here.
Speaker 1: That's a surety bond, and no one's loaning that to him.
Speaker 1: No one's given that to Trump could borrow against this
Speaker 1: back perhaps and get the money that way, or he
Speaker 1: could get a wealthy friend, maybe a foreign actor to donate.
Speaker 1: And that's what we have to watch for. But Monday's
Speaker 1: a big day. It's not just a New York case.
Speaker 1: It's the fact that that's a deadline for him to
Speaker 1: post a bond or else. Letitia James the Age of
Speaker 1: New York gets to start moving ahead to seize his
Speaker 1: property to put liens on his proper Now she's already
Speaker 1: started to do that, at least put Leans in Westchester County,
Speaker 1: New York. But it's a process. And so that is
Speaker 1: d day for Donald Trump. So marker calendars meet.
Speaker 6: The deadline for the bond and the New York trial
Speaker 6: in which he'll be present for that, both happen on
Speaker 6: the twenty fifth of March.
Speaker 9: How quickly could she start.
Speaker 6: Seizing properties or this is just talk to scare Donald
Speaker 6: Trump into finding some money.
Speaker 1: She's going to issue Leans right away, She's going to
Speaker 1: encumber it right away. And as far as how long
Speaker 1: it takes to actually take possession, yeah, I don't know,
Speaker 1: but I do think that it will cause great headaches
Speaker 1: for Trump. And I think part of the shoe is
Speaker 1: that Trump can't sell the properties right away because it'll
Speaker 1: be a fire sell this late day. Plus I think
Speaker 1: a lot of his stuff is encumbered, so this will
Speaker 1: be further encumbered. You know, he said he is the
Speaker 1: King of debt. Yeah, and so there's a lot of
Speaker 1: debt here now just because he cannot and if he
Speaker 1: cannot post a bond doesn't mean he can't appeal the judgment.
Speaker 1: He's going to continue to appeal. It just means, though
Speaker 1: that the state can go ahead and start collecting his
Speaker 1: assets if he doesn't he appeals though, if he doesn't
Speaker 1: post a bond, right, Yeah.
Speaker 9: That's incredible.
Speaker 6: Four hundred Are these properties worth four hundred and fifty
Speaker 6: million dollars combined when you add the debts?
Speaker 9: Or do we don't know that.
Speaker 10: Yet when you add the debts?
Speaker 1: No. I think that's why he can't get the shirty bond,
Speaker 1: because if it were or if it was liquid, I
Speaker 1: think they would be more willing.
Speaker 9: But as an app why doesn't you take Trump Tower?
Speaker 1: I think it's incumbas on the list, it's encumbered, everything's
Speaker 1: on there, So this is worthless for the state. Then no, no,
Speaker 1: not necessarily.
Speaker 10: Well, this is Bloomberg.
Speaker 1: So I'm not going to get into a fancy like
Speaker 1: you know, that's good to go first financial conversation. That's
Speaker 1: for the expert. But I can talk to you from
Speaker 1: a legal standpoy as a prosecutor that Leticia James already
Speaker 1: has her eyes on certain properties. I mean, look Westchester County,
Speaker 1: she's already moved ahead with the process of putting leans
Speaker 1: so he can't just sell them under her nose.
Speaker 6: April twenty fifth is another big date, when the Supreme
Speaker 6: Court hears arguments on the immunity claim presidential immunity based
Speaker 6: on your judgment at this point, having some time to
Speaker 6: think about this and knowing what other levers the Trump
Speaker 6: team could pull, is there a chance that that trial
Speaker 6: happens before the election if the Supreme Court rules against
Speaker 6: Donald Trump.
Speaker 1: Remember the movie Dumb and Dumber. So you're saying I
Speaker 1: got a chance, Yes, exactly, Yes, there is a chance.
Speaker 1: But the Supreme Court would have to dispose of the
Speaker 1: issue and be the end of June. And then the
Speaker 1: judge or Judge Chuckan, who's a great judge and she's
Speaker 1: all business, she would have to cut short the days
Speaker 1: that she gives Trump to prepare. She originally said eighty
Speaker 1: eight more days, but that wouldn't work. So now you
Speaker 1: have all these new delays. I think she says, you know,
Speaker 1: I said eighty eight, but that was before the Supreme
Speaker 1: Court gave you additional delays. So we're going to cut
Speaker 1: it back to forty days, and then it could go.
Speaker 1: And here's the other thing. The Department of Justice told
Speaker 1: the court in the mar Lago case that we don't
Speaker 1: have to abide by the sixty day rule. We can
Speaker 1: go to trial even sixty days before an election. That
Speaker 1: sixty day rule that says that the DOJ cannot prosecute
Speaker 1: someone applies to grand jury proceedings and investigations, not to
Speaker 1: cases that have already been indicted.
Speaker 9: Fascinating. I still want one of those pins.
Speaker 6: It's much cooler than the congressional pins that you see
Speaker 6: the members wear.
Speaker 9: Let's you know, you get the The badge is just
Speaker 9: much cooler.
Speaker 1: If this is on YouTube, a bit of a ruse, Joe,
Speaker 1: this is not my own pin. This is the DA
Speaker 1: of Plymouth, Massachusetts. Tim Kruz, a.
Speaker 6: Republican stopping ground, no kidding, Yeah yeah, Do you guys
Speaker 6: share these things? You must have worked on something again.
Speaker 1: He gives them out at our meetings, at the conferences,
Speaker 1: and because you know, I don't want to have to
Speaker 1: take one off off, so when I just I just
Speaker 1: keep this on.
Speaker 6: I can't wear that though, right, that's like her walker
Speaker 6: with a badge. I'm not a real DA.
Speaker 9: I can't do that.
Speaker 6: Great to see in the nation's capital. Dave Arenberg, Palm
Speaker 6: Beach County State's attorney, with the way forward for Donald Trump.
Speaker 6: Remember this conversation on Monday. We're going to be talking
Speaker 6: a lot about both of these cases and whether properties
Speaker 6: could be seized next. I'm Joe Matthew in Washington. It's
Speaker 6: Balance of Power only, I'm Bloomberg. Thanks for listening to
Speaker 6: the Balance of Power podcast. Make sure to subscribe if
Speaker 6: you haven't already, at Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get
Speaker 6: your podcasts, and you can find us live every weekday
Speaker 6: from Washington, DC at noontime Eastern at Bloomberg dot com.