CSPAN - Washington Journal Open Forum
Aired: 2025-11-03
Duration: 07:58


=== Government in Action (02:18) ===

[00:00:40]  Democracy.
[00:00:41]  It isn't just an idea.
[00:00:43]  It's a process.
[00:00:44]  A process shaped by leaders elected to the highest offices and entrusted to a select few with guarding its basic principles.
[00:00:51]  It's where debates unfold, decisions are made, and the nation's course is charted.
[00:00:57]  Democracy in real time.
[00:01:00]  This is your government at work.
[00:01:02]  This is C-SPAN, giving you your democracy unfiltered.
[00:01:12]  It's time for our open forum.
[00:01:14]  Any public policy, any political issue that you want to talk about, phone lines are yours to do so.
[00:01:18]  202-748-8000 for Democrats.
[00:01:21]  Republicans, 202-748-8001.
[00:01:24]  Independents, 202-748-8002.
[00:01:27]  As you're calling in, here's the schedule on Capitol Hill today.
[00:01:30]  The House not in session today, though we are expecting to hear from Speaker Mike Johnson.
[00:01:35]  That's scheduled for 10 a.m. Eastern.
[00:01:38]  That's where we're going to head here on C-SPAN after our program ends at 10 a.m.
[00:01:43]  Over on C-SPAN 2 at 10 a.m. Eastern time, Georgia Republican Congressman Rich McCormick will discuss how the U.S. can lead the world in artificial intelligence technology.
[00:01:54]  It is happening again on C-SPAN2, C-SPAN.org, and the free C-SPAN mobile app.
[00:02:02]  Also today at 2 p.m. Eastern, Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook will speak on the outlook on the U.S. economy.
[00:02:08]  That's going to be live here on C-SPAN and also on C-SPAN now, the mobile app and c-span.org.
[00:02:14]  So a lot going on today.
[00:02:17]  There'll be a lot going on all week long.
[00:02:19]  Tomorrow, it's Election Day, the off-year elections in Virginia, New Jersey.
[00:02:24]  That New York City mayoral race that's being closely watched on Wednesday.
[00:02:29]  It's the Supreme Court case on Donald Trump's tariffs policy.
[00:02:33]  That's at 10 a.m. Eastern on Wednesday.
[00:02:35]  So even though the government shut down, there's a lot for us to cover and talk about with you.
[00:02:40]  And now's your time to talk about any of those topics.
[00:02:42]  It's open forum.

=== Filibuster and Continuing Resolutions (04:27) ===

[00:02:44]  This is Anthony in the Keystone State Republican.
[00:02:47]  Good morning.
[00:02:48]  You're up first.
[00:02:50]  Good morning, Mr. McCardle.
[00:02:52]  Good morning, C-SPAN.
[00:02:53]  I was trying to get in touch with your guests.
[00:02:55]  I have a question and a comment.
[00:02:57]  I'm going to get my comment first.
[00:02:58]  Obviously, Chuck Schumer was getting battled by his left wing during the last vote for a continuing resolution, and he felt that he couldn't go down the same road.
[00:03:10]  It's all about him and his reelection and AOC bringing on a primary against him.
[00:03:16]  Now, that being said, this shutdown's been going on too long.
[00:03:21]  Democrats have to realize that's their problem.
[00:03:23]  It's America's problem, but their fault.
[00:03:26]  I think I have a solution, but I'm not sure.
[00:03:28]  Maybe I wanted to ask the other guests if that's possible.
[00:03:32]  Currently, the Senate, they don't have a filibuster for judges and for Supreme Court nominations.
[00:03:39]  Now, why can't the Senate create a rule that says 30 days after a clean continuing resolution is not voted on or doesn't pass, then the filibuster would kick in and the filibuster would go away and we'd come a 51-vote majority only for clean continuing resolutions that are not approved.
[00:03:59]  It's 30 days.
[00:04:00]  So it gives time for everybody to talk.
[00:04:02]  So the filibuster stays in place for the vast majority of legislative business, but when it comes to funding the government, this rule kicks in after a CR expires for 30 days.
[00:04:16]  Is that what you're saying?
[00:04:18]  That's what I'm saying.
[00:04:19]  And, you know, I'm surprised, you know, it seems like a really good way to fix this.
[00:04:25]  You know, you're only going to have a shutdown for 30 days at most, and people will not be suffering forever.
[00:04:33]  The way things go now, it doesn't look like we're going to get a resolution for this by next year.
[00:04:37]  I mean, it's just the way everybody's so divided.
[00:04:40]  But I believe the filibuster is in jeopardy because the Democrats tried to do it last year, because except for cinema and mansion, the filibuster would have been gone.
[00:04:51]  I totally disagree with getting rid of the filibuster for most legislation because the Senate was set up as a common cup, as somebody would say.
[00:05:02]  Anthony, what about, I mean, it's gone for judicial nominations, Supreme Court nominations, and for cabinet nominations.
[00:05:13]  Do you think it should be gone for those nominations, the filibuster?
[00:05:22]  I can give you the exact dates, but do you think it should be back?
[00:05:26]  No, I don't.
[00:05:27]  I think that, you know, it's proven itself to be functioning and the government still functions with the legislative filibuster in place.
[00:05:35]  I mean, there are cutouts already.
[00:05:37]  So why can't they use a cutout for a clean?
[00:05:39]  And my emphasis is on clean, continuing resolution after 30 days.
[00:05:44]  They close a majority vote.
[00:05:45]  That's my question.
[00:05:46]  I don't know if you could find out if that's possible.
[00:05:48]  But Mr. McCarlton, I respect you.
[00:05:50]  I love watching you every day.
[00:05:52]  You're a great guy.
[00:05:53]  Stay with me.
[00:05:55]  My response to that is: I think the Senate can kind of do whatever they want, right?
[00:05:59]  They have their own rules of the Senate.
[00:06:01]  They also have their traditions, the filibuster being one of those.
[00:06:05]  What you're saying doesn't seem out of the realm of possibility of what they could do.
[00:06:09]  It's just whether they would want to do that.
[00:06:13]  But in terms of who makes up the Senate rules, the Senate does.
[00:06:17]  Yeah, so why not?
[00:06:18]  I mean, just for continuing resolutions, nothing else.
[00:06:21]  Got your point.
[00:06:23]  Yeah.
[00:06:23]  I mean, it just seems like you don't bury that.
[00:06:26]  Anthony, thanks for the call from Pennsylvania to Florida.
[00:06:29]  This is Sandy Democrat.
[00:06:31]  Good morning.
[00:06:33]  Hello.
[00:06:34]  I wanted to actually call and speak about the government shutdown.
[00:06:40]  I wanted to correct the woman that called and said that the children aren't going to go without food.
[00:06:45]  Well, I live in Florida, and the children don't all get food in free food in the schools.
[00:06:53]  It depends on the district that you live in.

=== Vincent From Maryland (01:01) ===

[00:06:57]  The other thing is, you know, we have a lot of people in Florida who are going to lose their health care.
[00:07:04]  There was a big article in the Orlando Sentinel just yesterday about the sticker shock.
[00:07:11]  And I have two worthless senators.
[00:07:15]  They're both Republican, Ashley Moody and Rick Scott.
[00:07:19]  You could call them all day long, talk to them, or try to talk to them.
[00:07:23]  Rick Scott never answers his phone or his people.
[00:07:27]  So I just, I appreciate that the government is shut down.
[00:07:32]  And my congressman from Florida, Maxwell Frost, he's amazing.
[00:07:37]  He's a Gen Z, and he should, he goes to Washington every week, even though Congress is closed, to be there to work.
[00:07:48]  So come on, Republicans.
[00:07:51]  Do your job.
[00:07:52]  That's Sandy in Florida.
[00:07:53]  This is Vincent out of Maryland.
[00:07:55]  It's Gaithersburg, Maryland.
[00:07:57]  Go ahead.