CSPAN - Washington Journal 06/27/2025

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June 27, 2025 07:00-09:00 - CSPAN

01:59:58

Washington Journal 06/27/2025

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john mcardle

cspan 35:12

keith self

rep/r 05:29

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chris murphy

sen/d 01:00

chuck schumer

sen/d 01:05

donald j trump

admin 01:32

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adam goodman

r 00:04

john fugelsang

00:06

karoline leavitt

admin 00:17

tom cotton

sen/r 00:29

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tim in michigan

callers 00:25

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Speaker	Time	Text
unidentified		The Freedom Caucus and the Foreign Affairs Committee discusses U.S. military action against Iran and votes soon on the President's One Big Beautiful Bill.
		And Hawaii Democratic Congresswoman Jill Takuda, a member of the Armed Services Committee and the Progressive Caucus, will also talk about U.S. military action against Iran and her opposition to the President's tax and spending legislation.
		C-SPAN's Washington Journal is next.
		Join the conversation.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Good morning.
		It's Friday, June 27th, 2025.
		The House returns at 9 a.m. Eastern.
		The Senate's back at 3 p.m.
		And we're with you for the next two hours on the Washington Journal.
		We began at the Supreme Court, where the majority of justices yesterday sided with South Carolina in its effort to deprive Planned Parenthood of public funding.
		The move serves as a financial blow to the network of women's health care clinics that is a major provider of abortion services in the United States.
		This morning, we're getting your reaction on phone line split as usual by political party.
		Republicans, it's 202-748-8001.
		Democrats, 202-748-8000.
		Independents, 202-748-8002.
		You can also send us a text, that number, 202-748-8003.
		If you do, please include your name and where you're from.
		Otherwise, catch up with us on social media, on X, it's at C-SPANWJ.
		On Facebook, it's facebook.com/slash C-SPAN.
		And a very good Friday morning to you.
		You can go ahead and start calling in now.
		This is the lead graph of the story about this case from today's USA Today.
		An ideologically divided Supreme Court, they write, sided with South Carolina in its effort to deprive Planned Parenthood of public funding, a decision that is likely to prompt other Republican-led states to take similar action against a health care organization under attack for providing abortion services.
		It was a 6-3 ruling yesterday over the dissent of the three liberal justices on the court.
		The case stemmed from a 2018 order from South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster.
		He went to X yesterday in the wake of that ruling to post his thoughts on the case.
		He said, The U.S. Supreme Court has affirmed our right to exclude abortion providers from receiving taxpayer dollars seven years ago.
		We took a stand to protect the sanctity of life and defend South Carolina's authority and values.
		And today we are finally victorious.
		South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster also on the floor of the United States Senate yesterday.
		Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer took to the floor to give his thoughts on the case.
chuck schumer ▲ ● ▼		Three years ago after Dobbs, the MAGA Supreme Court has once again doubled down on its war on women.
		The court handed down a decision that immediately endangers funding for Planned Parenthood, one of the biggest organizations for affordable women's health care across the whole country.
		And it's not just about reproductive care.
		It endangers women's health care altogether.
		Clinics will close.
		Women will lose access to cancer screenings, contraceptives, physical exams for common illnesses, and so much more.
		For many women, Planned Parenthood is their only resource to get health care services at an affordable rate.
		Make no mistake, Senate Republicans own the consequences of this loathsome decision.
		They packed our court with extremists.
		They're the chief architects of the dismal state of women's health care in America.
		Senate Democrats will never, never relent in our efforts to ensure all women in America have high quality health care.
		Access to health care is a basic right, no matter what the radicals on the MAGA court may think.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That was Chuck Schumer on the floor of the United States Senate today.
		The Senate is back in at 3 p.m. today.
		The House is in at 9 a.m. Eastern, which is why we're with you for two hours on the Washington Journal.
		We're also expecting around 10 a.m. Eastern a final day of decisions from the Supreme Court.
		Six cases left to decide, and we're expected to hear all of them today in that 10 o'clock hour.
		And they include cases about birthrights, citizenship, minorities, children, and access to pornography online, and plenty of other issues before the Supreme Court.
		And we'll be talking about that tomorrow on this program.
		Today, we are talking about the Supreme Court decision yesterday, and that case when it comes to funding Planned Parenthood, it concerned Medicaid funding, and we're asking you to weigh in on phone lines split as usual by political party.
		Republicans, 202-748-8001, Democrats, 202-748-8000, and Independents, it's 202-748-8002.
		It was also a topic of conversation at the White House briefing room yesterday.
		Caroline Levitt spoke with reporters in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision.
		This is what she had to say.
unidentified		Thanks, Caroline.
		The Supreme Court ruled this morning that South Carolina is allowed to deem Planned Parenthood as not a qualified health care provider, and that will block it from receiving Medicaid funds.
		Does the White House have a statement on that ruling?
		And would the President support a standalone bill from Congress to defund Planned Parenthood at a federal level rather than letting each state determine it?
karoline leavitt ▲ ● ▼		I'll let the President speak on that legislative priority.
		But as for the Supreme Court ruling, the President has always maintained that Americans should not be forced to violate their conscience and their religious liberty by having their tax dollars fund abortions.
		And we're glad the Supreme Court ruled on that side today.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Caroline Levitt yesterday in the White House briefing room taking your phone calls this morning again.
		Phone lines, Republicans, Democrats, and Independents, as usual, we will begin in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
		Mark, Independent, good morning, your reaction to this ruling.
unidentified		Hey, John, how you doing today?
		This is Mark from Tulsa.
		Good to speak with you again.
		We've spoken a few times before.
		First of all, let me say this about the Supreme Court.
		We have modern technology.
		It needs to quit being behind closed doors.
		They need to show it via video, open the court up, let the people see how much of a joke the Supreme Joke Court we have in this country is.
		This is complete theatrics.
		We keep talking about abortion.
		We've been talking about abortion ever since I've been aligned, John.
		And I've been alive a lot longer than you, brother.
		I was born in the year of love.
		But this is theatrics, folks.
		We need to quit with the central power, the one idea, the one wisdom that this central government of nonsense is going to give us with abortion.
		And let every city do its own game.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		What does that mean, Mark?
unidentified		In terms of a city wants to obliterate Planned Parenthood, let them obliterate it.
		If a city wants to encompass Planned Parenthood, let them encompass it.
		But the central government, these nine justices making the Supreme Court decision, 6-3, oh, it's so theatrical.
		I mean, aren't we tired of it?
		We've been talking about abortion forever.
		Clearly, the Supreme Court made the decision a few years back about states get their own decision, yet we keep talking about abortion.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's Mark in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
		Here's some of the technical side of this case from the Washington Post story on it.
		At issue in the case for the justices was whether a provision of the Federal Medicaid Act allows individual Medicaid patients to sue to obtain care from their provider of choice.
		The federal statute says a state that participates in Medicaid must ensure that any individual insured through Medicaid may obtain care from any qualified and willing provider.
		Several justices during oral arguments in the case seemed eager to provide clarity to help lower courts determine when a statute simply confirms a benefit to an individual and when it goes further, empowering those individuals to sue to enforce that benefit or right.
		The Supreme Court has typically set a high bar for allowing lawsuits against the government.
		Writing for the majority, Justice Neil Gorsuch said the question of whether individuals can sue to enforce certain rights poses a delicate question of public policy.
		New rights for some mean new duties for others, and private enforcement actions, meritorious or not, can force government to direct money away from public services and spend it instead on litigation.
		The case surrounding whether individuals could sue to have their Medicaid dollars go to Planned Parenthood, Planned Parenthood providing more than just abortion services and what Medicaid pays for when it comes to Planned Parenthood includes things like birth control, cancer screenings, physical exam testing, treatment for sexually transmitted diseases.
		And it was that funding from Medicaid to Planned Parenthood that those who originally brought this case were concerned about, that allowing that money to go to Planned Parenthood would free up other money that Planned Parenthood could use for abortion services.
		That was the issue at the heart of this case.
		The outcome means that Planned Parenthood may be getting a lot less federal dollars in the future in the form of Medicaid funding.
		This is Bernard out of New York.
		Good morning, Republican line.
unidentified		Yes, good morning, C-SPAN.
		Yes, I want to make a couple of comments here.
		First of all, I'm glad the Supreme Court made this ruling.
		It should go to the states.
		I'm glad of that.
		Are you hearing me, sir?
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		I am hearing you, and you're probably seeing a shot of the Supreme Court this morning.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		It's a foggy day here on Capitol Hill.
unidentified		Yes, I think they made a wise decision.
		I hope it goes back to the states.
		I haven't got much faith in New York, though, and I'll tell you why.
		We have a very left-wing liberal system here.
		They're very confused people.
		This is a horror abortion.
		And yet we have Cardinal Dolan, who doesn't take a stand against the, oh, he'll say if you ask them the reporter, which they never do, but if they say, Cardinal, oh, I'm against the boy, and that's all he'll say.
		Now, he went to the gay rights march.
		That was fine.
		He went there.
		The church is supposed to be against that.
		But he doesn't care what the church says.
		He thinks like a left-winger is one.
		And top of that, not only did he march in the gay parade to make marriage legal within the Catholic Church, but he refused to march in the pro-life parade.
		So we don't really have any Catholicism here in New York.
		There's no real leadership.
		It's all on the left.
		And I just, I say a prayer every day to these children who are being aborted.
		And then the other sin that we're committing in this country as far as I'm concerned, well, I won't call it a sin because that's not up to me to make that judgment.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's Bernard in New York.
		You mentioned gay marriage.
		This is the 10th anniversary of the Obergerfell decision out of the Supreme Court legalizing gay marriage story in the New York Times today, about 10 years since that decision.
		It's another decision day at the Supreme Court today.
		We're expecting the last of this term's cases to be handed down.
		The decisions will come right around 10 a.m. Eastern.
		It was a big decision yesterday, though, concerning Planned Parenthood and the funding for Planned Parenthood.
		That's what we're talking about in this first half hour of the Washington Journal.
		This is Prada out of New York, Democratic line.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Yes.
		Good morning.
		Go ahead.
		I just want to say, God bless America.
		And until men are impregnated and have the option of abortion, they'll never know what a woman goes through.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		All right, that's Prada in New York.
		This is Sharon out of Missouri.
		Good morning.
		Republican line.
		Go ahead.
unidentified		Yes.
		I, you know, years ago, they had contraceptives.
		And, you know, still, we got to deal with abortion taking, you know, eliminating a baby.
		I am glad that the Supreme Court decided against Planned Parenthood.
		I think that's the way it should be.
		And maybe this is sounding too old-fashioned, but I'm a person that did not, I was did not mess around.
		And so when I was 22, I got married and I was a virgin.
		And there's something to be said about the relationship and not having to have that in it just yet.
		I think it would help with keeping the families, making families together because if you don't do it until you get married, and so that would eliminate Planned Parenthood completely because there would be no need for it, you know, if the focus was on the relationship and not on I'm against Planned Parenthood no matter what.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		And Sharon in Missouri, this is Margaret Leavenworth, Kansas.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Democrat, good morning.
unidentified		Good morning.
		It's another chip at women against their health care.
		Why are you doing this?
		People who don't want to get an abortion don't have to, you know.
		But people who get in a situation, and also Planned Parenthood gives medical care.
		I had a relative that went to Planned Parenthood.
		She was real poor, and she had stopped having, you know, her periods that turned.
		It turns out she has thyroid problems.
		Her life was saved by Planned Parenthood.
		I mean, we're already getting no health care.
		People who don't want to get that.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's Margaret in Kansas.
		This case surrounding Medicaid funding and whether it could go to Planned Parenthood.
		A 1976 federal law prohibits using Medicaid funding for abortion services.
		This would be funding for other services at Planned Parenthood, things like birth control and cancer screenings.
		NPR reports in their story by Nina Totenberg that at least 34 clinics since last year Have been closed by Planned Parenthood.
		And of course, there is in Congress pending federal legislation that, if passed, would eliminate all federal funding for Planned Parenthood.
		This case, very much about continued efforts to defund Planned Parenthood.
		The NPR story noting that of the 2.4 million people treated at Planned Parenthood each year, almost half use Medicaid to pay for their treatments.
		Planned Parenthood, as the Washington Times notes today, represents some 40% of abortions performed in the United States.
		It is one of the major abortion providers in the United States.
		This case about Medicaid funding, this case very much the focus being Planned Parenthood, and we're asking you about it in this first half hour of the Washington Journal.
		This is Gilbert, Toledo, Ohio Independent.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Good morning.
		First of all, I have to say is that if you make a deal with the devil, you get the consequences of that deal.
		First of all, Scalia, when he was alive, decided to do this in the first place.
		And he got Planned Parenthood the target because they had abortion in their medical care.
		It's not the main care of Planned Parenthood.
		I'm sorry.
		I've been to Planned Parenthood.
		I know what's going on.
		My ex-wife went to Planned Parenthood.
		She knows what's going on.
		Her mother was a nurse at Planned Parenthood.
		So when Scalia had this idea of putting Planned Parenthood on the target and making abortion the main thrust, evangelicals and Catholics put in all kinds of money to overturn Planned Parenthood.
		And this was found, this was a documentary and it was in HBO.
		Anyone wants to look at Planned Parenthood in the Supreme Court and how many billions of dollars are going to the Supreme Court?
		Look at it.
		You judge, not me, you.
		You judge what's going on.
		The Catholics and evangelicals poured billions of dollars into this.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's Gilbert in Ohio to Indiana, Indianapolis.
		This is Steve, Republican.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Good morning.
		Thanks for having me.
		I was sitting here watching your program, and Planned Parenthood was not designed for an abortion clinic.
		It was designed to help women have babies, take care of their medical needs, because most of them were poor.
		And, you know, and I think that now, well, not right now, but in the recent past, Planned Parenthood went from helping women to an abortion clinic.
		I mean, that's straight up what they do.
		That's how they make their money.
		They sell the petuses when they grip them out of a woman.
		And I may be wrong about that, but that's the way I see it.
		And the government says, no, we're not going to fund that anymore.
		Leave it to the states to fund.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's Steve.
		This is Evie, Cedar Lake, Indiana.
		Democrat, good morning.
unidentified		Good morning.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		What's your view on this decision yesterday, Evie?
unidentified		Well, all I can really put together to see that the Democrats have let America Trying to control our family.
		It's parents that control their family.
		They're going to legalize lust and murder in the womb and let everybody come in and do whatever they want, and we're going to pay for it.
		I think the parents should pay if their children want to have children or teach them instead of Medicaid and everybody else, teaching them how to erase it.
		It's not erased.
		And we got millions coming in to take advantage of our children from the time they get out of puberty.
		They don't even know now, even if they're a male or a female.
		It's almost a joke.
		It has nothing to do with church.
		It has to do with wrongdoing.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's Evie in Indiana.
		You're seeing a live shot of the Supreme Court today.
		We're expecting a lot more people to gather on the steps of the Supreme Court right around the 10 a.m. Eastern hour.
		It's expected to be a big final day of the term at the Supreme Court.
		The final six cases being dropped in, as the USA Today describes it, one big final swoop.
		The final day of the Supreme Court is going to be a big one.
		They write six major rulings related to President Donald Trump and birthright citizenship, LGBTQ school books, online pornography, and others will be released in one final decision drop today, June the 27th.
		Most anticipated is whether the court will allow Donald Trump to enforce his changes to birthright citizenship while his new policy is being litigated.
		The ruling could make it harder for judges to block any of the president's policies.
		Other decisions will determine if health insurers have to cover certain medicines and services like HIV, preventative medication, and cholesterol-lowering drugs, and whether a federal program that subsidizes phones and internet services through carrier fees is constitutional.
		USA Today, in their write-up of what will be happening in just a few hours from now outside the Supreme Court.
		Sophia in New York City, Independent, good morning.
		You are next.
unidentified		Good morning, John.
		John, I am a Christian Jew.
		It's got nothing to do with religion.
		It's because if you are not married, you are not supposed to get pregnant.
		If you abhor the child, it's always been a secret, which I never been pregnant and abhorred.
		But anyways, the first caller have said it perfectly.
		Now, I don't have a grandchild.
		I have a son.
		I have a daughter.
		I'm going to be 75 years old in six months.
		Whatever the woman does to her body, it has nothing to do.
		Mr. Trump has abhorred the child here in Manhattan by his maid that he paid $30,000 to bail man.
		Sophia, where did you read that?
		Thank you for asking me.
		You see, we New Yorker, we knew what's going on about Mr. Trump.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		How do you know?
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		How do you know?
unidentified		You see, it's all the talk.
		You see, whether it is true or not, I don't know.
		All right.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Helen in California, Democrat.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Good morning.
unidentified		Hi.
		Well, the one gentleman, I definitely disagree with him going two callers back.
		Planned Parenthood, I looked up, does 13% of the total business of all or services that they provide to people.
		13.9%.
		I'd have to go back.
		I was looking on things while I was on hold.
		The reason Planned Parenthood, I guess, got its name was because it was the first Planned Parenthood Center after New York legalized abortion in 1970.
		A Planned Parenthood Health Center in Syracuse, New York was the first Planned Parenthood Health Center to offer abortion.
		So probably how they have their reputation, but they do so much more than that.
		Cancer, breast screening, pregnancy testing, just, I mean, pretty much you name it when it comes to women's health.
		And the fact that they take that money away is hurting so many people.
		It's hurting you.
		Every one of those callers who called up, it's hurting you because you get that money as well.
		Your children or your grandchildren get that money as well when they want to go into some place and get medicine or services taken care of.
		And this is Planned Parenthood.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		This was the issue at the heart of the case of whether Medicaid dollars could be used for those services, whether certain states could say that they're not allowed to be used for those services because federal dollars can't be used for abortion services now.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		The argument for some of the states that are against the governors of these states that are against abortion say that allowing Medicaid funding to go for those kind of services frees up money for Planned Parenthood to use for abortion services.
unidentified		So basically what it is, is they want to cut off all funding to Medicaid plain and simple the states.
		That's what the Supreme Court ruled.
		And that includes everything that I mentioned before.
		Those services are also not going to be provided anymore to Medicaid because that's where the funding went to.
		So, I mean, unless you want to say 13% or 14% of the funding for Medicaid should be minus, because that's a percentage of abortions that they do per year in the clinic, then you could do that.
		But to cut it all off, you're hurting other people, and that's why that's wrong.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		And it's even more technical than that, Helen.
		The Supreme Court, what they are ruling on, was whether individuals had a right to sue for access to Planned Parenthood, to sue to be able to use Medicaid dollars at Planned Parenthood if a state said no.
		And what the Supreme Court decided yesterday is that they don't have that right.
		That if this is an issue that Congress wants to fix, they can go in and fix it themselves.
		But individuals can't sue for access to that care if the state decides they want to cut it off.
unidentified		Well, yes, I mean, that would make sense in a way because the state is cutting it off.
		However, they can still sue if they want to or not, regardless, because they have a right to sue.
		If the court doesn't find their reasons for suing and just, then they'll throw it out.
		Otherwise, they have a right to sue regardless of what the Supreme Court says.
		I mean, if they want to say it's an appeal to the decision, but basically, they usually start with fresh cases, so it probably starts there.
		But they definitely have a right to sue.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		And that's what this came from.
		This case stemmed from an individual in South Carolina taking the state to court because of a 2018 order from Governor McMaster in South Carolina trying to block these funds, and it's made it all the way up to this level.
		And the Supreme Court decided yesterday that individuals can't sue to demand access to Planned Parenthood.
		It's a very technical case, the end result meaning that Planned Parenthood is going to have less access to Medicaid funding.
		And that's what we've been talking about this morning in the wake of that decision.
		Six more cases expected today.
		So, expect to hear a lot more about the Supreme Court over the next 24 hours.
		Carol in Arkansas, Republican.
		Good morning.
		Your reaction?
unidentified		Yes.
		Lord, this is blowing my mind from a lot of these women.
		One thing is how to solve this problem, I guess, but they all weren't raised by my parents.
		One is girls are never to have sex until married.
		I don't know how you understand that, but it's just as easy as pie.
		But one thing is I myself have never heard of Planned Parenthood.
		Where I live, we have DHS, and that is for the poor and for the working poor.
		And you go in there, and they do everything that needs to be done for women.
		And then we have WIC.
		You go in there.
		They have that.
		And it's not Planned Parenthood, but you go in there and they help you.
		It's not Planned Parenthood.
		So you don't got to worry about this other group.
		And for another thing, I don't understand where these people are getting off saying this Planned Parenthood is Medicaid.
		No, leave it alone.
		Planned Medicaid is for your doctors.
		That's where you go to use Medicaid.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's Carol.
		This is Michael, Howard City, Michigan Independent.
		Good morning.
		Michael, you with us?
		Got to stick by your phone, Michael.
		This is Lori in Cleveland, Ohio, Democrat.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Good morning, John.
		First of all, I want to say, you know, they're talking about all this waste, fraud, and abuse.
		Right now, the things that are going on in California, the money they are spending for nothing with these ICE maniacs arresting people who aren't even criminals.
		We need to be taking care of our health care, and women need it more than ever.
		Family planning is something that we should have a right to.
		You have a child that you don't want, you're going to be put further into poverty.
		This is supposed to be the land of the free.
		I just think the government should not be involved.
		They should help women do what they want.
		You know, if they decide to have an abortion, whether it's medical reasons, whatever.
		I just don't think anybody in the government should tell us what to do.
		So much money is being wasted.
		For example, on Donald Trump's birthday parade, which was a flop.
		I am planning on going to the next No Kings rally because what he is doing to this country, he's going to kill all of us, period.
		That's about all I have to say.
		He's disgusting.
		The whole Congress just kisses his ass and it's sickening.
		Thank you, John.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's Lori in Cleveland, Ohio.
		It's 7:30 on the East Coast.
		We're going to close out this first half hour of the Washington Journal and turn to open forum when we come back.
		There's a lot going on on Capitol Hill.
		The House is in at 9.
		The Senate is in at 3 p.m., a possible war powers vote in the Senate.
		Continued work on the one big, beautiful bill that might include a weekend session and another six cases expected out of the Supreme Court today.
		So open forum when we get back.
		Lines for Republicans, Democrats, and Independents.
		As usual, go ahead and start calling in, and we will get to your calls right after the break.
unidentified		This weekend, at 4 p.m. Eastern, Daniel Stone, author of American Poison, A Deadly Invention, and the Woman Who Battled for Environmental Justice, chronicles Harvard professor Alice Hamilton's attempts to expose the dangers of leaded gasoline in the early 20th century.
		Then, at 5 p.m. Eastern, historian and Vietnam War veteran Mark Leapson on his book, The Unlikely War Hero on the Life of Navy Seaman Doug Hegdalf and his experience as a prisoner of war inside the notorious Hanoi Hilton Prison in North Vietnam in the late 1960s.
		And at 9.30 p.m. Eastern on the presidency, filmmaker and screenwriter Rod Lurie on how the American president is depicted on film and TV and how it affects our understanding of the office.
		Exploring the American story.
		Watch American History TV Saturdays on C-SPAN 2 and find a full schedule on your program guide or watch online anytime at c-span.org slash history.
		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.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		And the Washington Journal continues with open forum now.
		Any public policy, any political issue that you want to talk about, phone lines are yours to do so.
		It is a very busy day on Capitol Hill with action both in the House and Senate expected and across the street from the Capitol at the United States Supreme Court.
		New cases, decisions set to be handed down around 10 a.m. Eastern.
		There's a half dozen of them, including decisions on birthright citizenship and a slew of other cases.
		So we leave this time to you for the public policy issues that are on your mind.
		202748-8001 for Republicans.
		Democrats, 202-748-8000.
		Independents, 202-748-8002.
		Gary in Lewisburg, Tennessee, Democrat.
		Good morning.
		You're up.
unidentified		Morning, John.
unidentified		Isn't C-SPAN wonderful?
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		I think so, Gary.
unidentified		I'm a modern Democrat in Tennessee, a big red state.
		And I was calling about the previous issue you were talking about with Planned Parenthood.
		I don't necessarily agree with Supreme Court on this issue.
		The fact that it's affordable women's health.
		And I don't understand why we go after programs that are pretty good.
		I'm all in favor of going after waste and fraud and going for that.
		But I don't understand why a bunch of lawyers are making medical decisions.
		I don't understand why they don't go for advice from doctors in the medical field.
		And at least listen to the medical advice with Planned Parenthood.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Gary, when you say a bunch of lawyers, are you including the nine justices of the Supreme Court in that?
unidentified		I have to, I have to agree that.
		When you look at the Congress, Pete, we have Rand Paul, that's an optometrist.
		Here's a couple of doctors on Congress where it's mostly attorneys, same thing with the Supreme Court.
		And I don't see them.
		I guess I'm making this assumption that they're getting any advice from the medical field.
		Like Planned Parenthood, as far as that goes, it's just the abortion issue.
		You got mental health.
		You got HIV services, prenatal, postpartum services.
		And these are mostly services for women that are needy.
		And all you Christians out there, hey, you know, you got to like, I got to stop there because my wife's kicking me in the angle.
		I got to get going.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Gary in Tennessee.
		This is Butch, Sandwich, Illinois, Republican.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Good morning, John.
		I guess I would just like to say I wish Trump would start get back to, I mean, I live in a little small town of Sandwich, Illinois.
		The gas is still like $3 almost $3.30 a gallon.
		The food's still the same price.
		I wish Trump would get back to what he promised on that deal.
		And for that abortion, why aren't the women that want an abortion, why aren't the people in charge helping a woman with having a baby and putting up her adoption?
		I don't understand that.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Butch, on the first part of your comment, how much do you think if it does pass, the One Big Beautiful bill will address the issues that you're talking about, the things that Donald Trump promised?
unidentified		I don't know.
		I hope so because I'm 68.
		I live on Souls Carey and a small pension.
		And I live in a 55 and older community, and they just raised my lot rent, $48 a month.
		And all I got for a cost of living raise on the first of the year was $56.
		So it's just gotten to where it's just so hard to live anymore.
		I mean, you know, we got to get these prices down, you know, and we need some regulations on these people that are buying up these mobile home places.
		I mean, I got a really beautiful house that I've got all fixed up, and I don't want to move, but I mean, they're taking my cost of living raise, all of ours, every July 1st.
		And it's just so hard for everybody that lives here.
		Their seniors, most of them are all 65, 75, you know, like that.
		And something's got to be done because, you know, us people, you know, it's just hard to live.
		And, you know, Donald Trump seems like all he cares about is making peace, which that's fine, but the vice president or somebody should start doing something about bringing these prices down.
		So, you know, living just month to month is just terrible.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's Butch in Sandwich, Illinois on the status of the big, one big, beautiful bill.
		Here's the headline from the Washington Times.
		Republicans are rewriting Medicaid overhaul part of that bill to get the bill passed.
		Rules referees, that would be the parliamentarian in the Senate that gets to decide since the Senate is using the budget reconciliation process what can and can't be in that bill.
		The reconciliation bill has to have a distinct impact on the federal budget for them to be included, for items to be included in the bill.
		And that process is taking place right now, and plenty of consternation in the Senate and the House among Republicans of what's being rolled in and out of that bill.
		It was yesterday at a White House event that President Donald Trump urged Americans to contact their senators, their congressperson to get the bill passed.
		Here's about a minute and a half of the president from the White House yesterday.
donald j trump ▲ ● ▼		Look, this is the largest tax cut in the history of our country.
		They want to give you, the Democrats want to give you the biggest tax increase in the history of our country.
		They have things, whether it's border or economic development or no tax on tips and social security and no tax on overtime and all these different things.
		There are hundreds of things here.
		It's so good.
		And we're going to also cut costs.
		We're cutting $1.7 trillion in this bill, and you're not going to feel any of it.
		And your Medicaid is left alone.
		It's left the same.
		Your Medicare and your Social Security are strengthened.
		We're not cutting.
		The Democrats are going to destroy all three of them because it's not sustainable.
		They'll end up cutting your Medicare, Medicaid in half.
		So we're going to do a real job.
		It's so important.
		So if you can, call your senators, call your congressmen.
		We have to get the vote.
		I want to thank you.
		You have been unbelievable, Mr. Speaker.
		You have worked round the clock for months, for months.
		And you know, I shouldn't say this, but we don't want to have grandstanders where one or two people raise their vote.
		We are, we ought no, and they do it to grandstand.
		That's all.
		Not good people.
		They know who I'm talking about.
		I call them out.
		But we don't need grandstanders.
		We have to get our country back and bring it back strong.
		And our country is going to be stronger, bigger, better than ever before.
		We're going to make it better than ever before.
		And that's despite the bad hand that we were dealt six months ago.
		We were dealt a really bad hand.
		We were dealt a sick hand.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		President Trump yesterday from the White House, again, the Senate and the House are back in today, and we're expecting a potential Senate session this weekend.
		The Senate expected to be off ahead of the 4th of July holiday next week.
		Now expected to be working at least at some point this weekend.
		We'll find out more on scheduling today after they do come in.
		This is Bill in Wheelersburg, Ohio Independent.
		Good morning.
unidentified		How are you?
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Doing well, sir.
unidentified		Thank you for taking my call.
		First, on the Planned Parenthood, look, I'm an independent.
		I'm not for abortion myself, but this is something that has gone on my entire life.
		Look, let each state do what they want to do.
		Let women do what they want to do.
		Because you know what, John?
tim in michigan ▲ ● ▼		I don't have to stand before God and answer for what someone else has done.
unidentified		That's one.
unidentified		Number two.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Bill, can I ask you, when you say let each state do what they want to do and let women do what they want to do, what happens when what the governor of a state wants to do or those in charge of the House and Senate on the state level, what if what they want to do is different from what a woman wants to do?
unidentified		Well, you know, that's the issue right there.
		And we all know that that can happen.
		But you know what?
		There are states that still have abortion rights.
		If someone's in a state that they can't have an abortion, they feel like they can't live there, then move.
		It's pretty simple to me.
		But, you know, the abortion issue has gone on my entire life.
		First, it's no good, then it's okay.
		Now it's no good again.
		Let's make up our minds and move on.
		But here's my big issues: we got bigger, bigger things to worry about than Planned Parenthood.
		We've got a lawless president who does anything he wants to do.
		He undermines the Constitution.
		He doesn't even know what the Constitution says.
		He is a criminal.
tim in michigan ▲ ● ▼		And what, when in my 60 years on earth, had I ever heard the President of the United States dropped the F-bomb on television?
unidentified		Are you serious?
tim in michigan ▲ ● ▼		A 30, a 34-time convicted felon who drops the F-bomb, and that's who we're supposed to follow.
unidentified		My grandkids shouldn't have to hear the F-bomb by the President of the United States.
		This big, beautiful bill, oh, they'll get it through eventually.
		You know, after they destroy every government thing that we've got, you want to know where you get rid of fraud waste and abuse?
		Go get Elon Musk contracts from the government and see how much you can save there.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's Bill in Ohio.
		It's open forum.
		This is Donna in Verona, Pennsylvania.
		Democrat, good morning.
unidentified		Hey, Bill.
		I'm John.
		How are you doing today?
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		I'm going well, Donna.
unidentified		Go ahead.
		Okay.
		I just want to talk about we're talking about planned parenthood.
		Okay, United States and Israel are rational out food and starving these kids, babies, people running for food.
		How dare America is the richest country in the world, and we're going to rationalize food.
		Israel, rational out food.
		And you're talking about planned parenthood?
		Y'all don't even care.
		Donald Trump and the Republicans need to be ashamed of themselves.
		This is unhuman for them to do something like that to babies, the kids.
		And we're talking about planned parenthood?
		Really?
		This doesn't make sense to me.
		The United States and Donald Trump and Israel, they knew what they were doing.
		They knew what they were doing before they even went over there and bombed Iran.
		Y'all knew what they knew what they were doing.
		They wanted to get the minerals and stuff like that.
		How dare America.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		When it comes to bombing Iran, more discussion on that.
		Perhaps in the Senate today, Senator Tim Kaine expected to pass or to introduce his war powers resolution, and it could get a very quick vote in the Senate.
		It's listed in the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal by the editorial board as a Senate war power stunt, is how they describe it.
		This is the editorial board today.
		The 12-day war between Iran and Israel may be over, but some in the U.S. Senate can't help themselves from making a futile anti-war gesture to wit.
		They'll vote as soon as Friday for Tim Kaine's war power resolution to hamsting string President Trump if he needs to use force.
		Once again, they end their piece by saying if Democrats want to cut off funding for military action against Iran, they have the power to do so.
		But that would require taking a position on more than just a procedure.
		The threat posed by a nuclear Iran whose leaders shout death to America more than justifies a presidential use of force under Article 2 of the United States Constitution.
		You're probably going to hear more about war powers today if you tune in to the United States Senate on C-SPAN 2.
		They're in at 3 p.m.
		And if and when this does happen, we're expecting sometime around dinner time for that war powers debate.
		I would say dinner time on the East Coast, around 6 p.m. Eastern.
		This is Ronald in Oyster Bay, New York, Republican.
		Ronald, good morning.
unidentified		Good morning.
		Greetings from Oyster Bay.
		Can you hear me?
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		I can, Ronald.
		Know Oyster Bay well.
		I know book TV on C-SPAN was just there for the Gold Coast Book Festival.
unidentified		That's right.
		Now, I have a question for you and then a comment.
		And by the way, John, I think you're the nicest host, the most fair.
		And you listen to what people have to say and you comment on it.
		Now, my question is, the Supreme Court building, what construction are they doing there now?
		I just noticed.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		You know, Ronald, I know there's some exterior improvements that they're doing, but I don't know exactly.
		That's been up for a little while on Capitol Hill.
		If you walk past it, you've been seeing it.
		I know it's particularly noticeable because we're all so familiar with the usual facade.
		But I could probably find you a story on it.
		Sorry, I don't have that on the tip of my fingers for you.
unidentified		Okay.
		Now, my suggestion to you and to others on C-SPAN, take the opportunity, the unique opportunity that you have when you speak with people from Congress on the show.
		Ask, for example, my congressman is Tom Swazzi.
		And if you have him, for example, on the show, and I know he wants to speak with the president at the present time, ask Tom Swazi, can you tell me something that you think that President Trump has been good at?
		You have something positive to say about President Trump.
		Or alternatively, with a Republican congressman, take the opportunity to say, well, what about this Democratic colleague, for example?
		What good do you have to say about him?
		Don't you have anything decent to say about him?
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		I tell you, Ronald, you might be interested in this series that C-SPAN is starting in the fall called Ceasefire, where two members, two, they don't necessarily have to be members, but two people on opposite sides of the political aisle will sit down, and the idea is to find some common ground and talk about an issue that they're working on together.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		It's a series that we're launching this fall on C-SPAN.
unidentified		Right, that's very good.
		But on a day-to-day basis, it would be so refreshing if you use the opportunity that you have to really get these people to say something decent about the other side.
		I think it would do a lot to help the situation, because if they don't ever say anything decent about the other party, then we're really in such bad shape, and that's one reason why.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Ronald, thanks so much for the call from Oyster Bay, New York.
		Hope you make it to Theodore's Books.
		That was the group that was hosting the book fair out in Oyster Bay a couple weeks ago.
		And thanks for calling from Oyster Bay.
unidentified		Thank you.
unidentified		Bye now.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Florence, Massachusetts.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		John, good morning.
unidentified		Hello thanks for taking my call.
		I'm wondering, the Democrats, that lady that just called in talking about abortion, does she know that our abortion rights line up with North Korea, Russia, and China?
		Is that the axis of evil she wants to be in?
		Because the rest of the world has a 10 to 16 week ban on abortion, except for health.
		So I guess, you know, we should line up with Russia, China, and North Korea.
		And I'm wondering, they keep complaining that President Trump's sending in ICE and more agents into the blue states.
		Well, that's because they're sanctuary cities and they're hiding away.
		They're illegals like my state, Massachusetts, that doesn't want to turn in pedophiles, rapists, and murderers.
		I mean, what's going on?
		Why are we doing that?
		What makes Democrats think that we want that in the state here?
		I'm just laughing myself silly at all the different people like complaining about these town halls.
		Don't you keep playing AOC, mocking her people with a Spanish accent when they tried to talk to her in New York.
		I mean, you give half a story all the time on the TV as told through the Democrats' eyes.
		We never see anything bad about the Democrats.
		It's always the Republicans hate the air, the earth, the water, women, men, animals, space, I mean, everything.
		And the Democrats love everything.
		Well, let me tell you, everything's not perfect with the Democrats.
		Some people have regrets about transgender surgery.
		A lot of women and some men have regrets about when the women get abortions.
		And we get half a story like it's a utopia.
		We've murdered 70 million babies since 1970, and we don't need to be letting in illegal aliens.
		We just need to let our birth rate go and start convincing women.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		You're calling in on the independent line.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		What makes you an independent?
unidentified		Because I'm in Massachusetts.
		You can't vote for anything else.
		It's all Democrat.
		There's absolutely nothing else in Massachusetts that you could vote for.
		We get a one-party rule, and they keep making everything a sanctuary city and doing nothing for Americans or a veteran like me who's not even a mile away from the VA.
		And they're giving everything to illegals.
		They're giving them houses to stay in.
		And I see homeless Americans on the street under the bridge in downtown Northampton and all along all the exits.
		And you don't see the illegal aliens there.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's John in Massachusetts.
		This is Darrell, Desert Hot Springs, California, line for Democrats.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Good morning, John.
		You know, everybody's talking about the custom Edica and tax cuts, and how that's going to hurt all the middle-class people.
		But what's really bothering me is section 70302.
		Oh, I forgot, Commissioner.
		This is, I'm talking about the big, ugly, nasty bill.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		And what does that section pertain to?
unidentified		That's the part that says that no court in the country can hold the government responsible for, or they can't punish them for any contempt or failing to adhere to like restraining orders and like that.
		It's basically a kingmaker.
		And I think that's really dangerous because that's just going to totally erase democracy in this country.
		The federal government cannot be held in contempt.
		Basically, the court can say, okay, you cannot do this and they'll do it.
		And the courts say, you're in contempt.
		They can say, so what?
		That's scary.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Daryl, in California, here's more news out of the Hill newspaper when it comes to the one big, beautiful bill.
		The Senate parliamentarian, as we've said, has been going through this legislation and has apparently rejected a Republican attempt to exempt a small number of religious schools, including Hillsdale College, where many graduates go on to careers in conservative politics, from an income tax on college endowments.
		The GOP bill would substantially raise the tax on the returns of wealthy college endowments, but it exempted Hillsdale.
		The story noted, the parliamentarian, her name is Elizabeth McDonough, has also ruled against a section of the bill that removes regulations pertaining to gun silencers and easily concealable firearms under the National Firearms Act.
		That provision was tucked into the bill.
		The loosening of restrictions on gun silencers or suppressors, as they're known, is one of the top priority of the gun industry and many firearms enthusiasts.
		This is the story out of the hill.
		Today, we're finding out more about what's in and what's out of the One Big Beautiful bill.
		This is Gordon in Kansas City, Kansas, Republican.
unidentified		Good morning.
		Good morning, John.
		How are you?
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Doing well.
unidentified		How's your family?
unidentified		How's your family?
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Just fine.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Thanks, Gordon.
unidentified		How's your world?
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		What's going on in your world, Gordon?
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		What do you want to talk about?
unidentified		I want to talk about the Big Beautiful bill.
		I've listened since 2015, and you can tell who the people are that don't pay taxes in this country because they call and they say it's a big, ugly bill.
		When I filed my taxes in 2017, or the first year of the tax cut and jobs at my, I always overpaid because I always thought it was kind of patriotic or something.
		I don't know.
		Let the government use my money and me get nothing out of it.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Gordon, you usually pay more than you owe in taxes?
unidentified		Well, during the year, I do.
unidentified		I overpay during the year.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		And then you get it back as a return.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Got it.
unidentified		Yes.
		Okay.
		And you added more on.
		In 2017, my refund was $3,000 less than it was in 2018.
		So the tax bill saved me $3,000 a year.
		And I started out by buying an ounce of gold with it every year, but gold went up so much.
		But anyway, the people that don't pay taxes, they got no right to call in here and say the president's bad or anything else.
		They don't have, they shouldn't have any say at all.
		And I appreciate you taking my call and see you in 30 days, buddy.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That is Gordon out of Kansas City, Kansas.
		We're coming up on 8 a.m. Eastern.
		As we said, the House is in at 9 a.m. Eastern.
		So we'll, of course, take you there when they do come in.
		But now we want to take you up to Capitol Hill, where we are joined by Texas Republican Congressman Keith Self for a few minutes here.
		Congressman, good morning to you.
keith self ▲ ● ▼		Good morning.
keith self ▲ ● ▼		Glad to be here.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Glad to have you.
		I know you've been watching closely the work of the Senate parliamentarian as she decides what's in and what's out of the One Big Beautiful bill and what the Senate will give back to the House eventually.
		What's your assessment of the work that she has done so far in this process?
keith self ▲ ● ▼		Well, it's hard to believe that what she's doing is not intentionally.
		She is basically deconstructing all of the Republican priorities, all of the conservative priorities in the Big Beautiful bill.
		So as I say, I can't believe this is simply not intentional.
		It's hard to keep up with what she's throwing out of it.
		She's throwing out massive amounts of the spending cuts.
		And look, the tax cuts are certainly the crown jewel of this bill, but the spending cuts are what are going to keep us from just blowing out the deficit from $37 trillion now to well over $50 trillion in 10 years.
		So this bill could be in trouble.
		You noticed that the Speaker just made a comment on it.
		The leader, Leader Scalise, made a comment on it.
		This bill has got to have some changes before I think it's going to get through both the Senate and the House.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Here's some of the things that Senate parliamentarian that we know so far in this process she's taken out.
		They include a provision that would crack down on strategies that would make states that many states have to develop to obtain more federal Medicaid funds and another that would limit repayment options for student loan borrowers.
		We're finding out this morning the Senate parliamentarian rejected a religious college tax carve-out, gun silencer deregulation.
		The question is, if she takes these provisions out because this is the reconciliation process, is it as easy for you and your colleagues on the Republican side of the aisle to simply pass this through the regular process in the form of another bill?
keith self ▲ ● ▼		Well, of course not, because the reconciliation bill allows the Senate to pass it with 51 votes.
		So there's no way most of these are going to make it pass the Senate filibuster.
		So that's why if this reconciliation bill doesn't get it right, we'll have to take another crack at another reconciliation bill, which we can do.
		But I don't know what the leadership has planned.
		But this is a dramatic move by the Senate parliamentarian.
		I want to emphasize that she is basically tearing apart the spending cuts that we put into this bill very carefully.
		Remember, it passed the House with one vote margin.
		And Speaker Johnson was very clear to the Senate.
		Don't send us something back that is materially different because we passed the House framework with a one vote margin.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		And anyone who's followed you on social media knows that one issues that you've been tracking when it comes to this bill is the clean energy tax breaks.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		What is the status of those right now?
keith self ▲ ● ▼		Well, most of them have been scrubbed.
		I won't say all of them.
		They're not.
		But they are taking out major portions of the Green New scam.
		And that's where we found a lot of savings in the House framework.
		So the dust has yet to settle in the Senate.
		So I'm not going to make any definitive comments.
		But when the dust settles from what the Senate has in it and when we see the Senate vote, then we'll know better just how bad the bill is.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		I want to shift topics to your work on the Foreign Affairs Committee.
		We are hearing that there may be that war powers resolution that might be introduced in the Senate today.
		What is your understanding, what is your assessment of Congress's role here when it comes to Iran and President Trump and what you should be consulted about when it comes to war powers?
keith self ▲ ● ▼		Well, frankly, we've used the AUMF for two decades now plus to allow the President to conduct Article II authority to defend the United States.
		Look, our two oceans no longer protect us from immediate attack.
		Missiles cross the oceans in a matter of seconds.
		The president must have Article II authority to defend the United States.
		The war powers resolution that I understand the Senate's going to be taking up, I don't think it has much of a chance of passing.
		But we do need to write a new AUMF, authorization for the use of military force.
		Because if we're not going to declare war, and Congress, it's not in Congress's DNA to declare war, we need to have an AUMF that lines out those priorities of the Congress for what the President might be able to do.
		But this war powers resolution is not going to go anywhere.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		What would that AUMF look like?
		There's been concerns in the past that previous AUMFs are so open-ended that they could lead to any sort of conflict.
		What would you want included in a new AUMF, authorization of use of military force?
keith self ▲ ● ▼		Well, AUMFs in the past have been nation-state-oriented.
		We now know that non-nation states, terrorist groups, cartels, and so forth and so on, wage war on their own.
		So that's what we need to be, and that's what we're looking at very cautiously, very carefully.
		What does a new AUMF look like?
		And frankly, there's no movement on it right now with this current Congress.
		But we've had conversations in the past, and I'm sure we will in the future, given this attack on Iran.
		But it's got to be designed very carefully so that we understand who is in the AUMF.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Just a couple more questions on Iran.
		Know that in about 55 minutes or so, the House is expected to have its own classified briefing when it comes to Iran and the impacts of those strikes.
		The Senate had their classified briefing yesterday.
		What are you expecting?
		What do you want to hear when you enter that briefing?
keith self ▲ ● ▼		I want to hear just how precise those weapons were.
		When you talk about a tomahawk, when you talk about one of the big bombs, you can choose which window to put them in.
		So I'm excited to hear that I understand maybe five of those big bombs went in the same hole.
		That's the kind of precision that our military has today.
		And frankly, given the vibration sensitivity of centrifuges, I expect to hear, if we've done the entire bomb damage assessment yet, I expect to hear a very good report on the attack on Iran.
		This was a monumental enterprise across power projection across the globe.
		An amazing operation.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		What did you think of the White House yesterday saying they might need to limit some intelligence sharing when it comes to members of Congress and these sort of classified briefings?
keith self ▲ ● ▼		Actually, I think there are members of Congress that should never hear anything classified because you know when they get it, it's going into social media, it's going to the front page of the New York Times, it's going on the front page of the Washington Post.
keith self ▲ ● ▼		I think there are members that absolutely, I would not give them a single classified piece of information.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		And then finally, Congressman, what else is on your agenda today?
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		What else are you going to be working on on Capitol Hill?
keith self ▲ ● ▼		Well, hearing the classified briefing and then trying to discern what the Senate's doing because we're trying to figure out what our timing is.
		I think the Rules Committee is coming back on Monday, so it's going to move fairly fast, perhaps.
		And that's the key, perhaps.
		If the big, beautiful bill doesn't meet the House framework and we don't take care of the Green New scam, the diversity of House members that are against what the Senate is doing is wide.
		I mean, it's hard to articulate the number of members that are against what the Senate is doing.
		I'm not going to prognosticate what's going to happen in the House.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Does that make you less optimistic that this bill could be passed by July 4th, the original deadline that President Trump had laid out and that Congress I'm not going to deal in a hypothetical, but I will tell you that people are concerned about what the Senate is doing.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Congressman Keith Self, Republican of Texas, member of the Foreign Affairs and Veteran Affairs Committee, we always appreciate your time on the Washington Journal.
keith self ▲ ● ▼		Thank you very much.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		And we head back to your phone calls in open forum.
		The House coming in again in about 55 minutes, and we will take you there for live gavel-to-gavel coverage when they do.
		This is Mimi out of Williamsburg, Virginia Independent.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Hi, good morning, John.
		Good morning, America.
		I'm wondering why there isn't a poor agenda for both parties, Democrats and Republicans, independents, I guess.
		We just don't have a candidate.
		But everyone is pillaging on the poor Medicaid, defunding that, or having work requirements.
		The thing is, we give so much money to corporate America, and where are their work requirements to get taxpayer dollars?
		Where are their agendas?
		Because they keep gutting all of the friends' benefits, such as health care, pensions.
		No wonder the young in New York voted for the mayoral candidate.
		There's no incentive to work.
		I'm from a generation where my parents had all of that.
		It was a solid middle class.
		But to pick on the poor or to not have an agenda for the poor is really an abomination with this big, ugly bill.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Mimi, have you ever heard of the work of the Poor People's Campaign and Reverend William Barber?
unidentified		Yes, I have.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		What do you make of his efforts to have a poor agenda?
unidentified		Yes, he's advocating, but the people with the power, President's Congress, they need to act upon that.
		You know, he's an activist.
		But you had a member of Congress on the other day talking about, he's a Republican, talking about, oh, people stand in line.
		You see them with the food stamps and really EBT cards and, you know, fraud, waste, and abuse.
		No, government contractors, the biggest welfare queens, are the defense contractors.
		And I want them to have a work requirement.
		To get taxpayer dollars, they need to go to work instead of being on their yacht and then having workers not have any health care, not have pension, not have paid sick leave, not have child care.
		They have gutted everything that Americans need to survive.
		And then they want to complain that Americans need help.
		It's ridiculous.
		And this bill, I do taxes.
		This bill is disgusting.
		It's going to just erode more of the middle class.
		It's going to keep people in poverty.
		And it's going to enrich the rich, and they don't need it.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's Mimi in Williamsburg.
		This is John, St. Louis, Missouri, Line for Democrats.
		Good morning to you.
unidentified		What's up, man?
		This is John.
		Okay, I have a few things to say.
		First of all, Trump's upper lip stinks.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		All right.
		We will go to Elizabeth in Boonesboro, Maryland, Independent.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Good morning.
		I have two comments.
		One of my professors a long time ago said men should have the first baby, then they wouldn't be so get women pregnant.
		I thought that was very funny.
		But I also wanted to say, are you there?
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Yes, ma'am.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		You also wanted to say what?
unidentified		My concern has always been for the veterans.
		I'm a child of war.
		And war is never the answer, no matter what.
		And what has been happening in the Middle East is really very, very sad.
		But what are we doing for the veterans?
		We get mailings to support the veterans.
		We send the soldiers to fight a war, come back injured, lose legs, lose arms, and then what is being done for them, more done for them.
		Because our government pays for them to go.
		But when they come back and they're injured, what does the government pay for them?
		Take care of them, and etc.
		That's my biggest concern.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		When you say you're a child of war, what does that mean?
unidentified		I'm a child of World War II.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		What year were you born?
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Were you in the United States at that time?
unidentified		No, no, no.
		We fled the Russians.
		I come in from an area where we fled the Russians, from a city of Tilzit.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		And where's that?
unidentified		Now, if you know, Napoleon in 1807 signed a peace treaty with Alexander the Great on the River Memo.
		And that was a city of Tilzit, the Prussian king was there.
		And it is between Lithuania, there is a river, and it's called Lithuania, the other side.
		And the other side was former East Russia with today, Mr. Putin owns.
		We lost the war, and we deserve to lose it.
		I'm not having no, I feel what we did was terrible.
		But what nobody ever talks about, the children, the elder, the, in any war, not just German war, any war.
		What happens to the children?
		What happens to the elderly?
		That's what bothers me.
		What happens to our veterans when they come home?
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's Elizabeth in Boonesboro, Maryland.
		This is Tracy, Asheville, North Carolina.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Good morning.
		I have a statement.
		I was thinking that the United States itself is a very powerful entity.
		We have the largest treasury.
		We have one of the best militaries in the world.
		We're a very powerful country, but we just happen to have a person there now that is incapable of being a president.
		President Trump, he needs to be separated from what is the great United States.
		It was great when he became the president.
		And as far as Iran, they have been trying to take over Iran for a couple of hundred years.
		They want the resources over there, and they're creating these wars so they can go into the resources, claiming that we are protecting American interests.
		These countries have a right to exist on their own without the colonialism of America.
		As far as the tax breaks that the Republicans are pushing, that money would be going to the United States government, but now they're trying to figure out a way to make it go into the private entities, which is not going to help the American people at all.
		They're going to have more money coming from Americans into the private sector instead of the government.
		That's why they're trying to get these tax breaks going, because that's going to make a lot of very wealthy Americans very rich when these poor people are not paying the taxes and putting it back into the private sector.
		And that's my point.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's Tracy in Asheville, North Carolina.
		Your second point, you were talking about Iran.
		And as we noted, the House is set to have an intelligence briefing today, a classified briefing for members only at 9 a.m. Eastern.
		The Senate had their classified briefing yesterday.
		Secretary of Defense Pete Hegset was at that briefing, and members of the Senate came out afterward to talk to reporters about their reactions, their concerns.
		This is Democratic Senator Chris Murphy and his concerns.
chris murphy ▲ ● ▼		I appreciate the briefing.
		This briefing should have happened immediately after these strikes.
		There's a real question as to why the director of national intelligence is not allowed to be in these briefings.
		That's a question that we should get answered.
		Listen, to me, it still appears that we have only set back the Iranian nuclear program by a handful of months.
		There's no doubt there was damage done to the program.
		But the allegations that we have obliterated their program just don't seem to stand up to reason.
		So I obviously can't share any of the details from this briefing, but I just do not think the president was telling the truth when he said this program was obliterated.
		There's certainly damaged under the program, but there is significant, there's still significant remaining capability for you.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Democratic Senator Chris Murphy yesterday after that classified intelligence briefing in the Senate.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		And one more reaction for you, Republican Senator Tom Cotton, after that briefing.
tom cotton ▲ ● ▼		So without any classified information whatsoever, I think it's safe to say that we have struck a major blow alongside our friends in Israel against Iran's nuclear program that is going to make America safer, our friends in the region safer, and protect the world from the risk of an Iranian nuclear weapon for years.
john fugelsang ▲ ● ▼		Mr. Chairman, there was a report that the Trump administration is going to limit its briefings to members of Congress because of this leak.
unidentified		Have you pushed back on that?
		I've seen the report.
		I'm not aware of that.
		No one in the Trump administration has raised it with me.
		I understand their frustration that just hours after that report from the Defense Intelligence Agency was posted to Congress's, it was leaked.
tom cotton ▲ ● ▼		Obviously, it was leaked by someone who was trying to put our pilots and their crews and the president and his national security team in the worst light.
unidentified		I don't know if it was from Congress.
		I don't know if it was from someone inside the administration opposed the president's policy.
		But as I said, that report was preliminary.
		It was done with low confidence.
		It said it had numerous intelligence staffs.
		It assumed the worst case scenario with perfect conditions in Iran.
		I believe that this mission was a tremendous success and that we have effectively destroyed Iran's nuclear program today.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Mr. Chairman, that was Republican Senator Tom Cotton yesterday.
		About 15 minutes left this morning in open forum.
		Any public policy, any political issue that you want to talk about.
		Phone lines are yours.
		It's a busy day on Capitol Hill.
		The House in at 9 a.m. Eastern.
		The Senate in at 3 p.m. Eastern Time.
		And we are expecting a half dozen decisions to be handed down from the Supreme Court around 10 a.m. Eastern Time.
		There's a live shot of the United States Supreme Court.
		It's going to get a lot busier here in the next hour and 45 minutes as we await the final cases of this term.
		This is Johnny in Maysville, Kentucky.
		Republican, good morning.
		You're next.
unidentified		Yeah, I got a question about Donald Trump's so-called big.
		Does this, does the Medicaid cuts and that bill will affect QMB qualified Medicare beneficiary or the Medicare Savings Program?
		Can you tell me anything about that?
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		So, Johnny, I'm not your expert on that, though.
		I know we did have a segment on that as the bill was coming together.
		But what's your concern, Johnny?
unidentified		Well, the QMB, the Medicare Savings Program, it's Medicaid going into Medicare.
		And if it's cut, it could cause, it pays the A and B premiums deductible for child insurance.
		If it's cut, it could cause a $300 cut in Social Security benefits.
		You understand that?
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		I understand your concern, Johnny, and we will find out here perhaps in the next week or so what's in and what's out of this bill.
		That process is still not over.
		The Senate parliamentarians still going through this bill, line by line, arguments being made by Democratic and Republican members and staffers about what's in and what's out of the bill.
unidentified		I can understand that.
unidentified		It don't take effect to 2026, is that right?
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Aspects of it, yes, Johnny.
unidentified		So it won't take effect until after midterm elections.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Often with big pieces of legislation, there's a timing that goes beyond the next election, Johnny.
		But I'm sorry I wasn't an expert on that aspect of it.
		But I can see if I can find out for you as we go to Steve in Mentor, Ohio.
		Democrat, good morning.
unidentified		Yeah, hello.
		Good morning.
		We're barking up to round three here.
		We're blaming immigrants.
		We're blaming China.
		We're blaming Iran.
		We forget that it was the billionaires in corporate America that set up shop in China for pennies on a dollar.
		The Chinese got smart and learned the technology, and now we're complaining about it.
		Who's at fault?
		It's not the Chinese for learning the technology.
		It's the billionaires and the mega corporations that set up jobs over there and then forced us to buy their stuff.
		So it's the billionaires and the corporations.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's Steve in the Buckeye State to the Sunshine State.
		This is Joe Pensacola, Republican.
		Good morning.
		Joe, you with us?
		Newport News, Virginia.
		Then, this is Marty, Democrat.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Hi, John.
		Thanks for having me.
		I'm calling about the bombing in Iraq, or Iran, rather.
		This all wouldn't have never been necessary.
		I guess I got to give the Republicans a little history lesson that back in 2016 that Obama had a pact with Iran for enriching rain.
		They had UN surveillance in there, and Trump just ripped it up.
		And now he goes and bombs them.
		So it's like Trump's MO.
		He creates a problem and then he solves it.
		So that's my comment.
		Thank you.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		To the Pine Tree State, this is Keith in Bangor, Maine, Republican.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Good morning.
unidentified		Good morning, and good morning to the United States.
		I was calling because I listened to the woman from Asheville.
		And I'm hearing all these and all these Trump-hating people with points only taken from mainstream media.
		I last fall went to Asheville and worked my butt off for a week trying to help those people surviving from the floods.
		And what I witnessed there was people coming together.
		And I don't think I've ever felt God's presence like I did when I was there.
		And I can't believe how inappreciative that that woman could be when it was Biden's administration who had FEMA parked hours away from that situation and had no effect on anybody's well-being at that time.
		And I just can't believe how ignorant you all are still hating Trump when all he's doing is trying to help you.
		I can't believe it.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Keith, what made you go down to Asheville?
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Did you go with a group or just on your own?
unidentified		I went with my son.
unidentified		I went on my own, and it was God's calling.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		How long did you stay?
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		And what did you see down there?
unidentified		Well, I spent a week down there, and I seen a lot of distressful people.
		I've never seen disparity in anybody's eyes until I went to Swanoa.
		And to bring that to the nth degree, even the bears were stressed out in that area.
		I drove by two bears and they sat there and chomped their teeth at me.
		And being from Maine, I know the characteristics of a black bear.
		And if a bear stands there and chomps his teeth at you, he is in much distress.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's Keith out of Bangor, Maine.
		Thanks for sharing your story.
		There's just a few minutes left in our open forum.
		It's any public policy, any political issue that you want to talk about.
		Phone lines are open for you to do so.
		One story I did want to point you to today.
		It's an obituary on the front page of today's Washington Post.
		Bill Moyers, who served as chief White House spokesman for President Lyndon Johnson, and then for more than 40 years as a broadcast journalist known for bringing ideas, both timely and timeless, to television, died on June 26th at a hospital in Manhattan.
		He was 91 years old.
		Long before he became a grandee of public television, the Texas Rays, Mr. Moyers, was a top aide and by many accounts, a surrogate son to President Johnson.
		The Washington Post writes, the powerful Texas Democrat had given Mr. Moyers a summer job in his U.S. Senate office in 1954 when Mr. Moyers was in college.
		The obituary goes on to read that after he left the administration, Mr. Moyers began a television career that would bring him more than 30 Emmy Awards, including one for lifetime achievement.
		He was mainly associated with PBS, which he joined in 1971, but he detoured to CBS from 1976 to 1986.
		It's a lengthy obituary, if you want to read it.
		Bill Moyers, 1934 to 2025.
		This is Robert, Naples, Florida, Independent.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Yeah, Mario.
		How are you doing?
		I want to talk about medical savings accounts.
		So many Americans are living paycheck to paycheck.
		How are we supposed to put $5,000, $10,000, even if it's pre-tax, into account specifically designed to pay doctors?
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		So you're saying they're unrealistic for most people, Robert?
unidentified		Absolutely.
unidentified		Totally, totally unrealistic.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		How do you get along, Robert?
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Is it something you're able to do or put some money away?
unidentified		No, I have a VA, fortunately.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		When and where did you serve?
unidentified		I served from 1972 all the way to 2007.
		I went from Vietnam all the way through Desert Storm.
		I got hurt in a training accident.
		And then after many years of fighting, then I finally got what I earned.
		So I'm doing okay now.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's Robert out of Naples.
		This is Lisa out of Cleveland, Ohio.
		Republican, last call in this open forum.
unidentified		Hi, yes.
		Good morning.
		I'm glad I got through.
		I'm just concerned about a couple of things, and I'll make it brief because I know there are a lot of callers probably waiting.
		But my concern is that a lot of what is going in our country, people want to blame the Congress.
		People want to blame businesses.
		People want to blame presidents.
		However, I feel strongly that Americans need to blame themselves.
		For example, I'm hearing a lot about the immigration, this not immigration, but the big beautiful bill.
		People have not read it.
		People in the news media reporting have not read it.
		People in Congress have not read it.
		If people would read these bills, they would understand really what's going on in the bills and what's proposed.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Lisa, have you read it?
unidentified		Oh, yes.
		As a matter of fact, I read every single major bill that has been proposed since 2020 because I learned that what they're saying doesn't make any sense.
		When you read the bills, I read the infrastructure bill.
		I read the Inflation Reduction Act.
		I read the entire Big Beautiful bill.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		How long did that take you?
unidentified		And what I hear kind of disgusts me that people are just only responding to what is given to them in the news media, which 90% of it isn't true.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		How long did it take you to read the One Big Beautiful bill, Lisa?
unidentified		Oh, yeah, it took three weeks.
		It took a good three weeks.
		And I work full-time.
		But it's my duty as an informed citizen of this country.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Do you think you're going to have the opportunity once the Senate's done with their version of it and gets sent back to the House?
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Is there time for anybody to read what the final bill is going to be?
unidentified		Well, it's up to conviction.
		I know a lot.
		I know other people that I work, that I'm friends with that have read it.
		Yes, it takes time, but it's worth the effort.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's Lisa out of Ohio, our last caller in this open forum.
		Stick around, about 30 minutes left this morning.
		In that time, we'll be joined by Democratic Congresswoman Jill Takuda.
		We'll talk about the One Big Beautiful bill.
		We'll also talk about her work on the Armed Services Committee in the aftermath of U.S. strikes on Iran.
		Stick around.
		We'll be right back.
unidentified		Book TV, every Sunday on C-SPAN2, features leading authors discussing their latest nonfiction books.
		Here's a look at what's coming up this weekend.
		At 5 p.m. Eastern, author Martin Reeves with his book, Like, The Button That Changed the World.
		He explores the origins of the like button and how the thumbs up symbol changed the internet.
		At 7.15 at a book event in Washington, D.C., Alaska Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski talks about her book, Far From Home, her Alaska Roots, Election History, and her more than two decades in the Senate.
		Then at 8.30 p.m. Eastern, retired United States Army General Stanley McChrystal discusses his book on character, choices that define a life.
		He talks about personal qualities and the hallmarks of American citizenship.
		And at 9.30 p.m. Eastern, authors Jacqueline Schneider and Julia McDonald share their book, The Hand Behind Unmanned, discussing America's automated arsenal, including torpedoes, drones, and other remotely controlled technologies.
		Watch Book TV every Sunday on C-SPAN 2 and find a schedule on your program guide or watch online anytime at booktv.org.
		This show, MC-SPAN, is one of the few places left in America where you actually have left and right coming together to talk and argue.
		And you guys do a great service in that.
		I love C-SPAN too.
		That's why I'm here today.
		Answer questions all day, every day.
		Sometimes I get to do fun things like go on C-SPAN.
adam goodman ▲ ● ▼		C-SPAN is, I think, one of the very few places that Americans can still go.
unidentified		C-SPAN has such a distinguished and honorable and important mandate and mission in this country.
		I love this show.
		This is my favorite show to do of all shows because I actually get to hear what the American people care about.
		American people have access to their government in ways that they did not before the cable industry provided C-SPAN access.
		That's why I like to come on C-SPAN is because this is one of the last places where people are actually having conversations, even people who disagree.
		Shows that you can have a television network that can try to be objective.
		Thank C-SPAN for all you do.
		It's one of the reasons why this program is so valuable because it does bring people together where dissenting voices are heard, where hard questions are asked, and where people have to answer to them.
		C-SPAN shop.org is C-SPAN's online store.
		Browse through our latest collection of C-SPAN products, apparel, books, home decor, and accessories.
		There's something for every C-SPAN fan, and every purchase helps support our nonprofit operations.
		Shop now or anytime at c-span shop.org.
		Washington Journal continues.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		We take you back up to Capitol Hill now where we are joined by Hawaii Democratic Congresswoman Jill Takuta.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Congresswoman, good morning to you.
unidentified		Good morning.
unidentified		Aloha, John.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		I wanted to start on the one big, beautiful bill.
		I know you've been closely watching the path of this legislation.
		When the House eventually gets back, whatever the Senate does on this legislation, how different do you expect it to be from the bill that you voted on back in May?
unidentified		Well, I voted against the big, ugly bill, and let's just hope when it comes back to the House that this big, dirty bill, as we know and we've been fighting against, hopefully gets a proper bath and a cleaning, and it looks very different from what we saw when we voted on it here in the House.
		Unfortunately, we know that Senate Republicans are doing their darndest to try to continue the dirty work of the Trump administration and literally trying to find ways to fund billionaire tax credits on the backs of everyday working Americans who need health care, who need food money, who need to be able to support their farms and small businesses.
		And that's just not happening in the bill that we see right now.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		What can House Democrats do when this bill comes back to the House?
		What's the strategy here, especially as Republicans look to move this legislation as quickly as possible?
		They originally thought July 4th, but that may not happen.
unidentified		Absolutely.
		We have to, first of all, demand a proper debate, demand that we have the time to be able to produce amendments, to be able to debate them, to fight for them.
		The American public deserves transparency and discussion.
		They did not vote for a mandate that would be rammed down their throat as a 4th of July present to Trump and his friends.
		Absolutely not.
		If you want to do something right, don't set arbitrary dates and times before you first know the full facts and you're committed to doing something right.
		And so I think Democrats here in the House, we're going to be demanding a full debate on this and the ability to be able to tease out every single change that was made by the Senate and ask the fundamental question, is this good for America?
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		How optimistic are you that you'll get that kind of debate in the House again?
unidentified		You know, If anything we've seen this year, we know we're going to have a fight on our hands.
		But it's a fight we're willing to step up to, quite frankly.
		We have to.
		That was our mandate when people elected us, to demand that we come and do the work of Congress, which is not to rubber stamp what the Trump administration wants.
		It's to ask tough questions.
		It's to propose real changes that are going to benefit our constituencies.
		So it will be, no doubt, an uphill fight.
		We are in the minority, but that's no excuse.
		We need to do our jobs and demand better.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Congressman Joe Takuta joining us for about the next 20 minutes here on the Washington Journal.
		Phone lines are open for you to call in Republicans, Democrats, Independents.
		Phone numbers are on the screen.
		And Congressman, I know you have to leave right before 9 o'clock to head to that all-members briefing when it comes to Iran.
		You're a member of the Armed Services Committee.
		What questions do you have entering this classified briefing?
		What do you want to hear?
unidentified		You know, first of all, we should ask the basic question, what took you so long?
		I mean, it's been a week since the planes left Missouri, literally.
		And as members of Congress, we have yet to get clear answers.
		You probably have more answers than we do based upon the press briefings that you have had before Congress.
		This has been delayed, put off.
		We're told now intelligence would be limited going forward.
		We don't even have the DNI presenting as far as I know today.
		And while Tulsi and I have disagreed, she actually served in my seat previously in Congress.
		She is in fact the director of national intelligence.
		She is the one that the president and this country should be looking towards for answers.
		And the fact that they've publicly disagreed and now kicked her to a corner, this is unacceptable.
		And so there's a number of questions in terms of why did it take so long?
		What were the actual objectives that you're trying to achieve?
		How is it possible that this president can usurp war powers authority from Congress?
		And really, we should be asking our fellow members, how can you stand by and let this happen?
		And so there's a ton of questions.
		Let's just pray we get some real solid answers from this.
		And they should know this should not and must not be the first and only time they come to Congress to answer questions.
		And at some point, they should be answering those questions honestly and openly and fully in the court of public opinion.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		When you say they, is it the Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth that you're expecting and who else?
unidentified		This entire administration, Pete Hegseth, will be here.
		I'm sure he'll be surrounded by his, you know, his top brass there.
		But there is the question often when we go into the room, who will not be there?
		And then the question is, why not?
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		I want to come to, you mentioned war powers, the potential war powers vote in the Senate today.
		Senator Tim Kaine expected to introduce that resolution this evening.
		What are you expecting in the Senate for that?
		Is that something that's going to eventually make it to the House?
unidentified		You know, I would hope no matter what side of the aisle you sit on, you understand that the public deserves a full debate on this particular issue.
		To say that there was no overstepping on behalf of the president is truly not upholding your constitutional oath that you took as a member of Congress.
		And so, you know, I would expect the ability for us to debate fully, to air all sides, to have proper votes where everyone's vote will be documented so your constituencies know what you think, where you stand on the issues of war power authorities, which impacts every single American, every service member in this country.
		And so I would hope that we'll see a full debate, a vote that people can hold us accountable to, and pass it to the House, where we can then also have that full and informed discussion.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Some viewers may be asking why that debate needs to happen when it comes to Iran when President Trump has announced the ceasefire and trying to move Iran back to the negotiating table.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Why is it still needed now?
unidentified		If you're asking that question, then you're questioning the entire separation of powers of the United States, the basis of our Constitution, three branches of government.
		We have a president who's operating as if he is a monarch of one right here.
		Whether it's war powers, authority, trade and tariff, the power of the person, impoundment.
		Last I checked, the American people, democracy relies on that separation of powers, and we have severe encroachments stepping over the line by this president.
		That is why this absolute debate is necessary.
		And by the way, when we talk about true, lasting, sustainable ceasefires, when we even talk about obliterated versus severely damaged versus you can come back in a few weeks or months and continue operations in Iran, there are still many questions, many things that, while the president may say it, does not make it necessarily so.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Congresswoman Jill Takuda is our guest Democrat from Hawaii Armed Services Committee member.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		She has one of the longest commutes in Congress from Hawaii's second congressional district here.
unidentified		One of the most beautiful.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		And here to take your phone calls as well.
		James is up first out of Philly line for Democrats.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Hi, thanks for taking my call.
		So I'm a Democrat and I'm a Trump-hating Democrat, and I'll admittedly.
		However, when the president took this military action, I found myself leaning towards, well, he did the right thing.
		And I actually was a little bit more convinced by two of your guests that you had on previously.
		I think it was this week, but it might have been, it was recent.
		And they were taking opposite points of view on whether or not he should have done this.
		The one point they both agreed on was that Iran has never shown that they're enriching uranium for the purpose of energy or, I think, or a medical reason.
		And what they both agreed on, basically that means that Iran is enriching uranium for a bomb, and why would they want a bomb?
		It's for a deterrent.
		A deterrent implies that someone's not going to use it.
		I mean, it's used as, well, to say, don't do it to us or we'll do it back to you.
		And I just don't come to trust the Iranian message over the years, how they're always saying death to Israel, death to America.
		I just don't trust them with that kind of power.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		And I got your point.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Let me let Congresswoman Takuda jump in.
unidentified		Thank you so much for sharing that perspective.
		You know, I think we need to remember that in 2015, we had a joint agreement.
		We had the ability to have that oversight over Iran and their uranium enrichment program.
		When Trump came in, one of the very first things he did in office was he walked away from that agreement.
		He ripped it apart because he thought no one could do it better than him.
		And let's be real.
		He ended his first term with no agreement in place.
		We are here in this moment today because of what Trump did during his first term.
		And let's ask ourselves, is walking out on diplomacy, which is what you do when you say, let's give it two weeks and see what the negotiation table does, and then literally two days later you bomb the country.
		While that may seem like forceful, decisive action, you're backing your adversaries into a corner.
		You're allowing for so much miscommunication and misinformation to go out, them not understanding where America is coming from.
		You actually endanger America more.
		You put the peace process in danger more than you ever did before.
		And so I respectfully disagree with you.
		I think we had the ability to have proper oversight over their programs and to ask and monitor them.
		We walked away with that, away from that during Trump won, which is why we are here today.
		Our best option is diplomacy.
		That's negotiation.
		That's being able to sit with trust at a table.
		And trust only comes when they believe what you say.
		And based on Trump's action over the last two weeks, why would anyone, our allies and our adversary, really know what they can trust when it comes to American foreign policy?
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Clarksville, Tennessee, Independent Lines, Susan.
		Good morning.
		You're on with Congressman, Congresswoman Takuda.
unidentified		Good morning, Congressman.
		Congresswoman.
		I absolutely agree with everything you just said.
		I had words I was going to say, but Trump definitely needs some guardrails.
		I feel like this was all just a distraction away from Gaza.
		You know, him and BB are okay with killing those people so he can build his resort, you know, on our taxpayer dimes.
		I really feel that way.
		And he is acting like a king, doesn't want to be bothered.
		Just let me do what I want.
		And he'll bankrupt our country if we don't stop this.
		And thank you for standing up for us as well.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Congresswoman.
unidentified		Thank you.
		Thank you so much.
		And you know what?
		You said the absolute right word.
		It's a distraction and it's dangerous because back home where I live and across this country, people are struggling right now just to keep a roof over their head, food on the table, keep their farms and their small businesses doors open right now.
		And everything that we're seeing, every threat to Medicaid, every cut to snap, every time we rein in on contracts that farmers were going to use to put seeds in the ground and give them the chance to pass on their farm to the next generation, when we create unnecessary trade wars with both allies and adversaries, this is not helping people survive in this country.
		We cannot have dangerous distractions that only make life harder for Americans.
		And I'm here to do the work where we actually lift that burden from people's shoulders and help them have a chance at the real American dream in this country.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Jamestown, South Carolina, Danny, Republican, good morning.
unidentified		Yes, ma'am, Ms. Takudo.
		Myself, I hear a bunch of Trump haters this morning, but I'm not too much worried about Iran right now.
		I think Trump took care of that problem pretty quickly.
		I just want to ask you two questions.
		I hope you answer them.
		The first question is, did you vote for the Inflation Reduction Act?
		And second of all, did you read it?
		And did it help the country?
		That was three questions.
		I apologize.
		And I'll take your answers off the air.
		Thank you very much for those questions.
		I came into Congress in 2022.
		So I was not here to vote on the Inflation Reduction Act.
		I did read through that working back home in Hawaii and understanding the positive impacts that it had on our local economy, whether it was accessing affordable health care and things like insulin, to making sure we had energy and conservation projects that really actually help people deal with extreme weather conditions and other climate conditions that we are facing right now.
		So I hope I answered your question.
		I was not here.
		I did read the bill, and that is something that we have to do with everything that comes before us.
		So, Mahalo, for your question, sir.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		What did you do before you became a member of Congress, and why did you want this job?
unidentified		I served in the Hawaii State Senate for 12 years, doing everything from running the Education Committee to the Ways and Means Committee, which manages the entire budget and every tax provision for the state.
		I did lose a statewide election, spent four years back in the private sector where I ran a small business doing consulting and other kind of public relations communications work as well.
		And I will tell you the loss that I had going back into the private sector, especially during COVID and being able to use my skills formerly in government to be able to navigate how we got people through this crisis utilizing both the resources from the federal government, private sector dollars, really was eye-opening.
		It was one of the best things that could have happened to me.
		I know that's crazy seeing a loss as being the best thing, but I think it best prepared me to now be in Congress to know exactly what we have to fight for and quite frankly, how everything hits the grounds for people on the other side of the table when we make decisions here in Congress.
		So sometimes while it hurts, it is good for us to step back and go back to the real world where we understand how laws, policy decisions, and budgets can either make a difference or break people back at home.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Less than 15 minutes before the House comes in, Congresswoman Takuda with us for about the next 10 minutes or so.
		And we are expecting the Supreme Court to have its final day of decisions at 10 a.m. Eastern, a half dozen of decisions set to be handed down.
		Which one are you watching most closely, Congresswoman?
unidentified		There are so many.
		It's like noodles on a wall right now.
		I think I'm still spiraling and trying to get over the Planned Parenthood decision yesterday.
		You know, I co-lead and co-founded the Bipartisan Rural Health Caucus in Congress.
		There's over 70 members of us, Democrats and Republicans.
		What we know as our reality is we live in health care deserts in our community.
		And when you strip away the ability for Planned Parenthood to be able to serve, to provide non-abortion care, we're talking about primary care services, whether it's vaccinations, mental health, mental health services, whether it's taking a look at even being able to get birth control, screenings, cancer screenings, these basic things, you're going to rob people of their futures in rural and remote America.
		And so I see this as an absolute tragedy.
		Again, I'm still reeling from that decision because I know that no doubt there will be lives lost from the inability to get the health care, basic screenings that they need, the primary care services that Planned Parenthood provides every single day across our country.
		And I think it's going to be really sad when Americans realize what they've lost at the hands of a 6-3 decision at the Supreme Court.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		And that decision coming yesterday and another half dozen decisions set to be handed down today.
		See a live shot there just a second ago of the Supreme Court.
		There's going to be more people gathering there over the course of the next hour.
		Our C-SPAN cameras will be out there.
		And we're with you for about the next 15 minutes on the Washington Journal.
		This is Billy in Crockett, Texas.
		Democrat, good morning.
unidentified		Good morning.
		I would just like to say that we as America, we are a nation of God.
		And even though we are president at times, we do crazy stuff.
		He doesn't represent all of Americans.
		America is the world's leader because if we wasn't in the world's leader, the world would be upside down because we got a lot of people that are doing things for money.
		And if we can stay a nation of God, we will continue to be the world's leader.
		And I know, and being a son of God, I know that we will be a nation of God, even though we have times where people come out of cookie people, come out and do cookie things, but they would never dominate America.
		America was made great by God, and we will continue again.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Billy, got your point.
		Let me go to Joe in Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey.
		Republican, good morning.
unidentified		Hey, good morning.
		How are you?
		Doing well.
		I just want to make three points.
		The hypocrisy of Democrats never ceases to amaze me.
		I don't know if she was in Congress, but 10 years ago, President Obama bombed countries from drones and never asked congressional approval.
		Nobody said nothing about nothing.
		And President Trump may have not had to take these actions if we didn't have a senior president that had open borders where 700 Iranian nationals are walking around our country.
		A country that says they want to kill us.
		They want to kill us.
		And you just said before about being honest, and President Trump on, he's the most honest president I think I've ever seen.
		He says what's on his mind sometimes.
		Sometimes it annoys me because he says what he says, he does all the time.
		What did you say when President Biden, you know, was a senior president?
		Were you part of the cover-up?
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's Joe, Congresswoman.
unidentified		Thank you, Joe.
		And I appreciate the passion from all directions in which it's come.
		I was not in Congress when, 10 years ago when Obama made that decision, but let me say this very clearly.
		Past presidents have always followed that protocol that if they are going to utilize their ability to make decisions unilaterally, they will inform Congress.
		Not just the Congress members from their party, like this president apparently may have done, but actually go to all corners and tell them that this is my plan.
		This is my reasoning.
		This is my truth as to why I am making that decision.
		And so let's talk about you.
		We can have honesty.
		We can share everything that comes out of our mind.
		But what the American people deserve is not just honesty.
		They deserve the truth.
		And I will tell you that is significantly in question right now, especially when we have a president who does not follow the words, the advice, the information, the recommendations of his own intelligence community.
		We rely on that intelligence community to keep us safe so we can make those best decisions.
		But when you have unilateral, unauthorized, unconstitutional actions like what you saw from the president when he took it in his hands to bomb Iran, that does not keep Americans safe.
		And even now, there is a discrepancy as to what actually came out of reports from intelligence.
		Was it obliterated, severely damaged?
		You know, was it only set back a few weeks to a few months?
		I actually am even more profoundly disturbed to see the intelligence community trying to walk back to meet Trump where he is at.
		It is not about pleasing the master.
		It's about doing what's right for America and telling the truth.
		That's what we're going to have to be demanding and keeping on every agency, the White House and members of Congress in the next weeks, months, and clearly years to come because that's what America really does deserve.
		Honesty, yes, the truth first and foremost.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		And Congresswoman, that seems like a good place to end.
		I know you need to run to get to your intelligence briefing.
		We do appreciate your time on the Washington Journal.
		Please come back, join us down the road.
unidentified		Mahalo.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Less than 10 minutes here left in our program, taking your phone calls for the rest of our program today.
		Here's the schedule, by the way, on a very busy Friday here in Washington.
		The House is set to come in at 9 a.m. Eastern.
		The Senate is in at 3 p.m. Eastern.
		We're expecting a half dozen decisions out of the Supreme Court at about 10 a.m. Eastern.
		And also, by the way, the Faith and Freedom Coalition Conference continues here in Washington today.
		Their annual Road to the Majority Conference is happening.
		The Veterans Affairs Secretary, Doug Collins, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, HUD Secretary Scott Turner, all scheduled to speak today.
		That's getting ready to start at 9 a.m. Eastern, and we're going to air that live on C-SPAN too.
		You can also watch at c-span.org and the free C-SPAN Now video app.
		And by the way, this weekend is expected to be busy as well.
		A Senate session that could be happening this weekend.
		We'll know more on exact timing after the Senate comes in this afternoon.
		Also, tomorrow, the Fourth Circuit Judicial Conference convenes in Charlotte, North Carolina to consider administrative and policy issues affecting the federal court system.
		The conference kicks off with a discussion on how current events in the national news may influence law practice as well as developments in federal funding, issues regarding the separation of powers, freedom of press, and others.
		So that's all live at 10:15 a.m. Eastern, and we're going to be airing that tomorrow here on C-SPAN.
		And then 11:15 a.m. Eastern tomorrow, a conversation between Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and Fourth Circuit Chief Judge Albert Diaz.
		You can watch that live coverage on C-SPAN Now and on C-SPAN This Network and also on the free C-SPAN video app at 11:15 a.m. Eastern.
		We'll have all of the decisions from the Supreme Court from this term by that point.
		And these are usually interesting discussions the day after the final day of the term.
		All happening on the C-SPAN networks today and tomorrow and throughout the weekend.
		You're seeing a live picture right now of the Supreme Court on this final day of this term.
		This is Art in Streamwood, Illinois, Independent.
		Good morning.
		Taking your calls until the House comes in.
unidentified		Yes, I want to make a comment about the bill and how it's going to affect probably millions of seniors.
		Social Security benefits are the single core income for many, many seniors.
		They most of them are near the poverty level, even with their benefits.
		And this cut to Medicaid is going to affect him dramatically because it's going to dissolve many of the subsidies that would have helped these people live.
		And I only see one thing coming from this particular cut, the Medicaid cuts, is they're signing a death sentence for millions of seniors.
		Thank you.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's Art in the land of Lincoln.
		This is Dan in the Empire State.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Hi.
unidentified		Hi, how are you doing?
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Doing well.
unidentified		Yep.
		So, like I told you before, I'm going to keep it brief and try to speak from the heart.
		But I've got a, I'm a Democrat.
		I got a lot of friends who wear the red hat, and we don't talk about it.
		I've even dropped some friends, but I got to let you know you've all been tricked.
		This is a cruel criminal that tricked you.
		You thought it was about the economy, but he tricked you.
		They're ushering in Project 2025, and he tricked you.
		But putting aside, say, the way he's demonizing immigrants, okay, let's look at abortion, okay?
		You can grade a whole country based on its entirety of its rights for women.
		And we're in the bottom of the world right now, okay?
		What good does it do that you could go to a blue state to get an abortion, okay?
		Let's look at, we're not even going to talk about like teen pregnancy, okay?
		We're just going to talk about, imagine you're a Republican, okay?
		You voted this in, and you're in a red state, and your daughter has consensual sex with her husband, okay?
		There's no way to judge that.
		That's a gold standard, right?
		I'm not even saying.
		I'm just saying, let's imagine that happens.
		Loses the baby due to infection, due something went wrong because the doctor was afraid losing the baby loses her own life, okay?
		You red voters could lose your daughter because she's in a state, she may be too poor to drive to a blue state to get an abortion, okay?
		You will lose your daughter behind this, okay?
		You voted this in.
		I'm sorry, I'm really being nice about this, but you've been tricked.
		Trump voters either love the cruelty or they're effing stupid.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		All right, that's Brooklyn, New York.
		This is Leah in Anderson, South Carolina.
		Republican, good morning.
unidentified		Good morning.
		Good morning.
		Yes.
		All you hear from the Democrat is women's health care and abortion.
		How about the many thousands of people who are out here suffering each day with cancer?
		They can't pay for their medicines.
		They're not on Medicaid.
		How about the elderly who need affordable housing?
		How about them?
		You don't hear anything.
		They're all forgotten.
		The Democrats are not the Savior.
		Jesus Christ says, wake up, people.
		And why don't they quit wasting our tax dollars trying to destroy Trump and pay attention to us, the American people?
		Thank you.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		To Rogers, Minnesota, this is Terry, Republican.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Good morning.
unidentified		Good morning, John.
		Say, I'd like to make two comments as to Trump's making the action in Iran.
		I mean, we really think we can wait for Congress to issue a deal on a ruling on whether or not a war should be entered into.
		They can't do a budget for, what, five, ten years?
		We'd all be dead by the time they decided.
		Secondly, I do think Washington Journal does give what is in effect a suicide prevention line for liberals.
		I mean, they call on here.
		They need the venting, and it should be appreciated for that.
		But you listen, it's like your last guest, the representative.
		Do you really, can you listen to the zealotry coming out of her mouth and the emotion and believe for one minute that woman has any ability to negotiate anything?
		It's, you know, she yells at the other side, which has the same type people, and says, you know, well, they're all wrong.
		I'm all right.
		And how are you going to come to a compromise on anything?
		So the fact is we have elections.
		One side gets the majority.
		They vote.
		That's what happens.
		We voted for Trump for this.
		I did.
		I think he's doing a great job.
		You know, all the talks on tariffs, I mean, we've had on multiple news channels saying, oh, it's going to be a recession.
		Oh, the stock market's going to crash.
		Oh, this.
		Well, the fact is gas is way down.
		Inflation is down.

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