| Speaker | Time | Text |
|---|---|---|
|
unidentified
|
We're funded by these television companies and more, including Cox. | |
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| Bringing affordable internet to families in need, new tech to boys and girls clubs, and support to veterans. | ||
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| Cox supports C-S-Man as a public service, along with these other television providers, giving you a front-row seat to democracy. | ||
| A very good Wednesday morning to you. | ||
| You can go ahead and start calling in now at precisely midnight last night. | ||
| Democrats and Republicans took to social media to blame each other for the latest federal government shutdown. | ||
| Here's Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's midnight video, followed by that from the official count of House Republicans. | ||
| It's midnight. | ||
| The Republican shutdown has just begun because Republicans wouldn't protect America's health care. | ||
| We are going to keep fighting for the American people. | ||
| That was the blame game last night on social media, and it continues in the political websites this morning. | ||
| First from the right in Breitbart, the headline there this morning, Schumer shutdown begins with no end in sight. | ||
| And then from the left, it's HuffPost, shutdown. | ||
| GOP digs in on health care. | ||
| Three quarters of a million furloughed asking the question, are layoffs incoming? | ||
| We're getting your thoughts this morning on the Washington Journal. | ||
| It's day one of the government shutdown. | ||
| We are seven hours and just over two minutes into the latest federal government shutdown. | ||
| As you're calling in, we're going to be joined by Steve Newcomb of Axios via Zoom this morning. | ||
| Stephen Newcomb, how do we know if we're in for a short-term shutdown or something longer? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Good morning, John. | |
| I don't think we know yet. | ||
| I mean, I think, you know, you have to take a step back and look at what the push and pull and the pressure points on each party and each party leaders are right now. | ||
| I mean, for Republicans, I think the reality is that the polling shows that the public, at least before the shutdown, said they would blame Republicans. | ||
| Usually the party who is in power, that is in power, does shoulder a lot of the blame for a shutdown. | ||
| So if that sort of public sentiment continues to skew that way, I think that that puts pressure on Republicans to come to the negotiating table. | ||
| I also think that you should keep an eye out for a couple of the moderate Republicans in the Senate and how they react to any of the firings, the layoffs, the furloughs that President Trump and Russ Vogt and his administration decide to sort of implement during the shutdown. | ||
| And then on the Democratic side, you know, I think that they need to, one, have a conversation within themselves, how long and how comfortable are they willing to let this go on? | ||
| This is not something usually the Democratic Party would embrace. | ||
| And then again, look at some of those moderates, Gary Peters, the Democrats last night that voted for the bill in the Senate. | ||
| There's probably around seven or eight of them that you could keep an eye on and sort of pay attention to what length they're willing to take this shutdown. | ||
| Is it a week? | ||
| Is it a two weeks? | ||
| Is it two weeks to we get closer to a month like we did in 2019? | ||
| That bill in the Senate was a continuing resolution to keep the government funded at current levels into November. | ||
| And it was supported by two Senate Democrats. | ||
| That would be John Fetterman and Catherine Cortez-Masto and Angus King, the independent from Maine, who caucuses with Democrats. | ||
| The Republican leadership hopes to keep putting that bill back on the floor and try to peel off more votes. | ||
| Why do they expect they might be able to get more than those three that caucus with Democrats on putting that on the floor one more time? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Yeah, I think they see it as sort of a war of attrition. | |
| I think you're looking at folks like the Democratic senators from New Hampshire, Maggie Hassen, Gene Shaheen, Gary Peters in Michigan, who's retiring, who voted to fund the government last time. | ||
| There's a number of other moderates, Jack Reed and Rhode Island. | ||
| So I think they see it as sort of an attrition thing. | ||
| They continue to put this on the floor. | ||
| Maybe Democrats will break. | ||
| But I would be shocked for them to flip their votes today or anytime later this week. | ||
| I think they'll vote through the weekend as well. | ||
| But something else to remember is that the Senate is just going to go about its business at this point as well. | ||
| I mean, we're just sort of settling into this shutdown at this point because later today, the Senate will be in, yes, voting on the funding bills, but also voting on nominations and sort of continuing the agenda that Senate Republicans have set up in the Senate. | ||
| Can you explain the politics behind the health care subsidies that are at the heart of this latest shutdown fight? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Yeah, so the heart of it at this point is that Democrats want an extension of these expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year, which studies show, and I think insurers at this point have already communicated, is going to lead to an increase in premiums for a lot of folks across the board. | |
| And Republicans, including Republican leadership, I think, have even acknowledged that, yeah, this is something that eventually the Republican Party will have to come to the table on because the polling is so bad for them on these types of cuts. | ||
| And they don't want to pay for it in the 2026 midterms. | ||
| But the line so far from Republican leadership has been, yes, we can negotiate on these things, but only with the government open. | ||
| And we will not include these ACA subsidies in any conversation that has to do with this government funding saga and the shutdown. | ||
| Obviously, Democrats have tried to insert that as an issue at the negotiating table when it comes to the shutdown. | ||
| So we'll have to see if Republicans are willing to re-engage with Democrats on the issue of these subsidies in the context of reopening the government. | ||
| What will you be watching for today? | ||
| We're expected to hear from leadership on both sides starting just around the time this program ends at 10 a.m. Eastern. | ||
| What are you looking for? | ||
| What signals are going to determine the politics of this? | ||
|
unidentified
|
I would see how Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, responds this morning. | |
| I think that last night, right around the time of the shutdown, commencing right after midnight, he and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries put out a statement that was pretty much going after the president in a pretty personal manner, saying that he was unhinged. | ||
| I wonder if Democratic leaders continue to make that sort of a central part of their campaign in the shutdown, the erratic behavior of the president, the videos he's posting online. | ||
| So keep an eye on Democratic leaders and what they choose to message and how clear and the clarity of that message and getting it across. | ||
| And viewers should keep an eye on Axios, some of the best source reporters on Capitol Hill. | ||
| It's axius.com. | ||
| Stephen Newcomb is the co-author of the Hill Leaders newsletter. | ||
| We'll let you get to your first day of the government shutdown and check in with you down the road. | ||
| Stephen Newcomb. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thanks, John. | |
| Taking your calls this morning, getting your thoughts. | ||
| Again, we are seven hours and now nine minutes into this latest government shutdown. | ||
| I want to hear especially from federal workers, 202-748-8003, is that number. | ||
| Otherwise, phone line split as usual by political party. | ||
| Lori's up first out of the Tarheel State of North Carolina. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Democrat, good morning. | |
| Good morning. | ||
| My question is, why do the part, the two-party system have to play the regular workers and the senior citizens and the lower-income people against the rich? | ||
| It's a ping-pong game, which the people always get hurt. | ||
| The federal workers always get hurt. | ||
| But the people holding office never, never even get scared. | ||
| They don't even feel the singer the fire. | ||
| My check, my Social Security, I worked and earned, and today it's not in my account. | ||
| Why is it not there? | ||
| Because of the government shutdown, and I'm not the only senior that's going to be hurt by this. | ||
| People have to live. | ||
| We have to pay our bills. | ||
| We don't have any recourse. | ||
| We don't have a golden pot to pull out of. | ||
| So why does the federal government and both all sides not use the people against each other, but just come together and accept the fact that they're hurting. | ||
| Both parties are hurting the American people. | ||
| And Lori, my understanding is that essential services and social security checks do still go out. | ||
| Have you talked to your financial advisor, your bank, about your check and your concerns? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Unfortunately, I'm one of the ones who don't have financial advisors. | |
| I can't afford to pay a fee for somebody to watch my money. | ||
| When the federal government promised me if I put into that golden pot, that I could pull out my money when it was time. | ||
| Now where has it gone? | ||
| They locked it up behind the door because they don't want to come to the table and see that American people get help. | ||
| That's Lori in North Carolina. | ||
| This is John out of Ohio. | ||
| Republican, good morning. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Hey, John. | |
| Yeah. | ||
| My thing is all of the American people aren't that smart because, you know, I'd like to see these negotiations supposedly on air. | ||
| You want to see when they sit down and talk to each other, have it not happened behind closed doors? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Exactly, because who knows who's telling the truth? | |
| We're always talking about the truth, right? | ||
| What is the truth? | ||
| The only way the American people will know is by actually seeing what's on the table, what they're actually talking about. | ||
| And I'd like to see a resolution. | ||
| Absolutely. | ||
| Don't want people out of work. | ||
| You know, that's my take on most of it. | ||
| That's about as much as I can do. | ||
| But, you know, yeah, that's what I want to see. | ||
| That's John in Ohio. | ||
| Jamie Raskin is a Democratic congressman from Maryland. | ||
| A lot of federal employees in his district. | ||
| He put out in the run-up to this potential and now actual shutdown that's happening a guide on what does and doesn't happen during a shutdown. | ||
| When it comes to Social Security, just going back to the first caller's comments and concerns about her check, Social Security checks should be mailed out as normal. | ||
| This process is automated and remains unaffected by the shutdown. | ||
| However, new applications and individuals needing to update their information could experience delays when it comes to Social Security checks. | ||
| His what to know during a federal shutdown from his website, raskin.house.gov. | ||
| Stephen, Lexington, Kentucky Independent, you're next. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Yes, good morning. | |
| Thank you for letting me speak. | ||
| And John, it's always a pleasure to talk to you. | ||
| I just want to remind everybody that our politicians in Congress and the Senate are still getting paid and they still get their checks no matter if the government is shut down. | ||
| So they don't care because they're still getting theirs. | ||
| Long story short, Republicans have every single part of power. | ||
| They can just reopen the government if they wanted, but they're being greedy and they're not helping the American people. | ||
| They just want to take it all. | ||
| So it's all lies. | ||
| We can see between all the facade and all the lies. | ||
| It's ridiculous how they're doing this to the American people. | ||
| And at a time where things are the most expensive, people need two jobs now. | ||
| People need to ask their parents. | ||
| I'm a millennial. | ||
| I'm a millennial and we are struggling. | ||
| It is definitely a two-tier economic system where the older people, which most of the people listening on C-SPAN, are elderly receiving their little happy Social Security checks, regardless of what's going on with millennials that have kids, inflation. | ||
| It's wild right now. | ||
| So, yes, it is a wild time, and Republicans need to grow up and reopen the government. | ||
| Your politicians are still getting checks. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| Stephen in Kentucky. | ||
| This is Glenn in Texas, Republican. | ||
| Good morning. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Hey, good morning, C-SPAN. | |
| Yeah, I agree with people on the net too that anyone that's on Social Security will still receive the check because it's direct deposit. | ||
| All the government employees that they're talking about are all direct deposit on their money paydays. | ||
| Check Schumer is the biggest liar that has ever been in Congress. | ||
| His days are numbered. | ||
| Republicans are trying to keep even keel up in the nation. | ||
| Trump's big beautiful bill says there will be no cuts in Medicare, Medicaid, and anything else out there. | ||
| So, my point is: the Democrats are the pit of hell. | ||
| They all need to be reprogrammed some way or shape. | ||
| Katie Fowler, so I don't care nothing about the Democrat Party. | ||
| They all want to do criminals. | ||
| Schumer wants to have all this money to have the new candidates to campaign on and get the illegals eligible to vote this coming 26. | ||
| That's Glenn in Texas. | ||
| We're going to be hearing from congressional leaders. | ||
| Expected to begin at 10 a.m. Eastern today. | ||
| After this program, Speaker Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Thun set to hold a press conference, and we will show that here on C-SPAN Live when it happens. | ||
| We're also expecting Minority Leader Jeffries to give a press conference today. | ||
| 11 a.m. Eastern is at least the planning for that. | ||
| We'll watch what happens throughout the day and especially watch what happens from the White House today and President Trump. | ||
| It was President Trump yesterday warning Democrats about what the White House could do if there is a shutdown when it comes to management of the federal government. | ||
| This was President Trump from yesterday. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The Democrat Party, when they have a 33% favorability rating on average in recent months, and they're willing to shut down the government over health care. | |
| They are shutting it down. | ||
| We're not shutting it down. | ||
| We don't want it to shut down because we have the greatest period of time ever. | ||
| I told you, we have $17 trillion being invested. | ||
| So the last person that wants to shut down is us now. | ||
| With that being said, we can do things during the shutdown that are irreversible, that are bad for them and irreversible by them, like cutting vast numbers of people out, cutting things that they like, cutting programs that they like. | ||
| And you know, you all know Russell Vogt has become very popular recently because he can trim the budget to a level that you couldn't do any other way. | ||
| So they're taking a risk by having a shutdown because because of the shutdown, we can do things medically and other ways, including benefits. | ||
| We can cut large numbers of people out. | ||
| We don't want to do that, but we don't want fraud, waste, and abuse. | ||
| And, you know, we're cutting that. | ||
| But they want to have illegal aliens come into our country and get massive health care at the cost to everybody else. | ||
| And we don't have it. | ||
| And that's, I would say, the number one reason that they want to strike is to get illegal immigrants' health care. | ||
| And, you know, Gavin Newsom wants that too in California, and it's destroying California. | ||
| We can't have that. | ||
| We're not going to let it happen. | ||
| It was President Trump yesterday from the White House. | ||
| We'll watch to see statements from the White House today, and of course, Capitol Hill as well. | ||
| Yesterday, after those statements by President Trump, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer responded especially to the point about irreversible cuts. | ||
|
unidentified
|
This was Chuck Schumer yesterday. | |
| And before I get into my substance of remarks, I just heard something that Trump said. | ||
| Here's what he said: We can do things during the shutdown that are irreversible and bad for them, and irreversible like cutting vast numbers of people out. | ||
| Well, there it is. | ||
| Trump admitted himself that he is using Americans as political pawns. | ||
| He is admitting that he is doing the firing of people, if God forbid it happens. | ||
| He's using Americans as pawns, as I said. | ||
| Democrats do not want a shutdown. | ||
| We stand ready to work with Republicans to find a bipartisan compromise, and the ball's in their court. | ||
| When he says he will do things, he is taking ownership. | ||
| He is taking ownership. | ||
| It's just like in his first term when he said he will own the shutdown. | ||
|
unidentified
|
It's just a point I want you to make. | |
| Chuck Schumer yesterday taking your phone calls this morning as we are in day one of this latest federal government shutdown. | ||
| This is Donovan in Royal Oak, Michigan, Independent. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Good morning. | |
| Yes, good morning. | ||
| I appreciate you guys having me. | ||
| The only thing that I have to say in regards to this entire shutdown is that everyday Americans are genuinely being hurt by this, you know, whether you're Republican or Democrat. | ||
| And I wish that the Congress would take a second, take a deep breath, take a step back and realize that America is better than this. | ||
| And the constituents are more important than somebody having a hard line in the sand and saying, no, it's not going to happen. | ||
| And it's a power grab from either side. | ||
| You know, the Democratic side, they're fighting just to show that they're working for their constituents. | ||
| We have to do something. | ||
| So we have to fight against the Republicans. | ||
| And the Republicans, I don't want to say they're taking a bow to the president or the executive branch, but in some ways, shapes, and form for the last six months, hey, they have been on board with the executive branch. | ||
| And lastly, on that point, we forget that the Constitution was created with separation of powers for a reason. | ||
| You know, the president shouldn't be dictating what any party does. | ||
| They should be both parties should be actually fighting on behalf of the constituents they represent. | ||
| So when you hear the president say we can dismantle or fire federal employees, who is he saying we? | ||
| Is he talking about the executive branch and the Republicans, or is he just talking about the executive branch? | ||
| Because when you look in the Constitution, when it says the word we, it says we, the people, who give the power to the government. | ||
| So if he's not talking about we as in the people, this is what the people want, then I think it's an overreach of power or just a misstatement. | ||
| And yeah, that's my perspective on it. | ||
| So hopefully these guys come to the table and really consider their constituents on both sides and say, hey, there's a deal that needs to be done that won't harm America as a whole. | ||
| That's Donovan in Michigan. | ||
| Robert is in Spartanburg, South Carolina, Republican. | ||
| Good morning. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Good morning. | |
| I think this shutdown needs to end. | ||
| And the Senate needs to get their app together and pass every bill they have that's sitting there in the House needs to get their app together and pass every bill they have. | ||
| I think that would be reasonable. | ||
| And Michigan just passed a seven-day extension because they were heading for a state shutdown as well. | ||
| And I've been watching that as well. | ||
| I used to live in Michigan, but thank you for letting me speak. | ||
| Robert in South Carolina, Shirley Stratford, Connecticut. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Good morning. | |
| Mine for Democrats. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Good morning, John. | |
| Thank you for taking my call. | ||
| Good morning, C-SAN. | ||
| I am so disappointed with the Republicans right now because every time they do something, it's to back up their own lives. | ||
| I'm a small business owner and I had to buy my own insurance. | ||
| And I'm telling you that I got a letter recently with my insurance going up because of the anticipation of a government shutdown. | ||
| And I know for fact that when I didn't have insurance, medical insurance, I had to go to the local clinics and I had to pay on a sliding scale. | ||
| And when I went to the clinics, that's where I saw undocumented immigrants at the clinic paying for their own medical care. | ||
| They don't get medical care from programs because I couldn't get medical care from programs. | ||
| And I know they're not telling the truth. | ||
| The Republicans aren't because they spent, Trump has indoctrinated the Republican people for eight years. | ||
| He told the same lies over and over again until if you tell a lie long enough, it becomes the truth to you. | ||
| And I know for a fact that I often wondered how did Jim Jones get people to follow him to their death? | ||
| And this is how he does it. | ||
| You tell the same lies consistently over and over again until people begin to believe it. | ||
| Undocumented immigrants have done nothing to this country but put this country in a good state of affairs. | ||
| It takes, it's a process to become an American citizen, and that's what they were working for. | ||
| I've seen ICE agents going into the courts where immigrants that are undocumented go for their regular appointments to go through the process of becoming a citizen. | ||
| They love this country like we do, and they have to go through classes that they have to pay for to know more about our country than we do. | ||
| And I am disappointed on how people allow themselves to be indoctrinated and to be lied to and believe that lies. | ||
| Go out to the clinics and see that that's where you find undocumented immigrants getting medical care. | ||
| And the Democrats are fighting for us all to keep our medical care affordable so that we can all risk. | ||
| That's Shirley in Stratford, Connecticut. | ||
| The headline from the Washington Times today focusing on the blame game here when it comes to the shutdown. | ||
| Partisan blame game heats up as the shutdown begins. | ||
| Republicans have particularly tagged this, the Schumer shutdown, pointing to House Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, including Congressman Eric Burleson, Republican in Missouri, posting the Schumer shutdown song on his ex page last night. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Trillion dollar schemes are scheming. | |
| Got the room for no redeeming. | ||
| It's the Schumer shutdown. | ||
| Uh-oh. | ||
| NPI's cash grab borders bleeding. | ||
| Sharks demands bring chaos seething. | ||
| The Schumer shutdown, just one of the many social media posts last night by members of Congress as the shutdown hit, including this one as well from Congresswoman Sarah Jacobs, Democrat from California, on the lights going out in Washington because of the shutdown. | ||
|
unidentified
|
It's past midnight in D.C., which means Donald Trump just shut down the government. | |
| Here's what that means for you: no food safety checks on what's in your fridge, longer TSA lines and fewer air traffic controllers on duty. | ||
| National parks locked up or trashed without park rangers. | ||
| Passports and visas stuck in limbo. | ||
| Farmers and small business owners cut off from federal loans. | ||
| Cancer trials and disease research on hold. | ||
| Disaster relief delayed when communities need it most. | ||
| And service members, Border Patrol agents, FBI agents all working without pay. | ||
| This is all Donald Trump's fault. | ||
| Republicans control the White House, the Senate, and the House. | ||
| So if they want Democratic votes, they have to come and talk to us. | ||
| We're not going to rubber stamp Trump's agenda and support health care cuts. | ||
| Democrats are ready to talk. | ||
| But until then, this shutdown is on Republicans. | ||
| She talks about talking their talks stumbling as the Wall Street Journal notes in its lead story headline this morning. | ||
| Federal shutdown is set as talks stumble. | ||
| With the deadline near, Senate rejects competing bills to extend the funding. | ||
| That vote happening late last night. | ||
| Here's the headline from the Washington Post this morning. | ||
| Funding dries up as the clock runs out. | ||
| And the clock is now seven hours and 27 minutes into this latest government shutdown. | ||
| The last one during the first Trump administration. | ||
| That one lasted 34 days. | ||
| We'll see how long this one lasts. | ||
| We're taking your phone calls this morning. | ||
| Democrats, Republicans, and independents, phone lines as usual, and a special line for federal employees. | ||
| 202-748-8003 is that number. | ||
| Kevin, though, independent out of Windsor, Connecticut, you're next. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Good morning. | |
| Yes, good morning. | ||
| Yeah, the medical stuff is going through the roof. | ||
| I'm retired. | ||
| I'm paying higher insurance costs. | ||
| Now that the prescriptions gain tariffs, now I'm paying higher on prescriptions. | ||
| You know, I mean, the mega Republicans are really whopping it to the American people. | ||
| Like, next year it's going to be Social Security. | ||
| Right now, if anybody makes $176,000 a year, they don't have to pay into Social Security. | ||
| That's on Social Security website. | ||
| I mean, this country's in bad shape with the mega-Republicans. | ||
| They get lied to. | ||
| They're so gullible. | ||
| Like last lady said, you know, you tell a lie so long. | ||
| They believe it's the truth now. | ||
| So, Kevin, on the paying into Social Security, people who are making money still have to pay into Social Security. | ||
| You're just talking about the limit at which they don't have to continue to pay after that, right? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Yeah, the 6%. | |
| Like if a guy working $80,000 a year, he takes his 6%. | ||
| And somebody makes like $500,000, they can make that 6% up in one month. | ||
| There's a fraud right there on Social Security. | ||
| Nobody's paying into it. | ||
| You know, the rich always gets their way. | ||
| That's Kevin in Connecticut. | ||
| This is Russ in Pennsylvania, Republican. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Good morning. | |
| Good morning, sir. | ||
| I just want to thank Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer for shutting down the government because they fulfilled Donald Trump's campaign slogan of shrinking government. | ||
| And I also want to say about the caller, Shirley. | ||
| She said about indoctrination. | ||
| The Republicans were indoctrinating people. | ||
| Does she remember Russia, Russia, Russia by Adam Schiff? | ||
| And a guy named Donovan said about we the people. | ||
| We the people voted unanimously for Donald Trump in the election. | ||
| And I just can't understand these people that want to deviate from the truth. | ||
| That's all I have to say. | ||
| Kevin, you talked about thanking Jeffries and Schumer. | ||
| What do you make of Donald Trump's truth social posts about focusing on Hakeem Jeffries and attempting to lampoon him is maybe the word to put it? | ||
| There it is on his true social post, and a new one featuring Hakeem Jeffries from last night went up as well. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Well, I called Hakeem Jeffries last night and the tank left him a voicemail and I wanted to know where he got the sombrero from because I wanted to buy one too because I thought he looked good in it. | |
| And I didn't know he could grow a mustache that quickly, but I thought he looked real good in that mustache. | ||
| Do you think the you got it on TV right now? | ||
| I asked Hakeem Jeffries, where did you get that hat? | ||
| Because I want to go buy one. | ||
| Please give me a call back. | ||
| But see, that's the problem. | ||
| Do you think videos like that help in this process here in the negotiations? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Help in the process? | |
| No, it's just a joke. | ||
| See, nobody can take a joke no more. | ||
| This country is so evil in so many ways that nobody can take a joke anymore. | ||
| You do not think that is funny? | ||
| A mariachi band with Donald Trump playing all those instruments and Hakeem Jeffries, that is funny. | ||
| Come on. | ||
| That's Kevin in Gainesville, Florida, taking your phone calls this morning. | ||
| It's just after 7:30, and we are day one in the government shutdown. | ||
| Go ahead and keep calling in phone lines for Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. | ||
| That number for federal employees to call in. | ||
| We especially want to hear from you this morning, 202-748-8003, whether you are furloughed or considered an essential employee and need to be on the job. | ||
| We'd like to hear how the shutdown is impacting you. | ||
| As you continue to call in, we are joined via Zoom now by Maryland Democratic Congresswoman Sarah Ellsbrith. | ||
| Congresswoman Ellsbrith, your district located between here in DC and Baltimore, you have something like 44,000 federal employees in your district. | ||
| How many of them are furloughed today? | ||
| Do you know? | ||
|
unidentified
|
I don't have the number of how many are furloughed. | |
| We are going to have a lot of essential employees. | ||
| I represent a number of military bases and other folks who are going to be deemed essential, which is why even before this shutdown, we filed a bill. | ||
| Myself and Senator Alsa Brooks from Maryland, joined by our colleagues from Virginia and across the country, filed a bill to help support those essential employees. | ||
| There's a little bit of a gap in our policy right now. | ||
| While everybody's going to receive back pay, furloughed employees can apply for unemployment insurance to help get through this shutdown because over half of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. | ||
| But essential employees cannot apply for that unemployment insurance. | ||
| So our bill, Help Feds Act, was filed on Friday, and it's not going to obviously be ready for this shutdown, but we're preparing just what are the lessons learned? | ||
| How can I support my constituents and federal employees across this country moving forward? | ||
| What's your message to federal employees who are trying to plan out how long this is going to last, whether this is going to be another 35-day shutdown as it was during the first Trump administration or one of those shorter, just a couple days shutdown before a deal is made and the government reopens? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Yeah, I don't know how long this is going to last. | |
| And first of all, I just want to say to federal employees, thank you. | ||
| They're not hearing that enough from this administration. | ||
| I appreciate your service to the American people. | ||
| I represent 44,000, as you said, but while they're my neighbors and they're important to Maryland's economy, these are folks who are providing essential services for Americans across this country. | ||
| They answer the phones at Social Security. | ||
| They support folks getting appointments at the VA. | ||
| They inspect food through FDA and USDA. | ||
| So they support those essential services that taxpayers have paid for across this country. | ||
| So I just want to say thank you. | ||
| You don't do it for the money. | ||
| I know that you do it out of service, a sense of service for this country. | ||
| And I appreciate you. | ||
| And I've heard from many folks in the district. | ||
| We were in district all week before I was in D.C. this week trying to find a deal. | ||
| I've heard from many folks who wanted us to shut the government down, wanted us to stand strong. | ||
| A lot of people have lost their jobs during the Doge cuts, have seen the chaos of this administration, and want us to stand up for them. | ||
| And that's what I'm doing. | ||
| Does a shutdown turn the keys over to Russ Vote and the Office of Management and Budget to have further cuts to the federal government, further firings during this shutdown? | ||
|
unidentified
|
It's something I'm concerned about. | |
| I think I've been concerned about Russ Vote since he was nominated for OMB director. | ||
| This is a man who does not respect federal civil servants. | ||
| He's made many comments as the architect of Project 2025. | ||
| He has shown his utter disdain and disrespect for civil servants. | ||
| So I've been weary of him since then. | ||
| I'm also just deeply offended at the president and vote's threats to federal workers. | ||
| I've been doing budget negotiations and deals in my seven years, first in the State House, now in Congress, and I've always found that the first person to threaten normally has the shorthand in this negotiation. | ||
| But it's also just, again, deeply offensive to the American people and it should concern everybody that threats are being lobbied about using civil servants as political pawns. | ||
| On doing negotiations and deals, what do you say to Republicans who have said it's okay to have a debate about these health care subsidies at the heart of the shutdown, but doing it during a shutdown is irresponsible. | ||
| That Democrats should have voted for a continuing resolution, kept the government open. | ||
| And we can also have that debate saying Republicans voted for continuing resolutions during the Biden administration. | ||
| That what's happening today is irresponsible and pointing the fingers at Democrats for allowing this to happen. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Well, first of all, let's be clear. | |
| We've been in a continuing resolution since I've been to Congress. | ||
| We have not been able to pass a budget. | ||
| And so we've all been working towards a solution here. | ||
| This is not something, this healthcare crisis that we are lurching towards is not something that can wait seven weeks. | ||
| People, it's October 1st. | ||
| People will be receiving in their mailbox notices about their premiums for their health insurance going up on January 1st, in Maryland's case by 13%. | ||
| And this is in the midst of the most drastic Medicaid cuts in the history of this country. | ||
| This is in the midst of the president just announcing tariffs, 100% tariffs on pharmaceuticals coming from overseas. | ||
| We are in the middle of a healthcare affordability crisis. | ||
| We cannot wait seven weeks to solve it. | ||
| The insurance marketplace is already sending those notices out to people. | ||
| They are not going to wait to increase those premiums. | ||
| And so it's something we have to address right now because those ACA tax credits expire on December 31st. | ||
| So I would love a deal. | ||
| And let me be clear: this impacts 15,000 people in my district, but it impacts millions of people across this country. | ||
| And I'm trying to apply to the better angels of the natures of my colleagues across the aisle because their constituents as well are going to suffer from Congress's inaction. | ||
| What's the plan today? | ||
| What are you hearing from Democratic leadership on when you will meet with them and when we decide on the next steps when it comes to congressional action? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Yeah, so I live in Annapolis. | |
| I'm home right now. | ||
| It's 7:30 in the morning. | ||
| I'm going to head up to the state house to do a press conference with my governor announcing supports for federal employees, many of which I voted on when I was at the State House. | ||
| And then I'm heading to D.C. to meet with the Democratic caucus. | ||
| We are there. | ||
| Republicans have been home for the last week and a half, but Democrats have been back in Washington for the last three days, ready and willing to work towards a bipartisan budget deal and vote to avert, well, now reopen the government. | ||
| We've been working to avert it for the last two days, but now it's about how can we come together on a bipartisan budget deal? | ||
| That's what the American people want of us. | ||
| How do we work together? | ||
| And I'm looking for that olive branch from the Republicans. | ||
| I'm not yet seeing it, but I like to say that I'm in this business as an optimist. | ||
| I couldn't get through every day and make this drive to D.C. every day if I weren't. | ||
| And then before you go, I think you were on the line listening into that caller just before you and I started chatting. | ||
| The two videos now that President Trump has posted about Hakeem Jeffries, the Sombrero, the Mariachi band, your reaction? | ||
|
unidentified
|
I have not watched them. | |
| They are maybe they are funny. | ||
| I mean, the gentleman had a point about humor, but this is, I don't think this example, the president utilizing his social media to poke fun in frankly racist ways at Democratic leadership. | ||
| A, it's beneath the Oval Office, and B, if we're talking about a deal and trying to be serious here, that doesn't achieve a deal. | ||
| That exacerbates the situation. | ||
| And again, it's just beneath the office. | ||
| I don't understand this president. | ||
| As a man who's known for making deals, this is utter foolishness. | ||
| Congresswoman Sarah Elfrith, Democrat from Maryland. | ||
| It's the third district of Maryland. | ||
| We'll let you get your day of work here. | ||
| Thanks so much for the time this morning. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you. | |
| Back to your phone calls. | ||
| It's day one of the government shutdown. | ||
| Taking your calls onlines for Republicans, Democrats, Independents, and a special line for federal employees: 202-748-8003 is that number. | ||
| This is Alan out of Brooklyn. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Democrat, go ahead. | |
| Good morning, and thanks very much. | ||
| There's so much to say here. | ||
| First of all, as to that joke video, we really must have in government some ability to rely on the words of our leaders, take them seriously so they cannot choose when to say I meant a statement in jest or sarcastically and when I meant it seriously because that allows them to avoid accountability for everything they say. | ||
| We have to remember that there has been massive bribery and violation of emoluments rules, conflicts of interest involving foreign business investments in the range of billions of dollars. | ||
| And we have no idea what kinds of commitments have been made by this administration to assist other governments or serve their interests before the interests of ours. | ||
| So when Trump is negotiating, supposedly to avoid a shutdown, he may very well have an interest in allowing this shutdown and other activities of his, like his tariffs, to hurt the country for the benefit of other countries. | ||
| I don't know which, but it could be China, Russia, Iran, the Arab states, who knows. | ||
| But as long as we don't know exactly what the terms of these various bribes and investments are, we're at the mercy of people who basically do not have our best interest at heart. | ||
| We also have to remember that we don't live in a real democracy as long as we have an electoral college that does not weight the votes of all citizens equally. | ||
| And I did a calculation assisted by AI a few months ago showing that while the smallest and largest states in the original founding 13 colonies had a ratio of maybe one to four in terms of voting power per capita in the Congress and the Senate when you calculate that there's just two senators per state. | ||
| Today, based on population changes, the lowest to the highest states have a ratio of one to 40 in terms of voting power per capita. | ||
| People in California, New York, populist Democratic states get a fraction of voting power in the Senate per person as people in very sparse states like Wyoming or Utah, which are usually red and Republican states. | ||
| Until people understand that, they will not have the determination to remove these impediments to real democracy because this government does not represent the will of a majority. | ||
| Whether our president is being bribed and serving a foreign power or not, he is not serving a majority of our people. | ||
| Went to Alan in Brooklyn. | ||
| This is Rip out of Fredericksburg, Virginia, Republican. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Good morning. | |
| If you ever want to realize how foolish America is, just watch C-SPAN. | ||
| You know, really ridiculous what's going on in our nation. | ||
| I hope we shut down. | ||
| God, I hope we shut down. | ||
| You have to realize that everybody that's getting laid off, it's like a vacation. | ||
| You get your money back. | ||
| If you had anything together and were able to, in any way, gain enough money to just do something, you've got a month off, maybe. | ||
| Free. | ||
| You get all your money. | ||
| Same thing. | ||
| The Postal Service was famous for doing it, and they'd fire somebody to go to arbitration. | ||
| And they'd give them their job back, and they'd get all their money back. | ||
| So I said this a long time ago. | ||
| We have over 100 million illegal immigrants in this nation. | ||
| John, you kind of got after me for saying that a year ago when I said it. | ||
| We do. | ||
| And every single thing that's going on right this second is a direct and direct relationship to what Biden did to our country. | ||
| The only reason I asked about that is everybody says, well, I hope this doesn't happen. | ||
| I hope that it's already happened. | ||
| We're done. | ||
| America's done. | ||
| Rip, the only reason I ask about the 100 million number is because there's something like 330-some million people in this country total. | ||
| 100 million illegal immigrants would be a whole lot and a lot higher than some of the stats that I've seen. | ||
| So, I guess, where did you get that number? | ||
|
unidentified
|
From think tanks have been thrown around for years. | |
| 100 million think tank has been throwing it around for years. | ||
| But, bottom line is that they told you we had 9 million people for what, 15, 20 years they told us we had 9 million illegal immigrants. | ||
| No. | ||
| You know, look, we've been lied to all the time. | ||
| It's never going to stop. | ||
| Lying is a tremendous problem in our nation. | ||
| It's not going to stop. | ||
| Everybody does it and can get away with it. | ||
| And it's a game. | ||
| The people who are the enemies of our nation are our politicians. | ||
| Every problem that has taken place in the United States is a direct result of a voted-in individual who has made a choice for us. | ||
| So, hope you have a good day, John. | ||
| God bless you. | ||
| Let's rip out of Fredericksburg, Virginia. | ||
| We head out to California, Garden Grove. | ||
| This is Jamie, lying for Democrats. | ||
| Good morning. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Hello. | |
| Good morning. | ||
| Thank you for taking my call. | ||
| Bottom line, I used to be an Independent. | ||
| I turned Republican when I saw our country going downhill. | ||
| The lies, the cheating, the stealing. | ||
| We, the people, voted for this in November. | ||
| We watched our country trashed and burned the last four years with lies, and now we're finding out what was being done in the back rooms. | ||
| We, the people, voted for this in November, and that was all across the spectrum. | ||
| All race, all creed. | ||
| We voted for this. |