WEBVTT - Dan Nathan, Jay Willis & Rachel Bade 0:00:00.680 --> 0:00:04.200 Hi, I'm Molly John Fast and this is Fast Politics, 0:00:04.400 --> 0:00:07.160 where we discussed the top political headlines with some of 0:00:07.200 --> 0:00:10.800 today's best minds, and Michigan has become the first date 0:00:10.840 --> 0:00:14.160 in sixty years to have right to work laws repealed. 0:00:14.440 --> 0:00:16.919 We have such a great show for you today. Politico's 0:00:17.000 --> 0:00:19.840 Rachel Baide gives us an update on the never ending 0:00:19.920 --> 0:00:22.920 chaos in Congress. Then we'll talk to on the tape 0:00:22.960 --> 0:00:27.280 host Dan Nathan about what's happening with our economy. But 0:00:27.400 --> 0:00:31.080 first we have the editor of Balls and Strikes, Jay Willis. 0:00:31.560 --> 0:00:33.960 Welcome to Fast Politics. 0:00:34.120 --> 0:00:36.720 Jay, thank you so much for having me to talk 0:00:36.760 --> 0:00:39.600 about Taylor Swift at the Super Bowl. I wasn't expecting 0:00:39.600 --> 0:00:41.720 an invitation to talk about this, but I can go 0:00:41.840 --> 0:00:44.040 for two hours, three hours? How long do you want 0:00:44.040 --> 0:00:44.400 to do this? 0:00:44.800 --> 0:00:46.000 So it was fixed? 0:00:46.120 --> 0:00:46.320 Right? 0:00:46.960 --> 0:00:48.120 Yes? Okay, clearly? 0:00:48.240 --> 0:00:50.400 Oh shit, wait, people are going to listen to this right. 0:00:51.360 --> 0:00:54.040 Explain to me what's happening in Fulton County right now? 0:00:54.240 --> 0:00:58.680 Well, boy, so, the prosecutor in Fulton County, Fanny Willis 0:00:58.720 --> 0:01:04.560 no relation, has been leading an investigation into Donald Trump's 0:01:04.560 --> 0:01:07.959 efforts to Sorry for the legal jargon here, but fuck 0:01:08.000 --> 0:01:11.360 with the vote count in the twenty twenty presidential election 0:01:11.760 --> 0:01:15.920 in Georgia, Donald Trump unquestionably did like some very bad 0:01:15.959 --> 0:01:18.679 things in there. He you know, was on the phone 0:01:18.840 --> 0:01:21.800 with the secretary of State, the Republican secretary of State 0:01:22.040 --> 0:01:25.639 in Georgia, urging him to and I'm quoting here find 0:01:25.680 --> 0:01:28.280 the votes or threatening him with some sort of like 0:01:28.480 --> 0:01:31.959 vaguely defined criminal prosecution. I have no idea what Trump 0:01:32.000 --> 0:01:34.480 was referring to. I kind of assumed he didn't know 0:01:34.520 --> 0:01:36.800 what he was referring to either. But this is the 0:01:36.840 --> 0:01:41.560 sort of thing that one does not do without incurring 0:01:41.680 --> 0:01:44.959 the wrath of a prosecutor. The problem is that this 0:01:45.000 --> 0:01:50.120 particular prosecutor apparently had an affair with someone in her office, 0:01:50.360 --> 0:01:54.160 which is just like deeply misguided on several levels. But 0:01:54.680 --> 0:01:59.480 what it's led to is Trump's defense team basically arguing 0:01:59.520 --> 0:02:02.320 that the whole case needs to get thrown out, that 0:02:02.360 --> 0:02:06.960 it is tainted by this scandal, and he might prevail 0:02:07.000 --> 0:02:10.400 on that. I really know yet, but generally speaking, when 0:02:10.400 --> 0:02:14.040 you're a prosecutor and things are on the rocks because 0:02:14.440 --> 0:02:17.520 of who you slept with, it's not going great. 0:02:17.760 --> 0:02:20.360 Yeah, what is the larger implication for this? 0:02:21.000 --> 0:02:25.440 I mean, so there are several parallel investigations into Donald 0:02:25.480 --> 0:02:31.560 Trump's various alleged forms of criminality. Right, this case is 0:02:31.639 --> 0:02:35.880 being brought by a local prosecutor. It is independent from, 0:02:35.960 --> 0:02:40.880 for example, the criminal investigation into Trump in DC, which 0:02:40.919 --> 0:02:44.080 is not to be confused with the civil investigation into 0:02:44.120 --> 0:02:46.760 Trump in New York and so on and so forth. 0:02:46.880 --> 0:02:50.520 But I think the real damage here is sort of 0:02:50.720 --> 0:02:53.840 in the way that Trump is going to start spinning 0:02:53.880 --> 0:02:57.000 this sort of thing if he can create a narrative 0:02:57.160 --> 0:03:02.079 among his followers and among people who might be susceptible 0:03:02.120 --> 0:03:04.480 to being his followers, that it is in his best 0:03:04.480 --> 0:03:07.840 interest to sort of lump these different criminal investigations together. 0:03:08.320 --> 0:03:12.239 And if he can use Fanny Willis's misconduct in one 0:03:12.280 --> 0:03:16.040 particular investigation to sort of smear all of the criminal 0:03:16.080 --> 0:03:21.040 investigations against him as tainted, as biased, as Democratic hit jobs, 0:03:21.400 --> 0:03:23.520 that's good for him, which is exactly why he's trying 0:03:23.520 --> 0:03:24.519 to muddy the waters here. 0:03:24.840 --> 0:03:27.799 Yeah. The other thing that it does, right is that 0:03:28.040 --> 0:03:31.880 it aids one of Trump's biggest legal tactics, right, which 0:03:31.919 --> 0:03:32.840 is delay. 0:03:33.320 --> 0:03:39.680 That's right for both legal and practical reasons, Like, legally speaking, 0:03:40.120 --> 0:03:43.760 if he is the nominee and wins election and becomes 0:03:43.760 --> 0:03:46.520 the president again, he suddenly has a whole lot of 0:03:46.520 --> 0:03:50.400 control over the federal investigations into him. I mean, setting 0:03:50.480 --> 0:03:53.520 aside the obvious issue of whether or not the president 0:03:53.600 --> 0:03:56.640 should be directing Department of Justice investigations. Of course, not 0:03:57.000 --> 0:03:58.960 like it's not like Donald Trump gives a shit about that. 0:03:59.040 --> 0:04:02.920 He would presume just take action and kill that on 0:04:03.040 --> 0:04:06.720 day one. But then also, just like practically politically speaking, 0:04:06.960 --> 0:04:10.480 if he is president, I think it becomes a whole 0:04:10.480 --> 0:04:14.240 lot more fraught, for example, for a local prosecutor like 0:04:14.320 --> 0:04:18.360 Fanny Willis to prosecute him. So he is doing everything 0:04:18.400 --> 0:04:22.760 he can in this investigation, in other investigations to just 0:04:23.320 --> 0:04:25.480 run out the clock. I don't know if he's going 0:04:25.520 --> 0:04:27.200 to be able to run out the clock on every 0:04:27.200 --> 0:04:29.400 one of them. But again, the more he is able 0:04:29.440 --> 0:04:34.400 to narrow down the scope of legal problems he faces, 0:04:34.600 --> 0:04:37.240 the better his odds are of wriggling out of it. 0:04:37.240 --> 0:04:39.160 One more time. I want to just unpack this for 0:04:39.200 --> 0:04:42.040 another minute. So basically Trump is doing two things here. 0:04:42.440 --> 0:04:47.600 He wants to discredit this investigation by sort of spreading 0:04:47.640 --> 0:04:53.200 salacious gossip about Fanny Willis right that she was cheating 0:04:53.240 --> 0:04:56.479 on her spouse or she actually wasn't married but her 0:04:56.600 --> 0:04:59.400 boyfriend was cheating on his spouse. By the way, the 0:04:59.440 --> 0:05:04.280 irony here, the thrice married adulter who has his problem 0:05:04.320 --> 0:05:06.680 where he paid off a porn star and that's one 0:05:06.720 --> 0:05:10.200 of his many legal challenges, is sort of rich. But 0:05:10.400 --> 0:05:13.800 basically what he's trying to do here is try this 0:05:13.960 --> 0:05:18.080 case with his people, his fans, right, that's right. 0:05:18.120 --> 0:05:21.280 A lot of this is effectively going on in the 0:05:21.279 --> 0:05:24.159 court of public opinion. I mean, what's happening with Fanny 0:05:24.160 --> 0:05:27.440 Willis is a part of like functionally more of a 0:05:27.480 --> 0:05:31.400 pr campaign than anything else. Right, If he can portray 0:05:31.520 --> 0:05:37.000 the prosecutor who is investigating him as tainted, as biased, 0:05:37.080 --> 0:05:41.040 as just as mired in scandal, is he is, that's 0:05:41.080 --> 0:05:44.159 a victory. Like he doesn't necessarily have to rise above it, right, 0:05:44.520 --> 0:05:48.040 dragging everyone else down to his level creates the same result. 0:05:48.200 --> 0:05:51.440 I will say, Like, if you're a prosecutor, like, come on, 0:05:51.560 --> 0:05:54.080 it's so easy not to sleep with one of your colleagues. 0:05:54.160 --> 0:05:56.840 You got to not do that. One of the clearest 0:05:56.880 --> 0:05:59.520 through lines of the legal system in this country is 0:06:00.080 --> 0:06:02.719 prosecutors fucking up and doing something dumb. At the worst 0:06:02.720 --> 0:06:05.400 possible time. But like at the same time, it's not 0:06:05.480 --> 0:06:09.920 like that changes what Trump did. So again it's the 0:06:10.240 --> 0:06:15.040 creation of an additional salacious story to the salacious story 0:06:15.160 --> 0:06:18.240 that landed Trump in court in the first place. And 0:06:18.279 --> 0:06:20.120 the last thing I'll say about this is if a 0:06:20.279 --> 0:06:24.480 judge disqualifies Fanny Willis Fanny Willis's office, the case could 0:06:24.480 --> 0:06:27.479 go forward still. But again, as you say, it's all 0:06:27.680 --> 0:06:31.640 about delay. Reading about reporting this morning, there's only a 0:06:31.760 --> 0:06:35.800 few other das in Georgia who have the bandwidth to 0:06:35.880 --> 0:06:38.840 take on a case like this. So if Fanny Willis 0:06:38.880 --> 0:06:42.279 gets booted, suddenly we're looking for somebody else, like who 0:06:42.360 --> 0:06:44.640 has the manpower, who has the bandwidth to do this? 0:06:44.920 --> 0:06:47.800 Maybe there is someone, But how long does that process take? 0:06:47.960 --> 0:06:50.599 The longer it takes, the closer we get to election day, 0:06:50.920 --> 0:06:53.760 and the closer this gets to practically speaking. 0:06:53.600 --> 0:06:56.479 Not mattering, right, and that's the golf for Trump. But 0:06:56.640 --> 0:06:59.920 also it would take a long time for a Fanny 0:07:00.120 --> 0:07:03.200 Willis replacement to get read in on this case, right, 0:07:03.279 --> 0:07:05.680 Can you talk about that? Because the preparation it's month 0:07:05.760 --> 0:07:06.200 to month. 0:07:06.080 --> 0:07:09.039 And month sure, I mean, nothing in the legal system 0:07:09.200 --> 0:07:13.480 ever moves in like sort of the expeditious timeline that 0:07:13.520 --> 0:07:16.720 we're used to that perhaps we would like to see 0:07:17.080 --> 0:07:21.040 for purposes of the news cycle, for purposes of on election. 0:07:21.680 --> 0:07:26.320 That is very much fixed on the calendar. And a prosecutor, 0:07:26.960 --> 0:07:29.320 even someone who wanted to take this case, even if 0:07:29.360 --> 0:07:31.720 they could take it on, like, they can't go into 0:07:31.760 --> 0:07:35.160 court tomorrow and start freely discussing the subject matter. They 0:07:35.160 --> 0:07:37.640 have to get read up on it, just like Willis 0:07:37.680 --> 0:07:41.320 has been over the development of the case. So yeah, 0:07:41.360 --> 0:07:44.600 it's not just a matter of designating another lawyer. It's 0:07:44.680 --> 0:07:48.240 designating another lawyer, another da I mean, who can then 0:07:48.400 --> 0:07:52.239 begin the arduous process of reading in on the file 0:07:52.360 --> 0:07:54.240 enough to actually be able to do something with it. 0:07:54.640 --> 0:08:00.400 But also today Trump had another legal snaffo. Can you 0:08:00.520 --> 0:08:01.480 talk about this? 0:08:02.080 --> 0:08:04.800 So yeah, the case in New York is going considerably 0:08:04.840 --> 0:08:08.680 different than the one in Georgia, very different. Tenor no 0:08:08.960 --> 0:08:13.440 prosecutors sleeping with other prosecutors to the best of our knowledge. 0:08:13.480 --> 0:08:16.000 And in that one we actually have a trial on 0:08:16.040 --> 0:08:19.200 the calendar. Now the judge says the hush money trial 0:08:19.320 --> 0:08:22.960 is going to go forward on March twenty fifth. That 0:08:23.160 --> 0:08:26.920 is a case in New York State Court. So it's 0:08:27.000 --> 0:08:30.080 not something that if he were to become president he 0:08:30.120 --> 0:08:33.040 could do anything about. Yeah, the specter of this man 0:08:33.520 --> 0:08:37.560 being in court again, in a courtroom passing notes to 0:08:37.640 --> 0:08:40.880 his attorney on the rare occasions he constrained together more 0:08:40.920 --> 0:08:43.400 than three or four words written down, that'll be fun. 0:08:43.559 --> 0:08:47.880 I do think that Trump is not happy being a defendant. 0:08:48.160 --> 0:08:50.720 I go back and forth on that question, sort of 0:08:50.720 --> 0:08:54.559 the perils of trying to psychoanalyze a man whose brain 0:08:54.760 --> 0:08:57.880 consists mostly of cottage cheese. I do sort of think 0:08:57.920 --> 0:09:01.160 sometimes that, like me, he doesn't think that any of 0:09:01.200 --> 0:09:04.840 this will ever result in meaningful legal consequences for him. 0:09:05.200 --> 0:09:07.800 He has derived that lesson from living his entire life, 0:09:07.840 --> 0:09:10.920 in which there have never been any meaningful legal consequences 0:09:11.040 --> 0:09:13.640 for anything. If you sort of take him as someone 0:09:13.679 --> 0:09:17.040 who is running for president largely because he has nothing 0:09:17.040 --> 0:09:20.199 else to do, and also it seems like probably the 0:09:20.240 --> 0:09:23.880 best weapon he can wield in his legal fights. I 0:09:23.920 --> 0:09:25.920 sort of think he does like being able to frame 0:09:26.040 --> 0:09:31.000 himself as a victim persecuted on multiple fronts in multiple states, 0:09:31.160 --> 0:09:35.000 in different courtrooms, which is why, again, this Fanny Willis 0:09:35.000 --> 0:09:37.640 thing is such a godsend for him, because what is 0:09:37.679 --> 0:09:40.880 the George of prosecution about again who knows, right, we're 0:09:40.880 --> 0:09:43.640 talking about the personal lives of the prosecutors now, not 0:09:43.760 --> 0:09:45.839 the stuff that landed Trump there in the first place. 0:09:46.040 --> 0:09:49.080 It's of course, like benefits him. That's exactly what he wants. 0:09:49.080 --> 0:09:55.120 Right, exactly, But it is silatious and it's legal, and 0:09:55.240 --> 0:09:59.320 it's coming. So just give us an update on where 0:09:59.480 --> 0:10:04.280 these are. Other cases are the immunity case, will you 0:10:04.320 --> 0:10:07.640 explain to us what an ongoing bonk is and what 0:10:07.679 --> 0:10:09.280 that means and if that's happening. 0:10:09.640 --> 0:10:13.240 Yes, so, in the Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, 0:10:13.400 --> 0:10:17.920 Trump has asserted that as president he has absolute immunity 0:10:18.360 --> 0:10:23.679 against criminal prosecution for any acts that he committed as president. 0:10:23.800 --> 0:10:26.280 If you want to like go a level or two deeper, 0:10:26.600 --> 0:10:30.640 His argument is that as president, to basically, impeachment is 0:10:30.720 --> 0:10:35.120 the only method of holding him legally accountable. Therefore, unless 0:10:35.160 --> 0:10:38.800 he was impeached and convicted by the Senate, he has 0:10:39.160 --> 0:10:42.560 immunity from criminal prosecution for it. Today, there are sort 0:10:42.559 --> 0:10:47.880 of a number of problems with this, namely that it 0:10:48.160 --> 0:10:51.960 resolves the issue of the president's criminal acts entirely to 0:10:52.200 --> 0:10:55.120 like the ability to marshal a two thirds majority in 0:10:55.160 --> 0:10:57.160 the Senate, which, like, I don't know if we could 0:10:57.160 --> 0:10:59.560 get two thirds of the Senate to agree on anything, 0:11:00.120 --> 0:11:04.959 much less convicting a president on impeachment charges. Fortunately, the 0:11:05.440 --> 0:11:10.040 DC Circuit rejected Trump's claim of absolute presidential immunity, and 0:11:10.240 --> 0:11:14.120 he is now asking the Supreme Court to sort of. 0:11:14.040 --> 0:11:17.079 Block that ruling to do him as solid. 0:11:17.040 --> 0:11:20.439 Yes while he seeks what's called en banc review, basically 0:11:20.640 --> 0:11:24.480 asking the entire DC Circuit to hear the case rather 0:11:24.600 --> 0:11:28.600 than the smaller three judge panel that issued that decision 0:11:28.760 --> 0:11:31.240 on bank review is sort of the last step before 0:11:31.559 --> 0:11:33.720 appealing the merits to the Supreme Court. 0:11:33.960 --> 0:11:37.640 Would you think the Supreme Court will go along with God, 0:11:37.760 --> 0:11:39.800 King Emperor Trump or now? 0:11:40.160 --> 0:11:43.040 I do not think that they will want to set 0:11:43.040 --> 0:11:46.720 a precedent of presidents can never be prosecuted criminally for 0:11:46.760 --> 0:11:48.080 anything they do in office. 0:11:48.160 --> 0:11:48.959 I think the only. 0:11:48.880 --> 0:11:52.920 Question is exactly how they how they try and dispose 0:11:52.960 --> 0:11:56.600 of it to make as few waves as possible. I 0:11:56.600 --> 0:11:59.000 don't think there's any way they can do it without 0:11:59.080 --> 0:12:02.080 making waves. It's just how big are those going to be? 0:12:02.240 --> 0:12:04.439 And what could they be the easiest thing they could 0:12:04.480 --> 0:12:06.800 do is just decline to hear the case, right to 0:12:06.960 --> 0:12:11.600 just let the DC Circuit's opinion speak for itself and 0:12:11.640 --> 0:12:15.680 to allow the which would functionally allow the prosecution to 0:12:15.800 --> 0:12:16.439 move forward. 0:12:16.800 --> 0:12:21.040 But Alito and Thomas seem like such partisan hacks, and 0:12:21.320 --> 0:12:25.840 also Gorsage and also Kavanaugh. Do you really think they 0:12:25.880 --> 0:12:28.199 would do something like not help out their guy. 0:12:28.640 --> 0:12:31.319 I've been wrong a bunch before, I'll probably be wrong again, 0:12:31.520 --> 0:12:34.160 But I do think that's probably a bridge too far. 0:12:34.320 --> 0:12:37.400 Like these justices had the opportunity to get involved in 0:12:37.440 --> 0:12:40.440 the twenty twenty election if they so wanted, and that 0:12:40.679 --> 0:12:43.960 was not a fight they're willing to do. The reason 0:12:44.080 --> 0:12:46.920 control of the Supreme Court is so important for the 0:12:47.000 --> 0:12:50.880 Republican Party and the conservative legal movement is the legal 0:12:50.920 --> 0:12:55.600 system has sort of this unearned veneer of legitimacy. 0:12:55.160 --> 0:12:57.319 So they would compromise that. 0:12:57.320 --> 0:13:00.160 That's right. They have a lot more to gain by 0:13:00.280 --> 0:13:04.120 not giving Donald Trump everything he wants here in future cases, 0:13:04.240 --> 0:13:07.439 in future issues that are much bigger than any one 0:13:07.760 --> 0:13:12.640 person's political career, any one person's presidential aspirations. This is 0:13:12.679 --> 0:13:16.160 one where they can save a bunch of political capital, 0:13:16.320 --> 0:13:19.720 burnish the court's reputation, and fight another day, fight a 0:13:19.720 --> 0:13:20.439 lot more days. 0:13:20.720 --> 0:13:26.959 Jesus so interesting. Also, we're all going to die. Thank 0:13:27.000 --> 0:13:28.920 you for joining us, Thank you. 0:13:28.880 --> 0:13:31.160 For having me. Let's save the Taylor Swift conversation for 0:13:31.240 --> 0:13:32.480 next time. I look forward to it. 0:13:36.320 --> 0:13:39.080 Did you know Rick Wilson and I are bringing together 0:13:39.320 --> 0:13:43.120 some friends for a general election kickoff party at City 0:13:43.200 --> 0:13:46.640 Winery in New York on March sixth. We're going to 0:13:46.679 --> 0:13:51.719 be chatting right after Super Tuesday about what's going on, 0:13:51.960 --> 0:13:55.160 and it is going to probably be the one fun 0:13:55.280 --> 0:14:01.760 night for the next eighty days. If you're in the 0:14:01.800 --> 0:14:03.960 New York area, please come by and join us. You 0:14:04.000 --> 0:14:07.120 can go to City Winery's website and grab a ticket. 0:14:07.679 --> 0:14:12.040 Rachel Bade is a senior Washington correspondent of Politico and 0:14:12.240 --> 0:14:18.440 author of Unchecked Welcome Back, Too Fast Politics. Rachel Bade, 0:14:18.920 --> 0:14:19.800 thank you, Mollie. 0:14:19.920 --> 0:14:20.680 I've missed you. 0:14:20.760 --> 0:14:21.520 Glad to be back. 0:14:21.840 --> 0:14:23.680 I missed you, and I'm excited to have you back 0:14:23.720 --> 0:14:26.560 because I think of you as someone I mean, first 0:14:26.560 --> 0:14:30.760 of all, Congress Historically it can be a slightly sleepy beat. 0:14:31.680 --> 0:14:36.480 Sometimes what is happening right now doesn't it feel unprecedented? Yeah? 0:14:36.520 --> 0:14:39.840 Absolutely, the chaos is. It's definitely ranting supreme. I can 0:14:39.920 --> 0:14:42.920 tell you that going into this year. My being thought 0:14:42.960 --> 0:14:45.720 was like, Okay, the Hill's going to be quiet, the 0:14:45.760 --> 0:14:47.520 campaign triot is going to be interesting. 0:14:47.720 --> 0:14:49.560 I'm going to ignore Congress for a while. 0:14:50.160 --> 0:14:53.440 No, I keep getting dragged back to my old stomping grounds, 0:14:53.480 --> 0:14:57.040 the House of Representatives, because I mean, the Republicans right 0:14:57.080 --> 0:14:59.640 now are just you know, eating each other alive. And 0:15:00.120 --> 0:15:02.640 the thing that's most shocking to me in recent weeks 0:15:02.760 --> 0:15:06.360 is the level of hypocrisy that we are seeing from 0:15:06.480 --> 0:15:09.040 the GOP right now. I mean, in a cosey, it's Washington, 0:15:09.120 --> 0:15:11.680 They're all I mean, this is we become cynical as reporters. 0:15:11.760 --> 0:15:14.040 I mean, I think it's important just just couches. You 0:15:14.080 --> 0:15:17.640 are not a partisan, absolutely not it. You come from Congress, 0:15:17.680 --> 0:15:20.960 you work at politicos, so you're really here to just 0:15:21.520 --> 0:15:24.560 say what you're seeing. But what you're seeing ishpocrasy. 0:15:24.800 --> 0:15:27.320 Yes, I mean, I've covered the Hill for over a decade, 0:15:27.400 --> 0:15:30.400 especially Republicans have a lot of great relationships with them, 0:15:30.760 --> 0:15:33.600 and they will tell you some even on. 0:15:33.520 --> 0:15:36.360 The record, that the level of hipocrasy or here. 0:15:36.240 --> 0:15:39.760 Is just uncanny. I mean, I'm thinking first of all 0:15:39.800 --> 0:15:43.000 about what happened with the border deal recently, so. 0:15:42.960 --> 0:15:45.200 Talk us through that just for the people who are 0:15:45.240 --> 0:15:46.600 not completely right in. 0:15:46.920 --> 0:15:49.600 The White House obviously wants to send more money to Ukraine. 0:15:49.600 --> 0:15:52.680 They've been asking about this for months now, and Speaker 0:15:52.720 --> 0:15:56.000 Mike Johnson initially put up a requirement that, Okay, if 0:15:56.000 --> 0:15:58.120 we're going to fund Ukraine, first we have to deal 0:15:58.160 --> 0:16:00.640 with our defense here at home. We need to crack 0:16:00.680 --> 0:16:03.000 down on the border. So this was a Speaker johnson 0:16:03.560 --> 0:16:08.040 initial push right after he became Speaker, and he basically said, look, 0:16:08.040 --> 0:16:11.240 I want to buy partisan border deal. It takes four months. 0:16:11.400 --> 0:16:13.960 Lawmakers go into this rabbit hole in the Senate and 0:16:14.040 --> 0:16:16.600 they come out and they have a bill that gives 0:16:16.680 --> 0:16:19.760 Republicans a whole bunch of conservative policy wins. 0:16:20.200 --> 0:16:22.880 Democrats get very little in terms of immigration. 0:16:23.280 --> 0:16:26.160 It's not so far from HB two, right. 0:16:26.320 --> 0:16:28.800 So HR two, which is the House version, just the 0:16:28.840 --> 0:16:31.680 House version of like a border crack down. It definitely 0:16:31.720 --> 0:16:36.120 goes further. But these are not policy changes that Democrats 0:16:36.200 --> 0:16:38.880 would want for free. It's like pulling their teeth here, 0:16:38.960 --> 0:16:41.280 and it's all because they want Ukraine money, right, like 0:16:41.480 --> 0:16:45.760 increasing Sanders or asylum, giving new authority to expel migrants, 0:16:46.160 --> 0:16:48.800 basically ending what Republicans call catch and release, you know, 0:16:48.840 --> 0:16:51.200 making it easier to detain people and not release them 0:16:51.240 --> 0:16:53.560 but actually keep them in house while they're waiting for 0:16:53.600 --> 0:16:56.560 their asylum cases. Anyway, a lot of conservative policy wins, 0:16:56.640 --> 0:16:59.880 and Johnson blows it up, says no because Donald Trump 0:17:00.080 --> 0:17:02.760 pressures him not to give Joe Biden a win on 0:17:02.840 --> 0:17:05.920 the border, which is clearly one of his biggest political 0:17:06.119 --> 0:17:08.000 problems right now. A lot of people do not like 0:17:08.080 --> 0:17:11.800 how Biden's handling the border issue, and Johnson follows suit. 0:17:12.000 --> 0:17:15.040 And then after the Senate just a few days ago, 0:17:15.480 --> 0:17:19.960 passes this Ukraine assistance package without the border. Since Johnson 0:17:20.040 --> 0:17:22.000 said no to what he originally. 0:17:21.520 --> 0:17:23.520 Requested, they send it to the House and. 0:17:23.520 --> 0:17:26.160 Guess what the speaker says now, he says it doesn't 0:17:26.200 --> 0:17:28.320 address the border, so we can't accept it. 0:17:28.320 --> 0:17:29.960 It's just like, oh my. 0:17:29.800 --> 0:17:33.560 Gosh, right, it's not a great look to say the 0:17:33.640 --> 0:17:36.520 thing you gave me I don't want. And also I 0:17:36.600 --> 0:17:39.280 won't help you unless you give me the thing which 0:17:39.320 --> 0:17:40.320 I just rejected. 0:17:40.560 --> 0:17:43.359 Yeah, and like, look, I know we always talk about 0:17:43.400 --> 0:17:46.440 how during a presidential election year, like I wish we 0:17:46.440 --> 0:17:48.320 were talking about at the beginning, Usually it goes dark. 0:17:48.359 --> 0:17:50.840 Not a lot gets done. All the votes are usually 0:17:50.880 --> 0:17:54.760 like very sort of posturing votes. Messaging, yeah, messaging, but like, 0:17:54.960 --> 0:17:57.040 you know, there's a real need on the border right now. 0:17:57.040 --> 0:17:58.520 It's a top concern for voters. 0:17:58.640 --> 0:18:00.720 And you know, you had people like me McConnell in 0:18:00.760 --> 0:18:03.760 the Senate who were really championing and cheerleading this for 0:18:03.800 --> 0:18:05.960 a long time until they saw the writing on the 0:18:05.960 --> 0:18:09.200 wall and then they backtracked. It was just a stunning, 0:18:09.520 --> 0:18:13.080 sort of embarrassing thing on Capitol Hill recently. I will 0:18:13.160 --> 0:18:15.840 also say that, you know, Speaker Mike Johnson, a lot 0:18:15.880 --> 0:18:19.000 of House Republicans were excited about his ascension. Now, a 0:18:19.040 --> 0:18:21.000 lot of them, and I just wrote about this in 0:18:21.040 --> 0:18:23.280 Playbook a few days ago, a lot of them are 0:18:23.320 --> 0:18:26.920 pining for Kevin McCarthy again. And that is saying something 0:18:27.160 --> 0:18:31.000 people like Thomas Messy, who is a conservative libertarian esque 0:18:31.040 --> 0:18:34.479 member from Kentucky. He has long been a top critic 0:18:34.560 --> 0:18:37.040 of Kevin McCarthy, never been a good fan of him. 0:18:37.440 --> 0:18:41.960 He said that after Republicans tried and failed to impeach 0:18:42.000 --> 0:18:44.400 may Orcists just a few days ago, and it's sort 0:18:44.400 --> 0:18:47.600 of an embarrassing display. He was like, you know, getting 0:18:47.640 --> 0:18:50.479 rid of McCarthy was a huge mistake, and people are 0:18:50.520 --> 0:18:53.320 starting to say that Republicans are saying that a lot 0:18:53.359 --> 0:18:54.400 behind the scenes right now. 0:18:54.640 --> 0:18:57.720 Not a great look for mad Gates, who was the 0:18:57.800 --> 0:18:59.840 driving force behind getting rid of McCarthy. 0:19:00.560 --> 0:19:02.600 Yeah, you know, that's actually a really interesting point. 0:19:02.880 --> 0:19:04.960 I should probably find him on the hill and catch 0:19:05.040 --> 0:19:08.680 up little Buyer's remorse. I'm sure he will never admit it, right, 0:19:08.760 --> 0:19:11.640 I mean, I think this is like Gates's crowning achievement 0:19:11.800 --> 0:19:15.800 that he got rid of somebody he completely despised. But look, 0:19:16.040 --> 0:19:19.640 it's showing that maybe the issue wasn't McCarthy so much 0:19:19.680 --> 0:19:21.560 as the fact that they have a slim majority in 0:19:21.640 --> 0:19:25.960 Republicans larger so divided right now between like the Magawine 0:19:26.000 --> 0:19:29.000 of the party and the more traditional Republicans. Obviously the 0:19:29.040 --> 0:19:32.159 Magawine is winging out hardcore right now, and that's a 0:19:32.280 --> 0:19:35.280 problem when you know, the functions of Congress is to 0:19:35.400 --> 0:19:38.720 govern and pass legislation and compromises needed, and that is 0:19:38.800 --> 0:19:40.240 very out of fashion right now. 0:19:40.359 --> 0:19:43.240 It's one of the things that I think makes your 0:19:43.240 --> 0:19:46.800 point really well is that they lost a sixth procedural 0:19:46.880 --> 0:19:49.440 vote on salt. I know Jesse loves to talk about 0:19:50.520 --> 0:19:53.400 but it's a sort of like the state and local adoption. 0:19:53.760 --> 0:19:56.800 Republicans from New York, and I think, quite smartly, believe 0:19:56.920 --> 0:19:59.760 that if there's any chance of them keeping their seats, 0:19:59.760 --> 0:20:02.640 they need to try to pass this solid deduction. Can 0:20:02.680 --> 0:20:04.240 you talk us through what's happening there? 0:20:04.320 --> 0:20:06.680 Yeah, absolutely, So these are a lot of Republicans in 0:20:06.720 --> 0:20:09.080 New York and Biden districts. They're worried about their. 0:20:09.000 --> 0:20:11.880 Seats in California too, right. 0:20:12.040 --> 0:20:14.760 Yeah, California too, absolutely, and a lot of their constituents 0:20:14.840 --> 0:20:17.520 high cost areas. Right, they want to be able to 0:20:17.880 --> 0:20:20.159 take the state and local tax deduction. They want the 0:20:20.520 --> 0:20:22.720 sort of cap on that to be higher. So basically 0:20:22.920 --> 0:20:25.320 a bigger tax break for the fact that they're paying 0:20:25.840 --> 0:20:28.119 all these other state and local taxes at a much bigger 0:20:28.200 --> 0:20:30.960 rate than the rest of the country is. The centrist 0:20:31.000 --> 0:20:33.960 Republicans were pushing Johnson to allow vote on this. He 0:20:33.960 --> 0:20:36.200 said he would allow it, but it didn't even come 0:20:36.200 --> 0:20:38.080 to a full vote because before you have the vote 0:20:38.080 --> 0:20:40.240 on the legislation, you have what's called a rule in 0:20:40.280 --> 0:20:43.480 the House of Representatives. It's basically just governing the debate 0:20:43.680 --> 0:20:47.080 for them considering this bill, and usually it's up to 0:20:47.119 --> 0:20:50.280 the majority. To carry a rule two passage, they need 0:20:50.280 --> 0:20:52.720 to get a majority of the House. Usually it's the 0:20:53.040 --> 0:20:54.879 majority of Republicans are the ones who are supposed to 0:20:54.880 --> 0:20:58.560 carry this. Instead, eighteen Republicans voted against it. All Democrats 0:20:58.640 --> 0:21:01.840 voted against it. The rule went down and it. 0:21:01.760 --> 0:21:04.159 Never got considered. And the thing to know about this 0:21:04.240 --> 0:21:07.639 is it's it's the sixth time this has. 0:21:07.560 --> 0:21:12.160 Happened since Johnson began Speaker, and that is more than 0:21:12.440 --> 0:21:14.960 I believe something in like half a century, Congress has 0:21:15.000 --> 0:21:17.480 not seen a rule go down or fail on the 0:21:17.480 --> 0:21:19.960 floor this often, and more than half a century. And 0:21:20.000 --> 0:21:23.000 I will also note former Speaker Nancy Pelousi never lost 0:21:23.040 --> 0:21:25.959 a single vote on the House floor. Johnson has lost 0:21:26.280 --> 0:21:29.399 more than a half a dozen, including an effort to 0:21:29.400 --> 0:21:33.600 try to impeach the DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorchis and try 0:21:33.600 --> 0:21:37.600 to fund Ukraine to Israel, which is a largely bipartisan 0:21:37.960 --> 0:21:40.160 issue on Capitol Hill, but the way he did it 0:21:40.280 --> 0:21:42.200