CSPAN - Washington Journal Max Cohen
Aired: 2026-04-20
Duration: 23:59


=== Senate Opposition to Supplemental (08:50) ===

[00:00:00]  Farmer is expected to speak about former U.K. Ambassador to the U.S. Peter Mandelson, who was fired after confirmation of his connection to the late convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein.
[00:00:10]  The Prime Minister plans to discuss the security vetting process before he appointed Mr. Mandelson to the post, as he's facing accusations that Peter Mandelson was appointed despite security concerns.
[00:00:21]  That's set to begin at 10:30 a.m. Eastern.
[00:00:24]  When it happens, be sure to follow our live coverage here on C-SPAN on our free C-SPAN Now mobile app and online at c-SPAN.org.
[00:00:33]  Welcome back to Washington Journal.
[00:00:35]  We're joined now by Max Cohen.
[00:00:36]  He's congressional reporter for Punch Bowl News.
[00:00:38]  Max, welcome to the program.
[00:00:40]  Thank you.
[00:00:40]  Always great to be on.
[00:00:41]  So let's talk about the Iran war.
[00:00:44]  What's going on in Congress as far as any war powers votes?
[00:00:49]  What has happened?
[00:00:50]  What do you expect to happen?
[00:00:51]  So last week, two war powers resolutions were defeated in the House and the Senate.
[00:00:56]  There are no other ones currently scheduled this week, but we can expect Democrats to start offering up more war powers resolutions in the coming weeks.
[00:01:03]  Has there been any shift in the people voting for or against it, or has it been stable?
[00:01:09]  There was a slight shift.
[00:01:11]  Democrats more or less coalesced around the House war powers resolution and lessened their defections.
[00:01:16]  But if people are expecting a big wave of Republicans to suddenly start voting with Democrats, you will be mistaken.
[00:01:23]  It's mainly party line votes happening in both chambers.
[00:01:25]  Now, Senators Collins and Tillis have said that they will, if the war reaches the two-month mark, which would be at the end of this month, they would vote in favor of a war powers bill.
[00:01:36]  What are you hearing about that?
[00:01:38]  Yeah, I think, you know, Collins and Tillis are two of the more moderate members of the Republican Conference, and they are signaling that they're not comfortable with this going past the 60-day mark.
[00:01:46]  We also have Senator Lisa Murkowski who says she wants there to be an authorization of use of military force, AUMF, to actually formally give the president power here after the two-month mark.
[00:01:59]  So we're seeing some opposition from some more center-right Senate Republicans, but by and large, I think the parties are falling in line here.
[00:02:06]  And last week, a White House budget director Russ Vogt was on the Hill.
[00:02:11]  He told lawmakers he couldn't really ballpark how much the war in Iran is costing.
[00:02:17]  The White House is expected to ask for a supplemental.
[00:02:20]  So what's going on with that?
[00:02:22]  How much?
[00:02:23]  When would they ask for it?
[00:02:25]  Yeah, so during the DOD budget request that came out earlier this month, they said they want, I think, over $1 trillion for the year and then also said a supplemental request of around $350 billion.
[00:02:38]  Now, that's not just for the war in Iran, but the DOD leaders are saying they'd like a supplemental included in a potential reconciliation package.
[00:02:45]  So we haven't seen a direct number anywhere for the Iran war, but with regards to reconciliation, it's looking quite likely that the current package that Republican leaders are pursuing will only focus on ICE and border patrol.
[00:02:58]  So not sure where there's going to be an avenue to pass a supplemental.
[00:03:02]  Max Cohen is our guest.
[00:03:04]  He's in the studio and he's going to take your questions on anything related to Congress.
[00:03:08]  So you can go ahead and start calling in now if you've got a question.
[00:03:11]  Republicans are on 202-748-8001.
[00:03:14]  Democrats on 202-748-8000.
[00:03:17]  And Independents 202748-8002.
[00:03:21]  So the president has requested $1.5 trillion for the Defense Department for fiscal year 2027.
[00:03:28]  What's been the reaction on the Hill to that number?
[00:03:30]  I mean, it's a large number, and I think a lot of Republicans are in favor of plussing up the defense budget.
[00:03:36]  This has been a big priority of Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker, for instance.
[00:03:41]  And predictably, Democrats are pretty wary of giving such a large number to a department they view is acting erratically and not being transparent enough.
[00:03:51]  One big thing I do want to flag among lawmakers is that there have been no public hearings yet on the war in Iran, and that's frustrating both Republicans and Democrats.
[00:03:59]  A lot of these lawmakers saying, if we're going to give you this large number for the department, you have to be transparent and come in front of Congress and explain what's going to happen here.
[00:04:08]  I want to ask you about uh Fisa a totally different uh question, but this is the um the ability to uh surveil, uh what are considered enemies of the United States.
[00:04:20]  So explain what's going on with with that and uh what happened last week.
[00:04:25]  So section 702 of Fisa is what you just described, right and that is up for renewal, and currently there's a short-term renewal under effect that expires at the end of the month, on april 30th.
[00:04:36]  Lawmakers in both chambers are trying to get a longer extension 18 months or even five years.
[00:04:42]  But in the House OF Representatives, a longer extension fell apart because of concerns over privacy from both right-wing lawmakers and liberal lawmakers.
[00:04:51]  So Mike Johnson and his leadership team tried a number of reforms.
[00:04:55]  They all failed on the House floor.
[00:04:57]  It wasn't good enough for these lawmakers.
[00:04:59]  So now we're entering a pretty crucial stretch of negotiations where lawmakers will try to see what they can come up with in a bipartisan way.
[00:05:06]  So far there's not been a clear sense of where we're going to end up at the end of the month okay, but president Trump is in favor of an 18-month extension, as is, yes.
[00:05:14]  So how did all these Republicans vote against that?
[00:05:16]  It's a great question.
[00:05:17]  We don't normally see Republicans going against the White House, right.
[00:05:20]  But what the Republicans, mainly in the House Freedom Caucus, said is the extension as is is not acceptable.
[00:05:26]  They think it still puts Americans privacy at risk and they want a warrant requirement for the surveillance, which, would you know, require more steps for the government to actually surveil when uh foreign uh, actors involved with Americans.
[00:05:42]  And that's kind of what's at risk here is, I think most people are okay with, you know, surveilling foreign nationals.
[00:05:46]  It's when American citizens get ensnared in these um spying, as some of the right-wing lawmakers would call it, is what they don't feel comfortable with.
[00:05:53]  And what about Democrats?
[00:05:54]  Are they all on board?
[00:05:56]  Most Democrats are opposed to the clean extension.
[00:05:59]  They view it as why would we give an administration who we don't trust more power to surveil Americans potentially?
[00:06:05]  I will flag there are some bipartisan talks happening behind the scenes with the leaders of the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, that's, Jim Himes and some more center-right pro-national security lawmakers like Brian Fitzpatrick and Darren Lahood.
[00:06:17]  So if this were to lapse, does that mean the UH surveil foreign nationals living in the United States?
[00:06:24]  Yeah, I mean it would be a huge concern, and this is what is at risk here.
[00:06:28]  Right is that the national security apparatus would be extremely weakened, and when we saw Trump administration officials come to the Hill and lobby for this, they'd say, we're at a time when we're under increased risk of attack, given the war in Iran and other terrorist threats.
[00:06:41]  We cannot afford to go dark here.
[00:06:43]  Kevin Warsh has been nominated to be the FED chair and uh, his confirmation hearing is supposed to be this week.
[00:06:49]  What's happening with that, correct?
[00:06:51]  Yeah, so Kevin Warsh is nominated to replace Jerome Powell.
[00:06:55]  This confirmation fight however, is really less about Warsh himself, who I think most senators uh would approve of.
[00:07:03]  He's not necessarily controversial in his own right and he's expected to get votes to be confirmed in a vacuum, but the current investigation into Jerome Jerome Powell and the Fed's construction renovation, which the Trump administration is pursuing, is angering Senator Tom Tillis specifically.
[00:07:19]  And he's saying, as long as this investigation is happening, I cannot vote to advance Worsh out of committee.
[00:07:26]  So if that happens, it'll be a 12 to 12 deadlocked vote, and Worsh could not advance.
[00:07:31]  But would he still have his hearings, his confirmation hearing?
[00:07:34]  The hearing is still scheduled, and senators will ask him questions this week.
[00:07:37]  And Tillis actually said, who sits on the banking committee, said, during my five minutes of questioning, I will not direct any questions at Warsh.
[00:07:44]  I will just describe how frustrated I am that the D.C. district attorney is investigating Jerome Powell and this construction.
[00:07:52]  But that investigation is ongoing.
[00:07:54]  They have not stopped that.
[00:07:55]  That is correct.
[00:07:56]  And Tillis is saying, if this is still ongoing, you cannot count on my vote.
[00:08:00]  All right, let's talk to callers.
[00:08:01]  We'll start with Jack Lincoln, Montana, Republican.
[00:08:04]  Good morning, Jack.
[00:08:06]  Yes.
[00:08:06]  Hello.
[00:08:07]  I'm Jack Strickland.
[00:08:08]  Mr. Cohen, I'd like to get your opinion on a matter involving a political action committee with ties to several congressmen.
[00:08:16]  The group is known as National Institute Guaranteeing Greater Equal Rights.
[00:08:21]  They were in the news recently after holding a controversial rally at the N-Tower Coliseum in Broken Buck, Michigan.
[00:08:29]  The keynote speaker was an activist who simply calls himself Howling Mutant.
[00:08:34]  This man authored the children's book, Uncle Tim and the Big Yellow Truck, but his most famous piece is a manual titled How to Kill the Entire Cast of Euphoria.
[00:08:44]  It's actually a riveting read, especially the part where he describes the very graphic rape and murder of Zendaya.

=== Capitol Hill's Me Too Movement (14:43) ===

[00:08:50]  I would like to know if you feel that people like this should be given a voice in our society.
[00:08:59]  Let's go to Jimbo in Bakersfield, California, Independent Line.
[00:09:02]  Good morning, Jimbo.
[00:09:06]  To Brian Lamb and all my heroes at C-SPAN Washington Journal for your daily contribution to our democracy.
[00:09:14]  Max, you rock.
[00:09:16]  Every time you talk, I see you.
[00:09:17]  I stop what I'm doing and listen to what you say because you know what?
[00:09:21]  You're going to educate an old fool like me, and I am so appreciative of it.
[00:09:26]  Max, two questions here.
[00:09:30]  There has been an observable and an obvious cognitive decline in our president.
[00:09:37]  He speaks gibberish that's unintelligible.
[00:09:43]  And when he writes, it's incoherent.
[00:09:46]  And it terrifies me that everyone seems to be ignoring this.
[00:09:52]  That's one comment.
[00:09:53]  And then on a completely separate issue, I was just wondering why no one ever takes into consideration the over 200 nuclear weapons that Israel has.
[00:10:08]  I keep on wondering if Iran were to send like a drone swarm attack on Tehran, what level of death and destruction will Israel tolerate before it unleashes a nuclear holocaust on Iran.
[00:10:22]  So these are just a couple of questions.
[00:10:25]  Max, you do a great job.
[00:10:27]  So grateful.
[00:10:28]  And to all my friends at C-SPAN, thank you.
[00:10:31]  Thank you.
[00:10:32]  And I want to ask you about those votes on selling weapons to Iran.
[00:10:36]  Tell us about what happened there.
[00:10:37]  Well, to Israel.
[00:10:38]  To Israel, sorry.
[00:10:40]  What we saw was 40 Senate Democrats, the highest number we have ever seen, vote to block weapon sales to Israel.
[00:10:48]  There were two votes.
[00:10:49]  The 40 mark I noted was the high watermark among Democrats.
[00:10:53]  And this shows that the Democratic Party is undergoing a real change with how it views support for Israel.
[00:10:59]  A lot of Senate Democrats said that even though they'd opposed similar votes in the past, what they're seeing from the Netanyahu government does not give them confidence that Israel will use these weapons in a responsible manner.
[00:11:10]  And it shows that the Democratic base, I think, is really influencing the lawmakers.
[00:11:15]  Because I think we've seen for a long time in public opinion polling, increasingly Democrats say they're not comfortable with the Israeli government.
[00:11:22]  They oppose the Israeli government's war in Gaza and Lebanon, etc.
[00:11:26]  And now I think we're seeing lawmakers catch up.
[00:11:28]  And if I could quickly just address one of the first notes that the recent caller brought up, which was the president's fitness, I can tell you lawmakers on Capitol Hill are paying attention to this.
[00:11:36]  And I would note that Democrat Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, recently sent a letter to the president's physician requesting a cognitive fitness test and asking for a briefing from the president's doctor on Donald Trump's fitness.
[00:11:51]  Now, we don't expect this request to be granted given it comes from the minority in the House caucus, but it's important to note that Democrats are increasingly talking about Trump's fitness in a similar way that Republicans did about Joe Biden.
[00:12:04]  And regarding sales of weapons to Israel, is there any shift on the Republican side?
[00:12:10]  In the vote total, no.
[00:12:12]  So this was zero Republicans supported this, and it shows that Republicans by and large are standing by Israel.
[00:12:18]  However, I would also note there are some pockets of the Republican base which are increasingly oppositional towards Israel.
[00:12:25]  Marjorie and Taylor Greene, for instance, folks like Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, these are all people Donald Trump himself attacked in a recent Truth Social post.
[00:12:33]  But I'd say if you look at the far right, the Republican Party, support for Israel is no longer guaranteed.
[00:12:39]  Two members of the House have resigned due to misconduct allegations.
[00:12:43]  So get us caught up on that and what further fallout that there might be.
[00:12:49]  Yeah, so Eric Swalwell and Tony Gonzalez both resigned from the House last week.
[00:12:53]  They were going to face expulsion resolutions and both of those likely would have passed.
[00:12:58]  So instead of being expelled, Swalwell and Gonzalez said, you know, I'm going to leave.
[00:13:02]  The Swalwell story is remarkable given that two weeks ago, he was the frontrunner to be the next governor of California.
[00:13:08]  According to the polls, multiple women then came forward and said he sexually assaulted them.
[00:13:14]  And after those allegations were published in the San Francisco Chronicle and CNN, multiple Democratic lawmakers said, Eric Swalwell, you have to go.
[00:13:21]  He, we should note, has denied these allegations, but dropped out of the governor's race and is now out of the house.
[00:13:27]  And quickly, Tony Gonzalez admitted to an affair with a staffer, which is against House rules.
[00:13:33]  And he ended his reelection bid a month ago or so and then resigned last week.
[00:13:39]  And he resigned within the hour of Swalwell's announcement.
[00:13:44]  So it would seem that there was a push at that point since we've got a one-for-one and everything remains the same as far as the numbers on the Democrats and the Republican side.
[00:13:53]  Correct.
[00:13:54]  So Ana Paulina Luna, Republican of Florida, has made some accusations as well against other lawmakers.
[00:14:02]  What's going on with that?
[00:14:03]  She is saying that she's heard about Senator Ruben Gallego engaging in improper acts while in office.
[00:14:10]  Now she has heard, but not against her.
[00:14:13]  No, no, not against her.
[00:14:15]  Yes.
[00:14:15]  So again, I would say there's been no news reporting on these allegations, so I would definitely separate them from what happened with Swalwell and Gonzalez.
[00:14:22]  These simply seem to be hearsay rumors until we see more.
[00:14:26]  Leader John Thewin has said these will be investigated if it's true.
[00:14:30]  But I definitely separate what happened with Luna and Jesus and Gallego of doing things in office with Swallow and Gonzalez.
[00:14:36]  And there's also Representatives Corey Mills and Churfilis, Representative.
[00:14:42]  What's going on with that?
[00:14:43]  What's the latest on that?
[00:14:44]  So this week is actually a really crucial stretch for Sheila Trofilis McCormick, the Democrat from Florida, who is under federal indictment for allegedly diverting millions of dollars of COVID FEMA disaster release money to improper uses, including her political campaign.
[00:15:00]  She's pleading not guilty.
[00:15:01]  She denies allegations, but the House Ethics Committee has found her guilty on over 20 counts of wrongdoing.
[00:15:08]  And this week, tomorrow actually on Tuesday, the Ethics Committee will hand down its official sanction on what charges to recommend against her internally.
[00:15:16]  And this could lead to expulsion, given a bipartisan committee just the other week said she was guilty of over 20 counts.
[00:15:22]  And Corey Mills?
[00:15:22]  And Corey Mills.
[00:15:24]  So people are floating, you know, if Trofilis McCormick gets expelled, then Democrats will move to expel Corey Mills, Republican from Florida.
[00:15:31]  So he was accused of sexual or domestic violence.
[00:15:34]  The police paid a visit to his residence in D.C.
[00:15:37]  He has denied allegations, but Democrats are very concerned about his conduct and say that he should be out of office as well.
[00:15:43]  In addition, I shall know a number of female GOP lawmakers are also saying what Corey Mills is alleged to have done is not proper and he should be expelled.
[00:15:50]  What do you make of all these expulsions and threats of expulsions when this really doesn't happen in Congress?
[00:15:56]  The last one was George Santos.
[00:15:58]  Exactly.
[00:15:58]  And before George Santos, you have to go back a pretty far distance to get the other one.
[00:16:02]  I think this is a sense of the public is really frustrated with what they see in Capitol Hill.
[00:16:08]  They see a lot of wrongdoing.
[00:16:09]  I mean, people already have a low view of Congress when they're polled about it.
[00:16:13]  And I think the public pressure is catching up to the institution.
[00:16:17]  I would also note that, you know, with regards to Swalwell, Gonzales, et cetera, I mean, this kind of sexual assault, I think many people in this country say, you know, we can no longer tolerate these allegations.
[00:16:28]  Of course, people have denied wrongdoing, but with Swalwell, I mean, there was no ethics committee charge.
[00:16:34]  He's not been charged by any law enforcement office.
[00:16:36]  And I think in a previous era, people might have said, hey, let's let due process play out.
[00:16:41]  But in this current moment in American politics, I think people are saying I'm fed up and they're not willing to wait for this long legal process to play out.
[00:16:47]  And they're saying these members have to go right away.
[00:16:49]  I mean, is this Me Too finally getting to Congress now, years later?
[00:16:53]  I think some people have speculated that, you know, this is like the belated Me Too movement in Congress.
[00:16:58]  We would still note, though, I mean, we hear still tons of stories in the halls of the Capitol about wrongdoing and members abusing their power.
[00:17:05]  And what I would note is it's unique to the specific nature of working on Capitol Hill.
[00:17:11]  There's no human resources department for these offices.
[00:17:14]  Basically, each lawmaker's office functions as its own workplace.
[00:17:18]  And I think this can lead to a lot of abuses.
[00:17:20]  And people are waking up to this and saying things have to change.
[00:17:23]  So if a woman is abused by a Congress person, where, or I should say a man or a woman is abused, where are they supposed to go?
[00:17:32]  Like, what's the process?
[00:17:34]  Yeah, I can't say I know exactly the details.
[00:17:36]  I want to be clear.
[00:17:36]  But what we hear from people is that the person they would probably first turn to is the chief of staff in an office or maybe even the lawmaker themselves.
[00:17:44]  But of course, in these individual offices, that's not going to work because they can feel fear of retribution and being punished for this.
[00:17:52]  Kaz is calling from Honolulu.
[00:17:54]  Independent.
[00:17:54]  Good morning.
[00:17:57]  Kaz, are you there?
[00:17:59]  Yeah.
[00:17:59]  Can you hear me?
[00:18:00]  Yeah, go ahead.
[00:18:02]  Yes, you know, I'm a third generation Japanese.
[00:18:05]  My dad fought in a row too, and I'm very upset with Congress regarding the Social Security.
[00:18:12]  I read the USA news article that in 2032, we're going to run out of money.
[00:18:19]  And Congress, I call Congressman Takuta's office and others to find out what's going on with my representatives.
[00:18:27]  They said they're working on it, but this is going to be, what, less than six years, maybe?
[00:18:31]  What is your opinion?
[00:18:33]  I'm fed up with Congress.
[00:18:34]  We're not doing anything about this.
[00:18:37]  What is your opinion about Social Security?
[00:18:41]  I think it's a very good point, and it's something that, frankly, is not on the agenda right now in Capitol Hill.
[00:18:46]  We're talking about all these things we're tracking this week, and Social Security and insolvency, just frankly, is members are not talking about this.
[00:18:54]  It's going to be a big issue.
[00:18:55]  It affects every American, basically.
[00:18:58]  But apart from, I'd say, the fiscal hawks and the members who are really concerned about these big spending programs and the national debt, it's pretty absent from everyday conversation on Capitol Hill.
[00:19:09]  And I think that stands in stark contrast to how everyday Americans interact with the government.
[00:19:13]  Social Security is one of the top ways people interact with federal government.
[00:19:17]  And yeah, Democrats, Republicans, I'm on Capitol Hill.
[00:19:21]  You know, every day, this is not something that people are talking about.
[00:19:24]  And what about cuts to social programs to pay for, for instance, the plus-up, the $1.5 trillion for defense?
[00:19:32]  What's going on with that?
[00:19:33]  Yeah, I think that is the trade-off that is being proposed, right?
[00:19:37]  We spend less on social and more on defense.
[00:19:40]  This is something, again, Democrats really don't agree with.
[00:19:43]  Republicans will say we need a strong national security, a strong Defense Department to protect the homeland, or else what's the point of having any social programs.
[00:19:50]  And going back to DHS funding, is there really any push to get that done given that everybody's getting paid now?
[00:19:59]  Because that's usually the pain point, right?
[00:20:01]  Is people are working, they're being forced to work, and they're not getting paid.
[00:20:05]  Well, now everybody's getting paid.
[00:20:06]  So is anything going to happen?
[00:20:08]  So the White House is now saying that everyone getting paid actually cannot last very much longer.
[00:20:13]  They're saying towards the end of the month is probably the last time they can continue.
[00:20:16]  At the end of this month.
[00:20:17]  Yes, the end of April, yeah.
[00:20:18]  And they're putting a lot of pressure on lawmakers in the House and Senate to pass the DHS bill because, of course, it is still under a government shutdown.
[00:20:25]  So there is movement right now in the Senate.
[00:20:27]  They're working on their reconciliation package to fund ICE and CBP.
[00:20:32]  And that is the first vote on that is going to be this week.
[00:20:35]  Will there be with reforms or without reforms?
[00:20:37]  Yeah, so this is no reforms.
[00:20:38]  It's simply Republican-only vote, no reforms that Democrats were asking for.
[00:20:42]  Now that's crucial because in the House, the hardliners are saying we will not vote to open DHS unless we get this funding for CBP and ICE.
[00:20:52]  So Republicans in the Senate are hopeful the House Republicans can unlock the DHS funding after they see they're making progress on ICE and CBP.
[00:20:59]  All right, we've got MLB who sent you this on X.
[00:21:04]  He wants to know, what are you watching in Congress that we're not watching right now?
[00:21:08]  What should we be watching?
[00:21:09]  Great question.
[00:21:10]  I'm going to talk about Virginia.
[00:21:12]  If anyone is in the D.C. media market, you've probably been inundated with ads for the redistricting referendum.
[00:21:18]  That vote is tomorrow.
[00:21:20]  And if it passes, Democrats in Virginia stand to benefit from a 10-to-1 redistricting gerrymander, and that would really benefit House Democrats' chances of taking back the House.
[00:21:31]  Democrats in Virginia say this is in response to what happened in Texas, where Republicans added five seats.
[00:21:36]  But this is a crucial sense of where that battle for the House in November is going to go.
[00:21:40]  If this referendum passes, Democrats can feel better about taking back the majority.
[00:21:45]  All right.
[00:21:45]  So what's the scorecard, if you will, so far on gerrymandering, right?
[00:21:50]  Starting with Texas.
[00:21:51]  And I know it goes way back before Texas.
[00:21:54]  But if we were to start with Texas, where are we with Republican and Democratic seats?
[00:22:00]  I think if we look at this from the bird's eye view, it is fairly even, which is not where it appeared at the beginning.
[00:22:06]  Beginning, it seemed like Republicans were out on front, right?
[00:22:09]  They started this cycle with Texas, but then California happened, right?
[00:22:12]  And then we've seen other chances for Republicans to gain more seats.
[00:22:17]  For instance, in Indiana, that failed.
[00:22:20]  Democrats also tried in Maryland, that failed.
[00:22:22]  And there's also going to be a Florida redistricting push happening in the coming weeks.
[00:22:27]  So I think it's still hard to know because there's still a lot of pieces in the puzzle yet to be filled out.
[00:22:32]  But I'd say overall, no party has a clear advantage.
[00:22:35]  And I think for Democrats, they enjoy that.
[00:22:38]  Mark is in Illinois, line for Democrats.
[00:22:41]  Mark, you're on with Max Cohen of Punch Bowl News.
[00:22:44]  I just comment that immigrants that are in the United States, they're paying Social Security if they have a legitimate job and they have no benefit from it.
[00:22:58]  By getting rid of these honest immigrants, they're hurting Social Security more.
[00:23:08]  Would anybody ask about that?
[00:23:13]  Yep, immigration, Social Security, I mean, these are top issues for Americans.
[00:23:17]  I'd say a lot of Republicans at Capitol Hill want fewer benefits for undocumented immigrants, whether that's Social Security or Medicare, et cetera.
[00:23:25]  That's been a big push of House Republicans, Senate Republicans saying these benefits should go to people who are here legally.
[00:23:31]  We've got this from Annette on X.

=== Immigration and Social Security Debate (00:25) ===

[00:23:34]  She says, how can we expect Congress to vote for the people of the United States when they have been paid by APEC to vote for Israel?
[00:23:41]  They want health care, food, and housing, security, education, or any other good quality of life.
[00:23:48]  Sorry, they spent it all on Israel.
[00:23:50]  I think if you look at the percentage of American aid to Israel versus the overall federal budget, you would see that this Simon close being comparable, that what we spend to Israel is a time.