aroundington, d.c., and c-span is brought to you by your cable or satellite provider. >> "washington journal" continues. host: on mondays, we like to take a look ahead at the week in washington. jason dick joins us now to do that. the main focus this week will be on the house and senate in the committee hearing rooms. take us through the highlights of the week. guest: probably the biggest highlight of the week will be mark zuckerberg's appearance before three committees. on tuesday, he will appear before a joint senate committee.

it will be a giant room to see mark zuckerberg testify. it will be his first testimony in front of congress ever. he is a relatively young man. this is kind of a big deal. on wednesday, he will appear before the house energy and commerce committee. this is in direct relation to the revelations that people's data on facebook, the company that he heads, was shared with cambridge analytica. up to 80 million people may have had their personal data shared with a political research firm with ties to the president and the mercer family. this will be a high wire testimony. host: c-span will be covering that testimony. viewers can watch that live on c-span this week. check our network for the coverage times for that.

who are you most interested in seeing? zuckerberg before the committees markeing question zuckerberg before the committees? guest: the democrats, some of these premises -- privacy issues. they like to portray that they are in think with high-tech, obviously silicon valley. mark zuckerberg is heading one of those leading firms. this is a company that touches billions of people. people like dianne feinstein, who is from the san francisco area, the judiciary committees top democrat. how is she going to approach some of these questions? everybody is going to want to get their pound of flesh from mark zuckerberg. we will have a story on roll call later this morning talking about how zuckerberg has been

preparing and his approach to what might be some uncomfortable questions. host: i want to point to a great story on the week ahead in com,ress at rollcall. congress returns with eyes off the floor. take us to the preparation by zuckerberg and how is trying to frame this ahead of this questioning. guest: there were reports that he came last night. facebook has a pretty large in-house lobbyist and communications team. they have also obtained outside counsel. they want to make sure that their client, who has this multibillion-dollar company and touches the lives of a lot of people in a very casual way and a business-oriented way, does not come across as the way he has been caricatured in the past. we have an aaron sorkin movie

about the social network. that is the image a lot of people have of him, that he is maybe a little callous. it was not long ago that there was a little image rehab where people were talking about is this potential 2020 contender. that may be a little out of reach at this point. it will be an interesting time to watch out he response. is he going to show up in a hoodie and gray t-shirt? probably not. he will look probably like you and i this morning. if he shows up in a hoodie, that would be the image of the day. host: outside of those committee hearings, a lot of confirmation hearings going on. who are you watching this week? monday ismany ways, almost illustrative of the rest of the year. the house is in a pro forma

session, treading water. the senate will be getting in this afternoon to confirm or consider a district court judge. that is in kentucky. that will just be to keep the forest going. to the realing matchup thursday, mike pompeo, the director of cia will get his confirmation hearing from the senate foreign relations committee to be the next secretary of state. rex tillerson has resigned. there will be some uncomfortable questions about his own views on war and torture, also to old wounds and new. host: what about the person selected to replace mike pompeo at the cia, gina haspel?

agent who is a career has been with the cia for decades. qualificationshe , she has been associated with some of the less flattering parts of the cia's history. her possible involvement in a cia black site with enhanced interrogation techniques. a confirmationet hearing, we don't know when that will be yet. host: we're talking with jason dick, the editor at roll call. republicans can join the conversation, (202) 748-8001. democrats (202) 748-8000. independents (202) 748-8002. budget to the balanced amendment to the constitution. on thursday, the house will consider a balanced budget

amendment to the constitution, which would require a 3/5 vote to spend more money than congress takes in. there would be some exemption. you could not count debt service on some things. this is something that is probably a long shot to get passage even in the house. a lot of people on both sides of the aisle will say we have dollar tax5 trillion cut last year and a $1.3 trillion spending bill. we had our opportunity to rein in deficit spending recently. this is seen mostly as a show about to say we are serious, but it is an open question of how serious it is. host: what is the history of these amendments? his is not the first time

it has appeared. guest: they show up periodically. theas usually been on republican side of the ledger in the last couple of decades. they usually fall short. even if they passed one chamber, the house is most likely, the senate would be really long odds because of the 51-49 margin. it would have to be ratified by three quarters of the states. this is a lengthy process. it does not seem to have a lot of momentum. a lot of people kind of want to just get serious and do their jobs in washington are saying this is the week we are supposed to be considering the budget resolution? why don't we try that first? they are supposed to turn that in by april 15. host: will they hit that date? guest: not even close. they will not even get that on the floor. host: congress is back.

what do you want to talk about today with jason dick as we study the week ahead in washington? is in montana. go ahead. caller: my name is curtis. host: curtis, go ahead. caller: i think john bolton is a choice, very honest, and transparent. i think that is what the trump administration needs right now with what he is faced with with china and north korea. i have a comment on the audience you are reaching. i have been watching you since you started, and your audience has changed. they have become very vicious. i think that is what has bush c-span to biasd

that has been showing. even the weekend programming has leaned to the left. that is what i have interpreted c-span has become. host: appreciate the comment. we do our best not to have a bias here. we create a form and allow you to express your opinions no matter what side of the aisle you sit on. john bolton's first day of the job, donald trump's or national security advisor. take us through what you see his first day looking like. guest: he will certainly know his way around the white house and the federal bureaucracy. he was the u.s. ambassador during the george w. bush years. no one is disputing his qualifications at all. he is incredibly knowledgeable. the approach is somewhat concerning to people who are worried about some of the more delicacy in its he has made

statements hecose has made about iran and north korea. he has just arrived today. we should probably give him time to move into his desk. host: the story from the wall street journal, bolton faces baptism by fire in his first day on the job. ethel in new mexico, line for democrats. caller: you said talk about things coming up this week? host: what is on your mind? caller: i want to talk about the border wall. i don't understand why we are focusing on mexico when we have the border in canada that is really insecure. we have more people coming come forth countries into vancouver -- foreign countries into vancouver, montreal. what are we afraid of?

are we afraid of the people from south america or terrorists? host: what is congress saying about that? this is one of those issues they will be talking about a lot. lindsey graham was on the sunday programs talking about the immigration proposals they think they can get another crack at. any immigration overhaul, whether it is protecting the daca program, and adults and kids, or any kind of enforcement measures, the wall is going to come of. -- up. there was some question whether the president would be able to reprogram dod money to put money on the border wall. that remains to be seen. there is some question whether he could take money from the corps of engineers budget.

the nose out jim mattis would feel about that? we have national guardsmen the point to the southern border. this is something president obama and president bush did beforehand. they cannot arrest people coming over the border, but they can provide logistical and intelligent support. the wall is probably not going to break ground anytime soon. this is something the president wants. host: i want to come back to the national border. --bc's this week this talking about the national guard, here is what he had to say. [video clip] >> that is where we get our statistics. the200% increase with seasonal uptick and the caravan, which is an annual event, they all trended in the wrong direction. the problem is that while there

was an improvement, it is a comparative improvement. that has nothing to do with the alarming trends of border crossings we are seeing. we don't have the capacity to address that problem. that is what the president needed to address. >> we know the national guard cannot legally apprehend anyone crossing the border. what can they do? >> the president put out a memorandum directing his cabinet to not catch and release but cash and detained. that is a big difference. the guard can do whatever the federal government is authorized to do. we have chosen to augment the customs and border officers who are so well-trained. host: jason dick, can congress do anything, democrats who disagree with this move? is there anything they can do to block it?

guest: that seems to be unclear. if it was troops, yes. although the present has authority -- president has authority in the case of an emergency to deploy active duty military. is they president did are asking to enter into an agreement with the governors of those states that are affected and deploy national guardsmen, of which the governors would still be the commanders in chief. jerry brown california not exactly golf buddies with the president these days. don't do see, republican in arizona. greg abbott, republican in texas. women candsmen and come from other parts of the country, but once they are in those states, the governors are in charge. this is becoming more of a state thing. mechanismow the exact

for which congress could insert itself into this, but it becomes tricky when you have a governor who is saying, sure. i will have the guard set up drone surveillance and things like that to help out the agents. host: republican in the go-ahead. epublican, go ahead. caller: i find it interesting that when barack obama used the information with facebook, it was marvelous, brilliant, innovative. it was just the best thing since sliced bread. when president trump used it, the world has come to an end. everybody has to investigate. i think there is such a double standard that people do not believe anyone anymore. if you can take the same basic facts and with one person it is beautiful because you believe in

them, and the other person it is terrible because you don't, nothing is ever going to get done well. guest: one of the issues that is a little different about this is that itincident was done without the permission of people on facebook. putting in place safeguards that will allow you to know who is getting access to your information. the issue is that cambridge analytica access this data from facebook without the permission or knowledge of the up to 70 million people. host: in virginia, republican. go ahead. caller: thank you for taking my call. vigilantes will eventually take care of all of these things. individuals down there who spent great doesn't money while they don't do anything while they are not down on the border taking care of

problems that are taking place. those people going down there, the law needs to be changed so that the military has the capacity to arrest and do whatever needs to be done. the civil war and the impending civil war in our nation, the democrats and republicans at each other's throats on a constant basis, and the double standards that are just too much to be true is shocking, and we help that some -- hope that somehow we can get beyond all of these dysfunctions. i think the gdp of the united states is lying. host: on the issue of what rick was looking for, giving more freedom to the national guardsmen to do law enforcement, is anyone looking to provide that through congressional action?

guest: they are not. there is a good reason that the military has been prohibited by statute from domestic law enforcement. to ates back 19th-century statute that was passed under the administration f ulysses s. grant, the president cannot use the military as his own domestic law enforcement. this has never worked out well in those countries that deploy the military in an autocratic fashion. the reason this law was passed is that there were concerns that grant, the leading general of won the civilwho war and accepted lee's surrender, would punish the south. there was this concern that

grant would deploy the military in his own favor to the south's disadvantage in the 19th century. there is a good reason we have this law on the books. it is to make sure there is a separation of power. iden'ts -- president's power is checked. host: we will have a new member of congress this week. guest: we have a new senator from the city, -- mississippi. resigned as the chairman of the appropriations committee. he wanted to see the on the this bill signed into law. he has leave. his appointed successor is a former democrat, sydney smith. the agriculture and commerce commissioner down

there. officeholder.wide she is well known in mississippi political circles. she will be sworn in on the floor today, and then we will be back to full strength, 100 senators. host: issue looking to hold that seek long-term -- seat lo ng-term? caller: she is. she says she will run for the seat in 2020. senator will run as the senior senator for reelection. he seems to have the easier path. it is more jumbled on the special election cycle there is a democrat that has run into the race. he is going to run in the special election. chris mcdaniel, a former state

senator in mississippi, ran in 1998.he cochran it was particularly nasty. there were questions about his tactics and the future of the republican party. mcdaniel was also thrown in for the special election. it could be interesting in this is it. host: we also lost a former senator last week. what do you remember about daniel akaka? guest: i felt strongly about writing the obituary, not because i knew senator have to -- akaka, but because on c-span when you are watching the senate, the roll call always started with mr. akaka. it is this reminder for people akaka had been in the senate since 1990.

he was this gentle figure, chairman of the veterans committee, always seeing as a junior partner to daniel, this powerful democratic senator and his colleagues. they represented hawaii since hawaii was a territory. akaka was, as he said, he was a workhorse. he was always able to find a way to work with colleagues. it is difficult to find anybody to say anything bad about him. it is this reminder of the passages of some of these cycles that we are going through of cochran leaving and akaka dying, it is a different generation we will see. host: for democrats, go ahead. i just had a question.

i was listening to your show and wondering, all these people coming and going from the trump administration -- [no audio] tony?speak to what, we lost tony. we don't know what he wanted you to speak to. guest: i can take a stab at it, which is that the turnover in the trump administration is remarkable. john bolton is the third national security adviser in roughly 15 months. we will have a new secretary of state soon, less than two years in. these are jobs that grind through people. you are always on when you represent the present, work in the white house, cabinet secretary, stressful jobs. there is a lot of time you are not spending with your family.

is unusual, this amount of turnover. the way people are being dismissed the at twitter and so forth is unusual. the senate, mike pompeo's confirmation hearing this week, gina haspel as well, and a new v.a. secretary has been nominated, the personal physician to the present. it is unclear when they will get a hearing. he is a one star admiral in the navy. he is a navy doctor. he has been nominated to be a two star admiral. it is unclear whether he will be confirmed as a two star admiral, which requires signoff from the senate, or whether the v.a. nomination will proceed first. you cannot hold the two jobs concurrently. will he retire first and then go into his confirmation process as v.a. secretary?

if he does as a one star admiral instead of a two star admiral, he gives up quite a few benefits. it doesn't seem like this was particularly well thought out. host: can he hold his military rank and serve as secretary? guest: he cannot. there are very few positions where you can keep that active military position, national security adviser h.r. mcmaster was able to keep his rank as a general and was promoted. it was another one of those situations where it was not exactly clear. the senate and congress are saying, who is making these decisions? we are happy to do it. this is what the senate does. we need a clearer sense of direction. in a midterm election year, it is more important. they would preferably like to do something besides just the personnel business. occupies mostat

of their time from now until november. host: just a few minutes left with jason dick. michael from indiana. go ahead. geter: i don't see why you these people up there in washington, d c, and they don't solve nothing. it is a simple deal on the border. we don't need a walk. just make it illegal. americany is an citizen unless you come through the border legally. that is stupid. it is the same with the national debt. it is going to kill us. there is nobody exempt. dang -- if you are a millionaire you only have to pay 250. if you are a billionaire you pay 1% of your billion dollars.

the national debt tax. , 1% tariffe tariffs national debt tax. the national for debt in 10 years. >> thanks for the call. >> thoughts on the suggestions? articulate --t he he is articulating that there is a frustration about the debt. why isn't congress addressing this, why do they just keep passing legislation? instead of making hard decisions. the answer is that it is hard. it is hard to make decisions about money that affect people. any kind of time that you are reducing the debt it involves paying for somebody we are spending money that we need to go into debt for in order to finance -- whether it is a tax cut or building a bridge or financing a b-2 bomber. nobody wants to give up what they have.

sacrifice -- congress is not in a sacrificing mode right now. host: the current national debt is -- and counting. that is from u.s. debt clock.org. that works out to about $64,000 per citizen. mike, independent. go ahead. caller: thanks. theuld like to say that building of the border wall in the national guard troops being sent there, that have no authority to do anything. is a very dangerous situation. it puts our national guard in danger. they can't be weaponize. they can't defend themselves. one of it is all just donald trump's wasting our money deals like he wants to have a parade for the military and blow

millions of dollars. he blows $3 million every time he goes to mar-a-lago. one lady said that nobody can believe anything anymore. we have got the liar in chief in the white house. he lied about the cub scouts, boy scouts. praising them. he lied about the size of his inauguration crowd. trudeau andstin spewed numbers he had no idea about with our relations with canada. i would like to see a program what the people are asked they think about donald trump spending our money. thank you very much. certainly the deployment of the guard, depending on how many people are down there, this is another thing that the military has to do. we are involved in two wars.

iraq and afghanistan. another possible war in syria. troops are deployed all over the place. possible tensions in korea. if nothing else we have to keep defending the demilitarized zone. -- just one the more pressure point on the military. the cost of the parade is, despite whatever it's merits may be, it is relatively small within the whole of the defense department. every little bit seems to count. when you have people who have been to ploy to afghanistan five , it starts to get old. people start to wonder if this is the life to me -- the life for me. the wearing down of the united states military. when you continually deploy people, it is a strain on them. host: time for one more call.

from maryland. republican. caller: thank you. i have two comments. in 2016 iocrat, elected president donald trump. -- reason why is that he is his policy makes sense then democrats. for the wall, i think he has a point in my view. i can give youis examples, if i open my door, i can't accept everyone in my house. border to finda out who is coming in and out. i don't think anything is wrong with that. thesecond question is for person is -- for the previous

person who called, i would say the military is very important. without military the world without -- would not be able to stand their own country. the last one, i would say this, north korea. north korea is trying to destroy our country. which is america. i don't think is nothing wrong with president trump to stand firm to say no, enough is enough. host: jason? guest: one of the things that presidents usually find out is that despite all of their careful planning, something always comes up. something very inconvenient and expensive and time-consuming. forh korea could be that the administration. i'm sure that john bolton wanted

to talk about places like north korea and iran. today, he is talking about whether or not -- who bombed in retaliation for a potential serial -- syria chemical weapons attack. the sort of foreign policy headaches come up. domestic headaches come up. we are starting to see these are the kind of issues that every president has to deal with. we're going to see how the with the who is now cabinet he wanted, how he would react in the situation. guest: rollcall -- host:

frank cunningham not moderates the discussion that includes questions from students. >> there are some stragglers but this will be very long. for anyone who does not know, the pennsylvania house races on them sure jay will comment on that. for those of you from my generation, james needs no