house, this is the first time the seventh has elected a wascrat since it constituted in 1967 on the website of houston. the first member to hold the seat was future president george h.w. bush. new congress, new leaders, watch it all on c-span. c-span's washington journal, live every day with a news and policy issues that impact you. coming up wednesday morning, we will discuss the government shutdowns impact on that are workers with federal news networks the cola gristle. and virginia democratic congressman gerry connolly also weighs in on the government shutdown. the nebraska republican congressman don bacon joins us to talk about border security. you sure to watch c-span's washington journal live at 7:00 eastern wednesday morning. join the discussion. day 18 of a partial

government shutdown. here to tell us where we are at with that is christina marcos of the hill. government shutdown. here was us is cristine marcos to let us know. where are we? guest: this is the first day the house and senate are coming back in session. nielsence and kirstjen will be coming to meet with house republicans. this is where the ball will start to roll for the week. host: when it comes to house republicans or senate asublicans, where are they far as the shutdown? we are seeing dissension breakout in the ranks. some republicans voted with democrats last week to reopen the government. a few senate republicans have said it is time to open the government backup and end the shutdown. the trump administration is

trying to hold strong with their party. we are starting to see signs of potential weakness on the republicans'side. is this to assure the republicans about the fight going on? to ensure the republicans. what we see is each side playing with their basis. either sideeeing trying to make realistic offers that they could possibly accept. what we see tonight when officials meet with house republicans is an attempt to keep the troops in line and try to avoid dozens of house republicans of voting with democrats on individual bills to open up specific parts of the government like the irs. host: if you want to ask questions, (202) 748-8000 four , forrats, (202) 748-8001

republicans, (202) 748-8002 for independents. what is the word from the house on the shutdown? is considering bills to open some parts of the government. we saw this in the 2013 shutdown. parks, that is something that is popular with americans. garbage piling up on newspapers and on television. that is a vote that even top republicans who aren't necessarily worrying about reelection in a couple of years, even that is something they might feel pressure to vote for. approach piecemeal

might affect both sides. will it have play in the senate? they are saying they will not pick up any bill that the president won't sign. president trump does not want any spending bill that doesn't have money for the wall. host: the president will make an address tonight. any reservation about that speech or what might be said from house republicans or house democrats? guest: late last night speaker pelosi and schumer said they want equal airtime after president trump speaks. we suspect it will be eight to and then democratic leaders will issue a response right after that. host: here is part of the response, president trump keeps rejecting and is still demanding that the american taxpayers pay 7.5 -- $5.7 billion for the wall which can't pass, adding that either chamber and mexico is not

paying for it. television networks have decided to air the address. democrats must immediately be given equal airtime. will they get that airtime? guest: yes, some of the networks have said it will air it. figuree have seen the for the wall change, five point $7 billion and additional money for humanitarian efforts. how is that playing out on capitol hill? guest: that is the message that administration officials are trying to push. met withident pence reporters yesterday and said the word crisis 35 times. they are really trying to push the point beyond the national security and immigration standpoint that president trump is saying that this is a crisis that needs to be addressed. there are so many people fleeing from these countries that are so

is violence and it and they're coming here and something needs to be done. host: let's start with michael from north carolina, democrats line for our guest, go ahead. caller: my question is, why can't the insurance companies help people who have been furloughed? host: what about those efforts to help those furloughed? ast are we seeing as far action from the administration or otherwise? guest: that is the problem for the government workers. , andrely on the paycheck they are used to being able to pay on a monthly basis. administration is trying to mitigate the effects of the shutdown is that people live in affordable housing complexes. the administration has been trying to work with landlords to give tenants a break because they are not getting the

payments they need in order to pay rent. that is one way they are trying to help workers survive what is looking like a lengthy shutdown. the treasury department announcing some irs workers coming back to do business in returns. was that meant to circumvent legislation passing from the house democrats to keep that very thing going as well? guest: one of the bills this week that democrats are planning for the floor is to specifically open the irs. until yesterday, it look like the irs would be able to issue refunds, even if people are starting to file tax returns. the administration announced yesterday they will still be up to issue refunds, which are very popular thing that americans want their money back, understandably. alsois one way they are tried to mitigate the effects.

rather than simply reopen the government, they are looking for ways to mitigate the effects. host: jerry is next from utah on the independent line. caller: thanks for taking my call. what we need to do is look at the bottom line, what is the bottom-line? we have people invading our country. the minute they stepped over the border, we have to pay for food, schooling, health care. the american people are being ripped off. i was a democrat, but the democrats are trying to turn us into a new world order, one world government. if these were russians trying to come across the border bringing that,, gang members and we would be shooting them at the border and say they're communists. but it is ok if they are coming across from all over the world. this doesn't make any sense. we have to shut it down and

support our people. the democrats are basically throwing america down the toilet. host: jerry from utah. some of the are people president is responding to in this fight. it has been a key campaign promise of his campaign of building a wall and the symbolism that provides. this is why president trump is holding firm. , when republicans had total control of congress, he wasn't able to get this priority. now with democrats, he has to put up a fight. host: amongst the republicans, how is the freedom caucus standing with the president? would you describe them as moderate republicans? how do we look at that? staying on the president. the week before christmas when the senate passed the spending bill to keep the

government-funded, it was the freedom caucus that implored president trump to hold firm and not just let this opportunity go because this is the last chance you have with a republican congress. those who voted to reopen last week primarily came from the centrists of the caucus. host: republican line from north carolina, marianne. i agree the former contributor to the show. his message was great. we have too many democrat dressed in republicans close. they are not standing with trump. they have lied to the people of here. they are not doing what we have asked for them to do.

it is dreadful they are not standing with trump. he has tried very hard. the democratic party, especially nancy pelosi and schumer, are not there for the people. they are there for their own i wants and the extreme leftists who are not continue to anything today. thank you very much. guest: we are still seeing both parties play to the bases right now. democrats are fresh off the victory of the midterm elections can see no reason to start negotiating are offering a dollar for a wall. nancy suggested she would be willing to give president trump $1 for the wall. not much more than that. , or gun typetrol legislation expected this week on the hill. tell us what will happen. guest: today is the eight year

anniversary of former congresswoman gabby giffords who was shot in the head at eight constituents event. she has -- at a constituents event. she will be on capitol hill and gun-control advocates for a bill to require universal backcheck -- background checks. this is how mainstream gun control has become for rank and file democrats. hr eight to correspond. you saw a lot of democratic candidates even in competitive districts campaign on gun control. host: talk about the approach of focusing on that ground checks versus other things? . guest: background checks can be a little more bipartisan.

this is something that can garner unanimous support from democrats and they can take a fair amount of support from some public and voters, compared to a ban on assault rifles. host: is it expected that republicans largely will sign on to this, or will they be resistance? -- will there be resistance? guest: there will be resistance but they should pick up a fair amount of republicans. host: will hear from keith in chicago. caller: i would like to start a trend by saying to this reporter, thank you for your service, particularly in this fact free era when we have a whole political party that rejects fax. ts in preference of

"personality." one thing i learned was objectivity, but let's be objective here. ofs president has a pattern outright lying to us, the people of america. whom, like iof would like reporters to remember. majority ofum, the people to this wall. the majority of the american people. you cannot dismiss the popular vote. that is the sentiment. host: with that in mind, what would you like our guests to specifically address? democrathy should the give one dollar when the mantra

was what are we going to do? build a wall. who is paying for? mexico. it is no and void after that. host: thanks, caller. joke: nancy pelosi did that she would be ok for a dollar for a wall which would not get president trump very far on building a wall on the border. democrats don't see any reason after the freshman term victory to give president trump much of anything. mindlso have to bear in that the shutdown began before christmas. they let lawmakers go home for the holiday and no one was here for a couple of weeks. it is not until the end of last week that we really start to see the usual cycle of the fights play out. host: when do democrats become

uncomfortable with what is going on but the shutdown? guest: we will really start to see pressure this friday when hundreds of thousands of federal workers will get the paycheck that they would have been getting. until now, it was sleepy with the holidays it now people are starting to seal and feel the effects of the shutdown. .ost: virginia in lynchburg will you from richard on the republican line. caller: how are you doing today? host: go ahead. talking about all the shutdown and we want our jobs back. we have problems we need to really take care of right now about the environment. the oceans are rising. it is not normal because way

back when, it worked cars in thereion and that is why wasn't that problem of the melting icebergs and stuff. we are talking specifically about the government shutdown. you may be referencing the aller.us co caller: that is what i am getting too. we should open the government up and talk about the environment. new york city and all of the cities, we need to build a wall and get all those people involved in doing it and starting now the cause of all the pollution and all of the people in coal burning.

when it comes to democrats and their efforts, three bills to be considered. the agriculture, food and drug, and it merrier -- interior? why those? guest: they all affect americans' lives. -- food stamps that falls under that departments umbrella. -- department's umbrella. they have enough to cover recipients for this month, but it is unclear if they will have enough for february. if it goes on long enough, you could see a situation where they pick and choose, which means who receives food stamps and who in february ift it goes on for that long. host: with justice, law enforcement, tsa, what is it

like for people to work without paychecks and will that be considered as far as legislation is concerned? guest: that is something use all the time, they have to travel to and from washington. seeing the effect of the shutdown on tsa agents, where there was a report that a lot were calling in sick. that is something lawmakers will be able to see up close in their day-to-day lives. it may not necessarily affect their day-to-day lives. host: this is thomas on the independent line. go ahead. times in thisof world of doubletalk, we say to ourselves that this and that doesn't make sense. it often does make sense to

sense from a sinister -- make sinister sense from the sinister perspective. the wall doesn't make any sense. it is sadistic and sinister. entity person or one that it benefits most is putin and russia. shutdown the usa government, trump in every way that you can and trump is obliging putin by shutting down the u.s. government. host: we will go to aaron in torrance, california, democrats line. caller: you go into a room to negotiate, but if you have your mind made up emma that is not negotiating. up, that is not

negotiating. you need to go in with somewhat of an open mind and discuss it and you might come up with a sound idea. if you have your mind made up, there is no sense in spending time with them. host: as far as the ability for either side to give in and keep talking to open the government, where do we stand? guest: over the weekend, vice president pence and representatives for pelosi and schumer met in the white house complex to talk about the situation. they were not able to reach any real progress. right now, there aren't any other meetings scheduled. we are not seeing face-to-face meetings on the docket at this moment.

that shows how little progress was made over the weekend and the stalemate remains at an impasse. the president will potentially declare an emergency in regard to border wall funding . how is that resonating on capitol hill, that announcement -- possible announcement coming up? guest: if president trump were to declare a national emergency and bypass congress to build the wall, democrats and a cat -- indicate that would challenge it and would get mired in the legal system. we likely wouldn't just see democrats howling over this. are alsons in congress and to seeng branch them go over the heads of congress will not sit well with a lot of people. side or the senate

house side would you see more resistance? guest: in the senate because individual members have more power than individual house members. we will see more senators be critical of president trump. the reason why there is a democratic majority is because republicans retired or lost reelection. host: the present has the address tonight for about eight to 10 minutes at 9:00. you can see that on c-span. you can go to c-span.org or the radio app. let's go to portland, oregon on. we will hear from lynn. go ahead. caller: i would like to see it brought up more often that in the past the democrats, including chuck schumer, have voted to build a wall. i would like to bring up that it is not a horrible thing to have

a wall in place, at least in portions. we had the effect of a wall when ellis island was in effect in the early part of the last century that in effect refused different people coming over if they had disease or other problems. we know walls work. we all have doors with locks and a wall around the white house, a fence. you can call it different names and it doesn't have to be a solid wall and that is not what is intended. we need common sense here and it is not being had. everybody has done in to their ug in their-- d own trench. guest: the caller is right that

a lot of lawmakers are saying it is not about physical barriers. there are some parts of the border where there are physical barriers. a lot of republicans and democrats who represent districts along the border and have firsthand knowledge of the issues are saying that you need a mixture of different approaches, like having more drones or border patrol agents or other strategies like that versus just a simple barrier. this is something that some of president trump's core supporters have worried about that yes, they want the wall, but there is concern that a physical area of may army not be a practical solution and would encourage the president to cut a deal with democrats that includes allowing more undocumented immigrants coming into the country. host: with house democrats

taking power in new committee chairman ships, what are the ones to watch as far as the committees and the people running them? for sure the oversight committee, where we will see the bulk of the key investigations that republicans declined to take up while in power. chairman elijah cummings has made clear there is a lot he wants to do and has planned. the house judiciary committee is another place where if it were to come up, impeachment proceedings would begin. ast: that would be run by democrat from new york. anything we should expect from him? always in thebeen cap of impeachment. he thinks there should be a process building up to something. he has also been of the camp that the best thing to do is to wait for special counsel robert

mueller to finish his report before democrats move forward. host: with the progressives being elected, will they be comfortable for waiting for the rape port -- waiting for the report before waiting for impeachment proceedings? guest: they are responding to basis who want to see president trump out of office. i was talking to ask the waters the other day -- maxine waters the other day and they recognize that the call for impeachment doesn't mean it has to happen tomorrow, but they know their needs to be investigations and hearings and they want the process as soon as possible. host: let's hear one more call from mark in kentucky. caller: good morning. i would like to comment on the border wall. contact -- contract

for a company to build six miles of wall, $145 million, each comes to $24 million a mile. february.art in outrageous, $24 million a mile, 18 feet high made of concrete. contractors have been met by the corps of engineers and start in february. an 18impossible to put feet high concrete wall, $24 million a mile. host: mark, thank you. what are you watching for this week? that: with all the votes

democrats are putting on the floor for individual bills to open up parts of the government, last week we saw seven house republicans break with the party and go with democrats. we need to watch to see if that number goes up or down as the administration puts on more pressure starting tonight on house republicans to stay in line. -- one of thehat people >> we are about 10 minutes away from president trump and his address to the nation. the demonstration test it will be on the humanitarian and crisis on the southern border. this is the president's first address from the oval office. nancy pelosi and chuck schumer will respond the conclusion of the president's remarks. live coverage beginning at 9:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. ♪ journal,'s washington

live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. coming up wednesday morning, we discussed the government shutdown's impact on federal workers. virginia democratic commitment gerry connolly ways in on the democratic shot down in on the democratic shutdown. watch washington journal live every day. join the discussion. >> live wednesday morning at 7:00 eastern on c-span 2. >> questions to the prime minister. >> the british house of commons returns from holiday break for the first prime minister's questions of 2019. watch live 7:00 a.m. eastern on wednesday on c-span 2 . >> texas voters elected nine new

members of congress. dan crenshaw is a former navy seal who lost an eye to an ied in afghanistan. he spent some of his childhood in south america, where his father worked in the oil industry. voters in the fifth district elected lance gooden, an insurance broker for energy companies prior to his election. the former u.s. senate staffer having worked for senator john taffyn, and as first ste for senator ted cruz. mr. roy has also been a federal prosecutor. dan taylor represents the state's third district, previously serving terms in both the state house and senate in this texas legislature before representative taylor saw combat in iraq as a member of the u.s.

marine corps. succeeding joe barton. earlier in his career he was on the city council of arlington, texas. new congress, new leaders. watch it all on c-span. house republicans were briefed about security on the southern border by homeland security secretary kirstjen nielsen and vice president mike pence. here are gop leaders. >> hi, everybody. we just had a good meeting with the vice president, secretary of homeland security. the main focus is we have a crisis at the southern border. no one denies we have a crisis at the southern border.