CSPAN - Washington Journal 02/06/2025

All Episodes

Previous Next

Feb. 6, 2025 06:59-09:59 - CSPAN

02:59:55

Washington Journal 02/06/2025

Participants

Main

al green

rep/d 08:05

calley means

17:16

donald j trump

admin 26:04

greta brawner

cspan 39:55

Appearances

alex padilla

sen/d 00:33

angela alsobrooks

sen/d 00:54

brian lamb

cspan 00:40

karoline leavitt

admin 00:54

mike johnson

rep/r 01:44

Clips

chad pergram

fox 00:17

donald trump-jr

00:09

larry becraft

00:29

peter doocy

fox 00:05

Callers

gene in georgia

callers 00:05

Large

Audio Only |

Scroll

Show episode speakers

Speaker	Time	Text
unidentified		Live today on C-SPAN.
		At 10 a.m. Eastern, the House continues work on a bill to permanently classify fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I drugs, the most restricted level.
		On C-SPAN 2, the Senate continues work on President Trump's nominations after Democrats kept the Senate in session all night to protest the nomination of Russell Vogt to be White House budget director.
		A final vote on his nomination is expected later in the day.
		On C-SPAN 3 at 8 a.m. Eastern, President Trump joins lawmakers on Capitol Hill for the annual national prayer breakfast.
		And then at 10, the Senate Finance Committee considers the nomination of Jameson Greer to be United States Trade Representative.
		This comes after the president imposed tariffs on China and paused proposed tariffs on Mexico and Canada.
		These events also stream live on the free C-SPAN Now app and online at c-span.org.
		Coming up on Washington Journal, we'll take your calls and comments live.
		Then Texas Democratic Congressman Al Green on his new impeachment effort against President Trump over the proposal to take over Gaza.
		And later, Callie Means, co-founder of the TrueMed Online Health and Wellness Service, and advisor to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will talk about Mr. Kennedy's nomination to lead the Health and Human Services Department.
		Also, Wall Street Journal Education reporter Matt Barnum discusses the Trump administration's plans to dismantle the Department of Education.
		Washington Journal is next.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, everyone, from the nation's capital, where the light on the Capitol Dome is lit this morning as Senate Democrats keep the Senate in session for an all-nighter.
		More on that coming up on the Washington Journal.
		Also, this morning, federal employees face a deadline.
		Take the buyout offered by President Trump or don't.
		Unions say they should not.
		It may not be legal and they have sued to block it.
		A court hearing scheduled for today at 1 p.m. Eastern.
		According to Reuters, at least 40,000 have taken the deal so far.
		That is about 2% of the government's almost 3 million civilian workforce.
		This morning on the Washington Journal, federal employees only.
		Your plans.
		We want to hear from you this morning.
		If you live in the eastern central part of the country, 202-748-8000.
		Mountain Pacific, 202-748-8001.
		You can join the conversation in a text if you're a federal employee at 202-748-8003.
		Also on Facebook.com/slash C-SPAN or on X with the handle at C-SPANWJ.
		We'll get to that conversation with federal employees only in just a minute, but let's go live to the Senate floor.
		New Senator from Maryland, Angela Olsselbrooks, talking now as the Senate Democrats have held it open all night long.
		Let's listen in.
angela alsobrooks ▲ ● ▼		On the line.
		How shameless, how reckless, how callous, how depraved.
		There have been so many actions that this administration has taken to villainize and hurt our civil servants.
		And I want to be explicit about exactly what they are up to.
		They have fired Inspectors General, the people who conduct independent audits and investigations within government agencies to detect and prevent waste, fraud, and abuse.
		To replace independent watchdogs, this is the plan with loyalists.
		Now you want to talk about making government efficient?
		Might I suggest not firing the very people committed to rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse of our taxpayer dollars.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Next.
		Maryland Senator Angela Olsenbrook's on the floor this morning.
		Live coverage over on C-SPAN 2 as the Senate remains in session this morning.
		They've pulled an all-nighter over there in protest of Russell vote to serve as the budget director in President Trump's second administration.
		Here's roll call.
		Democrats hold Senate floor overnight to protest Trump's OMB nominee.
		Yesterday, a procedural hurdle was overcome with a vote to limit debate on the nomination.
		Democrats said they would not yield back the 30 hours of debate, so they've held the Senate floor since then.
		A vote is expected on Vog's nomination at 7 p.m. tonight.
		In the wee hours of the morning, Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii and Chris Murphy of Connecticut, they had the early morning shift, listen to a little lighthearted moment between the two senators.
unidentified		They really are cutting the stuff that matters to regular people, and then they're going to book that as savings, and then they're going to shove it in the direction of billionaires and billionaire corporations.
		I see my friend Senator Murphy is here, and you know, it's a little bit like old times to see you on the floor at 2 a.m.
		And it used to be easier when I was on Hawaii time, but I've been here for a couple of weeks, so this is actually late for me.
		And I just want to recognize that, you know, we've got most Democratic senators speaking at some point through this 30-hour period, but Murph decided to take the 2 to 5 a.m. shift.
		So I hope you haven't had too much Mountain Dew at this point, but I'd be happy to yield to the Senator from Connecticut.
		And with the permission of the chair, I ask unanimous consent to engage in a colloquy without having to go through the chair every time.
		Without objection.
		Just for the record, Senator Schatz is diet Mountain Dew.
		Mountain Dew is disgusting.
		Diet Mountain Dew is acceptable.
		Can I just say one thing about the I did not know that this whole Senate is powered on Celsius.
		I've never had Celsius before, but I was walking around offering people coffee and everyone had a Celsius.
		Yeah, I think it's like two or three times the amount of caffeine that a Red Bull has.
		So there's a reason why the conversion is happening.
		Not that I have an intimate understanding of which beverages have which amounts of caffeine.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		On the Senate floor, what powers the U.S. Senate in that exchange between two Democrats as the party holds the floor in the upper chamber all night long in protest of Russell vote to serve as the budget director in the Trump administration?
		You can watch our coverage over on C-SPAN 2.
		It will continue throughout the day with a vote slated for 7 p.m. Eastern Time.
		Right here on C-SPAN in the Washington Journal this morning, we're talking to federal employees only as they face that deadline today on whether or not to take President Trump's offer of a buyout.
		Here are the lines.
		If you're a federal employee and you live in the eastern central part of the country, dial in at 202-748-8000.
		If you live in the Mountain Pacific area, 202-748-8001.
		This morning, we want to know what is your plan.
		Have you already taken the offer?
		Are you thinking about it?
		Are you going to refuse it?
		As the unions are suggesting federal employees do.
		They've sued to block it.
		And as I said at the top, 1 p.m. Eastern Time, a court is slated to take up the issue as the unions sue to block this offer.
		The federal government has 2.3 million full-time employees.
		This is from usafacts.org.
		Look at the breakdown of where most of these employees work.
		Most of them are in the Defense Department, followed by Veteran Affairs, and then Homeland Security, Justice, Treasury, Agriculture.
		You can see it breaks down even further, the least amount of employees at the Energy Department.
		Which states have the most federal workers?
		It's not just Washington, D.C. Most federal employers are in California, Virginia, and Maryland, so around Washington, D.C. Federal employees represent 0.8%, 3.3%, and 4.6% of these states' total workforce.
		High federal employment numbers in Virginia and Maryland are due to their proximity to D.C.
		And as of March 2024, 26.4% of California federal employees work for the Department of Federal Affairs and 23.5% worked for the Navy.
		The remaining 50 worked for other agencies.
		So federal employees across the country, what do you plan to do as you face this deadline from the Trump administration to take the buyout?
		Related to that this morning is CNN reporting this morning as well that in addition to whether or not people take this buyout, whether these federal employees take this buyout, is that there are also plans from the administration to move toward layoffs.
		Trump administration plans sweeping layoffs, it says, among workers who don't opt to resign.
		There's the headline from CNN.com.
		Federal employees only, Robert in D.C. Robert, good morning to you.
		The email that you received was forking the road.
		What have you decided to do?
unidentified		I'm not taking it.
		And I'll say, first-time caller, long-time listener, really appreciate all those stats.
		I'm one of those Navy people, actually, so I didn't realize how big we are.
		But no, I can't take it.
		I think the only people I know that are taking it are people that are going to retire soon.
		I think it's kind of someone actually called in, I think, two days ago.
		It's kind of, I think it's a scam.
		I think as soon as you sign up for this, you're on a list, and then they're going to schedule F you and then just and then just fire you and you won't get anything.
		Set aside the fact that it's probably not legal and they won't pay you for it anyway.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, so what if are you represented by a union?
unidentified		I'm not personally, no.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Why do you think it's not legal?
unidentified		I'm, well, I don't think that they're able to pay you for that long.
		This, you know.
		Administrative leave is what I would assume they would put you on.
		So they kind of keep you on the book, put you on administrative leave.
		That's what I've seen in the past, but I don't think they can, I don't think it can go for that long.
		I think you're only allowed to do that for up to three months.
		And I heard someone else, I haven't verified it, but I heard someone else talk about some limit for a severance package.
		I don't think this would necessarily be considered a severance package.
		They're just going to keep you on the books, give you Your benefits and then let you just basically stay at home.
		Also, my wife works for the Department of Defense as well.
		And she was really thinking about taking it mainly because she just wants to get out of there because she just feels like over at the Pentagon, it's just the atmosphere is kind of toxic, especially for women and transgender, which she has a friend who's transgender and she's worried about them.
		So she just kind of wants to leave.
		But she was thinking about taking it, but I told her, I think it's just a trap to get your name on a list, essentially.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Robert, so explain for folks who may not know that the offer is to pay you not to work for how long?
unidentified		That you're going to resign at the end of the fiscal year.
		It's a forced resignation.
		Basically, there's a letter that you're supposed to sign that says, I'm going to, that's the other thing, I guess, to your point.
		I read the letter and it doesn't really say you don't have to work.
		It's this whole buyout to me, it reads like it's really for the people that are remote and teleworking and that they should essentially, you know, if you're remote, you can stop working to the extent that you can't do it remotely anymore.
		So it even says in the like prefab resignation letter you're supposed to sign and send to them that you'll continue to work and support a transition of your position to new employees.
		So it's not even really a complete, in my opinion, a complete like you just get to peace out tomorrow and collect paychecks for the next until it's until September, I think September 30th, which is the end of the fiscal year.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Right.
		All right, Robert, thanks for calling in this morning.
		We're talking to federal employees only.
		And that email can be found on opm.gov.
		Fork in the road is what it was called.
		Same language used by Elon Musk when he took over Twitter.
		Send an email.
		It says to hr at opm.gov from your government account.
		Only an email from your.gov or.mil account will be accepted and type the word resign into the subject line of the email.
		Hit send.
		Federal employees, will you do that this morning or not?
		We want to hear from you.
		Start dialing in.
		We're taking federal employees from across the country.
		Shane in Saxon, Wisconsin.
		Let's hear from you, Shane.
		What's your plan?
unidentified		Yeah, good morning.
		Thanks for taking my call.
		I was going to apply for the program and I was all set and was informing family and friends.
		And last Friday, we received an email from our own HR department stating that field office employees and certain other employees of the Social Security Agency are exempt from applying for the program.
		So that kind of sealed it for me.
		So I will not be taking the offer to resign.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		So Shane, what do you do?
unidentified		I'm a field representative with Social Security, a claim specialist.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		And what explain what your job entails.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		What do you do?
unidentified		Who do you work for?
		I'm sorry.
		Yeah.
		I take claims from people, retirement claims, process disability claims, SSI applications.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Do you go out to people or do they come to you and an office?
unidentified		They come.
unidentified		Yeah, they come to me.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		And why do you think you're exempt?
unidentified		Well, Social Security is at a 50-year low for staffing, so I'm sure that has a lot to do with it.
unidentified		And our workloads are quite high.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		And Shane, why were you thinking about taking it?
unidentified		Well, I'm in a pretty good situation where in April I turn 60 and I have 30 years in, so I'll be eligible for full retirement.
unidentified		So it was pretty much a no-brainer for me to get pay and full benefits an extra four months past my full retirement date.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		And what's your full retirement date?
unidentified		It would be April 18th.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Okay.
		So you were contemplating taking it.
		You're in good shape.
		Would you get a pension if you had taken it?
unidentified		Well, that's that's yes.
		I mean, that's what they're saying we would.
		So there are a lot of uncertainties.
		So, you know, a lot of people are skeptical of the offer.
		So, you know, it's kind of mixed emotions.
		In a way, maybe I'm glad that we are exempt from not taking it because now I don't have to worry about anything happening during the resignation period.
		You know, something that could go south.
		So it's, you know what I mean?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Shane, are you represented by a union?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Do you belong to one?
unidentified		Oh, yes.
		Yeah.
		Yeah.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		And what kind of communication did you get from the union?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		What'd they tell you?
unidentified		Well, we didn't receive any correspondence from the union.
unidentified		I was in touch with my union rep, who I personally know.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		And what did they tell you?
unidentified		We did not.
		We didn't, nothing either way.
		I just had some general questions.
		But yeah, no, I did not receive any kind of official correspondence from the union.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		So the federal unions who represent these federal workers have sued to block the move.
		Do you agree with that?
		Shane?
unidentified		I guess they're, yeah, I guess, I mean, they're looking out, you know, for our, you know, the time, the time that we've invested, you know, with our work.
unidentified		And so I think, you know, the uncertainty is if is if in this period between now and September, you know, can some sort of decision come and revoke this and then you're pretty much out on the street without anything.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		What do you think of the President Trump's decision here?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		What do you think's behind it?
unidentified		Who knows what they're thinking, I guess.
		It's hard to say.
		I mean, are they just looking to trim the size of the government?
		You know, I'm sure in every type of agency, you know, there's probably something that can be done, but is this the way to go about it?
		Where you could cause a huge void in a certain agency?
		Yeah, I don't think that's good for the American people.
		All right.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Shane, who works for the Social Security Administration in Wisconsin, Sandy's in Washington, D.C., federal employee.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Sandy, have you made a decision?
unidentified		Yeah, I'm not taking the offer.
		My job is, you know, for the government, I serve the American people and just I'm just continuing to do my jobs.
		It's if I if there end up being huge layoffs and I'm subject to them, then that happens.
		But I'm just putting my head down and continuing to work.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		What do you do for the government?
unidentified		I work in HR and I don't have any additional information about the fork in the road email apart from what's been provided publicly.
		And just, you know, I, since it seems like there is somewhat of a lack of additional information, I also, you know, that just would make me hesitant anyway.
		But, you know, I'm I work and I'm going to continue to work.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		It's you say you're doing it because you serve the American people.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Explain.
unidentified		Why is that important to you?
		I mean, we take when we begin working for the government, we take an oath and it's not to a particular administration.
		Like, you know, whichever administration is in office, we're working to help achieve that administration's goals.
		It's not, it's, even though I work for the government, it's the least political environment I've ever worked in.
		I have no idea what the politics of any of my coworkers are.
		We come in and we work and we try and achieve the goals that are put in front of us because just that's what benefits both the federal workforce and the country as a whole.
		All right.
		So I'm just, I also would feel almost guilty in some ways taking the offer because I don't like the idea of being paid for such a huge amount of time and not working.
		I just want to keep working.
		That's all.
		I'm sorry that it's not a particularly exciting answer, but you know, it is what it is.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		That's the answer, Sandy.
		Sandy in Washington, D.C., works for the federal government, says she's going to stay put.
		She's not taking this offer from President Trump, from the letter to federal employees.
		The last day to accept the deferred resignation program is today.
		Deferred resignation is available to all full-time federal employees except for military personnel of the armed forces, employees of the U.S. Postal Service, those in positions related to immigration enforcement and national security, and those in any other positions specifically excluded by your employee agency.
		And this is the copy of the letter that they suggest you send back.
		Please accept this letter as my formal resignation from employment with my employing agency, effective September 30th, 2025.
		I understand that I have the right to accelerate but not extend my resignation date if I wish to take advantage of the deferred resignation program.
		I also understand that if I am or become eligible for early or normal retirement before my resignation date, that I retain the right to elect early or normal retirement at any point prior to my resignation date.
		Federal employees only this morning.
		Mason in South Carolina.
		Hi, Mason.
		Good morning to you.
		What do you do for the government?
unidentified		Good morning.
unidentified		I couldn't hear your question, Khave.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		What do you do for the government, Mason?
unidentified		I work for IT, supporting our workforce.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Okay.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		And a specific agency?
unidentified		I will not get into that.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Okay.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		What have you decided to do?
unidentified		I will not be taking the offer.
unidentified		All right.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Tell us why.
unidentified		I served the military for a good bit of my life.
		I'm supporting the same warfighters in the same uniform that I wore.
		That's what this job is about.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Mason, what's your hesitancy?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Is it just the loyalty as you just explained?
unidentified		Or are there other reasons as well?
unidentified		Principal.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Principal.
unidentified		I'm going to serve this, serve my country, and serve the military just as I did in the uniform.
		This is a curveball that does not pass a sniff test.
		This is something that does not adhere to any type of order or decorum or chain of command that we have ever seen.
		This is not how things work.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		What do you mean this is not how things work?
unidentified		There are official orders that are pushed down that will have backing by, they're vetted, their documentation will have order numbers, there's references, there's things you can look at if you have further information and questions.
unidentified		If there's a question asked in regards to any of this fork in the road emails, we have crickets as answers.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		What is it like?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Do you report to an office, Mason?
unidentified		Yes, I do.
		I always have.
		I work in a facility that is a certain security clearance, so I've always come to work.
		There was no working from home option for me, and that is okay.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Explain what it's like right now in these, since you received this letter at the end of January.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		What is the work environment like when you show up every day?
unidentified		Slightly chaos, not too much.
		More just stress, because there's always personnel trying to anticipate the next move as to what may happen next.
		Am I going to be affected by the reduction in force?
		Am I still, should I take it or not?
		There's stressors that you can sense in the air.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		But Mason, so you said this is not normal.
		This is not how it's done.
		I'm paraphrasing.
unidentified		Correct.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Who do you blame for this?
unidentified		Above my pay grade for that one.
		I take this as this is a paradigm shift.
		A pendulum will always swing due to a change in the administration.
		I could point a finger at the head of Mr. Musk.
		I understand the rationale behind it.
		I understand that there are certain personnel who have been in the government who may or may not do or pull their weight or work as they once used to.
		I can understand that.
		Yet, I also know if you apply a blanket policy for an organization that not all of those rules are applicable to, you're going to wind up in situations where you're going to lose good talent.
		And those who have not been the bad apples, if you will, are going to be treated as such.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Mason.
		Speaker Mike Johnson held his weekly news conference up on Capitol Hill yesterday.
		He was asked about Elon Musk and the role that he is playing in the Trump administration, the Doge efforts.
		Here is what the Speaker Johnson had to say in response to a question from a reporter.
unidentified		Is there an inconsistency by Republicans on one hand where we've worked for years now?
chad pergram ▲ ● ▼		Oh, we want to not have unelected bureaucrats in charge of things downtown and yet ceding Article I powers to the executive branch under Elon Musk.
unidentified		There is not an inconsistency about calling for the elimination of the Department of Education, and yet we've heard from some of your colleagues here this morning.
chad pergram ▲ ● ▼		You know, we don't want women to be playing sports with men, and aren't you ceding back that power then as it pertains to education if you eliminate the Department of Education?
mike johnson ▲ ● ▼		No, look, I got to challenge the premise of the question, Chad.
		You know me, I'm a fierce advocate and defender of Article I.
		I mean, look, we are the legislative branch.
		There's a reason the founding fathers put the Congress, the legislative branch, as the first article in the Constitution, and we're going to vigorously defend that.
		But what's happening right now, I think there's a gross overreaction in the media to what is happening.
		The executive branch of government in our system has the right to evaluate how executive branch agencies are operating and to ensure that not only the intent of Congress in funding mechanisms, but also the stewardship of precious American taxpayer dollars is being handled well.
		That's what they're doing by putting a pause on some of these agencies and by evaluating them, by doing these internal audits.
		That is a long overdue, much welcome development.
		That's what the American people demand and deserve.
		And that's what's happening.
		So we don't see this as a threat to Article I at all.
		We see this as an active, engaged, committed executive branch authority doing what the executive branch should do.
		They have broad discretion in all the funding, as you all know, because you follow this.
		When Congress funds an agency, they give broad discretion to the executive branch on how it's administered.
		They're using that authority right now in a way it hasn't been used in a long time.
		So it looks radical.
		It's not.
		I call it stewardship.
		I think they're doing right by the American taxpayer, and we support that principle.
		When it comes to the point of codification and legislation and all the rest, we'll be evaluating all those things.
		But right now, I think they're acting within the scope of their authority.
		There's be legal challenges.
		The courts will have some things to say about this.
		But as far as I'm concerned, Chad, this is not a usurpation of authority in any way.
		It's not a power grab.
		I think they're doing what we've all expected and hoped and asked that they would do for years.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Speaker Mike Johnson, defending the moves by the Trump administration, Elon Musk and the president in their freezing of funding, an analysis and audit of the federal government, and today the deadline for federal employees to decide whether or not you take the buyout offer from this administration.
		The Hill is reporting that GOP support for Elon Musk and his influence with the president falls dramatically in a new poll.
		In the Economist and YouGov poll taken in the days after the November election, 47% of surveyed Republicans said they wanted Musk to have a lot of influence in the Trump administration.
		Today, however, the share of Republicans who say they want Musk to have a lot of influence has fallen substantially to 26%.
		Dave, Prairie Hill, Texas, good morning to you, Dave.
		What do you do for the government?
unidentified		I work in the Agriculture Department, federal.
		We couldn't be happier.
		I mean, we're not, I'm not going to take the buyout.
		I don't have to because it's mostly for corrupt FBI agents that don't want to, that tried to go after Trump.
gene in georgia ▲ ● ▼		And, you know, they can buy out and just leave if they can't do the right thing.
unidentified		And, you know, they're the ones that went after him, tried to prosecute him illegally.
		And in our office, we're just so glad we finally got a great president that kicks out murderers, killers, drug dealers, child molesters.
		Look at what Marco Rubio did.
		I think he cut a deal yesterday.
		Our ships get to go through free now To the Panama Canal, because we give 38,000 lives building it, and that's the kind of deals that Trump is cutting.
larry becraft ▲ ● ▼		Great, great deal, just like the one yesterday that he passed, got signed an executive order to get men out of playing in women's sports, which is a bunch of silly nonsense to start with.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Dave, so just sticking to this deadline, this offer by the Trump administration, then you say you and others in your office are happy about this.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Anybody in your office going to take the offer?
unidentified		Are they going to take the buyout?
		We got one Democrat.
		I think he's going to take it.
		I'm not sure.
		But the rest of us are just extremely happy.
larry becraft ▲ ● ▼		You know, we finally got a great president in there that's kicking out all this stuff and cutting all this fat and all this pork stuff out and these corrupt FBI agents.
unidentified		All right.
unidentified		These killers and these murderers and these drug dealers out of this country.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Dave, heard that point.
		We'll go on to Rob then in Upper Derby, Pennsylvania.
		Hi, Rob.
unidentified		Hi.
		I actually work for the Defense Logistics Agency here in Philadelphia.
		And I'm also a union rep with the AFGE.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Okay.
unidentified		And I work in the subsistence area.
		I'm a contract specialist, GS-12.
		Actually, a lot of folks who are closer to retirement are taking this deal.
		But, you know, this is a time not to be making a decision on principles.
		It's a time to be making a smart, informed decision.
		Okay.
		And that's what people are forgetting here.
		First of all, Elon Musk is not authorized to make a buyout offer.
		He is not really a government employee.
		That's why the union is saying that this deal is illegal.
		First of all, and you know, they can offer early retirement with a Vera VSEP option, which is not to exceed $25,000.
		So that's a legal offer, according to the laws of the land.
		And, you know, federal employees need to realize this.
		I'm not taking this offer because I think it's illegal.
		That it says deferred resignation.
		It doesn't say deferred or phased out retirement.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Rob, let me run out of time for this conversation.
		Let me just ask you real quickly about this court proceeding and the union suing to block the offer.
		What can you tell us about it today at 1 p.m. Eastern Time?
unidentified		I think a federal justice is going to hear it.
		And President Biden has had, you know, he had put in many federal judges.
		And based on the information presented, he might actually block it.
		He might actually block it.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right.
		Rob, there, who represents the Federal Worker Union and works for the federal government.
		Rob, we have to leave the conversation at that point.
		We're going to take a break.
		Later on, the Washington Journal, health advocate Collie Means discusses Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
		Up next, after our break, Democratic Congressman Al Green of Texas discusses his new impeachment effort against President Trump over the president's proposal to, quote, take over Gaza.
		For those of you that missed it, here is President Trump's remarks from Tuesday, where he first made that proposal.
donald j trump ▲ ● ▼		I also strongly believe that the Gaza Strip, which has been a symbol of death and destruction for so many decades and so bad for the people anywhere near it, and especially those who live there, and frankly, who's been really very unlucky.
		It's been very unlucky.
		It's been an unlucky place for a long time.
		Being in its presence just has not been good, and it should not go through a process of rebuilding and occupation by the same people that have really stood there and fought for it and lived there and died there and lived a miserable existence there.
		Instead, we should go to other countries of interest with humanitarian hearts, and there are many of them that want to do this.
		and build various domains that will ultimately be occupied by the 1.8 million Palestinians living in Gaza, ending the death and destruction and frankly bad luck.
		This could be paid for by neighboring countries of great wealth.
		It could be one, two, three, four, five, seven, eight, twelve.
		It could be numerous sites or it could be one large site.
		But the people will be able to live in comfort and peace and we'll make sure something really spectacular is done.
		They're going to have peace.
		They're not going to be shot at and killed and destroyed like this civilization of wonderful people has had to endure.
		The only reason the Palestinians want to go back to Gaza is they have no alternative.
		It's right now a demolition site.
		This is just a demolition site.
		Virtually every building is down.
		They're living under fallen concrete that's very dangerous and very precarious.
		They instead can occupy all of a beautiful area with homes and safety and they can live out their lives in peace and harmony instead of having to go back and do it again.
		The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it too.
		We'll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site, level the site and get rid of the destroyed buildings, level it out, create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area.
unidentified		Washington Journal continues.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Back at our desk this morning, Congressman Al Green, Democrat of Texas, here to talk about your new impeachment effort.
		You came to the floor to offer this over the president's remarks on Gaza.
		We were just playing them for our viewers in case they missed them.
		Where is the crime here committed by the president with this proposal?
unidentified		Well, thank you for asking because impeachment does not require a crime that is statutory.
		Many people think so, so it gives me a great opportunity to explain.
		Article 2, Section 4 of the Constitution indicates that one can be impeached and that one is the president and then there are others for high crimes, misdemeanors, or, pardon me, felonies, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.
		And this is important because many people assume that that means a statutory offense.
		It does not.
		And the word misdemeanor means misdeeds aside from some minor offense.
		Misdeeds are those things that will shock your conscience.
		So a president can literally be impeached for shocking one's conscience.
		In 1868, Andrew Johnson was impeached for saying bad things about Congress, speaking ill of Congress.
		He was impeached.
		It was Article 10 of those Articles of Impeachment.
		Hence, we can impeach the president for things that he might do that are immoral or that hurt society.
		These are the things that we should focus on.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Why do you think that this hurts society?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		What he said at the White House this week.
unidentified		Oh, well, this week, let's just focus on one thing right now.
		And let's focus on what he said about Gaza.
		The president and the prime minister of Israel on stage together.
al green ▲ ● ▼		And the president talks about moving people from Gaza to some other place.
unidentified		Now, he hasn't talked to the people who live there, the Palestinians.
		They talk about them as though they're animals that can be herded and pushed and moved.
		And with some assumption that they're going to have great appreciation for what they will do in taking them from their homeland.
al green ▲ ● ▼		And for the Prime Minister of Israel to indicate that this is something worthy of consideration.
unidentified		Maybe not his exact words, but that was the import.
unidentified		Worthy of consideration, Mr. Prime Minister?
al green ▲ ● ▼		With your history, you know the history of your people.
unidentified		Six million Holocaust.
		I believe in the Holocaust.
		I know that it occurred.
		And I know the Prime Minister knows.
		And he ought to be more sympathetic to the Palestinian people because he said they were not the people that he was at war with.
		He was at war with Hamas, not the Palestinian people.
		Now babies have been killed in the thousands.
		People are being relocated.
		Yes, from one part of Gaza to another part.
		But the president and the prime minister, what they said will live in infamy.
		And I don't know that they'll recover from it.
		Quite frankly, if I may say this, I think the president, that alone, in my world, would cause him to have to resign.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Let's listen to the White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt yesterday at the briefing when she was asked about the president's comments.
unidentified		On Gaza, the president has spent basically his entire public career criticizing foreign entanglements, nation building, sending American troops to fight abroad, particularly in the Middle East.
		This plan seems like it could ultimately involve all of those things.
		Can you explain this reversal and how building and owning Gaza squares with America First foreign policy?
karoline leavitt ▲ ● ▼		I would reject the premise of your question that this forces the United States to be entangled in conflicts abroad.
karoline leavitt ▲ ● ▼		The president has not committed to putting boots on the ground in Gaza.
unidentified		He has also said that the United States is not going to pay for the rebuilding of Gaza.
karoline leavitt ▲ ● ▼		His administration is going to work with our partners in the region to reconstruct this region.
karoline leavitt ▲ ● ▼		And let me just take a step back here because this is an out-of-the-box idea.
unidentified		That's who President Trump is.
karoline leavitt ▲ ● ▼		That's why the American people elected him.
		And his goal is lasting peace in the Middle East for all people in the region.
		And as I said in my opening remarks, we've had the same people pushing the same solutions to this problem for decades.
		And it's been made very clear to the president that the United States needs to be involved in this rebuilding effort to ensure stability in the region for all people.
unidentified		But that does not mean boots on the ground in Gaza.
unidentified		It does not mean American taxpayers will be funding this effort.
karoline leavitt ▲ ● ▼		It means Donald Trump, who is the best dealmaker on the planet, is going to strike a deal with our partners in the region.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Al Green, your response and does it alleviate your concerns?
unidentified		Not one Centilla.
		The President didn't say that.
		She said it.
		Aside from this, the President has been talking about this real estate deal and how Gaza can be rebuilt and recreated.
		He's been talking about this for some time now.
		And he was serious about it.
al green ▲ ● ▼		We can't let him now say, oh, it was just a joke.
unidentified		You don't joke about things like this.
unidentified		And I said that he should resign.
al green ▲ ● ▼		To be candid with you, so should the Prime Minister of Israel.
unidentified		Both of them, both of them will live in infamy for the way they are treating people, human beings, not dogs, not animals, not cattle to be herded.
unidentified		These are people.
al green ▲ ● ▼		They have lives and they should be consulted.
unidentified		You don't consult them and then you make a plan to deal with where they'll live and how they will live.
		That's an insult.
		And I would also add this, for those people who think that this is all just something that will blow over, remember this.
		The president was serious when he said he wanted to eviscerate the Department of Education.
		Now, the Department of Education was something that Congress created, and the president can't just do that with a stroke of a pen with an executive order.
		But, you know, he says that.
al green ▲ ● ▼		And he's serious about it because he has said publicly that he wants his Department of Education person, the Secretary of the Department of Education, he wants that person to put herself out of a job.
unidentified		Those are his words.
unidentified		Put herself out of a job.
al green ▲ ● ▼		So the president has a record that he's going to have to run from and not run on as he continues.
unidentified		And I would add this.
		The president should be impeached.
		I said that on the floor of the House.
al green ▲ ● ▼		He should be impeached, but I'm not saying that it would be necessarily for what happened in Gaza.
unidentified		There's a target-rich environment.
al green ▲ ● ▼		There are many things that may be placed in these articles of impeachment, but it should be because he's unfit to be president.
unidentified		Unfit.
al green ▲ ● ▼		And when these impeachment signs start going up around the country, when people see these signs, I assure you, the pressure is going to be on Congress to do something.
al green ▲ ● ▼		Impeachment doesn't mean that he will be removed from office, but it will say to the country that this is what we stand for.
unidentified		It's been said that the protests don't have a plan.
		Well, the plan is here.
		This is the plan.
		Protest, complain now, impeach later.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Let's get to calls because the lines have lit up.
		Richard in Savannah, Georgia, Republican.
		You're up first, Richard.
unidentified		Thank you.
		I watched you yesterday with the Democrat Party out protesting everything that Elon Musk is trying to do for the American people.
		The USAD is the 100% of money laundering scheme around the world kickbacks back to the Democrat Party, whether it's through the Clinton Foundation in Haiti, $4.4 billion and $84 million went to her daughter, Chelsea Clinton.
		All y'all have is impeachments and race and gender, et cetera, and you actually do nothing for the people of America today.
		I think the Democrats should sit back and let America see what it's like to reduce the people in government to wasteful spending.
		And all y'all can do is just complain and be negative.
		And we're sick of it.
		And also.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Richard, let's have the congressman respond to your argument there.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Congressman Green.
al green ▲ ● ▼		I'm appreciative that you called, sir, because it's about more than USAID, which came into being by way of an executive order from President Kennedy.
unidentified		And the president has authorities there that he doesn't have with the Department of Education.
		But look at what he's doing to the CIA and to the FBI.
		And he's doing it because he wants to be in total control of any agency that might investigate.
		If you'll recall, he fired Comey, the FBI director, because Comey was investigating him.
al green ▲ ● ▼		When we did not impeach him for that act, he now takes a license to try to eviscerate to the extent that he can to gut these other agencies, the FBI more specifically, and the CIA.
unidentified		So the question is, aside what you said about USAID, which can be refuted.
al green ▲ ● ▼		But the question is, do you want a president who has been immune, given some degree of immunity by the Supreme Court, who now knows that he can pardon people who participate in an insurrection and send that signal to others, so he is above the law to a certain extent.
al green ▲ ● ▼		He has the power to pardon, which means that if you commit a crime, a federal crime, you can be pardoned by him.
unidentified		Do you want a person to have that kind of power such that he now is reckless and ruthless with it?
unidentified		This is serious business.
al green ▲ ● ▼		And I believe that the way he is going about this is not just to purge, but to prevent anyone from standing up to him.
al green ▲ ● ▼		Who is going to stand up to the president in the FBI when you know that the president can fire you with impunity?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Chris, Brooklyn, Massachusetts, Democratic caller.
unidentified		Yes.
		Trump receives his instructions on Israel-Palestine from his Israeli-born donor, Miriam Adelson.
		She has already donated $100 million to Trump in exchange for Trump recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian West Bank.
		The larger scheme is for the Israelis to suck the United States into another war with Iran.
		So when the body bags start coming back, you'll know who to thank.
		Have a nice day.
		Well, I'm totally against any additional war.
		I'm a peacemaker.
		I believe that too much suffering has already taken place.
		I also know that the laws of proportionality are not applied by Mr. Netanyahu because what they did to Gaza just eviscerated, obliterated, just decimated Gaza with a good many dollars from the American public, the American people, tax dollars.
al green ▲ ● ▼		Our fingerprints are all over those rubbles and those buildings that you see in Gaza.
unidentified		Yet we want other people to rebuild what we helped to destroy.
unidentified		Look, I'm a liberated Democrat.
al green ▲ ● ▼		I'm going to speak truthfully, and I appreciate C-SPAN because a good many stations will not allow this kind of conversation to take place.
unidentified		They fear what can happen if the truth is told to the public.
		Well, the truth will be known.
		It is said that if you know it, it'll set you free.
		So we're going to try to free some souls.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Congressman Pete Aguilar, who is the number three House Democrat, was asked yesterday about your impeachment offer, and he said it's not a focus of the caucus.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Your response.
unidentified		Well, I think he's right.
		I don't differ with him.
		By the way, he's a good man.
		I don't differ with him.
		It's not a focus now, but the impeachment, the march toward impeachment started yesterday.
al green ▲ ● ▼		I laid the foundation for impeachment when President Trump was first elected, filed three articles of impeachment, and the last one had 99 members of Congress on it.
unidentified		It was approaching half of the Democratic caucus.
		Speaker Pelosi did a prudent thing.
		She said, let's move forward with it.
al green ▲ ● ▼		So we laid the foundation for it then.
unidentified		We're laying the foundation for it now.
al green ▲ ● ▼		And I will bring articles of impeachment.
unidentified		Let me look into the camera.
		I will bring articles of impeachment.
		Now, what the House will do, I have no way of prognosticating, but be assured, I will bring articles of impeachment.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		The former Speaker Nancy Pelosi also would say that there was a high bar for impeachment, and she would, and the impeachments of the president during his first term included what they said were violations of statutory law.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		He was not impeached ultimately, though, in the Senate.
unidentified		No, no, he wasn't convicted.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Wasn't convicted.
		So, what are you concerned that putting the impeachment on the table right now is making the party look less serious?
		And if you were to move to it later?
unidentified		Well, first of all, I haven't said that we will impeach tomorrow or bring articles tomorrow.
		I've not said that.
		And it makes the party look more serious.
al green ▲ ● ▼		These signs are going to go up around the country.
al green ▲ ● ▼		And as these signs go up around the country, people are going to conclude in Congress that maybe we need to take a look at impeachment.
unidentified		But I don't differ with Pete.
		He's a good man.
		I respect him greatly and highly.
		But someone has to be the first.
		Someone has to lay a foundation.
		I have no problem standing alone.
al green ▲ ● ▼		When I stood yesterday in the well of the House of Representatives, I stood alone.
unidentified		On some issues, it is better to stand alone than not stand at all.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Fred, Philadelphia, Independent.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Let's hear from you, Fred.
unidentified		Yes, good morning, Representative Greene.
		Good morning, sir.
		Good, good.
		Yes, back in 2017, when you impeached the president before he took office and everything.
		Now, I want to know what your real opinion of President Trump is right now, why you want to do the impeachment again.
		Thank you.
		Well, thank you, sir.
		My opinion is now what it was then.
		I said then that he was unfit to be president.
		I brought the articles of impeachment, laid the foundation for his impeachment.
		I think he is unfit.
al green ▲ ● ▼		I don't think that he is the proper person to have liberty and justice for all in the palms of his hands because he doesn't seem to care for all.
unidentified		He cares a great deal for the plutocracy, the plutocrats.
al green ▲ ● ▼		He surrounds himself with billionaires, and they seem to believe that the rich need more to do more, meaning the billionaire class, and that the poor can do more with less.
		These, honestly, they see the government of the United States as a tool to acquire greater wealth than what they already have.
		The president himself, with this meme that he came out with, has made just an untold amount of money and doing that as he is president of the United States.
unidentified		Is this what we want in a president?
		So I don't have a high opinion of him in terms of what he does.
		I do have a deep abiding affinity for his humanity.
		His humanity is important to me, and I respect his humanity.
		But his behavior is just unacceptable, and he needs to leave office.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Chuck is a Republican in Syracuse, New York.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Good morning to you.
unidentified		Good morning.
		I find it very disappointing that Mr. Green is going to waste time on another impeachment effort.
		He is on the financial committee there.
		I saw just six months ago Houston Chronicle as an article.
		Houston poverty rates are highest among major U.S. Metros data shows.
		If you go onto Google and you go into like the Fifth Ward and you go some of these neighborhoods that Mr. Green represents, you see people who are selling drugs, selling sex, suffering, and Mr. Greene is chasing after headlines.
		The same goes for AOC, who's up there chasing headlines and trying to get her face on TV.
		And there's nothing wrong with that, but if you go into her district, who's she representing, herself or her district?
		And yesterday you had Mr. Cohen, Congressman Cohen, Chuck, but Chuck, let's have the congressman respond to what you just said about his district and where his focus should be.
		Thank you for your call, Chuck.
		I greatly appreciate it.
		By the way, those conditions that you have brought to our attention, they are all over this country.
		There are pockets all over the country where these things are in place.
		And I don't want to end it just in my congressional district.
al green ▲ ● ▼		I want to end them all over the country, which is why I have been at the forefront of fighting against these poverty issues that we have to confront.
unidentified		And I'm going to continue to do that.
al green ▲ ● ▼		But that doesn't mean that I can't do other things as well.
		It is not unusual for people who don't want you to do something to try to distract you by saying you should be doing something else.
		Well, there are many other things that I maybe can do at some point in my life, but this is a focus that I believe is important for my country, not for Al Greene.
unidentified		I'm not trying to make headlines.
		We're making headway, headway as it relates to an unfit president who should not be in office given his behavior, not his humanity.
		I respect that.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Chris in Dallas, Texas, Independent.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Hi, Chris.
unidentified		Good morning.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Morning, go ahead.
unidentified		How you doing, Representative Grain?
		I understand your stance on impeaching Trump.
		I just want to ask, being a fifth generation native of Texas and foundational black American, I wonder like with Trump's stance on the 14th Amendment and it being only allocated towards black Americans.
		I just wonder why do the Democratic Party continue to fight for immigrants and others more than they fight for foundational black Americans here on American soil.
		Well, thank you for that question.
		It provides me an opportunity to tell you about some of the things we're doing.
		We do fight for lawful immigration, and lawful immigration allows people to come here and say, I'm a refugee.
		I'm a person who is fleeing persecution or prosecution in some cases, if it's unlawful.
		And we have laws that say that those persons should be given certain considerations.
al green ▲ ● ▼		Now, if we don't like that, we should change the law, which is what comprehensive immigration reform, something the Democrats have been touting for many years.
unidentified		This is what we should do.
		And we could clear up all of these issues associated with the border, all of the borders, by the way.
		We could clear all of these issues up.
		But it's beyond that.
al green ▲ ● ▼		And I appreciate what you said about the African Americans in this country.
		I have been a person who has not only wanted to see African Americans alive today respected, I want to see our ancestors respected.
		They are the economic foundation mothers and fathers of this country, and they have been disrespected.
unidentified		We have a 9-11 Remembrance Day.
		We have a Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.
		We have a Holocaust Remembrance Day, and we should have them all.
al green ▲ ● ▼		But we also should have Slavery Remembrance Day so that we can appreciate them for who they were and not do what has been proposed in Texas and call slavery and voluntary relocation.
		They should also, they should also be honored with a Congressional Gold Medal.
		In 1956, Congress awarded a Congressional Gold Medal to Confederate soldiers.
		We have not to this day honored the enslaved people who had a hand in building the Capitol, the White House.
unidentified		This country planted the seeds, harvested the crops, fed the nation.
unidentified		They ought to be honored in a similar fashion.
al green ▲ ● ▼		And finally, I am a person who will say on national TV at prime time, this is not prime time, but I'll say it, and that is there should be some remuneration for the suffering of those who were enslaved, for the suffering of the descendants who were also discriminated against with invidious discrimination known as segregation, another form of racism.
unidentified		There should be some remuneration for that kind of suffering.
unidentified		I stand for righteousness, and I'm sorry that there are many people who would have me do other things, but I do what I believe to be not just the right thing, but the righteous thing.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Sylvia is a Democrat in Clareton, Pennsylvania.
		You're talking with Congressman Al Green.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Good morning, Errol Green.
		I want to talk about Trump the first time he said Mexican will pay for the wall.
		Did the people from pay for it?
		Well, thank you for your call.
		President Trump said that, but that never occurred.
		And the president of Mexico at the time was very specific that he used some scatology, not the kind of language I would use.
		I never used profanity.
		I think it, I'll be candid with you, but I never use it verbally.
		And I don't know that that excuses me in any way.
al green ▲ ● ▼		But the president of Mexico said that they weren't going to do it.
unidentified		They weren't going to pay for their wall, and they didn't.
al green ▲ ● ▼		And so I think that the president, in saying that he is going to do these things like eliminate the Department of Education in some way, the department or the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, consumers have an agency devoted to protecting them.
		And my Republican colleagues, on a daily basis, are doing all that they can to eliminate that agency.
		The president is conspiring with them to get it done.
unidentified		I'm going to try to protect consumers.
		And we need a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to do it.
		We need a Department of Education.
		These are things that are important to the country.
al green ▲ ● ▼		And we also need to make sure that the President is not the person who gives orders to the CIA and the FBI and can prevent them, to prevent them from looking into his past.
		He's talking about firing people simply because they were investigating.
		They were not a part of the decision made for them to do the job.
unidentified		But he wants them out.
		And if he gets them out, and he has only people who will look the other way, we're going to have a problem.
		May I just mention one more thing?
		The watchdogs.
		The watchdogs.
		The people who are there to monitor all of these various accounts and make sure that things are done properly.
al green ▲ ● ▼		I think that if he is given an opportunity, the inspectors general will no longer be watchdogs.
unidentified		They'll become lapdogs.
		There'll be people that are going to report to him and report only what he wants to be reported.
		This is not the kind of country we've had, and it's not the kind of country we ought to have.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Your governor, Texas Governor Abbott, was in Washington yesterday talking with President Trump behind closed doors.
		He then told reporters that he had asked the president to reimburse Texas $11 billion for building the wall and defending the border.
		He said that's how much Texas taxpayers had to pay and wants reimbursement for it.
		Al Green here is Randy in Michigan.
		The Democratic Party needs to concentrate on the voters of this country and not impeach Trump again.
		He's only a one-term felon, Randy's words.
		The voters already spoke about this felon that they want for president.
al green ▲ ● ▼		Well, 34 convictions, one term, one time maybe, but 34 convictions.
unidentified		With reference to what the governor said about the federal government reimbursing.
al green ▲ ● ▼		Now, this is the same governor who turned down $100 billion, billion, $100 billion for Medicaid to help poor people in the state of Texas.
unidentified		$100 billion.
		He is not about doing the righteous thing.
		He chose to do it.
		Texas can choose to do what it wants.
		That's the way the system is set up.
		But I'd like to talk to the governor about the $100 billion that he won't take for Medicaid.
al green ▲ ● ▼		His department, the GLO, the government land office, was charged with the responsibility of dispersing money for Hurricane Harvey.
unidentified		Trillions of gallons of water right there in Houston, Texas.
al green ▲ ● ▼		The GLO has been charged by HUD, by HUD, with discriminating against blacks and Latinos in a disbursement of the money.
al green ▲ ● ▼		You tell me that Al Green's not trying to look out for people of color?
unidentified		Blacks and Latinos.
		I want to talk to the governor about this.
		I'm sending him a letter currently to ask for a meeting with him to discuss these things.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		John in New Hampshire, Independent.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		John, go ahead.
unidentified		Thanks for taking my call.
		First things first, I'm 65 years old.
		I've never voted in my life.
		This is the first time I voted because the candidate was obviously a lot different than the other candidates we've seen in the past.
		I mean, all the other candidates in the past seem the same to me.
		You seem like a typical Democrat, sir.
		You know, I don't like saying it, but basically you yesterday on the floor of the House, on the floor of the Senate, and the other Democrats that were out in the street, it looked like a Saturday Night Live skit.
		It was incredible to me.
		I can't believe what you people are doing.
		Why, John?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		John, we need you to get to your point because we're running out of time.
unidentified		Why did you find it ridiculous?
		Well, it's ridiculous because it looked ridiculous, and what they're saying is ridiculous.
		They're spending money like crazy, and they're just throwing it out the window and trying to defend it.
		But my real comment is, again, tell us how Joe Biden made his millions and how his family made his millions.
		Tell us, explain one of the felonies that you said Trump was convicted of.
		You said there were 34 of them.
		Can you explain one?
		Because neither one was a felony that you tried to put together to get him.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, you're talking about two different things, John.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Go ahead.
unidentified		Well, let me just take the notion that you said you voted for him because he's different.
		Different doesn't always mean good.
		It can go either way.
		So, yes, he's different.
		You and I agree on that point.
		He is different, but in a very bad way.
		And he should be impeached.
		I will bring articles of impeachment.
		I don't know what will happen.
		I've never said I'll bring them tomorrow.
		I've never said I'd bring them next week.
al green ▲ ● ▼		I have said that in time, in time, there will be articles of impeachment.
al green ▲ ● ▼		And I think that when the public starts walking around with these signs and when the protest movement continues, by the way, I support peaceful protest.
unidentified		I don't support any violence.
al green ▲ ● ▼		Person commits violence, then they ought to be dealt with by the constabulary, the police.
unidentified		They should be dealt with.
		But this is where we're going.
		The next phase of this, people are going to have to say, here's our purpose.
		Here's why we're doing this.
		Here's why we're in the street.
		We want to impeach President Trump, and we want the Senate to convict him.
al green ▲ ● ▼		If it doesn't happen, we'll at least know who supports what appears to be a need to remove a person who has now been given almost immunity by the Supreme Court and has the power to pardon people who participated in an insurrection on the Capitol.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Congressman Al Green, thanks for the conversation at our table this morning, as always.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		We appreciate it.
unidentified		Thank you.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Good to see you.
unidentified		Good to see you.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, we're going to take a break when we come back coming up later on the Washington Journal.
		Health advocate Collie Means discusses Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s nomination to lead HHS, be health secretary, and the priorities for health care.
		But first, we're going to be in open forum.
		Any public policy or political issue on your mind?
		There are the lines on your screen.
		Start dialing in.
		We'll be right back.
unidentified		Saturdays, watch American History TV's new series, First 100 Days.
		We'll explore the early months of presidential administrations with historians and authors and through the C-SPAN archives.
		We'll look at accomplishments and setbacks and examine how events impacted presidential terms and the nation up to present day.
		This Saturday, we'll look at the first 100 days of Andrew Jackson's presidency.
		Andrew Jackson was elected president in 1828 in a rematch with John Quincy Adams from the 1824 election.
		Mr. Jackson came to office with a vision for the country, but his agenda was stalled by controversy.
		Early issues during his term included states' rights, payment of national debt, tariffs, and treatment of Native Americans.
		Watch American History TV's new series, First 100 Days, Saturday at 7 p.m. Eastern on American History TV on C-SPAN 2.
brian lamb ▲ ● ▼		John Dickinson is one of the most significant founders of the United States who is not well known by all the American public.
		Author Jane E. Calvert is trying to change that with her new biography, Penman of the Founding.
		John Dickinson is known for his nine essays under the title Fabius, published anonymously in newspapers during the time that the states were deciding on whether to approve the new Constitution.
		John Dickinson of Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania was the only founding figure present and active in every phase of the revolution, from the Stamp Act crisis through the ratification of the Constitution.
unidentified		Author Jane Calvert talks about her book, Penman of the Founding, a biography of John Dickinson, on this episode of Book Notes Plus with our host, Brian Lamb.
		BookNotes Plus is available on the C-SPAN Now free mobile app or wherever you get your podcasts.
		Washington Journal continues.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Welcome back.
		We are an open forum.
		Any public policy or political issue is on the table this morning during open forum.
		We also want to let you know what's happening now in Washington.
		The National Prayer Breakfast is taking place, and this is a gathering up on Capitol Hill traditionally with the president and members of Congress as they gather to break bread, as it's been called, and pray together for the nation.
		We're expecting President Trump to attend this gathering and deliver remarks shortly.
		When he does, we will bring you live those remarks here on C-SPAN.
		There he is, entering the Capitol building this morning.
		Slate is reporting that there are two prayer breakfasts happening in Washington today.
		Traditionally, this is just the one that's up on Capitol Hill, but Slate is reporting that this year there will be two prayer breakfasts.
		The official prayer breakfast, which will accommodate a couple hundred people, will involve bagels and coffee and shared among congresspeople and administration officials and their plus ones.
		That is held at the Capitol in the U.S. Visitor Center.
		It will be run by a brand new organization called the National Prayer Breakfast Foundation.
		The unofficial breakfast will be run by the same secretive, non-denominational religious group that used to run it for decades, and it will host more than 1,400 people.
		President Trump is expected to talk at that second prayer breakfast happening at the Washington Hilton here in Washington an hour later around 9:15 a.m. Eastern Time.
		So until we see the president, let's hear from Jim in Parsons, West Virginia, Democratic caller.
		Jim, go ahead.
unidentified		Hello, good morning.
		Yeah, I wanted to speak to Representative Al Green while he was on.
		I wanted to speak in support for him.
		He's a good man.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		And why would you support impeachment efforts at this point?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Two weeks into the Trump administration.
unidentified		Say it again, please.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Two weeks into this second Trump administration.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Why support it now?
unidentified		Why do you support his efforts?
		He never should have been allowed to run to begin with.
		After January 6th, you know, not only America, the whole world watched and saw what he and his henchmen were trying to do.
		He was trying to overturn, you know, a free and fair election.
		He tried to steal the election, and he called it Stop the Steal.
		I mean, Republicans saw this.
		Everyone saw this.
		It was a plot and a plan with fake electors.
		He had tried to get his attorney generals to declare there was fake fraud.
		60 court cases said there weren't.
		So he was trying to steal the election, trying to overturn the election.
		He should have been condemned to having to stay on his golf course down in Florida, lucky not to be sent to prison for what he tried to do.
		All right.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		That's Jim's thoughts there in West Virginia.
		We'll go to Lake Charles, Louisiana.
		Melissa is an independent.
		Hi, Melissa.
unidentified		Hi, Granna.
		Good morning.
		Thanks for taking my call.
		So I wanted to speak with Representative Green.
		He always seems like a nice gentleman when he's on this program.
		And so I do appreciate how frequently, really, he shows up to take our calls and listen to what the people have to say because he gets a mixed bag.
		But I hope to encourage him to let it go.
		He needs to let this silly crusade that he's on, he needs to let it go.
		Yesterday, I saw a completely unhinged Democrat from Tennessee, Mr. Cohen, say some of the worst things about all sorts of people from Caroline Levitt to the president.
		And I'm an independent voter.
		I voted for many Democrats, many Democrats in my life.
		I voted for Republicans.
		I voted for Ross Perot.
		I mean, he voted all over the spectrum.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Well, so why do you think Democrats?
		Why do you think Democrats are unhinged?
		Your word.
unidentified		Well, yesterday, Mr. Cohen, anyone can look at C-SPAN.org in the archives for Washington Journal and see how the man behaved.
		And his nose was red.
		So he was unhinged.
		He was calling people names.
		He called Caroline Levitt a young girl, I think.
		And I may be misremembering his exact words, but he was just saying all sorts of really kooky things, to be honest.
		And I don't want to disparage the man, but the Democrats have these terrible ideas.
		And that's why they are acting out in the streets and coming up with this impeachment talk two weeks into the new administration.
		And they just, they never can seem to work together with other people.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Melissa.
		Melissa's comments there in Louisiana on Democrats' efforts to oppose the president.
		As she said, they've been holding protests around Washington up on Capitol Hill yesterday, protesting the shuttering of U.S. aid, the U.S. aid agency.
		They were protesting that.
		And then Senate Democrats decided to take the Senate floor and pull an all-nighter.
		And they continue this morning.
		Over on C-SPAN 2, we've been live all night with the Senate Democrats as they hold the floor in protest over Russell Vogt serving as the president's budget director.
		Alex Padilla is on the floor right now.
		Let's listen in.
alex padilla ▲ ● ▼		Health centers in San Francisco met to assess their ability to provide services if grant funding and Medicare reimbursements were frozen.
alex padilla ▲ ● ▼		The Oakland Fire Department raised alarm bells about having to cut staff if an outstanding FEMA grant to support pay for 35 firefighters was paused.
unidentified		Northern California, Central California has seen what fires have done to Southern California.
		They don't want the same.
		Yeah, we're going to jeopardize firefighter staffing.
		Really?
alex padilla ▲ ● ▼		Not to mention, President Trump is still holding up hundreds of millions of dollars that were promised for key infrastructure projects in California.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Senator Alex Padilla, Democrat of California, on the floor.
		Democrats working all night long on holding the floor.
		They refused to give back any hours.
		This is from roll calls reporting.
		Culture was invoked Wednesday afternoon on a 53 to 47 party line vote, limiting debate on the vote nomination to 30 hours.
		Democrats decided not to yield time and scheduled speakers to keep the floor occupied through the night.
		If all the debate time is used, vote will likely be confirmed around 7 p.m. tonight.
		Live Gabble de Gavel coverage over on C-SPAN 2 of the Senate.
		Here on C-SPAN in the Washington Journal, we're in open forum while we wait for President Trump to deliver remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast.
		This gathering happening every year with the President and members of Congress to pray together for the nation.
		Mark in Newport, Kentucky, Republican.
		Let's hear from you.
unidentified		Yeah, I was talking about Mr. Green wanting to impinch or impeach Donald Trump.
		How about him?
		Why didn't they impeach Biden for open borders, for him giving student loans that the Supreme Court even said wasn't supposed to be?
		They're a mess.
		They're on TV.
		They look like a bunch of kids yesterday crying.
		That's all I got.
		They're disgusting.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Mark in Kentucky, a Republican.
		Antonio, Democratic caller in Hollywood, Florida.
		Antonio, go ahead.
unidentified		All right.
		Good morning, first-time caller, long-time listener.
		Two quick points.
		First point is: I agree with one of the previous callers that unfortunately Democratic Party seems to be unhinged, but for a slightly different reason.
		And as illustrated or actually mentioned by Representative Green, that he's willing to stand alone.
		Democrats are unhinged because there's such a painful lack of unity in the party.
		He's willing to stand alone.
		Our country is seemingly in chaos.
		You have him wanting to try impeachment yet again.
		You have Democrats grandstanding on the Senate floor.
		And then you have another segment of House Democrats wanting to have yet another federal holiday.
		Where is the unity?
		Second point: as a lifelong civil servant, first in the military, now as a civilian, I wish Congress had received the fork in the road email.
		And what that fork in the road looks like on both sides of the aisle, both chambers of Congress, is that senators with more than two terms need to be primary.
		Representatives with more than four terms, they need to be primary.
		We need a shift because the way things are going right now is not sustainable.
		And I'm questioning my loyalty to the Democratic Party.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Antonio, a Democrat questioning his loyalty to the party.
		Democrats and Republicans are gathered at the Capitol this morning for the national prayer breakfast.
		There is the scene on your screen.
		Let me tell you as we watch this and wait for President Trump to speak to those gathered, what else is happening in Washington today?
		Punch Bowl News reporting this morning that Speaker Johnson and Republicans will go to the White House today to meet with President Trump over his plan to extend his 2017 tax cuts and border spending.
		How do Republicans with control of Congress and the White House get his proposal across the finish line, a law signed on his desk?
		That is the conversation that the President will have with House Republicans today because there's disagreement between House Republicans and Senate Republicans over how to move on this.
		I hear hail to the chief in the Capitol building.
		Let's watch live.
unidentified		Thank you very much.
donald j trump ▲ ● ▼		This is very beautiful, I must say.
unidentified		This is a beautiful place.
donald j trump ▲ ● ▼		And our country is starting to do very well again.
		It's happening fast.
		A little faster than people thought.
		Thank you, especially to Senator Marshall for the beautiful introduction.
		Appreciate it very much.
		Thank you.
		Great senator, you are.
		I also want to thank a friend and a man of profound faith and tremendous patriotism who's also become a great friend.
		You become much friendlier when you have a majority of two or three or four.
		Could even be five pretty soon.
		But for a little while, it was one.
		And it's Mike Johnson, Speaker.
		Thank you very much, Mike, very much.
		And thanks as well to somebody who's doing a fantastic job.
		Senator Thun, thank you very much, Senator.
		It's not easy.
		It's not easy.
		It's really great.
		And Leader Scalise, Steve, wherever you may be, I know I think you're here someplace.
		There he is.
		A brave guy, too.
		A brave guy, I always say it.
		And Senator Chuck Schumer.
		Chuck, thank you very much.
		Thank you.
		Senator Hassan, thank you very much.
		Thank you.
		Very nice to see you.
		Congressman Jeffries, thank you.
		And many other very distinguished leaders in the room.
		Great, great group of people.
		If we could ever come together, it would be unbelievable.
		It may not happen, but it should, and maybe it will.
		From the earliest days of our republic, faith in God has always been the ultimate source of the strength that beats in the hearts of our nation.
		We have to bring religion back.
		We have to bring it back much stronger.
		It's one of the biggest problems that we've had over the last fairly long period of time.
		We have to bring it back.
		Thomas Jefferson himself once attended Sunday services.
		Thomas Jefferson himself once attended Sunday services held in the old House chamber on the very ground where I stand today.
		So there could be nothing more beautiful than for us to gather in this majestic place that is majestic and reaffirm that America is and will always be one nation under God.
		At every stage of the American story, our country has drawn hope and courage and inspiration from our trust in the Almighty's mission for America.
		And that plan is going to happen.
		It's going to happen.
		I hope it happens sooner rather than later.
		It's going to happen.
		And it's his hand that guides us every single step of the way.
		And all of you and the things we have to do is see the defining role that faith and prayer have played in the life of our nation.
		And you just have to look at this building and you can look at each other.
		You can really look at each other.
		It's defined almost everyone in this room.
		I think faith has been very strong with the people in this room.
		Just steps away from here in the Hall of Columns is the statue of John Winthrop, who famously proclaimed that America would stand as a city upon a hill, a light to all nations, with the eyes of all people upon us.
		Today, almost 400 years after that famous sermon, we see that with the Lord's help, the city stands taller and shines brighter than ever before, or at least it soon will.
		In that same hall, we also find the statue of the great Roger Williams, who founded the state of Rhode Island, named its capital city Providence, and built the first Baptist church in America.
		It's Williams that we have to thank for making religious liberty part of the bedrock of American life.
		And today we must protect the fundamental freedom with absolute devotion.
		We must stand strong, just like generations of Americans have done on the battlefields all around the world.
		Feet away from the magnificent rotunda, another statue watches over visitors to the Capitol.
		George Washington, the founder of our country, often called for Americans to join together in prayer, very often.
		And more than two centuries later, this morning, we heed President Washington's wisdom and follow in his mighty footsteps.
		He was a strong man and of great religious strength.
		The stories of legends like Washington, Winthrop, and Williams remind us that without faith in God, there would be no American story.
		Every citizen should be proud of this exceptional heritage.
	We have an unbelievable heritage, and we have to use that and make life better for everyone.
	That's why as we approach the 25th times 10 anniversary, think of that, 250, 250 years we'll be celebrating next year of our country's founding.
	I have signed an executive order to resume the process of creating a new national park full of statues of the greatest Americans who ever lived.
	We're going to be honoring our heroes, honoring the greatest people from our country.
	We're not going to be tearing down.
	We're going to be building up.
	It will be called the National Garden of American Heroes.
	Some of you will be on that soon-to-be hallowed ground.
	Some of you, let's see, I can pick a few of you right now by looking.
	There's a couple of you right now I can see.
	Let's see.
	It's the president's sole opinion.
	And I've given myself a 25-year period.
	And then somebody else.
unidentified		By that time, it'll be very, very built up.
donald j trump ▲ ● ▼		Yeah, it will be something very special.
		And I hope that Congress will fully fund this wonderfully unifying project at the first possible opportunity.
		It's not going to be a lot of money, going to be very important, however, so that more of our people can be inspired by the faith and courage of patriots like those who we honor in these halls.
		One of the incredible Americans whose memory my order will celebrate is also recognized with a statue in the Capitol representing the great state of North Carolina.
		And that's a man who everybody loved, Reverend Billy Graham.
		He was something, my father used to take me to watch the Crusades.
		He would take me to Yankee Stadium.
		I remember it so well.
		I remember it more than I remember any Yankee game, and I've seen a lot of Yankee games.
unidentified		Can you believe it?
donald j trump ▲ ● ▼		And Billy didn't have a bat.
		So, you know, this is pretty good.
		It was amazing.
		You'd have 60 or 70,000 people.
		And they loved him.
		They loved him.
		I saw him with Franklin.
		I don't know if Franklin's here.
		I just don't know.
		But I've gotten to know Franklin.
		He's done a great job with helping on tragedies and problems like in North Carolina, California.
		He's always the first one there.
		Work he does, his father's very proud of him.
		I can tell you that.
		But Billy Graham was very special.
		One floor below us, Reverend Graham's statue stands with an open Bible.
		The page turned to a letter from the Apostle Paul, which reads, Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up.
		Never give up, never ever give up.
		You can't.
		How about me?
		If I would have given up, I would not be here right now.
		Who the hell knows where I'd be?
		It might not be a good place.
		If it was up to the Democrats, it would not be a good place at all.
		Never, ever give up.
		There could be no better message for the leaders gathered here, and you are real leaders.
		We must never give up and we must never grow tired.
		We must never grow weary and we always must practice good.
		As you know, last week, only a few miles from here, our nation witnessed a terrible tragedy when 67 people were killed in a horrible accident near Reagan Airport.
		As one nation, we take solace in the knowledge that their journey that night did not end in the icy waters of the Potomac, but in the warm embrace of a very loving God.
		None of us knows exactly when our time on earth will be over.
		You never know.
		A truth I confronted a few short months ago when there was an incident that wasn't, it was not fun, it was not a good thing.
		But God was watching me.
		The chances of me being here, my sons are shooters, they're really good shooters, Don and Eric.
		And they said the chances of missing from that range with that gun are.
		Don equated it to a one-foot putt.
		That's pretty bad.
		Two feet I can see missing, but one foot you can't miss.
		It was the equivalent of a one-foot putt, is what he told me.
		He said, in fact, he gained some religion.
		He went up 25%.
		And if you know him, that's a lot.
		But he said, there had to be somebody that saved you, and I think I know who it is.
		And he looked up and I said, Whoa, Don, you've come a long way.
		He's a good guy.
		But my two sons just really couldn't believe it.
		Had I not turned that right turn just at that time, and the audience, 55,000 people standing this way, there were just a few people in the back on the bleachers.
		There was nobody over there, except for my all-time favorite chart in history, a chart on immigration.
		Immigration saved my life, see?
		So we're going to be good for immigration, okay?
		But had I not made that turn, boom, and quickly, it was almost as though a deer bolted.
		You know, they say the only way you miss when you're a good shot is if it bolts.
		I bolted.
		I turned to the right to look at the chart and I said, wow, what was that?
		Wow, what was that?
		So you never know, but God did that.
		I mean, it had to be.
		The chances of turning, there's no reason to turn to the right.
		You know, the chart is rarely brought down.
		I brought it down maybe 20% and 20% of the time.
		And it's never on my right, it's always on my left.
		And it's always at the end of the speech, never the beginning of the speech.
		And if I was a little more than that 90-degree angle, it would be no good.
	And if I was a little less, it would be no good.
	It had to be perfect.
	Thing went right along the edge.
	It didn't affect my hair.
	Can you believe it?
	Might have touched it, but not where it counts.
	Not the skin part.
	But it's, no, honestly, it changed something in me.
	I feel even stronger.
	I believed in God, but I feel much more strongly about it.
	Something happened.
unidentified		Thank you.
donald j trump ▲ ● ▼		Thank you.
		But that event, like the tragedy last week, should remind us all that we have to make the most out of every single day.
		That you're in space and two, the odds of that happening are so small.
		Even without proper control, we should have had the proper control.
		We should have had better equipment.
		We don't.
		We have obsolete equipment.
		They were understaffed for whatever reason.
		I guess the helicopter was high.
		And we'll find out exactly what happened.
		But the odds, even if you had nothing, if you had nobody, the odds of that happening are extremely small.
		It's like, did you ever see, you go to a driving range in golf and you're hitting balls hundreds of balls, thousands of hours.
		I never see a ball hit another ball.
		Balls going up all over the place.
		You never see them hit.
		It was amazing that that could happen.
		There was a lot of mistakes made, and it should have never happened.
		But regardless of that, it's amazing that it happened.
		And I think that's going to be used for good.
		I think what is going to happen is we're all going to sit down and do a great computerized system for our control towers, brand new, not pieced together obsolete like it is land-based, trying to hook up a land-based system to a satellite system.
		And the first thing that some experts told me when this happened is you can't hook up land to satellites and you can't hook up satellites to land.
		It doesn't work.
		We spent billions and billions of dollars trying to renovate an old broken system instead of just saying cut it loose and let's spend less money and build a great system done by two or three companies, very good companies, specialists, that's all it is.
		They used 39 companies.
		That means that 39 different hookups have to happen.
		And I don't know how many people of you are good in terms of all of the kind of things necessary for that.
		And it's very complex stuff.
		But when you have 39 different companies working on hooking up, different cities had different people, you need one company with one set of equipment.
		And there are some countries that have unbelievable air controller systems.
		And they would have, bells would have gone off when that helicopter literally even hit the same height because it traveled a long distance before it hit.
		It was just like, just wouldn't stop.
		You know, follow the line.
		But bells and whistles would have gone off.
		They haven't actually could virtually turn the thing around.
		It would have just never happened if we had the right equipment.
		And one of the things that's going to be, I'm going to be speaking to John and to Mike and to Chuck and to everybody.
		We have to get together and just, as a single bill, just pass where we get the best control system.
		When I land in my plane, privately, I use a system from another country because my captain tells me, I'm landing in New York and I'm using a system.
		I won't tell you what country, but I use a system from another country because the captain says this thing is so bad.
		It's so obsolete.
		And we can't have that.
		So we're going to have the best system and a lot of money, but it's not that much money.
		And it'll happen fast and it'll be done by total professionals.
		And when it's done, you're not going to have accidents.
		They're virtually not possible to have.
		Each of us is blessed with a precious chance to help lead America to renew, to renew our pledges of faith and everything else and bring us to new heights and create a future of promise for our people and for ourselves.
		You know, we have the most important people in the country in a true sense here because you're the ones that are going to make the decision.
		You're the ones that are leading us into so many different things, whether it's the right air control system or the right size military or what to do and what not to do.
		Most important people.
		And many of you are very religious.
		I know so many of you are very religious.
		I just think that our country has been so badly hurt.
		We're very hurt by what COVID did to religion.
		It really hurt it badly.
		People couldn't go to church for a long period of time.
		Even going outside, they were given a hard time.
		And I'm not blaming anybody for that, but it was very hard to gather, so they start using computers, if that.
		And when they come back, it's just, you know, a whole new experience they have to get used to.
		But it is starting to come back.
		We had a fantastic thing happen yesterday.
		The Army had the best recruitment numbers that they've had in more than 15 years.
		They think it could be 25 years, actually.
		They're going to probably put that out, but more than 15 years.
		Just now.
	And we were worried about it.
	We were talking about it numerous times that, you know, we don't have people joining our military services.
	We don't have people joining our police force.
	We have to cherish our police.
	It's so dangerous.
	You open a car and somebody starts shooting.
	They have blackened windows.
	You don't even have any idea who's in the car.
	Oftentimes they have the dark windows, which they're not in theory supposed to have, but they have them.
	The door opens and a gun is pointed at your face and you can't do a thing about it.
	There's just nothing you're going to do about it.
	Your friends will take them out.
	It's happened so many times, but you just, it's such a dangerous thing.
	We have to cherish these people.
	So today we join our hearts and prayers and recommitting to putting our country first.
	We have to put our country first, making America stronger and greater and more exceptional than ever before.
	And we have to make religion a much more important factor now.
	We have to make it an important factor.
	And if we do that, it's going to be, our job is just going to be much easier.
	It unifies people, it brings people together.
	Democrats are going to be able to have lunch again and dinner with Republicans.
	And I remember just as growing up, I'd see, you know, I revered senators, congressmen, or something very special.
	But they were out to dinner all the time.
	We had an old congressman, maybe some of Cy Halpern from Queens.
	And he was a friend of my father.
	But he'd have dinner with, he was a Democrat.
	He'd have dinner with Republicans, and he'd be out.
	It wouldn't even make a difference.
	Today it's like shocking.
	And it shouldn't be.
	You have to get together.
	We really have to get together.
	We all know what's right and what's wrong.
	And there's going to be compromise on both sides.
	But we have to just do the right thing and we have to get together.
	You did it with Marco Rubio.
	You got everybody who was 99 votes.
	And the only vote was our VP, who maybe we should have been there just to make it 100.
	But I think I would have been angered if it was 100.
	That might be a step too far, right?
	But no, it was great to see a vote.
	Pam Bondi had support from Democrats, and some of the others had some pretty good support.
	So, you know, it's doable.
	We had a recent bill having to do with a very beautiful young lady who was killed from Georgia.
	And that bill was very bipartisan.
	It was a very beautiful thing to watch, actually.
	And so I think we just have to, if possible, we have to unify.
	There's big division.
	I mean, some people want an open border, and some people want a closed border.
	We want it closed, and they want it open.
	That's a big difference.
	How do you solve that problem?
	It's a big difference.
	Some people want men and women's sports and some people don't.
	And I was with somebody yesterday who was so upset that the bill was signed where men cannot participate in women's sports.
	And I said, he's a very smart guy, went to a great school, was a great student, and he actually feels, you know, that that should happen.
	Men should be able to play, meaning transition into women sports.
	And you talk to him, and it's just, you know, I don't understand it.
	I think it, I don't understand how the problem ever got started in the first place.
	It just seems so simple.
	But he's a good person and just believes it.
	It just believes it.
	Not going to be easy to convince him otherwise.
	So where is a middle ground?
	It's hard to have a middle ground.
	There's two ways.
	I mean, you can either do it or you can't.
	But I think a lot of good things are going to happen.
	You know, a lot of people might be surprised to hear me say that of all people, but I think a lot of good things are going to happen because our country's got some big headaches, but we have tremendous spirit right now.
	The spirit is as high as it's been.
	It was up 49 points this morning.
	49 points?
	It's the biggest increase in the history of whatever the poll was.
	So the spirit is there.
	That's a big factor.
	That's probably the hardest thing to get back, to be honest.
	The rest is easy.
	The rest is easy.
	So I want to just thank you all.
	I want to congratulate a lot of the new members.
	I see so many of you that ran great races, David.
	It was a great race.
	But so many that ran great races and on both sides.
	You ran some incredible races, so it's good to be with you.
	And God bless everybody.
	We want to come together and the happiest, the person, the element, everything that's going to be happy, people of religion are going to be happy again.
	And I really believe you can't be happy without religion, without that belief.
	I really believe it.
	I just don't see how you can be.
	So let's bring religion back.
	Let's bring God back into our lives.
	Thank you all very much.
	Thank you very much.
	Great honor.
	Thank you.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Happening on Capitol Hill today, President Trump finishes up his remarks to a gathering of members of Congress, Republicans and Democrats, for the National Prayer Breakfast.
		That is happening on Capitol Hill this morning.
		And over in the Senate chamber, Democrats are holding the floor, as they have done all night long, in protest over President Trump's nominee to serve as the budget director in his second term, Russell Vogt.
		They are opposing his nomination and holding the floor in an all-nighter, and they said they will continue to do so, not yielding back any of the time until the senators vote on the nomination at 7 p.m. tonight.
		Tina Smith, Democrat of Minnesota, now taking her turn on the floor delivering remarks.
		We're live here in Washington.
		The Washington Journal continues here this morning.
		We're an open forum.
		Any political or public policy issue that's on your mind, we'll hear from Tom in Gibsonburg, Ohio, Republican.
		Hi there, Tom.
		Thanks for waiting.
unidentified		Yes, I would have liked to talk to Mr. Green, but didn't get the opportunity.
		It kind of turns my stomach in a way when I hear people like him talk.
		I went into the military twice.
		Luckily, I was never in combat.
		I'm 85 years old.
		Guys like him never went into service.
		I'm talking my grandkids to go to the military.
		I'm going to quit that.
		I'm going to tell them, don't go.
		There are too many people like him that sat around and they want to hold up a paper, impeach, impeach, sit around and whine and cry all the time.
		That's all they do.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right.
		Tom's Thoughts in Ohio.
		Tom talking about Al Green, who was our guest here this morning on the Washington Journal.
		And he is moving to articles of impeachment against President Trump, citing what the president had to say about taking over Gaza.
		That conversation happening earlier this morning, you can find it on our website at c-span.org or our free video mobile app, C-SPANNow.
		Let me tell you what's happening on our networks this morning.
		We're live here on the Washington Journal, taking your phone calls as we do every morning over on C-SPAN 2.
		The Senate is in session because Democrats have been holding the floor, as we said.
		Gavel-to-gavel coverage there over on C-SPAN 2.
		And on C-SPAN 3, the national prayer breakfast continues where we just heard from President Trump.
		And you can watch the breakfast as it continues with members of Congress over on C-SPAN 3, also on c-span.org, or our free video mobile app, C-SPAN Now.
		President Trump is going to attend a second national prayer breakfast at the Washington Hilton later this morning.
		His remarks are expected there around 9.15 a.m. Eastern Time.
		And you can watch those online at c-SPAN.org or our free video mobile app.
		Also happening today on Capitol Hill, 10 a.m. Eastern Time over on C-SPAN 3 is a confirmation hearing for Jameson Greer to serve as the U.S. trade representative in our country.
		He's an international trade lawyer and a chief of staff to the former U.S. trade rep under the first Trump administration.
		He'll take questions during his confirmation hearing.
		You can watch it live on C-SPAN 3, C-SPANNOW or C-SPAN.org.
		That's at 10 a.m. Eastern Time.
		And you can expect him to take questions on tariffs and what will happen with the president's tariffs proposals.
		Sophia in Raleigh, North Carolina and Independent, we're in open forum.
		Sophia, good morning.
unidentified		Good morning, Greta.
		Thank you so much for taking my call.
		Again, this was about Rep Green.
		Wish I could have asked him.
		I'll just give you some of my thoughts about Gaza.
		I wanted to say, as a Christian, I have empathy for both the Palestinian people and the Israelis.
		And not to forget, we still have hostages there, first of all.
		But I wanted to ask him, in terms of Trump, what is wrong with I don't think we should own Gaza, not Trump, not the Americans.
		And I do think the Palestinians should come back to their own home in Gaza.
		But when he was talking about Trump not even considering the people of Palestine, I don't even know who their leader is, and I watch the news all the time.
		So I wanted to ask him, who is the leader of the Palestinian people, Greta?
		Because right now it seems like it's still Hamas in my understanding.
		So who is the leader that Trump should have gone to to discuss this as an author?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Sophia, let me pick up on your point and have you react to this.
		This is the Washington Post editorial this morning.
		The ceasefire is held, and now the war should end.
		And they write this: that if the president wants to build upon the Abraham Accords, which was a deal made during the first Trump administration, then he is going to have to turn his attention to Saudi Arabia.
		And he says here that in his first term, that the Abram Accords saw Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates and later Morocco and Sudan normalize relations with Israel.
		Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told the president in a phone call last month that he plans to invest $600 billion in the United States.
		But first, he wants to see an end to the war in Gaza and a path to statehood for Palestinians.
		Sophia, your reaction there to who should the president have consulted with right?
unidentified		Who was the last person that?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Who was the last country that the Saudi Arabian leader there that they that the Washington POST editorial notes that he, in a phone call to President Trump, said, I'll invest, but I want an end to this war first and I want there to be a statehood solution for Palestinians.
unidentified		Okay, so I would say I'm assuming I shouldn't assume anything but that President Trump is in touch with, especially because of the Abraham Accords with some of these Arab nations Saudi Arabia Jordan, Egypt or Qatar, UAE.
		So yeah, I guess I'm assuming he's in consultation with them.
		So that would be a question I really don't know the answer to.
		But yeah, I don't hear a lot about those countries really stepping up to say hey, we are going to I don't know form a joint coalition I'm talking about the Arab countries understood yeah, and get a government together for the Palestinian people that doesn't involve terrorists.
		I really don't hear that.
		And one other thought, two other quick thoughts I have about Sophia.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		I have, I have other people waiting, so I'm gonna go to those calls.
		Thank you, though.
		I'm just gonna show some quick headlines on this story from the national newspapers.
		NEW YORK Times.
		Trump's proposal for Gaza is rattling the Middle East.
		A plan put forward without details or consultation, and experts ask if he is serious or bluffing.
		That's the front page of the NEW YORK Times this morning, front page of the WALL Street Journal.
		Mideast powers reject Trump's Gaza proposal.
		Saudis Turkey, rule out U.S. Takeover and reaffirm support for the Palestinian cause.
		And then there is this from the front page of the Washington Times, Palestinian relocation only temporary.
		Trump's out-of-the-box idea to take over Gaza stuns lawmakers and the Arab world.
		The Washington Times citing what the White House press secretary had to say at the briefing yesterday.
		Washington POST, their headline on this White House softens parts of Trump's pitch for Gaza.
		The proposal to remove all Palestinians draws swift backlash in the Arab world.
		We're in open forum, Henry in Michigan.
		Democratic caller.
		Henry, good morning, what's on your mind?
unidentified		Good morning, we were just treated to another Trump rally.
		Satan is a liar.
		I think the people have to keep up the pressure.
		The protests must continue and they must intensify because we need to get physical control over these agencies and these buildings once again, because this information that Elon Musk is stealing is just too important.
		Another thing, Howard Luttnick.
		Everybody remember that name, Howard Luttnick.
		He is Trump's nominee for Commerce Secretary, I believe it is.
		He is a crypto king.
		They are about to effect the largest robbery in U.S. history.
		They've moved the crypto operations into El Salvador, where the president of El Salvador himself is heavily invested in crypto.
		Trump and Elon are invested in crypto.
		We, the American people, have to keep up the pressure.
		We have to be more vocal.
		We have to be more organized.
		We have to go to these places and we have to take physical control of all of the mechanisms that Elon Musk and these people are employing to steal our information.
		They're taking our taxpayer numbers.
		They're taking our Social Security numbers.
		They're taking what's paid to us.
		They are trying to destroy our country.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Henry, I'm going to jump in because there's two stories related to what you are talking about here.
		First, from roll call on Luttnick's nomination.
		The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee advanced Howard Luttnick's nomination to lead the Commerce Department 16 to 12 with all but one Democrat in opposition.
		Although his promise to bring supply chains onshore and boost U.S. competitiveness on artificial intelligence and other technologies was met with bipartisan approval, Democrats took issue with Nutlick's lack of commitment to funding from the law dubbed the Chips and Science Act, as well as the Trump administration's tariff plan.
		So that was yesterday on Capitol Hill.
		And then also sharing with you about protests across the country.
		This is from the Associated Press with this headline: protests in cities across the U.S. rally against Trump's policies, Project 2025, and Elon Musk.
		So not just in Washington, D.C., but the Associated Press reporting on rallies that have happened in Philadelphia, the state capitals in California, Minnesota, Michigan, Texas, Wisconsin, Indiana, and beyond is from the Associated Press.
		Devin in Dallas, Texas Independent.
		Devin, good morning to you.
		Open forum.
unidentified		Good morning.
		I was going to ask now that the 14th Amendment has been challenged in multiple ways, do you think the Democratic Party will ever be able to lure black Americans back to the party without pushing flat blackness or identity politics without,
		especially since more black Americans are expressing their naturally saying conservative views.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Devin's thoughts there.
		Matt, Salisbury, Maryland, Democratic caller.
		Hi, Matt.
unidentified		Hey, good morning.
		Thank you for taking my call.
		Yeah, so the suggestion by Trump to take over Gaza, people are not really listening in very carefully.
		They hear certain words and then they misutter words.
		He said humanitarian.
		He didn't say take it over as make a part of the United States or make it a colonial thing.
		No, he said it's a humanitarian project.
		And that's all it is.
		The people in the Middle East, they're protesting against it.
		Oh, no, we don't.
		You got to be kidding.
		Well, that's because they are shame.
		It's all a shame because they sat there.
		And to be honest, really, I'm no fan of Trump, but Hamas, Hamas is the enemy of the people over there.
		I mean, you know, 30,000 of your citizens get killed.
		October 7, you go and do something horrific like that.
		And I didn't get the logic of it.
		And then in the end, the hostages are free.
		30,000 pounds.
		No, Hamas is the enemy.
		What the people of Palestine need is their own Gandhi.
		What they need is their own Martin Luther King Jr.
		That's what they need to get to that place where they're trying to get to, which is statehood.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right.
		Matt's thoughts there in Maryland.
		We are an open forum this morning.
		As we told you, President Trump this morning on Capitol Hill for those national prayer breakfast comments.
		He is going to attend a second breakfast in Washington this morning.
		And according to Punch Bowl News, he'll meet with House Republican Speaker Mike Johnson and Republicans on the way forward to extending his 27 tax cuts and border security spending.
		The Republicans want to move those proposals through reconciliation.
		That is the vehicle that allows them to get it through the Senate with a simple majority.
		The problem is that the Republicans in the House and Senate don't agree right now on how they do that, how they use reconciliation.
		The House GOP leaders are still stalled on a plan from Punch Bowl News and Republicans are getting antsy.
		They're starting to look at other options.
		This includes a short-term tax cut proposal, which would allow Republicans to contain some costs and satisfy some hardline demands.
		This is from the Wall Street Journal this morning.
		GOP downshifts on those tax cut plans.
		Shorter extension as little as five years would cheer the party's deficit hawks.
		That's from the Wall Street Journal's reporting.
		And then from the Washington Times, Senate moving on Trump's agenda as House splinters overspending.
		But both chambers must adopt identical resolutions.
		Lindsey Graham, who chairs the budget committee, announced yesterday that he's going to mark up his own $300 billion budget resolution next week, throwing a massive wrench into Speaker Mike Johnson's plans.
		And Graham announced the budget resolution markup as Johnson insisted that the House needs to move first.
		So the president meeting with House Republicans and Speaker Johnson today.
		And then political reporting that the Republican senators will be at a private Mar-a-Lago dinner with the president on Friday where they plan to discuss their budget resolution.
		Bob in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, Republican.
		Hi, Bob.
		Good morning.
unidentified		I'm doing great.
unidentified		I'm a first-time caller.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Well, welcome.
		Glad you called in.
		What's on your mind?
unidentified		Well, I used to be a federal government employee, and I'm concerned about my friends that I left with the federal government when I retired.
		A lot of those federal workers are friends of mine, and I don't want to see them resign.
		There really is no backup money for the eight months of pay they've been promised.
		The legislature hasn't passed any bill that would provide money for many people who might resign.
		They weren't told when they would get the eight months of pay.
		Would they get it in a lump sum or over a period of time?
		What kind of rights do they have?
		What do the unions at the federal workers have say about that procedure?
		I'm very proud of the fact that Chuck Schumer got a group of people to spend the whole night talking about the nomination of Russell Vogt and the fact that he did was one of the major writers for the Project 2025.
		This bill basically would ruin the equal division of the government into three parts, judicial, legislative, and executive, and it would give the executive much more power.
		I heard that there's been over 300 executive orders by the president already.
		And what Russell Vogt wants to do is to kind of take federal workers and reduce them, reduce them in number, which would reduce the spending.
		It would reduce the spending.
		But a lot of these people are needed by their particular government branch.
		And if a large number of them left, you just couldn't bring in new people that are trained and ready to go.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right.
		Bob there with a couple reminders of what's happening today.
		Today is the deadline for federal employees to take the buyout offer from President Trump.
		Fork in the Road was the email sent out at the end of January, days after the president took over for his second term, offering a buyout to federal employees.
		According to Reuters, 40,000 of the federal employees have taken it.
		There's 2.3 million total nationwide.
		That deadline is today.
		Bob also talking about what's happening over in the Senate.
		Democrats have been protesting all night long, holding the floor, not yielding back any more time over the nomination of Russell Vogt to serve as the budget director.
		Up right now is Tina Smith of Minnesota.
		You can watch our gabble-to-gavel coverage on C-SPAN 2.
		We are in open forum here on the Washington Journal this morning.
		Want to share another headline with you in picture this morning from the New York Times.
		Take a look at this image featured in the New York Times this morning.
		Human rights groups cite overcrowding and reports of mass torture at prisons in El Salvador that have become a symbol of the president's, the El Salvadorian's president's administration.
		The headline on this story is offer to house Trump's deportees in El Salvador's prisons raises alarms.
		That image today in the New York Times.
		Bob in Nevada, Democratic caller.
		Go ahead, Bob.
unidentified		Good morning.
		Good morning.
		What I'm curious about this morning is when our leaders were at these prayer breakfasts shoving bagels down their throats, was there any consideration or mention about the people out there in our country that don't have breakfast this morning?
		Or the people that are having to crawl down in dumpsters to get theirs?
		Or was there a mention about Yahoo bombing the world food kitchen?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Bob in Nevada, Democratic caller, with his response to the National Prayer Breakfast.
		If you want to hear what was said at the National Prayer Breakfast, you can go to our website, c-span.org.
		It's live on C-SPAN 3 this morning or our free video mobile app, C-SPANNOW.
		We're going to take a short break.
		When we come back, health advocate Callie Means discusses Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services and potential reforms to the healthcare system.
		And then later, Wall Street Journal Education reporter Matt Barnum discusses his reporting on the Trump administration's plans to dismantle the education department.
		We'll be right back.
unidentified		American History TV, Saturdays on C-SPAN 2, exploring the people and events that tell the American story.
		This weekend, at 2 p.m. Eastern, historians discuss President Lincoln's views on race and slavery.
		Then at 5:45 p.m. Eastern, we'll talk with four new media creators on sharing history topics on TikTok, YouTube, podcasts, and Substack.
		At 7 p.m. Eastern, watch American History TV series First 100 Days as we look at the start of presidential terms.
		This week, we focus on the early months of President Andrew Jackson's first term in 1829, including his policy agenda and controversies surrounding his cabinet.
		And at 8 p.m. Eastern on lectures and history, Louisiana State University journalism professor John Maxwell Hamilton talks about the U.S. government propaganda efforts during World War I, exploring the American story.
		Watch American History TV Saturdays on C-SPAN 2 and find a full schedule on your program guide or watch online anytime at c-span.org/slash history.
		Book TV, every Sunday on C-SPAN 2, features leading authors discussing their latest nonfiction books.
		Here's a look at what's coming up this weekend.
		At 6:15 p.m. Eastern, Angela Merkel, who served as German Chancellor from 2005 to 2021, discusses her memoir Freedom with former President Barack Obama.
		And at 8 p.m. Eastern, former Georgetown law professor Ilya Shapiro argues that there's a decline of intellectual diversity, academic freedom, and civil discourse at elite law schools, creating a climate of intolerance.
		He's the author of the book, Lawless.
		Then at 10 p.m. Eastern on Afterwards, Omo Moses, son of civil rights organizer Robert Moses and author of the book The White Peril, talks about being black in America through the voices of three generations of the Moses family.
		He's interviewed by University of Maryland Baltimore County Emeritus President Freeman Rabowski.
		Watch Book TV every Sunday on C-SPAN 2 and find a full schedule on your program guide or watch online anytime at booktv.org.
		Washington Journal continues.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Welcome back to the Washington Journal.
		On your screen this morning is Callie Means, co-founder of TrueMed Telehealth Platform and co-author of the book Good Energy: The Surprising Connection Between Metabolism and Limitless Health, here to talk about RFK Jr.'s nomination and health care policy.
		Callie Means, let's just first talk about your connection with RFK Jr. and President Trump.
		You made that relationship happen, I understand.
		Can you explain?
calley means ▲ ● ▼		Well, my sister and I have been advocating about the need to get away from our siloed system of health that treats every single chronic condition as a separate silo with a separate drug and get more to the root cause.
		That's what our book's about.
		We've been out on the podcast circuit, Independent Media, Joe Rogan, Megan Kelly, Tucker Carlson, met Bobby Kennedy, met the Trump campaign through that community.
		And yeah, when President Trump was shot and Butler, I had the privilege of, you know, I've been working with Democrats, I've been working with the Trump campaign, Bobby Kennedy.
		There's really a bipartisan awakening on this issue of chronic disease.
		Called Bobby, suggested he talk to Trump that night, was able to facilitate that conversation.
		But I was an extremely small part of it.
		I just had the privilege of viewing this bond developed between the two men, and it was a bond over not a partisan issue, but the true legacy item of reversing the hill ring chronic disease crisis among our children.
		We've got 50% of our teens overweight or obese.
		It's 3% in Japan.
		We've got 38% of our teens pre-diabetic.
		This is just a national scandal.
		And Bobby and President Trump captured the conscience of Americans, I think, with this issue, brought a lot of new voters into the fold.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Where do you agree with RFK Jr. on this issue of chronic conditions?
calley means ▲ ● ▼		Yeah, I mean, I think you saw it in the hearing.
		I mean, he was being quizzed by senators who were bragging that they've been working on intricacies of Medicare Medicaid policy for the past couple decades.
		When Bobby is not talking about, you know, what the reforms need to be to, you know, page 300 of Medicare Part D, Bobby's fundamental premise, which I fully agree with and what our book's about and what my life's mission is, is that we have a two-part problem where we are incentivizing and subsidizing and recommending ultra-processed food.
		You know, that's 70% of food stamps go to ultra-processed food.
		18% by last count go to soda.
		The USDA recommends added sugar for children.
		It recommends ultra-processed food for children.
		So through corporate capture and corruption, we're recommending and actually subsidizing ultra-processed food for kids.
		And then when you get to the health care system, 90 to 95% of all of our health care costs are tied to food-related chronic disease.
		I mean, when you look at diabetes, heart disease, even Alzheimer's, which is now called type 3 diabetes and highly related to metabolic dysfunction.
		Chronic disease is the most profitable invention in the history of American capitalism because a patient gets sick and stays sick.
		So the problem isn't the increases of Medicare Medicaid.
		It's that we're poisoning our population and then the healthcare system is profiting from somebody being sick for a longer period of time.
		So we need to both change the incentives on our food, but also just really go after the medical codes and medical corruption where the standard of care for high cholesterol is a statin.
		For being sad, it's a SSRI.
		Now they're pushing Ozimpic and 12-year-olds.
		The medical codes and our entire medical philosophy need to be much more preventative, much more getting to the root cause of this interconnected chronic disease crisis.
		So Bobby really painted this picture and I think is going to have specific policies to get to a more preventative health system.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		What do you think he'll recommend to do away with food incentives, the processed food, and then at the same time undo those medical codes?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		So how would he push preventative care and what is preventative care, do you think, so that we don't have these chronic conditions?
calley means ▲ ● ▼		Any American would assume that our $4.5 trillion of health care and our AMA medical codes, which underlie 20% of our economy and every medical decision in the country, everyone would assume that those money in that logic is tied to the goal of reversing and preventing disease.
		It's not.
		95% of spending right now is on management of disease.
		So it starts up the value chain at the NIH.
		The NIH right now, 85% of spending at the NIH is pharmaceutical RD.
		So that means they're accepting the fact that we're getting sicker and sicker and sicker.
		And just the NIH itself is just studying ineffective band-aids to profit from chronic disease to help the pharmaceutical industry.
		It's why the pharmaceutical industry lobbies so much for NIH funding.
		The first step is just resetting the mission of the NIH.
		And President Trump talked about this to foundational research to asking the question and answering the question why we're getting sick.
		That then underlies the eventually what is everything, which is the codes, the American Medical Association codes.
		The goal of Medicare Medicaid is to provide the most efficacious treatment for the reversal and the prevention of disease.
		It doesn't do that now.
		It's totally a sick care system.
		As I said, 95% of that spending is after we get sick.
		So you could have codes for food as medicine.
		You could have codes for exercise.
		You know, in Europe, if a woman has PCOS, which is the leading cause of infertility, they get an insurance-subsidized keto diet because that is a metabolic condition that can be brought down very quickly if you limit sugar in your diet.
		Right now, in America, women don't even hear that.
		They're jammed hormone pills right to IVF.
		You know, same thing with obesity.
		Novo Nordics, that company, the market cap is larger than the entire GDP of Denmark.
		It's the largest company in Europe.
		It's the ninth most valuable company in the world making Ozimpic.
		90% of their profits are expected to come from bilking the U.S. taxpayer.
		In Denmark, the standard of care for obesity is not lifetime Ozimpic shots, which they're lobbying.
		They're a top 10 lobbying spend in the United States to make that the case here.
		They give government-subsidized food as medicine.
		So we just have a totally wrong framework that's led to a situation where we're spending three times more per capita on health care than our European friends and living eight years less than a person in Denmark.
		So I'm personally excited President Trump's taking on Denmark on Greenland.
		We should also be taking them on that their entire economy is based on taking advantage of terrible U.S. health care policy.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		What food will Robert Kennedy tell Americans they should eat?
calley means ▲ ● ▼		Yeah, the Biden administration has a 400-page monstrosity from the USDA making the diet very complicated.
		Our book and what Robert Kennedy has talked about is it's very simple.
		I literally think if you throw out the entire tens or hundreds of millions of dollars we spend on nutrition in the U.S. government, all the nutrition advisors, if you fire everyone and cut every single funding and replace the 400-page monstrosity that says beans are the best source of protein, that says meat is bad, that says seed oils are good, that says added sugar could be for two-year-olds.
		If you throw it all out and have three words, eat whole food, we'd be a much healthier country.
		Robert Kennedy's trying to get to the basics.
		We need to be empowering American farmers.
		We need to get away from ultra-processed food.
		And we need to let local communities decide their individual guidelines based on their, you know, we have a big country, big kind of different dietary preferences.
		Around the world, you have cultures eating high carbs.
		You have cultures more carnivore.
		You have cultures more plant-based.
		There's very healthy cultures that have very differing dietary philosophies.
		The one common strain among any healthy culture in the world is they're eating whole food.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		And what does whole food mean?
calley means ▲ ● ▼		Actual real food that's not in a package with ingredients you can't pronounce.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		What is your background in health care?
calley means ▲ ● ▼		I was a lobbyist for the food and pharma industry early in my career.
		I've been a lobbyist for the past, excuse me, I was a lobbyist early in my career.
		I've been an entrepreneur for the past 10 years.
		My sister was top of her class at Stanford Med School, had a neck surgeon, had an awakening where she realized that she didn't take one nutrition class at Stanford Med School.
		And every single surgery she was doing on sinus inflammation, she didn't know why people were inflamed, became an advocate after the death of our mom in 2021, an abrupt death from pancreatic cancer, where the top oncologists at the world at Stanford Hospital said it was unlucky.
		We really put the pieces together where my mom getting cancer and the fact with the highest cancer rates in American history this year isn't unlucky.
		It's because my mom was on five other comorbidity medications that were seen as just a rite of passage instead of leading her on exploration why her cholesterol was high, why her blood sugar was high, why her blood pressure was high.
		We think this is the biggest problem in the world.
		So my sister and I put my experience in the public policy, her experience on the medical side, wrote good energy and been advocating on this and working with any politician who would listen.
		For whatever strange reason, the left has completely advocated the idea of protecting kids.
		The left is the party of big food and big pharma, just demonstrably.
		That's just a statement of fact.
		And Bobby Kennedy and Donald Trump took up this mantle.
		And we're very proud of it, very happy, and the country should be very happy for them.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, let's talk to our viewers.
		Carolyn in Charlotte, North Carolina, Democratic Caller.
		Good morning to you.
unidentified		Go ahead.
		Good morning.
		Good morning.
		I have two questions.
		My number one question is: I remember, well, I would be considered on the left because I'm a Democrat, but I am pro-good food.
		But I remember when Michelle Obama tried to initiate with the school systems and the pushback from the right, I remember that very clearly.
		And I also want to know: is it just the food?
		Is it my number two?
		Is it just the food or is it the environment?
		And how does Calamine feel about climate change and its contributory effects to bad health?
		Thank you.
calley means ▲ ● ▼		Yeah, respectfully, you know, this is today.
		It's not 15 years ago.
		And given your interest in healthy food, you know, I hope you're wearing a MAGA hat.
		There's one candidate who is talking about regenerative agriculture and empowering American farmers to make whole food.
		You know, during this election, that was President Trump, and they mean it.
		They're really passionate about getting back to whole food.
		I mean, just as a statement, you know, just kind of revising the history, Michelle Obama talked about healthy food for the first year of the administration.
		The big food got to her, unfortunately.
		Teresa Hines-Kerry, Hines, Kerry, and John Kerry actually talked to her, and she completely changed the focus to let's move, as you remember.
		So she actually, the big arm of the corrupt industries actually totally co-opted.
		And thank God, thank God, Bobby Kennedy and Donald Trump haven't caved in that way.
		But we're at today, and we're at today where there's a metabolic health and chronic disease crisis among kids.
		And President Trump and Bobby Kennedy put the mantle in the ground.
		So I don't think it matters what happened 10, 15 years ago.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		What is regenerative farming, agriculture?
calley means ▲ ● ▼		Yeah, well, it gets actually to the climate change point.
		You know, Bobby Kennedy, and I think politically, Democrats should be very worried.
		I think Bobby Kennedy and Donald Trump are going to reclaim environmentalism.
		I think the whole point of summing up the spiritual dynamics of our connection between the earth and us through carbon credits is totally broken.
		It's totally bankrupt.
		I mean, it's obviously just been a totally corrupt grift.
		I think what regenerative farming actually means and how that ties to environmentalism is we're just not respecting the cycles of our crops and our soil.
		Regenerative farming is how food used to be made.
		It's how, you know, not industrial farming, which Bill Gates is trying to do with long rows of crops and pesticides because this is a natural process, but it's easy to mechanize.
		Regenerative farming is where animals and plants and vegetables are all being grown together in a dynamic ecosystem and actually produces natural fertilizers and it actually sequesters carbon.
		The problem with CO2 emissions is when you have industrial farming where animals are in pens, when animals are actually raised, you know, as they're supposed to be in a dynamic ecosystem, it actually is carbon sequestering.
		It actually doesn't, the cows don't produce CO2 emissions.
		So this is something Bobby Kenny's talked a lot about.
		We need to get out of this idea of quantifying carbon credits and actually realize that our health crisis actually is an environmental crisis where we've lost respect for our air, for our water, and for the way we raise animals.
		You know, right now, a tomato in the United States is 70% less nutrient dense than it was 50 years ago because we're destroying the soil so much.
		So I actually think Bobby Kennedy is painting the path for a much bolder and much more optimistic vision of environmentalism where we really understand the spiritual connection between our soil, our food, and our health.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Randolph in Charles City, Virginia, Republican.
unidentified		Yes, good morning.
		There is no more important issue than children's health.
		It's why I had hoped to be a founder of this industry with my small business called Virginia is for Education.
		Interesting that I had built this business because of a personal neck injury, and now I'm looking at stage four cancer.
		And unfortunately, I can't train my way out of this being later in life.
		But how I accomplished this goal with my fitness initiative was with a 50-foot mobile custom trailer with 30 stationary bikes in it that over the last 22 years has served many host organizations in school on site with a self-contained health education and safety program.
		I follow the children.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Randolph, we'll have Callie Means respond.
calley means ▲ ● ▼		I mean, I think we should be incentivizing so much of what you're doing.
		I think everyone has their own health journey, and thank you for sharing yours.
		And I think the goal of Bobby Kennedy and Donald Trump is to be incentivizing root cause interventions on the local level.
		Exactly what you're doing.
		So thank you.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Judy, Farmington, Arkansas, Democratic caller.
unidentified		Yes, I have a question to you, sir.
		I have taken people before to shop, people who are on food stamps, and I think you said something about buying the colas and that sort of thing.
		And I haven't seen that, that they're able to do that.
		That there's a very strict one item.
calley means ▲ ● ▼		It's the number one item is soda on food stamps.
		It's 18% of the program.
		It's completed under distress.
		Well, that's great that the people, it's by far, just reported by the New York Times, the number one item.
		We should not be subsidizing ultra-processed crap for our children.
		It's a crime.
		And it is a huge item on food stamps.
		That's just not true.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, so let's let Judy.
unidentified		I have another question for you.
		I have another question for you.
		Yes, thank you.
		You mentioned about whole food, whole food.
		Well, explain to me then, how are people who are in food deserts going to be able to get whole foods?
		How are they going to be able to get fresh vegetables at some little shop somewhere that's selling cigarettes, beer, and fast food?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Judy.
calley means ▲ ● ▼		So just to confirm your question is how can lower-income Americans possibly not poison their kids?
calley means ▲ ● ▼		Is that your question?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Well, her question was about food deserts and how are they going to be able to do that?
calley means ▲ ● ▼		Her question is a nihilistic question.
		Her question is what the left is saying.
		Her question, no.
		Her question is, how can lower-income Americans possibly not poison their children?
		Well, ma'am, I think American mothers don't want to be poisoning their kids.
		I think Americans don't want to be poisoning themselves.
		So I think about, and I think President Trump thinks about Americans a little bit more than that.
		And the reason there are food deserts is because the fourth largest entitlement program in the country is rigged through tens of millions of dollars of lobbying spending by our food companies to be totally going to addictive ultra-processed food like soda and Twinkies.
		That is what the $150 billion annually of our SNAP program does.
		So I will give you another little secret.
		If President Trump and Bobby Kennedy are able to take soda and Twinkies off of food stamps, the food deserts would disappear because the food deserts are driven by the incentives of SNAP.
		I am personally offended, and I think this was litigated in the election, but I do appreciate you sharing the view of the left.
		I think Americans want to be healthy.
		I think that Americans have it within them not to poison their kids, which is happening en masse.
		And I think the incentives are the problem, and that can be changed very, very quickly.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Kelly Means, do you agree with Robert Kennedy's views on vaccinations and what he has said in the past?
calley means ▲ ● ▼		I think that's a ridiculous question.
		Bobby Kennedy didn't say the word vaccine one time in the campaign.
		The Democrats and the media, quite frankly, are saying the word measles.
		They said it 25 times in the hearing the first day.
		I mean, you haven't said the word diabetes, obesity, heart disease, chronic disease.
		You know, you've said the word, you've obviously asked about vaccines, and that's just not what Bobby Kenny's talking about.
		There were 300 people a year in America, just 300 that died of measles before the invention of the vaccine, yet measles was said 25 times.
		We have 240 million Americans right now focused on chronic disease.
		So that's what Bobby's focused on.
		That's what I'm focused on.
		And this ridiculousness, how the Democrats just disgraced themselves for showing no care about chronic disease.
		If the media or if the Democrats care at all about childhood chronic disease, excuse me, just children's health in general, let's put measles for the side for a while.
		Let's focus on the fact that 38% of teens have pre-diabetes.
		And I'd love for you to ask a question about that.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Well, we talked about that.
		I was moving on to the vaccine because that was something, his work that he did before he ran for president, and it was brought up at the hearing.
		So as yeah, sure.
calley means ▲ ● ▼		And the Democrats did bring that up in the hearing, even though it wasn't talked at all about the campaign.
		The entire premise of President Trump's existence in political life is promises made, promises kept.
		And what Bobby Kennedy and Donald Trump said consistently during the campaign is that they are going to reinsert gold star science to get to the bottom of why kids are getting sick.
		They're going to get conflicts of interest out of our scientific policies.
		And they're going to give the American people more choice with their doctor using that informed consent from better research on attacking chronic disease.
		Those are the promises President Trump and Bobby Kennedy made.
		And you're right.
		The Democrats did only talk about measles, showing no curiosity for the chronic disease crisis, even though that's what Bobby and President Trump talk incessantly about during the campaign.
		And that gives the media a license to only talk about vaccines and not about the generational bipartisan big vision that President Trump and Bobby Kennedy painted.
		I mean, that's my response to the question.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		We'll go to Robert, who's in Walkertown, North Carolina, Republican.
unidentified		Hi there, everybody.
		The reason I was calling was to talk about the effects of noise pollution on society.
		And also, since we're talking about vaccines, I've had psoriasis since I was about 17 years old, and I'm getting close to 50 now.
		And in the back of my mind, sometimes I wonder if I got psoriasis as a result of a vaccine somewhere along the way.
		But it's something that can't be proven.
		I know I pay like a $5 copay and stick a shot in my stomach every month, and that kind of makes it go away.
		But I mean, it's had a huge impact on my life.
		But in my day-to-day life, now the issue I'm having is I live in a part of the country where a lot of people are moving to.
		As I have told others before, I feel like the West Coast has been kind of ruined, and now it's coming to the East Coast, and particularly my area.
		A lot of trees being cut down, a lot of highways being put in, a lot of vape shops popping up.
		I see alcohol bottles on the sides of the road.
		I see lottery tickets all over the sides of the road.
		And in particular, noise pollution, I think it has a huge impact on the health of people.
		If you go into a grocery store and you walk around, especially if you go on a day when the music is really pumping, I just, I notice people grab that alcohol.
		They grab those sweets sitting there by the register.
		I feel like it's all planned, and I don't know why.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Robert, we'll get a response.
calley means ▲ ● ▼		Well, you are so right on, Robert.
		So, first off, you mentioned a vaccine injury, and let me say something very clearly about vaccines.
		Obviously, all pharmaceuticals cause harm.
		And there are many people that are injured by vaccines.
		And it is criminal that due to the vaccine orthodoxy on the left, where you can't even ask a question where it's a religious issue on 72 shots and you can't even talk about how there's different schedules between us and Europe.
		And obviously, there's significant injuries because it's a pharmaceutical product and every pharmaceutical product carries risk.
		I think it's criminal.
		I think the vaccine injured have been totally left out to dry.
		And I think at the very least, we can all agree that there are injuries and we should be figuring out and discussing therapeutics and talking about that, honestly.
		That's number one.
		Number two, you're explaining, I think, exactly what our book is about and what the hope of Bobby Kennedy is.
		You're asking why it happens.
		It's not any evil person, I think, at the controls.
		It's that there is an incentive in America.
		There's nothing more profitable than hijacking our attention, than us being in fear.
		And just as a demonstrable statement of economic fact, the largest industries in the country profit when we are sicker.
		The biggest and fastest-growing industry in the country is healthcare.
		So that goes into our media or social media.
		That goes into how a chronic stress is being triggered by all the noise, 100%.
		It goes into our circadian rhythm and sleep being disrupted, which ties into that, which makes us sicker and more profitable.
		It ties into our food.
		So, it's all, I think, we're living in a complex milieu where our metabolic health is really under threat.
		And these aren't all bad or good things.
		It's not like you should ban all noise.
		It's not like you should ban artificial light, which is really disrupts our hormone.
		If you put an artificial light inside a chicken coop, they lay two times more egg just by eggs, just by having the light on.
		So there's many, many things in our society that are disrupting our hormones.
		Again, we shouldn't be banning all these things, but we should be aware of them.
		We're not getting sick because we have an ozimpic deficiency or a stand deficiency.
		We're getting sick because there's an assault right now on our metabolic health and our dopamine.
		And we should have the research on that.
		We should have the research on noise pollution.
		We should have the research on how that's impacting our circadian rhythm and how if you have your sleep continually woken up or constantly in a state of chronic stress due to noise, how that impacts our overall metabolic health.
		We should have research on that and then be able to ameliorate it.
		So this is, I think, actually what Bobby Kennedy is getting at: we need to get to the root cause, study the root cause, and ameliorate that where we have the funds to do it with our $4.5 trillion healthcare system.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Callie Means is the co-founder of True Med Telehealth Platform, the co-author of the book Good Energy: The Surprising Connection Between Metabolism and Limitless Health.
		You can learn more if you go to caseymeans.com and you can follow along on X at Callie Means.
		Thank you very much for your time this morning.
		Appreciate the conversation.
calley means ▲ ● ▼		Good discussion.
calley means ▲ ● ▼		Thanks.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		We're going to take a break when we come back.
		Wall Street Journal Education Reporter Matt Barnum joins us to talk about the Trump administration's plans to issue an order that would dismantle the education department.
		Stay with us.
unidentified		C-SPAN shop.org is C-SPAN's online store.
		Browse through our latest collection of C-SPAN products, apparel, books, home decor, and accessories.
		There's something for every C-SPAN fan, and every purchase helps support our non-profit operations.
		Shop now or anytime at c-spanshop.org.
		Non-fiction book lovers, C-SPAN has a number of podcasts for you.
		Listen to best-selling non-fiction authors and influential interviewers on the Afterwords podcast and on QA.
		Hear wide-ranging conversations with the non-fiction authors and others who are making things happen.
		And Book Notes Plus episodes are weekly hour-long conversations that regularly feature fascinating authors of non-fiction books on a wide variety of topics.
		all of our podcasts by downloading the free c-span now app or wherever you get your podcasts and on our website c-span.org slash podcasts american history tv saturday's on c-span 2 exploring the people and events that tell the american story This weekend, at 2 p.m. Eastern, historians discuss President Lincoln's views on race and slavery.
		Then at 5.45 p.m. Eastern, we'll talk with four new media creators on sharing history topics on TikTok, YouTube, podcasts, and Substack.
		At 7 p.m. Eastern, watch American History TV's series First 100 Days as we look at the start of presidential terms.
		This week, we focus on the early months of President Andrew Jackson's first term in 1829, including his policy agenda and controversies surrounding his cabinet.
		And at 8 p.m. Eastern on lectures and history, Louisiana State University journalism professor John Maxwell Hamilton talks about the U.S. government propaganda efforts during World War I. Exploring the American story.
		Watch American History TV Saturdays on C-SPAN 2 and find a full schedule on your program guide or watch online anytime at c-span.org slash history.
		Washington Journal continues.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		We are back this morning with Matt Barnum, who is the K-12 education reporter at the Wall Street Journal, here to talk about this headline from Matt Barnum, Trump Advisors Way Plan to Dismantle Education Department.
		Matt Barnum, tell us about your reporting.
		What did you learn?
unidentified		Yeah, what my colleagues and I reported earlier this week is that Trump administration officials are weighing executive orders aimed at dismantling the U.S. Department of Education.
		That's consistent with a campaign promise Trump has made to end the department.
		We don't know when or even for sure if these orders will be issued or what exactly they will say.
		This is still in flux, but we reported that they're considering an order that would shut down all functions of the agency that aren't explicitly written into statute.
		And we reported they're considering an order to come up with a legislative proposal to abolish the department.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Why is it that they would have to come up with a legislative proposal?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		And why is it that they can only eliminate those parts that are not written in statute?
unidentified		Because there's a lot that the department does and the department's existence itself that are in statute.
		So the department was established by Congress with the support of Jimmy Carter in 1979.
		And there are things that the department does like Title I funding, which is funding for low-income students in K-12 schools or funding for students with disabilities that are in statute.
		So you can't just snap your fingers through executive order, legal experts say, to get rid of the department or the things that it does.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		What do we know about Congress taking up legislation that would abolish the Education Department?
unidentified		So there has been legislation introduced by Republican members of Congress to do so, but it's a pretty steep hill to climb to make that a reality.
		Legal experts I've talked to say that you would need a 60-vote supermajority in the Senate to eliminate the department.
		I'm not aware of any Democrats who have supported ending the department.
		And some of the things that the department does are pretty popular, even in red areas and conservative-leaning areas.
		And polls show, including our polling at the Wall Street Journal, that eliminating the department itself is not popular with voters.
		That said.
		Yeah, go ahead.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Finish your thought.
unidentified		Yeah.
		Yeah, that said, voters are also pretty dissatisfied with public schools right now, according to polling.
		And we don't know how much political capital Trump might spend on this issue.
		So I'm not, I don't want to make any firm predictions here.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		What is popular with Americans with the Education Department and the functions that they do?
unidentified		Yeah, I mean, I would say generally, at least locally, funding for low-income students, funding for students with disabilities, if a community sees cuts coming out of their local school where you have to lay off a teacher, lay off an aid, that is going to get a lot of backlash.
		Student loans are popular with the constituents who receive them, though there's also some who are very skeptical of that.
		I think what's less popular is a sense of federal meddling in local education decisions.
		And it's also worth noting that, you know, some of these issues are very sensitive to how the polling question is wording.
		So we don't necessarily know for sure exactly how voters feel.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		How have the unions responded?
unidentified		The unions are very skeptical of eliminating the Department of Education.
		And I think they're especially skeptical of eliminating the funding that comes with the Department of Education.
		The interesting history here is that the National Education Association, the largest teachers union, pushed for the Department of Education to be created under Jimmy Carter.
		But the other big teachers union, the American Federation of Teachers at the time, was against creating the Department of Education.
		That said, by now, the associations of teachers and other people who work in the Department of Education or who work in schools are very skeptical of eliminating the department.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		We want our viewers to join us in this conversation this morning about the Education Department here in Washington.
		Here's how you can do that.
		Republicans dial in at 202-748-8001.
		Democrats 202-748-8000.
		And Independents 202-748-8002.
		You can send us a text at 202-748-8003.
		Include your first name, city, and state.
		You can post on X with the handle at C-SPANWJ or on facebook.com slash C-SPAN.
		Matt Barnum, Elon Musk tweeting out on February 3rd, Reagan campaigned on ending the federal Department of Education, which was created by Carter in 1979, but it was bigger when Reagan left office than when he started.
		Not this time.
		What role is Elon Musk playing in this?
unidentified		What we reported is that the Education Department is among the agencies that Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOE, is looking at as part of its efforts to overhaul the federal bureaucracy.
		We also reported that some of Musk's representatives were working out of the main education department building in Washington.
		And obviously, Musk himself has been very enthusiastic on his social media platform about ending the department.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		I want to show our viewers what the president had to say about this to reporters in the Olvo's office on Tuesday when he was asked about his plans for the Education Department.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Take a look.
peter doocy ▲ ● ▼		Why nominate Linda McMahon to be the Education Department Secretary if you're going to get rid of the Education Department?
donald j trump ▲ ● ▼		Because I told Linda, I hope you do a great job and put yourself out of a job.
		I want her to put herself out of a job.
		Education Department.
		So we're ranked number 40 out of 40 schools, right?
		We're ranked number one in cost per pupil.
		So we spend more per pupil than any other country in the world.
		And we're ranked at the bottom of the list.
		We're ranked very badly.
		And what I want to do is let the states run schools.
		I believe strongly in school choice, but in addition to that, I want the states to run schools.
		And I want Linda to put herself out of a job.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Matt Barnum?
unidentified		Yeah, there's a lot to unpack in those comments.
		One thing I would note is that I believe President Trump is right that the U.S. is a very high-spending country in terms of education.
		We're also a very wealthy country.
		But we're not ranked quite as low as he's saying.
		I would say we're typically in the middle of the pack, which is nothing to brag about, and it depends exactly on the test you're using.
		So I'm not, but I'm not aware of the 40 out of 40.
donald trump-jr ▲ ● ▼		His appointment of Linda McMahon is also an interesting one.
unidentified		She was the co-founder of WWE, World Wrestling Entertainment, and a donor and supporter of Trump.
		Her background in education is somewhat limited, but she actually trained to become a teacher and briefly served on the Connecticut State Board of Education.
		And he has obviously told her that he wants her to work to dismantle the department that she will likely lead if she's confirmed.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		We're talking about the Education Department this morning.
		Here are some statistics for you.
		U.S. pre-K education system has more than 49 million students, more than 3 million full-time equivalent teachers in public elementary and secondary schools.
		Public school per student expenditure was $15,591.
		That's according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
		The U.S. Department of Education began operating in 1980.
		It employs over 4,000 people, and its budget for 2024, $238 billion.
		Howard in Salisbury, North Carolina, Democratic caller, what are your thoughts or questions on the Education Department?
unidentified		Yes, top of the morning to you.
		Morning.
		I am a part product of public education.
		And as you can see, it is very vital to not just African Americans, it's for all Americans.
		For one thing, we all will be on the same accord.
		You'll be taught the same thing.
		But to me, to me, it sounds as though the 2025 project is in effect.
		Because if you look at the 2020-25 project, it has that particularly in there.
		Not only that, it will also divide our children, which we do need diversity to be able to survive when you're going through adolescence.
		So I look at what they're doing is trying to overturn Brown Board of Education because segregation, I believe, is trying to make a comeback.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Matt Barnum.
unidentified		On Project 2025, it's true that the Heritage Project 2025 had a goal of eliminating the Department of Education, but that was also what Trump campaigned on separately from Project 2025.
		So it wasn't a secret during his campaign that that's what he wanted to do.
		I can't comment specifically on the goal of and the link to segregation.
		That isn't certainly something that I've seen.
		There has been evidence that our schools remain quite segregated or stratified by race and family income, and that has not really gotten better in a few decades.
donald trump-jr ▲ ● ▼		And there's little indication that policymakers from either party are interested in tackling that issue.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Deborah, Columbia, Maryland, Independent.
unidentified		Yes, so I am a school teacher, and one of the concerns that I have about the Department of Education being eliminated is the lack of standardization of curriculum throughout the state.
		So there are some basics that I think all citizens should know with regard to science, mathematics, social studies, especially in this day and age where we have interactions between different countries.
		They need to be respectful.
		So my concern is, again, the states being able to decide the curriculum instead of certain basics that all citizens need to know.
		So I would appreciate if the guests would try to address that concern.
		Thank you so much.
		I don't think that eliminating the Department of Education would necessarily have an effect on that because states are the ones that set standards and curriculum and local districts also set curriculum.
		The Department of Education, by law, is restricted in its ability to dictate local curriculum.
		So I don't necessarily see that as overlapping.
		That said, there are some folks who want the Department of Education to take more of an aggressive stance to intervene when schools are struggling.
		That's what it did under No Child Left Behind.
		Under current law, it had the Every Student Succeeds Act.
		It has some provisions for that, but they're relatively limited.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Patty and Stewart, Florida, Republican.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Hi, Patty.
unidentified		How are you?
		My concern is the ranking.
		Department of Education is showing that it's been a failed system.
		We have school choice in some of the states, and it showed that the children do much better with this.
		All we hear about is the teachers, the unions, but we don't talk about our children and their education.
		I myself was one of public housing growing up in New York City.
		I learned I had a much better curriculum than what is being taught today.
		So when you get to these different areas, money is thrown in certain sections, but the basics of teaching our children is no longer there.
		And I believe that's the biggest concern, and everybody's avoiding that.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Matt Barnum?
unidentified		I think you sort of spoken to the heart of the question.
		Is the Department of Education helping or not helping schools?
		Certainly, advocates for the department say that what it does is important and the money it spends is important.
		And critics say that it has not been helpful and it has not made a difference.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		You said President Trump would target certain functions of the Education Department through executive orders.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Which ones?
unidentified		I don't think we know yet.
unidentified		I think the most the ones that he could more easily target are some of the smaller ones that are not written into statute, but those are not the ones that are going to really make a big difference or have an impact either on the budget or at the school level.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		He has signed a number of executive orders related to education since taking office.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		What do they do and what changes would they bring to classrooms?
unidentified		So he signed several.
		So there's one that aims to expand school choice, which means could mean public funding for private schools, though the executive order on its own is relatively limited.
		He's also signed an executive order aimed at restricting transgender women from participating in women's sports.
		And then he signed an executive order trying to get what he calls a radical indoctrination out of K-12 schooling, which really targets certain practices related to gender and transgender rights, as well as race and what supporters call diversity initiatives or anti-racism in schools.
		And he's directed his Department of Education to target and investigate school systems that are pushing these what might be described as liberal or left-wing policies.
		What's interesting is that this is actually in tension with his promise to eliminate the Department of Education and get the feds out of public schools.
		So we'll see how this plays out.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		There's a headline in the Wall Street Journal from your reporting: Trump's school choice agenda hits pushback from red state voters.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		What did you find out?
unidentified		So a lot of red states have passed school choice initiatives, which typically means some sort of public funding or public subsidy for private schooling and in some cases, homeschooling.
		That has passed in red state legislature, regular legislators across the country.
		However, it was recently, similar initiatives were recently put up for a vote in Kentucky and Nebraska.
		And voters in these very red states, even as they were electing President Trump in 2024, voted down private school choice efforts.
		And that caught a lot of people by surprise.
		And it suggests that at least in these couple states, Nebraska and Kentucky, there's a disconnect between what the red state voters want and what some of the red state elected officials are pushing.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Edna in Chicago, Democratic caller, let's hear from you.
unidentified		Good morning.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Morning.
unidentified		My question was: why?
		Everybody's talking about education.
		They are speaking of the 25th.
		I suggest that they start looking at the 25th Amendment in the Constitution that gets rid of a president who can no longer govern.
		This is what we have now.
		It's not only education.
		If you educate yourself and see what is happening with this guy that we have for a president, you'll see he has dementia.
		He's an old man with dementia.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right.
		And we'll stick to the topic.
		Eric in Hubbardston, Massachusetts, Independent.
unidentified		Eric?
		Thank you.
		What I want to ask about and comment on is the cost of college.
		And I think one of the biggest problems that Claire, that's ugly light during the Carter administration, was the fact when he raised the Department of Education to cabinet level.
		And as a result, Title IX came into effect.
		Title IX, which I agreed with, but that happened during a time when a lot of colleges were going to red, maybe traditional men's colleges.
		And I agreed with the equality that was meant behind it.
		But that increased the cost of colleges exponentially over the years.
		And that's when people ask me why college is so expensive, I point to Grove City College and Hillsdale College that had to go all the way to the Supreme Court to maintain their independence.
		And once they did, once they were successful, and they don't use any kind of federal loans, it kept cost reasonable.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right.
		Eric, let's talk about that connection.
		Once Education Department became a cabinet-level position, he says that's what raised college costs because of the federal loan system.
unidentified		I think there are certainly some folks who have argued that, and I think there is some credible research to support that.
		I would be interested in seeing whether alternatives that are not relying that he mentioned that are not reliant on student loans have also seen costs grow.
		I know in K-12 education, private school costs, which are not, don't get very little government subsidy, they have also seen their costs grow.
		So I know it remains up for debate what is driving these cost factors in K-12 and higher education.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		What about research done into that people will pay this cost?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		The cost keeps going up and people keep paying it.
unidentified		Right.
		I mean, that's another interesting reflection.
		I mean, these loans people do in most cases that we've seen some forgiven have to pay back.
		And that does reflect some, the willingness to pay, or at least the willingness to take out loans, reflects some belief that there is at least some evidence for that going to college is worth it.
		And there'll be some sort of, it's an investment and there'll be some sort of premium or pay premium when you graduate.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Michelle in Wisconsin, Democratic caller.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Good morning to you.
unidentified		Good morning.
		Thank you for taking my call.
		My question is, in the Department of Education in the schools, K through 12, what do you think is going to happen to the special education classrooms and the services that the public schools provide through their schools to help students keep up,
		such as your physical therapy, your OT, and your speech and language services?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Michelle?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		We'll have Matt Barnum respond.
unidentified		Yeah, so I think you're referring to the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act, IDEA, which is a federal law which requires public schools to serve students with disabilities, and it also sends money to schools to pay for the cost of serving them.
		Though if you ask states or schools, they will say they don't get enough from the federal government.
		And I think that's a huge question.
		If you were to dismantle the department, what would you do with that law and the money that goes to it that is written into statute?
		I'm not aware of President Trump or his administration saying that they would target that, but it's a very big question.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		We'll go to Addie Washington.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Jake, a Republican.
unidentified		Jake.
		Hello, and good morning.
		My question was to bring attention to what I feel is a problem in our public school systems is CEL as an acronym and K-CEL.
		I was listening to a long discourse by James Lindsay, who is speaking about the Marxification of education and that our children are being taught instead of basic academics, they're being taught how to become essentially activists and activism.
		And it's concerning to me, and I was curious if he had any more information on that subject.
		So I believe you're referring to SEL or social emotional learning, which is a set of practices that have grown in K-12 schools that advocates say are designed to help students manage their emotions and behavior, and that conservative critics say are a distraction from regular academics reading, writing, and arithmetic.
		I would have to look at the particular examples that you referred to to really comment on that.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Daniel in Pennsylvania, Democratic Color.
unidentified		Hey, good morning.
unidentified		I want your guests to address lobbying efforts and soft money that goes into public schools, and in addition to your past guest about farming and soft money lobbying efforts that keep the chemicals in our food and pay our congressmen and senators.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Daniel, we'll take the education part of that.
unidentified		Yeah, I mean, there's certainly spending, political spending around education as there is in any issue.
		And that spending includes folks on both sides of the issue.
		The teachers' unions on one side are major spenders.
		And then you also have critics of public education and supporters of school choice and other folks on another side.
		So it is a political issue.
		And like any political issue, they're spending on it.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Leonard in Westfield, Massachusetts, independent caller.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Leonard.
unidentified		Good morning.
		I have a question.
		I know what Bush passed a law where no children stay behind.
		That means if you're not doing well in that class, you're not going to do well the next one and the next one.
		I mean, I stayed back a few times, which helped me.
		And also, they should not have devices from the first grade to the sixth or seventh.
		They should do everything by a pencil or pen and learn how to write and read and multiply and everything learn and use their brain before they start using devices.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Leonard.
		We'll go to Ritash, who's in Charleston, Massachusetts, Independent.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Hi, good morning.
		My question is sort of related to the real potential implications of this policy.
		So I haven't really had a strong opinion on this just because it hasn't really been talked about the idea of abolishing the department until now, pretty much.
		And when I look at my media feed, I see as if abolishing the department is going to destroy education in America.
		But I was wondering if you could just talk a little bit about what are some of the actual negative implications that this could have, and if they are, in fact, being a little bit overblown by a lot of the media sources today.
		Thank you.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Mr. Barnum.
unidentified		So obviously there is a debate about whether there would be negative implications.
		Advocates for eliminating the department do not think it would be beneficial to ending it.
		I think whether how big the ramifications would be, period, depends on how they go about abolishing it.
		I sort of think of either a soft abolish or a hard abolish.
		A soft abolish would be just doing, taking what the Department of Education does and putting it in other agencies, but getting rid of the department.
		That would probably not have a big effect on your typical school because the federal government is still doing the same thing.
		They're just not doing it under the auspices of the Department of Education.
		And that's what happened before the Department of Education existed.
		There were actions that the federal government did under a department called the Health Education and Welfare Department.
		The hard abolish would be eliminating many or all of the things that the Department of Education does.
		That would have very big ramifications in schools.
		Even though, you know, most of the money for schools comes from outside the federal government, it still makes a meaningful chunk.
		And so that would really matter for good or ill in your local school if they went that route.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Next, we'll hear from John in Kingsland, Georgia, Republican.
unidentified		Hey, good morning.
		My question is about the Department of Education is how can people graduate from Baltimore from high school and they find out they can't read at a fifth grade level?
		So how can this get through with failure like this?
		And nobody addresses it.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Matt Barnum?
unidentified		I can't speak to the specific situation in Baltimore.
		I know that many urban school systems and school systems across the country have struggles.
		And in some cases, that's because the schools are not doing a good job teaching kids to read, write, and do math.
		In other cases, students are facing really big challenges outside of the school.

▲