CSPAN - Washington Journal 05/25/2025

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May 25, 2025 07:00-10:02 - CSPAN

03:01:33

Washington Journal 05/25/2025

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Main

donald j trump

admin 06:17

kimberly adams

cspan 33:14

Appearances

brian lamb

cspan 00:49

chris murphy

sen/d 01:36

doug collins

02:17

marty makary

fda 02:27

robert f kennedy-jr

admin 02:20

tammy baldwin

sen/d 01:28

Clips

hakeem jeffries

rep/d 00:10

jason smith

rep/r 00:07

jon rappoport

00:05

marty schachter

00:07

mary gay scanlon

rep/d 00:08

mike johnson

rep/r 00:09

patty murray

sen/d 00:25

rachel maddow

msnow 00:07

rep jim guest

00:27

rick steves

00:25

Callers

gene in arkansas

callers 00:10

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Speaker	Time	Text
unidentified		And then Carla Walter of the Center for American Progress, along with Vincent Vernuccio of the Institute for the American Worker, discuss the impact of Trump administration economic and labor policies on working Americans.
		And U.S. Marine Corps veteran Travis Partington on his podcast, Oscar Mike Radio, that focuses on real-life stories of active duty military and veterans.
		Washington Journal is next.
		Join the conversation.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Good morning.
		It's Sunday, May 25th, 2025.
		Last week, the White House released its report on issues related to health in America, a response to an executive order and part of the administration's Make America Healthy Again agenda.
		President Trump has made several controversial picks to lead the country's health agencies, and our question this morning is, what's your level of confidence in Trump administration health officials?
		Our number for Democrats is 202-748-8000.
		For Republicans, 202-748-8001.
		And for Independents, 202-748-8002.
		We have a special line this morning for medical professionals.
		That's 202-748-8003.
		That's also the number where you can text us if you'd like to reach us that way.
		But please be sure to include your name and where you're writing in from.
		We're also on social media at facebook.com slash C-SPAN and on X at C-SPANWJ.
		Now for some of the reporting on that report that came out last week from the White House, here's a Washington Post story.
		The findings and scientific problems in the White House Maha Report.
		Parts of the Maha report contradict scientific consensus.
		The White House blamed exposure to environmental toxins, poor nutrition, and increased screen time for a decline in Americans' life expectancy Thursday in a major administration report that also cast doubt on the current vaccine schedule and medications deemed safe by mainstream medicine.
		The Maha report, Making Our Children Healthy Again, written by cabinet officials and administration scientific leaders in response to an executive order from President Donald Trump, declared that, quote, today's children are the sickest generation in American history in terms of chronic disease.
		These preventable trends continue to worsen each year, posing a threat to our nation's health, economy, and military readiness, it added.
		Casting the document a diagnosis of the causes of Americans' poor health, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy said the prescription for the report's findings would come in August when new policies would be unveiled by the administration.
		Here's a clip of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaking at the White House on Thursday about this report.
robert f kennedy-jr ▲ ● ▼		This report is a call to action for common sense.
		We've relied too much on conflicted research, ignored common sense, or what some would call mothers' intuition.
		It's common sense that ultra-processed, nutrient-poor food contributes to chronic disease.
		It's common sense that excessive screen time and isolation lead to anxiety and depression, especially in children.
		It's common sense that exercise and healthy food should come before prescriptions and surgery.
		It's common sense that not all calories are equal in nutritional value.
		It's common sense that over-medicating kids is dangerous.
		It's common sense that we can celebrate the innovations of modern life while also demanding fearless inquiry into ameliorating the negative effects of medication, agriculture, and environmental practices.
		It's common sense that research funded by corporations deserves more scrutiny than independent studies.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Our question again this morning about your confidence in Trump administration health officials.
		Now, we have some polling on the approval rates nationwide for Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in particular.
		This is from an Economist YouGov poll finding that just 36 percent of Americans approve of his performance so far and 43 percent disapprove.
		Now, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was on the Hill speaking to members of Congress, and here's a story about that in MSNBC.
		Democrats grill RFK Jr. over devastating funding cuts at a fiery hearing.
		Senator Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington, warned the HHS proposed budget for 2026 would leave America sicker and weaker.
		Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s appearance on Capitol Hill quickly turned contentions on Tuesday as lawmakers grilled the Health and Human Services Secretary over drastic funding cuts at the agency.
		The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing centered on the Trump administration's proposed budget for the Department of Health and Human Services for fiscal year 2026, which would slash the agency's discretionary funding by 26 percent.
		The proposed cuts would hit offices like the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program the hardest.
		Now, here's a little bit more detail on those funding cuts that have been suggested by the Trump administration.
		That the National Institutes of Health would have its funding cut by $18 billion, reducing it to $27 billion.
		The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would have a $3.6 billion cut, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration would have a $1 billion cut, according to the White House.
		Now, let's get to your calls about your confidence in the Trump administration's health officials.
		We'll start with Jeff in Greensboro, North Carolina, on our line for Democrats.
		Good morning, Jeff.
unidentified		Good morning.
		Thank you for taking the call.
		Can you hear me?
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Yes, but your line is a little bit staticky, and we need you to turn down the volume on your TV.
unidentified		Yes, it is now.
		I'm sorry about that.
		I don't have one of the expensive phones.
		I apologize.
		Great topic, great topic, because I saw that hearing that he was there, and what stood out is he did not at all really give, you know, professional answers to all the questions.
		And the thing also that is disturbing all of these departments that are very important, that has been for so many years in my age growing up.
		And a lot of these programs are, let's say, now with the spread of measles that, you know, is very much being somewhat downplayed, but it's spreading.
		It's being more of a necessary urgent health-wise.
		And he is not, you know, the gentleman that should be in that position.
		He has no realistic, you know, educational, science, educational degrees, or doctor's degrees.
		And it's just bad.
		A lot of things that have been, you know, probably in your childhood growing up, as you being younger, that were relevant as far as science studies programs.
		It has not been as devastating as things are turning.
		With the answers are, we're going to get rid of this because it's over or over budget, but you have nothing in place to offset that.
		You're just letting it be like tomorrow you're going to come to the conclusion that you got the vaccination for measles or something else he was saying, polio.
		It's just very sad because we're putting in place first before human life, we're putting politics and just the decision of what one person administration wanted to have and a powerful and important, and it's going to be an attachment to everyone once he's done.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		So, Jeff, you mentioned measles cases, and I should say that NBC is reporting that there are now more than 1,000 measles cases reported nationwide, and 2025 is already the second most active year for measles since the year 2000, which is the year that the United States officially eliminated it.
		Most of the cases this year are in Texas, which accounts for about two out of three of the reported infections that we know about.
		Here's a portion of last week's Senate hearing with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., where questions about cuts to child care-related programs related in a tense exchange with Senator Patty Murray.
patty murray ▲ ● ▼		Secretary Kennedy, whose decision was it to withhold child care and development block grant funding?
robert f kennedy-jr ▲ ● ▼		Senator, I want to point out that in 2021, at the beginning of his administration, President Biden submitted his budget on May.
		You know what?
		You made an accusation to me, and I'm going to answer it.
patty murray ▲ ● ▼		Okay, I appreciate it.
robert f kennedy-jr ▲ ● ▼		On May 28th, he submitted his budget.
robert f kennedy-jr ▲ ● ▼		So we're our budget, we're a new administration.
patty murray ▲ ● ▼		Okay, you can have just two minutes left.
patty murray ▲ ● ▼		I asked you a specific question.
robert f kennedy-jr ▲ ● ▼		I want to point out something, Senator.
		You've presided here, I think, for 32 years.
		You've presided over the destruction of the health of the American people.
		Our people are now the sickest people in the world.
patty murray ▲ ● ▼		Seriously.
robert f kennedy-jr ▲ ● ▼		Because you have to be able to do that.
patty murray ▲ ● ▼		Mr. Secretary.
		Seriously.
		That is an epidemic.
robert f kennedy-jr ▲ ● ▼		What have you done about the epidemic?
patty murray ▲ ● ▼		I am here.
robert f kennedy-jr ▲ ● ▼		It's chronic disease.
		Mr. Secretary, what have you done about the epidemic?
		That's just chronic disease.
unidentified		Seriously, Madam Secretary, I would ask you to hold back and let the Senator ask the questions.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Now then, we have a comment on Facebook from Kathy Metal Dennis, who, in response to our question about how confident she is in the President Trump's administration health officials, very confident.
		We now have some competent people in the administration who worry about other things besides race and gender.
		Now, John is in Esapis, New York, on our line for independence.
		Good morning, John.
unidentified		Yeah, thanks for taking my call.
unidentified		I'm not a big fan.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Can I ask you to please turn down the volume on you and then please continue?
unidentified		Oh, very sorry.
		Wait a minute.
		I was trying to turn it.
		There you go.
		Is that better?
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Yes, thank you.
unidentified		Okay, thanks.
		I always tune into the show so I can get like multiple diverse points of view.
		And I'm not won over by Secretary Kennedy.
		I don't know too much about him, but I try to give him a fair chance.
		But I wish that you would be more helpful for me to get more numerous opinions rather than just one side.
		Because you rely on all of the far-left media outlets.
		You rely on Washington Post, the New York Times, and MSNBC just had.
		No, not the entire country agrees with these left-wing far-left media outlets because I wish there were some more points of view.
		And I think you owe that to your audience.
		And I think you should be more diverse.
		I think your administration, whoever runs this program, I love C-SPAN.
		I love watching your coverage of the House of Representatives, the Senate, because you can't interrupt that.
		You can't edit it.
		You can't have control over, oh, we'll cut this out, we'll cut that out to give our point.
		So we get that, and it's beautiful.
		But the Washington Journal has always been a problem with me lately since Brian Lambs left the face, and that was the beautiful, beautiful part.
		My mother's calling me, she passed away.
		Oh, did you see Brian?
		You got to watch him.
		And I really, but you've lost it.
		You've gone so far to the left.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		So, John, I hear your point there.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		But how confident are you in the Trump administration health officials?
unidentified		I'm sorry.
		What did you say?
		I'm sorry.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		I said, I understand your point about Washington Journal, but I'm curious as to what you think about the Trump administration's health officials.
unidentified		Oh, Secretary Kennedy?
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Any of them?
unidentified		Well, you know, I tune in, and I don't have 24 hours today like maybe the media has.
		But the thing is, is that it's so obvious when you want something, and it's so one-sided.
		And, you know, I always say you tell the truth, which probably you're telling the truth, but you've got to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
		So basically, if you're in a court of law, you don't have to.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		John, I think we get your point.
		I want to go to another comment we received on Facebook from Richard McElruth, who says, RFK Jr. is a change agent.
		He sees the decline of our health as a macro systemic risk and is looking beyond current solutions to reverse the trend.
		It's a different calling than most of our recent public health officials.
		I think it will be a net positive in the long run.
		Ralph is in Battle Creek, Michigan on our line for Democrats.
		Good morning, Ralph.
unidentified		Yes, I watched the RFK hearings.
		Wow.
		They were shocking because they went over, it was Republicans and Democrats.
		Some of the Republicans were critical, too.
		They went over all the cuts that were being made in the FDA and the CDC and the NIH.
		And I have a list here just off the top of my head, the research grants and research funding that are being cut in this current budget.
		And the list is long and bad.
		They're cutting cancer research.
		They're cutting research in diabetes.
		They're cutting research in this ALS.
		They're cutting Alzheimer's research.
		And for the people that really like RFK, the MAGA people out there, they're stopping tobacco cessation programs or discouraging the use of tobacco.
		They have paint, what would you call it, lead paint amelioration program that's being cut.
		I mean, the cuts are very bad.
		And furthermore, I don't think that RFK is qualified to be leading these agencies.
		He's not a doctor.
		He's not a scientist.
		He's not a health professional.
		He's just an anti-vaccine guy.
		I mean, he's just, he's not qualified.
		He was asked about these cuts during the hearing.
		I encourage people to go over that hearing.
		It's a two-hour hearing, and he didn't even know about a lot of the cuts that were being made.
		And they asked him point blank.
		They said, who is making the cuts?
		Who's deciding what get cut?
		And RFK couldn't answer that.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		So last week on Washington Journal, the American Public Health Association's George Benjamin was on to discuss the recent actions by the Trump administration that directly affect public health efforts.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		And he here he is being asked about the effect of Trump's proposed cuts on public health funding.
unidentified		These cuts have been broad, indiscriminate, and unthoughtful.
		No one's opposed to improving the efficiency of programs.
		But when you wake up one morning and you've already been given a grant in a local community, and then suddenly they come back and reneg on that grant and say, you can't spend the money.
		You know, we're now going to cost shift from the federal government to your local community.
		So now your governors and mayors have now got to find the money for those programs or fire the people.
		That's a problem.
		And by the way, when they cut some of those programs, some of those people that were involved in the measles outbreak got fired basically that same day.
		So it does have an impact locally.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		In addition to the cuts described there, there's another story in the Washington Post about RFK Jr.'s cuts to CDC eliminate the labs tracking STI's hepatitis outbreaks.
		The only lab in the United States capable of testing for and tracking antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea or supergonorrhea was effectively shut down by layoffs.
		And this was the lab firings were part of the 2,400 staff laid off from the CDC.
		While officials at the Department of Health and Human Services have said the job reductions are aimed at refocusing the agency on emerging and infectious disease surveillance, outbreak investigations, preparedness and response.
		Lab experts say the reductions contradict that goal.
		Next up, we have Jeff in Bayville, New York, who is a medical professional.
		Good morning, Jeff.
unidentified		Thank you very much.
		I'd like to point out that there are organizations like, for example, the Virus Network, the Global Virus Network, which is a consortium of expert virologists in their field.
		And I'm just going to read a couple of sentences from a new report just to give you an idea of the danger that RFK represents.
		A newly published report in the Lancet Regional Health Americas by the Global Virus Network, a consortium of top virologists from over 40 countries, issues an urgent call to action to mitigate the escalating threat of H5N1A and influenza.
		A comprehensive analysis is a stark warning to global governments' failure to act decisively, could now pave the way for another devastating pandemic.
		So we don't have the time in this short time that we have to speak about this.
		But the problem is that RFK Jr. has cut all of the surveillance, all the necessary preparedness and response capabilities of the government.
		We're in a worse position than we were before COVID.
		And we have a looming possibility.
		We don't know for sure when or if this will occur, but certainly very dangerous situation with an ongoing epidemic of H5N1 in animals, which is infecting more and more mammals that are closely related to humans.
		And eventually, we're likely to be infected just like all the other mammals.
		And we can't say when that would happen or even if, but the possibility would be incredibly devastating, especially considering that we are completely unprepared under the auspices of the Trump administration and appointing basically the fox heading the hen house when it comes to public health.
		That's all I have to say.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		That statement from the Global Virus Network that Jeff was referencing there came out on April 28th, and it is on their website.
		Let's go to John in Bayer, Delaware on our line for Republicans.
		Good morning, John.
unidentified		Yeah, I want to talk about, I think they're doing a fine job.
		And you said in Texas is where most of the measles problem is.
		Well, why do you think that?
		It's all because of the migrants coming in.
		They're bringing diseases in this country.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Gail is in Springhill, Tennessee, on our line for independence.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Gail.
unidentified		Hello.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Yes, go ahead, Gail.
unidentified		I just have a.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Can you turn down the volume on your TV, please, Gail?
unidentified		Oh.
		Go ahead.
		I just have a.
		I had polio when I was 16 months old.
		Can you hear me?
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Yes, I can hear you, Gail.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Please go ahead.
unidentified		I'm 74.
		I was a year and a half old when I got polio.
		It was a like a whole bunch of people were dying, and then those chamber things to breathe.
		And I have been sick all my life from it.
		I am disfigured from it.
		And I don't think it's a good idea not to get vaccinated.
		There wasn't any vaccination when I got sick.
		There was an epidemic.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		So, Gail, given your personal experience with that, what do you think of the current administration's health officials?
unidentified		I don't think, well, I like it because he's getting rid of, you know, like bad stuff in food.
		But as far as the vaccinations, oh, Lord, people should get their kids vaccinated.
		They don't want to live like I have.
		I haven't been able to buy shoes ever because my food is all twisted and whatever.
		So I'm just worried about the future kids, you know.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Well, thank you for sharing your story, Gail.
		Jenny is in Stowe, Ohio on our line for Democrats.
		Good morning, Jenny.
unidentified		Good morning.
		How are you today?
		I would like to say that I don't have any confidence in him.
		There was a guy on there earlier that made comments about the he doesn't like to answer questions about anything.
		He'll say, I'll get back with you.
		Or he gets angry, okay?
		Or he doesn't ever know the answer to anything.
		I've watched it just like the gentleman said that he watched it.
		I watched the whole thing every time he's come before the senator, okay?
		And he just comes up with something.
		I think eventually our country is going to end up with people so sick that I think people are actually going to die from some of the diseases that he thinks that they don't need vaccines for anything.
		It's just like the COVID shot.
		If you want to take it, take it.
		If you don't, don't, you know.
		But as far as the things like my brother had polio and he walks with a limp.
		But when we first found out he couldn't get out of bed and walk, and he was getting ready for school, and he couldn't even walk.
		And he went into, I think it was one of the certain hospitals.
		But I don't have any confidence in him.
		And I did see that sword water.
		He said he just had his feet in it, but that's not true.
		Okay?
		So God bless everybody.
		Have a good memorial day.
		And thank you so much.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Howard is in New London, Ohio on our Line for Republicans.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Howard.
unidentified		Morning.
unidentified		Are you there?
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Yes, go ahead.
unidentified		Yeah, I think what he's doing is okay.
		He's got to get, I'm 66 years old, and back in my day when we were younger, autism didn't have nowadays.
		There's a thousand different types of autisms, from extremely smart to can't barely sit up and can't walk.
		I've seen it all, and I've got both cases in my household.
		My great-grandchildren.
		One, she had her chromosomes or something doubled or something.
		She's not mentally or, you know, looking at her, he looks like a perfect little, beautiful little girl.
		But she's three years old and can't walk.
		The other one's five years old, right?
		Now, he can't sit still, but that boy can read at three years old.
		That boy now can read.
		All he's got to do, he doesn't even have to try.
		He can read anything that you throw up in front of him.
		And nobody has taught this boy how to read.
		I mean, there's stuff going on.
		Get the stuff out of the food and take care of our kids.
		So I agree with what he's doing.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		So there's a similar comment that we received on X regarding the Maha clip just played.
		I think it's good to note the interconnectedness of processed food, environmental factors, and health habits of children related to chronic childhood disease so long as scientific research is presented in the report.
		Now, last week, Dr. Martin McCary, Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on its budget.
		And here he talks about his accomplishments so far and touches on some of these issues.
marty makary ▲ ● ▼		Now, I've been at the FDA for about seven weeks, and I'm proud of the early progress we've made.
		Working to remove all nine petroleum-based food dyes from the U.S. food supply, eliminating unnecessary animal testing requirements for drugs.
		We approved a new blood test for Alzheimer's, which could help enable more early treatment.
		For the pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities overseas that the FDA inspects, there has been a routine of using scheduled inspections, which in my opinion are no inspections at all.
		They're a joke.
		And we are moving towards surprise inspections.
		We don't allow FDA inspectors anymore to accept limo rides from the pharmaceutical manufacturing companies that they are there to inspect.
		I'm amazed at some of the stuff that I'm learning when I look under the hood.
		We've begun taking action against new challenges, such as gas station heroin and childhood vaping with illegal Chinese vaping products.
		Our borders have been far too porous.
		Working with the Trump administration's re-energized customs and border protection, we're not wasting any time.
		Today, we are announcing the seizure of nearly 2 million illegal vaping products from China.
		Last week, we announced plans to withdraw from the market chewable, ingestible fluoride tablets currently prescribed to six-month-old babies.
		And this week, we published in the New England Journal of Medicine our framework for COVID vaccine booster regulation so that developers and companies can see what we're thinking and have predictability.
		And we are planning to bring back gold standard science and common sense.
		We also have to modernize.
		On day one of me being on the job, I actively began an effort to organize to use AI for our scientific reviewers to make their jobs easier.
		Well, two weeks ago, we just announced our first AI-assisted review with the latest generation AI technology.
		One reviewer said that what normally took him two to three days, the AI did in six minutes.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Now, let's get back to your calls on your confidence in the Trump administration health officials.
		Let's hear now from Sophia in Manhattan, New York on our line for independence.
		Good morning, Sophia.
unidentified		Good morning, Kimberly.
		It's nice to hear from you for you to be host on Sunday.
		Whenever it is you and John, I keep it on the TV and I hold my cell phone to do my share.
		I voted for Mr. Trump in 2016, and I still get mad.
		How did I do that?
		But anyway, you know, we're going to be okay health-wise.
		Wash your hand, drink water, walk if you are retired.
		I'll be 75 this year in November.
		And most of all, please, please, do not keep on watching anything, whatever Mr. Trump say.
		You will be in peace.
		Watch like Andy Grifton, Archie Banker.
		This way, he will be out of your mind.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Now, Sophia, some of these things that you were just suggesting to stay healthy are similar to what the administration's health officials are saying.
		People should be focused more on physical activity and proper diet rather than medications.
		What do you think of that?
unidentified		Kimberly, I don't even take aspirin.
		It's helping.
		My doctor said, Ms. Wigan, what are you doing?
		My blood pressure was 123 by 80, and you're going to be 75 this year.
		I said, Doctor, I walk, I drink, I listen to music, and be happy most of all.
		Anything, anyone that says negative things, go away.
		Positive, stick with it.
		That is all my advice.
		Thank you, Kimberly.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Okay.
		Next up is Kathy in Hanover, Massachusetts on our line for Democrats.
		Good morning, Kathy.
unidentified		Good morning, Kimberly.
		So under HHS, we have the CDC, Medicare, Medicaid, FDA, and NIH.
		The things I've seen going on with each of these kinds of agencies is quite bothersome, right?
		It's going to set us back, in my opinion, especially with the NIH and the testing, sort of the development of new medications and processes to handle newly emerging illnesses or ones that have been around for a long time and are chronic.
		Now, so that is concerning.
		In terms of the newly released report this week, too, that the COVID vaccine causes myocarditis.
		I don't know where people were when COVID was around, but this was not an unknown factor, so this is not new information to me.
		In terms of the gentleman who commented about, and it was an official, about limo rides from companies they're about to inspect.
		They can't take limo rides anymore because it was kind of the implication was conflict of interest.
		They should educate the president.
		He should not take a plane from Qatar, in my opinion.
		So in terms of RFK Jr., I like that he's getting the additives out of food, encouraging exercise, but everything else to me is questionable.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Okay.
		Next up is Carrie in Buffalo, New York on our line for Republicans.
		Good morning, Carrie.
unidentified		Hi, good morning.
		Thank you so much for having my call.
		So I am absolutely refreshed with RFK.
		His common sense approach to medicine that focuses on the health of our nation, as opposed to simply looking at our citizens as consumers of medicine, is just common sense.
		So if you look around the globe, we have sample sizes that are sufficient to support that diet and exercise are the way to get a healthier nation.
		Eastern Medicine looks at food as medicine, and they focus on healthy food.
		And there's millions of people that have done this successfully.
		And I think that his approach is just absolutely refreshing.
		Now, we do have a sufficient sample size to also support that vaccines are a good thing.
		So I don't support him on that, but he's definitely got our attention.
		And I don't understand why focusing on diet and exercise should be so controversial.
		I'm very excited about RFK.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		So what Carrie was saying about vaccines in particular seems to be mirrored by most Americans.
		Here's some polling from KFF that shows that doctors and pediatricians are the most trusted sources of vaccine information among the public and parents, while fewer than half trust Trump or RFK on vaccines.
		The question was in general, how much do you trust each of the following to provide reliable information about vaccines?
		Your doctor or health care provider, 39% said a great deal, 43% said a fair amount.
		Similar numbers when it comes to your child's pediatrician, when it comes down to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. or President Donald Trump, only 12% say they trust them a great deal, 29% a fair amount for President Trump.
		That is 14% trust him a great deal, 23% a fair amount compared to 40% for not at all.
		Kevin is in Brooklyn, New York on our line for independence.
		Good morning, Kevin.
unidentified		Hey, good morning.
		I'm in the healthcare industry, and I just have three quick points.
		Number one, the measles outbreaks that we see here in the Brooklyn area, they happen to be in an orthodox community.
		People are not comfortable with getting vaccines.
		And then the other is, I hate to say it, but these are illegal people that come over the border.
		Number two, the myocardist was hidden by the last administration.
		We're just finally rolling up our sleeves and seeing the extent of the damage.
		They're talking about a fund for people that were damaged by the vaccines.
		Number three, go to Times Square, sit on a bench, and watch.
		You can tell the American versus the European.
		The American, they're fat, they're slovenly, their necks are big, they look like they're going to have a heart attack.
		The Europeans come here and they're thinner, cleaner, and they just have better quality of life.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Okay.
		Next up is John in Ann Arbor, Michigan on our line for Democrats.
		Good morning, John.
unidentified		Good morning.
unidentified		You were asking the question, as a Democrat, what kind of confidence would I have with our current President of the United States?
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		No, actually the question is your confidence in the Trump administration's health officials in particular.
unidentified		With RFK, I got to sign his proclamation and his petition when he was down in Detroit on St. Patrick's Day.
		I signed a petition for him to run for President of the United States, not only as a delegate in the Democratic Party, but the gentleman It was freezing cold, and I signed a petition and he had a button on his shoulder and he wanted to give me the button because I was a combat veteran.
		I served all of 1968 and 69 overseas during the Vietnam War.
		I'm sitting here with five smashed up ribs in my body and I was supposed to be on the Amtrak train landing in Washington, D.C. this morning to go to the Salute to America program at the Capitol building.
		And then tomorrow, I was supposed to be at Arlington Cemetery and the Vietnam War Memorial and then back home, coming back home to my place here.
		I'm 10 miles south of Ann Arbor.
		I am a registered delegate of the Democratic Party, have been for 40 years in the city of Dearborn, Michigan.
		I do know our former Congressman John Dingo and John Conyers.
		And what they would see today related to our country, they would be totally disgusted in terms of the handling of the Democratic Party and the way they handled everything within the last three and a half, four years.
		These were two highly professional.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		John, I'm very sorry that you had to miss the events around Memorial Day in Washington, D.C.
		And thank you for your service.
		I know it's small comfort, but we will be carrying all of those events here on C-SPAN.
		And so you're welcome to watch those here on our programming tomorrow.
		And thanks again for your service.
		Let's go to Stacey in McLean, Virginia on our line for independence.
		Good morning, Stacey.
unidentified		Good morning, America.
		Thanks for having me on.
		I have a couple of points to make as far as the health of America is concerned and who we have leading that.
		First of all, America is sick.
		We're supposed to be a world leader, and we don't even provide health care for our people.
		That's another reason why we're sick, and we're going to continue to get sick.
		Here in America, we take what?
		We're 4% of the world's population, and we take 8% of the prescription drugs.
		And I'm hoping RFK can focus on these poison pills that are advertised on TV, which are actually schizophrenic drugs that are off-labeled to treat whether it's back pain or stress, anxiety, weight loss, or healthy sleep.
		Those are actually schizophrenic drugs.
		And you're wondering where this shot in autism came from?
		I happen to be the mother.
		I have twin sons.
		And when my twins were born, it was one in every 10,000 births that were diagnosed with autism.
		I'm actually the case study.
		And my twins are case study A and case study B as far as autism was concerned.
		And the doctor told us, never give a child with autism any prescription drugs because that could lead them into a canatonic state.
		They need love, they need support, they need education, and most importantly, they need a routine.
		And keep them away from people and children that will lead them astray.
		Because most people that are in prison have a mental illness and they get caught in the system because somebody manipulates them.
		And next thing you know, they're involved in a drug deal and they can't defend themselves.
		So as far as America's concerned and my faith in RFK, he knows nothing about the medical industry.
		But however, he has prosecuted a lot of these pharmaceutical companies who push these poison pills on men, women, and children.
		And I'm going to tell you right now, the autism is not coming from the vaccinations that we're getting.
		It's coming from the fact that, like I said before, we're 4% of the world's population.
		We take 8% of the world's prescription drugs.
		And that is where the autism is going.
		It's in our water when we urinate.
		It's in our water system.
		We can't break that down.
		It's in our food.
		It's a whole combination of things.
		And they're pushing this poison on us for profit and campaign donations.
		So right now, we're a walking experiment here in America, unfortunately.
		So if he does anything, I pray to God he takes these prescription pills off the air, holds these pharmaceutical companies accountable for the death because they kill more.
		These pharmaceutical companies, they kill more people than all the wars across.
		You're talking like 200,000 people a year dying.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		So take a look at the since you were talking about prescription drugs in particular.
		I want to play a clip because President Trump at that Make America Healthy Again, at a Make America Healthy Again Commission event, he announced that America will soon see a drop in the cost of prescription drugs.
		Let's listen to that.
donald j trump ▲ ● ▼		At the end of my first term, I was so proud because it's the first time in 28 years that any president reduced drug prices during the course of four years.
		And you know what the number was?
		One fourth of one percent.
		But it was down one-fourth thing of it, a quarter of one percent.
		Very little.
		Essentially, they remained the same.
		But I wanted to get it down, and I was so proud.
		I thought I was the greatest guy in the world.
		I took it down one quarter of a percent.
		And I had news conferences.
		I was bragging.
		I'm the only one that did it 28 years.
		And then I said, that's not very much because we were still paying so much more.
		And I decided I've got to break the system.
		And it's the most powerful lobby in the world, the drug company, the most powerful they are, the most powerful.
		And I'm not saying bad, good, I'm not saying anything, but they have tremendous power over the Senate, over the House, over the governors, over everybody.
		And they spend more money, billions and billions of dollars.
		And I said, I don't care.
		I've got to do what I have to do what's right.
		And I declare to favored nations, most favored nations, where the United States from now on is going to pay the exact same price as the lowest price anywhere in the world.
		In other words, if you take the country that's paying, and let's say in a certain part, you know, there may be some country out there that pays a little bit less for very good reasons because of the fact, a thing called poverty or whatever.
		But we take the lowest country, say European Union countries as a whole, that would be fine.
		Or take individual countries within the European Union, or take various countries that nobody's even heard about.
		We pay the lowest.
		And what that's going to mean, and I'd like to put somebody to police it because it should start immediately.
		It shouldn't start in two years, three years, five years.
		They'll say, yes, it kicks in.
		They always say kicks in, Marty.
		It kicks in, sir, in four years, you know, and the four years they get it changed.
		It should mean, so remember I told you I was happy with one quarter of 1%.
		It could mean anywhere from 70% to 89% reduction in drugs and pharmaceuticals.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Once again, our question is your confidence in Trump administration health officials.
		We have our normal line for Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, but also a special line for medical professionals, 202-748-8003.
		Now, we received a comment on X from Johnny B. Our government and the health industry took profit over the health of its citizens.
		Maha is stopping this.
		Amazes me, the leftists sticking up for the same industries who've been poisoning us for decades.
		And another response to the question of their confidence in Trump administration health officials, low, unfortunately.
		It's one thing to be able to identify problems.
		They're okay to fare at that.
		But it's quite another to devise and implement effective solutions.
		I haven't seen any of those.
		And Wendell Schertz says on Facebook, what health officials?
		None are qualified.
		Pamela is in Canton, Ohio, on our line for Republicans.
		Good morning, Pamela.
unidentified		Yeah, how are you doing?
		Yeah, I'm sick and tired of all these older people who hates Trump and hates Bobby, and Bobby's not doing anything wrong.
		Just let him do his work.
		You know, he's not, Trump hired him, and Trump's telling the truth.
		Every time they get around any Democrats, they don't let him talk.
		They don't let him talk like in court for Bobby.
		You know, they don't even give him one word.
		He's trying to explain everything, and they don't let him do it.
		But there's too many older people that's listening to the false news.
		And I'm so sick and tired of hearing it on TV all the time.
		You know, I have so many people that, oh, they want to be my friend and everything until they find out that I'm a supporter with Trump, you know, and then they say, no, they make so many excuses about, oh, he doesn't like him because he doesn't like his personality.
		I'm 74 years old.
		I have common sense to believe all this stuff because he's pretty close to my age anyway.
		Well, not quite, but, you know.
		But anyway, I wish they just stop it and quit talking about their self, their health.
		Just let him do his work.
		You know, he got really good people that's cabinet people.
		They're just doing really good.
		So, you know, that's all I wanted to say.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		So the White House assessment of the National Institutes of Health mirrored some of the comments that we've heard this morning saying that the NIH has broken the trust of the American people with wasteful spending, misleading information, risky research, and the promotion of dangerous ideologies that undermine public health, the National Institutes of Health being an organization that funds quite a bit of research related to health-related issues in the United States.
		Now, let's hear from Sylvia in California on our line for Democrats.
		Good morning, Sylvia.
unidentified		Thank you for taking my call, first of all.
		And I am not happy With the Trump administration and who he is appointed to the has appointed to the health.
		He does have Dr. Oz in there.
		Why did he put somebody that's a professional in there?
		He's firing a lot of people that are very well qualified.
		They've done the work for years.
		And he puts Bobby Kennedy Jr., I don't know what he did to get picked to run our health.
		And I am 79, and I have seen a lot.
		Bobby Kennedy did not run for office prior to what he's doing now.
		I don't even think he was PPA president or nothing like that.
		He just got, they put him there because of the name Kennedy.
		And the Democrats did not give him a job and he went to the Republicans.
		So he's a sellout.
		And I don't believe that he answers the questions when he's asked the question.
		He goes around all over the place and they try to focus him back in there and he doesn't listen.
		He's not listening to the demand, the question of the people.
		So no, I don't think that he's doing a good job.
		I like Bobby Kennedy way back in the day, okay?
		But today he's out.
		He's not qualified to help me with my health issues.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Okay, Jerry is in Augustine, Maine, on our line for Democrats.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Jerry.
unidentified		Good morning.
		As far as Mr. Kennedy and the lady that had said that on the people that should be eating right, and I'm a firm believer in that.
		And I do exercise.
		I walk, I do yoga, and I go to the gym four days a week.
		So I take care of myself.
		But we have to think, I'm a firm believer in thinking the whole process in a nutshell that not everyone can purchase food that is good for us.
		Processed food is not.
		He's correct on that.
		But it costs quite a bit of pennies for people to be able to eat good, especially in my condition, also on my income.
		I would love to eat organic food, but it's very, very expensive.
		And as far as the health on vaccines and whatnot, the whole situation, we have, I'm 74 years old, like the lady that had said prior.
		And there's never been a problem with the vaccines in the years, in the years.
		Never been a problem.
		All of a sudden, there is a problem since Mr. Kennedy came on board.
		So it's up, yes, it's up to each individual to decide on their own.
		And as far as Mr. Trump, that we should, people shouldn't think, should believe in him.
		Well, when from his mouth, when he says something, and this is not fake news because it's from what he says on TV, and it's not from a fake news channel.
		Thank you.
		Have a nice day.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Jerry was mentioning vaccines.
		Now, during a Senate hearing last week, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was questioned by Connecticut Democrat Chris Murphy about his views on vaccines, including the one for measles.
		Now, this took place last week.
chris murphy ▲ ● ▼		Just this morning, in front of the House of Representatives, you also said that you, in fact, would not recommend that kids get vaccinated for measles.
unidentified		You said you would just lay out the pros and cons.
chris murphy ▲ ● ▼		Okay, so this is the summation of everything that you have said to compromise people's faith in the measles vaccine, in particular, is contrary to what you said before this committee.
		You said you support the measles vaccine, but then you have laid out a set of facts that are contested.
		I will submit information for the record from experts who contest what you've said about the vaccine.
marty makary ▲ ● ▼		And the result is to undermine faith in the vaccine.
chris murphy ▲ ● ▼		It's kind of like saying, listen, I think you should swim in that lake, but you know, the lake is probably toxic, and there's probably a ton of snakes and alligators in that lake, but I think you should swim in it.
marty makary ▲ ● ▼		Nobody's going to swim in that lake if that's what you say.
chris murphy ▲ ● ▼		And so I want you to acknowledge that when you say you support the measles vaccine and then go out and repeatedly undermine the vaccine with information that is contested by public health experts, that is not supporting the vaccine.
unidentified		And so I guess I have two simple questions for you.
chris murphy ▲ ● ▼		One is, can you clarify what you said in the House this morning?
		Are you or are you not recommending that families get their children vaccinated, or are you just giving people the pros and cons?
		And do you understand that when you say these things about the measles vaccine, what ends up happening is less people get the vaccine?
		That may be what you want, but do you understand that the result of constantly questioning the efficacy or safety of the vaccine results in less people getting the vaccine?
		So I don't necessarily want to spend the remaining 20 seconds in an argument over the science, but do you at least understand that that's the consequence of what you're saying?
		And are you actually still recommending people get the vaccine or are you not?
robert f kennedy-jr ▲ ● ▼		Senator, if I advise you to swim in a lake, I knew there to be alligators, and wouldn't you want me to tell you there were alligators in it?
unidentified		So are you recommending the measles vaccine or not?
robert f kennedy-jr ▲ ● ▼		What I've said and what I said doesn't sound like you are if that's are you gonna let me answer are you gonna keep it are you are you not are you gonna let me answer what I pledged before this committee when I during my confirmation is that I would tell the truth that I would have radical transparency I'm gonna tell the truth about everything we know and we don't know about are you recommending the measles vaccine I am not going to just tell people everything is safe and effective if I know that there's issues I need to respect people's intelligence
unidentified		back to your calls Robert is in Greenville Texas on our line for independence good morning Robert Good morning I got a couple comments um I hope you will allow me the time to express them um I think the priority in America on on the whole issue Issue of health and human services and Robert F. Kennedy being in charge.
		I really don't care who's in charge, to be honest with you.
		I think this entire thing should be a culminated event, similar to what we did with Homeland Security once upon a time after 9-11.
		And should enthrall the EPA, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institute for Health.
		The whole package should be culminated in one thing: just the well-being of American citizens as, well, you know, I mean, you could call it an emergency, but, you know, I mean, I don't think it needs to be an emergency.
		I think it needs to be a thoughtful process where you bring together, you know, the clean water, clean air, the general vaccination proved through science, the reigning in of petrochemical industry that is in the packaging, the fertilizers, the insecticides.
		The entire thing should be a science-based approach culminated under a coordination of all aspects of what goes into the food, the air, and the water that Americans consume.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		So, Robert, what do you think of how the Trump administration health officials are moving towards that goal or not?
unidentified		I don't believe they are.
		I believe, you know, that, okay, if I can say it, I think Trump's got a little bit of a chip on his shoulder from what happened with COVID and how it went out of control under his watch.
		Number two, I think RFK is not qualified to approach this, although he probably would do whatever the president said, so therefore he's qualified under this administration.
		But I think it's an all-of-above approach that is lacking in this country.
		I know there's issues.
		I don't know if your listeners are aware of the microplastics in our water, the chemical, the chemical, petroleum.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Robert, we're just about out of time for this segment, so I want to get to a couple more comments.
		This one on X from J.D. Redding.
		The Make America Healthy Again agenda prioritizes ideology over evidence, especially with moves like pausing CDC FDA communications and cutting health agency funding.
		Now then, let's hear from Craig in Cleveland, Ohio on our line for Republicans.
		Good morning, Craig.
unidentified		Hello.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Hello.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		What's your confidence level in the Trump administration health officials?
unidentified		I support him 1,000%.
		I love listening to your show.
		These liberal Democrats that call in here and talk about how bad Chunk is and how everybody's on his cabinet is so bad.
		He doesn't support terrorists in our country, and I don't either.
		And I don't like being called a Nazi by these idiots.
		Thank you and have a great holiday.
		God bless veterans.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Okay, Philip is in Springfield, Massachusetts on our line for Democrats.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Philip.
unidentified		Hi.
		I'm just calling in to make a couple comments.
		I saw on the confirmation hearing for Kennedy for the health secretary that he admitted to heroin use for 14 years and nobody questioned him on it.
		He admitted it when he was testifying.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		I don't recall that.
		I'm going to look that up.
		But in general, what's your confidence level of the Trump administration health officials?
unidentified		Low.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		I'm listening.
unidentified		I know low because he said that sugar was worse than crack cocaine on a comment last week on C-SPAN, and I saw that.
		And I just think that he should just be more careful what he says and wondering why people don't question him on his honesty of what he did.
		Because that's 14 years is a long time to be on an illegal substance.
		I understand you went through emotional things with the shootings and stuff, but it's just that I was shocked to hear that, and I don't hear no one talk about it.
		So I thought the listeners should remember that.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		So here's a bit of a story about that from PBS News.
		Recounting heroin addiction and spiritual awakening, RFK Jr. urges focus on prevention and community.
		U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told a personal story of his own heroin addiction, spiritual awakening, and recovering at a conference on drug addiction Thursday.
		This was from a story back in April, and emphasized that young people need a sense of purpose in their lives to prevent them from turning to drugs.
		Kennedy called addiction a source of misery, but also a symptom of misery.
		In a speech that mentioned God more than 20 times, he pointed to his own experience feeling as though he'd been born with a hole inside of him he needed to fill.
		Let's go back to Robert in Naples, Florida on our line for independence.
		Good morning, Robert.
unidentified		Yeah, I have no confidence in a lot of the cabinet because they do the six fence, and we need to do something about it.
		Tomorrow in 2026, we need to vote these people out.
		We need to get a Congress in there that will actually do something for the good of the American people.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Okay, next up is David in Del Mar, Maryland, on our line for Democrats.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, David.
unidentified		Hello, good morning.
		Happy Memorial Day weekend.
		I just wanted to say I have zero confidence in today's officials in the Trump administration.
jon rappoport ▲ ● ▼		As far as Robert Kennedy goes, the man has obviously problems.
unidentified		Prior heroin use, well, he's recovering.
		That's great.
		It's all good.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		And yes, just quickly, David, because this was brought up earlier, his exact quote in that confirmation hearing was, I was a heroin addict for 14 years.
		I've been 42 years in recovery.
		I go to 12-step meetings every day, so I hear stories every day, was what he said in the confirmation hearing.
		Please go ahead, David.
unidentified		Yes, I think that's well known.
		Who wouldn't know about it is are the totally uneducated voters that voted for Trump from the very beginning.
		This man is not all there.
		And it's getting back to Robert Kennedy.
		Who would believe a man that would cut a whale head off a beach whale in Massachusetts and put it on the roof of his car, travel down the road while his kids are in the car, blood dripping off the car onto the kids' windows were down.
		I mean, the fella has severe problems, severe mental problems.
mary gay scanlon ▲ ● ▼		All right.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Well, that is all the time that we have for this segment.
		Thank you to everyone who called in.
		Coming up later on Washington Journal, U.S. Marine Corps veteran Travis Partington is going to join us to discuss his podcast, Oscar Mike Radio, that focuses on real-life stories of active duty military and veterans.
		But up next, Carla Walter of the Center for American Progress and Vincent Vernuccio of the Institute for the American Worker will join us to discuss the impact of the Trump administration's economic and labor policies on working Americans.
		We'll be right back.
unidentified		I want to rise in strong support, Mr. Speaker, of this one big, beautiful bill.
unidentified		This bill that's going to deliver on so many promises that the American people asked us to do for them.
hakeem jeffries ▲ ● ▼		Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to this reckless, regressive, and reprehensible GOP tax scam.
unidentified		No other network covered Congress's action on the tax bill this week like C-SPAN.
		No breaks, no spin, just the work of democracy unfiltered.
		18 hours of the Ways and Means Committee meeting.
jason smith ▲ ● ▼		Democrats who vote against this tax relief will be voting for the largest tax hike in American history.
unidentified		18 more hours of the House Rules Committee.
mary gay scanlon ▲ ● ▼		I also want to welcome our dedicated C-SPAN viewers and rules aficionados.
mary gay scanlon ▲ ● ▼		You know who you are.
unidentified		What the hell are you so scared of that you guys are holding this hearing at one o'clock in the morning?
unidentified		And when the final vote came, we were there.
mike johnson ▲ ● ▼		On this vote, the yays are 215, the nays are 214, with one answering present.
mike johnson ▲ ● ▼		The bill is passed.
unidentified		All night, overnight, gavel to gavel.
		C-SPAN, bringing you democracy unfiltered.
		Tonight on C-SPAN's Q&A, travel writer Rick Steves talks about his 1978 journey along the hippie trail and the 60,000-word journal he kept of the trip, which he recently published as a book.
		During the 3,000-mile trek, the then 23-year-old Steves and a friend visited Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Nepal.
		He recalls the people he met along the way, the challenges of traveling in foreign countries in the 1970s, and the lifelong impact the trip had on him.
rick steves ▲ ● ▼		It's fun to look back on it with the help of the journal and see how naive and green and uneducated I was.
		But it's the growing pains of a global perspective, of gaining a global perspective.
		And I've got this notion that culture shock is a good thing.
		A lot of people try to avoid culture shock.
		To me, culture shock is constructive.
		It's the growing pains of a broadening perspective.
unidentified		Rick Steves with his book On the Hippie Trail tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern on C-SPAN's QA.
		You can listen to QA, wherever you get your podcasts, and on the C-SPAN Now app.
		Washington Journal continues.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Welcome back here to discuss the Trump administration's policies and how they relate to American workers.
		I'm joined by Vincent Vernuccio, who's the president and co-founder of the Institute for the American Worker.
		Welcome to the program.
unidentified		Thank you for having me on.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		And also Carla Walter, who's a senior fellow for the inclusive economy at the Center for American Progress.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Welcome to Washington Journal.
unidentified		Thanks for having me.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Starting with you, Carla, can you talk about the Center for American Progress?
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Who funds you and your political point of view?
unidentified		Sure.
		The Center for American Progress is a 501c3 organization that is located here in Washington, D.C. that covers really the waterfront of issues facing the American people.
		And we do research and we also work to see that research implemented through policies that can really lift up everyone in our communities.
		And we're funded by a mix of foundations and individuals and sort of that, you know, that millage of organizations that support organizations.
		And I think your last question is: what was our orientation?
		We are a progressive organization.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Okay, and what about the Institute for the American Worker?
unidentified		Sure.
		We are also a 501c3.
		We believe in freedom and innovation, especially collaboration between workers and job creators.
		We educate on policies that advocate for worker freedom.
		We are funded by, once again, individuals and foundations from across the country as well.
		And I would describe us as free market.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		And do you have any ties to the Trump administration or its policymaking?
unidentified		In the first Trump administration, I was on the Federal Service Impasses Panel that did arbitration and mediation between the federal government and federal unions.
unidentified		And during both administrations, I was on the transition team, but currently I do not have an affiliation.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		What about you, Carla?
unidentified		No, no affiliations.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Okay, so first of all, let's start with the GOP budget that passed the House last week.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		How do you think, Carla, this will impact American workers?
unidentified		Yeah, I think when we're looking at the budget, when we are looking at all the waterfront of policies that we're seeing both in terms of what the administration is enacting and what Congress is moving forward with the reconciliation package, we are seeing tremendous cuts to services and programs that American workers rely on.
		And so it's really concerning.
		We're seeing both the administration taking forward policies, administrative policies that really infringe on workers' rights to come together and bargain, but we're also seeing this sort of pullback on essential worker protections, both the funding of the agencies that are in charge of ensuring that workers are paid minimum wage and overtime, are safe on the job and so on, but also then the ability for those agencies, the ability for these agencies to really enforce robust standards.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		And what are your thoughts on this reconciliation package and what it means for American workers?
unidentified		Sure, so I'm a labor policy wonk, so I'll just start that this is a little outside my expertise.
		I don't really do budget work, but we are seeing things coming out of the administration that are really commendable, such as requiring more transparency.
		In March, the Trump administration, their Office of Personnel Management, actually issued a memorandum to agencies across the country saying that they have to document how much agency time is spent on things like collective bargaining.
		So while we're talking about what's in this current budget bill, I think it's also very commendable that we're seeing the government and the Trump administration trying to bring more transparency and sunlight to how much money the government is spending that could be used for some of these budget issues.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Now, something specific that's in the House version of this bill, elimination of tax on tips and overtime.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Do you think that's good for workers?
unidentified		I'm not a budget expert.
unidentified		I bet tipped workers will be very happy about that, but I'm probably a little over my skis if I'm talking about the tax and budget issues.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Fair enough.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Your thoughts on those provisions?
unidentified		So I think that really this is in many ways sort of gimmicky.
		You know, tipped workers oftentimes are not paying taxes because they're paid so little.
		We know what will help tipped workers, and that's elimination of the tipped minimum wage.
		And there's bills out there to do that.
		We also know that with overtime, there are regulations that the administration is not defending that would raise overtime standards for many more workers.
		So we can talk about playing around with the margins, or we can talk about really meaningful reform that folks will see in their pocket books immediately.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		There's a requirement, and forgive me, I know this is still on the budget a little bit, but there's a requirement that Medicaid recipients would have to provide proof of employment as a condition for receiving health insurance.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Do you think that these kinds of work requirements would make for a stronger workforce or is this a good policy?
unidentified		I mean, I think always having skin in the game is beneficial.
		And if someone is able-bodied and they are receiving assistance from the government, they should at least be seeking work, if not actually working.
		But once again, little over my skis here, usually stick to a very straight-up labor policy.
		Thank you.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Got it.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		You have some thoughts on this?
unidentified		Yeah, I do.
		I think what we see with the CBO reporting that tens of millions of workers will lose their coverage, we know that this isn't just, this isn't really a work requirement.
		It's a paperwork requirement.
		It is red tape that are going to prevent workers from accessing care.
		You know, Arkansas experimented with this, and what they saw is 40% of their recipients losing coverage.
		So it's very concerning to me that we can call this a work requirement, but really what we're seeing is this is just lots of paperwork designed to get folks who are relying on care across our economy, working families, off of a system that they're truly dependent on in terms of making sure their families are healthy.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		I do want to ask you something very labor-specific related to the federal workforce.
		You know, in March, Trump, as you mentioned, signed an executive order ending collective bargaining for wide swaths of federal employees.
		Last week, an appeals court said that was good to go, and that lawsuit is going to play out.
		If this happens, what do you think is going to change about the way the federal workforce works?
unidentified		Well, I think it will be more streamlined.
		Workers will be able to work with their managers a little bit more directly.
		But let's talk about the legality of the executive order for a second.
		The Civil Service Reform Act, which was the basis for the executive order, which gives the president authority, it's both very specific and also very vague.
		It's very specific that the president has the authority to do this, but it's also very vague in that it doesn't define what is national security.
		So on this one, I know with a lot of the executive order, there's a lot of back and forth in court.
		On this one, the president is well within his authority.
		And I think that as the judge last week held that this is going to go through, I think it's going to be good for both taxpayers and also federal employees.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		I saw you writing Furious Notes.
unidentified		I want to make sure I remember all my points.
		So, you know, I think what we're seeing really here is that this is a rollback for bargaining rights for 1 million direct public employees.
		That's 80% of the federal workforce that is currently organized.
		And it certainly does revoke rights for DOD workers that have been, by the way, bargaining for decades successfully without national security implications.
		But it also revokes bargaining rights for workers who are caring for aging veterans, for folks that are inspecting food to prevent disease outbreaks, for those who are scientists who are taking care to make sure that our minors are safe on the job.
		These are folks that have very little to do with national security.
		And it really begs the question of what is the rationale for this.
		And the administration's own documents at the time of the release of the order complained that workers were fighting back, federal employees unions were fighting back against some of the illegal Doge slash and burn agenda of cutting our essential government services.
		And so I think there's real questions that we need to answers to about the why of this.
		And I think that as we see federal employee unions being one of the main impediments to some of the broader Trump agenda, the why is really important.
		So I want to go through a couple things there.
		First, let's talk about what they're bargaining over.
		So my organization, Institute for the American Worker, put out a report earlier this year.
		It's available at i the number4aw.org, i4aw.org.
		And it detailed a lot of things that are being bargained over at national security agencies and throughout the government.
		And what we found are, you know, there's things that are probably absolutely ancillary to definitely to national security, also to the interest of taxpayers or, you know, most federal employees.
		We found that during office moves, there was one agency that was bargaining over the height of privacy panels under desk cuticles.
		Do they come two inches or four inches above the floor?
		One agency was bargaining over the right, right, mind you, to wear spandex in the office.
		So, I mean, unless we're talking about Superman, I don't really think that spandex bargaining has a place in the conversation about federal employees and national defense.
		And we are talking about those hardworking federal employees that are taking care of our veterans and those that served our country, especially on this Memorial Day weekend.
		One of the things that the union was given during the Biden administration, the Trump administration attempted to take it away, but it was kept in place by the Biden administration, is that the VA union actually in Maryland has half of a hospital wing, including an outdoor entertaining space.
		So when we're talking about bargaining or the revocation of bargaining in a lot of these agencies, I really don't think what you're talking about is what is in the best interest of both taxpayers or individual federal employees.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		I'm going to give you a quick moment to respond, but then move on.
unidentified		I would love to.
		So when you look at these contracts, I have not done a full report.
		I can't say that I've gone through every page detail by detail to look for things that I don't agree with.
		But when you look at these contracts and you read through them fastly, what you see are workers bargaining over overtime, how overtime will be paid out, leave, discrimination protections, lactation rooms, sort of the, they cannot, federal employees unions can't bargain over wages and benefits by law, but they are bargaining things for things that are central.
		But the thing you see most often in every single contract is protections for unfair dismissal and is an unfair retaliation.
		And while that is the sort of thing that normally you would hope you never have to call on when you're a unionized worker, right now we are seeing workers having to call on it so that union lawyers are working overtime to represent these workers who have been cut by the Doge offices.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		So you mentioned these Doge cuts.
		Last week at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing for the Labor Department budget, Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin asked Labor Secretary Laurie Chavez-DeMaire de Remer about Trump's cuts to departments in that agency.
		Let's listen to that.
tammy baldwin ▲ ● ▼		Madam Secretary, I'm concerned that this administration is paying lip service to protecting and supporting American workers, but then taking actions that harm them.
		We see the chaotic approach to tariffs impacting small businesses and larger employers who have had their supply chains disrupted and their workers paying the price with reduced work hours and price hikes to come.
		The department has pushed out approximately 20% of its staff who are now being paid not to work, which will seriously undermine the department's ability to fulfill its mission to support American workers.
		This includes forcing out about 25% of the staff at the Employee Benefits Security Administration that we call EBSA, responsible for protecting the benefits of more than 156 million American workers and retirees.
		So prior to implementing these staffing reductions, did you do an evaluation of the impact that it would have on EBSA being able to do its job to protect Americans' benefits if 25% fewer people were working there?
unidentified		At the Department of Labor, our goal is to fulfill the mission of every agency, and that is protecting workers' rights and benefits.
		That's an essential part of the core mission.
		I can tell you there are oftentimes what's important to me as the agency head is to make sure that spending more money doesn't necessarily get us the outcomes that we need.
		I can tell you the tariff conversation.
tammy baldwin ▲ ● ▼		You did an evaluation of what the impact would be on protecting workers' benefits by cutting that division by 25%.
unidentified		We will always protect the American workers essential to the Department of Labor.
tammy baldwin ▲ ● ▼		So you did an evaluation prior to pushing out 25% of those workers.
unidentified		As I came into office, I had committed to this committee and every other committee, the full committee, to do every evaluation in every agency so I can pull back the curtain and understand exactly what I'm leading.
tammy baldwin ▲ ● ▼		I would appreciate your sharing that evaluation and analysis with the committee.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		I'd like to get both of your response.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Vincent, you first.
unidentified		Sure.
		So this goes to the larger issue of what is happening with federal employees generally.
		Now, just to be clear, what the question was, was the federal employees in the Department of Labor, for the most part, the Department of Labor deals with private sector employees.
		But let's talk about federal employees.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Well, let's talk about both, actually.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		I'd love to hear your thoughts on how these affect both.
unidentified		Absolutely.
		So let's talk about the federal employees to start with.
		Now, first of all, I know there's a lot of back and forth.
		There's judges ruling one way and then the other, and it's kind of amorphous.
		And I'll be honest, my heart goes out to the federal employees because I know there's a lot of uncertainty out there.
		And I've been there, I've been without work, I've been unemployed, and I can tell you how absolutely stressful it is.
		So there's a lot of federal employees.
		I know they're under a lot of stress right now.
		But let's talk about going back first to what the Trump administration tried to do.
		They offered buyouts.
		They offered very generous buyouts.
		Eight months that back in February, about 75,000 federal employees took.
		Right now, the number is up to 260 in the various programs, 260,000 in the various programs that the Trump administration is offering.
		And unions such as AFC actually got in the way and said, no, you can't do that, and prevented the individual choice or tried to prevent in court the individual choice of those federal employees.
		Now, what we're seeing right now, there is a lot of back and forth.
		And the Trump administration is trying to right-size the government, right-size the federal workforce, and they are doing it, unfortunately, with the legal constraints that they have under the Civil Service Reform Act.
		You have to remember that it is incredibly difficult to remove ineffective federal employees.
		There are performance reviews.
		There are appeals.
		There's a lot of things that the unions will throw up as far as roadblocks of removing ineffective government employees.
		And with that being said, I have worked with a lot of outstanding federal employees throughout my career.
		And there are a lot of federal employees that do their job and are absolutely fantastic.
		For the ones that aren't, that are frankly causing those really good federal employees to have to do more work, there should be ways to downsize.
		And frankly, we should also be looking at what is best for the taxpayers on staffing levels and who is actually working in the federal government.
		So, you know, I kind of wish Elon Musk was there instead of the labor secretary because a lot of these cuts are really being run by Doge and not by the Labor Department.
		And so if we want to talk about who are the experts on the ground, we are losing experts on the ground in terms of what's happening at the Department of Labor.
		There's been 17 OSHA regional offices, leases canceled.
		37 EMSHA, that's the Mine, Safety and Health Administration, regional offices, their leases canceled.
		Five NLRB offices.
		We are seeing that the folks that are the boots on the ground, that are the first responders when a worker is coming forward to report something that's not safe, that they're not being paid enough, that their employer is not bargaining with them, those people are disappearing.
		And that's going to make a real-life difference to folks in communities where things are not going right and where they don't have a government, a body that they can go to and say, hey, can you help me out?
		So that's a real concern, and it's going to make a real difference to our communities when we can talk about, oh, this is shrinking.
		It is terrible what we're doing to government workers.
		But it is also moving hand in hand with terrible things we're doing to workers across this country.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Well, if you have questions for our guests about the public or private labor force and questions about the Trump administration's labor policies, you can call us Democrats at 202-748-8000, Republicans at 202-748-8001, and Independents at 202-748-8002.
		First, though, let's go to some questions that we received on X.
		This first one, how much higher would wages rise for Americans if all undocumented workers were expelled from our workforce?
		Vincent?
unidentified		With the undocumented workers or the illegal aliens for Procros, we should be talking about the law and not wages.
		And if they are here, they are breaking the law.
		They should be here to respect the law.
		And I think what the Trump administration is trying to do is making sure that, you know, I think he put a big, beautiful door on the wall to make sure that we have immigrants here that are legal and are working.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Carla?
unidentified		You know, I think right now we have legal mechanisms in our countries where workers can come here on visas that allow them to be paid 15% of the median wage.
		We call it a prevailing wage standard for H-1B visa workers, but really it's a poverty standard.
		So our current federal policy is that when we are having immigrants walk in the door, legally, we're being paid sub-minimum wages.
		I think we need to be addressing many of those problems that are currently on the books that are disrespectful to the American public when we say they can't compete for jobs, and frankly disrespectful for skilled immigrants when they're walking in the door.
		So I think there's, you know, there are some real concerns that the American public is raising in terms of immigration, but there are lots of hardworking folks across our communities that we need to understand that we have all these policies on the books.
		Another policy we have on the books that we're supposed to have on the books is that we don't enforce immigration laws when workers come forward to report violations.
		And that's because we want to make sure that employers can't use immigrant labor to suppress wages, that everybody has the same rights on the job.
		But we don't enforce that.
		So we allow companies to really exploit workers in ways that are bad for everyone.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Another question from X. Could both guests speak to the efforts to increase American manufacturing could both share their projections in terms of whether these efforts, like the tariff policy and incentive to build plants within the U.S., will yield the results aimed for given labor costs.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Do you want to start with that one?
unidentified		Sure.
		You know, I am all for bringing back manufacturing jobs to the U.S.
		I think that it yields many benefits.
		However, in order to do that, you need a comprehensive trade policy.
		You need to have an investment strategy that focuses both on RD and growing new facilities.
		And you need to have a workforce strategy that's about creating good union jobs and is about training workers to be ready to move into those positions.
		Right now, we have a president who has one strategy, and that's tariffs.
		And the strategy, it's, you know, in many ways, charitable college strategy because it's changing day to day, hour by hour.
		So even at its best, employers cannot rely on this to say, yeah, I'm going to relocate jobs back to the U.S. because they don't know what's coming to tomorrow, in a week, in a month.
		At the same time, we have consumers facing really real challenges.
		There's no evidence that there is going to be an upside jobs benefit to this right now because of the chaos.
		But there are going to be real costs, thousands of dollars of more costs in consumers who have already been facing inflation that's been a real struggle in recent years.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Before I have you respond, Vincent, let's listen to President Trump at his Liberation Day announcement where he talked about tariffs and how they might create new jobs.
donald j trump ▲ ● ▼		In a few moments, I will sign a historic executive order instituting reciprocal tariffs on countries throughout the world.
		Reciprocal.
		That means they do it to us and we do it to them.
		Very simple.
		Can't get any simpler than that.
		This is one of the most important days, in my opinion, in American history.
		It's our declaration of economic independence.
		For years, hardworking American citizens were forced to sit on the sidelines as other nations got rich and powerful, much of it at our expense.
		But now it's our turn to prosper and, in so doing, use trillions and trillions of dollars to reduce our taxes and pay down our national debt, and it'll all happen very quickly.
		With today's action, we are finally going to be able to make America great again, greater than ever before.
		Jobs and factories will come roaring back into our country, and you see it happening already.
		We will supercharge our domestic industrial base.
		We will pry open foreign markets and break down foreign trade barriers.
		And ultimately, more production at home will mean stronger competition and lower prices for consumers.
		This will be indeed the golden age of America.
		It's coming back.
		We're going to come back very strongly.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Just a reminder, that question was whether these tariff efforts are going to increase American manufacturing, help build more plants in the U.S., or yield better, more jobs, as the President was saying.
unidentified		Sure, let's talk about manufacturing in the U.S. and where manufacturing is really growing and expanding in the U.S.
		And that's in the South.
		It is in the Sunshine Belt states.
		And frankly, it's in states that are rewarding individual workers, prioritizing individual workers, and worker freedom.
		You look at states like Georgia.
		You look at states like Tennessee.
		You look at states like Alabama, states that have right to work, that are leaning into worker freedom.
		And that's where manufacturing is going.
		In fact, in the last couple of years, several of those states passed secret ballot protection acts that give workers the right to say, yeah, I want this union to come in, let's vote for the union, but not be subject to some of the provisions that could lead to intimidation and coercion known as hard check organizing.
		So in those states, if they are getting state incentives, those states have to protect the secret ballot.
		And between that, between right to work, you are seeing that manufacturing is growing and expanding.
		And I think that is a big result also of worker freedom.
		So if we're talking about manufacturing in the United States, look at those states and look at where manufacturing is growing and expanding and the policies that those states are enacting.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		What about the tariff policy?
unidentified		The president's going, you know, changing those tariff policies.
		He's having active negotiations.
		I am not in the president's head, so I don't think I can make a prediction on that.
		All right.
		Could I respond to that for just a quick second?
		There's nothing inherent about manufacturing that makes it a good job.
		And so if we're talking about bringing back manufacturing, we also want to talk about are we making these good jobs?
		And what we've seen, especially in manufacturing growth in the South, is too often those companies are relying on subcontracting.
		They're paying very low wages.
		They have higher injury rates.
		If we're not talking about bringing back manufacturing and bringing unionization and real worker, giving workers real power and voice, we are just talking about jobs and we're not talking about good jobs.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Let's hear from Ryan in Orange, Massachusetts on our line for independence.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Ryan.
unidentified		Hi.
		Morning.
		How are you?
		Well, part of my issue with the American work laws are the ability of companies to have arbitration agreements and non-compete clauses in employment contracts and the fact that the entities are allowed to violate our constitutional rights.
		And no administration, whether Republican or Democrat, I mean, Barack Obama talked about this issue a little bit, wants to take that on.
		And it seems to me that the Democratic Party, if they wanted to focus on issues like workers' rights, should focus on more stuff like that than trying to say how evil and bad or evil Orange Trump man is.
		I mean, give me a break.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Carla, I'll let you take that one, Jason and Vincent.
unidentified		I would love to.
		There was actually a rule to ban non-compete agreements for workers that the Biden administration was advancing.
		And like most rules, there were legal challenges to it.
		And this would, just to be clear, what this rule would say is that when you're a worker and you start on your day one, you cannot be given a contract by your employer that says, just so you know, if you want to leave here, you cannot go to a competitor.
		You cannot use your training and education and all that you've learned anywhere else.
		You have to leave the field entirely.
		It's wild.
		It is wild to think that, you know, when we see that in places where non-compete laws are really strong, we see engineers having to like move out of state or we see them leaving their field of expertise in order to get the next job.
		And so there was a rule that was on the books that there were legal challenges to, and the Trump administration is declining to push those challenges forward and move forward on it.
		So I think there is activity in this space, and I agree.
		It's very important.
		Sure, let's talk about arbitration.
		And what the caller was bringing up was first arbitration where you take a job, you say, all right, if I get in trouble at work, we're both going to agree, let's avoid court to start, and let's go into an arbitration Agreement.
		I think that's a voluntary agreement where you have both sides saying, okay, if this happens, let's avoid court.
		But what we see coming out of legislation like the PRO Act, and unfortunately, Republican Senator Josh Hawley's Fast Labor Contracts Act is arbitration that deals with the first contract between a company and a union.
		In an absolutely rushed time period, the PRO Act and the framework by Senator Josh Hawley, the Fast Labor Contracts Act, would actually force a company and a union into a speedy first mediation, then arbitration provision to provide for all aspects of the contract and actually bring in federal bureaucrats to select an arbitration panel at an agency that historically has been very scandal-ridden.
		And actually, the Trump administration is trying to ratchet down the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		So I'm going to go to Mark in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on our line for Democrats.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Mark.
unidentified		Good morning to you and your guests.
		Great topic.
		And I'd like to ask both guests this question.
		The Doge, what's going on with Doge?
		Now, the official version out of President Trump is this is to right size the federal workforce and make it more efficient.
		But I don't know.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Mark, your line is breaking up.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Can you just ask your question one more time?
unidentified		Yes.
		Doge.
		My question is about Doge.
		Can you hear me?
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Yes.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Can you just ask the question just because your line is going in and out?
unidentified		Okay.
		My question is about Doge is, you know, somebody has to process the tax returns.
		Somebody has to file the Social Security claims.
		Who's going to do this if there are no federal civil servants left?
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Okay, Vincent, do you want to take that one first?
unidentified		Well, Doge is not saying there's no federal servants.
		They're not trying to eliminate the federal government.
		They are trying to bring an effective and efficient workforce.
		And I think looking, bringing technology into the mix coming into the 21st century, so you're not having, once again, I think the classic example is federal retirements, not having paperwork that is buried in a mine in West Virginia where people physically have to take an elevator down to bring those.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		You secondly mention the IRS, which is one of the agencies where people have expressed concerns about processing times and how this will actually affect Americans' tax returns.
unidentified		Well, processing times at the IRS, I mean, they are atrocious.
		And they've been atrocious through administrations, I think, between bringing technology into the mix, also making sure that federal employees are working and are working for the taxpayers and know that, you know, if they're not doing their job, there could be consequences.
		And that also good federal employees can see that and know that they are doing their jobs.
		They don't have to pick up the slack of some federal employees that may not be.
		I think that is the answer.
		And bringing an effective and efficient workforce, right-sizing government, Doge is on the right track.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Carla?
unidentified		I just want to plus one to the caller's question.
		And I talk about other agencies.
		We're talking about Social Security, where seniors are reporting they're getting kicked off because Doge has decided they're dead.
		We're talking about two-thirds of the staff of the national, the body that is the National Industrial and Occupational Safety and Health Health Institute that studies, sorry, I've loved that one, but NIOSH, which studies safety for workers across our country, that is really the backbone of any sort of safety regulation.
		And we're talking about the regional offices that I mentioned earlier that are enforcing minimum wage and overtime and our bargaining rights, all closing down and workers really not having, and Americans broadly, not really having a resource to go to.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Tim is in Detroit, Michigan, and I line for Republicans.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Tim.
unidentified		Hi, good morning.
		Thanks for taking my call.
		I want to wish all the soldiers overseas and in America happy Memorial Day.
		What Doge is doing, I believe in what Donald Trump and his cabinet are approaching this as kind of like a business, and you want to cut the fat.
		And the fat that we have seen.
		I mean, think about it.
		We're $37 trillion in debt.
		They're throwing gold bars off the ship on the last administration on the way out.
		Who is running the White House?
		We have Russian collusion.
		Look at how broke our government is.
		This is mind-boggling that the American people keep voting these people in.
		Now, here's how I look at it.
		Our aviation is completely broken.
		We keep files of government employees in a mountain in Pennsylvania.
		$37 trillion in debt.
		Where the heck has all that money gone?
		The DOD, they're missing $7 trillion.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Tim, did you have a question for our guests specifically, though?
unidentified		I did.
		What you guys are talking about is kind of mind-boggling to me.
		We have much bigger problems than talking about I'm an employee.
		I walk into your house, I bow my head, and I abide by your rules.
		I punch in, I go home.
		What do I need these two people here for?
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Okay, so I think this is an interesting point.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		With everything else going on in government at the moment, how much should we be prioritizing labor policy?
unidentified		I mean, I'm a labor policy won, so I'm biased.
		Labor policy is incredibly important.
		And if you're talking from the federal labor policy, the federal workforce, excuse me, the federal public sector labor policy, and the federal workforce, definitely think Doge is correct, and the Trump administration is correct to right-size the government.
		And if you're talking about private sector labor policy, we are seeing a lot of movement, and it is incredibly important.
		And I think it's incredibly important to stress worker freedom, to take away federal roadblocks in the private sector, take them out of federal law, and emphasize worker freedom.
		Emphasize things like the ability to work for yourself or making it easier to be an independent contractor, making it easier to open a small business, be a franchisor, and not say that, well, your employees are jointly employed with some far-distant corporation.
		So labor policy is incredibly important.
		Focusing on worker freedom and the things that champion the individual worker, their ability to make choices, earn a living for themselves is incredibly important.
		And once again, I am biased because I'm a labor policy won, but I think it is one of the bedrocks of the things we should be looking at.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Before you respond, Carla, I'll point that another sort of progressive economic policy group, the Economic Policy Institute, has a list of what they say is 100 ways that Trump has hurt workers in his first 100 days, listing things like cutting workers' wages and making working conditions worse, delaying the defense of a Biden era rule that made it harder for employers to classify workers as independent contractors, which you mentioned there,
		limiting federal workers' collective bargaining agreements.
		But to the caller's question, why this issue as opposed to some of the others that are coming to the fore in this administration?
unidentified		Well, I mean, I think both.
		There are two things I'd say.
		One is that Americans are a working people.
		We work more than Europeans.
		We are very hard workers, and we spend, all folks, but especially Americans, spend most of our time when we're awake at the office, at work, at the factory, on the factory floor.
		That is where our lives are in many ways lived out.
		And if you don't have, as Senator Brown, former Senator Brown likes to talk about, dignity at work, if you don't have a voice on the job, that's a large share of your lifetime that is being spent with no respect, with too low wages.
		And ultimately, that is also about how can you care for your family?
		Can you take a vacation?
		Can you send your kids to college?
		Labor policy is policy that impacts not just your working life when you're at the office, but the rest of your life.
		So I think that this might be one of the moments where we are agreeing on a number of things in an answer.
		I was actually going to say, you might be surprised.
		You know, we agree that the American worker is some of the hardest working workers in the entire world.
		And that really needs to be emphasized of how great the American workforce is.
		And, you know, any labor policy really needs to lean into that.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Tony is in Waterbury, Connecticut, on our line for independence.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Tony.
unidentified		Hello, how are we doing this morning?
		I'd like to say Happy Veterans Day to all veterans all over the world.
		But my question is: the young man who's speaking, have you ever done any blue-collar work, like working the kitchen, serve the military, or anything like that?
		Because he's talking like the work is easy, and if Hispanics are working, it's something wrong with that.
		They're working in jobs that we don't want to pay a lot of money for.
		That's what you people are not getting.
		So tell me what job you've done as a blue-collar worker.
		I have done a lot of blue-collar work, you know, worked in kitchens, yes, you know, scrubbing dishes and worked for catering companies, hauling carts around 34th Street.
		And yeah, it was, you know, hard work.
		It was hard on my back.
		It was back-breaking work.
		You know, lifting, you know, lifting heavy crafts and things like that.
		But once again, it is the dignity of work.
		And what we are talking about here is the ability to choose what work is best for you, the working conditions that you want to negotiate directly with your employer, your pay, your benefits.
		That is at the heart of this.
		So yeah, there's a lot of dignity in work.
		Hard work definitely pays off.
		And that's what we heard here talking about today.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		We have a question on X from Maverick who asks, please have your guests comment on the use of AI chat bots to cut down the workforce at the Social Security office, enough to make you crazy.
		Social Security talks, chatbot talks in circles, Doge further degrades service.
		I'm guessing that's a link to an article.
		But do you want to talk about that?
unidentified		Yeah, I mean, I'm speaking both from a professional's perspective, but also as the daughter-in-law of two, you know, one 90-year-old and one near 90-year-old.
		It is really concerning to me the use of automation in these moments, where we are talking about, you know, our aging folks who deserve some respect, deserve to be able to talk to a person, to answer their questions, and technology is going to be a real impediment to them.
		I'm more of an impediment.
		I get frustrated when I'm talking to a chat bot or on an automated line.
		I can't imagine how frustrating it is for folks who are trying to access checks that they rely on to get by.
		Most folks who are receiving Social Security absolutely need that check.
		And they're encountering problems and they can't actually talk to a real person.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Vincent, this is something the administration has actually touted as a way to increase efficiency and justification in some ways for some of these reductions in workforce.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		What do you think of these policies?
unidentified		Well, looking at Social Security, I also looked at the IRS and the absolute horrendous wait times, even with the staff during the last administration from the IRS.
		And I think we have to do something.
		And, you know, technology is a good first step.
		And I know the administration is experimenting.
		They're seeing what works.
		But we have to do something.
		And we have to make sure that people do have access to the entitlements that they have been promised.
		And that if there are issues, that they can have them resolved.
		I think technology is a great first step in that.
		I am not familiar with the AI of the Social Security, so I'm not going to say, hey, this is working well or not.
		But I will tell you that something has to be done.
		And looking at what happened with the IRS, looking at basically the poor customer service out of some government agencies, and this goes back years, this isn't in the Trump administration, this isn't cost of Doge, that something has to be done.
		And I think that is what is being addressed here.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Bobby is in Warncliffe, West Virginia, on our line for Democrats.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Bobby.
unidentified		Yes.
		Well, first of all, good morning, everybody.
		I am a third generation coal miner.
		My grandpa got killed in the coal mines.
		And my local is Mate 1, West Virginia, local 1440, the town of the Mate 1 massacre back in 1920.
		And my question or statement to both of your guests there is I was put in a situation one time.
		My grandpa got killed under a roof.
		He was a roofer in the mines.
		And I also was a roofer in the mines.
		He was non-union.
		He got killed because the boss ordered him to go under an unsafe working condition.
		Rock fell on him and killed him, a rock slot.
gene in arkansas ▲ ● ▼		But anyhow, I had a boss, and thank God I'm in the UMWA, and I could exercise my rights under NOROS.
rep jim guest ▲ ● ▼		And they've cut NOROS now because of Dodge, and that's really going to hurt and endanger people in all occupations.
rep jim guest ▲ ● ▼		But anyhow, my statement is if I hadn't had that protection there, then I would have been back in the early 1900s, and I could have possibly been forced to go under there or lose my job or lose my life.
unidentified		But because of agencies like NORS, they protect me.
		But now they're being cut.
		These programs are being eliminated.
		So what do we do, guests?
		What do we do?
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Well, I'll let you respond first, Carla, then Vincent.
unidentified		Yeah, I have deep concerns, share those deep concerns, and my great-grandpa was actually a coal miner.
		And it's not just so the NIOSH cuts are really concerning.
		Two-thirds of their workforce is gone.
		And like I said, they're the backbone of producing the science that creates the opportunity for rulemaking, both for the Mine Safety and Health Administration and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
		We've also seen the Trump administration freeze a rule going into effect that would protect workers from crystalline silica dust.
		And what the crystalline silica dust has been shown to do is it's been shown to create health issues like black lung, like lung cancer in workers.
		Mine workers are some of the workers who are on the front lines in the most dangerous sorts of fields, and they absolutely have to be prioritized.
		And yet, we're cutting 37 regional EMSHA offices and cutting back on the science that's really going to drive making them safe on the job.
		Well, first of the caller, I am sorry to hear about your grandfather.
		I know, you know, decades ago, but still, the sympathy's there.
		But it is good now, you do have that protection.
		We do have EMSHA.
		Going to some of the regulations like the Crystal Silica, the Trump administration is reevaluating, and I'm just saying this from afar.
		I don't know what they're doing at EMSHA or OSHA right now.
		But there are those protections, and I think we are still looking to right-size without compromising safety.
		But you're absolutely right.
		You deserve to be protected.
		Miners deserve to be protected.
		I think that's one of the main focuses of the Trump administration, especially with OSHA and EMSHA, and that should be emphasized.
		Can I just say one thing really quickly?
		That rule, that Chris Lane Silica rule, has been in the works since 1998.
		How long do we have to study it before we really protect mine workers?
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Okay.
		I was trying to see if I could find any articles about the cuts, Doge cuts to EMSHA, but the one I found was echoing what you said about the closures of some of those offices around the country.
		This Associated Press article, voices from coal country say closures of EMSHA offices will endanger mine safety.
		And I was trying to find an actual number, but I haven't been able to find that quickly.
		So let's go to Sharon in Waterford Works, New Jersey on our line for independence.
		Good morning, Sharon.
unidentified		Yes, good morning to everybody.
		Happy Memorial Day weekend to everyone.
		And thank you to all of those that have lost their lives to protect us.
		So I'm calling as a former Wage an Hour employee on the regional level.
		And I'm listening to the gentleman talk.
		And I'm not on, I'm on radio.
		I'm not seeing you visually.
		And I just would like to say that, first of all, Wage an Hour covers the Federal Law and Standards Act for all of the employees throughout this nation.
		And we were cut so badly that I don't even know how these laws are going to be maintained.
		I don't even know.
		You know, when someone doesn't get paid and you call up and you say, hey, I haven't got paid.
		My employer's cheating me out of my money.
		Well, first of all, you have to have the investigators to be able to go out there.
		And I don't even know how, especially on the Northeast corridor, how Wage an Hour is going to continue to function.
		I took the eight-month administrative leave.
		So yes, I'm sitting home for eight months not doing my job because I was scared to death that I was going to get fired.
		And at 65 years old, I don't know where I'm going to be able to find another job now.
		Secondly, when you talk about the cuts and getting rid of waste for it and abuse, you know the people that are left there?
		Those are the people that have been at Wage and Hour for 45, 38 years, the waste fraud and abusers.
		And if I sound very angry, I am because this was done so inefficiently that it's the American people that are going to suffer.
		I loved my job.
		I loved working for my country.
		So to the gentleman who also talks about bargaining rights, the reason why you have bargaining rights, and it may seem silly to you that a government employee may bargain for a two-inch cubicle or four-inch cubicle, it's because when you're in an office with 35, 45 people, the height of your cubicle matters because you're all talking on the phone at the same time.
		So I'm not sure where he gets his information.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		So Sharon, you've raised a bunch of points.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		I want to let Vincent respond.
unidentified		Sure.
		Well, first, I know it's a tough time, and I am sorry you're going through it.
		You sound like you are going back to the hard work of the American worker.
		It sounds like you are a hard worker.
		And I'm sure after the eight months, if you choose to go back into the workforce, you will land on your feet.
		But I know it's tough.
		I know it's scary.
		I've been there, and I do have a lot of sympathy for you.
		But let's talk about the policies from Wage and Hour, because I think it kind of goes hand in hand.
		The Wage and Hour division of the Department of Labor is the one going back to independent contracting, and they are the one that...
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Well, her point was, though, if these staff members have been cut, who's going to be answering these calls and who's going to be doing the investigations when people aren't paid?
unidentified		And there are still investigators.
		There are still people working.
		I think the caller also emphasized that, you know, maybe there are some people that are very effective and maybe some people that have effective left at wage of hour.
		And I'm not sure.
		But, you know, 260,000 people have taken buyouts or similar compensation packages similar to the caller.
		That is not the entire federal government.
		That is not the entire wage.
		And our division has taken buyouts.
		There are still investigators.
		There are still employees working for the American taxpayer.
		What we are seeing is bringing the right size to the federal government to ensure an effective and efficient government.
		And I know we have to move on, but I would love to talk about the independent contractor provision from the wage and hour division that, frankly, I think will make it easier for people like the caller if they do want to work for themselves and also reduce the need for as many federal employees because frankly the independent contract provision and many other provisions from the Biden administration were so confusing and so hard that really businesses could respond,
		but you also needed all these additional investigators to figure out what they actually meant.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Okay, I'll let you respond quickly and then we need to get a couple more callers.
unidentified		So just I think to, I don't know if it was Sharon or Cheryl.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Sharon.
unidentified		Sharon, to Sharon's call, she was, I think, first of all, like her deep patriotism, her deep care for the American people shone through.
		And there was a recent interview with a former Doge staffer who talked about being surprised that when he got into the federal workforce, he thought he was going to see inefficiency everywhere.
		Oh, she, they were anonymous.
		And instead, he found these very dedicated staffers.
		At the same time, these dedicated staffers, this Doge is not the first time they've been asked to do more with less.
		These agencies have been suffering through flat budgets for decades while the American workforce has been growing by leaps and bounds.
		I don't know the specific statistics on the wage and hour division, but in terms of the NLRB, over the last decade, before Trump came into office, staffing for regional staff was cut by 30% at the same time so that then these employees were being asked to do caseloads that were 50% larger because of both staffing cuts and because of the growth of the workforce.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Tony is in Austin, Texas, and our line for Republicans.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Tony.
unidentified		Good morning.
		Morning to y'all.
		I'd like to get y'all's opinion on like the unions.
		Thank God I work in Texas where it's a right to work state because they're building a FEMA building in Austin and it's costing two and a half to three times what we could do to work for because they want unions in there.
		And I just think that unions drive up the cost of everything.
		And then when it comes to the safety, safety begins at your company.
		Your companies have to have a safety culture because I worked in our safety division of my company and we go way beyond what OSHA standards are.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Okay, let's Vincent, go ahead.
unidentified		Sure.
		All right.
		Well, let's first you mentioned right to work.
		Let's talk about right to work, what right to work is.
		Right to work simply means that a union can't get a worker fired for not paying them.
		Like your caller said, there are still unions in Texas.
		It does not ban collective bargaining or anything like that, but it does mean that a worker doesn't have to pay a union as a condition of employment in the private sector.
		The public sector is a little different.
		There was a Supreme Court case, Janice versus Asmey, that basically brought right to work to the entire public sector.
		I think what your caller is asking about is some of the Davis-Bacon or prevailing wage provisions put on federal projects.
		And there is a lot of debate out there on prevailing wage.
		The Biden administration and some of the budget bills during his administration put a lot of requirements on some of the federal funding.
		But when you are talking about those specific prevailing wage provisions, I think there is a lot of room that you could do to how to calculate those wages, how to bring them more in line with the private sector, and not just from a dollars and cents and how much workers are making, but the bureaucracy of clocking in and out if you are changing, let's say, even floors as a carpenter on one of those jobs.
		So once again, this is a way that you can bring the efficiency and effectiveness of government without kind of upending the entire system.
		So prevailing wage is defined as being the market wage.
		It is meant to be in line with the private sector.
		And when we talk about construction specifically, the caller brought up the construction of a FEMA building, research that looks at construction that is covered by these sorts of standards, whether they be project labor agreements that support a pre-hire collective bargaining agreement or prevailing wage laws.
		What they find is that there is not a significant impact on costs.
		In fact, usually there's no impact on costs.
		That projects are more often delivered on time and on budget.
		And that when they are going out to get solicit bids, they actually get more competition for bids because everybody knows that they won't be undercut by somebody paying below market wages.
		Actually, the prevailing wage premium is about 20%, give or take.
		There's been multiple studies showing that prevailing wages, the Davis-Bacon requirements, frankly, the pre-hire agreements that cut out a lot of the non-unionized workforce do increase cost.
		And it's not just a magic number that comes up over the market wage.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		So I want you to finish this up.
		Do you have anything else to say?
		And then we're going to go to our final, well, we don't have any more time for callers.
		So actually, I know that you both disagree on this.
		We're going to have to leave it there.
		And I encourage our listeners to go and look at both of the research and writing that the two of you have done.
		You can find Vincent Vernuccio's work at the Institute of the American Worker for the American Worker, where he's president and co-founder, Carla Walter, who's a senior fellow for the inclusive economy at the Center for American Progress.
		You can find both of their work online.
		Thank you both for joining us.
unidentified		Thank you for your time.
unidentified		Thank you for having us.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Now, later on on our program, we're going to hear from U.S. Marine Corps veteran Travis Partington, who's going to discuss his podcast, Oscar Mike Radio, that focuses on real-life stories of active duty military and veterans.
		But up next, we're going to have more of your calls and comments in our open forum.
		Our line for Democrats, 202-748-8000, for Republicans, 202-748-8001, and for Independents, 202-748-8002.
		We'll be right back.
brian lamb ▲ ● ▼		On November 17th, 2002, 23 years ago, Rich Atkinson appeared on the Book Notes television program, discussed his book, Army at Dawn.
		This was the first of three books Atkinson called the Liberation Trilogy: a full history of the European theater of World War II, which is a total of 2,512 pages, including notes and indexes.
		Beginning in 2019, Rick Atkinson switched trilogies.
		This time, it's the history of the American Revolution.
		In this episode of Book Notes Plus, we are repeating the 2002 interview, which has substantial background on Rick Atkinson's life and writing experience.
		Next week's episode, we will talk with him about his second book on the revolution, The Fate of the Day.
unidentified		Rick Atkinson with his book, An Army at Dawn, 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.
		George is being scared to death and saddling up anyway, as John Wayne said.
		Y'all made it.
		You climbed that mountain.
		Take the risk, push yourself onto a new challenge.
		This week, watch commencement speeches from across the country featuring inspirational messages from political leaders, sports personalities, and celebrities.
		Hear remarks by Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins at Piedmont University, Maryland Governor Wes Moore at Lincoln University, New Hampshire Governor Kelly Ayot at Nashua Community College, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz at the University of Minnesota Law School, singer and songwriter Usher at Emory University, rapper and record producer Snoop Dogg at the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business, and former basketball star Carmelo Anthony at Syracuse University.
		Watch 2025 Commencement Speeches this week starting Tuesday at 8 p.m. Eastern on C-SPAN 2 or online at cspan.org.
		Washington Journal continues.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Welcome back.
		We're in an open forum, ready to hear your comments about public policy.
		Our phone lines again for Democrats 202-748-8000.
		For Republicans, 202-748-8001.
		Independents 202-748-8002.
		Before we get to your calls, yesterday, President Trump made his commencement speech to West Point.
		Hear a story about it in Fox News.
		Trump addresses West Point graduates.
		You are winners.
		The speech to the 2025 graduation class marks the first military commencement address of Trump's second term.
		Here's a portion of his speech.
donald j trump ▲ ● ▼		You are the first West Point graduates of the golden age of America.
		This is the golden age, I tell you.
		Promise.
		We're in a new age.
unidentified		This is the golden age.
donald j trump ▲ ● ▼		And you're going to lead the Army to summits of greatness it has never reached before.
		And you see that, you see what's happening.
		You see what's going on in the world.
		Each of you is entering the officer corps at a defining moment in the Army's history.
		For at least two decades, political leaders from both parties have dragged our military into missions.
		It was never meant to be.
		It wasn't meant to be.
		People would say, why are we doing this?
		Why are we wasting our time, money, and souls in some cases?
		They sent our warriors on nation-building crusades to nations that wanted nothing to do with us, led by leaders that didn't have a clue in distant lands while abusing our soldiers with absurd ideological experiments here and at home.
		All of that's ended.
		You know that.
		All of it's ended.
		It's ended, strongly ended.
		They're not even allowed to think about it anymore.
		They subjected the armed forces to all manner of social projects and political causes while leaving our borders undefended and depleting our arsenals to fight other countries' wars.
		We fought for other countries' borders, but we didn't fight for our own border, but now we do, like we have never fought before, by the way.
		But under the Trump administration, those days are over.
		We're getting rid of the distractions and we're focusing our military on its core mission, crushing America's adversaries, killing America's enemies, and defending our great American flag like it has never been defended before.
		The job of the U.S. Armed Forces is not to host drag shows to transform foreign cultures or to spread democracy to everybody around the world at the point of a gun.
		The military's job is to dominate any foe and annihilate any threat to America anywhere, anytime, and any place.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Now to your calls and open forums, starting with Scott in Ithaca, New York on Online for Democrats.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Scott.
unidentified		Hi, my comments were initially focused for your previous guest.
		So I'm a barely registered Democrat and a non-comm veteran, by the way.
		My first thing that I wanted to comment on is: do you feel that government-based fraud and abuse was handled properly in past administrations?
		And these things that I'm bringing up really are addressing more centrist people in the United States because the far left and the far right really are kind of off the main street.
		And we need to have, we do need to have the scalpel versus the chainsaw approach to these issues.
		Also, do you think that the computer technology in the IRS was addressed properly in previous administrations?
		Do you think the border with illegal immigrants was properly handled in previous administrations?
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		So since our guests aren't with us anymore, do you have thoughts on these questions that you'd like to share?
unidentified		Yeah, I do feel that they weren't handled properly in previous administrations.
		I'll give you an example of one thing.
		Sorry, I still have a lingering cough.
		When we had the hurricane in North Carolina, there was a Baxter plant that was knocked out temporarily.
		We had a severe IV fluid shortage for the whole United States, both in clinics, my clinic, and also in hospitals.
		It's a manufacturing issue.
		And so it's one of those focused areas that they need to really focus on that we need more manufacturing plants for critical things like that so we never run into that situation again.
		And the last thing before I lose my voice is that the covenant not to compete that you kind of guys were alluding to before, that meant for professionals male in the past, like engineers, doctors, and lawyers.
		We had judges that would sit, they would either approve or disapprove or blew those contracts.
		And it was working pretty well.
		And so now they were trying to send it to other kinds of workers.
		I don't know if they wanted to go to unskilled workers or maybe even some skilled workers, but it was never really, it was never really meant for that.
		It was meant for if you're a general dentist, you go work for some dentist and you decide to open a practice across the street.
		That's totally bogus, and that's what that was meant to prevent.
		So we need a balanced approach on all these things that I mentioned.
		And again, I'm going to hammer in the IV fluid thing is a national emergency.
		We need more manufacturing plants domestically for IV fluids before we run into that again.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Ryan is in Colorado on our line for independence.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Ryan.
unidentified		Yes.
		And when I say independent, I am a true independent, meaning that I have never voted more Democrat in the last 25 years.
		I campaigned for Dr. Alan Keyes.
		And the problem I have with both parties is not only their drive for power and getting absolutely nothing done typically, although I will say I am happy with Trump.
		He's done a lot more than most previous generations.
		However, we're ignoring the elephants in the room.
		My wife and I were thrown off of our own five acres of land down in Charlotte County, Florida, because they came up with a phony code violation that did not exist.
		And so we are ignoring the constitutional crisis in this country where old ladies and widows are being thrown off their own property all because of an unlawful, unconstitutional entity called code enforcement.
		If we want to fix this country and fix workers and get better workers, you know, in Charlotte County, they can't even get people to work at the Wendy's because there's no housing.
		The housing cost is ridiculous.
		And it's all because the Builders Association and the Board of Realtors continue to try to force people into substandard housing.
		They dumb down technology to where, you know, we're not allowed to have 3D printed homes.
		My wife and I wanted to build a shipping container home because that is the best way to build a home.
		And yet, code enforcement purposely drives the cost of housing up.
		So I'm tired of both parties ignoring this elephant in the room.
		I want our constitutional right to private property back.
		And until that happens, I'm going to continue to fight.
		I'm going to continue to tell this story.
		I've tried to get this story out to national media and the national media on both sides, CNN, Fox News, all of them, ignore the plight of the poor man.
		Van Lifers, we were forced to be van lifers because of this.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		I'm sure folks are not familiar with that term.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		That's people who choose to live in a van.
unidentified		Yes.
		Well, we don't choose to.
		We were forced to because the county drove us off our own five acres of land that we owned free and clear for over 10 years.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		So, Ryan, I think we have your point about code enforcement.
		So, I do want to get to some other folks.
		Let's hear from Jeff in Westchester, New York on our line for Republicans.
		Good morning, Jeff.
unidentified		Good morning.
		Thank you for taking the call.
		Just a quick comment regarding a lot of the waste, fraud, and abuse work that Doge has been trying to do.
		You know, there's a thing called Pareto's Law.
		Excuse me.
		It's a very simple thing called the 80-20 rule.
		And what it means is that 80% of the outcomes are a consequence of 20% of the actions.
		So in the case of the federal government workers that are under some fire right now, it really means that 80% of the work is done by 20% of the people.
		So, you know, what that means, obviously, is that the other 80% of the work is woefully inefficient.
		And if you want a perfect metaphor for what this really means is the next time you drive past a work crew repairing utility lines, notice that there's one person up in the bucket working, and typically there's seven or eight people standing around below drinking coffee.
		That's your federal government, metaphorically speaking.
		And unfortunately, Doge has not been able to scratch the surface because the swamp is so thick and there's so many protected interests that you really never get to the kind of efficiency that, frankly, the taxpayers deserve.
		And I think, regardless of what side of the aisle you're on, that has to be very disappointing because your tax dollars are really not being spent in the most efficient manner.
		So thank you for hearing my opinion on this matter.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Jay is in Tennessee on our line for Democrats.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Jay.
unidentified		Morning.
unidentified		How are you?
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Fine, thank you.
unidentified		Yeah, I'm a Democrat.
unidentified		I don't understand what to do on these Democrats not voting for this bill to be passed.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Are you talking about the reconciliation bill that just passed the House?
unidentified		I mean, why ain't they voting for it?
		Get taxes, cut taxes, get away from fraud and abuse out of the Medicare system.
		Get these illegals off the Medicaid Social Security.
		They're draining our resources.
		We shouldn't be paying for these illegals, Medicaid, and these senders and cars and going to these El Salvador for these illegals.
		That's stupid.
		They should be going to these families that was killed by these illegals.
		They shouldn't be looking at that instead of going to El Salvador.
		And like that lady up yonder in New Jersey that assaulted that house agent, she should be expelled from Congress because she assaulted a federal agent.
		She could have done it right way.
		Tower and make appointment to go in there and do what she does, but she went the wrong way.
		People like that, I'm ashamed of the Democrat Party.
		They don't do that.
		What policies have they come up with?
		Nothing at all.
		Nothing.
		They should be working with Republicans.
		Get rid of the waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicare, Social Security.
		We should be paying.
		Aid, we're seeing these countries for these legals.
		We should keep that aid, take care of till we get them out of this country.
		That's the way it should be.
		They're here illegal.
		When they step their foot on American soil illegally, they should be deported back.
		We shouldn't be paying.
		Taxpayers should be paying, keep them up.
		They get free health care.
		I have to pay for mine.
		I'm on Social Security, $184.
		I don't get mine for free.
		Well, they're getting theirs for free.
		That's just wrong.
		Democrat often.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		So, Jay, I just want to follow up for folks who may not be familiar with the story that you referenced about the member of Congress being charged with assaulting an ICE agent.
		That was Representative Mick Iver, who was charged.
		This is a story here from the New York Times, charged with assault over a clash outside the Newark ICE Center.
		The Department of Justice also announced it was dropping a trespass charge against the city's mayor stemming from the same incident.
		But the Justice Department charged a New Jersey congresswoman with assaulting federal agents during a clash outside a Newark immigration detention center.
		Alina Haba, the interim attorney, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, disclosed the move in a post on X saying that the Congresswoman LaMonica McIver has been charged for assaulting, impeding, and interfering with law enforcement when she visited the detention center with two other Democratic members of Congress from New Jersey on May 9th.
		Todd is in Jupiter, Florida on our line for independence.
		Good morning, Todd.
unidentified		Hi there, thanks.
		Yeah, it's very shameful and disgraceful that Donald Trump is allowed in public.
		He belongs behind prison walls, not giving a speech at West Point.
		The five-draft Dodger, the insurrectionist, the serial rapist, and pedophile Don.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Charles is in Camden, New Jersey on our line for Democrats.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Charles.
unidentified		Good morning.
unidentified		How are you?
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		I'm fine, thank you.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		How are you?
unidentified		I'm fine.
		I'm 86 years old, and I've been out here working for a long time.
		And I got something to say.
		Every state in America, women and men who've been in jail, you clear their record.
		You're talking about you got plenty of jobs coming, then you got people that will want.
		You got people that want jobs, but you got them got them so they can't go to work nowhere.
		So that little trick you plan, you want to get them to go back to jail.
		I know that.
		Free these people.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Okay, Garr is in Decatur, Georgia, on our line for independence.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Garr.
unidentified		Thank you for taking my call quickly.
		We should remember history from 1817 to the Civil War.
		We had the same problem if people really understand history.
		In other words, there wasn't no black allowed to be free in America.
		We ship them back to somewhere, just like they're shipping Hispanics back.
		They shipped us back.
		You know, they said no blacks should be free in America.
		They should be on the plantation working.
		And the Trail of Tears, they did the same thing to the Indians.
		And I hear people, and we should talk.
		We don't talk enough about the Civil War and how many Americans died during the Civil War.
		And that's what we're moving up to.
		And I think we should talk more about how many Americans died during the Civil War.
		The most Americans killed in one day was 25,000.
		In one battle, 24,000 in another battle in the 1860s.
		And if we understand history, that's where we're moving to.
		And we should reevaluate where we're at.
		Thank you.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Frank is in Regalsville, Pennsylvania on our line for Democrats.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Frank.
unidentified		Good morning, ma'am.
		I'm calling to clarify something that was said about two or three calls ago by somebody from New York.
		All right.
		Just to clarify, my father was a two-war Navy vet and worked 35 years for the Navy when he got out.
		All right, so I know about government work.
		This gentleman does not, number one.
		Number two, I'm a volunteer emergency management coordinator for the town that I live in.
		Okay?
		I can't speak for what happens in New York, but in Pennsylvania, he made an example of utility workers fixing a line, one person fixing the line, and people down below standing drinking coffee or smoking cigarettes.
		In Pennsylvania, all utility work is done by private enterprise.
		Pico X-1 in the Philadelphia area, MedEd, where we are, and PPL.
		They are not government workers.
		So he should get his facts straight like a lot of people in his position before he mouths off.
		Thank you and have a good Memorial Day.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		On the topic of Memorial Day, U.S. Marine Corps veteran Travis Partington is going to join us in our next segment to discuss his podcast, Oscar Mike Radio, that focuses on real-life stories of active duty military and veterans.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		We'll be right back.
unidentified		Shop at c-spanshop.org.
		C-SPAN's online store during our Memorial Day sale.
		Going on now.
		Save 15% site-wide on everything from apparel and accessories to drinkwear, bobbleheads, puzzles, and more.
		There's something for every C-SPAN fan and every perch to help support our nonprofit operations.
		Scan the code or visit cspanshop.org during our Memorial Day sale, going on right now.
		As Mike said before, I happened to listen to him.
		He was on C-SPAN 1.
		That's a big upgrade, right?
		But I've read about it in the history books.
		I've seen the C-SPAN footage.
		If it's a really good idea, present it in public view on C-SPAN.
rachel maddow ▲ ● ▼		Every single time I tuned in on TikTok or C-SPAN or YouTube or anything, there were tens, if not hundreds of thousands of people watching.
unidentified		I went home after the speech and I turned on C-SPAN.
unidentified		I was on C-SPAN just this week.
patty murray ▲ ● ▼		To the American people, now is the time to tune in to C-SPAN.
donald j trump ▲ ● ▼		They had something $2.50 a gallon.
unidentified		I saw on television a little while ago in between my watching my great friends on C-SPAN.
		C-SPAN is televising this right now live.
		So we are not just speaking to Los Angeles.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		We are speaking to the country.
unidentified		In a nation divided, a rare moment of unity, this fall, C-SPAN presents Ceasefire, where the shouting stops and the conversation begins in a town where partisan fighting prevails.
		One table, two leaders, one goal, to find common ground.
		This fall, ceasefire on the network that doesn't take sides, only on C-SPAN.
		Washington Journal continues.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Welcome back ahead of Memorial Day.
		Tomorrow, we're joined by Travis Partington, who's the host of the Oscar Mike Radio podcast and also a U.S. Marine Corps veteran.
		Welcome back to Washington Journal.
unidentified		Kim, what a great time to be here.
unidentified		Thank you so much.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Can you tell us a bit about your military background and about your podcast?
unidentified		Sure.
		So my military background, I joined the Marine Corps in 95.
		I was a radar operator for the Hawk Missile System.
		So it's a missile about as long as your car, and we fired at airborne targets anywhere from 20 to 50 miles away.
		It's a very cool job.
		I really liked it, and I miss it.
		I really do sometimes.
		My show, Oscar Mike Radio, is about being on mission or on the move for veterans.
		That's what Oscar Mike means.
		And so for about nine years now, I've been doing this where I profile veterans and their stories, active duty service members, and the people who support us.
		All these advocates have a story, and I want to tell it in a real and authentic way.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Now, then, can you tell us the story about the title of your podcast, Oscar Mike Radio?
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		What does that come from?
unidentified		It comes from the military.
		You know, we have acronyms and sayings for everything.
		And Oscar Mike means, hey, we're Oscar Mike.
		We're on the move.
		We're on mission.
		Let's go.
		And when you talk to these veterans and active duty service members and people who support these patriots who support us, they're on the move.
		They're on mission for their objective to serve others.
		They all have a story, and I just wanted to highlight that with a title.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Now, Memorial Day is obviously to remember our military service members who gave the ultimate sacrifice.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		What are you thinking about and hearing from your listeners this Memorial Day weekend?
unidentified		So personally, I think about the Marines that I buried when I was in the Marine Corps.
		It comes very much to the focus.
		People talk to me.
		I had the distinct honor of talking to two Gold Star family members a couple weeks ago.
		And the thing that is the same between them is the loss never really goes away.
		These family members feel this loss always, every day.
		But there's also hope.
		They see people enjoying life.
		You know, it's graduation time in this country, so they're seeing kids graduate and people in their prom dresses and weddings are starting.
		And what one member told me is she's like, when I see this stuff going on and I see the t-ball games, I see a little bit of my son and all these things.
		And I'm reminded that this is why he served and what his sacrifice means to people.
		So it's a time of loss, it's a time of remembrance, but it's also a time of hope and happiness.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		You said you're thinking about some of your Marine buddies.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Are there any stories that you want to share about folks you've lost?
unidentified		Well, I mean, I didn't serve in combat, so this really hits hard because in my case, one Marine that I buried lost her life while we were training.
		And it really underscores that we might not be in combat, but our work, parts of our job, are very, very dangerous.
		And if you're not careful, or even if you are careful, accidents do happen.
		And it really brought us all together as a battalion to understand that we have to take care of each other.
		We have to be situationally aware.
		And even if we do all of that, one variable, one thing goes wrong, and people lose their lives.
		And so I've always remembered that.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		What are some of the ways that Americans can spend this weekend honoring service members, but also their family members and current veterans?
unidentified		Well, just in general, this time of year, there's always events going on.
		I'm really proud of my town in Abington.
		They do a Memorial Day ceremony for like an hour and a half tomorrow at the Mount Vernon Cemetery.
		And it's just a really intimate way to come together, hear Dr. Reverend Christy Coburn read the names of these veterans who passed from the town of Abington.
		It's things like that that you can do as an American that really brings home what Memorial Day means.
		And then take a minute.
		If you can't go to one of those, remember the cost of freedom and why you're able to do some of the things you have and then live your life.
		You know, the Marines I bury wouldn't want to sad and morose on Memorial Day.
		Raise your glass proverbially or in real life if you want to, and then enjoy life.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		On a recent episode of your podcast, you were speaking with Navy veteran and photographer Richard Sherman on the anniversary of Oscar Mike Radio's launch.
		This was back in late April.
		And he talked about his project, Never Home, Remembering the Military Heroes Who Never Returned.
		Can you tell us about that project?
unidentified		It's an amazing book, Kim.
		It's an amazing book.
		And I get to read a lot of books because there's a lot of military and veteran authors out there, absolutely.
		And all of them are really enjoyable reads.
		This one really just struck me.
		I'm sitting there in my chair and I'm reading the book, but I'm also going through all the images he gathered, collated, and done.
		And I asked him, he took thousands, thousands of images.
		And he did this as a labor of love.
		He really wanted to go back to certain parts of Europe where, you know, we see in the movies, we read in the books, and captured these still images where these amazing heroes served.
		And it really stuck with me.
		Well, look, I'll go ahead.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		No, please finish.
unidentified		The level of effort, the care that he took to gather this and put this together, and I'm going through it and I'm almost there.
unidentified		Even though I'm reading a book and looking at a still image, he brought me into what he was trying to show, and it really just had a profound effect on me.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Many of these photographs are of military cemeteries, and you talked about the importance and emotional impact of visiting these cemeteries.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		What did you learn?
unidentified		I learned that it's the old saying that as long as you remember these amazing heroes, they're never forgotten.
		Because the question is asked, why do we have to keep remembering?
		I mean, it happened.
		It's, you know, 50 years ago, 100 years ago.
		Why is the aspect of memory so important?
		It's so that we never forget.
		It's so that people understand that we live in this great country.
		And even though we have our problems, sure, like every country does, it's a great place to be.
		And it's that way because people buried across the ocean pay the ultimate price for our freedom.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		What are you hearing from your listeners about cuts to the Veterans Affairs Department?
		Particularly, VA Secretary Collins is aiming to trim about 80,000 jobs from the VA workforce, which is about 15% of its budget.
		And I want to play a bit of a clip of Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins in a recent hearing saying more about staffing and money for the agency and how that has affected services for veterans.
unidentified		Sure.
doug collins ▲ ● ▼		The VA, unfortunately, over the years, has become the absolute at many times frustrating point for many of our veterans of what is known as red tape, of going through the process of trying to get things to happen and yet it being denied.
		And the sad part about it is, is for the last number of years, and I have been in this body as well, and I voted for some of those pieces of legislation, the Mission Act, Australia Act, and other issues that came before this body as we look forward to how do we actually better serve our veterans.
		But over the last few years, it seems as we've looked at this issue and we've looked at it from afar, even as far as back, that we began to believe that the only issues in VA could be solved by simply giving more money and giving more employees.
		In fact, we've actually increased 52,000 full-time equivalents from 21 to 24, and things still have not gotten better.
		In fact, to be honest, according to the metrics of the VA that was established before I ever got there, they've gotten worse.
		So you have to simply ask yourself the question, is what we're doing and how we're doing it the same way, the same way making a difference?
		And the answer is no.
		When your wait times go up, your backlogs go up, and you're not fulfilling the mission to the veteran, that is an issue that we have.
		Now, when we look at these as we go forward, I'm not going to be a shy in addressing the issues that we do and will in this room address today.
		And that is that we are looking at our structure of our workforce.
		And we're looking at a structure, by the way, as has been said, we have 465,000.
		It goes up actually a little bit depending on the day, because we still in our VHA organization have 409,000 employees.
		We have over 28,000 physicians, 91,000 nurses.
		But what is also not said, and it's not been said in this room today, is many of those doctors and many of those nurses do not see patients on a regular basis, if at all.
		But yet we still have doctor shortages, nurse shortages in clinics and hospitals in which we're hiring for every day.
		So my question is simple.
		When I look at an organization plan, is why are we simply looking at numbers that aren't affected and why are we keeping a bureaucracy level that has grown tremendously over the last little bit with billions of dollars and with people, but yet the very metrics that this committee under both Republicans and Democrats uses to judge efficiencies at the VA are going the wrong way.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		What are your thoughts about these potential staffing cuts and what the VA Secretary had to say there?
unidentified		Well, first and foremost, I receive my care from the VA and I will tell anybody that the VA care I receive has been nothing but exceptional.
		There are challenges sometimes.
		There is bureaucracy you have to go through, so he's not wrong there.
		I think for a lot of veterans, including myself, is, you know, I receive good care.
		I don't want the care received to change or be diminished.
		But there is a bureaucratic hoops you have to jump through.
		And sometimes I'm looking at my paperwork like, this doesn't make any sense.
		You know, why do I have to go through all this stuff?
		I've been coming to you for 10 years now.
		Do I have to do the same thing over and over again?
		And I think that's what really, you know, frustrates veterans sometimes.
		Or the fact that, hey, you know, I work or I can't come there at a 2 o'clock appointment.
		I need like a 5 o'clock or even a 7 o'clock appointment so I can be seen.
		The telehealth aspect of VA care is an amazing thing and should not be diminished.
		So I think for us veterans, we want to understand and have assurances that the care provided to us and that we like and enjoy will not change, but make it better.
		And maybe that means that we have to make some cuts.
		I don't know.
		But certainly it can improve.
		And I would tell every veteran too, you know, a lot of us get those surveys, right?
		We get the surveys and I was guilty for a long time of not filling them out.
		And then I found out that if I filled them out and I had a problem, it would get addressed.
		So we have a stake in this too.
		And there's nothing wrong with us raising our hands saying, hey, this could be better.
		Or when we get great care, we should also highlight that as well.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Well, if you have questions for our guest, Travis Partington, the host of Oscar Mike Radio, you can call in.
		We've got some special phone lines for this segment.
		For veterans and their family members, our number is 202-748-8000.
		If you're a current member of the military, our number is 202-748-8001.
		And everyone else can call in at 202-748-8002.
		First, I want to do a question that we received via text from Greg in Cleveland, Ohio, who says he's a U.S. Navy CB.
		What is your opinion of the President having a parade for the U.S. Army's birthday on his birthday?
		Meanwhile, the Navy and Marine Corps are also turning 250.
unidentified		Oh, boy.
		Well, I mean, I did wonder about that because, you know, the Marine Corps is actually older than the Navy.
		So, you know, I thought, what are we going to do?
		We're going to do a parade for everybody's 250th birthday.
		You know, and the Marines actually know when our birthday is.
		A lot of Army veterans sometimes do not.
		I'm just saying, but I'm sure we'll hear from some Army folks about that.
		I'm sure.
		Well, I've asked them.
		I've asked them, Kim, and I don't know when my birthday is.
		They don't even know what their song is.
		So it gets funny.
		I'm not sure I'm a big fan of parades because I see parades as money being spent, and I want to have plenty of supplies, materials, training budgets for all of our services across the board.
		So I'm not a fan of parades myself.
		I get it, but the Marine Corps should have something for us, and don't worry, we will.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		While we're on the topic of President Trump and his administration, what are your thoughts on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's leadership so far at the Pentagon and some of the changes that he's pushing within the department?
unidentified		I'm still in a wait-and-see mode with Secretary Hegseth.
		I think it's too early to really tell for me.
		I had serious questions about his nomination as Defense Secretary.
		I think there needs to be some changes made.
		I definitely like the fact that we are looking at being more physically capable as a force across the board.
		I think we need to look at certain weapon systems that are either too expensive or not effective.
		We definitely have to look at the lessons of Ukraine and understand how you're taking a $300 drone.
		You could get a best buy and taking out a multi-million dollar tank.
		Those kinds of lessons have to be internalized very quickly and addressed in a very fast and expedient and cost-effective way to the taxpayer.
		But for me, it's still too early to tell.
		I don't have an opinion yet.
		I like a lot of what I see, but to me, it's too early to tell.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Let's hear from Jackie in Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey on our line for others.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Jackie.
unidentified		Good morning.
		I just wanted to note that I thought the guest mission was very nice, and being on social media and sharing vets personal stories is a really great purpose.
		And I was just curious to see what he thinks of changes to veterans affairs that have been made recently regarding cuts and what his opinion maybe was on foreign policy as a former Marine.
		Okay.
		So foreign policy, I mean, I'm America first, so I want our foreign policy to protect American interests first.
		I want our foreign policy to minimize the chance of having to spend American blood overseas anywhere.
		So that's kind of how I think about it right now.
		In terms of my mission and my purpose, it's these people who do amazing things in the military, transition out and have to restart their lives and transition to sometimes once, maybe even three times, that need to have their stories told.
		And, you know, a lot of times they serve very quietly.
		They never look for the limelight.
		And I'm very happy and pleased to be a voice for them.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Let's hear from Richard in Verona, Missouri, who's a family member of a veteran.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Richard.
unidentified		Yeah, well, I'm also a veteran.
		I did my time as six years in the National Guard, but I was talking about my great-grandpa.
		He was buried in St. Louis.
		He was a company, he was an 8th Cavalry Company G.
		Oh, wow.
marty schachter ▲ ● ▼		And I tried to find his grave, and it was too hard to keep the cemetery up, so they just did away with those tombs.
unidentified		So I don't know where he's buried for sure, but my grandmother's great-grandmother drove a Civil War pension until 1919.
		So that's my family history.
		Thank you.
		Thank you.
		Thank you for sharing that.
		And those cemeteries sometimes do fall into disrepair, and I encourage towns and municipalities to do everything they can to restore them, keep them up.
		Thank you for sharing that.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Joan is in East Lake, Ohio, on our line for others.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Joan.
unidentified		Hello.
		Thank you for having me.
		C-SPAN.
		I just wanted to ask, what can the average person do to help reunite our country since there's so many divisions between the political parties?
		And I would encourage everybody to fly their flag.
		And my dad was a veteran, and he died in 1980, and he did get a bronze medal, and he served in World War II.
		And God bless all the veterans everywhere, and thank you for all who are serving.
		Well, thank you for being a great American.
		I really appreciate that.
		It's just simple things, right?
		It's as simple as Americans talking to other Americans.
		Put down the phone.
		get off the chat board and just talk to each other like we're neighbors again, right?
		You know, go to a community event and meet people in your town.
		Everything starts locally.
		So we have to become neighborly again.
		We have to understand we're all different.
		And then, you know, the biggest thing I tell people, too, is you have to vote.
		If there's a thing that you don't like or you're not getting the kind of response you need as a taxpayer, that's a right that people have blood for.
		Vote and make change at the ballot box.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		John is in Wolfworth, Texas, on our line for family members of veterans.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, John.
unidentified		Good morning.
		Hello, John.
		Good morning.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Good morning.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Did you have a question, John?
unidentified		Well, I sure have something to ask about.
		You know, I appreciate the opportunity to speak this morning and ask this question.
		I'm calling about veterans aid and attendance for older people that are in supportive health care that had a husband that served in the Korean War.
		And we've run into substantial layers of redundancy and red tape.
		Retired military also.
		And so I helped this little 90-year-old sister-in-law fill out her forms and everything.
		I assume they're correctly.
		We reviewed them.
		We had them reviewed by the VA office in Denton, Texas, as they were filing them and do it.
		We've had the doctor review it.
		Now they keep coming back with substantial questions about his service history, other things that we have to redundantly supply to them.
		Now they're coming back about her previous marriage history back in the 1970s, even though she was divorced there.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		So, John, it sounds like you're running into a lot of those challenging paperwork issues that Travis was talking about earlier.
unidentified		And maybe we can get some advice on that.
		Well, I mean, have you the DAV is a great place to get those paperwork issues rectified?
		It's what they're there for.
		They're there to help situations like this, to interface with the VA.
		Are you a caregiver to a family member, or is this your sister-in-law whose husband passed and you're trying to help her out?
		I wasn't clear on that.
		The current caregiver is her daughter, 70-something-year-old daughter, that's caring for along with other supportive people.
		The military documents are all in order.
		The question that keeps arising is they just keep proposing more and more questions.
		Then, yeah, you want to go to the DAV.
		You want to find your local DAV chapter and have them act on your behalf.
		That's the best way to move this forward.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		So, John, that's the Disabled American Veterans Organization, and they're at DAV.org online.
unidentified		I hadn't even thought of that, but I'm sure I can find the local.
		Okay.
		And thanks for that advice.
		You know, maybe exactly what we need is somebody to just step up and save a little more support for this lady.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Well, thanks for calling in, John.
		Liz is in Berwick, Pennsylvania, and is a current active duty military member.
		Good morning, Liz.
unidentified		Yes, hello.
		Good morning.
		Good morning.
		Hi.
		I am not an active military.
		My son is.
		So I just want to know your thoughts on Pete Hegseth and the whole signal scandal because they keep saying that they want to keep our military safe, and that has definitely been the opposite of OPSAC, and it has seemed to be forgotten about.
		Well, I mean, I was very clear about how I felt about Secretary Hegseth earlier in the program.
		The signals do weigh into how I feel about it.
		That was not a good look at best.
		So mistakes do happen.
		I think what has happened as a result of that is corrective action has been put in place.
		The procedures have been reviewed, but I understand that you, as a mother, your son is serving, and you're apprehensive that this breach, this slip, this mistake, whatever you want to call it, could impact your son's life.
		I certainly understand that.
		There have been other instances throughout military history where things like this have happened.
		Back in World War II, we had the loose lips sink ships because of traffic being intercepted.
		So vigilance never takes a holiday, and we certainly got reminded of that with this situation.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		John is in Tucson, Arizona, on our line for others.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, John.
unidentified		Good morning.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Can you turn down the volume on your TV, please, John, and then go ahead with your question?
unidentified		That sure can.
		I would like to talk to Mike about the canine dog handlers and the thousands of dogs that played a great part in our campaigns throughout the world.
		And nobody has recognized the dogs, the canine combat dog handlers, Marines, Air Force, and so I'm very familiar with this.
		As a matter of fact, just last week, I went down to Exeter, Rhode Island, where the state of Rhode Island, with a lot of help from Rhode Island citizens, put together the War Dogs Memorial at the Veterans Cemetery to honor war dogs and their handlers.
		So this is like one of 27 actual monuments to dogs and their handlers.
		And in this case, the sculpture was done after a Vietnam-era service member who did a lot of tunnel work.
		There is work being done to make sure war dogs come home.
		There is additional training for war dog handlers.
		A lot of work has been done in that regard.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		There are several war dog memorials across the country.
		I'm looking at uswardogs.org, and they list several, including the U.S. WDA War Dog Memorial, the Michigan War Dog Memorial and Cemetery, the Rancho Coastal Humane Society's Military Working Dog Memorial, and many others that you can find on that website, John.
		Now, then let's hear from Roberta in California, who's a family member of a veteran.
		Good morning, Roberta.
unidentified		No, I'm sorry.
		I'm a veteran.
		Oh, and I'm a signal right.
		And I'm also a previous health care worker with the VA.
		And both of these and Navy, which I think was a privilege to serve, their competence and training is astounding.
		They bring people in, you know, that high school graduates that are trained.
		And nobody leaves without an associate degree because of the caliber of training.
		The Navy never asks anybody to do anything they don't train for.
		VA Healthcare is represented as one of the best health care systems in the nation.
		As much as when they're budgeted, they are trying to get remote clinics and flexible time to meet the needs of the veterans.
		But many times, both the Department of Defense and VA is hobbled by some of these bloated contracts that Congress signed off on.
		Once the money filters down to these organizations, they are devoted and capable and efficient.
		No question.
		First of all, thank you for serving the Navy and working on us Marines.
		So I salute you.
		I tell everybody that the care I've gotten from the VA and the VA literally got me walking again.
		Four years ago, I couldn't walk.
		Long story, but the care is exceptional.
		I think you hit the nail on the head, though.
		It is the bureaucratic side of it, the contracts and how the money flows down that gets problematic.
		And I think we need to start there.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Kurt is in Fleming Island, Florida, on our line for veterans and their families.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Kurt.
unidentified		Semper Phi.
		Simply.
		I served in the Marine Corps Infantry.
		I'd like to just remember the Marines of 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines that lost their lives at Camp Fuji during a fire there.
		I have family history in the military going back to the Civil War.
		My father served on a ship in World War II.
		Cousins in Korea and Vietnam.
		I was in the infantry.
		The thing that I noticed, I live in Jacksonville area, and there's a lot of Navy veterans here.
		I work with, we talk about waste, fault, and abuse, and I have been sick myself, but I've never went to the VA.
		I've been able to afford private insurance.
		And for those of us that can afford private insurance, let's leave the VA services for those who were in combat-related injuries that retired from the military or are in desperate need of these services.
		If you can afford to go to private insurance, which is what I've done, and I've had some horrendous things happening to me at this point in my life, I've been lucky enough to do that.
		The other thing is, I work with three people who make over $100,000 a year.
		And each one of them gets a check every month for a disability.
		One of them did it when he fell off his skateboard.
		So now he's getting a check for $100,000 a month for the rest of his life.
		And I see him out there able-bodied making over $100,000.
		So us veterans have to play a role in making sure that we do the right thing so that the guys who really need it get those services.
		Well, I have a counterpoint to this.
		You know, if you got hurt in the military outside of combat, and I did, and some of the Marines I serve with did, you know, I was told and tasked to go to the VA.
		The VA gave me a rating, and the VA gave me health care.
		That's something that I've been told, and it's been hammered into me by several people that I earned as someone who served.
		And there's civilian care and civilian care is great, absolutely, but there are differences in the care you get from the VA than what you get from civilian care.
		There just is.
		One example I have is a Marine I served with was given 10 physical therapy appointments, and when the 10th one was done, he's like, hey, you're done.
		Don't come back.
		Whereas the VA is like, hey, we need another six weeks or two months with you to get you right.
		We're just going to keep treating you.
		And for that Marine veteran who didn't get hurt in combat, he got hurt on the job, to have that kind of coverage, you know, helped him have a better quality of life.
		So I think there are people who abuse the system, absolutely.
		But I would encourage you, if you got, you know, injured while you serve in the military, you should be filing a claim to VA.
		That's what it's there for.
		And they want to help us out.
		So, you know, don't delay, don't suffer and file that claim today.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Now, you have recently done a podcast episode on other resources that are available to vets, both in the private sector and at the VA, but also some nonprofits that you highlighted.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Do you want to talk a bit about that?
unidentified		There's one in particular, well, one and a half, but the one that I really liked this year was Project Healing Water with Marine Corps veteran and Marine Corps aviator Robert Lankford.
		And it was just a really great experience understanding how fly fishing has changed veterans' lives.
		The act of making the fly and understanding how it works and getting out in nature and then staying in the water, you know, all the ideations, all the stress, all the pain went away and they were able to focus just on the aspect of being in nature, catching a fish, which is never a bad outcome, and being around people who really cared about them.
		And in one case, you know, a veteran was having issues, learned how to make the flies, and then really got satisfaction teaching other veterans how to do the same thing.
		And these are the kind of stories I really like to tell.
		These people are making change where they are.
		And, you know, what's better than fly fishing?
		I don't know.
		So these kinds of stories really fuel my desire to keep doing Oscar Mike Radio.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Joy is in Plainfield, New Jersey on our line for veterans and their families.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Joy.
unidentified		Good morning.
		I'm a little nervous, but my question is this.
		First, a shout out to the nurses at East Orange VA, where a lot of my friends are.
		My son is a veteran.
		My great-grandfather fought in the Civil War, and his name is on that beautiful museum memorial in Washington, D.C.
		I think it's on 14th and East Street, somewhere around in there.
		My question is this: We as black Americans do not get recognized for all the efforts we did from the American Revolution up until today.
		And it's very disturbing to me that they scream DEI.
		But it was okay when you had people like Samuel Stepton who stepped in in the American Revolution, helped fight that war.
		People like my great-grandfather who fought in the Civil War.
		It was okay when they stepped in, but it seems like we're being erased from history.
		And I want to know how do you feel about that as a veteran knowing that we helped secure the American Revolution and they want to disclaim, they want to cry about DEI and they don't even understand what it is.
		So how do you feel about that?
		Well, I feel first and foremost that every person who served, regardless of their skin color, ethnicity, background, whatever, deserves to have their story heard.
		That's just for me and my show.
		And I had the honor of talking to for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Executive Office of Veterans Services, Deputy Secretary Andrea Gail Bennett, a black woman who is a brigadier general, retired from the Army National Guard.
		And telling her story, understanding the black experience and how it relates to the love of country and serving just reminded me that, you know what, this is, again, why I'm here.
		I'm here to tell those kinds of stories.
		I'm here to tell the story about a father and son who, you know, the father was a ranger.
		Now they have this champion for veterans or to help people with their VA claims.
		For me, every story is valuable.
		And so there must be focus on telling those stories and making sure that we remember the contributions of all our service members.
		And it's unfortunate.
		You know, in the Marine Corps, I was told and believed that, you know, no one's any particular color.
		We're all a sea of green.
		But certainly our black service members have contributed heavily to our nation's freedom.
		And thank you and your son for what you all do.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		So I'm guessing Joy was referencing some of the historical figures that have been cut from military websites, although some have been restored following the DEI ban.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		And I think she wanted your thoughts on that in particular.
unidentified		Okay.
		Well, in that particular, I'm not a fan of racing history.
		I'm just, that's my opinion.
		This is why I have my form the way I have it, because when we start, you know, closing off certain parts of our history, we lose that perspective.
		And there's, I was very vocal when the Tuskegee Airmen, Princess, was cut, that that should be, you know, why was it even done?
		So we cannot allow that to happen.
		And, you know, my concern is if it happens for our black service members, you know, what else could it happen for us?
		So I'm glad it's being restored and think that, again, we should never, you know, remove that ever.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Robert is in Cincinnati, Ohio on our line for veterans and their families.
unidentified		Good morning, Alpha Company 244th Marines.
		Durah.
		From 61 to 66, I'm offended by the President Trump addressing the military academy in his Make America Great Again.
		Seemed like everything he does, he's tried to divide the country up.
		During the first year or two of the Vietnam War, 25% of the catch of KIAs was black Americans, whether it was draftees or volunteers.
		All this stuff never comes up.
		And then you have Turboville.
		The first thing they did when General Brown was appointed to the Joint Chief of Staff, he stored that DEI stuff.
		It was wrong, and it should be going to someone should have checked him out.
		They're trying to make the military, I don't know, predominant where everybody says, yes, sir, man, and anything they do to the American people, they pull to go along with it, and it's wrong.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		So, Robert, we're just about out of time.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		I'm going to let our guest respond.
unidentified		Well, again, we have to, as Americans, if we don't like the way the country is going, you know, get with our local, state, and federal elected officials and make it very clear that we want our voice heard so change can happen.
		That's first and foremost.
		I wasn't a fan.
		I didn't have any problem with President Trump speaking at the commencement.
		I wish he hadn't worn the cap.
		You know, Ronald Reagan didn't wear the cap.
		President Clinton didn't wear the cap, so on and so forth.
		They came as themselves.
		So I agree with you there.
		But, you know, for me and my show and my platform, everybody has a place if they want to talk with me.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Well, thank you so much to Travis Partington, who is the host of Oscar Mike Radio, the podcast, and also a U.S. Marine Corps veteran.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Thank you for your service and for your time today.
unidentified		Kim, thank you very much, and thank you for being a great American.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Now, on Monday, on Memorial Day, President Trump is going to travel to Arlington National Cemetery for a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers.
		You can watch that live at 11 a.m. Eastern on C-SPAN, C-SPAN Now, our free mobile video app, or online at c-span.org.
		Thank you to everyone who called in today for Washington Journal.
		We'll be back with another edition of the show tomorrow morning at 7 a.m. Eastern.
		Have a great day.
unidentified		C-SPAN's Washington, our live forum, inviting you to discuss the latest issues in government, politics, and public policy.
		From Washington, D.C. to across the country.
		Coming up Monday morning, Memorial Day.
		Author Tim Bouverie discusses his book, Allies at War: How the Struggles Between the Allied Powers Shaped the War and the World.
		And then author Robert Edsel on his book, Remember Us: American Sacrifice, Dutch Freedom, and a Forever Promise Forged in World War II.
		C-SPAN's Washington Journal.

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