adam goodman talks about the future of the republican party. an update on the week ahead in congress, we take your calls and you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter. washington journal is next. ♪ host: a reversal. last night donald trump signed into law the two point $3 trillion government funding bill and covid-19 relief measures. this signature comes after calling the bill a disgrace and supplemental unemployment benefits lapsing on saturday. we begin with your reaction to the latest on coronavirus eight. republicans dial in at (202) 748-8001.

democrats give us your thoughts at (202) 748-8000. .ndependents, (202) 748-8002 if you are unemployed we want to hear from you, (202) 748-8003. had that same number you can text us, include your first name, city, and state. you can go to to better @cspanwj and facebook.com/c-span to join the conversation there. we'll get to your thoughts in a minute. this is what donald trump said in a statement after the signing the bill into law last night from florida. he said "i will sign the omnibus and covid package with a strong message that makes clear to congress that wasteful items need to be removed. i will send back to congress a redlined version item by item accompanied by a formal rescission request to congress insisting that those funds be removed from the bill. he also -- from the bill."

he says he supports more money for american families. the legislation include $600, he once that bumped up to $2000. nancy pelosi agrees and said this in a statement. must call ont congressional republicans to end their obstruction and join him and democrats in support of stand-alone legislation to increase direct payment checks to do thousand dollars. every republican vote against the bill is a vote to deny financial hardships that families face and deny the american people the relief they need." the house will gavel into session today and they are slated to vote on this to thousand dollar payment the president and democrats would like to make. no mention of senate republicans agreeing to this. senator schumer put out a tweet saying "the house will pass a bill to give americans to

thousand dollar checks and i will move to pass it in the senate, no democrats will reject. will senate republicans?" mitch mcconnell put out a statement yesterday not mentioning the $2000. he did have this to say about the president signing the bill. rescue package that republicans in congress and the trump administration negotiated with the democrats will extend a another major lifeline to workers and struggling businesses. it will renew major relief for laid-off americans, invest billions more in vaccine helpibution, and send directly to households." that from majority leader mitch mcconnell yesterday. we want to get your thoughts on that. joining us on the phone this morning to give us more details is natalie andrews, congressional reporter with the wall street journal. what will happen today in the house? natalie: good morning.

we will see the house vote on cash package to increase checks to americans. they are going to vote to override the president's veto on the defense policy bill. , if would be the first time it passes the house and senate, the first time that congress has overridden one of trump's vetoes. --will see the $2000 bill it is being brought up on suspension, it will need two thirds to pass in the house. if it gets that, it will go to the senate. why they will need republicans, pelosi is calling on trump to ask republicans to help her pass it.

if it passes -- time is this vote going to take place today? and the on the $2000 ndaa veto override? natalie: it is going to be late this afternoon, probably around 5:00. the house has been out for the holiday and they are going to come back in this afternoon, probably 4:00 or 5:00 and start voting. house has been doing social distancing and boating in blocks, these votes generally take upwards of an hour or two. expected to be a late night at the house. host: natalie andrews, what have or notrned about whether senate republicans would get on board? the president said in a statement he believes they would. whetheryou know about

or not they would vote for it? someie: we know that senate republicans support increasing the checks and have called for more direct aid. josh hawley from missouri had been pushing with bernie sanders for an increase in checks. republicans are worried about increasing government spending. this issue would certainly divide the republican caucus. there are a lot of senate republicans who are concerned about spending, there are some senate republicans who oppose the covid relief bill anyway when it passed congress last week. expect this if it does come up in the senate to be a tough vote , macconnell does not want to divide republicans on this. he does not want to have to put republicans on the record opposing donald trump at the end of this congress. it is going to be a tough vote. i would imagine it would split the conference.

president'sbout the line by line rescission he would like to make to this $2.3 trillion package? how does that work if he sends it back to congress? natalie: the law allows a president, this is from an act in 1974. it will allow trump to send a proposal back to congress to rescind certain funds, and it will free those funds for a maximum of 45 days. timing we have weird with the congressional session ending and starting over, the clock will start again on january 3 if he sends his redlines back tomorrow. the 45 day clock starts again. it allows trump to show his opposition. notcrats have said they are

going to listen to it and democrats have to act on it to actually free up some funds. 45 days the funds are unfrozen. that timeframe is bumped up against the inauguration of president joe biden on january 20. theyie: democrats said would ignore this request and once biden becomes president, biden is not likely to make the same objections. go ahead. host: how many days are left in this congress? natalie: it ends on january 3. they could technically meet the morning of january 3 and it would still be the end of the session. the session is winding down rapidly. host: they start a new session on january 3, is that unusual? january 3 falls on a sunday. natalie: it is unusual. i talked to historians and they

said they had no record of congress ever starting a cycle on a sunday. usually both parties can come to an agreement to push it back a day when the new sessa and -- session starts on sunday. we are in very partisan times and they could not come to an agreement on changing the session. they have to certify electoral college results by january 6. because of the pandemic and because votes are taking long, house democrats did not want to risk coming in on january 3 and not finishing their business which is typical for a new congress and usually only takes an hour or two, but it could take several hours to approve a new speaker or pass a rules package, do basic business things because they are spacing out votes. with a new congress and a new president what is the

likelihood that they passed more economic aid in response to the pandemic? to depend on going the outcome probably of the georgia runoff. the two georgia senate runoffs on january 5. if democrats have control of the senate and the house and the presidency i would expect them to push for more aid because democrats have been pushing for more aid for months. they have been calling for it. i would expect to see them bringing it up. if republicans have the senate and democrats have the house and the presidency things will be divided and we will be forced to compromise, republicans may want to see how the vaccine rollout goes. does the vaccine rollout need more money? republicans have been supportive of aid. have wanted to wait and see what may be necessary. host: natalie andrews writes for

the wall street journal. you can follow her reporting at wsj.com. thank you. natalie: thank you. host: let's get to calls. melissa in red lodge, montana, democratic caller. what do you think about donald trump signing this legislation? caller: thank you so much, c-span. i am so grateful. i watch you every morning. i am so grateful. thank you for everything you do. thanks for brian, i hope you bring that guy back. c-span -- i think it is wonderful he signed that legislation. thankd personally like to every american that went out there and devoted. thank you, no matter who you voted for, thank you for standing in line and doing the democratic process. thank you for standing up and boating. i'm so grateful we have a chance

to build a way better future and take care of the environment, and our financial situation. come togethernd and accomplish anything we want to do. to focus way more on animal rights. host: i'm going to stick to the topic this morning. ray in elizabeth city, north carolina. a republican. are you pleased or disappointed that the president rejected than signed this legislation? caller: i'm quite pleased. i'm pleased he signed it, the people are going to get some relief, but people need to take another look at why trump wouldn't sign it. he wanted more money, and quite frankly the answer would have been quite easy to provide that for more americans. there's a lot of funding that for things that

don't need it. an example, there are $400 million for the kennedy center that is not even open. money thatlot of could have been taken from other places and given to americans. many foreign countries are getting money, billions and billions of dollars. what we need is here. americans are hurting. we need the money here. host: ray, are you calling on house republicans today later this afternoon to vote with democrats on an additional $2000 for americans? take it fromey can the spending that we don't need, yes, of course. ray. all right, let's take a look at what is in this bill.

a breakdown by the hill newspaper here in bc. 900 billion dollars in the coronavirus relief bill, up to $600 per adult and child, and double for married couples. unemployment aid for emergencyyed -- unemployment compensation extended for 11 weeks. that is the supplemental unemployment benefits. billion for the paycheck protection program. there is money for schools and colleges, and extends the eviction moratorium and includes $25 billion in rental assistance , $20 billion in grants for small businesses, and $15 billion for live venues. $9 billion for the treasury programs that cater to low income and underserved communities. there is $20 billion to purchase vaccines, $8 billion to distribute vaccines which states have called on the federal

government to give them, and $20 billion for state testing. thisakdown of what is in $2.3 trillion government funding and covid-19 relief measure. the government funding part of it is to keep the government operating into the next year. without trump's signature they were headed for a government shutdown. trish in seattle, democratic caller. what do you think? caller: thank you for taking my call, c-span. did, and what trump delaying signing this bill, it's just so heartless for all those people that don't have jobs, don't have food, the fear of getting a vague did, and to extend this drama after

christmas time, that is inhuman and cruel. if he really cared, which he havenot, he would gotten involved sooner. it's his way of sucking up the media oxygen. bravo, he did that with a very ugly outcome. i don't think it's going to do him any big favors. republicans don't want to do any spending now? spare me. money is totally cheap, fed chair powell said that. if you are going to borrow and spend, now is the time to do it. so, no. the republicans -- trump punk to the republicans and now they look like the little people they are. --omment to the jenna bowen gentleman about cutting off support to other things. remember congress did not get hoursill until may be 24

before, 5000 pages. then they are expected to vote on it? these people have no idea what they are voting on, and that's the way this country is being run. it has run like that in the past. ,hese times are exceptional exceptionally scary times. you it is, i can tell absolutely frightening out there. for everyone playing these upsetting,s it is so i can't stand it. i can't wait until january 20 when that clown is out. host: because unemployment benefits are processed weekly and the legislation was not signed before the beginning of the week, it is likely workers in most states will lose a week

of benefits under the expanded program as well as a week with the $300 supplemental benefit. other reporting says that states will have to reach out to the labor department to get approval for this past week when those supplemental unemployment benefits lapse. joe in ohio, republican. joe, what do you think about donald trump signing this bill into law? was against the signing of this bill. as far as i'm concerned this bill is illegal. thatess has their own law says that they are supposed to get 48 hours to review any bill before it is put up, they were only given six hours. a lot of the congressmen never had a chance to go through 5000 partsto see where all the from all the special interests were buried in this bill. host: joe's thoughts, a

republican. lily in st. louis, missouri. democratic caller, you are next. caller: i want to say this. he could have fixed all of this. he could have got involved but he did not want to do that, now he wants to put all his conditions in there. thence all these people on sixth of january to be there -- joe biden will be president. it shouldn't be about trump causing trouble like this. he knew this and didn't say a word, he wants to play god in all of this. he knows people are hungry, but he doesn't care then and he doesn't care now. to thousandant dollars, he's playing games with politics. goodbye. host: politico reports this

morning that it was house minority leader kevin mccarthy and several republican senators including senator david perdue, republican of georgia who is headed towards the runoff on january 6 in that state for his reelection bid and senator lindsey graham of south carolina labored to convince the president to sign off on the bill over the weekend according to multiple sources. ally loeffler, who is in special election runoff in georgia, she tweeted out last trump"thank you president , with the poet's signature help is on the way for many georgians. we will never stop fighting for the people of the peach state. " terry in boone, iola, and independent. share your thoughts with us. caller: i am curious why no one ever -- you just explained what's in the bill, and you didn't explain all

the rest that's in the bill. in these callers calling saying trump doesn't want to do this, trump doesn't want to do that. the reason he is not wanting to do it, it's not money for the people. it's the waste they are spending , new services are giving un-american people a disservice. all these people calling and have no clue other than what you have been putting on here. it's great for everybody, i'm not saying that's bad. all the things that are in there that have nothing to do with covid, it's ridiculous. thingslar amount and the that are in there are just totally ridiculous. they are talking about giving money to pakistan, talking about giving money for research. talking about giving money for researching birds and environment, what does that have to do with covid at the moment? now people need money. you take that money and spend it

on your plug rent -- programs and put it into the package. you will have a lot more money than $600 for people. put the facts out there. host: terry, let me get your reaction to this $2.3 trillion -- this 2.3 trillion dollars is not just economic aid for the moneyic, it also includes for federal agencies to keep the government running. it is two different pieces of legislation put into one package for the president to sign. that is why it has that price tag of $2.3 trillion. do you disagree with the funding for the federal agencies? or just some of the funding for federal agencies? caller: i agree we need money for the federal government to be run, but we needed to be spent properly. you want to talk about playing

games, nancy pelosi is playing games with the money because she sat on it to get all this extra money out there. get the bill out, put it on the table here, and read the 5000 pages to the people instead of the 20 pages that show all the relief for the covid and the 10 pages that show the starting and stopping of the government. show the other 3000 pages -- host: that would take hours obviously. it is 5590 something pages. here is the usa today headline. "spending bill contains controversy, some entries include $500 million in aid to central american countries, $25 million for gender equity and democracy programs in pakistan, 1.3 million dollars in military aid to egypt, and aid to southeast asian nations. it has an expanded military budget, the buildin --

lawmakers include 690 $6 billion in military appropriation including $1.3 billion to build 10 warships and 9.6 billion dollars for 96 f fighters. democrats oppose those budget increases. democrats objected to a bill that would allow businesses to deduct two full years of of business years when deriving taxes, deriving the measure as free martini lunches for the rich. argued thisuse would help restaurants if projected at $6 billion in tax breaks for corporations over the next decade. keeping live venues afloat, $15 billion of aid is designated for performance art centers in --ependent movie theaters getting hard by the imposition of social distancing members. the save our stages act is aimed at helping venues that have closed door at risk of shedding

down. the grants will provide financial support to pay employees. also aid for cultural institutions, more than $40 million was approved for the kennedy center for the performing arts, the washington cultural jewel. many trustees are appointed by the president. money includes 26 million dollars for maintenance, operation, and security and $14 million for improvements. also receiving taxpayer funds will be the u.s. holocaust memorial, the national endowment for the smithsonian institution, more than $1 billion. there is also money for the border wall. let me go through others. a nascar tax break, the establishment of museums, tax breaks for the liquor industry, presidential transition expenses included, and money for the postal service. want tofind this if you

read more on usa today.com. dixon, tennessee democratic caller. good morning. caller: good to see you again. a lot of the previous callers covered what i want to talk about. i understand the help in the bill was separate from covid relief. about the people who have been so supportive of him and he put them through hell at christmas time wondering if they would have to pay their rent or be evicted at christmas. wonder if they still feel as supportive of him as they did because if they are losing $300 in unemployment benefits and only getting $600 it seems like they are really only getting $300.

i think that the president -- i think -- i hope after january 20 he will become irrelevant. thank you for your time. host: let me try to answer your question about stimulus payments for others that are interested you can read it on the new york times website. on what is ina this legislation. for the stimulus payments, will i receive another stimulus payment? individuals with an adjusted income of up to 75,000 dollars a year will receive a $600 payment and heads of households making up to 112,000 or a couple earning up to 150,000 a year will get twice that amount. if they have dependent children they will get $600 for each child. people with incomes above these

levels will receive a partial payment that declines by $500 for every $100 in income. when might these payments arrive? some payments could arrive in two weeks, but with -- werestimulus checks approved under the cares act in march it took about two weeks for payments to begin landing via direct deposit of people who receive payments by another method often had to wait much longer. if you havees.com questions about the stimulus and unemployment benefits. as donald trump said and colors have mentioned, he once waste full spending eliminated from this legislation. the chair of the appropriations committee which is the committee in congress that controls how the money is spent, congress controls the purse strings, a democrat from new york who is retiring put out this statement. the house appropriations committee has jurisdiction over

rescissions and our democratic majority will reject any rescission submitted by president trump, by turning the page on this request we will allow the biden harris administration to begin to build back better. the new york times notes that the 25 day timeframe for considering the request will collide with the inauguration of president joe biden on january 20 and house democrats said they will not be voting on it. frank input cap c, new york. frank, you you are unemployed. getting supplemental unemployment benefits? when the pandemic first started they said everyone had until march 20. the weekly $600 for unemployment. able to catch up on some bills. the have this card they put money on, i'm thinking the card is like a credit card or a

savings card. i am holding on to this money and trying to rack up all my bills. i call up unemployment office and they said they will reschedule for the new program since the money has run out. i rescheduled and they cut me off again. i did not get anything. i didn't get the $1200, i barely got the unemployment insurance, and now the senators and everybody is playing games with my life. that just blew himself up, i know. wyden, theor ron ranking member of the finance committee in the senate will put this statement out

about unemployment benefits. he said, for families wondering how they will pay january rent or buy groceries, weeks long delay could have consequences. it's a huge relief that the bill is being signed, but the trump tantrum has created unnecessary hardship and stress for millions of families. from the new york times on unemployment benefits, lawmakers agreed to extend the amount of time people can collect unemployment benefits and restart extra federal benefits that are provided on top of the usual state benefits. instead of $600 a week it will be $300 a week, that would last through march 14. everyone eligible for unemployment benefits would generally receive an extra 11 weeks, although the new federal extensions would go away in full after april 5. the extensions applied to people receiving state-level benefits as well as individuals receiving checks through the so-called pandemic unemployment assistance program.

it covers the self-employed, gig workers, part-time, and others who are eligible for regular unemployment benefits. here is how the extension would work in practice. it would extend pay benefits for 26 weeks. after that the cares act had extended benefits by 13 weeks. the latest package would tack on 11 more weeks bringing the total extension to 24. for anyone receiving state benefits or pandemic unemployment assistance. the federal extension would turn off on march 14 unless you have already reached your benefit maximum, in that case benefits would continue until april. there has been some discussion over whether or not senate republicans would support the $2000 checks that donald trump has said some of them have committed to. senator pat toomey, republican of pennsylvania, was on fox news

yesterday and here is what he ofd about the reluctance republicans to increase stimulus checks for americans. toomey: i understand donald trump would like to send big checks to everyone. i think what he ought to do is sign the bill and make the case, congress can pass another bill. i don't agree with $2000 checks to people who have had no lost income, which is the vast majority of americans. the president is free to make that case and democrats will agree with that. we will see where it ends up. we have a bill that his administration helped negotiate and we have to get that done. host: that was the senator before the president last night did indeed sign that $2.3 trillion legislation. howard from louisiana, i democratic collar. caller: i think the legislation should have been signed obviously long ago. trump is such a disgusting

failure. i think all republicans should be ashamed of themselves for putting this fool in office. if he was serious about getting people more money he should have been behind the original bill that democrats approved in may for $3.4 trillion which is the outcome of a well studied assessment into what the american people need to get us through this unique time in american history, that was not done, so we are down to less than $1 trillion in this package. we will do some good. everything with trump, he does it in a closet, backroom, non-caring way. i don't think he had any interest in increasing funds for people, i think he just wanted to make a show. that's all he does. this is such an awful time in our history. we have this disgusting person in office. he should be impeached tonight

along with mike pence. they are failures, they don't care about this country. all the republicans who voted for these thugs should be ashamed of themselves. it is awful that we are going through this mess with this man playing theatrics with the needs of this country. i am so upset by how we have gotten ourselves into this position. tonight,rump and pence we don't need to wait another 20 days. host: i assume you did not vote for him and 2016 or this last election? caller: i'm a democrat so obviously i wouldn't. some democrats did vote for him unfortunately. i could never vote for some thug like trump. ruth in haverford, pennsylvania. an independent. what do you think about this, economic aid, is it enough? caller: absolutely not. the theatrics that trump pulled,

why are we also surprised? he wanted his name to be on television every single day. that's how he was elected the first time. he had a free advertisement constantly. is these afraid of now people that he pardoned. he pardoned mercenaries, is he planning to have his own army afterwards? we still have a couple of weeks before he is out of the office. i am afraid of what he is going to do between now and then. i've been afraid by what they have -- he is not human. he has no empathy, he has no humanity. he has no morals. everything that was taught to us to be human beings is lacking in him. wecannot change, therefore have to get rid of him. also, watch every move he makes.

our lives are at stake. host: let's hear from a republican, roy, and las vegas. hello, roy. caller: thank you for taking my call. at the democrats that downplay everything he has done. topic,.hat it is off 74 million people are disgusted with democrats. as to the topic of what is in the bill. redlined, itrump would like to see you show what the bill was. you didn't show the items that he redlined. i would like that you have that. i would like that to be

presented, thank you. host: he said he is going to send it back to congress with his rescissions. he put out a statement after he signed the bill into law. jason in gilroy, california. a republican. caller: hello, how are you? host: are you pleased or disappointed that the president signed this bill? caller: i'm pleased that he signed the bill, and i'm glad that things are going to start moving along. host: ok, where you frustrated when he wasn't? when he said he would not sign it? caller: yes, i was a little frustrated. him, so i think things will go well. host: celia from mount pleasant, south carolina, democratic collar. trump is a menace to this whole nation.

taking us all down this rabbit hole with him. , alls pardoned criminals the stuff with these foreign countries that he is doing undermining our democracy. he is a menace and he needs to be impeached. all he wants to do is be on tv. this bill was in mitch mcconnell's office since may, now these people are talking about -- it's crazy to me. this man needs to disappear, january 20 we don't have to hear anything else about him. the media needs to diss include him, don't take any calls from him. host: celia, thank you. mike from ohio, independent. me thatit just amazes people just don't read anymore or come prevent facts. you want to talk about our rabbit hole, let's look what

biden and obama did for eight years. nothing. trump comes in and rearranges everything and structures that like a company. we are a company. we produce things and collect money. the thing that kills me is there is a law on the books, 48 hours to read the bill. six hours and what did they do? those 5000 pages, it would take me a week to read 5000 pages. all these people that know trump is so bad. i will call back in a year and see how well things are going. jeff sends us this text from ohio. "i'm glad he signed this bill, but if he objected to the spending items he should have been involved in the process and not wait until the clock runs out to protest the spending. -- protest the spending." debt,oint $5 trillion in

congress is such a failure." michael in portland thinks the president did the right thing. if we don't act now when would ever be more appropriate? in newear from carol york, a republican. good morning to you. what do you think about the president's reversal here? i hate what's going on with the democrats. thing should be taken out in this bill. unfortunately nancy pelosi made it clear she was not going to pass this bill no matter what until trump was not going to be president. what i have seen in the democrats makes me sick. i am a senior citizen, i have

one grandchild. it hurts me so bad what is happening to this country. i can't tell you how bad it's hurting me. ist donald trump is doing wonderful, he is pardoning people because the democrats spied on his campaign [laughter] -- these people are criminals. go after the fbi, the cia. not trump. had doneat barr something. he may have done something we don't know about. on hoping and praying he did. what's happening to this country makes me sick. it really does. i love my donald trump.

for our last president, obama, even though i did not like the man or what he stood for. i didn't do anything to hurt or say anything nasty about him. even though i didn't like him. host: elizabeth from connecticut, democratic collar. caller: good morning, thanks for taking my call. i listened it to the other collars and i try to learn about other people's points of view. it hurts me when i hear them say nasty things about the democrats. altogether we represent this country, and the things they are claiming about democrats are the same things we feel about republicans. himselfrump has proven to be corrupt, selfish, narcissistic, and if you want to talk about pork one about all the money he directs to his personal business is? what about all the money he spends on golfing?

what about the money we don't know about? divisiveness,t this country is so divided and to hear them say these nasty comments about democrats is really hurtful. i take it personally, and i don't know how this country will heal. thank you for taking my call. host: chris from pump on a beach -- pompano beach, florida. independent. isler: all i want to say obama had to make difficult decisions, trump has to make difficult decisions. this is the largest corporation on the planet, you have to run your business like a business. people that have been in business know that there are tough decisions that have to be made in order for this country to grow. ,ood luck to everybody everybody mask up. everybody try to chill out.

merry christmas and happy holidays and happy new year's. daniel in madison, wisconsin. democrat collar. -- democrat caller. caller: i would like to thank the state of new york justice department, because i get a weird feeling how the republicans think trump is going to come back in 2024. it's my prediction that by the time this year is out trump and his family and a lot of others are going to be dealing with the justice system of the state of new york. it's not going to get any better, so the republicans better change their face very soon. onalled up two years ago your questions of long-term problems with the president that we have and what is going to be down the pike. i said it's going to be the foreign relations that we have to deal with to get this country back in the world, and the unforeseen.

the unforeseen has happened, here's where we are at. the only way we can straighten it out is to put all of this onrupt this -- corruptness an even keel. we have to get some results from it, otherwise, what is going to happen? we are going to put a democrat in the presidency and he will do the same thing trump did, so we have to hear this all over again? nazihave to ditch their party right now. host: from texas, and republican. good morning. caller: i am a vietnam vet. these people that are calling in, half of these people have never been outside the country. they don't know what not having their freedom is. i'm proud of our president for signing this bill. i know he didn't want to, but he is trying to help the american people. done70 years old, he has more for this country than any

president in the short time he has been there than i have seen since i've been alive. god is not going to let any man take amount. just hang loose. john in coleman, florida -- sean in coleman, florida and independent. caller: good morning. presidentthat if the had an issue with the bill, he loves being in front of the camera, why didn't he -- i know he doesn't read, but he has people that read and go over the bill. newsidn't he have a normal conference to waste time and say "i don't need to sign a bill that has this in it, this or that in it, what does that have to do with covid?" calling ine

talking about god, what god are you serving? great, have a happy new year and i hope that in 2021 all these so-called god loving people will read the bible. thank you. host: ray from homestead, pennsylvania. a democrat, ray? caller: a couple of comments on the covid released bill. i see you stopped trying to tell people there were two separate bills, because they simply won't believe you. they are too stupid to know and thee two bills, covid bill has nothing to do with the pork they are talking about. not beingats are tough enough on republicans as the $2000, they should be talking to the republicans who voted for these republican congressmen and senators and tell them, you are hurting just as much as the democrats. you are not getting your rent paid and your food.

years, our member that these people voted against the $2000, for any republicans that did. like kelly loeffler. she said she was going to work as hard as she could for the people of georgia. warnock should be all over these people and not allow them to answer any question until they say whether they will vote for the extension. biden should put the pressure on pelosi and schumer, they should talk to republicans who voted for these people. in two years you are going term ember that people did not vote for these $2000 that would help the country kickstart the economy. i don't think they are being tough enough on them. i don't have much more time left, i have a lot more to say. host: will you be watching this afternoon. we learned earlier that the vote for the $2000 checks to americans would take place around 5:00 p.m.. will you be watching on c-span

to see how republicans and democrats vote? caller: i will be watching, i'm sure it's going to pass the house. the senate is where i am going to be looking at. house is in today, the senate is in tomorrow. you will have to watch c-span two for our senate coverage when they gavel in tomorrow. the washington post had this story that they posted on december 23. "trump rails against federal spending he requested in his budget." inhe list trump rattled off his surprise video conflated the coronavirus stimulus measure with the year and federal government omnibus spending bill passed in tandem by the senate. moreover, much of the spending allegations trump criticized were the exact amounts he requested for those programs in his fiscal 2021 budget. and thelion for each of egyptian military, but trump budget asks for $1.3 billion.

-- 130 $4 million for myanmar, the trump budget asked for the same money. $40 million for the kennedy center, the trump budget asked for a little over $40 million. his rant focused on foreign aid, arts, and humanity, and fish. $25 million -- 25 -- to promote the breeding of fish in federal hatcheries, he listed among programs he didn't think should be funded. trump is threatening to not sign the bill, creating confusion among republicans. lastd indeed sign the bill night. steve in chatsworth, illinois, independent. hello, steve. caller: how are you doing? i was just wondering, what about nancy pelosi not bringing to the

trillion that was supposed to be used for covid relief? why is she suddenly for $900 billion now? instead of the $1.9 trillion? that all thehe way democratic callers can put everything bad on trump, but when it comes down to nancy pelosi right before the election, and i could use the october instead of the new year. make any sense. these congressmen and women are so vain and so stuck up, it's pathetic. it's because a lot of americans don't vote.

they get outraged highthey get all of these class and luxuries while the working class -- pays the taxes and everything nothing, andy get if these guys live like superstars. i am just talking about the whole set. host: diane in mount laurel, new jersey, a republican. diane? what was your reaction when you saw the president signed the bill? he signed thek bill because they hold him hostage all the time. they are always bad mouthing him and showing disrespect. he has done so much for this country and the people in this country than any other president has done. evil man everyone makes him to be. i agree with him not wanting to

sign the bill. inare in a bad situation this country, desperate. , andbanks are going empty he is trying to help people by giving more money. maybe that bill, his fiscal budget, was prior to all of this bad stuff happening in this country with the covid. we giving money to the kennedy center and over to other hurting sohen we are bad ourselves? our country is going to go bankrupt. from diane, did you hear the washington post article that i read, the president possible budget requested that $40 million for the kennedy center. caller: but when did he signed that budget? host: congress holding the purse strings gets to decide how that

money is spent. they agreed with him and said they will do $40 million. he requested it. caller: even the last time when covid relief was out they gave a whole bunch of money to the kennedy center. why are we doing that when people are hurting so bad in this country? we need to take care of ourselves first. then we can help other countries. host: diane, a republican. reaction one capitol hill to the president signing the bill yesterday. senator dick durbin, a democrat from illinois, sending out this tweet saying "i'm glad the president found the time between rounds of golf to sign the bipartisan covid-19 relief bill aimed at helping american families. this was never about substance for him, just grievance and tantrums. january 20 cannot come soon enough." other lawmakers sent out as edges. ,ongressman kevin mccarthy

according to politico helped the president -- convinced the president to sign this "pelosiion last night delayed and damage to the countries for months while president trump signed covid relief into law, paycheck protection is renewed, thousands of small businesses will be able to keep -- keep doors open and businesses paid, thank you for putting people over politics." let's go to leanne in hershey, michigan. a republican. caller: i just want to say i and 74 our president million support him also. the people that are saying we are not christians, and we don't read the bible and those kinds of things. they are so off. they are so wrong. trump told all of you, he told you that media is lying to

you, pay attention. they are all lying. thank you. warrenton, oregon. a democratic caller. caller: good morning. i want to say i'm one of those dirty democrats, but i'm not a liberal really. the i do find puzzling is separation, the warring factions can takeght that just a loss. that his lovehink i sent him a free lunch certificate to 1600 pennsylvania avenue from his favorite restaurant, the sign with a golden arches, and i certainly hope he uses it. there is nothing i would like better than to buy that man lunch. host: joe in ohio, and

independent. hi, joe. caller: i would like to say that i think trump is working his far as being able to, hello? host: we are listening. caller: he is taking everything all the way to the limit, pushing it to the very limit just like he did with north korea, he takes it to the limit, then brings it back. he does the things he says he is not going to do. i kind of expected that from trump. host: does that disappoint you or are you ok with that? caller: it's kind of disappointing. people got hurt out of this deal, this never should -- they never should have done that. that's what bothers me. he thinks, the art of the deal

as he calls it, which is not really an art, it is just him showing how spoiled he is. --t: bill in russellville, joe in russellville, tennessee, a republican. what do you think about the president signing this legislation? caller: i think you should sign it, but i think there are some things in there they need to change, like all this money they are giving to other countries. they need to take care of our own country. there are people out there starving. there are people that are getting put out of their houses where they live. i think what they should do is $50,000 orthat make under a year, give them $2000. for people who make more than that if they want to go for the 600, give it to them. all these people are calling in on trump. trump has done what he could for the past four years. he's good for the past four years. still he provides for the

country. and he thinks about his country. they want to do something real good, how about the house and senate take the first checks they get the first month and donate to that two people in lines trying to get food to provide for the families. if they want to be somebody. host: the house will be gaveling in today later today. they will take up the veto override the national defense authorization bill and also in $2000 check to americans in response to the pandemic. you can watch the coverage right here on c-span. senate will convene tomorrow on tuesday. we will switch your focus and turn our attention to civil rights.

presidentlk with the and executive director of the lawyers committee for civil rights about the president and what's next with the biden administration. later discussion of the future of the republican party in a post-trump washington with adam good men. we will be right back. ♪ >> on tuesday, january 5, the balance of power in the senate will be decided by the winners of the two georgia runoffs. david perdue and kelly cook -- kelly leffler are defending their seats. democratic challengers are jon ossoff and raphael warnock. follow the results and hear from the candidates.

live coverage on c-span, c-span.org and the free c-span radio app. with covid-19 relief legislation approved by congress and coronavirus vaccines being administered, use our website to follow the federal response to the outbreak. watch our searchable videos all at on demand c-span.org/coronavirus. tonight on "the communicators." president of the american telemedicine association talks about the telemedicine industry during the pandemic. coinedave a term we've called the telemedicine cliff. a abstract thing.

i am that can the 40% and when we get a little bit more cranked up we will be at 75% and we won't go higher than that. in order for us to meet the demands for patient care we have to have telehealth embedded in our workflow now and we cannot do that and all of a sudden the public health emergency goes away. some of these regulatory restrictions we see. 8:00 p.m. eastern on "the communicators" on c-span2. >> stay with c-span for continuing coverage of the transition of power as president-elect joe biden moves closer to the presidency. with the electoral college votes cast from states across the country, and join us on january 6 live at 1:00 p.m. eastern for

a joint session of congress to count the votes and declare the winner for president and vice president. finally at noon on january 20, of the inauguration of the 46th president of the united states. live coverage begins at 7:00 a.m. eastern from the statehouse to congress, the white house, a it live on c-span. c-span.org or listen at the free c-span radio app. journal" host: continues. host: joining us is kristen clark, the president and executive director for the lawyers committee for civil rights. we are talking about the legacy of this president on civil rights, but also on what to expect next in the biden administration. opinion, what action has he taken on civil rights? guest: thanks so much for having

me. counts on then federal government being able to jobts part, to do its enforcing our civil rights laws. the past four years have been difficult for our organization and many groups that care about the most vulnerable communities in our country. we have seen the justice department, the u.s. department of education, hud, and a number of poor federal agencies really abandon the project of enforcing and instituting the protections afforded by our federal civil rights laws. as a result, what we've seen has been a resurgence of discrimination across the country. ofhave seen the resurgence discrimination in the fair affordableket and

housing opportunities for vulnerable communities. we have seen abandonment of the principal, the principle of diversity abandoned. ofhave seen the resurgence -- -- suppression is adjusted to barb and turned its back on important work that must be done. rampant police abuse, police misconduct and police brutality that has largely gone unchecked because again this justice department over the past four years has work ofd the investigating systemic policing misconduct. we also know hate crimes have been on the rise across the country and we have not seen this justice department do enough to hold the perpetrators of hate accountable. ofhink there will be a lot

work that needs to be done in the road ahead to make up for that lost ground into breathe life back into our federal agencies that are tasked with the important work of protecting the rights of our nation's most vulnerable communities. enforcing some of our nation's most important federal laws. what about what is next? what does the biden administration need to do? best: the first task will putting in place strong leadership. and bringing with them a clear trend and commitment to enforcing aggressively our civil rights and understanding of what racial injustice is because we will need people to bring that a lens to the work.

the second thing we understand over the past four years is when we are talking about civil beens, we know there have a number of executive orders and policy decisions that have been harmful and devastating when it comes to civil rights in our country. president trump recently issued an executive order on race and gender stereotyping as it's called. this executive order essentially bans our federal agencies, federal contractors and federally funded and's recipients from conducting training that can help people better understand and help us better understand what racism is, what sexism is. this is a baffling executive order. it's one of the longest we've seen issued under the trump era

and it's caused a lot of thatsion among schools receive federal funding. they are trying to understand whether it means they are banned from teaching their students about our history of racism in our country. banned from teaching about what sexism is and what they can do to overcome. would we can do to overcome collectively select -- sexism in society. sessionsgeneral jeff put in place -- when he was in place, put in place a number of federals, he charged prosecutors with pursuing the most aggressive sentencing for federal offenders regardless of whether the crime is low-level or nonviolent, and this to theally has led incarceration -- high rates of

incarceration in our federal prisons. we have seen the death penalty reinstituted very recently. we have seen the voting rights disregarded for the civil rights division. some of these areas will need to be a top priority for new leadership put in place. really looking at what was done over the last four years and what do we need to do to get back on track and rebuild and restore our commitment to safeguarding the rights of those most vulnerable in our country. viewers want to get our involved in this conversation. your questions or comments about civil rights issues. you can dial in. if you are a republican, 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000 and , 202-748-8002.

npr has this headline. civil rights leaders push biden for racial justice fight for attorney general nominee. can you explain. guest: again, i think this is incredibly -- an incredibly important job. our nation's highest law enforcement agency there are so money law enforcement agencies at the local and state level that really model their work around what the justice department is doing or not doing. i think it will be very critical year inose down 2020, a which we lived through a national reckoning with our long history of racism and police violence to put in place in attorney general who will on day one understands what needs to be done to carry forth that work.

to carry forth that commitment to confronting and addressing racial violence and police violence which have been issues that dad -- animated the protest we've seen across the country over the past year. people black, white, brown. multigenerational protests around the idea that now is the time to figure out once and for problemsing into these that have been intractable throughout her nation's history. the attorney general of the united states is playing an important role in that. my hope is we will see someone on day one understand what needs to be done to ensure the justice department is doing its part to move the nation forward. host: philip in florida, independent. good morning to you.

question or comment on civil rights. caller: i would say america as a whole has had their civil rights run across for the last seven months while we waited for anything to be done for covid relief since the last bill. i think was a complete disgrace. people are tied into a withnment extension plan all of the protesters destroying all of our different heritage and history of statues that they disagree and nothing being done. i think the entire thing has been a complete and outer disrespect to the rights of americans across the board. clark, yourn thoughts on the black lives matter movement in the debate over confederate statues. guest: if i could address the first part, so i do think we need to do more.

into the pain-and-suffering and harm that so many are experiencing right now. they may have lost their jobs with a rate of homelessness because of the pandemic so more must be done in this relief bill that was just signed by president trump last night. peopley concerned about who are on the brink of evictions from their home for example. more must be done. , this hassecond part been a part of this national reckoning with their country's history of racism. really grappling with these confederate monuments has been incredibly polarizing and divisive in communities across the country. onfederate monuments courthouse lawns and campus test campuses as well.

we have seen students embroiled in debate about the appropriateness of glorifying people who were at the forefront of the confederacy. who were deemed traders and racist. tople who were deemed embrace the practice of slavery. these are hard conversations and these are conversations that are happening now as we see protests and demonstrations that call for the removal of these monuments. it doesn't mean we don't reckon with that history, but it means the public is saying we need to close the chapter on glorifying people, individuals and institutions that have been at the heart of slavery in our country, the heart of a divisive civil war and really move the country forward into the 21st century.

thinking about what that history means, thinking about closing the chapter on what has been deemed glorification of one of the darkest moments in our nations history. darlene in las vegas, independent. caller: i was wondering if you would heard about the lawsuit in las vegas, nevada. currently a charter school is being sued by a mother because her child is being forced to take a class at a charter school to teach them about inherent white privilege and specifically stated on screen that systemic like onees for things and four young black men being incarcerated. in my day it was called crime, not racism. it --st appalled because

the class is force ended today charter school. host: are you familiar with this? guest: i am not familiar with our lawsuit. but i do think it's important that we have hard conversations the way the, but racism affect our criminal justice system. about the way which racism results in segregated communities across our country. the way in which the legacy of racism and slavery has subjected lowerand brown people to socioeconomic standing in many parts of our country. these are hard conversations and i think the school is a great setting for us to begin having these critical conversations moderated by teachers with to createwho know how open dialogue around these issues. i mentioned an executive order issued by president trump, i

think those shut down the conversations. that's an executive order that i .hink is incredibly dangerous it shuts down these kinds of critical conversations that we need to be having, that students need to be having. caller will kind of probe more closely what is at issue, what is the charter school's purpose in opening up my guess ise which that charter school really is trying to push students to again reckon with this legacy of so longhat has beleaguered the nation. >> reverend jesse jackson wrote a piece in the richmond free press calling on president-elect

biden to revive the u.s. commission on civil rights. what is this commission and what work needs to be done? the u.s. commission on civil rights is a very important institution. and theyback decades held hearings and issued reports throughout the year on incredibly important civil rights issues. under the leadership of catherine lehman, it has put out support -- reports on voter suppression and voter intimidation in our country. there were hearings that gave people an opportunity to bring people problems across the country. they have issued guidance on issues. that loanit's been institution that spoke up during the trump era. issuing helpful guidance on

issues concerning civil rights at a time when we felt the justice department's absence. strong leadership at the commission on civil rights reading back into its mandate i think it will be an important step forward as we think of them not just rebuilding the justice department and apartment of education and hud, but these critical agencies that have played a federal role throughout the day. host: you and other civil rights leaders met virtually with the president-elect and vice president elect. what did you want them to do on civil rights? what did you learn what they plan to do on this issue? guest: we talked about a number of issues we collectively deemed amongst the priorities for this administration. i spent my time underscoring the importance of breathing life back into enforcement of the

voting rights act. if there's one thing we've seen for sure for the past few years is that voter suppression and voting discrimination are problems that are alive and well across the country. we've seen in georgia, past and present. we seen it texas, north carolina and so may places across the country. we've got a justice department that hasn't brought many cases at all. they have not enforced the voting rights act. administration to ensure this would be a top priority for a new administration and also urge that they think about launching a voter access commission. a national task force to help study this problem and put more affirmative solution to help guide localities and states that are thinking about how to ensure

voter access, particularly during a pandemic. >> what role would congress need to play in the voting rights act? >> we need congress to do its part which is why responding to a devastating 2013 supreme court which cut out a core provision of the voting rights act, a provision known as the section five preclearance provision. that's part of the voting rights act proving critical throughout the decades in blocking and deterring voting discrimination in certain parts of our country. that have long and egregious histories. put the ballourt in congress is court to respond in several years later they have yet to have -- pass a bill that

would respond to the court's concerns. project. critical madeow john lewis enforcement of the voting rights act and restoration of the voting rights act a core part of his life. my hope is we will see this next congress passed the john lewis voting rights advancement act which passed in the house but has been gathering dust on the senate side. that's the role for congress. the justice department has a critical role to play in the other remaining provisions which has proven to be when actually utilized, strong against this problem of voter discrimination we see. joanna who isto waiting in damascus, maryland. guest: good morning -- caller: good morning.

think trumps i record on civil rights and human rights over the last years is appalling. after theis him going judge of mexican ancestry intending he couldn't be fair because the was hispanic answer assay. calling the people of the border applying for asylum to get into -- united states an infestation, which dehumanizes them. he banned transgender's in the service. he painted almost limbs as terrorists. he supported the woman in kentucky who refused to issue marriage certificates. including theh

fact extremely little diversity in his cabinet and administration. rude, nasty disgusting remarks about women. now i understand like in pennsylvania, republican legislatures are doing what they can to even further restrict voting rights. the whole idea since he's been in office is to trying key people of color from voting. i agree with the caller. all of those issues really touch on a lot of what is devastating over the past four years. when it comes to the rights of vulnerable commune is in our country. the first point the caller made by the courts is an important

one. over the past four years we've seen president trump with nominees for lifetime positions on our courts who bring track records. have a larges also part not reflected the growing racial and gender diversity we see in our country. today are roughly 80% white. this stands in stark contrast with the country that about 40% people of color. know our law schools are graduating students at higher rates than men in many places. if will -- yet women made up less than 20% of president trump's nominees for federal courts. restore the diversity

of our federal courts. we need them to be institutions that produce outcomes and havegs that the publican

confidence and faith in. have confidence and faith in. the caller started with that and i want to underscore that >> one of the things they talk about his micro aggressions. might be going off-topic in terms of voting, but micro aggressions such as touching somebody's hair when necessarily you didn't ask or saying you are smart for a black person. it's not necessarily those things that come off as racist but at the same time of course it doesn't hurt, it's just one of those things that after a while it gets annoying. to my white counterparts imagine dealing

with those little things you don't know if it's a slight orbits a complement with regards to your overall character. that's the critical race theory and what some people understand about it. people should try to at least in regards to getting people in office the look like them is try to take part more in the building process. have been dealing with a multitude, it seems we dealt with the same thing we are dealing with during the presidential election, it seems there are parts of the government that there are certain places, certain polling places that should be open. one of the things we can point at in -- is the closing of

polling places in remote areas. when you close those areas where they are close to people it really is significant basically. which strategically people now. we need to understand those laws and municipalities will go out downeir way to shut people. not necessarily suppress, but process of voting kind of more difficult for people. just as a lot of places in general. have is very knowledgeable on the issues and it's great to hear somebody talk about these things because you don't see it.

i recognize some of the things that happened in the past with regards to those atrocities. this party opposed to trump can go back to those things and actually be parallel to what they want. host: kristin clark. guest: a lot of important points there. i will say protecting the right to vote, safeguarding the right to vote has not been drawn much of history a deeply polarizing issue along partisan lines. the voting rights act came before congress for renewal in 2006 and passed by tremendous bipartisan margins of 390-33 in the house. samet -- in the senate.

noblemen support that we need to preserve the heart of the voting rights act that i referenced earlier. certain parts of the country get federal review of voting changes before they could take effect. without the core protections of that voting rights act in the decision in2013 shelby county, what we have seen is what the voter -- what the caller referred to. we've seen the purging of voter rolls in ways that disproportionately strike black and brown voters despite their continued eligibility. we seen laws and policies intended to make it harder to get to vote. yearnk as we go into a new we need to think about how do we get back to that place where

people regardless of race or partisan affiliation could embrace this idea every american should have voice in our democracy. that gives everyone voice. that would be important work that a biden harris administration really can lean on in its first 100 days. host: let's go to frank and alabama. good morning and thank you for taking my call. jones who was u.s. consideration. you also referenced john lewis. i want to say this quickly as it relates to burning him.

in alabama specific the birmingham and we want to take that monument down. to rename our confederate park. unanimous to get rid of that park name but our --rent mayor name.e a library we would that has stalled as well. we are stumbling. -- i might address on appointments of attorney

general, doug jones was an assistant to the case of the prosecution. an attorney by the name of robert posy were appointed by george w. bush. hard.ought long and i wish i would do more due diligence. we have to protest for eight months. .e wanted to drop the case we had to protest and take buses to montgomery and the judge to pay for cherry his psychological evaluations. mr. jones's wrote a number of books and i talked my friend the other day about this.

vettingeds to be more for another alabama individual is considered an attorney general. host: i have other callers waiting period guest: i -- waiting. guest: this will be one of the most consequential decisions made by president-elect biden, the selection of his attorney general. he needs to be someone who not only has a track record, a deep tog proven track record enforcing civil rights laws but who iss to be someone not excluded from the project of ensuring justice in our country. he needs to be an attorney general who can restore the integrity of the institution. he needs to be someone who can help get the justice department being a in terms of

true independent agency when it comes to protecting the rights of all communities in doing so free from political interference of any kind. decisionn important and that vetting and appropriately analyzing in the deepest way the record underlying the ultimate nominee will be important. i think the call for the work he is doing in terms of opening up dialogue and debate about the appropriateness of having these nameserate monuments and in our communities. these are hard conversations that are long overdue. i am encouraged by the progress we have seen made into 2020. it is time we think about turning the chapter. right now there is also in alabama a discussion happening

90-year-old attorney deemed to be one of the court lawyers who figured prominently into what happened during the movement. he worked with dr. martin luther king and there is an effort underway to rename a street after him and replace the name currentlye lee that is named one of the streets in a majority black neighborhood. these are conversations we need to have now. conversations that are long overdue. how do we celebrate and acknowledge the contributions made by people of color, by black people in our country who fought hard to promote justice and need to be people we lift up, celebrate and acknowledge as well.

as we move into this chapter. in this reckoning with racism that has gotten underway over the past year. >> i want your thoughts on this headline in the wall street journal about reapportionment. and the impact that has on legislation and civil rights issues. which statesest will win and lose seats in congress and they report the census bureau released an estimate as of july 1. that data was gathered separately from census responses. it says the new population aremates suggest 10 states likely to lose one congressional ceh. alabama, california, illinois, minnesota, new york, pennsylvania, rhode island and west virginia. texas is expected to gain three seats in florida is expected to give up two.

montana,colorado, north carolina and oregon are expected to pick up one. next: this is the important project for those who care deeply about democracy in our country. round, up to the next once every decade, states, district cities reopen lines from everything from city council to congressional seats to make sure they are complying with the mandate of one person, one vote. ensuring they are roughly equal in size and population shifts that have happened over the past decade. redrawingss of boundary lines has been fraught with racism and with extreme partisanship. inetimes it's resulted redistricting maps that don't

fairly allocate power to communities, vulnerable communities. as we go into 2021, my hope is we see communities energized to pay close attention to redistricting and work that is happening with respect to their local governments that they will andnd maps that are fair ensure power invoice for communities that too often are marginalized. thatdea you referenced suggested states may be on the verge of losing seats, we will have to see what the final numbers show. president trump make multiple attempts to really jeopardize the census. to really exclude communities of color and immigrant communities

from the census count. that they were fighting various unconstitutional actions president trump's endeavor to take with respect to the census and there is an executive policy he's issued we hope the excluderation seeks to certain on documented immigrants from the census. we believe this stands in contrast to the way the census data has been handled for decades. back to the point about redistricting, this is the next big issue on the horizon. huge implications for democracy. we need to ensure our lawmakers are producing mass -- maps that

fairly affect -- represent the communities. morning.ood it's an honor and privilege to see you. you are so sophisticated. do you have anybody in mind for attorney general? i would love to see an african-american woman there. times are changing. thank you. have a nice holiday season. diversity with in thisto cabinet picks next administration will be closely watched. we know the short list that has been reported for attorney general has included senator who wases, sally yates

somebody who understands the lay of the land inside the justice department. rebuild.rstand how to we also understand america with someonejudge who was brought up by president obama to fill a spring court seat. someone who can restore the integrity of the agency. doug jones brings a track record when comes to enforcement of civil rights. whether these nominees bring that long extensive unblemished a deepwhen it comes to and abiding when you're talking about racial justice and civil rights. that question must be asked.

-- racerings of racial and gender diversity. he needs to be one that reflects the nation and has --. my hope is in the final analysis we can look at the sum total of president-elect biden's cabinet indeed onfeel that he day one will put in place a cabinet that reflects america. host: in california, independent. caller: i'm from the apache nation and i will tell you this. i can speak more than one language. see black-and-white or monolithic. they only speak english. i think we are not diverse at all. you people can get it together. i don't know why. you speak the same language. people, we are

all bilingual. we are truly diverse. let me say in closing, my great-great-grandfather was a confederate scout. he could find water, this was in texas. the confederates treated the apaches, the cherokees and all the other nations with respect. us until slaughtered we fought back. it makes me cry to think about it. you talk about diversity and yourself.think about you guys speak one language. learn how to be diverse. i appreciate the callers

point that when we talk about diversity we are not omitting native americans from that discussion. i think the caller raises an important point. when i talk about race and ethnic diversity i am talking about historically marginalized groups that have tended to be excluded from america's promise. black people, latinos, native americans, immigrant communities, women. so to me when i think about the civil rights work that must be done in the road ahead, it's about ensuring we are protecting and safeguarding the rights of these very groups that do often or arescrimination omitted from the discussion. i think the caller for his point. a lot of the voting rights work we do across the country, we are

confronting a very -- problems faced by native american communities. i think about a case we recently brought in utah that went to an all-male voting system without navajo speaking voters many who need language assistance. i think the caller for his comment. host: for others who want to learn more about kristin clark and the lawyers committee fruit civil rights, you can go to lawyerscommittee.org. >> we will take a break. we will turn our attention to the republican party a post-trump washington. goodman.alk to adam ♪

>> president of the american television association talks about the growth of the telemedicine industry. called thea term telemedicine cliff. isn'that means a his this an abstract notion. i am seeing patients in the office at 40% of previous volume. when we get a little bit more cranked up we will be at 75% and we won't go higher than that. in order for us to meet the demand of patient care we have to have telehealth embedded in our workflow now and if we can do that, all of a sudden the

public health emergency and there's no way to cover these restrictions and their patients will be in more struggle but -- more trouble. >> tonight at 8:00 eastern on on -- on "the communicators" c-span2. ♪ withay with c-span continuing coverage on the transition of power as president-elect joe biden moves closer to the presidency. with the electoral college votes cast from states across the country, and join us on january 6 live at 1:00 p.m. eastern with a joint session of congress to count the votes and declare the winner for president and vice president. the 46thuration of president of the united states. live coverage begins at 7:00 a.m. eastern from the statehouse to congress to the white house. watch it all live on c-span, on

the go at c-span.org or listen using the free c-span radio app. on tuesday, january 5, the balance of power in the senate be decided by the winners of the two georgia runoffs. david pretty when kelly leffler are defending their seats in the gop's control of the chamber. the democratic challengers are jon ossoff and raphael warnock. follow the results and hear from the candidates in these final races of campaign 2020. >> "washington journal" continues. host: adam good men joins us -- aboutn joins us to talk the republican party in a post-trump washington. you predicted president trump would win this past election, why do you think you lost?

the tale of the tape in the selection was actually how well republicans did against all expectations. they made a gain of at least half a dozen seats in the united states house where they were expected to lose seats. they will at least be in a tie or maintaine control after the elections in georgia. they made dramatic gains among hispanics, especially hispanic women. , trumps numbers among african-americans were double or triple what they were in 2016 in certain parts of the country. any women are said to serve 96 congress, or publican women than at any time in history. so against all expectations in the middle of a pandemic, with all the media predicting doom and gloom, the president of the united states just barely

apparently lost the selection. yet looking ahead, think about what is ahead. havesentially conservative/republican, we have a good foothold in the united states supreme court, historically the midterm election since world war ii there's been a change of up to -- from the out party to the party which means republicans are in good shape to retake the house in 22 and if they don't hold the majority in the senate, they fall back into a tie if they had bad fortune georgia. they are still in much better position to increase their margins in the senate and maybe into 2023 with the united states house, the u.s. senate, a very favorable supreme court all giving them tailwinds as they move in to what will be another incredible experience and

democracy called the presidential election. host: how did president trump change their publican party? guest: -- the republican party? guest: i remember writing in 2016 he -- they came in as a party of one. they were transforming -- they were transformational figures that decided they would play it a different way. they would go directly to the public as opposed to going through the filter of media, powerbrokers, special interest groups. they decided they would take it to the people. that was a fundamental transformational change in the politics of america continues to this day. how has he changed it, obviously i think twitter is very happy having seen how much he popularized that social media. has certainly engaged in a conversation about doing things differently.

foreign policy which has been relatively unchanged for a half-century has been dramatically changed and i think the fruits of those changes will be seen as we move downstream as we start alliances now with israel's -- israel and some of its arab neighbors. it speaks to some of the transcendent gains he has had. i think ultimately the willingness to stand up toto with china -- toe to toe with china who is been taking america's economic lunch for years was an important first step in trying to ensure free and fair trade across the world and to make sure there isn't the growth of chinese power as we start moving ahead. in of those will be seen history is dramatically important a compliments of this president.

host: what advice would you give to republicans running in the of theabout what parts president strategy or philosophy they should ignore in order to win? guest: the president of the united states had to go up against something you and i have never had to confront in our lifetime which was a pandemic. about what really costs donald trump reelection it was covid. that was a difficult thing for anyone to anticipate, much less handle. in terms of the advice moving forward that i or the president or others would get, it is to be direct. be real, be genuine, the authentic. america, if nothing else in this last election, which is a real sign not only to republicans but to all americans been america's -- americans voted for moderation. see what has transpired

over the last couple of weeks in the u.s. senate in particular over the stimulus package were a group of centrists, some on the and those on the right have started to drive not just the conversation, but policy. i think americans want to move forward, they want to get things done. i think you may be that ultimately will be the legacy of the selection and hopefully will be a sign not just to republicans, but anyone seeking to lead america forward in the realm of public service. strategist asican well who worked for marco rubio in 2016 wrote in politico i think the take away from the selection is -- this election is whoever wins the suburbs will win the white house for the foreseeable future.

inonsistent winning message the suburbs, that the challenges for republicans over the next few years. do you agree and if so, why? guest: i agree to a large extent. where is this swing, the swing vote in america, if we talk about it geographically you're talking about the suburbs. it is driven by one word, the economy. it's two words. and how well it's doing. the pandemic had a tremendous impact on america's economy. i think that was seen in some of the voting that happened in american suburbs. there is something else, american cities. they say cities are democrats. i think they -- there are opportunities there for the cities not just from the left and the democratic side, but in

withng forward and agenda the economy of america that those cities will start to vote that way and understand they have a choice in going one way or the other as opposed to moving in lockstep or by habit or inertia on the political spectrum and voting and supporting democrats and those on the left. host: talking about the republican party and the impact of president trump on it with adam goodman. if you're a republican, a dial in at 202-748-8001, democrats 202-748-8000. an independents 202-748-8002. you can text us with your first name, city, and state. you wrote in the "new york daily " this.

explain. guest: we live in a cancel culture where everyone is afraid of saying anything is not -- for fear of being not just criticized but ostracized. haveo-cortez and others called for blacklisting anyone and everyone who ever served with president trump. theink you are dividing country and trying to command to unite. i take offense to that. this is guilt by association. you may like the president. you may not like the president at all. he was president of the united states. to say that anyone who decided to serve their country in a trump administration should somehow not only apologize for that but be permanently ostracized from anything of any significance moving forward i

think is the very reason we have instability in this country, we have political division in this country, and we are where we are as opposed to where we should be. host: next caller, democratic caller. i have never heard anyone answer this question. he is a stable genius. is not even half of what you asked. thank you. host: adam goodman? guest: i am trying to be as direct and open as i can with your viewers. i appreciate the call. caller and a lot of people like that feel great distress and distrust that if someone goes on your show or any

show and they have any kind of abel, i am categorized as media consultant and republican, that somehow that discolors anything that person will offer or share. you talk about the biggest problem in america, that is it. i hope not to feed into that but to fight it. host: oklahoma, independent. caller: good morning. thank you for c-span. i wanted to know if you had heard the tape secretly made of and howt trump's sister that affects your opinion of president trump. guest: thank you for the question. i did not personally hear that recording. i think there have been a lot of stories. some true, some half true, some completely not true about the president, his personality, his

behavior. there are things the president has done, as with any human being, that i do not support or favor. i think that may have been one of those moments. but i look at the totality of what a person is about. you may say, what value did she or he bring to life? i look at the full resume. based on the resume of service president trump has brought to america over the last four years, i think his time in the white house has been very productive. need a, oklahoma, independent. i am sorry. we just talked to you. let's go to mike, democratic caller. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. had an awfulump future ofe in the

republicans will not be good --. concerned. refusing toump accept the election results is very disappointing. crisis, he is-19 concerned with himself and his family. it is unbelievable how the american people can trust republican politicians in this shameful situation. thank you. guest: thank you for the observation and question, the implied question. i really believe we are at a place right now where we are so distrustful, not just of people , the pew center puts out annual ratings, not

only is congress on the bottom of the pile but so are the people who serve us there. but it is also the lack of trust amongst ourselves. we don't trust each other. wheretalk about elections a lot has been written and made thehe results of 2020, cannot after election day, the count after election day. we went into 2020 distrusting the entire process. in 2016, 42% of democrats said they did not believe in the final result in the campaign for president between hillary clinton and donald trump. they never accepted that as valid. 2020,orward to republicans by over 60% have trouble believing that is the final number. if we have distrust like that in

the most fundamental pillar of democracy, which is the power of the vote, the integrity of the vote, if we start questioning that, i'm concerned about anyone's ability to have public in office who serves moving forward because they with one handed behind their back and the other soon to be manacled as well. host: rebecca, republican, good morning. caller: i want to let the republican party know i have been voting since i was 18. i am 65 now. i'm thinking about changing over to democrat. i am disgusted with this last legislation. i don't care about the american people anymore. i wish the republicans would get on board and do like the democrats. go ahead and sign the bill for these people barely making it.

thank you. host: adam goodman? guest: thank you for that question. host: what do you think the follow-up is over the president saying he would not sign this economic aid and government funding bill, and now, last night doing so? guest: i don't think there will be fallout. what the president was protesting in the package is he did not feel americans were getting enough direct assistance. yieldackage was going to $600 checks to americans waiting six months for help. the president wanted a minimum of $2000 checks. also in this package, there was a push to have major financial donations, funding rather, given american cities and to try to

forst liability protection small businesses trying to keep their doors open. there were many things in the package worthy of debate, but long past time we give relief to .ndividual americans struggling that is where the president was coming down on the stimulus package. beingtely, this package passed will help across all fronts. but we still have a ways to go to get all americans back on their feet and moving forward again. host: louisiana, democratic caller. hi, reggie. caller: good morning, c-span. thank you.

host: go ahead with your question or comment. caller: mr. goodman, i would like to make two points and raise two questions. is thed the economy primary issue. however, it should be noted that the spiritual progress always precedes the material. without that, everything will falter. limited theyou achievements of the trump administration to israel and the mediterranean area. and you did not expand it beyond that. number one, is, why are you a republican? and number two, lighted you

failed to address any of the serious negative aspects of the donald trump's effects on the republican party, especially with respect to voting? one person, one vote, has been something we have sought for centuries. you as appears republican and the republican party which has gone to extremes wants toss our vote, place the trust in the electoral order?at the top of the discordance and double standards. sir, we are smart people now.

we know what we have been through with respect to voter and cherishing one person, one vote. host: ok, reggie, let's get an answer. guest: thank you for calling in, reggie. let me go at the second part first when you talk about the vote. i think there is so little precious trust in our system that when a vote is cast and a good and reported out part of america does not believe it. in terms of confidence in elections, a survey not long ago ranked america 20 ninth place among nations in the western world in terms of public confidence in the process. major electionor reforms. they include one-day reporting. i think we should not have this

drip of reporting coming from media networks and individual jurisdictions. think we countries, i could wait a week and report all results at one time. number two, transparency. in today's age with technology the way it is, it is appropriate to request the ability to see any vote being counted. that certainly was not happening in the city of philadelphia postelection. number 3, 1 system. hundreds if not thousands of different systems in play. are 67ida, there counties with 67 different systems. number four, invest in technology. we need billions invested in technology so we have the kinds of counting machines and vote

certifying machines and other things that make our confidence level go up and the questions come down. and finally, this is not necessarily a popular opinion, i really believe when you mess with the election system it is akin to treason. i think it is. it is one of the worst things you can do in and to a democracy. i think there should be criminal penalties against anyone who messes with it, consciously messes with the vote. if we can straighten out that part of things, and by the way, i was a veteran of the 2000 recount, and the one thing we really wanted to do, and this is not something partisans necessarily want to hear, we wanted to make sure americans came out of 2020 in florida not disbelieving in the integrity of the vote. we did the best we could trying to get there. that vote was divided -- decided by 537 votes will always be a

source of discussion. i think we need to advance election day reforms so we have the confidence. you said, why am i republican? my family grew up in baltimore, maryland. state which was democrat by registration. my dad was in the advertising business. the first political candidate he wasled, given no chance, the outspoken public official to his fault that a lot of people are looking for who won out of nowhere the race for governor. that was spiro agnew. i saw some of the giants in that gave politics you a sense of class and

character in public leadership. i think we have lost that across-the-board. no party has a monopoly on cleaning -- claiming they have the upper hand or on the upper road when it comes to those kinds of things these days. it is all about tearing each other up, trying to win at each other's expense with the american people watching in horror and increasingly in resignation that i guess this is the way it is going to be. i am proud of my republican roots. i am proud of a lot of the people that have run as republicans and served nobly as republicans. there are many democrats who did the same. i have a fondness for two bone o'neill when he was speaker of the house for having bridged the divide and have gone to present reagan -- president reagan to advance the

country. thank you for your question. do you agree with the "new york post" this morning? runoff elections will determine who will control the senate. are obsessed, you with january 6 when congress will certify the electoral college vote. you have tweeted as long as republicans have courage, they can overturn the vote and give you four more years in office. in other words, you are cheering for an undemocratic coup. guest: i am a republican that believes we need to move forward. i think we always have certain questions about every election. manydge too far for me and watching the postelection

reporting is somehow the selection was perfect, untainted, that no questions should be asked. just accept the results and move forward. that has not happened in my lifetime. questionstion has raised, certain challenges made. there are things going back to l.b.j. and j.f.k. in their races for president that will always be questioned about whether certain things were done appropriately or not. in terms of where we need to go, i believe we need to move forward. i believe the president did a tremendous job serving this country for four years. i think the country has spoken as much as we can measure this and want to see joe biden serve as their next president. i will support this president elect as much as i supported any

president who ever sat in the oval office because now, more ton ever, this country needs pull forward and pull together. in akron, ohio, independent. gentleman is this part of the effort of republicans to rewrite what was done or revisionist, whatever they want to call it. he is already saying every election had problems. but what trump has done is like no other. presidentmage of the after trump has been changed. the many lies he told. the american president used to believe in the rule of law and concerned about deficit spending. everything a republican used to stand for.

i will never vote for a republican. now, they have general flynn talking about how the president should declare martial law and confiscate voting machines. what is that? anarchy or sedition? i hope joe biden will listen to flynnpowell and recall back into the military and prosecute him. we need to show exactly what trump has done. he has undermined some of the basic things this country stands for. i don't want to forget it. i hope biden does not forget it. i hope the people do not forget it. this man has done what no other president has done. and i thank you for c-span. host: adam goodman, your thoughts? guest: that is his point of view

which i know is passionate and heartfelt and is an example of where we are today. i am more interested and i think most americans are more interested in what we will do tomorrow, not criticizing yesterday. we keep wanting to refight these battles. we will always have debates about not just this president but other presidents. things we thought they did well, things we thought they should have done better. but if the rancor of america is going to be at the front edge of everything we are going to do or try to do, there will be no pulling this country together. there will be a culture of recrimination and dismissing veness. it is not a partisan thing. gamebody is playing this in public life. that is wrong. happening andt is

americans are feeling like we have to keep going back and andighting old battles feeling that will advance us, i think that is the thing that will hold us back. biden andsident joe and leaders on both sides will advance things moving forward. we have seen what happens when washington grinds to a halt, where fingers are pointed where everyone is at fault but no one is at fault. see our destiny as on the top of the mountain as opposed to going back. host: republican, good morning. caller: good morning. mr. goodman, you seem to want to

put everything under the rug. i watched the interview on c-span about the voting. misinterpreted what i heard from senator rick scott. when he was governor, they put in voting machines and check thoroughly to make sure it matched. we did not see that in philadelphia. trump lost in pennsylvania. i want to go to the supreme court. that has been rejected. flynn, i agree with him. he is being a real general standing up for truth. i don't know why people want to love this fraud going on. people do need to have some kind of reconciliation that their been identified. in mail inn't bring votes like they did in local

cities in our area. they claim they were supposed to be postmarked by 8:00 that day. they were not postmarked so they came in anyway and got their vote. i agree with senator to me. -- toomey. i am glad you encouraged president trump to sign the bill. are so direple straits, maybe let them sign up for welfare. i know that sounds harsh. they would have to go through a process. we are $26 trillion in debt. we are printing money, as rand paul says. cause more burden on the next generation. maybe people need to downsize. i don't understand all of a sudden there is a big piggy bank in washington, d.c.

there is not. you keep printing it. i don't know how you reconcile it. when does it end? host: thank you. guest: i have a lot of experience going back to the start of my career in when hephia politics was trying to recapture the mayor's office. i have seen a lot in terms of the lack of election integrity. a lot of questions need to be answered as we reform. in terms of your question about the stimulus package, the president was saying we need to get more direct relief. i support that. and this is toe, your point and question, for too long, we have been spending ourselves into the kind of place where our children and grandchildren cannot possibly overcome the debt we are going

to put on their backs and lives. at some point, we need to have fiscal discipline. pandemic, notof a just a health pandemic, but an economic pandemic, i am not get past that. beyond that, we have to start asking ourselves, are we willing to keep funding everything we can possibly write a check for which means putting more debt on the backs of future generations ?nd do that in good conscience i think it is wrong. i think it has been wrong under both parties who have had control of congress and the white house in the past. at some point, you want a constitutional change. i am in favor of the balanced budget amendment to get fiscal

discipline back into place so we don't spend tomorrow into oblivion because of the unwillingness to contain spending now. republican.aller, caller: good morning. i keep track. you have this republican on now. but for the last few days, all the guests you have had on our leaning toward the democratic side. because iask c-span, watch you all the time, why can't you do democrat, republican, independent every time? guy, i ampublican definitely a republican. the problem with the republican party is they are too easy going and the democrats will run all

over you. most of the democrats in washington, not the local people because they are being fed a bunch of baloney, but they are evil people. you republicans need to grow some balls and tell the republicans because if not, the republican party will be gone forever and we will be in a communist country. young people want everything for free. here in indiana, i live in a small country area, there is jobs everywhere. everywhere you go, "help wanted." what is wrong with these people sitting around wanting free handouts from the government all the time? host: all right, adam goodman. guest: i think you just heard from a donald trump voter. i think she raises good points which has been driving republican optimism moving forward that inevitably

americans want self-reliance as well as self-assurance to be in play. today seems to be a demand for support without doing your part to honor the social compact. the social compact in america since certain things are expected in return for benefits. one benefit is the benefit of national defense and a unified system taking on a pandemic. in return, what do you owe? i think the caller is asking that question. what do we owe in return? i think we all have to look in the mirror and say, what have we done lately, at any time in memory where we were giving, simply toomething not enhance our own bottom line and agenda?

come to grips with answering that question in the affirmative, we will keep looking to others to give us answers and remedies to do things we are not willing to do. betty,, inast call, wheeling illinois. caller: i don't think trump is a republican. i think he is just a trump. it is sad that he has brought down the institution of republicans. in 2015, he started attacking everybody that was running. he did not care who he hurt. he has ruined some the lives and families. i think he is not a true republican. i would like your answer to that. guest: thank you very much for the question. i hear what you are saying. i think he is a very different kind of public leader, very

different. as i said earlier in reference to bernie sanders, it is hard to put a party label on either one of them. but if you are talking party in terms of republicans and looking forward, because a lot of calls have suggested republicans might be handcuffed because of this current president in terms of moving forward and growing the party, look at the potential bench of people who may run for president in 2024. nikki haley, tom cotton, rick scott, josh hawley, tim scott, kristi noem, ted cruz, craig abbott. you have a wealth of talent ready to come forward that everything of major import the president has pushed for four years. but they will be different in personality. some people may miss not having

donald trump on the playing field. many people will be very happy to see him retreat from the playing field. but the personalities to come will still bring the basic approach which is small government, living within your means, foreign policy where we are not funding adversaries, where we are trying to rally behind allies, trying to create breakthroughs and relationships that make a difference. we are not ashamed to secure our borders. we are not ashamed to ask everyone do their fair part in driving the american experience forward. those kinds of leaders are in ample supply. they are about ready to come off the bench. i think the future of the party is all good. i think we will see this as a historyhapter in a long of party ideology and service to this country. host: adam goodman, thank you

for the conversation. guest: thank you very much. host: we are going to take a short break. , a return toback our conversation about president trump reversing himself last night and signing into law the government funding legislation and the covid relief measure. we want to get your thoughts on it. there are the lines on your screen. if you're unemployed, we want to hear from you this morning. you can text us at the last line. we will be right back. 5, theuesday, january balance of power in the senate will be decided by the winners of the georgia runoffs. they are defending their seats and the geo b -- gop control of the chamber.

hear from results and the candidates in the final races of campaign 2020. >> stay with c-span for our continuing coverage of the transition of power as president-elect joe biden moves closer to the presidency. cast,he electoral votes the us at 1:00 eastern for joint session of congress to count the votes and declare the winner for president and vice president. on january 20, the inauguration of the 46 president of the united states. from the state, to congress, to the white house, watch it all or listen using the free c-span radio app.

>> "washington journal" continues. host: we want to get your thoughts on the president deciding to sign a government funding and covid relief package last night in florida. he called it a disgrace and decided to sign it after the supplemental unemployment benefits lapsed. republicans, democrats, independents. if you are unemployed, we want to hear from you. text us at that number as well. let me show you what the president had to say about his decision to sign this legislation. a stronggn it with message that makes clear to begress that items need to

removed and will send back to congress a redlined version insisting those be removed from the bill. he said he supports $2000 stimulus checks for americans, as opposed to the $600 checks in the package he signed. put outker of the house a statement last night saying the president must immediately call on congressional republicans to end their obstruction and join him in support of our standalone legislation to increase direct payment checks to $2000. every republican vote against vote to deny thea american people the relief they need. it is unclear whether senate republicans, who control the chamber, will take up the $2000 stimulus message.

senator chuck schumer, minority leader, sent out a tweet last night in response to the president signed the bill saying the house will pass the bill to give americans $2000 checks and i will move to pass in the senate. majority leader mitch mcconnell put out a statement after the president signed last night. he did not mention the $2000. but he did say he was happy the president signed the legislation writing that the bipartisan extendpackage will another major lifeline to workers and struggling small businesses, invest billions more in vaccine distribution, and more. your turn to weigh in on this.

in bloomington, illinois, republican, your take? george, are you there? i am moving on to dan in pennsylvania, an independent. good morning. caller: good morning. youguy you had on before, know, we had a balanced budget and george bush came along and blew the budget. republicans always talking about not wanting to help people. why it is so difficult for them to help people? they blew up the deficit. it was three years ago with the tax cut for corporations and rich people. but they don't want to give $1200 to people. got $123.50. it probably cost them more to send me that than it helped me.

i just don't get it. that is all i have to say. host: lisa, your thoughts from pennsylvania, credit colo -- democratic caller. caller: i'm calling in to about the nature of the present signing the spending bill attached to the omnibus bill. wayink this is more in the of his tv persona trying to keep americans hanging on to the last minute. it makes for good television but poor government because we don't know what to expect with this president, but he enjoys that. thisnk he has utilized reality tv persona to try to generate interest in him and his actions. it comes down to poor leadership. there is nothing in the bill he

did not ask for. he asked for all of these things. he is playing political games. not that nancy pelosi and mitch mcconnell are not as well. but he did not gain anything out of the bill. he already signed it. what is going to be changed with all of the underlining he is talking about? this is more rhetoric from the president trying to convince people he is working hard for them. it is all pageantry. everything he is doing is political pageantry to get people talking about him, to keep his name relevant because it feeds his ego. i have to disagree with mr. goodman. any is not a president like other president we have seen before. we have to stop treating him like he is a normal president. republican party, good luck. you have the lincoln project

people, the patriot party minority movement who are pro-trump people. i don't know what is going to happen to the republican party, but i think it is poor governance on the part of the president to keep everyone hanging like it is reality tv. money in mentioned the the legislation was money the president asked for, echoing this article before the president signed. "trump rails against federal spending he requested." trump rattledlist off conflated the stimulus measure with the year-end omnibus spending bill passed in tandem by the senate. criticized things he were what he requested for those programs.

over $131or a little million for myanmar and $40 million for the kennedy center. we will go to maryellen in sarasota, florida, independent. what do you think? caller: i think the president should never have signed the bill. i think the only way to stop career politicians is to put them between a rock and a hard place, which is what they did to president trump. i think the omnibus budget bill to fund the government through september should never have been married to covid relief. i think anybody who has any questions about what these bipartisan career politicians are really up to can just go

online, google the bill, and read all 5593 pages for themselves. i think the president made a mistake signing the bill. he should have compelled the career politicians to separate covid relief and then do a budget. if the government had to shut down, so be it, but we have to bring these politicians to heel. they work for us. but this bill was just for them. and that was wrong. that is how i feel about it. host: if the president had not signed the government spending measure, the government would have shut down tonight at midnight until they came to some agreement. mary ellen notes they married the measure to keep the government funded andy covid money. billit comes to the relief

for the pandemic, 900 billion dollars was the price tag. here is what was in the legislation. adults per child. emergency unemployment compensation extended 11 weeks. it included $82 billion for schools and colleges, extended the eviction moratorium, $20 billion for smaller businesses. live venues would get $15 billion in age. $20 billion for purchasing vaccines, and $8 billion to distribute them, along with $20 billion for testing. let's hear from shawn in north carolina, republican. caller: good morning.

my comment is donald trump signed the bill because he needs to sign the bill. if you have any hope of running in 24, he needs this. he is being told by insiders and his legal team he has a chance of winning the election when they count the electoral votes in congress. all it will take is one or two senators or congressmen to stand up an object to any of the electoral votes. as far as what mr. adam goodman was saying, putting the debt on grandchildren,r the federal reserve is telling the government they need to spend as much as they can. krugmanugman -- allen has said the value of our currency has been debased so much that repaying the money is not going to affect the country.

as far as the first covid relief bill, $6 trillion. theybody wants to remember $2 trillion with the stimulus checks. they gave for $20 to the banks. they still have $1.6 trillion left they have not spent. it is almost like a government slush fund. to talk about how we need pass it. degrade it to the extent that what is in our pockets is not worth anything. ounce ifld be $300 an we did not debase our currency. "the new york post" front page says to the president, "stop the insanity, you lost the election, here's how to save your legacy." they note that there are two runoff races in georgia which

controls which party will control the senate and whether joe biden will have a check on his agenda. as long aseeted republicans have courage, you can overturn the results and give you four more years in office. in other words, you are cheering for an undemocratic coup. the efforts to investigate the efforts to investigate election have found nothing. millionpaign paid $3 for a recount in wisconsin counties and you lost bike 87 -- by 87 more votes. handallots were counted by which discounted the conspiracy. we understand you're angry that you lost. but to continue down this road is ruinous. we offer this as a newspaper that supported you.

must channel your fury into something more productive. newspaper has a headline about the five gop senators to 'stch in the next month electoral college fight. whipenate majority predicting it will go down like a shocked dog in the upper chamber. but brooks needs only one gop senator to side with him and vote on any objection. if he is successful, it would be the third time congress has had to debate an objection since 1887. here are the five senate republicans to watch in the fight.

bill -- tommy hawley, andjosh senator ted cruz of texas. let's go to renée in georgia, democratic caller. i would like to call in and give my comment. think donald trump not signing , he just relief bill wanted to shut down the bill altogether. intent was tohis add more money, the $2000. his purpose was to shut down the

bill, maybe to show he is still in power and it was all just political theater. it is sad. comment on to make a your previous guest. host: mr. goodman. caller: mr. goodman, ok. out, and ip started don't want to disrespect him, but he started out with a big biden, donald trump, joe biden won narrowly, which was a lie. host: i'm going to stick with the funding relief and covid

measure. convinced to was sign the package after he talked to senator david perdue and others. runoff inrdue faces a january 5 in the state of georgia. the president is headed there for a rally on january 4. after the president signed the bill, kelly loeffler, who is also facing a runoff in her special election to continue serving in the senate, tweeted out, "thank you, president trump. help is on the way for millions of georgia working families and more. together, we will never stop fighting for the people of the peach state. may god bless america." politico also reports it was house leader kevin mccarthy who

also convinced the president to sign the legislation. delayeded that pelosi and damaged the country for months, but the president signed this into law. thank you, mr. president, for putting people over politics. it is your turn to give washington your take on this. robin in cullman, alabama, independent, hello. caller: thank you for taking my call. i have a couple of comments. has theovid bill that government funding in with it, on the kennedy center deal, you keep saying president trump was the one that wanted that. but it does not make a difference if congress signed it. they wanted it too. it is unnecessary spending. it should not be going on with this pandemic happening.

i would like to know america feels like president trump is such a fiend when the whole government system is a fiend. it is us against them. why are we fighting amongst ourselves? we need to be fighting against the government because it is the government sticking it to us. that is just the way i feel. he is a liar. they are a liar. they are all liars. a big lie or a little lie, it does not make a difference. a lie is a lie. god bless american. host: richard, republican, good morning. what do you think about the president signing the covid relief measure and the government funding bill? caller: i think it is a crock. he should have never signed it. but if he did sign it, you should have made sure the

republicans back him. i voted republican. i doubt i will vote republican again or i will not vote at all. they are all a bunch of crooks. host: if president trump is not on the ballot, you might not vote republican? caller: i don't care who is on the ballot. it don't make any difference. they give $600? that won't even pay rent or water and gas bill. the $1200 the first time would have been ok. $2000 might be a little much. but they don't work together, the democrats and republicans will not work together. they are and senate, nothing but a bunch of liars. richard, on the $2000 stimulus check to americans, as you pointed out, the bill the president signed last night would give americans $600 if you

qualify. the president saying he wants it to be $2000. you know house democrats are saying they agree with $2000. nancy pelosi put out a statement saying the president needs to call on congressional republicans to support the legislation. todayuse is gaveling in and expected to have the standalone bill that would give americans this $2000 check. there is no mention in mitch mcconnell's statement of the standalone bill and whether it would be brought up in the senate tomorrow. you can watch the house floor right here on c-span this afternoon to watch the boat. they will be taking a boot to override the president -- taking a vote to override the .resident's veto an

the senatech tomorrow on c-span2. james, good morning. you were unemployed. when you getting the supplemental unemployment benefits? i agree with the president. he did it from his heart. fault.dy got don't agree with him. it is not their money. it is the people's money. host: so, you think republicans should today in the house vote for the $2000? caller: yes, ma'am, they should. then they can feel good in their heart. the president wants it. the democrats want it.

people need help. they need help. did you know kanye west got $2 million? .ome of them got kickbacks nobody wants to vote for kanye west. you senator to show pat toomey yesterday before the president signed this. he did address his reservation about sending some americans $2000. [video clip] >> i understand the president would like to send bigger checks to everybody. i think he ought to sign the bill and then make the case. congress can pass another bill. i don't agree with $2000 checks to people who have no lost income whatsoever, which is the vast majority of americans. but the president is free to make that case. a bill now that his administration helped negotiate.

i think we ought to get that done. other republicans in the senate have reservations about sending a $2000 check to americans. some other reaction from lawmakers. , after days ofe signed, the president tomorrow we will vote to increase relief checks to $2000." republican,idy, says glad the president signed to help keep small businesses in business, people who might be homeless in houses, and many other good things. senator rob portman told us congress has a responsibility to carefully review the spending bill in the same package as the covid-19 bill. he agrees with the president that congress should consider

those rescissions. if you're interested in what the president wants on the chopping today" has this story. for corporate lunches, money for the border wall, money for the kennedy center and other cultural institutions, tax breaks for the liquor industry. you can find it at usatoday.com. house democrats have said they will not take up the president's rescission request. there are only a few days remaining in this congress to do so anyway. the chair of the appropriations committee put out a statement saying the committee has jurisdiction over rescissions and our majority will reject any

rescissions submitted by president trump. let's go to connie on the independents' line. caller: good morning. i am glad i am able to talk to you this morning about this problem. independent because i feel this should have worked out better before. i asked but our representative did not return the call. the stimulus bill has been hashed over several times. things were put in and taken out. i heard you mention something about liquor. , the beer taxsin has not been raised since 1969. the liquor tax has not been raised since 1985. that tax increase could have paid for our roads and stuff.

with this bill going on, i find it difficult for republicans to understand this is not political. this is people that you represent. people that are desperate. apparently, they have no idea what it is like to live on the street. that is a phrase. people who used is nowiddle-class, considered poverty. the fact of losing businesses, working your heart out, people worrying about being evicted, people worrying about having food on the table, children. this is a human situation. and not a political one. host: we will have to leave it there. we will pick up tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. with more conversations with all of you.

enjoy the rest of your day. ♪ >> you are watching c-span, your unfiltered view of government. c-span was created by america's cable television companies in 1979. today, we are brought to you by these television companies who provide c-span to viewers as a public service. lawmakers plan to work on increasing covid relief checks to $2000.00 -- $600

the bill was signed into law by president trump last night but he is still requesting paid to be increased. -- setting military pay, programs and policy for next year. in his veto, president trump said he objected the bills failure to repair protections for social media companies and the removal of confederate names from military installations. if the veto override is successful in the house, it will go to the senate. you can watch live coverage right here on c-span. we will get to your thoughts in a minute. start dialing in. this is what the president said, after signing the bill into law last night from florida, he said i will sign the omnibus and covid package with a message that makes clear to congress that wasteful items need to be removed. i will send back to congress a redlined version item by item accompanied by a formal rescission request to congress