House Republican leaders Mike Johnson and Lisa Johnson argue C-SPAN’s 90M viewers demand unfiltered facts, contrasting it with media and Democratic focus on criticizing Trump while ignoring 8,000% rise in ICE death threats from sanctuary cities. They push the Save America Act, mandating voter ID and citizenship proof (backed by 80–90% bipartisan support), dismissing Democratic fraud claims as hypocritical given their own conventions’ ID demands. Johnson rejects election integrity concerns as partisan, insisting Red States act to prevent irregularities, and criticizes Democratic delays on DHS funding, calling them "nonsense." Meanwhile, the Epstein scandal deepens with Ghislaine Maxwell invoking the Fifth Amendment, leaving UK royals and Kier Starmer exposed as investigators probe co-conspirators. [Automatically generated summary]
In a divided media world, one place brings Americans together.
According to a new MAGA research report, nearly 90 million Americans turn to C-SPAN, and they're almost perfectly balanced.
28% conservative, 27% liberal or progressive, 41% moderate.
Republicans watching Democrats, Democrats watching Republicans, moderates watching all sides.
Because C-SPAN viewers want the facts straight from the source.
No commentary, no agenda, just democracy.
Unfiltered every day on the C-SPAN networks.
C-SPAN, Democracy Unfiltered.
We're funded by these television companies and more, including Cox.
When connection is needed most, Cox is there to help.
Bringing affordable internet to families in need, new tech to boys and girls clubs, and support to veterans.
Whenever and wherever it matters most, we'll be there.
Cox supports C-SPAN as a public service, along with these other television providers, giving you a front-row seat to democracy.
Well, coming up, House Republican leaders speak to reporters ahead of Friday's deadline to fund the Homeland Security Department.
They also talk about legislation to create new guidelines for how elections are administered nationwide, including proof of citizenship requirements.
Yeah?
Yeah, push it off to the next guy.
To the next guy.
Oh, my golly.
Always the next guy, Tom.
Watch, Lisa.
Same.
Investing in Seniors' Social Security00:12:00
Nope.
It always goes good on the downside.
It's on the upside.
Well, good morning, everybody.
How are you?
Hope you're staying warm out there again.
Listen, I'm up here today because people trust me to be blunt.
If you're from my district, you know that.
I don't have a big filter from my brain to my mouth, so let me be blunt and let me say it like this.
Today I'm going to do that because the American people actually deserve the truth.
And I'll share with you, they're going to get it right now.
I am beyond frustrated watching a media that is so obsessed with tearing down President Trump that they are willfully ignoring the millions of illegals, criminal illegals, that Joe Biden has allowed to cross our border.
I'm furious with the Democrats that are so desperate to satisfy their activist base that they would rather shut down FEMA, TSA, and even the Coast Guard.
They'd rather do that than to stand up and say one simple thing.
Violent criminals who are here illegally should be deported.
And yes, I am angry.
Angry watching the protesters try to block legal, there's a keyword, legal law enforcement operations that are targeting the worst of the worst predators.
And these are predators that are walking around your communities.
Democrats want to tell a different story.
But let me tell everyone here the truth.
The truth about what I am seeing at home in my state.
In my state of Michigan, DHS has pulled an illegal alien out of Zealand, Michigan, convicted of sexually exploiting a minor.
This guy.
This is who the protesters and the Democrats are defending.
An illegal who is here who has been convicted, convicted, I might say, of sexually exploiting a minor.
I don't know why you all aren't angry about that.
I'll share with you.
It just, it is unfathomable to me.
In Grand Rapids, they got a guy convicted of larceny.
and sexual assault.
In Ypsilanti, Jackson, in Detroit, in Holland, Pontiac, DHS found deported illegal aliens committed of homicide, murder.
These folks are monsters.
And you have Democrats that are advocating for them to get released back into your communities.
Why aren't you reporting and why aren't more people outraged?
I don't get it.
I got to share with you, I don't get it.
These folks are monsters.
They're criminals.
They murder.
They sexually assault young women, minors.
And you know what the Democrats want to do?
Let's release them in your communities.
And let's celebrate the criminals.
Let's villainize the ICE agents and celebrate the people who are raping your children.
That is crazy.
And I'd love for the media just find one parent for me or any responsible citizen in this country that actually thinks that's okay.
I mean, I would love to talk to that parent.
I really would.
They're criminals and they're killers.
And Democrats are fighting right now to keep them here, to shut down ICE, to call off border patrol, and to let these folks stay in America, in American communities, in your communities.
That is disgusting.
What is wrong with these people?
And the most cynical part is that they will stand in the streets next to the murderers and next to the rapists and next to the predators just to change the narrative.
Just to distract from the massive tax relief Republicans are delivering.
See, they don't want you to talk about all the good things that are going on.
And there's a lot of good things going on.
So the second half of what I'm going to talk about is I'm not going to take the bait.
We are going to talk about all the good things that are going on.
And I'm going to keep the focus where it belongs, not on the noise, but on the real Americans whose lives are better because of policies Republicans passed and policies every single Democrat voted against.
And I want to start with the words of a son talking about his mom.
He wrote this.
He said, I just finished my mom's taxes.
She's a widow up in Rhode Island working as a crossing guard for local school kids.
She relies on Social Security and a tiny pension from his late father.
The $6,000 senior deduction saved her $1,300 in federal taxes.
Now, if you're from Michigan, you've seen this scenario before, it's cold, you get your winter coat out, you stick your hand in your pocket and you find 20 bucks and you're excited.
You're like, okay, cool, this is going to be a good day.
Imagine finding an extra $1,300 in that coat pocket.
That's what happened.
And all across the country, seniors are seeing bigger refunds, workers are seeing bigger paychecks, and families are finally getting some breathing room.
Why?
Because Republicans ended the double taxation on Social Security.
Because we made sure 88% of seniors, 88% of seniors will pay zero federal taxes on their benefits.
That didn't happen by accident.
And sadly, it didn't happen unanimously either.
Every single Democrat voted against the $6,000 senior deduction.
Shocker.
The same Democrats that are for the violent rapists and murderers being released back onto your communities.
Yeah, I'm not for giving the seniors $6,000, but I am for making sure that we make sure that those violent criminals get a fair shake.
Right, let's release them back into your communities.
Every single Democrat voted against giving grandma just a little relief after Bidenflation hit seniors harder than almost any other group.
Every single Democrat voted no, not just against the greatest generation, but they voted no against the next generation too.
They voted against expanding the child care tax credit.
They voted against jump-starting the American dream with the Trump investment account.
They voted against 15% tax cut for families and workers building this country every single day.
That's what they're against.
Ask yourself, what are they for?
Kind of interesting either.
You know?
I'm going to share with you.
They're for these people.
They're not for the seniors.
They're not for the law-abiding citizens.
They're for these people.
These are the people who they protest against.
Isn't this great?
That's who the Democrats are.
I wonder what they have to say about that.
Republicans, though, we chose a different path.
We made a promise, a promise to deliver real economic relief, and we're doing it.
And we're doing it this week, I want to highlight for the seniors and for every family and for every worker at every stage of life.
That's what governing looks like for American, legal American citizens.
And that's what our leadership team is delivering.
And with that, to talk more about it, because he has one of the highest population of seniors in his state, is a friend of mine, Mr. Haradopoulos.
Thank you, Lisa.
It's morning in America.
I'm very excited to be a part of this team that delivers results and actually backs up campaign promises.
This is the great American comeback.
And it's no accident.
It is a plan that we put together over a year ago to put money back in people's pockets.
We secured the border.
We reduced gas prices.
Interest rates are down.
Inflation is down under 3%.
Economic growth is up.
Foreign investment up.
Retirement savings and 401ks are up.
That's why it's morning in America.
And as Ronald Reagan, as I'm a former history teacher, used to talk about, are you better off today than you were four years ago?
It was the same challenge that he had with Jimmy Carter after a failed foreign policy and domestic policy.
And he implemented a plan to make it morning in America again.
But we went beyond that.
We said, let's actually reduce taxes on overtime, tips, and Social Security.
And never forget, these are things that's earned.
These aren't welfare programs.
People work hard every day to earn overtime and tips, little in a lifetime, to earn Social Security.
And they finally get to keep more of the money they earned.
That's what America is all about.
And let's recall the Democrats had this opportunity just a few years ago.
In 21 and 22, they had the opportunity to reduce taxes on overtime, tips, let alone, as Lisa said perfectly, Social Security, but they chose a different path.
They said they're going to spend more money in Washington, D.C.
And what did that give us?
It gave us failure.
Leader Emmer and I serve on the Financial Service Committee along with Lisa.
We heard directly from the Fed chair, who's not exactly the biggest fan of the President of the United States.
And I asked him a direct question: what caused that hyperinflation, the highest since Jimmy Carter?
And he said it right in committee.
He said, big spending by the government.
We have turned that around, and we are investing in people again instead of government.
You know, it's a very simple equation in my world as I teach history and I've been involved in politics for about 25 years.
A simple plan, what we have versus what the Democrats are talking about.
Democrats say basically, send us more money and more power to Washington, D.C., because we know best.
I fundamentally disagree.
What I believe, and what this party believes, and what the President has been talking about, is let's invest in people again by giving them their own money back because they know what unique problems they face every single day.
That's why I got back into politics because I wanted to work again.
And as French Hill and the Financial Services Committee proved again last night, we can find bipartisan solutions when we work together in a common sense way.
And isn't that a refreshing change of what's happening in Washington?
And I'll close with what Lisa talked about.
This is a Morning in America moment.
People feel like there's optimism once again.
We're leading overseas.
We're leading here at home.
And we made the fundamental promise, and we kept that promise, that we would secure the border and go after the bad guys who are ravaging these cities.
That is the fundamental difference between what the Democrats did and what we are doing now to save America.
I appreciate this opportunity.
Democrats vs. Save America Act00:08:01
I am so excited to be a part of this team who listens, and despite micromajorities pushing an agenda that the American public unquestionably wants.
Thanks, Mike.
Pedophiles.
Rapists, murderers, and drug traffickers.
These are just a few of the criminal, illegal aliens that the brave men and women of immigration and customs enforcement have taken off the streets of Minneapolis in the recent months and weeks.
These violent criminals, many of them imported into our country during the Biden administration, have no right to be here.
Nor do they have the right to wreak havoc on our communities, leech off our welfare programs, or vote in our elections.
This is common sense.
Common sense to everyone except our colleagues across the aisle.
Instead of protecting the American people and restoring the integrity of our electoral system, Democrats have decided to put their stake in the ground for the exact opposite.
Their current list of so-called demands for DHS funding are comparable to mass amnesty for criminal illegals.
To put it plainly, Democrats want to stop immigration enforcement almost entirely.
They're even willing to shut down vital government functions like TSA, the Coast Guard, and FEMA to do so.
But Republicans will not waver in our support for our brave federal law enforcement officers, and we will not tie their hands as they enforce our nation's laws.
Republicans also will not waver in our pursuit of restoring integrity to our elections.
That's why we're voting this week on the Save America Act.
Mandating photo ID and proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections isn't just common sense.
It is widely popular.
Yet Democrats are fighting tooth and nail to oppose it.
Chuck Schumer even recklessly equated the bill to Jim Crow.
No matter which way they spin it, the Democrats' opposition to this bill is suspect at best.
Despite fervent Democrat opposition, House Republicans are going to restore integrity to American elections, and we're going to ensure the enforcement of our nation's immigration law.
The future of this country depends on it.
And with that, our leader.
Thank you, Whip.
You've seen just this juxtaposition between what we as Republicans want to do to keep Americans safe in our homeland.
The Department of Homeland Security bill, of course, funding expires if we don't take action.
The House has passed a bill already that's over in the Senate to fully fund the department.
And then you've got the Democrats on the other side who have made it crystal clear what their position is.
Democrats want open borders.
Democrats want mass amnesty and they're willing to shut the government down and wreak havoc with the American people to do it.
And let's just look at what would happen if the Democrats get their way.
And you can see from their leaders, they are clamoring for another government shutdown.
If the Democrats shut down the Department of Homeland Security, they're claiming it's about defunding ICE.
But as they know, and as you know, in the Working Families Tax Cut, we funded ICE through the rest of President Trump's term.
So ICE is funded.
But what is not funded if the Democrats get their way?
They will literally shut down funding for disaster relief in FEMA in the middle of a storm that in New York City alone, you want to see what socialism gets you, 18 people now have frozen to death under the leadership of the socialist Mamdani.
That's what Democrat leadership gets you.
They want to shut down TSA.
So just take Atlanta's airport, LaGuardia.
Those two airports alone, having been shut down, if the Democrats get their way, will wreak havoc with tens of millions of Americans who just want to go see their family members, want to travel for a wedding, or whatever the case may be.
Maybe they're trying to start a small business and want to go to another city to try to create some jobs.
They won't be able to do that because Democrats want to have a tantrum, not to defund ICE, because again, ICE is fully funded, but just because they want to cause chaos in America to get open borders.
That's part of their wish list in their demand letter they sent to President Trump.
And of course, the Coast Guard.
The Coast Guarder comes in and rescues people when disasters happen.
They want to shut them down.
They introdict boats that are bringing drugs into our country.
That's who the Democrats want to shut down this week.
Luckily, Republicans in the House have sent the bill over to the Senate to prevent this kind of chaos from happening.
We'll see what happens in the Senate.
The President's trying to negotiate with Democrats, but they've proven they really don't care about the American people.
They did it before with the longest shutdown in American history, wreaking havoc to tens of millions of people, and they're willing to do it again.
Now let's talk about some of the other things we're moving this week.
We have another number of bills.
We just moved a great housing package, very big bipartisan vote last night.
I'm sure you're all paid attention to it.
Almost 400 votes to get a bill that French Hill and his committee delivered to help improve the housing situation so people can have access to buying a home again in America, another big priority of President Trump's.
We're moving more bills on critical minerals, something else we've been doing to reverse the damage that Joe Biden created.
Joe Biden made us more dependent on countries like China.
President Trump wants to open up our ability to develop the critical minerals of our nation here in America.
We passed a number of bills already through the House that are over in the Senate.
We're going to move some more bills this week to open that up again.
And then, of course, the Save America Act.
And you can't have anything more basic than protecting the right to vote.
Because as we all fight to ensure that every person, you know, one person, one vote is the mantra.
But if somebody is stealing your vote, then they're nullifying your vote.
And two basic requirements are in this bill, the Save America Act.
One is to register to vote, you have to prove citizenship.
Real common sense legislation.
Everybody understands what that means.
And they worked really hard to make sure that every state can still do the things that they do uniquely while allowing for that prevention of fraud measure.
And then the other is when you vote, you have to show a picture ID.
As the Whip said, you look at some of the Democrats feigning outrage.
You know, as Chuck Schumer calls it Jim Crow, where was Chuck Schumer when you tried to get into the Democrat National Convention in 2024?
Guess what?
Chuck Schumer made you show a picture ID to get into his own convention that he's calling Jim Crow.
Is that what his new name is?
Yet Senator Ossoff just this weekend had a town hall meeting.
Guess what you had to do to get into Senator Osoff's town hall meeting?
You had to show picture ID.
Voting ID Requirements00:03:41
Americans get this.
It's common sense that you have to show a picture ID to vote.
Anybody that's against that is saying that they want rampant voter fraud.
And so we're going to move that bill over to the Senate.
I think you're going to see a bipartisan vote on that bill despite some of the crazy things the Democrat leaders are saying.
Over 75% of Americans, every spectrum, support this initiative.
And you can see it on every demographic.
It's supported widely.
For whatever reason, Democrats in Congress are scared to death of ensuring the sanctity of the vote.
But we're going to do it here in the House.
So it's going to be another busy week.
Some really important issues that we're bringing.
We'll see where the Democrats are in these issues.
Now I'll bring up our speaker, Mike Johnson.
Well, thanks.
Good morning.
I want to thank this leadership team for all their extraordinary work and Congressman Herodopoulos for being here with us this morning.
He's an effective spokesman, did some great work down in the legislature in Florida before he got here, so he's not new to this.
I want to echo a couple things that were said this morning, and we'll take your questions.
So on the economy first, then we will talk about the SAVE Act and how important it is.
This is a really important thing.
Gallup published findings from a new poll.
All right.
And here's what the headline says.
Americans expect economic growth and stock market gains in 2026.
The American people have good reason to feel this optimism.
You heard the Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Vesant, a few weeks back.
He said 2025 was setting the table and 2026 is going to be the feast and the banquet.
We are already beginning to see that.
Since Republicans reclaimed the House, we began last January to do the work that we promised the American people we would do, and we got it done.
We secured key fiscal reforms and the debt ceiling agreement.
We kept discretionary spending flat, saving hundreds of billions of dollars to date.
We secured a $1.6 trillion cut to mandatory spending through the working families' tax cuts and so much more.
And that's just in the House.
President Trump's been very busy as well.
His trade policy and the tariffs as well, it brought in hundreds of billions in new revenue more than 2024, and there's hundreds of billions more on the way.
President Trump's policies have reoriented global trade.
They've resulted in trillions in commitments for foreign direct investment here, a reduction in the trade deficit, and all-time highs for U.S. exports.
And we're just getting started.
We have all the necessary ingredients for economic flourishing.
And the combination of the House Republicans' efforts to restore fiscal sanity, President Trump's trade agenda, and the pro-growth, pro-energy policies in the working families' tax cuts have reignited a supply-side growth surge that nobody can deny.
You're watching the economic growth numbers that are off the charts.
It's going to be over 5%.
I think 5.4% is the estimate for what Q4 would finally yield.
And Q1 of this year is expected to continue that surge.
And we think that's going to happen all the way through the year.
And so do the voters.
So do the American people, according to the polls.
Under Republican leadership, the U.S. economy has consistently grown and far exceeded all the expectations that they told us that they would happen.
The CBO and others were way off.
And the tangible immediate benefits of our policies are indisputable.
Interest rates are down.
Inflation is down.
Gas prices are significantly decreased and have hit all-time lows in decades.
Tax rebates are at an all-time high.
You've got tens of millions of American families will be able to keep more of their money in their own pockets.
Voters Favor Growth00:05:07
And all of that was by design.
We made promises.
We're keeping our promises.
By every conceivable metric, Americans are better off today under Republican governance than they were under the Democrats.
And these trends are only going to continue.
Democrats keep talking about affordability.
Republicans are delivering it.
That's the theme.
That's what happens here all the time.
Democrats give you lots of talking points.
And a lot of the outlets of the media amplify their messaging.
But we are delivering actual results.
We're not just talking about it.
We're doing it.
And that's what people see.
Let me talk about the Save America Act because you've heard a lot about it this morning.
It is very important.
Another thing that is very important to the American people and another thing that the polls show that everybody's in favor of.
Common sense legislation to just ensure that American citizens decide American elections.
It really is that simple.
Remember, House Republicans have already passed the SAVE Act during the last Congress and the current Congress.
I was one of the original champions when we first had the press conference.
I don't know the House steps to introduce the SAVE Act.
Chip Roy and I and Mike Lee and the Senate and others were there to say that this is long overdue because we know that non-citizens had been participating in elections and it was a simple thing to say that we need to make sure you have to have proof of citizenship when you register to vote.
Everybody should be in favor of that.
I mean it's what the law requires and anticipates and we've got to make sure it happens.
So now we have the Save America Act.
It's identical legislation as the SAVE Act on the proof of citizenship, but as you heard, now voters would have to display a valid ID to participate in federal elections.
Again, a no-brainer.
So in other words, it simply requires you are, bless you, you are who you say you are in order to vote.
And if that sounds like a no-brainer, it's because it is.
The question is often asked by pollsters, and the polling consistently shows 80 to 90 percent of Americans believe that proof of citizenship and proof of a valid ID should be required to vote.
And there are a few issues in American politics that have that level of bipartisan support.
This is one of them.
The issue has so much support because it is just common sense.
Americans need an ID to drive, to open a bank account, to buy cold medicine, I mean, to file government assistance.
As is noted by the leader, you even need an ID to attend events of most Democrat politicians and even the Democrat National Convention.
So, why would voting be any different than that?
They can't answer that question.
And so they come up with all these crazy excuses of why they can't support it.
They've attempted so many arguments to oppose the passage of this simple legislation.
First, they argued that we were too close to a federal election to make changes to voting procedures.
That was last Congress.
And of course, that was nonsense.
Then they argued that non-citizens and unregistered individuals don't actually vote.
And then we proved that they did, and so then they changed their argument again.
Then they argued that the SAVE Act disenfranchises married women who would have to change their last names.
That was actually, you remember, that was a whole line of argument.
And now, this is their current argument.
Now, Democrats are saying breathlessly that the SAVE Act would result in voter suppression and voter disenfranchisement.
It's nonsense.
Do you know what actually disenfranchises voters?
It's when non-citizens participate in our federal elections and counteract the votes of registered American voters.
That's what we have to stop.
Democrats have gone so far as to call this the return of Jim Crow laws.
That's what you heard Chuck Schumer say, and he just has no shame.
It's not the first time Schumer said this.
Now just think of the history of it.
In 2021, when Georgia's state legislators, when they did it in the state, they passed the election integrity legislation.
Chuck Schumer came out.
Many National Democrats, they called it Jim Crow 2.0.
I mean, he just, he pounded, he did that thing with his hands and pounded the podium.
Okay.
Well, here's what really happened.
Georgia experienced record turnout in the 2022 election after the reforms, particularly among minority groups.
And in fact, the poll commissioned by the University of Georgia after the election, they went to ask people how they felt about that election and how it was conducted.
And they talked to black voters.
And the respondents to the poll said, they said, did you have a poor experience in the election?
And guess how many black voters in Georgia said after their reforms they had a poor experience?
Zero, literally no one said that.
Not only were their arguments blatant fear-mongering, Chuck Schumer and everybody, they were dead wrong, too.
And speaking of Georgia, Leader Scalise noted that John Ossoff, Senator Ossoff, had his big event there.
And he said that the SAVE Act, quote, is a bad faith bill cynically intended to disenfranchise millions of eligible voters, unquote.
That's what Senator Osoff said.
But of course, at the event where he said that, he required a photo ID to attend.
So Democrats want to verify your identity to attend their campaign rallies, but not to participate in the elections they're running in.
And despite the vehement and incoherent and frankly ridiculous opposition from Democrats, Republicans will continue to stand with the overwhelming majority of Americans who want to secure elections.
Passing Common Sense Elections Reform00:10:12
We're going to do the right thing.
We're going to do the common sense thing.
And we're going to pass this.
And you'll see that reflected on Wednesday when we do that very thing.
Save America Act is aptly named.
It will do what we say.
And that is the recurring theme around here as well.
Take a few questions.
Yeah, go ahead.
There's reporting this morning that federal judges are increasingly frustrated with DHS for defying court orders in cases involving ICE detainees.
Should the administration be able to miss deadlines or slow walk proceedings in cases they disagree with?
And should Congress act to shield the constitutional authority of the judiciary?
Look, I'm not going to comment on the report I haven't seen.
I would doubt the veracity of that.
That's the first I've heard of it.
If this was a big problem, you probably would have heard that a lot more.
DHS is being asked to do a very difficult job.
Remember, with the wide open border under the Biden-Harris administration for four years, by some estimates, 20 million illegal aliens came into the country.
We have to remove, beginning with, the dangerous criminal aliens.
You saw photos and examples here just in our press conference this morning.
They are in every state.
And they have a very urgent and important job to remove the illegals from the country.
And there are going to be hiccups in that system.
But when there are modifications that need to be made, they are being made.
I mean, I would give you example A in Minnesota.
When Tom Homan came in and took charge of that, they've made it more efficient and balanced and effective.
They've calmed the situation using the President's own terms.
And they're working well much better now with local and state officials because Tom Homan went in and worked that out so that they would do it.
The big problem we have right now is not with DHS.
The problem we have is in the blue states and blue cities.
There are 18 sanctuary cities in this country.
You know what a sanctuary jurisdiction does?
It prohibits the participation of local and state officials, law enforcement, with federal enforcement.
That is going to create an inherently dangerous and crazy situation, and that's what it does.
And so you see all the skirmishes and all the violence and all the things that are happening with violent protesters and assaults on ICE officers.
Do you know that death threats for ICE officers have increased 8,000 percent?
It's because they're putting fuel on a fire and they're making it worse.
So the problem is not DHS.
The problem is local and state officials who are not helping the situation.
I give you as an example Minnesota.
It is a calmer, more orderly situation there because finally it appears that the local and state officials are cooperating.
We need cooperation among law enforcement.
It is common sense and it will solve so many of these problems.
Mr. Johnson, curious about the rule today, there is a part of it that would block anti-tariff votes in the future.
What's the reasoning behind that?
Do you think that House Republicans will be behind that today?
I think they will.
We talked about it, frankly, in our conference this morning.
And the rationale for this, for just extending this for a little bit longer to July, is to allow the Supreme Court to rule on the pending case that everybody is watching and waiting for.
That process has been playing out.
I think it's logical to allow that to continue.
The President's trade policies have been a great benefit to the country.
It's undisputed what it's done.
I went through some of the statistics and how that has helped the economy.
And I think the sentiment is that we allow a little bit more runway for this to be worked out between the executive branch and the judicial branch.
And we'll see.
So I expect the rule will pass, and I think we can move it forward.
Speaker Johnson, is it your contention that if Congress doesn't pass the Save America Act, that we can't trust the results of the midterm election in November?
No, I'm not saying that.
Look, the states are charged with administering elections, and we break it down to the county and Louisiana at the parish level.
And there's a lot of election integrity legislation that has been handled, particularly through the Red States, I'll say, over the last few years because of all of the irregularities and chaos that we've seen surrounding recent elections.
I think we can trust the outcome of the election, but what I will tell you is there is still a great concern that in certain pockets of the country that there is not strict enforcement of the laws.
I think the reason it's an 85 and 90 percent public opinion issue on the polls that you have to ensure that only citizens vote in U.S. elections, in federal elections, and that you have to have a voter ID, is because it eliminates even the appearance of impropriety, even the appearance of fraud or controversy.
Why would we be against that?
There's only one logical reason that Democrats are opposing this.
Want people to participate in the elections who are not supposed to.
That's what the wide open border was about.
This is not like some, you know, everybody.
Just think of it logically.
Why would they make an argument that you can't show a simple voter ID to vote?
It's absurd.
So the fact that they're so vehemently opposing this is very telling about their agenda and their motivation.
And I think that that should give all of us cause to pause and think, hmm, I wonder what this is about.
So look, I'm not saying that you can't agree to the veracity of the upcoming election.
I'm saying we have an obligation, we have a responsibility and a duty to do everything within our power.
I mean the Congress and all of us as citizens, everything within our power to ensure that that is free and fair and safe and legal in every way possible.
And if you can provide an ID and eliminate the possibility of illegals participating in elections or people who are not who they say they are, that is good for everybody, good for the election system, and you must have a free and fair election system to maintain a constitutional republic.
This should not be a controversial thing.
Yes, ma'am.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
With the Senate getting ready to move on a potential DHS CR tossball pro between Democrats and the White House, do you think a longer-term CR or shorter-term CR would have more chances?
I'm going to go meet with Leader Thune in a couple hours, and we're going to sit down and go over all this to find out where their mindset is.
We've not moved a CR here because our position is the Senate should pass the House-passed Homeland Bill.
We got it done.
We did the work in the House and I think they should get that through.
So us offering a CR would be a concession that we don't believe in that product and that's just simply not the case.
We'll see where they are.
I mean, I'm not going to prejudge the length of it or what it should be.
I'm very hopeful.
I mean, we still have time on the clock.
When there's a will, there's a way.
And if they can come to an agreement on this and get it done, that will behoove the whole country.
As Leader Scalise said a moment ago, we're not, they're holding this up has nothing to do with ICE immigration customs and enforcement.
We've already funded that all the way through the end of the Trump administration and the Working Families Tax Cut, the Big Beautiful Bill.
So what they're playing with, as he noted, is TSA and FEMA, the Secret Service, the Coast Guard.
You're talking about agencies that are designed.
The reason they're in the Homeland Security Bill is because those are the agencies charged with keeping Americans safe.
Why would Democrats play political games with that?
These are very important questions you need to be asking them.
It's nonsense to us, and it's dangerous to the American people.
And I think we've just had about enough of it.
One more.
Front row.
Go ahead.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The Tin Tebo Foundation is pushing to have the Renewed Hope Act get a vote this Congress.
Do you plan on bringing that to the floor at some point?
This is the anti-trafficking.
Yes.
I've talked with Tim Thibault.
I'm a good friend and a big fan of his, and he's done some great advocacy on that, as have members here.
We obviously want to do everything we can to prevent human trafficking, so we're looking at that.
Chris Smith is one of the leaders in the House who for many years has worked as a champion in that space and many others, and that work will come to fruition soon.
So stay tuned on that.
Thank you.
White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt responds to reporters' questions this afternoon on President Trump's agenda.
That briefing comes as Congress tries to avoid a funding lapse this coming Friday for the Department of Homeland Security, which is responsible for immigration enforcement operations.
Watch our live coverage of the White House briefing on C-SPAN 2 today.
C-SPAN Now, our free mobile app, and on c-span.org.
C-SPAN is as unbiased as you can get.
You are so fair.
I don't know how anybody can say otherwise.
You guys do the most important work for everyone in this country.
I love C-SPAN because I get to hear all the voices.
You bring these divergent viewpoints and you present both sides of an issue and you allow people to make up their own minds.
I absolutely love C-SPAN.
I love to hear both sides.
I've watched C-SPAN every morning and it is unbiased.
And you bring in factual information for the callers to understand where they are in their comments.
This is probably the only place that we can hear honest opinion of Americans across the country.
You guys at C-SPAN are doing such a wonderful job of allowing free exchange of ideas without a lot of interruptions.
Thank you, C-SPAN, for being a light in the dark.
And a very good Tuesday morning to you.
Go ahead and start calling in now.
Here's some of the headlines from today's papers on the fallout from the Epstein files, including the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal.
This headline: as Epstein files royal the United Kingdom, the royals are deeply concerned.
This also from the papers today: Kier Starmer faces potential fallout from the Epstein scandal, talking about the British prime minister.
And this, the front page, The Washington Post.
Ghelaine Maxwell declines to answer to lawmakers.
That happened on Capitol Hill yesterday.
It was Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer who spoke with reporters after that testimony.
This is what he had to say.
As expected, Ghelaine Maxwell took the fifth and refused to answer any questions.
This obviously is very disappointing.
We had many questions to ask about the crimes she and Epstein committed, as well as questions about potential co-conspirators.
We sincerely want to get to the truth to the American people and justice for the survivors.