| Speaker | Time | Text |
|---|---|---|
|
unidentified
|
Ottawa. | |
| That's being simulcast from our Canadian partner, CPAC. | ||
| Then at 1:30 p.m., a panel of journalists will discuss the first 100 days of the Trump administration at an event hosted by the University of Chicago. | ||
| And over on C-SPAN 2 at 10 a.m., Russian journalists in exile will discuss reporting on the nation from abroad and the risks that they face. | ||
| You can also catch live coverage of these events on the C-SPAN Now app or online at c-span.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 others who are making things happen. | ||
| And BookNotes Plus episodes are weekly hour-long conversations that regularly feature fascinating authors of nonfiction books on a wide variety of topics. | ||
| Find 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. | ||
| We're going to have a short chat with Representative Hillary Schulton, a Democrat from Michigan. | ||
| She serves the third district, joining us from Capitol Hill, serves on the Small Business and Transportation and Infrastructure Committees. | ||
| Representative Schultz, thanks for your time. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thanks so much for having me, Pedro. | |
| I don't know if you heard the call, but we had a call in our Democrats line about Democrats not being forceful enough and pushing back against the Trump administration. | ||
| I wonder what you think about that sentiment. | ||
|
unidentified
|
You know, we just had a Transportation and Infrastructure Markup Committee hearing yesterday about budget reconciliation, and I can tell you we were pushing back pretty forcefully against drastic cuts that are going to harm everyday Americans by undercutting investments in our critical infrastructure. | |
| You know, I hear those concerns and I take them seriously. | ||
| I've been doing town halls across my district, you know, once Republican stronghold. | ||
| I'm actually the first Democrat in a century to hold this seat. | ||
| And I'm hearing from people in my district, you know, that they still don't feel like it's enough. | ||
| And what's telling about that is, well, certainly people are frustrated with Democrats, they're frustrated with Democrats because they're not doing enough to stop actions by Republicans that they so strongly disagree with. | ||
| And Pedro, that's coming from Republicans in my district, some of whom even voted for Donald Trump. | ||
| And so as far as a strategy is concerned, particularly as negotiations go on legislative efforts by the House, Republicans, and the Senate Republicans, what's the strategy then? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Do not grow weary in doing good. | |
| Continue to push back and continue to fight back. | ||
| You know, the Republicans in the House and in the Senate and the President of the United States won an election, free and fair, right? | ||
| That means that we're in the minority. | ||
| It's going to take more and all of us, frankly, to continue to push back and to stop their efforts. | ||
| You know, one of the things that is so challenging about this moment in particular is that Democrats are committed to using the tools of democracy to defend our democracy. | ||
| You know, short of staging our own January 6th, which we are not going to do, you know, we have to commit to the democratic process and using that process to stop Republican action that we feel is harming the American people. | ||
| That means, you know, pushing back in our committees next week, we're going to have an opportunity. | ||
| The Energy and Commerce Committee is having a hearing on the budget about these proposed cuts that are making headlines everywhere. | ||
| $880 billion proposed in Medicaid cuts, and we're going to have an opportunity. | ||
| And it's up to Democrats in Congress to continue to push back, to use our critical oversight, but we also can't let Republicans off the hook as well, who seem to have almost completely forgotten that they have an oversight role to play as well against this president who continues to try to show that he's above the law. | ||
| And another thing, we need, we need engaged citizens across the country this moment. | ||
| People who feel upset, who feel intimidated, who feel scared and vulnerable, we need them to find their voice. | ||
| If we find ourselves in these silos of silence, it enables the majority to continue doing what they're doing. | ||
| So it's up to the American people as well to make their voices heard. | ||
| You're from Michigan, you are on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. | ||
| I wonder what you thought about the president's tariff policy, particularly to auto tariffs, somewhat of a softening on some aspect of them, but overall, how does it affect not only those who may depend on the auto industry in your state, but also where you serve on the Transportation Committee? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Well, I mean, these tariffs, the way that Trump has rolled them out, right, which is an important caveat, right, because not all tariffs are bad. | |
| All presidents have used tariffs. | ||
| There is a use for tariffs, but the Trump tariffs have absolutely devastated the economy and Michigan is in an incredibly vulnerable position because of our auto industry, you know, poised to be one of the worst and most detrimentally impacted. | ||
| It's no coincidence that Trump chose to go to Michigan on the anniversary of his 100 days, the commemoration of his first 100 days in office, as we get news that the GDP actually shrank. | ||
| The economy contracted during his first 100 days. | ||
| He was doing damage control in Michigan because his policies have harmed our economy so much. | ||
| And we're doing everything we can within the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to push back and as the Congress as a whole. | ||
| But again, it's going to take our Republicans who are in the majority to say, hey, wait a second, these tariffs, this is something that Congress, because Congress represents the American people, that the American people vis-a-vis Congress should have a say in, not one president. | ||
| And this, Pedro, is really one area where I have continued to hear from constituents who might say, hey, I voted for Trump because I wanted big, bold action on the economy, but not like this, right? | ||
| We didn't want this type of unilateral action on tariffs that is going to throw our economy into turmoil. | ||
| These tariffs are poised to add between $2,000 and $3,000 annually to the average American family budget. | ||
| I know in a place like my district, that is way more than any family can afford. | ||
| You have a background in law, specifically in dealing and defending immigrants' rights. | ||
| I was wondering what your assessment is of the Trump administration when it comes to its current actions on immigration and deportation policy. | ||
|
unidentified
|
You know, I've worked on immigration for close to 20 years in my career, both, as you said, defending and protecting immigrants' rights, but also, notably, working at the Department of Justice, our nation's top law enforcement agency, enforcing our laws. | |
| So not only do I know a lot about those rights and what needs to be defended, but I've also seen firsthand how you can legally and with justice and a core connection to our identity as a nation of immigrants enforce our immigration laws in a just, fair, and humane way. | ||
| You know, I actually was working at the administration at the Justice Department when the first Trump administration came in. | ||
| And I am not an overly partisan person. | ||
| In a place like West Michigan, you know, I am a deeply bipartisan individual and as an attorney, deeply nonpartisan. | ||
| I would have worked for a Republican or a Democrat, but when the Trump administration came in the first time, I saw firsthand how they did not have fidelity to the rule of law. | ||
| And we're seeing this on repeat in the second term as well. | ||
| You know, deporting U.S. citizens, children with cancer. | ||
| It's the type of cruelty, frankly, that caused so many people back home in West Michigan to say, enough is enough. | ||
| This is not what we want. | ||
| You were one of many Democrats who supported the Lake and Riley Act. | ||
| What led you to make that decision? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Well, again, you know, my background in enforcement, I think a lot of people don't understand. | |
| You know, you can enforce our immigration laws in a just, fair, and humane way. | ||
| And one of the things about Lake and Riley, you know, our district was impacted by a situation just like this, an individual who came to the attention of law enforcement and then was released and later went on to kill a wonderful young woman in our community, Ruby Garcia. | ||
| And, you know, I think that there has to be a common sense approach to the way that we enforce our immigration laws. | ||
| And I think the American people spoke pretty loud and clear in the election that they wanted more done on immigration enforcement. | ||
| But many people are speaking up very loudly saying that Trump has gone too far. | ||
| It's up to leaders right now in this moment to step up and push back and say, enough is enough. | ||
| We can have enforcement, but we can do it in a just, fair, and humane way. | ||
| And that is truly the call of this moment. | ||
| This is Representative Hillary Schulton joining us. | ||
| Democrat from Michigan. | ||
| She serves the third district on the Transportation and Information Infrastructure Committees and the small business. | ||
| One small aspect on that small business front, the president's tax policy, notwithstanding, Republicans want to extend it. | ||
| Would you say there's a case for extending that, or to what degree is there a case for extending those tax cuts? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Some of those tax cuts absolutely should be extended. | |
| If you put the tax cuts and the tax incentives that help small businesses, that help middle-class Americans on the floor today, I'm standing right across the Capitol. | ||
| You put that on the House floor today. | ||
| I guarantee it would pass perhaps 435 to zero. | ||
| There is broad bipartisan support for extending tax cuts that help the middle class and that help small businesses. | ||
| But the problem with the Trump Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is that it gave 99% of the benefits to the top 1% and added $7 trillion to the debt in the process. | ||
| And we just can't continue to say we're going to fund these tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy at the expense of the middle class, hardworking families, individuals who wind up needing Medicaid at a tough time in their lives, or as we saw yesterday in the Infrastructure Committee markup, underfunding critical infrastructure in our Coast Guard, our roads, our bridges, and our Great Lakes. | ||
| Representative Hillary Sholton, thank you for your time and joining us today. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you so much, Pedro. | |
| C-SPAN's Washington Journal, our live forum inviting you to discuss the latest issues in government, politics, and public policy from Washington to across the country. | ||
| Coming up Friday morning, Clyde Wayne Cruz, a fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, discusses his organization's annual survey on the cost, scope, and transparency of federal regulations. | ||
| Then, Jordan Schwartz with the Harvard Youth Poll talks about the latest survey of students' opinions on politics and the factors that influence political engagement. | ||
| And Rachel Janfaza, author of the Up and Up Substack newsletter, talks about how Generation Z is engaging in politics and how they are responding to the Trump administration. | ||
| C-SPAN's Washington Journal. | ||
| Join in the conversation live at 7 Eastern Friday morning on C-SPAN, C-SPAN Now, our free mobile video app, or online at c-SPAN.org. | ||
| C-SPAN, Democracy Unfiltered. | ||
| We're funded by these television companies and more, including Comcast. | ||
| Oh, you think this is just a community censor? | ||
| No, it's way more than that. | ||
| Comcast is partnering with a thousand community centers to create Wi-Fi-enabled lifts so students from low-income families can get the tools they need to be ready for anything. | ||
| Comcast supports C-SPAN as a public service, along with these other television providers, giving you a front-row seat to democracy. | ||
| Technology leaders discussed technology investment and innovation at the 2025 Hill and Valley Forum in Washington, D.C. Coming up next, Palantir Technologies co-founder and CEO Alex Karp sat down for a discussion on the intersection of technology and society. | ||
| The conversation was interrupted twice by pro-Palestinian protesters opposing Palantir's support of Israel. | ||
| This is about 30 minutes. | ||
| Alex, it's great to see you. | ||
| Since last year's Home Valley Forum. | ||
| Since then, you published a book, and I'm sure everyone in this room wants to know how has the reception of Western values, the concept of Western values that you wrote about in your book, evolved since last year's Home Valley, but also since the release of your book? |