| Speaker | Time | Text |
|---|---|---|
|
unidentified
|
Hearing the American outcry, Democrats are bringing it to the forefront and Republicans need to answer. | |
| Are they okay with this? | ||
| What are they saying about the use and purpose of Congress if they're allowing all of these things not only just to happen through the executive branch, but specifically through a temporary quasi-governmental organization through an individual that was not elected, not confirmed by the Senate, and has very, very little accountability? | ||
| Republicans need to answer that. | ||
| I'm sorry, we do have to go. | ||
| We're a little bit over time, but thank you all so much. | ||
| Aaron from my comms team is here, and the DWC comms people are here too. | ||
| We're happy to answer anything else offline that you might want. | ||
| Thanks. | ||
| Thank you, guys. | ||
| Cool. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| well. | ||
| This afternoon, President Trump and the Prime Minister of Japan will hold a joint news conference at the White House. | ||
| We'll bring that to you live on C-SPAN. | ||
| You can also watch on the free C-SPAN Now video app or online at c-SPAN.org. | ||
| Joining us at our table now is Illinois Democrat Brad Schneider, a member of the Ways and Means and Foreign Affairs Committee in his sixth term in the House, also serving as chair of the New Democrat Coalition, a group whose mission is what, Congressman? | ||
|
unidentified
|
So the New Democrat Coalition is a group of moderate Democrats, people who are looking to solve problems, address the opportunities we face as a nation, working not just with the entire Democratic caucus, but we also reach across the aisle. | |
| And we have grown. | ||
| We're more than 110 members. | ||
| We're the largest ideological caucus in the Democratic Party, maybe in the House as a whole. | ||
| And we are just 110 people who want to roll up our sleeves and get things done. | ||
| What can 110 moderate Democrats do in a 218 to 215 split House, the narrowest majority since in the House since World War I? | ||
|
unidentified
|
I think quite a bit. | |
| I mean, if you look, just start within the Democratic caucus. | ||
| We have 215 seats. | ||
| The new Dems are a majority of that group. | ||
| You look at the Republicans, they're very fractured. | ||
| As you said, it only takes one to vote one way or the other that can swing it. | ||
| So to get anything done, I think it's always better to do things in a bipartisan way to start with. | ||
| I think the Republicans are going to have to reach across the aisle and work with Democrats. | ||
| And the first ones they will reach across to, I believe, are the New Democrat Coalition. | ||
| What do you say to Democrats who believe it's the job of Democrats in Congress right now to resist everything that Republicans are doing to give Donald Trump no wins until you can get to the next election? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Yeah, I don't think it's about winning and losing. | |
| It's resisting the bad things this administration is doing. | ||
| And the list is just overwhelming. | ||
| Every day it's an onslaught of whether it's undermining the rule of law, trying to wipe out the civil service, pulling out and completely eliminating USAID. | ||
| Not so much USAID, but American engagement around the world taking on, you know, we face adversaries, we face risk of failed states and consequently a threat of terrorism. | ||
| And the United States is walking away from that. | ||
| Those are the things we need to be resisting, making sure we're protecting American values. | ||
| The idea that an economy that's growing and creating opportunity for all Americans, not just the billionaires at the top, the idea that America has a role to play in the world, and that the foundational principle of our government, to create a more perfect union, constantly moving in a direction of making it a better country, I think you see a lot of people on the other side wanting to take us backwards. | ||
| Chair of this group of moderate Democrats, what's your view of the group of progressive Democrats who is known as the squad? | ||
| What's your view of the squad? | ||
|
unidentified
|
I think one of the things that distinguishes even the full spectrum of the Democratic Party is everyone, from our most conservative or centrist Democrat to our most progressive, far-left Democrat, everyone in that group wants to govern. | |
| We have different visions of what we're trying to do for the new Dems. | ||
| It's about creating an economy that's producing jobs and opportunity for all Americans. | ||
| It's working to promote healthy and safe communities. | ||
| It's trying to make sure we have a strong national security, national defense. | ||
| And that's what we're focused on. | ||
| And we're going to work with everyone from folks on our left to folks across the aisle. | ||
| From the New Democrat coalition to News on the Hill this week and on the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue at the White House, Benjamin Netanyahu meeting with President Trump, his first foreign visitor to the White House in this term as president. | ||
| What did you think of Donald Trump's proposal for Gaza and U.S. involvement there? | ||
|
unidentified
|
I'm going to work a little backwards on the week. | |
| I had a chance to be in a meeting with the Prime Minister yesterday, and we talked about the idea of what is the future for Gaza and what's the strategy, the vision for a year, five years, long term. | ||
| And one of the things he said is that there is no plan to force Palestinians out of Gaza and anyone who leaves would be able to come back. | ||
| Gaza has long been a challenge. | ||
| It was a challenge post-1967. | ||
| Pre-67, Egypt controlled Gaza. | ||
| It had problems. | ||
| 2005, Israel completely withdrew from Gaza. | ||
| And 2023, you had an invasion from Hamas with intent of genocide. | ||
| So we need to pursue peace. | ||
| There will never be peace as long as Hamas controls Gaza. | ||
| We talked about this yesterday. | ||
| Hamas has to be eliminated. | ||
| And Gaza needs to be rebuilt, de-radicalized, and an opportunity for renewal. | ||
| And this is where President Trump may have used terms like Riviera on the Mediterranean. | ||
| The idea is Gaza should be for the Palestinians. | ||
| It should be built with the Palestinians. | ||
| The U.S. can have a role in that, Europe, the Arab countries. | ||
| And it should be built with neighborhoods and schools and hospitals, eliminating and not allowing a rebuilding of the terrorist infrastructure, the army that we saw on October 7th, 2023. | ||
| That has to be prevented. | ||
| And so Gaza, where Palestinians are living in security, stability, and peace with Israel is the goal. | ||
| But as long as Hamas is in charge, we can't have that. | ||
| So I think the President spoke about it in a way that what the President spoke about would not just be immoral, but illegal, the relocation of 2 million people. | ||
| What the world is talking about, what should be talking about, is how do we create opportunity and hope for the people of Gaza without threatening the people of Israel. | ||
| You've described yourself as a Zionist? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Absolutely. | |
| What does that mean? | ||
|
unidentified
|
So I'm Jewish. | |
| I was born into a family who believed in the homeland of the Jewish people and the idea of a Jewish state in that homeland. | ||
| That is what Israel is today. | ||
| Jump ahead to the Abraham Accords. | ||
| For the first time, it articulated that the Middle East, both Arabs and Jews, belong to the same land and have to find a way to live together. | ||
| So I believe in a Jewish state in the Jewish homeland that doesn't disavow or diminish the aspirations of the Palestinian people for a homeland of their own. | ||
| So I still, it's not going to happen, probably not in my lifetime, but the prospects of finding peace between Israelis and Palestinians that ultimately leads to a state for both people where they can live security, stability, and peace. | ||
| Brad Schneider, with us until the top of the hour, 8 a.m. Eastern. | ||
| If you want to join the conversation, phone lines, as usual, Republicans, Democrats, Independents will put those numbers on the screen as they're calling in Congressman. |